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Third Sunday of Advent
One of the signature hallmarks of the Advent season is that it is a time of celebration and joy. We sing joy-filled songs with enthusiasm, adulation, and praise. And by the way, if you missed last Sunday’s choir concert, you certainly missed a treat!
We light candles, trim trees, and deck the halls of our homes and offices in order to invite a sense of goodness and cheer. We say merry Christmas, happy New Year, glad tidings, joy to the world – all expressions of wonder and hopefulness right smack in the dead and dark of winter.
We dress our children up in funny looking costumes and drag them out to pageant rehearsals even when they don’t want to come. We bribe them and make all kinds of deals; take pictures and videos that are sent all over the world.
We go all over town or spend hours before a device in pursuit of just the right gift; spending countless time, energy, and money because we know that the right gift at the right time for the right person or persons can make all the difference in the world.
The right gift for the right persons, carefully planned and thought out, having paid close attention to their likes and dislikes, their interests, and proclivities is really something special.
We long to see the expressions on their faces and how they respond because it sends the message: I care about you. You are loved and of great value and worth it all. My joy is complete in your joy.
And when this happens, we feel good about it too. Have you noticed that? How good we feel as the giver as well as the receiver? How insane it all is?
Joy to the world the Lord has come…
He rules the world with truth and grace…
Repeat the sounding joy. Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy!
We need some joy in our lives, don’t we? Something beyond what our eyes see and ears hear. We need to not only have hope on the inside but joy on the outside expressed and spilling over.
For joy, unlike happiness, is not contingent on the present moment or circumstance. It transcends where we are now and witnesses a future not yet seen: hope of what is possible. We have every confidence that the thing in which we hope will prevail in the end.
Joy can make a bad situation good. In the midst of the chaos, mayhem and confusion, we recognize another reality, another truth. And while it might be far off, it will come to pass in time as we declare our willingness to make it so.
In our gospel lesson this morning, we find John the Baptist. You remember John don’t you? The wild, vagabond-looking guy dressed in camel’s hair coming up out of the wilderness. And John is preaching and trying to prepare the people to receive the new thing that is about to take place.
And people are coming from over the Jordan valley; from small towns and villages to hear his message of repentance and change and they were hearing it as good news.
And the people are asking: What shall we do? What shall we do? In response, John said: “If you have two coats you must give to anyone who has none. And if you have food, you must give to those who do not.”
Was John being literal here? I don’t know; we each have to decide. What I do know is that we have a Coat Drive here at our church for people who have no coat at all this winter. I know what it’s like to stand in front of the closet and fumble through to decide which coat among coats. I know what it’s like to buy yet another out of a whim just because it’s cute. And I know that if I gave away one or even two, I would barely miss them at all. How about you?
And I also know that tomorrow morning when I come to work, I’m going to wear a coat and I’m going to bring a coat. It’s not too late for you either. The church is open 7 days a week; you can still drop off a coat or bring it next Sunday or the next.
I know what it’s like to sit down to good food; better yet, to throw away good food every week because I get tired or bored with it. It just sits there on the counter or in the refrigerator because I have so much and I can change my mind so easily. I know what it’s like to spend crazy amounts on lunch or dinner in this city. I know that I have never known the pinch of hunger but there are people all around me who have.
The tax collectors came also. Luke writes “even the tax collectors” for they were a special breed notorious for exploiting people; but they came and asked: “Teacher, what should we do?” John said: “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” Don’t over charge people, don’t cheat, don’t take advantage.
And soldiers also: “And we, what should we do?” John said: “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation and be satisfied with your wages.”
After being baptized, the people were asking John: “What shall we do?” Isn’t that what we want to know as well? How shall I do in order to live out my faith in this world at this time?
What shall we do? John said, think of others, share what you have, the ordinary things you take for granted in the day-to-day, don’t be greedy, be fair and just, treat others well, be honest. Love one another, be respectful, be kind – in the day-to-day.
This is the good news of the gospel. This is what it means to have joy in our world – people giving and receiving, receiving and giving – caring and sharing, humanizing one another, not holding back or hoarding, collecting more, more, more, more, more – but giving away.
It’s almost easy to forget that the Christ-child was born amid social and political turmoil. He was born under violence and the threat of death. We forget that his mother and father were poor refugees; had to flee for their lives. They had no money and that was a reality; and there was no room for them in the inn. We forget that the stable or cave in which he was born carried with it the stench of cow and sheep dung. That he came into the world at risk in much the same ways that millions of children are at risk every day – as a 7 year old dies at our at our borders and many more.
Advent, my friends, is about asking the hard questions. What shall I do? It is about selecting the very best gift of all: choosing joy and making someone else’s joy complete.
“O come let us adore Him. Christ, the Lord.”
Joy to the World, United Methodist Hymnal, Isaac Watts, 1719
Luke 3:7-18
Luke 3:14a
Luke 3:14
O Come, All Ye Faithful, United Methodist Hymnal pg. 234, John F. Wade, Trans. By Frederick Oakeley, 1841.
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Compiling the bluez software in linux is fairly straight forward, but getting getting the bluez test applications to build can be a pain your first time doing it. The test tools included with the source give us many cool applications not typically installed with ubuntus binary bluez package (i.e. apt-get install bluez). One of the applications included in the test tools that I use all the time is bdaddr. The bluez bdaddr tool allows users to change thier bluetooth mac address which can be useful for mitm attacks on bluetooth devices.
This tutorial is really short, but it should save you tons of time if you have never done this before. The thing that hung me up my first time was the build dependancy in the test tools called "check". If check is not installed, the test tools build fails, but the rest of the bluez source is compiled. This can lead to some frustration if you cant figure out why your test tools are not being compiled. Lets get started...
First, lets install some required tools.
sudo apt-get install build-essential libdbus-1-dev check
Now, lets download the latest bluez software.
Now lets untar it.
tar xfvz bluez-4.101.tar.gz
Finally, lets build our package.
cd bluez-4.101 ./configure --enable-test make
If you want, you can now run "sudo make install" to install the binaries to your distro packages. I typically dont do this. Also, if you are looking for the bdaddr tool, it is built in the bluez source's "test" directory
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Transcript for Hillary Clinton's Past and Present: Monica Lewinsky to 2016
With speculation swirling that Hillary Clinton's presidential ambitions, the former first lady can be coy when asked about her political intentions. But when she sat down for an exclusive interview with our Diane sawyer, she was very forthcoming about far more personal issues like her age, the sports she loves, and yes, Monica. New York is really our home. Reporter: Hillary Clinton's house is a reminder of the drama shaping her life. The Chicago girl who became a star of Yale law school, the transformation into a political wife of a charismatic candidate for governor of Arkansas. It's not an image question so much as a priority question. Reporter: She also describes what she says was her proudest moment as secretary with the president, the decision to go in and get Osama bin laden. My heart was in my throat because we were watching on the video screen what was happening, and we saw one of the helicopters' tail clip the wall as it tried to get into the compound. You really didn't tell president Clinton about Osama bin laden? No. When president Obama called to tell him, I think the president started by saying something like I assume Hillary's told you. He goes, told me what? Reporter: As we sit together, an old stress has returned. An essay in a magazine making headlines, and political opponents warning they think the topic is still fair game. Monica lewinsky. Mm. Is back in the news. Well, she's perfectly free to do that. She is in my view an American who gets to express herself however she chooses. But that's, you know, not something that I spend a lot of time thinking about. Really? Really. Yeah. I mean, I wrote about it in my book, "Living history." I dealt with it at the time. I have moved on. And that's how I see, you know, my life and my future. You're not looking at me thinking, here she is asking these questions -- No. Because I knew you would. I knew you'd have to. It's something in the news. You have every right to ask. And I have every right to tell you how I feel. Did you call her a narcissistic loony toon? I am not going to comment on what I did or did not say back in the late '90s. Reporter: Those words surfaced recently in notes from years ago, written down by her late friend, Diane Blair. For her part lewinsky writes that her life was overwhelmed by ridicule. She has said she has lived all these years as a punchline. Is there anything you would say to her about her life? Well, I would wish her well. I hope that she is able to, you know, think about her future and construct a life that she finds meaning and satisfaction in. Reporter: Tonight Hillary Clinton's 66 years old. Wow! Reporter: On a schedule almost as taxing as a campaign tour. She and her husband, thanks to some big spenders, including Wall Street companies-r no longer the couple struggling for money. Reportedly, they can charge hundreds of thousands of dollars for speeches. It has been reported you've made $5 million making speeches, the president made more than $100 million? Well, if you -- you have no reason to remember, but we came out of the white house not only dead broke but in debt. We had no money when we got there, and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, for houses, for Chelsea's education. You know, it was not easy. First of all, we had to pay off all our debts, which you had to make double the money because there's obviously taxes and then pay off the debts and get us houses and take care of family members. Do you think Americans are going to understand five times the median income in this country for one speech? Well, let me put it this way. I thought making speeches for money was a much better thing than getting connected with any one group or company, as so many people who leave public life do. Reporter: The day is winding down. While she says she's still looking ahead to what is possible and what she would leave behind. I probably have as good a sense of how hard the job is as anybody. Age. Age, yes. Isn't it great to be our age? I'm older than you are. You are. Which -- It would be great to be your age again. You would be 69 on election day. That's eightmonths younger than Ronald Reagan. Yeah. It matters. Age matters. It may depending upon who the person is. My mother lived with us until her death at 92, and she was as active and involved and just curious and intellectually capable as people much younger than her. So it's the individual. When are you going to decide whether you're running for president? You know, I'm going to decide when it feels right for me to decide because -- By the end of this year? Well, certainly not before then. Hillary's new book, "Hard choices," comes out Tuesday. As always, our thanks to Diane for that fascinating interview. Make sure to tune in to "Good morning America" tomorrow for robin Roberts' live interview with Hillary Clinton.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
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Welcome to Drug Test Fact.com
How Much Hydrocodone To Fail A Drug Test Article
This is a selection made from among articles on How Much Hydrocodone To Fail A Drug Test. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for future reading, click here.
Seeking drug treatment is one of the most important steps you can take toward a healthier lifestyle. Whether you would like to have a facility in mind for yourself, your family or for your employees, drug testing facilities in your area are a great thing to know about.
Drug Testing Facilities
There are several things you should keep in mind before selecting a drug testing center to visit in your area:
1. What are your drug testing needs? Deciding what types of drugs you need to test for can help you narrow down your search.
