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LP/Lisp: Literate Programming for Lisp
What is LP/Lisp?
LP/Lisp is a software tool to provide literate programming support for Lisp programmers. Literate programming is the idea that the code and the documentation for a program should form a coherent whole, a work of literature with two audiences, the computer and humans. The idea was originated by Donald Knuth, who created the WEB system (using TeX and Pascal). This has been expanded upon since then, with literate programming (LP) tools such as cweb, fweb, noweb, and so forth.
Unfortunately, the model used by these tools is not the one we usually use when programming in Lisp. Since we don't have a write-compile-execute cycle with Lisp, these tools inject an artificial step into the process, interfering with the natural way Lisp is used.
LP/Lisp is a new LP tool that is meant to allow Lisp programmers to use LP without interfering with the normal way they program. The LP file is the Lisp file itself. Documentation and LP markup reside in the comments. Markup exists to do the usual LP-like things (definition of and reference to chunks of code, syntactic sugaring for sections and formatting, etc.). The documentation is stripped out of the comments by LP/Lisp, with code reordered and formatted as needed, to form a LaTeX file.
There have been other approaches to LP in Lisp as well (e.g., CLWEB, Scribble, pbook, etc.). These are discussed in the paper about LP/Lisp.
What is written about it?
- LP/Lisp: Literate Programming for Lisp, Roy M. Turner, in Proceedings of the International Lisp Conference (ILC), Reno, NV, 2010.
- Literate Programmimg in Lisp (LP/Lisp), Roy M. Turner (2010). Technical report 2010-02, Department of Computer Science, University of Maine, 5752 Neville Hall, Orono, ME 04469-5752. The version on-line will often be more current than the version available as a technical report.
What is available now?
The lisp code is available as lplisp.lisp. It has only been tested under Allegro Common Lisp, and it is unlikely to work under other Lisps at the moment, since it requires ACL's regexp2 package. See below.
What is coming?
The next version is in the works. It will fix some of the syntax oddness of the current version, and it will be less tied to ACL. It will be a complete, object-oriented rewrite. It will be posted here when it's ready.
Stay in touch
If you are using LP/Lisp, drop me a line to let me know, so I can send you mail when there are changes, the next version is ready, etc. Also let me know of bugs you discover or features you would like to see--this isn't my primary project by a long-shot, but I'll try to respond as soon as possible!
Thanks for your interest in LP/Lisp, and I hope it is useful for you. | <urn:uuid:7649d606-cbbf-40e6-9c1f-b1c9ccafbe1a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://context.umcs.maine.edu/software/LPLisp/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927884 |
Resistance is still a goal
Published January 15, 2011
Mildew resistance continues to be a focus of Washington State University’s cherry breeding program. Breeder Dr. Nnadozie Oraguzie has identified another new powdery mildew-resistant selection from a cross made in 1998.
WSU scientists are seeking new sources of disease resistance and working to identify genes and genetic mechanisms underlying the resistance. A process has been developed to accurately screen seedlings for mildew resistance, and 8,000 seedlings were screened in the greenhouse in 2010.
In the long term, Oraguzie would like to develop new cultivars with multiple sources of resistance to mildew, not just a single gene.
Reporting to the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, which helps fund the program along with the Oregon Sweet Cherry Commission, Oraguzie said changes have been made to improve the efficiency of the breeding program. Jan Burgess, who works for the National Clean Plant Network at Prosser, has been advising on seedling development. Germination of cherry seeds is typically poor, but of the 7,000 seeds collected from crosses made in 2009, 5,000 were viable. The germination rate was over 60 percent, compared with only 5 percent in 2004, and twice what a breeding program would normally expect.
The program has also developed ways to produce seedlings that grow over three feet tall and are ready for field planting in less than a year. In 2010, Oraguzie planted more than 2,500 trees in three plantings.
Marker-assisted seedling selection was used for the first time to cull inferior seedlings based on fruit size and self-fertility. Last year, more than 60 percent of the seedlings were culled in the greenhouse. | <urn:uuid:699309c2-ae97-4277-8b38-a8782a473a7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.goodfruit.com/Good-Fruit-Grower/January-15th-2011/Resistance-is-still-a-goal/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966884 |
Hybrid chillers and demand-response programs can help reduce operating costs, increase equipment payback
Buildings and their power and cooling systems are built to last for decades. However, they must respond to market conditions on an hourly basis to operate efficiently. This requires not only selecting the right equipment, but designing a strategy for it to operate at the lowest possible cost. Fuel prices can double in a month. Electricity prices can have even wider swings in a single day, and prices are highest just when air conditioning is most in demand. Further complicating the issue: A building owner can earn money by agreeing to participate in a utility's demand-response (DR) program, in which he or she agrees to curtail electricity use on the demand of the utility or wholesaler.
"The real gains are when you can automate your demand response, you can preprogram your strategies, and you can optimize which ones you want to use for certain conditions," Chuck Goldman, a staff scientist and group leader of the Electricity Markets and Policy Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said. "You can shave 5 to 15 percent off your peak demand and have the capacity to participate in emergency programs."
No nuclear plants have been built in decades. Coal plants already are hard to permit and will become expensive to operate if Congress passes a carbon tax. Natural-gas and oil prices are on the rise. Nevertheless, the demand for electricity keeps growing. To ensure reliability without adding new generating capacity, utilities are adopting various strategies to reduce peak electrical demand or shift it to other times of the day.
"A decrease in usage is just as valid as an increase in generation, and sometimes it is a lot faster," Ray Dotter, a spokesperson for PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission operator that manages the wholesale electricity market in 13 states and the District of Columbia, said. "You can open a circuit a lot faster than you can ramp up a generator."
According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the 274 entities that offered a DR program in 2008 had the combined ability to reduce peak load by 40,000 mw. Each region of the country has its own rules and incentives for participating in a DR program. In PJM's region, building owners typically signed up with one of more than 80 curtailment-service providers (CSPs), a company or organization that specializes in DR or offers it as a service. A CSP monitors power conditions and prices and sends a signal—which can be something sophisticated or as simple as a phone call or fax—to their customers requesting a usage adjustment.
"We would like to see that signaling become more sophisticated as some of the smart-grid technology gets deployed," Dotter said.
The Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago (BOMA/Chicago), which represents more than 250 office buildings, is working on a $185 million smart-grid project that will link 262 buildings with a network operations center (NOC) at its CSP, Metropolitan Energy. The local electric utility, Commonwealth Edison, will install new electric meters to transmit usage data from the office buildings to the NOC every minute or less. Building-automation systems will be programmed to respond to the NOC's price signals, and, depending on price, reduce electrical usage through various methods, such as slowing down an HVAC system’s variable-speed drives.
"The system will allow them to rapidly change the power the building is consuming," Dotter said.
Additionally, hybrid cooling systems can cut costs while increasing reliability. Hybrid cooling systems can be set up in a variety of ways. For example, in 2009, testing firm ACT Inc.'s data center became the first in the United States to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The data center's hybrid design uses outside air for cooling during winter and geothermal cooling during summer.
However, a more common approach is to use two different drivers, such as a steam turbine and an electric motor or gas engine, to power two centrifugal or absorption chillers. Depending on the price of electricity, gas, or steam, an energy manager could select which of the chillers to use at a particular time of day. In most cases, the motor-driven chiller would operate during the cooler hours of the day and be supplemented or replaced by the engine or steam turbine during peak hours.
The downside is a hybrid chiller system increases initial capital expenditures because two compressors, as well as piping and valving, are required to complete connections to an evaporator. However, this is offset quickly when operating costs decrease.
HVAC manufacturer York International Corp. compared the capital and operating costs of two 500-ton electric centrifugal chillers with the costs of six hybrid designs that could meet the same cooling requirements. York discovered that the hybrid systems could pay for themselves within six months to five years. (Note: Payback calculations were based on specific temperature ranges, as well as particular pricing structures for gas and electricity that may not be applicable to every building's conditions.)
One way to cut a hybrid system's capital costs while achieving the same amount of energy savings is to connect multiple drivers to a single compressor (Figure 1). While new to building HVAC systems, this approach has been used successfully with natural-gas pipeline compressors for years, allowing them to operate with natural gas or electricity, depending on cost.
Driving a chiller compressor with an electric motor and reciprocating engine or steam turbine can provide demand-side management capability, emergency or standby electricity, and/or chiller power while saving energy costs. First-cost savings can be greater with this method than with separate standby engine generators and electric-driven chillers.
Page 2 of 2
Hospitals, campus facilities, and large office complexes often experience huge differences in day-to-night energy charges. An electric utility often will pay a fee or provide lower power rates if electric demand can be reduced on-call. Many of these facilities require emergency electric-power capability, such as keeping at least some of their chillers running to provide cooling for critical computer equipment.
The mechanical-system arrangement for a dual-driven chiller is engine-clutch-motor-clutch-compressor (Figure 1). The motor should be synchronous, designed for motor and generator operation. For peak-demand-shaving operation in which the motor already is driving the chiller compressor, the engine should be started and brought up to speed under governor control. A synchronous self-shifting gear-type overrunning clutch then mechanically synchronizes the engine to the motor shaft automatically. The engine load is adjusted to pick up as much of the motor load as desired. Or, if the engine is sized appropriately—and if allowed by the local utility—the engine could handle the entire chiller load and operate the motor/generator in generator mode, feeding power back to the grid. This mode of operation could be used if the price of engine fuel is less than the cost of the motor’s electric power, which often occurs during peak load times on the power grid.
In the event of a power failure, this system could operate in one of three modes:
A considerably smaller engine can be installed if it is used to drive a chiller compressor directly during emergency operation, rather than drive a generator sized to start an electric-motor-driven chiller. In this manner, starting reliability also is enhanced.
In peak-shaving mode, the motor/generator does not have to act as a generator paralleled with the grid and instead can remain in motor mode. Engine load can be adjusted automatically to pick up the greater part of the chiller load, but not pump power back onto the grid, avoiding the complex engineering studies and special electrical equipment required by a utility if a generator is going to be paralleled with its system. (A reverse current relay would be needed.) The system still would be able to generate emergency power for other loads if a transfer switch is included, but a separate engine generator would need to be paralleled with the grid for peak shaving or demand management.
A dual-driven chiller can be incorporated into a combined-heat-and-power system, particularly if a facility needs heat during winter, but not during warmer months. The engine then would be used continuously during winter, but only operate for peak shaving and demand management during warmer months, using the motor most of the time. If an engine is used, it must meet any environmental permits and regulations.
Hemant Mehta, PE, president of WM Group Engineers in New York City, said this arrangement also could work with steam turbines and electric motors, particularly when factoring in DR payments or funding from government energy-reduction programs.
"Much of the cooling in the city is done by steam-driven equipment, but the cost of steam in New York is extremely high," he said. "If you put in a motor and clutch, you can use either the utility power or the steam to run the equipment, depending on what is cheaper."
Flexible cooling systems can help building owners and managers be more confident about their facilities' energy costs. Smart investors diversify their portfolios to make money no matter what is going on in the market, and building owners can hedge against high operating costs in a similar manner. Optimum solutions vary depending on building design, steam availability, climate, and the cost of integrating a flexible cooling system with existing equipment. By examining cooling strategies that were not available only a few years ago, many building owners will find they can cut their budgets substantially.
Did you find this article useful? Send comments and suggestions to Associate Editor Megan Spencer at firstname.lastname@example.org.
A technical consultant for SSS Clutch (www.sssclutch.com), a supplier of automatic over-running clutches for high-power/high-speed applications, Jim Berry has more than 40 years of experience in the sales, marketing, application engineering, and service of centrifugal and reciprocating compressors, pumps, gas turbines, and diesel and gas engines. He has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Drexel University. He can be contacted at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:079e9556-9c73-424c-b8bd-19eb620945cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hpac.com/print/air-conditioning/cutting-facilitys-cooling-costs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951006 |
You can view the entire document as a PDF (click on the PDF tab above) or request a free hard copy from the Foundation.
For a video explanation of multiple myeloma, watch What is Multiple Myeloma? with Dr. Morrie Gertz of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
Multiple myeloma is an unusual and complex disease. The diagnosis is often not clear-cut and the treatment recommendations can vary from doctor to doctor. None of this is too reassuring for a newly-diagnosed patient. However, with appropriate testing and review:
- A clear diagnosis can be established.
- Patients without symptoms can be monitored without aggressive intervention.
- Patients with active or symptomatic myeloma can proceed with therapy, which has a high likelihood of controlling the disease for several years.
- New therapies can be considered, which may offer the opportunity for longer disease control or even a cure.
- Procedures to closely monitor the disease can be put in place. They reduce the chances of unexpected problems.
- Supportive care measures can substantially alleviate the physical and emotional impact of the disease and needed treatment.
The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) is committed to helping with each of these steps. This handbook provides a basic understanding of myeloma sufficient to allow patients to make informed decisions about treatment choices. The handbook is supplemental to the information given by the doctor. Caregivers, family, and friends may also find the information useful. | <urn:uuid:8589f810-f629-46fe-8f24-36850d87f555> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://myeloma.org/ArticlePage.action?articleId=44 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92417 |
Family Life Cycle (cont.)
IN THIS ARTICLE
Independence is the most critical stage of the family life cycle. As you enter young adulthood, you begin to separate emotionally from your family. During this stage, you strive to become fully able to support yourself emotionally, physically, socially, and financially. You begin to develop unique qualities and characteristics that define your individual identity.
Intimacy is a vital skill to develop during your independent, young adult years. Intimacy is the ability to develop and maintain close relationships that can endure hard times and other challenges. In an intimate relationship, you learn about:
You also learn who you are outside of your identity within your family. Your ability to develop an intimate relationship depends on how successful you were at developing your individual identity earlier in life.
If you are a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered person (LGBT), this stage may include making your sexual orientation known, or "coming out" to your family and friends.
Exploring interests and career goals is part of developing independence. To live successfully away from your family, you must develop financial and emotional independence.
You also begin to be responsible for your own health in this stage. You become responsible for your nutritional, physical, and medical needs. Developing healthy habits at this time—such as good nutrition, regular exercise, and safe sex practices—is important for lifelong good health and happiness.
You learn new aspects of independence throughout your lifetime. Even when you have moved on to another stage of life, such as coupling, you continue to learn independence within the context of that stage.
During the independence stage, you hope to:
Other important qualities you develop during this phase include:
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Find out what women really need.
Most Popular Topics
Pill Identifier on RxList
- quick, easy,
Find a Local Pharmacy
- including 24 hour, pharmacies | <urn:uuid:5c59318c-1091-4a37-ae5d-3329c16a2798> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.emedicinehealth.com/family_life_cycle-health/page2_em.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945231 |
A bridge is one of those things that can so easily be taken for granted. Even one that we may rely on to cut our day-to-day work commute in half, or allows us more frequent trips to the grocery store, after a while, can seem like an assumed part of life. But when these critical conduits are lost, as was the case when Hurricane Irene devastated parts of Forkston, a township near the northeast corner of Pennsylvania, the significance of these vital crossings is more fully realized.
Recovery from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee is still in process here in Pennsylvania, where residents of Forkston just learned that FEMA has approved nearly $7 million in federal Public Assistance funding for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) to reconstruct a bridge and nearby roadside that was at the heart of the community until Irene devastated it in late August 2011.
Few of us will soon forget how, even two weeks after Irene, many Forkston residents could not get to their homes because the bridge was gone. What’s more, some residents who were at home when Irene hit were stranded, cut off from critical resources. Some of the trapped residents made dramatic efforts to cross the Mahoopany Creek so they could access food and other necessary items. At one point, individuals even used ropes to inch across the water. They strung two ropes across the creek at different levels and shimmied, placing their feet on the lower rope while gripping the higher rope with their hands. Two of those ropes are visible in this photo (below) of people walking along what was left of Windy Valley Road along Mahoopany Creek.
CAPTION: The remains of Windy Valley Road, along the Mehoopany Creek in Forkston after Hurricane Irene. Stranded residents extended two ropes across the creek at different levels to shimmy across the creek for supplies. Photo by Jake Danna Stevens (Photo courtesy of the Scranton Times Tribune)
A gravel crossing was installed to pinch-hit as a means of passage until a more substantial structure could be built. But two days later, Tropical Storm Lee hit. High velocity floodwaters, fueled by a swollen Susquehanna River, washed the hardscrabble expanse away.
CAPTION: PennDot installed a rough-hewn gravel crossing over Mahoopany Creek on State Route 3001 in Forkston Township, Pa. after Hurricane Irene destroyed the original bridge that stood there. Two days later, Tropical Storm Lee washed it out. Photo by FEMA/Liz Roll
In December 2011, $2.4 million in federal funding was obligated to PennDOT to restore the bridge in its original location on State Route 3001. The project included removal of the collapsed bridge and placement of a temporary “Acrow Panel Bridge” in the vacant spot. Commonwealth-owned asphalt road, guiderails, shoulder and road embankments were also included in the project.
CAPTION: A temporary bridge now stands over Mahoopany Creek on State Route 3001 in Forkston Township, Pa. Nearly $7 million in federal PA funding was approved in December to replace the temporary bridge with a permanent structure. Photo by FEMA/William Lindsey, Jr.
The temporary bridge was a significant improvement, but in mid-December, FEMA approved $6,924,799 for the Commonwealth to reconstruct the bridge and to rebuild portions of surrounding Windy Valley Road.
FEMA’s share is 75 percent of the total $9,233,065 estimated cost of the reconstruction project. The remaining 25 percent share of the cost will be paid by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
This kind of project is made possible through FEMA’s Public Assistance program, with close coordination among our state and local counterparts. FEMA manages the program, approves grants and provides technical assistance to the Commonwealth and applicants. The Commonwealth educates potential applicants, works with FEMA to manage the program and is responsible for implementing and monitoring the grants awarded under the program. Local officials are responsible for identifying damage, providing information necessary for FEMA to approve grants and managing each project funded under the program.
Through Public Assistance, FEMA is able to better the lives of those impacted by disasters like Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee. An informative list of Frequently Asked Questions about the program, which is an interesting process, is posted on www.FEMA.gov. I look forward to continuing to help Pennsylvania recover from these storms and sharing more stories like these in the future. | <urn:uuid:a7c45f26-9f73-4b06-b480-ce2648d9cca4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fema.gov/blog/date/201212?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956062 |
When it comes to health, action is key. But maintaining health and wellness isn’t just about reacting when things go wrong. People need to take concrete steps every day to build the foundation for a healthy life.
When asked for their opinions on the most important proactive health strategies, area physicians offered specific tips, some of which overlapped and are familiar medical refrains. Yet physicians continue to emphasize the importance of these healthy living fundamentals because many people still disregard the advice or have trouble succeeding at creating new, healthier habits.
For instance, the most important health strategy every expert queried for this article identified is smoking cessation. America is making progress on this front. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that “since 2002, the number of former U.S. smokers has exceeded the number of current smokers.”
“Not only will (smoking cessation) save you thousands of dollars a year, but it can save your life,” emphasizes Dr. Keya Hindia, a physician with Mercy Clinic Internal Medicine. “Smoking is linked with an increased risk of cancers, heart problems, lung problems—even skin problems. With the new year here, make a pact with friends or family members to quit smoking by setting a ‘quit date.’ If you need help, there are many resources in the area.” Hindia is referring to the many smoking cessation support groups and programs offered through area hospitals. Primary-care physicians can help smokers identify these resources and plan to quit with the aid of medications, if needed.
Being smoke-free and breathing better as a result makes the next proactive health strategy easier: regular exercise. “The American Heart Association recommends at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise five days a week. If you are not already exercising, start! Begin with at least 10 minutes,five days a week, then work your way up,” advises Dr. Sonia Chacko, a SLUCare physician specializing in internal medicine.
Dr. James Loomis, a physician specializing in internal medicine at St. Luke’s Hospital, adds that both cardiovascular exercise on most days and strength training a couple of times per week combine to create the most complete range of benefits. They include lower blood pressure, healthy weight maintenance, diabetes prevention, lower cholesterol, lower risk of cardiovascular disease and some cancers, stronger bones and improved mood. Who wouldn’t want all that?
You can probably guess what the third most commonly mentioned health strategy is: eating a healthy diet. “Obesity-related complications are a leading killer of Americans. Eating well-balanced meals with limited trans-fats, saturated fats and cholesterol, and including fruits and vegetables, can decrease your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, bone or joint diseases, and even some cancers,” Hindia says. “Keep in mind, if you are on certain medications, then ask your doctor to make sure there aren’t interactions between these and otherwise ‘healthy’ foods.”
Physicians also agreed that getting an annual physical exam, having the health screenings recommended by your doctor and getting adequate sleep also are important to long-term health.
And don’t tackle everything at once, or you could end up overwhelmed and defeated. “Developing a healthy lifestyle is a process and doesn’t happen overnight, so be patient,” Loomis says. Talk to your physician and come up with a plan based on your health needs and priorities. As Loomis concludes, “Understanding what choices you make and why you make them can help you make better ones.” | <urn:uuid:7119d10f-1c22-4ee3-9cf5-ee055a8fef98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.laduenews.com/living/health-wellness/proactive-strategies-road-to-health/article_cb348ece-42d7-11e1-8209-0019bb30f31a.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947664 |
"Logic is the anatomy of thought."
The Discovery of Deduction: An Introduction to Formal Logic will welcome you into the fascinating realm of formal, deductive logic. Formal logic studies how an argument is put together—the form or structure of an argument.
The Discovery of Deduction is geared directly toward students as young as eighth grade, making a subject usually reserved for study in college accessible and relevant to junior–high age, logic stage students. It is intended to emphasize the practical and real-world application of soundly structured, deductive logic. Using methods such as Socratic dialogue, ample discussion, and integration of other subjects, it teaches the ways in which these dialectic students learn best.
The Discovery of Deduction is recommended after a study of informal fallacies, such as The Art of Argument: An Introduction to the Informal Fallacies; however, the text stands on its own as an independent study of formal logic.
The Discovery of Deduction Teacher's Edition is also available. It features the entire student text, along with answer keys, teaching tips, and sample essays, dialogues, and arguments. | <urn:uuid:79003896-c608-4fd9-8bae-8cfae9e7d6ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mardel.com/The-Discovery-of-Deduction-An-Introduction-to-Formal-Logic-2531465.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940351 |
California Beetle Project > Species Pages > Narpus angustus
Scientific name: Narpus angustus Casey
Images (click to enlarge)
What it looks like:
3-4 mm in length. Its body is dark brown with striae, or shallow punctures, running the length of its elytra. The rows of striae alternate with rows of light brown, short hairs.
Where you'll find it: This beetle is found throughout the coastal California mountain ranges, in large, clear, rapid streams.
Natural History: These beetles are abundant where bars of coarse gravel drop off into deep pools. Both the adults and the larvae are aquatic.
This page was written by Maren Farnum, a 2005 California Beetle Project intern. | <urn:uuid:79a26480-91c6-47d7-9559-f94d2d24b990> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sbnature.org/collections/invert/entom/s_p_narpu_angus.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.860153 |
The Global Container Control Programme
The amount of cargo shipped by sea containers has risen considerably over recent years. At present, more than 220 million sea containers move around the globe annually and approximately 90 per cent of the world's cargo is shipped by container. It is well known that the global trade supply is also used to smuggle illegal goods disguised as legal trade. Illicit drugs are a global problem with more than 200 million people abusing drugs worldwide. The impact of terrorism further highlights the potential risks posed by the use of containerized cargo shipments and the importance of ensuring security.
In response to that threat, UNODC has designed the Container Control Pilot Programme Project to assist the Governments of Ecuador, Senegal, Ghana and Pakistan to establish effective controls over the movement of sea containers. The project aims to prevent traffickers and other organized crime syndicates from using freight containers for drug trafficking and other illicit activities.
Joint customs and police port control unit will be established in selected ports. The training and equipping of joint police/customs interdiction teams by World Customs Organization and Interpol experts has begun. The Programme also facilitates regional cooperation and information sharing, and strengthens capacities for post-seizure investigations.
For more information please call :
Mr. Ketil Ottersen, Senior Programme Coordinator
43 (0) 1 26060 5528
Mr. Samy Gardemeister, Technical Officer, World Customs Organization
32 (0)2 2099 496 | <urn:uuid:68a54ecc-de7c-4a4c-b234-872b6770e531> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press/releases/press_release_2006_05_05-1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913911 |
In a report from the World Bank, Africa’s economic development was outlined as a “golden opportunity for a green future”.
At the 4th Africa Carbon Forum (ACF) “The vast potential represented by African countries in the fight against climate change cannot be underestimated,” said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
“The Africa Carbon Forum is where potential projects and developers and funders can meet, exchange ideas, and – it is hoped – take the concrete steps toward greening Africa’s future.”
The ACF held a conference where policymakers, project developers, and private investors discussed climate-smart agriculture, public and private partnerships and funding for projects. However, it is clear that Africa holds more promise than just the inception of carbon emission reduction and carbon finance.
The attraction of Africa is its rich wealth of natural resources. This continent contains enormous deposits of diamonds, cobalt, copper, uranium, magnesium and tin. Over $1 billion in gold is mined each year.
The UK’s Department of International Development, along with researchers from the British Geological Survey and the University of London found underground aquifers of clean and untouched water in Africa that are 100 times the amount found on the surface of the continent.
An $11 million dollar project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Coca-Cola Corporation are employing 50,000 Kenyan and Ugandan smallholders to produce fruit for Minute Maid, a subsidiary for Coca-Cola.
The UN has announced plans to allow corporations and foreign governments to land grab in African nations like Ethiopia, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone.
Africa has “voluntarily” signed agreements with multi-national corporations and foreign investors, allowing them to control agricultural land. The nation’s leaders believe that giving access to their resources will benefit their people; however this is just another manipulative ploy to coercively acquire control over land, food production and securitization.
The document entitled “The UN Global Compact and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises” outlines through “voluntary” means how the UN will implement their international guidelines with respect to corporate conduct, standards and abilities.
The UK, multi-national corporations, some African countries and other G-8 nations will be joined together as the New Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security (NAFNS).
The CEOs of 40 US privately owned corporations have pledged $3.5 billion in food and nutritional assistance alongside the government.
The New Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security will be established to carry out collaborative efforts with private investors and corporations, under the oversight of Obama. The initiative will implement model farms and training centers.
Yet, it is not just the securitization of agriculture, natural resources and water that is attracting corporations, the UN and Obama to Africa.
Africa is to be transitioned into a technological hub, focusing on technology research. Under the promise of employment opportunities and improving educational institutions, the actual agenda is the diversification of strategies with foreign partners that will facilitate manufacturing industrialization and technological development through the corporate takeover of Africa.
Under careful control, the UN has planned to create an Africa that will become not only the food center of the world, but also the single processor of the world’s communications.
The ICT Sector Unit, a department of the World Bank, has plans to turn Africa into a centralized internet epicenter where the flow of information and communications are under UN governance.
The ICT is a specialized department controlling “policy and regulatory matters, in eGovernment, information technology, innovation and the enabling environment. This Unit promotes access to information and communication technologies in developing countries.”
They will provide governments and private organizations with the directives and capital to infiltrate Africa through corporatism. The creation of infrastructure and eGovernment projects will be handled solely through the ICT.
The funding will come from donors, international organizations and non-government organizations (NGOs). Telecommunications think-tanks with regional telecommunication associations will work with private sector “experts” and the UN’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to construct a technological industry that will yield not only profit, but power.
The ITU is the UN’s information and communication technologies agency. They “allocate global radio spectrum and satellite orbits, develop the technical standards that ensure networks and technologies seamlessly interconnect, and strive to improve access to ICTs to underserved communities worldwide.”
By whatever means necessary, their goal is to facilitate the flow of communication; which is completely under their dominion.
One initiative already in progress is the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope project; a $2 billion investment that is meant to be the biggest research instillation in the world.
The enormous computing power this installation is capable of will “take the current global daily Internet traffic and multiply it by two, and you start to approach the stupendous scales of data the Square Kilometre Array will churn out daily — about an exabyte per day. This vastly outpaces the state of the art in computing,” notes Ton Engbersen of IBM Research in Zurich. “The area you would need for PCs is larger than the SKA.”
Billions are being poured into the development of this project by foreign investors. On April 4th, the SKA Organization held a two-day meeting in The Netherlands, concluding with a press statement that they want to take an “inclusive approach” to the location of the project.
That location has become the continent of Africa.
The project would be a joint venture between the governments of South Africa and other participating nations, but the majority of costs would come from the privately funded SKA Organization.
The SKA project is part of the ICT’s plan to create a broadband universal portal that will be the access point by which online resources and information are disbursed throughout the world.
The ITU will be in conference at the end of this year, with major telecommunication and information corporations to devise a treaty that will regulate important aspects of the Internet, as well as create jurisdiction over telecoms and ICT industries. This international treaty will effectively control all communication as we know it.
• Internet • Cell phones • Emails • Faxes • Satellites • Governmental intelligence networks • All other digital communications
The treaty will give the UN unilateral governance over the Internet, as well as telecommunication issues such as accounting rates and termination charges for next-generation networks, data privacy, cyber security, international mobile roaming, and equipment specifications.
Africa is going to be the centralized network of global controls that force all other nations and countries to become dependent upon the UN.
This is how the UN ultimately plans to achieve global governance.
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I am following along with a score of Beethoven's first symphony. I came across two abbreviations, arco. and ten. What do those stand for?
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In the piece "Melody" from Op. 68 (Schumann) the right hand plays piano while the left hand plays pianissimo. I find it difficult to play different dynamics in different hands. How should I practice ... | <urn:uuid:a1c0eafe-8307-4e27-bfa0-92dbb7ea59f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://music.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/dynamics?sort=votes&pagesize=15 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932883 |
Poor farmers are most vulnerable to climate change
“We used to harvest hundreds of maize sacks, but due to rain scarcity we plant much and end up harvesting almost nothing,” says Dickson Mnyukwa from Chibelela village in Tanzania’s Dodoma district. He supports a family of eight on crops watered only by what falls from the sky. In recent years, he has seen his crops fail repeatedly.
Agriculture is crucial throughout Tanzania and Malawi – for employment, export revenue and food security. As in other parts of Africa, droughts are becoming more frequent and more severe. Both countries depend heavily on rain-fed agriculture, leaving them highly vulnerable to climate extremes and variation.
Even as they face increasingly unreliable growing seasons, farmers in both countries lack access to modern farming methods. They have limited financial means and poor infrastructure. And their success – or lack of it – has nationwide implications for income and food security. Poor communities are particularly vulnerable.
Adapting to uncertainty demands innovation
With climate change, and unchanged farming methods, crop yields are likely to fall. The Institute of Resource Assessment at Tanzania’s University of Dar es Salaam is leading participatory action research to test innovative farming methods to protect rural livelihoods and strengthen agricultural systems. Using trial plots, farmers are testing approaches to the range of possible conditions they may face from season to season. But farmers alone cannot achieve these innovations. Their options depend also on government policies, guidance from agricultural extension services, and the products and pricing of private-sector distributors of seeds, tools and fertilizers.
Decision makers in Tanzania and Malawi recognize that climate change threatens their economies and people, but they are far removed from farmers’ daily lives. The idea of this project is to link farmers and service providers in shared learning. The research helps farmers to use reliable information, and provides training and tools to give them options. The aim is to see stakeholders learn together and then to scale up successful strategies. “This study intends to promote two-way communication, involving all partners and supporting their information and other needs,” says project leader, Amos Majule.
Integrating knowledge and experience at different levels
The research draws on the experience and coping strategies of farming families. It also builds on existing initiatives, including National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPAs) in both countries, which emphasize agriculture and farmers’ livelihood strategies in relation to climate change.
The Nazareti Women’s Group in Chibelela village is among those involved in establishing a farmers’ field school to test modern techniques in water, soil and crop management. “We are participating in the research as local partners,” says Keziya Magawa, Chair of the group. “We discuss with other researchers how we can make agricultural practices more flexible to climate change.” The villagers are noticing changes in Tanzania: “In the past, the rains lasted from November through April, but this year, we experienced only drops of water in February. We planted, but we do not know if we will harvest anything,” says Magawa.
Learning from practical experience
Growing conditions vary widely within Tanzania and Malawi, and this project is working in eight villages in each country, reflecting the range of regional conditions. In the learning plots, farmers, researchers and suppliers test innovations proposed and mutually agreed through participatory planning. In central Tanzania, for example, stakeholders opted to test a range of tillage equipment – from power tillers to ox-drawn ploughs and hoes – and different fertilizers and seed varieties, including drought-tolerant varieties of sorghum and maize.
In Malawi, activities have focused on crop diversification, with crops including improved forms of maize, sweet potato and sorghum. In Mphampha village, rain-fed agriculture proved almost impossible due to a prolonged dry spell during the growing season, so irrigation was added, and may have saved an otherwise lost food supply.
Benedict Mwaluko, an agricultural extension officer in Tanzania’s Dodoma region, credits local farmers for their contributions to informing policies on adaptation: “We hope this research will result in policy change and the adaptation of agricultural systems, since farmers are already responding by providing their lands for field experiments”. | <urn:uuid:762f8a4a-d7e2-4971-904d-110da32095f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.adaptationinafrica.org/testing-new-farming-methods-in-tanzania-and-malawi/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945137 |
Every once in a while it is worth pausing to reconsider certain facts of life that we have almost always taken as given. Particularly because of the conflict over Pakistan’s Legal Framework Order (LFO) recently, there have been numerous ‘liberal’ voices lamenting the subordination of the rule of law by unelected and unaccountable forces.
Those who have protested against General Musharraf’s undermining of the formal democratic process through the LFO amendments have been absolutely right in doing so. After all, it is very difficult to argue that unaccountable military rule is in the best interests of the Pakistani people. But, at the same time, we ought not to be apologetic in revisiting the concepts of law, constitution and the whole Western parliamentary model. It is a shallow reading of history that assumes such concepts are indigenous to this region.
Prior to the arrival of the British in the subcontinent there had never been a formal, centralized administrative state structure in the region. The Moghul Empire, for example, was quite fragmented and facilitated a great deal of local autonomy, in contrast to the vertical linkages the British later created. The unitary state is very much a recent historical construction in the subcontinent, but one that left largely intact a complex web of hierarchical patronage at the local level. The potwari (revenue collector), zamindar (landlord) and a variety of state functionaries became the crucial intermediaries for the British in the colonial era. Many retain their privileged status today because of their ability to regulate the distribution of basic goods and services.
It was in this context that the previously alien concepts of formal legality and private property were introduced into the subcontinent. These institutions were arms of an overarching state that exercised ultimate authority over its citizen-subjects. The colonial state around the world introduced a social contract founded upon the extraction of wealth, and therefore all of its institutions served this purpose in one way or another. So, for example, private property facilitated the massive system of revenue collection, particularly in rural areas, that kept the British exchequer overflowing for over a century. The effects of this on the livelihoods of the majority of subsistence growers across the country were acute, with previously self-sufficient and closed regions exposed to food shortages and the pressures of external markets in a way that would previously have been unimaginable.
The system of jagirdari (feudalism), on the other hand, consolidated the influence of local élite groups that were willing to facilitate colonial extraction, exacerbating parochial caste identities. It is interesting that, in spite of this, Western-influenced leaders of the Indian independence movement, such as Nehru and Jinnah, paid tribute to the Western liberal tradition for awaking India from its ‘backward’ and ‘obsolete’ traditions and customs. A more accurate appraisal of the introduction of the Western liberal tradition to the subcontinent would include mention of the fact that it contributed to mass pauperization, and to the establishment of a centralized state structure largely exempt from accountability to the people of the region.
To be fair, Jinnah and Nehru – among others – also saw colonial rule to be exploitative and intrusive, which explains why they led independence movements. But the crucial question that must be asked is to what extent the political independence from British rule gained by these leaders actually translated into meaningful changes in the lives of ordinary Indians and Pakistanis. In other words, to what extent the systems of exploitation that had developed during British colonization were unravelled by the new independent states.
The answer to this question, unfortunately, is that very little changed. The Pakistani state today operates largely on the basis of the same social contract that characterized colonial rule. The relationship of the state to its subject-citizens is strained at best, because the state continues to extract wealth rather than create it for the benefit of ordinary people. For example, land continues to be conceived of as a means of revenue extraction, rather than a source of livelihood and cultural grounding for the people that live on it. The state regularly employs the colonial Land Acquisiton Act of 1894 to take over land forcibly and displace local communities, often in the name of ‘development’. If such ‘development’ is legitimate, why didn’t we just leave the British in power?
Other colonial laws are still very much in vogue. The 1912 Land Colonization Act, for example, gives incredible powers to the armed forces to occupy land for the purposes of horse and mule breeding. When it was enacted the law catered to the British Indian Army’s imperial purposes. Today the law is far less relevant to the military needs of the armed forces but continues to be used gratuitously by General Head Quarters for the personal benefit of retired officers.
Other natural resources – including forests – that provide the livelihood base of many people are still subject to colonial extractive laws. Property laws are still vested in the so-called liberal tradition but in the context of a colonial state – thereby rendering ‘liberalism’ largely redundant.
In any case, the ‘liberalism’ being considered is Western liberalism, not a tradition that has its roots in local histories. One need only consider the fact that the ordinary Pakistani remains terrified of the prospect of having to interact at even a basic level with any of the institutions of the state – including the thana (police station) and katcheri (court) – to ascertain the actual function of the state in people’s lives. When the law itself is oppressive, who in their right mind would want to seek solace in it?
The relevance of this analysis to the present day is far greater than is typically understood. Consider some contemporary social and political conflicts between the ruling élite and ordinary people, such as those of the landless tenants on state land in Punjab, or katchi abadi dwellers (squatters) ‘trespassing’ on state land across the country. Why is it that we question the legality of those who must surely still be categorized as subjects of an exploitative state, rather than question the legitimacy of the state itself? How can we possibly trust the courts to dispense justice when they have proven time and again that they are far more committed to preserving the inordinate power vested in the state?
If the questions that our ‘liberals’ ask are limited only to how to restore the rule of law, then they are subscribing not only to a social contract that gives licence to the state to engage in exploitative relations with citizens, but also to a global social contract in which exploitation is enshrined in ‘legal’ codes, such as those of the United Nations system. Just as the post-colonial state in Pakistan is hardly different from its colonial predecessor, so the international system is neo-colonial in nature, with the US empire leading the line.
It is the fact that a very small élite in this country took over the reigns of power from the British in 1947 that has ensured that we have remained economically dependent on the imperial countries of the West. Our own home-grown radical thinkers, such as the late Hamza Alawi, have pointed out time and again that we must face up to all of these realities and then accurately identify meaningful responses. But intellectual honesty is hard to come by these days.
When the law itself is oppressive, who in their right mind would want to seek solace in it?
It is a great tragedy that the political élite in Pakistan, as represented by our mainstream political parties, has never truly attempted to challenge the domination of the state élite. If anything, our mainstream parties have taken turns to secure a small share of the pie that the state élite – primarily the military – has always controlled. Indeed, many of our parties are composed of élite interest groups, including the old landed class, the nouveau-riche industrial class and the religious clergy, all of whom are typically as threatened by the prospect of an overhaul of the post-colonial state as the state élite itself.
That being said, there can be no doubt that opposition to the LFO is the immediate political battle of our times. This is because the military is the main pillar of the authoritarian state. There can be no recourse from the institutions of the state until and unless they are separated from the interests of the military. It matters little why, for example, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of Benazir Bhutto or the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) of Nawaz Sharif are still standing firm against the LFO – just that they continue to stand firm. Their past histories in terms of collaboration with the military are not reassuring. Nonetheless, it is never too late to oppose the establishment.
It cannot be assumed that the nature of the state will be altered if and when the military is banished from the central role it currently occupies. The future of the Pakistani state lies very much in the hands of Pakistani society. ‘Liberal’ thinkers notwithstanding, there is very little hope or legitimacy associated with the prevailing social contract. If it is accepted that the process of decolonization is an ongoing one, there is at least some hope that we will take the necessary, if often painful, steps toward freedom.
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From Classic Encyclopedia 1911
SANGALLO, the surname of a Florentine family, several members of which became distinguished in the fine arts. I. Giuliano Di Sangallo (1445-1516) was an architect, sculptor, tarsiatore and military engineer. His father, Francesco di Paolo Giamberti, was also an able architect, much employed by Cosimo de' Medici. During the early part of his life Giuliano worked chiefly for Lorenzo the Magnificent, for whom he built a fine palace at Poggio-a-Cajano, begun in 1485, between Florence and Pistoia, and strengthened the fortifications of Florence, Castellana and other places. Lorenzo also employed him to build a monastery of Austin Friars outside the Florentine gate of San Gallo, a nobly designed structure, which was destroyed during the siege of Florence in 1530. It was from this building that Giuliano received the name of Sangallo, which was afterwards used by so many Italian architects. While still in the pay of Lorenzo, Giuliano visited Naples, and worked there for the king, who sent him back to Florence with many handsome presents of money, plate and antique sculpture, the last of which Giuliano presented to his patron Lorenzo. After Lorenzo's death in 1492, Giuliano visited Loreto, and built the dome of the church of the Madonna, in spite of serious difficulties arising from its defective piers, which were already built. In order to gain strength by means of a strong cement, Giuliano built his dome with pozzolana brought from Rome. Soon after this, at the invitation of Pope Alexander VI., Giuliano went to Rome, and designed the fine panelled ceiling of S. Maria Maggiore. He was also largely employed by Julius II., both for fortification walls round the castle of S. Angelo, and also to build a palace adjoining the church of S. Pietro in Vincoli, of which Julius had been titular cardinal. Giuliano was much disappointed that Bramante was preferred to himself as architect for the new basilica of St Peter, and this led to his returning to Florence, where he did much service as a military engineer and builder of fortressses during the war between Florence and Pisa. Soon after this Giuliano was recalled to Rome by Julius II., who had much need for his military talents both in Rome itself and also during his attack upon Bologna. For about eighteen months in1514-1515Giuliano acted as joint-architect to St Peter's together with Raphael, but owing to age and ill-health he resigned this office about two years before his death.
II. Antonio Di Sangallo (1 455 ? - 1 534) was the younger brother of Giuliano, and took from him the name of Sangallo. To a great extent he worked in partnership with his brother, but he also executed a number of independent works. As a military engineer he was as skilful as Giuliano, and carried out important works of walling and building fortresses at Arezzo, Montefiascone, Florence and Rome. His finest existing work as an architect is the church of S. Biagio at Montepulciano, in plan a Greek cross with central dome and two towers, much resembling, on a small scale, Bramante's design for St Peter's. He also built a palace in the same city, various churches and palaces at Monte Sansavino, and at Florence a range of monastic buildings for the Servite monks. Antonio retired early from the practice of his profession, and spent his latter years in farming.
III. Francesco Di Sangallo (1493-1570), the son of Giuliano di Sangallo, was a pupil of Andrea Sansovino, and worked chiefly as a sculptor. His works have for the most part but little merit - the finest being his noble effigy of Bishop Leonardo Bonafede, which lies on the pavement of the church of the Certosa, near Florence. It is simply treated, with many traces of the better taste of the 15th century. His other chief existing work is the group of the "Virgin and Child and St Anne," executed in 1526 for the altar of Or San Michele.
IV. Bastiano Di Sangallo (1481-1551), sculptor and painter, was a nephew of Giuliano and Antonio. He is usually known as Aristotile, a nickname he received from his air of sententious gravity. He was at first a pupil of Perugino, but afterwards became a follower of Michelangelo.
V. Antonio Di Sangallo, the younger (1485?-1546), another nephew of Giuliano, went while very young to Rome, and became a pupil of Bramante, of whose style he was afterwards a close follower. He lived and worked in Rome during the greater part of his life, and was much employed by several of the popes. His most perfect existing work is the brick and travertine church of S. Maria di Loreto, close by Trajan's column, a building remarkable for the great beauty of its proportions, and its noble effect produced with much simplicity. The lower order is square in plan, the next octagonal; and the whole is surmounted by a fine dome and lofty lantern. The lantern is, however, a later addition. The interior is very impressive, considering its very moderate size. Antonio also carried out the lofty and welldesigned church of S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini, which had been begun by Jacobo Sansovino. The east end of this church rises in a very stately way out of the bed of the Tiber, near the bridge of S. Angelo; the west end has been ruined by the addition of a later facade, but the interior is a noble example of a somewhat dull style. Great skill was shown in successfully building this large church, partly on the solid ground of the bank and partly on the shifting sand of the river bed. Antonio also built the Cappella Paolina and other parts of the Vatican, together with additions to the walls and forts of the Leonine City. His most ornate work is the lower part of the cortile of the Farnese palace, afterwards completed by Michelangelo, a very rich and wellproportioned specimen of the then favourite design, a series of arches between engaged columns supporting an entablature, an arrangement taken from the outside of the Colosseum. A palace in the Via Giulia built for himself still exists under the name of the Palazzo Sacchetti, much injured by alterations. Antonio also constructed the very deep and ingenious rock-cut well at Orvieto, formed with a double spiral staircase, like the well of Saladin in the citadel of Cairo.
