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Ruler of Syria 141-138 B.C.; born at Kasiana near Apamea. Originally an officer in the army of Alexander Balas, he opposed the claims of Demetrius II., putting on the throne Antiochus, the young son of Alexander, who was still a minor, with the help of deserters from Demetrius. Diodatus took the city of Antioch; and Jonathan the Hasmonean was willing to throw in his lot with Antiochus. Diodatus, however, had other plans, and feared that Jonathan would stand in his way. He inveigled him from Bethshean to Ptolemais, and put him to death at Baskama or Baska (Josephus, "Ant." xiii. 6, § 6). From Ptolemais, Diodatus went to Judea against Simon Maccabeus, who had followed Jonathan as head of the Jewish forces. His real design now came to light; the young Antiochus was put to death, and Diodatus assumed "the crown of Asia." Simon turned to Demetrius for aid, and from him gained the independence of the Jewish state. Demetrius was taken prisoner in Persia; but his place was taken by another son of Demetrius I., Antiochus VII. (Sidetes), who marched against Trypho, and with the help of Simon shut him up in the city of Dora (Tantura, between Cæsarea and Carmel). Diodatus fled to Orthosia (north of Tripoli), and was besieged by Antiochus in Apamea, where he took his own life.
- I Mace. xii. xv.;
- Josephus Ant. xiii. ch. 5, 6, 7;
- Strabo, 668;
- Von Gutschmid, Gesch. Irans, p. 51;
- Schürer, Gesch. i. 131, 183 et seq. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39461000 |
John Mahrer, an immigrant from Prague, opened a brewery in Nanaimo, a coal mining centre and port that is located north of Victoria on Vancouver Island. When the brewery amalgamated with the Union Brewery in 1891, Mahrer became its manager and master brewer. Mahrer was on the Nanaimo City Council for eight years and belonged to several charitable organizations as well as the city's band. John and Louise Mahrer's home and the Nanaimo Opera House, which John built, were the centres of Nanaimo's cultural life at the time.
A decorative shield is placed over the mantle, symbolizing the breastplate of the High Priest of the Temple in Jerusalem. Evelyn Toban donated this ornament to Congregation Schara Tzedeck in honour of the ninetieth birthday of Harry Toban. As Schara Tzedeck's president in the 1940's, Harry Toban led the synagogue's move from Heatley Street in Vancouver's East End neighbourhood of Strathcona to Oak street in Fairview neighbourhood, South Vancouver.
A special menorah with eight lights (plus an additional one that lights the others) is used during the holiday of Hannukah. Hanukiahs come in all shapes, sizes, and materials. The hand, also called a hamsa, is a typical Sephardic decorative symbol, meaning protection from the evil eye. This hanukiah is lit using oil and wicks. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39463000 |
188.688.01 GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY & HEALTH SEMINAR
Students and faculty discuss the causes, consequences, and implications of key global environmental challenges that we are facing and that are likely to become more challenging over time. Specifically addresses how land use (e.g., patterns of urban growth and suburban sprawl), energy use, food production and distribution, water use, and population growth are causing climate change, ecosystem degradation, biodiversity losses, species extinctions, and other resource depletion, and how all this is in turn is a threat to human health as individuals, in communities, and globally. Focuses on discussion and not lectures and will utilize a mix of movies, guest discussants, and student directed discussions.
This seminar will prepare students to: 1) Define the aspects of land use, energy use, food production and distribution, water use, and population growth that contribute to environmental degradation. 2) Analyze how peak petroleum (AKA "after peak oil"), political obstacles, economic interests, and federal indebtedness influence how we address these issues. 3) Define how the "drivers" in #1 above cause climate change, ecosystem degradation, species losses, biodiversity losses, and other resource depletions. 4) Begin to develop an analytic framework for how we should address these issues to prevent the major health risks they present.
- Thursday 12:00 - 1:20
Global Environment and Public Health, 180.611.01 | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39467000 |
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In a coordinate plane, the points (2,4) and (3,-1) are on a line. Which of the following must be true? 1. The line crosses the x-axis. 2. The line passes through (0, 0). 3. The line stays above the x-axis at all times. 4. The line rises from the lower left to the upper right. ...
X=2 Is that right Ms. Sue? I will spell Algebra correctly from now on thanks for your help.
Solve the equation 15(x+3)=75
Sorry Mr. Reiny I could not find the page where I had asked the question on Sunday when I went back to look, thanks for the link and the answer.
Please show me step by step how to Make a table of solutions for the equation,and then use the table to graph the equation. y = 2x -1
Who was the best president
Make a table of solutions for the equation, and then use the table to graph the equation. Just graph one of them. y = 2x -1 How do I make one, may I use microsoft Excel?
Sorry Mr. Reiny, I guess I should of figured that out since you are so smart at doing the math problems. I do not have an option key on my windows 7 keyboard but I bet there is another way I can do the underline thing. Thanks Again for taking time out of your day to help us Ma...
Thanks Reiny, you assumed correct, how did you get the line under the greater than sign? You are a very smart and kind woman to have been such a great help, Thanks!
For Further Reading | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39468000 |
MINNETONKA, Minn. -- Backpacks are lighter this year for ninth graders at Minnetonka High School.
"I have most of my textbooks in iBooks," said 9th grader Rachel Marks.
That not only makes her load lighter, Marks can highlight text and digitally assemble all of her notes in an iBook, something she can't do in a school textbook.
It's just one aspect of a pilot program Minnetonka High School unveiled this year -- to put iPads in the hands of students.
"We've long believed in technology as an accelerator of learning," explained Julie Carter, Executive Director of Technology for Minnetonka Public Schools.
The district has been digitizing its curriculum for the past decade, and was looking for a way to put that information in the hands of students.
Laptops had drawbacks, including price, so when the iPad came along, Minnetonka took notice, and developed a plan that hinged on a key requirement. "Identifying a group of students that we could work with to have a controlled experiment where we could see, 'How does the technology change the learning experience for students?'" said Carter.
Minnetonka started by issuing iPads to half the 9th grade class, and using the other half of the class to compare. Teachers quickly noted some changes for the iPad group.
"Student engagement," said English teacher Sara Martinson. "They seem to be more involved in what they are doing."
The district also saw fewer D's and F's in the iPad group, as well as fewer late and missing assignments. Armed with that information, the district proceeded to give iPads to the other half of the ninth grade.
Now, teachers are incorporating the iPad into daily use. Science teacher Drew Danner says it doesn't work for everything, but many applications are proving useful for students, including one that allows students to take tests and have their results recorded in real time.
"Now they can go back on their practice tests or their quizzes and they can look at, 'Hey, I need to work on this certain set of problems,'" said Danner.
Danner is also able to plug important dates and assignments into students' Google calendars, which they can pull up on their iPads anytime they want.
Students' work is saved in "the cloud" so if an iPad should break, or be lost, the work is accessible from any computer or internet device. Carter says so far, there have been few issues of screens breaking, and no iPads have been lost.
Looming in the future for Minnetonka, the need to purchase new textbooks for two core subjects. At $100 a pop for a traditional copy, Apple's recent announcement it will be offering more textbooks at $14.99 in iBooks could prove to be a real cost-saver for the district.
If this year's pilot project continues to go well, Minnetonka hopes to use iPads at the 10th grade level, and continue expanding from there.
Minnetonka has created a series of tutorials for students and teachers to learn how to use and take care of their iPads. You can access that here.
(Copyright 2012 by KARE. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39478000 |
Golden flowers and solid spines are amongst the features of this beautiful cactus.
Shipped with pot & special compost for cacti.
At present, our english web site version is incomplete, to see all our available plants, go on:
Cacti are a large family of plants called Cactaceae. They are xerophytic plants, that is, they are adapted to dry environments - their tissues have reserves to undergo long droughts without any issue. Their habitat goes from the south of the USA to the south of Latin America, passing through Mexico, a country where cacti are extremely abundant. They grow as much at sea level as high in the mountain, up to 3500 meteres high.
Recognizing a cactus is not challenging. They usually have a certain density of prickles on their body, placed along an increasing number of ribs.
This said,cacti raises very variable shapes - the ball and the column being the most famous. They can also be flattened, climbing or tree-shaped. The spines can be minute and flexiblee, or thick and tough... all the combinations exist.
Size is another astonishing aspect of cacti. Although there are dwarf species -less than 2 cm as adult plants-, most of them become large plants, from tens of centimeters to more than 20 meters high for the tallest cylindrical cacti ! In cultivation, such dimensions are rarely attained. Before that, the specimens divide, produce plantlets. The cespitose species create large bundles. Beautiful in hotpots !
Finally, a word about their flowering. Sometimes tremendously large and disproportionated to the plant itself, cacti flowers are among the most beautiful in the plant kingdom. Very vividly coloured, they must attract all the pollinisators around... in wildernesses. Insects have to locate them. This is why the flowers somestimes outreach 25 cm in diameter !
Our selection of cacti is composed of varied plants. Their spine systems, colors and shapes makes them attractive. Also, they are easy to grow. From the dense white wool of Mammillaria bocasana var. multilanata to the pink prickles of Echinocereus rubispinus, you will find your bliss !
Here are the general rules you must follow when growing cacti. For further information about one of the species, please read their specific cards.
- Full sun to partially shaded sunlight. Some species, notably those not having a high spine density, don't like direct sun. If sunburns appear, put your cactus in a more shadowy place. Inside, light is usually too weak. A cactus lacking sunlight quickly languishes.
- The temperature must be comprised between 0 and 50°C. Don't pay attention do it between spring and autumn, but in winter, don't let them freeze (but there are exceptions). In winter, a cool period -below 15°C- is required for dormancy. It will trigger blooming and enhance growth.
- Cacti don't like to live in a humid atmosphere, especially if it's for a long time, and if the air is not brewed. Therefore, don't grow them in a confined stuffy place.
- The soil must be sufficiently draining. Use a mix of compost, sand and pozzolana. Such a soil is available in our shop here : mix for cactus.
- Watering is a crucial point. A popular belief says cacti must not be watered, or very rarely and not abundantly in any case. This is utterly wrong. This idea comes from the fact that cacti can live without any water for a long time. Indeed, their biology enables them to achieve that. But this is at the detriment of their growth, and of their general health. A well-watered cactus is vigorous and bloms after its dormancy. So, it is necessary to water abundantly in summer, once a week, with calcareous-free water preferably. In spring and autumn, water every 3 weeks or once a month. Make sure the soil is completely dry before watering again. In winter, don't bring any water.
- Fertilizer must be brought with parsimony, once a month, in summer.
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MULHOUSE (68, France), April 14th and 15th
SCHOPPENWIHR (68, France), April 28th and 29th
NANCY (54, France), May 5th and 6th
AUTREY (88, France), May 19th and 20th
BÉZOUOTTE (21, France), May 12th and 13th
L'ISLE-SUR-LE-DOUBS (25, France), June 8th, 9th and 10th | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39479000 |
Shots - Health Blog
Thu November 17, 2011
Bird Flu Research Rattles Bioterrorism Field
Scientists and security specialists are in the midst of a fierce debate over recent experiments on a strain of bird flu virus that made it more contagious.
The big question: Should the results be made public?
Critics say doing so could potentially reveal how to make powerful new bioweapons.
The H5N1 virus has been circulating among birds and other animals in recent years. It's also infected about 500 people. More than half died. But this dangerous virus has not caused widespread human disease because, so far, sick people haven't been very contagious.
If the virus evolves to spread as easily between people as seasonal flu, however, it could cause a devastating global pandemic. So in an attempt to stay ahead of H5N1, scientists have been tweaking its genes in the lab to learn more about how this virus works, and what it is capable of.
In September, one scientist made a stunning announcement. At a flu conference held in Malta, he said he'd done a lab experiment that resulted in bird flu virus becoming highly contagious between ferrets — the animal model used to study human flu infection. It seemed that just five mutations did the trick.
News of the results raised red flags for Dr. Thomas Inglesby, a bioterrorism expert and director of the Center for Biosecurity of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
"It's just a bad idea for scientists to turn a lethal virus into a lethal and highly contagious virus. And it's a second bad idea for them to publish how they did it so others can copy it," says Inglesby.
No science journal has published the information yet. And Inglesby hopes none of them do.
Biology research usually has a culture of openness. Scientists report their methods and results so others can repeat their work and learn from it.
Inglesby agrees that's the way to go the vast majority of the time. But not this time. "There are some cases that I think are worth an exception to that otherwise very important scientific principle," he says. "I can only imagine that the process of deliberating about the publication of these findings is quite serious."
The researcher who presented these findings at the science meeting is virologist Ron Fouchier, of the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands. NPR has learned that his work is now under scrutiny by a committee called the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity.
That's a committee of independent experts the U. S. government set up to give advice on how to deal with biological research that's legitimately important to science but that also could be misused. It can make nonbinding recommendations about such things as whether the findings should be published.
NPR asked Fouchier by email if he intended to publish the details of his study. He replied that he preferred not to comment until the committee made a formal decision.
Research on new and worrisome forms of influenza is a case study showing how, a decade after 9/11 and the anthrax attacks, scientists are still grappling with how to handle sensitive biological research, says John Steinbruner, director of the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland.
"We really do need to develop a better oversight process and a better way of organizing global judgments about very, very dangerous lines of research," says Steinbruner. "And we haven't yet done it."
Scientists say they do think hard about these issues. Princeton's Lynn Enquist, editor in chief of the Journal of Virology, says he and his colleagues carefully considered whether to publish a flu study submitted to the journal that appears in the December issue.
"You have to say, 'Is there more benefit than there is risk?' and that was our judgment on this one, that that was indeed the case," says Enquist.
In that experiment, researchers had taken a bird flu gene and put it in the swine flu virus that started spreading between people a couple of years ago. Mice infected with this lab-created virus got very, very sick.
But Enquist says, this altered virus didn't spread easily. And he points out that this kind of virus combination could happen as bird flu circulates out in nature.
"Scientists in the United States and all around the world are very curious as to how this thing is going to evolve because we have to be prepared for it," says Enquist. "The public would expect us to be prepared."
As part of that effort to get ready, scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been doing work to see how bird flu could adapt to humans. This month, in a different journal called Virology, they described how they created two new versions of the bird flu virus that could spread between ferrets in a limited way.
A spokesperson said no one from the CDC would be made available to comment. And efforts to speak with officials at the National Institutes of Health, which funds flu research, were unsuccessful. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39480000 |
Opium poppy - history
OriginsThe Opium poppy was first grown in the western Mediterranean, in the region of southern France and Italy. There are archaeological finds in that area dating to about 4000 BC. The Opium poppy was probably first grown for food. The seed is rich in edible oil - always a precious resource. Poppy cultivation spread to central Europe and to the Aegean by 1000 BC.
The Opium poppy was not known in ancient Mesopotamia, and was probably not known in ancient Egypt. However, by Roman times opium poppy had spread to Egypt. Both Roman and Greek physicians did much to spread knowledge of opium's medical uses.
The Islamic worldOpium flourished in the Arab world, as in Islam opiates were not proscribed in the same way as alcohol. In the 7th century, the Islamic cultures of western Asia had discovered that the most powerful narcotic and medicinal effects could be obtained by igniting and smoking the poppy's congealed juices.
The history of opium poppy use is relatively recent in South Asia. Arab trade and the expanding world of Islam are assumed to have introduced knowledge of the opium drug to the Indian subcontinent by the 12th century. The first records of its cultivation appear in the 15th century and refer to Malwa as a centre of production. The Sanskrit words ahiphena and the Hindi afin are derived from the Arabic word ofyun to denote opium.
European impactThe advent of the Europeans had a significant impact on the future of the opium poppy in India. By the 16th century the Portuguese noted that opium was an article of trade from India. Portuguese merchants carried Indian opium through Macao into China. The Dutch now introduced smoking opium in a tobacco pipe to the Chinese.
Under the Mughal Empire the poppy was extensively grown and became an important article of trade with China and other Eastern countries. Fine opium was derived from the poppies cultivated in the fertile alluvial plains of the Ganges. The narcotic was a favourite of the Mughal emperors. By the late 16th century opium was made a State monopoly. With the decline of the Mughals the State lost its hold on the monopoly and the production and sale of opium was controlled by merchants in Patna. In 1757, the British East India Company which had by that time assumed the responsibility for the collection of revenues in Bengal and Bihar, took over this monopoly. In 1773 the Governor-General, Warren Hastings, brought the whole of the opium trade under the control of the Government.
|Fleet of Opium ships sailing up the Ganges in the 19th century.|
The Opium WarsIn the late 18th century the British East India Company was expanding its sphere of influence in India and also looking to redress Britain's unfavourable balance of trade with China. The Chinese had become addicted to opium consumption; the Imperial court had banned its use and import, but large quantities were still being smuggled into the country. India was an economy rich with cotton and raw silk and agricultural products for exports such as sugar cane, indigo and opium. The Mughal Empire had given it a stable framework for trade, and after their decline the British began to profit from its circumstances. To facilitate profitable export to China and cheap import to Britain, vast tracts of land were given over to poppy cultivation and by the 1790s the East India Company had the monopoly of the opium trade. The poppy growing was mostly confined to three centres: Patna Opium from Bihar, Benaras Opium from Uttar Pradesh and Malwa Opium from central India.
The Chinese authorities attempted to suppress the smuggling of opium which was debilitating the country and reversing its formerly favourable balance of trade. Their confiscation and destruction of illegal opium sparked the First Opium War in 1839. British warships defeated the Chinese who signed the Treaty of Nanking paying a huge indemnity and ceding Hong Kong to the British. A second Opium War was fought in 1856 when the French and British combined to bring the Chinese to heel and opium import in China was thus legalised. Not until 1910 did the opium trade between China and India cease. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39488000 |
In Kansas and throughout the northern midcontinent area, excepting parts of Oklahoma and Arkansas, definition of the lower limit of Pennsylvanian rocks is one of the most evident in the rock succession (Fig. 3). Not only are the types of sedimentary rocks on opposite sides of the boundary very dissimilar generally, but there is evidence of pre-Pennsylvanian erosion of the underlying strata and varyingly prolonged break in sedimentation. The basal Pennsylvanian rocks rest on different parts of the Mississippian succession, from high in the system down to the bottom-most beds, and at many places, both at the outcrop in Missouri and in the subsurface of Kansas and Nebraska, the Pennsylvanian overlaps on to pre-Mississippian rocks. The oldest Pennsylvanian deposits in most of this territory are clearly much younger than rocks classed as belonging to the system elsewhere. Accordingly, there is no problem in marking the base of Pennsylvanian strata in the Kansas region.
Figure 3. Diagrammatic east-west section of rocks in Kansas showing prominent unconformity at base of the Pennsylvanian System. The section, drawn on the base of the Kansas City group as a datum, shows essential conformity of succession from Pennsylvanian into Permian parts of the section. (After Moore, Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists; data from section by Betty Kellett, Kansas Geol. Soc., 1932.) A larger version of this figure is available.
Definition of the boundary between rocks classed as Pennsylvanian and Permian in the Kansas region has led to much debate and disagreement. Ulrich (1911, p. 376, pl. 26) proposed to avoid the difficulty by not recognizing Permian at all and by defining as Pennsylvanian all of the rocks between Mississippian and Triassic. This procedure might be defended on the basis of the stratigraphic succession in the midcontinent area, but it is evidently unsuited to world-wide application. Because beds having Pennsylvanian and Permian fossils lie parallel and are seemingly conformable in Kansas and adjoining states, attempts to define the base of the Permian in this area have been based chiefly on study of fossils. Consideration has been given also to lithologic features and the desirability of selecting a convenient cartographic datum. Judgment has been generally expressed that any adopted boundary is measurably arbitrary.
The general tendency during the 90 years since Permian deposits were first recognized in Kansas and in North America as a whole has been to lower the boundary farther and farther (Fig. 4).
Figure 4. Placement of the Pennsylvanian-Permian boundary in Kansas. Asterisks denote papers in which special consideration is given to the problem of stratigraphic classification. (After Moore, Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologists.)
Mainly on account of the first appearance of the presumed Permian guide fossils Callipteris conferta and other plants at the horizon of the Wreford limestone in central Kansas, the lower Permian boundary was drawn at the base of the Wreford limestone by Adams, Girty, & White (1903), Prosser (1902, 1905), Haworth & Bennett (1008), and others. Owing, however, to the very evident lithologic and faunal similarity of beds extending for a considerable distance below and above the Wreford limestone, the base of the Cottonwood limestone, about 125 feet below the Wreford, originally chosen by Prosser (1895) as the basal boundary of the Permian, came later to be adopted generally. One reason for selection of this line seems to have been the fact that the Cottonwood is a persistent and distinctive stratigraphic datum that at a relatively early date had been traced entirely across Kansas into Nebraska and Oklahoma.
On the basis of discovery of species of "Schwagerina" (Pseudoschwagerina) in the Neva limestone, about 40 feet below the Cottonwood limestone, Beede & Kniker (1925) judged that the base of the Permian should be lowered to the base of the Neva limestone. This conclusion was reached from an extensive examination of paleontological characters in Russian and other sections of the world, from which it appeared that the zone of "Schwagerina" marks the introduction of marine faunas which are considered generally characteristic of Permian time.
One of the distinctive fusulinids of the Lower Permian, as previously defined in Kansas, is "Pseudofusulina" (Paraschwagerina). Because this fossil and various other invertebrates which are typical of Lower Permian as previously defined range downward to the Americus limestone, 150 feet below the Cottonwood limestone, and because lithologic features of beds below the Cottonwood to a horizon at least as low as the Americus are much more closely similar to overlying beds than to those of the Wabaunsee group, below, Moore (1932) concluded that if the Cottonwood and Neva are classifiable as Permian, the lower boundary of the Permian rocks in Kansas should be placed at least as low as the base of the Americus limestone. Placement of the Pennsylvanian-Permian boundary at this horizon had previously been proposed by Beede (1909, 1914) (Fig. 4). In the course of detailed stratigraphic studies and mapping of beds belonging below the Americus, evidence of the existence of a stratigraphic break comparable to the disconformities which separate the Desmoinesian, Missourian, and Virgilian divisions of the Pennsylvanian System, was discovered and traced from southeastern Nebraska to northern Oklahoma (Moore & Moss, 1934). This disconformity belongs just above the Brownville limestone but in places depressions are carved into upper Wabaunsee strata reaching more than 100 feet below the horizon of the Brownville. Work by Newell and others in Oklahoma indicates that the horizons of this disconformity can be followed southward to the vicinity of the Arbuckle Mountains. Accordingly, this boundary, about 275 feet below the Cottonwood limestone, has been designated as the line of division between Pennsylvanian and Permian (Moore, Elias & Newell, 1934). Evidence supporting the definition of this line as the lower boundary of rocks classed as Permian in the northern midcontinent area lies in conditions observed in western Texas where Wolfcampian beds, containing "Pseudoschwagerina" and "Pseudofusulina", rest with strong angular unconformity on upper Pennsylvanian beds (King, 1934). A detailed review of the fluctuating placement of the Pennsylvanian-Permian boundary in the Kansas region and in the north-central Texas and Trans-Pecos Texas areas has been published by Moore (1940) (Fig. 4).
Since the revision based on finding the disconformity just above the Brownville limestone, the Pennsylvanian-Permian boundary has been drawn uniformly by geologists of Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma at this horizon. The boundary was recognized by the state geologists of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma in their conference of May 5-6, 1947, although basal Permian sandstone (Indian Cave) barely reaches into the northwestern corner of Missouri and the southwestern corner of Iowa.
Kansas Geological Survey, Geology
Placed on web Jan. 26, 2009; originally published Nov. 1949.
Comments to firstname.lastname@example.org
The URL for this page is http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/Bulletins/83/03_bound.html | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39489000 |
This small little bird about the size of a chicken has somehow managed to significantly grow in popularity in the recent years. I am talking about the kiwi bird, the flightless bird that has become a symbol and nickname for New Zealanders all over the world. These birds are unusual and have certain characteristics that are not very common, like being nocturnal, having nostrils at the end of their beaks, and having an extremely developed sense of smell that enables them to detect food. They are also quite strange because they lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any bird species worldwide. They are also cute and fuzzy, which has led to many people wanting to have one as a pet.
While keeping kiwi birds as pets is not a great idea, there are other ways in which you can have one: making a pompom kiwi craft that you can take anywhere with you is a start! Not to mention how much fun will you have by making it. In order to make an adorable pompom kiwi, you will need an orange craft foam, such as sticky back foam. However, ordinary foam and glue works just as good. You will also need wiggle eyes and, naturally, glue. You should start by cutting two feet shape from the orange foam, which you should then stick to the pompom so they act as a base. Then, you need to glue a triangle of orange foam that will serve as the eyes. You also need to glue to wiggle eyes to the front of the pompom and there you go! Now you have your own kiwi toy.
If your children love the kiwi bird, not only can you make them a pompom craft, but you can also download and print kiwi posters that they can put in the room. With the Internet being at the tip of your fingers, finding such printables is very easy. Once you go online, you will come across kiwi posers, booklets, animal jigsaws, posters, writing paper, coloring pages, and even frames. Your children will be extremely happy with their brand new, customized school items. This will also give them the chance to learn more about the kiwi bird and maybe raise awareness among children regarding the importance of protecting this bird. They need to understand that the kiwi bird is endangered, so they cannot keep one as a pet. Instead, they can play with their pompom kiwi craft all they want! | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39493000 |
The Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large owl of the typical owl family Strigidae. The Snowy Owl was first classified in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish naturalist who developed binomial nomenclature to classify and organize plants and animals. The bird is also known in North America as the Arctic Owl or the Great White Owl. Until recently, it was regarded as the sole member of a distinct genus, as Nyctea scandiaca, but mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data (Olsen et al. 2002) shows that it is very closely related to the horned owls in the genus Bubo.
Typical female, Korkeasaari (Finland)
This yellow-eyed, black billed white bird is easily recognizable. It is 53-65 cm (20-26 inches) long with a 125-150 cm (50-60 in) wingspan. Also, these birds can weigh anywhere from 1.8-3 kg (3.5-6.6 lbs). The adult male is virtually pure white, but females and young birds have some dark scalloping; the young are heavily barred, and dark spotting may even be predominate. Its thick plumage, heavily-feathered feet, and coloration render the Snowy Owl well-adapted for life north of the Arctic Circle.
Snowy Owl calls are varied, but the alarm call is a barking, almost quacking krek-krek-krek-krek; the female also has a softer mewling pyee-pyee-pyee-pyee or prek-prek-prek. The song is a deep repeated gawh. They may also clap their beak in response to threats or annoyances. While called clapping, it is believed this sound may actually be a clicking of the tongue, not the beak.
Young Owl on the tundra at Barrow Alaska
The Snowy Owl is typically found in the northern circumpolar region, where it makes its summer home north of latitude 60 degrees north. However, it is a particularly nomadic bird, and because population fluctuations in its prey species can force it to relocate, it has been known to breed at more southerly latitudes. During the last ice age, there was a Central European paleosubspecies of this bird, Bubo scandiacus gallicus, but no modern subspecies are recognized.
This species of owl nests on the ground, building a scrape on top of a mound or boulder. A site with good visibility, ready access to hunting areas, and a lack of snow is chosen. Gravel bars and abandoned eagle nests may be used. Breeding occurs in May, and depending on the amount of prey available, clutch sizes range from 5 to 14 eggs, which are laid singly, approximately every other day over the course of several days. Hatching takes place approximately five weeks after laying, and the pure white young are cared for by both parents. Both the male and the female defend the nest with their young from predators. Some individuals stay on the breeding grounds while others migrate.
Snowy Owls winter south through Canada and northernmost Eurasia, with irruptions occurring further south in some years. They have been reported as far south as Texas, Georgia, the American Gulf states, southern Russia, northern China and even the Caribbean. Between 1967 and 1975, Snowy Owls bred on the remote island of Fetlar in the Shetland Isles north of Scotland, UK. Females summered as recently as 1993, but their status in the British Isles is now that of a rare winter visitor to Shetland, the Outer Hebrides and the Cairngorms.
Hunting and diet
This powerful bird relies primarily on lemmings and other rodents for food, but at times of low prey density, or during the ptarmigan nesting period, they may switch to juvenile ptarmigan. As opportunistic hunters, they feed on a wide variety of small mammals and birds such as meadow voles and deer mice, but will take advantage of larger prey, frequently following traplines to find food. Some of the larger mammal prey includes mice, hares, muskrats, marmots, squirrels, rabbits, prairie dogs, rats, moles, and entrapped furbearers. Birds include ptarmigan, ducks, geese, shorebirds, ring-necked pheasants, grouse, American coots, grebes, gulls, songbirds, and short-eared owls. Snowy Owls are also known to eat fish and carrion. Most of the owls' hunting is done in the "sit and wait" style; prey may be captured on the ground, in the air or fish may be snatched off the surface of bodies of water using their sharp talons. Each bird must capture roughly 7 to 12 mice per day to meet its food requirement and can eat more than 1,600 lemmings per year.
Snowy Owls, like many other birds, swallow their small prey whole. Strong stomach juices digest the flesh and the indigestible bones, teeth, fur, and feathers are compacted into oval pellets that the bird regurgitates 18 to 24 hours after feeding. Regurgitation often takes place at regular perches, where dozens of pellets may be found. Biologists frequently examine these pellets to determine the quantity and types of prey the birds have eaten. When large prey are eaten in small pieces, pellets will not be produced.
Though Snowy Owls have few predators, the adults are very watchful and well equipped to defend against any kind of threats towards them or their offspring. During the nesting season the owls face Arctic foxes and swift-flying jaegers and must be very careful not to leave their eggs unattended. Environmental conditions also cause local threats of food shortages, but their ability to be mobile permits them to move to areas were supplies may be more sufficient. Human activities probably pose the greatest danger to these birds, through collisions with power lines, fences, automobiles, or other structures that impose on their natural habitat. Now, Canadian provincial and territorial regulations have introduced prohibitions of killing of these birds in all parts of Canada, where they are most abundant, but the owls are still used for certain study programs.
This species is an extremely important component to the food web in the tundra ecosystem and during its visits to the south, the Snowy Owl may play a useful role in the natural control of rodents in agricultural regions.
In popular culture
- Steve (voiced by Jonathan Katz), the therapist who helps Jimmy the penguin with his love life in Farce of the Penguins is a Snowy owl.
- The O RLY? owl is a Snowy owl.
- In the 1994 film, Dumb and Dumber, Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) accidentally kills an Icelandic Snowy Owl with the cork of a bottle by launching it.
- The Snowy Owl is the official bird of Quebec.
- The Snowy Owl was depicted on the 1986 series Canadian $50 note .
- A Snowy White Owl named "Gamma" is the mascot of the fraternity Phi Gamma Delta.
- The Snowy Owl is a familiar in the popular online game, Kingdom of Loathing.
- In the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, Harry's owl, Hedwig, is a Snowy Owl.
- Although female, Hedwig is played by a male owl in the Harry Potter movies because males are more thoroughly white, lacking the barring of females.
- Queen Siv's servant Myrrthe from the "Guardians of Ga'Hoole" book series was a Snowy owl. So were Borron and Barran, Madame Plonk ,and The Rogue Smith of Silverveil.
- A Snowy owl is the logo of the cigar brand White Owl.
- The Inuit name for the Snowy Owl is "ookpik", "okpik" or "ukpik"
- Okpik, a cold-weather adventure program for the Boy Scouts of America
- Abe Okpik, an Inuvialuit who was instrumental in helping Inuit obtain surnames
- The Snowy Owl is one of many animals featured in the 2002 game Impossible Creatures
- A Snowy Owl is featured prominently on the cover painting of Canadian rock band Rush's 1975 album Fly By Night. A live owl appears on the cover of Rush's 1981 live album Exit...Stage Left, referencing Fly By Night. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39494000 |
Ganglion (GANG-lee-on) cysts are the most common type of soft tissue mass that form under your skin. Most commonly, ganglions are seen on the backside of the wrist and fingers, but they can also develop on your shoulder, elbow, and knee. Ganglions form when tissues surrounding certain joints become inflamed and swell up with lubricating fluid. In some cases, cysts can increase in size when the tissue is irritated and often can disappear spontaneously. Although these masses, which can be painful or painless, sometimes grow, they're not tumors or cancerous. The cause of ganglions is not always clear, however, conditions such as rheumatoid (rue-MAH-toyd) arthritis (arth-RYE-tis) have been associated with these cysts. Occupational factors can also play a role in the development of ganglions. Those occupations that require you to overuse certain joints, such as your wrist and fingers, pose a risk for developing ganglion cysts. A physician recognizes most ganglion cysts during physical examinations, but sometimes X-rays are used to confirm the diagnosis. A procedure called 'aspiration,' or the draining of the contents of the cyst, may be required to distinguish the differences from other causes of swelling. Other treatments for cysts can consist of rest or splinting the affected joint. If the cyst continues to reoccur, a surgeon can remove it. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39496000 |
A Hotlist of Lincoln Links
An Internet Hotlist on Lincoln Links
created by Web Master, Mrs. Matherly
Lincoln Elementary School
| Social Studies
Lincoln Elementary School students enjoy exploring the internet. Their teachers create new and interesting projects using several links. The links below are a preview of some of the links used by students. Please email me if any of the links are broken or are unavailable.
The Internet Resources
- America's Story - Meet Amazing Americans, Jump Back In Time, Explore the States, Join America At Play, See, Hear and Sing
- Be Fire Smart -
- Carolyn Lesser Home Page - Learn about Author Carolyn Lesser, who will be visiting Clinton Schools in October.
- Earth Day- FunSchool -
- Earth Day- PBS Kids -
- Earth Day- Primary Games -
- Earth Day- The Kidz Page Celebration for the Kids -
- Fire Prevention Activities for Kids -
- Get NetWise - Internet Safety Tips for parents and kids.
- Gettysburg Address Live Webcast - To honor Abraham Lincoln's 200th Birthday!
- Harvest Day- Corn Facts and Fun Websites -
- Helpful Games - Educational games for children in school Welcome to Helpfulgames! We have educational games that kids at school think are fun while they learn their skills. Learning should be fun! Choose a category from below for suggestions on fun and helpful games for children in elementary school.
- Internet Saftey Quiz -
- Mouse Practice Links -
- Mr. Anker's Tests for 3rd Grade - Activities for math, reading, language, etc
- Mr. Ankers Tests for 2nd Grade - Activities for math, reading, language, etc
- Qtopia - Mrs. Campbell's Class - Qtopia is an online learning platform that offers thousands of ready-to-use activities, motivating games, avatar features, online homework access with automatic grading, in-classroom review modes, and the ability for educators to use 'as is' or completely customize the learning experience
- Sample Practice ISAT Tests for Students -
- Spelinng City -
- Spelling City- Dolch Site Words -
- Spelling City- Mrs. Bostic -
- Spelling City- Mrs. Donaldson's Class -
- Spelling City- Mrs. Howell's Class -
- Spelling City- Stith's Class -
- Welcome to the Web. - Learn about the internet, how to use it, web browsers and more.
- 50 States -
- Abraham Lincoln Online.org - Great information about our 16th president. Includes photo tours of Lincoln places, quiz, frequently asked questions by students, speeches, current events about Lincoln preservation.
- All About World Geography -
- American Memory Timeline - This timeline covers important events in American History. Beginning with the establishing of our country going through to the nation after World War II.
- At Home in the Heartland - Learn what it was like to live in Illinois during the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s.
- Aviation -
- Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids - Great site to learn about our government through games, photos, activities.
- Children's Encyclopedia of Women - Excellent biographies with pictures, timeline, important dates in women's history and research sources. Created by third and fourth grade students at Pocantico Hills School in Sleepy Hollow, NY.
- Daniel Boone -
- FRANCE -
- FirstGov for Kids - This site provides links to Federal kids' sites along with some of the best kids' sites from other organizations all grouped by subject. Great information and interactive games!
- Geo Spy -
- Henry Ford and Model T -
- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Textbooks- Social Studies -
- Illinois Facts -
- Illinois State Informaton -
- Interactive Maps -
- Kids Web Japan - Lots of information about Japan.
- Lewis and Clark - Go West Across America with Lewis and Clark
- Lewis and Clark Trail - Travel the Trail
- Louisiana Purchase -
- Martin Luther King Biography -
- Martin Luther King Scavenger Hunt -
- Martin Luther King Speeches -
- McGraw-Hill Time Links- Communities -
- Multimedia Biographies - Excellent site from Hartcourt School
- NCES - Search for Schools, Colleges, and Libraries -
- Net State.com - Information on the state symbols, flags, state almanacks and more.
- Pioneers - Learn about the Pioneer Life
- Test your Geography knowledge - Geography Quizzes
- Time For Kids -
- U.S. Interactive Maps -
- Westward Expansion - Learn About the Westward Expansion
- White House 101 - Our Presidents, Fun Facts, First Pets
- A Hotlist on Search Engines - Student safe search engines.
- Brain Pop Jr. - This website has Science, Math, Reading & Writing, Social Studies, Health, and games.
- Discovery Channel Puzzlemaker - When printing your puzzle go to File, click print, and click on pages from 1 to 1, then you may print by clicking OK.
- Discovery School For Kids - Links, current events, and more.
- Edmodo -
- Enchanted Learning - Excellent Site for information
- Google -
- Groundhog Day - Activities for Groundhog Day
- Harcourt School - This site contains great activities to go along with your science book. Also awesome activities in math and social science.
- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Textbooks - Choose your textbook and subject: Reading/Language Arts; Mathematics, Science, Social Science and Spelling
- Interactive White Board Activites -
- Learn to Read -
- Macmillan/Macgraw-Hill Textbooks - Choose your textbook and subject: Math, Reading, Language Arts, Social Studies, and Science
- Microsoft Office Online Clip Art - Great for Power Point projects!!
- Online Encyclopedia -
- Rebecca Sitton Spelling Activities 3rd Grade -
- Rebecca Sitton Spelling Activities- 2nd Grade -
- Scholastic Computer Lab Favorites - 50 one-step learning activities- 15-30 minutes each
- Scoot Pad - ScootPad is the ultimate way to master math and reading skills. Self-paced and personalized practice keeps kids engaged & challenged.
- The Scholastic Network - Where children love to learn and learn to grow.
- Topmarks Education - Teaching resources, interactive resources, worksheets, homework exam and revision help. Great site!!
- Web School - Variety of activities and subjects.
- World Almanac for Kids - Great web site to learn about the world, our nation, and our states.
- Yahooligans -
- A-Z Animals - Great site to get facts for animals.
- All About Frogs -
- Animal Classification Hangman Game -
- Ant Facts -
- Ant Research -
- Build-A-Prairie - Great interactive website
- Dinosaur Links -
- Dinosaur Times - Explore the era of dinosaurs and organize them into appropriate time periods
- Dinosaurs - Lots of information on Dinosaurs and fun games to play.
- Dinosaurs Information -
- Division to Multiply - Great site to learn about mitosis.