2. How often would you need the drug testing center? Are you only needing to perform random drug testing in the workplace every few months? Or, do you need to have a drug testing facility on hand for a drug test that may be performed at any time?
3. Who will be tested? Knowing your role and who it is that will be tested is important to know before even beginning to search for a drug testing center.
4. How much are you willing to spend? Drug testing can be a bit pricey. Create a budget for your drug testing expenses even if you’re not an employer!
Where To Find A Drug Testing Center
The best way to locate a drug testing facility near you is to search the Internet. You can find databases of drug testing and treatment facilities listed by city online. You can also ask for a recommendation from your doctor, close friends or someone you know whose either undergone drug testing or who has administered it.
With a bit of direct searching, you can find a drug testing center near you that can conduct the tests you need at a price you can afford.
This article is prepared by Christy Berger who writes for TestCountry.com . You can find a longer version of this article at How to find a drug testing facility center. The article is written mainly using resources from Drug Testing Facilities & Lab Centers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christy_Berger
How Much Hydrocodone To Fail A Drug Test News
No relevant info was found on this topic.
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Guided Reading for The Western Traditions.
Find the answer to each of these questions as it is given in the textbook before moving on to the next question.
Some answers, drawn from the textbook alone, will be rather simplistic. They can, and should, be elaborated upon as your knowledge of the subject grows.
It is part of the Guided Reading assignments that student should ASK as well as answer questions.
Pages 166 – 185:
The symbol (*) after a question indicates that these might be used for longer essays in your quizzes.
- What does identifying oneself as a Christian involve?
- Do you notice anything particular in the first four dates in the "Timeline" on p. 167?
- What is a parable? What is the Apocalypse?
- Do you notice anythin particular about the account of Jesus and the money changers in the Temple?
- Why is Jesus called Christ?
- Why is it fitting that Mark’s gospel has a Roman centurion call Jesus the son of God?
- What did Jesus emphasize to a particular degree?
- Upon what does our understanding of Jesus depend?
- What does the early Christian literature demonstrate?
- As what is it helpful to think of each gospel? (*)
- Which gospel is generally considered to be the earliest? (*)
- How does the gospel of Mark start?
- What does ‘Hosanna’ mean in Hebrew prayer?
- What does the capital letter ‘Q’ indicate in this context?
- What does the gospel of Luke contain which is not found in that of Mark? (*)
- What does Luke omit which is found in Matthew?
- What readership did Luke appear to have in mind?
- What readership was Matthew addressing?
- What account might Matthew’s narration of the Nativity be suggested to echo? (*)
- How does the Greek translation differ from the Hebrew text of Isaiah 7:14?
- Does Mathew’s gospel contain any errors in the use of scripture?
- What appears as the minimum core of Jesus' intent as teacher?
- What are the ‘synoptic’ gospels?
- Why is Mark’s gospel (and all the others) said to be ‘an interpretation?’
- How does John relate Jesus and Moses?
- What does the Greek word ‘Christ’ mean?
- How does John portray Jesus?
- When was Jesus status as a manifestation of God spelled out in the doctrine of the Trinity?
- Why were the disciples gathered in Jerusalem seven weeks after the crucifixion?
- Why should early Christians have been at pains to distance themselves from other Jews?
- What privileged status did Paul hold?
- What idea does Paul reject concerning salvation?
- The interpretation of what concept later became a major issue in Christian theology?
- When did Paul die?
- What was Marcion’s principal influence?
- What other spiritual and doctrinal challenge did early Christians face?
- How did we mainly know about Gnostic teachings before the discovery of the Nag Hammadi manuscripts?
- Who was Mani?
- Were women ordained in the early Church?
- To whom did Paul refer as ‘the saints?’
- Which communities might possibly have served as models for Christian monasticism?
- What are ‘stylites?’ Give an example.
- What does the Greek word monos suggest as the origin of our word monastic?
- What was the relationship of the early Christians to Roman civic religion?
- What was the reward for the faith of the martyrs?
- What factors helped to attract many pagans to become Christian? (*)
- What happened in 303 C.E.?
- According to whom was the Emperor Constantine's conversion sparked by a vision of a cross?
- What evidence is there that conversion to Christianity after the vision of Constantine was not sudden and complete?
- What was particularly significant about the reign of the emperor Theodosius?
- How have Christians defined themselves and what has this led to in their expectations about other traditions?
- What evidence do we have concerning the use of the Apostles’ Creed in the first generation of the Christian Church?
- How does the Apostles’ (and the Nicene) Creed relate to the doctrine of an incorporeal afterlife (that is to say, without a body)? (*)
- How does the Nicene Creed differ from the Apostles’ Creed?
- What did Origen of Alexandria write about the Holy Spirit?
- Why was the population of the Roman Empire intensely interested in theological issues?
- How is "orthodoxy" described?
- What did Constantine hope about a unified Church? What did he do about it?
- What is Christology?
- What was believed about the person of Christ according to:
The Greek and Latin Churches?
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It’s tough not to notice the rather large, relatively new change on the first page of Google’s search engine results, and the impact of that change will soon be impossible to ignore, too.
Considering Google is the number one search engine and most visited website in the world, most of us have already realized the change: semantic search results.
Google, which utilizes its unique intelligence index called the “Knowledge Graph” to produce its semantic search results, claims on its official blog that the feature “is a critical first step towards building the next generation of search, which taps into the collective intelligence of the web and understands the world a bit more like human brains do.” And it probably is. But what does that mean for search engine optimization (SEO)?
First, you need to understand how the Knowledge Graph works and its intention. Google asserts that the Knowledge Graph, which is essentially a collection of databases (Wikipedia, Freebase, Google Local, Google Maps, and Google Shopping), enhances search in three main ways: finding the right thing, getting the best summary, and going deeper and more broadly. To do this, Google formed the Knowledge Graph to not just search keywords, but distinguish how certain combinations of words differ from other combinations containing common keywords, while also considering the human intent by each user.
This is Google’s attempt to simplify search and bring results (or, better yet, answers) closer to the surface with fewer clicks. It’s about “things, not strings,” Google says.
Bing rolled out its own variation of semantic search recently, too, by partnering up with Encyclopedia Britannica to form its Britannica Online Encyclopedia Answers. It’s slightly different from Google’s version – Bing serves the semantic results directly into the organic results – but both are trying to simplify search.
While both versions remain works in progress, they’re also well on their way to achieving what they were created to do: to keep users on the search sites while answering search queries.
Semantic results can be found by simply searching Google for a sports team, famous musician, or monument (among the 500 million-plus people, places, and things currently in the Knowledge Graph). The results on the top-right side of the page, utilizing the Knowledge Graph, offer quick bits of information, as well as the source from which the information is derived.
In the case of Bing, it’s a bit different. The number of queries returned via semantic search is much fewer than those returned by Google but, with a more credible database (Britannica vs. Wikipedia) to pull answers from, Bing’s semantic search may be an SEO proponent in the future of search.
In the image below, you can see that when searching for “Lincoln Memorial,” Google’s Knowledge Graph offers a map location, general information, and a picture of the monument, right on the SERP. To the left of that, we see the standard search engine results we’ve all grown accustomed to.
Bing’s semantic results, which are scarcer than Google’s, offer limited information and also serve several third-party links that will take you off the SERP for more information. This obviously goes against the idea that semantic search is mainly focused on keeping users on the search site, but also helps uphold the marketing value of SEO for sites delivering the searched information.
In addition to the smaller database of semantic search results and the way they are delivered (see the image below), it must also be highlighted that Bing’s semantic results are rarely, if ever, at the top of the page. Google’s semantic results are dominant on the top right of the page. Bing’s are meshed in with the rest of the organic results, often blending in with the other results on the page if not for the small bits of information listed under the third-party links.
But without users clicking the standard results, websites should certainly see a decrease in visits through search. Obviously, semantic results showing up via Bing offer more chances for third-party sites to earn visits; Google offers less of a chance. So, optimized sites should continue to draw a high volume of visits through Bing.
There’s still plenty that is unknown. How will semantic search affect page rank? It would make sense to rank pages used to serve semantic results higher than ones that do not, but who knows how algorithms will treat them. And will there be a way to optimize websites to capitalize on semantic search? There sure should be if search engines start using non-exclusive third-party sites to pull such information. Again, only time will tell.
Simply stated, this change does not seem to have been made with SEO in mind; most changes rarely are – they are primarily for the benefit of the user. But, while trying to improve usability by simplifying search, there will still be ways to optimize websites and ensure quality content is ranked higher than low-quality sites, something upon which Google and most search engines continue to pride themselves.
There is of course a lot of discussion about content and what does and doesn't work online. Is long-form the key? Does short-form content have a role to play? Are there other factors at play?
There is still confusion over which search results are ads and which are organic, at least in the minds of some web ... read more
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CSAW Quals 2012 – Networking
Network 1 is a pcap of a telnet session. A password is sent in plaintext.
Network 2 is a pcap of a web browsing session, during which a message
containing the key is send using a web form.
Network 3 is a pcap of a USB keyboard. Commands to display a key are entered.
Upon opening the pcap in Wireshark, we see a small amount of packets, identified as telnet. Using Wireshark’s “Follow TCP Stream” feature to reconstruct the session, we notice a password sent in response to a login prompt near the beginning of the text. This password is the flag.
The problem text, “Some dude I know is planning a party at some bar in New York! I really want to go but he’s really strict about who gets let in to the party. I managed to find this packet capture of when the dude registered the party but I don’t know what else to do. Do you think there’s any way you can find out the secret password to get into the party for me?…”.
Through Wireshark or maybe a little chaosreader, it’s clear we’re looking at a primarily web-browsing session. Let’s try to find the registration “the dude” makes. Reasonable guesses would be that this registration occurred over email, Facebook events/chat/messaging, or through a HTTP POST method to some custom site. I got lucky and guessed the POST method first.
Welp, “brooklyn beat box” it is.
Another way to get at this besides a lucky guess would’ve been to examine the web pages browsed, and realize that that the site “www.taproom307.com” is about “some bar in New York”. Examining the activity on that site would have lead to discovering the same POST request. However, the “lucky guess strategy” is usually the ideal solution for needle-in-haystack problems, because when it works it takes minimal time and effort
Wireshark again. USB packets! The capture begins with a bunch of status and descriptor requests coming from the host, so it appears that the capture starts as the USB device is plugged in. We can most probably grab useful high-level information about the device in its responses to descriptor requests.