See Raviolo, Notizie sui lavori ... dei nove Da San Gallo (Rome, 1860); G. Clausse, Les Sangallo (Paris, 1900-1901). (J. H. M.)
John Sanger >> | <urn:uuid:798a3cb5-ae64-4823-a764-026b984615b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Sangallo | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981953 |
A modern dictionary of Catholic terms, both common and obscure. Find accurate definitions of words and phrases.
A free act in which a person agrees to do, accept, or reject something. commonly distinguished from assent, which properly belongs in the mind. consent of the will may be partial or total, and only when total, or complete, is a person held fully responsible for is or her actions. Thus it requires full consent for a gravely wrong action to become a mortal sin. (Etym. Latin consentire, to agree to.)
All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission. | <urn:uuid:947bb3ab-2f77-4a63-8b03-b4ed039889fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/dictionary/index.cfm?id=32765 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932106 |
Not enough evidence for bladder cancer screening
Bladder tumors that do reach underlying muscle, or spread beyond the bladder, have a worse prognosis. But there's no way to tell from current urine tests. (Damian Dovarganes/AP File Photo)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - There is not enough evidence to support routine screening tests for bladder cancer, according to new U.S. recommendations.
Several urine tests can detect bladder cancer, a disease that will kill an estimated 15,000 Americans this year. The tests are usually reserved for people with possible symptoms of bladder cancer -- and not for screening symptom-free people.
There is no evidence yet that looking for bladder cancer in people who have no symptoms of it will cut death rates from the disease, the task force says.
And it's not clear that any benefits of routine screening would outweigh the risks -- which include false-positive results that lead to needless invasive testing, costs and anxiety.
"This is an area where we just don't have much evidence," said Dr. David Grossman, a member of the USPSTF panel and a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute in Seattle.
"We need to know a lot more about the potential benefits versus the risks," Grossman told Reuters Health.
Among the questions on bladder cancer screening are such big ones as, how accurate are urine tests in people without symptoms of the cancer?
Research suggests that the tests may have a high rate of false-positive results -- in other words, they can mistakenly say a person has bladder cancer. That may lead to an unnecessary invasive procedure that carries some risk of complications -- like perforation of the bladder, bleeding or infection.
It's also unclear whether treating early bladder tumors detected by screening actually saves lives, according to the
And that, Grossman said, is the "key most important question."
"The issue isn't detecting cancer. It's bladder cancer deaths that we care about," he said.
One of the problems is that screening for bladder cancer could pick up "trivial lesions" that would never have done any harm, Grossman explained.
Treating those tumors would not lengthen a person's life, but could cause side effects. Surgery to remove a small tumor can, like invasive tests, perforate the bladder or cause internal bleeding.
And as it stands, even without routine screening, the majority of bladder cancers are still confined to the lining of the bladder when they are diagnosed.
At that point, the disease is highly curable -- with a five-year survival rate of 88 percent or higher, according to the American Cancer Society.
Bladder tumors that do reach underlying muscle, or spread beyond the bladder, have a worse prognosis. But there's no way to tell from current urine tests which tumors are likely to be aggressive and spread, according to the USPSTF.
All that said, bladder cancer screening is still an individual decision, Grossman said. Someone at high risk of the cancer -- because he is a smoker with a family history of the disease, for example -- might want to discuss screening with his doctor.
But even then, Grossman said, that person should be aware of the limits and risks of screening.
If people want to lower their odds of dying from bladder cancer, then the best move may be to quit smoking -- or preferably never start.
"Smoking is an important cause of bladder cancer," Grossman said. "And we do have evidence of benefits from stopping smoking."
He also stressed that, by definition, screening refers to testing people who are symptom-free. People with possible symptoms of bladder cancer -- such as blood in the urine, or frequent or painful urination -- should talk with their doctor.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/oIUoBM Annals of Internal Medicine, August 16, 2011. | <urn:uuid:892d989f-1620-4d4e-98fb-e4d2b8c14510> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ctnow.com/health/sns-rt-us-bladder-cancer-screeningtre20110816,0,1980055.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959123 |
- Category: Self Development
- Last Modified: 19 July 2012
No one can emphasize enough the importance of brain development in early childhood education. Today’s developing technology and research have allowed us to learn more about the brain, how it works and the critical periods for its development. We now know that through research conducted with rats’ brains that an enriched environment actually increases brain size (Diamond and Hopson, 1998). There is a new growing interest in developmental neuropsychology, or research in brain development.
It has been discovered that the first six years of one’s life is significant for the brain to develop fully. Most importantly Montessori’s vision applies to brain development. There is new research that coincides with the discovery that the foundation of neural structures in the frontal lobes of the human brain isn’t fully developed until approximately the age of twenty-four. This states that the brain continually develops and that adults and parents who provide the immediate environment of the child can do something to make this experience positive. In order to achieve this full potential a human being needs interaction with the immediate environment and sensorial awareness. This is evident with the child’s growing independence, coordinated movements, language and developed will (Lillard and Jessen, 2003).
So now the question therefore is “how do we best help children achieve the full potential of development of the brain?” There are several ways to achieve this according to Diamond and Hopson. They define an enriched environment as one that includes a steady source of environmental support, nutritious diet, stimulates all senses, atmosphere free from stress and enjoyable, challenging, allows social interaction, promotes development, and gives the child a chance to assess the results of their actions, all in all allows the child to be an active participant rather than a passive observer (Diamond and Hopson, 1998).
This idea is reflected in what Montessori perceives to be a prepared environment. The prepared environment allows the link for a child to reach into his world. Montessori defines a prepared environment to consider the specific needs of the child with concerns to their age of development, it is provides the child what they need in order to live such as physical and emotional security, it should be aesthetically pleasing and inviting this includes hygiene and appropriate furniture, and it has to have order and should reflect the interest adult has with the child. These are her main ideas but she also mentions that the environment has to allow freedom of choice, allows the child to act independently, and allows the child to learn to take responsibility for his actions. What Diamond and Hopson defines as an enriched environment to stimulate brain development is similar to the prepared environment by Montessori.
To become an active participant what better way to involve children than movement. Movement is now realized to be helpful and even essential for increasing learning, develop creative thought and a high level of reasoning (Hannaford). Movement has been said to improve the brain functions by improving the interconnections between the two brain hemispheres. We know that the left side of the brain controls the right side of your body, so when you move the opposite are and leg you are stimulating your brain to develop more neural pathways that ultimately help the brain function better. Movement has also been discovered to strengthen the basal ganglia, cerebellum (coordinates muscle contraction), and corpus collosum (a fibrous bundle of axons connecting the 2 brain hemispheres. It also increases the production of neurotrophins, the natural neural growth factor between the two brain hemispheres (Lyons) and increase myelination. Myelination is an important process for brain development as it helps with better brain function. First of all, myelin is the brain fat that wraps around the axon and helps transmit electrical pulses. It is also found to be responsible for the tripling of brain weight after birth. As the myelin layer gets thicker the faster the transmission of information within the body and therefore improve brain functions. (Diamond and Hopson, 1998).
One of the methods that is fairly new that may help improve a child’s brain development is through movement with the science of educational Kinesiology. Educational kinesiology (Edu-K) is defined as “the study and application of exercises that activate the brain for optimal storage and retrieval of information”. It focuses on the “educational model”, the model of “drawing out through movement” (Lyons). One of the developed programs from that study is called brain gym. Brain Gym is a registered trademark for educational sensorimotor program development by an expert in child motor development, Paul E. Dennison, PhD. It consists of simple movements similar to the movements that children naturally do during the first three years of life. Yet the most help that brain gym can offer is that it helps lay the foundation for lifelong learning in young children as it has been scientifically proven that laterality skills help children learn, read and write and even speak (BrainGym.com).
Some examples or the principles behind the Brain Gym exercises are:
a. Crossing the midline of the body. Examples are cross crawl or any arm and leg movement that will cross to the other side of the body. Painting with and easel, dish-washing activity and window washing are activities that allow the midline to be crossed found in the Montessori classroom.
b. Lengthening activities or stretches. Most effective stretches are one that extends all extremities.
c. Energy Exercises. This might just be as simple as deep breathing, and activating the body through touch/caressing just by sliding the hands through the body or even tapping your fingers all throughout from the top of the head to ones feet.
d. Double doodles. This is drawing with pens using both hands and drawing mirror images from the middle of the paper. The benefits can include fun and easy learning, aid with literacy, improved gross and fine motor skills, increased self-confidence better communication and body awareness.
With the study of early childhood one always tries to find the best ways to stimulate the development in children. One area that remained a puzzle in the past was brain development. With the current interest and research, understanding of brain development has broadened and ways to concretely help this phenomenon has been developed.
One of the many facets for development, found in movement, have been revitalized and found ways to also help brain development in children. Movement is important and it can help a child build a good foundation for learning. | <urn:uuid:33339368-078a-4701-96ca-4d004f6b34b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailymontessori.com/self-development/children-brain-development/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950968 |
- Equation SolverFactoring CalculatorDerivative Calculator
The chain rule allows us to differentiate a function that contains another function. What does that mean? Let's start with an example:
We just took the derivative with respect to x by following the most basic differentiation rules. The function f(x) is simple to differentiate because it is a simple polynomial. But, what if we have something more complicated?
This is where we use the chain rule, which is defined below:
But what does that really mean???
The chain rule says that if one function depends on another, and can be written as a "function of a function", then the derivative takes the form of the derivative of the whole function times the derivative of the inner function. That probably just sounded more complicated than the formula!
Let's see how that applies to the example I gave above.
I took the inner contents of the function and redefined that as g(x). Now the original function, F(x), is a function of a function! See how it works? Now when we differentiate each part, we can find the derivative of F(x):
Finding g(x) was pretty straightforward since we can easily see from the last equations that it equals 4x+4. But how did we find f'(x)? Well, we found out that f(x) is x^3. The derivative, f'(x), is simply 3x^2, then. Since, in this case, we're interested in f(g(x)), we just plug in (4x+4) to find that f'(g(x)) equals 3(g(x))^2.
So what's the final answer? Remember what the chain rule says:
We already found f'(g(x)) and g'(x) above. Multiply them together:
That was REALLY COMPLICATED!! Well, not really. Here's the "short answer" for what I just did. I pretended like the part inside the parentheses was just an unknown chunk. Then I differentiated like normal and multiplied the result by the derivative of that chunk!
This lesson is still in progress... check back soon! | <urn:uuid:28aef7f2-e3b5-4bab-b604-8eebe907303c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.freemathhelp.com/chain-rule.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934408 |
Caring for Your Parents: Diagnosing Dementia
ANCHORAGE - A diagnosis of Alzheimer's is a frightening thing and something most of us hope we will never hear. But the truth is, if we live long enough, the odds are pretty good that we may get some form of dementia.
Susan Barrickman knows all too well what it means to live with the fear of Alzheimer's. She’s been worried most of her adult life that she carries the genes for a rare inherited form of the disease that has devastated five generations of her family.
Barrickman has lost two of her siblings, her father and dozens more in the generations before him.
Researchers say the genetic form of the disease the family has is very rare, only about 1 percent of all Alzheimer's cases. But they also say if we live long enough, many more of us could be at risk.
“The truth of the matter is, the biggest risk factor is just aging,” says neurologist Franklin Ellenson. “If you live to be 85, there’s about a 50 percent chance that you are going to have Alzheimer's disease.”
An MRI can rule out other possibilities like a stroke or a tumor. The scan will show areas of the brain that have shrunk or “atrophied,” another tell-tale sign. Ellenson says a patient’s recent history is critical for a diagnosis. Significant memory loss combined with an inability to perform tasks that were once routine.
“For example, you pay the electric bill two or three times. Or you put the stamp on the envelope and never mail it. You have four steps to make a meal and you leave it in the oven and burn your food. It has to be more than just being forgetful, you have to have other cognitive issues as well.”
But while Ellenson says doctors can do a good job of diagnosing Alzheimer's, treating it is a different story. He’s hoping that will change in the future.
“I believe in the next few decades there are going to be therapies we can’t even imagine or are just starting to imagine now. But for right now I try to encourage patients and their family members to increase their quality of life at this point, and not worry about things they can’t control.”
As for Susan Barrickman, she recently learned that she does not carry the gene for inherited Alzheimer's.
She says it was a huge relief for her but also for her children because it means they don’t have it either. Her niece however is still at risk and won’t find out what her future holds until she’s in her mid-40s.
Find all of KTVA's Caring for Your Parents installments by clicking here. | <urn:uuid:60274340-b722-473c-941b-39bcbbbf98b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ktva.com/home/outbound-xml-feeds/Caring-for-Your-Parents-Diagnosing-Dementia-179122401.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966337 |
The basics of Minecraft Servers & Hosting Minecraft.
What are Minecraft Servers? Minecraft Servers are basically big computers that have fast internet connections that are running Minecraft, and you can connect to them and PLAY Minecraft with your friends! Now you have a choice, this can either be your own computer (run your own Minecraft server) OR you can pay for someone else to do all the dirty work (buy server hosting)
To get started on 3rd party hosting, check out our review of the best hosts who are out there –>minecraft server hosting review here<<–
Should I run my own Minecraft server from home?
Even though it is possible (and well, quite fun… for those computer nerds among us) to host your Minecraft Server from your own PC, over time this can cause more headaches than you originally thought.
First of all, running a Minecraft server from your home PC will be extremely draining on your system resources. Even though most new computers running Windows 7 or Vista come with high speed multi-core CPUs and enough RAM (memory) to run a game server, the situation will probably be different once a active Minecraft server starts chewing up your resources. Plus the additional internet bandwidth you require is likely to be a big bottleneck.
On top of this, you have to conisder that you will be dedicating your machine to one purpose, being a Minecraft server. This means that you won?t be able to PLAY Minecraft on your own server, as your CPU % and RAM are already being chewed up (as mentioned earlier)! Sitting there and monitoring the server while your friends play Minecraft doesn’t sound like as much fun now does it??It also means that you won?t be able to use your PC (now a Minecraft server) for a lot of the other tasks you are used to. As we said before, consider that if there are other people (family members, room-mates, work colleagues) sharing the same Internet connection, they are probably going to come looking for you wondering why the Internet is so slow! (Answer: because your friends are building giant replicas of the Eiffel Tower!)
The other key factor is that if you were running your own server, you would need to keep it turned on and connected to the Internet 24/7, to let people connect and play when they wanted. If your server is turned off or your Internet connection is down, that means no Minecraft! (and you would be getting a lot of angry phone calls from your friends asking you to switch the server on!) Other things like residential internet outages, having to restart your computer and Windows shut-downs can affect your server up-time.
Another final factor to consider is that setting up a Minecraft server is like setting up any web server or multiplayer game server. If you haven?t set one up before, you will need to have a lot of patience and a good understanding of your own TCP/IP network, how to set port-forwarding on your router, allowing traffic through your firewall, modifying your anti-virus settings, and so on.
All of these things can lead to frustration, which is why we ultimately recommend going with a Minecraft hosting solution, after all wouldn?t you rather spend your time building an awesome world with your friends and enjoying Minecraft? That Eiffel Tower replica isn’t going to build itself!
Having said that, if you are REALLY committed to hosting your own Minecraft server, here is a guideline for minimum PC requirements
Starters: 4 player Multiplayer game
- RAM: 500MB minimum
- Internet connection: ADSL or better
Intermediate: 16 players
- RAM : 2GB
- Internet connection: ADSL2+ or better
Hosting on a dedicated or shared Minecraft server
So then what are the advantages when we are looking at purchasing a hosting package?
- The server is designed to be high powered, with heaps of spare CPU and RAM. You don?t have to worry about your own machine lagging!
- The server has a super-fast always-on Internet connection. This means no downtime, so you and your friends can always play 24/7. Most of the servers we recommend achieve a 99%+ uptime statistic!
- You don?t have to worry about leaving your own machine open to incoming connections from around the world as people connect onto your server to play Minecraft. (A potential security risk)
- Choice of host, choice of price and features
Making the right choice
When looking through all of your choices for hosting packages, there are a few key things to consider.
- Server specifications and data limits
- Dedicated or shared server
- Customer support
- Server location
This is where we come in to help you discover what is the best Minecraft server hosting package for you.
When looking at features, you will be considering things like,
- Does it have a built in server control panel?
- What add on packages can I run?
- And so on.
When considering location, think about the geographic location of the hosting company?s servers. ?If you are in the United States and your server is located in Europe, this will add unnecessary lag-time to your game. Obviously when people from all over the world are joining your game, then it will be hard to find a location close to everyone, but naturally you should lean towards a server provider that is in a geographic location close to you and where most of your Minecraft buddies will be playing from.
The difference between a dedicated and a shared server is quite simply, a shared server means that you will be sharing the same PHYSICAL server with other customers who have purchased hosting, but you will have a ?virtual server? or part of the server resources dedicated to your Minecraft games. So if the 1 physical server has 32GB of RAM and 2TB of Hard disk space, you may be allocated 8GB of RAM and 400GB of data, as well as a portion of bandwidth.
A dedicated server means that you?re paying the hosting company for the exclusive use of a physical server, to be dedicated to hosting your Minecraft games. This is a premium service that will be more expensive, and for those who are planning on hosting much larger Minecraft communities.
Customer Support is a vastly under-rated factor when it comes to choosing a hosting provider. The support can take the form of live chat, a 24 hour phone service, server alerts, basic guides to help you manage your server, and online FAQs which give you a rundown of common questions. Even if you think you won?t need support, there will always be random things popping up, like forgetting passwords, needing to recover your server after installing mods, banning troublesome players, etc.
So where should you look?
To get started, let us recommend a few great hosting companies that we also use ourselves!
FragNET has a number of options with the basic package starting at $13.22 a month. This offers you shared hosting with 536MB and a 12 player limit. The other great feature is that you have access to the MCMyAdmin server configuration panel, which is a super easy user friendly server manager that has become a common standard on Minecraft servers. The servers are hosted on AMD Opteron 8 Core Processors and have a very good track record with providing quality service and support.
Good luck, and watch out for friggin creepers! | <urn:uuid:c093356f-f3cc-45d2-9548-ab03b37be7c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bestminecrafthosts.co/a-newbies-guide-to-minecraft-server-hosting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947059 |
Life in America: Identity and Everyday Experience is a fascinating collection of readings that explores how people negotiate identity in the United States today. Brings together readings that provide a thoroughly engaging and fascinating look at central issues of identity and what it means to be American. Explores the tension between identity and identification to help readers begin to understand how people creatively confront the perks and perils of identity in the United States. Offers a look at a wide range of subjects including: violence and video games, queer pilgrimages to San Francisco, Filipina critiques of "sleeping around," and the significance of "lowriders" in Hispano/Chicano culture.
Lee D. Baker explores what racial categories mean to the American public and how these meanings are reinforced by anthropology, popular culture, and the law. Focusing on the period between two landmark Supreme Court decisions-- Plessy v. Ferguson (the so-called "separate but equal" doctrine established in 1896) and Brown v. Board of Education (the public school desegregation decision of 1954)--Baker shows how racial categories change over time. Baker paints a vivid picture of the relationships between specific African American and white scholars, who orchestrated a paradigm shift within the social sciences from ideas based on Social Darwinism to those based on cultural relativism. He demonstrates that the greatest impact on the way the law codifies racial differences has been made by organizations such as the NAACP, which skillfully appropriated the new social science to exploit the politics of the Cold War.
2001 Response to 'Philosophical Aspects of the "AAA Statement on 'Race' " Anthropological Theory Vol. 1(4)467- 471.
2001 Profit, Power, and Privilege: The Racial Politics of Ancestry. Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, & Soceity 3(4):66-72.
1999 Columbia University's Franz Boas: He Led the Undoing of Scientific Racism Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. Vol. 22 (Winter):89-96.
1998 Unraveling the Boasian Discourse: The Racial Politics of "Culture" in School Desegregation, 1944-1954. Transforming Anthropology 7:(1)15-32.
Baker, Lee D. and Thomas C. Patterson 1994 Race, Racism, and the History of U.S. Anthropology. Transforming Anthropology (5)1:1-7.
2009 The Location of Franz Boas within the African-American Struggle. In Franz Boas: Kultur, Sprache, Rasse. Friedrich Pöhl & Bernhard Tilg, eds. Pp. 111-129. Wege einer antirassistischen Anthropologie, Wien, LIT Verlag.
2009 Saggin’ and Braggin’ In Anthropology Off the Shelf: Anthropologists on Writing. Alisse Waterston & Maria Vesperi, eds. Pp. 46-59 London: Wiley-Blackwell
2003 Review of Delimiting Anthropology: Occasional Inquiries and Reflections. George W. Stocking, Jr. Journal of Anthropological Research 59:252-253.
2000 Review of African-American Pioneers in Anthropology, edited Faye V. Harrison and Ira E. Harrison. American Anthropologist 102(2):368-370.
1999 Review of The Roots of African American Identity: Memory and History in Free Antebellum Communities, by Elizabeth Rauh Bethel. Social Forces 78(1)372-374.
1996 Review of Rethinking Race: Franz Boaz and His Contemporaries, by Vernon J. Williams, Jr. American Journal of Sociology 102(3):909-910.
2003 Affirmative Action and Anthropological Research. Anthropology News (October) 44(7):8. | <urn:uuid:34e03973-1afd-4f5f-a55c-f3d8ab08de78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://culturalanthropology.duke.edu/people?subpage=publications&Gurl=%2Faas%2FCA&Uil=ldbaker | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.823423 |
(Submitted Apil 23, 2007)
How far away is the furthest known galaxy?
The most distant galaxy known today is called IOK-1, with a redshift of
6.964 which puts it about 12.88 billion light years away from earth.
Here is more information:
A galaxy called Abell 1835 IR1916 was found in 2004 and was originally
thought to be at redshift 10, or about 13.18 billion light years away,
but subsequent attempts to confirm the observation did not see the same
Here is the original report:
And here is a recent paper that discusses the attempts to confirm
the original observation:
Jay and Jeff
for Ask an Astrophysicist | <urn:uuid:43f13c12-5942-4f5e-9c55-cd75c2a3d56e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/070423a.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901334 |
Ewa, Lechman (2010): Digital divide – inequalities in level of implementation of new information and telecommunication technologies. Cross country study. Published in: Actas de la XII Reunión de la Economía Mundial, [Actas de la SEM] (May 2010)
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In the paper presented, the author considers few aspects of the so-called “digital divide”. It is easily noticeable worldwide, that new information and communication technologies (ICTs) “possess” a great ability to spread, at high pace, among countries from all around the world. At the same time, we can see that ICTs are being implemented at different pace in difference economies. Different pace of ICTs implementation generates significant inequalities in level of usage and application of these technologies in different countries. The main purpose of the paper is to assess magnitude of existing digital divides among countries, which can partly explain existing inequalities in use and application of ICTs. The author will apply relevant methodology – taken from basic taxonomy methodology – to measure the digital divides among economies. All countries where necessary data is available and reliable will be included in the study.
|Item Type:||MPRA Paper|
|Original Title:||Digital divide – inequalities in level of implementation of new information and telecommunication technologies. Cross country study.|
|English Title:||Digital divide – inequalities in level of implementation of new information and telecommunication technologies. Cross country study.|
|Keywords:||ICTs, digital inequality, didital divide, metrics|
|Subjects:||O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O11 - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Technological Change; Research and Development; Intellectual Property Rights > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
|Depositing User:||Ewa Lechman|
|Date Deposited:||20. Mar 2012 14:08|
|Last Modified:||22. Feb 2013 21:36|
Antonelli C. (2003), The digital divide: understanding the economics of new information and communication technology in the global economy; Information Economics and Policy, 15 pp. 173-199
Dasgupta S., Lall S. (2005), Wheeler D., Policy reform, economic growth and the digital divide, Oxford Development Studies, Vol.33, No.2 June, pp. 229-243
Day B.A. (2003), Digital divide/Digital opportunity, Applied Environmental Education and Communication, 2:131-132.
DiMaggio P., Hargittai E., (2001), From the digital ,divide to digital inequality: studying Internet users as penetration increases, Working Paper 15, Centre for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, Woodrow Wilson School, Princton University, New Jersey.
Dewan S., Riggins F.J. (2005), The digital divide: current and future research direction, Journal of the Association for Information System.
Hargittai E., (1999), Weaving the Western Web: explaining differences in Internet connectivity among OECD countries, Telecommunication Policy, (23)10-11, pp.701-718.
Husing T., Selhofer H. (2004), DIDIX: a Digital Divide Index for measuring inequality in IT diffusion, IT&Society, Vol. 1, Issue &, Spring/Summer 2004, pp.21-38
James J. (2008), Digital divide complacency: misconceptions and dangers, The Information Society, 24: 54-61.
Kauffman R.J., Techatassanasoontorn A.A. (2005), Is tere a global Digital divide for digital wireless phone technologies?, Journal of the Association for Information Systems. Special Issue. Vol. 6, No. 12, Dec 2005, pp.338-382.
Kraemer K., Gibbs J., Dedrick J., (2002), Environmental and policy factors shaping e-commerce diffusion: a cross country comparison, Proceedings of the twenty-third International Conference on Information Systems, Barcelona, Spain.
Lucas H.C., Sylia R. (2003), The global impact of the Internet: widening the economic gap between wealthy and poor nations?; Prometheus, Vol. 21, No. 1 Measuring the Information Society 2010”, Information Telecommunication Union”, Geneva 2010.
Measuring the Information Society 2009. ICT Development Index, Information Telecommunication Union, Geneva 2009.
Tellis G., Stremershen S., Yin E. (2003), The international takeoff of new products: the role of economics, culture and country innovativeness, Marketing Science (22)2, pp.188-208.
Tichenor, P., C.O`Lien and G. Donohue, (1970), ‘Mass media flow and differential growth in knowledge’, Public Opinion Quarterly, 34, http://poq.oxfordjournals.org/, accessed: 10 Feb 2009. The Global Information Technology Report 2001-2002, World Economic Forum, Geneva, 2002.
The Global Information Technology Report 2008-2009, World Economic Forum, Geneva, 2009. | <urn:uuid:0fadbb4c-91e2-44e4-a619-6803001228e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/37483/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.722698 |
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Given the high concentration of poison found at the site of the historic trees at Auburn University, experts say the trees are not likely to survive.
Soil samples were taken to Mississippi State University for testing.
Auburn University said in a statement Wednesday that a herbicide commonly used to kill trees was applied “in lethal amounts” to the soil around the two trees. Auburn discovered the poisoning after taking soil samples on Jan. 28, a day after a man called a syndicated radio show based in Birmingham saying he had used herbicide on the trees.
Dr. David Shaw, vice president of research and economic development at MSU said the herbicide used on the trees was Tebuthiuron, or Spike 80DF, labeled for use to control oaks and many other shrub and tree species.
Shaw said it is safe for humans but very potent on species such as oaks, and was fairly easy to detect.
He said the herbicide is readily available for certified pesticide applicators.
Shaw said the trees will begin showing symptomology after the leaves begin emerging.
Given the high concentrations of herbicide found Shaw is not optimistic that the trees will survive.
“Over a period of a few weeks this will worsen and ultimately they will die,” Shaw said.
In addition, Shaw said Auburn University will have to either plant species that are tolerant to the herbicide or excavate the soil and replace it with uncontaminated soil. | <urn:uuid:53c0e0fa-b3b9-417b-b7b7-6eba43f696a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.starkvilledailynews.com/node/4626?quicktabs_4=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949647 |
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Take One is a dynamic new cultural learning programme that enables museums and their local schools to work together to provide engaging learning experiences for pupils.
Take One develops the National Gallery’s Take One Picture model into an education programme for primary and secondary schools, using a single picture, object, document or site as a rich resource for cross-curricular learning.
Where possible students explore an object with local significance to increase their identity with, and understanding of, their local area.
Managed by the National Gallery, Take One demonstrates how effectively historic collections can be used to promote engagement and creativity.
The Jewish Museum is working in partnership with local schools to facilitate engaging cross-curricular learning experiences.
Each Take One project might involve one class, year group or the whole school. This might be a day of events, a week, a half term or a full term.
The Jewish Museum provides professional development for local teachers.
At the end of the project, pupils’ achievements are celebrated through an exhibition or event.
Throughout the process museum staff, teachers and pupils develop shared learning through collaborative working – which is at the heart of Take One
Look out for Take One training days for teachers at the Jewish Museum | <urn:uuid:d395a874-44f2-49a1-8797-5b40b39152d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jewishmuseum.org.uk/take-one | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919187 |
Climate Crisis Solution #57: Catch the Rain
If one million Americans used rain barrels, they could collect enough water for the daily usage of one million people. Many regions can't handle the rain they get already. Storm water washing off roads and roofs crashes into streams with such force that it rips out banks, riverbeds, and infrastructure. Storm water can do double damage. Instead of soaking into the ground, where it recharges rivers and lakes, high levels of dirty, high-impact storm water can rush across the surface and spread pollutants. The solution is delightfully low-tech: slow the water down so that it can soak into the ground, or collect it in rain barrels and reuse to irrigate lawns and gardens. How to slow it down? Replace large concrete or asphalt areas with paving or bricks with space between for water drainage, or remove the central part of your driveway (keep the asphalt only for the tire tracks). You can also use porous asphalt or permeable concrete. Here are some ideas for more ways to reduce stormwater runoff. And here are step by step instructions on how to make your own rain barrel! | <urn:uuid:56956f68-0b2a-4291-ab9d-fa0e70ab7daf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://liveearth.org/sv/node/2872 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920953 |
Beowulf: A New Translation For Oral Delivery
To access or cite this collection:http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Literature.RinglBeowulf
About This Work
Beowulf is the oldest narrative poem in the English language, embodying historical traditions that go back to actual events and personages in fifth- and sixth-century Scandinavia. During the long preliterate centuries when these traditions were transmitted in the form of oral poetry, they were combined with with a number of legendary and folktale elements (among these are Grendel and his mother, the dragon, and probably the hero Beowulf himself). The written text of the poem, as we have it today, took shape in England during the middle or late Anglo-Saxon period and survives in a single manuscript from around the year 1000.
The work did not become known to the modern world until the earliest editions of the Old English text---and the first Modern English translations---were published in the the early 19th century. Since then it has been recognized as a masterpiece that tells an exciting story in an interesting way. Readers have been fascinated by its consistent high seriousness; the width and depth of its vision of life; its challenging and unfamiliar forms of narrative patterning; its wide range of tones and styles; its vivid presentation (and sometimes critique) of the culture and values of heroic society; and its fundamentally religious theory of life and of the importance of generosity, loyalty and virtuous action in a world of warfare, uncertainty and flux.
Beowulf has been translated into Modern English many times. In general translators try to reproduce one or more of its features or qualities at the expense of others. The present translation, while remaining reasonably faithful to the sense of the original, attempts to imitate its acoustic features--its rhythm, meter and alliteration--more closely than other translations.
Photo © Susan Brantly. Used with permission.
The translation is intended for "oral delivery," that is, to be read or recited aloud. Accordingly this work includes an audio stream in which the translator provides a reading of his version of the poem. This reading is meant to model metrical and rhetorical features of the translation, not to lay down the law about how it should be "performed." It can be listened to uninterruptedly from start to finish--which takes about three hours--or it can be accessed at the beginning of any of the forty-three sections into which it is divided (and which correspond to the numbered sections of the surviving manuscript).
The digital text included here has two features that will be useful to readers: (1) verse-numbers of individual verses and an indication of their metrical type can be shown or hidden at the convenience of the viewer and (2) clicking on any proper name (the name of a person or place) will bring up a brief identification of the item in question.
The full text of the translation is available in book form (both hardcover and paperback) from Hackett Publishing Company (www.hackettpublishing.com). This book also contains an elaborate introduction to the poem and its interpretation, as well as translations of two shorter Old English poems that shed light on aspects of Beowulf.
A semi-dramatized (but textually unaltered) version of the translation is available as an audiobook (3 CDs) from www.sandmansions.com or from the University of Wisconsin Press. The narrative portions are read by the translator and the other speaking parts are taken by professional actors from Wisconsin Public Radio, the American Players Theatre, and the Guthrie Theatre, supported by music and sound effects. Duration approximately 3 hours.
Biographical Information About Dick Ringler
For many years the translator, Dick Ringler, taught courses in the language, literature and history of Anglo-Saxon England and Dark Age Scandinavia at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the editor (with Frederic G. Cassidy) of the third edition of Bright's Old English Grammar and Reader (New York, 1971) and the author of the Web site Jónas Hallgrímsson, Selected Poetry and Prose (http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/Jonas), a modified version of which is also available as a book, Bard of Iceland: Jónas Hallgrímsson, Poet and Scientist (The University of Wisconsin Press, 2002). In early 2004 he was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Falcon by the President of Iceland. | <urn:uuid:460c865a-12b3-4ecd-93f9-926248d512e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uwdc.library.wisc.edu/collections/Literature/RinglBeowulf | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945825 |
7 Habits of Green Conscious S’poreans
Our letter was published in Today on 1 May 2012.
Earth Day was celebrated here and around the world on April 22 with events to remind us to do our part for the environment. After Earth Day, are we continuing our environmental efforts?
There are seven habits commonly found in people who are green conscious. We could learn these habits and take individual actions so that Earth Day becomes a daily event.
One, respect and renew our bond with nature and its biodiversity. Nature has much to teach us on how to live with the rest of life on Earth. Without this respect and bond, there will be no desire to protect nature. Start exploring nature areas such as Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve, Chek Jawa and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, and join the guided walks.
Two, read up on local and global environmental issues, from various channels such as websites, books, newspapers and non-government organisations. What are the current trends and problems? What needs to be done?
Three, reduce our environmental impact in energy, water and waste. Embrace sufficiency in our consumption and practise the 3Rs (reduce, reuse and recycle) in our daily lives.
Reduce by not creating wastage or minimising waste in the beginning. Reuse by using the waste several times or for another purpose. Recycle by sending the waste to be processed as a resource.
Four, spread the green message to family, friends, classmates or colleagues. Share our knowledge with them and post about environmental problems and solutions on social media.
Influence our organisation, be it a school, company or social group, to be more environmentally friendly.
Five, participate in government initiatives such as the National Environment Agency’s National Recycling Programme and the National Parks Board’s Community In Bloom programme. Support local NGOs and join their activities or volunteer.
Six, participate constructively as active citizens in the formulation of government policies on the environment. This could be through government dialogues or feedback channels and through the media.
We can advocate green causes we feel strongly about and try to persuade the Government in rethinking its policies and decisions.
Seven, choose to be a responsible consumer. Buy only what we need and always think twice before buying. Choose more eco-friendly products with less impact and made by sustainable businesses.
Buy ethical products and support businesses that take care of their employees’ well-being.
We can all commit to adopting these habits and to do our part for our only home. Let us celebrate Earth Day daily.
By Eugene Tay Tse Chuan
The writer is an environmental consultant.
- The 7 Habits of Green Conscious Singaporeans
- Mentorship Programme – The 7 Habits of Green Conscious Singaporeans
- Waste is not Waste Provides Online Waste Exchange for Businesses and Organisations in Singapore and Malaysia
- How to Use Freecycle@Work to Promote the Reuse of Unwanted Items in Your Company
- What On Earth Are You Doing?
- Our SG Conversation for the Green Community @ Singapore Polytechnic
- Thoughts on the NCCS Public Perception Survey on Climate Change in Singapore
- Our SG Conversation for the Green Community
- Suggestions For Sustainable Singapore
- New Campaign to Reduce Food Waste in Singapore | <urn:uuid:a24e25a1-4ed5-4340-9d20-db3ed721c9a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greenfuture.sg/2012/05/01/7-habits-of-green-conscious-sporeans/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92692 |
Titular metropolis of Syria Prima. The city was founded near the mouth of the Orontes, not far from Mount Casius, by Seleucus Nicator about 300 B.C. According to Pausanias, Damascene, and Malalas, there appears to have been previously another city here, named Palaeopolis. Seleucia was a commercial port of Antioch, Syria, with which it communicated by the Orontes; it was at the same time a naval port. The first colonists were the Greeks of Antigonia in Greece, also some Jews. It was taken and retaken by the Lagidae and the Seleucides until 219, when it again fell into the power of the kings of Syria. Then it obtained its freedom and kept it even to the end of the Roman occupation; it had long enjoyed the right of coinage. Of its famous men, Apollophanes, a physician of Antiochus (third century B.C.), is known, also Firmus who aroused Palmyra and Egypt against Rome in 272 A.D. The harbour was enlarged several times, e.g., under Diocletian and Constantius. Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas stopped at Seleucia (Acts 13:4) but nothing indicates that they made any converts. In the Apocryphal Acts of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, this city is also mentioned. The oldest bishop known is Zenobius, present at Nicaea in 325. There is mention of Eusebius, the Arian, and Bizus in the fourth century, with twelve others found in Le Quien (Oriens Christianus, II, 777-780). In the sixth century the "Notitia episcopatuum" of Antioch, gives Seleucia Pieria as an autocephalous archbishopric, suffragan of Antioch (Echos d'Orient, X 144); the diocese existed until the tenth century, and its boundaries are known (Echos d'Orient, X, 97). For some Latin titularies see Eubel, "Hierarchia catholica medii aevi", I, 468. During the Byzantine occupation from 970, followed soon after by the Frankish ocoupation, Seleucia regained its importance; during the Crusades its port was known by the name of Saint Symeon. The Greek-Arabic schismatic patriarchate of Antioch had since the sixteenth century united the title of Seleucia Pieria to that of Zahleh in Lebanon.
The upper city, about eight miles in circumference, is still distinguishable. The site is now occupied by the two villages of Soulidieh and Kaboucie, inhabited by 800 Armenians. The lower city, smaller than the preceding one, was more thickly populated; there arose the village of Meghragagik, inhabited by 150 Ansariehs. Among the curiosities of the village are a necropolis of little interest, some irrigation works, and some fortifications very much damaged.
ALLEN, Journal of the Geographical Society, XXIII (1855); SMITH, Dict. of Greek and Roman Geog. (1857), s.v.; AINSWORTH, A Personal Narrative of the Euphrates Expedition, II (London, 1888), 400-404; WADDINGTON, Inscriptions de Grece et d'Asie-Mineure, n. 2714-2719; RITTER, Erdkunde von Asien, VIII, 2-3, 1238-1271; CHESNEY, La baie d'Antioche et les ruines de Sileucie de Pierie in Nouvelles annales des voyages et des sciences geographiques d'Eyries (1839), II, BOURQUENOUD, Mémoires sur les ruines de Seleucie de Pierie in Etudes religieuses (1860), 40; CHAPOT in Bulletin de correspondance hellenique, XXVI, 164-175; CHAPOT, Seleucie de Pirrie (Paris, 1907).
APA citation. (1912). Seleucia Pieria. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13689a.htm
MLA citation. "Seleucia Pieria." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13689a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Joseph E. O'Connor.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads. | <urn:uuid:c87e1a3f-8a64-4a74-b46d-aab63c2c84de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13689a.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.897223 |
| ||In the south of Burkina Faso, near the Ivorian border, cotton parcels are next to subsistence crops. Cotton is still picked by hand which means that plants can only be one to two meters high. Once they are harvested, the fibres are gathered to form "balls" to be sold. They will most probably be sent to SOFITEX (Fibre and textile company) in Banfora. This region's climate is perfectly adapted to cotton farming which requires 700 mm of water and a minimum of 120 days of sunshine a year as well as a dry period to stop the fibre rotting before it matures. Burkina Faso is the largest cotton producer on the African continent and employs 3 million people including 2 million producers. The sector accounts for 25% of the GDP and 60% of the country's exports. This makes it vulnerable to world price fluctuations. After refusing GM cotton for years, the Burkinabé authorities officially allowed the crop in 2008 to ensure regular production.
Visit the YAB Gallery for books and signed prints | <urn:uuid:76e5f3f9-4777-4454-a91e-d2034a427c80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yannarthusbertrand2.org/index.php?option=com_datsogallery&Itemid=27&func=detail&catid=110&id=2379&p=4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949565 |
- This article is about the Jewish portable sanctuary. For the Catholic structure, see Tabernacle (Catholic).
- Bible record: Exodus 26
The Tabernacle proper was a tent of acacia wood (a symbol of man, hard to work with and prone to have many knots) overlaid with gold (a metal of royalty or deity), standing 10 cubits high, 30 cubits long, and 10 cubits broad, covered with curtains of goat hair, ram's skins dyed red and porpoise skins. (Indeed the English word skin derives from the Greek σκείν or skein, which itself derives from the Hebrew shekan to dwell, of which mishkan is the present participle.) The sides of the tabernacle were not whole, but were composed of acacia boards, each ten cubits long and 1.5 cubits broad. Each board had five rings of gold spaced at regular intervals; five bars of acacia wood overlaid with gold and thrust through the rings held each of the three sides of the Tabernacle together. Each board had two protuberances, or tenons, at its base, and sockets of silver (a metal of redemption) held the boards together by their tenons. The tent used twenty boards on the south side, twenty on the north side, and six boards on the west side, with two corner boards added to finish the west side. The east side of the tent was open, and five pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold guarded that entrance. A screen of blue and purple and scarlet formed the east "wall" and hung on hooks of gold. Each pillar rested on a socket of brass (a metal of judgment).
The tent was covered first with ten curtains of blue, purple, and scarlet, decorated with cherubim. Each curtain was 28 cubits long and 4 cubits broad. Five curtains were joined together in each of two sets, and then the two sets were joined by fifty blue loops on each edge, with clasps of gold holding the loops. Next came a covering of goat hair, consisting of eleven curtains, each thirty cubits long and four cubits broad. The curtains were joined in sets of five and six, and the sixth curtain was doubled. The two sets were joined by fifty clasps of brass joining fifty pairs of loops. Last of all came a covering of red ram skins and a covering of porpoise skins.
The inside of the tent was divided into two compartments, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. The partition between the two was located ten cubits from the west wall and guarded by four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. A veil of blue and purple and scarlet, decorated with cherubim, hanging on four pillars, divided the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The veil hung on hooks of gold, and each pillar rested on a socket of silver.
- Bible record: Exodus 9-19
The Tabernacle Courtyard surrounded this tent; it was 100 cubits long, 50 cubits broad, and 5 cubits high. Twenty pillars stood on the south side, twenty on the north, and ten pillars each on the east and west sides. Each pillar was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, rested on a brass socket, and had a silver hook. On these hooks hung curtains of white linen, except for a twenty-cubit gate on the east side of the courtyard. Those curtains were of blue, purple, and scarlet. Each pillar had two guy ropes to secure it, one on the inside and the other on the outside, secured to a brass peg.
The Tabernacle had the following articles of furniture: a Brass Altar, a Brass Laver, a seven-candle Lampstand, the Table of Showbread, an Altar of Incense, and, of course, the Ark of the Covenant The ark was the one piece of furniture placed inside the Holy of Holies. The altar of incense rested in the Holy Place next to the veil dividing it from the Holy of Holies. The lampstand stood on the south side of the Holy Place, and the table of showbread to the north. The brass altar and brass laver rested outside the tent.
Incense and Oils
God also gave Moses specific recipes for a special oil for anointing the Tabernacle, and for the incense to burn on the altar of incense and in a brass censer before the ark of the covenant on the Day of Atonement. The recipe for the holy incense is given here. The anointing oil was to be made from five hundred shekels of myrrh, two hundred fifty shekels each of cinnamon and fragrant cane, five hundred shekels of cassia, and a hin of olive oil. With this oil Moses was to anoint the tent, the ark of the covenant, and all the other articles of Tabernacle furniture, and also to anoint Aaron and his sons. (Exodus 30:22-33 )
The fuel for the lampstand was to be clear pressed olive oil. (Exodus 27:20-21 )
- Bible record: Numbers 4
The procedure for taking down the Tabernacle and preparing its components and furniture for transport was necessarily elaborate, because the penalty for touching any of the furniture in an improper manner was death. First, Aaron and his sons took down the partition veil that defined the Holy of Holies and draped it over the Ark of the Covenant. Then they covered this with porpoise skin and then with blue linen, and insert its carrying poles. To prepare the Table of Showbread they first spread a blue cloth on it, then placed its dishes and pans and other utensils on this cloth. Then they would spread a scarlet covering and then a porpoise skin covering, and insert the carrying poles. They would cover the Lampstand and the Altar of Incense with blue cloth and then with porpoise skins. The altar of incense had its own carrying poles, while the lampstand had a set of carrying bars that it rested on. Lastly they would place the utensils for the altar of incense and the table of showbread into a blue cloth, cover them with porpoise skin, and place them on a set of carrying bars.
Outside, they removed the ashes from the Brass Altar and cover it with a purple cloth. Then they placed the brass utensils for this altar onto this cloth, spread a porpoise skin over these, and insert the carrying poles.
The Gershonites would next take down all the courtyard and tent coverings and hangings (except the partitioning veil for the Holy of Holies, which was draped over the ark of the covenant) and carry them away, under the supervision of Ithamar, son of Aaron.
Then the Merarites would take down all the pillars, boards, bars, and sockets, and carry these away. Ithamar would also supervise this work.