- ENature; The National Audobon Society - This site contains comprehensive information on animals, insects, habitats, plants, and more. Great site for those mammal or insect reports.
- Earth Day Activities - Games and Activities for Earth Day
- Ecosystem Information -
- Edupic Graphical Resource - Information and pictures of flower, plant, plant cell,simple machines, etc.
- Enchanted Learning -
- Forces and Magnets -
- Grade 2 dinosaur webquest -
- Kids Astronomy - Planet research
- Kids Health For Kids - Very good information explaining health issues to children. Also learn about the systems of the body.
- Living Things -
- Natural History Notebooks -
- Nutrition Cafe - Where nutrition info is fun!
- Ocean Oasis Field Guide - Photos, information about marine life and plants.
- Penguins -
- Penguins Around the World -
- Puffins -
- Recycle City - Great site to learn about recycling through games, activities, and information.
- Skeletal System -
- Solar System - Information on the nine planets
- Steve Spangler Science Experiments -
- The Learning Planet - Various learning games for kids.
- The Weather Channel - Find up-to-date weather information for the local area or somewhere you are interested.
- Uncover Lizards and Snakes - Learn the story of squamates and reptiles in this Science Explorations unit
- Weather Concentration -
- Weather Wiz Kids - This website is especially for kids to allow them to learn more about the fascinating world of weather.
- Who Zoo - List of animals with facts and pictures.
- Who Zoo Wild - List of animals with facts and pictures.
- ABCya.com - ABCya.com is the leader in free educational kids computer games and activities for elementary students to learn on the web. All children's educational computer activities were created or approved by certified school teachers. All educational games are free and are modeled from primary grade lessons and enhanced to provide an interactive way for children to learn. Grade level lessons incorporate areas such as math and language arts while introducing basic computer skills.
- Bang on Time - Read the time in words and then stop the clock when the hands are in the matching position.
- BasketMath Interactive - This site has practice in many different areas of math.
- Cool Math - Great website for games!
- Counting Money Hotlist -
- Draggable Math - A great program to use on the Starboard!
- Fractions - List of Fraction websites
- Fun 4 the Brain - Lots of fun activities for Math. Addition, Subtraction, etc.
- Fun Brain Measurement Activity - Learn more about measures.
- Funbrain -
- Geometric Shapes and Tanagrams -
- Geometry- 2nd Grade - EGames- RoboPacker
- Geometry- Interactive Tangrams -
- Geometry- Perimeter and Area -
- Geometry- Symmetry-Level 3- Volume1 -
- Geometry- Tanagrams -
- Geometry-2nd Grade - Icy Slides, Flips, and Turns
- Home School Math - Great activities for area and perimeter.
- IXL- 3rd Grade Math Skills - Numbers and Comparing, Place Value, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication,Division, Fractions, Graphs, Measurement, etc.
- IXL- Math Practice Site - Practice makes perfect, and IXL makes math practice fun. With unlimited math questions in more than 1,000 topics, students improve their skills and confidence and always have new challenges to meet.
- Interactive Clock - Mrs. Jenkins found this website!
- Lemonade Stand II -
- Map Math -
- Math Facts -
- Math Play - At Math Play you can find a wide variety of fun games that you can play online. Most games are suitable for elementary and middle grades. They are organized by grade level, content, and game type.
- Math Word Problems -
- Math- Grade 2 - Addition, Subtraction and Multiplication
- Mr. Wolf's Interactive Math Games -
- Multiplication Quizzes online -
- Multiplication.Com - This site contains the techniques, tips, and secrets used by master teachers!
- Place Value Activities -
- Primary Games- Math -
- Robo Packer Game -
- Shodor Interactivate - Interactive activies in Math and Science
- Stop the Clock Five- Army Time - Drag the five digital times to the correct analog clock. Then press stop the clock to record your time.
- Stop the Clock Three - Drag the five digital times to the correct analog clock. Then press stop the clock to record your time.
- Think Central Math -
- Virtual Manipulatives: Fraction Tiles - Fraction tiles are a good way for students to explore and understand how parts make up a whole. Teachers and parents can utilize this resource when giving a lesson on fractions with students.
Content by Web Master, Mrs. Matherly, Kmatherly@cusd15.k12.il.us
Last revised Fri Apr 19 6:56:26 US/Pacific 2013 | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39497000 |
Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)
Lupus Erythematosus (LE) is a disorder that may involve only the skin (cutaneous LE), or it may involve many parts of the body, including the kidneys (systemic LE, also known as SLE).
SLE affects people of all ages. Females are affected more often than males. Young women represent a large group of SLE sufferers. The cause of SLE is not clearly understood. An abnormal immune system from genetic and/or environmental factors may be responsible.
Kidney involvement is significant in SLE, but not all patients suffer from it. The extent to which the kidneys are affected by SLE is variable and involvement may also change over time. Kidney involvement is not always serious. Only one in five cases is severe.
SLE symptoms and signs of kidney involvement
There are many different symptoms of SLE. Common ones include joint pain and swelling, skin rashes, fever, and also signs of kidney involvement.
Kidney involvement may be detected with urine testing, e.g. protein in the urine. On other occasions, it may be discovered because of swelling or high blood pressure. Sometimes, it may present itself in abnormal blood tests during follow-up.
Symptoms of kidney failure occur in the later stages of kidney damage. Unfortunately, the degree of kidney disease may be more advanced than is apparent from the other signs of SLE.
Available treatments for SLE kidney disease
Treatment depends on the degree of damage. Your doctor may need to determine this with tests including urine, blood, or even with a kidney biopsy. In mild cases, treatment may be the same as for those patients with SLE who do not have kidney disease. However, in more severe cases, treatment with drugs like Prednisone, Azathioprine, or Cyclophosphamide may be required.
If blood pressure becomes high, then medication for high blood pressure is important.
If the kidneys fail, then dialysis or a kidney transplant are treatments that are available. A transplanted kidney is seldom affected by SLE.
With treatment, the outlook for SLE patients with kidney problems improves over the years. Even serious cases may improve, become stable, or be cured, although monitoring must continue to detect flare-ups of the disease.
Pregnancy and SLE kidney disease
Pregnancy is an important question for young women with SLE kidney disease. Before pregnancy is considered, you should consult your doctor. Your doctor will discuss with you the risks involved, taking into account the degree and severity of the kidney problem, blood pressure, prior pregnancy problems and SLE activity. Drugs may have to be taken during pregnancy and most are usually well tolerated.
With acknowledgement to C.K. Yeung, MD, FRACP, FRCPC, Nephrologist, Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre, Vancouver, B.C. for his assistance in compiling this information. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39503000 |
By Pure Matters
Detailed information on pregnancy and childbirth, including information on birth statistics, pregnancy planning, preconception care, prenatal care, pregnancy discomforts, pregnancy tests, pregnancy risks, pregnancy warning signs, labor and delivery.
A pregnancy is divided into three phases, called trimesters. Each trimester has its own significant milestones. The first trimester is the most fragile period, during which all major organs and systems are formed. Most birth defects and miscarriages occur during the first trimester. During the second and third trimester, the fetus is fully formed and grows and matures rapidly. The trimesters are divided as follows:
- first trimester: 0 - 12 weeks
- second trimester: 12 - 24 weeks
- third trimester: 24 - 40 weeks
(However, some authorities use the 42 weeks method divided by 3 trimesters with the 1st trimester, 0 - 13 weeks; the 2nd trimester, 14 - 28 weeks; and the 3rd trimester, 29 - 42 weeks.)
Listed in the directory below, you will find additional information regarding the three phases of pregnancy, for which we have provided a brief overview. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39511000 |
February is recognized as Black History month across the country -- and yesterday in Williston, that history in this part of the country was discussed.
Assistant History professor Richard Stenberg hosted a forum yesterday on the campus where he presented his research on the role African Americans played in the fur trade at Ft. Union.
He says little is known...but they have discovered there were some key players in the trade.
It is also interesting, that slavery was outlawed here during that time...but that doesn't mean in didn't exist.
(Richard Stenberg - WSC Professor) "Interestingly the Missouri Compromise of 1820 said there would be no slaves in the former territories of the Louisiana Purchase, there were still slaves operating on the Missouri River for example, the steamboats passing right by here en route to places like Fort Union and several of the early managers had slaves that they had on site." | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39517000 |
Scientists have discovered ancient pockets of water, which have been isolated deep underground for billions of years and contain abundant chemicals known to support life.
Scientists have developed a new valve— made from Zirconia— used to restore vocal function for patients with throat cancer. It lasts eight times longer than silicone valves.
A new design tool interprets hand gestures, enabling designers and artists to create and modify three-dimensional shapes using only their hands as a "natural user interface" instead of keyboard and mouse.
Carbon aerogels can absorb organic solvents and oils up to 106 to 312 times its own weight because of its high porosity and hydrophobility. This makes it an ideal candidate for cleaning up oil spills.
Scientists have reported the development of an “exceptionally” effective new retardant that works in two ways and appears to be safer and more environmentally friendly.
Announcements at Google's sixth annual conference for software developers included new features for online games, maps and search, a new music-streaming service and enhancements to its Google Plus social network, including tools for sharing and enhancing photos.
Engineers have combined layers of flexible materials into pressure sensors to create a wearable heart monitor thinner than a dollar bill.
Researchers have found that the key to purple bacteria’s light-harvesting prowess lies in highly symmetrical molecules.
Colorful vegetables are promoted as key to a healthy diet, but white vegetables, especially potatoes, shouldn't be forgotten.
The Navy, for the first time, launched an unmanned aircraft the size of a fighter jet from a warship in the Atlantic Ocean.
A surprising new report questions public health efforts to get Americans to sharply cut back on salt, saying it's not clear whether eating super-low levels is worth the struggle.
A new report assesses the state of high-field magnet science, engineering and technology in the U.S. and finds it very strong.
Tuber processing giant J.R. Simplot Co. asked the U.S. government to approve five varieties of biotech potatoes that resist browning and are designed to produce lower levels of potentially cancer-causing acrylamide when fried.
Nanometer-scale alloys possess the ability to emit light so brightly they could have potential applications in medicine.
Researchers are considering the brain’s superior ability to send electrical signals along massively parallel channels: if a supercomputer was like a brain it would learn, adapt, hypothesize and then suggest answers. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39522000 |
right of privacy: access to personal information
The right of privacy has evolved to protect the ability of individuals to determine what sort of information about themselves is collected, and how that information is used. Most commercial websites utilize "cookies," as well as forms, to collect information from visitors such as name, address, email, demographic info, social security number, IP address, and financial information. In many cases, this information is then provided to third parties for marketing purposes. Other entities, such as the federal government and financial institutions, also collect personal information. The threats of fraud and identity theft created by this flow of personal information have been an impetus for right of privacy legislation requiring disclosure of information collection practices, opt-out opportunities, as well as internal protections of collected information. However, such requirements have yet to reach all segments of the marketplace.
15 U.S.C. § 45 charges the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) with preventing "unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce." In matters of privacy, the FTC's role is one of enforcing privacy promises made in the marketplace. Several additional laws form the foundation on which the FTC carries out this charge: the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. § 552a), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 6801-6809), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.), and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 6501-6506).
The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C. § 552a) protects personal information held by the federal government by preventing unauthorized disclosures of such information. Individuals also have the right to review such information, request corrections, and be informed of any disclosures. The Freedom of Information Act facilitates these processes.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.) protects personal financial information collected by consumer reporting agencies. The Act limits those who can access such infomation, and subsequent amendments have simplified the process by which consumers can obtain and correct the information collected about themselves. The FTC also actively enforces prohibitions on fraudulently obtaining personal financial information, a crime known as "pretexting."
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 6501-6506) allows parents to control what information is collected about their child (younger than 13 years old) online. Operators of websites that either target children or knowingly collect personal information from children are required to post privacy policies, obtain parental consent before collecting information from children, allow parents to determine how such information is used, and provide the option to parents to opt-out of future collection from their child.
However, despite the rights described above, other participants in the marketplace are not bound by law to develop similar protections and disclosure practices. Rather, in the remainder of the marketplace, the FTC encourages a voluntary regime of protecting consumer privacy. In two reports to Congress (1998, 2000) though, the FTC found that most sites falling outside of the jurisdiction of the established right of privacy laws do not adequately inform consumers about collection practices, nor do the majority of sites adequately protect the privacy of visitors' personal information. It appears that the voluntary regime is insufficient, and the prospect of further right of privacy legislation in the area of access to personal information is very real. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39530000 |
Introduction for the Teacher
To prepare yourself spiritually to teach this lesson, please read and ponder the following:
The Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead, along with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He is a personage of spirit (see D&C 130:22). The mission of the Holy Ghost is to testify of the Father and the Son and of the truth of all things (see 3 Nephi 11:36; Moroni 10:5). He can also guide us to make righteous choices and comfort us (see D&C 31:11). The way the Holy Ghost speaks to us is described in the scriptures as a “still small voice” (see 1 Kings 19:11–12).
Begin with a gathering activity. For ideas, see page 3.
Invite a child to give the opening prayer.
Tell the children that you are going to sing a song about Heavenly Father. Sing or say the words to the first verse of
Invite the children to say “Spirit.” Tell them that another name for the Spirit of God is the Holy Ghost. Invite the children to say “Holy Ghost.” Explain that the Holy Ghost helps us know that Heavenly Father loves us.
Tell the children that when we do what is right, the Holy Ghost helps us know we made a good choice. Invite the children to join you as you role-play doing things that are right. For example:
It’s the right thing to go to church. Let’s pretend to walk to church (swing arms as you walk in a circle).
Repeat with other examples, such as sharing a toy, helping Mother sweep the floor, and so on.
Explain that the Holy Ghost can also help us when we are afraid. Tell the following story:
One day there was a bad storm outside David’s house. There was loud thunder (have children cover their ears) and lots of wind (have children blow to mimic the wind) and rain (have children mimic the rain with their fingers). David was afraid. His mother told him that when she is afraid she prays to Heavenly Father (show the picture on page 30). David and his mother prayed that Heavenly Father would keep them safe. Then David felt safe and happy. His mother said that Heavenly Father had sent the Holy Ghost to give him those feelings so he wouldn’t be afraid.
Invite the children to say “Holy Ghost.”
Share your testimony of the Holy Ghost. This could include a simple, brief experience from your own life when you were guided by the Holy Ghost.
Invite a child to give the closing prayer.
For the illustration activity: Copy the illustration on page 31 for each child.
For the cube game: Copy the illustration on page 31 and color it if desired. Cut along the solid lines and fold along the dotted lines. Tape or glue the tabs to make a cube.
Form a circle with the children and recite the following activity verse:
Tell the children that Jesus taught in the scriptures that the Holy Ghost will teach us. Open the Bible to John 14:26 and read, “The Holy Ghost … shall teach you all things.” Invite the children to repeat the phrase with you, a few words at a time.
Display the illustration on page 31 and give each child a copy of the illustration. Point to the picture of the Church building and explain that the Holy Ghost helps us know that going to church is the right thing to do. Invite the children to point to the Church building on their copies. Repeat for the other illustrations.
Roll the cube you made. Read the caption on the top of the cube, and have the children repeat it with you. Then have the children do some simple actions to go with the picture. When the side with the words “The Holy Ghost Helps Me” comes up, tell the children that the Holy Ghost helps us know when we’ve done something good. Repeat, giving each child a turn to roll the cube. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39535000 |
A guide to some of the best resources for teaching about American Indians, including lesson plans, articles, websites, and field trip opportunities.
Planning a unit on American Indians and not sure where to start? We’ve assembled a guide with lesson plans, articles, and the very best websites available on the internet to help you teach about America’s first people. Don’t miss the field trip opportunities from Discover NC!
- Guides for teachers
- Student readings and multimedia
- Lesson plans
- Best practices
- Field trips
- Teaching about North Carolina American Indians
- This web edition is drawn from a teachers institute curriculum enrichment project on North Carolina American Indian Studies conducted by the North Carolina Humanities Council. Resources include best practices for teaching about American Indians, suggestions for curriculum integration, webliographies, lesson plans about North Carolina American Indians, and audio recordings of Cherokee language and folklore.
- Intrigue of the Past
- Lesson plans about the fundamental concepts, processes, and issues of archaeology, as well as essays for the teacher with detailed information about four periods in North Carolina’s ancient history.
- Native Carolinians
- Readings for students on the archaeology and history of North Carolina before Europeans arrived, including a discussion of how our understanding of North Carolinia’s first peoples continues to evolve.
- We Have a Story to Tell: Native Peoples of the Chesapeake Region
- Republished with permission from the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, this edition explores historical and current issues faced by the Indians of the Chesapeake Bay, and includes a student project that uses primary sources to engage students with one of three issues faced by Chesapeake Indians — the effects of treaty-making, the denial of civil rights, and the importance of legal recognition.
- The Tuscarora War and Cary’s Rebellion
- In early 18th century North Carolina, clashes between coThis chapter explores the fate of the native peoples of eastern North Carolina, analyzes their conflicts with colonists, presents the words of both sides, and discusses what happened to them after 1720.
- Fort Dobbs and the French and Indian War in North Carolina
- From Fort Dobbs State Historic Site, a brief history of the fighting between colonists and Cherokee during the 1750s and 1760s. Includes photos from a reenactment.
- The Rutherford Expedition
- The Cherokee sided with the British in the War for Independence, and North Carolina revolutionaries attacked Cherokee villages. Led by General Griffith Rutherford, they burned villages and destroyed crops and food supplies. Developed by the North Carolina Office of Archives and History, primary sources, an overview essay, and maps tell the story.
- Cherokee Removal and the Trail of Tears
- Primary sources and an overview essay tell the story of the Cherokee’s forced removal from their homeland by the U.S. Army, including Cherokee attempts to resist and the establishment of the Eastern Band.
- The Removal of the Cherokee Indians
- This lesson allows students to assess the influence of the Trail of Tears. Students will read a brief history of the Cherokee Indians, past and present. They will watch the Unto These Hills video and read excerpts from Native Americans and government officials during the Indian Removal. Students will write an essay supporting or opposing the Indian Removal Act. (Grades 9-12)
- Not “Indians,” Many Tribes: Native American Diversity
- Students will heighten their awareness of Native American diversity as they learn about three vastly different Native groups in a game-like activity using archival documents such as vintage photographs, traditional stories, photos of artifacts, and recipes. (Grades 3 & 5)
- Native American Cultures across the U.S.
- This EDSITEment lesson discusses the differences between five Native American tribes within the U.S. Students will learn about customs and traditions such as housing, agriculture, and ceremonial dress for the Tlingit, Dine, Lakota, Muscogee, and Iroquois peoples. (Grades K-2)
- Traditions and Languages of Three Native Cultures: Tlingit, Lakota, & Cherokee
- Students learn about the environment, history, language, and culture of the Tlingit, Lakota, and Cherokee. (Grades K-2)
North Carolina Indians
- Native Carolinians — Lessons from “Two Worlds: Educator’s Guide”
- This collection of lesson plans, activities, and additional materials for teachers accompanies the Native Carolinians chapter of the North Carolina digital history textbook. The chapter discusses what we know about the first residents of North Carolina. Lesson plans and activities explore theories of migration, religious views, agricultural practices, and the distinct cultures of the mountains, Piedmont, and coast. (Grade 8)
- Cherokee Relocation
- Using primary sources from the Documenting the American South collection, students will investigate the boundaries of the Cherokee lands set for North Carolina after the Revolutionary War. (Grade 8)
- A Comprehensive Study of North Carolina Indian Tribes
- Students will apply their research skills of gathering and validating information to study the eight state recognized American Indian tribes of North Carolina in order to create an Honors U.S. History Project. Students then will create a comprehensive study of those tribes to be compiled into a notebook to be copied and shared with the eighth grade teachers of North Carolina History in our county. (Grades 11 & 12)
- First Americans of North Carolina and the United States
- This lesson will use shared reading, center time, hands-on projects, and journal writing to help learners discover facts about first Americans, particularly those in the region that is today North Carolina, while at the same time developing their English language skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. (Grade K)
- North Carolina place names
- This lesson contrasts and compares the names that Native Americans living in North Carolina gave to their villages and places with the names that European and other settlers gave to theirs. (Grade 8)
More lesson plans
Browse our collection for additional lesson plans about American Indians.
- Edward S. Curtis’s The North American Indian
- This site presents the 2226 photographs taken by Edward S. Curtis for his work The North American Indian. Included are images of tribes from Great Plains, Great Basin, Plateau Region, Southwest, California, Pacific Northwest, and Alaska.
- Who Stole the Tee Pee? An online exhibit of the National Museum of the American Indian
- Historical artifacts from the National Museum of the American Indian and art by contemporary Native Americans is utilized to explore changes and the causes of changes in Native American cultures since the 1900s. This website asks what happened to the traditions of Native Americans, offers a look beyond clichés about Indians, and looks at Native Americans as artists, as a community, and as individuals.
- American Indians and the Natural World
- An introductory exploration into the cultures of the Tlingit, the Hopi, the Iroquois, and the Lakota tribes of Native Americans.
North Carolina Indians
- The Museum of the Native American Resource Center
- The exhibits on display at this museum include prehistoric tools and weapons, 19th century Lumbee artifacts, contemporary Indian art and items which represent Native Americans from all over North America.
- The Lumbee Tribe
- This official site of the Lumbee Indian Tribe of North Carolina provides the history of the tribe with a timeline of events as well as information on the culture of the tribe including religion, way of life, language, education, and more.
- Museum of the Cherokee Indian
- Official site of the museum of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina.
- Town Creek Indian Mound
- This site provided by the North Carolina Division of Archives and History contains information about visiting Town Creek, a section on Montgomery County and the vicinity, a Native American Cultural Synopsis, and a section on the Pee Dee Culture.
- Roanoke Revisited Heritage Education Program
- This resource from the National Park Service’s Fort Raleigh site includes a wealth of information on Roanoke. Of particular interest is Unit Four, which offers detailed accounts of Native American life in the 1580s, covering such topics as towns, dwellings, transportation, agriculture, hunting and fishing, cooking, religion, and dress.
- Family Stories from the Trail of Tears
- The Sequoyah Research Center offers this collection of narratives collected by the WPA in the 1930s, most of which share stories of the trail of tears that were handed down from parents and grandparents. Several of these accounts are from North Carolina and all present a rare first-hand glimpse into the experience of Indian Removal from a native perspective.
- Never That Far: Lumbee Men and World War II
- This site from UNC-Pembroke offers oral history interviews with Lumbee veterans of the Second World War. Sources like this one provide an excellent opportunity to integrate American Indian history with the larger story of U.S. history in a seamless way. Video requires RealPlayer.
Browse our collection for additional websites about American Indians.
- Teaching about Thanksgiving
- Resources and activities to help you bring historical accuracy, cultural sensitivity, and a broader context to discussions about the quintessentially American holiday.
- Teaching About Native American Issues
- This resource from Understanding Prejudice provides teachers with some do’s and don’t’s for teaching about American Indians thoughtfully and respectfully.
- Getting the “Indian” out of the Cupboard: Using Information Literacy to Promote Critical Thinking
- By Rhonda Harris Taylor and Lotsee Patterson, this article from The Teacher Librarian: The Journal of School Library Professionals acknowledges the impossibility of screening all of the cultural references to American Indians that our students will encounter and provides some useful ideas for teaching students the critical thinking skills necessary to filter out biased or stereotypical assumptions about American Indians and argues that this approach, combined with exposure to American Indian resources from a native perspective, can help students come to a more genuine and accurate appreciation of American Indian history.
- North Carolina’s First Colonists: 12,000 Years Before Roanoke
- This article, by Stephen R. Claggett of the Office of State Archaeology in the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, provides an overview of North Carolina’s prehistory as well as an introduction to archaeological methods and their uses for unearthing the ancient past of our state.
- Hanging Rock State Park
- Students will learn about the Sauratown Mountains and the Saura Indians for which the mountains were named at Hanging Rock State Park. Ranger led programs are available for class field trips which correlate to the North Carolina curriculum for 5th through 8th grades.
- Oconaluftee Indian Village
- A model of a Cherokee Indian Village from over 250 years ago with guides in native costume to answer questions and explain their heritage.
- Indian Museum of the Carolinas
- This Native American museum features the Indians of the past, present day Indian groups and Indians of North America.
- Meherrin Indian Tribe
- Attend a Pow-Wow and see demonstrations of Meherrin Indian culture through dance, a drum competition, pottery, and beading.
More field trips
For more field trip options by county, use the interactive map in Discover NC! | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39540000 |
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Challenges to India’s Patent Regime: Pharma Industry
The works of the founder of the states, law givers tyrant destroyers and Heroes cover but narrow spaces, and endure but for a little time, while the Work of the inventor though of less pomp is felt everywhere and last forever. (Francis Bacon)
A PATENT is an exclusive right granted to a person who invented a new article or an improvement of an existing article or a new process of making an article. It consists of an exclusive right to manufacture the new article invented or manufacture an article according to the invented process for a limited period.
Object Of Patent Law:
The object of granting a patent is to encourage and develop a new technology and industry. An inventor may disclose the new invention only if he is rewarded, otherwise he may work it secretly. Thus the theory upon which the patent system is based upon is that the opportunity of acquiring exclusive rights in an invention stimulates technical progress in four ways:
• that it encourages research and invention
• that it induces an inventor to disclose his discoveries instead of keeping them as trade secret;
• that it offers the reward for the expenses of developing invention to the stage at which they are commercially practicable; and
• that it provides an inducement to invest capital in new lines of production which might not appear profitable if many competing producers embark on them simultaneously;
Value Of Patent System:
Some controversy exists as to precise extent of the contributions made by the patent system to the economic development of a country. But the adoption of some kind of the patent production for inventions in all most all countries, and the ever increasing number of applications for patents received by the patent offices in all industrially advanced countries is an indication of the universal recognition of the value of the patent system. Most of the inventions and discoveries made in technology in all fields are published in the patents specifications field in the patent offices of different countries. A world wide exchange of technical information has been made possible only by the publications of such patent specifications.
In a sense patents have assumed an international character. The increasing number of applications for Patents from foreigners received in almost all countries in recognition of fact. Attempts are being made from time to time by international associations for the protection of individual property and to introduce more and more uniformity and harmonization among national Patents systems. The International convention for the Protection of Industrial property (Paris Convention) and GATT and TRIPS agreement are examples of attempts at harmonization of the law of patents & other forms intellectual property.
Main Provisions Associated With Trips Agreement
The TRIPS consistent Indian patent law addressed three important issues relating to patent of products:
i) Adoption of definition of “pharmaceutical substance”;
ii) Exclusion of “mere discovery of a new form of known substance” and “new use for a known substance”; and
(iii) Protecting the interests of those who are already producing the products which may be granted patent protection in the new regime.
The patent regime adopted in TRIPS by the developed countries is somehow of the capitalists nature and it prioritizes the profit motive over the social responsibilities. In continuation to these discrepancies, TRIPS also rule out any discrimination between the technological sectors and advocates the same protection for all the technological inventions fulfilling the criteria.
Even after the acceptance of the TRIPS agreement, the following five major areas still controversial for both the parties to the trips:
1) IPRs and access to medicines,
2) IPRs, community property rights and indigenous knowledge,
3) IPRs and biodiversity,
4) IPRs, biotechnology and agriculture,
5) IPR policy and trade.
There is no doubt that “product patent regime” have spurred the R&D for diseases- notably, those with the lucrative potential market in the industrialized world. However, TRIPs has failed and will continue to fail to stimulate sufficient R&D for diseases that primarily affect poor countries. TRIPs had forced all the developing countries to switch over to product patent regime from process patent regime and hence, restrict the access of the cost effective essential medicines to their people.
Challenges to patent regime in India
India enjoys several strengths amongst others developing and least developing countries, particularly, in case of the production of the food grains and drugs, and proudly hosts world cheapest pharma industries. Even with these impressive facts, one billion Indians, spend the same amount on medical drugs per year as seven million men and women in Switzerland. The amount spent on drugs here in India roughly corresponds to the profit made by a single pharma MNC “Novartis” in a typical year. These figures are enough to reflect the dying conditions of the public health services in India. It is now almost a well established fact that TRIPs provisions have already started affecting a person’s human right to access health services (India and the WTO)
HIV/AIDS alone have caused death of about 3 million people in 2002, including 60000 children. Around 5 million new patients were victimized by it. Around 95% of the 42 million AIDS victims are the people living in developing countries. Only 3 lakh of the 60 lakh advance stage patients of HIV have access to life saving medicines in third world countries. These figures and facts are clearly indicating the adverse effects of TRIPS Provisions in the form of restriction on access to essential medicines to the poor people and diminishing possibilities of introduction of new drugs for their diseases.
The Indian Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005 (The Act ) introduced product
Patents in India and marked the beginning of a new patent regime aimed at protecting the
Intellectual property rights of patent holders. The Act was in fulfilment of India’s
Commitment to World Trade Organization (WTO) on matters relating to Agreement on
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement).
As part of its WTO-TRIPS regime obligations under Articles 70.8 and 70.9, India created the "mail-box" to withhold patent applications which had pharmaceutical products as a subject-matter. What was unveiled as a provisional measure was the transitional system of "Exclusive Marketing Rights" to ensure the interests of domestic manufacturers who mainly survived on off patenting and reverse engineering of patent able bulk drugs and formulations for a long time. In the last years of the regime, grant of two major yet controversial EMR's to Novartis and Eli Lily showed how the entire system shook up the domestic manufacturer who waged a litigative battle in response to the first simulation of the post-product patent industry scenario in India. This not only lay threadbare as to how the grant mechanism was liberal, draconian and absolutist in the eyes of the Indian manufacturer. The focus which the policy makers lost in connecting quality control regulations with grant process of marketing rights was the bureaucratic red tape surrounding the operation of provisions in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the way clinical trials were conducted in India
Litigation Battle: Novartis Sues India
The letter and spirit in which India transitioned into the new patent regime has been put to litmus test by Novartis which sued India with the institution of a writ Petition before the High Court of Judicature at Madras. Several countries praised India’s contribution to life saving drugs and requested Novartis not to challenge. However, Novartis filed its case with Indian court at Chennai and sought patentability of its product Gleevac filed under EMR provisions on the grounds alleging:
(i) illegality in procedure adopted and also the text of 3(d) of The Act which was in violation of Article 27(1) and 27(2) of TRIPS Agreement;
(ii) arbitrariness by the Controller General of Patents & Designs, Chennai and ignoring rationality underlying Articles 253 and 51(c) of the Indian Constitution whereby national laws are required to be harmonized with International treaties;
(iii) Provision relating to discovery of “new form” contained in 3(d) is illogical and against the concept of patents which encourages innovation and Intervention by rewarding the person associated with such acts beneficial for society;
(iv) Deliberate incorporation after approval of its product Gleevac under the earlier prevailing EMR provisions resulted in disturbing the level playing field laid under the Act in compliance with conditionality under TRIPS Agreement.
The Technical Expert Group on Patent Law Issues with Mr. Mashelkar as it’s
Chairman (Mashelkar Committee ) submitted its report to the Government of India on its
terms of reference which favoured incremental modifications / innovations for qualifying for the grant of patent as New Chemical Entities (NCE).Several NGOs opposed the case filed by Novartis and urged the doctors and medical professionals to boycott its products in India. The Indian court rejected the plea of Novartis on patent of Gleevac for violation of TRIPS Agreement. This patent case is considered to be a threat to developing nations and the treatment of AIDS patients will be seriously impaired if Novartis ultimately succeeds in obtaining favourable award on its patent matter from the Higher courts in India
Revival of Yoga and Impact of Baba Ramdev
Baba Ramdev revived Pranayama which acts as the best medicine involving rhythmic control of breath through bodily exercises and awakens divine powers essential for curing disease and enabling creation of "Disease Free Society - Medicines Free World". Yoga Pranayama & the Ayurvedic & Herbal medicines used at Baba Ramdev’s Yoga camps have scientifically proved to provide cure for most of the diseases including: (i) control & cure of HIV/AIDS by improving the CD4 (T-helper lymphocytes) cell count of the people affected by AIDS; (ii) control and cure of cancer; (iii) Diabetes; (iv) hypertension; and (v) depression.
Baba Ramdev’s increasing popularity and the immense pressure exerted by the powerful global pharma lobby has made India seriously consider revising: The Drugs and Cosmetic Act, 1940 and Drugs and Magic Remedies Act, so that good men like Baba Ramdev are prevented from claiming that Indian traditional medicine can cure diseases like HIV / AIDS, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure etc. The Health Ministry issued notices to over 80 organizations including the high-profile ashram of Baba Ramdev and also instructed them to stop claiming curing serious diseases like AIDS and cancer.
Generic Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
1. When the mailbox applications are cleared and patents awarded, newly-introduced generics in the Indian market may have to be withdrawn. This, for example, is why Indian brands of “Tadalafil” have disappeared from the shelves. And, newer antipsychotic, antidepressant, antiepileptic and other drugs will be permitted to be marketed only by the patent holder. Costs to the patient will then inevitably rise.
2. New drugs that emerge in the international arena will be available to Indian patients only from the patent holder. Again, the cost is almost certain to be high.
Rise in Drug Prices and Access to Medicines for the Poor
While discussing the post-2005 Healthcare scenario, one of the major concerns among all stakeholders is the issue of the impact of the emerging product patent regime on drug prices in India and other developing countries, which did not permit patenting of drugs per se under their earlier legislations. The general impression is that drugs which are under patents are expensive compared to generic products and once the product patent regime is in place, they will be unaffordable to the majority of Countries of the developing world and as a consequence their healthcare status will be seriously affected. High prices of patented drugs affect not only the patients in developing countries, but also in the developed world
Based on these premises, it would therefore appear that if Society wants new and better life-saving drugs, the price to pay for that would be unaffordable to most of the patients who need them. Even for the pharmaceutical Companies, the costs for R&D on New Drugs have been accepted as unaffordable, under their present structure, leading to a spate of mergers and acquisitions during the last two decades, Some recent studies indicate that such a strategy is also not paying off, partly since, the larger the Corporation, the greater the challenge to remain creative, make decisions and cut down the gestation period for moving R&D programmes from concept to the market.
Competition from China
Indian pharmaceutical industry is expected to face competition from the Chinese pharmaceutical industry as China is known for its cheap manufacturing capabilities.
Chinese government has introduced several initiatives in providing boost to its pharmaceutical industry and there are trends indicating increased investments by global MNCs. The advantages of Chinese pharmaceutical industry to that of Indian pharmaceutical industry include: (i) better data protection mechanism; (ii) favourable domestic pricing issues; (iii) Chinese government’s strong commitment to pro-industry policies; and (iv) existence of a strong patent regime. More than 20 major MNC pharmaceutical companies have already established their manufacturing and R&D facilities in China and are also associated with carrying out drug discovery and Phase I-II clinical trials related activities . MNCs like Sanofi Aventis, Merck etc., are likely to establish R&D facility in China. The case ruling against Novartis is expected to change the plans of the Swiss pharma giant who may seriously consider reorienting its investment plans in India that may benefit China with its increased investments in Pharmaceutical business.
New Initiatives and Measures for Protection and Promotion
The several initiatives and measures taken by the Indian government for providing the required support, boost and encouragement for Indian pharmaceutical industry include: (i) permitting 100 % Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for manufacture of drugs and pharmaceuticals provided the activity does not attract compulsory licensing or involve use of recombinant DNA technology and specific cell / tissue targeted formulations; (ii) tax incentives under the Income Tax Act, 1961 for in-house R&D.; (iii) life saving vaccines exempted from excise duty; (iv) clinical trial of new drugs exempted from service tax to make India a preferred destination for drug testing; (v) anti-AIDS drugs and life saving vaccines exempted from excise duty to encourage companies like Cipla; (vi) all drugs and materials used in clinical trails to be provided customs and excise duty exemption; (vii) companies in knowledge-based pharmaceutical business to be provided equity support; (viii) customs duty reduced to 5% on 10 anti-AIDS and 14 anti-cancer drugs; and (xix) duty on certain life saving drugs, kits and equipment reduced and such drugs are also exempted from excise duty and countervailing duty.
The new patent regime in India touched the hornets’ nest and has raised several
contentious issues relating to right to health of the people, which is in conflict with the economic right of patent holders. It is also likely to restrict access of allopathic medicines to only the affluent, affordable and more privileged class of people in India and other countries in the immediate future. The institutions associated with enforcement and protection of right to health of human beings whilst upholding the rights of patent holders are faced with the daunting task and challenge of devising ways and means for fulfilling their defined, designed and desired roles so that the conflict in rights pertaining to rights of intellectual property owners and the right to health of human beings is minimized whilst balancing the prevailing hierarchy of human rights for achieving the social and economic objectives.
1.( India and the WTO: The Development Agenda by: Deepika M.G)
2. available at http://www.patentoffice.nic.in/ipr/patent/patent_2005.pdf
3. Patent Regime In India: Sashi Sharma.
4. Novartis AG vs. Union of India and others.WP no.24749 of 2006 filed before H.C of Madras
5. (Available at www.swamiramdevyoga.com)
6. ( Available at Indian journal of Psychiatry)
7. (Impact of new Patent Regime and price. By. Dr.M.D Nair)
The author can be reached at: email@example.com | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39542000 |
Scientists are still debating the phylogeny of Cervus elaphus. Nowak (1999) lists 7 subgenera and 10 species in the genus Cervus and Ludt et al. (2004) mention at least 22 known subspecies which occur in the Holarctic. However, some of these subspecies have been recently contested by genetic studies.
Ludt et al. (2004) suggested in a study using mitochondrial DNA that Western Red Deer and Eastern Red Deer comprise individual species.
He further subdivided the Western Red Deer into four subgroups:
Comparative analysis of behavior and acoustic communication of Bukhara deer (Pereladova, 1985 -2009) allowed to point out, that according to behavioral characteristics Bukhara deer differs seriously from other Red deer subspecies. It is closest to the group of Indian and Chinese deer and even to the Sika deer (Cervus nippon).
This is completely in accord with the latest genetic studies (Ludt e.a., 2004) which states that there is “a very high probability for the existence of two different species of Red deer with three subspecies in Asia and America (Eastern Red Deer) and four subspecies in Eurasia (Western Red Deer) and additional one or two primordial subspecies in Central Asia (Tarim group: Cervus elaphus yarkandensis, Cervus elaphus bactrianus).
The origin of the genus Cervus seems to be in Central Asia near today’s Hindu Kush”. It is quite probable that Kashmir stag – hangul – Cervus elaphus hangul – also belongs to this group, but it had not been included in the investigation. It is a group, which differs both from eastern and western deer.
The subspecies Cervus elaphus bactrianus is considered part of a major systematic group described as relatively primitive and seriously endangered (Nowak 1999). This group appears to have given rise to both the Red deer to the west and the Wapiti to the north and east (Nikolskii, 1984, Pereladova, 2004; Nowak 1999).
|Skull Length||390 mm|
|Tail Length||? cm|
|Antler weight||3,4- 5,5 kg
Cervus elaphus bactrianus, the Bukhara deer, is a relatively small deer. The skull length is only about 390 mm. Its 5-pronged velvet coated antlers, considered primitive compared with other subspecies of Cervus elaphus, weigh only between 3,4 and 5,5 kg (measured from cast antlers). The subspecies is sexually dimorphic – meaning that males and females differ in their external appearance.