Huh, the device calls itself “Teensy Keyboard/Mouse/Joystick” and has a HID Boot-Class keyboard interface (for information about HID descriptors, see USB HID spec). There are other interfaces, but a packet log of keyboard typing seems a likely CTF problem.
Under this theory, the USB interrupts that make up the bulk of the capture are keystrokes being sent to the host. Either by reading the USB spec or by visual inspection, we see that the third byte of each interrupt is the key code of the key being pressed. The other bytes hold information about modifiers being pressed and other key codes if multiple keys are being pressed, but that information is not necessary to solve this problem.
cat keypresses | grep 'Capture Data' | cut -c28-29 | python -c '
# Keycodes from http://www.usb.org/developers/devclass_docs/Hut1_11.pdf
keycodes = "????abcdefghijklmnopqrztuvwxyz1234567890\n??\t -=\\?;??,./"
keys =
x = raw_input()
try: keys.append(keycodes[int(x, 16)])
print "".join(keys).replace("?", "")
rxterm -geometry 12x1=0=0
rxterm -geometry 12x1=75=0
rxterm -geometry 12x1=150=0
rxterm -geometry 12x1=225=0
rxterm -geometry 12x1=300=0
rxterm -geometry 12x1=375=0
rxterm -geometry 12x1=450=0
rxterm -geometry 12x1=525=0
rxterm -geometry 12x1=600=0
rxterm -geometry 12x1=675=0
rxterm -geometry 12x1=0=40
rxterm -geometry 12x1=75=40
rxterm -geometry 12x1=150=40
rxterm -geometry 12x1=225=40
rxterm -geometry 12x1=300=40
rxterm -geometry 12x1=450=40
rxterm -geometry 12x1=375=40
rxterm -geometry 12x1=525=40
rxterm -geometry 12x1=600=40
Looks like we have our key, “c48ba993d35c3a”… except that won’t work. Read the geometry arguments to see why!
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Unplanned pregnancy has major health consequences for both mother and child. The CDC in 2010 issued an outstanding guideline for the safe use of contraception in women with all sorts of medical conditions.
This guide is entitled “U.S. Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, 2010
Adapted from the World Health Organization Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, 4th Edition”. The document is 88 pages and covers numerous women’s health problems and provides guidance on choosing the safest options.
For example, what contraceptive method should be chosen for a women with headaches as the concern is that there might be an increased of stroke with combination oral contraceptive pills. Oral contraceptive pills for patients with non-migraine headaches whether mild or severe are rated as 1 (A condition for which there is no restriction for the use of the contraceptive method) or 2 (A condition for which the advantages of using the method generally outweigh the theoretical or proven risks).
For patients with migraine, with or without aura, the risks of combination oral contraceptives are higher (see p 14 for details).
It is easy to find the recommendations for contraception for most serious medical problems and the recommendations are clear and thoughtful.
Most important the document will allow the patient to understand risks and benefits and to be the decision maker.
There is a 2011 update “Update to CDC’s U.S. Medical Eligbility Criteria for Contraceptive Use, 2010:
Revised Recommendations for the Use of Contraceptive Methods During the Postpartum Period” available at: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm6026.pdf. The update is 4 pages and can be reviewed quickly.
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US Should Leave Syria Alone
Well, here we go again. An uprising and subsequent government crackdown in Syria are being seen as an opportunity to “liberate” another Middle Eastern nation from an authoritarian regime, this one run by the al-Assad family.
But America should keep out of Syrian affairs. From Iraq to Syria to Libya to Egypt, all of these nations were better off before the US and the ‘world community’ started to intervene.
Referring to the Syrian crackdown in which many civilians are reported to have been killed, CNN.com reported:
‘(Syrian president Bashar) Al-Assad has denied targeting civilians, saying his forces are after “terrorists” and foreign fighters who are bent on destabilizing Syria.’
Rational observers know that al-Assad is correct, that first he certainly is not targeting civilians. Wouldn’t this cause him big problems in world opinion?
Of course. And so the big issue here is this: Who actually is leading the uprising?
And the fact is that the people now spearheading the revolt against the Syrian government are not ordinary Syrians – perhaps some are involved – but are largely well-armed radical Muslims and foreign fighters, funded by Iran, who are part of a region-wide movement to turn the Middle East into an extremist Islamic bastion with repressive sharia laws.
These are the same terrorists and foreigners who destabilized Iraq and killed American soldiers for years.
And these extremists are using a standard terrorist strategy – provoking the Syrian military into responding then retreating into civilian areas, with civilians getting caught in the crossfire and killed. This provides the terrorists with the international media sympathy that they desire.
Indeed we cannot rely on World Media reports to get the truth about Syria because these media have shaded all the events in the Middle East against American interests, for instance hailing the deposing of pro-US leader Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, which is leading to chaos and economic mayhem, as predicted.
And rest assured that Syria is much better off under the al-Assad family than it would be under extremist Islamic rule.
I was recently talking with a Syrian Christian who now lives here in the United States. He told me that the World Media coverage of the Syrian uprising is being badly skewed to make al-Assad look bad and to make it appear that all Syrians support the uprising.
He told me that the al-Assad family has been keeping a secular Syria peaceful for decades and allowing the free religious practice of Christians who are about 10% of the nation’s population of 22 million.
He added that Christians, Muslims and even some Jews practice their religion openly, side-by-side, in Syria under the al-Assad regime and have for decades.
He said that Syria is not a police state in that there even are drugs and prostitution, that the government does not control the whole society down to the street level like totalitarians do, in Iran for instance.
He added that if the revolting extremists are allowed to seize power from al-Assad that they will establish a radical Islamic theocracy and that Christians in Syria will be threatened and harmed as they are being threatened, harmed and killed in Iraq today. And like they have been threatened, harmed and killed in Egypt even under Mubarak who was deposed in February 2011.
The Syria story is a replay of recent events. Egypt’s stability, openness, relative prosperity and peaceful coexistence with its neighbors – particularly Israel – is now fading with the uprising there that was cheered by Obama and Hillary Clinton.
And the extremist Muslims who were the real force behind the ‘Arab Spring’ in Egypt have since won big victories in elections there and want to, by sheer numbers, turn Egypt into a closed Islamic police state like Iran.
Egypt for decades was a secular pro-Western nation with a thriving tourist economy that brought some prosperity to many Egyptians. All religions were allowed to practice openly.
Already, however, tourism has plummeted after some tourists were taken hostage. Meanwhile news reports of violence in the streets of Cairo are discouraging visitors.
At the same time the 8 million Coptic Christians, who have been in Egypt for centuries longer than Muslims have, finding themselves increasingly fearful as an Islamic Egyptian regime, allied with the Muslim Brotherhood, appears to be poised to grow in power.
In Libya US/NATO airstrikes helped the rebels overthrow Khaddafi. And Khaddafi was certainly a bad person. But that is a bad part of the world and now we very well may get much worse. Because Muslim extremists are plotting to take over Libya too. After all, we know that radicals were a significant part of the uprising against Khaddafi. Don’t think that we have heard the last from Libya.
In Iraq Saddam Hussein was keeping peace and stability through dictatorial means in a dangerous part of the world. But the American invasion disrupted the entire nation and its economy, killed more than 4,000 American soldiers, injured tens of thousands of American soldiers, and caused the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqis.
In Iraq Christians have been silenced, cowed, dispersed or have fled the nation since Saddam Hussein was deposed by American forces. Because without Hussein’s grip on power, Iraq has seen chaos with hundreds of terrorist attacks, some of them specifically targeting Christians and their churches.
And the Iraq conflict is far from over. Shia Muslims, many of them radical, are slowly taking over Iraq numerically and probably will negate any of that nation’s move toward democracy. Several major car bombings just since the recent departure of American troops have shown that the nation is very fragile and easily can descend into chaos and extremism if certain radical forces put on the pressure.
And now we have a revolt in Syria with the United States and the ‘world community’ speaking against the al-Assad government and talking about removing al-Assad under the guise of “liberation”. This is like the way that Obama helped the rebels in Libya and supported the uprising against Mubarak.
The US should leave Syria alone and allow al-Assad to fight the terrorists and foreigners. According to my Syrian friend, the nation is mostly peaceful and the conflict is generally limited to small areas where the terrorist element is strong. But in typical leftist fashion the World Media are focusing on these areas as if they represent the whole country.
Naturally there is one major Middle Eastern nation – Iran – where there was a very brief uprising in 2009 that was quickly crushed and that has never been heard from again.
Because that uprising was not being led by armed Muslim extremists or by foreign fighters. It was a genuine citizens’ revolt against the Iranian police state.
And while there are sanctions against Iran for its nuclear weapons program, the Obama administration and the ‘world community’ ignored the revolt because it was a genuine uprising aimed at unseating the radical Iranian government.
Today, however, the ‘world community’, the leftist World Media and American foreign policy are all geared toward deposing secular and pro-American governments and favoring the rise of extremist Muslims all over the Middle East.
This all began in 1979 when Democrat US president Jimmy Carter intentionally abandoned the pro-American Shah of Iran, leading to the Islamic police state of today controlled by radical Shia mullahs.
Please visit my blog at www.nikitas3.com for more conservative insights. And enjoy the lively new Arts section.
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Thursday, April 1, 2010
Geocaching ~ A New Family Activity?
I have been intrigued by the idea of geocaching for several years. Now that the boys are a little older, I think it may be time for us to give it a try.
What is Geocaching? Well sir, I have recently learned that it is classified as a sport. If you ask for a book on geocaching, you will be taken to the sports section, who knew? The basic idea is this...there are "caches" hidden all over the world, 1,020,027 of them to be exact. Using GPS coordinates found on geocaching.com, you travel to the general location of a cache, and poke around until you find it.
What is a cache? It is a small container that usually contains a visitor's log and small trinkets that have been left by others that have come before you. When you find it, you sign the log and exchange one of the trinkets inside for one that you brought along. The only rule is that the item you leave should be of equal or greater value. You may be walking or driving past one or more every day, without even knowing it!
After finding one, you log back on to the website and make a note of your find.
These things are hidden in the woods...hidden in the city...hidden all over!