Camp arrangement and marching order
- Bible record: Numbers 2
The Tabernacle was at the center of the massive camp of the Israelites. Directly next to the Tabernacle courtyard, Moses and Aaron and the sons of Aaron would camp to the east, before the Tabernacle gate. The Kohathites would camp to the south, the Gershonites to the west, and the Merarites to the north.
The remaining Israelites would camp further away from the Tabernacle. The tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun would camp on the east side and would constitute the first rank in the marching order. The tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad would camp on the south side and would constitute the second rank. (The Levites would march between the second and third ranks, with the Kohathites leading, the Gershonites second, and the Merarites third.) The tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin would camp on the west side and would constitute the third rank. Finally the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali would camp on the north side and would constitute the fourth and last rank.
Dedication and consecration
On the third day of the third month in the year of the Exodus of Israel (3 Sivan 2513 AM, or May 29, 1491 BC), the Israelites arrived at the base of Mount Sinai. On that day, God proclaimed the Ten Commandments to the people. On the next day, Moses built an altar, erected twelve pillars to represent the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and received sacrifices offered by the firstborn of each tribe. On that same day, Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel climbed the mountain to see the glory of God. Then everyone came down the mountain, except Moses, who remained at the top (and also Joshua, who stayed further down the slope). He remained for six days, and then God spoke to him and gave him the instructions for the Tabernacle, and also the Sacerdotal Garments (including the Breastplate of Judgment) and the procedures for the dedication of the Tabernacle and the consecration of Aaron and his sons. This happened on 10 Sivan 2513 AM (June 5, 1491 BC). Moses spent a total of forty days on the mountaintop.
On 14 Tammuz 2513 AM (July 9, 1491 BC), the Golden Calf incident occurred. After this, Moses ordered the people to set up a temporary tent of meeting outside the camp, where Moses alone would commune with God. Moses interceded for the people, and then God ordered him to cut two more stone tablets and bring them back to the mountaintop, where Moses spent another forty days. After this, on or about 1 Elul 2513 AM (August 24, 1491 BC), Moses collected an offering for the construction of the Tabernacle, plus a capitation tax of one-half shekel each from the adult men. The offered construction materials were so abundant that Moses ordered the people to stop giving.
Construction of the parts and furnishings of the Tabernacle seems to have begun on or about 3 Eitanim 2514 AM (September 24, 1491 BC). The work required about six months.
On 1 Abib 2514 AM (April 17, 1490 BC), the Tabernacle was completed and erected. On that occasion, the glory of God filled the enclosure.
On 1 Zif 2514 AM (May 17, 1490 BC), God ordered Moses to take the first general census of the Israelites and to anoint the Tabernacle and begin the process of consecration for Aaron and his sons. The consecration process (Exodus 29 ) required seven days, and at the end of that time, God kindled the fire in the brass altar for the first time.
Sadly, Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu brought strange fire into the Holy of Holies on or about the tenth day of the second month (10 Zif 2514 AM, or May 26, 1490 BC), and died. After that, God made the ordinance for the Day of Atonement, to take place on 10 Eitanim of every year thereafter.
Career of the Tabernacle
The Tabernacle moved with the camp of Israel until Israel entered Canaan. Apparently it was erected semi-permanently at Shiloh during the era of the Judges. Finally, King David erected the tabernacle in Jerusalem, (2_Samuel 6:17 ) where it stood until the construction of the Temple of Jerusalem by Solomon.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Brown, Alan B., MDiv, ThM; personal interview with User:TerryH on 8 December 2008
- ↑ James Ussher, The Annals of the World, Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003, pgh. 194
- ↑ Ussher, op. cit., pghh. 195-196
- ↑ Ussher, op. cit., pghh. 197-198
- ↑ Ussher, op. cit., pgh. 200
- ↑ Ussher, op. cit., pghh. 202-205
- ↑ Ussher, op. cit., pghh. 207-208
- ↑ Ussher, op. cit., pgh. 210
- ↑ Ussher, op. cit., pghh. 214-215
- ↑ Ussher, op. cit., pgh. 216.
- ↑ Jimmy Albright, "Tabernacle," in The Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Brand C, Draper C, and England A, eds. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2008, pp. 1550-1552 | <urn:uuid:e0d989b3-9203-42e4-a19e-2d661b53f231> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://conservapedia.com/Tabernacle | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952678 |
Germany NewspapersEdit This Page
From FamilySearch Wiki
Newspapers printed during your ancestor's lifetime may contain birth or marriage notices. Death notices and war casualties are especially common in old German papers. Death notices typically list birth and death dates and burial places. Sometimes they list the birth place or immediate family members. Since few indexes are available, you must know the approximate date of the newspaper to search. Newspapers became more common in Germany after 1855, when a tax on paper was lifted.
Resources for German Newspapers
Libraries and Archives
To find newspapers in German repositories, use this source:
- Hagelweide, Gert, ed. Deutsche Zeitungsbestände in Bibliotheken und Archiven = German newspapers in librairies and archives Düsseldorf: Droste, (FHL book 943 B3h.) This book covers the years 1700 to 1969, citing 2,018 papers from 222 towns and stored at 579 German and foreign repositories. It does not list every paper ever published, but it is still an excellent list.
German Papers in the Americas
Newly arrived immigrants and their home towns are often listed in old newspapers. For a listing of about 5,000 historical German-interest newspapers and the repositories, see the following source:
- Arndt, Karl J. R., and May E. Olson. The German Language Press of the Americas, 1732-1968: History and Bibliography = Die Deutschsprachige Presseder Amerikas, 1732-1968: Geschichte und Bibliographie. 2 vols. München, Germany: Verlag Dokumentation, 1973-1976. (FHL book 973 B33a1976.)
In most places where Germans settled around the world, they published a German-interest newspaper.
The directory below lists modern newspapers by language and title:
- Wynar, Lubomyr R., and Anna T. Wynar. Encyclopedic Directory of Ethnic Newspapers and Periodicals in the United States, 2nd ed. Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1976. (FHL book 973 E4w.)
- Benn's Media Directory International. Tonbridge, England: Benn's Business Information Services, annual. (FHL book 011.35 B439.) This is arranged by the nation and city of the newspaper.
- An online newspaper directory is available at German Newspaper databank. The intro page says it It "does not contain contents, i. e. journal articles", however, the site also links to many libraries that provide free access to the newspapers online. To browse a list of newspapers available online, in the Newspapers section -- select a country from the drop-down list, select "Digitisation of newspapers according to original layout" and perform a blank search. (German language, click on British flag at top left for English)
Digital Issues Online
- A helpful website for some digitized newspapers can be found here digitized newspapers (German language)
- Another website for newspapers comes from Aachen and can be located at this link: Internationales Zeitungsmuseum. (German language)
- The Digitale Bibliothek has many interesting newspapers including occupational papers, such as locomotives and Germans in Argentina, etc. (German language)
Family History Library
The Family History Library has virtually no German newspapers. A few related items may be found in the Place Search of the catalog under the name of the town or state and the topic NEWSPAPERS. For example, copies of the Augsburgisches Intelligenz-Blatt 1797-1827 and the Intelligenz-Blatt und Wochentlicher Anzeiger von Augsburg 1827-1899 can be located in FamilySearch.org in the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under Germany, Bayern, Augsburg - Newspapers. The Amts-Blatt der Koenigl. Bayer. Stadt Augsburg 1900-1917 is listed under Germany, Bayern - Newspapers. | <urn:uuid:b1cd9bbc-90b8-4146-9925-a2c2dc597f36> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/index.php?title=Germany_Newspapers&oldid=974059 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.883117 |
(first in a series)
by Roger McEowen, associate professor of agricultural law, (515) 294-4076, email@example.com
1. Multi-billion dollar verdict rendered in cattle case.
On February 17, 2004, a federal jury in Alabama returned a $1.28 billion verdict against Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc. (Tyson) in a nation-wide class-action lawsuit alleging that Tyson manipulated the price for fed cattle that it purchased through the use of long-term contracts (known as captive supply cattle) in violation of the Packers and Stockyards Act (PSA). The PSA prohibits meat packers from engaging in any unfair, unjustly discriminatory or deceptive practice, or engaging in any course of business or doing any act for the purpose or with the effect of manipulating or controlling prices or creating a monopoly in the acquisition of, buying, selling, or dealing in, any article, or of restraining commerce. The plaintiff class of cattlemen claimed that Tyson's store of livestock (via captive supply) allowed Tyson to avoid reliance on auction-price purchases in the open market for most of its supply. Tyson then uses that leverage, the claim is, to depress the market prices for independent producers on the cash and forward markets in violation of the PSA. The trial court jury unanimously found that
was a single national market for fed cattle;
2) Tyson's use of captive supply had an anticompetitive effect on the cash market for fed cattle;
3) Tyson had no legitimate business reason or competitive justification for using captive supply;
4) Tyson's use of captive supply proximately caused the cash market price for fed cattle to be lower than it otherwise would have been; and
5) Tyson's use of captive supply injured each member of the class. The jury then found that Tyson's use of captive supplies from February 1, 1994, through October 31, 2002, damaged the cash market for fed cattle in the amount of $1,281,690,000.
In March, Tyson filed a motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law or for a New Trial, and on April 23, the trial court judge granted Tyson's motion, thereby invalidating the jury verdict. While the trial court judge did not disturb any of the jury's findings, particularly the finding that Tyson's use of captive supply cattle manipulated the cash market price for fed cattle, the judge ruled that Tyson was entitled to use captive supplies to “meet competition” and assure themselves of a reliable supply of cattle. The cattlemen appealed.
On December 17, oral arguments in the case were heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. During oral arguments, Tyson's counsel admitted that if the PSA prohibits the use of captive supplies, then the “meeting competition” defense was inapplicable. Tyson's counsel was also questioned as to Tyson's claim that the company could not control when captive cattle were delivered, but yet maintained that the use of captive supplies was necessary to achieve a consistent supply of cattle. Tyson's counsel also admitted that the jury was free to believe the cattlemen's expert economist and disbelieve Tyson's expert. In the end, however, the primary appellate issue is the appropriate legal standard for evaluating a claim of price manipulation under the PSA. The trial court judge adopted a Sherman Act “rule of reason” standard, thereby allowing Tyson to defend its actions by showing a legitimate business justification for using captive supplies (such as the assuring a reliable supply of cattle). The question is whether the Sherman Act's rule of reason is applicable under the PSA. An opinion is expected in 2005 by the appellate court. Pickett. v. Tyson Fresh Meats, Inc., 315 F. Supp. 2d 1172 (M.D. Ala. 2004).
2. Developments in GMO patent infringement cases.
The patenting of seed technology has led to cases in which farmers have been sued for misappropriation of the technology. Generally, courts have held that the process by which the patented seed arrives on a farmer's land (whether by pollen drift or from passing grain trucks, for example) is irrelevant. But two cases decided in 2004 may indicate that the courts are re-evaluating the legal issues associated with the drift of genetically modified seed technology. On May 21, the Canadian Supreme Court rendered its opinion in Monsanto Canada, Inc. v. Schmeiser. Monsanto sued a Canadian canola farmer for the “theft” of the company's Roundup Ready canola technology when the traits showed up in Schmeiser's fields.
Schmeiser did not have a license to grow Roundup Ready canola, and claimed that the GMO canola was present in his fields either by cross-pollination from neighboring fields, blowing from passing grain trucks, or both. Schmeiser saved some of the resulting GMO canola and replanted it. While the Court ruled that plants are not patentable (in accordance with an earlier opinion of the Court holding that “higher life forms” are not patentable), the Court held that Monsanto's patent applied to the genes and cells of the plants and was, therefore, valid. The dissent (the opinion was 5-4) would have held that the cultivation of plants containing the patented gene and cell did not constitute infringement, and that to conclude otherwise would confer patent protection on the resulting plants - an unpatentable higher life form. Consequently, Schmeiser was found to have infringed the patent. However, the Court held that Monsanto was not entitled to damages because Schmeiser earned no profit from the technology - he never sprayed his crop with Roundup to reduce weeds. Monsanto Canada, Inc. v. Schmeiser, S.C.C. 34.
Earlier, in late April, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit invalidated a patent on a self-reproducing antidepressant drug because previous clinical trials constituted a prior use that had placed the compound in the public domain. A concurring opinion reasoned that the patent was invalid not because of prior use of the subject matter, but because the subject matter was not patentable since it could reproduce itself in nature. The concurring judge compared the seeding and conversion process of the compound at issue to the spread of patented, biotech seed traits via cross-pollination, and concluded: “[T]he implication - that the patent owner would be entitled to collect royalties from every farmer whose cornfields contained even a few patented…stalks… - cannot possibly be correct.” Smithkline Beecham Corp. v. Apotex, 365 F.3d 1306 (Fed. Cir. 2004).
While the Canadian Supreme Court opinion is not binding on U.S. courts, it will not go unnoticed. Likewise, the two cases provide a framework for the development of future cases and legislation supporting an equitable enforcement of patent laws respecting both the rights of patentees and the rights of innocent infringers.
3. WTO finds that U.S. cotton subsidies violate international trade rules.
On April 26, an interim panel of the World Trade Organization (WTO) issued a report finding that U.S. cotton subsidies violate international trade agreements and price developing countries out of markets. The WTO Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) requires that domestic subsidies that encourage production are not to exceed 1992 per-country levels. In 1992, cotton payments totaled $1.62 billion. However, cotton payments were pegged at $2.3 billion in 1999, $1.57 billion in 2000, and $2.06 billion in 2001. As a result the panel concluded that decoupled payments to U.S. cotton farmers (pursuant to the 1996 Farm Bill and continuing under the 2002 Farm Bill) provide an incentive for overproduction and distort trade by pricing developing nations' goods out of markets. The challenge was brought primarily by Brazilian cotton farmers, who also pointed out that the U.S. share of the global cotton market had increased during the same time frame. Challenged are direct payments to U.S. cotton farmers, as well as payments made under emergency supplemental appropriation bills. Involved are producer flexibility payments, market loss assistance payments and counter-cyclical payments.
The U.S. claims that direct payments are decoupled and are not trade distorting because they are not linked to current production and are, therefore, not “subsidies.” Thus, the U.S. position is that direct payments to cotton producers should not be counted when compared to the 1992 levels because the payments are not encouraging production for the year in which the payments are made. However, from 1998 though 2001, U.S. cotton production increased almost 50 percent, and the U.S. share of world cotton exports increased from 24 percent in 1996 to 37 percent in 2001 (anticipated to be 42 percent in 2004). In 2002, cotton was exported from the U.S. at 61 percent below the cost of production. Under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, agricultural subsidies are deemed to be harmful to international trade if the subsidizing member increases its share of the world market when compared to its average share over the prior 3-year period.
The interim panel's ruling was later affirmed by a panel of trade experts. On October 18, the U.S. formally appealed the ruling to the appeals body of the WTO. The appeals body has until Jan. 18, 2005, to produce a final ruling in the matter.
The WTO ruling provides an opportunity for the U.S. Congress to debate seriously the future of agricultural policy. The core issue is whether the policy that emerges will support independent family farmers or continue the subsidization of multinational agribusiness cartels in world markets. In theory, the WTO dispute could lead to a dramatic reduction in U.S. agricultural subsidies.
4. Rabobank's attempted takeover of a Farm Credit System lender .
On July 30, Rabobank, a Dutch banking conglomerate that is the fifteenth largest banking institution in the world, announced that it had agreed to purchase Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) for $600 million – at the time FCSAmerica represented 6.5 percent of the Farm Credit System's total assets and 6.9 percent of System's combined capital. That same day, AgStar Financial Services, a Farm Credit Sytsem (FCS) association headquartered in Minnesota, confirmed that it had made a formal merger offer to the FCSAmerica Board of Directors to merge the two FCS lenders. FCSAmerica later began the regulatory process for terminating its status as a System institution by submitting to the Farm Credit Administration, its board of director's resolution to terminate its System status and then merge the association into a subsidiary of Rabobank. The proposed acquisition of a unit of the FCS by a private (albeit foreign) lender was unique, and raised significant tax and legal issues as well as the concern of whether the Congress ever intended that current stockholders of a unit of the FCS should be permitted to benefit from a sale of the entity to a non-System buyer.
On October 20, 2004, FCSAmerica announced that its board voted to terminate its agreement with Rabobank and remain a System institution. FCSAmerica also announced that it had rejected the merger offer from AgStar. Throughout the late summer and early fall of 2004 it became clear that the FCSAmerica board had not fully analyzed the legal, tax and policy ramifications of the proposal or anticipated the widespread opposition to the deal among family farmers.
From a policy perspective, it is highly unlikely that the Congress ever intended that an FCS unit could be sold to a private entity. Also, the Congress has given the FCS a privileged position in agricultural lending that has contributed to the value of FCSAmerica. This “agency status” allows the FCS to access funds from the money markets at a slightly higher cost than the U.S. Treasury can borrow in the same markets. Had the deal gone through, the four remaining districts would most certainly have taken note that they could become targets from other large lenders looking to enhance their position in agricultural lending. Consequently, the buyout could have initiated the demise of the FCS. Likewise, Rabobank would likely have been more attuned to serving relatively larger borrowers because of their share of the purchase price. However, small and mid-size borrowers in the four states at issue (IA, NE, SD and WY) would likely have seen the picture differently, at least until a new holder of the FCS charter had established a truly competitive presence (and that could have taken several years). The buyout would also have contributed to a dramatic increase in the input-supply side of agriculture, raising further questions about competition in agricultural lending. Also, questions would have abounded concerning Rabobank's willingness to work with borrowers in financial distress compared to local lenders or a lender whose mandate is to assist farm borrowers. | <urn:uuid:88940569-c7e2-4a4f-b1a7-e47ff105b3a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/articles/mceowen/McEowFeb05.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961163 |
After knowing many roles, this museum has become a center for photography and video, exploring "the world of images, their uses, and the issues they raise." Its exhibitions not only display photography but mechanical or electronic images. It is one of the finest museums of its type in the world, and it presents ever-changing exhibitions, many of them daringly avant-garde.
For years the National Gallery in the Jeu de Paume, in the northeast corner of the Tuileries gardens, was one of the treasures of Paris, displaying some of the finest words of the Impressionists. In 1986 that collection was hauled off to the Musée d'Orsay, much to the regret of many. Following a $14-million face-lift, this Second Empire building has been transformed into state-of-the-art galleries.
Originally, in this part of the gardens, Napoleon III built a ball court on which jeu de paume, an antecedent of tennis, was played -- hence the museum's name. The most infamous period in the National Gallery's history came during the Nazi occupation, when it served as an "evaluation center" for works of modern art. Paintings from all over France were shipped to the Jeu de Paume; art condemned by the Nazis as "degenerate" was burned.
- © Frommer's 2013 | <urn:uuid:759ea734-abd5-496d-8ec7-94ceb2b4b25a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nileguide.com/destination/paris/things-to-do/jeu-de-paume/432941 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96311 |
|Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma tribal flag|
|Regions with significant populations|
|United States ( Oklahoma)|
|Related ethnic groups|
Pawnee people (also Paneassa, Pari, Pariki) are a Caddoan-speaking Native American tribe. They are federally recognized as the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma and have four confederated bands: the Chaui, Kitkehakhi, Pitahawirata, and Skidi.
Historically, the Pawnee lived along outlying tributaries of the Missouri River: the Platte, Loup and Republican rivers in present-day Nebraska and in northern Kansas. They lived in permanent earth lodge villages where they farmed. They left the villages on seasonal buffalo hunts, using tipis while traveling.
In the early 19th century, the Pawnee numbered about 10,000 people and were one of the largest and most powerful tribes on the Great Plains. They had escaped some of the depredations of exposure to Eurasian infectious diseases impacting other Indian groups. By 1859, their numbers were reduced to about 1,400; however, by 1874 they were back up to 2,000. Still subject to encroachment by the Lakota and European Americans, finally most accepted relocation to a reservation in Indian Territory. This is where most of the enrolled members of the nation live today. Their autonym is Chahiksichahiks, meaning "men of men".
There are approximately 3,240 enrolled Pawnee, with 1,791 living in Oklahoma. Their tribal headquarters is in Pawnee and their tribal jurisdictional area is in parts of Noble, Payne, and Pawnee Counties. Their current elected president is Marshall R. Gover. Enrollment into the tribe requires a minimum 1/8th blood quantum.
Current Pawnee Business Council: Marshall R. Gover, President; Bruce Pratt, Vice President; Misty M. Nuttle, Treasurer; Phammie N. Littlesun, Secretary; Richard Tilden, Council Seat #1; Karla Knifechief, Council Seat #2; Adrian Spotted Horsechief, Council Seat #3; Liana Chapman Teter, Council Seat #4.
The new Council members were voted in by the people, elections are held every two years the first Saturday in May.
Economic development
They issue their own tribal vehicle tags, operate their housing authority, and maintain two casinos, three smoke shops, two fuel stations, and one truck stop. Their estimated economic impact for 2010 was $10.5 million.
Traditional culture
The Pawnee were divided into two large groupings—the Skidi living in the north and the South Bands (which were further divided into several villages). While the Skidi were the most populous group of Pawnee, the Chaui of the South Bands were generally the political leading group, although each band was autonomous. As was typical of many Indian tribes, each band saw to its own. In response to pressures from the Spanish, French and Americans, as well as neighboring tribes, the Pawnee began to draw closer together.
- Chaui, Chawi, or Tsawi (‘People in the Middle’, also called "Grand Pawnee")
- Kithehaki or Kitkehaxki (‘Little Muddy Bottom Village’, often called "Republican Pawnee")
- Pitahaureat or Pitahawirata (‘People Downstream’, ‘Man-Going-East’, derived from Pita - ‘Man’ and Rata - ‘screaming’, the French called them "Tapage Pawnee" - ‘Screaming, Howling Pawnee’, later the Americans "Noisy Pawnee")
- Pitahaureat, Pitahawirata, (Pitahaureat proper, leading group)
- Kawarakis (derived from the Arikara language Kawarusha - ‘Horse’ and Pawnee language Kish - ‘People’, some Pawnee argued that the Kawarakis spoke like the Arikara living to the north, so perhaps they belonged to the refugees (1794–1795) from Lakota aggression, who joined their Caddo kin living south)
- Turikaku (‘Center Village’)
- Kitkehaxpakuxtu (‘Old Village’ or ‘Old-Earth-Lodge-Village’)
- Tuhitspiat (‘Village-Stretching-Out-in-the-Bottomlands’)
- Tukitskita (‘Village-on-Branch-of-a-River’)
- Tuhawukasa (‘Village-across-a-Ridge’ or ‘Village-Stretching-across-a-Hill’)
- Arikararikutsu (‘Big-Antlered-Elk-Standing’)
- Arikarariki (‘Small-Antlered-Elk-Standing’)
- Tuhutsaku (‘Village-in-a-Ravine’)
- Tuwarakaku (‘Village-in-Thick-Timber’)
- Akapaxtsawa (‘Buffalo-Skull-Painted-on-Tipi’)
- Tskisarikus (‘Fish-Hawk’)
- Tstikskaatit (‘Black-Ear-of-Corn,’ i.e.‘Corn-black’)
- Turawiu (was only part of a village)
- Pahukstatu (‘Pumpkin-Vine’, did not join the Skidi and remained politically independent, but in general were counted as Skidi)
- Tskirirara (‘Wolf-in-Water’, although the Skidi-Federation got its name from them, they remained politically independent, but were counted within the Pawnee as Skidi)
- Panismaha (also Panimaha, by the 1770s this group of the Skidi had broken off and moved towards Texas, where they allied with the Taovayas, the Tonkawa, Yojuanes and other Texas tribes, was referred to as the Panimaha or Panismaha)
The Pawnee had a sedentary lifestyle combining village life and seasonal hunting, which had long been established on the Plains. Archeology studies of ancient sites have demonstrated the people lived in this pattern for nearly 700 years, since about 1250 CE.
The Pawnee generally settled close to the rivers and placed their lodges on the higher banks. They built earth lodges that by historical times tended to be oval in shape; at earlier stages, they were rectangular. They constructed the frame, made of 10-15 posts set some ten feet apart, which outlined the central room of the lodge. Lodge size varied based on the number of poles placed in the center of the structure. Most lodges had 4, 8 or 12 center poles. A common feature in Pawnee lodges were four painted poles, which represented the four cardinal directions and the four major star gods (not to be confused with the Creator.) A second outer ring of poles outlined the outer circumference of the lodge. Horizontal beams linked the posts together.
The frame was covered first with smaller poles, tied with willow withes. The structure was covered with thatch, then earth. A hole left in the center of the covering served as a combined chimney/smoke hole and skylight. The door of each lodge was placed to the east and the rising sun. A long, low passageway, which helped keep out outside weather, led to an entry room that had an interior buffalo-skin door on a hinge. It could be closed at night and wedged shut. Opposite the door, on the west side of the central room, a buffalo skull with horns was displayed. This was considered great medicine.
Mats were hung on the perimeter of the main room to shield small rooms in the outer ring, which served as sleeping and private spaces. The lodge was semi-subterranean, as the Pawnee recessed the base by digging it approximately three feet below ground level. This insulated the interior from extreme temperatures. Lodges were strong enough to support adults, who routinely sat on them, and the children who played on the top of the structures. (See photo above.)
As many as 30-50 people might live in each lodge, and they were usually of related families. A village could consist of as many as 300-500 people and 10-15 households. Each lodge was divided in two (the north and south), and each section had a head who oversaw the daily business. Each section was further subdivided into three duplicate areas, with tasks and responsibilities related to the age of women and girls, as described below. The membership of the lodge was quite flexible.
The tribe went on buffalo hunts in summer and winter. Upon their return, the inhabitants of a lodge would often move into another lodge, although they generally remained within the village. Men's lives were more transient than those of women. They had obligations of support for the wife (and family they married into), but could always go back to their mother and sisters for a night or two of attention. When young couples married, they lived with the woman's family.
Political structure
The Pawnee are a matrilineal people. Ancestral descent is traced through the mother, and, traditionally, a young couple moved into the bride's parents' lodge. People work together in collaborative ways, marked by both independence and cooperation, without coercion. Both women and men are active in political life, with independent decision-making responsibilities.
Within the lodge, each north-south section included roles for the three classes of women:
- Mature women (usually married and mothers), who did most of the labor;
- Young single women, just learning their responsibilities; and
- Older women, who looked after the young children.
Amongst the collection of lodges, the political designations for men were essentially between:
- the Warrior Clique; and
- the Hunting Clique.
Women tended to be responsible for decisions about resource allocation, trade, and inter-lodge social negotiations. Men were responsible for decisions which pertained to hunting, war, and spiritual/health issues.
Women tended to remain within a single lodge, while men would typically move between lodges. They took multiple sexual partners in serially monogamous relationships.
The Pawnee women were "skilled horticulturalists" and cooks, cultivating and processing ten varieties of corn, seven of pumpkins and squashes, and eight of beans. They planted their crops along the fertile river bottomlands. These crops provided a wide variety of nutrients and complemented each other in making whole proteins... In addition to varieties of flint corn and flour corn for consumption, the women planted an archaic breed which they called "Wonderful" or "Holy Corn", specifically to be included in the sacred bundles.
The holy corn was cultivated and harvested to replace corn in the winter and summer sacred bundles. Seeds were taken from sacred bundles for the spring planting ritual. The cycle of corn determined the annual agricultural cycle, as it was the first to be planted and first to be harvested (with accompanying ceremonies involving priests and men of the tribe as well.)
In keeping with their cosmology, the Pawnee classified the varieties of corn by color: black, spotted, white, yellow and red (which, excluding spotted, related to the colors associated with the four semi-cardinal directions). The women kept the different strains pure as they cultivated the corn. While important in agriculture, squash and beans were not given the same theological meaning as corn.
After they obtained horses, the Pawnee adapted their culture and expanded their buffalo hunting seasons. With horses providing a greater range, the people traveled in both summer and winter westward to the Great Plains for buffalo hunting. They often traveled 500 miles or more in a season. In summer the march began at dawn or before, but usually did not last the entire day.
Once buffalo were located, hunting did not begin until the medicine men of the tribe considered the time propitious. Then the hunt began by the men advancing together toward the buffalo, but no one could kill any buffalo until the warriors of the tribe gave the signal. Anyone who broke ranks was severely beaten. During the chase, the hunters guided their ponies with their knees and wielded bows and arrows. They could incapacitate buffalo with a single arrow shot into the flank between the lower ribs and the hip. The animal would soon lie down and perhaps bleed out, or the hunters would finish it off. An individual hunter might shoot as many as five buffalo in this way before backtracking and finishing them off. They preferred to kill cows and young bulls, as the taste of older bulls was disagreeable.
After successful kills, the women processed the bison meat and skin: the flesh was sliced into strips and dried on poles over slow fires and stored. Prepared in this way, it was usable for several years. Although the Pawnee preferred buffalo, they also hunted other game, including elk, bear, panther, and skunk, for meat and skins. The skins were used for clothing and accessories, storage bags, foot coverings, fastening ropes and ties, etc.
The people returned to their villages to harvest crops when the corn was ripe in late summer, or in the spring when the grass became green and they could plant a new cycle of crops. Summer hunts extended from late June to about the first of September; but might end early if hunting was successful. Sometimes the hunt was limited to what is now western Nebraska. Winter hunts were from late October until early April and were often to the southwest into what is now western Kansas.
Like many other Native American tribes, the Pawnee had a cosmology with elements of all of nature represented in it. They based many rituals in the four cardinal directions. Medicine men created sacred bundles which included materials, such as an ear of corn, with great symbolic value. These were used in many religious ceremonies to maintain the balance of nature and the Pawnee relationship with the gods and spirits. The Pawnee were not part of the Sun Dance tradition. In the 1890s, the people participated in the Ghost Dance movement.
The Pawnee believed that the Morning Star and Evening Star gave birth to the first Pawnee woman. The first Pawnee man was the offspring of the union of the Moon and the Sun. As they believed they were descendants of the stars, cosmology had a central role in daily and spiritual life. They planted their crops according to the position of the stars, which related to the appropriate time of season for planting. Like many tribal bands, they sacrificed maize and other crops to the stars.
The Morning Star ritual
The Skidi Pawnee practiced child sacrifice, specifically of captive girls, in the "Morning Star ritual". They continued this practice regularly through the 1810s and possibly after 1838, the last reported sacrifice. They believed the longstanding rite ensured the fertility of the soil and success of the crops, as well as renewal of all life in spring. The sacrifice was related to the belief that the first human being was a girl, born of the mating of the Morning Star, the male figure of light, and Evening Star, a female figure of darkness, in their creation story.
Typically, a warrior would dream of the Morning Star, usually in the autumn, which meant it was time to prepare for the various steps of the ritual. The visionary would consult with the Morning Star priest, who helped him prepare for his journey to find a sacrifice. With help from others, the warrior would capture a young unmarried girl from an enemy tribe. The Pawnee kept the girl and cared for her over the winter, taking her with them as they made their buffalo hunt. They arranged her sacrifice in the spring, in relation to the rising of the Morning Star. She was well treated and fed throughout this period.
When the morning star rose ringed with red, the priest knew it was the signal for the sacrifice. He directed the men to carry out the rest of the ritual, including the construction of a scaffold outside the village. It was made of sacred woods and leathers from different animals, each of which had important symbolism. It was erected over a pit with elements corresponding to the four cardinal directions. All the elements of the ritual related to symbolic meaning and belief, and were necessary for the renewal of life. The preparations took four days.
A procession of all the men, boys and male infants accompanied the girl out of the village to the scaffold. Together they awaited the morning star. When the star was due to rise, the girl was placed and tied on the scaffold. At the moment the star appeared above the horizon, the girl was killed with an arrow, then the priest cut the skin of her chest to bleed. She was quickly shot with arrows by all the participating men and boys to hasten her death. The girl was carried to the east and placed face down so her blood would soak into the earth, with appropriate prayers for the crops and life she would bring to all life on the prairie.
About 1820-1821, news of the sacrifices reached the East Coast; it caused a sensation among European Americans. Before this, US Indian agents had counseled Pawnee chiefs to suppress the practice, as they warned of how it would upset the American settlers, who were arriving in ever greater number. Knife Chief ransomed at least two captives before sacrifice. For any individual, it was extremely difficult to try to change a practice tied so closely to Pawnee belief in the annual renewal of life for the tribe. In June 1818, the Missouri Gazette of St. Louis contained the account of a sacrifice. The last known child sacrifice was of Haxti, a 14-year-old Oglala Lakota girl, on April 22, 1838.
Writing in the 1960s, the historian Gene Weltfish drew from earlier work of Wissler and Spinden to suggest that the sacrificial practice might have been transferred in the early 16th century from the Aztec of present-day Mexico. More recently, historians have disputed the proposed connection to Mesoamerican practice. They believe that the sacrifice ritual originated separately within ancient traditional Pawnee culture.
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado visited the neighboring Wichita in 1541 where he encountered a Pawnee chief from Harahey in Nebraska. Nothing much is mentioned of the Pawnee until the 17th and 18th centuries when successive incursions of Spanish, French and English settlers attempted to enlarge their possessions. The tribes tended to make alliances as and when it suited them. Different Pawnee subtribes could make treaties with warring European powers without disrupting the underlying unity; the Pawnee were masters at unity within diversity.
In the 18th century, the Pawnee were allied with the French, with whom they traded. They played an important role in halting Spanish expansion onto the Great Plains by decisively defeating the Villasur expedition in battle in 1720.
Until the 1830s, the Pawnee in what became United States territory were relatively isolated from interaction with Europeans and escaped some of the losses due to introduction of Eurasian infectious diseases, such as measles, smallpox, and cholera, to which Native Americans had no immunity. In the 19th century, however, they were pressed by Siouan groups encroaching from the east, who also brought disease. Epidemics of smallpox and cholera, and endemic warfare with the Sioux and Cheyenne drastically reduced the numbers of Pawnee. From an estimated population of 12,000 in the 1830s, they were reduced to 3,400 by 1859, when they were forcibly constrained to a reservation in modern day, Nance County, Nebraska.
In 1874, the Pawnee requested relocation to Indian Territory (Oklahoma), but the stress of the move, diseases and poor conditions on their reservation reduced their numbers even more. During this time, outlaws often smuggled whisky to the Pawnee. The teenaged female bandits Little Britches and Cattle Annie were imprisoned for this crime.
By 1900. the Pawnee population was recorded by the US Census was only 633. Since then the tribe has begun to recover in numbers.
The historian Marcel Trudel documented that close to 2,000 Pawnee (Panis in French) slaves lived in Canada until the abolition of slavery in the colony in 1833. The Indian slaves comprised close to half of the known slaves in French Canada (also called Lower Canada). Traditionally Native American and First Nations tribes sold captives from warfare as slaves to other tribes and to European traders.
In French Canada, Indian slaves were generally called Panis (anglicized to Pawnee), as most had been captured from the Pawnee tribe. Pawnee became synonymous with "Indian slave" in general use in Canada. As early as 1670, a historical reference was recorded to a Panis in Montreal.
A Pawnee tribal delegation visited President Thomas Jefferson. In 1806 Lieutenant Zebulon Pike, Major G. C. Sibley, Major S. H. Long, amongt others, began visiting the Pawnee villages. Under pressure from Siouan tribes and European-American settlers, the Pawnee ceded territory to the United States government in treaties in 1818, 1825, 1833, 1848, 1857, and 1892. In 1857, they settled on the Pawnee Reservation along the Loup River in present-day Nance County, Nebraska, but managed to keep their regular pattern of life. They were subjected to continual raids by Lakota from the north and west. On one such raid, a Sioux war party of over 1,000 warriors ambushed a Pawnee hunting party of 350 men, women and children. The Pawnee had gained permission to leave the reservation and hunt buffalo. About 70 Pawnee were killed in this attack, which occurred in a canyon in present-day Hitchcock County. The site is known as Massacre Canyon. Because of the ongoing hostilities with the Sioux and encroachment from American settlers to the south and east, the Pawnee decided to leave their Nebraska reservation in the 1870s and settle on a new reservation in Indian Territory, located in what is today Oklahoma.
Therefore warriors enlisted as Pawnee Scouts in the latter half of the 19th century in the United States Army. Like other groups of Indian scouts, Pawnee warriors were recruited in large numbers to fight on the Northern and Southern Plains in various conflicts against hostile native Americans. Because the Pawnee people were old enemies of the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche and Kiowa tribes, instead of fighting against Westward expansion, they served with the army for fourteen years between 1864 and 1877, earning a reputation as being a well trained unit, especially in tracking and reconnaissance. The Pawnee Scouts took part with distinction in the Battle of the Tongue River during the Powder River Expedition (1865) against Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho and in the Battle of Summit Springs. They also fought in the Great Sioux War of 1876. On the Southern Plains they fought against their old enemies, the Comanches and Kiowa, in the Comanche Campaign.
In 1875 most members of the nation moved to Indian Territory, a large area reserved to receive tribes displaced from the east and elsewhere. Many Pawnee men joined the United States Cavalry as scouts rather than face the ignominy of reservation life. The warriors resisted the loss of their freedom and culture by adapting to reservations. On November 23, 1892, the Pawnee in Oklahoma signed an agreement with the Cherokee Commission to accept individual allotments.
Recent history
The US government dismantled the Pawnee tribal government and civic institutions in 1906. The tribe reorganized under the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936 and established the Pawnee Business Council, the Nasharo (Chiefs) Council, and a tribal constitution, bylaws, and charter.
In the 1960s, the government settled a suit by the Pawnee Nation regarding their compensation for lands ceded to the US government in the 19th century. By an out-of-court settlement in 1964, the Pawnee Nation was awarded $7,316,097 for land ceded to the US and undervalued by the federal government in the previous century.
Bills such as the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 have helped address the mistakes of the past. The Pawnee Nation has regained some of its self-government, culture and pride. The Pawnee continue to practice cultural traditions, meeting twice a year for the inter-tribal gathering with their kinsmen the Wichita Indians. They have an annual four-day Pawnee Homecoming for Pawnee veterans in July. Many Pawnee also return to their traditional lands to visit relatives and take part in scheduled powwows.
Notable Pawnee
- Acee Blue Eagle, artist and educator
- Big Spotted Horse, 19th-century warrior and raider
- Larry Echo Hawk, Bureau of Indian Affairs Director. He was elected Attorney General of Idaho (1991–1995). He is a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- Walter Echo-Hawk, worked on major legislation, such as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
- John EchoHawk, lawyer and founder of the Native American Rights Fund
- Kevin Gover, director of the National Museum of the American Indian.
- Moses J. "Chief" Yellow Horse, Major League baseball player
- Old Lady Grieves The Enemy, 19th-century woman warrior
- Petalesharo, a Skidi Pawnee chief who in 1817 rescued an Ietan Comanche girl from Pawnee ritual human sacrifice.
- Anna Lee Walters (b. 1946), Otoe-Missouria-Pawnee author and educator
- Wicked Chief, visited President James Monroe in 1822 with a delegation of Indian dignitaries.
See also
- 2011 Oklahoma Indian Nations Pocket Pictorial Directory. Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission. 2011: 27. Retrieved 24 Jan 2012.
- Parks, Douglas R. "Pawnee." Oklahoma Historical Society's Enyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. (retrieved 14 Sept 2011)
- "Preamble." Constitution of the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma. Revised 14 June 2008.
- "Pawnee" Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/P/PA022.html, accessed 10 Dec 2012
- Hyde 22
- Weltfish 5
- Hyde 361
- Weltfish 463
- Weltfish 4–8
- Carleton, James Henry (1983). The Prairie Logbooks. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 66–68. ISBN 0-8032-6314-7.
- Weltfish 119–122
- W.P. Clark, "Hunt", The Indian Sign Language, Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press (1982, first published 1885), trade paperback, 444 pages, ISBN 0-8032-6309-0
- Weltfish 106-118
- Weltfish 117
- Philip Duke, "THE MORNING STAR CEREMONY OF THE SKIRI PAWNEE AS DESCRIBED BY ALFRED C. HADDON"], The Plains Anthropologist, Vol. 34, No. 125 (August 1989), pp. 193-203
- Hyde 85–336
- "History of Nance County, Nebraska, NEGenWeb Project". Usgennet.org.
- "Cattle Annie & Little Britches, taken from Lee Paul [http://www.theoutlaws.com]". ranchdivaoutfitters.com. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
- Weltfish 3-4
- Carter Godwin Woodson, "The Slave in Canada", The Journal of Negro History, Vol. 5, July 1920, No. 3, pp. 263-264. Retrieved 17 November 2009
- Deloria Jr., Vine J; DeMaille, Raymond J (1999). Documents of American Indian Diplomacy Treaties, Agreements, and Conventions, 1775-1979. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 361–363. ISBN 978-0-8061-3118-4.
- 78 Stat. 585 (1964); Wishart, David J., 1985. "The Pawnee Claims Case, 1947–64," Irredeemable America: The Indians' Estate and Land Claims, ed. I. Sutton (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press): 157–186.
- "Nominee Named for Indian Affairs", Associated Press, New York Times, 10 April 2009
- Hyde, George E. The Pawnee Indians. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1974. ISBN 0-8061-2094-0.
- Weltfish, Gene. The Lost Universe, Pawnee Life and Culture. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1977. ISBN 0-8032-5871-2.
Further reading
- Robert O. Lagace, "Pawnee: Culture summary", Ethnographic Atlas, University of Kent, Canterbury.
- "Pawnee", Encyclopedia of North American Indians, New York: Houghton Mifflin
- J. S. Clark, "A Pawnee Buffalo Hunt", Oklahoma Chronicles, Volume 20, No. 4, December 1942, Oklahoma State Historical Society
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pawnee|
- Pawnee Nation, official website
- Pawnee Indian Tribe, Access Genealogy
- Pawnee Indian History in Kansas
- Pawnee Indian Village Museum, A museum featuring the excavated floor of a large 1820s Pawnee earth lodge and associated artifacts, Kansas State Historical Society
- Non-invasive imagery of a Pawnee archaeological site, mapping the archaeological remains of a late 18th- and early 19th-century Pawnee village site located on the Republican River in north central Kansas.
- Inventory of the Gene Weltfish Pawnee Field Notes, 1935 at the Newberry Library | <urn:uuid:a1bc424a-c3c5-48be-95f7-b55c6c3753c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawnee_Nation_of_Oklahoma | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961428 |
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The aim of this research is to develop a set of technologies and standards for the interoperability of an energy-efficient robotic village. Furthermore, the approach for achieving that will be done in the form of a living lab. So the research presented here will be to proof and to tune different technological standards and technologies considered “green”, in a large experimental context of a Robotic Village. The research topics associated with it will be related with the increase of the energy efficiency in different daily areas and how they will contribute to the objectives of 2020 agenda from the UE, of reducing human impact on climate change. One of those research areas is the Smart Way, where technological challenges of the EV, the automation in road infrastructure building and the interoperability of road management and transportation systems will be gathered in order to boost a progressive variation of current transportation model. Concretely, the studies and developments necessary to achieve an increase in energy density and service life, reduced recharge times and price decrease will be carried out.
Date of Conference: 4-8 March 2012 | <urn:uuid:eca3e3da-ff41-483e-8b33-8e415b783b1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?reload=true&arnumber=6183211 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912937 |
Inverse[m] gives the inverse of a square matrix m.
Inverse works on both symbolic and numerical matrices.
For matrices with approximate real or complex numbers, the inverse is generated to the maximum possible precision given the input. A warning is given for ill-conditioned matrices.
Inverse[m, Modulus->n] evaluates the inverse modulo n.
Inverse[m, ZeroTest -> test] evaluates test[ m[[i, j]] ] to determine whether matrix elements are zero. The default setting is ZeroTest -> (# == 0 &).
A Method option can also be given. Possible settings are as for LinearSolve.
See Section 1.8.3 and Section 3.7.6.
Implementation Notes: see Section A.9.4 and Section A.9.4.
See also: PseudoInverse, LinearSolve, RowReduce, NullSpace, LinearSolveFunction.
Related package: LinearAlgebra`Tridiagonal`.
New in Version 1; modified in 3. | <urn:uuid:7976d53e-0aab-4ca9-9043-0e6685d66886> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reference.wolfram.com/legacy/v5/Built-inFunctions/ListsAndMatrices/MatrixOperations/Inverse.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.716828 |
Birthplace: Selborne, Hampshire, England
Location of death: Selborne, Hampshire, England
Cause of death: unspecified
Race or Ethnicity: White
Executive summary: Natural History of Selborne
English writer on natural history, born on the 18th of July 1720 in the little Hampshire village of Selborne, which his writings have rendered so familiar to all lovers of either books or nature. He was educated at Basingstoke under Thomas Warton, father of the poet Thomas Warton, and subsequently at Oriel College, Oxford, where in 1744 he was elected to a fellowship. Ordained in 1747, he became curate at Swarraton the same year and at Selborne in 1751. In 1752 he was nominated junior proctor at Oxford and became dean of his college. In 1753 he accepted the curacy of Durley, and in 1757 he was a candidate for the provostship of Oriel, but failed to secure election. Soon afterwards he received the college living of Moreton Pinkney, though he did not reside there, and in 1761 he became curate at Faringdon, near Selborne, a position which he held until in 1784 he again became curate in his native parish. He died in his home, The Wakes, Selborne, on the 26th of June 1793.