In general, Cervus elaphus bactrianus has a white rump patch, a short yellowish-brown tail that is lighter in color along its sides, and dark dorsal body hair.
are usually a uniform gray in warmer seasons but in winter some individuals can develop a dark neck, face, chest, belly and legs with a sandy gray body. The under portion of the coat is usually paler. Males also possess a short neck mane.
possess no neck mane and are uniformly colored – generally lighter than the males – but have reddish hair on top of their heads and the dorsal portion of the neck. Females also have a dark narrow strip down the front of their legs and whitish lips and chin.
are spotted although adults can have light spots in their coats during the summer months.
Like other Artiodactyla, the first digit is absent from each foot, the third and fourth digits are well developed and bear the weight of the animal, and the second and fifth digits are small.
When Bukhara deer are introduced to unusual mountain habitats of the same arid zone (Ramit, Tajikistan), or regularly artificially fed in wildlife management areas (Karatchingil, Kazxakhstan) morphological characteristics of the subspecies seriously change (higher weight up to 30-40% – true both for the body-weight and for antlers; stronger developed front legs’ girdle –. After secondary translocation (from Ramit and Karatchingil to natural habitats) deer “return” to their usual morphological parameters.
Bactrian deer are partial to riparian forests called Tugais in arid regions which include stands of Tamarix, Elaeagnus, Poplar, Hippophae, communities of Phragmites and Erianthus. These 0,5-1 kilometer wide areas of woody and shrubby thickets are found along desert rivers.
In winter and early spring, deer may move into desert and semi-desert habitats to feed on shrubs (e.g.Haloxylon sp.). Compared to others of the same species, Bactrian deer live in warmer and more arid environments. For instance, precipitation in Bactrian deer habitat is usually lower than 200 mm per year and air temperatures in the summer often exceeds 45°C (113°F). Because Cervus elaphus bactrianus have such narrow habitat preferences, there is little opportunity for individuals to disperse to other areas when their habitat is threatened.
When introduced to unusual mountain habitats of the same arid zone (Ramit, Karatag, Sarykhosor – Tajikistan) they easily get used to mountain valley habitats (willows, wild fruit forests), although for 2-3 generations the adaptation process included a high level of traumas (e.g. broken legs as a result of quick movement on the slopes) and changes of morphology (see above). In winter only males manage to survive in the conditions of snow cover – while females and sub adults concentrate in the lower parts of the valleys and need additional feeding.
Bukhara deer is very conservative in the use of territory. They form small discrete groups with the sexes usually remaining separate for most of the year – typically males stay single, females with newborns/subadults, rather often – 2-3 females with posterity together. Herd size observed outside of the rut is usually between 4-7 individuals.
Although in woodlands, Bukhara deer diet includes grasses, sedges and shrubs, tree shoots to a minor extent. Like all species in the family Cervidae, Bactrian deer have a four-chambered, ruminant stomach and lack a gall bladder . It is regular, that Bukhara deer diet is very limited most of the year (e.g. when inhabiting reeds brushes). Differently from other red deer subspecies, which use branches up to 15 mm thick, Bukhara deer eat only branches up to 5 mm.
In September males start to visit sites where home-ranges of a number of female groups are bordering or even overlapping, and form a lek. Bukhara deer is the only true deer subspecies for which a true lek is shown. Normally rutting period starts end of August with the peak of rut on mid September. Second half of September males join the females and regularly leave the lek for the daytime following females to their home ranges.
During this period lek aggregations including a number of males with their female groups (typically 1-3 for Bukhara deer) are regularly seen in the daytime and confused to be just a mixed herds or large harems of other subspecies. Differently to other deer Bukhara deer stags are less aggressive even during the rutting period ( towards subadults first of all), continue grazing in the daytime during all reproductive period. Usually the rutting season ends by the end of September- beginning of October. All varieties of this dynamics are connected with various abnormalities of the population density and structure.
The ability to outperform other males depends on body and antler size, fighting prowess, and roaring ability.
Nevertheless, usually various modifications of rutting calls allows to avoid direct battles. Typically rather young stags of equal strength fight physically (often in presence of a mature stag with his harem group, and mature stags prevent serious fighting by special types of roaring.) and this fights are more like tournament.
Males have a unique rutting call, which differs both from the low density noisy calls in series (up to 12-15 short signals in each) of western deer and from single long tonal rutting calls of eastern and American deer. Bukhara deer rutting calls are either single or organized in short series (3-5) and each signal includes both low-frequency noisy component and high-frequency tonal component, independently modulated. Different modifications of the rutting calls are used in various situations.
Besides that bukhara deer (both males and females) frequently use an alarm-call - single barks, organized in series.
After the rutting period males separate from females and groups (or single animals) return to their home ranges.
|Gestation period||240-262 days|
|Young per Birth||one|
|Sexual Maturity||1,5 and 2,5 years|
|Life Span||12-15 years|
Bactrian deer reach maturity between 1,5 and 2,5 years of age and a female is likely to produce several young at a rate of one per year through her lifespan. Calves are usually born around late spring. Males leave the mother at 2-3 years, but maximum maturity is attained at 4-7 years.
Estimated Generation Length: In the wild, few individuals of Cervus elaphus survive more than about 12-15 years, but a captive British female red deer has lived for more than 27 years.
It was unusual for Bactrian deer to migrate, especially in good habitat conditions. Depending on geographical location, deer were shown to move either several hundreds of meters or only 2-3 kilometers while searching for food during a twenty-four period. However, in the 19th century, a seasonal migration of a Bactrian deer population was recorded.
In the winter, the recorded population left the Tugai forests of the Syr-darya River, which flows through southern Kazakhstan, eastern Uzbekistan, and northwestern Tajikistan, to reside in the neighboring Haloxylon deserts, returning the following summer.
In addition, non-periodical migrations of the deer were observed during major spring and summer river floods and fires such as those caused by reed burnings.
Besides that, in case of high population density and high number of young stags, their migrations are provoked by adult stags (pushing younger ones away from the leck – mid September) and that is the major way of the initial expanding of the area inhabited by the deer. Therefore, while Bactrian deer populations demonstrate a tendency to remain within defined areas, they are able to migrate outside these localized regions in search of more food or better habitat. Overall, 30 to 50% of all populations have been shown to migrate every year and cross national borders.
Historically the major predator for the Bukhara deer was turanian (Caspian) tiger – extinct from nature since 1958-1962. Besides that wolf’s press on the deer population is important. Jackal (and fox) can sometimes kill a newborn deer – just some hours after the birth, but usually the baby is successfully protected by the mother, and jackals can only sometimes use rests of the wolf’s prey.
There are some Bukhara deer in the zoo's and in Askania-Nova zapovednik (Ukraine), but as we have checked in many cases those are hybrids with other red deer subspecies – and it is difficult to be sure that captive-bred zoo animals are really Bukhara deer. Now there are pen groups of Bukhara deer in:
The last two pen groups (Zarafshan and Turkestan) are developed in the frame of WWF project for reintroduction in Zarafshan and Syrdaria river valleys accordingly; 2-3 releases already took place, additional planned. Badai-tugai group was established during deer reintroduction in Badasi-tugai. Now wild population in the site exceeds 300 animals, and deer from pens can be used for additional reintroduction projects in the suitable riparian forests in the Amudaria delta and former bottom of the Aral sea.
Cervus elaphus bactrianus is a subspecies of Red deer occurring in Central Asia – in river valleys of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
Historically it inhabited all river vallies of Amudaria and Syrdaria, as well as Murgab and Tedjen to the west (Turkmenistan), Zaravshan, various minor rivers – and Ily to the East (Map 1).
In the 1960's many populations went extinct including those found in the river valleys of Syr Darya, Tedjen, Murgab, and Illi, and at the lower reaches of the Amu Darya. Some populations were partially restored in the 1970's through reintroduction programs and was introduced in some new sites (see “Conservation” chapter) and resulted in total number around 900 deer total in 13-15 independent populations. (Map of species distribution in 1989).
By the end of 1999 total number of Bukhara deer dropped dramatically to less then 350 animals total in the Central Asian countries of the FSU, no data on the species numbers in Afghanistan).
Since 2000 the numbers are increasing in all sites (see “Conservation” chapter), and according to the census 2009 there were 1450 deer in wild populations and reintroduction is on-going in three sites (Syrdaria, Zerafshan and Ily).
The Syr Darya and Amu Darya river basins line the border between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan and Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Bactrian deer populations remaining in Northern Afghanistan most likely exist in these borderlands. The last two “strongholds” of Bactrian deer in Afghanistan included wetlands of Amu Darya near Imam Sahib in Kunduz Province and the river islands of Darqad in Takhar (along the Tajikistan border).
Bactrian deer were introduced to Ajar Valley but were hunted to extinction there throughout the years of conflict.
The biggest threats to Bactrian deer are poaching, illegal trade, and habitat loss and degradation. Along Amudaria (Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan) only 10% of riparian forests still remain, the rest – replaced by fields. In other river valleys the situation with riparian forests (major habitats) is better – but deer dissapered from there since 1962 – and the only way of restoration is reintroduction.
In Mongolia and China, Bactrian deer parts are traded for use in traditional medicines (???) (especially the velvet antlers).
In Afghanistan, poaching for food as well as significant losses in habitat due to livestock grazing and reed burning has caused significant declines in the past few decades.
Intensive development of agriculture, tree and shrub felling on river banks, cattle grazing, and uncontrolled hunting led to the decline of Bactrian deer populations in the 1960's. Strenuous conservation efforts, including designation of protected areas, allowed for a slight recovery. However, Bactrian deer likely remained threatened, especially in Afghanistan where national laws have yet to be passed and lack of food and financial security may increase poaching in the borderlands.
The population has declined from 900 in 1989 to 350 in 1999. According to the latest data – census in 2009 – the total number of Bukhara deer in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan is 1430**.Nevertheless the populations in Central Asian countries are recovering thanks to special measure, the Bactrian deer should be classified as Endangered C1 as all separate populations are still small and sustainability is not ensured.
This project allowed to reverse the situation with the highly endangered species in the region. There were about 350 – 400 deer in Central Asia in 1999 when the project started and the results of the 2006 census showed that now about 1000 deer live here. Deer reintroduction was initiated in 3 sites, which had been inhabited by these animals till the middle of the previous century. The political result is the Memorandum and Action plan of understanding on Bukhara deer conservation that was signed in the frame of Bonn Convention by all four range states.
As a native floodplain forest, the area of Tigrovaya Balka needs regular floods for normal existence and development. Natural floods are prevented by an artificial regime of water use (system of dams and dikes), so water needs to be given to the forest artificially once a year. In order to prevent flooding of fields and settlements, surrounding the forest area, a system of dykes need to be reconstructed around the forest, and it is necessary to dig a canal from the river around the forest. Previously some system of canals existed, but now they don’t function at all. There were three extremely dry years in Central Asia one after another, and the forest stated to degrade because of lack of water and high level of salination. Now we have the second wet year running, and there was a hope for forest rehabilitation. But this didn’t happen as riparian forests don’t need just humidity, but flooding - to take cumulated salts out of the soils.
The main goal of the project is to conserve and restore the tugai ecosystem in the Tigrovaja Balka area in Tajikistan, providing a model for sustainable management of freshwater ecosystems in the Amudarya river basin, which includes Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan – one of the two major watersheds of Central Asia.
In order to facilitate socio-economic development of local communities and to restore the unique ecosystem of riparian forests, a range of measures are required, including normalizing water patterns in the ecosystem and the surrounding agricultural lands through implementing water-saving technologies in agriculture.
The long-term goal of the project is to provide the foundation for integrated river basin management and nature protection in the middle stretch of the Syrdaria river basin, providing a model for sustainable development.
The Bukhara deer -was seriously threatened already in 1960-th, first of all – because of habitat destruction. The history of the first phase of Bukhara deer restoration included special protection in existing and specially established nature reserves, reintroduction and introduction in new sites (such as mountains of Ramit in Tajikistan. As a result, by 1989 there were about 900 Bukhara deer totally in all groups, with potential for population growth up to 4000 – 5000 animals. After the break of the former Soviet Union only 350 Bukhara deer rested in all populations throughout the area - as a result of poaching.
Since 1999 WWF carries out a project on Bukhara deer restoration. The very first funding was provided by LHI (5 th. USD) in 1999, major funding is provided by WWF Netherlands (~ 50 th. a year for 4 countries) with some additional support from for Tajikistan (deer habitats restoration) from Minnesota zoo and Disney Fund. Since 2007 important funding for Tajikistan and Kazakhstan is provided by MFA/WWF Norway.
The activities include technical support to the nature reserves, still inhabited by Bukhara deer, anti-poaching activities, reintroduction in suitable sites in the limits of historical area, ecological education/local communities involvement, etc. All restoration activities are accompanied by species monitoring. Measures on population sustainable management are based on in-depth analysis of the ecology, social behavior of Bukhara deer. As a result of the scientifically-based approach to the species restoration important successful results in the subspecies restoration achieved. Total Bukhara deer number increased from 350 in 1999 to 1450 in 2009, successful reintroduction on-going in three sites; possibilities for reintroduction in additional sites investigated, activities in one additional site started. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39549000 |
Tour by Subject || Tour by Time Period || Introduction || Catalogue || Home
Chromolithography was developed in Germany in the 1840s but was not used much in bookbinding until the 1880s, when it became all the rage in England. Whether for entire book covers or only for onlays, many of these illustrations were printed on glazed paper so that the vibrant colors stood out. Childrens books have particularly good examples of this technique.
|Tschantre, Gracia. Tin Tan Tales. London: Ernest Nister; New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, ca. 1895.|
Introduction || Tour by Time Period || Tour by Subject || Catalogue
On exhibit through September 30, 2000, Rare Book Room, fourth floor, University of North Texas Libraries,
Weekdays 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Victorian Bookbinding Home || Rare Book and Texana Collections || Exhibits || UNT Libraries
Exhibit by Kenneth Lavender. Web design by Gwen Smith.
This page was last modified on Thursday, July 08, 2004.
University of North Texas © 2000 - All rights reserved. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39555000 |
Chances are if you are studying colonial times, your teacher will assign a hands-on project. You could make a model of the Jamestown Fort or a copy of the Declaration of Independence-but why not try a craft that the colonists themselves would have done?
Every colonial family except for the very rich had to be able to make their own soap, candles, furniture, cloth, baskets, toys, and musical instruments. Below is one practical craft to try. Scroll down and check our lists of books and Web sites for more ideas. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39556000 |
AIDS dementia complex (ADC) can occur in people with
. ADC results in changes in multiple neurologic areas:
ADC is a common nervous system complication of late-stage HIV infection.
HIV destroys white blood cells vital to the immune system.
Copyright © Nucleus Medical Media, Inc.
It is not clearly understood how HIV infection causes ADC.
Risk factors that increase your chances of having ADC include:
Symptoms usually develop slowly and worsen over time. They are grouped into stages:
Walking, balance, and coordination require a great deal of effort at this stage.
If you have any of these symptoms, do not assume they are due to ADC. These symptoms may be caused by other conditions.
Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history. A physical exam will be done.
Tests may include:
Talk with your doctor about the best treatment plan for you. Treatment options include:
Anti-HIV drugs are often used to treat ADC. Your doctor will create a medicine plan that is right for you. These drugs are often given in combination.
Other medicines may be used along with antiretroviral therapy to treat symptoms of ADC. These may include:
ADC occurs in people with HIV. Ways to help reduce the risk of getting HIV include:
American Foundation for AIDS Researchhttp://www.amfar.org/
National Association of People with AIDShttp://www.napwa.org/
AIDS Committee of Torontohttp://www.actoronto.org/
Canadian AIDS Societyhttp://www.cdnaids.ca/
AIDS dementia complex. EBSCO Patient Education Reference Center website. Available at:
. Updated February 28, 2012. Accessed November 21, 2012.
AIDS dementia complex. Project Inform website. Available at:
. Updated January 2011. Accessed November 21, 2012.
AIDS dementia complex. University of California at San Francisco website. Available at:
. Accessed November 21, 2012.
HIV-associated dementia. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at:
. Updated February 10, 2012. Accessed November 21, 2012.
Luo X, Carlson KA, Wojna V, et al. Macrophage proteomic fingerprinting predicts HIV-1-associated cognitive impairment.
Meehan RA, Brush JA. An overview of AIDS dementia complex.
Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen.
Nicholas MK, Lukas R, van Besein K.
Textbook of Neurological Surgery.
6th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins; 2011: chap 46.
Royal W. HIV-associated Dementia. In: Gilman S, ed.
San Diego, CA: MedLink Corp.
Still have questions? Contact firstname.lastname@example.org. We are happy to assist you!
The #1 daily resource for health and lifestyle news!
Your daily resource for losing weight and staying fit.
We could all use some encouragement now and then - we're human!
Explore your destiny as you discover what's written in your stars.
The latest news, tips and recipes for people with diabetes.
Healthy food that tastes delicious too? No kidding.
Yoga for Back Pain
Pets HelpYour Heart
Are YouMoney Smart? | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39559000 |
Home to endangered black condors nesting in iconic volcanic rocks, California's Pinnacles National Monument is set to become America's newest national park.
The park's spectacular pinnacles are half of an eroded volcano. The matching half lies 195 miles (314 kilometers) to the southeast, on the other side of the San Andreas Fault. The 1976 discovery of the 23-million-year-old split volcano provides a unique geologic marker of offset along the fault. President Theodore Roosevelt established Pinnacles National Monument in 1908, to preserve its massive monoliths and wildlife. The giant spires are now a popular rock climbing destination.
Rounded knobs and pinnacles rise above Condor Gulch in Pinnacles National Monument. Weathering of volcanic rock gives rise to the park's unique landscape.
Rhyolite cliffs near the falls along the Condor Gulch Trail in Pinnacles National Monument. Rhyolite is a volcanic rock similar to granite in composition (mostly the minerals quartz and feldspar).
A Landsat satellite image of California's Pinnacles National Monument, set to become America's newest national park. The image was snapped in June 2008, when vegetation in the arid landscape was yellow and brown. The San Andreas Fault is the linear feature crossing the northeast corner of the image, just beyond the park boundary.
Hawkins Peak as seen from the Condor Gulch Trail in Pinnacles National Monument in California. Rocks in the High Pinnacles area formed from explosive-style volcanic eruptions.
Pinnacles form when erosion at the surface removes weathering material before it can form soil, leaving the rocks exposed. This pattern is common in semi-arid regions with Mediterranean climates like California's Coast Ranges, home to Pinnacles National Monument.
A north-facing view from the High Pinnacles toward Balconies Cliffs in the distance in California's Pinnacles National Monument. The formerly horizontal rock layers have been tilted by geologic forces.
Bear Gulch Cave in Pinnacles National Monument consists of passages between large boulders of volcanic tuff. The giant blocks and boulders of volcanic rock that cover the creek bed (creating the cave) may have collapsed from the slopes above during rockfalls and landslides.
A condor stretches its wings at sunset in Pinnacles National Monument. The camera trap and scale helps park biologists monitor the health of the endangered birds.
A condor eyes a hidden camera at Pinnacles National Monument. The camera is located near a feeding site for the condors. The California park is a release site for the endangered birds, and there are 32 free-flying condors within its boundaries. The condor pictured here died from lead poisoning in 2008.
Two condors caught at a camera trap installed at Pinnacles National Monument. The camera trap has snapped condors fighting for the opportunity to stay on the scale, according to the National Park Service. Condor 40, seen on the ground, was one of the most active and aggressive males when he arrived at the park, the park service said on its website. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39567000 |
Learn To Catch More Fish
There are many tips and tricks if you're looking to learn to catch more fish, from checking water temperature and currents to knowing what insect hatch is on. Learning to catch more fish can be challenging and rewarding at the same time. One thing is certain though; you'll need to practice, practice, practice.
- Learn to catch more fish by fishing with a mentor. If you have a buddy who constantly brings home largemouth or smallmouth bass, ask to tag along on one of his fishing expeditions. Pay attention to the type of bait he uses and ask him about the benefits of artificial flies or real bait, such as blood worms. Ask him to explain how to know which bait to use - generally, the bait selected matches the natural food in the water at the time.
- Learn to find the spots where fish generally reside. Fish like to be sheltered so you might find a lot of fish living in the nestled tree roots off the shoreline or hiding near some underwater brush. Learn the topography of the area you're fishing so that you know where the deeper spots are - larger fish like deeper water.
- Check online sites for tips of catching more fish. There are many, many online sites which can explain the merits of the right equipment, such as the correct fishing rod and tackle to use for catching different fish.
- Go out and fish at different times of the day and be aware of your surroundings. Check the temperature and watch the currents as you cast your fishing line. If you catch a fish, there's probably more at the same spot, at the same time of day, and with similar climate surroundings so repeat your actions.
- Learn to catch more fish by just being patient. Don't expect to read some online site, buy all the fancy equipment, and head out to the lake the next day to get your quota of trout. That's not going to happen. Just cast your line and be patient. Spend a few hours enjoying your fishing time. As someone once said "The fishing was great - the catching just wasn't so good." | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39577000 |
Written by Jonny Williamson
Lubricants are used across many industries throughout the world, predominantly to cool tools and parts from overheating and breaking by reducing friction and carrying away debris. Industrial processes such as drilling, turning, grinding, cutting and milling all benefit from lubricants, often made from 90 percent mineral oils.
There are a number of drawbacks to using mineral oils; it isn’t an ideal way to dissipate heat caused by friction, it is flammable and it does carry some health concerns, not to mention the fossil oil comes from a finite resource. The safe use, handling and eventual disposal of mineral oil lubricants can amount to a constant drain on a manufacturers finances, so a global focus has been on finding an alternative.
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Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV, in the German town of Freising, have carried out two tests where lubricating oils were replaced with water.
Dr. Michael Menner, a Fraunhofer researcher, said:
"At IVV here in Freising, we have been looking at the issue of cooling lubricants for some considerable time. In two projects, supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, we have successfully replaced oil with water.”
To enable the water to act as a sufficient lubricant, additives were added to better simulate the performance of oil.
Another researcher, Andreas Malberg, who also worked on both studies, commented:
“The additive is a biopolymer, a product you can buy wherever you want.”
Malberg was not able to state the name of the exact biopolymer employed by the researchers, but what is known is that it acts as a thickening agent. The standard viscosity of water is 1mPa, but the addition of the agent raises it to 40mPa, similar to that of oil.
The further addition of a water-soluble additive enabled the enhanced water to have the extra benefit of providing anti-corrosive properties.
Aside from the water-based lubricant having a much lower environmental impact, components and machines which use the lubricant are easier to clean, health and safety concerns are eliminated, and the cost of companies having to convert is relatively inexpensive,
The alternative lubricant has already won the German raw material efficiency prize in December last year, and is currently being sold under the name Carl Bechem with the brand name BERUFLUID. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39583000 |
Yes - of course it does. Without "random" in front choice is an attribute with no object. I didn't actually do it, but thats what would happen - "choice is not defined blahblah" Is that the same as saying its not a "global namespace"?
I'd have to consult a reference book to be 100% sure. I'm not certain how a pure object oriented language treats namespaces compared to a procedural language (ie, C++ is both procedural and OOP - I need to do a review
For example, In C++ you explicitly state your namespaces - in 99% of cases students do this by adding a line 'using namespace std;' (std = standard) near the top of their file, which is frowned upon with most real projects. By doing this they don't have to put the namespace std in front of functions defined in std.
cout << "hello" << endl; //prints hello
std::cout << "hello" << std::endl; //prints hello
Now say you have a special cout function that prints ascii numbers instead of the letters to the console. You can define a namespace in your file called Manta and do this....
Manta::cout << "hello" << std::endl; //prints 90 88 96 96 99 (just guessing the ascii values)
In practice, namespaces are used in procedural languages to avoid name clashes. When a project gets large enough, you start running out of good descriptive variable names, so it is better to create seperate namespaces and reuse these descriptive names instead of resorting to complicated naming gyrations.
"It looks to me like random might be a static class with static methods, hence, no need to instantiate anything. "
Yes - a very good way to say it. How come the texts don't say that?
Got me - maybe I should write a book.
This is just what I think is happening... I'd have to consult python.org to be sure.
Do Java and C++ have Modules? Please describe or give a definition to me for that.
No. Java has the following....
packages - groups of related classes form a package.
example: javax.swing is the package for the swing classes
example: java.lang contains the core classes of the Java language
classes - you know what these are....
Math is a class containing fields and methods related to math
JButton is a class for instantiating a button in swing
And you can create your own packages.... there are a few rules for doing this.
In C++, which supports both procedural and OOP, the main library is called the STL - standard template library, which uses the namespace std like I showed you above. Instead of using a package, C++ has a keyword called friend - imo, friends are the most unfriendly thing I've seen in any language and I much prefer Java's use of packages.
My language class didn't cover Python - C++, Java, Ada, LISP, Fortran, Prolog, Cobol and some others - here is what one of the tutorials says...
You can use a module to organize a number of Python definitions in a single file. <snip> A package is a way to organize a number of modules together as a unit. Python packages can also contain other packages.
So Python has both modules and packages where it looks like a module is a related to group of classes and functions, and a package is a related group of modules and other packages. Here is a link that I think will explain it in detail.... I plan on reading it later tonight. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39596000 |
- Functions of water in the body
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- Food label
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- Slide show: Guide to portion control for weight loss
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- see all
Slide show: Guide to gourmet saltBy Mayo Clinic staff
Beyond your grandmother's table salt
Many varieties of gourmet salt are finding a place in the kitchens of both everyday cooks and top chefs. Salt occurs naturally around the world as the mineral halite and in seawater and saline (saltwater) lakes. All salt contains a mix of sodium and chloride. Salt may also naturally contain small amounts of other minerals, giving it variations in taste. But salt is processed and refined in many different ways, resulting in different textures and colors as well as tastes.
Whichever type of salt you enjoy, do so in moderation. Limit sodium to less than 2,300 milligrams a day — or 1,500 milligrams if you're age 51 or older, or if you are black, or if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.Next slide
- Iodized salt, sea salt or kosher salt, oh my! American Dietetic Association. http://www.eatright.org/Media/Blog.aspx?id=4294968231&blogid=269. Accessed Aug. 12, 2011.
- Sodium. American Heart Association. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/NutritionCenter/HealthyDietGoals/Sodium-Salt-or-Sodium-Chloride_UCM_303290_Article.jsp. Accessed Aug. 12, 2011.
- Duyff RL. American Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide. 3rd ed. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons; 2006.
- Nelson JK (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Aug. 12, 2011.
- Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/DGAs2010-PolicyDocument.htm. Accessed Aug. 17, 2011. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39598000 |
Meaning of Business and Profession
Business simply means any economic activity carried on for earning profits. According to Sec 2(3) business is “any trade, commerce, manufacture or any adventure in the nature of trade commerce and manufacture”. Any transaction with a motive of selling at profits included under this concept. It is not necessary that there should be a series of transaction in a business and it should be carried on permanently.
Profession is an occupation requiring purely intellectual skills or manual skills controlled by the intellectual skill of the operator. e.g. Lawyer, doctor, engineer etc. So profession refers to those activities where the livelihood is earned by the persons through their intellectual or manual skill.
The following income shall be chargeable to income-tax under the head Profits and gains of business or profession,
1) The profits and gains of any business or profession which was carried on by the assessee at any time during the previous year
2) Any compensation or other payment due to or received by any person in connection with a business or profession
3) Income derived by a trade, professional or similar association from specific services performed for its members
4) Profits on sale of a license granted under the Imports (Control) Order, 1955, made under the Imports and Exports (Control) Act, 1947 (18 of 1947) ;]
5) Cash assistance (by whatever name called) received or receivable by any person against exports under any scheme of the Government of India ;]
6) Any duty of customs or excise re-paid or re-payable as drawback to any person against exports under the Customs and Central Excise Duties Drawback Rules, 1971 ;]
7) Value of any benefit or perquisite, whether convertible into money or not, arising from business or the exercise of a profession;
8) Any interest, salary, bonus, commission or remuneration, by whatever name called, due to, or received by, a partner of a firm from such firm:
9) Any sum received under a Key man insurance policy including the sum allocated by way of bonus on such policy.… Read More » | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39601000 |
Grief is a collection of feelings that everyone experiences when there are losses in their lives. Grief is not the same as depression. It can come from any type of loss. The loss of a relationship can cause feelings of grief. Many people grieve when they realize that they have lost some of their physical abilities due to agin...
McPhersonSentinel - McPherson, KS
Updated Mar. 15, 2013 @ 10:52 am
Updated Mar. 15, 2013 @ 10:52 am
» Social News
Grief is a collection of feelings that everyone experiences when there are losses in their lives. Grief is not the same as depression. It can come from any type of loss. The loss of a relationship can cause feelings of grief. Many people grieve when they realize that they have lost some of their physical abilities due to aging, injury or disease. Some may grieve over past friendships or even when they retire and lose their identity as a worker.
The most common cause for grief is the death of a spouse, child, parent, friend or pet. When someone very close to you dies it may initially feel as if you will never be happy again. You may experience many emotions including anger, anxiety, loneliness, guilt, helplessness and sadness. Sometimes people report feeling numb at first. All of these feelings are normal. You may even have good and bad days when you are grieving. It is normal to have times of laughter and happiness during the grieving process.
Sometimes grief can turn into depression or what is referred to as "complicated grief. " If grief turns into depression, the feelings of despair and emptiness become constant. Loss of motivation, hopelessness, fatigue, withdrawal, and difficulty concentrating are also signs of depression. People with complicated grief get stuck in the feelings and don't move on, deny the death, become preoccupied with the person who died, or avoid things related to the person.
Completing the grief process is important because it can help you to recognize and adapt to the reality of the loss and to live a healthy life without the person who died. There is no right way to grieve or a set time to complete it. All losses are unique and reflect the quality of the relationship with the deceased, the characteristics of the griever, prior experiences with loss, and the circumstances of the loss. A loss that occurs as a result of a prolonged illness will be different from the grief resulting from a sudden death. Grief from a sudden death may be more intense since there has been no opportunity to prepare for the loss. Grief resulting from the death of a child is different than that from death of a parent. Some people try to avoid the painful feelings of grief by keeping very busy and pretending that they are all right. Failure to address the feelings that come with the normal grieving process can prolong the grief process and possibly lead to depression later.
The grief process involves recalling a collection of memories and stories about the person that died. It may involve talking and writing about the good and bad memories about your time with the person. It is common to have regrets about things that you believe you should have said or done and you will need to let go of them. Grieving means allowing yourself to acknowledge, experience, and release the many feelings that occur when you lose someone.
Grief recovery can be defined as acceptance of the death of a loved one and return to your previous healthy level of functioning. A sign that you have completed the grief process may be the ability to increasingly choose happiness and smile when you remember the person. Just as an injured body gradually weaves itself back in a whole, death of a loved one tears at the spirit but grieving allows it to heal.
David Gannon, Ph.D., Psychological and Family Consultants, Canton, Ohio. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39607000 |
This article is
- freely available
Bacterial Bio-Resources for Remediation of Hexachlorocyclohexane
Pilot Plant of Industrial and Microbiological Processes (PROIMI), CONICET, Av. Belgrano y Pasaje Caseros, 4000 Tucumán, Argentina
Natural Sciences College and Miguel Lillo Institute, National University of Tucumán, Miguel Lillo 205, 4000 Tucumán, Argentina
North University of Saint Thomas Aquines, 9 de Julio 165, 4000 Tucumán, Argentina
Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacy College, National University of Tucumán, Ayacucho 471, 4000 Tucumán, Argentina
These authors contributed equally to this work.
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 6 September 2012; in revised form: 29 September 2012 / Accepted: 17 October 2012 / Published: 15 November 2012
Abstract: In the last few decades, highly toxic organic compounds like the organochlorine pesticide (OP) hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) have been released into the environment. All HCH isomers are acutely toxic to mammals. Although nowadays its use is restricted or completely banned in most countries, it continues posing serious environmental and health concerns. Since HCH toxicity is well known, it is imperative to develop methods to remove it from the environment. Bioremediation technologies, which use microorganisms and/or plants to degrade toxic contaminants, have become the focus of interest. Microorganisms play a significant role in the transformation and degradation of xenobiotic compounds. Many Gram-negative bacteria have been reported to have metabolic abilities to attack HCH. For instance, several Sphingomonas strains have been reported to degrade the pesticide. On the other hand, among Gram-positive microorganisms, actinobacteria have a great potential for biodegradation of organic and inorganic toxic compounds. This review compiles and updates the information available on bacterial removal of HCH, particularly by Streptomyces strains, a prolific genus of actinobacteria. A brief account on the persistence and deleterious effects of these pollutant chemical is also given.
Keywords: organochlorine pesticides; γ-hexachlorocyclohexane; bioremediation; Streptomyces genus
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Cite This Article
MDPI and ACS Style
Alvarez, A.; Benimeli, C.S.; Saez, J.M.; Fuentes, M.S.; Cuozzo, S.A.; Polti, M.A.; Amoroso, M.J. Bacterial Bio-Resources for Remediation of Hexachlorocyclohexane. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2012, 13, 15086-15106.
Alvarez A, Benimeli CS, Saez JM, Fuentes MS, Cuozzo SA, Polti MA, Amoroso MJ. Bacterial Bio-Resources for Remediation of Hexachlorocyclohexane. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2012; 13(11):15086-15106.
Alvarez, Analía; Benimeli, Claudia S.; Saez, Juliana M.; Fuentes, María S.; Cuozzo, Sergio A.; Polti, Marta A.; Amoroso, María J. 2012. "Bacterial Bio-Resources for Remediation of Hexachlorocyclohexane." Int. J. Mol. Sci. 13, no. 11: 15086-15106. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39609000 |
Skin: Branching Out
by Bonnie Taylor-Blake (Zylka Lab)
Like branches coming off a tree trunk, bundles of nerve fibers spread up and outwards to the skin surface. The endings of these nerve fibers sense cues from the environment, such as temperature and touch, and respond to injury-producing stimuli that lead to the sense of pain. A hair follicle (left) is encircled by nerve endings that detect movements of the hair itself. This image was acquired through the use of a fluorescent antibody that labels a specific protein expressed in such nerve fibers; this photograph represents a negative of that captured via confocal microscopy. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39613000 |
On Special Report, Bret Baier promoted unnamed studies "showing" that "the Earth is actually cooling." However, climate experts reject the idea that relatively cooler global temperatures during the past 10 years are any indication that global warming is slowing or does not exist.
On the May 8 edition of Fox News' Special Report, host Bret Baier claimed that "with a number of studies now showing there has been no global warming over at least the last 10 years, and that the Earth is actually cooling now, environmentalists are looking to rebrand their message." Baier then cited a New York Times article that reported that environmental group ecoAmerica is trying to "find new ways to frame environmental issues and so build public support for climate change legislation and other initiatives" but did not assert or in any way suggest that such efforts were in response to "global cooling" studies. Indeed, Baier did not cite any specific studies showing that the Earth is "cooling," and climate experts reject the idea that the relatively cooler global average temperatures in several of the past 10 years are any indication that global warming is slowing or does not exist.
As Media Matters for America has repeatedly shown, global warming deniers in the media often misleadingly cite the fact that the average global temperature in 2007 and 2008 was cooler than it was in 1998. However, scientists have identified a long-term warming trend spanning several decades and attribute recent relatively cooler temperatures to normal climate variability -- including short-term variations in climate because of events like El Niño and La Niña. According to the U.K. Met Office Hadley Centre website, in order to identify long-term climate trends, the World Meteorological Organisation "requires the calculation of averages for consecutive periods of 30 years," chosen "as a period long enough to eliminate year-to-year variations."
In a February 11 op-ed in London's Guardian, Vicky Pope, the head of climate change advice at the Met Office, explained that claims about the pace of global warming require more than 10 years of data, "since natural variations always occur on this timescale." She continued, "1998 was a record-breaking warm year as long-term man-made warming combined with a naturally occurring strong El Niño. In contrast, 2008 was slightly cooler than previous years partly because of a La Niña. Despite this, it was still the 10th warmest on record."
From the May 8 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier:
BAIER: And with a number of studies now showing there has been no global warming over at least the last 10 years, and that the Earth is actually cooling now, environmentalists are looking to rebrand their message.
The New York Times reports the group ecoAmerica thinks a change in the language should do the trick. The group's findings were leaked to the media, and that group was not too happy about it.
The Denver Examiner reports "global warming" was found to be too political and polarizing, so "climate crisis" is recommended. The group urges the use of "pollution" instead of "carbon," "new energy jobs" instead of "green jobs." And activists are advised to speak in patriotic terms like "American ingenuity" and "power of America" to sell their ideas, because, according the group, quote, "patriotism works." | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39616000 |
All fields are required.
Education mediation is increasingly recommended to ameliorate the rising tide of violence in today's schools. Weekly and sometimes even daily conflict management takes up an increasing amount of educators' time, making further mediation an ever more desirable method of conflict management. It requires the involvement of a neutral third person, called the mediation attorney, who helps the disputants resolve their problem through compromise and with the given consent of all parties involved. It is a uniquely risk-free way for parties to settle their disputes, and in a way, that accrues no ill-will for the staff and management of the school.
If you or your children have become involved in a dispute on a school campus, you can educate yourself by reading the useful and informative articles here. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39617000 |
There are different ways in which the terms medical grade
or pharmaceutical grade can be perceived, particularly when referring to honey.
Most Manuka honey that is sold in retail
stores is table grade. However, some
might refer to active Manuka honey as medical grade to differentiate it from
inactive honey. Another perception of
medical grade honey pertains to honey (usually Manuka honey) that has been
gamma irradiated, classifying it as sterile.
Referring to honey (Manuka or otherwise) as being sterile
can be somewhat confusing. The term
sterile is defined as being free of germs or microorganisms. Despite the FDA’s refusal of recognizing
honey of any kind as being antimicrobial, scientific evidence suggests that it
is. However, the potential for botulism
spores in some honeys makes gamma irradiation a process that some feel is
necessary in order to refer to it as being truly sterile.
Since honey is heat-sensitive, gamma irradiation is the
only way to sterilize it without diminishing its properties. However, it is unclear as to whether or not
it is necessary to sterilize honey. The presence
of botulism in honey is harmless to individuals over the age of 1 year
old. Infants under the age of 12 months
old have not yet fully developed their immune system, and therefore, cannot
ward off these spores.
Some might say that the only purpose of gamma irradiating
honey is to make it safe for infants to ingest.
Although, doctors who may want to use Manuka honey for wounds seem to
get a warm and fuzzy feeling when using a product that they consider to be
sterile. Either way, the use of Manuka
honey that has not been gamma irradiated on wounds or for other conditions has
been found to be perfectly safe. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39618000 |
Gum Disease (cont.)