As a matter of fact, I just entered my address into the geocaching.com search engine and found 184 caches within 10 miles of my home. Wow!
The one necessary tool of the trade is a handheld GPS. If you have an iPhone, there is an app that you can purchase for about $10, according to Christy over at Southern Plate who is also a geocacher. (You MUST go try some of her recipes!) Since we don't have an iPhone, I started researching handhelds and discovered that you can spend from $70 to several hundred. The typical starter unit is the Geomate, available HERE. My concern with this one is it's lack of maps. Instead it has an electronic compass.
Enter my BFF. Knowing of my hunt, she called to tell me that there is an article in this month's Family Circle that discusses geocaching. In this article they list several sites through which you can rent a unit for a few days, to see if you like it. As I perused one of these, gpsrentals.biz, I discovered that they have retired units for sale. The same model that is currently available to rent (retailing for several hundred dollars), for literally a fraction of the cost.
I really wondered if this was too good to be true. So, I checked out the company with the BBB. And, they are BBB accredited. I still had a few questions, so I called the number on their website. Whatdaya know, the owner of the company picked up the phone. I had a nice conversation with Mr. Skinner. He assured me that the unit would come with all of the pieces that it came with new, including the USB adapter and car charger. Then he knocked my socks off. He said, "I don't think I have this up on the website, but if you have equipment failure within the first 6 months, let me know and I will replace it for free." Get...Outta...Town!
I placed the order online yesterday afternoon, and received notice early this morning that it had already been shipped and should be here by Friday.
I plan to go treasure hunting one day next week. I really hope the family enjoys this as much as I think they will! I'll keep you posted!
*Geocache Container image courtesy of Geocaching News.
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Find Journal of Translation volume 7:1 on the new SIL International website.
Journal of Translation 7(1)
by David Frank
Again we have three excellent articles on translation theory and practice in this issue of the Journal of Translation with a focus on Bible translation. Glenn Kerr’s “Dynamic Equivalence and It’s Daughters” examines the influence of Eugene Nida’s Dynamic Equivalence translation model, through Functional Equivalence, Meaning-Based Translation, and Optimal Equivalence, and compares this family of equivalence models with others including Relevance Theory, Skopostheorie, and the Frames of Reference model, and also the discipline of Translation Studies. The article “Implicit Aspects of Culture in Source and Target Language Contexts” by Thomas Matthews, Catherine Rountree and Steve Nicolle builds on the “Prototypical Model of Culture for Bible Translation” that Thomas Matthews presented in the Journal of Translation volume 5, number 1 (2009), examining the way both the source and the target language contexts influence how information is appropriately communicated explicitly and implicitly in a text, drawing on translations of the Bible into East African languages for examples. “Overliteralness and Mother-Tongue Translators” by Michael Cahill and Keith Benn show how, without adequate training, translators of the Bible intuitively tend to use an overly literal translation style that can be improved when attention is given to the natural patterns of the target language and a study of how languages are different, especially in terms of discourse and figures of speech.
Eric Kindberg, Diane Dix, Newton Frank and Barbara Shannon contributed to the editing of this issue of the Journal of Translation.
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In 1993 a Japanese film crew led by Nadaka Tetsuo succeeded in filming a large animal swimming in the waters of Lake Dakataua on New Britain (the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, just north-east of New Guinea). Supposedly, the lake was the haunt of an aquatic creature called the migo or masali, and here – it was claimed – was proof of its existence. Was this, at last, one of cryptozoology’s holy grails: definitive footage of a definite monster?
While obscure and quite poorly known, Lake Dakataua and its alleged monster(s) have long been making appearances in the cryptozoological literature. However, a great deal of confusion has existed, as people have referred both to mysterious crocodiles of an unknown species, and to altogether different lake creatures of a rather more fantastic appearance. The presence of an unidentified crocodile species had been reported in New Britain’s lakes since the 1950s, and by the 1970s people had started to intimate that these ‘crocodiles’ were the same thing as the ‘migo’, a lake monster likened by some to a mosasaur (imagined, of course, as a Burian-esque, frilly-backed creature), yet said by others to have short black hair (Downes 1995, Shuker 1995a, b). Heuvelmans (1986) listed the migo as ‘an unknown species of crocodile (or is it, as has been suspected, a surviving mosasaur?)’.
The idea that mosasaurs might be alive and well and living in a lake on New Britain (incidentally, Lake Dakataua is highly alkaline and lacking in fish) lacks supporting evidence, needless to say, but other writers were to make equally bold (or daft) proposals. Young & Rosenblatt (1994) suggested that the migo might be Deinosuchus (though they used the junior synonym Phobosuchus): yes, Deinosuchus, the Upper Cretaceous alligatoroid known from the USA. Due to the ‘short black hair’, and to various details revealed in the Japanese video footage (we’ll look at these shortly), Karl Shuker (1995a, b) suggested that the migo might be a modern-day protocetid archaeocete. Roy Mackal, a University of Chicago biologist well known for his occasional cryptozoological research, also endorsed the archaeocete hypothesis.
All of this sudden interest in the identity of the migo was, of course, the direct result of the 1993 Japanese filming (screened on Japanese TV in 1994), and during 1994 and 1995 this became one of the most-discussed subjects within the world of cryptozoological research. While screened in Japan (and maybe elsewhere in the world), it was never televised here in the UK, leaving a lot of us tremendously frustrated. Just what did the footage show? Thanks to Japanese correspondent Tokuharu Takabayashi, Jon Downes of the Centre for Fortean Zoology (and editor of the CFZ publication, Animals and Men) was able to obtain a copy of the footage during 1995, and he kindly invited me to a private screening. At this time I was making a name for myself as a self-styled cryptocetologist and was particularly interested in the migo because of the ‘surviving archaeocete’ claims.
A Japanese documentary featuring the footage included some pretty heavy promotion of the idea that the migo might be a surviving mosasaur. Tetsuo took a copy of Dinosaurs: A Global View to New Britain and showed a reconstructed mosasaur from the book to the local people (who of course likened this creature to the animal they’d seen in the lake). The mosasaur idea may have been based on the fact that the migo was reported to have a serrated back, which is ironic because mosasaurs did not have a serrated frill running along the backbone as conventionally shown. The documentary also included some quite amusing footage of a puppet mosasaur which, as you can see from the composite above, wasn’t great (Jon said it looked like a clockwork newt). In one sequence [visible at top right in the composite] it was shown swimming through a hypothetical underwater tunnel that connected the sea to the lake (the Japanese team looked for evidence for such tunnels but failed to find them. The ‘underwater tunnel’ is, of course, a staple bit of modern lake monster lore).
More importantly, the documentary also included the ‘monster footage’ itself. It took a while for Jon and I to figure out what was going on. At one stage Jon suggested we might be watching a slow-swimming filter-feeding vertebrate of some sort, and we later wondered if it could be (as some people had suggested) a vaguely seal-shaped animal, its horizontal tail flukes propelling it through the water. Jon actually sketched this interpretation and I later redrew and modified it (shown in adjacent image) for inclusion in an article.
Karl’s articles on the migo (Shuker 1995a, b) had mentioned distinct views of cetacean dorsal fins and tail flukes, and he had used these glimpses to endorse his interpretation of the migo as a living archaeocete. With Karl’s help, Jon and I were able to locate the few relevant seconds of footage: they weren’t filmed in Lake Dakataua at all, but from a boat approaching the island, and at sea, and they didn’t show the migo, but instead several dolphins. Silhouetted and grouping closely together, their rolling backs and tails created the impression of a single large mass (Naish 1996, 1997). The sequence as shown in the video is depicted schematically in the picture below, with a photo of one of the best shots shown at the bottom (note the poor image quality).
What of the creature that had been filmed in Lake Dakataua? Unfortunately, the footage (which shows the animal moving right to left, some distance from the camera) isn’t great: it’s blurry, highly pixelated, and with the interface between the animal and the water surface often being amalgamated. Even so, a lot of information could be gleaned. The animal had a long, low snout region, a raised box-like region at the back of the head (bearing a large vertical dark marking), a low hump corresponding to the thorax and abdomen (sporting dark nodules on its dorsal surface), and a tail with (at minimum) eight vertical spines. A ‘neck gap’ separated the head from the hump in the middle, and two vertical spines projected here as well. This description is, quite clearly, that of a crocodile, with the two neck spines suggesting Saltwater or Indopacific crocodile Crocodylus porosus. Given that New Britain is well within the geographical range of the Saltwater croc*, this isn’t such a big deal: the presence of the species in the Bismarck Archipelago has been mentioned on occasion, and Bakk & Glucksman (1980), in a limnological survey of Lake Dakataua, had even stated that crocodiles were present in the lake. I was thererfore confident enough about this interpretation to title a 1997 article ‘The migo is (probably) a crocodile’ (Naish 1997). I actually traced the creature’s profile from a TV screen, and that’s what you can see here [photos from the actual footage are shown below].
* Extralimital records of the Saltwater crocodile include Hong Kong to the north, Pohnpei, Vanuatu and Fiji to the north-east, 48 km north of North Cape, New Zealand, to the east, and the Cocos Islands to the south.
Case closed? What about the vertical undulation?
So, case closed: the animal was no monster, just a Saltwater croc. But that wasn’t the end of the story. The strange thing about the footage is that the animal’s tail does not seem to scull from side to side as is normal for a crocodile; instead, it disappears and reappears in the vertical plane, as if the animal is undulating vertically. Indeed this vertical undulation is what, in part, had inspired the ‘archaeocete’ identification in the first place. Could this be evidence that the animal was, contra Naish, not a crocodile after all? Some researchers thought so (Molloy 1997).
I gave a talk on the migo at a meeting in 1997 and this issue was brought up in the question and answer session at the end. Could it be, suggested an audience member, that the vertical undulation was a result of the fact that the animal was dead, and being towed along by a boat? By this stage it had been intimated that several mysterious ‘wakes’ seen in the footage might have originated from a boat: perhaps the boat that was pulling the carcass. I gave a non-committal answer on this and didn’t mention the idea in my published articles, mostly because I didn’t want to accuse the Japanese film-making team of hoaxing.