Gilbert White's daily life was practically unbroken by any great changes or incidents; for nearly half a century his pastoral duties, his watchful country walks, the assiduous care of his garden, and the scrupulous posting of his calendar of observations made up the essentials of a full and delightful life, but hardly of a biography. At most we can only fill up the portrait by reference to the tinge of simple old-fashioned scholarship, which on its historic side made him an eager searcher for antiquities and among old records, and on its poetic occasionally stirred him to an excursion as far as that gentlest slope of Parnassus inhabited by the descriptive muse. Hence we are thrown back upon that correspondence with brother naturalists which has raised his life and its influence so far beyond the commonplace. His strong naturalist tendencies are not, however, properly to be realized without a glance at the history of his younger brothers. The eldest, Thomas, retired from trade to devote himself to natural and physical science, and contributed many papers to the Royal Society, of which he was a fellow. The next, Benjamin, became the publisher of most of the leading works of natural history which appeared during his lifetime, including that of his brother. The third, John, became chaplain at Gibraltar, where he accumulated much material for a work on the natural history of the rock and its neighborhood, and carried on a scientific correspondence, not only with his eldest biother, but with Linnaeus. The youngest, Henry, was vicar of Fyfield, near Andover. The sister's son, Samuel Barker, also became in time one of White's most valued correspondents. With other naturalists, too, he had intimate relations: with Thomas Pennant and Daines Barrington he was in constant correspondence, often too with the botanist John Lightfoot, and sometimes with Sir Joseph Banks and others, while Richard Chandler and other antiquaries kept alive his historic zeal. At first he was content to furnish information from which the works of Pennant and Barrington largely profited; but gradually the ambition of separate authorship developed from a suggestion thrown out by the latter of these writers in 1770. The next year White sketched to Pennant the project of "a natural history of my native parish, an annus historico-naturalis, comprising a journal for a whole year, and illustrated with large notes and observations. Such a beginning might induce more able naturalists to write the history of various districts and might in time occasion the production of a work so much to be wished for -- a full and complete natural history of these kingdoms." Yet the famous Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne did not appear until 1789. It was well received from the beginning, and has been reprinted time after time.
To be a typical parish natural history so far as completeness or order is concerned, it has of course no pretensions; batches of letters, an essay on antiquities, a naturalist's calendar and miscellaneous jottings of all kinds are but the unsystematized material of the work proper, which was never written. Yet it is largely to this very piecemeal character that its popularity has been due. The style has the simple, yet fresh and graphic, directness of all good letter-writing, and there is no lack of passages of keen observation, and even shrewd interpretation. White not only notes the homes and ways, the times and seasons, of plants and animals -- comparing, for instance, the different ways in which the squirrel, the field-mouse and the nuthatch eat their hazel-nuts -- or watches the migrations of birds, which were then only beginning to be properly recorded or understood, but he knows more than any other observer until Charles Darwin about the habits and the usefulness of the earthworms, and is certain that plants distill dew and do not merely condense it. The book is also interesting as having appeared on the borderland between the medieval and the modern school of natural history, avoiding the uncritical blundering of the old Encyclopaedists, without entering on the technical and analytic character of the opening age of separate monographs. Moreover, as the first book which raised natural history into the region of literature, much as Izaak Walton's Compleat Angler did for that gentle art, we must affiliate to it the more finished products of later writers like Henry David Thoreau or Richard Jefferies. Yet, while these are essential merits of the book, its endearing charm lies deeper, in the sweet and kindly personality of the author, who on his rambles gathers no spoil, but watches the birds and field-mice without disturbing them from their nests, and quietly plants an acorn where he thinks an oak is wanted, or sows beech-nuts in what is now a stately row. He overflows with anecdotes, seldom indeed gets beyond the anecdotal stage, yet from this all study of nature must begin; and he sees everywhere intelligence and beauty, love and sociality, where a later view of nature insists primarily on mere adaptation of interests or purely competitive struggles. The encyclopaedic interest in nature, although in White's day culminating in the monumental synthesis of Buffon, was also disappearing before the analytic specialism inaugurated by Linnaeus; yet the catholic interests of the simple naturalist of Selborne fully reappear a century later in the greater naturalist of Down, Charles Darwin.
University: Oriel College, Oxford University
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Our bodies naturally suppress free radicals with Vitamins A, C, E and the mineral Selenium. These antioxidants work together to neutralize highly reactive molecules. Even a balanced diet may not provide all of the antioxidants the body will use. ACES provide the body with armament for a four-point attack. Beta-Carotene quenches singlet oxygen molecules. Vitamin C protects tissue and blood components. Vitamin E protects cell membranes. Selenium is a vital building block in the structure of glutathione peroxidase, one of the body's antioxidant enzymes. Research indicates that together these nutrients are more effective than when taken individually. | <urn:uuid:886ad63b-261d-4f39-a278-5d02407e0ab1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smithspharmacy.com/shop/product_view.asp?id=32115&StoreID=A2CA0A52C8E242409B8D577B01E035A1&private_product=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.824392 |
Ward's Book of Days.
Pages of interesting anniversaries.
What happened on this day in history.
On this day in history in 1873, died John Stuart Mill.
Mill was a philosopher who dictated Nineteenth Century liberal thinking and created modern concepts of political philosophy.
Mill was the son of philosopher James Mill and the godson of Jeremy Bentham who brought up the young Mill with the explicit aim of creating a genius who would implement the cause of Utilitarianism. In his Autobiography, Mill describes the extraordinary education given to him by his father and Bentham. Mill started to learn Greek at three and at eight years old, he could read Plato and other philosophical works in the original. He read various works on history and had even mastered the basics of arithmetic. At the age of ten, he was familiar with the works of Adam Smith and David Ricardo and wrote papers with his own views on the factors of production. At the age of twenty-one, Mill suffered a mental breakdown.
Mill ascribes his illness to the gruelling study programme which left no room for spirituality. He took to reading the works of Wordsworth and the ‘cloud gradually drew off’.
Mill worked for a brief period at The British East India Company and later entered Parliament. He was the first ever parliamentarian to call for women to be given the vote. He called for proportional representation, single transferable votes and extension of the franchise to the working class. Mill married Harriet Taylor after a twenty-year courtship. Harriet reinforced his advocacy of women’s rights prompting him to write On The Subjection Of Women, an early feminist tract. Mill’s great work was On Liberty, in which he lays down the important principals of political philosophy. He stated that people should be able to engage in any activity they wished as long as they did no harm. He stated that the purpose of government is to remove barriers to freedom. He argued that free speech was vital to ensure political progress and that false opinions should not be suppressed as they would wither naturally in a climate of free expression. Mills argued that without free speech, beliefs would become dead and we would forget why we held them.
Harriet died in 1858, whilst on holiday in France and was buried in Avignon. Mill was distraught. He then spent half of each year in France so that he could be near her grave. Mill died in 1873 in Avignon and is buried next to Harriet.
Mill, John Stuart. Utilitarianism. Paperback edition.
Buy it here at Amazon
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Tricuspid describes something with three points, tips or flaps.(adjective)
An example of tricuspid is a molar tooth with three cusps.
The definition of a tricuspid is a tooth with three cusps, or a valve with three flaps.(noun)
An example of a tricuspid is the valve in the human heart between the right atrium and ventricle.
See tricuspid in Webster's New World College Dictionary
Origin: L tricuspis (gen. tricuspidis): see tri- & cusp
See tricuspid in American Heritage Dictionary 4
Origin: From Latin tricuspis, tricuspid-, having three points
Origin: : tri-, tri-
Origin: + cuspis, point.
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"The voice of the Divine is upon the waters, the
power of the Presence is in thunder. The Divine is on many waters!"
"The water conceived and gave birth to darkness."
—Exodus Rabbah 15:22
is mayim, a word always plural, for water is multiplicity
and change. Water flowed in the deep when the earth was without
form and void, and waters consumed the earth in the time of Noah.
A well of water stood by while Jacob and Rachel fell in love,
as it is said “A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters
[is my sister, my bride].” Water sprang up from the desert
when the fleeing Israelites passed through to give them rest and
comfort. The Torah rained down on Mount Sinai like sweet rain.
The prophets called righteousness and justice “waters”
and “a mighty stream,” and the priests washed with
water as a symbol of purity. The waters swallowed Jonah and taught
him compassion, and the waters lifted up the basket of Moses and
saved him from drowning. Waters are the home of Leviathan, the
chaotic sea monster of the depths, and waters herald redemption,
as it is said: “with joy you shall draw water from the wells
of salvation.” Water is yetzirah, the world of emotion,
the world of dreaming, and it is the world of chesed, of love.
It is the world of Michael, angel of God’s compassion, and
the world of Sarah, a woman whose aged womb suddenly flowed with
new life. It is the world of the Holy One, the kind heart that
beats in time with all creation.
Jewish texts use the word water to speak of Torah and wisdom,
to describe eternal life, and also to speak of the overflowing
of the heart in sorrow. Jewish sources also see the link between
the waters and the moon that pulls them, saying that the sea and
the moon forever yearn toward one another. This section makes
room for thoughts about water and the emotions, the moon, and
the weavings of fate and journey, and also the inner tides that
pull us toward one another. | <urn:uuid:da9f4f42-3e53-4a0a-a383-1190584422c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://telshemesh.org/water/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93045 |
03 May 2003
The ocean has long been California's calling card. The majority of the state's residents live within an hour's drive of the Pacific Ocean and the coastline powers a multi-billion dollar tourism economy. Now, the seawater that incessantly pounds the state's shores may become the answer to one of the state's most vexing problems, finding enough fresh water to quench California's growing thirst. Southern California water managers are making a major investment in desalination technology.
Just inside the gate at the Encina Power plant sits a curious collection of freshly painted tanks, pumps and tubes. A private company called Poseidon Resources wants to build a huge desalination plant here and this machinery is a small demonstration facility.
The project is major step toward building a plant capable of producing nearly 190 million liters of fresh water a day. San Diego County Water Authority official Ken Weinberg recently visited the facility. He says desalination could become an important new source of drinking water. "The ocean's here," he says. "It's the world's largest reservoir and it's a reliable source of supply. It's a high quality supply because of the technology. And it's one that's here locally, that would be under our control and would be here [all the time] no matter what the weather is."
For several weeks now, this demonstration project has been turning small amounts of salty ocean water into drinkable water.
The power plant pumps in ocean water to cool its equipment. The Poseidon facility taps into that water circulation system and diverts it into the desalination machinery. Water is forced through two separate tanks filled with sand to filter out suspended objects. Then, the salty water is pumped through long round cylinders tightly packed with thin cellulose membranes.
"If you unrolled them and lined them up end to end there would be enough membrane surface to stretch from here to San Fransisco," says Poseidon spokesman Peter MacLaggan. He says by the time the seawater has passed through all those membranes, the salt has been filtered out, and the water is ready to drink. California has been trying unsuccessfully for years to turn ocean water into drinking water. Santa Barbara's brief flirtation with desalination in the mid-1980's ended after a few months because it simply cost too much.
But water-filtration technology has improved dramatically in the last decade. Mr. MagLaggan says today's filters can produce twice as much water with less energy. The filter cartridges also last a lot longer than earlier models, significantly lowering the cost. At the Encina plant, the process of converting seawater into fresh water only takes 20 minutes and the facility is already producing 130,000 liters of fresh water a day. "Water comes out of the center of the pressure vessel as high quality drinking water. It's ready for human consumption. The water coming out of the back is essentially the seawater that has twice the salt concentration it had when it came in because we've physically removed half the water," he says.
In addition to the desalination equipment, Poseidon Resources has set up a 750-liter salt-water aquarium in a nearby trailer. Peter MacLaggan says the fish tank is designed to replicate how salty discharge will affect marine animals on a calm warm day. Inside are several species of local fish, shellfish and coral. "Probably the spiny sea urchin is the one that's most affected by salt tolerances. What we've found here is that they're doing just fine," he says. "We'll continue to operate this as long as the pilot plant's operating."
The San Diego County Water Authority is so enthusiastic about the technology's potential, it's already exploring the possibility of building two more plants. They eventually hope to draw 15 percent of the county's drinking water from the ocean. With funding from the state's largest water agency, there are currently five desalination projects underway throughout southern California. | <urn:uuid:f0aad575-15d0-4fec-9261-8034d8fadb4e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://worldnewssite.com/News/2003/May/2003-05-03-7-California.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964908 |
Emile Durkheim, following the positivist school of sociology defines the Social Fact as social phenomena having an existence independent of the individuals comprising the social group. As such, it has a coercive effect. A corollary is that the individuals comprising the group can change, while leaving the group behavior intact.
Positivism admits only the existence of facts, not consciousness, the material world, not the spiritual. Hence Durkheim cannot provide a theory of how the social fact came to be independent of any human beings; nor can he explain how the social fact controls the group, nor even how the group came to be constituted in the first place. How are we then to understand this from the metaphysical point of view?
First of all, to be an effective force, the social fact must be experienced as a thought in consciousness, though to be efficacious, it must not be reflective self-consciousness. That is, it is experienced in its immediacy and as unquestionable as any observation of the external world; in other words, no epistemological distinction is made between the social fact and an external fact. Julius Evola describes this type of consciousness:
the “I” still lives only as if in a dream: it is not yet a self-consciousness, nor an autonomous principle of action: immersed in an immediate, indistinct coalescence with nature and the world, we can say that it is not so much he who thinks, speaks, and asserts himself, as much as that various forces and impulses think, speak and assert themselves in him. He therefore is only a type of medium, a passive instrument that has his very life outside himself, and he experiences everything as grace, as spontaneity, as the immediate self-manifestation of something that transcends him. (From The Individual and the Becoming of the World.)
In the first edition of Pagan Imperialism intended for an Italian audience, Evola makes explicit reference to Durkheim and other similar sociologists by name. Although the names are removed in the subsequent German edition, the argument is the same. Durkheim used field studies of primitive societies to reach his conclusions, on the mistaken assumption that they represent earlier stages of evolution of more developed societies. Evola comments on the stage of consciousness of such societies, although he uses the word “totem” in much the same sense as social fact:
the totem is the mystical soul of the group, the clan, or the race: the individual members do not feel themselves, in their blood and in their life, as anything other than incarnations of this collective spiritual force, and possessing in themselves almost no trace of personality.
Given Evola’s thesis, then, such societies do not represent human societies at all, but something else entirely. In them, individuals are fungible, essentially indistinguishable from each other. Just a in a bale of hay, one piece of straw can be replaced with another without altering the characteristics of the bale, so in such societies the individual members may change without altering the group characteristics. Thus, they persist unchanged for centuries, unless disturbed by outside forces. Evola writes:
If the totemic force remains at this diffuse and faceless level, so to speak, and if, consequently, there are neither leaders nor subjects, and the individual members of the group are nothing other than “placed together” (com-posti) — then we find ourselves at the lowest level of human society, at the level which borders on the subhuman, that is, the animal kingdom: something confirmed by the fact that the totems—the mystical souls of the clan — are often regarded at the same time as the “spirits” of particular animal species. In addition, it is interesting that, even as the totems represent masculine figures, the composition of these societies reflects above all the telluric-matriarchal type
So, while Durkheim’s ideas may pertain to such societies, they are not valid for a Traditional civilisation, properly so called. Thus the claim of sociology to represent a universal knowledge of social groups is falsified. A true civilisation is compose of persons, not individuals. A person, as opposed to the individual, is a conscious agent. As such, he is not replaceable by any arbitrary individual, as he has a specific place and role. The aim of such a civilisation is not to keep its members in bondage to a lower animal-like form of life, but rather to further develop the personality. Evola explains:
A civilisation, in the true and higher sense — with reference both to individuals and peoples — arises only where the totemic level is surpassed, and where the race element, also understood mystically, is not the last resort; where, beyond blood, a force of higher, meta-biological, spiritual, and “solar” type manifests itself, which does not lead outside of life, but determines life, transforming it, refining it, giving it a form which it initially did not have, freeing it entirely from every mixture with animal life, and opening the various paths for the realisation of the various personality types.
This is not to say that Durkheim’s ideas fail to describe man as he is in a disordered untraditional “civilisation”. Stuck in a worldview of naturalism, materialism, and rationalism, modern man is no longer able to transcend the social fact. Seeing no sense in the idea of a “virile overcoming”, he is mired in sensuality. Unable to discern any connection with a higher world, he is satisfied with an animal existence. Intellectually incapable of understanding the sacred traditional sciences, he subjects himself to the limiting ideas of a scientific positivism as a self-fulfilling prophecy. The modern techniques of mass manipulation — advertising, propaganda, media — have introduced new totems to occlude the personality of modern man. Evola explains:
Far from not exhausting itself in a naturalism — as today only the ignorance or the tendentious falsification of some people are able to present it — beyond knowing the ideals of virile overcoming and of absolute liberation, in the pagan conception, the world was a living body, suffused with secret, divine and demonic forces, with meanings and with symbols, as illustrated by that saying of Olympiodorus: “sensible expression of the invisible”. Man lived in an organic and essential connection with the forces of the world and of the supraworld, so that it could be said, with the hermetic expression, to be “a whole within the whole, composed of all the powers”: the sense which is revealed by the aristocratic doctrine of the Atman is no different. And that conception was the basis on which, as a whole in its perfect way, the corpus of the sacred traditional sciences developed. | <urn:uuid:e4660305-9a39-4b6d-820a-39d255d3f9f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gornahoor.net/?p=1004 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948434 |
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Formal induction into office.
- n. A formal beginning or introduction.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The act of inaugurating or inducting into office with solemnity; ceremonial investiture with office.
- n. The act of solemnly or formally introducing or setting in motion anything of importance or dignity; a definite beginning or initiation: as, the inauguration of a new era or a new system.
- n. A ceremonial or formal introduction or opening, as of something intended for public use: as, the inauguration of a monument or an exhibition. [Among the ancient Romans the act of inauguration (not expressed by inauguratio, but by a circumlocution with the verb) consisted in the consultation of the auspices by the augurs, and sometimes by other priests, to ascertain the will of the gods with reference to the induction of men into office or to any proposed public measure or proceeding. If the signs were deemed favorable, the declaration of that fact completed the inauguration.]
- n. The act of inaugurating, or inducting into office with solemnity; investiture by appropriate ceremonies.
- n. The formal beginning or initiation of any movement, course of action, etc.; as, the inauguration of a new system, a new condition, etc.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The act of inuagurating, or inducting into office with solemnity; investiture by appropriate ceremonies.
- n. The formal beginning or initiation of any movement, course of action, etc.
- n. the ceremonial induction into a position
- n. the act of starting a new operation or practice
- From inaugurate. (Wiktionary)
“Golf carts from a staging area to the steps near to a place of honor at the inauguration is a great idea.”
“Your invitation to Reverend Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at your inauguration is a genuine blow to LGBT Americans, wrote Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, in a letter to Mr. Obama today.”
“Warren to deliver the invocation at your inauguration is a genuine blow to LGBT Americans.”
“For most of them, getting to the inauguration is a daunting prospect.”
“Terrorism experts fear that the inauguration is a ripe target.”
“Even Democratic stalwart Clinton says that the inauguration is a time of bipartisian celebration - that's why he's attending it.”
“His radio address was similar to the farewell address he gave to the nation on Thursday night in which he called the inauguration of Barack Obama, who becomes the first black president, a "moment of hope and pride" for America.”
“Etymologically, "inauguration" comes from the Latin ... digg”
“Etymologically, "inauguration" comes from the Latin inaugurationem "consecration, installment under good omens.”
“Etymologically, "inauguration" comes from the Latin ...”
These user-created lists contain the word ‘inauguration’.
Looking for tweets for inauguration. | <urn:uuid:42c70074-9328-404a-8769-f59473922cea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wordnik.com/words/inauguration | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.891293 |
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There are lots of articles about diabetes, as well as all kinds of information about anemia. But what if you have both? About 25 percent of people with diabetes have some level of anemia. This article explains how the two conditions interact.
What Is Anemia, and Why Is It Linked to Diabetes?
In anemia, there are fewer red blood cells than normal, resulting in less oxygen being carried to the body's cells. People with anemia often feel tired or weak and may have difficulty getting through activities of daily living. Other symptoms include paleness, poor appetite, dizziness, lightheadedness, rapid heartbeat, and shortness of breath. Because these symptoms can also be associated with diabetes, they are sometimes not recognized as evidence of anemia.
Anemia may occur with diabetes because the hormone that regulates red blood cell production, erythropoietin (EPO), is produced by the kidneys. Kidney damage at several levels is a complication of diabetes, and one problem often leads to the other. Changes in the kidneys that occur with diabetes range from diabetic nephropathy all the way to chronic kidney disease. Early detection and treatment is essential to prevent or delay disease progression. Information in greater detail can be found at www.kidney.niddk.nih.gov.
Other causes of anemia are low levels of iron or other vitamins, as well as prolonged illness.
A simple blood test done during a doctor visit, called a complete blood count or CBC, is used to check for anemia. The two elements of the test that reveal anemia are hemoglobin and hematocrit. Hemoglobin is the part of red blood cells that carries oxygen to the cells. Hematocrit indicates the percentage of red blood cells in the blood.
How Does Anemia Affect Your Diabetes Care?
If you have anemia, your blood glucose tests may not be accurate. Studies that looked at blood glucose monitor accuracy found that low hematocrit levels can falsely increase glucose measurements, leading to monitor test results as much as 20 percent too high. Healthcare providers and patients need to be aware of this combination and consider it when responding to glucose levels, especially when treating patients on insulin.
Patients with anemia should ask their healthcare provider which blood glucose meter might be best for people with both anemia and diabetes. This question is currently being evaluated by the American Diabetes Association and the FDA.
Why Does Hematocrit Affect Glucose Monitor Accuracy?
All glucose monitors are designed to measure the level of glucose in the blood, but, unfortunately, not all blood is the same. A major difference between blood samples is the percentage of red blood cells, or hematocrit. The average hematocrit for men is slightly higher than the average for women. Young children tend to have a lower hematocrit than adults. As people age, hematocrit values usually are lower.
Low hematocrit is a common side effect of many illnesses and of drug therapies like metformin. Reductions in kidney function that occur in diabetes can also cause lower hematocrit values.
Hematocrit is part of the calculation that all glucose monitors use for measuring glucose. Monitor companies pick a "most likely" hematocrit value for their monitor calculation. If your hematocrit differs significantly from the hematocrit value used by the manufacturer, your monitor test results will be affected. The larger the difference between the manufacturer's hematocrit value and your hematocrit value, the bigger the effect will be on your meter's accuracy. Small changes in hematocrit are not a problem, but as patients move into anemia, the effect on accuracy is larger. Some of the newer meters have hematocrit corrections built in.
Treatment of Anemia in Diabetes
Iron supplementation is the most common treatment for anemia. When kidney disease is involved, there are additional options that you can discuss with your healthcare provider. If no cause other than reduced erythropoietin (EPO) production is found, anemia can be treated with a genetically engineered form of EPO that is usually injected under the skin two or three times a week. The US Food and Drug Administration recommends that patients treated with EPO therapy achieve a hematocrit between 30 and 36 percent.
Adjusting your diet to include foods rich in iron, folic acid, and vitamin B12 may also be helpful. Ask your diabetes educator or registered dietitian to help you adjust your meal plan to include these nutrients.
A number of steps can be helpful in preventing anemia. Keep your blood glucose at the target levels set by you and your healthcare provider, and maintain your blood pressure under 130/80. Control your lipids, and work with your healthcare team to manage your cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Finally, eat a well-balanced diet that includes foods containing iron.
Ever since the Diabetes Control and Complication Trial in 1993, studies have shown that the largest influence in diabetes care is the person with diabetes. Your participation in your own care is critical, so it's important to be aware of how anemia can affect your diabetes.
Categories: Anemia, Blood Test, CBC, Chronic Kidney Disease, CKD, Complete Blood Count, Diabetes, Diabetes, FDA, Folic Acid, Food, Glucose Monitor, Glucose Results, Hematocrit, Hemoglobin, Insulin, Iron, Iron Supplement, Kidney Disease, Metformin, vitamin B12
3 comments - Feb 16, 2012
Diabetes Health is the essential resource for people living with diabetes- both newly diagnosed and experienced as well as the professionals who care for them. We provide balanced expert news and information on living healthfully with diabetes. Each issue includes cutting-edge editorial coverage of new products, research, treatment options, and meaningful lifestyle issues. | <urn:uuid:d72e6ed9-d7f6-41bc-b76d-3c72fa2e9590> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://diabeteshealth.com/read/2012/02/16/7449/diabetes-and-anemia-/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93163 |
There are two ways we can entrust our
money to a bank:
These are two very different types of transactions. They are quite
different in nature and have a different legal basis.
The Demand Deposit
When I get paid, my salary goes into my cheque account. I do not want
to lend my salary to the bank, because I intend to spend most of my pay
in the fortnight before I next get paid. I want to be able to spend that
money whenever I choose, for whatever I want to buy, so I choose a
When my salary goes into the bank, I have not transferred the
ownership of that money to the bank. The money is mine. It does not
belong to the bank.
The current accounting process is that the bank records the cash it
has received as an asset and records it responsibility to me as an
liability. This is wrong. The cash does not belong to the bank. It
belongs to me. The cash will be an asset on my balance sheet, so it
should not be an asset on the bank’s accounts at the same time. An
asset cannot have two owners.
Consider a parallel example. If I am going out of town for a while, I
may engage a warehousing company to store my dining suite until I
return. The warehouse will charge a fee for providing this service. When
my dining suite goes into the warehouse, its ownership does not change.
The dining suite still belongs to me. The warehouse owner cannot do what
he likes with the table. He cannot bring it out and use it when he has
guests for dinner. He cannot dance on the table top or use it for
playing table tennis. The warehouse owner cannot decide how the table
will be used, because he has no ownership rights to it. He has a duty to
care for my dining table in the way specified in the contract.
If I decide not to return, I can write to the warehouse and ask that
the table be delivered to my daughter and the chairs to one of my
friends. The warehouse owner will do this, provided I pay the cost of
transport. He cannot refuse to carry out my request, because he has
relatives staying and is using the table. If this happened, I would
accuse him of misappropriating my dinning suite. If he has moved it to
his own home, I could accuse him of theft. Everyone would understand
that he has done something immoral.
If the word got out about what he had done, his warehouse would soon
be empty, because people would stop trusting him. The service that he
offers is skill at caring well for things that belong to other people.
This service only has value to customers, if they can trust him to
provide the care that he has promised. He is really selling trust, so if
he proves to be untrustworthy, his service has no value and people will
be unwilling to pay for it.
The warehouse owner does not record the things stored in his
warehouse on his balance sheet. The only asset on his balance will be
the warehouse that he owns. He does not include the contents of the
warehouse, because he does not own them. They are not his assets. The
only way that they will appear on his balance sheet is through a
contingent liability for inadvertent damage that might be done to
something that is in his care.
When I put my salary in the bank, I am really just putting it in a
warehouse for safekeeping. This was obvious in the days when gold coins
circulated. Keeping the coins at home would be too risky, if I could not
afford a safe. I would be very vulnerable to being robbed. Putting my
gold coins in a bank for safe keeping would make good sense. The bank’s
service would be even better, if it would act on my instructions to make
payments to other people on my behalf when required. The bank would
simply transfer the ownership of the right number of coins to the person
to whom I was making a payment.The bank is just providing a warehouse
role for the gold coins. The ownership of the coins does not shift to
the bank, when I deposit them. The coins are still mine. They only
change ownership, when I instruct the bank to make a payment to someone.
At that point the ownership of some of the coins transfers to the person
paid. The bank never owns the coins. Therefore the gold coins should
never be recorded as an asset on the banks balance sheet. All that
should appear on the banks balance sheet is any contingent liability for
coins that are lost or stolen.
Bank of Amsterdam
The bank of Amsterdam operated in this way for more than 150 years
from 1609 to 1779. Very few banks have remained sound for this length of
time. The integrity of this bank was noted by David Hume and Adam Smith.
The latter made the following comments.
The Bank of Amsterdam professes to lend out no part of what is
deposited with it, but, for every guilder for which it gives credit in
its books, to keep in its repositories the value of a guilder either in
money or bullion. That it keeps in its repositories all the money or
bullion for which there are receipts in force, for which it is at all
times liable to be called upon, and which, in reality, is continually
going from it and returning to it again, cannot well be doubted...... At
Amsterdam, however, no point of faith is better established than that
for every guilder, circulated as bank money, there is a correspondent
guilder in gold or silver to be found in the treasure of the bank.....
The bank is under the direction of the four reigning burgomasters who
are changed every year. Each new set of burgomasters visits the
treasure, compares it with the books, receives it upon oath, and
delivers it over, with the same awful solemnity, to the set which
succeeds; and in that sober and religious country oaths are not yet
In 1672, when the French king was at Utrecht, the Bank of Amsterdam
paid so readily as left no doubt of the fidelity with which it had
observed its engagements. Some of the pieces which were then brought
from its repositories appeared to have been scorched with the fire which
happened in the town-house soon after the bank was established. Those
pieces, therefore, must have lain there from that time.......
The bank cannot be debtor to two persons for the same thing
Inquiry into the Nature And Causes of the Wealth of Nations, 1776).
The last sentence is the key to the longevity of the Bank of
Unfortunately, during the 1780s, the bank began to violate this
principle, when the city of Amsterdam demanded that surplus deposits be
loaned to the city. This marked the end of the bank's success.
What applies to gold coins applies to all forms of money. I get my
salary paid into a bank account because I do not want to carry around a
whole lot of notes and coins. I put it there for safekeeping. I also use
the bank because it provides an easy way of making payments to other
people, by cheque or electronic transfer.
I am very clear about one thing. My money belongs to me, even when it
is in the bank. I want to be able to spend it whenever I want. My cash
in the bank is my asset. It does not belong to the bank. Therefore the
bank should not record my cash on its balance sheet as an asset, even if
also records a liability to me. My cash does not belong to the bank.
This is the heart of the problem with the modern banking system.
Banks claim ownership of the cash that has been deposited by their
customers. They record this cash as an asset on their balance sheet.
They treat the cash as if they owned it. This is problematic because the
cash now has two owners. I think that I own it, while the bank acts as
if it owns it. (For a full analysis of the nature of money, see the
Having on asset with two owners might be fine for a while, if the
real owner does not want to use the asset immediately. However,
eventually problems will arise. If the owners of money in the bank want
to withdraw it and the bank has done something else with the money, the
conflict is obvious. If too many people want to withdraw at the same
time, the problem compounds. A bank run can occur, and the bank might
end up defaulting on its obligations.
This problem does not arise with a warehouse. If all the people with
stuff stored in a warehouse decided to take it out on the same, this
would not matter. The warehouse owner would be very busy handing out
stuff and he might be worried about his future income, but every person
would get back what they owned. There is no reason why a bank should be
The solution to this is quite clear. If the warehouse owner claimed
ownership of the stuff stored in his warehouse, he would be accused of
misappropriation or theft. If a bank claims ownership of money entrusted
to its care, the same applies. It has appropriated something that does
not belong to it. It has stolen money that it does not own.
The Bible is clear that a thing cannot have two owners. If two people
claim the same thing, the case should be resolved by judges.
In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a
garment, or any other lost property about which somebody says, 'This is
mine,' both parties are to bring their cases before the judges. The one
whom the judges declare guilty must pay back double to his neighbor (Ex
If I say of my demand deposit ,'This is mine' and the bank is also
saying, 'This is mine,' something is wrong. This is an issue that should
be resolved by judges. If they find that the bank has claimed something
that does not belong to it, the bank pay back double to the depositor.
The warehouse owner will keep an inventory of everything that is
stored in his warehouse. He records the identity and contact details of
the owner of each item. He can even transfer the ownership to another
person, if instructed by to do so by the owner. However, this recording
system will be separate from his asset register.
Banks should really be doing the same thing. They should be keeping
an inventory of all the money being stored and the identity of the
owners. This should be separate from their financial accounts. The money
stored should not be able to creep onto the banks asset register.
Some defenders of the modern banking system have argued that a bank
is different from a warehouse, because money is fungible. A fungible
good is one that becomes mixed when it is stored with more of the same
good. An example is wheat. If my wheat is added to a silo containing
wheat owned by other people, I will not be able to get my particular
grains of wheat out. All that the silo owner is required to do is return
wheat of similar quality to what I put into a silo.
Oil is another example of a fungible good. Having a separate storage
tank for each owner of oil would not be very efficient. It is better to
store all the oil of a particular type in one tank. The operator of the
tank will always be able to return oil to the person who put some in
when he wants it, however he will not get exactly the same molecules of
oil that he put in. He will be quite happy as long as he gets oil of the
The defenders of modern banks argue that money is a fungible good
too. This is true. If you deposit gold coins in a bank, you may have an
attachment to a particular coin, because you like the face that is
printed on it, but most people will happy to get back any coin, as long
it contains gold of the same weight and purity. Likewise, I don’t
really care what bank notes I get when I with draw money from the bank,
as long as they are not scruffy. I do not care, if I don’t get back
the ones that I put in.
Money is a fungible good, but the argument still has a fatal flaw.
The defenders of modern money argue that when a fungible food is put
into a silo or tank, the ownership of the good passes to the owner of
the storage. They say that the same applies to demand deposits at the
bank. Because money is a fungible good, ownership passes to the bank.
This logic is not correct.
When oil is put in a silo, or oil into a tank, the ownership should
not pass to the owner unless he buys it from the people putting it in.
If I put wheat in a silo along with wheat that belongs to eight other
people, I still own some wheat. The difference is that whereas,
previously I owned my own wheat, I have now own a share of silo of
wheat. The wheat in the silo does not belong to the owner of the silo.
It is owned jointly by the other people who have put their wheat into
the silo. The owner of the silo is not entitled to take some of the
wheat for his own use, even if he puts some other wheat back, before the
owners demand it back.
Likewise, when several people put their oil into the same tank, the
ownership of the oil should not transfer to the owner of the tank.
Rather they have swapped ownership of a specific volume of oil for a
share in a larger volume of oil. The owner of the tank can only claim
ownership of oil if he has actually purchased the oil. He has no right
to take the oil for his own use, even if he puts some oil volume back
into the tank later. The owner of the tank or the silo has a duty of
care to those who are paying a fee for the storage. That does not give
him a right use what is being stored.
The same applies to money deposited in a bank. Although the money is
fungible, ownership does not transfer to the bank. Rather the depositors
own a share of all the money in the bank. This is true regardless of the
form of money. If gold is deposited in the bank, the depositor changes
ownership of a particular piece of gold, for a defined share of all the
gold in the bank. He can always get his gold back, because the amount he
has put in has been added to the total amount in the bank. Each
depositor’s share of the total amount of gold is equivalent to the
amount that they put in.The same applies if the money is notes and coins
or electronic money. All the money in the bank is jointly owned by the
depositors. Each one owns a share of the total, which is equivalent to
the amount they deposited. If the money has depreciated in value, the
loss is shared by all depositors. The important point is that none of
the deposited money is owned by the bank.
This is a biblical principle.
If a man gives his neighbor silver or goods for safekeeping and they
are stolen from the neighbor's house, the thief, if he is caught, must
pay back double. But if the thief is not found, the owner of the house
must appear before the judges to determine whether he has laid his hands
on the other man's property…. The one whom the judges declare guilty
must pay back double to his neighbor. (Ex 22:7-9).
When someone takes the
goods of another for safekeeping and it goes missing, he is accountable
for the loss. If the thief is found, the thief must make restitution. If
not, the person caring for the property is accountable for the loss. He
must make restitution to the owner, because his neglect is the
equivalent of theft.
The other important thing to note is that the Bible refers to the
valuables presented for safekeeping as the “property” of the
depositor, even when they are in the house of the other person. This
confirms the principle that the ownership of property does not transfer
to person who takes it for safekeeping. The owner of the property
remains the owner, until the goods are actually sold.Applying this
principle to banking, the bank that treats money that has been deposited
for safekeeping as its own asset has misappropriated something that does
not belong to it. It has “laid its hands on the other man’s property”.
If it was taken before the judges, it would have to pay back double to
the owner. Paying back the amount that was deposited is not enough.
There are limits on the duty of care that must be provided. The
person providing safekeeping is not accountable for events beyond their
If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep or any other animal to his
neighbor for safekeeping and it dies or is injured or is taken away
while no one is looking, the issue between them will be settled by the
taking of an oath before the LORD that the neighbor did not lay hands on
the other person's property. The owner is to accept this, and no
restitution is required. But if the animal was stolen from the neighbor,
he must make restitution to the owner. If it was torn to pieces by a
wild animal, he shall bring in the remains as evidence and he will not
be required to pay for the torn animal (Ex 22:10-13).
The principle remains the same. The owner is the owner. The neighbour
providing care is never the owner. If the animal is stolen, the
neighbour must make restitution to the owner. If the animal is killed by
wild animals, the neighbour does not have to make restitution, because
this event was beyond his control.
The same applies to a bank. If it claims money that has been
deposited as its own asset, it has committed theft. If the bank is
robbed, it must make restitution to the depositor. However, if the money
is destroyed by a fire or war, the bank is not liable for the loss,
because it was beyond the bank’s control. A bank must provide the best
care possible for money deposited, but it is not accountable for events
beyond its control.
Banks that operate according to these biblical principles will not be
able to make money from accepting money on deposit for safekeeping.
Therefore, it will be quite appropriate for them to charge a fee for the
services that they provide. Depositors will look for banks that provide
the best service for the most reasonable fee. They will be able to
choose the level of service. Banks that provide better security and a
wider range of transactions will be able to charge more.
Banks should not be expected to pay interest on demand
Term Deposits or Loans
Sometimes when I receive my salary, I will not need to spend it all
in the next fortnight. I might build up the size of my deposits in the
bank to the level where I have a couple of thousand dollars that I do
not want to spend until some time in the future.
In this case, I might want to put the money on a term deposit, so I
can earn interest as a reward for not using it immediately. This is a
different type of transaction. I am agreeing to let the bank have the
use of the money for a specified time. I am allowing the bank to decide
how to lend the money. I expect them to do this in a way that will keep
my money safe, while earning a good return.
This is different from the demand deposit, so the analogy of the
warehouse does not apply. This transaction is more akin to someone who
leases a piece of machinery. If a person owns a tractor, but has no way
to make use of it, the tractor brings them no benefit. If they can find
a farmer who needs, a tractor, they can lease it to the farmer for use
on his farm. The farmer is better off because he has the use of a
tractor. The tractor owner is better off, because his tractor now earns
him some income.
The same applies with cash sitting in demand deposit for month after
month. If I do not want to spend it immediately, I am better to lease it
to someone else who can use it productively. They are better off because
they have capital that they did not have. I am better off, because they
will pay me for the use of the money. This is the nature of a term
deposit. I am making a loan to someone who can use it more efficiently
in return for interest. The interest is really just the rent or lease
for the use of the money.
Ownership and Risk
Some defenders of the modern financial system would argue that money
loaned to the bank belongs to the bank. This is not correct. The money
loaned still belongs to the person who saved it. The bank just has the
use of the money for a specified time.
This is obvious in the case of the tractor. When a farmer leases a
tractor, it does not become the property of the farmer. What he buys is
the right to use the tractor for a specific time. The farmer will not
list the tractor as an asset on his balance sheet. Rather he will record
the rent paid for leasing the tractor as an expense in his Profit and
Loss Account. Ownership of the tractor does not pass to the farmer
(except in the case of a lease to buy agreement).
The difference from the warehouse situation is that the owner can not
demand the tractor back whenever he chooses. He can only demand it back,
when the lease has expired. The other difference is that the farmer can
use the tractor how he likes, provided that he complies with the
conditions of the leasehold agreement. The lease may place limits on the
load he can pull and specify regular maintenance that must be done, but
provided the farmer complies with these conditions, he can use the
tractor how he pleases.
The principles for leasing productive equipment are confirmed in the
If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or
dies while the owner is not present, he must make restitution. But if
the owner is with the animal, the borrower will not have to pay. If the
animal was hired, the money paid for the hire covers the loss (Ex
This refers to a productive animal. Even when it has been lent to a
neighbour it still remains the property of the owner. The owner is till
Although the animal was leant for a fee or lease, the neighbour is
required to take reasonable care. However, if something unexpected goes
wrong, then he does not have to pay compensation. The lease fee will
have included something to cover the risk of the animal dying. The owner
must carry the risk of the animal dying. He would not lease the animal
unless the fee was sufficient to compensate for that risk.
Applying this to a tractor, the person leasing the tractor remains
the owner, even after it has been leased. The person leasing the
tractor, has control over its use, but does not have ownership. If the
engine unexpectedly blows up, the person leasing it is not responsible
(unless the lease specifies something different). The owner of the
tractor carries the risk of the tractor not performing as was expected.
The lease fee should compensate for that risk. If it did not, then the
owner would be foolish leasing the tractor.
These principles apply to a bank loans. When I loan money to a bank,
I still own the money. Therefore the bank should not record the money as
an asset in its balance sheet. The bank should pay interest for the use
of the money. Although the lender still owns the money, they cannot
demand the money back at any time. The lender must weight till the end
of the term for the money returned (unless he pays to break the
The bank has responsibility for using the money wisely, but this
cannot prevent problems occurring. Every transaction that involves the
future has uncertainty, so risk is unavoidable. The owner of the money
must bear this risk. The interest received should compensate the lender
for this risk. If it does not, then the lender would be better to leave
the money on demand deposit, so the banker carries the risk.
Money loaned to the bank is also fungible. When a person deposits
money in a bank, it will mix the money up with money deposited by other
people to make it more productive. This does not shift ownership of the
money to the bank. It just means that the depositor has shifted from
ownership of a specific amount of money, to ownership of a share of a
larger pool of money. The share of the money jointly owned will be equal
to amount of money deposited.
The important point is that ownership of the money does not transfer
to the bank. However the bank does have the right to use the money as it
chooses, provided it complies with the conditions of the deposit
agreement. Ownership is not transferred, but the right to control the
use of the money is transferred to the bank for a specific time.
The depositor owns the money, but the bank controls its use. It can
lend the money to someone else, but not for a longer period than the
loan agreement specifies. The loan agreement may also specify they types
of uses for which the money can be loaned by the bank. Provided these
conditions are met, the bank can decide how the money is used. If the
bank can get a higher interest rate than it agreed to pay to the
depositor, it can keep the difference to cover its expenses and provide
a profit to the bank owners. The bank cannot loan the money for a longer
term than the term agreed with the owners of the money, because it does
not have control over the money beyond that time. It only has control
for a specified time. When that period is complete, the bank loses this
control and must return the money to the owners.
Borrowing Short and Lending Long
Modern banks tend to borrow money for a short term and lend it for a
longer term. For example, most mortgages have a term of 15 to 20 years,
but much of the funding comes from term deposits with a term of less
than a year. This creates problems, because banks are lending money that
they do not own or control. If the bank only controls the money for 6
months lending it for a twenty year term is rather odd. We need to think
more clearly about this.
The depositor is in a strange situation. They have lent their money
to the bank for six months. The bank has taken this money and lent it to
someone for twenty years. It has taken this action knowing that it will
not get the money back from the borrower, when the term deposit is due
to be repaid. Unless the bank has other mortgages that will to be repaid
at that time, it will have to obtain the money to repay the depositor
from some other source.
A term deposit at a bank is supposed among the safest things that a
person can do with their money. This is not true. The reality is that
the bank is making a commitment to return the depositor’s money at the
time when the term is complete, without knowing where or how they will
obtain the money to fulfil this commitment. Most of this risk rests with
the bank. In normal times, they should be able to get the finance from
another source, but they cannot guarantee the future. Economic
conditions might have changed dramatically by the time the term deposit
matures. If the economy has deteriorated, the bank might have to offer a
much higher interest rate to get the finance they need.The security of a
term deposit depends on the ability of the bank to guess what will
happen in the future. A prudent bank might be able to manage the risks
involved, but if it guesses wrong about the future, it might face
significant losses. If the bank really gets thing wrong, and the losses
are greater than the banks capital, the depositors will bear the loss
and lose some of their money.
When a bank accepts a term deposit and lends the funds for a longer
term, it does not know where the funds will come from to repay the
depositor when the term is complete. It is committing to obtain money in
the future without knowing whether this will be possible or what the
price will be. It is making a commitment to return something that it
currently does not own.
A market where people buy and sell entities, which they do not own,
is called a futures market. Futures markets exist for a number of
commodities and for a variety of financial instruments. Such a market is
legitimate for people who want to speculate on or hedge against future
changes in price. All participants in the market understand that the
person who is promising to sell at a future date does not currently own
what they are promising to sell. There is a risk that when they try to
buy what they have agreed to sell; the price may have risen so high,
that they cannot afford to buy it. If that happens they might default on
their agreement. Everyone in the market understands this risk.