In this Article
How Can Gum Disease Be Prevented?
Gum disease can be reversed in nearly all cases when proper plaque control is practiced. Proper plaque control consists of professional cleanings at least twice a year and daily brushing and flossing. Brushing eliminates plaque from the surfaces of the teeth that can be reached; flossing removes food particles and plaque from in between the teeth and under the gum line. Antibacterial mouth rinses can reduce bacteria in the mouth that cause plaque and gum disease, according to the American Dental Association.
Other health and lifestyle changes that will decrease the risk, severity, and speed of gum disease development include:
Despite following good oral hygiene practices and making other healthy lifestyle choices, the American Academy of Periodontology says that up to 30% of the Americans may be genetically susceptible to gum disease. And those who are genetically predisposed may be up to six times more likely to develop some form of gum disease. If anyone in your family has gum disease, it may mean that you are at greater risk as well. If you are more susceptible to gum disease, your dentist or periodontist may recommend more frequent check-ups, cleanings, and treatments to better manage the condition.
Get the latest health and medical information delivered direct to your inbox FREE! | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39619000 |
From Our 2012 Archives
Young Puzzle-Solvers May Be Tomorrow's Engineers
Latest Healthy Kids News
FRIDAY, March 2 (HealthDay News) -- Playing with puzzles when they're 2 to 4 years old can help children develop better spatial skills, a new study indicates.
Spatial skills refers to the ability to think about objects in three dimensions.
University of Chicago researchers examined the interaction between 53 pairs of children and parents, and found that children who played with puzzles between 26 and 46 months of age had better spatial skills when they were 54 months old.
The researchers also found that: higher-income parents tended to encourage their children to play with puzzles more often; boys played with more complicated puzzles than girls; and parents of boys used more spatial language during children's puzzle play and were more engaged in puzzle play than the girls' parents.
"The children who played with puzzles performed better than those who did not, on tasks that assessed their ability to rotate and translate shapes," psychologist Susan Levine, an expert on mathematics development in young children, said in a university news release.
She noted that this type of ability is an important predictor of children choosing science, technology, engineering and math courses, degrees and careers later in life.
The study was published online in the journal Developmental Science.
"Further study is needed to determine if the puzzle play and the language children hear about spatial concepts is causally related to the development of spatial skills -- and to examine why there is a sex difference in the difficulty of the puzzles played with and in the parents' interactions with boys and girls," Levine said.
-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
SOURCE: University of Chicago, news release, February 2012
Get the latest health and medical information delivered direct to your inbox FREE! | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39620000 |
Sudden dietary changes, weaning, cold, drafts, dampness, dust, high levels of ammonia, poor ventilation in general, and the mixing of widely divergent age groups all play a role in respiratory disease in groups of animals. Stress and mixing of animals from several sources should be avoided or minimized. Establishing individual animal identification, making accurate clinical and postmortem diagnoses, and maintaining a record system of diagnosis and treatment are important to minimize or control outbreaks of pneumonia. Transportation over long distances is another stress factor that plays a major role in the pathogenesis of respiratory infections in large animals.
Immunization can help control respiratory infection. However, control may be compromised by improper timing, use of ineffective or inappropriate vaccines, or overwhelmingly negative management practices. In most cases, severe insults to the natural defenses cannot be reversed later by therapeutic agents and biologicals.
The mucosal surfaces of the respiratory tract contain lymphoid follicles that exchange cells with other parts of the body. However, most of the lymphocytes in the respiratory lining produce only IgA, whereas the cells in the lymph nodes of the respiratory tract produce IgM and IgG. Depending on the agent involved, various cell- and antibody-mediated immune responses occur in the respiratory tract and include opsonization, agglutination, immobilization, neutralization of toxins and viruses, blockage of adherence to cells, lysis, and chemotaxis. Variation in the type of immune response occurs because of age, species, and the means to respond to specific virulence mechanisms of the pathogens involved.
Species vary in the type of immune response available at different sites in the respiratory tract. Large antigen droplets may immunize the upper tract with IgA, but small replicating particles may be necessary to immunize the lower tract. To develop adequate antibody levels to protect the lungs, repeated doses of antigen plus adjuvant, or a replicating antigen, are often necessary. These results are seldom achieved under field conditions (eg, many field trials using respiratory vaccines in cattle have not demonstrated statistically significant efficacy).
Environmental management is an essential part of therapy in allergic respiratory diseases. For example, clinical signs in horses with heaves (recurrent airway obstruction) or cattle with hypersensitivity pneumonitis may be effectively controlled by preventing exposure to molds present in hay.
Last full review/revision March 2012 by Ned F. Kuehn, DVM, MS, DACVIM | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39626000 |
- a. Identify two constellations and the North Star in the night sky.
- b. Make a pinhole planetarium and show three constellations.
- c. Visit a planetarium.
- d. Build a model of a rocket or space satellite.
- e. Read and talk about at least one man-made satellite and one natural one.
- f. Find a picture of another planet in our solar system. Explain how it is different from Earth.
This elective is also part of the World Conservation Award.
- a. Learn how to read an outdoor thermometer. Put one outdoors and read it at the same time every day for two weeks. Keep a record of each day's temperature and a description of the weather each day (fair skies, rain, fog, snow, etc.).
- b. Build a weather vane. Record wind direction every day at the same hour for two weeks. Keep a record of the weather for each day.
- c. Make a rain gauge.
- d. Find out what a barometer is and how it works. Tell your den about it. Tell what relative humidity means.
- e. Learn to identify three different kinds of clouds. Estimate their heights.
- f. Watch the weather forecast on TV every day for two weeks. Describe three different symbols used on weather maps. Keep a record of how many times the weather forecast is correct.
- a. Build a crystal or diode radio. Check with your local craft or hobby shop or the nearest Scout shop that carries a crystal radio kit. It is all right to use a kit.
- b. Make and operate a battery powered radio, following the directions with the kit.
- a. Wire a buzzer or doorbell.
- b. Make an electric buzzer game.
- c. Make a simple bar or horseshoe electromagnet.
- d. Use a simple electric motor.
- e. Make a crane with an electromagnetic lift.
- a. Help an adult rig and sail a real boat. (Wear your PFD.)
- b. Help an adult repair a real boat or canoe.
- c. Know the flag signals for storm warnings.
- d. Help an adult repair a boat dock.
- e. With an adult on board, and both wearing PFDs, row a boat around a 100-yard course that has at least two turns. Demonstrate forward strokes, turns to both sides, and backstrokes.
- a. Identify five different kinds of aircraft, in flight if possible, or from models or photos.
- b. Ride in a commercial airplane.
- c. Explain how a hot-air balloon works.
- d. Build and fly a model airplane. (You may use a kit. Every time you do this differently, it counts as a completed project.)
- e. Sketch and label an airplane showing the direction of forces acting on it (lift, drag, and load).
- f. Make a list of some of the things a helicopter can do that other kinds of airplanes can't. Draw or cut out a picture of a helicopter and label the parts.
- g. Build and display a scale model airplane. You may use a kit or build it from plans.
7. Things That Go
- a. With an adult's help, make a scooter or a Cubmobile. Know the safety rules.
- b. With an adult's help, make a windmill.
- c. With an adult's help, make a waterwheel.
- d. Make an invention of your own design that goes.
8. Cub Scout Band
- a. Make and play a homemade musical instrument - cigar-box banjo, washtub bull fiddle, a drum or rhythm set, tambourine, etc.
- b. Learn to play two familiar tunes on any musical instrument.
- c. Play in a den band using homemade or regular musical instruments. Play at a pack meeting.
- d. Play two tunes on any recognized band or orchestra instrument.
- a. Do an original art project and show it at a pack meeting. Every project you do counts as one requirement. Here are some ideas for art projects:Cub Scout Art Belt Loop #2, or Pin #2, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, or #11
- Mobile or wire sculpture
- Acrylic painting
- Watercolor painting
- Clay sculpture
- Silk screen picture
- b. Visit an art museum or picture gallery with your den or family.Cub Scout Art Pin #1
- c. Find a favorite outdoor location and draw or paint it.Cub Scout Art Belt Loop #2 or Pin #11
Cub Scout Art Pin #11
- a. Make a simple papier-mâché mask.
- b. Make an animal mask.
- c. Make a clown mask.
Cub Scout Art Pin #7
- a. Practice holding a camera still in one position. Learn to push the shutter button without moving the camera. Do this without film in the camera until you have learned how. Look through the viewfinder and see what your picture will look like. Make sure that everything you want in your picture is in the frame of your viewfinder.
- b. Take five pictures of the same subject in different kinds of light.
- 1. Subject in direct sun with direct light.
- 2. Subject in direct sun with side light.
- 3. Subject in direct sun with back light.
- 4. Subject in shade on a sunny day.
- 5. Subject on a cloudy day.
- c. Put your pictures to use.
- 1. Mount a picture on cardboard for display.
- 2. Mount a picture on cardboard and give it to a friend.
- 3. Make three pictures that show how something happened (tell a story) and write a one-sentence explanation for each.
- d. Take a picture in your house.
- 1. With available light
- 2. Using a flash attachment or photoflood (bright light)
12. Nature Crafts
This elective is also part of the World Conservation Award.
- a. Make solar prints of three kinds of leaves.
- b. Make a display of eight different animal tracks with an eraser print.
- c. Collect, press, and label ten kinds of leaves.
- d. Build a waterscope and identify five types of water life.
- e. Collect eight kinds of plant seeds and label them.
- f. Collect, mount, and label ten kinds of rocks or minerals.
- g. Collect, mount, and label five kinds of shells.
- h. Build and use a bird caller.
- a. Learn and show three magic tricks.
- b. With your den, put on a magic show for someone else.
- c. Learn and show four puzzles.
- d. Learn and show three rope tricks.
- a. With an adult, help take care of your lawn or flower beds or help take care of the lawn or flower beds of a public building, school, or church. Seed bare spots. Get rid of weeds. Pick up litter. Agree ahead of time on what you will do.
- b. Make a sketch of a landscape plan for the area right around your home. Talk it over with a parent or den leader. Show which trees, shrubs, and flowers you could plant to make the area look better.
- c. Take part in a project with your family, den, or pack to make your neighborhood or community more beautiful. These might be having a cleanup party, painting, cleaning and painting trash barrels, and removing weeds. (Each time you do this differently, it counts as a completed project.)
- d. Build a greenhouse and grow twenty plants from seed. You can use a package of garden seeds or use beans, pumpkin seeds, or watermelon seeds.
15. Water and Soil Conservation
This elective is also part of the World Conservation Award.
- a. Dig a hole or find an excavation project and describe the different layers of soil you see and feel. (Do not enter an excavation area alone or without permission.)
- b. Explore three kinds of earth by conducting a soil experiment.
- c. Visit a burned-out forest or prairie area, or a slide area, with your den or your family. Talk to a soil and water conservation officer or forest ranger about how the area will be planted and cared for so that it will grow to be the way it was before the fire or slide.
- d. What is erosion? Find out the kinds of grasses, trees, or ground cover you should plant in your area to help limit erosion.
- e. As a den, visit a lake, stream, river, or ocean (whichever is nearest where you live). Plan and do a den project to help clean up this important source of water. Name four kinds of water pollution.
16. Farm Animals
- a. Take care of a farm animal. Decide with your family the things you will do and how long you will do them.
- b. Name and describe six kinds of farm animals and tell their common uses.
- c. Read a book about farm animals and tell your den about it.
- d. With your family or den, visit a livestock exhibit at a county or state fair.
- a. With the help of an adult, fix an electrical plug or appliance.
- b. Use glue or epoxy to repair something.
- c. Remove and clean a drain trap.
- d. Refinish or repaint something.
- e. Agree with an adult in your family on some repair job to be done and do it. (Each time you do this differently, it counts as a completed project.)
18. Backyard Gym
- a. Build and use an outdoor gym with at least three items from this list:
- 1. Balance board
- 2. Trapeze
- 3. Tire walk
- 4. Tire swing
- 5. Tetherball
- 6. Climbing rope
- 7. Running long jump area
- b. Build three outdoor toss games.
- c. Plan an outdoor game or gym day with your den. (This can be part of a pack activity). Put your plans on paper.
- d. Hold an open house for your backyard gym.
There is something about this elective that is different from any other. That is this rule: Whenever you are working on the Swimming elective, you must have an adult with you who can swim.
- a. Jump feetfirst into water over your head, swim 25 feet on the surface, stop, turn sharply, and swim back.
- b. Swim on your back, using the elementary backstroke, for 30 feet.
- c. Rest by floating on your back, using as little motion as possible, for at least one minute.
- d. Tell what is meant by the buddy system. Know the basic rules of safe swimming.
- e. Do a racing dive from edge of pool and swim 60 feet, using a racing stroke. (You might need to make a turn.)
- a. In archery, know the safety rules and how to shoot correctly. Put six arrows into a 4-foot target at a distance of 15 feet. Make an arrow holder. (This can be done only at a district/council day or resident or family camp.)
- b. In skiing, know the Skier's Safety and Courtesy Code. Demonstrate walking and kick turn, climbing with a side step or herringbone, a snowplow stop, a stem turn, four linked snowplow or stem turns, straight running in a downhill position or cross-country position, and how to recover from a fall.
- c. In ice skating, know the safety rules. From a standing start, skate forward 150 feet; and come to a complete stop within 20 feet. Skate around a corner clockwise and counterclockwise without coasting. Show a turn from forward to backward. Skate backward 50 feet.
- d. In track, show how to make a sprint start. Run the 50-yard dash in 10 seconds or less. Show how to do the standing long jump, the running long jump, or high jump. (Be sure to have a soft landing area.)
- e. In roller skating (with conventional or in-line skates), know the safety rules. From a standing start, skate forward 150 feet and come to a complete stop within 20 feet. Skate around a corner clockwise and counterclockwise without coasting and show a turn from forward to backward. Skate backward 50 feet. Wear the proper protective clothing.
- f. Earn a new Cub Scout Sports pin. (Repeat three times with different sports to earn up to three Arrow Points.)Cub Scout Badminton Pin
- a. Take part in a council- or pack-sponsored, money-earning sales program. Keep track of the sales you make yourself. When the program is over, add up the sales you have made.
- b. Help with a garage sale or rummage sale. This can be with your family or a neighbor, or it can be a church, school, or pack event.
22. Collecting Things
- a. Start a stamp collection. You can get information about stamp collecting at any U.S. post office.
- b. Mount and display a collection of emblems, coins, or other items to show at a pack meeting. This can be any kind of collection. Every time you show a different kind of collection, it counts as one requirement.
- c. Start your own library. Keep your own books and pamphlets in order by subject. List the title, author, and subject of each on an index card and keep the cards in a file box, or use a computer program to store the information.
- a. Look up your state on a U.S. map. What other states touch its borders?
- b. Find your city or town on a map of your state. How far do you live from the state capital?
- c. In which time zone do you live? How many time zones are there in the U.S.?
- d. Make a map showing the route from your home to your school or den meeting place.
- e. Mark a map showing the way to a place you would like to visit that is at least 50 miles from your home.
24. American Indian Life
- a. American Indian people live in every part of what is now the continental United States. Find the name of the American Indian nation that lives or has lived where you live now. Learn about these people.
- b. Learn, make equipment for, and play two American Indian or other native American games with members of your den. Be able to tell the rules, who won, and what the score was.
- c. Learn what the American Indian people in your area (or another area) used for shelter before contact with the Europeans. Learn what American Indian people in that area used for shelter today. Make a model of one of these shelters, historic or modern. Compare the kind of shelter you made with the others made in your den.
25. Let's Go Camping
- a. Learn about the ten essential items you need for a hike or campout. Assemble your own kit of essential items. Explain why each item is "essential."
- b. Go on a short hike with your den, following the buddy system. Explain how the buddy system works and why it is important to you to follow it. Tell what to do if you are lost.
- c. Participate with your den in front of the pack at a campfire.
- d. Participate with your pack on an overnight campout. Help put up your tent and help set up the campsite.
- e. Participate with your den in a religious service during an overnight campout or other Cub Scouting event.
- f. Attend day camp in your area.
- g. Attend resident camp in your area.
- h. Earn the Cub Scout Leave No Trace Award.
|| The official source for the information shown in this article or section is:|
Bear Handbook, 2003 Edition (BSA Supply No. 33451)
The text of these requirements is locked and can only be edited by an administrator.
Please note any errors found in the above requirements on this article's Talk Page. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39629000 |
Boyle, Robert (1627–1691), British physicist. Considered one of the fathers of modern chemistry, Boyle is known especially for his pioneering experiments on the properties of gases. In 1662 he published his findings stating the relation concerning the compression and expansion of a gas at constant temperature (Boyle's law). Boyle also wrote the first English treatise on electricity and espoused the theory that matter is corpuscular in composition. This theory was an important forerunner of modern chemical theory. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39630000 |
Coleps Video No. 1
This barrel-shaped ciliate is covered by a layer of protective, calcareous plates and is commonly found in freshwater. Coleps is a rapid swimmer, revolving as it travels and using this motion to bore out chunks of other protozoans it is feeding upon.
Questions or comments? Send us an email.
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Builders of Wooden Railway Cars ... and some of other stuff
Canada Car & Manufacturing Company
Toronto Steel, Iron & Railway Works Company, Ltd
The Canada Car & Manufacturing Company was given birth by the Toronto Steel, Iron & Railway Works Company, Ltd. The latter was founded in the mid 1860s by two Toronto stock brokers and financial agents, John L. Blaikie and William Alexander. It produced mainly signals and track appliances. One piece of its stationary steam engines was manufactured by William Hamilton & Sons’ St. Lawrence Foundry.
Through the years Blaikie invented a number of articles and processes useful to the railway industry, but by the early 1870s the company’s revenues were declining and they were looking for other fields of opportunity.
In 1872, Blaikie and Alexander were approached by a group interested in establishing a railway car factory using their works as a basis. Blaikie and Alexander would receive stock in the new enterprise in exchange for title to their factory. There was just one little problem. Their factory had been built on five acres of military reserve land, and their lease would expire in just eight years. A longer lease would have to be negotiated if the deal was to be worthwhile. And the negotiations would be complicated by the fact that in 1870, the Province of Ontario had purchased the reserve from the Dominion with the intent of building a new Central Prison. Car factory or prison, which was it to be?
In the usual manner of business and political negotiations (and Ashdown goes through all the details), the car factory needed the facilities, and the authorities needed an activity for their convicts. After long and sometimes contentious negotiations, the final agreement was that —
1. the car company would employ as many prisoners as the prison could provide, up to a maximum of 260. 2. the car company would provide training in the various trades required. 3.
the car company could use the manufacturing facilities being constructed as part of the prison.
4. the government would provide heat, light, power, water, tracks and offices at the prison. 5. the government would build stipulated iron-mongering equipment and facilities at the prison. 6. the car company might utilize prison space for storing lumber and other material. 7. the car company was not limited to the construction of railway cars.
It was 1871 before agreement was reached, and construction of the prison commenced, and October of 1873 before it was finished and the workshops turned over to the car company. During this time a great deal of renegotiation was carried on, and the car company ended up building and installing much of the track and machinery promised by the government.
Since the prison workshops would be connected to the car factory by only a road and a railroad track, the general plan was for the prisoners to build the trucks and woodwork for the cars at the prison and for the final assembly to be done in the car factory itself. The factory was thus set up to be primarily an assembly and finishing area.
Work continued during this time on the car factory itself, and was largely completed by the summer of 1873. It formally opened in February 1874 as the Canada Car & Manufacturing Company, Ltd. Unfortunately, during the several years of construction, and with the prisoner labor not yet available, the company lost several large orders for cars. It opened, however, with a substantial order for platform cars (flat cars) for the Great Western Railway and promise of a substantial order for trucks from the Intercolonial Railway, which was about to change its tracks from broad gauge to standard. It would be June, however, before prison labor would be available.
For much greater detail about this fascinating endeavor, see —
Ashdown, Dana William. Iron & Steam; A History of the Locomotive and Railway Car Builders of Toronto. Toronto, ON: Robin Brass Studio, 1999.
09 April 2006 | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39638000 |
The Future of Medicine: Improve Healthcare With Gadgets
Doctors and nurses are turning to tablets and smartphones to aid their everyday work, as a new generation of medical professionals lean on gadgets to make healthcare more efficient and cost-effective.
The Future of mHealth is our series that explores opportunities and challenges of mHealth, which aims to put widespread access to healthcare within the reach of those who need it most.
Mobile devices are proving instrumental for a growing number of healthcare professionals. Smartphones and tablets are progressing beyond ways for doctors and nurses to check in during a busy day, and becoming part of the very fabric of healthcare delivery.
Healthcare professionals use gadgets to consult with patients, manage workflow, get alerts from other healthcare players and soon will perform research and diagnose conditions with them as well.
Mobile technology is also being integrated into the training of nurses and doctors, ensuring the next generation of medical workers will be connected to devices playing key roles in patient care.
Managing Communication and Workflow with Mobile Devices
A new nursing initiative at a major Boston-area hospital underscores how deeply mobile devices are being integrated into medical professionals' work. Massachusetts General Hospital is rolling out the Voalte communications system this year, allowing nurses to receive voice calls, alarms and text messages about patient status, medications, emergencies, schedule changes and other events.
By turning smartphones into instant communication and remote monitoring devices, systems like Voalte's allow nurses to streamline work and prioritize notifications according to urgency and priority, wasting less time and effort as they care for multiple patients.
Doctors increasingly turn to smartphones, rather than tried-and-true pagers, to communicate, leading insurers and regulators to develop targeted mobile communications initiatives.
For example, Aetna insurance sends mobile alerts to doctors about patient care and claims, while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is seeking a developer for a mobile app that will alert medical personnel to drug reactions during public health crises.
Doctors are also using their devices to reach out to patients, forwarding test results, answers to questions and other information instantly, rather than waiting to receive and return a message.
As the demands on doctors' time increase, mobile devices will continue to expand their role in healthcare to fill the communications gap, especially as patients themselves become increasingly connected.
Putting Health Information at Hand, No Textbook Required
Many academic programs also integrate smartphones and tablets in curricula, releasing medical and nursing students from the burden of memorizing mountains of data.
Instead, medical training is retooling its focus to teach future nurses and doctors how to find, access and process reliable information, rather than stressing rote memorization.
A January New York Times article highlighted the trend in nursing, describing how incorporating mobile technology in nursing programs and healthcare settings prepares nurses to deliver more effective patient care. The trend does not mean nurses and doctors are less capable or responsible, but rather underscores the exploding volume of information needed to perform medical jobs and recognizes no one person can mentally stay on top of it all.
Mobile devices can alleviate this problem, putting access to the latest information at professionals' fingertips. Advances in graphic displays and touchscreens allow healthcare personnel to access even the most complex, detailed medical texts on a mobile device.
For example, Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, the "bible" of medical textbooks, recently became available for the iPad, complete with instructional videos and searchable text and medical illustrations.
Harrison's weighs in at over 4,000 pages and contains a level of minute detail that made it previously impossible to put it on any e-reader device. IPad advances, coupled with a digital publishing platform created for science and medicine, led a team to reconstruct the resource from the ground up, allowing every healthcare professional to easily find valuable information, without traveling back to their bookshelf to access it.
Vetting the Best Apps for Health
With the rise of mobile devices with healthcare professionals, medicine is now a prime market for advertisers and app developers. App stores are full of "healthcare" offerings for both consumer and professional audiences, but busy doctors don't have time to weed through the hype to find the ones that are truly effective, or search for health apps among dozens of unrelated tools.
As a result, doctors and healthcare organizations will increasingly turn to outside experts to find the apps and tools best suited to their needs. Happtique, an offshoot of Greater New York Hospital Association Ventures, built an app store for hospitals and doctors. Its pilot prgram involved eleven major New York hospitals.
Now, the company aims to create a "gold standard" for all medical apps and plans to create a set of criteria by which it will judge health applications, building a standards program around those criteria within the next six months.
Doctors will use Happtique to find the best apps for their own use, as well as identify those that are safest and best for their patients. Hospitals that wish to offer a set of custom healthcare apps to personnel will also be able to do so via Happtique.
Reportedly, there are 23,000 medical apps for iOS and Android devices alone, so the company faces a giant task ahead. However, as the need for trustworthy apps grows, Happtique and its future rivals will refine their techniques to cull the best apps for physicians and other healthcare professionals as competition in the app curation field heats up.
Distraction, Privacy Remain Hurdles
Smartphones and tablets are making doctors and nurses more reachable than ever before and also helping to streamline and focus their work for maximum benefit.
However, a constantly buzzing phone could also distract in a field that demands intense focus. According to a study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, phone calls, e-mails and face-to-face interactions interrupt doctors nearly five times an hour and mobile devices can potentially steal even more focus from patients.
So far, there isn't much evidence that mobile devices have directly led to patient harm. However, as mobile use increases in healthcare, doctors will need to create balance between constant connectedness and the need for single-minded focus on patients.
Doctors will need to keep patient privacy and confidentiality in mind, as well, especially if they text patients or access medical records on an unsecured device.
Smartphones are a convenient, quick way to answer questions and relay information, but aren't always the most secure channel. Doctors, nurses and the healthcare systems that employ them can expect to answer to both patients and regulators about their privacy measures as mobile health continues its forward march. ♦
Categories: News Desk | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39645000 |
Palazzo Grassi - Venice
The precise circumstances concerning the building of the palace are little-known. It is supposed that work began in 1740, or more probably in 1748, for which date a text mentions excavation work and the preparation of foundations.
The Grassi family, originally from Chioggia, had bought a patch of land in a magnificent location. Its trapezoidal form offered the added advantage of providing a long façade on the canal. The architecture of Palazzo Grassi is attributed to Giorgio Massari who had built the large church of the Gesuati on the Zattere, and that of the Pietà on the Riva degli Schiavoni.
This was the last palace to be erected in Venice before the fall of the Rupublic. The palace is currently considered to be a high value location for exhibitions.
Painting and Sculpture form the François Pinault Collection will feature a focused selection of 16 international artists whose work engages with supposedly "traditional" art practises - yet subject both painting and sculpture to constant conceptual revisions and ever-evolving techniques. The works can be admired until the 5th November 2007.
The structure gives visitors optional tour guides, aimed to study the artist and his work but, above all, to read and analise the artistic image.
Palazzo Grassi bookshop is managed by Skira, and the merchandising includes a personalised Moleskine. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39650000 |
Source: youtube channel funfunfunfunfunfive, wikipedia
"Paper Marbling is a method of aqueous surface design, which can produce patterns similar to smooth marble or other stone. The patterns are the result of color floated on either plain water or a viscous solution known as size, and then carefully transferred to an absorbent surface, such as paper or fabric. Through several centuries, people have applied marbled materials to a variety of surfaces. It is often employed as a writing surface for calligraphy, and especially book covers and endpapers in bookbinding and stationery. Part of its appeal is that each print is a unique monotype."
The history of Paper Marbling is said to originate in different parts of East Asia. Known to be used in China, Persia, Ottoman Turkey, in Islamic Empires then Europe. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39658000 |
Bilberry fruit has been used in traditional European medicine for nearly one thousand years. Due to its tannin content, it is used internally to treat acute diarrhea, particularly in children, and externally to treat mild inflammation of oral mucous membranes. Bilberry is used as a component in a few astringent tea preparations. Fruit preparations are used to treat microcirculatory disorders, which include varicose veins, atherosclerosis, venous insufficiency, and degenerative retinal conditions, such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, and cataracts. Possible mechanisms of action for its effects on ophthalmic conditions include its ability to protect against the breakdown of rhodopsin (retinal purple), a light sensitive pigment located in the rods of the retina, and its ability to regenerate rhodopsin. It may also provide vasoprotection by decreasing capillary fragility and permeability.
Several human clinical studies have been found in the literature investigating possible new uses for bilberry, particularly visual dysfunctions, including those caused by impaired microcirculation and diabetes mellitus. Bilberry fruit preparations have been investigated for their effects on vision acuity in dim light, on patients with pigmentary retinitis when taken with beta-carotene, on night vision in normal subjects, on patients with diabetic retinopathy when taken in combination with beta-carotene, on patients with significant hemeralopia (diminished vision in bright light), on patients with macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, retinal inflammation, or retinitis pigmentosa, and on patients with progressive myopia. Additional studies also investigated bilberry's effects on the progression of cataract formation in patients.
Bilberry fruit extracts may offer relief for vascular disorders including capillary weakness, venous insufficiency, and hemorrhoids. It is also used as a secondary treatment for spasmodic colitis. Bilberry fruit contains high concentrations of tannins, substances that act as both an anti-inflammatory and an astringent. The latter quality in particular may help wounds heal more quickly. Bilberry is believed to help people with diarrhea by reducing the intestinal inflammation associated with the condition.
A close relative of the cranberry, bilberry fruits contain flavonoid compounds called anthocyanidins. Flavonoids are plant pigments that have excellent antioxidant properties. This means that they scavenge damaging particles in the body known as free radicals and have been shown to help prevent a number of long-term illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, and an eye disorder called macular degeneration (a disease of the retina that can lead to blindness).
Anthocyanidins found in bilberry fruits may also be useful for people with vision problems. During World War II, British fighter pilots reported that bilberries improved their nighttime vision and helped them quickly adjust to darkness. Today, it is believed that anthocyanidins may help protect the retina, the nerve layer that lines the back of the eye and sends nerve impulses to the visual areas of the brain. Studies conducted suggest that the anthocyanidins contained in bilberry fruit preparations improve symptoms of a variety of visual disturbances including nearsightedness, cataracts, and macular degeneration.
The anthocyanidins of bilberry have considerable pharmacologic activity. They are especially used as anti-aging substances. These bitter compounds inhibit collagen destruction, scavenger free radicals, reduce capillary permeability, increase bloods circulation to peripheral blood vessels and the brain, reduce inflammation and pain and relieve muscle spasms. It is one of the most popular over-the-counter drugs in Europe.
It is so effective that a single dose it said to improve one’s night vision within hours.
It has traditionally been used to treat poor night vision, bruising, capillary fragility, varicose veins, poor circulation, Raynaud’s disease, circulation complications due to diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, gout and periodontal disease.
This herb is becoming more important to the aging populations of the world. This fruit and its extracts have marvelous anti-aging properties. Bilberry was first studied for its effects on poor night vision. Indeed, regular use of the fruit results in quicker adjustment to darkness and glare and improved visual acuity both at night and in bright light during the day. Bilberry may be useful in the prevention and treatment of glaucoma since it strengthens connective tissue and prevents free radical damage.
In the control of diabetes short term, one’s blood sugar is lowered and long term, one’s circulatory system is preserved. Connective tissue is not destroyed and capillaries function more normally.
In other chronic degenerative diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis, the inflammation and pain are reduced while damage to connective tissue is kept to a minimum.
This is an important fruit to add to one’s daily diet. Blueberries and black currant fruit may also be as useful as bilberry but not yet as popular for their medicinal properties.
Uses: Bilberries are a dried fruit you'll want to keep handy in your cupboards to use in small quantities often. Though it is less juicy than most dried berries, we add Bilberries to many food recipes as we would any other dried fruit (hot cereals, sauces, some rice dishes, meat dishes, vegetable dishes, stir-fry, waffles and pancakes, etc.). Of course, they make a great addition to just about any tea recipe. They can be used to benefit men, women (including before, during or after pregnancy, and nursing) and children. They can be used as often as you would like.
Voice of Experience: When a more plump and juicy dried berry is desired, we soak (reconstitute) these Bilberries in water over night. Of course, any liquid of choice could be used in place of water.
Storage: Bilberries should be kept in an airtight container and stored in a dark, dry, and cool place. Refrigeration or freezing is great, but not necessary.
Questions?: Check out Frequently Asked Questions. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39659000 |
Botanical Name: Viburnum rafinesquianum
Common Name: Downy Arrowwood
Click on an image to enlarge
Height: 10-12' Spread: 5-6' Habit/Form: Open and spreading Growth Rate: Medium Zone: 5-7
Cultural Requirements: Full sun to part shade and moist, well drained soil; will tolerate some dryness. May be hard to locate in nurseries.
Ornamental characteristics: Clusters of creamy white flowers in spring; dark blue black fruit in autumn; burgundy fall color.
Uses in the Landscape: specimen, shrub border.
Native to Midwest
- Native Shrubs of the Midwest 48%
A native plant is considered to be a species that existed in the Midwest prior to the arrival of European settlers, as opposed to a naturalized plant, which has been introduced into a new habitat by human influence. Native shrubs are part of the...
- Viburnums for the Home Landscape 48%
Viburnums for the Home Landscape Tough, adaptable shrubs available in many sizes and forms to fit small or large properties Several selections available with wonderfully fragrant flowers Heavy fruiting varieties attract wildlife to the...
- Shrubby Cinquefoil 48%
Botanical Name: Potentilla fruticosa Common Name: Shrubby Cinquefoil Updated 11/2012 Height: 1-4' Spread: 2-4' Habit/Form: Mounded Growth Rate: Fast Zone: 2-6 Cultural Requirements: Grow in full sun for maximum flower production;...
- Virginia Creeper 48%
Botanical Name: Parthenocissus quinquefolia Common Name: Virginia Creeper* Updated 11/2012 Form Leaf Fall leaf *Given the right conditions, these vines can be aggressive and control may be...
- Boston-Ivy 48%
Botanical Name: Parthenocissus tricuspidataCommon Name: Boston-Ivy Updated 11/2012Click on an image to enlarge. Form Leaf Fall leaf Attachment: Clinging with holdfasts Habit/Form: Climbing...
- Intermediate Sized Deciduous Shrubs (5-8 feet) 45%
Intermediate-sized Deciduous Shrubs for the Home Landscape Generally grow 5-8 feet tall Plants with multiple stems arising from a common crown at ground level or single-stemmed plants that begin branching at a point near the ground Lose their... | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39661000 |
Here are my instructions to make homemade yogurt. Don't know about yogurt maker but I would imagine after you make it up, just pour it in the maker and incubate.
Homemade yogurt contains more vigorous cultures than store-bought. It can be made without special equipment, using cow’s milk, goat’s milk, or soy milk. Homemade yogurt may be slightly thinner than store-bought yogurt. You can add dried milk powder if you want firmer yogurt (see variation). Although I have specified temperatures in the instructions, a thermometer is not necessary when making yogurt. Methods for determining if ingredients are at the correct temperature are explained as well.
3 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt with live cultures or 1 packet freeze-dried culture
Pour milk into a heavy-bottomed pan. Warm over medium heat until milk just starts to boil (about 180ºF). Remove from heat. Cool milk to approximately 105ºF to 120ºF. At that temperature, you should comfortably be able to immerse your finger in it. To help the milk cool, you can fill your sink with cold water to below the level of the top of the pan. Place pan in sink and stir milk with a whisk. When milk is at correct temperature, whisk in yogurt or culture. Pour into very clean quart-size jar and cover tightly.
Yogurt must incubate in a warm place, undisturbed, for five to ten hours. Possible places include an oven with a pilot light, on a heating pad, wrapped in an electric blanket, or in a thermos. I have found a cooler to be very reliable. Partially fill a cooler with water that is warm but in which you can comfortably immerse your hand (about 120ºF). Place jar in cooler. Water should come to just below the top of the jar. Close cooler.
No matter which incubation method you choose, let the yogurt sit undisturbed for about 5 hours. Then check the yogurt periodically. Make sure the temperature is not too hot (which will kill the cultures) or too cold (yogurt won’t set). Check the firmness of the yogurt. When it feels firm to the touch, it is done. Refrigerate yogurt for at least 12 hours before you try it. Don’t despair if your first batch does not set completely. Drinking liquid yogurt (kefir) is just as beneficial as firm yogurt. Be sure to save enough yogurt to start your next batch. Homemade yogurt lasts at least a week in the refrigerator.
Makes 1 quart
Note: If you prefer sweetened yogurt, add fruit, jam, stevia extract, agave nectar, honey, or maple syrup to prepared yogurt.
Variation: For firmer yogurt, add 2 tablespoons dried nonfat milk powder with yogurt. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39663000 |
What is bipolar disorder?
Bipolar disorder, or manic depression, is a medical illness that causes extreme shifts in mood, energy, and functioning. These changes may be subtle or dramatic and typically vary greatly over the course of a person’s life as well as among individuals. Over 10 million people in America have bipolar disorder, and the illness affects men and women equally. Bipolar disorder is a chronic and generally life-long condition with recurring episodes of mania and depression that can last from days to months that often begin in adolescence or early adulthood, and occasionally even in children. Most people generally require some sort of lifelong treatment. While medication is one key element in successful treatment of bipolar disorder, psychotherapy, support, and education about the illness are also essential components of the treatment process.
What are the symptoms of mania?
Mania is the word that describes the activated phase of bipolar disorder. The symptoms of mania may include:
- either an elated, happy mood or an irritable, angry, unpleasant mood
- increased physical and mental activity and energy
- racing thoughts and flight of ideas
- increased talking, more rapid speech than normal
- ambitious, often grandiose plans
- risk taking
- impulsive activity such as spending sprees, sexual indiscretion, and alcohol abuse
- decreased sleep without experiencing fatigue
What are the symptoms of depression?
Depression is the other phase of bipolar disorder. The symptoms of depression may include:
- loss of energy
- prolonged sadness
- decreased activity and energy
- restlessness and irritability
- inability to concentrate or make decisions
- increased feelings of worry and anxiety
- less interest or participation in, and less enjoyment of activities normally enjoyed
- feelings of guilt and hopelessness
- thoughts of suicide
- change in appetite (either eating more or eating less)
- change in sleep patterns (either sleeping more or sleeping less)
What is a "mixed" state?
A mixed state is when symptoms of mania and depression occur at the same time. During a mixed state depressed mood accompanies manic activation.
What is rapid cycling?
Sometimes individuals may experience an increased frequency of episodes. When four or more episodes of illness occur within a 12-month period, the individual is said to have bipolar disorder with rapid cycling. Rapid cycling is more common in women.
What are the causes of bipolar disorder?
While the exact cause of bipolar disorder is not known, most scientists believe that bipolar disorder is likely caused by multiple factors that interact with each other to produce a chemical imbalance affecting certain parts of the brain. Bipolar disorder often runs in families, and studies suggest a genetic component to the illness. A stressful environment or negative life events may interact with an underlying genetic or biological vulnerability to produce the disorder. There are other possible "triggers" of bipolar episodes: the treatment of depression with an antidepressant medication may trigger a switch into mania, sleep deprivation may trigger mania, or hypothyroidism may produce depression or mood instability. It is important to note that bipolar episodes can and often do occur without any obvious trigger.
How is bipolar disorder treated?
While there is no cure for bipolar disorder, it is a treatable and manageable illness. After an accurate diagnosis, most people can achieve an optimal level of wellness. Medication is an essential element of successful treatment for people with bipolar disorder. In addition, psychosocial therapies including cognitive-behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, family therapy, and psychoeducation are important to help people understand the illness and to internalize skills to cope with the stresses that can trigger episodes. Changes in medications or doses may be necessary, as well as changes in treatment plans during different stages of the illness.