Looking at the footage anew (as I did today), I conclude that both the vertical undulation and the wakes-caused-by-phantom-boats can be explained away. The vertical undulation is not real: due to the great distance present between the camera and the animal, and to low waves that travel across the lake between the crocodile and the camera, it just looks as if the tail disappears from view. One long sequence (long = 10 seconds or so) clearly shows the tail sculling from side to side after all. As for the ‘wakes’, they’re real, but can be seen to have been made by waterbirds that take off from the water surface just ahead of (or adjacent to) the crocodile. The sequence ends with the crocodile submerging slowly and in a thoroughly unspectacular way, though by this time the animal’s long axis is in line with the camera’s view, not perpendicular to it.
So far as I know, nobody ever really looked into the migo story in any more depth. My research should have been the start of things, not the end. At least a few post-1997 books and articles mentioning the migo cited my work and accepted my conclusions, but I saw indications from some cryptozoologists that they preferred a different interpretation, or that they were unaware of, or unwilling to acknowledge, my articles. Roy Mackal repeatedly claimed that the footage actually depicted two or three crocodiles engaged in some sort of mating ritual and, furthermore, that this was a big deal as it was the first time sexual behaviour in this species had been filmed or photographed. The latter is completely incorrect in fact. Furthermore, as should be obvious from the images shown above, the footage undoubtedly features just a single animal.
Whether people really saw a peculiar, black-haired aquatic creature in Lake Dakataua we will never know, but for the story of the creature filmed in 1993, it really is case closed.
Refs – -
Ball, E. & Glucksman, J. 1980. A limnological survey of Lake Dakataua, a large caldera lake on West New Britain, Papua New Guinea, with comparisons to Lake Wisdom, a younger nearby caldera lake. Freshwater Biology 10, 73-84.
Downes, J. 1995. Crocodile tears: what IS happening in THAT lake with THAT video? The editor aims to find out and fails miserably.. Animals and Men 4, 17-20.
Heuvelmans, B. 1986. Annotated checklist of apparently unknown animals with which cryptozoology is concerned. Cryptozoology 5, 1-26.
Molloy, N. 1997. The migo – not yet explained? Animals and Men 15, 31-34.
Naish, D. 1996. Analysing video footage purporting to show the “migo” – a lake monster from Lake Dakataua, New Britain. The Cryptozoology Review 1 (2), 18-21.
- . 1997. The migo is (probably) a crocodile. In Downes, J. (ed) The CFZ Yearbook 1997. CFZ (Exeter), pp. 51-67.
Shuker, K. P. N. 1995a. New Britain’s lake monster. Fortean Times 82, 38-39.
- . 1995b. The migo movie: a further muddying of murky waters. Animals and Men 5, 22-25.
Young, E. & Rosenblatt, R. 1994. What’s new in New Guinea? Fortean Times 78, 46-47.
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Part 1. Sources of Information on Diagnostic Doses for 1920-1960
Gofman and O'Connor (p.11, 1985) tabulated data (originally from Shleien and co-workers, 1977) for medical radiographic examinations (excluding examinations of the extremities). Note carefully that these data are for a period at least a decade after the close of the 1920 to 1960 period. The key point is that whatever doses such examinations were giving in the 1977 period, we expect and shall show that, for the same numbers of examinations, the doses must have been considerably higher during the period of 1920 to 1960. We shall examine the frequency of various examinations in the post-1960 period and then examine the dose which must be considered to have gone with such frequencies or other frequencies in the earlier period.
All entries expressed as number of examinations per 100 persons (Annually) Medical Radiographic Examinations Fluoroscopic Examinations (excluding examinations of extremities) (including spot films and plates) Age Group Number of exams Age Group Number of exams (Years) per 100 persons (Years) per 100 persons Under 15 16 Under 15 1 15-24 42 15-24 3 25-34 56 25-34 5 35-44 65 35-44 9 45-54 72 45-54 12 55-64 73 55-64 13 65-74 73 65-74 15
Since these frequencies are expressed per 100 persons, the size of the total population is not at issue; at issue is the average dose for the various examinations.
How Did Doses During the 1920-1960 Period Compare with Those Beyond 1960?
An absolutely essential introduction which is required to deal realistically with the pre-1960 era consists of several facts and several descriptions of reality concerning x-radiation practice during the pre-1960 period. It will become abundantly clear why this is so.
The Statements of C.B. Braestrup (1969)
C.B. Braestrup was intimately involved in engineering practice in the radiation field in the early period. His report (Braestrup 1969) contains the following statement, according to Shapiro 1990 at page 379:
"Within the first few years of Roentgen's discovery, the application of x-rays in diagnosis required doses of the order of 1000 times that required today [meaning in 1969]. Radiographs of heavy parts of the body took exposures 30-60 minutes long. Maximum allowable exposures were set by the production of skin erythemas (300-400 rad). Thus the skin served as a personal monitor. The Wappler fluoroscope, manufactured around 1930-1935, produced 125-150 R/min at the panel. Skin reactions were produced and in some cases, permanent injury. To minimize hazard, a 100 R per examination limit was set in the New York City hospitals."
This is truly mind-boggling to hear of the earlier doses with x-ray films and plates. Scientists and physicians in practice today have trouble conceiving of a period where there was no agreed-upon physical or chemical dosimeter to ascertain how much radiation was being delivered. One monitor was, as Braestrup states appropriately, the skin of humans. It was noted that with enough radiation one finally achieves a reddening of the skin, known medically as an erythema of the skin. The early roentgenologists tended to make the assumption that if the skin had not reddened, one could not be near any serious radiation source. And as a number of these early radiologists died, their Journal showed photos of "those who pioneered for their profession and gave their lives in doing so." (See early years of American Journal of Roentgenology and Radium Therapy.)
This dosimeter --- skin --- was crude. Response depended on how big an area of skin had been irradiated. It depended on the voltage across the x-ray tube (which determines kVp of the x-rays coming out). It depended on window thickness of the x-ray tube and on the amount and type of filtration between tube and patient.
It was the erythema dose-unit, which led authors to write about delivering "one-tenth, one-fifth, or one-half an erythema." If one studies those early issues of American Journal of Roentgenology, he(she) will see the controversies about the appropriate use of the erythema doses and the controversies about physical dosimeters that would ultimately replace the living dosimeter.
Early fluoroscopy was in many ways even more mind-boggling, with physician over-exposure, patient over-exposure, and numerous technician and nurse over-exposures due to machines inadequately shielded and beams inadequately collimated. We note the introduction of the Wappler fluoroscope with a bountiful X-ray output, 125-150 R/min at the panel. So the roentgenologists who had become accustomed to a dearth of adequate exposure now found themselves not realizing what could happen in two minutes. Incidentally, the Wappler fluoroscope was a high-quality machine. "Westinghouse liked the machine so well, it bought the company." [Victor Kiam, please excuse borrowing your line.]
It is alarming to consider what these powerful machines meant in terms of fluoroscopic dosage. The statement that skin reactions were produced and in some cases, permanent injury was produced, is chilling, but not unexpected. And to learn that New York City set a 100 R examination limit on fluoroscopy in the New York hospitals should not be assumed to mean that all was well elsewhere. No doubt this is just a reflection of a little more concern there than elsewhere.
It is very hard to doubt that average fluoroscopic doses for such procedures as Upper G.I. Series, or Thorax Studies, or Gall-Bladder Examinations (cholecystograms), were at least 2, 3, or 5 Roentgens in the early period --- at a time when legislators tried to limit such exposures per exam from exceeding 100 Roentgens. In Part 3 of this chapter, we surely underestimate exposure by using 3 Roentgens as the entrance dose per average fluoroscopy in 1920-1960.
The Special Problems of Fluoroscopy in Pediatric Practice
Some special problems must be noted for newborns, infants, and children in the pediatric years.
Dr. Hanson Blatz (Blatz 1970), the director, Office of Radiation Control, New York City Department of Health, is cited in Shapiro at page 421 discussing the problem of the prescription of excess numbers of x-rays.
What follows stretches the mind so much, we felt impelled to check. We had known of Dr. Blatz, but had never met him. We telephoned Dr. Karl Z. Morgan, widely recognized as the "father" of the health physics profession. Yes, Karl knew his work well, and Karl gave him an excellent recommendation in the health physics field. These are Dr. Blatz's words from 1970 (as reported in Shapiro 1990, p.421):
"The problem of excessive use of unnecessarily repeated examinations is an abuse that could not be regulated under any circumstances. Popular feeling and professional education have been and will probably continue to be the only effective controls." And:
"And I don't think we should overlook popular feeling. Those of you who have been in the field a long time know that it was once the practice of pediatricians to fluoroscope babies and young children every month and when they had the annual checkup [presumably in the 1940s and 1950s]. When we questioned this practice, pediatricians would say, `Well, the parents expect it. They think if I don't fluoroscope the patients, they are not getting a complete examination'."
Non-Recorded Doses May Exceed Anything on Record
We now have confirmatory evidence from two sources that what Dr. Blatz described for New York City was also happening in Rochester, New York, and in Seattle, Washington. The observations of Franz Buschke and Herbert Parker (1942) and of James Pifer (1963) are detailed in Chapter 31. Some pediatricians (but not all) were routinely fluoroscoping all their patients at the monthly "well-baby" examination in the first and second years after birth. Buschke and Parker ascertained that exposures from a skillful examiner could add up --- by the second birthday --- to 200 Roentgens of entrance dose, and much more from a non-skilled examiner.
Such information suggests that fluoroscopy in young children could dominate the diagnostic radiation exposure in the 1920-1960 period. It would all depend on what fraction of pediatricians engaged in this practice --- a practice which many of them may not have recorded at all, and a practice for which they surely did not record how long the x-ray beam was on, at each examination.
Do we know of anyone who had fluoroscopy during every pediatric check-up? Yes, we do. While we were doing this study, we happened to hear by letter from a woman in New York who remembers being fluoroscoped at every pediatric exam from age 4 through age 12. Before age 4, she has no recall one way or the other, and she can not ask her mother who is no longer alive.
The Immature Technology Available in the 1920 - 1960 Era
In the 1920-1960 period, film-speed was much slower than in the post-1960 period. This had several repercussions. It took a longer exposure to make a roentgenogram. And because it took a longer exposure, the effect of motion was very serious for films, and caused bad blurring of images. So there was a high tendency for the roentgenologist to choose to do fluoroscopy. But more fluoroscopy meant even higher doses. A massive improvement became available in the later period, not available in most of the 1920-1960 era, namely fast film-screens which could enhance images in roentgenograms, and fast film screens which could enhance images in fluoroscopic practice. So on both these counts, the doses in 1920-1960 were necessarily much higher than in the 1970's and beyond, since lesser exposures became required with the faster film screens.Part 2. Radiological Doses in the Pre-1960 and the Post-1960 Eras
The Words of Dr. Francis Curry Concerning Practice as Late as in 1960
We have alluded to some of Dr. Curry's comments concerning x-ray exposure from tuberculosis screening. But we must give some more consideration of what some of his remarks must mean for dose estimates for the 1920-1960 era.