Futures markets are inherently unstable, as prices can fluctuate
rapidly and players default if unexpected events occur. This is fine for
investors who understand the nature of market and are prepared to take
on the risks involved. However, this type of arrangement will rarely be
appropriate for people making term deposits in a bank. They put their
savings in term deposits at a bank because they want their money to be
safe. They are generally willing to get accept lower interest rates in
return for higher security. They are not choosing to lend to an entity
that is speculating in a futures market. Depositors might be able to get
a higher rate of interest from a term deposit for a bank that borrows
short and lends long, bit if they understood the risk, most would prefer
a safer option.
Trust and Honesty
If bank depositors understood the risks involved, they would not have
so much confidence in the banks. If the farmer who borrowed the tractor
for six months lent it to a contractor for 10 years, the owner would get
a bit upset. He has lent his tractor to a farmer who does not know how
he will be able to return the tractor when the six months is up. The
farmer might be able to borrow or buy an equivalent tractor, but that
might quite costly. The owner of the tractor would become quite nervous
and would regret leasing the tractor to this farmer. He would probably
consider the farmer to be dishonest.
Depositors should view banks in the same way. Why should they trust a
bank that has taken money on deposit for six months, and lent it to
someone else for 10 years? Why should depositors trust the bank, when
the bank does not know how it will repay the money when the term of
their deposits are complete? Why are banks that behave in this way not
labelled dishonest? We should demand better behaviour from the banks
that care for our money. We should not trust organisations that behave
Most depositors would prefer to deposit their money with a bank that
only makes loans for a term that matches the term of their deposits.
Every loan issued by the bank would be matched by a deposit or group of
deposits with the same term. All loans would be for a fixed term and the
bank could only make loans with a term matching the terms deposits
already received by the bank. This is a much safer policy, as the bank
would know that borrowers will be repaying their loan when the term
deposits come to maturity. The bank would know where the money that
belongs to the depositors has gone and it would know when it will be
coming back. This would be a much safer way to operate, as much of the
risk is eliminated.
This policy of matching loans would have the effect of raising
interest rates on longer term deposits. This is reasonable, as the
longer the term of the loan, the greater is the risk of loss. Very long
term loans would probably disappear altogether. This might also be a
good thing. The Bible suggests that Christians should not take loans
with a term of more than seven years. The reason is that we do not know
what the future holds. Making commitments to do things in twenty or
thirty years time is very unwise, as we simply do not know what our
situation will be that far into future. Limiting loans to a maximum of
seven years would be a sensible policy for a bank.
Depositors need greater choice. A bank that only made loans for terms
that are matched by the terms of deposits they have received from
depositors would be much safer. A bank that is serious about providing
services to their customers should provide this service. People choose
bank term deposits, because they prefer security to high returns. I
expect they would prefer a bank that matches the terms of loans and with
the terms of deposits.
The interest rate for deposits with matched loans might be lower, but
the risk would be lower as well. If more people demanded this service,
some banks might start offering it. They would essentially become loan
brokers. They would be pooling deposits and matching these up with
borrowers wanting funds for the same term. They might charge a fee for
this service, or they might take add a margin on to the interest rate
paid to the depositors.
Risk of Default
Matching the term of the loan to the term of the deposits does not
eliminate all risk. The person who borrowed the money may abscond or
make bad business decisions. They might not be able to repay the money
they have borrowed when the term is complete. The bank is to should be
skilled in assessing the creditworthiness of borrowers and putting
appropriate security measures in place.
The more risky the loan, the higher the interest rate will have to
be. Depositors should be able to choose the level of risk they want to
take on, but I suspect that most depositors would specify that their
money only be lent to creditworthy borrowers.
The bank could also provide insurance against the borrower
defaulting. This does not eliminate the risk, but it spreads the cost
across all depositors, rather than leaving all the risk with the few
depositors affected by the bad loan. Most depositors would prefer a
slightly lower interest rate, if they knew that the cost of any default
would be spread across many depositors.
The person borrowing from a bank that lends long and borrows short
also faces uncertainty. They have agreed to a mortgage with at twenty
year term, with a bank that has only organised the finance for the first
six months of the loan. The bank presumes that it will continue to be
able obtain the money as it is needed. This is probably true, but the
bank does not know what rate of interest rate it will have to pay to
obtain the money in the future. That is why most banks will generally
not hold mortgage interest rates fixed for more then about two years.
They do not know how the interest rates will move in the future, so they
pass the risk on to the borrower.
The adjustable or floating rate mortgage is the solution to this
problem. The adjustable rate mortgage is really a series of short-term
loans. The bank is implicitly saying to the borrower, I can only loan
you this money for a couple of years. At then end of that term, I will
renew the loan, but I do not know what the interest rate will be. I will
always be able to borrow some money, but I cannot control the interest
rate. I will have to adjust the interest rate that you pay to allow for
this. So really an adjustable rate mortgage is really a series of short
term loans with different interest rates, but with the same security
remaining in place.
If the borrower is willing to take the risk of committing to a twenty
or thirty year mortgage, without know what the interest rate will be,
that is their business. However, taking on an unknown risk in this way
is not very wise. The Bible suggests that we should not make commitments
beyond five years. Making a commitment to make payments in thirty years
time is serious enough. The fact that you do not know what the amount
you have to pay will be makes the uncertainty even worse.
When Banks borrow short and lend long, depositors do not benefit.
Borrowers do not benefit either. The benefits all go to the bankers and
not their clients.
However, this policy is also risky for the bankers. The practice
works as long as the flow of withdrawals and deposits roughly match each
other. In a time of uncertainty or panic, a large number of people may
try to withdraw their deposits. As there is an advantage in getting in
first, there may be a run on the bank. If the bank cannot call up all
its loans it may run out of reserves. This could push the bank into
bankruptcy and many people would lose their money. Bank panics have been
common throughout the history of banking.
Modern banks are not very clear about the contracts they offer. Some
savings accounts pay interest, but have a variable term allowing the
money to be withdrawn on demand. Some cheque accounts offer interest on
positive balances. The problem with these bank accounts is that it is
not clear whether the money is being deposited for safe keeping or being
loaned for a fixed term. The distinction between demand deposits and
term deposits has become blurred. In reality they are two different
The two types of account are different for the bank and have
different legal consequences. The bank is entitled to lend money in a
term deposit to someone else for the term of the deposit. It has a duty
to lend the money in away that will minimise risk of loss. The situation
with a demand deposit is very different. If the bank lends money
deposited in a demand deposit, or even records it as an asset in its
accounts, it is stealing something that does not belong to it. To avoid
being guilty of theft, an honest bank should be very clear about what
type of account it is offering.
Understanding the two types of account is also important for the
person making the deposit. When making the demand deposit, they are
giving their money to the bank for safekeeping. Security and convenience
is their priority, so they will be willing to pay a fee for that
service. They also expect to be able to go to the bank and be absolutely
certain that their money will be there.
When a person makes a time deposit, they understand that their money
will no be available to them for the length of the specified term. They
understand that the bank will be lending the money on to someone who can
use it effectively. They expect the bank to be careful and lend the
money wisely. However, they know that there is some risk that the person
borrowing the money may default on the loan. This risk is shared with
other term depositors at the bank and with the owners of the bank, so a
small default will not affect them. However, if defaults become
widespread, the risk to the depositor may increase. The interest paid on
the term deposit is in part compensation for this risk. Generally this
risk premium will be quite small.
Imagine two banks.
Bank No 1 says,
We will store your money and keep it safe. We will not use your money
as if it belonged to us. We will deliver it to any person, as you
instruct us. To cover the cost of providing this service, we will charge
a small monthly fee, but you can be sure that your money will be here
when you want it.
Bank No 2 says,
We will look after your money for you and we will deliver it to
anyone according to your instructions. However, if we see that you are
not using your money, we will lend it to someone who can make use of it.
The interest will compensate you for the risk.
The risk you run is that when you want your money, the person who
borrowed it may not have returned the money back to us. We will have to
borrow the money from some else to repay you, so you may have to wait to
get your money. If for some reason a whole lot of people all decide to
withdraw their money at the same time and there is a run on the bank,
many of you could lose your money. This risk is unlikely and the benefit
is that you will have no fees.
Which bank would people choose?
I do not care which bank people would choose. They can work out the
risks and the benefits and do what is best for them. If they prefer the
cheaper option, they are free to choose it, provide that they do not
expect me to rescue them, if things go wrong.
The problem today is that we do not have a choice. Most people think
that they are dealing with Bank No 1, whereas there bankers believe they
are Bank No 2. There is a dangerous disconnect between the understanding
of risks and expectations.
Before assuming that Bank No 2 is the preferred option, read this
If John returns from overseas and puts $10,000 in his check account,
the balance sheet of the bank shows an increase of $10,000 under cash.
If John were the first client of the bank, its balance sheet would look
It is true that the bank also records a liability to John. However,
because the bank has control of the cash, it has a stronger position.
John is a creditor of the bank, so he is very dependent on the bank
honouring its obligations.
If the bank thinks that John is unlikely to withdraw its money, it
may make a loan to Pete. Its balance sheet would no look like this.
Pete buys a truck from Bill, who deposits the cash he received in the
bank. The bank’s balance sheet now looks like this.
The banks cash to asset ratio is fifty percent, so the bank now
complies with the Basel Accords. It easily meets the standards set by
governments all over the world.
Despite this compliance, we now have a strange situation where the
bank only has $10,000 cash, yet both John and Bill think they have
$10,000 in the bank. If they both try to withdraw their cash out at the
same time, they will not be able to get it. The bank cannot call in the
loan from Pete, because he no longer has the cash. He has brought a
Bill and John’s cash is not lost, but they cannot get hold of it
when they demand it. The best the bank could do is to give $5,000 to
both Bill and John and make them wait for the rest of their money. The
bank could force Pete to repay his loan, but if he has to sell the truck
quickly, he might only get $5,000 for it. John and Bill would then be in
trouble, as one of them would have lost $5,000.
Who Should Decide
Who should decide if money in a cheque account is not being used and
is available for lending to someone else? In the modern system the bank
makes this decision. However, the bank cannot read the minds of its
depositors, so it does not know what they are planning to do with their
money, or when they will want to spend it. Banks can only work on
average behaviour and past experience. Neither are good predictors of
The person who is best placed to decide whether money is available
for lending is the depositor. They know their plans for the money. They
know what they are planning to do. They are best placed to decide how
much they need to hold back to deal with unexpected expense.
If banks only paid interest on term deposits and there was a small
fee for the operation of an account where the money is available on
demand, then people would respond to these incentives. They would
quickly identify money that they do not need immediately and transfer it
into a term deposit that paid interest. The bank would then know that it
was available for lending to others, without having to make guesses
about the depositor’s intentions.
The banking system would function better if banks stopped deciding
when money was available for lending and left these decisions to
Some people think that I should not worry that the bank recording my
deposit as an asset on their balance sheet. They do not under the nature
of modern banking law. When a person deposits money in a bank, they
change from being an owner of an asset into a creditor of the bank. They
give up a property right in exchange for a contractual right. They swap
the ownership of an asset for a promise to receive repayment on demand.
Owning an asset is generally better than being a creditor. If I get a
3 year loan of $30,000 from General Motors, I can buy a new truck. My
balance sheet looks like this.
Before making the sale, the truck was on the General Motors balance
sheet, as part of its inventory. Once they have sold the truck to me, it
becomes my asset. I can drive wherever I like in the truck. I can paint
it bright blue, if I choose. General Motors have lost control of the
truck. They cannot control its use it any more.
General Motors has swapped the truck for a credit contract for the
money that I have borrowed. They cannot demand it back until the three
years are complete. A contractual right is less certain than a property
right. When they owned the truck they knew exactly what they had. The
credit contract is more risky, because they cannot be certain that they
will get their money back when it is due. I may have got into financial
trouble and be unable to repay the loan. The bank has the uncertainty of
a credit contract, whereas I have a property right in the truck. The one
holding the property right is in a better position than the one holding
the credit contract.
In the same way, holding cash provides more security than holding a
credit contract. Being a creditor of the bank is not the same as being
the owner of cash. If I demand repayment and the bank fails to pay me, I
cannot charge it with theft. All I can do is sue the bank for breach on
contract and demand payment of damages. If the bank defaults, my
contract right is converted into a claim in bankruptcy. I have to line
up with other creditors and take my chances.
All that a bank depositor “owns” is the right to enforce the bank
to keep its promise. I believe that most people want better security for
their money. We need banks that offer a different option.
Bailment is an important legal concept.
Bailment is the process of placing personal property or goods in the
temporary custody or control of another. The custodian or holder of the
property, who is responsible for the safe keeping and return of the
property, is know as the bailee. The person who delivers or transfers
the property to the bailee is known as the bailor. For a bailment to be
valid, the bailee must have actual physical control of the property. The
bailee is generally not entitled to the use of the property while it is
in his possession, and a bailor can demand to have the property returned
to him at any time (Lawyers.com)
A bailment is not the same as a sale, which is an intentional
transfer of ownership of personal property in exchange for something of
value. A bailment involves only a transfer of possession or custody, not
of ownership. A bailment is created when a parking garage attendant, the
bailee, is given the keys to a motor vehicle by its owner, the bailor.
The owner, in addition to renting the space, has transferred possession
and control of the vehicle by relinquishing its keys to the attendant (Free
The main distinguishing feature of a bailment is that possession of
the property is transferred to the bailee, but ownership remains with
the bailor. Trusting my furniture to a warehousing company for storage
is an example of a bailment. The warehouse has possession my furniture,
but I am still its owner.
The second feature of a bailment is that the bailee is not entitled
to use the property for their own purpose. The warehouse company is not
entitled to use my furniture.
If a deposit in a cheque account is a bailment, then the bank could
not record the cash as an asset on its balance sheet. It could not use
the cash for its own purposes.
During the 19th century, the British Law Lords ruled that a demand
deposit is not a bailment. This decision has since between adopted by
courts all over the world.
In a case in 1811, Sir William Grant ruled that money paid into a
bank is not a bailment, but a loan. The banker is not a bailee, but a
debtor (Carr v Carr). In a subsequent case, he said, “The money paid
into a banker immediately becomes a part of his general assets and he is
merely a creditor for the amount (Devayne v Noble).
Lord Cottenham summed up the early decisions in
v. Hill and Others.
Money, when paid into a bank, ceases altogether to be the money of
the principal; it is then the money of the banker, who is bound to an
equivalent by paying a similar sum to that deposited with him when he is
asked for it . . . . The money placed in the custody of a banker is, to
all intents and purposes, the money of the banker, to do with it as he
pleases; he is guilty of no breach of trust in employing it; he is not
answerable to the principal if he puts it into jeopardy, if he engages
in a hazardous speculation; he is not bound to keep it or deal with it
as the property of his principal....
According to modern law, a bank deposit is not a bailment, so the
bank is entitled to record the deposit as an asset on its balance sheet.
Bailment not Bailout
That is the situation under law, but there is not reason why the
relationship between a bank and a depositor should be decided by judges.
Banks are providing a service to their customers. The customers are
entitled to demand whatever service they want. If enough customers
demand a particular service, an astute bank would provide that service.
If enough people demanded a different service, some banks would start to
Many people will be happy to accept the service provided by banks
under the current legal arrangements. They are happy for the bank to
take control of their money and use it as they please, provided they can
get good interest and no fees on their cheque account. If that is what
they want, that is fine.
However, many other customers will want a different account. They
will prefer a bailment-type cheque account in which their money does not
get transferred to the balance sheet of the bank, but remains the
property of the depositor. Many customers do not want to become
creditors of the bank. They want to be the owner of their money.
Modern banking law does not prevent banks from contracting with
depositors to provide a bailment-type account. The money in this account
would not become an asset of the bank. It would not be available for the
bank to use. It would be stored in the same way as a storage warehouse
stores my furniture.
When my salary goes into my cheque account, I want it to be available
when I demand it. I do not want to the bank to treat my money as its own
property. I do not want the bank to loan my money out to someone else.
If the bank provides this service well, I am happy to pay a small fee
for that service.
I do not want the bank to decide when I am not going to use my money.
I am capable of doing that myself. If I do not need some of my money for
a time, I will move it into a term deposit, so the bank can lend it out
for a time, but I do not want the bank just deciding it can lend the
money in my cheque account whenever it chooses. I do not want the bank
treating my money in the way described by Lord Cottenham above. I want a
cheque account that is a bailment. If enough customers were to demand
this service, some innovative bank should provide that service.
We should stop talking about bailout of banks and start demanding
bailment from banks.
Clarity and Separation
Banks and their customers should be very clear about the service that
is being offered. The problem is that most modern bank accounts operate
their demand deposit accounts as if they were term deposits. Depositors
have accepted this blurring, because they want interest on their money,
even when it is stored for safe keeping. However, they are allowing
banks to commit theft with their money, in return for an interest
payment. Depositors should be much clearer about what they want from a
bank. Do they want safe keeping or do they want interest?
Banks should keep these two types of transaction quite separate.
Demand deposits should be kept separate from funds that that have been
deposited as term deposits. In practice, it would be better if there
were two types of bank. Some banks would provide a safe-keeping and
payments service. They would do this for a fee. The money should always
be available on demand, so they will not pay interest.
Other banks will become loan brokers. They would pay interest, so
they would only accept term deposits. All those dealing with this type
of bank would understand the risks involved in lending money to other
Distinguishing between true demand deposits term deposits would allow
people to make explicit choices about which service they want. Some will
choose to keep their money safe. Others will choose to put some of their
money in time deposits, so they can earn interest.
Changing the System
Modern banking practices are largely shaped by government policies.
Governments have supported the common practice of moving demand deposits
onto their own balance sheets. We should not count on governments to
resolve this problem. Fortunately, individuals can resolve this problem
without waiting for their government.
We should start asking our banks who owns our demand deposits. They
will tell us that that the money belongs to us. We should respond by
asking them why it appears on their balance sheet, if it belongs to us.
They will respond with “weasel words” about modern banking practice
and banking laws and deposit insurance. However, if enough people
persist in asking these questions, banks will start get concerned.When
there is sufficient demand for a true safekeeping service, some banks
will start to provide it. A bank that has an eye for opportunity will
see an opportunity to get a head start in a niche market.
The customer is king. Once a few banks start offering this service,
people who want a genuine safe-keeping service will switch their
business to those banks. If enough people are serious about honest
banking, the other banks will get worried about losing business. Many
will start offering a true safe-banking service, so that they do not
lose customers. Some will set up separate institutions in attempt a
significant share of this business.
Power to the People
Depositors should also start asking banks what they will do with
their term deposits. They should ask if the money will be loaned for a
longer term than the term of the deposit. If the bank says yes, they
should ask how the bank will repay their money when the term of the
deposit has ended. The bank will say that it will obtain deposits from
other people or borrow the money from other institutions. This kind of
questioning will expose the dangers in what the banks are doing.
If enough people ask for a different service, an innovative bank will
be able to get an advantage by providing that service. If consumers
start enquiring about a bank that matches the terms of it loans with the
terms of its deposits, a bank should emerge to provide that service. If
that is what most depositors really want, then that bank should grow
quickly. As more and more depositors choose this service, other banks
will have to start providing it, so that they do not lose market share.
The power to change the banking system lies with depositors. If
enough people demand a better service, banks will have to change their
practices. All that is need is for one bank to provide an alternative
service. Depositors can then use the power of their money to reward that
bank and punish those that refuse to change. Power rests with those who
own the money and the money is owned by the depositors, not the banks. | <urn:uuid:48860703-8598-4725-bfe2-27d7d983c5a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kingwatch.co.nz/Christian_Political_Economy/bank_deposits_loans.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965945 |
Beaches turning to mud and changes in wildlife are among the signs of a warming climate recorded by an Inuit community in Canada.
By Alex Kirby
BBC News Online environment correspondent
They say increasingly unpredictable weather is significantly altering the way they live.
They are having to get used to unfamiliar birds and fish arriving from further south.
Some believe the warming could be the start of a process that may prove unstoppable.
The Inuit live in Sachs Harbour, a tiny community on Banks Island, which lies north of Canada's North West Territory, lapped by the Beaufort Sea.
Coping with the unknown
They reveal their forebodings in Sila Alangotok - Voices From The Tundra, a film made by Television Trust for the Environment (TVE) in its Earth Report Series for BBC World.
Click here to watch BBC World's report on Sachs Harbour.
One resident, Rosemarie Kuptana, is on the board of the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
She tells TVE: "What's scary is that there's uncertainty because we don't know when to travel on the ice, and our food sources are getting further and further away.
Musk oxen are replacing vanishing caribou
"We can't read the weather like we used to. It's changing our way of life. We live in a very extreme and harsh climate now.
"We've always had extreme weather conditions, whether it's 24-hour sunlight, or whether we've got blizzards with no visibility in the winter. What is more extreme now is that there's no predictability."
The earlier springs and later autumns make it harder for the people of Sachs Harbour to predict when they can hunt and trap.
There are novel species, as John Lucas explains: "Springtime comes around, and you start seeing different kinds of birds, barn owls, that sort of thing.
"We've never seen them up here before. We're getting different kinds of geese, ducks, mallard, pintails that we never used to see around here."
No way: Mud covers a beach
There are now salmon to be caught - another sign of warming weather, the Inuit believe.
But it is what is happening to the land itself that many of them find most disturbing.
Most of Banks Island is covered by permafrost, which is now melting. John Keogak tells TVE: "I'd say about '87 we started noticing these mudslides. Before, it used to be a little sloughing from the snow left on the side of the banks.
"But now it's the permafrost that's coming down, and the ground being disturbed, and more of the permafrost being exposed to the sun and the heat and the wind.
"Now there's more rain and the sun is shining all the time... Once this starts I don't know what's going to stop it... I think the bigger it gets the faster it will go.
Arctic char: Salmon are moving in
"It just started off small. Down here we used to be able to walk along the beach - now it's all mud."
Another resident recalls how, when he worked at the local airport, he reported a thunderstorm.
Warning the world
He was told: "You guys can't get thunderstorms. It's too cold." This year, in contrast with the recent trend, has turned out surprisingly cold.
Rosemarie Kuptana asks: "How can we prepare ourselves for such unpredictability? What will happen to us if we can no longer rely on our instincts and traditional wisdom?
"I believe the Arctic is a very important ecosystem to the health of the rest of the planet.
"I guess what we can do is just try and educate people and say: 'Hey, watch out, this is what's happening to us.'" | <urn:uuid:789bf757-27b9-41d5-a0c0-273fc07a8c25> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3103111.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952395 |
Māori, and increasing numbers of non-Māori, hold strong and positive views about te reo Māori, the Māori language. Since the 1970s there has been a groundswell of support for the revival and protection of te reo Māori. This has been the result of collaborative efforts by Te Reo Māori Society and Ngā Kaiwhakapümau i te reo Māori, and political pressure from many individuals and groups such as Ngā Tamatoa and the New Zealand Māori Council.
In the 1986 Te Reo Māori Report the Waitangi Tribunal determined that the Māori language was a taonga and therefore had protection under the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi. This, in turn, led in August 1987 to the passing of the Māori Language Act which declared Māori an official language of New Zealand. The same Act established the Māori Language Commission (Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori). Faced with a diminishing pool of native speakers, the Commission was charged with “promoting Māori language as a living language and as an ordinary means of communication”.
The Māori Language Act has been a symbolic recognition of the Crown’s commitment to revitalising the Māori language. The Act recognises te reo Māori in law and allows it to be used in the Courts.
The declaration of its official status made te reo Māori a treasure for all New Zealanders. Since 1987, the advocacy work carried out by the Commission has resulted in government agencies, local bodies and private sector organisations starting to adopt policies for bilingualism. This is evident in the proliferation of Māori names for public service agencies, and high-profile media campaigns using Māori language and icons.
In delivering services to communities it is good business to establish a communications strategy that engages the audience in their own language. It is important now more than ever with the more than136,000 speakers of Māori that the public sector look at effective and appropriate ways to serve their clients.
There is a burgeoning business in Māori language, particularly in the film and television industry. The Kia Tupato campaign promoted by the Accident Compensation Corporation is an excellent example of the use of bilingualism in an organisation’s communication and strategic plan. It reinforces ACC’s commitment to injury prevention for Māori and Pacific peoples.
Te Reo encourages both the public sector and local authorities to commit to a policy of bilingualism to meet the needs of the Māori speaking community. This community is expanding rapidly and there is a greater acceptance overall by New Zealanders generally of te reo Māori and its place as an official language of New Zealand.
Te Taura Whiri is also working with the New Zealand State Services
Commission to encourage bilingual organisations in the public
The ongoing challenge for the successful regeneration of te reo Māori is to increase its usage as an ordinary everyday language by creating opportunities to use te reo and increasing the number of domains where it is used. Much can be achieved through promotion and goodwill. New Zealanders can grow together nurtured by the indigenous language and culture of this country. | <urn:uuid:d433e6ad-00e0-4062-8bf3-eb77c5ae4246> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.decisionmaker.co.nz/guide2005/hgw%2005/kiaora.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948516 |
With the holiday season in full swing, so are our holiday traditions. We all have them, no matter how big or small.
My husband and I have tried to take holiday traditions from our childhood and modernize them to fit our family. Growing up, my family used to watch Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" cartoon. Today, my family watches "The Grinch" starring Jim Carrey. It's different, but it's the same. We are still making memories with our children every time we pop popcorn and curl up to watch the movie.
One holiday tradition that needs to be modernized to fit the lifestyles of all Michigan children involves holiday parties, including classroom parties. I believe that parties and holiday celebrations are an important part of our children's lives. They give children a chance to celebrate the season with friends. With the childhood obesity rates reaching all-time highs in our state, I would like to see healthy options offered school parties and other holiday celebrations. I'd like kids to see that eating healthy can be easy to do — even around the holidays.
Typical classroom party snacks consist of high-calorie treats and are often the main focus of the party. A recent study published in the Journal of Nutrition, Education and Behavior described the observations made at four preschool and kindergarten classroom parties. At the two parties where fruit wasn't available, the kids each ate an average of 344 to 455 calories. When fruit was an option, the counts dropped somewhat, to 259 to 405 calories.
While all children have different calorie needs, based on their age, height, weight and gender, a child between 4 and 13 who is moderately active should be taking in about 40 calories a pound or around 1,800 calories a day, and they should come from nutritious foods.
From classroom parties to the lunch room, we want our schools to help model that the healthy choice can be an easy choice.
Offering healthier snacks with some sweet snacks is a great alternative, as is offering creative or physical activities as a part of the classroom celebration. I have seen some teachers doing this in their classrooms with great success, and I applaud their efforts. Sure, we are used to using the frosting for cookies, but it can also be used to "glue" together the gingerbread house that will be too cute to eat.
There is no time better than the present to start setting healthy examples for our children consistently. Sometimes changing traditions can be difficult, but sometimes it is more difficult for the people who have lived with the traditions the longest, us.
It is time to start setting new traditions for our children so that we can keep them healthy and help them to live long enough to start traditions with their own children, grandchildren and, we hope, great-grandchildren.
Katherine Knoll is chairman of the Healthy Kids, Healthy Michigan Steering Committee. | <urn:uuid:cb97eaac-2720-4d03-8498-425722803598> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.monroenews.com/news/2011/dec/22/add-healthy-food-to-party-snack-food-mix-edit/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970264 |
Shapeshifter is a generic and generalized term applied to lifeforms that alter their form to assume various different appearances. The degree of physical transformation varies between different species. Some humanoid shapeshifters assume a different humanoid shape at the cellular level, while others can shift from non-humanoid to humanoid as well. Some project their various shapes as an illusion or telepathic manipulation and never physically change. Some lifeforms are non-corporeal and can manifest in different physical forms. Some shapeshifters need the aid of technology to assume other shapes.
Sulibans like Sarin with shapeshifting genetic enhancements had the ability to assume different humanoid appearances. (ENT: "Broken Bow") Humans who were taught to how to use cellular metamorphosis had the ability to assume the shape of other humanoids at the cellular level. Garth of Izar was taught this ability by Antos natives who also possessed it. (TOS: "Whom Gods Destroy")
The Devidian and the Quantum singularity lifeforms had the ability to assume various humanoid appearances. (TNG: "Time's Arrow, Part II", "Timescape") Satarrans also had the ability to appear as other humanoids. (TNG: "Conundrum")
Chameloids had the ability to change gender and appearance into humanoid forms of various sizes. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) Dee'Ahn's species used shapeshifting to appear as different species and other genders. (ENT: "Two Days and Two Nights") The DNA thief lifeform also had this ability, but it needed to swap DNAs and appearances with the other humanoid it was shifting into. (VOY: "Vis à Vis")
Talosians and the M-113 creatures used telepathy to read the minds of others and to project the illusion of their appearance as different humanoid forms. (TOS: "The Cage", "The Man Trap") The unknown aliens who abducted Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 2366 had the ability to replicate and assume different humanoid appearances using advanced transporter technology. (TNG: "Allegiance") Iyaarans used a small device to assume the shape of other humanoids of other genders. (TNG: "Liaisons")
The Wraith and the Vendorians were non-humanoid lifeforms that could assume various appearances. While the Wraith used telepathy to search for shapes they turned into from the minds of others, Vendorians obtained this information through touch. They absorbed the memories and personality traits of the individual whose shape they were using. (ENT: "Rogue Planet"; TAS: "The Survivor") Rigelian hypnoid were simpler lifeforms and only projected the illusion of appearing as other lifeforms. (TAS: "Mudd's Passion")
Kelvans in their natural form had hundred tentacle-like limbs. Species 8472 were a non-humanoid tripedal species. Both were biologically capable of assuming various humanoid shapes. (TOS: "By Any Other Name"; VOY: "In the Flesh") The Ophidians could appear as an inanimate object of the same size. (TNG: "Time's Arrow, Part II") The Ornithoid lifeforms used a transmuter to assume larger humanoid and animal shapes. (TOS: "Catspaw")
The Changelings, also known as the Founders of the Dominion, were a liquid lifeform in their natural state. They had the ability to use their morphogenic enzymes to appear as various solid lifeforms or even as fire, fog, inanimate objects, flowers, trees and various small animals. (DS9: "The Search, Part II", "Things Past", "Chimera")
The Silver Blood are a liquid deuterium lifeform in their natural state and had the ability to change into anything they came into physical contact with, be it biological or technological. Coalescent organisms had the ability to mimic lifeforms in a similar way. Both also absorbed the memories of those they were shifting into. (VOY: "Demon"; TNG: "Aquiel") The Nacene were sporocystian lifeforms of energetic gelatinous liquid in their natural form, and had the ability to shift into various solid humanoid forms. (VOY: "Caretaker") Armus had a limited ability to shift between liquid and a solid forms. (TNG: "Skin of Evil")
The spaceborne entity and Gomtuu were living starships that could change to the needs of their crew. While the spaceborne entities changed their shape by transforming between energy to matter, Gomtuu only had an amorphous interior, capable of for example growing furniture and equipment from its walls and floors to suit the needs of its crew. (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint", "Tin Man")
Non-corporeal to physical shifters
Many non-corporeal lifeforms had a physical form as well, (TOS: "Wolf in the Fold") but some had the ability to choose from various forms in which they wished to manifest. The Q (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint"), the aliens who appeared as Rumpelstiltskin and Buck Bokai, (DS9: "If Wishes Were Horses"), the Koinonian energy lifeforms, (TNG: "The Bonding") the Douwd, (TNG: "The Survivors") the FGC 47 lifeform (TNG: "Imaginary Friend") were among these. They also had the ability to read the minds of others at some level.
The creature who called itself God, (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) and the anaphasic lifeform were less capable of telepathy but could manifest in physical forms to fool other lifeforms. (TNG: "Sub Rosa") Allasomorphs were creatures of light in their natural form, but could appear as several humanoid and animal forms. (TNG: "The Dauphin") One non-corporeal lifeform used humanoids to experience various physical forms by making a corporeal subject pregnant and rapidly living through the childhood of the species. Upon death it returned back to its non-corporeal state. One such creature made Deanna Troi pregnant and lived a brief physical life as her son Ian Troi in 2365. (TNG: "The Child") | <urn:uuid:30dc92c3-eb45-4278-b3bf-91b19185157d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Shapeshifter?oldid=1375332 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968011 |
(PhysOrg.com) -- It waits blindly in the darkness of granite caves in Yosemite National Park, moving little to conserve energy.
Its venom-filled claw at the ready, it waits for prey to amble by it. Giving a quick tap to a possible meal, this newly discovered, blind pseudoscorpion will grab the prey and wait for the poison to take hold. Then, it will eat.
Thankfully, at less than half an inch in length with legs outstretched, Parobisium yosemite poses little threat to humans or any other animals larger than an eighth of an inch, said James C. Cokendolpher, a research scientist and assistant curator of invertebrates at The Museum of Texas Tech University.
He and Austin-based researcher, Jean K. Krejca, recently documented the new arachnid in the Sept. 30th Occasional Papers by Texas Tech Universitys Natural Science Research Laboratories. The new animal is commonly called the Yosemite cave pseudoscorpion.
This pseudoscorpion was originally found three or four years ago, Cokendolpher said. There was a team from Austin that was hired to go into some of the caves in Yosemite National Park to do a survey and map some of the caves. Jean was one of the first ones to discover the species. She and others caught two of them, which were sent to me for identification. Once we discovered it was a species unknown to science, they went back and collected in some other areas to see if the species was there.
Most cave-dwelling species live in limestone caves, he said, where more humidity and access to food makes it more hospitable for life. Finding Parobisium yosemite in the caves formed from granite rockfalls came as a surprise.
It might be the second discovered cave-dwelling pseudoscorpion that lives in these granite talus caves in the world, he said.
Strange to behold, pseudoscorpions are small arachnid predators, Cokendolpher said. With claws in the front, the animals have eight legs, but no long post-abdomen with a stinger like a real scorpion. Pseudoscorpions are an order of arachnids unto themselves, such as ticks, mites, daddy longlegs and vinegaroons.
This pseudoscorpion is as large as many of the other cave-dwelling species, Cokendolpher said, explaining most of the more than 3,000 species of pseudoscorpions are much smaller. Cave species are generally larger, have longer appendages, lighter coloration and are missing all the eyes. The canyon where it was found was made by a glacier during an ice age millions of years ago. Through time, rubble with larger rocks would fall and create piles with caves or subterranean voids. We think thats where this animal was trapped and evolved into the species that it is now.
Cokendolpher explained the animal doesnt move around much, probably to conserve energy.
I kept a couple of them in the laboratory for quite a while, he said. They basically sat and did nothing for much of the time. We kept them in Petri dishes with plaster of Paris that was moistened so it was more like cave conditions. When we introduced other animals into the Petri dish it would go over and tap the animal. When it did that, it was able to sense chemical cues there such as identification, how large the item was and whether it was something suitable to eat. Out of several weeks we kept them, the only thing that was eaten was a tiny spider. Like many of other cave animals, it doesnt need a lot of nourishment. Thats good for them in a food-poor environment.
Explore further: Biological fitness trumps other traits in mating game | <urn:uuid:a58962c6-42cf-4035-ac3e-21cb3e032402> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phys.org/news/2010-11-pseudoscorpion-yosemite-national-video.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966306 |
Daily alternative news articles at the News Desk for GrahamHancock.com. Featuring alternative history, science, archaeology, ancient egypt, paranormal & supernatural, environment, and much more. Check in daily for updates!
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February 14 2013
Black holes are created when a supernova explosion destroys a massive star. Scientists have discovered dozens of black holes, but all of them are already formed. So, when scientists recently saw different distorted remains of a supernova, they knew it something special.
What the scientists believe they observed was the infant phases of a black hole, or the youngest black hole ever recorded in the Milky Way galaxy.
Caught on film by NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the "remnant," or W49B, is seen as a vibrant swirl of blues, greens, yellows, and pinks. As seen from Earth, it is about 1,000-years-old and is located roughly 26,000 light years away. A typical black hole, like SS433, is thought to be between 17,000- and 21,000-years-old, as seen from Earth.
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Environment and international humanitarian law
International humanitarian law aims to protect the civilian population during armed conflict and to ensure its survival. As a result, it also seeks to protect the natural environment without which human life is impossible.
IHL protects the environment in two ways: through its general provisions and through some additional, specific provisions.
The general provisions on the conduct of hostilities apply to the environment. Normally the environment is civilian in nature and cannot be attacked, unless it has been turned into a military objective. In addition, environmental destruction has to be taken into account when assessing the proportionality of an attack on a military objective.
Protocol I has added a specific prohibition to use “methods and means of warfare which are intended, or may be expected, to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment”. The Protocol also prohibits attacks against the environment by way of reprisals.
The Rome Statute of 1998 establishing the International Criminal Court makes it a war crime to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the environment in violation of the principle of proportionality.
Other specific provisions include the prohibition to destroy agricultural land and drinking water installations in order to inflict harm on the civilian population.
The ICRC is particularly concerned that access to scarce water resources should not become a weapon used against civilians. The contamination or destruction of water resources can have severe consequences for the health and survival of whole communities.
Finally, the international community has adopted a convention on the hostile use of the environment. The 1976 Convention on the Prohibition of Military or any Hostile Use of Environmental Modification Techniques is usually referred to as the “ENMOD” Convention.
The techniques covered by the convention are any that change “through the deliberate manipulation of natural processes, the dynamics, composition or structure of the Earth”.
The parties to the convention undertake not to use environmental manipulation that would have “widespread, long-lasting or severe effects as the means of destruction, damage or injury to any other State Party”.
The ICRC is also involved in ensuring that military personnel are aware of their obligation to respect and protect the environment during armed conflict. To this effect it organized several expert meetings which led to the adoption of the “Guidelines for Military Manuals and Instructions on the Protection of the Environment in Times of Armed Conflict”, a summary of existing law. These Guidelines were submitted to the UN General Assembly in 1994 which recommended the Guidelines to all States for due consideration. | <urn:uuid:eb5cf7f8-3661-4887-abb8-1af6617d3649> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.icrc.org/eng/war-and-law/conduct-hostilities/environment-warfare/overview-environment-and-warfare.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941984 |
Yakko: a manservant to a samurai.
Yakusha-e (Actor pictures): painting or print of an actor.
Yoko-e (Horizontal picture; also called yoko-ban): prints with a horizontal format.
Yokohama: a port near Edo, opened to foreigners in 1859.
Yokohama-e (Yokohama pictures): late style of ukiyo-e which was popular between 1860 and 1880 and which illustrated scenes of Yokohama in the late Edo and the early Meiji.
Yoshiwara: name of the licensed quarter in Edo.
Yukata: an informal cotton kimono or bathrobe. back to top | <urn:uuid:d23ea6df-0c87-4831-8249-0d781d8f0482> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://castlefinearts.com/glossary.php?chr=Y | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916125 |
The Global Climate Change Game
- James Copestake and Tom Ellum
- University of Bath
- Published September 2010
The Global Climate Change Game highlights key challenges facing international climate change negotiations, the original inspiration for its development being the Copenhagen Summit. It combines standard public good and trust games, and gives them an ultimatum twist. It can also be played intuitively, and so is accessible to students with limited economics: initial piloting was conducted as part of an intermediate undergraduate development economics course, and on a final year course in development finance. The game is a fun way to illustrate the incentive for countries to free-ride but goes beyond a simple prisoner’s dilemma by allowing for multiple rounds and the effects of uncertainty, not least arising from rushed negotiation processes.
The game is straight-forward to run, requiring only a computer and projector with which to display a relatively simple Excel spreadsheet. It can be squeezed into a one hour teaching slot, though this allows limited time for debriefing and discussion of learning outcomes. Alternatively it can be combined with a lecture on related concepts and issues; for example, as part of a session introducing the concept of global public goods. Appendix 2 suggests a range of supporting materials.
Students are divided into eight groups, and each is allocated a country. The difference between Annex 1 (high-income) and Annex 2 (low-income) countries should be explained. Although the game can be played with a minimum of eight students, it is preferable that students work in groups of 3-4 to allow internal group discussion. With more students additional countries could be added, but this will prolong the process of negotiating each round.
Each country is instructed to maximize its net benefit over the period of the game, subject to the additional constraint of avoiding global catastrophe. They do this by deciding how much money to contribute to a global ‘green spending’, which generates a public good benefit. This may be through actual contributions to a global fund or de facto contributions by controlling activities that generate greenhouse gases, therefore limiting economic growth. To start the game off, countries are informed that a total public good benefit of 80 over the five rounds is estimated to be sufficient to prevent potentially catastrophic climate change. Green spend is more effective in Annex 2 countries, with a spend to public good benefit ratio of 0.5, whereas for Annex 1 countries it is 0.2. This opens up the possibility (introduced in the second or third round) of Pareto efficient gains through green transfers between countries. However, such transfers are subject to uncertainty over whether recipients will use them to add to their green spend.
Ensure that you have:
- Separated students into eight groups and allocated countries to each;
- distributed slips of paper to each group, with which to make bids in each round;
- projected the Global Climate Change Game Excel spreadsheet onto a screen at the front of the class.
The game can now be started with the following briefing: -
The objective of the game is for you to maximise your countries’ net benefit, subject to avoiding catastrophic climate change. You can help to avoid the latter by contributing to global green spending (GGS). To avoid global climate catastrophe contributions to GGS are needed to generate a public good benefit of 80 over five 5 rounds of negotiations. You can think of this as being the collective action necessary to avoid average global temperature rises of 2oC by 2050, for example. To state the goal in another way, your aim is to maximize your national benefit, but subject to a sustainability constraint on the state of the world after five rounds. The change in your private benefit in each round will equal the overall public good benefit less the amount you contribute as a country to GGS. However, the ratio of green spend to public good benefit varies as follows: green spend of 1 unit by Annex 1 countries increases the public good benefit by 0.2, whereas 1 unit of green spend by Annex 2 countries raises it by 0.5. You will have time to debate with others in your group what your contribution in each round to GGS will be, and I may also give you an opportunity to discuss this with other countries. As facilitator of the negotiations I have the right to set the timetable for finalising your bids and also the order in which countries must reveal these.
Running the Game
After briefing the groups as above, allow three minutes discussion before collecting in the first round of contributions. In no particular order, type these into the Global Climate Change game spreadsheet, ensuring a minus sign is used. Highlight to the students the overall public good benefit, as well as the net benefit for individual countries. Repeat the process for a second round.
The expected outcome is that second round bids will reveal more selfish behaviour, and that prospects of meeting the target look bad (see Intermediate Example). Even if this is not obvious from the data, the important thing is to ensure everyone realises the danger of this “prisoner’s dilemma” outcome and the logic behind it.
Green transfers (or “carbonaid”) can now be introduced with the following briefing:
‘You now have the option of transferring funds to other countries. There is no limit on the amount that can be transferred or to whom, nor is the recipient country required to use the transfer on green spend. Annex 1 countries must specify how much and to whom they will make green transfers to, even if it is zero and to no-one.’
With this additional information, allow the groups three minutes discussion time before asking for third round contributions and transfers, collecting and typing up these for Annex 1 countries first. At this point switch to collecting bids verbally. As facilitator this gives you the scope to try to influence the outcome by strategically varying the order in which you collect these bids.
The final two rounds are now played in similar fashion, allowing extended discussion – as time allows – before the final round. The game leader may wish to introduce additional information at this point (e.g. a revised higher target due to new scientific data). One reason for doing this is to ensure that that the prospect of hitting the target is uncertain until the final round.
Adaptations to the game
This game itself started out as an improvisation from the generic public good game and can itself be adapted in numerous ways. Simple adaptations might include:
- Adjusting time for countries to deliberate and the mechanism for declaring their decisions in each round. One reason for doing this is to attempt to steer outcomes by giving the lead to countries that have been more or less generous in earlier rounds, or whose earlier bids were not serious. Another option is to deliberately shorten time in order to force countries to make mistakes.
- Allowing green transfers from the start, for students who are already familiar with the standard public good result.
- Making green transfers compulsory for Annex 1 countries, or facilitating negotiations of rules to govern transfers, raising questions about how/whether they are enforceable.
- Extending the timeframe as an alternative to adjusting the public good benefit target.
- Limiting the amount of funds. Countries can be given a fixed amount of funds which can be used on green spend or green transfer to reflect differences in their wealth and national income. See Appendix 1.
An effective debrief is integral to the success of the game as a learning experience and can be separated into three sections.
Reflection on the game itself
Some questions to ask include:
- With the benefit of hindsight would you have behaved differently?
- Which other countries performed well or badly, and why?
- Were green transfers used by recipient countries in addition to their own green spend or in place of it?
- To what extent did being a low- or high-income country inform decisions?
- How did collusion between groups help or hinder achieving the objective?
- To what extent was trust developed or eroded between countries over successive rounds?
- What contributed to Pareto efficient green transfers happening or not happening?
- Was the final outcome what you expected?
- How could the facilitator have helped to ensure a better outcome?