It is useful to know whether the "mood stabilizing medication" prescribed has been approved by the FDA for use in bipolar disorder:
Medications for Mania:
Currently FDA approved: lithium (Eskalith or Lithobid), divalproex sodium (Depakote), carbamazepine (Tegretol), olanzapine (Zyprexa), risperidone (Risperdal), quetiapine (Seroquel), ziprasidone (Geodon), aripiprazole (Abilify)
At least one adequate well controlled study with positive data: haloperidol (Haldol)
Medications for bipolar depression:
Currently FDA approved: combination of olanzapine and fluoxetine (Symbyax)
Also at least one adequate well controlled study with positive data: quetiapine (Seroquel) and lamotrigine (Lamictal)
Medications for preventing (or delaying) recurrence:
Currently FDA approved: lithium (Eskalith or Lithobid), lamotrigine (Lamictal), olanzapine (Zyprexa), and aripiprazole (Abilify)
Frequently a combination of two or more medications is used, especially during severe episodes of acute mania or depression.
Medication specifics and possible side effects:
Lithium has long been used as a first line treatment for acute mania in people with bipolar disorder for more than 50 years. It generally has more positive impact when used earlier, rather than later, in the course of bipolar disorder. Research shows it is most effective in those individuals with a family history of the illness, and in those experiencing the bipolar I sequence of swings between mania and depression with return to normal function between episodes.
Like all medications, lithium treatment produces side effects. The most common ones are dose-related and can be effectively managed, but for about 30 percent of people who try it, lithium is not tolerable. Lithium side effects may include frequent urination, excessive thirst, weight gain, memory problems, hand tremors, gastrointestinal problems, hair loss, acne, and water retention. There are two important lithium side effects, that can be effectively monitored by a simple blood test: 1)hypothyroidism, which mimics depression and can be easily treated, and 2) less commonly, damage to kidney functions.
Anti-convulsants: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved divalproex sodium (Depakote) in 1995 for treating bipolar episodes. Originally approved in 1983 as a drug to treat epilepsy, Depakote was found to be as effective as lithium for treating acute mania, and appears to be better than lithium in treating the more complex bipolar subtypes of rapid cycling and dysphoric mania, as well as co-morbid substance abuse. In addition, Depakote may be safely given in larger doses to treat acute episodes, and works faster in this situation than lithium. The generic version of this drug is valproic acid. Some people find that the generic version produces more gastrointestinal distress than Depakote.
Depakote may also produce sedation and gastrointestinal distress, but these side effects often resolve during the first six months of treatment, or with dose adjustment. Another dose-related side effect is weight gain, and rare liver and pancreatic function problems may develop while taking Depakote. However, Depakote is generally well-tolerated, and is now prescribed far more often then lithium. Recent controlled trials indicate that the combination of Depakote and lithium is more effective in preventing relapse and recurrence than treatment with lithium alone.
Lamictal (lamotrigine), another anti-convulsant, is effective in the treatment of acute depression in bipolar I and II and in promoting remissions between episodes. For most people, Lamictal has a very tolerable side effect profile. Rarely, this medication can cause a rash serious enough to cause a medical emergency. The risk of this one potentially serious side effect can be reduced by starting with a low dose and going slowly in increasing the dose.
Use of Antidepressants
Standard antidepressant medications (those approved for the treatment of unipolar depression) have not yet been proven effective for bipolar depression. Although the evidence supporting their use for bipolar depression is limited to small or less rigorous studies, these medications remain the most commonly used treatment for bipolar depression. The data from larger studies finds neither evidence of benefit nor evidence that these agents cause large numbers of depressed patients to switch into mania.
Use of Antipsychotic Medications as Mood Stabilizers
To control acute episodes, antipsychotic medications may be used alone (monotherapy), or added to anti-convulsant medications (combination therapy). Medication guidelines now recommend the combination of these two medications as most effective for acute manic episodes. Because the older typical antipsychotic medications run the risk of causing permanent movement disorder, and have been associated with depression when used over the long term, the new atypical antipsychotics are now preferred for this purpose. All the new atypicals are effective in the treatment of acute and mixed mania. Olanzapine (Zyprexa) and risperidone (Risperdal) are FDA-approved for this purpose.
Finding the right preventive/maintenance medicine is an art informed by science and your own observations. Not all medicines that work in the acute phase of mania are as strong in preventing the next episode, so this is an area to explore.
Side effects of the atypicals are different than with first-generation antipsychotics (such as Haldol), although sedation, weight gain, and risk of diabetes are problems associated with many of the new antipsychotics. Clozapine and olanzapine, both effective antipsychotics and mood stabilizers, offer the most risk in this area. Weight gain is a serious clinical concern related to all atypical antipsychotics, and to anti-convulsants as well. Not only can weight gain lead to adult onset also known as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, but being overweight is also now the leading cause of medication non-adherence. Doctors advise weekly monitoring of weight in the early stages of taking these medications, along with regular exercise and healthy diets, and people must be willing to make lifestyle changes to maintain optimal health. The FDA has noted an association between all atypical antipsychotics and the risk of diabetes. As the science develops in this area, it will continue to inform medicine choices for the person that best reflect their risks and benefits.
Reviewed by Ken Duckworth, MD, October 2006
Read about Treatments and Supports for Mental Illness | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39688000 |
A recent experiment conducted revealed the importance of onsite safety training for supervisors and employers. As most workers have the tendency to follow orders before considering safety, it is essential that construction supervisors undergo online training classes for onsite safety. The experiment included a supervisor and an apprentice, both played by actors. Passers-by were asked to pass on a supposed ‘live’ wire to the apprentice.
More than 90% of the passers-by handed over the wire to the apprentice despite being warned of the ‘danger’. Even when the apprentice faked a shock, they picked up the cable and gave it to him again. With more importance given to productivity rather than safety, it is the responsibility of the supervisor to ensure the safety of the workers. This is where extensive training for a white card proves useful.
The experiment showed that most people had respect for authority and did not question their safety when they were asked to do something. This attitude places the onus on employers and supervisors who must not ask workers to carry out unsafe activities. The attitude of the workers towards safety largely depends on their supervisor. If the supervisor does not place importance on safety, chances that workers value onsite safety also decreases. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39692000 |
About Nevada Agricultural Statistics
Nevada Agricultural Statistics located in Reno, Nevada is
the Nevada field office of USDA’s National Agricultural
Statistics Service (NASS). NASS is the official statistical
agency of the United States Department of Agriculture with
the mission to serve the United States, its agriculture,
and its rural communities by providing meaningful, accurate,
and objective statistical information and services. Nevada
Agricultural Statistics operates with assistance and cooperation
from the Nevada Department of Agriculture and the College
of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Biotechnology of University
About Nevada Agriculture
Agriculture often goes largely unnoticed behind the glare
of casinos and tourist attractions in Nevada, and most of
it cannot be seen from the interstate highways. Farming and
ranching, however, provide a cornerstone to the economies
of many of Nevada’s rural communities and greatly enhance
the aesthetics of life near the urban areas. Farming is concentrated
in valleys where water is available for irrigation, while
vast rangelands and mountains provide grazing for livestock.
Range livestock production is predominate in Nevada with
well over half of the farms raising cattle or sheep. The
highest concentrations of cattle are in the northern part
of the State. Cow-calf operations are most common type of
operation and Elko county ranks among the leading counties
in the Nation in number of beef cows. Northern Nevada is
also home to the vast majority of the sheep.
Dairying is a growing industry in the State, as is the manufacture
of dairy products. The dairies are concentrated in the vicinity
of the large market centers of Las Vegas and Reno. Horses
are big business in Nevada, both for work and pleasure. Swine
production is limited and most producers market locally.
Other livestock enterprises, including goats, emu, and llama,
are becoming more common.
Nevada’s high desert climate is very well suited to
the production of high quality alfalfa hay and alfalfa hay
accounts for over half of the total value of crops produced
in the State. Much of the alfalfa is marketed to dairies
in California and a significant quantity is exported overseas.
A variety of other high value crops are gaining in importance
to Nevada agriculture. Potatoes, onions, garlic, grain, and
seed crops contribute greatly to the total value of production.
Across Nevada lie valleys rich in agricultural resources:
most unseen from the interstate highways. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39695000 |
By Patrick J. Kiger
The creators of jousting intended it as test of martial prowess and character, but math and physics also seem to play a significant role.
In 2002, Erik M. Berg and Roger L. Lampe, who at the time were undergraduate science students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, wrote this paper in which they mathematically modeled the collision of two jousters and analyzed how the a number of different variables—ranging from the size of the knights and the muscular strength of their grip of their saddles, to the velocity their horses achieve—influence the outcome.
Berg and Lampe found that one critical factor is the alignment of a knight’s lance, and the location and angle at which it strikes the opponent’s shield or armor. A straight-on blow that hits an opponent in the center of the torso is likely to bend his upper body directly backward. That sort of strike could shatter a lance, if the collective mass and velocity exceed the wooden shaft’s tolerance for bending. In order to unhorse an opponent and win more points, however, a knight probably needs for his lance to strike at to one side and at an angle in that direction. If delivered with sufficient force, that type of impact will cause the opponent to rotate to one side as well as backward, and create a greater strain upon his grip on his saddle and horse. The ideal target for a knight, they concluded, is the upper left part of the opponent’s armor, just far enough away from the pivot point of the opponent’s spine to achieve the maximum torque, but not so far toward the edge that the lance would strike a glancing blow off the armor and not achieve a solid hit.
But another key factor in determining a victor is how strongly the knight holds on to his own horse while scoring a hit with his lance. If a knight doesn’t have a strong enough grip on his horse, when his lance strikes the opponent, he may end up being knocked out of the saddle himself.
Finally, assuming that both knights have a similar grip on their horses and both score hits, the critical factor seems to be who strikes first. If the black knight’s lance makes contact with the gray knight first, the gray knight will be twisted and pushed back when his lance hits the black knight. That will weaken the gray knight’s position atop his horse, and increase the chance that he will be the one who hits the ground.
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Tiny phytoplankton in the oceans of the Northern Hemisphere had far larger extinction rates during the mass extinction event 65 million years ago than those living in the Southern Hemisphere, according to a paper published online this week in Nature Geoscience. The recovery of the Northern Hemisphere phytoplankton also occurred significantly later than recovery in the southern oceans.
Populations of phytoplankton smaller than 20 micrometres were decimated during the Cretaceous/Tertiary mass extinction, which is linked to an impact event. Timothy Bralower and colleagues propose that the clouds of debris from the impact ― which would have blocked the sunlight that these phytoplankton needed to grow, and poisoned them as the metal-laden dust fell to the ocean surface ― were concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere, leading to the higher extinction rates. The team also suggests that the recovery of marine diversity in the north may have been hindered by the phytoplankton's slower start in this region. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39701000 |
Boy or girl? A simple blood test in mothers-to-be can answer that question with surprising accuracy at about seven weeks, a research analysis has found.
Though not widely offered by U.S. doctors, gender-detecting blood tests have been sold online to consumers for the past few years. Their promises of early and accurate results prompted genetics researchers to take a closer look.
They analyzed 57 published studies of gender testing done in rigorous research or academic settings — though not necessarily the same methods or conditions used by direct-to-consumer firms.
The authors say the results suggest blood tests like those studied could be a breakthrough for women at risk of having babies with certain diseases, who could avoid invasive procedures if they learned their fetus was a gender not affected by those illnesses. But the study raises concerns about couples using such tests for gender selection and abortion.
Couples who buy tests from marketers should be questioned about how they plan to use the results, the study authors said.
The analyzed test can detect fetal DNA in mothers' blood. It's about 95 percent accurate at identifying gender when women are at least seven weeks' pregnant — more than one month before conventional methods. Accuracy of the testing increases as pregnancy advances, the researchers concluded.
Conventional procedures, typically done for medical reasons, can detect gender starting at about 10 weeks.
The new analysis, published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, involved more than 6,000 pregnancies. The testing used a lab procedure called PCR that detects genetic material — in this case, the male Y chromosome. If present in the mother's blood, she's carrying a boy, but if absent, it's a girl.
Tests that companies sell directly to consumers were not examined in the analysis. Sex-detection tests using mothers' urine or blood before seven weeks of pregnancy were not accurate, the researchers said.
Senior author Dr. Diana Bianchi, a reproductive geneticist and executive director of the Mother Infant Research Institute at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, called the results impressive. She noted that doctors in Great Britain are already using such testing for couples at risk of having children with hemophilia or other sex-linked diseases, partly to help guide treatment decisions.
The research indicates that many laboratories have had success with the test, but the results can't be generalized to all labs because testing conditions can vary substantially, said Dr. Joe Leigh Simpson, a genetics professor at Florida International University. He was not involved in the study.
Simpson noted that using gender-detection blood testing for medical or other reasons has not been endorsed by guideline-setting medical groups and some experts consider it experimental.
Dr. Lee Shulman, chief of clinical genetics at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, said the testing "isn't ready for prime time."
He said his hospital doesn't provide the blood tests, and doesn't offer more conventional techniques, including amniocentesis, to women who have no medical reason for wanting to know their baby's gender.
"I would have a lot of difficulties offering such a test just for gender identification. Gender is not an abnormality," Shulman said. "My concern is this is ultimately going to be available in malls or shopping centers," similar to companies offering "cute" prenatal ultrasound images.
Recent research found that increasing numbers of women in India who already have daughters are having abortions when prenatal tests show another girl, suggesting that an Indian ban on such gender testing has been ineffective. The expense of marrying off girls has contributed to a cultural preference there for boys.
Evidence also suggests that China's limits on one child per couple and traditional preference for male heirs has contributed to abortions and an increasingly large gender imbalance.
There's very little data on reasons for U.S. abortions or whether gender preferences or gender-detection methods play a role, said Susannah Baruch, a policy consultant for the Generations Ahead, an advocacy group that studies genetic techniques and gender issues.
Consumer Genetics Inc. a Santa Clara, Calif.-based company sells an "early gender" blood test called "Pink or Blue" online for $25 plus $265 or more for laboratory testing. It boasts of 95 percent accuracy, using a lab technique its scientists developed from the type of testing evaluated in the new analysis, said Terry Carmichael, the company's executive vice president.
Carmichael said the company sells more than 1,000 kits a year. He said the company won't test blood samples unless women sign a consent form agreeing not to use the results for gender selection.
The company also won't sell kits to customers in China or India because of fears of gender selection, he said.
Medical techniques that can detect gender include amniocentesis, usually done at around 16 weeks, using a needle to withdraw fluid surrounding the fetus to identify abnormalities; chorionic villus sampling, done at around the 10th week to detect abnormalities by examining placenta tissue; and ultrasound, most accurate at around 13 weeks. The first two methods can slightly increase risks for miscarriages. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39706000 |
Anybody who has ever opened a guidebook to birds or plants is familiar with the range maps showing where a particular species lives. Precise ranges are well known for organisms that are well-studied, such as birds and trees in North America and Europe. . In the tropics and for harder to observe organisms, in contrast, we don't always know exactly where the organisms live. We understand what limits species ranges and what defines range edges for only a small handful of organisms. We do know climate can play a large role in determining range limits, but other factors such as soils and competing organisms also play roles.
Due to the computer revolution in biology, it has now become commonplace to build correlational models that link the range of a species to commonly measured (and easily available) climate variables like mean annual temperature. These models are used extensively to provide predictions about where poorly known species live. They are also increasingly being used to make predictions about where species will live in the future under a rapidly changing climate. Yet there is awareness that these models could be greatly improved if we did some hard thinking (using our biological knowledge) and some hard work (using GIS skills) to develop a state-of-the-art set of environmental indices/metrics that affect organisms.
This working group proposes to develop such a state-of-the-art compilation of environmental factors likely to have a strong impact on species ranges. The goal is to share this compilation with the research community at large, and to use the information to explore what factors are actually the most important and most predictive in determining where a species lives. We will integrate state-of-the-art data and tools including weather station data, satellite remote sensing data and marine buoys in order to create a set of freely available, consistently formatted and scaled environmental data "layers" easily usable in GIS-based analyses. We will also develop a guide book for practitioners documenting best practices. In this way we hope to greatly improve our ability to know where poorly studied species live, and to predict where species will live in the future under climate change.
More information about this research project, and participants. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39709000 |
Research shows starter fertilizer phosphorus not needed for soils testing 'very high' for phosphorus
December 12, 2007
Media Contact: Dr. Deanna Osmond, Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, N.C. State University, firstname.lastname@example.org or 919.515.7303 (This story, with a photo, is also available at:
Stormwater runoff from agricultural lands that have been excessively fertilized with phosphorus (P) can pollute our drinking water.
But research results by North Carolina State University soil scientists show that by applying only nitrogen (N) in the fertilizer they add when they plant their crops, farmers not only can slowly decrease the amount of phosphorus that shows up in soil tests, but can also reduce their phosphorus fertilizer application costs.
"Overall, using only starter nitrogen fertilizer would produce yields similar to those achieved with nitrogen and phosphorus starter fertilizer in soils that test very high for phosphorus," says Dr. Deanna Osmond, professor and North Carolina Cooperative Extension leader in N.C. State University's Soil Science Department. Osmond and research associate Sheri Cahill conducted the research. Cooperative Extension agents and Dr. David Hardy, state Agriculture and Consumer Services Department (NCDA&CS) soil testing section chief, assisted them.
"Producers can reduce the cost of phosphorus fertilizer application and slowly decrease the amount of phosphorus in the soil as determined by the soil testing procedure by applying only nitrogen in their starter fertilizer. This will save money and help the environment at the same time," says Osmond, a watershed, soil fertility and nutrient management specialist.
In 2003, more than 48 percent of soil samples submitted to NCDA&CS's soil testing laboratory tested "very high" in soil P, she says. (Although 2003 data are the most recent available, soil test data tend to remain relatively stable over time.)
"As soil test phosphorus increases, off-site phosphorus loss increases through erosion, soluble phosphorus runoff or leaching," Osmond says.
Osmond and Cahill studied North Carolina coastal plain, piedmont and mountain sites that NCDA&CS's 2007 records indicated contained very high soil test phosphorus.
The researchers sought to determine if, when used on soils testing very high in P, starter-P fertilizer would affect the growth of corn (Zea mays L.) at 38 study locations and cotton (Gossypium spp.) at 13 study locations, 12 of those on the coastal plain.
They treated the test plot soils with starter-N and -P fertilizers, using 32 pounds of N and 13.4 pounds of P per acre (N+P) or by using 32 pounds of N fertilizer per acre alone, both applied to the top of the soil in a band near the seed. They exactingly repeated the treatments four times.
On the day of planting, technicians or county extension agents took soil samples from each plot and sent them to NCDA&CS's Agronomic Division Soil Testing Laboratory for analysis.
The researchers measured N and P concentration in early-season plant tissue, how many days it took the corn to display silk and for the cotton's earliest blooms to show, as well as yields for both crops during the growing season.
While results showed that corn yield was greater in the mountains than the coastal plain or piedmont, and cotton yield was greater in the coastal plain than in the piedmont, there were no differences between the N only and N+P corn and cotton treatments within each region.
Moreover, the data indicated no yield differences resulted from the different treatments, Osmond and Cahill say.
Art Latham, 919.513.3117 or email@example.com
Posted by Dave at December 12, 2007 02:38 PM | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39712000 |
Tales, Tasks, Tools, and Talk
Timothy S. McKeny and Gregory D. Foley
December 2012, Volume 19, Issue 5, Page 316
Reflect and Discuss
Engage children in literature to pique their interest in quantity concepts, develop their fluency in measurement processes, and establish their quantitative literacy.
Geometry & Measurement | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39713000 |
Every Coin Has Two Sides
Uncovering the Model Minority Myth
What group comes to mind when you read the following: top of the class, high test scores, and hard working?
If you guessed Asian Americans, you are seeing the power of the “model minority” stereotype. It is true that Asian Americans, examined statistically as a single group, have in many ways done extraordinarily well. Among the major racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S., Asian Americans have the highest rate of college degree attainment, the highest number of advanced degrees, and the highest percentage of workers in high-skill occupations.
Because of this success, some have held Asian Americans out as the defining example of what it means to achieve the American dream, declaring Asian Americans as the “model minority.”
Yet, if we take a closer look at the numbers, they reveal a more complex side to this remarkable story. Without question, the model minority myth has camouflaged the unique history and socioeconomic characteristics of widely-differing Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. In particular, it has hidden the widespread challenges facing Southeast Asian and Pacific Islanders in the public education system.
This month we explore the dropout crisis through the eyes of three sisters who attend McKinley High School in Hawaii, which has the highest percentage of Asian Pacific Islanders in the country. NEA members in Hawaii point to cultural and language barriers in the classroom as well as prejudice and unrealistic expectations as contributors to the academic hurdles faced by Asian Pacific Islander students and the high school’s 15 percent dropout rate.
The myth that all Asian Americans are high-achievers can be detrimental because it fails to address those students who need help, support, and focused resources to succeed. Team NEA, to continue to allow these challenges to go unnoticed and unaddressed would be irresponsible and perilous to a community that is seeking our help.
In response, we are urging a number of initiatives to improve API achievement. They include expanding the research on APIs by disaggregating the data and experiences of each ethnicity. This will lead to the creation of support services and instruction where they are most needed.
NEA also supports federal policies to ensure schools have more capacity to serve English-language learners and to ensure that there is more outreach to API parents, including bilingual support.
Providing every child, regardless of race, income or ethnicity, with a quality education is a basic right that our public schools and policymakers must deliver. To make this happen, we must provide all students with the tools to fulfill their limitless potential.
NEA President Reg Weaver
Photo: Dima Gavrysh | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39715000 |
When reference is made to the value of a property, generally fair market value is meant. Market price is what one might get from the sale of the property in terms of money. Sometimes value and price are the same, most particularly when there is no compulsion to buy or sell. Under other circumstances, there might be a wide difference between the market value of a property and the actual sale price. The appraiser must be careful to consider normal buyers and sellers attitudes for the type of property appraised. The appraiser is estimating actual market value not theoretical value.
The immobility of real estate makes it unique. Theoretically, there are no two parcels exactly alike and therefore no means of making a total comparison between properties. Circumstances of one buyer and one seller affect the sale price of a specific property, whereas the actions of many buyers and sellers of similar type properties determine the going rate for the sale or exchange of property on the open market.
Among the various types of value that have been designated from time to time are book value, tax value, market value, cash value, capital value, speculative value, par value, true value, exchange value, reproduction value, physical value, replacement value, insurance value, investment value, rental value, face value, depreciated value, leasehold value, sound value, sales value and cost value.
The real estate broker should be concerned mostly with the concept of Fair Market Value, or simply market value, for this is the basis upon which most property is generally bought and sold. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39718000 |
Redundancy: basic information
If you are just looking for an agreement
If you have reached this page looking for draft letters for a redundancy situation, you can find them at Redundancy.
This article is based on the Employment Relations Act 1996 (ERA).
This article will be useful to both employers and employees. It discusses the rights and responsibilities of both parties.
Being made redundant" is sometimes used as a euphemism for being dismissed. This is wrong. Neither in law nor in the English language does "redundancy" mean losing a job or being sacked. "Redundant" means "superfluous, excessive
Redundancy is a reason for dismissal and is not itself dismissal. In particular it is not unfair dismissal although a dismissal “by reason of redundancy” may be unfair dismissal if the facts warrant it.
The 1965 Redundancy Payments Act gave the statutory right to "redundancy pay" to employees dismissed by reason of redundancy and since then the expression has become a common part of general language.
Quite separately from any right he may have to statutory redundancy pay, an employee may, if his service agreement so provides, be entitled to contractual redundancy pay. In this article, we concern ourselves only with statutory redundancy pay.
Redundancy involves dismissal and as with any other dismissal, it is essential for the employer to go through the statutory disciplinary/dismissal procedures introduced in October 2004. Failure to do so will result in the redundancy dismissal being automatically unfair dismissal, with the consequences which automatically follow.
Definition of redundancy
Redundancy has two different meanings for the purposes of UK employment law. One derives from UK legislation and the other from European law.
According to the Employment Relations Act 1996:
An employee who is dismissed shall be taken to have been dismissed by reason of redundancy if the dismissal is attributable wholly or mainly to the fact that:
- the employer has ceased, or intends to cease either to carry on the business for the purpose of which the employee was employed, or to carry on the business in the place where the employee was employed.
- the requirements of that business either for employees to carry out work of a particular kind or at a particular place, have ceased or diminished, or are expected to cease or diminish.
A dismissal by reason of redundancy is, on the face of it, fair. Whether such a dismissal is in fact fair or unfair will then turn on whether the Tribunal considers that the employer acted reasonably in treating the redundancy" as a sufficient reason for dismissing the employee".
Basic calculation of redundancy pay
Statutory redundancy pay is calculated according to a formula set out in ERA 1996. The application of the formula is:
- Half of one week's pay for each full year worked between his 18th and 22nd birthday;
- One week's pay for each year worked between 22nd and 41st birthday;
- One and a half week's pay for each year worked after 41st birthday.
Only the most recent 20 years are taken into account for the purposes of this calculation if a long service employee is being dismissed. Service before age 18 is not taken into account.A week's pay for those on a fixed salary is assessed by reference to pay in the final week of employment. For those on variable pay there are special rules based on the average weekly pay of the previous 12 weeks.
Statutory redundancy pay entitlement is in addition to contractual entitlements. A redundant employee is fully entitled to his proper notice of dismissal or pay in lieu and any other payments to which he may be entitled pursuant to contract, as well as to statutory redundancy pay.
Full time to part time
For avoidance of doubt, this note is to confirm that it is possible, although not common, that in law a change from full time employment to part time employment can count as a dismissal by reason of redundancy followed by re-engagement on new terms. The question depends on whether on the facts of any particular case the statutory definition of redundancy is satisfied.
Whether the dismissal in such a case is or is not unfair dismissal is a separate question.
There is a fine line between a situation where the employee's new job is the same as his original full-time job saves that certain terms and conditions of employment have been altered. This is for the tribunal to decide.
Service before a person's 18th birthday does not count for statutory redundancy pay calculations. This is one of the few differences between calculations of basic award on unfair dismissal and of statutory redundancy pay.
Similarly, an employee made redundant after his 65th birthday does not qualify for statutory redundancy pay.
An employee who unreasonably refuses reinstatement, or an offer of suitable alternative employment, in either case to be available within four weeks of his dismissal, will not be entitled to statutory redundancy pay.
However, if an employer has alternative work available but does not offer it to the redundant employee, the redundancy dismissal of that employee may well be unfair dismissal entitling the employee to compensation greater than he would get as redundancy pay.
Civil servants / public officials
Crown and civil servants are not eligible for statutory redundancy pay. However, their terms and conditions of service usually give those equivalent or better rights - these are contractual not statutory rights.
Local Authority staff and other public sector employees who are not civil servants are eligible for statutory redundancy pay under normal rules and are eligible for special treatment under Local Government Regulations.
Special provision is made to preserve statutory redundancy pay rights of public sector employees, including local authority staff, if their employment is transferred from one public sector employer to another as they cannot take the benefit of the associated employer rules which apply in the private sector.
Members of the armed forces are not entitled to statutory redundancy pay.
Selection for redundancy
Unfair dismissal compensation has a normal absolute maximum of $65,200 as of 1st February 2005. Thus an employee who has been made redundant may well seek grounds for claiming that his redundancy dismissal was unfair dismissal. Improper selection for redundancy is one such ground.
Another relevant factor for newer employees is that the qualifying period of continuous employment for unfair dismissal claims, normally one year since June 1999 and sometimes zero, is less than the two year period required for redundancy pay claims.
Selection of employees for redundancy can be unfair on general grounds or because statute so provides. Employers are well advised to keep careful records so that, if necessary, they can demonstrate to an employment tribunal that redundancy selection was fairly and properly handled.
Redundancy dismissal is automatically unfair dismissal if the selection for redundancy was:
- For any of the reasons specified in ERA 1996;
- Related to trade union activity/membership.
ACAS advisory booklet on "Redundancy handling" contains a section on "Selection Criteria". This booklet should be carefully studied in any situation in which questions relating to proper selection for redundancy may arise.
Sometimes, redundancy can be unfair because it might have been more appropriate to select a different employee. There are many different answers relating to the different circumstances involved and therefore employers should think thoroughly through their decisions when selecting an employee for redundancy.
Written details of payment
On making a redundancy payment an employer has a legal duty to give the employee a written statement showing how it was calculated.
An employer who does not do this can be penalised in two ways:
- He will be committing a criminal offence and risks a fine;
- There is a possibility that the employee will plead that the money paid to him was not statutory redundancy pay and therefore the Tribunal will make the employer pay a second time.
Related documents: Redundancy
Please note that the information provided on this page:
- Does not provide a complete or authoritative statement of the law;
- Does not constitute legal advice by Net Lawman;
- Does not create a contractual relationship;
- Does not form part of any other advice, whether paid or free.
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LYON, FRANCE—Smoking is associated with an increased risk for multiple sclerosis (MS), according to Jonathan Salzer, MD, from the Department of Neurology at Umeå University in Sweden, and colleagues, who reported their study findings at the 28th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS). They found that elevated cotinine levels in serum and plasma samples drawn a median of nine years prior to disease onset were associated with a 50% increased risk for MS. The effect was only evident in those under a median age of 26.4. The association, the researchers said, became slightly stronger when excluding users of smokeless tobacco.
Dr. Salzer and colleagues sought to investigate the effects of laboratory-defined tobacco use on the risk for MS using prospectively collected biobank blood samples. Their nested case-control study was performed in northern Sweden, and used two population-based biobank cohorts to identify blood samples collected before MS onset. Levels of cotinine, a recognized biochemical marker for tobacco use, were measured using an immunoassay. Self-reported questionnaire data on tobacco use were collected retrospectively.
The researchers found that elevated cotinine levels (≥10 ng/ml) were associated with a significantly increased risk for MS (odds ratio, 1.5). This association was most pronounced in young individuals (below median age at blood sampling, <26.4 years). No dose-response effect was evident. The findings were replicated by retrospective smoking questionnaire data.
—Glenn S. Williams | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39726000 |
GBMs are the most common and most malignant of the
primary CNS neoplasms, representing 15% to 20% of these
tumors. Approximately half of all Astrocytomas are GBMs.
GBM is the most common supratentorial neoplasm in adults.
GBMs usually occur in patients over 50 and are unusual in
patients under 30. Like Anaplastic Astrocytomas, GBMs
can occasionally be found at any age; Anaplastic Astrocytomas and
GBMs are among the four most common primary Brain tumors in
infants and children under 2 years of age.
Various symptoms occur with GBM, including seizure, focal
neurological deficits, and stroke like syndromes.
The first symptom of a Brain tumor of any type can be a
headache, since these tumors act as masses within the boney
skull and thus cause increased pressure in the Brain. The headache
associated with a Brain tumor, is frequently worse in the
morning and is accompanied by vomiting. Other symptoms of a
Brain tumor can include seizures, weakness or numbness of a side
or part of the body, or such subtle symptoms such as changes in mood,
thinking or general state of well being. Sometimes increased pressure
in the Brain can cause blurred, double, or lost vision.
If a patient has any of the above symptoms, without any obvious
explanation, further work-up is warranted. These tumors can be
seen best by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) since the degree
of detail is much greater than that provided by CT scans. As with
other tumors and most particularly with any of the Gliomas, once
a mass is confirmed by any of the imaging techniques, the diagnosis
needs to be established by a biopsy of the mass. THE BIOPSY IS
USUALLY DONE IN CONJUNCTION WITH AGGRESSIVE RESECTION OF THE
TUMOR. The biopsy identifies the particularities of the tumor and
differentiates it from other types of masses, such as infection.
Along with primary CNS Lymphoma, GBMs have the worst prognosis
of all primary brain tumors. GBMs disseminate early, rapidly, and
widely. Central Nervous System spread is common, but distant
metastasis is rare.
In selecting the treatment of High Grade Malignant
Astrocytomas, it should be kept in mind that the following
three (3) statistically independent factors affect the length of
survival: 1) age at the time of diagnosis, 2) histological features
(Grade of the tumor and additional characteristics such as Mitotic
Index), and 3) performance status (the level of the patient's
Older patients with high grade malignant Brain tumors, who are
in poor neurological condition at the time of surgery, do less
The primary initial therapy is to gain control of the
increased Intracranial Pressure (ICP). Often times, these
patients have significant Brain swelling, in addition to the
presence of and as a consequence of the tumor. Pre-treatment with a
course of high dose intravenous steroids, may well improve the
condition of the patient prior to surgery. In some cases, this
may mean a strategic delay of surgical intervention for
three (3) to seven (7) days. The wait can be rewarded by a far
better initial outcome.
Aggressive surgical excision of the tumor is advocated in most
patients. The goal is to reduce the maximum amount of the tumor. In
some cases this may mean an extensive Frontal or Temporal Lobectomy.
When tumor is within the middle or posterior portions of the Temporal
lobe, the Parietal or Anterior or Middle Occipital Lobe, an aggressive
internal decompression of the tumor is warranted.
It is imperative to understand that there are surgical
limitations in the removal of these "infiltrative" tumors because they
"spread" along the interconnecting fiber pathways (tracts) of the
Brain. As such, these tumors can rarely be entirely removed
There are some advanced technologies that currently assist in the
extent of resection. The ability of the surgeon to "visualize" tumor
is somewhat limited. Magnification of vision, Intraoperative
ultrasound imaging, Intraoperative MRI scanning and Intraoperative
Fluorescence techniques (See Below) are a few of the
adjunctive technologies that may be available to assist maximum
resection, while limiting the risk of injuring adjacent functioning
FLUORESCENCE is one of the most advanced concepts for the
surgical management of an infiltrative Brain tumor and the ONLY
METHOD that permits the Neurosurgeon to visually identify the tumor
that infiltrates Brain tissue. This technique (developed primarily in
Europe) involves the ingestion of a medication (5-aminolevulinic acid
or "ALA" dissolved in water) that is taken up in certain molecules
of the tumor which when subjected to a special violet-blue light
beamed through the Neurosurgical Operating Microscope actually(
"lights up") glows. Once "seen" under the Neurosurgical Operating
Microscope, the surgeon can remove the fluorescent portion by using
any of several methods.
The Neurosurgeons of Neurosurgical Consultants firmly believe that
aggressive resection of the tumor, is the first definitive step in the
treatment of these tumors. The surgeon may choose to reserve
a small part of the tumor for tissue culture in the laboratory
followed by sensitivity testing against various chemotherapeutic
agents. It can be helpful to know beforehand, if a
certain drug has any or limited effectiveness against this particular
tumor, in this particular patient. These additional technologies
have helped to improve outcomes. We now routinely culture the tumor
and subject it to sensitivity testing against various chemotherapy
agents prior to initiating Chemotherapy.
Radiation therapy continues to have an important place in the
treatment of most of these patients and is the standard adjunct
therapy against which other treatments are compared.
Refinements have been made that make this treatment less toxic than
in previous years. For most patients, this will be the second major
treatment option, in a comprehensive therapeutic program.
Chemotherapy is the third arm of this comprehensive effort
to prolong and maintain a high quality of life. Traditional
management has been to use "standard" forms of chemotherapy. Currently
there are some unconventional chemotherapeutic alternatives that
offer considerable hope for improved quality and length of
survival. One of our
has utilized these newer medications such as Temodar
(temozolamide), Avastin (bevacizumab, an anti-angiogenesis agent) and
CPT-11, either alone (or more commonly) in combination or with
other drugs, to produce encouraging results. Additional information
regarding these treatments is available at the
In some tumor cases we choose to place a special chamber called an
"Ommaya Reservoir" under the scalp, with an attached catheter
residing in the "bed" of the tumor, after resection has been
completed. This permits the Neuro-oncologist to instill
chemotherapeutic medications directly into the tumor bed. This
is a far more effective methodology than placing "chemotherapy wafers
in the tumor bed.
There are several treatment concepts that have considerable interest.
Perhaps the most attractive is the potential availability of Gene
Therapy to treat Astrocytomas. Another very attractive
"surgical" application involves the selective susceptibility of
malignant tumor cells to beamed lasers. When this is
combined with "Fluorescence-guided" technologies, the surgical
management will be dramatically altered.
The following information at WebMD.com may also be useful:
Brain tumors, adult: Treatment - Health Professional Information (NCI PDQ) - General Information
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This page last edited on 2/19 | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39727000 |
There are several different types of hearing aids to choose from. The type of hearing aid that you need depends on the amount of hearing loss that you have. Some hearing aids are more appropriate for adults than children. Traditional hearing aids are removable. Newer models can be surgically implanted in the ear. Hearing aids differ greatly in size, style, and cost. Your doctor will help you select the most appropriate one for you. Removable hearing aids are categorized as:
Behind-the-ear (BTE) Hearing Aids
Behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids consist of a component that is worn behind the ear and a earmold that fits inside of the outer ear. The hearing aid is made of hard plastic. BTE hearing aids are most appropriate for people with mild to profound hearing loss. Newer open-fit BTE hearing aids have a small component that is worn behind the ear and a tube that is inserted into the ear canal. An open-fit BTE is helpful for people that experience earwax buildup.
In-the-ear (ITE) Hearing Aids
In-the-ear (ITE) hearing aids are placed inside the outer ear. They may include a telecoil that helps with hearing telephone conversations. ITE hearing aids are most appropriate for adults with mild to severe hearing loss.
Canal Hearing Aids
In-the-canal (ITC) hearing aids are custom made to fit inside the ear canal. Completely-in-canal (CIC) hearing aids are inside the ear canal and virtually hidden. Canal hearing aids are most appropriate for adults with mild to moderately severe hearing loss.
Surgically Implanted Hearing Aids include:
Middle Ear Implant (MEI)
A middle ear implant (MEI) is a device that is surgically attached to the bones in the middle ear. The MEI causes the bones to move and send greater vibrations to the inner ear structures.
Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA)
The bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) is surgically attached to the bone behind the ear. The BAHA transmits amplified vibrations to the inner ear structures. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39729000 |
Signaling & Cueing
Survey responses show that the various signals successful teachers use to get and hold students' attention to directions, information, and tasks are considered an important part of getting students motivated. The following list of recommendations can help you accomplish these goals.
1. Getting students' attention. Review the following list of what teachers say to get students to listen to their directions and circle those that seem most applicable to your grade level and personal style.
I need to see everyone's eyes looking at me.
- 1,2,3. Eyes on me.
- When I see everyone's eyes, I'll know you're ready to begin.
- Stop, look and (in unison) listen.
- Eyes on me, ears listening, mouth closed, feet quiet, seat on rug.
2. Get students back on task. Memorize at least three of the following questions teachers ask to redirect student attention to the assigned task.
- Are you with me?
- Can I help?
- Having trouble?