Dr. Francis Curry, deputy director and later director of public health and hospitals in San Francisco from 1960 to 1976, is quoted by Caufield at page 144 as follows:
"What was so horrible about what was happening then is that so many machines had no filters, no coning, no shielding. Many people were getting total body exposures and were getting doses big enough to show clinical symptoms."
If Dr. Curry had this to say about the 1950s, what are we to think about doses in the far more immature era of 1920 to 1950?
We have now covered some of the crucial evidences that indicate we must expect doses for any specific procedure in the 1920-1960 era to be considerably higher than those in the mid-1970s, for which we have some reasonably meaningful estimates of average doses for major diagnostic radiological procedures.
How We Shall Handle the Diagnostic Doses in the 1920-1960 Period
1. We shall assume that the frequency of examinations (diagnostic exams per 100 persons for any age bracket) is the same before 1960 as after 1960. There may be some difference, but we must carefully differentiate between growth in total number of exams which is in part related to population growth (which is large in that period) and the frequency of examinations per 100 persons in each age category after 1960.
2. The issue of "wasted radiation" is extremely important in our handling of the dose estimates. For these considerations we turn to an important publication of David Johnson and Walter Goetz (1986).
Wasted Radiation in Diagnostic Medical Exposures in the Early Period
It is a fundamental principle of diagnostic radiography today that one never permits the beam of radiation to be of larger total area than the area of the film exposed. All radiation in excess of that needed for the film is "wasted radiation" --- exposing the patient needlessly to radiation having nothing to do with diagnosis. Johnson and Goetz point out that enormous progress was made between 1964 and 1983 in reducing the amount of wasted radiation. For 1964, they found the total dose of radiation delivered in diagnostic work was 3.2 times what was needed for the film. So two-thirds of the exposure being experienced by the patient added to injury but added nothing to diagnostic efficiency. By 1982, the wasted radiation was almost all eliminated by proper collimation of the beam.
What this tells us is that before 1960, the situation was even worse --- with at least three times as much area of the body exposed as was necessary. In effect, this means that a diagnostic examination such as Upper G.I. Series undoubtedly exposed the breasts unnecessarily. Examination of the chest exposed several abdominal organs unnecessarily.
In Gofman and O'Connor (1985), for each exam we provided the anatomic limits generally used for each type of examination. Thus (at page 171) we find the following for the Upper Gastro-Intestinal Exam:
"Length of Field: For adults, the field length is 43.2 cm, and extends from 4 cm below the sternal notch to 6 cm below the iliac crests. The field center is 6 cm below the xiphoid process ..."
These dimensions tell us, by reference to anatomical diagrams, which organs are fully in the x-ray beam field, which organs are far away even from the edge of the x-ray field, and which organs are near the border of the x-ray field. When we are calculating the dose in rads to an organ by using conversion factors from entrance dose in Roentgens to absorbed organ dose in rads, we are speaking of the organ dose for those organs fully in the x-ray field. And we know about this from the position limits given above under "Length of Field" and its position with reference to body points.
The implication of the work of Johnson and Goetz is that in the earlier days (before 1964) the exposure field was much greater than is the case for exams taken more recently. This means that organs which would be partially in the field by methods used after 1983 could have been totally in the x-ray field before 1964. Organs outside the field by 1984 standards might be partially or totally within the field before 1964.
In Gofman/O'Connor 1985 at page 171, we listed six organs in females which generate most of the cancer risk from an Upper G.I. Exam: Large intestine, kidneys, pancreas, breasts, stomach, and bronchi. But that is according to post-1980 standards of practice. The reason why breast does not head the list of such organs is that the breasts are not fully in the field. So, the estimated cancer risk to breasts is less than it would be if the breasts were fully in the x-ray field.
In the pre-1964 era (and our concern is for 1920-1960), the body parts exposed represented 3 times or more than the area needed to do the examination ---- and that wasted radiation brought the breasts essentially fully in the x-ray field for some exams, partially into the field for other common exams. And for some of the common exams, the position of the beam is sufficiently far enough away, that even with the wasted radiation, we consider that there was essentially no exposure of the breasts in such exams, for example, in the pelvic and hip exams. For such examinations, we shall list the breast dose as zero. This will all come together as we consider precisely how the estimates are actually made, in the text which follows.
As we now prepare to estimate the diagnostic radiology doses for 1920-1960, we shall have to take into account for each of the x-ray procedures just what fraction of the organ is in the x-ray field before we can apply the conversion factor from Roentgens of entrance exposure to rads absorbed by the organ --- in our case, the breast-pair. And we necessarily must take wasted radiation into account. We will let the reader know which organs are regarded as fully in the field and which are only fractionally in the field. Our analysis will give accounting for such differences in developing our final estimates of breast-doses from diagnostic radiology in the 1920-1960 period.Part 3. Estimation of Diagnostic Radiology Doses for (1920-1960)
Step 1. What Were the Major Diagnostic X-Ray Procedures in Use?
NCRP 100 provides a listing of the total number of such procedures in the United States, for the 1964 - 1980 period in Table 3.7 at page 15, based upon Mettler's work (1987). Our interest is in the tabulations for the 1964 period, since this is the closest to our 1920-1960 period. We shall need the frequencies listed here for developing a final weighted average dose per diagnostic procedure.
Examination Number of Examinations (1964) Weighting (thousands) Fraction Skull 3,000 0.0442 Other Head and Neck 1,900 0.0280 Cervical Spine 2,900 0.0428 Chest Radiographic 32,400 0.4779 Abdomen (K-U-B) 2,800 0.0413 Cholecystogram 2,800 0.0413 Thoracic Spine 1,200 0.0177 Lumbar Spine 5,800 0.0855 Upper GI 5,500 0.0811 Barium Enema 3,000 0.0442 Pyelogram (Kidneys) 3,300 0.0487 Pelvis 2,100 0.0310 Hip 1,100 0.0162 ------- ------- Total, all listed exams 67,800 1.0000Excluded are extremities, since those are not tabulated in our frequency
per 100 diagnostic exams.
Excluded is Full-Spine, which is primarily a chiropractic exam, and has
been treated in the chiropractic chapter, 22.
Excluded are mammograms, which are treated in a separate chapter.
Excluded are CT Scans, which were not available in the 1920-1960 period.
The weighting factors derived here will be appplied to the doses per exam to reach our final conclusion of population average dose for 1920-1960. It is not possible to be certain that the relative distribution of exams was the same as in 1964, but any effects of variation of the distribution will not be a major factor in our dose estimation.
Step 2. Determination of the Dose for Each Complete Procedure
The basic data for each exam are provided both in Gofman/O'Connor 1985 and in Table 3.19 at pages 28-29 in NCRP 100. The entries are essentially identical in both sources, except for a minor difference in the estimated average number of films per procedure. We warn the reader that Entrance Exposure in NCRP 100 is given in coulombs per kilogram, whereas in Gofman/O'Connor, entrance exposure is given in Roentgens. NCRP does provide the conversion coefficient to Roentgens, the more familiar unit, by far.
We illustrate the procedure for determining breast-dose using the Upper Gastro-Intestinal Series data. And we shall comment for this and every other examination whether we regard the organ to be fully in the x-ray field (in 1920-1960 practices) or not. If the organ is fully in the field, the breast-dose will be as calculated. If not fully in the field, we shall provide an estimate of the fraction of the calculated dose to be used.
Upper Gastro-Intestinal Examination
Col.A Col.B Col.C Col. D Col.E Col.F Col. G Beam Entrance Rads to No. of Beam Beam HVL Final Rads Direction Dose Breasts Films HVL Adjust. per Breast-Pair Roentgens Rads AP 0.640 0.443 0.73 2.80 1.27 0.411 PA 0.547 0.020 1.15 2.86 1.55 0.036 LAT 1.147 0.210 0.05 3.01 1.61 0.017 OBL-PA 0.775 0.085 1.93 2.94 1.59 0.262 Total Average Dose ------> 0.726 rads
o - Col. A provides the kinds of directions of the x-ray beam going into the body.
AP (anterior-posterior) means the x-ray beam enters the front of the body and exits through the back of the body.
PA (posterior-anterior) means the beam enters the back, and exits through the front of the body.
LAT (lateral) means the beam enters one side of the body and exits the other side.
Detailed specification gives the information as to whether the beam enters the left side of the body or the right side. So we have LAT-LR and LAT-RL.
OBL-PA (Oblique posterior-anterior) means the beam enters half-way between the back and the side of the body. Had it been OBL-AP, it would have meant a beam entering half-way between the front and the side of the body.
o - Col. B provides the entrance dose in Roentgens. NCRP 100 gives this dose in coulombs per kilogram, which is convertible to Roentgens. We have used the NCRP 100 values, after conversion. They agree essentially perfectly with the Roentgen values for the various exams in Gofman/O'Connor 1985.
o - Col. C provides the dose in rads received by a specific organ for the entrance exposure and for the particular direction, if the organ is fully in the field. The values for dose per unit Entrance Exposure are in Table C, p. 404 of Gofman/O'Connor 1985. The entries for Female Breast are as follows (in rads per Entrance Roentgen):Organ Beam Beam Beam Beam Beam AP PA LAT-LR OBL-AP OBL-PA Breast-Pair Female 0.693 0.037 0.183 0.438 0.110All of these values are for a beam quality ("hardness"), expressed as a Half-Value Layer of 2.3 millimeters (mm) of Aluminum (Al.). This corresponds to 30 keV x-rays.
Thus, for the first line (AP) direction of beam, Col. C is obtained by multiplying 0.693 by Col.B entry in Roentgens.
(0.693 rads / Roentgen) x 0.640 Roentgens = 0.443 rads
But this is for one film and a beam quality of 2.3 mm Al. HVL.
o - Col. D provides the average number of films per examination (from NCRP 100). Of course, there are no fractional films. The fractional values reflect the taking of 0 films in some institutions, 1 film in others, 2 films in still others.
o - Col. E provides the Half-Value Layer in mm Al.
o - Col. F provides the adjustment factor for each HVL value.