Relating the game to historical events
This can include discussion of what happened at the Copenhagen summit, or even Kyoto before that, and prospects for the next round of face-to-face meetings at Cancun. It may be useful here to circulate some additional material (see Appendix 2). There is also the issue of how countries contribute to climate change mitigation, including the role of cap-and-trade carbon markets. These have an opportunity cost in terms of a growth counter-factual, but they also have important within-country distributional effects. One problem to highlight is the way technical discussion of climate mitigation instruments (particularly carbon trading) have concealed to wider audiences the political issue of how to agree on a fair distribution of initial ‘rights’ to pollute. One issue here is the relevance to the game of the idea that some countries have carbon debts, where the latter can be defined as a historic contribution to filling the global carbon envelope that is much higher per person per year than that of other countries.
A further line of discussion is the relevance of the game to financing of other global public goods, including international research, disease control, peace-keeping and poverty reduction.
Relating the game to theoretical issues
Finally, relate the game to economic concepts and issues that arise with global public goods and climate change in particular. These include the definition and typology of global public goods (see Handout). Additional issues concern the principal-agent problem arising from green transfers: how can input additionality be guaranteed to result in outcome additionality?
The game illustrates problems associated with the financing of public goods, especially the importance of trust, providing students with insight and experience from which they can base their discussion. The range of topics include the prisoner’s dilemma, principle-agent problems, additionality outcomes with transfers of any kind, political and ethical aspects of climate change and public good provision (see Tata Energy Research Institute – 2009); and ultimatum elements.
The game not only allows students to develop their understanding of climate change negotiations but also their skills in team working, negotiation and cooperation.
These materials are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
- Student handout, "Global Public Goods and Development Finance"
- Initial spreadsheet
- Intermediate example spreadsheet
Appendix 1. Specifying total country incomes or budgets
Starting incomes can be introduced into the game to add additional realism, by making mitigation for countries in Annex 1 a small proportion of their total budgets but a substantial amount of Annex 2 countries’ ones. Alternatively, they can be used to influence outcomes, by being set at a level where Annex 1 countries have to make green transfers to reach the target, or where achievement of the target is trivial.
To reflect reality Annex 1 countries should be given a starting income vastly in excess of the 100 each it would take them to meet the target through green spend alone. This reflects the small percentage of their annual GDP necessary to mitigate climate change. On the other hand, Annex 2 countries should receive only slightly more than the 40 each it would take for these countries to meet the target alone. Introducing starting incomes in this way highlights the distributional effects on individual welfare of different allocations of the burden of meeting the target between Annex 1 and 2 countries.
By limiting the starting incomes of both Annex 1 and Annex 2 countries a situation can be created by which the target can only be met through cooperation, therefore game leaders should introduce green transfers earlier in the game. Alternatively, and if time allows, this could be done by leaving students to deduce the necessity of green transfer to meet the target on their own. A suitable starting income would be 40 for Annex 1 countries and 20 for Annex 2 countries. This requires collective green transfers from Annex 1 to Annex 2 countries to be at least 14 to reach the target. Of course, starting incomes can be revised to make cooperation more or less important and game leaders should be prepared to introduce new income if the target starts to become unachievable due to selfishness early on.
Appendix 2. Supplementary materials
Newspaper articles: e.g. "Copenhagen closes with weak deal that poor threaten to reject", The Guardian, 19 December 2009; or "Costing the Earth: who would pay more to tackle climate change?" The Economist, 7th December 2009.
DFID (2009) Eliminating world poverty: building our common future. Ch.3. Sustaining our common future, Ch.6. Acting together through the international system.
Heimans, J (2008) Multi-actor global funds: new tools to address urgent global problems, in Development Finance in the global economy: the road ahead edited by T Addison and G Mavrotas, UNU-Wider, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hulme, M (2010) Why we disagree about climate change. Cambridge University Press.
Kanbur, R & T Sandler (1999) The future of development assistance: common pools and international public goods. Overseas Development Council Policy Essay 25. Chs.4-5.
Kaul, I et al. (2003) Providing global public goods. UNDP/Oxford University Press.
Kaul, I et al. (2006) The new public finance. UNDP/Oxford University Press.
Tata Energy Research Institute (2009) The right to sustainable development: an ethical approach to climate change and ODI (2010) Climate financing and development: friends or foes?
World Bank (2010) Development and Climate Change. The World Development Report. Chapter 6. Generating the funding needed for mitigation and adaptation. | <urn:uuid:b221e9e6-04d6-4d75-b05d-241a194939af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://economicsnetwork.ac.uk/showcase/copestake_climate | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928584 |
Some wonderful factory-made archery gear is available today. It is efficient and capable of great accuracy. But to enjoy archery, or to get meat for the table, it is not essential to have the very latest commercial equipment.
Making your own gear is a good option. Our ancestors made bows and arrows for thousands of years with very basic tools and materials, and we can do the same today. Just because a bow is primitively produced, it does not mean it will be no good. Simple bows and arrows crafted from natural materials can still regularly hit the bullseye or help you bring home the bacon.
There are many different types of bow and arrows, but here are some ideas for producing a bow and arrows as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
THE BUNDLE BOW
This bow is made from several, reasonably straight sticks (or similar objects) of fairly uniform thickness that are bound together into a bundle. A single, plain stick with a string tied to it will make a bow of sorts, but it may be likely to bend too much in the middle and be inefficient. An efficient bow carved from a single piece of wood will generally be quite tapered towards both ends to balance the leverage applied by the string so that the bow bends evenly throughout both limbs. A bundle bow is generally made up of sticks that are tied together in such a way to achieve a similar taper.
Three sticks of a similar diameter (and a fairly uniform thickness for their whole length) can make a good bow. The shortest stick should be around half the length of the longest one. The middle-sized stick should be about three-quarters the length of the longest one.
Small saplings can be cut and seasoned to make a bundle bow, but a suitable variety of seasoned bamboo may perform a little better because of its comparatively low weight. Some varieties of bamboo seem to be quite unsuitable for this purpose. Old fibreglass fishing rods might be something to consider. The thicker the sticks, the harder it will be to draw the bow. If you are going to use solid sticks, and you can't find ones that are the right diameter, you could try thinning them down or tapering them. Your first bow might not be a wonderful performer, but you are likely to learn something from making it.
When choosing bow-making materials, or thinking about a good design for a bow, it is good to try to keep the outer ends of the limbs as light as is practically possible. This does not mean that you should choose the lightest possible wood to make a bow... some of the most "recommended" bow woods are relatively dense and heavy, and light woods are generally not recommended for bow making. If you only have light wood available, then perhaps you should experiment with it. You may be surprised at what is possible.
It is often recommended that a bow should be longer than twice
your draw length (the greatest distance between the back of the
bow and the bow string when the bow is fully drawn). Twice your
draw length plus 20% might be a good guide to start with. A shorter
bow may shoot a little faster and be more convenient to carry
than a longer bow, but it may be more likely to fail. A longer
bow may help you shoot more accurately and will probably be a
bit more durable. It is good to experiment. For a start, you might like to make your bow nearly as tall as yourself - up to your forehead perhaps.
Freshly cut wood and bamboo should dry (season) quicker indoors. Thin sticks and roughed-out bow staves may be dry enough to turn into a bow within two or three weeks if the drying conditions are good. Fresh, green wood will make a bow of sorts, but it is unlikely to be as efficient as a seasoned bow, and it may "follow the string" (stay bent when you unstring it) more than a seasoned bow.
The diagrams accompanying this article are, hopefully, fairly self-explanatory. Plenty of strong, tight bindings should be applied to stop the sticks slipping. Strong adhesive tape may be a suitable alternative in some cases. The sticks will be more securely held together if the smallest stick is tied (at least at each end) to the longest stick first. Then the next longest stick should be tied in place and so on. If all the sticks are simply picked up as a bundle and the only binding to be applied goes around the outside of the bundle, some of the smaller sticks may move when the bow is flexed.
On many traditional bows carved from one stick, nocks are cut near the tips of each limb to hold the bow string. Instead of using cut nocks, the bow string can be stopped from slipping down the bow by applying a tight wrapping of cord or leather strapping around the end of the limb. This "lump" of cord may be more secure if it is glued into place (see diagram).
THE BOW STRING
It is said that a bow string should have a breaking strain of four or five times the draw weight of your bow, and that it shouldn't stretch too much (this reduces the efficiency of the bow). All sorts of fibre can be used to make a bow string. The making of a traditional string or a natural fibre string are good skills to learn but they are beyond the scope of this small article. However you can just use a single piece of cord as a bow string.
Many of my own strings are made up of three lengths of polyester butchers twine. I plait an eye into one end and twist the strands loosely to form the main part of the string.
It is not essential to have a special plaited or braided loop (or eye) to fasten your string to your bow. One end can be tied with a timber hitch knot, and the other end can have a loop formed by a knot. To form the loop I do not recommend a bowline - I think this may weaken the string too much for a powerful bow. I prefer a figure-eight loop
The string should be just long enough to create the right gap between the string and the bow when the bow is strung. Some people use a gap of one "fistmele". A fistmele is the distance between the top of your thumb and the bottom of your fist when you give a "thumbs up" sign.
STRINGING THE BOW
I prefer to string my bows this way.... I slip the loop over
the top limb and let it slide down the limb below the nock. The
other end of the string is fastened to the other nock. The handle
of the bow is held firmly in my left hand with the belly facing
away from me. The tip of the lower nock is jammed against the
instep of my left foot. I push the upper limb of the bow with
my right hand while pulling the handle toward me. My right hand
also grips the upper
loop of the string. As the bow bends I slide the top loop of the string upwards and place it in the nock. I don't pull the bow directly towards me; I pull it slightly sideways so that if something slips or breaks it is less likely to strike me in the face. I also turn my head to my left to protect my eyes and this means that I have to slide the string into place by "feel" rather than looking at what I am doing. This method of stringing works best with notched or post nocks - wrapped nocks don't allow the loop to slide up the limb easily.
If your bow is relatively strong and/or your nock and string
loop are not suited to this method of stringing the bow, then
you may have to use another method. Sometimes I have strung a
bow by placing the lower limb tip across my left foot with the
belly facing upward. I then step over the bow with my right leg.
I hold the upper limb with my right hand and lift the bow as high
as necessary to get the belly side of the handle behind my right
thigh. I use my left hand to put the string in place while I bend
the bow with my right hand. (The string will already be fastened
the lower nock and should pass in front of your right leg). When the bow is strung correctly you will find that your right leg is between the stave and the string. Care has to be taken not to over-bend any part of the bow during this process.
Sometimes a particularly long or heavy bow can be strung by placing the lower limb on the ground with the belly facing upward. The right hand grips the upper limb just below the upper nock. The upper nock may be about half a metre off the ground at this stage. The left knee is then placed on the handle area and the weight of the body is brought down on the handle. The string is already fastened to the lower nock, and when the bow is bent enough the string is fixed to the upper nock.
It is best to unstring the bow when it is not in use.
Excellent bows can be carved from a single stave of wood, or they can be laminated. If you are making a laminated bow, the layer on the back (the side furthest from the archer) should be strong in tension. The belly side (facing the archer) should be strong in compression. Instruction for making these bows is beyond the scope of this small article, but the process is reasonably straightforward and there is plenty of information available in books and on the internet. Most primitive bows would have been carved from one solid stave of wood.
Arrows can be made from purchased dowelling, or purpose-made arrow shafting. Alternatively, you can cut, or split, suitably-sized lengths of straight-grained timber and then make these round with a plane and sandpaper (or something similar). If you are using any of these options, you have to make sure that the shafts have a nice straight grain running parallel with the shaft. If the grain runs at too much of an angle to the shaft, the arrow is likely to break at this point. It is a nuisance to have an arrow break when it hits the target, and it is even worse if the arrow breaks while you are shooting it and a sharp part of it penetrates your arm or hand. You can test shafts to some extent by bending them with quite a degree of force. It is better to break them before you fix the fletchings and the points. You may have to straighten the surviving shafts by applying gentle hand pressure.
Many arrows have been made from natural shoots. These generally have to be dried, straightened and trimmed to the right diameter before an arrow can be made from them. Many species of plant will grow shoots that can be turned into arrows, but some may have better qualities than others. Finding strong shoots of the right weight that don't have a tendency to constantly bend may be a challenge. Some shoots may split more if you peel them before you dry them, but peeling may speed the process.
Some folks place a lot of importance on having the correct "spine" or stiffness in an arrow. After shooting many arrows I feel that spine may not be as critical as some folks believe. Perhaps my style of shooting compensates for differences in spine. Perhaps my shooting is not consistent enough for me to notice the difference anyway. Anyhow, rather than getting too concerned about spine, the beginner may as well just make some arrows from shafts that seem to have the right "stiffness" and see how they shoot. My current thinking is that longer arrows are generally better when it comes to accuracy and hitting power, so I would suggest that you make them at least a couple of inches longer than your draw length.
It is a good idea to hand-straighten the shoots as they dry. Sometimes dry shafts will straighten more readily if the bent area is rubbed with fat and then heated above a candle flame immediately prior to straightening (don't scorch the arrow). If using heat, it is a good idea to hold the arrow in the straightened position (or a little past it) for a short time while the wood cools down. An arrow straightening tool can be useful if the bend is tight or right at one end of the shaft. This tool might consist of a suitably-shaped piece of wood at least three-quarters of an inch thick with a hole drilled through it near one end. The hole is passed over the shaft, and the wood is levered to straighten the arrow.
Nocks can be cut into the arrow using hacksaw blades that have been taped together to create a slot that is just the right width. This slot can be smoothed with sandpaper or a thin file. All sorts of nocks sizes will work, but a nock that just lightly grips the string is what I prefer. The nock should be deeper than the thickness of the string. Nocks can also be filed or even carefully whittled with a thin blade. It is a good idea to make a small binding of fine cord in front of the nock if there is a possibility that the shaft might split.
Arrowheads are a big topic on their own. I have hunted using simple broadheads that have been cut from sheet metal that is about 1.6mm thick. These are glued and bound into a slot at the business end of the shaft. More elaborate broadheads can be made by soldering a blade into some suitably-sized tubing. I have used cartridge cases and steel tubing for this purpose. Broadheads should always be very sharp when hunting.
Fletchings have been made from feathers for a long time. The three-feather fletch is the most common configuration, but some folks use a four or two-feather fletch. Commercially made plastic vanes are another option.
I prefer to use feathers, but I have had very good results using fletching made from adhesive tape. This might not seem primitive in a pure sense, but it is a great option to get your arrows flying if good feathers aren't easy to get. Some tapes are more suitable than others. The correct "stiffness" is hard to describe, it shouldn't be too flimsy or too stiff, but remember that the fletch should be able to bend out of the way as it comes in contact with your hand or the bow. I have had success with tape made for repairing rips in plastic hay bale covers. I have also got reasonable performance from two or three other types that I have tried. Tape that comes on rolls about 48 millimetres wide is convenient to use.
Cut three bits of tape about 150 millimetres (about six inches) long. Pick up one piece and bend it lengthwise to form a "U" with the sticky side outwards. The base of this "U" is stuck lengthwise along the shaft. Now pick up the second piece and bend it like the first one. This one will be stuck in position a third of the way around the shaft from the first one, while the first bit of tape is still bent in the "U" position to keep it out of the way. Things can get a bit tricky here because the two bits of tape can stick to each other before you are ready. If you feel that the two bits of tape are sitting in the right position, you can allow the two adjacent wings of tape to stick to each other, thus forming the first complete vane. Mould the tape against the shaft to get it to stick well. The two bits of tape will sometimes stick without being exactly in the right position thus skewing the vane or making it lumpy. Now the third piece of tape is applied in a similar manner.
A big challenge with this tape fletching is to get three nice, flat, evenly spaced vanes. This should come with practice. Another challenge is to end up with the vanes where you want them in relation to your nock so that you get the conventional "cock and hen feather" configuration with the cock feather at right angles to the plane of the nock. If your fletching job isn't very neat, you may find that the arrow will still fly fairly well.
Once you have the tape firmly pressed into place, you can trim the vanes with sharp scissors. I have found it necessary to have the vanes tapering down to nothing at the leading end so that they ride nicely past the bow and my bow hand. Keep the vanes as narrow as possible. Make the taper as long as possible. I apply a tight wrap of soft insulation tape over the very front end of these plastic vanes to stop them catching and pulling away.
If you want a more primitive alternative to feathers you could try binding tufts of fibre to your arrows. I have had reasonable success with this method on long arrows. If you don't have an arrow rest on your bow and just shoot "off your hand", then you have to be careful that the fibre is tidily bound so there aren't any big lumps or spikes to damage your bow hand as the arrow flies past.
E-mail your comments to "Stephen Coote" at email@example.com.
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Nine days after the Thomas Jefferson took office; his administration received a demand from the Pasha of Tripoli to increase the amount to tribute that was paid him, or else he would declare war. Jefferson's inclination, despite his party's policy of dismantling the Navy, was to respond with force. This inclination was further supported when a ship, the "George Washington," under the command of Captain William Bainbridge, was forced to convey the yearly tribute to Constantinople, after having brought it to Tripoli.
The US' first step was to send a small squadron, three frigates and a schooner, to show the American flag off the coast of Tripoli. Then, the American squadron instituted a loose blockade of Tripoli. One squadron was commanded by Commodore Dale, and was relieved by a squadron led by Commodore Richard Morris. Neither squadron did much more than show the flag. Morris was relieved, and replaced by Commodore Edward Prebble, who was on board the flag ship "Constitution." For the first time, the squadron included shallow draft ships, which had the capacity to provide inshore bombardment.
Prebble was determined to take a more active approach than his predecessors. He made a show of force off the coast of Tangiers, and sent the "Philadelphia," under the command of Captain Bainbridge, to blockade Tripoli. On November 1, the "Philadelphia" pursued a Tripolitan ship toward the harbor. While pursuing her, the "Philadelphia" ran aground. All attempts at refloating her failed, and her crew of 307 was forced to surrender. The Tripolitans later managed to refloat the frigate.
Prebble then faced a major dilemma: what should he do about the captured ship and its crew? He developed a plan to destroy the ship as she lay anchored in Tripoli Harbor. He had earlier captured the "Mastico," a Tripolitan ketch. The "Mastico" was renamed the "Intrepid," and, on February 16, 1804, Lt. Stephen Decatur led the ship straight into Tripoli Harbor. He and the crew managed to overpower the guard on the "Philadelphia," and succeeded in setting it on fire without any casualties.
Prebble then began an intensive blockade on Tripoli, as well as successive bombardments of the harbor. Prebble was replaced with Samuel Barron, who was quite ill. Barron was in turn replaced by William Eaton, who hired a mercenary Arab army in Egypt. They crossed the desert and successfully captured the Tripolitan coastal town of Derna. The war was then brought to a negotiated end. | <urn:uuid:d966a755-6fe9-4404-b04d-0e7d085b9b65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.historycentral.com/NN/Tripolitanwar.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986051 |
| Female Alaskan Hares nurse their young for an extended period, providing them with enough nutrition to grow extraordinarily quickly during the short Alaskan summer. There are an average of six furry little hares in a litter, and females usually bear just one litter per year. Alaskan Hares are among the largest hares. Their fur in winter is completely white except for black markings on the tips of the ears, and they molt to a darker summer coat that provides camouflage when the snow melts. They live in alder thickets and seem to ignore rain or snow instead of seeking shelter. Even very young hares in nests are regularly exposed to cold and rain.
Also known as:
Alaska Tundra Hare, St. Michael's Hare, Swift Hare, Alaska Arctic Hare, Tundra Hare, Alaska Peninsula Hare, Ukalisukruk, Ugalishugruk, Ushkanuk, Okhotsk, Oo-skon
Merriam, C.H., 1900. Papers from the Harriman Alaska Expedition. I. Descriptions of twenty-six new mammals from Alaska and British North America, p. 28. Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 2:13-30.
Mammal Species of the World
Click here for The American Society of Mammalogists species account | <urn:uuid:114b768b-e888-460e-84b0-5ef8dafdd529> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mnh.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=139&lang=_en | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.861895 |
PITTSBURGH—Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have leveraged the latest browser technology to create GigaPan Time Machine, a system that enables viewers to explore gigapixel-scale, high-resolution videos and image sequences by panning or zooming in and out of the images while simultaneously moving back and forth through time.
Viewers, for instance, can use the system to focus in on the details of a booth within a panorama of a carnival midway, but also reverse time to see how the booth was constructed. Or they can watch a group of plants sprout, grow and flower, shifting perspective to watch some plants move wildly as they grow while others get eaten by caterpillars. Or, they can view a computer simulation of the early universe, watching as gravity works across 600 million light-years to condense matter into filaments and finally into stars that can be seen by zooming in for a close up.
"With GigaPan Time Machine, you can simultaneously explore space and time at extremely high resolutions," said Illah Nourbakhsh, associate professor of robotics and head of the CREATE Lab. "Science has always been about narrowing your point of view — selecting a particular experiment or observation that you think might provide insight. But this system enables what we call exhaustive science, capturing huge amounts of data that can then be explored in amazing ways."
The system is an extension of the GigaPan technology developed by the CREATE Lab and NASA, which can capture a mosaic of hundreds or thousands of digital pictures and stitch those frames into a panorama that be interactively explored via computer. To extend GigaPan into the time dimension, image mosaics are repeatedly captured at set intervals, and then stitched across both space and time to create a video in which each frame can be hundreds of millions, or even billions of pixels.
An enabling technology for time-lapse GigaPans is a feature of the HTML5 language that has been incorporated into such browsers as Google's Chrome and Apple's Safari. HTML5, the latest revision of the HyperText Markup Language (HTML) standard that is at the core of the Internet, makes browsers capable of presenting video content without use of plug-ins such as Adobe Flash or Quicktime.
Using HTML5, CREATE Lab computer scientists Randy Sargent, Chris Bartley and Paul Dille developed algorithms and software architecture that make it possible to shift seamlessly from one video portion to another as viewers zoom in and out of Time Machine imagery. To keep bandwidth manageable, the GigaPan site streams only those video fragments that pertain to the segment and/or time frame being viewed.
"We were crashing the browsers early on," Sargent recalled. "We're really pushing the browser technology to the limits."
Guidelines on how individuals can capture time-lapse images using GigaPan cameras are included on the site created for hosting the new imagery's large data files, http://timemachine.gigapan.org. Sargent explained the CREATE Lab is eager to work with people who want to capture Time Machine imagery with GigaPan, or use the visualization technology for other applications.
Once a Time Machine GigaPan has been created, viewers can annotate and save their explorations of it in the form of video "Time Warps."
Though the time-lapse mode is an extension of the original GigaPan concept, scientists already are applying the visualization techniques to other types of Big Data. Carnegie Mellon's Bruce and Astrid McWilliams Center for Cosmology, for instance, has used it to visualize a simulation of the early universe performed at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center by Tiziana Di Matteo, associate professor of physics.
"Simulations are a huge bunch of numbers, ugly numbers," Di Matteo said. "Visualizing even a portion of a simulation requires a huge amount of computing itself." Visualization of these large data sets is crucial to the science, however. "Discoveries often come from just looking at it," she explained.
Rupert Croft, associate professor of physics, said cosmological simulations are so massive that only a segment can be visualized at a time using usual techniques. Yet whatever is happening within that segment is being affected by forces elsewhere in the simulation that cannot be readily accessed. By converting the entire simulation into a time-lapse GigaPan, however, Croft and his Ph.D. student, Yu Feng, were able to create an image that provided both the big picture of what was happening in the early universe and the ability to look in detail at any region of interest.
Using a conventional GigaPan camera, Janet Steven, an assistant professor of biology at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, has created time-lapse imagery of rapid-growing brassicas, known as Wisconsin Fast Plants. "This is such an incredible tool for plant biology," she said. "It gives you the advantage of observing individual plants, groups of plants and parts of plants, all at once."
Steven, who has received GigaPan training through the Fine Outreach for Science program, said time-lapse photography has long been used in biology, but the GigaPan technology makes it possible to observe a number of plants in detail without having separate cameras for each plant. Even as one plant is studied in detail, it's possible to also see what neighboring plants are doing and how that might affect the subject plant, she added.
Steven said creating time-lapse GigaPans of entire landscapes could be a powerful tool for studying seasonal change in plants and ecosystems, an area of increasing interest for understanding climate change. Time-lapse GigaPan imagery of biological experiments also could be an educational tool, allowing students to make independent observations and develop their own hypotheses. | <urn:uuid:4dd0db38-6bf8-466f-a3c2-ae549b534406> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencecodex.com/carnegie_mellon_researchers_build_time_machine_to_visually_explore_space_and_time | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946878 |
|This article/section deals with mathematical concepts appropriate for a student in late high school or early university.|
A dictionary definition of Infinity is an "unlimited extent of time, space, or quantity ... an indefinitely great number or amount"
That is, it is something which "goes on without end". Infinity is denoted by this symbol: , looking like an 8 on its side.
Infinity comes up in many aspects of mathematical discourse and is often treated as a number, but it is not a real number. In mathematical contexts, infinity often appears as a limit, as an integral, as the measure (size) of a set in Euclidean space, and as the cardinality (size) of sets in general.
The simplest place to see this seeming paradox is in the fact that all integers are finite, but that there are an infinite number of them.
- Why are all integers finite? Because, if infinity were an integer, what would be?
- Why is the set of all integers an infinite set? Because they go on forever. If the set were finite, there would be a biggest integer. But that can't be, because we can always add one to any integer. This kind of thinking is often schoolchildren's first introduction to logical reasoning.
While infinity is not a number, it appears in many other contexts. As we have seen, the size of the set of integers is infinite. We say that the cardinality of the integers (this set is often denoted ) is infinite. The rational numbers () and the real numbers () also have infinite cardinality. An interesting result from set theory (see below) is that and have the same cardinality, while has larger cardinality than the other two.
Another place where infinity arises is in limits. We can say that "the limit of as approaches zero is infinity", or "the limit of as approaches infinity is zero", but this is because infinity has a special meaning in the context of limits. See limit for discussion of this.
We can also say that "the measure (size) of the set of reals is infinity", or that certain integrals are infinite, but this is because of special properties of measures and integrals.
So infinity might arise in statements like these:
- NO! This isn't allowed! Infinity is not a number, and division by zero is illegal!
- Yes, sort of. One could say that "the limit is infinite", since that includes both positive and negative infinite values. But to say that the limit is "equal to infinity", one would have to say that this is the limit from the right. The limit from the left is "minus infinity", that is, unboundedly negative. This sort of statement, in terms of limits, is what was presumably meant by the incorrect statement above.
- Infinity has a special meaning for integrals.
- The cardinality of the integers is infinite.
- The (Lebesgue) measure of the reals is infinite.
In measure theory, one sometimes defines the "extended reals", allowing plus and minus infinity to be considered to be numbers, but this is a special construction, which makes certain arithmetical operations impossible. It can't be done in general.
Another place where infinity is considered acceptable is in Floating-point arithmetic in computers. The IEEE-754 standard (which all modern computers support) allows the values and . But their treatment is very different from other numbers, and computer floating-point numbers don't faithfully model the real numbers in any case.
Also, in some non-standard models of Peano Arithmetic, is treated as an actual number. But, once again, this is not standard mathematics.
Georg Cantor's diagonal argument is an elegant proof demonstrating that the (infinite) cardinality of real numbers is greater than the (infinite) cardinality of countable integers. The essence of the argument is that in any proposed list of all real numbers, a new real number not in the list can be constructed by taking the digits in a diagonal through the list and changing them to construct a new real number that differs from the nth entry at the nth position right of the decimal point.
To formalize the concepts of countably and uncountably infinite sets, we need the set theory concept of cardinality. Using this concept it can be shown that there are infinitely many distinct infinite cardinalities.
In Zermelo-Fraenkel set theory, there is the Axiom of Infinity, asserting the existence of an infinite set. The set that it creates is essentially the same as the integers. Some "constructive" mathematicians work without this axiom, and determine which results may be proved without assuming it.
Classification of infinities
In modern mathematics, it is recognized that there is no single concept of 'infinity' - there are many different infinities. We can divide these into some broad classes. Firstly, there are the cardinals, which are used to measure the sizes of sets; and then there are ordinals, which are used to measure the position of an item in an ordered list. For finite quantities, we can use the same numbers for both - a race can have 3 participants, and you can come 3rd in the race. But, with infinite quantities, this no longer applies, the same numbers can now be used for both purposes. Thus, the smallest infinite cardinal is aleph-null, but the smallest infinite ordinal is omega.
We say two sets have the same size if it is possible to put their respective members into one-to-one correspondence. A cardinal can be conceived as the equivalence class of all sets having that size.
Consider the set of all natural numbers, and its subset the set of all odd natural numbers. One would think that there are half as many odd numbers as natural numbers. Yet, while that is true when dealing with some finite subset of the natural numbers, when dealing with their entirety, it turns out that there are as many odd numbers as natural numbers. This can be shown by the fact that the natural numbers and the odd natural numbers can be put in a one-to-one correspondence: 0 -> 1, 1 -> 3, 2 -> 5, 3 -> 7, etc. (represented by the formula 2*n + 1). Thus, whereas for finite sets if A is a proper subset of B, then the cardinality of A must be less than the cardinality of B, for infinite sets this is no longer the case; an infinite set may be the same size as one of its proper subsets.
The cardinality of the natural numbers is known as aleph-null. There are as many integers as natural numbers; and as many rational numbers as natural numbers. But it can be shown, using Cantor's diagonalization argument, that the reals are strictly larger than the natural numbers - you cannot put the natural numbers into one to one correspondence with the reals. The cardinality of the reals is the cardinality of the power set of the natural numbers, which is known as the power of the continuum (c) or as beth-one. (Aleph-null is the same as beth-null; whether aleph-one is the same as beth-one is a mathematical question, which essentially has no answer - and we can even show it has no answer.)
The generalised continuum hypothesis (GCH) states that for all ordinals a. So, the continuum hypothesis is a special case of the generalised continuum hypothesis for ordinal 0. Like CH, GCH is independent of the axioms of ZFC.
A set having cardinality equal to or less than is called countable; a set of greater cardinality is called uncountable.
Numbers serve two distinct purposes - to measure the size of sets, and to measure the position of an item in an ordering. Thus, we may speak of a race having 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. contestants, and we can speak of the contestants as having come 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. (or even 0th, if one is a mathematician!) When we measure the number of elements in a set, we are using cardinal numbers; when we measure an item's position in an ordering, we are using ordinal numbers. For finite quantities, it does not make that much difference, since for finite quantities we can use the same numbers to serve both purposes. But for transfinite quantities, that is no longer the case - we can no longer use the same numbers as both cardinals and ordinals. Thus, the smallest transfinite cardinal is , but the smallest transfinite ordinal is ω.
Other types of infinite numbers
Other than transfinite cardinals and ordinals, there are other types of infinite numbers:
- the affinely extended reals: these are elements of the set . In other words, the real numbers extended by the addition of positive and negative infinity. is greater than every real number, and is less than every real number.
- the projectively extended reals: these are elements of the set . In other words, the real numbers extended by the addition of a single signless infinity. The ordering relation is not defined for the projectively extended reals - but informally, can be said to be both greater than and less than every real number.
- the hyperreals: denoted *, these extend the real numbers with both infinite and infinitesimal quantities. They are used in non-standard analysis. Other extensions of the real numbers with infinite and infinitesimal quantities include the surreal numbers, the superreal numbers, and the Levi-Civita field.
The conclusion to be drawn from all of this, is that although in popular usage we speak about infinity as if it were a single thing, there are actually numerous diferent infinities, all belonging to different systems. If we want to talk about infinity, we ought to be careful to specify which infinity we mean.
An ordered field is said to be Archimedean if it has no infinitely large or infinitely small elements. One way of stating this: an ordered field is Archimedian, if for every element of the field, there is a greater natural number. This is true for the reals - for every real number, there is a greater natural number - but not for example for the affinely extended reals, since is greater than every natural number. So the affinely extended reals are said to be non-Archimedian. Likewise, the hyperreal numbers, the surreal numbers, the superreal numbers and the Levi-Civita field are all non-Archimedian. Any ordered field containing infinities must also contain infinitesimals as their inverse.
To understand the notion of non-Archimedeanity, it is interesting to imagine what it would be like were space or time were non-Archimedean. If space was non-Archimedean, there could be areas of the universe infinitely distant from here. If time was non-Archimedean, there could be past times an infinite number of years before the present, and future times an infinite number of years into the future. It appears that no one has every seriously suggested that time or space actually are non-Archimedean, but it is nonetheless an interesting mental exercise to understand the notion.
Philosophy of mathematics
Different positions in the philosophy of mathematics have different attitudes towards infinity. At one extreme, Platonists and formalists generally have no philosophical to any form of infinity than can be defined. At the other extreme, finitists and ultrafinitists deny the existence of infinity; to them, only finite quantities, and finite objects, actually exist. In the middle, many constructivists and intuitionists adopt a position of countablism - an acceptance of the existence of countable sets, but denying that uncountable sets exist. | <urn:uuid:4774be65-6630-4f51-b462-203ff786dfca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://conservapedia.com/Infinity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951325 |
Unique hen research facility lays one of a kind opportunity
Chickens sit in their cages Feb. 6, 2013, at the Laying Hen Facility. The facility involves research projects pertaining to poultry housing, including a system which has lights to simulate sunrise and sunset. Julia Nagy/The State News
For animal science junior Justin Warchuck, nothing is wrong with being a little chicken, or egg-headed for that matter.
With the December addition of the nations only Laying Hen Poultry Research facility, Warchuck has a unique chance to study the science behind the widely consumed egg.
“Most people eat omelets for breakfast,” Warchuck said. “Whether you’re eating McDonald’s or buying eggs from the supermarket, the everyday consumer can relate to the
Warchuck, who said he has a soft spot for chickens, is working on a feed wastage research project at the Laying Hen Poultry Research facility, home to nearly 7,000 birds, for his ANS 492 class, an animal science research course. The project aims to find out how much feed is wasted after feeding the hens. By examining fecal matter, he hopes the project will help industry feeding methods become more efficient.
“Everything can be made better and be improved,” Warchuck said.
Animal science research assistant Cara Robison said that the facility allows students to do take on a specific area of research
“With us at the Laying Hen facility, each student was encouraged to come up with their own project,” Robison said.
Research assistant Cara Robison counts eggs Feb. 6, 2013, at the Laying Hen Facility. The facility houses nearly 7,000 chickens. Julia Nagy/The State News
“We let the students think about it first and what they might be interested in answering. Now they’re implementing their methods.”
Darrin Karcher, who also is an ANS 492 professor and a poultry extension specialist for the Department of Animal Science, said the construction of the facility was a three-year process.
“What we’re trying to do is not only explore the production aspects (of producing eggs), but explore the animal side of things as well,” Karcher said.
Karcher said many students in the animal science program work and volunteer at the facility and handle the daily care of the birds, including collecting eggs and keeping track of infant mortality.
Robison mentioned the research that takes place in her class is separate from research that takes place at the facility.
Regardless of the activities of her students, the facility will serve as a center of hen and egg research for MSU’s campus.
In addition to gaining experience on conducting research, Robison said the students will have a unique opportunity at the end of the course.
“At the end of the semester, each student will have their (research) paper and we’re going to have a day where people from the laying hen industry come to MSU and students will give their papers to industry personnel,” she said.
“They’ll also have the chance to interact with (farming) industry professionals. It’ll be a really good networking experience.” | <urn:uuid:57d4fbe5-52c7-4d0e-b78b-54c583a7ac88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://statenews.com/article/2013/02/unique-hen-research-facility-lays-one-of-a-kind-opportunity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953888 |
Modern surgical techniques have come a long way in recent years. Fiber optics allow ear surgeons to perform delicate operations that would have been unheard of just decades ago. One of the most common procedures is known as myringotomy (MERE-IN-JOT-OH-ME), an operation that involves making a small hole in the eardrum and passing a tube through to drain excess fluid from the middle ear. It's particularly useful in treating children with ear infections. While many hearing disorders can be treated with antibiotics or other drugs, surgery may still be necessary in extreme cases. Most ear surgery is now considered to be both simple and safe. See an ear, nose and throat specialist when you detect the first sign of hearing loss, dizzy spells or other symptoms of ear ailments. If surgery is necessary, the doctor will explain the procedure. | <urn:uuid:606b0d63-9c94-4696-8f9e-8ac50ebd4d28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fox23news.com/guides/health/earnosethroat/story/Surgical-restoration-of-hearing-loss/kbBUAj53g0iClYba4dX7Dw.cspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944007 |
Why is a strikebreaker called a scab?
A scab is the hard crust that forms over a wound when it is healing, but in earlier use it meant a disease of the skin. The word comes from the Old Norse *skabb. It’s not attested to in English, however, until the 13th century. From the Old Kentish Sermons, c.1250:
Si lepre [signefieþ] þo sennen, þet scab bi-tokned þo litle sennen.
(Leprosy [signifies] those sins, so that scab betokens those little sins.)
By the end of the 16th century, the word was being used as an insult, denoting a low person, a scoundrel, a rascal. From Robert Greene’s c.1590 The Honorable Historie of Frier Bacon and Frier Bongay:
Loue is such a proud scab, that he will neuer meddle with fooles nor children.
The specialization to labor disputes dates to at least 1777, when the word was used in this sense in Bonner & Middleton’s Bristol Journal:
Whereas the Master Cordwainers have gloried, that there has been a Demur amongst the Men’s and Women’s Men;—we have the Pleasure to inform them, that Matters are amicably settled...The Conflict would not been [sic] so sharp had not there been so many dirty Scabs; no Doubt but timely Notice will be taken of them.
(Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition)
Copyright 1997-2013, by David Wilton | <urn:uuid:97d3ab64-79cc-40dd-a44d-e7efe4fdfef7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/site/scab/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93167 |
Located in New York City, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral hosts over 5.5 million people each year to visit and pray. Opened in 1879, the cathedral is the largest Gothic-style Catholic Cathedral in the United Sates and holds up to 2,200 people. It’s location on Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets is directly across from Rockefeller Center makes it one of the iconic New York landmarks to visit while in Manhattan. While exterior photos that capture the contrast between the Gothic-style cathedral and the modern skyscrapers that surround it are fantastic, I found the ceiling inside illuminated by the soft lighting of the chandeliers to be even more intriguing.
Located in New York City, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is on Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets. Across from Rockefeller Center, Saint Patrick’s Gothic-style sits in stark contrast to the towering modern skyscrapers that surround it. The cornerstone for the cathedral was laid in 1858, but construction was stopped during the years of the Civil War. After construction resumed in 1865, the cathedral was completed in 1879. Officially opened on May 25, 1879, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral is the largest Gothic-style Catholic Cathedral in the United States and was named as a National Historic Landmark in 1976. | <urn:uuid:52aa6761-9188-41c2-b754-76150ab37ac4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.elizabethbrownphotography.com/tag/church/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958142 |
Million Homeschooled Students in the United States in 2003
Until 1999, little empirical information existed about the prevalence of homeschooling nationally (Bielick, Chandler, and Broughman 2001). In 1999 and 2003, the National Household Education Surveys Program (NHES) collected nationally representative data that can be used to estimate the number of homeschooled students in the United States. Data from the 1999 NHES showed that there were an estimated 850,000 homeschoolers in the United States?about 1.7 percent of the school-age population (Bielick, Chandler, and Broughman 2001).
This Issue Brief provides estimates of the number and percentage of homeschooled students in the United States in 2003, and compares these estimates to those from 1999. In addition, parents? primary reasons for homeschooling their children are described. Estimates of homeschooling in 2003 are based on data from the Parent and Family Involvement in Education Survey (PFI) of the 2003 NHES.
Students are defined as children ages 5 through 17 with a grade equivalent of kindergarten through grade 12 (K?12)1. Interviews were conducted with the parents of 11,994 students (239 of whom were homeschooled). When weighted properly, these data represent approximately 50 million students ages 5?17 with a grade equivalent of K?12 in the United States in 2003.
Students are considered to be homeschooled if their parents reported them as being schooled at home instead of at a public or private school for at least part of their education and if their part-time enrollment in public or private schools did not exceed 25 hours a week. Students who were schooled at home only because of a temporary illness were not included as homeschoolers. All differences discussed in this Brief are statistically significant at the .05 level according to two-tailed student?s t-tests.
Number and Percentage of Homeschooled Students in the United States
About 1.1 million students (1,096,000) were being homeschooled in the United States in the spring of 2003 (figure 1). This represents an increase from the estimated 850,000 students who were being homeschooled in the spring of 1999. In addition, the estimated homeschooling rate?the percentage of the school-age population that was being homeschooled?increased from 1.7 percent in 1999 to 2.2 percent in 2003 (not shown in tables or figures).
As with results from any sample survey, the numbers and percentages discussed in this Issue Brief are estimates of the actual numbers and percentages of homeschooled students in the population. Although 1,096,000 is the best estimate available from the 2003 NHES, another similar sample survey might produce a different estimate. A 95 percent confidence interval defines a range of values around an estimate, within which 95 percent of the estimates from all possible similar sample surveys are expected to fall. The 95 percent confidence interval for the number of students who were homeschooled in spring 2003 is 915,000 to 1,277,000 (figure 1)2. The best estimate provided here?1,096,000?is the midpoint of that interval.
The estimates of homeschooling discussed in this Issue Brief include students who were homeschooled only and students who were homeschooled while also enrolled in school for 25 hours or less per week. As shown in table 1, in both 1999 and 2003, about 4 out of 5 homeschoolers were homeschooled only (82 percent) while about 1 out of 5 homeschoolers were enrolled in public or private schools part time (18 percent).
Parents? Most Important Reasons for Homeschooling Their Children
In the 2003 NHES, parents were asked whether particular reasons for homeschooling their children applied to them. Parents were then asked which one of those applicable reasons was their most important reason for homeschooling.
Thirty-one percent of homeschoolers had parents who said the most important reason for homeschooling was concern about the environment of other schools (figure 2). Thirty percent said the most important reason was to provide religious or moral instruction. The next reason was given about half as often; 16 percent of homeschooled students had parents who said dissatisfaction with the academic instruction available at other schools was their most important reason for homeschooling.
From 1999 to 2003, the number of homeschooled students in the United States increased, as did the homeschooling rate. The increase in the homeschooling rate (from 1.7 percent to 2.2 percent) represents about 0.5 percent of the 2002?03 school-age population and a 29 percent relative increase over the 4-year period. While data from the NHES cannot explain why homeschooling was more prevalent in 2003 than in 1999, it can provide insight into why parents homeschooled their children in 2003.3 Parents may have homeschooled their children for a variety of reasons, but certain factors appear to have been more influential than others. Nearly two-thirds of homeschooled students had parents who said that their primary reason for homeschooling was either concern about the environment of other schools or a desire to provide religious or moral instruction.
Data from NHES can also be used to examine the student, family, and household characteristics of homeschoolers. Upcoming reports will use these data to study the characteristics of homeschoolers, to compare the characteristics of homeschooled students to those of public and private school students, and to see how homeschooling rates may have changed between 1999 and 2003 for different segments of the student population.
Bielick, S., Chandler, K., and Broughman, S.P. (2001). Homeschooling in the United States: 1999 (NCES 2001?033). U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.
Schenker, N., and Gentleman, J.F. (2001). On Judging the Significance of Differences by Examining the Overlap Between Confidence Intervals. The American Statistician, 55(3): 182?186.
Tables and Figures
1 Students who were homeschooled or enrolled in an ungraded elementary/secondary school or special education program were considered to have a grade equivalent of K?12 if their grade-level equivalent was K?12 or if their grade-level equivalent was ?ungraded? and they were ages 5?17. Ages 5?17 represent the modal age range for grades K?12.
2 Although the confidence intervals surrounding the estimated number of homeschooled students in the United States in 1999 and 2003 overlap somewhat, the differences between the estimates are still statistically significant. Differences between estimates with overlapping confidence intervals can be statistically significant (Schenker and Gentleman 2001).
3 Questions about reasons for homeschooling were asked differently in 1999 and 2003, and thus are not comparable.
The Issue Brief series presents information on education topics of
current interest. All estimates shown are based on samples and are subject
to sampling variability. All differences are statistically significant at the .05
level. In the design, conduct, and data processing of National Center for
Education Statistics (NCES) surveys, efforts are made to minimize the
effects of nonsampling errors, such as item nonresponse, measurement
error, data processing error, or other systematic error. For more information
on the National Household Education Surveys Program, visit | <urn:uuid:be528b1c-e052-4e99-b746-e9c7ecac40ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nces.ed.gov/nhes/homeschool/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971721 |
When searching for a summer camp, you'll want to start early, ask the right questions, and have a good grasp of your child's needs and interests.
As you start your search for information about learning and attention problems, you may find some great resources close to home.
The pre-referral process can help determine if your child needs special education services.
How do you know if your child has a learning disability? Learn to read the signs.
How do you know if your tween or teen has a learning disability? Learn to read the signs.
What to expect when your child's learning strengths and needs are evaluated.
What is psychoeducational testing? How can you prepare your child for it? Author and parent Kim Glenchur offers clear answers to your questions.