- Are you doing your job?
- Can you repeat my directions?
3. Review other ways teachers get or redirect student attention to the assigned task. Circle those that appear most appropriate for your grade level and personal style.
- Counting forwards or backwards from five.
- Beginning a rhythmic clap that the students finish or imitate.
- Giving a particular student "The Eye" (an intense stare with head tilted and one eyebrow raised).
- Raising one hand with outstretched fingers and saying, "Give me five" (each finger representing a listening or working expectation).
- "Excuse me!"
- "I want to see everyone seated, lips closed, bodies quiet."
- "Mouth! Chair! Hands! Eyes!"
- "This is your first and last warning" (of impending consequences).
4. Rate yourself. On a 10-point scale, score your behavior on the following kinds of body language successful teachers commonly associate with on-task student behavior. Ask a colleague to swap observational ratings on the same items.
- Displays confident body posture (e.g., standing tall, feet planted solidly on the ground).
- Uses a strong voice.
- Moves vigorously around the room.
- Uses many hand and facial gestures of approval and disapproval.
- Is highly vigilant, constantly scanning the room.
- Shows energetic and enthusiastic facial expressions.
When students become familiar with your signals that you want their attention, you will be able to quickly draw their focus to you, and minimize behavioral problems.
From The Discipline Checklist by Ken Kosier. Copyright 1998, the National Education Association. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39749000 |
Virtopsy: the virtual autopsy
Multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), when used with 3-D imaging technology, create vivid images of the interior of the human body. Dr. Richard Dirnhoter and Dr. Michael Thali and thier team of specialists at the University of Bern's Institute of Forensic Medicine, Switzerland are using these new imaging technologies to develop "Virtopsy"—a bloodless and minimally invasive "virtual autopsy" procedure to examine bodies for causes of death.
Virtopsy detects internal bleeding, bullet paths, and hidden fractures hard to find in a traditional autopsy. The MSCT and MRI aid in picturing fracture patterns, bone and missile fragmentation, brain contusion, 3-D bullet localization, gas embolism, and blood aspiration to the lung.
Unlike traditional autopsy, Virtopsy does not destroy human tissue. It can be used when religious beliefs prohibit, or families object to, the cutting open of the body. The developers of Virtopsy do not envision the procedure as a replacement for traditional autopsy but as a tool to be used in cases where dissection of the body is not feasible or where forensic evidence is particularly hard to visualize. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39750000 |
The Nobel Prize in Physics 1906
Joseph John Thomson was born in
Cheetham Hill, a suburb of Manchester on December 18, 1856. He
enrolled at Owens College, Manchester, in 1870, and in 1876
entered Trinity College, Cambridge as a minor scholar. He became a
Fellow of Trinity College in 1880, when he was Second Wrangler
and Second Smith's Prizeman, and he remained a member of the
College for the rest of his life, becoming Lecturer in 1883 and
Master in 1918. He was Cavendish Professor of Experimental
Physics at Cambridge, where he succeeded Lord Rayleigh, from 1884 to 1918 and
Honorary Professor of Physics, Cambridge and Royal Institution,
Thomson's early interest in atomic structure was reflected in his Treatise on the Motion of Vortex Rings which won him the Adams Prize in 1884. His Application of Dynamics to Physics and Chemistry appeared in 1886, and in 1892 he had his Notes on Recent Researches in Electricity and Magnetism published. This latter work covered results obtained subsequent to the appearance of James Clerk Maxwell's famous "Treatise" and it is often referred to as "the third volume of Maxwell". Thomson co-operated with Professor J. H. Poynting in a four-volume textbook of physics, Properties of Matter and in 1895 he produced Elements of the Mathematical Theory of Electricity and Magnetism, the 5th edition of which appeared in 1921.
In 1896, Thomson visited America to give a course of four lectures, which summarised his current researches, at Princeton. These lectures were subsequently published as Discharge of Electricity through Gases (1897). On his return from America, he achieved the most brilliant work of his life - an original study of cathode rays culminating in the discovery of the electron, which was announced during the course of his evening lecture to the Royal Institution on Friday, April 30, 1897. His book, Conduction of Electricity through Gases, published in 1903 was described by Lord Rayleigh as a review of "Thomson's great days at the Cavendish Laboratory". A later edition, written in collaboration with his son, George, appeared in two volumes (1928 and 1933).
Thomson returned to America in 1904 to deliver six lectures on electricity and matter at Yale University. They contained some important suggestions as to the structure of the atom. He discovered a method for separating different kinds of atoms and molecules by the use of positive rays, an idea developed by Aston, Dempster and others towards the discovery of many isotopes. In addition to those just mentioned, he wrote the books, The Structure of Light (1907), The Corpuscular Theory of Matter (1907), Rays of Positive Electricity (1913), The Electron in Chemistry (1923) and his autobiography, Recollections and Reflections (1936), among many other publications.
Thomson, a recipient of the Order of Merit, was knighted in 1908. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1884 and was President during 1916-1920; he received the Royal and Hughes Medals in 1894 and 1902, and the Copley Medal in 1914. He was awarded the Hodgkins Medal (Smithsonian Institute, Washington) in 1902; the Franklin Medal and Scott Medal (Philadelphia), 1923; the Mascart Medal (Paris), 1927; the Dalton Medal (Manchester), 1931; and the Faraday Medal (Institute of Civil Engineers) in 1938. He was President of the British Association in 1909 (and of Section A in 1896 and 1931) and he held honorary doctorate degrees from the Universities of Oxford, Dublin, London, Victoria, Columbia, Cambridge, Durham, Birmingham, Göttingen, Leeds, Oslo, Sorbonne, Edinburgh, Reading, Princeton, Glasgow, Johns Hopkins, Aberdeen, Athens, Cracow and Philadelphia.
In 1890, he married Rose Elisabeth, daughter of Sir George E. Paget, K.C.B. They had one son, now Sir George Paget Thomson, Emeritus Professor of Physics at London University, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1937, and one daughter.
From Nobel Lectures, Physics 1901-1921, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1967
This autobiography/biography was written at the time of the award and first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.
For more updated biographical information, see: Thomson, Joseph John, Recollections and Reflections. G. Bell and Sons: London, 1936.
J.J. Thomson died on August 30, 1940.
Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1906
MLA style: "J.J. Thomson - Biography". Nobelprize.org. 22 May 2013 http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1906/thomson-bio.html | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39753000 |
Basic 220 Volt Circuits
220 volt circuits (AKA 230 volt, or 240 volt) are used to supply power to appliances which draw high currents such as clothes dryers, ranges, ovens, cook-tops, heaters, air conditioners, rotary phase converters, and water heaters.
Parts of a 220 Circuit
No matter what appliance you are wiring for, any 220 circuit has three elements:1) The breaker panel connections. 2) The supply wire. 3) The terminal connection, which can be either a special receptacle or a direct connection to an appliance.
For any appliances rated over 300 Volt-Amps (which includes almost everything 220) there must be either a means of disconnect at the appliance or a breaker lock permanently installed in the panel so that a service man can insure his own safety. (NEC article 422.31) "Means of disconnect" can include a pigtail which can be unplugged from a receptacle, a disconnect device (often used for HVAC equipment) or a unit mounted switch which has a clearly labeled off position. Appliances which are in a direct line of site of and in the same room as the breaker panel are exempt from this requirement.
Any time that you are working with aluminum wire, you must coat all connections with conductive grease such as Ideal brand Noalox. Failure to do so will result in a connection failure due to corrosion, and a hazardous condition which could result in fire or electrical shock.
Breaker Panel Connections
Important safety note: Main panels cannot usually be de-energized by turning off breakers. Only qualified personnel should work on main electrical panels. A simple mistake can result in death or injury.
All 220 circuits connect to the breaker panel through a double pole breaker (or equivalent fuse). Double pole breakers often look like a pair of single pole breakers that are stuck together - because that is exactly what they are. 220 equipment will actually function if it is connected by way of two single pole breakers, but it wouldn't be safe or up to code, because in the event of a fault one breaker might trip causing the appliance to stop working, but it would still be energized by the other breaker. So double pole breakers are designed to trip both sides simultaneously. The amp ratings of breakers should never exceed the amp rating of either the wire, appliance, receptacle, or disconnect used in the circuit.
The 2 line voltage wires which are feeding the 220 circuit connect to the double pole breaker in the panel. Both of these wires should be either black or red for their entire exposed length inside of the breaker panel. These wires can be colored with paint, tape, or perm marker to comply with this code.
Ground and Neutral Connections
All modern 220 circuits will also have a ground wire which is identified by either green insulation or by being bare metal with no insulation. The ground wire connects to the ground bar. Some 220 circuits will also have a white insulated neutral wire which connects to the neutral bar, or to the combined neutral / ground bar.
Wire for 220 Circuits
The wire requirements for 220 volt circuits are pretty much the same as for any other circuit - it must be of the proper type for the place that it is being used, it must have sufficient volt - amp capacity, and it must have the correct number of conductors. Proper color coding would also be nice, but isn't a big deal because the exposed lengths of the conductors (in the main panel and in the terminal device) can be colored with paint, tape, or permanent marker. If you are wiring for a dryer, range, or any other 220-110 combo appliance you must use a four conductor wire with an insulated neutral and a separate ground such as X-3-WG. If you are wiring for straight 220 equipment such as a water heater then you can use a three conductor wire such as X-2-WG. The amp rating of the wire should never be less than that of the circuit breaker that is used. You can find a handy wire application / amp rating chart on this page.
Note: You can no longer install 3 wire range or dryer circuits - you must install 4 wire systems for ranges and dryers. If you already have a 3 wire range or dryer then don't worry, your old appliance can be made compatible with a 4 wire system by installing a 4 wire pigtail on it. Then when you buy a new appliance it will plug right in to your new 4 wire system.
Connecting the terminal connections on a 220 system aren't all that different than installing any other appliance, fixture or receptacle except that the wire and connection hardware is usually bigger (and a little bit harder to work with) and there is an extra "hot" wire. Because of the bigger stiffer wire it is also more important to cut the conductors to the correct length as you won't be able to stuff extra wire into a box like you can with most fixtures.Related Articles: Understanding 220 Circuits | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39754000 |
Lincoln and Native Americans
How Lincoln was friends with Native Americans and insights into some instances in his life that shows his ability to understand their culture. Run time 03:08
Vietnam War 1
After WWII, USSR bewared of arms warfare against USA because their political viewpoints were dissimilar. America was not successful in educating the Vietnamese’ about Freedom. The lifestyles of two countries were too different - typical character of American culture is liberty, freedom, democracy; typical character of Vietnamese culture is ceremony, ritual, and conservative. It was a civil war in Vietnam; they were just a combatant of the
Learn French - Dans le Métro, Part 1 (On the Subway)
In this video the instructor recites various words that are associated with the subway in French. For beginning and intermediate learners. The words appear at the bottom of the screen as they are recited.
What Education Do I Need to Become a Chef?
Find out the education requirements of chefs from an
experienced chef. The chef explains that the education required to become a chef starts with sanitation and safety classes, and it graduates to basic cooking skills and specialty cooking skills.
How to Become a Sous Chef
In this video an experienced chef explains the job of a sous chef. He explains that sous chefs are the direct contact for the rest of the cooks and workers in the kitchen, and they work directly under the executive chef.
How To Make Sushi
Chef Desireé and three kids helpers show how make sushi rolls. They use rice, nori, crab, cucumber, cilantro, and avocado to make them. The chef demonstrates the technique for filling and rolling the sushi.
How To Make Graham Cracker Crust For Egg Nog Cheese Cake
In this part a baker demonstrates on how to make graham cracker crust for egg nog cheese cake. She shows how to ground up graham crackers in a food processor until fine.
Where to Sell Pokemon Cards
The owner of a card trading store talks about where to sell Pokemon cards from his store. He explains that the cards can be sold at local card shops that deals in non-sports cards, but the best bet is to sell them on the Internet on a Web site like craigslist.com. He also talks about how to donate Pokemon cards to a children's hospital.
How to Price Football Trading Cards
In this clip learn to price football trading cards. A card trading store owner explains that the first place to start is with the Beckett price guide, which is published every other month. Also explained is how the condition of a football card can affect its value.
How to Grow a Lemon Tree From Seeds
This clip gives useful information and tips on growing a lemon tree from a seed.First thing to do is to cut open a lemon and find the seeds. The lemon tree should grow with well-drained soil that is kept moist.
What Items Can I Put in a Compost Pile?
A farmer explains that almost any plant or animal can be put into a compost pile, with some examples including flowers, corn husks and grass. Corn cobs or bones or wood can be used in compost piles but they take a long time to decompose.
Setting up a compost pile-Part 1
This is part 1 of setting up a backyard compost pile. The narrator explains how to use leaves to make compost. Supplies needed are rabbit food, measuring tape, wire snips, gloves, pitch fork, leaves, and wire fencing. The clip shows a step by step demonstration on how to set up the compost pile in a backyard, which is called a form of, "Black Gold," (8:37)
Exponent Property Review
In this video, the instructor reviews 5 different exponent properties: sum/difference, product, quotient, power, and integral/rational. He begins by defining each property and providing simple examples of each. He then goes through different exponent problems that require the use of various properties in order to solve them.
Invertebrate Fossils - Lesson 16 - Part 7 of 7 InvertebrateFossils - Lesson 16 - Part 7 of 7 is a lesson in which the presenter talksabout the history of the study of fossils. He introduces the audience to the story of "The LyingStones” and Beringer’s study of fossils and the famous Beringer fossilhoax.
InvertebrateFossils - Lesson 16 - Part 7 of 7 is a lesson in which the presenter talksabout the history of the study of fossils. He introduces the audience to the story of "The LyingStones” and Beringer’s study of fossils and the famous Beringer fossilhoax.
How They Train: Luge
TIME's Sean Gregory gets pushed down an ice track as he follows Olympic hopeful Erin Hamlin while she trains for the games in Vancouver.
Crohns Disease Module 8: Going to School
Learn what to do if youre not feeling well or wondering whether or not to tell classmates why you may be missing class. This module will address the following questions: How do we make a school aware of the illness? Who do we work with to make an accommodation plan?
Dealing With Controversial Issues
This program examines how social studies teachers in any grade level can encourage open and informed discussions with their students while dealing with controversial issues. Topics range from stereotypes and gender–based discrimination to the conflict in the Middle East. Through clearly identifying issues, listening to multiple perspectives, and formulating personal positions, teachers can explore a variety of
strategies that can be used to teach challenging issues such as these in thei
Learning As Synaptic Change
This module presents researchers investigating the structural changes involved in learning. Research conducted at the Pasteur Institute in Paris shows that the learning process involves the formation of new brain connections and the elimination of others. Other researchers dispel the myth of brain loss in aging, present evidence of changes at the cellular level, and revi
Perception: Inverted Vision
The peculiar image inversion process that takes place in the normal visual system is examined in this module. The program traces the experiences of an art student who volunteers to wear lenses that invert her visual world, connecting the adaptation process she undergoes with how the visual system functions. Graphic animations reinforce understanding of the mechanism invo
Waves, Beaches and Coasts
This program shows the dynamic interaction of two geologic agents: rocky landmasses and the energy of the ocean. Aspects of waves — their types, parts, movement, and impact on the shore — are illustrated. The program also covers shoreline characteristics, currents, sea barriers, tides, and how the greenhouse effect could impact sea level and coastal lands. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39760000 |
How to Draw Arms on a Cartoon Girl
In this clip the arms are added to the character. Step-by-step narration by artist Danny Page. English captions. (2:15)
Teaching Kids About Money Values
This how-to video gives parents ideas about how to teach kids about money values and what amount each coin and dollar represents. This is demonstrated by showing how to add the sum of the coins and dollars on a worksheet. (1:35)
Treating Dyslexia. Part of the series: Dyslexia. Treating dyslexia begins with early diagnosis and teaching at the mastery level, where a student masters a grade level of materials before pursuing the next level. (3:11)
How to Secure a Wireless Internet Connection
Wireless connection should be secured so that only authorized people can access the network. Find out how most wireless configuration utilties are browser-based-go to a specific web address and you will be able to access the settings.
How to Set Up Your Home Network
The first step in setting up a home network is obtaining a router, running tests for connectivity, connecting the router to the DSL or cable modem and connecting the computer. Learn about following the manufacturer's instructions to configure a router.
Computer Networking Tutorial - 5 - OSI Model Data Link Layer
This is an informative video on the data link layer of the OSI model. Run time 05:37.
Ten Things I Hate About You/Taming of the Shrew
This is a clip from the film remake of the the Shakespeare play starring Heath Ledger. He is serenading Julia Stiles' character and can be used in a unit on persuasion or changes in plot.
Electrical Systems Current (sv)
How does current work? Find out as this teacher from Dallas, Texas, helps you learn. This video is in lecture format - with the teacher speaking into the camera and a dry erase board behind her. She focuses much of her time on the formulas for currents and amps. Some key words include: matter, positive charge, negative charge, repel, attract, electron, coulombs, current, flow, and amp. Run time 04:00.
After Oersted's 1820 discovery that electric currents create magnetism, it was obvious that in some way magnetism should be able to create electric currents. The discovery of electromagnetic induction, in 1831, by Michael Faraday and Joseph Henry was one of the most important of the 19th century, not only scientifically, but also technologically, because it is the means
Electromagnetic induction makes it easy and natural to generate alternating current. Use of transformers makes it practical to distribute ac over long distances. Although Nikola Tesla understood all this, Thomas Edison chose not to, and thereby hangs a tale. Alternating current circuits obey a differential equation identical to the harmonic oscillator resonance equation
How Does a Solenoid Work?
A solenoid works by having electricity flow through its copper
wire that is provided by a power supply and a switch. Learn how a
solenoid becomes a magnet when electricity is supplied to it with
information from a science teacher in this video.
What Is an Electrical Inverter?
An electrical inverter is a device that can create an alternating
current from a direct current, allowing the current to go backwards and forwards instead of in only one direction. Find out how an electrical inverter works from a science teacher in this
Voltage and Current, Part 1
This video describes voltage, the potential difference or "pressure" that pushes electric charges through conductors.
The Kidney and Nephron
This is an overview of how the nephrons in the kidney filter blood and re-absorb water and other molecules. Mr. Khan uses computer software (with different colors for clarification and emphasis) to illustrate his points. Sal Khan is the recipient of the 2009 Microsoft Tech Award in Education.
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The Pacific War- Iwo Jima Clip (in color)
This documentary includes rare color footage of the U.S. Marines in action in the Pacific during World War II. For years the world has watched films of World War II in black and white. Now for the first time, follow alongside those who experienced the war first hand in this remarkable and moving portrait revealing never-before-seen footage shot in full color. On December 7, 1941, Japan launched its attack on Pearl Harbor resulting in the United States being thrust full force into World War II --
Plaque Formation On Arterial Wall
3-D animation showing how plaque builds up on the wall of the artery, narrowing the vessel. Very short and no sound, but excellent illustration. Grades 6-12. 15 sec.
Video clip shows a microscopic blood vessel only one cell layer thick, so that individual blood cells must move through single file. Grades 5-12. 13 seconds.
Short video clip shows how a vein contains one-way valves that work in conjunction with skeleto-muscles. When the sceleto-mucles contract, the valve open and blood is forced toward the heart. When the sceleto-muscle relaxed, the valve closed to prevent the backflow of blood away from the heart. Grades 5-12. 19 sec. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39761000 |
The TCLP (Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure) is designed to determine the mobility of elements and compounds in liquid and solid waste byproducts.
Over time, water and other liquids percolate through landfills. The percolating liquid often dissolves components of the solid waste in the landfill. The resulting “leachate” that is produced may pose public and environmental health risks because of these contaminants. The TCLP analysis simulates landfill conditions and determines concentration at which the contaminants identified by the US EPA are present in the leachate. The EPA/TCLP protocol provides standards that are considered thresholds of toxicity for each of these contaminants. The TCLP analysis simulates landfill conditions and determines which of the contaminants identified by the U.S. EPA are present in the leachate and their concentrations.
Mercury captured by Amended Silicates is extremely stable. TCLP performed on neat fly ash, fly ash with Amended Silicates and fly ash with PAC have yielded consistent results as shown above. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39763000 |
The cost to build a Toyota Prius hasn't changed much in the past five years — if you measure the cost in Japanese yen. But if you measure the cost in dollars, it's a different story. In 2007, it cost Toyota about $16,000 to build a Prius. Now, it's more like $24,000.
That's because the value of the yen has risen relative to the dollar. In 2007, $1 bought 124 yen; today, $1 buys just 79 yen.
Toyota and other Japanese car makers haven't passed that higher cost on to U.S. consumers, partly because it would be awful for sales. Instead, the companies have cut back on incentives for buyers, limited exports of cars from Japan, and cut material costs in cars. Auto analysts and critics have pointed to the push to control costs as a reason Consumer Reports downgraded the Honda Civic (this was a big deal among car people).
At the same time, the strong yen (among other factors) has Japanese automakers looking to build more cars in the U.S. Toyota plans to add more than 3,000 jobs in the U.S., and increase production at it assembly and engine facilities in the U.S. Nissan has said that within a few years, 90 percent of the cars it sells in the U.S. will be made here.
The strong yen also means goods made in the U.S. can be sold more cheaply in Japan. American carmakers have never had much of a presence in Japan, where domestic car makers control more than 90 percent of the market. But with American cars growing smaller and the strong yen helping prices, this may be a moment for American manufacturers to start building a market in Japan.
As we've noted before, "weak currency" sounds bad, and "strong currency" sounds good. But for economic growth, the opposite is often true. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39767000 |
Southeast Asia and Indomalaya (Japan, southern China, Viet Nam,
Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaya, Myanmar (Burma), Bhutan, Nepal, and eastern
Burma reed, also known as
silk reed, cane grass, and false reed, is a tall, perennial, large-plumed
grass that grows in clumps in sunny upland areas. Stems, including the flower
stalks are from 3 to 15 feet in height, depending on soil and moisture conditions.
The leaves are 8 to 10 inches long and hairless, except for a single line
of horizontal hairs at the juncture of the upper and lower portions of the
leaf. Stems are approximately ½ inch in width, are round, solid, and
have nodes (stem-leaf junctures) every 3 to 5 inches along the stem. The
flower plumes, which can be up to 3 feet long, are composed of many hundreds
of tiny flowers and have a shimmery, silky appearance. Flowering occurs in
April and October, each clump producing an average of forty stalks and twelve
to twenty flowering plumes. Burma reed resembles several other tall grasses,
including common reed (Phragmites communis), giant
reed (Arundo donax), pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana)
and sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum).
Burma reed damages
native ecosystems by crowding and shading out understory plant species and
by creating conditions for extremely hot and destructive wildfires. In southern
Florida (Miami-Dade County), it is a serious threat to the globally imperiled
pine rocklands community whose pine canopy was largely destroyed in 1992
by Hurricane Andrew. Burma reed is a highly combustible fuel source because
of its overall plant mass, its large feathery flower plumes, and the dense,
hay-like leaf litter it produces. This hay-like litter enhances the fire's
movement along the ground, while the flower plumes carry the flames high
into the air. With the aid of winds, these plumes often detach and fly through
the air like torches, providing the potential for additional spread. Photographs of
its ignition during a wildfire show flames leaping over 30 feet high, threatening
nearby tree canopies.
IN THE UNITED STATES
Burma reed is found throughout southern Florida in
the counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Lee, and Collier, and
the Florida Keys.
HABITAT IN THE UNITED STATES
native range, which is characterized by a warm, subtropical climate, Burma
reed occurs in bogs, in open savannahs, on upland cliffs, and along forest
and road edges, and thrives from sea level to altitudes of 6,500 feet. In
the U.S., Burma reed initially colonizes the margins of roadways, fields,
and forests, from which it can spread to undisturbed areas. The ability of
Burma reed to survive at high altitudes in its native range indicates a tolerance
to cold and the potential for it to spread further north in the U.S.
Burma reed was first introduced
into the United States in 1916 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, possibly
to investigate its potential as an ornamental plant. It was grown in a test
garden in Coconut Grove, Florida, from which it escaped and spread. By 1990,
it had become established in the wild as far as 30 miles from Coconut Grove
and along disturbed edges throughout Miami-Dade County. Burma reed has no
known economic value and, in Bhutan, is reported to be poisonous to buffalo.
BIOLOGY & SPREAD
Burma reed reproduces
by seed and through underground stems called rhizomes. Burma reed plants
flower twice each year, producing hundreds of thousands of tiny seeds that
are dispersed by the wind. New clumps of Burma reed emerge from rhizomes
that may be embedded in sand, soil, or rubble. Seeds and rhizomes are also
transported inadvertently in limestone rock from infested quarries that is
carried by train from Miami-Dade County, Florida to concrete manufacturers
throughout the southeastern United States. This unintentional movement of
Burma reed material allows it to invade new sites in Florida and and adjacent
states near limestone distribution centers.
Restoration of sites
infested with Burma reed requires a long term commitment to ensure effective
control and to allow native vegetation to become established. Burma reed's
deep roots make mechanical removal an extremely labor intensive and costly
undertaking and causes extensive disturbance to the soil. A more effective
management approach involves a combination of cutting or prescribed burning,
followed by application of herbicides. After cutting, mowing or burning Burma
reed plants down to the ground, a systemic herbicide like glyphosate, mixed
with an acidic surfactant (trade name: Roundup Pro®®) can be made to prevent
new growth. Repeat treatment is likely to be necessary for a couple of years,
until seed and rhizome stores are exhausted.
NOTE: Burning of Burma reed vegetation requires
a special permit and should not be undertaken without training, preparation
and assistance. Because Burma reed is an extremely flammable plant, fires
may quickly get out of hand.
A successful burn of Burma reed reduces the
plantís massive stalks to ash, eliminating the cost of vegetation removal.
Conveniently, because Burma reed is the first plant to resprout following
a fire, it can be sprayed freely with little concern about non-target kills.
It should be noted that burning, by itself, whether through prescribed or
natural wildfires, may enhance the growth and spread of Burma reed if not
followed up with chemical or mechanical control.
In areas where Burma reed is dispersed among
desirable native vegetaion, individual plants can be cut at the base using
a steel blade (e.g., Weed Whacker) and the remaining portions sprayed with
Roundup Pro®® to prevent new growth. Resprouts should be treated with a second
herbicide application to the new growth. This method requires highly qualified
applicators who can target the herbicide to avoid damage to native plants,
and may not be cost effective for extensive infestations.
USE PESTICIDES WISELY: ALWAYS READ THE ENTIRE PESTICIDE LABEL CAREFULLY, FOLLOW ALL MIXING AND APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS AND WEAR ALL RECOMMENDED PERSONAL PROTECTIVE GEAR AND CLOTHING. CONTACT YOUR STATE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR ANY ADDITIONAL PESTICIDE USE REQUIREMENTS, RESTRICTIONS OR RECOMMENDATIONS.
NOTICE: MENTION OF PESTICIDE PRODUCTS ON THIS WEB SITE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE ENDORSEMENT OF ANY MATERIAL.
For more information on
the management of Burma Reed, please contact:
SUGGESTED ALTERNATIVE PLANTS
- Renee Rasha, Palm Beach County Department
of Environmental Resources Management; rrasha at co.palm-beach.fl.us
- The Nature Conservancy, Florida Museum of Natural
History, Gainesville, Fla. (352-846-5949)
grasses and other plants are available that can be substituted for Burma reed,
including Fakahatchee grass (Tripsacum dactyloides),
switch grass (Panicum virgatum), and Muhly grass (Muhlenbergia
capillaris). In the pine rocklands, the following grasses are recommended:
bluestem (Schizachrium rhizomatum); wire bluestem (Schizachyrium
gracile); wiregrass (Aristica stricta); Florida mock gamagrass
(Tripsacum floridanum). In coastal uplands or disturbed sites, areas
could be enhanced with pinewoods finger grass (Eustachys petraea).
Renee Rasha, Environmental Analyst, Palm Beach
County Department of Environmental Resources Management, West Palm Beach,
Jil M. Swearingen, National Park Service,
Joe Maguire, Miami Dade County Natural Areas
Photograph of fire by S. Demetropoulos
courtesy of Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management
Bor, N.L. 1960. The Grasses of Burma, Ceylon,
India and Pakistan. Pergamon Press, New York, 767 pp.
Gordon, D.R. and K.P. Thomas. 1997. Floridaís
invasion by non-indigenous plants: history, screening, and regulation. In
Simberloff, D., D.C. Schmitz, and T.C. Brown (eds.), Strangers in Paradise:
Impact and Management of Nonindigenous Species in Florida. Island Press,
Washington, DC. 467 pp.
Guala, Jr., G.F. 1990. Element Stewardship Abstract
for Neyraudia reynaudiana. The Nature Conservancy, Arlington,
VA. 5 pp.
Hammer, R.L. 1998. Wildland Weeds. Summer 1998.
Vol. 1, No. 3, p. 9.
Langeland , K.A. and K. Craddock Burks, Eds.
1998. Invasive Non-native Plants of Floridaís Natural Areas. University of
Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and Florida Exotic Pest
Lazarides, M. 1980. The Tropical Grasses of
Southeast Asia. J. Cramer, Vaduz. 225 pp.
Maguire J. 1993. Status of Burma reed in Dade
County pine rocklands. Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council Newsletter
Noltie, H.J. 1998. Flora of Bhutan. Volume 3.
Publisher Royal Botanic Garden Publications,. Edinburgh (scheduled for publication
Schmitz, D.C., D. Simberloff, R.H. Hofstetter,
W. Haller, and D. Sutton. 1997. The ecological impacts of nonindigenous
plants. In Simberloff, D., D.C. Schmitz, and T.C. Brown (eds.), Strangers
in Paradise: Impact and Management of Nonindigenous Species in Florida. Island
Press, Washington, DC. 467 pp.
Swearingen, J. 2009. WeedUS Database of Plants Invading Natural Areas in the United States: Burma Reed (Neyraudia reynaudiana). http://www.invasive.org/weedus/subject.html?sub=6081.
The Nature Conservancy. Neyraudia
reynaudiana: Element Stewardship Abstract. In: Wildland Weeds Management & Research
Program, Weeds on the Web.
USDA, NRCS. 2009. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
Plant Conservation Alliance, Alien Plant Working Group. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39770000 |
Northern Renaissance Instruments
STRINGS: Original types of strings and string sets for all Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and Classical instruments
INSTRUMENTS: Lutes, viols, citterns (plus bandora and orpharion), early guitars, rebecs, etc.
VARNISHING MATERIALS: Pine-resin varnishes (clear and coloured), Rosin Oils, Stand Oil, etc.
SCHOLARLY RESEARCH into the History and Technology of: Strings, instruments, performance (including standards of pitch and tempo), etc.
Some organisations that publish such research are FoMRHI, Galpin Society, Lute Society, and Early Music
Our Guide gives details | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39771000 |
Press Release 09-241
Waterworld Discovered Transiting a Nearby Star
Charbonneau team realizes major advance in discovering habitable planets
December 16, 2009
View a Webcast with astronomer David Charbonneau.
Astronomers announced today that they have discovered a "super-Earth" orbiting a red dwarf star only 40 light-years from Earth. They found this nearby planet with a small fleet of ground-based telescopes no larger than those many amateur astronomers have in their backyards. Although the super-Earth is too hot to sustain life, the discovery shows that current, ground-based technologies are capable of finding almost-Earth-sized planets in warm, life-friendly orbits.
The discovery is being published in the December 17 issue of the journal Nature.
A super-Earth is defined as a planet between one and ten times the mass of the Earth. The new-found world, GJ1214b, is about 6.5 times as massive as the Earth. Its host star, GJ1214, is a small, red type M star about one-fifth the size of the Sun. It has a surface temperature of only about 4,900 degrees F and a luminosity only three-thousandths as bright as the Sun.
GJ1214b orbits its star once every 38 hours at a distance of only 1.3 million miles. Astronomers estimate the planet's temperature to be about 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Although warm as an oven, it is still cooler than any other known transiting planet because it orbits a very dim star that emits only about three-thousandths as much energy per second as does the Sun.
Since GJ1214b crosses in front of its star, astronomers were able to measure its radius, which is about 2.7 times that of Earth. This makes GJ1214b one of the two smallest transiting worlds astronomers have discovered, the other being CoRoT-7-b. The resulting density suggests that GJ1214b is composed of about three-fourths water and other ices, and one-fourth rock. There are also tantalizing hints that the planet has a gaseous atmosphere.
"Despite its hot temperature, this appears to be a waterworld," said Zachory Berta, a graduate student at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) who first spotted the hint of the planet among the data. "It is much smaller, cooler, and more Earthlike than any other known exoplanet."
Berta added that some of the planet's water should be in the form of exotic materials like Ice VII (seven)--a crystalline form of water that exists at pressures greater than 20,000 times Earth's sea-level atmosphere.
Astronomers found the new planet using the MEarth (pronounced "mirth") Project--an array of eight identical 16-inch-diameter RC Optical Systems telescopes that monitor a pre-selected list of 2,000 red dwarf stars. Each telescope perches on a highly accurate Software Bisque Paramount and funnels light to an Apogee U42 charge-coupled device (CCD) chip, which many amateurs also use.
"Since we found the super-earth using a small ground-based telescope, this means that anyone else with a similar telescope and a good CCD camera can detect it too. Students around the world can now study this super-earth!" said David Charbonneau of CfA, lead author and head of the MEarth project.
MEarth looks for stars that periodically decrease in brightness because planets cross in front of, or transits, their stars. During such a mini-eclipse, the planet blocks a small portion of the star's light, making it dimmer. Using innovative data processing techniques, astronomers can tease out the telltale signal of a transiting planet and distinguish it from "false positives" such as eclipsing double stars.
NASA's Kepler mission also uses transits to look for Earth-sized planets orbiting Sun-like stars. However, such systems dim by only one part in ten thousand. The higher precision required to detect these transits means that such worlds can only be found from space.
In contrast, a super-Earth transiting a small, red dwarf star yields a more pronounced decrease in brightness that can be detected from the ground. Astronomers then use instruments like the HARPS (High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher) spectrograph at the European Southern Observatory to measure the companion's mass and confirm it is a planet, as they did with this discovery.
When astronomers compared the measured radius of GJ1214b to theoretical models, they found that the observed radius exceeds the model's prediction, even assuming a pure water planet. Something more than the planet's solid surface may be blocking the star's light--specifically, a surrounding atmosphere.
The team also notes that, if it has an atmosphere, those gases are almost certainly not primordial. The star's heat is gradually boiling off the atmosphere. Over the planet's lifetime, several billion years, much of the original atmosphere may have been lost.
The next step for astronomers is to try to directly detect and characterize the atmosphere, which will require a space-based instrument like NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. GJ1214b is only 40 light-years from Earth, within the reach of current observatories.
"Since this planet is so close to Earth, Hubble should be able to detect the atmosphere and determine what it's made of," said Charbonneau. "That will make it the first super-Earth with a confirmed atmosphere--even though that atmosphere probably won't be hospitable to life as we know it."
"The future for further discovery is bright," said Donald Terndrup, program manager in NSF's Division of Astronomical Sciences, "Because this discovery was made early in the MEarth project, there may be many super-Earths around cool stars. Dr. Charbonneau's team may also discover strange or unexpected worlds, and this will show us how common or rare earth-like planets truly are, further expanding the frontiers of astronomical science."
Lisa-Joy Zgorski, NSF (703) 292-8311 firstname.lastname@example.org
Christine Pulliam, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (617) 495-7463 email@example.com
Donald Terndrup, NSF (703) 292-4901 firstname.lastname@example.org
David Charbonneau, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (617) 496-6515 email@example.com
Images and movies: /news/longurl.cfm?id=187
Research Channel interview with Charbonneau about his life's work: /news/longurl.cfm?id=188
David Charbonneau: DISCOVER Magazine's Scientist of the Year: http://discovermagazine.com/2007/dec/scientist/?searchterm=charbonneau
David Charbonneau, NSF's 2009 Alan T. Waterman Awardee Release: http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114304&org=NSF&from=news
NSF and NSB Pay Tribute To Top American Scientists, including brief Charbonneau statement: http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=114819&org=NSF
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering. In fiscal year (FY) 2012, its budget was $7.0 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and other institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 50,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes about 11,500 new funding awards. NSF also awards about $593 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
Get News Updates by Email
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HISTORY OF FLIGHT Use your browsers 'back' function to return to synopsisReturn to Query Page
On March 19, 2010, about 1910 Pacific daylight time, a Cirrus SR22, N224GS, collided with trees and terrain during a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Morton, Washington. The private pilot was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The airplane was substantially damaged. The pilot was killed and the passenger sustained serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The flight departed from Buchanan Field Airport, Concord, California, about 1540, and was destined for Renton Municipal Airport, Renton, Washington.
The Safety Board investigator-in-charge interviewed the passenger on Wednesday, March 24, 2010. The passenger indicated that she and the pilot were returning from a business trip. After fueling the airplane, they departed and began the flight home. The passenger stated that while the airplane was in cruise flight, the pilot suddenly placed his hands on the controls, told her that the engine had lost power, and they were going to land at a nearby airport. He entered a steep right turn toward the airport. The passenger could not recall hearing anything unusual at the time of the event. The pilot remained calm throughout the approach to the airport and reassured the passenger during the descent that they would land safely. The pilot also declared a MAYDAY message and spoke on the radio. The passenger sent a text message to a friend at 1909 indicating that they were not going to make it to the airport. She did not recall anything after this point.
The passenger indicated that the pilot had discussed the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) with her prior to the trip and showed her how to activate it in the event of an emergency. The passenger reported that the pilot did not attempt to activate the CAPS during the flight.
Audio obtained from Prescott AFSS indicated at 1906:51, N224GS transmitted "MAYDAY, MAYDAY, Cirrus N4GS" on frequency 121.5. Part of the audio was unintelligible. Another aircraft, N999VK responded immediately to the MAYDAY call with “Cirrus on guard this is N999VK”, then a Seattle Radio controller responded with “Aircraft calling MAYDAY on 121.5, Seattle Radio." N999VK said “Standby center, 9VK is copying a MAYDAY”, and then asked N224GS to go ahead. N224GS said “I’m west of Strom airport, trying to make the field." N999VK asked N224GS how far he was from the field. No additional transmissions were received from N224GS. Prescott AFSS contacted the local sheriff's office.
The wreckage was located immediately following the accident approximately 2.5 miles west-northwest of Strom Field Airport, Morton, Washington.
The pilot, age 39, held a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating, and a third-class airman medical certificate issued May 29, 2007, with the limitation that he must wear corrective lenses. Copies of the pilot's logbook were obtained from his family. The last entry was dated February 21, 2010, and showed a total time logged of 219.8 hours. In a second earlier logbook provided by the pilot's family, the total time logged was 258.6 hours. Based on information obtained from the avionics onboard the airplane, the pilot had flown approximately 11 additional hours in the airplane, for a total flight time of 489.4 hours. He had flown 13 hours over the past 30 days and 14.9 hours over the past 90 days. His last flight review was on July 29, 2009.