Since these values are mostly not 2.3 mm Al., it is necessary to use an adjustment factor for all values other than 2.3 mm Al. Such adjustment factors are presented in Table D of Gofman/O'Connor 1985. For the AP direction and an HVL of 2.80 mm Al., the adjustment factor is 1.27, which is the value entered in Col. F.
o - Col.G. This is the final value in rads for organs fully in the x-ray field.
Col. G entry = (Col. C entry) x (Column D entry) x (Col. F entry)
= 0.443 rads/film x 0.73 films x 1.27
= 0.411 rads.
Since we consider that the breasts are essentially fully in the field with the wasted- radiation factor of the period 1920-1960, there will be no adjustment for this value of 0.411 rads for the AP view of Upper Gastro-Intestinal Exam.
This general procedure is followed for all other projections, PA, LAT, OBL-PA. The sum of all the rad doses in Col. G represents the total dose to breasts for this particular roentgen examination, for organs fully in the x-ray field.
All other examinations are handled similarly.
We can now calculate what the dose is for all the major diagnostic radiological exams to use for 1920-1960 estimates of combined dose.
o - Note: The unseen "trailing digits" in the calculations
sometimes cause results to look "off" in very small ways.
CERVICAL SPINE Col.A Col.B Col.C Col.D Col.E Col. F Col. G Beam Entrance Rads to No. of Beam Beam HVL Final Rads Direction Dose,R Breasts Films HVL Adjust. per Breast-Pair AP 0.26 0.180 1.45 2.23 0.96 0.251 PA 0.15 0.006 0.04 2.43 1.07 0.000 LAT 0.17 0.031 1.27 2.35 1.02 0.040 OBL-PA 0.20 0.022 0.89 2.35 1.05 0.020 Total Average Dose 0.311 rads Adjustment for breasts not fully in field = 0.5. Final Average Dose 0.156 rads RIBS Col.A Col.B Col.C Col.D Col.E Col. F Col. G Beam Entrance Rads to No. of Beam Beam HVL Final Rads Direction Dose,R Breasts Films HVL Adjust. per Breast-Pair AP 0.357 0.247 0.87 2.24 0.97 0.209 PA 0.289 0.011 0.80 2.44 1.07 0.009 LAT 0.186 0.034 0.08 2.98 1.34 0.004 OBL-PA 0.627 0.069 1.20 2.38 1.05 0.087 Total Average Dose 0.308 rads No adjustments for organ not fully in field. Final Average Dose 0.308 rads SHOULDER (We cut Column C in half, since exam is of one shoulder.) Col.A Col.B Col.C Col.D Col.E Col. F Col. G Beam Entrance Rads to No. of Beam Beam HVL Final Rads Direction Dose,R Breasts Films HVL Adjust. per Breast-Pair AP 0.194 0.067 1.45 2.15 0.92 0.089 PA 0.147 0.003 0.04 2.10 0.83 0.000 LAT 0.973 0.089 0.15 2.53 1.22 0.016 OBL-PA 0.306 0.017 0.13 2.30 1.00 0.002 Total Average Dose 0.108 rads No adjustments at all for breasts not fully in x-ray field. Final Average Dose 0.108 rads THORACIC SPINE (WIDE) Col.A Col.B Col.C Col.D Col.E Col. F Col. G Beam Entrance Rads to No. of Beam Beam HVL Final Rads Direction Dose,R Breasts Films HVL Adjust. per Breast-Pair AP 0.663 0.459 1.07 2.37 1.04 0.511 PA 0.516 0.019 0.00 2.50 1.19 0.000 LAT 1.457 0.267 0.93 2.42 1.12 0.278 OBL-PA 0.756 0.083 0.12 2.42 1.12 0.011 Total Average Dose 0.800 rads No adjustments at all for breasts not fully in x-ray field. Final Average Dose 0.800 rads CHOLECYSTOGRAM (Gall-Bladder) Col.A Col.B Col.C Col.D Col.E Col. F Col. G Beam Entrance Rads to No. of Beam Beam HVL Final Rads Direction Dose,R Breasts Films HVL Adjust. per Breast-Pair AP 0.543 0.376 0.48 2.46 1.08 0.195 PA 0.547 0.020 1.41 2.41 1.11 0.032 LAT 0.752 0.138 0.13 2.51 1.20 0.021 OBL-PA 0.744 0.082 1.21 2.52 1.21 0.120 Total Average Dose 0.368 rads No adjustments at all for breasts not fully in x-ray field. Final Average Dose 0.368 rads LUMBAR SPINE Col.A Col.B Col.C Col.D Col.E Col. F Col. G Beam Entrance Rads to No. of Beam Beam HVL Final Rads Direction Dose,R Breasts Films HVL Adjust. per Breast-Pair AP 0.884 0.612 1.03 2.37 1.03 0.650 PA 0.543 0.020 0.03 2.48 1.09 0.001 LAT 3.198 0.585 1.33 2.58 1.26 0.981 OBL-PA 1.109 0.122 0.46 2.51 1.20 0.067 Total Average Dose 1.698 rads No adjustments at all for breasts not fully in x-ray field. Final Average Dose 1.698 rads ABDOMEN (KIDNEY-URETER-BLADDER) Col.A Col.B Col.C Col.D Col.E Col. F Col. G Beam Entrance Rads to No. of Beam Beam HVL Final Rads Direction Dose,R Breasts Films HVL Adjust. per Breast-Pair AP 0.663 0.459 1.28 2.54 1.12 0.658 PA 0.419 0.015 0.23 2.45 1.15 0.004 LAT 2.097 0.384 0.07 2.51 1.20 0.032 OBL-PA 1.221 0.134 0.11 2.44 1.14 0.017 Total Average Dose 0.712 rads No adjustments at all for breasts not fully in x-ray field. Final Average Dose 0.712 rads BARIUM ENEMA Col.A Col.B Col.C Col.D Col.E Col. F Col. G Beam Entrance Rads to No. of Beam Beam HVL Final Rads Direction Dose,R Breasts Films HVL Adjust. per Breast-Pair Barium Enema AP 0.760 0.526 1.52 2.95 1.33 1.064 PA 0.771 0.029 0.93 2.92 1.58 0.042 LAT 4.012 0.734 0.49 3.12 1.67 0.601 OBL-PA 1.349 0.148 1.02 3.05 1.66 0.251 Total Average Dose 1.958 rads Adjustment for breasts not being fully in field = 0.33 Final Average Dose 0.646 rads INTRAVENOUS PYELOGRAM (Kidney Exam) Col.A Col.B Col.C Col.D Col.E Col. F Col. G Beam Entrance Rads to No. of Beam Beam HVL Final Rads Direction Dose,R Breasts Films HVL Adjust. per Breast-Pair AP 0.597 0.414 4.51 2.47 1.08 2.015 PA 0.442 0.016 0.20 2.53 1.22 0.004 LAT 0.527 0.096 0.04 2.59 1.27 0.005 OBL-PA 0.915 0.101 0.70 2.59 1.26 0.089 Total Average Dose 2.112 rads Adjustment for breasts not being fully in field = 0.33 Final Average Dose 0.697 rads CHEST Col.A Col.B Col.C Col.D Col.E Col. F Col. G Beam Entrance Rads to No. of Beam Beam HVL Final Rads Direction Dose,R Breasts Films HVL Adjust. per Breast-Pair AP 0.050 0.035 0.10 2.44 1.07 0.004 PA 0.027 0.001 0.92 2.51 1.20 0.001 LAT 0.081 0.015 0.50 2.80 1.47 0.011 OBL-PA 0.120 0.013 0.02 2.49 1.19 0.000 Total Average Dose 0.016 rads No adjustments at all for breasts not fully in x-ray field. Final Average Dose 0.016 rads PELVIS exam gives just about 0 rads to breast --- too low in position Final Average Dose 0.00 rads HIP exam gives just about 0 rads to breast---- too low in position. Final Average Dose 0.00 rads SKULL seems too high to affect the breasts Final Average Dose 0.00 rads OTHER HEAD AND NECK It is reasonable to take the average of skull and cervical spine doses. (0.156+0.00)/2 = 0.078 rads Final Average Dose 0.078 rads
Now we list the estimated total number of diagnostic x-ray procedures and their dose in order to obtain an overall average dose.Breast Rads Times Exam Rads Access Frequency Frequency Skull 0.000 3,000 0.0 Other Head and Neck 0.078 1,900 148.2 Cervical Spine 0.156 (0.5) 2,900 451.0 Chest Radiographic 0.016 32,400 518.4 Ribs 0.308 NA Not calculated Shoulder (One) 0.108 NA Not calculated Abdomen (KUB) 0.712 2,800 1993.6 Biliary 0.368 2,800 1030.4 Thoracic Spine 0.800 1,200 960.0 Lumbar Spine 1.698 5,800 9848.4 Upper GI 0.726 5,500 3993.0 Barium Enema 0.646 (0.33) 3,000 1938.4 Pyelogram 0.697 (0.33) 3,300 2300.0 Pelvis 0.000 2,100 0.0 Hip 0.000 1,100 0.0 Sum 67,800 23181.34 Dose for Average Exam ----> 0.342 rads
Dose to breasts per person = (0.342 rads per exam) x (exams per person).
This follows since we have calculated the mean dose from all exams, excluding exams of extremities.
Medical Radiographic Examinations 1920-1960: Each yielding 0.342 rads to breast.Age Group Number of Exams Breast Dose (Rads) per Person per Person Under 15 years 0.16 0.055 15-24 years 0.42 0.144 25-34 years 0.56 0.192 35-44 years 0.65 0.222 45-54 years 0.72 0.246 55-64 years 0.73 0.250 65-74 years 0.73 0.250Now we shall consider the additional dose from fluoroscopic exams.
We shall very conservatively estimate the fluoroscopic exposure at 3 Roentgens per exposure, at a beam half-value layer of 2.3 mm Al. In view of the discussions above concerning limiting fluoroscopic exams to 100 Roentgens per exam in New York, it would be hard to consider 3 Roentgens of entrance dose per average fluoroscopy in 1920-1960 as any sort of overestimate. By contrast, the entrance dose from each pediatric fluoroscopy was estimated by Buschke and Parker (1942, p.527) to be 8 Roentgens if the examiner was skilled, or considerably higher if the examiner was inexperienced. Below, however, readers will see that we use zero as the annual average breast-dose from fluoroscopy for children below age 15.