Today's students must take many standardized tests, yet students with learning problems often perform poorly on them. An expert explains how parents accurately measure growth and progress in kids who struggle.
If a specialist has assessed your child for a learning problem, you probably have a report outlining the test results. Are you confused about the test results -- what they mean for your child? This article may answer your questions.
This article explains the appeal of unproven therapies for learning disabilities -- and warns you what to watch out for. | <urn:uuid:0f0ecb07-f58c-4225-9a23-05ee2488c035> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greatschools.org/articles/?p=2&topics=168 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944404 |
This bus, sponsored by the tech-ed company Promethean, is a vehicle filled with products that enrich the classroom through the latest technology tools, gadgets, and software. While it may be a smart marketing tool for tech companies, is technology bulldozing its way into the classroom?
Traditional Schools Are Way Behind to Begin With
Technological advancements move at lightning speed, with the average device losing its edge over a new and better device after about two years. Businesses and private companies are keeping up, but classrooms are notoriously lagging behind. How many schools still use traditional textbooks? In a world with an explosive e-book market, and offices and hospitals that have gone paperless, why are schools still investing in expensive and resource-heavy curriculum materials?
It may appear that schools are being barraged with new technologies, but where have they been in the last decade? The problem is that institutions that rely on public funding find it much harder to get approval for advancements that may seem to some, a luxury. The mindset that technology is a “fluffy” extra is still pervasive in the older generation of taxpayers who got by without touching a computer.
However, the majority of jobs in the current market require at the very least, a basic understanding of the computer, the Internet, and how to navigate software like Microsoft Word. Like it or not, technology is embedded into the fabric of modern society. Schools do their students a disservice if they do not expose the kids to technology in the classroom.
Technology Does Not Nullify Critical Thinking
Oftentimes, technology gets a bad reputation for giving students shortcuts so they don’t have to think. Let’s look at a math curriculum for example. If a teacher brings in the latest math gadgets and software, will students forget how to do computation longhand (or in their head)? No.
Teachers aren’t replacing lessons with computers that do the thinking for the students. They use the technology to help reinforce the concepts that are being taught. Technology used correctly will not make students lazy, but rather help them master the concepts that are necessary in order to do mental or longhand math.
They are not meant to replace the thinking involved.
But What Happens if Technology is Taken Away?
This is the biggest fear to technology integration in the classroom. Once it’s there, will everything fall apart if it is taken away? The first problem with this fear is that the likelihood of technology disappearing from society is very small.
Nothing short of some traumatic or explosive global human tragedy would wipe the computer and the Web from the planet. In that case, survival would be the focus anyhow. Aside from that, how does even a temporary glitch in technology result in poor learning?
- If e-books are taken out of the classroom, will children no longer know how to read in a traditional text? Of course not!
- If the digital math flash cards on a tablet are unavailable, are students going to be baffled at how to use traditional worksheets and flash cards?
- If the computer breaks, will children not know how to write with a pencil?
These questions may sound silly, but when a person realizes that technology in the classroom is meant to enrich and reinforce skills, rather than replace them, the fear of overdependence starts to dissipate.
Jobs Use Technology
Students who want to be doctors and surgeons will work with computers and robots to perform surgeries. Pilots learn on flight simulators. Bankers use computers all day long. Writers type. HVAC technicians access customer’s units remotely through computers. Even those in who want to go into construction, plumbing, or other trades, will need to know how to set up a website, interact with clients through email and social media, and advertise digitally.
With every new advancement and invention in the last 100 years, there has been resistance. At one point, people feared the radio’s negative influence on culture. Today, this fear would be considered silly and irrational. It is important to look back at history to understand how to deal effectively with advancement in the present.
The technology bus may be a marketing tool for tech-ed companies, but it is also a way for educators to test out new tools that can enhance the classroom. The question is not- are kids becoming too dependent on technology.
The question should be- why is it taking so long for institutions to catch up?
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Julie DeNeen has her bachelor’s degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of New Haven. She spent several years implementing new technologies to help students and teachers in the classroom. She also taught workshops to teachers about the importance of digital student management software, designed to keep students, parents, and teachers connected to the learning process. @jdeneen4 and Google+. | <urn:uuid:5c3dabdc-0734-4dda-9419-31cb4a493df7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2013/03/05/are-we-teaching-kids-to-be-too-dependent-on-technology/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942561 |
Certain dog toys contain chemicals that studies suggest could lead to health problems in your dog, according to a presentation this week at the Society of
Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry conference held in California.
The worst offenders appear to be plastic fetching batons, called "bumpers," which are used to teach dogs how to retrieve.
"In the process of training a lab, you do a
lot of work with these plastic bumpers," co-author Phil Smith was quoted as saying in a press release. "I have
a lot of bumpers in my garage, and they spend a lot of time in the
mouths of my retrievers. Well, lots of attention has been given to
chemicals in plastics lately regarding their effects on humans. Since we
all care about our dogs, and we want them to be as
healthy and smart and well-behaved as possible, we decided to look into
Smith, who raises and trains Labrador retrievers, and hunts with them as well, is an associate professor of
at The Institute of Environmental and Human Health at Texas Tech University. He worked on the study with colleague Kimberly Wooten.
Smith and Wooten suspected that bumpers, and other dog toys, could
leach phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA) into the mouths and bodies of dogs. The chemicals are used to give
elasticity to plastic and
vinyl and are known endocrine disruptors that mimic estrogen or act as
anti-androgens. Studies indicate they could lead to negative health effects.
To test for the chemicals, the researchers created
simulated dog saliva, then simulated chewing by squeezing purchased bumpers
and dog toys with stainless steel salad tongs. Some bumpers and toys were also weathered outside to determine if older toys gave off more chemicals.
"We found that the aging or weathering the toys
increased concentrations of BPA and phthalates," Smith said. "The toys
had lower concentrations of phthalates than the bumpers, so that’s good
news. But they also had some other chemicals
that mimicked estrogen. We need to find out what those are."
Wooten explained that BPA and phthalates can have effects on
developing fetuses and can have a lifelong effect on offspring of lab
animals. Studies on humans have resulted in mixed conclusions, but concern was enough to warrant the U.S. government banning the use of BPA in baby
bottles this year.
Questions still remain about how much of these chemicals actually leach into a dog's mouth during play.
"The interaction of pet health and environmental
chemicals is understudied," Wooten said. "What may be a safe dose for
one species isn't always a good measure for another species. But the
amount of BPA and phthalates we found from the bumpers
would be considered on the high end of what you might find in | <urn:uuid:f184221d-8150-456a-9d5d-e88bbbb29565> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.discovery.com/animals/pets/dog-toys-chemicals-121211.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969536 |
Of all the joys spring offers, one of the most troublesome things about this time of year is the increase of insects on our furry friends.
Of all these creepy pests, adult fleas cause the most problems for our pets.
In order to become adults, fleas need warm weather, between 70 and 80 degrees, and around 70 to 80 percent relative humidity.
“Those ideal conditions are usually what we are experience during this time of the year, which is why we generally see more fleas coming out in the spring,” said Dr. Alison Diesel, lecturer in dermatology at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences.
Unlike many geographical areas where seasonal differences occur, fleas can be present year-round in Texas because of the warmer winters.
While many people think fleas are relatively harmless except for making our pets itch, fleas can cause numerous other health problems in our pets.
For example, some animals may react to an allergen found in fleas’ saliva, causing the animal to have an allergic reaction.
This causes the animal to itch and ultimately scratch, which can lead to a secondary skin infection.
If there is a massive amount of fleas, anemia could even become a potential problem, especially with small animals that do not have large amounts of blood. | <urn:uuid:a0e4fdf1-d1a0-4404-9bdd-4eb64ed3477d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lamonitor.com/opinion/columns?page=4&mini=calendar-date%2F2013-02 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94647 |
Moisture Control in Green Building
Understanding Water in a Green Home
A green home is:
Water is not only the most important factor affecting a home's durability, it is also the most important factor affecting the home's maintenance costs and sustainability.
Jim Sargent, chosen by the U.S. Department of Energy as the Builder of the Year for his energy-efficient homes, tells his green building classes, "Homes last longer in dry areas. Moisture is the enemy. In fact, the biggest enemy your house has is moisture. If a builder has a problem with the house, 99% of the time it is going to be water or water vapor related. If a builder needs to be an expert on anything, it is water control."
Homes get wet during construction, during renovation or with age. The problem, though, is not that homes get wet but the solutions for moisture control. Homes need a good drying system in place and it is important that they are dried as quickly as possible.
The concept of drying and the design of homes to dry is part of moisture control. Moisture and its movement must be controlled from the beginning of the build job to the end of the home's life.
There are several sources of moisture in the home. The most important to control are below.
Sargent says, "Controlling rain is the single most important factor in the design and construction of durable buildings and in the control of mold."
Building physicist Joe Lstiburek takes it one step further and declares, "If you can't control rain and ground water, it is senseless to go further in building a structure."
Sargent continues, "Homes must be designed with rain control for the location's climate in mind. For example, we get an average of 39 inches of rain a year in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. However, it does not come one inch here and one inch there. We get most of the rain in short periods of time in the spring and the fall. Homes should be designed like we get 120 inches of rain a year instead of 39 inches."
Other sources of water that need to be kept under control are:
These sources might have different significance in different climates (such as snow in Dallas or snow in Minneapolis). The moisture sources and their climate significance must be considered when choosing materials for the construction of a home.
Climate significance must also be addressed when allocating resources for moisture control. For example, Minneapolis needs resources allocated for snow and ice damming control; North Central Texas does not.
Moisture moves by a number of means: capillary flow, vapor flow, air convection, and gravity flow. Each of these mechanisms is driven by different forces and moves at vastly different rates through different materials. This also determines the choice of building materials for home construction.
Often walls get wet during the home's construction from rain or other precipitation. Even if they don't get wet then, they will get wet later from other means--often from both the outside and the inside of the wall. Consequently, all walls should be designed to dry, preferably from both sides but definitely from at least one side.
Dealing with moisture is a very complicated subject for a builder to understand, much less for the general public to understand. And it is often even more complicated in a renovation of an older home.Choosing a builder who understands water and pays attention to water details is as important as choosing a builder who understands energy-efficiency.
There are two other aspects of water that must be considered in a green home.
1. Water conservation.
you need an energy consult
Copyright © 2007-2011 Dallas-Fort Worth Green Building and Renewable Energy. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission which is not universally given. Please contact DFW Green Building and Renewable Energy for permission in writing before using these copyrighted materials.
Note: The opinions expressed herein are exclusively those of the writers or other participants and do not necessarily reflect the position of CyberParent,LLC. They are not intended to take the place of advice of a health, legal, or other professional whose expertise you might need to seek. This website explains green building and green remodeling for a climate zone comparable to North Central Texas or Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, It is important to hire a green builder and an energy consultant who are experts in energy-efficient building in your climate zone and who use the most up-to-date green building information. | <urn:uuid:440a3edd-28c6-4308-9c43-957a1c635755> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cyberparent.com/green-building/moisture-control-green-building.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948221 |
17 August 2008
In the 1950s, it took 84 days to raise a five-pound chicken. Due to selective breeding and growth-promoting drugs, it now takes an average of only 45 days.1,2
To put the growth rate of today's chickens into perspective, the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture reports, "If you grew as fast as a chicken, you'd weigh 349 pounds at age 2."3 While this rapid growth increases profitability, it also aggravates health problems among chickens.
1. Duncan IJH. 2001. Welfare problems of meat-type chickens. Farmed Animal Well-Being Conference at the University of California-Davis, June 28-29, 2001.
2. Personal correspondence with Stephen Pretanik, director of Science and Technology, National Chicken Council, Washington, D.C., January 14, 2004.
3. University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service. Top ten facts about chickens, www.kidsarus.org/kids_go4it/growit/raiseit/chickens.htm.
* LEARN MORE:
45 Days: The Life and Death of a Broiler Chicken - Video
The Welfare of Animals in the Broiler Chicken Industry – An HSUS Report –PDF http://www.hsus.org/web-files/PDF/farm/welfare_broiler.pdf * | <urn:uuid:959f1373-f98e-42df-8e97-848166aa5d90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-creatures.org/fact/fact-20080817.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.875905 |
- Wood pellet furnaces efficiently burn biomass, such as agricultural waste or scrap wood. They are ideal for homes in rural or remote areas with abundant biomass and access to wood pellets but without easy access to natural gas or heating oil lines. Pellet furnaces are typically less efficient and may be more polluting than other furnaces.
- All-electric furnaces are the only models that reach 100 percent efficiency. However, the higher cost of electricity in most areas makes them cost-prohibitive. Moreover, standard coal-fired electric plants are closer to 30% efficiency, so it is probably better for the environment to efficiently and directly convert cleaner-burning natural gas to heat.
- Solar-powered electric furnaces in off-grid homes may be the exception to the no-electric rule. However, they require large solar arrays, which are expensive. They also require backup power sources because sunlight hours are shortest in winter, when you need the most heat.
- Geothermal furnaces are another renewable option with zero emissions and high efficiency. They draw underground heat and distribute it throughout the house. Like solar power, geothermal power is free, but it involves sizable up-front costs.
Look for highly efficient furnaces. They can pay for themselves in short order through lower utility bills. Also consider renewable power options for some circumstances. | <urn:uuid:eb03c258-ad3e-4a46-8c62-90b43dc4eacb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kxly.com/How-to-choose-a-new-furnace/-/101300/18266192/-/item/5/-/fbroqv/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946106 |
1918 Influenza Pandemic and Roseau County Part 3
entered into the county in the fall of 1918. As the men came home to
Roseau County from the North Dakota harvest fields they brought more
than the money they earned; they brought the influenza epidemic. By
October twenty-third there were About 150 cases of which most could be
traced to the North Dakota region. It was commonly called the Spanish
the increase in cases the County Board of Health became concerned and
issued a ban on all indoor meetings; this included church services,
funerals, Red Cross meetings, theaters, and pool halls. Any “public,
semi-private or private” group situation was covered by this ban. Any
where a “considerable number of pupils or immediate family that have
been infected” could infect others, were to be closed to the public.
With the influenza several funerals were held, this ban closed
funerals to outsiders.
loitering order” rule was placed in Roseau along with an eight o’clock
curfew to keep the children off the street. By November first, 18
homes had been hit by the influenza. Now the measures to prevent an
epidemic became more evident. “Influenza” quarantine signs began to
appear on houses of those infected, and those infected were required
to notify the Board of Health in their villages and townships. The
barbershops, pool halls, bowling alleys, restaurants, and stores were
to enact safety measures and close by 6:30. A patrolman was to walk
the community to make sure all were kept in compliance.
who administered to the ill, were required to wear masks. Children
were not to return to school until five days after the final person in
the house had recovered and a certificate of health was received.
all felt that the ban was necessary. Dr. N. C. Davis, the Badger
village health officer, maintained there were very few cases in their
city but soon all towns were in compliance.
of the towns closed all indoor meetings except school. Greenbush went
so far as to contact the State Board of Health to see if the schools
should be closed. Their comment was, “Keep the Schools going.” The
schools were considered the safest place at first but the schools in
the area closed as the epidemic prevailed. The Greenbush School was
closed for five weeks, Badger for 3 weeks, Roseau for approximately 3
weeks, and the Warroad School was closed for eight weeks.
Appeals were made to the State Board of Health to supply nurses to the
area. The Warroad Board of Health was taken over by the village
council. Nightly meetings were then held to try to combat and keep
track of the epidemic. The Red Cross Chapter, under the direction of
Mrs. C. A. Moody, R. W. Hoorn, and Mrs. Jens Martin, was placed in
charge of finding nurses to care for flu victims. The former Parry’s
Tailor Shop was turned into a hospital to care for those who had no
home in Warroad.
information for the 1918 influenza has been culled from the Badger
Herald Rustler, Greenbush Tribune, Roseau Times-Region, and the
Warroad Pioneer newspapers (September 1918 through January 1919) and
the Roseau County death records.
week we will examine the effect the influenza pandemic had on Roseau
County families and the Native American population.
There are many museum projects volunteers can do at the
museum and in their own home. Present projects volunteers are working
on include transferring cemetery records to a database to be placed on
the internet, transferring the Bill Adams stories to a Word format,
indexing twenty-fifth and fiftieth wedding anniversaries, clipping and
saving articles from local, regional, and state newspapers. These
projects will benefit the residents of the county for years to come.
They record history and events that help us understand the past and
relate it to the future. If you are interesting in assisting the
Society by volunteering contact Coordinator Yvonne Johnson, phone
number 463-2655 or the museum at 463-1918 for more information. | <urn:uuid:c2bdc559-d8a7-409d-8826-df85ad50bf14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.roseaucohistoricalsociety.org/newspaperarticle1918flu3.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977827 |
"There are three types of people in the world:
those who can count, and those who can't."
The comedy line above says a lot about most of today's social and economic questions. Almost all experts interested in the human condition talk about the economy in two terms, Labor and Capital.
Regrettably, they neglect or forget about a third aspect of the economy: The Commons.
The Commons is the key to alleviating poverty, purging corporations of their undue power, nourishing democratic values and institutions, and vaulting environmental protection into the people's purview.
Next Event: Dance/performance audition
We lead four-session seminars in The Principles of Economics. In eight hours of class time, participants get an overview of how the economy works. They understand why the economy's topsy-turvy when it is, and why there's so much acrimony and confusion regarding taxes.
In other words, participants are equipped to powerfully interpret social and environmental questions of the day. What's more, they perceive systemic solutions to environmental and social challenges.
We are commited to ending involuntary poverty, worldwide. Public policy featuring the commons can achieve that goal.
April 4, 7-9 pm in Bernal Heights.
Click on "The Seminars" page for more details.
What is The Commons?
The Commons includes everything not made by human beings, as well as the cultural infrastructure created by the public. That means not only land and water and other natural resources, but includes such things as the broadcast spectrum, taxi licenses, cap and trade quotas, and patents.
An understanding of the commons resolves most property rights matters, indicates what elements of the economy are best subject to taxation, and alleviates the worst of partisan politics. | <urn:uuid:aac4b53d-c538-4273-9498-d89c4997ce5e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecommonssf.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934132 |
This site will have an interactive timeline that will integrate the historical data, images, and video. At present we are working on the first version of the timeline, from 1861 to the present, as a web page.
1892 – Robert R. Taylor becomes the first black student to graduate from MIT. (Source: Institute Archives and Special Collections, MIT Libraries, Cambridge Massachusetts)
1894 – William Arthur Johnson may be the first black student to participate on a varsity athletic team (football). (Source: Institute Archives and Special Collections, MIT Libraries, Cambridge Massachusetts)
1905 – Marie Celeste Turner becomes the first black female to attend MIT. (Source: Institute Archives and Special Collections, MIT Libraries, Cambridge Massachusetts)
1933 – Marron Fort becomes the first black student to earn the Ph.D. (Source: Institute Archives and Special Collections, MIT Libraries, Cambridge Massachusetts)
1952 – Institute Committee (Undergraduate Association) resolution: “… The Institute Committee of MIT stands opposed to racial and religious discrimination and deems it advisable to abolish all discriminatory clauses in the charters and constitutions of activities, organizations, and living groups on the MIT campus…”
1952 – Establishment of fund for “award to worthy and well-qualified students who have demonstrated a democratic and tolerant spirit and who are well disposed toward people of all creeds and races.”
Mar 1955 – “National Conference on Selectivity and Discrimination in American Universities” organized by 2 MIT students, white and black, to discuss “issues of discrimination in higher education”
1956 – Joseph R. Applegate becomes the first black Assistant Professor at MIT.
1960s – Establishment of Committee on Community Service and Committee on Education in the Face of Poverty and Segregation
1964 – Establishment of Committee on Educational Opportunity by President Stratton (mission is “to explore how the Institute might become more involved in tackling problems relating to race, segregation, integration, and related issues”)
1964 – MIT hosts Conference on Programs to Assist Predominantly Negro Colleges (part of efforts to diversify campus community)
1968 – MIT Task Force on Educational Opportunity established.
1968 – Black Student Union started. Founding members: Charles Kidwell, Shirley Jackson, Ronald Mickens, Sekazi Mtingwa, Jennifer Rudd, Nathan Seely, Linda Sharpe, James Turner.
1968/69 – Frank Jones becomes the first black tenured Professor at MIT (Urban Affairs).
1969 – Project Interphase started.
Early 1970s – Various studies conducted on academic performance of black students (e.g. by Kenneth Schoman SM’70, at request of Paul Gray and in consultation with administrators John Mims, William Hecht, and James Bishop).
1972 – Report published: Academic performance and admissions indices of black students at MIT>. Analyzes “academic performance of 157 blacks who had entered as freshmen in 1969, 70, 71.”
1972 – MIT Gospel Choir started
1973 – Creation of “Special Assistant to the President for Women and Work” post, held by Mary Rowe.
1974 – Creation of Special Assistant to the President post for Minority Affairs – Clarence Williams: functions relate “not just to minority graduate students but all matters relating to minorities at MIT, including advising senior officers on recruitment and retention of minority faculty, students, and staff; advocacy of the interests of minority members of the community; and addressing formal and informal complaints or concerns relating to the treatment of minorities at the Institute.”
1974 – MITES (Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science) started.
1974 – Lincoln Lab Summer Program started.
1974 – National Society of Black Engineers-MIT established.
Mid-1970s – Exhibits on blacks organized at MIT in collaboration with MIT Museum during Black History Week.
1975 – Office for Minority Education established “following difficult negotiations between black students and the administration over competing needs and goals.”
Jan 1975 – First annual MLK, Jr. celebration at MIT. (Text of addresses during first 20 years compiled in Williams, Clarence (Ed.). Reflections of the Dream, 1975-1994: Twenty Years Celebrating the Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology>. Cambridge: MIT Press (2005). Addresses from 2003-2009 available at >http://web.mit.edu/mlking/www/address.html>.)
1975 – Chocolate City established on the initiative of Theodore Austell (’78), Albert H. Frazier Jr. (’78), Glenn A. Graham (’77), Roy W. Haygood III (’78), and Edward S. Miller (’78) “to maintain our African-American community, promote our ethnic identity, encourage social and intellectual improvement, and provide support for our brotherhood throughout and after our years at the MIT.”
1975 – Community Fellows Program started by Profs. Frank Jones & Lloyd Rodwin, continued by Prof. Melvin King – exposed minorities to “issues relating to the urban environment” (See The Tech 11/21/95) >http://tech.mit.edu/V115/N58/conf.58n.html
1976 – Black Graduate Students Association (BGSA) founded with support of John Turner (assistant dean, later promoted to associate dean); goal is to “encourage minority entrants and help shape a community of black graduate students at MIT.”
1978 – Formation of “Group of Six”: Wesley Harris, Willard Johnson, John Turner, Wade Kornegay, James Young & CW: aims are to “step-up efforts to place blacks on key MIT policy committees, and to prepare position papers on issues such as recruitment, academic performance, and financial aid.”
Mid-late 1970s – Initiatives by Jerome Weisner (Pres) & Paul Gray (Chancellor) to encourage departments to hire minorities
Sep 1978 – Submission of report, Blacks at MIT: The Challenge for Full Participation in the 1980s> to administration.
1980 – Posts of Special Assistant to the President for Women and Work & for Minorities renamed to “Special Assistant to the President.”
Early 1980s – Formation of Greater Boston Inter-University Council (GBIUC): “group of local black administrators and faculty outside MIT [working] to develop retention strategies for students of color.” Among original group: Ken Haskins, James Cash, Dexter Eure, Kenneth Guscott, Bernard Fulp, & Clarence Williams.
Early 1980s – Formation of Association of Black Administrators at MIT; group fizzles in 90s.
Early-mid 1980s – Jim Gates and Jim Hubbard tenure controversy. Both were undergraduate students, graduate students, and then faculty at MIT; denied tenure.
>1982, 1984 – ABAMIT organizes 2 national conferences: First and Second National Conferences on Issues Facing Black Administrators at Predominantly White Colleges and Universities (1982, 1984). Attracted black administrators, major black (and a few white) figures. Goal was to “explore the anxieties, stresses, and aspirations of black administrators within often hostile academic environments.”
1982-1989 – Association of MIT Alumnae (AMITA) and Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Boston cosponsor annual professional development conferences for women in “non traditional fields.” (Source: AMITA) >http://www.mit-amita.org/esr/critical.html
1984 – Ronald E. McNair, Ph.D. ’76, becomes the first African American scientist-astronaut to go into space. McNair is killed in the 1986 Challenger disaster. In 2005, a professorship in Astronautics is named in his honor.
1985-1986 – Survey of black alumni by John Wilson (assistant provost for outreach and director of foundation relations and school development services in mid-1990s); co-author with David Wiley of report on black students at MIT 1969-1985
1986 – Publication of The Racial Climate on the MIT Campus: A report of the Minority Student Issues Group>, spearheaded by Shirley McBay (former dean for student affairs, first black person to sit on MIT Academic Council). Report receives national attention.
1989 – Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity apologizes for party poster depicting one of their African-American brothers in a degrading pose.
1991 – First MLK Visiting Scholar (Prof. Henry McBay) appointed.
1992 – Prof. Phillip Clay becomes head of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, the first black academic department head at MIT. (Source: Institute Archives and Special Collections, MIT Libraries, Cambridge Massachusetts)
1993 – Phi Beta Epsilon fraternity denies racial epithets were shouted from a window to four black students walking past the house. About 20 students demonstrate in protest outside PBE and in Lobby 7.
1994 – Phillip Clay becomes Associate Provost, the first black Associate Provost at MIT. (Source: Institute Archives and Special Collections, MIT Libraries, Cambridge Massachusetts)
1994 – Committee on Campus Race Relations appointed by President Charles Vest “to catalyze activities, develop and distribute information on programs and resources, and administer a modest grants program to support projects proposed by members of the MIT community – with the goal of enhancing multicultural understanding and collegial race relations on campus.”
1995 – MLK Visiting Scholar program expanded into MLK Visiting Professors program. Inaugural professors are Profs. Wesley Harris, Richard Joseph, Steven Lee, and Oliver McGee.
1995 – PBE and BSU (Black Student Union) reach a resolution to their long-running controversy. The Committee on Discipline eventually concludes that racial epithets were >shouted but that there was not sufficient evidence to implicate the students charged. (See
The Tech 02/07/95, >http://tech.mit.edu/V114/N68/conflicts.00n.html>)
Fall 1995 – Beginning of Blacks at MIT History Project by Clarence Williams to “[explore] the black experience, assess our role, and leave a legacy so that future generations may relate to our hopes and disappointments here, to our struggles and achievements.”
1997 – Black Women’s Alliance established (Source: The Tech 02/11/03)
Jan 1999 –MLK Design Seminar (Course 17.920) begins, led by Tobie Weiner. Participants design installations and engage in community projects to celebrate and honor the legacy of Dr. King. See http://web.mit.edu/spotlight/mlk-design-seminar/
Fall 2000 – Appointment of Institute-wide Council on Faculty Diversity, “charged with formulating plans for the recruitment and advancement of women and minority faculty throughout the Institute.” Co-chairs: Prof. Nancy Hopkins, Provost Robert Brown & Chancellor Phillip Clay.
2000 – Human Resources Diversity Initiative Process instituted (Source: Reports to President 2000-2001) >http://web.mit.edu/annualreports/pres01/21.00.html
2001 – Racially charged language sparks a physical altercation between members of the band The Roots and brothers at the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. (Source The Tech 05/01/01) >http://tech.mit.edu/V121/N22/22ATO.22n.html
Jul 2001 – Phillip Clay appointed Chancellor (first black Chancellor of MIT). Responsible for continuing the enhancement and integration of education, student life, and campus community. (See >http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2001/clay-0606.html>)
Fall 2001 – Report of the Task Force on Staff Diversity (mentioned in Reports to the President 2000-2001)
Feb 2003 – MIT to open admissions to Interphase and MITES to non-minority applicants following lawsuit filed against MIT with US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (Source: The Tech 02/11/03) http://tech.mit.edu/V123/N3/3mites_inter.3n.html
Feb 2007 – Prof. James Sherley, of the Biological Engineering, initiates twelve-day hunger strike on campus to protest the department’s decision not to promote him to tenure. Leaves MIT June 30, 2007. (Source, The Tech 02/06/07) >http://tech.mit.edu/V127/N1/1sherley.html
Feb 2007 – Initiative on Faculty Race and Diversity established to conduct “research designed to provide key information needed for developing recommendations and implementationplans to address recruitment and retention of Under-Represented Minority faculty” (Report to the Corporation, 2008) | <urn:uuid:98085861-9e49-4dce-ba4c-67b99713bd04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blackhistory.mit.edu/timeline/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904664 |
Conditions of Use
What to do?
Choice Art offers a new opportunity for students to explore materials and techniques as they so choose. The difficuly for some students is simply figuring out what to do! Here are some suggestions to get your creative juices flowing. Look around you at colors, textures, patterns and lines. You need to do research...VISUAL RESEARCH! What looks cool to you? What intrigues you? Dig though books and magazines and snip out things that catch your eye. Make a page in your sketchbook without giving it much thought - fill that page with your collection of eyecatching bits and pieces. Now, look at the page and see where it takes you. Start doodling...fill a page with doodles. Can you put the two things together? Take some 3D bits and manipulate them into different forms. How could you add those forms to your collection of eyecatching bits and your page of doodles? Add a poem. Add words. Tear something. Fold, paint, rework.
Remember to look at the links on the left side of this page. There are sites with lesson plans that include instructional videos to guide you into new arenas. Look at the Blick site under lesson plans (they aren't just for teachers)! Lots of those lesson plans have videos. Look at a few of them and figure out how you can personaliza that project and make it your own.
Challenge yourself and get put of your comfort zone. Stop doing things that you know how to do! Take artistic risks! Fail once in awhile...there really is no failure in ART - you are learning all the time.
Article posted February 11, 2012 at 08:35 AM •
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Field Test of a Computer-Based GRE General Test
- Schaeffer, Gary A.; Reese, Clyde M.; Steffen, Manfred; McKinley, Robert L.; Mills, Craig N.
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- Adaptive testing computer assisted testing field tests
This report contains results of a field test conducted to determine the relationship between a GRE linear computer-based test (CBT) and a paper-and-pencil test (P&P) with the same items. Recent GRE examinees participated in the field test by taking either a CBT or a P&P test. Data from the field test indicated that examinees were able to navigate through the CBT with very little difficulty, and that their overall reaction to the CBT was favorable. No substantive item-level mode effects were detected. No test-level mode effects were found for the verbal and analytical measures, but a small test-level effect was found for the quantitative measure. The raw-to-scale equating conversions of the CBT nearly matched those of the P&P version of the CBT for each measure, and therefore P&P conversions were used to report CBT scores. | <urn:uuid:75c4dce0-3511-438a-bdfc-6859c1118a70> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ets.org/research/policy_research_reports/rr-93-07 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946223 |
1. The first frozen dessert is credited to Emperor Nero of Rome. It was a mixture of snow, nectar, fruit pulp and honey.
2. The ice cream cone's invention is said to have begun at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. An ice cream vendor there reportedly didn't have enough dishes to keep up with demand, so he teamed up with a waffle vendor who rolled his product into "cornucopias." Thus, the first ice cream cone!
3. In 1843, New England housewife Nancy Johnson invented the hand-cranked ice cream churn.
4. The United States consumes more ice cream than any other country with New Zealand and Denmark coming insecond and third.
5. Each American consumes a yearly average of 23.2 quarts of ice cream, ice milk, sherbet, ices and other commercially produced frozen dairy products.
6. Vanilla seems to be the most popular flavor, with chocolate coming in second, butter becan coming in third and strawberry coming in fourth.
7. More ice cream is sold on Sunday than any other day of the week.
8. 98% of American households purchase ice cream.
9. Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweetners.
10. Before the development of the modern refrigerator, ice cream was a luxury reserved for special occasions. | <urn:uuid:d516e861-7190-4fd4-b190-1e5b1d93f185> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kidskonnect.com/subjectindex/24-categories/fun-and-informational/229-ice-cream.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960094 |
Better Search Engine Design: Beyond Algorithmsby Peter Van Dijck
A useful search engine is more than a search algorithm. This article explains how to create a search query analysis tool, a best bets feature, and a basic controlled vocabulary. We'll use MySQL for the examples.
Search Query Analysis
A search query analysis tool should come standard with every search engine, but it often doesn't. Server log analysis tools like Webalizer provide a list of the most popular search queries from third-party search engines — not what we're interested in. We want to know what people are searching for when they are on your site. Luckily, it is easy to bolt a search query analysis tool onto an existing search engine: just log the queries in a database before you send them to the search engine.
In a basic MySQL table for logging search queries we include the query, the time of the query, the referring page, and the number of results.
CREATE TABLE 'search_log' ('id' int(16) NOT NULL auto_increment, 'time' datetime default NULL, 'q' varchar(255) default NULL, 'results' int(11) default NULL, 'referrer' varchar(255) ) TYPE=MyISAM
The table is populated by a simple
INSERT statement when a user enters a
query. Then we forward the query to the search engine.
INSERT INTO search_log (time, q, referer, results) VALUES ('*generate date stamp*', '*query terms*', '*URL of referring page*', '*number of results*' )
If possible, and this depends on how hackable your search engine is, the results field is updated with the amount of results the search engine returned. By default, MySQL tables have a maximum size of about 4GB. This allows you to log quite a few queries, but for popular sites, you probably want to optimize this table structure. You may also want to log session information, such as the user's IP address or a session cookie.
Most search engines massage incoming queries a bit -- you probably want to copy some of that behavior before logging the queries. Typical massaging includes removing whitespace, removing stop words (common words like "the" or "and"), removing words that are used twice, and removing inappropriate punctuation.
The main administration screen displays the top search queries for a specified period and the number of times it was entered. Filtering by number of results returned (less than x or more than y) is useful to identify dead-end searches that return 0 or 100,00,000 results.
SELECT q AS Search, count(*) AS NumSearches FROM search_log WHERE time < '*timestamp*' AND time > '*timestamp*' GROUP BY q ORDER BY NumSearches DESC
If you want to get funky, try adding the following features:
- See which pages generate the most searches. It can mean people get lost there.
- Drill down on a query to view individual requests, including referring pages and time.
- The ability to group queries like "mysql", "my sql" and "MySQL" together for statistics (a fancy word for this is "word variant conflation"), and the ability to exclude certain queries from the reports. See our section on controlled vocabularies below.
- Statistics on how many searches consist of one word (single term) and how many consist of multiple words (multi-term).
- Identifying word bursts: the top 10 gaining and declining queries, as in the Google Zeitgeist.
A search query analysis tool can be extremely useful, but many people would argue that a best bets feature, which lets administrators manually add preferred search results for certain search queries, is even more important. The most common objection to using a best bets feature is that it won't scale. On most sites, people will use tens of thousands of different queries. How can you make a significant difference by manually selecting best results for some of them?
It turns out that search query usage consistently follows a Zipf distribution. This means that if you have 50,000 unique search queries in your logs, a small number of them (perhaps 700) will be responsible for a large amount (maybe 45%) of your searches. Manually selecting best bets for those 700 search queries suddenly looks pretty attractive.
A basic database structure for best bets consists of a query table, a page table, and a table that links them together. The priority field in the last table is used to order the result set.
CREATE TABLE 'search_pages' ('id' int(8) NOT NULL auto_increment, 'title' varchar(100) default NULL, 'url' varchar(255) NOT NULL default '', 'desc' tinytext, PRIMARY KEY ('page_id') ) TYPE=MyISAM CREATE TABLE 'search_terms' ('id' int(16) NOT NULL auto_increment, 'term' varchar(50) NOT NULL default '', PRIMARY KEY ('term_id') ) TYPE=MyISAM CREATE TABLE 'search_term_page_link' ('page_id' int(8) NOT NULL default '0', 'term_id' int(16) NOT NULL default '0', 'priority' int(5) default '1' ) TYPE=MyISAM
The admin interface is straightforward: after identifying common search queries, the administrator can relate one or more pages to each query.
You can add features to best bets as well, most notably the direct link. A direct link is a best bet that is so sure of itself it takes the user directly to the result page. This can be useful for things like product codes: enter the product code to be taken to the product page.
Call centers and customer support people tend to love this stuff: they can now direct a user to a specific page directly instead of having to guide them through the navigation. You can take this a step further by assigning every page on a web site a code and displaying that code on the web page itself, perhaps in the footer. If the code is entered in the search engine, it will take the user directly to this page.
Whether there is a need to visually distinguish the best bets results from your other search results is controversial: most sites do it, but I think this is like displaying a page counter -- there is no specific benefit to the user, unless you have particularly sophisticated search users (as on a research site, for example). Don't distinguish best bets from other search results -- just place them first. Do remember to remove duplicate results from the two lists.
If you want to get a feeling for just how deep the rabbit hole of effective search engine design goes, try the next step: adding a controlled vocabulary. When a user types in "rabbit", he may also want results that don't contain the word "rabbit", but do contain the word "bunny" -- language is fuzzy like that. A controlled vocabulary lets you specify those relationships. Manually developing a controlled vocabulary makes a lot of sense, especially if your web site is about a specific topic with its own specific terminology.
A basic controlled vocabulary consists of two elements: a list of the terms, and an equivalence relationship. The equivalence relationship doesn't mean we can only use synonyms; it means that the terms are equivalent for our search purposes. In the database, it looks like this:
CREATE TABLE 'search_terms' ('id' int(16) NOT NULL auto_increment, 'term' varchar(50) NOT NULL default '', PRIMARY KEY ('term_id') ) TYPE=MyISAM CREATE TABLE 'search_relationships' ('term1' int(11) default NULL, 'term2' int(11) default NULL ) TYPE=MyISAM
The first table contains all of our terms. The second table contains the bidirectional equivalence relationship, so you should build in a mechanism to avoid duplicate entries.
When a user enters a search query ("rabbit"), you first look at the controlled vocabulary and select all of the related terms ("bunny"). Then you replace the users' search query with a new one that groups all the related terms together ("rabbit OR bunny"), and send that to the search engine. This is called search query expansion; it's simple but efficient.
Used like this, a controlled vocabulary expands the result set. You get more results for your query, so it is best used with specialized queries that don't fetch a lot of results. The administrator should know this -- an interface that displays the amount of search results before and after adding the equivalence relationship will help her decide exactly which queries to expand.
The basic controlled vocabulary we just created is called a synonym ring. There are more complex types of controlled vocabularies, going all the way from preferred terms over thesauri to complete ontologies.
- Beau Lebens, who generously provided the database structure in this article, is implementing a system very similar to what we described today (if somewhat more advanced) at Dentedreality.
- "A day in the life of BBCi search"
- Beyond the spider: the accidental thesaurus (PDF file)
If you really want to get down with search engine development through controlled vocabularies and such, read the bear book: Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, 2nd Edition.
Peter Van Dijck is a Belgian information architect, specialising in metadata in its various flavours, forms and shapes, and in cultural and language issues on the web.
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Jeff, my UM School of Education co-lecturer, sent me a link to a TEDxNYED video by California high school math teacher Dan Meyer, which focuses on “patient problem-solving.”
I was blown away for many reasons.
First, he quotes a director, David Milch, who says he only does period work — not sitcoms — because he feels that sitcoms wrap everything up too neatly and simplistically, and he thinks that impacts the brain. He quotes:
“Impatience with irresolution.” Isn’t that mind-bending? Isn’t that exactly what we report seeing in students as they speed their way through Wikipedia-based research? Isn’t that sometimes what we identify in our colleagues and in one another when we have reticence in committing to a process rather than a product?
Next, he talks about how textbooks are taking away much of the student engagement in the process. Over-scaffolding has taken away student curiosity and interest, so he rewrites the questions to take away some of the prompts so that students linger in the problem space for longer. My co-author and I had similar thoughts when we wrote our science notebooking book: that one thing science notebooking does so well is keep kids in the problem space for longer.
This book was really hard to write, but I learned so much about how to ally our school libraries with rigorous inquiry work in non-humanities subjects.
But back to Dan Meyer … or, rather, to Einstein …
Aha! Again, the clear connection to the difficulty we have moving from “researching to find” to “researching to learn.” It’s again why we need to stay in what Meyer might call the problem-creating phase or what we might call the questioning or wondering phase. Figuring out what the issue is based on what we know or are learning? That’s much more important than plugging in answers.
Are we too focused on answers?
Next, what struck me was that we librarians often get in a rather myopic zone and think that we’re the only ones in the building doing this kind of cognitive heavy lifting. But wow – imagine sitting in the lounge with this guy at lunch and what you’d learn. (Well, you probably wouldn’t be sitting … or in the lounge. You’d probably be designing some kind of lesson. Watch the video and you’ll see what I)
And finally, I realize that I haven’t really thought much about math instruction lately. I watched a great, free Deborah Ball Webinar a few months ago (highly recommended), but other than that, it’s been a pretty math-free world for me lately. Which probably means I could have been doing more to support math in my building. | <urn:uuid:023e1509-cc81-4156-ad48-7eeffada8bf2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.schoollibrarymedia.com/index.php/2010/06/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964169 |
Like the parents of most fifth graders, I've been visiting potential middle schools recently with a big list of questions. Near the top of the list is one that until recently would never have crossed my mind: How does each school deal with cyber bullying?
Reports of cyber bullying around the nation that has led to painful or even tragic outcomes — including suicide — have received widespread media accounts in the past year or so, striking real terror into the hearts of any parents with a pulse. A national conference that ends today (Nov. 17) has been devoted to that topic.
The conference aims to help educators parse problems like mean Facebook postings, texts that spread rumors, or Web pages promoting lies. It's sponsored by the Committee for Children, a Seattle-based nonprofit that provides violence- and bullying-prevention programs to schools worldwide. Microsoft, the Cartoon Network, and Hazelden are also sponsoring the conference, entitled, "The Challenge and Promise of the Cyberworld: Bullying Prevention in the Age of the Internet." The conference features experts on topics that include online risks for youth, how to promote positive behavior in cyber space, and the latest research in bullying prevention.
Fellow parents I talk to who grew up without constant texting or Facebook postings — and that's most folks with a kid in elementary school on — feel ill-prepared to cope with these problems. Do you call the principal? What do you do when the cyber bully is anonymous? What happens if the text or posting happened after school?
We're not alone in our confusion, according to Mia Doces, a program developer who wrote the cyber-bullying curriculum for the Committee for Children as a companion to the organization's Steps to Respect, an anti-bullying program used in thousands of schools in the state and around the country. According to Doces, like parents, teachers and school administrators also feel like they don't always know the best path to prevent or react to cyberspace problems.
Teachers "are realizing it's something they can't necessarily (easily) detect at school," she says. "We're providing ways for teachers to reach out to families, to suggest ways for families to supervise online activities and cell phones."
Make no mistake, local schools are in the thick of it, Doces said: last January, 28 students at Seattle's McClure Middle School were suspended for periods ranging from two to eight days for cyber bullying. The students had participated in a Facebook page that targeted another student, although district officials said at the time no threats were made.
On an individual level, one Seattle father says cyber bullying has humiliated and hurt his child. Robert, who asked that his 11-year-old daughter’s real name not be used — we'll call her Emma — said it began recently when Emma e-mailed a picture of her bedroom to another friend. Emma's reflected face was captured in the mirror of her connecting bathroom in the picture.
"Her friend then, for some unknown reason, forwarded the picture to a boy in school who then forwarded the picture and started rumors that it was a picture of Emma naked or sitting on the toilet," Robert said. "This embarrassed Emma… It all started out pretty innocently and escalated from there. Emma had no expectation that the picture would be misinterpreted or that it would even be seen by anyone else. The boy used Emma's simple photo to stir things up and cause emotional distress to a fellow student. I suspect that is how much of this stuff starts.”
He said they had talked to school officials but hadn't heard what disciplinary actions may be taken.
Doces said the curriculum on cyber-bullying tries try to help kids anticipate what might happen in cyberspace, no matter how innocent their post or picture might be.
"We really encourage kids think ahead," she said. "It"s about TMI, too much information. It's about what to do if someone asks for a picture of yourself… You don't know what they're going to do with it."
Like what you just read? Support high quality local journalism. Become a member of Crosscut today! | <urn:uuid:8f218fbd-f109-4147-be6e-cd57b52f61ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://crosscut.com/2010/11/17/k-12/20371/Cyberbullying-challenges-schools-families/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975542 |
Many Areas of Research
Scientists are constantly searching for new ways to detect skin cancer, assess risk, and predict patient outcomes. They are interested in finding new treatments and new ways to deliver drugs and radiation.
As scientists get a better understanding of what causes skin cancer and what genetic and environmental factors play a role, they should be able to design new drugs to hinder the development of cancer.
Clinical trials are designed to answer important questions and to find out whether new approaches are safe and effective. Research has already led to advances, such as photodynamic therapy, and researchers continue to search for better ways to prevent and treat skin cancer.
Researching Techniques to Deliver Drugs
One area that scientists are working on is development of techniques for delivering chemotherapy drugs directly to the area around the tumor, rather than sending the chemotherapy through the entire body. One of these techniques is called hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion.
Hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion sends a warm solution containing anti-cancer drugs directly to the arm or leg in which the cancer is located. A tourniquet is used to temporarily cut off the blood flow while the chemotherapy drugs are injected directly into the limb. This allows the patient to receive a high dose of drugs only in the area where the cancer occurred.
For basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, researchers are studying gene changes that may be risk factors for the disease. They also are comparing combinations of biological therapy and surgery to treat basal cell cancer.
Discovering links between inherited genes, environmental factors, and skin cancer is another area of research that might provide scientists with insight they can use to screen people to determine their risk for the disease. Recently, scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) found one genetic link that dramatically increases the chance of developing melanoma.
Research on Melanoma Treatments
Other studies are currently exploring new treatment options for melanoma. One recent study discovered a protein that may help block the development and spread of melanoma. This discovery could lead to a new treatment for melanoma patients in the future. Several other studies are examining the potential for using vaccines to treat melanoma.
Traditional vaccines are designed to prevent diseases in healthy people by teaching the body to recognize and attack a virus or bacteria it may encounter in the future. Cancer vaccines, however, are given to people who already have cancer. These vaccines stimulate the immune system to fight against cancer by stopping its growth, shrinking a tumor, or killing the cancer cells that were not killed by other forms of treatment.
An Advance in Treating Melanoma
In June of 2011, an important advance in treating melanoma was announced at an annual cancer meeting. A drug called ipilimumab was approved for treating the disease, and it works differently than traditional chemotherapy. It uses immunotherapy to help the immune system recognize and reject cancer cells. When it’s successful, immunotherapy can lead to complete reversal of even advanced disease. Some patients with stage IV metastatic disease who were treated in early immunotherapy trials after other therapies were unsuccessful are still in complete remission more than 20 years later.
Developing a vaccine against a tumor such as melanoma is more complicated than developing a vaccine to fight a virus. Clinical trials are in progress at the National Cancer Institute and other institutions to test the effectiveness of treating stage III or stage IV melanoma patients with vaccines. | <urn:uuid:bfbe2d60-745d-4a1f-9094-6a1c53cea43c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nihseniorhealth.gov/skincancer/latestskincancerresearch/01.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952911 |
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after it was defiled by the Syrian Greeks in the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah almost always comes in December, when the days are shortest and the nights are darkest and when Jews need something to compete with Christmas.
Hanukkah celebrates liberation from oppression, and reminds us of the importance of freedom of religion. It also teaches us to fight back when people’s rights are taken away.
In 167 BCE King Antiochus IV had control over Israel and turned the Temple in Jerusalem into a pagan shrine. The Jews began to revolt three years later, led by Judah the Maccabee. Eventually Judah and his followers were able to recapture the Temple. Later, a rabbinic tradition held that when the Maccabees were rededicating the Temple they found only a small vessel of pure oil with which to light the golden Menorah. That amount of oil should only have lasted for one day but it miraculously burned for eight days, which is why Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days.
Lighting the hanukkiah (also called a menorah), an eight-branched candelabrum, is a big part of celebrating the holiday. On the first night you light one candle, plus the shamash, the candle used to light the others. Every night you add one more candle, until on the last night all eight candles are lit.
In commemoration of the miracle of the oil that lasted eight days you eat lots of fried foods, like latkes (potato pancakes) and jelly doughnuts. Children play dreidel, a game of luck that involves spinning a top. Many families have the custom of giving gifts at some point during the holiday and others choose to give a gift each night.
If you're looking for an excuse to have a party, Hanukkah is a great time to do it. There's nothing like inviting over a bunch of toddlers, frying up some potatoes and donuts, and singing the latest Hanukkah hits. | <urn:uuid:367903ae-dbce-4b91-bf4c-74842f72f5e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kveller.com/traditions/Holidays/Hanukkah_2.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962694 |
Thyroid Cancer (cont.)
In this Article
Sources of support
Learning that you have thyroid cancer can change your life and the lives of those close to you. These changes can be hard to handle. It's normal for you, your family, and your friends to need help coping with the feelings that a diagnosis of cancer can bring.
Concerns about treatments and managing side effects, hospital stays, and medical bills are common. You may also worry about caring for your family, keeping your job, or continuing daily activities.
Here's where you can go for support:
For tips on coping, you may want to read the NCI booklet Taking Time: Support for People With Cancer.
Taking part in cancer research
Doctors all over the world are conducting many types of clinical trials (research studies in which people volunteer to take part). Research has already led to advances in the treatment of thyroid cancer.
Doctors continue to search for new and better ways to treat thyroid cancer. They are testing new treatments, especially chemotherapy.
Clinical trials are designed to find out whether new treatments are safe and effective. Even if the people in a trial don't benefit directly, they may still make an important contribution by helping doctors learn more about thyroid cancer and how to control it. Although clinical trials may pose some risks, researchers do all they can to protect their patients.
If you're interested in being part of a clinical trial, talk with your doctor. You may want to read the NCI booklet Taking Part in Cancer Treatment Research Studies. It describes how treatment studies are carried out and explains their possible benefits and risks.
NCI's website includes a section on clinical trials at http://www.cancer.gov/clinicaltrials. It has general information about clinical trials as well as detailed information about specific ongoing studies of thyroid cancer.
NCI's Cancer Information Service can answer your questions and provide information about clinical trials. Contact CIS at 1–800–4–CANCER (1–800–422–6237) or at LiveHelp (https://livehelp.cancer.gov).
Another agency of the Federal Government, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), sponsors research studies for people with thyroid cancer and other thyroid diseases. NIDDK's website is at http://www.niddk.nih.gov.
You can find NCI and NIDDK studies described at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. This website provides the latest information about federally and privately supported clinical trials.
Reviewed on 5/7/2012
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Since its inception, NHI has represented environmental interests in multiple forums to protect and restore the living elements of the San Francisco Bay Delta water system. The delta formed by the confluence of the two great river systems of California’s Central Valley – the Sacramento and the San Joaquin – is one of the defining environmental assets of the San Francisco Bay Area and of the nation. Through this labyrinth of diked channels pass all of the salmon runs that spawn in the headwaters as well as a considerable assemblage of native fishes and invertebrates.
The delta is also the hub of the world’s largest water delivery system. Water from the eleven regulated tributaries of the Central Valley flows into the delta and back out through the world's largest water export pumps, capable of diverting 15,000 cubic feet per second, which is equivalent to the flow of a large river. These pumps are connected via canals to 16 million urban water users in Southern California and to a $14 billion per-year irrigated agriculture industry in the Central Valley, the most productive farmland in the world.
However, these massive alterations have scrambled the hydrodynamics in the delta. The system has also been tragically compromised over the past century and a half by progressive land transformations. Altogether, over ninety-five percent of its tidal wetlands have been diked, filled, and converted into farmland.
NHI has worked on many fronts to sustain the delta as a living system, including:
- Acted as a leading environmental advocate through eight years of administrative trials leading to the current water quality control plan that limits water exports from the delta to protect its fish and wildlife;
- Successfully petitioned for listing of endangered fish species under the Endangered Species Act;
- Negotiated the “delta accords” that produced the CalFed Bay Delta Program;
- Staffed and infused the CalFed program with some of its core concepts including the Environmental Water Account, conjunctive management of surface and groundwater, and restoration as a way to reduce seismic risk, through the promulgation of the Environmentally Optimal Alternative: A Response to the CalFed Bay Delta Program;
- Negotiated the Vernalis Adaptive Management Program, a water quality compliance alternative for that part of the system, with the San Joaquin water districts, the U.S, Bureau of Reclamation, and other federal and state agencies; and
- As a member of the BDCP Steering Committee, NHI is actively negotiating a Habitat Conservation Plan and Natural Communities Conservation Plan for the Bay Delta with water exporters and the fish and wildlife agencies. | <urn:uuid:dd16574c-f074-40f5-bc1f-62a5a311b8e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.n-h-i.org/index.php?id=88 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93934 |
MTI Micro Fuel Cells' new Mobion technology solves a key hurdle in the manufacturing of fuel cells for notebook PCs and handheld devices, according to its creators.
"[COLOR=#1951B9]Fuel cells produce power when a mixture of methanol and water enters the cell and reacts with oxygen to produce energy, carbon dioxide, and more water. Much of the early work in fuel-cell technology has used a series of pumps and valves to return the excess water produced in the reaction back to the methanol reservoir, where the two liquids mix and are returned to the fuel cell.[/COLOR]"
MTI claims the Mobion fuel cells will extend a device's operating life by 2.5 times as many hours as provided by a standard lithium ion battery. | <urn:uuid:cc32e83d-2818-4669-ba6b-2db5e0a833df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techspot.com/news/13745-new-power-sources-for-notebooks-and-pdas.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938535 |
Folk-lore of the Holy Land, Moslem, Christian and Jewish, by J. E. Hanauer , at sacred-texts.com
IN the early part of the eighteenth century the learned Rabbinnical writer Kolonimos was head of the small, and greatly oppressed Jewish community at Jerusalem.
One Sabbath day, the Rabbi was at his devotions at the Jews’ Wailing-place, when the "Shamash" or verger of the Synagogue came, breathless with haste and fear, to tell him that the town was in an uproar, and that the Mohammedans were threatening to exterminate the Jews, because a Moslem boy had been found slain in the Jewish Quarter. He had not finished his tale when a party of Moslems came up and began to beat the Rabbi, dragging him off towards the serai. The Pasha, at sight of him, pointed to the body of the murdered lad, which had also been brought before him, and sternly told the Rabbi that
unless he could produce the actual murderer, all the Jews would be massacred.
The Rabbi said he could detect the guilty party, if pen and paper, together with a bowl of water were given to him. When this had been done, the Rabbi wrote on the paper the tetra-grammaton, or unpronounceable name of the Most High, together with certain passages from Scripture, and from Kabbalistic writings. He then washed the document in the water, 1 repeating certain magic formulæ all the time. The next thing he did was to apply the wet paper to the dead lad's lips and forehead, the result being that the murdered boy immediately sat up, and, after gazing about him for a moment, sprang to his feet, seized one of the by-standers by the throat, and exclaimed, "This man, and no other, is guilty of my blood." Then he sank to the floor, a corpse as before. The man, thus charged with the crime, a Mohammedan, confessed and was led away to punishment.
The Rabbi was at once released; but remembering how by writing and using magical arts he had not only profaned the Sabbath but also been guilty of a heinous sin, even though compelled thereto for the preservation of his flock, he spent the rest of his days doing penance. Nor was that enough. On his death-bed, he gave orders that he should not be buried honourably, but that his friends should take his body to the brow of the hill over-looking the Kedron, just opposite the traditional monument of Zechariah the prophet, and throw it down in the same
way that the carcases of horses and asses are to this day cast down the same slope. Where it stopped rolling, there it might be buried; but no monument must be erected over the grave, and, for a century after his death, every Jew passing the spot must cast a stone on it, as was the custom in the case of malefactors. His friends carried out his instructions till the body was buried, but could not bear to leave his grave without some memorial. They therefore placed a great stone upon it, but the very next morning it was found broken and the same thing happened every time it was replaced. They saw that he would not be disobeyed. It thus became customary, as Kolonimos had desired that it should, for Jewish passers-by to cast a stone upon his grave; and also to repeat prayers there.
A few years ago an acquaintance of my own happened to be at the house of one of the principal Rabbis in Jerusalem, when a Mohammedan of very good repute came to ask the Rabbi for advice and help. He told how a certain Jew, whom he named, had come to his place of business an hour or so previously, when he was alone, for a few minutes. Soon afterwards he had missed a valuable ring that was lying on the desk in front of him when the Jew entered. No one had been in since. He could produce neither proof nor witness against the Jew in question, but felt sure he had taken the ring. Having questioned the Moslem straitly, the Rabbi saw that he spoke truth, and bade him wait while he sent for the culprit. The Jew came without knowing why he had been sent for. Before he had time to utter a
word of salutation, the Rabbi addressed him in Hebrew, in tones of excited pleading, "I beg you, for the sake of all that is Holy, to deny that you know anything about the ring which this Gentile accuses you of having stolen!" "That," said the rascal, quite thrown off his guard, "that is exactly what I meant to do." "Very well," said the Rabbi sternly, "as you have virtually confessed before all these witnesses that you have the ring, hand it over to its owner immediately, and be thankful if he takes no steps to have you punished." The thief gave back the ring, and went unpunished.
During the Egyptian occupation of Palestine between 1831 and 1840, Ibrahìm Pasha, governor of the country, happened to be at Jaffa, when a certain goldsmith came to him, complaining his shop had been burgled in the night, and demanding justice in a high tone . "While we were under the shadow of the Sultan," he said, "I never lost a thing. But now, with you Egyptians who talk so much about good government, in the first month I lose half my substance. It is a shame to you and a great loss to me; and I think that you owe me compensation, for your own honour."
"Very well, I take the responsibility," said Ibrahìm in some amusement. He then sent a crier through the streets calling upon all who loved strange sights to be at the goldsmith's shop at a certain hour next day, with the result that when that hour arrived, the street in front of the shop was packed with people. Then Ibrahìm appeared, attended by
his officers and the public executioner. He first harangued the people on the virtue of trustworthiness, saying that the Egyptian Government was determined to administer the strictest justice, and to punish, without partiality, the slightest breach of trust, even though committed by a senseless and inanimate object. Then, turning to the door of the shop: "Even this door," he said, "shall be punished for failing in its duty, which is to keep out thieves, unless it tell me who it was that passed it the night before last, and stole things out of the shop." The door giving no answer, he bade the executioner, administer one hundred lashes with his kurbâj. 1
When the punishment was ended, he again exhorted the door to speak, saying that, if it feared to utter the name aloud, it could whisper in his ear. He gave his ear to the door, as one listening, then sprang erect and laughed in scorn: "This door talks nonsense. Executioner, another hundred lashes!"
After this second beating, he listened again to hear what the door had to say, while the people murmured and shrugged shoulders one to another, thinking him mad.
"The same stupid tale!" he cried despairingly. "It will persist in telling me that the thief is present in this crowd of honest people, and still has some dust and cobwebs from the shop on his tarbûsh." At that a man was noticed hurriedly to brush his fez, and the Pasha, on the watch for some such action, had him arrested. He proved to be the guilty party, and was punished.
Another story of the kind is told of Ibrahìm Pasha. They say that, while in Jerusalem, he encouraged the fellahìn of the country to bring their produce to t city, assuring them that his soldiers would e punished if they hurt them or took anything fr m them without payment. One day, a woman from Silwân, with a basket of jars filled with leben, 1 came and complained of a soldier having seized one of her jars and drunk off the contents without so much as "By your leave." Ibrahìm asked her when this had happened, and if she thought she could identify the soldier. She replied that it had happened just this minute, and she would know the man again among ten thousand.
"We shall see," said Ibrahìm, and called his trumpeter. Soon every soldier in the city was on parade before the castle; and the Pasha led the woman down the ranks, asking her to pick out the offender. She pointed to a certain man and stopped before him. Ibrahìm asked if she was sure it was the culprit, and she swore by Allah she was not mistaken. Three times he put the question, and she replied that she was quite sure. Then he drew his sword, and, with a deft stroke, cut the soldier open, releasing the leben, still undigested. "It is lucky for you, you were right," he remarked to the woman, "or your fate would have been far worse than this soldier's."
100:1 For a somewhat similar ceremony in the Mosaic ritual see Numb v. 23.
103:1 A whip of hippopotamus-hide.
104:1 Curds, or else buttermilk. | <urn:uuid:e3c64235-7b55-40fe-8857-67a1d1c4182d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sacred-texts.com/asia/flhl/flhl19.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988129 |
In stark contrast to the horrendous Sandy Hook Elementary school shootings, the Justice Department reports that the United States' overall rate of serious violent crimes committed against young people ages 12 to 17 declined by 77% from 1994 to 2010.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics' (BJS) report, Violent Crime Against Youth, 1994-2010, the rate of "serious violent crimes" committed against young people fell from 61.9 crimes per 1000 young people in 1994 to 14.0 crimes per 1000 in 2010.
The Department of Justice classifies serious violent crimes as rape and other sexual assaults, robbery and aggravated assault. Murder is not included in reports based on the BJS' National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), because victims cannot be questioned.
The rate of rape and sexual assault against young people dropped by 68% from 1994 to 2010, while robbery declined 77% and aggravated assault by 80%. Overall, most of the drop in the rate serious violent crimes against young people took place from 1994 to 2002, falling by 69%, compared to a 27% decrease from 2002 to 2010.
The rate of simple assaults - those not resulting in injury or involving weapons - against young people declined by 83% during the reporting period.
There was no significant difference in the rate of violent crimes committed against male and female young people, but the rate of crimes against black youth (25.4 per 1000) was more than twice the rate of white (11.7 per 1000) and Hispanic youth (11.3 per 1000).
"Although male youth victimization rates were nearly twice as large as female rates in 1994, male and female youth were equally likely to experience serious violent crime in 2010," stated the report.
In 2010, the rate of violent crimes against young people occurring between the hours of 6 am to 3 pm - the school hours - was statistically the same as the rate for crimes occurring from 6 pm to 9 pm.
From 1994 to 2010, violent crime against youth involving serious injuries, such as broken bones, concussions, gun shot or stab wounds, decreased 63 percent. Violent crime against youth resulting in minor injuries, such as bruises and scrapes, declined 81 percent over the same period. | <urn:uuid:065341dc-f9d9-4a95-a7f9-d84109054514> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usgovinfo.about.com/b/2012/12/28/violent-crime-against-youth-fell-77-from-1994-to-2010.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970802 |
filibusterArticle Free Pass
filibuster, in legislative practice, the parliamentary tactic used in the United States Senate by a minority of the senators—sometimes even a single senator—to delay or prevent parliamentary action by talking so long that the majority either grants concessions or withdraws the bill.
Unlike the House of Representatives, in which rules limit speaking time, the Senate allows unlimited debate on a bill. Speeches can be completely irrelevant to the issue.
The word is derived from the Spanish filibustero (“freebooting”) and originally described piratical 16th-century privateers; it came into English usage to designate any irregular military adventurer, such as the Americans who took part in Latin-American insurrections in the 1850s. Filibuster was in use in the political sense by the mid-1800s. In 1957 Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina talked for more than 24 hours, the longest individual filibuster on record, as part of an unsuccessful attempt by Southern senators to obstruct civil-rights legislation.
Invoking cloture on debate (i.e., limiting or ending a debate by calling for a vote) and holding round-the-clock sessions to tire the minority are measures used to defeat a filibuster.
What made you want to look up "filibuster"? Please share what surprised you most... | <urn:uuid:a4f2cc18-4541-4e6d-8592-e4668097a5fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/206845/filibuster | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944921 |
The mirror display is an interactive mirror that enables the user to view and interact with widgets. These widgets include traffic, news, calendar, and weather. All pull data from the internet in real time to display content to the user. The input to the mirror are gesture swipes that are captured by IR reflectors. This project was done as a ECE 4180 project at Georgia Tech using the Ebox 3300 and phidgets sensors. The source and materials list are available for reproduction by others.
The premise behind the project was to build something that could be useful in everday life. We decided topresent the user with information that could prove useful for the day ahead while carrying on with Morning routine. The idea of the mirror came while watching corningware's video on the future of glass. The use of the E-box was required by the design requirments of the class so windows CE and C# were chosen as the developing platform. We also wanted it to work much like a drawer where you could pull out the things you wanted to know about. The swipe gesture was chosen so that fingerprints on the mirror would not be an issue. All of these factors led to the development of the cloud mirror project.
When the user expands the traffic widget for more information, he is presented with the local traffic representation of all the major roads in his local area. Using MapQuest traffic for updated information, the user can see exactly which routes are backed up, so that he may plan alternate means of getting somewhere.
The news widget presents the headlines of the day from around the world. The news shows a title followed by an article, which the user can scroll through using the swipe motion. The widget display multiple articles that can be customized to display whatever type of news is desired. News updates from Google News or other selected RSS feed whenever the news widget is opened.
The weather widget shows local weather conditions for the current day through a graphic, temperature, and weather conditions. This widget also shows a 2-day forecast so that users may plan accordingly. The weather comes from the Yahoo Weather API.
This widget shows the user their current calendar to-do list for the day. The calendar automatically synchronizes with any Google/Gmail calendars so that the user can see what plans he may have during the day. | <urn:uuid:8177e171-ce0e-4d6b-8e4f-086c2b45a0a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~dburnham6/4180/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950087 |
What is STEM and Nova?
STEM—Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
STEM is part of an initiative the Boy Scouts of America has taken on to encourage the natural curiosity of youth members and their sense of wonder about these fields through existing programs. From archery to welding, Scouts can't help but enjoy the wide range of STEM-related activities. To support this initiative, the BSA developed the Nova Awards program so that youth members have fun and receive recognition for their efforts.
We live in a time of great opportunity. The spirit of innovation can help us overcome challenges and ensure a prosperous and secure future. To seize this opportunity, we must position ourselves at the cutting edge of scientific discovery and technological innovation.
Yet our country is falling behind in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This is why many professionals and educators in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics believe the United States should do more now than ever to encourage students to enter STEM-related fields. These experts say our young people need strong STEM skills to compete in the world market. We must work together to cultivate the next generation of critical thinkers and innovators.
Ten-year employment projections by the U.S. Department of Labor show that of the 20 fastest-growing occupations projected for 2014, 15 of them require significant mathematics or science preparation.
STEM Is the future
Fostering a strong STEM education is our best opportunity to boost the spirit of innovation. It's what we need to help ensure this country continues on a prosperous and secure journey. STEM literacy is also critical because it has a profound and growing impact on our day-to-day lives. Nature, space exploration, and any STEM-related interest reveals to us the beauty and power of the world we inhabit.
What Are the Nova Awards?
The Boy Scouts of America developed the Nova Awards program to excite and expand a sense of wonder in our Scouts. By working with an adult counselor or mentor, the various modules allow them to explore the basic principles of STEM and discover how fun and fascinating STEM can be. The Supernova awards are offered for those who enjoy a super challenge. For more information about STEM and the Nova Awards program, visit www.scouting.org/stem. Discover how the Nova Awards program helps youth be "Prepared. For Life." | <urn:uuid:d8ba7343-602a-4feb-9279-374f009fff3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scouting.org/stem/AboutSTEM.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926065 |
Cool Plasma Pack Heat Against Biofilms
Though it looks like a tiny purple blowtorch, a pencil-sized plume of plasma on the tip of a small probe remains at room temperature as it swiftly dismantles tough bacterial colonies deep inside a human tooth.
It’s not another futuristic product of George Lucas’ imagination – it’s the exciting work of USC School of Dentistry and USC Viterbi School of Engineering researchers looking for new ways to safely fight tenacious biofilm infections in patients.
Two of the study’s authors are Chunqi Jiang, a research assistant professor in the Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical Engineering-Electrophysics, and Parish Sedghizadeh, assistant professor of clinical dentistry and director of the USC Center for Biofilms. “Nanosecond Pulsed Plasma Dental Probe” appears in the June issue of Plasma Processes and Polymers.
Sedghizadeh explained that biofilms are complex colonies of bacteria suspended in a slimy matrix that grants them added protection from conventional antibiotics. Biofilms are responsible for many hard-to-fight infections in the mouth and elsewhere. But in the study, biofilms cultivated in the root canal of extracted human teeth were easily destroyed with the plasma dental probe, as evidenced by scanning electron microscope images of near-pristine tooth surfaces after plasma treatment.
Plasma, the fourth state of matter, consists of electrons, ions and neutral species and is the most common form found in space, stars and lightning, Jiang said. But while many natural plasmas are hot, or thermal, the probe developed for the study is a non-thermal, room-temperature plasma that’s safe to touch. The researchers placed temperature sensors on the extracted teeth before treatment and found that the temperature of the tooth increased just five degrees after 10 minutes of exposure to the plasma, Jiang said.
The cooler nature of the experimental plasma comes from its pulsed power supply. Instead of employing a steady stream of energy to the probe, the pulsed power supply sends 100-nanosecond pulses of several kilovolts to the probe once every millisecond, with an average power less than two watts, Jiang said.
“Atomic oxygen [a single atom of oxygen, instead of the more common O2 molecule] appears to be the antibacterial agent,” according to plasma emission spectroscopy obtained during the experiments, she said.
Sedghizadeh said the oxygen-free radicals might be disrupting the cellular membranes of the biofilms in order to cause their demise and that the plasma plume’s adjustable, fluid reach allowed the disinfection to occur even in the hardest-to-reach areas of the root canal. Given that preliminary research indicates that non-thermal plasma is safe for surrounding tissues, Sedghizadeh said he was optimistic about its future dental and medical uses.
“Plasma is the future,” Sedghizadeh said. “It’s been used before for other sterilization purposes but not for clinical medical applications, and we hope to be the first to apply it in a clinical setting.”
“We believe we’re the first team to apply plasma for biofilm disinfection in root canals,” Jiang added. “This collaboration is unique. We’re attacking frontier problems, and we’re happy to be broadening our fields.” | <urn:uuid:c87d394e-7b3a-4ce8-9b94-0ae995157a9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.usc.edu/?_escaped_fragment_=/article/29488/Cool-Plasma-Pack-Heat-Against-Biofilms | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920801 |
Chronicle of the Berlin Wall
For 28 years, the Berlin Wall cemented the political division of Germany and Europe. It became a symbol of the Cold War, which split the world politically into an eastern and a western hemisphere. Over one hundred people died attempting to get past the heavily guarded Wall. In the end, the internal and external pressure on the GDR leadership increased so much that a chain of events was triggered that led to the Wall’s coming down.
The website Chronicle of the Wall is the most comprehensive multi-media source of information on this topic available at the present time. It includes secondary literature, lists of links and films, original sound and reports from East and West, as well as a chronology of the history of the Wall and numerous text sources.
For the first time, this information is now available in English as well. Starting with the events of 1989 and some video clips, the English-language version will be extended to become a complete chronicle of the Berlin Wall, just as in the German version.
The website Chronicle of the Wall is a co-operative project of the Federal Centre for Political Education, Deutschlandradio and the Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam. The website is targeted at all those interested in politics and culture. | <urn:uuid:2220f2b4-d64b-4059-8540-cae04f2182c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/index.php/de/Start/Index/id/652147 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945676 |
||It has been suggested that this article be merged into Ridge regression. (Discuss) Proposed since November 2012.|
In statistics, Bayesian linear regression is an approach to linear regression in which the statistical analysis is undertaken within the context of Bayesian inference. When the regression model has errors that have a normal distribution, and if a particular form of prior distribution is assumed, explicit results are available for the posterior probability distributions of the model's parameters.
Model setup
This corresponds to the following likelihood function:
where is the design matrix, each row of which is a predictor vector ; and is the column -vector .
This is a frequentist approach, and it assumes that there are enough measurements to say something meaningful about . In the Bayesian approach, the data are supplemented with additional information in the form of a prior probability distribution. The prior belief about the parameters is combined with the data's likelihood function according to Bayes theorem to yield the posterior belief about the parameters and . The prior can take different functional forms depending on the domain and the information that is available a priori.
With conjugate priors
Conjugate prior distribution
For an arbitrary prior distribution, there may be no analytical solution for the posterior distribution. In this section, we will consider a so called conjugate prior for which the posterior distribution can be derived analytically.
A prior is conjugate to this likelihood function if it has the same functional form with respect to and . Since the log-likelihood is quadratic in , the log-likelihood is re-written such that the likelihood becomes normal in . Write
The likelihood is now re-written as
where is the number of regression coefficients.
This suggests a form for the prior:
where is an inverse-gamma distribution
In the notation introduced in the inverse-gamma distribution article, this is the density of an distribution with and with and as the prior values of and , respectively. Equivalently, it can also be described as a scaled inverse chi-squared distribution, .
Further the conditional prior density is a normal distribution,
In the notation of the normal distribution, the conditional prior distribution is
Posterior distribution
With the prior now specified, the posterior distribution can be expressed as
With some re-arrangement, the posterior can be re-written so that the posterior mean of the parameter vector can be expressed in terms of the least squares estimator and the prior mean , with the strength of the prior indicated by the prior precision matrix
Therefore the posterior distribution can be parametrized as follows.
where the two factors correspond to the densities of and distributions, with the parameters of these given by
This can be interpreted as Bayesian learning where the parameters are updated according to the following equations.
Model evidence
The model evidence is the probability of the data given the model . It is also known as the marginal likelihood, and as the prior predictive density. Here, the model is defined by the likelihood function and the prior distribution on the parameters, i.e. . The model evidence captures in a single number how well such a model explains the observations. The model evidence of the Bayesian linear regression model presented in this section can be used to compare competing linear models by Bayesian model comparison. These models may differ in the number and values of the predictor variables as well as in their priors on the model parameters. Model complexity is already taken into account by the model evidence, because it marginalizes out the parameters by integrating over all possible values of and .
This integral can be computed analytically and the solution is given in the following equation.
Here denotes the gamma function. Because we have chosen a conjugate prior, the marginal likelihood can also be easily computed by evaluating the following equality for arbitrary values of and .
Note that this equation is nothing but a re-arrangement of Bayes theorem. Inserting the formulas for the prior, the likelihood, and the posterior and simplifying the resulting expression leads to the analytic expression given above.
Other cases
In general, it may be impossible or impractical to derive the posterior distribution analytically. However, it is possible to approximate the posterior by an approximate Bayesian inference method such as Monte Carlo sampling or variational Bayes.
The special case is called ridge regression.
A similar analysis can be performed for the general case of the multivariate regression and part of this provides for Bayesian estimation of covariance matrices: see Bayesian multivariate linear regression.
See also
||This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. (August 2011)|
- The intermediate steps are in Fahrmeir et al. (2009) on page 188.
- The intermediate steps of this computation can be found in O'Hagan (1994) on page 257.
- Carlin and Louis(2008) and Gelman, et al. (2003) explain how to use sampling methods for Bayesian linear regression.
- Box, G.E.P. and Tiao, G.C. (1973) Bayesian Inference in Statistical Analysis, Wiley, ISBN 0-471-57428-7
- Carlin, Bradley P. and Louis, Thomas A. (2008). Bayesian Methods for Data Analysis, Third Edition. Boca Raton, FL: Chapman and Hall/CRC. ISBN 1-58488-697-8.
- O'Hagan, Anthony (1994). Bayesian Inference. Kendall's Advanced Theory of Statistics 2B (First ed.). Halsted. ISBN 0-340-52922-9.
- Gelman, Andrew, Carlin, John B., Stern, Hal S. and Rubin, Donald B. (2003). Bayesian Data Analysis, Second Edition. Boca Raton, FL: Chapman and Hall/CRC. ISBN 1-58488-388-X.
- Gero Walter, and Thomas Augustin (2009). Bayesian Linear Regression—Different Conjugate Models and Their (In)Sensitivity to Prior-Data Conflict, Technical Report Number 069, Department of Statistics, University of Munich.
- Michael Goldstein, David Wooff (2007) Bayes Linear Statistics, Theory & Methods, Wiley. ISBN 978-0-470-01562-9
- Fahrmeir, L., Kneib, T., and Lang, S. (2009). Regression. Modelle, Methoden und Anwendungen, Second Edition. Springer, Heidelberg. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-01837-4. ISBN 978-3-642-01836-7.
- Peter E. Rossi, Greg M. Allenby, and Robert McCulloch, Bayesian Statistics and Marketing, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2006
- Thomas P. Minka (2001) Bayesian Linear Regression, Microsoft research web page
- Bayesian estimation of linear models (R programming wikibook). Bayesian linear regression as implemented in R.
A portion of the proceeds from advertising on Digplanet goes to supporting Wikipedia. | <urn:uuid:6552aa5e-02ef-4e7e-a871-db947331951e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.digplanet.com/wiki/Bayesian_linear_regression | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.828663 |
Some terminals have the ability to make the cursor invisible, or to enhance it. Enhancing the cursor is often done by programs that plan to use the cursor to indicate to the user a position of interest that may be anywhere on the screen--for example, the Emacs editor enhances the cursor on entry. Such programs should always restore the cursor to normal on exit.
If you define either `vs' or `vi', you must also define `ve'.
Go to the first, previous, next, last section, table of contents. | <urn:uuid:3716e476-2103-40f6-bb6b-3de2a9a418bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gnu.org/software/termutils/manual/termcap-1.3/html_node/termcap_35.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910806 |
Labels & Packaging
Copenhagen Climate Change and the Printer
Is this a threat or an opportunity?
Paul Machin reports on the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference for GDW.
The Copenhagen Climate Change conference was an historic event at which all nations on earth came together (in excess of 110 heads of national governments attended) to discuss one topic.
Prior to the conference there was much hype encouraged by the political leaders of the need to meet the challenge facing the world? All the parties spoke of the need for greater urgency in our efforts to confront climate change. That, however, appeared to be the only point upon which there was any real consensus. The conference finished with more questions unanswered than ever before. The need for a legally binding agreement to counteract climate change was deferred for later, possibly at the Mexico conference later this year in 2010.
Why did the Copenhagen Climate Change conference not achieve its objective? The less developed nations were unwilling to forgo growth. Many believed that changing from processes such as coal fired energy generation would involve significant capital expenditure that was not available. They considered that utilising technologies to reduce greenhouse gases would increase costs and thereby lose markets. When you have very little it is not surprising that there is considerable reluctance to relinquish that which you have got.
Perhaps due to the recession there was little support among the leading developed nations to provide significant financial support to the poorer nations. The message from Copenhagen was that it is the poorer nations who are most vulnerable and that they are the ones who bear the greatest burden from the consequences of the actions of the richer industrialised nations. These poorer nations considered that the richer nations should bear a moral responsibility for their historic emissions. The richer nations do not have the right to tell the developing world "Do as I say, not as I did". They are the ones who must make the greatest reductions in green house gas emissions and they need to collectively meet the cost of addressing climate change damage.
That the combination of political will, economic direction and public pressure was not sufficient to overcome the concerns that many countries have over the potential loss of their sovereignty should they be subject to international law in the form of a legally binding climate change treaty. Many will co-operate, but not under the threat of legal sanction. There was no agreed verification process on carbon emissions to check compliance. The verification process was strongly opposed by China. No new target was set; it remains to reduce greenhouse gases by 20% by 2020.
What were positive points from the conference? The conference redefined the debate between countries in terms of awareness of climate science and support for action. There is no longer any question that climate change is central to the political thinking of every country on the planet. This applies to the smallest nations concerned that their country will disappear beneath the ocean or the large industrial nations being aware of the adverse impact their lifestyle is having on the environment.
Public awareness has also massively increased. The vast campaigns run around the world in the run-up to Copenhagen by governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), business and the media coverage of the issue and the summit itself have made addressing climate change widely understood. There were individuals with strong beliefs for or against climate change discussing the topic as never before.
The other very important change is that green growth is now the prevailing economic model of our time. The idea that addressing climate change is bad for business was buried at Copenhagen. Countries from both developed and developing worlds have announced low-carbon economic plans and are moving forward.
While there was much speculation on the positive and negative ramifications on the commitment of the political leaders attending the conference, there was no such reluctance from the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. In a speech that was not widely reported he said: "History tells us that movements begin with people, not governments, and when they become powerful enough, governments respond," He quoted as his examples the American civil rights movement that changed that country’s approach to their colour problem, the women’s suffrage movement in the UK and the American Independence that was started by people power. Many visitors to Copenhagen and world-wide television viewers witnessed the vast numbers of climate change protesters from many nations around the world raising the temperature of the debate.
What has not changed? The Kyoto protocol is still in place and will be so for a few more years to come. Kyoto is legally binding, it is accepted, the standards and architecture are recognised and it is economically viable. Unfortunately not every nation signed it. Significantly the USA did not sign the Kyoto protocol and, without the participation of the USA, Kyoto will have very little impact on the world-wide problem.
The current accepted target is a reduction of 20% of greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020. However, the world’s leaders have declared the aim of restricting global temperature increase to +2 degrees above pre industrial levels.
Within the EU there are controls on the environment issues such as the Integrated Prevention and Pollution Control, the Solvent Emissions, the Hazardous Waste, the Waste and Waste Packaging Directives. Many printers are subject to many of these restrictions including the implementation of the EU’s environmental Best Available Techniques (BREF) standards.
Printers will still have to compete in this market and to do so must embrace the changes that the political and economic factors associated with climate change have brought about especially after the Copenhagen conference.
What must printers do to meet the climate change challenge? The very first challenge that must be faced is to change the opinion within the organisation that climate change is a threat to the future of the company. It is an opportunity for growth. Green growth is seen by the politicians as sustainability and therefore it will meet the aspirations of the populace. Thus there is a strong probability that legislative measures will be utilised to secure a favourable response especially if it is not seen as a direct tax on voters. Governments will be looking to increase pressures on commercial enterprises.
Companies will be actively looking at reducing their environmental tax burden such as the climate change levy. One means of reducing this taxation burden is through purchasing products from printers that will reduce this levy. This is achieved by buying products that have a low carbon footprint. To produce low carbon footprint products requires a positive approach by printers towards environmental issues such as waste control, emissions to air and water, energy management and careful selection in the use of chemicals.
Is there help available for printers to meet the challenge? There are a number of trade associations throughout the world that offer assistance on environmental issues. Typically FESPA offers its members free access to their Planet Friendly Guide. Other NGOs such as Envirowise in the United Kingdom provide guidance on good environmental practices. There is a plethora of consultants who will be able to assist; however, it would be wise to check their accreditation prior to appointment.
Are there benefits from being environmentally aware? There are major financial savings to be made that are vital during this period of limited business growth and profitability. A good environmental image is seen as being beneficial to customers, regulatory authorities, employees both present and future as well as neighbours. Employee involvement in improving the company’s environmental image raises the level of job satisfaction as employees see it as a means of protecting the environment for their children and grandchildren.
How can these be achieved? A necessary prerequisite of any attempt to change the company’s approach to the environment is the 100% commitment of the Chief Executive Officer or owner of the company. Without this undertaking the company will fail to achieve the desired result.
This new company ethos will require employee training and that will stimulate their involvement. This involvement is a vital element in generating a reduction in the level of waste, the conservation of energy as well as an understanding the benefits of reducing emissions from the factory. For example simply by reducing the heating by 10 C in winter and increasing the temperature of the air conditioning in by 10 C in the summer can save 5 – 10% of the company’s energy costs. Employees with this knowledge are more likely to promote such a saving as an environmental benefit as well as a financial saving.
There are many other financial savings of this nature that can be obtained by following environmental best practice that will automatically lead to a reduction in the company’s carbon footprint. This will in turn provide a positive selling point especially to the larger international customers who are looking to limit their climate change levy or similar environmental tax.
Tackling climate change in a positive manner can give an opportunity to improve the company’s environmental image as well as their profitability and thus should not be seen as being a threat.
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Scripps researchers launch program to monitor the health of the Gulf of California, a region endangered by destructive new fishing methods
Ten years ago, graduate students Octavio Aburto-Oropeza and Gustavo Paredes worked with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego researcher Enric Sala to mount a back-to-basics marine life surveying campaign across the Gulf of California. They packed a van with an inflatable boat, diving gear, and computers and drove hours each day, sometimes navigating through deserts, often to desolate locations. Six- to eight-hour ecological surveys ensued before the days were over. Most nights were spent on a beach or in a boat. The next day they would pack up and drive off to the next location.
After three months they had examined more than 70 sites around the Gulf of California, including mangroves, rocky reefs, seamounts, and other habitats. Their data formed a rich database of Gulf of California coastal ecology and resulted in an important report describing how a network of marine reserves could help protect the Gulf’s sea life for future generations.
Fast forward to the summer of 2009. Aburto-Oropeza and Paredes, now postdoctoral researchers at Scripps Oceanography, returned to the Gulf to conduct a fresh round of surveys at the same sites to evaluate how much has changed in a decade.
This time, however, rather than a nomadic adventure, the researchers conducted the surveys aboard Don Jose, a fully-equipped diving boat based out of La Paz, Mexico. Rather than an ambitious trio, more than 20 marine ecologists with specialties covering both fish and invertebrate (spineless) animals conducted this round of surveys. And rather than an isolated research endeavor, the 2009 expedition was undertaken as part of the newly launched Gulf of California Program, a research coalition based out of Scripps’ Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conversation and led by Aburto-Oropeza, Paredes, UC Riverside Professor Exequiel Ezcurra, Scripps postdoctoral researcher Brad Erisman, and Scripps Professor Phil Hastings, director of the Gulf of California Program.
For Aburto-Oropeza and Paredes, many of the 10-year changes were shocking and discouraging for the long-term health of the Gulf’s marine ecosystems. Sixty percent of the surveyed sites showed signs of degradation, according to Aburto-Oropeza, and many are now missing the top predators normally present in healthy, functioning ecosystems.
"Ten years later we can actually measure the effects of not putting conservation measures in place," said Paredes. "Some of us had been conducting surveys in certain sites every year, but until this year we didn’t know the whole story of what was going on."
Aburto-Oropeza says the changes have occurred at the hands of fishing activities. In a single generation fishing efficiencies have escalated from traditional hook-and-line methods, to more potent gill net fishing, to today’s vastly more destructive "hookah" diving. Proliferating only in the past 10 years, hookah fishermen use crude oxygen delivery methods (industrial generator and tubing) through basic piping that allows them to walk along the seafloor for long periods of time. The technique is typically conducted at night when fish are resting, allowing the hookah fishermen to spear or grab large numbers of vulnerable fish and invertebrates.
"Hookah diving is probably one of the biggest threats to reef fishes in the Gulf," said Erisman. "From a fishermen’s perspective it’s very efficient, but, obviously, it’s not the most ecologically responsible way to do it."
Such destructive fishing methods are eliminating the largest members of the Gulf’s habitats, including fish such as sharks, groupers, and snappers. Scientists say "fishing down the food web" occurs when such key players in healthy functioning ecosystems are replaced by progressively smaller, less valuable species that occupy lower levels of the food web.
"Some species have undoubtedly been driven to commercial, if not ecological extinction," warns a report released by the Gulf of California program.
In the most dramatic example of fishing impacts observed on the 2009 expedition, Erisman said a survey of San Esteban Island in the northern section of the Gulf revealed reefs devoid of fish and instead covered by mats of cyanobacteria. Similar examples of marine degradation have been described by Scripps Professor Jeremy Jackson as "the rise of slime." Overfishing, habitat destruction, and ocean warming are transforming intricate marine food webs with large animals into simplistic ecosystems dominated by microbes, toxic algal blooms, jellyfish, and disease, according to Jackson.
"It is disturbing to witness a severely degraded reef, but especially so at such a remote site as Isla San Esteban. It demonstrates that no areas of the Gulf are immune to over-exploitation," said Hastings.
Backed by new research grants from the Walton Family Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the launch of the Gulf of California Program is a solid step toward reversing the downward trends revealed in the last 10 years by integrating a patchwork of research efforts into one.
"Lately there has been a greater awareness, mainly because of collapsing fisheries, that marine resources in the region are depleted," said Erisman. "We need a more comprehensive, regulated approach. People are realizing that we need to come together, coordinate efforts, and integrate data to help understand small- and large-scale ecological changes in the Gulf."
The 2009 ecosystem-monitoring project was supported by the International Community Foundation, an anonymous donor, and a Pew Ocean Fellowship to Exequiel Ezcurra.
—Mario C. Aguilera
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Honesty is important for its own sake, and it's vital for your education—in high school and later in college.. You can't learn how to write if you simply download your papers from the Internet. You can't learn algebra if you copy your problem sets from a friend or an answer book. You can't learn Spanish or chemistry if you don't complete the assignments yourself. You won't really know the materials in high school, and you won't be prepared for college-level work.
The only way to learn is to do your papers, readings, and problem sets yourself. Later, you'll build on what you learned as you face more advanced assignments. If you didn't do the earlier work yourself, you simply won't be prepared for the later assignments, or for more advanced courses..
Even your mistakes can be valuable (and, believe me, we all make them). They'll show you and your teachers where you need more help and more practice. Correcting your missteps is a vital part of learning. That's as true in Spanish as it is in biology.
Cheating denies you all that. It denies you a chance to learn. Even if you aren't caught (and you may well be!), you'll still miss what is most valuable about college: getting a real education. The only way to get that education is to work honestly. It's the high road to developing your own best values, too.
What does it mean to do honest work? The answer boils down to just three core principles:
Of course, there are plenty of detailed rules about academic honesty. Textbooks are filled with them. But ultimately they boil down to just three core principles. These principles are easy to remember, and they apply to everybody in the university, students or teachers alike. Follow them and you'll do fine.
In talks with high school students, I explain what these principles mean, why they matter, and how they affect student papers, tests, and lab assignments. I highlight the proper use of the Internet, a major source of potential problems. In Q&A, we talk about issues that affect students directly, from writing papers to handling lab assignments. | <urn:uuid:7797d4e5-a076-415c-83dd-df76139f3e15> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.charleslipson.com/speechtopics/Honesty-talk-for-high-school-students.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971562 |
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