Maintenance Personnel Information
Director of Maintenance
The Director of Maintenance (DOM) for Auburn Flight Service, the facility that performed the most recent annual inspection on the airplane, was interviewed. He held an aviation maintenance technician certificate with airframe and powerplant (A & P) ratings and also held an inspection authorization (IA). He had worked as an A & P since 1989, and obtained his IA in October of 1999. He had served as the DOM at Auburn Flight Service since October of 2002.
The DOM's normal work schedule consisted of a 40-hour work week, although he indicated that he was "juggling a lot" between work and personal life. He usually worked between 50 to 60 hours per week with 10 to 11-hour days. The number of employees he oversaw varied. During high employment periods, he oversaw five to six mechanics. In February of 2010, he employed three mechanics.
Airframe and Powerplant Technician with Inspection Authorization
The A & P/IA began his maintenance career in the military in 1991. Following the military, he worked in airline heavy line maintenance for seven years. He held employment as a flight engineer and first officer at a cargo company, and then returned to the Seattle area for family reasons. He began work with Auburn Flight Service where he worked for two years until leaving in February of 2010 for career advancement at a different company. The A & P/IA typically worked a 40-hour week with occasional overtime. He never felt like he was asked to do more than he was capable of doing.
Airframe and Powerplant Technician
The A & P held an aviation maintenance technician certificate with airframe and powerplant ratings. He began his maintenance career in the military in 1974 and obtained his A & P in 1986. He began working for Auburn Flight Service in April of 2007. The mechanic generally worked a 40-hour work week although his workload had recently increased due to more work and fewer employees. The mechanic felt that he had adequate time to perform his job duties.
The four-seat, low-wing, fixed-gear airplane, serial number (SN) 1326 was manufactured in 2005. It was powered by a Teledyne Continental IO-550-N engine and equipped with a Hartzell PHC-J3YF-1RF propeller.
The maintenance records were reviewed and the last annual inspection noted in the logbooks was October 17, 2008. The Safety Board investigator-in-charge contacted the maintenance facility that performed the annual inspection, Auburn Flight Service, and inquired whether or not a more recent annual inspection had been completed. According to the DOM for Auburn Flight Service, the last annual inspection was completed in February of 2010. He was uncertain why the annual inspection logbook entries were not in the logbooks. A work order dated January 8, 2010, contained a stamp dated February 5, 2010, and was signed by the DOM indicating that the airplane and engine had undergone an annual inspection. The DOM indicated that he did not perform the work on the airplane but had signed it off as airworthy.
The work order for the airplane showed that cylinders 3, 5, and 6 needed to be replaced due to cracks. The cylinders were replaced on February 2, 2010. On February 3, the work order noted "perform gnd run and leak check…check engine specs per TCM MM Table 19-1/TCM SB M89-71R." Both items were initialed by the A & P. The last item noted on the work order was dated February 3, and stated that "during ground runs L/R mag drops rough." Spark plugs were cleaned, tested, and reinstalled. The A & P also initialed this item.
The Cirrus maintenance checklist for the accident airplane was reviewed. The checklist noted the type of inspection as "annual." On page 17, the "Return to Service" checklist, five of the following six items were not initialed as being completed:
1. Close Access
2. Verify all Airworthiness Directives complied with (Initialed)
3. Fuel Injection System (The checklist noted "Functional inspection of fuel injection system in accordance with the manufacturer's approved instructions for continued airworthiness after engine installation, every 100 hours, at annual, or fuel system component replacement.")
4. Perform an airplane run-up (The checklist noted "In accordance with operational/functional check in 5-30. After completing the operational check, perform a walk around to detect fluid leaks or other abnormalities.")
5. Install Engine Cowling
6. Verify airplane papers in proper order
Director of Maintenance Interview
In an interview with the DOM, he indicated that the normal process when an airplane is brought in for maintenance is that the airplane is dropped off by the owner, a work order is created by the DOM, squawks are noted, checklists are compiled, and the package is assigned to a mechanic. If the maintenance includes an annual inspection, then the inspection is assigned to an IA. Due to differences in work requirements, mechanics may shift to other projects throughout an annual inspection. When the work order for an annual inspection is completed, it is returned to the responsible IA, the operations checks and engine cylinder compression checks are completed, the endorsements are made, the checklists and work orders are initialed, and the work order is stamped completed by the responsible IA.
According to the DOM, during an annual inspection of a Cirrus, the fuel system must be checked. Calibrated gauges are used to test metered and unmetered fuel pressure. A steel fuel cap is removed and the gauge is installed. At the completion of the test, the cap is reinstalled, and a leak check is performed.
The DOM stated that the accident airplane had been maintained at Auburn Flight Service since it was new. The annual inspection was due in October of 2009 and in November the owner contacted him about the inspection. The owner brought the airplane to Auburn Flight Service in January of 2010. In addition to the annual inspection and two-year items being due, the inspection had identified three cracked cylinders. Another A & P/IA who worked at Auburn Flight Service was assigned to complete the inspection. Two additional A & Ps worked on the airplane during the maintenance as well.
The DOM stated that following the accident, he asked the A & P/IA if he had signed off the annual inspection. The DOM stated that the IA was certain he had signed it off. A review of records showed that another Cirrus was in the shop at the same time and it also had to have three of its cylinders replaced. The DOM believes that the IA may have remembered completing the endorsement for the other airplane.
A checklist was created during the annual inspection for the airplane and as noted previously, items on the checklist were not initialed. The DOM stated that the IA assigned to complete the job forgot to initial the checklist items, and to complete the endorsements. When asked how he knew the work was completed, the DOM said that he was aware of what was going on in the facility regarding airplanes currently being worked on through daily contact with his technicians, contact with aircraft owners, and through review of the work orders. The DOM indicated that the A & P/IA should have signed off the inspection and maintenance endorsement for the airplane logbooks but overlooked doing so.
Aviation Maintenance Technician with Inspection Authorization Interview
The A & P/IA said that the accident airplane had been in the facility for an annual inspection. He was assigned to perform the annual inspection. During the inspection, three cracked cylinders were identified and they had to be replaced. The annual inspection was completed as far as the maintenance personnel could work until the new parts arrived. Once the parts arrived, an A & P in the shop replaced the cylinders and the A & P/IA replaced a seal on the lower cowling. He could not recall doing any additional maintenance items on the airplane.
The A & P/IA was asked about the throttle and metering assembly and when the fuel inlet cap on the line would be removed. He indicated that although he ran the engine before the annual inspection was conducted, he did not conduct any final checks. He said that in order to check the metered and unmetered fuel pressure, you would refer to a service bulletin and usually connect the gauge at the steel cap fitting. At the completion of the test, the cap is reinstalled and torqued. He indicated that normally torque seal would be used to mark that the cap had been torqued. He indicated that the engine run noted on the work order on February 3, was for the cylinder work and not the return to service run.
The A & P/IA stated that when he finished an annual inspection, he would sign the stamped page on the work order. In this case, the DOM, signed the front page. Additionally, the A & P/IA would have created logbook endorsements. The A & P/IA felt that the DOM may have been pressured to return the airplane to the owner. There was another Cirrus in the facility at the time and the workload was high.
The A & P/IA provided a copy of a logbook page showing the airplanes that he had signed off as airworthy or unairworthy from January 2010 through February 2010. The accident airplane was not listed.
Aviation Maintenance Technician Interview
The A & P recalled the accident airplane being in the shop for an annual inspection. The A & P said that there was nothing out of the ordinary during the maintenance that he performed and that the annual inspection items must be checked and functionally checked by an IA.
The A & P explained the fuel system pressure checks indicating that the line and cap are removed on the metering assembly, the fuel pressures are checked, and then the lines and cap are secured. This is followed by a leak check. The A & P stated that after the check is completed, everything is torque sealed. During the interview, he could not recall what color torque seal he might have used when securing the cap on the throttle and metering assembly.
When the A & P reviewed the annual inspection checklist during the interview, he indicated that several items were not completed by the A & P/IA. During the interview, the A & P indicated that there should have been additional discrepancy items for the A & P/IA's check of the fuel system. The A & P stated that the fuel system check that he (the A & P) performed was required due to the cylinder change as well as annual inspection requirements, and was not the final check. Additionally, he stated that the checklist was not filled out entirely by the A & P/IA. The A & P indicated that once all of the work order discrepancies are accomplished, the A & P/IA takes the work order package, completes the logbook entry, and the airplane is released. The A & P did not recall seeing the A & P/IA doing the final items not initialed on the checklist.
In later correspondence, the A & P stated that he misspoke during the interview and noted that he did not recall removing the test equipment. He reported the following:
"On work order 7631 item #39, I did not sign off removal of equipment or a leak check. In addition on the Cirrus checklist 05-20 page 17 Item 3 was left blank, indicating that check was not completed by the inspector in accordance with FAR 43.15 (c.), (2.), (i.), (ii.), (iii.) and (iv.). Furthermore, on Cirrus Checklist 05-20 page 17, items 1., 4., 5., and 6., were left blank indicating a final inspection/return to service was not documented by the inspector."
Teledyne Continental Motors Guidance
According to Teledyne Continental Motors Service Information Directive (SID) 97-3E, Procedures and Specifics for Adjustment of Teledyne Continental Motors (TCM) Continuous Flow Fuel Injection Systems, after the fuel pressures are checked, the test gages are removed, and all fuel hoses and cap fittings are reinstalled to their original location. Under Section D(3), it states "ASSURE CAP ASSEMBLY 639494 IS CORRECTLY INSTALLED ON INLET TEE FITTING OF COMBINATION THROTTLE BODY/METERING UNITS. TORQUE TO 135-190 INCH POUNDS PER TABLE 1 SPECS. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE ALLOW ANY CAP FITTING OTHER THAN 639494 TO BE INSTALLED DURING ENGINE OPERATION." Following the installation, a complete fuel system leak check must be performed in accordance with the aircraft manufacturer's instructions.
The closest official aviation weather was reported 30 miles west of Strom Field at Chehalis-Centralia Airport, Chehalis, Washington, at 1915 PDT. The following weather conditions were reported: visibility 10 statute miles, sky condition clear, temperature 13 degrees Centigrade, dew point 2 degrees Centigrade, wind from 340 degrees at 7 knots, and altimeter 30.13 inches of Mercury.
Strom Airport is located in mountainous terrain at an elevation of 941 feet, and surrounded by heavily treed terrain that rises to 2,000 feet. It has one asphalt runway, 7/25, that is 1,810 feet in length and 40 feet wide. According to the airport facility directory, trees 41 to 59 feet in height obstruct the ends of the runway.
WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATION
Investigators responded to the accident site on March 20, 2010. The airplane came to rest in a rural residential area, on soft terrain used for gardening. The first identified point of impact was an area of approximately 50-foot tall trees. A 4-inch diameter section of a tree was broken, and a piece of fiberglass material remained suspended at the top portion of one tree. The outboard section of the right wing containing the navigation light was found in this area and it was located about 130 feet from the main wreckage. From the outboard right wing section moving east, the next identified point of impact was fencing that surrounded a garden. Multiple fence posts and rails were dislodged and found at the main wreckage site. The wings and forward fuselage area sustained significant impact damage. All control surfaces remained attached. An impact crater approximately 2 feet deep was directly in front of the engine and two propeller blades were partially buried in the soft soil. The wreckage came to rest on a heading of about 015 degrees. There was no fire.
The Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) was examined. The rocket motor assembly and deployment bag (D-Bag) remained connected to the parachute. The rocket motor propellant was expended. The parachute was connected to the airframe with the harness and ran parallel to the right wing from the wreckage. The parachute canopy remained partially folded with the slider located at the top of the suspension lines. Both reefing line cutters were fired, however, the rear harness remained snubbed. The CAPS activation handle was found seated in the handle holder. The CAPS enclosure cover was found approximately 15 feet from the wreckage on the right side. According to the Cirrus representative, the signatures were consistent with activation due to impact forces.
Approximately 7 gallons of fuel were drained from the left wing fuel tank. The right fuel tank was breached. Investigators obtained approximately 1 cup of fuel from the right header fuel tank following the removal of the wreckage from the accident site.
MEDICAL AND PATHOLOGICAL INFORMATION
An autopsy was completed by the Lewis County Coroner's Office. The cause of death was attributed to blunt force head injuries. The FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) completed toxicological testing on specimens from the pilot. The results were negative for carbon monoxide, cyanide, and volatiles. The results were positive for the following:
20.97 (ug/ml,ug/g) Acetaminophen detected in Urine
66.89 (ug/ml, ug/g) Salicylate detected in Urine
Trazodone detected in Liver
0.041 (ug/mL, ug/g) Trazodone detected in Blood
Trazodone detected in Urine
Interviews with the pilot's family revealed that he used Trazodone as a sleep aid.
TESTS AND RESEARCH
Investigators examined the engine at Teledyne Continental Motors, Mobile, Alabama. The engine exhibited impact damage concentrated at the upper forward and bottom areas. The throttle and metering assembly inlet, fitting cap part number 639494, was discovered missing. The cap was located resting on the number 1 and 3 inter-cylinder baffle. There was no evidence of damage to the cap. There was evidence of light blue staining on the crankcase.
The engine was prepared for a test run by installing a substitute inlet fitting cap and replacing parts that had sustained impact damage as follows: fuel manifold inlet fitting , push rod housings for the number 2, 5, and 6 cylinders exhaust and intake, push rods for the numbers 2 and 6 intake and number 5 intake and exhaust, right magneto, induction system riser for the number 6 cylinder, engine mounts, oil cooler, oil sump, oil suction tube, and the starter adapter. The engine was not disassembled prior to the engine run. During the engine run, the substitute fuel inlet cap was installed finger tight. A fuel system leak check revealed a fuel droplet accumulating at the cap. The engine run was then conducted with the fuel inlet cap finger tight.
The testing showed that with the fuel inlet cap installed finger tight, the operation of the engine was normal and did not reveal any abnormalities that would have prevented normal operation and production of rated horsepower.
Fuel Inlet Cap
A metallurgist from the NTSB Materials Laboratory examined the cap from the fuel inlet. Drawings showed that each cap was an assembly of two parts with an internally threaded hex section and a floating end plug with an internal conical recess. When fully engaged, the threaded hex section clamps the conical recess of the plug over the conical end of the male fitting, sealing the male fitting and blocking fluid flow. Additional exemplar caps (used and new) were also submitted for the examination.
Examination of the cap revealed thick granular material covering three or four internal threads nearest the plug. The deposits were white or light tan in color with areas of reddish products. The three threads nearest the cap opening had some similar deposits but were essentially clean. The internal surfaces of the plug were also covered by similar thick corrosion products except on the ring shaped sealing surface of the conical recess.
To examine the pressure flanks of the cap threads, which are the sides of the thread teeth that contact and engage with the teeth of the mating threads, the staking deformations were filed off and the plug pushed through the hex section. High magnification examination of the pressure flanks on the clean threads uncovered circumferential scuffing, indicative of sliding contact with mating threads.
To establish the typical length of thread engagement, a laboratory supplied plug fitting was threaded into the new exemplar cap and firmly wrench tightened. The combined plug and cap were then cross sectioned. Three full threads on the cap were engaged by the mating threads on the plug. The engaged threads corresponded to the scuffed threads noted on the cap. The void space in the assembled joint corresponded to the locations of the noted corrosion deposits.
The mixture cable was found fractured at the accident site. It was examined by the NTSB Materials Laboratory. The cable fractured in the threads near the jam nut where it threads into the end fitting. The fracture showed rough matte gray features with deformation and secondary cracks adjacent to the fracture consistent with overstress fracture under bending loads. On the fitting side of the fracture, a shiny area was observed on the fracture surface adjacent to the surface at the tension side of the bend. The features were smooth and not replicated on the mating surface, consistent with post-fracture damage.
The airplane was equipped with an Avidyne Entegra EXP5000 Primary Flight Display (PFD) and EX5000 Multi-function Display (MFD). The NTSB Recorders Laboratory examined the units. The PFD samples and stores several data streams in a sequential fashion; when the recording limit of the PFD is reached the oldest record is dropped and a new record is added. The MFD receives GPS position, time, and track data from the aircraft's GPS receiver. The MFD also receives information concerning altitude, engine, and electrical system parameters, and outside air temperature. The MFD generates new data files for each MFD power-on cycle. Similar to the PFD, the oldest record is dropped and replaced by a new recording once the storage limit has been reached.
The recording began with the airplane on the ground at Buchanan Field, Concord, California. The time of the beginning of the takeoff roll was approximately 1542:34. At 1543:16, the airplane was established in a climb, passing through 500 feet pressure altitude and on a northerly heading. The way point was changed to "KRNT", the airport identifier for Renton, Washington. At 1857, the altitude bug changed from 8,500 feet to 5,000 feet and the airplane began a shallow descent, fluctuating between 200 and 500 feet per minute (fpm). At 1904:16, the MFD data indicated a sharp reduction in exhaust gas temperature (EGT) on all cylinders, accompanied by a gradual decrease in cylinder head temperature (CHT) on all cylinders. Engine RPM decreased from the cruise value of approximately 2,450 RPM and varied between 1,200 RPM and 1,750 RPM for the remainder of the recording. At 1905:34, recorded fuel flow spiked, decreased slightly and then pegged at 30 gallons per hour, the maximum range of the fuel flow sensor, where it remained until the end of the recording. After the power loss, the descent rate increased, fluctuating between 1,000 and 1,700 fpm. The airplane turned to the east, then slightly back to the north, and finally settled on an easterly course heading directly towards Strom Airport during the descent. Indicated airspeed decreased to approximately 100 knots (KIAS). The SR22 Airplane Flight Manual (AFM) indicates speed for best glide is 87 or 88 KIAS, depending on weight. However, the AFM notes additional glide range may be achieved with a windmilling propeller by increasing airspeed by 5 to 10 knots.
According to the Cirrus representative, based on the pilot's position when the loss of engine power occurred, Morton (9 miles to the east) would have been the nearest airport with a hard surface runway. There were several grass airstrips to the west of the airplane's position, and Toledo, Washington airport was approximately 16 miles west. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39775000 |
An EU-funded project investigating the high-end nutritional content of seaweed says antioxidant extraction potential is high – with some seaweed forms offering better bioavailability than others.
Speaking with us, SWAFAX project leader Ian Rowland, said two studies had been completed that showed certain extracts contained high levels of antioxidant polyphenols.
“Land plants have all these polyphenols in them but seaweeds have never really been studied for their antioxidant potential – so we are looking at that and the results are very encouraging,” said Rowland, the director of research and head of the Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition at Reading University.
“One of the most important things with polyphenols whether they are from seaweeds or land plants is how easily they are absorbed in the body.”
Ascophyllum seaweed had shown the best potential in this area.
“The antioxidant content can be up to 15% of the weight of the seaweed,” Rowland said. “Some of them are similar to land plants but not all of them. The best potential we have seen is for phlorotannins which are found in brown seaweeds like Ascophyllum.”
Rowland said seaweed was abundant and offered high-end potential as to date it was mainly used as a whole food or as a source for basic vitamins and minerals.
The two year old project was slated to complete already but has been extended until April when the final study will finish. The studies will then be sent to nutrition journals for assessment and potential publication.
The project has worked with three small to medium enterprises (SMEs) – Irish firm Marigot which specialises in seaweed mineral extraction; Hebridean Seaweed in Scotland and Mesosystem, based out of Spain.
There are also three RTD providers - CyberColloids and the Universities of Reading and Ulster.
World production of seaweeds stood at 16 million tonnes in 2008, with 93% cultivated and 7% harvested in the wild. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39777000 |
Belt Pkwy., Williams Court bet. E. 12 St. and Homecrest Ave
Directions via Google Maps
This playground is named for the surrounding neighborhood, a 20th century extension of the town of Gravesend. Gravesend derives its name from either Dutch or English colonists; the Dutch words Grafes and Ande, meaning “end of the grove,” could refer to the eastern location of Gravesend, but the name also might reflect the wishes of English settlement founder Lady Deborah Moody (c.1583-1659). Gravesend was the name of a city near her former home in England at the mouth of the Thames River.
Lady Deborah Moody was a wealthy widow when she left England for America in 1639. Initially arriving in Massachusetts, she was coldly received by the Puritans due to her adherence to Anabaptism. According to the religion’s basic tenets, followers could not hold government office, bear arms, or perform childhood baptisms. Moody and her fellows were expelled from Massachusetts in 1643 and traveled to New Netherland in 1645 in search of a place to settle.
Governor Willem Kieft (1597-1647) was at that time offering land grants to those who would settle in the areas around Manhattan. Kieft was in the middle of a war with the surrounding Native Americans, and he reckoned that expanding the colony would provide Manhattan with a buffer, warning the center of New Netherland when its outposts were under attack. Moody accepted Kieft’s offer, and she and her Anabaptists established Gravesend on the south shore of Long Island, just north of Coney Island, thereby starting the first English settlement in what is now Brooklyn.
The Anabaptists quickly abandoned Gravesend in the face of Canarsie raiders, but the religious sect returned with the advent of peace in 1645, bearing the first town charter written in English in the colonies. Moody’s plan for Gravesend was innovative and based on Anabaptist beliefs. Designed to create open and equal spaces for the town’s inhabitants; the resulting grid layout was the first of its kind.
Lady Moody died in 1659, and the town remained largely rural for over two centuries until it was incorporated into the City of Brooklyn in 1894. The rail lines that followed spelled the end of Gravesend’s more bucolic years. Developers built many large single-family homes in the east end of Gravesend and agreed to change the neighborhood’s name to Homecrest-by-the-Sea. Its boundaries are Kings Highway to the north, Avenue V to the south, East 16th Street to the east, and Ocean Parkway to the west.
This playground is part of Shore Parkway, an 816.1-acre collection of parks that stretches across Brooklyn and Queens. The City acquired the parcels of land that make up Shore Parkway between 1927 and 1939 by condemnation. Parks was assigned the property in 1939, and the parkway opened the following year.
In 1942, Homecrest Playground opened with a baseball field, basketball courts, handball courts, and benches for community use. London plane trees (Platanus x acerifolia) encircle this park, creating welcoming shade. Today, this site still provides ample opportunity for recreation and rest. City Council Member Anthony D. Weiner sponsored a $555,000 reconstruction in 1993, funding the removal of the old wading pool and comfort station, refurbishment of the handball courts, construction of a spray area with whale sculptures, and the installation of new play equipment, swings, benches, and a chain link fence. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39780000 |
07Dec2000 USA: Congress Sends Bill Banning Shark Finning to President for Signature.
Conservationists Applaud Sweeping Congressional Action
To Protect Sharks
WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ - After a two-year fight to safeguard shark populations, the U.S. Senate today passed legislation to prohibit shark finning - the practice of slicing off a shark's fins and discarding its carcass at sea - in all U.S. waters. The U.S. House of Representatives passed
the same legislation in November. The bill will now be sent to the President to be signed into law.
Leading conservation organizations were quick to commend the U.S. Congress for passing this landmark legislation that also seeks to address the problem internationally. "This truly bipartisan effort, led by Representative Cunningham (R-CA) in the House, the Senators Kerry (D-MA), Hollings (D-SC),
and Snowe (R-ME) in the Senate, is critical to conserving vulnerable shark populations," commented Russell Dunn, Assistant Director of the Ocean Wildlife Campaign. "Without their leadership, the growing trade in shark fins would have posed an ever increasing threat to these animals."
"The vulnerability of sharks to overfishing and the massive mortality associated with finning made achieving a finning ban a top priority for the OWC and its member organizations," explained Dr. David Wilmot, OWC Director. Shark fins are the principal ingredients in shark fin soup, an Asian delicacy that can sell for as much as $100 a bowl. Each year, tens of thousands of sharks are killed just for their fins in the U.S. Pacific. In 1998, the number of sharks finned in the waters surrounding Hawaii topped 60,000. Because fins comprise only a small percentage of a shark's bodyweight, finning wastes 95 to 99 percent of each shark. Sharks are especially susceptible to overfishing because they generally grow slowly, mature late and produce a small number of young.
"By addressing this egregious waste, Congress has established a strong and consistent national shark policy and reasserted U.S. leadership in addressing global threats to these exceptionally vulnerable fish," remarked Sonja Fordham, shark fisheries specialist for the Center for Marine Conservation. Allowing finning in the Pacific was inconsistent with a number of U.S. fisheries policies and ran counter to the recommendations of several international fishery agreements, including the United Nations International Plan of Action for Sharks.
"We are ecstatic that the Congress has responded to the American public's outrage over finning," noted Dunn. "The fact that they were able to do so during a period of bitter partisanship clearly demonstrates Congress' intolerance of wasteful and destructive practices which threaten this nation's
living marine resources," summarized Dunn.
The Ocean Wildlife Campaign is a coalition of the Center for Marine Conservation, National Audubon Society, National Coalition for Marine Conservation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Wildlife Conservation Society, and World Wildlife Fund. The OWC was created to tackle the complex challenge of
conserving and restoring giant ocean fishes including sharks, swordfish, marlin, and tunas. The OWC is generously supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
SOURCE Ocean Wildlife Campaign -0-12/07/2000
/CONTACT: Carrie Collins, 202-537-9166, or Amy Bunch, 301-593-6960, both of Ocean Wildlife Campaign/.
Source: PR NEWSWIRE 07/12/2000 | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39795000 |
Butterflies - The Tribe Of The Coppers
( Originally Published 1917 )
The members of this tribe are well characterized by their name, for most of them show on the upper wing surface tones of coppery brown, more or less marked around the margin with darker shades. On the under side of the tarsi there are numerous spines in irregular clusters. In the chrysalis there are curious hair-like projections on the skin, which are short and shaped like tiny toadstools or mushrooms.
While some of the Coppers are very abundant, the majority are rather rare. Only a few species are sufficiently widely distributed to require description here.
Feniseca tarquinius In many orders of insects there are whole families whose larvae are habitually carnivorous, feeding entirely upon other kinds of insects. This is especially so in case of the beetles, the flies, the true bugs, and the great order to which the bees and wasps belong. Among the scale-winged insects, however, carnivorous caterpillars are rare, seldom occurring among the moths and in hardly more than one species among the butterflies. This one exception is the modest looking little butterfly fancifully called the Wanderer, perhaps because instead of frequenting the flowery fields where other butterflies congregate it wanders in and out among the alders by brooks and ponds, alighting oftener upon a leaf or twig than upon a flower the latter apparently lacking for it the attraction it has for other butterflies.
If you watch one of these copper-hued creatures for awhile, however, you will soon see that its wandering is not aimless but has rather a method all its own. Perhaps you will see it alight upon an alder twig on or above which you are likely to notice curious woolly white excrescences. If you are close enough you will probably see the butterfly uncoil its tongue and sip up a liquid on twig or leaf the exudations of the woolly aphids that make up the supposed excrescence and suck the sap from the bark. Much of this sap passes through the bodies of the aphids and collects in liquid globules on twigs and leaves, forming a sort of honey-dew which is much sought after by flies, wasps, and other insects. It seems to form the chief sustenance of these Wanderers.
But many of these butterflies have another purpose besides that of sipping the honey-dew. Should you watch one of the mother butterflies carefully you would be likely to see her alight on or near a colony of woolly aphids and rim rather rapidly over them in a wasp-like manner, finally stopping long enough to lay a tiny, roundish, slightly flattened egg upon the twig, generally on the under side, and only one in a place. Then she may continue her way, wandering lazily along the alder-bordered stream.
Let us now centre our interest upon the egg. Three or four days later it hatches into a curious caterpillar. Instead of having mouth parts fitted for biting leaves as is the ease with most butterfly larvae, it has one fitted for grasping, piercing, and sucking the juices of the plump bodies of the aphids, which it finds hard by its place of birth. It also has silk spinnerets connected with its mouth, so it is able to spin a web to shelter it from being run over by its intended victims.
The newly hatched larva is not slow to take advantage of the facilities with which it is provided. It at once begins to spin a web above and around itself, from the and of which it reaches out for the nearest aphids, sucking their life blood and casting their empty skins to the discard of its protecting web. The skins thus serve as an additional shelter so that, as the caterpillar moves forward, increasing the number of its victims from day to day, it extends its web and the protection of the cast skins intermingled with it, while through all the cast skins, the silken web, and even the hairs on the body of the caterpillar there runs a woof of the woolly excretion effectually concealing the larva from sight.
The woolly aphids thus serve as the sole food of the caterpillar during its brief life as a larva. Perhaps because of the pre-digested nature of its food, it is able to mature much sooner than most butterfly larvae. In about eleven days after hatching it is ready to change to a chrysalis, having undergone during this period only three moults, instead of at least four as with other caterpillars. Each caterpillar then changes to a chrysalis which is remarkable because the form and color of its back bears a striking resemblance to the face of a miniature monkey. It remains in this condition nearly a fortnight and then emerges as a butterfly.
In New England and the Northern states the short life of the larva enables this insect to mature three broods each season. Farther south there are probably more, for this species is widely distributed in eastern North America, occurring from Nova Scotia to Georgia and west to the Mississippi Valley.
The American Copper
This little butterfly is one of the most generally abundant insects in the northern part of North America. It commonly occurs from ocean to ocean, from the Hudson Bay region to the latitude of Georgia, and it flies freely in city parks and village yards as well in the more open spaces of field and forest. When seen through a lens it is very beautifully colored, the coppery red of the wings being overspread with conspicuous black dots and a touch of orange around the outer border. The expanded wings measure just about an inch, so that this is one of the smallest of our common butterflies.
The caterpillars of the American Copper feed upon sorrel, one of the commonest weedy plants of waste places everywhere. The rusty red blossoms of the sorrel harmonize in color with the color of the butterfly, which is frequently to be seen flying slowly above the plants, stop-ping now and then to lay its eggs singly upon the leaves or stems. Each egg soon hatches into a curious caterpillar, which looks more like a slug than the usual type of butterfly larva. It feeds upon the succulent tissue of the sorrel leaf, at first biting small holes in the under surface. As it gets larger it feeds more freely and is likely to make channels instead of holes. It matures in about three weeks, changing into a chrysalis under the shelter of a stone or board. A little later it again changes to a butterfly.
There is an interesting variation in the number of broods of this butterfly each season. In regions where it has been studied it has been found to be double-brooded in northern New England and triple-brooded in southern New England and the Atlantic states. It is probable that in its far northern home in the Hudson Bay territory it is only single-brooded. It is thought that the insect hibernates as a chrysalis.
These little butterflies are so small and fly so near the ground that they are likely to be overlooked by the casual observer. They frequently alight to sun themselves or to sip nectar from many kinds of flowers. They begin their day's work early in the morning and continue well into the evening. Then they find a roosting-place, head downward upon a blade of grass, where they sleep until wakened by the morning sunshine.
The Bronze Copper
This butterfly is nearly twice as large as the American Copper to which the female of the present species bears a striking resemblance. The Bronze Copper is a rare species, occurring from New England nearly to the Rocky Mountains. The slug-shaped yellowish green caterpillar feeds upon dock and related plants.
Synopsis of the Coppers
The Wanderer (Feniseca tarquinius). Wing expanse 1 1/4 inches. Upper wing surface tawny brown, each wing more or less marked with dark brown spots, the distinction between the colors being clear-cut, and the lines between having an angular effect. Lower surface of front wings similar in colors to upper with dark spots rectangular Under surface of hind wings mottled with irregular spots of pale brown.
American Copper (Heodes hypophlaeas or Chrysophanus hypophlaeas). Wing expanse 1 inch. Upper surface of front wings tawny orange with margins and rectangular spots blackish. Upper surface of hind wings coppery red with a tawny orange band on outer margin. Lower surface of front wings much like upper surface, that of hind wings grayish marked with dark spots and an orange line near the margin.
Bronze Copper (Chrysophanus thoe). Wing expanse 11/2 inches.Male. Upper wing surface coppery brown marked with dark spots and a tawny orange sub-marginal band along outer margin of hind wings. Under surface of front wings lighter orange with blackish spots and of hind wings grayish with blackish spots and an orange sub-marginal band. Female. Upper surface of front wings tawny orange with blackish spots. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39804000 |
Birds Of The World:
Read More Articles About: Birds Of The World
( Originally Published Early 1900's )
The final members of this subfamily are the little Dove Petrels (Prion), of which some four species are recognized; all are inhabitants of the southern oceans. About twelve inches long, the upper surface is ashy blue, darker on the head and under the eye, and white below, while there is a very distinct black V-shaped band running from the wrist-joint along the radial portion of the wing to and across the rump, which is very conspicuous when the bird is flying. The several species are mainly distinguished by the width of the bill. The common Dove Petrel (P. Desolatus) is perhaps the best known, being not uncommon in the South Atlantic and Antarctic seas. They fly in small flocks, and Kidder notes that they use first one wing and then the other, producing a peculiar irregularity of flight, that leads them to be often mistaken for shore-birds. They are rather wary, not feeding on the scraps from a ship, but attending the whales to feed on what drops from their mouths, whence they are often called Whale-birds by the sailors and others. They breed on Kerguelen Island, making their burrows near the seashore, in lowland, under stones, or in the stony ground, and are strictly nocturnal in their habits. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39805000 |
More and more people over the age of 50 are being diagnosed with sexually transmitted infections — a development that has a medical journal urging doctors to be more vigilant when treating older patients.
The Student BMJ, an international journal published for medical students, says doctors need to ensure that when they are diagnosing older individuals, they aren't ruling out sexually transmitted infections based on age alone.
"Sexually transmitted infections are not high on your list of differential diagnoses — but increasing evidence indicates that they should be," as cases of common infections have more than doubled in people aged 50 to 90 years old, the editorial says.
According to one study, 80 per cent of the people in that age group are sexually active.
One of the authors of the editorial, Rachel von Simson, a medical student at King's College London, said in an email that despite the dramatic rise in infections, there isn't enough awareness and more education is necessary.
Von Simson says that it shouldn't be more difficult to educate older adults.
"Whilst we have a huge evidence base on what works to educate young people about sex and sexually transmitted infections and we have had lots of campaigns over the years dedicated towards them, we don't have any evidence base on what will work with older adults," she said.
"If all the campaigns older adults see are targeted at young adults, it is not surprising that they might take from that that they are not at risk."
At the Calgary Sexual Health Centre a program called Seniors A GoGo is helping bring the message to older people in the city, according to the centre's spokeswoman.
Pam Krause said that through monologues on sexuality led by seniors and education seminars, Seniors A GoGo is able to educate people who may not have had sex ed when they were in school.
"The first year what was interesting was (the seniors) talked about sexuality in a really, really broad way about it being about relationships and love and not being lonely," Krause said. "Then the seniors themselves said the second year, 'I think we actually need to kick it up a notch.' "
From there the sessions for Seniors A GoGo involved discussions about condoms and the dangers of unprotected sex.
"It's funny, but it is shocking sometimes how uncomfortable people when thinking about older adults and sexuality. So there's this immediate barrier," Krause said. "You can talk to youth about a lot of stuff . . . but as soon as you address anything with older adults, for whatever reason our culture is ill prepared to deal with the fact that people over 50" are still having sex, she said.
Krause said that previously there were few resources for seniors making the transition after the death of a spouse or after moving into a seniors' home. Seniors A GoGo helps by opening up a conversation with experts and other seniors so they get the right information.
Practicing safe sex is especially important for older people because of their general decline in immunity, von Simson said. If more seniors are aware of the consequences of STIs and more doctors are on the lookout for them, the infections can be caught earlier and are less likely to cause serious harm.
Von Simson said that more research is required so that the medical community can get a better handle on STI rates in older people, and how they can be better educated. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39828000 |
Woah. Death came to two digital music pioneers within just a couple of days of each other. Max Matthews, widely considered the father of computerized music, died on April 21st. Two days later, the inventor of the compact disc, Sony’s Norio Ohga, also passed away.
In 1957, Matthews, then working for Bell Labs, wrote a program called “Music,” which played back synthesized sounds according to the user’s input. His work is the foundation upon which all subsequent computer music, including his own additional innovations, have been built.
Ohga, who led Sony’s immense growth as president from 1982 through 1995, pushed for the development of the media-revolutionizing compact disc. In addition to determining the size of the disc, the classical music lover and former aspiring opera singer famously mandated the CD’s 75-minute running time so that it would fit the entirety of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Ah, when music fans were in charge…
Digital music evolved greatly in the intervening years and beyond. Matthews’ initial forays inspired more the actual creation of synthesizer music, rather than the development of digital formats. It wasn’t until 1975 that Betamax developed high-fidelity digital audio to their compact video cartridges (ultimately falling to the competing VHS format, which quickly caught up to Beta’s audio quality). 1978 similarly saw an audio development married to a video format in the Laserdisc, the first optical disc storage format available commercially, which offered unparalleled audio quality in terms of home video. However, due to the high cost of discs and players alike, along with its inconvenient size (about that of a vinyl LP, but heavier), the Laserdisc never truly caught on.
But both of these developments were important steps in the evolution of digital music. The Laserdisc is essentially a giant CD and led directly to the game-changing success of that smaller format, first made available in 1982 by Norio Ogha’s Sony. The CD itself inspired further innovations—the High Definition CD and MiniDisc are obviously direct descendants, and Digital Audio Tape (DAT) owes more to the CD than the compact cassette.
Then around 1988, Apple Inc. introduced the Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF), a non-compressed digital file that could store pieces of audio for personal use. AIFF is still widely used today by audio professionals, along with the Waveform Audio File Format (WAV) and Digidesign’s Sound Designer II (SDII). While there have been additional improvement in tangible formats (DVD, DualDisc, Blu-ray), the real leap forward was in 1993, when the MPEG Audio Layer III (MP3) successfully compressed audio files into a manageable size without rendering the sound quality so low as to be an unfaithful or unlistenable reproduction.
The MP3, in tandem with Internet technology, has obviously led to file sharing, and the myriad of opportunities and problems that ensued have forever altered the music industry. While no one can dispute the usefulness of the MP3, it is lamentable that it is quickly becoming the standard for audio consumption. You don’t have to be an audiophile to hear the difference between compressed and un-compressed music.
All this begs the question of what’s next for digital audio? Will consumers demand higher quality? Will “lossy” MP3s be the standard for decades to come? Or will the demand to fit more information in less space extend a tolerance for even a lower-quality format (or lower bit-rate MP3s)? It would be nice if, as professional music recording technology and fidelity standards continue to improve, consumers rightly clamor for an improvement in fidelity, either via format or, more likely, via technology that can handle more lossless files, like WAV and AIFF, in less space. Some people won’t have an interest in improving the sound of their music beyond what MP3s can provide. As their iPod is able to hold more information, they are more likely to see this as an opportunity to fit more MP3s. But some will certainly trade off better quality for at least the same song capacity.
A good sign is Apple’s development of the Apple Lossless format (ALE or ALAC, denoted by the .m4a extension), which is now in use for iTunes, both in converting CDs and for music purchases. This is still proprietary, though, and is not easily shared, especially onto PC and Windows-based computers. Certainly, more innovations are to come, and hopefully ones that support higher quality audio. Hopefully music lovers in the mold of Max Matthews and Norio Ogha are on the case. R.I.P., gentlemen. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39830000 |
Modernity and the Discourse of Scientific Buddhism
This chapter shows, with attention to the social, political, and polemical contexts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the ways Buddhists and Buddhist sympathizers attempted to align Buddhism with scientific rationalism. A discourse of scientific Buddhism emerged in the context of two intertwined crises: the Victorian crisis of faith in the West and the crisis of colonialism and western hegemony in Asia. In Ceylon, Anagarika Dharmapala promoted the image of Buddhism as scientific to counter denigrations of Buddhism by colonialists and missionaries and to assert its superiority to Christianity. Paul Carus, who through science had lost his faith in traditional Christianity, presented Buddhism as a part of a triumphal vision of science that would eventually lead to a universal “religion of science.” Henry Steel Olcott saw Buddhism as representing an “occult science” aligned with Theosophy and spiritualism.
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39832000 |
You probably have lots of questions once you receive the news you have Parkinson’s disease. A 20-minute doctor visit isn’t sufficient time to get educated about what the future has in store for you. The good news is that with the proper medication, a skilled and knowledgeable treatment team and routine exercise, your life with PD is manageable.
First, a few facts:
Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological condition. People with Parkinson's don't have enough of a chemical called dopamine because some nerve cells in their brain have died. Without dopamine people can find that their movements become slower, so it takes longer to do things.
The loss of nerve cells in the brain causes the symptoms of Parkinson’s to appear.
There's currently no cure for Parkinson's and we don't yet know why people get the condition.
What medications are commonly prescribed?
* Before taking any medication, consult with your doctor.
Symptoms (motor and non-motor)
The main symptoms of Parkinson's are tremor, rigidity and slowness of movement. As well as affecting movement, people with Parkinson's can find that other issues, such as fatigue, pain, depression and constipation, can have an impact on their day-to-day lives.
Primary symptoms are:
Secondary symptoms include:
Some non-motor symptoms of PD include:
The symptoms someone has and how quickly the condition develops will differ from one person to the next.
Other Parkinson-related diseases
Multiple System Atrophy
MSA is a rare, neurodegenerative movement disorder. The main symptoms include ataxia (inability to coordinate voluntary muscle movement or lack of coordination) and problems with the autonomic nervous system. This is a degenerative brain condition for which, at present, there is no known cause. It causes slowness of movement, rigidity, poor coordination and balance. The symptoms can be helped in the very short term with dopamine agonists and levadopa but in the longer term there is no effective treatment.
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP)
PSP is a progressive neurologic disorder characterized by long term changes of certain areas of the brain, including particular areas of the basal ganglia and the brainstem. Symptom onset most often occurs in the sixth decade of life. Symptoms may include balance difficulties, sudden falls, stiffness (rigidity), slowness of movement (bradykinesia), an impaired ability to perform certain voluntary eye movements and visual disturbances. Affected individuals may also develop slurred speech, swallowing difficulties, personality changes, dystonia, sudden involuntary "shock-like" muscle contractions (myoclonus) or other abnormalities. PSP usually occurs randomly for unknown reasons (sporadically); however, there are some reports of families with multiple affected members, suggesting a possible hereditary component to the disease.
This degenerative disease causes poor balance leading to frequent falls. Eventually there will be problems with eye movement leaving a person unable to look down or up. The disease progresses far quicker than Parkinson’s and there are no specific medical treatments.
This degenerative brain disorder produces the symptoms of Parkinsonism. With this comes early dementia, hallucinations, a low attention span and poor problem solving skills. Levodopa can make the hallucinations worse. LBD is an umbrella term for two related diagnoses. LBD refers to both Parkinson’s disease dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies. The earliest symptoms of these two diseases differ, but reflect the same underlying biological changes in the brain. Over time, people with both diagnoses will develop very similar cognitive, physical, sleep, and behavioral symptoms.
While it may take more than a year or two for enough symptoms to develop for a doctor to diagnose LBD, it is critical to pursue a formal diagnosis. Early diagnosis allows for important early treatment that may extend quality of life and independence.
LBD is a multisystem disease and typically requires a comprehensive treatment approach. This approach involves a team of physicians from different specialties who collaborate to provide optimum treatment of each symptom without worsening other LBD symptoms. Many people with LBD enjoy significant improvement of their symptoms with a comprehensive approach to treatment, and some can have remarkably little change from year to year.
Some people with LBD are extremely sensitive or may react negatively to certain medications used to treat Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s in addition
Help is a phone call away! (303) 861-1810 | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39843000 |
Alcohol: Your Child and Drugs
|One of the most abused drugs in our society is alcohol. It's also a drug that many people start using at very young ages. Though it's illegal for people younger than 21 years to drink, many children are introduced to alcohol well before they reach that age. The earlier they begin using alcohol, the higher the risk they will have problems with it later in life. This publication was written by the American Academy of Pediatrics to help parents understand the dangers of alcohol and how to prevent...|
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What is multivitamin?
Multivitamins are a combination of many different vitamins that are normally found in foods and other natural sources.
Multivitamins are used to provide vitamins that are not taken in through the diet. Multivitamins are also used to treat vitamin deficiencies (lack of vitamins) caused by illness, pregnancy, poor nutrition, digestive disorders, and many other conditions.
Multivitamins may also be used for other purposes not listed in this medication guide.
Many vitamins can cause serious or life-threatening side effects if taken in large doses. Do not take more of this medication than directed on the label or prescribed by your doctor.
If you have any medical conditions, ask your doctor before taking a multivitamin. If you have certain conditions, you may need a certain vitamin formulation or special tests while taking a multivitamin.
Do not take multivitamins without telling your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Some vitamins and minerals can harm an unborn baby if taken in large doses. You may need to use a prenatal vitamin specially formulated for pregnant women.
Multivitamins can pass into breast milk and may harm a nursing baby. Do not use this medication without telling your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.
Avoid taking more than one multivitamin product at the same time unless your doctor tells you to. Taking similar vitamin products together can result in a vitamin overdose or serious side effects.
Avoid the regular use of salt substitutes in your diet if your multivitamin contains potassium. If you are on a low-salt diet, ask your doctor before taking a vitamin or mineral supplement.
Do not take this medication with milk, other dairy products, calcium supplements, or antacids that contain calcium. Calcium may make it harder for your body to absorb certain ingredients of the multivitamin.
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Seek emergency medical attention if you think you have used too much of this medicine. An overdose of vitamins A, D, E, or K can cause serious or life-threatening side effects. Certain minerals contained in a multivitamin may also cause serious overdose symptoms if you take too much.
Overdose symptoms may include stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, loss of appetite, hair loss, peeling skin, tingly feeling in or around your mouth, changes in menstrual periods, weight loss, severe headache, muscle or joint pain, severe back pain, blood in your urine, pale skin, and easy bruising or bleeding.
Take the missed dose as soon as you remember. If it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and take the medicine at the next regularly scheduled time. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.
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Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
When taken as directed, multivitamins are not expected to cause serious side effects. Less serious side effects may include:
- upset stomach;
- headache; or
- unusual or unpleasant taste in your mouth.
This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Tell your doctor about any unusual or bothersome side effect. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
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Vitamin and mineral supplements can interact with certain medications, or affect how medications work in your body. Before taking a multivitamin, tell your doctor if you also use:
- diuretics (water pills);
- heart or blood pressure medications;
- tretinoin (Vesanoid);
- isotretinoin (Accutane, Amnesteen, Clavaris, Sotret);
- trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole (Cotrim, Bactrim, Septra, TMP/SMX); or
- an NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) such as ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil), naproxen (Aleve, Naprosyn), diclofenac (Cataflam, Voltaren), etodolac (Lodine), indomethacin (Indocin), ketoprofen (Orudis), and others.
This list is not complete and there may be other medications that can interact with or be affected by multivitamins. Tell your doctor about all the prescription and over-the-counter medications you use. This includes vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Do not start using a new medication without telling your doctor.
1000 BC, Abidec, Allbee with C, Allbee-C, Allbee-C 800, Animal Shape Vitamins, Animi-3, Apatate, B Complex 100, B Complex 50, B-50 Complex, B-Complex 50, B-Complex with B-12, B-Ject 100, B-Plex, B-Plex Plus, B-Scorbic, B-Stress, Baby Vitamin Drop, Balanced B-100, Balanced B-150, Balanced B-50, Becomject-100, Bee with C, Bee-Comp with C, Beminal, Beminal with C Fortis, Beminal-500, Berocca, Biotin Forte, Bounty Bear Vitamins, Bugs Bunny Multiple Vitamins, Bugs Bunny with Extra C, Cardiotek Rx, Cefol, Centrum 8400, Cerefolin, Cerefolin NAC, Cernevit, Cernevit-12, Chewable-Vite, Childrens Chewable Multivitamins, Cholidase, Cholinoid, Cod Liver Oil, Cod Liver Oil Mint, D-400iu, Daflon, Daily Multiple Vitamins, Daily Vite, Daily-Vite Men's Formula, Dayalets, DexFol, Dialyvite Rx, Diatx, Equaline One Daily Essential, Essential Balance, Essentiale, FaBB, Farbee with C, Fletanol, Flintstones Multivitamins, Flintstones with C Multivitamins, Folamin, Folbalin, Folbalin Plus, Folbee, Folbee Plus, Folbic, Folcaps, Folgard, Folgard RX, Folgard Rx 2.2, Folplex, Foltabs 800, Foltrate, Foltx, Formula B, Fruity Chew, Garfield Vitamins, Glutofac, Health Aid Multivitamin, High B Complex, High Potency B Complex with B12 and C, High Potency B+C, Icar C, Infuvite, Infuvite Pediatric, Jetepar, Kenwood Therapeutic, Lipoflavonoid, Lipogen, Liponol, Lipotriad, Lipotropic with Multivitamins, M.V.C. SDV, M.V.I. Adult, M.V.I. Pediatric, M.V.I.-12, Mega B, Metanx, Multiple Vitamins, Nephplex Rx, Nephro-Vite, Nephro-Vite Rx, Nephrocaps, Nephrolan Rx, Nephronex, Neurobion, Neurodep, Neuroforte-Six, Oncovite, One Tab Daily, One-A-Day 50+, One-A-Day Essentials, One-A-Day Men's Health Formula, Optilets-500, Pediatric Multiple Vitamins, Poly Vit Drops, Poly-Vi-Sol, Poly-Vi-Sol Chewable, Poly-Vi-Sol Drops, Poly-Vit Chew, Prevital, Primaplex, Protegra, Protegra Cardio, Rena-Vite, Rena-Vite Rx, Renal Caps, Scotts Emulsion, Sesame St. Vitamins with Extra C, Sigtab, Stress B with C, Stress Formula, StressTabs, Sunkist Child Chewable, Sunkist Child Chewable with C, Super B Complex, Super B-100 TD, Super B-50, Super Plenamins, Superplex-T, Surbex, Surbex Filmtab, Surbex with C, Surbex-T, Tab-A-Vite, Tender Age Vitamin ADC, Thera, Thera-Plus, Theragenerix, Theragran, Therapeutic Multiple Vitamins, Therems, Therobec, Thex Forte, Topfit Vitamin B Complex, Topfit Vitamin B Complex Forte, Tri-Vi-Sol, Tri-Vit, Tri-Vit Drops, Unicap, Unicap Capsule, Unicap Jr., Unichem Multivitamin, Vesselvite, Vi-Daylin, Vi-Daylin ADC, Vi-Daylin Chewable, Vi-Daylin Drops, Vi-Stress, Vitabee with C, Vitamin A and D, Vitamin A and D Concentrate, Vitamin A, D, Vitamin A, D and C, Vitamin B Complex, Vitamin B Complex with C, Vitamin B Complex with C and Folic Acid, Vitamin B Compound Strong, Vitamin B-100, Vitamin B-100 T/R, Vitamin B-50, Vitamin C and E, Vitamin C, E, and Rose Hips, Vitamin Daily Liquid, Vitamins, Vitamins for Hair, Zymacap, multivitamin, AllanTex, Animi-3 (obsolete), B 100 Complex, Cardiotek, Cardiotek-Rx, Combgen, Cota-B-Plex, D-400 international units, Dialyvite 800, Foleve, Foleve Plus, Folmor, Folnate, Folnate Plus, Folplex 2.2, Hexavitamin, Multi-Delyn, Multi Vits with Beta Carotene, NuFol, Renaphro, Renatabs, Reno Caps, Stress Formula 600, Theravite, T-Vites, Vigomar Forte, Vimar, Vita Drop, Vitaplex, and Zycose
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Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Cerner Multum, Inc. ('Multum') is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Multum information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Multum does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Multum's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Multum's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners. The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Multum does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Multum provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.
Copyright 1996-2004 Cerner Multum, Inc. Version 2.05. Revision date 8/23/04 | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39845000 |
- Size (Weight)
- 6-14 lbs
- Seal, Chocolate, Blue, and Lilac point
- Chatty and Curious
- Ideal Parents
- Playful Families, Experienced Cat Owners
- Kid Friendly
- Less Allergenic
- 8-12 years
The Siamese cat has strikingly large ears and attractive baby blue eyes. Its sleek, slim figure is accentuated by its short, fine coat with long tapering lines. The coat comes in four traditional colors: seal, chocolate, blue, and lilac point -- a pale body color with relatively darker extremities; i.e., the face, ears, feet and tail.
Personality and Temperament
This is an outgoing, social cat which relies heavily on human companionship. It is a born chatterbox, loving to communicate with those around it. However, this is not a cat to have if you're not home often, as it gets lonely and sad fairly easily. The cat needs to be handled carefully, but when it is shown love, patience and care, it makes an ideal companion.
History and Background
This world famous cat has a long and colorful history. As its name suggests, the cat originally came from Thailand (formerly known as Siam). Its interesting appearance and demeanor caused the cat to be adored by royalty. When a member of the royal family died, it was also thought a Siamese cat would receive this person's soul. The cat would then be moved to a temple, spending the rest of its life in luxury, with monks and priests as servants.
Other myths try to explain some of its fascinating characteristics. One such myth tells of how a Siamese cat, having the duty of guarding the royal vase, curled its tail around it and gazed at it so intensely that its eyes became crossed. Yet another tells of Siamese cats guarding rings belonging to a royal princess. The cats slid the rings on their tail, and developed tail kinks to keep the rings from falling off.
The Siamese has also made it to the Cat Book of Poems, a manuscript written between 1350 and 1767. It describes a slim cat with dark coloring on its ears, tail and feet, and a pale body.
It is not known exactly when this fabled cat made its first appearance in Britain. The earliest documented account, however, tells of a pair of Siamese cats given to the sister of a British consul general in Bangkok in 1884. These cats were exhibited the following year in London. Although, there is earlier evidence indicating the Siamese cat was exhibited in the first cat show in 1871 at Crystal Palace in London, where it ultimately received a dismal reception. The attendees were said to have been disgusted with "an unnatural, nightmare kind of cat."
Despite the abrupt and unwelcoming start, the Siamese quickly began to gain regional popularity. The first British Standard -- an abstract aesthetic ideal for the animal type -- describes the Siamese as a "striking-looking cat of medium size, if weighty, not showing bulk, as this would detract from the admired svelte appearance ... also distinguished by a kink in the tail."
The first Siamese cat in America was reportedly given to Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes (the first lady to the nineteenth President of the United States) in 1878 by the U.S. Consul, David Stickles, living the rest of its days in the White House. In the 1900s, Siamese cats participated in various cat shows and today, occupies the top place among short haired cat breeds. Due to its popularity, the Siamese breed has been used to form many modern cat breeds including the Ocicat, Himalayan, Burmese, Tonkinese, Korat, Snowshoe, and myriad Oriental breeds (Oriental Shorthair, Oriental Longhair, Colorpoint Shorthair, Colorpoint Longhair, Balinese, and Javanese). | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39848000 |
I stand at the edge of a dream, my breath a cloud. Snow has transformed my familiar landscape and chilled my toes. This careless arm of the East Verde where my grandchildren splashed away the summer has frozen over and snow has rendered abstract the shapes of rocks and junipers.
Water gleams in all its forms about me — still flowing in the stream, gathered in vapor on my breath, crystallized into snow on every hand, frozen into ice underfoot.
I wish I knew the proper prayer — the light step of the ritual dance — the intonation of the chant – to offer at such a moment.
Instead, I kneel at the edge of the stream and study the ice, perhaps the most unlikely of water’s forms.
Here’s a nugget to suck on: Chill any other liquid and the jittery molecules will slow down — bouncing about less as the temperature drops. Eventually, the liquid will settle into a stable crystal lattice — which takes up less space than the liquid did. That’s why all other liquids most sensibly condense when they freeze.
But not water, thank the Lord.
Water’s made of one molecule of hydrogen linked to two molecules of oxygen. These amiable molecular companions actually share electrons to keep everyone happy. Moreover, a water molecule has a slight positive electrical charge at one end and a faint negative electrical charge at the other end. This accounts for the nearly miraculous chemistry of water — on which life on the planet depends utterly.
For starters, as water cools below 32 degrees F the molecules slip into a strange and counter-intuitive crystalline lattice. Once they click into place, they actually take up about 9 percent more space than they did as a warm liquid.
Now, that didn’t work out so well for folks in Rim Country who left the water on in empty houses during the big freeze, since the expanding ice in the neglected pipes can split open even copper or steel.
But water’s demented determination to expand when it ought to contract makes life on the planet possible. If water contracted as it froze, then sea ice would form at the surface every winter and sink to the bottom. Over time, the oceans would freeze solid — and we could not be here.
We could go on and on about the fortunate strangeness of water. For instance, the positive and negative ends of water molecules account for surface tension — so useful to water skiers, stone-skippers and water bugs. But it also explains what’s called “capillary action,” which causes water to seep from wet areas to dry areas as when it soaks into a sponge or spreads out in a dry paper towel. More importantly, capillary action also allows water to creep up through the roots of plants in defiance of gravity — once more making life possible with a bit of chemical weirdness.
But for the moment, I’m focused on water’s frozen state — the ice and snow that have transformed Rim Country.
Kneeling in the snow, studying the translucent dreamscape of ice, I peer at a frond-like tracery of ice — a giant, white crystal shaped like a lacy fern, brilliant against the dark brooding of the clear ice on which it rests.
Frozen water from the sky comes in a bewilderment of forms.
Hailstones form when some speck of dust triggers the formation of an ice crystal, which then gets bounced around in a chilled storm cloud. The growing hailstone picks up fresh layers of ice as it rises to the top of the cloud and more yet when it hits an updraft and rises again. Eventually, it grows heavy enough to ignore the updraft and falls to earth — with record hailstones weighing as much as a pound.
Tiny ice pellets — like the ones that dusted my driveway last night — form when snowflakes drifting down from high in a freezing cloud fall through a warmer layer at an elevation between 5,000 and 10,000 feet, which causes them to start to melt. But as their fall continues, they hit another layer of freezing air closer to the ground and refreeze — becoming ice pellets as round as a hailstone but nearly light as a snowflake.
But most often, frozen water falls as snow —water molecules that crystallize around some nucleus — like a speck of dust. The water molecules crystallize as they freeze, with the structure depending on the temperature and the moisture content.
Some assume exquisite six-sided shapes, some triangles, most with breathtaking symmetry. A single snowflake contains about 3 x 10 to the 13th water molecules — don’t ask me how much that is, except that it dwarfs a thousand trillion. That’s why no two snowflakes are ever exactly alike. The world’s largest measured snowflake was reportedly 15 inches across and fell in Montana in 1887.
The intricate crystal on the stream ice at my feet suggests that it formed at between 0 and 10 degrees, which promotes the growth of these bizarre shapes.
Cautiously, I rise from my cold, wet knees and step out onto the ice, which is dangerously slick. Scientists used to confidently assert that ice is slippery because stepping on the ice instantly melts a microscopic layer.
Subsequent experiments demolished the theory, proving how little we know about even the simplest of things. Instead, the leading theory now suggests that the top layer of ice molecules doesn’t get locked securely into the ice lattice, since it has only fickle air to bond to on the top side. So a layer of molecules almost too thin to measure slides easily about, sending we clumsy monsters crashing to earth.
I stand, unsteadily, on the ice, to admire the gleam and the sparkle.
Underneath, the stream still trickles, making its stealthy way to the sea — which covers 70 percent of the planet, just as water comprises 70 percent of my substance. I can see the water moving beneath the blurred patterns of the ice, which did not sink and murder the stream because it expanded when it froze.
The sky is highlighted with high white clouds the color of snow, which is the color of my breath. My heart pumps blood made mostly of water and the naked trees also made mostly of water lean in toward the stream, waiting patiently for the capillary action of spring.
I do not know the proper prayers to thank whatever Providence arranged for water to expand when it freezes, creep upward in roots and make the world such a happy place for stone-skippers.
But I give thanks, nonetheless — every moist breath a puff of steam. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39849000 |
January 17, 2012
Changing its position on a perch high above the lake this eagle spreads its wings to maintain its balance as it moves around for a better position to watch the action below.
Stories this photo appears in:
The count is in — the Payson Christmas Bird Count, that is. Since 1900 the National Audubon Society has conducted bird counts throughout North America. Local birding enthusiasts conducted their eighth annual count on Dec. 30. There was beautiful, calm weather when the 17 participants headed out to spend the day identifying and counting all the birds they saw or heard in and around Payson. The good weather contributed to a record 99 species being observed as well as a record 4,376 birds. The count is a census of the birds found during a 24-hour period in a designated circle 15 miles in diameter. The Payson count circle is centered a little northwest of town. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39850000 |
Protect Your Vision with Leafy Greens
In the study, the carotenoid (yellow pigment) zeaxanthin was found to improve vision in older men with macular degeneration, and the effect was comparable to that seen with the better-known carotenoid, lutein. Both zeaxanthin and lutein are widely found in colorful fruits and vegetables, especially the dark greens like spinach and kale.
Carotenoid supplements improve vision
The study included 60 older people with mild to moderate AMD. All but three of the participants were male and their average age was 75. They were divided into three groups: one group received 8 mg of zeaxanthin per day, another group received 8 mg of zeaxanthin plus 9 mg of lutein per day, and a third group received 9 mg of lutein per day. Visual tests were performed at the beginning of the trial and after four, eight, and twelve months of treatment.
The study’s authors reported the following findings:
- The total amount of pigment in the macula increased from low-normal to normal in all three groups. Higher amounts of macular pigment are believed to protect the retina from the damaging effect of sunlight.
- Visual acuity (sharpness) in high contrast conditions, such as bright light, improved most in the zeaxanthin group, while the lutein group saw the most improvement in their ability to distinguish shapes in low contrast conditions.
- The men receiving either zeaxanthin alone or lutein alone improved more on vision tests than the men receiving both. The study’s authors proposed that the unnaturally low ratio of lutein to zeaxanthin used in the study (almost 1:1, compared to roughly 5:1 in plants) may have been the source of this finding. The influence of the ratio of lutein to zeaxanthin on their absorption and metabolism is still unknown.
Pigments in vision-producing cells
The study’s authors pointed out that zeaxanthin primarily enhanced the aspects of vision that are related to the function of the cone cells of the retina, cells that naturally concentrate this pigment. Lutein is naturally concentrated in the rod cells of the retina, and the men who supplemented with lutein saw the most benefit in the aspects of vision for which the rods are responsible. They concluded that, while there was considerable overlap between the effects of lutein and zeaxanthin in men with AMD, their differences make them complementary.
“We believe that patients with AMD, particularly those short of catastrophic end stage disease, might want to enhance their declining vision with carotenoids,” they said.
Don’t forget your greens
You can take steps to reduce your likelihood of developing vision-dimming macular degeneration as you age:
- Eat foods that contain zeaxanthin and lutein. Studies have found that people who eat spinach, kale, collard greens, and other lutein and zeaxanthin-rich foods have a much lower risk of AMD than people who avoid those foods.
- Wear protective sunglasses. Sunlight exposure increases the damage to rods and cones, which can lead to AMD.
- Include fish regularly. Preliminary research suggests that eating fish more than once per week can reduce the risk of developing AMD.
- Consider an antioxidant supplement. Antioxidants like zinc, selenium, and vitamins C and E appear to protect aging eyes. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39853000 |
The state of Texas holds an interesting and important place in the history of the United States, and this volume explores those men and women who have helped to shape the course of the state by serving as governor.
For example, Miriam V. Ferguson (1925-1927, 1933-1935) was the first woman governor of the state. She won the governorship by promising that she would work with her husband, former Texas governor, James E. "Farmer Jim" Ferguson (1915-1917), assuring Texans that they would have "two governors for the price of one."
As in the story of the Fergusons, The Governors of Texas offers political and biographical information on each Texas governor from the period of French control through 1973. Thus the progression towards statehood and beyond is clearly visible in this history of the individuals who took great pride in serving as their state's chief executive officer.
For quick reference, a roster of governors is also provided, giving full names and the dates in which each individual held office. Also included are pictures of most of the governors, so that these men and women may be more vividly brought to life.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ross Phares is also the author of Texas Tradition [$12.95 pb (F)], Cavalier in the Wilderness [$15.95 pb (F)], and Reverend Devil: Master Criminal of the Old South[$17.95 pb(F)], all of which are published by Pelican. He is a native of Shreveport, Louisiana.
THE GOVERNORS OF TEXAS
By Ross Phares
184 pp. 6 x 9
Illustrations - Bibliography - Index
EAN: 978-1-56554-505-2 pb (F) | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39857000 |
Campylobacteriosis is a common cause of enteritis (intestinal inflammation) in man and several animal species, including dogs and cats. The disorder is caused by a bacterium, Campylobacter jejuni
The conditions associated with an increased risk of developing campylobacteriosis are: Animals with diarrhea
Crowded housing conditions
Stressful conditions, such as pregnancy, surgery, or other illness
Concurrent infection with other intestinal pathogens such as parvovirus, Salmonella, Giardia or parasites
Campylobacteriosis is a leading cause of intestinal disease in people. Puppies and kittens can serve as a source of infection for humans. In many cases, dogs and cats are carriers of the organism, but show no clinical signs. When clinical signs are present in dogs and cats, it is usually in animals younger than six months of age.
What to Watch For
Partial loss of appetite
Microscopic examination of feces
Home Care and Prevention
There is no home care for campylobacteriosis. If your pet develops severe diarrhea, contact your veterinarian.
Avoid conditions that have been associated with spread of the disease. Isolate animals with diarrhea and improve sanitation in kennels and boarding facilities. Avoid stress and practice good hygiene, such as hand-washing after coming into contact with animals that have diarrhea. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39865000 |
PH and HIV
Print PH and HIV Brochure (PDF)
Order Copies of the PH and HIV Brochure
What do I need to know about pulmonary hypertension in connection with HIV?
First of all, it is essential to know that pulmonary hypertension and HIV are two separate conditions, and that PH does not cause HIV. However, there have been HIV patients who have developed pulmonary hypertension, a condition called HIV-PAH. Scientists are continuing to study this to see if there is a connection, and what that connection might be.
The first case of pulmonary hypertension in an HIV-infected individual was reported in 1987, and since that time research has been ongoing. About 150 patients with HIV infection and pulmonary arterial hypertension have been reported since that time. It is possible that there are other unreported cases.
Because the first several HIV-PAH cases that were reported had occurred in patients with hemophilia (a congenital tendency to have uncontrolled bleeding), researchers originally (and incorrectly) thought that the cause of HIV-PAH was the hemophilia itself or perhaps had to do with problems associated with the hemophilia.
However, since that time, more HIV-PAH cases have been found in patients who do not have hemophilia at all. Therefore, scientists have decided that the development of pulmonary hypertension in HIV patients is in some way related to the HIV infection itself.
How common is the combination of HIV and PAH?
PAH is still an uncommon complication of HIV infection. As research into HIV continues and as new and better therapies are developed to combat the disease, HIV patients are living longer lives. As a result, the chance that an HIV-positive individual may develop PAH may increase as time goes on.
We can still safely say that PH occurs more frequently in the HIV-infected population than it does in those who do not have HIV. Thus, idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (pulmonary hypertension that results from unknown causes, in this case an HIV-negative group of people), occurs less frequently than it does in those who are HIVinfected. Those who are infected with HIV have roughly six to 12 times the occurrence of PAH than the uninfected general population.
Who is most susceptible to a combination of HIV and PH?
HIV-PAH occurs more frequently in males, and in a slightly older individual than is usually seen in IPAH. In studies of HIV-PAH, the most frequent risk factors for HIV were intravenous drug use (45%), homosexual contact (25%), hemophilia (12%) and heterosexual contact (10%). Smaller numbers of cases have been identified in which the risk for HIV infection is blood transfusion, HIV passed from mother to child during pregnancy, or a combination of homosexual contact and intravenous drug use.
A high rate of stimulant use (methamphetamine or cocaine, depending on the region of the country) is common among individuals who are both HIV-infected and afflicted with PAH. (As a side note, intravenous drug use is also associated with development of pulmonary hypertension, even without HIV infection).
Does having HIV make PH worse?
There doesn’t seem to be any data to indicate that HIV makes PH worse. The usual symptoms of HIV-PAH are similar to those in other individuals with PAH, shortness of breath being the most common.
Does PH make HIV worse?
It’s hard to say. When tested, some HIV patients who also suffer from PH have lower pulmonary artery pressures than those who have PH alone; despite this, their survival rate appears worse. Medical professionals are not sure whether this has to do with a combination of the two conditions, or whether other problems associated with HIV contribute to the lower survival rate.
Why do PH and HIV seem to occasionally occur together, then?
This is another question that medical science is searching for. We do know that many HIV-infected individuals have other problems and other risk factors that can lead to PH. A direct cause and effect relation between HIV infection and pulmonary hypertension has not yet been found, and proteins associated with HIV have not yet been found in the lining of the blood vessels of the lungs.
Medical researchers have not yet been able to say for sure what role HIV infection plays in the development of PAH. It is not yet known, for example, whether HIV itself can directly cause pulmonary hypertension, or whether HIV is simply a trigger for the development of PAH in susceptible individuals. HIV remains a complicated disease that can cause many problems that weaken blood vessels, and these, too, can play into the development of PAH.
Should an HIV patient be tested for pulmonary hypertension?
HIV patients know that medical supervision is critical to their best possible long-term health, and that any change in their condition should be brought to the attention of their doctors.
Changes that may have to do with PH might include difficulty when attempting physical activity, swelling of the feet, ankles, legs or abdomen, increased shortness of breath, worsening fatigue, chest discomfort or pain, light-headedness or fainting. However, because these symptoms are general and may have to do with several types of problems, the patient’s doctor should always be contacted.
How is testing for PH carried out?
An echocardiogram is a useful screening tool; unfortunately, it alone is not accurate enough to make the diagnosis of HIV-PAH. A test known as right heart catheterization remains the most accurate way of diagnosing HIV-PAH.
Can pulmonary hypertension be treated the same way in HIV patients as in those without HIV?
Researchers are working to find the answer to this question, but to date, there have been few studies done with HIV patients who have PAH. The fact that the population of HIV-PAH patients is very small has been a problem for researchers.
Another problem has been that the long-term survival of HIV-PAH patients is lower than those who have PH without the addition of HIV. In all cases, however, the sooner PH (or any other complicating problem) is diagnosed in an HIV patient, the better the outlook is for the patient. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39867000 |
The Life LineMade in United States, North and Central America
Winslow Homer, American, 1836 - 1910
Oil on canvas
E1924-4-15The George W. Elkins Collection, 1924
LabelThe dramatic rescue from a foundering ship shown here was made possible by a recent innovation in lifesaving technology, the breeches buoy. Secured firmly to ship and shore, the device permitted the transfer of stranded passengers to safety by means of a pulley that was hauled back and forth by crews at either end. Cropped down to its essentials, Homer's composition thrusts us into the midst of the action with massive waves rolling past, drenching the semiconscious woman and her anonymous savior. The Life Line was immediately recognized by critics as a major contribution to American art, portraying a heroic, contemporary subject with both painterly virtuosity and detailed observation.
Social Tags [?]landscape [x] nhd 1861 to 1877 maritime [x] rescue [x] seascape [x] victorian [x] waves [x] [Add Your Own Tags]
* Works in the collection are moved off view for many different reasons. Although gallery locations on the website are updated regularly, there is no guarantee that this object will be on display on the day of your visit. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39868000 |
Natural gas is an off-the-shelf technology for cars and trucks. According to NGVAmerica, there are more than 10 million natural gas vehicles (NGVs) in operation around the world. However, there are only about 130,000 NGVs — about 1.3 percent — in the United States.
Conversely, batteries will not power heavy trucks and hydrogen fuel cells may be decades away from being in widespread use. We are even further away from having a battery advanced enough to efficiently power heavy trucks. Natural gas is the only fuel capable of offsetting imported diesel to power heavy trucks — the 18-wheelers which move goods around America.
Over-the-road truckers frequently run the same routes and stop in the same places on a regular basis. Unlike passenger cars and SUVs, truckers generally use the same facilities to eat, rest and refuel along their routes.
In addition to over-the-road trucks, there are a growing number of transit companies converting to all-natural gas municipal buses. In Los Angeles alone there are more than 2,800 NGV buses in operation.
Refuse and recycling trucks are among the most inefficient vehicles on the road. They are either at idle or driving at walking speeds for most of their work day. San Diego County is aggressively replacing its refuse and recycling trucks with NGVs.
Any fleet operator — taxi cabs, utilities, and express delivery firms, for example — whose vehicles go back to “the barn” every night are candidates to be up-fitted to NGVs. AT&T, which operates one of the largest domestic fleets in America, recently announced it is purchasing approximately 8,000 vehicles over the next few years to replace gasoline and diesel vehicles with NGVs.
Even with higher initial costs (which will disappear as manufacturing ramps up) the life-cycle costs of NGVs are significantly lower. Fuel costs are at least 15 percent less using natural gas rather than gasoline or diesel. An equivalent gallon of compressed natural gas (CNG) provides the same miles per gallon as a gallon of gasoline. And the cleaner burning nature of the fuel means maintenance costs are reduced because engine parts such as spark plugs stay cleaner while operating on natural gas. | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39876000 |
Okay, I'll chime in...
The purpose of reinforcement is to increase the occurrence of a behavior.
One of the main principles of ANY learning theory (whether it be classical or operant conditioning) is that they, for the most part, follow Aristotle's Laws of Association, of which there are four. Now, many behaviorists maintain that the laws of similarity and contrast don't play as major a role in conditioning as do the other two: the Law of Contiguity and Law of Frequency.
Law of frequency is easy to understand: the higher the frequency in which two things are linked together, the more likely they are to be strongly associated.
Law of contiguity predicts that things that occur close together in space and time, will be more likely to be associated.
Now,take these laws and apply them to learning theory. The more frequently you pair food with a behavior, the more likely the organism will be to perform the behavior. Why? Because the behavior has, in the past, brought about an appetitive consequence.
But, you have to also take into consideration the law of contiguity. Things that occur together in space and time.
So, if the dog gets the treat, right after it comes to you, then you are positively reinforcing THAT behavior. In reality, this is how many of us teach a recall to our dogs. We call dog, dog comes to us, dog gets treat! So, why would we even say that we are "resetting" the dog by getting it to come to us, when, in reality, you're just teaching it to come to you.
Now, is there such a thing as delayed reinforcement? Yes, but there is not a ton of empirical support for the idea that it is as effective. In fact, most researchers cite Skinner's (1938) original study using immediate reinforcement and reinforcement occurring at 2, 3, and 4 second delays in their arguments AGAINST the efficacy of delayed reinforcement. In fact, Skinner found that while the rats COULD acquire the behavior when reinforcement was delayed (2, 3, and 4 seconds), it was severely retarded as compared to immediate reinforcement.
Now, if we look at marker training (which is actually referred to as a conditioned reinforcer by behaviorists), many studies have shown that the conditioned reinforcer functions in much the same was as a primary reinforcer, where a primary reinforcer is simply a reinforcer that is inherently good, and the organism does not have to "learn" it's value (the most common examples of primary reinforcers are food, water, and sex). A conditioned, or secondary, reinforcer on the other hand is one in which the "goodness" of it is learned (for example, the clicker in clicker training) through classical conditioning (the pairing of a previously neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus)...However, this only occurs if the proper classical conditioning trials take place for that previously neutral stimulus.
As a side note, seconary reinforcers are also the primary mechanism in our economic system (i.e., you aren't born knowing that money is good, but you do learn that it can be used to get you other things, which is good) which is basically a larger scale token economy (commonly used in mental hospitals and prisons).
Therefore, to me, you don't need to use this "reset" with a dog if you're also using other consequences in your training with the right frequency and contiguity...and, no, people, I'm not simply talking about a prong collar correction
...even something as simple as turning your back - negative punishment - used in conjunction with positive reinforcement can gain the behavior you want (I've done all of Axo's training using these two consequences, and Greg has even made a comment that he's starting to look incredible with his behaviors, all things considered (his age, etc))...
See, this is what happens when you catch me while I'm writing a lecture for learning! | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39880000 |
ATR Intelligent Robotics and Communication Laboratories and Vstone teamed up to create a communication robot called Robovie R-2 (vie = life). Combining many areas of ATR’s research (artificial intelligence, pathfinding, speech synthesis, and speech recognition) with Vstone’s technical experience and manufactured parts was an easy fit for the key individuals involved, such as Higarashi Ishiguro (creator of the famous Geminoid android) because they also teamed up to make the humanoid soccer champions as Team Osaka.
Robovie R-2 has performed as a museum guide robot – assigning it this function allowed the researchers a chance to study human-robot interactions. One of the major problems facing communication robots is the delay between hearing and responding. It became clear that the robot would need to be connected to a network of computers to make for quicker response time to lessen the frustrating gaps in conversation.
Field trials were conducted at the Ohara Museum of Art, where Robovie R-2 Ver 2 would guide visitors through exhibits, stopping to give relevant commentary about the history of an artist or work. The researchers found that the Robovie’s body language, such as his head tilting, nodding, and his arms waving, had a major impact on how people interacted with it.
Experiments are also being conducted that would allow Robovie to take on an elder care role. Without needing to be approached or requested by an elderly person, the robot should take the initiative and help out on its own. Part of the solution requires adequate facial recognition, so that the robot can see if a person is looking in its direction. That way, it can focus its attention on someone who may need its assistance.
ATR has developed several different versions of the Robovie, including versions with soft, sensitive skin. This particular version sells for 5,040,000 JPY ($53,000 USD). In March 2010, ATR revealed a small version of the Robovie called robovie-mR2.
- ATR Robotics’ Robovie R-2 page (JP)
- ITR Intelligent Robotics & Communications Laboratories (JP)
- ATR (official site JP)
- Vstone (official site JP)
Vstone | Impress Robot Watch | fwe2-CC-MAIN-2013-20-39884000 |
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