For all the other ages, we will pretend that the fluoroscopic beam was never used from front to back (the AP view) --- an unrealistic approximation which clearly results in an underestimate of breast-dose for all the age-groups below. Additionally, we will assume that only one-third of the fluoroscopies exposed breast tissue. So we calculate as follows:
- For breast in PA view, 0.037 rads per Roentgen for 2.3 mm Al as half-value layer.
- For 3 Roentgens exposure, total dose = 3 x 0.037 = 0.111 rads.
- And assume only 1/3 of the fluoroscopies affected the breast tissue.
- Breast Dose from fluoroscopic examinations, = (1 /3) x 0.111 = 0.037 rads.
- No adjustment for beam hardness is needed at 2.3 mm Al half-value layer.
Fluoroscopic Examinations (including spot films and plates)
Average Age Group Number of Exams Breast-Dose in Rads per Person per Person, per Year Under 15 years 0.01 0.000 15-24 years 0.03 0.001 25-34 years 0.05 0.002 35-44 years 0.09 0.003 45-54 years 0.12 0.004 55-64 years 0.13 0.005 65-74 years 0.15 0.006Final Total Doses to Breasts at Various Ages, Roentgenograms + Fluoroscopic Exams
Average Rads, Total Age Group Breast Dose per Breast-Dose per Breast-Dose Person (films) Person (fluoroscopic) per Person Under 15 years 0.055 + 0.000 0.055 15-24 years 0.144 + 0.001 0.145 25-34 years 0.192 + 0.002 0.194 35-44 years 0.222 + 0.003 0.225 45-54 years 0.246 + 0.004 0.250 55-64 years 0.250 + 0.005 0.255 65-74 years 0.250 + 0.006 0.256
Transfer of Source Data to the Master Table (Col.P)
This final tabulation, taking into account roentgenographic and fluoroscopic exams, exceedingly conservatively stated, will provide entries for every single age-year in the Master Table, Column P.
# # # # #
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Porfimer Sodium in Diagnosing Patients With Head and Neck Cancer
RATIONALE: Drugs that make cancer cells more visible to light may help in the diagnosis of head and neck cancer.
PURPOSE: Phase II trial to study the usefulness of porfimer sodium in diagnosing patients with head and neck cancer.
Head and Neck Cancer
Drug: porfimer sodium
|Study Design:||Primary Purpose: Diagnostic|
|Official Title:||Pilot Study for the Diagnosis of Head and Neck Cancer: Photofrin and Visible Light|
|Study Start Date:||February 1995|
|Primary Completion Date:||April 2004 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)|
OBJECTIVES: I. Determine whether porfimer sodium fluorescence can be used to reveal early malignant changes in patients with lesions of the oral cavity. II. Investigate whether porfimer sodium fluorescence can define areas of field cancerization in the oral mucosa, specifically satellite foci of malignant cells within the margins of an excision. III. Determine whether uptake of fluorescence is indicative of disease stage.
OUTLINE: Patients receive porfimer sodium IV bolus and are kept in subdued light until examination with a fluorescence photometer 48 hours later. Patients must avoid sunlight and other intense lights for an additional 30 days.
PROJECTED ACCRUAL: 20 patients will be accrued per year.
|United States, New York|
|Roswell Park Cancer Institute|
|Buffalo, New York, United States, 14263-0001|
|Study Chair:||Wesley L. Hicks, MD||Roswell Park Cancer Institute|
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More than 800 million people around the world share their photos, their latest activities and their innermost thoughts on Facebook on a daily basis and Twitter has more than 100 million active users. While no one can deny the power of social media to connect people with friends and family and to advance political causes, individuals still need to be wary of their personal privacy when using social media.
The obvious concern for many people is that employers and potential employers can gather information that could hurt their careers. Since employers even tend to discredit applicants with online paralegal certification versus an applicant with certification obtained through a more traditional means, there is no telling how having privy to your social media persona could hurt your chances of securing a job. Not only should individuals be careful of posting inappropriate party photos online, but they may also need to remember not to post their golf score from the day they called in sick to work.
More troubling for many people is that Facebook and other Internet sites use their searches and posts to create a profile that can then be used by advertisers to direct their appeals to their interests. According to a New York Times article, Facebook says they do not share personal data with advertisers. The Federal Trade Commission, in a settlement in November 2011 with Facebook, now requires Facebook to subject itself to regular privacy audits for the next two decades. Facebook will also need to keep its users informed about how their personal information is shared.
While Facebook says it does not share personal information with them, advertisers have embraced social media as a prime method of reaching potential customers. According to The Washington Post, Facebook earned a profit of $668 million in 2011 and had revenue of $3.7 billion, most of it from ads that target users based on their personal data.
In addition to advertisers and employers, other organizations may be trolling Facebook and Twitter for unprotected information. Police departments and detectives have found suspects through their use of social media. Some experts believe life insurance companies may begin searching social media for information about the habits of insurance applicants to be sure they are not lying about avocations such as sky diving.
Consumers of social media can take steps to protect their privacy, but these steps will not necessarily prevent the storage of personal information about individual’s search habits, online shopping or shared photos. In an article in PC World, several steps are recommended for social media users to protect their privacy. First and foremost, everyone needs to think carefully about the information they share in the context of who may be reading it. Even with privacy settings, it is best to assume that anyone can read anything posted in social media and that the information will stay available forever. Avoiding embarrassing or obnoxious comments should be rule number one for every social media user.
Some users assume that when they post something on Facebook, only their friends will see it. However, if a friend comments on your post, a friend of that friend can often trace back the conversation to the original post. Reviewing and frequently updating the privacy settings on a Facebook account provides a barrier to others easily accessing information, but will not prevent information from leaking out to those who are determined to see it.
Guest Author Bio:
Fiona Causer is currently a student pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies. She enjoys writing and seeks to use it as a vehicle to convey ideas and engage others in discussing relevant issues of our day.
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Android is wildly popular. Over the past three years, it has spread like a wildfire, dominating the shelves of national, regional and pre-paid carriers around the world. Android devices come in all shapes and sizes, in various price points and from a handful of different manufacturers. And it's a chameleon. As Amazon showed the world with the popular Kindle Fire, an Android device doesn't have to be just like the rest or use Google services to succeed.
Android, however, is not directly profitable for Google. Unlike Microsoft, who mandates how their software is used and charges manufacturers a licensing fee per use (which is believed to range from $23 to $31), Android is an open-source operating system that Google offers totally free of charge. And, as long as they abide by a few loose guidelines, can alter the software as much as they like while still offering Google services, like Gmail, Play Store, etc.
That said, while Google doesn't make money off of Android sales directly, the platform is a mobile portal to the various services Google offers. In turn, that translates to cash. And lots of it (sort of).
Once other tech companies saw the explosion created by Android and realized just how large of a cash cow it would be, the target of Google's back began to grow. Sifting through piles of patents, lawsuits from Apple and Microsoft started coming down on Google's hardware partners. And one, Oracle, sued Google directly over Android and its use of "Java-related intellectual property" in August 2010.
Since then, there has been little said of the lawsuit – that is, until this week. Monday morning, the two Silicon Valley giants took to the court room to (attempt to) settle their score. Earlier today, Oracle completed its cross-examination of Google CEO Larry Page reports The Verge. "Page was quite candid about Android's importance to Google as a whole," says The Verge's Matt Macari. When Page was asked whether he thought Android was a "critical asset" to Google in 2010, his response was rather surprising:
"I believe Android was very important for Google. I wouldn't say it was critical."
Page was later asked "whether Google's board of directors was told that Android was critical to Google." He explained that he wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. But he played it down, saying Android was (and still is) simply a "delivery vehicle" for pre-existing Google services to mobile users.
Since the original report, Page has been under a bit of scrutiny from journos and Android fans around the Web. Playing Android down, saying it isn't critical to Google could negatively affect relations with their hardware partners, which has been on the fritz more than once in the past. Three of Android's largest hardware manufacturers – HTC, Samsung and Motorola – have all shown interest in leaving Android for alternative operating systems that would get them out of the line of fire (Apple's and Microsoft's endless barrage of lawsuits).
Not only that, but Page's comment puts off an air of complacency, as if Google doesn't need Android, or that there are no alternatives. Maybe they need Android, but it certainly plays an important role. Our own David Beren of DroidDog says:
"Page will likely take some heat for his comments, but he may be right, Android on its own, as an OS isn’t nearly as important as the means with which Android allows Google services into the hands of users."
There is no question that Android can and will earn Google a lot of money over the next decade. As the important of mobile Web grows over the next few years, Android could be Google's most important asset. Microsoft and Apple both have their own alternatives to Google services (iCloud, SkyDrive, Bing, Siri, etc.). Without Android, Google is hinging its entire mobile presence on support from competing platforms – ones that are already trying to cut the search giant out.
It's a bit of a cloudy situation, mainly because we don't have cold, hard numbers. Well, we do. But I'm not quick to take them for fact. Leading up to the trial, Google provided data that suggests they have only made $550 million in revenue from Android since 2008. Further analysis from Asymco suggests that Google makes more revenue per iOS device sold each year than they do Android.
An interesting perspective from LtRaziel, a commenter on The Verge, brings up a very interesting and convincing point, though. He suggests Google and Larry Page are playing down Android's importance to them to deflect the brunt of the suit. LtRaziel says:
"Take whatever Google is saying about Android’s value in the trial with a huge grain of salt. They are trying to downplay it so even if Oracle wins, they don’t have to give them a lot of money.
This is why from the beginning they said Android itself doesn’t make any money. So they don’t have to give Oracle anything for Android, because it’s free. and [sic] advertising is an entirely separated business. It’s also why they only “calculated” they can only settle with Oracle for $3 million per year.
So yeah. Don’t expect Google to brag about how valuable Android is to them in the trial."
This seems far more likely than Google throwing the startup they acquired in 2005 under the bus and sincerely meaning it isn't critical to their business. Google's primary business is search and ad revenue, but Android is their most secure means of distributing these services to mobile, a rapidly growing force in the online world.
What say you, readers? Should Google give Android more credit? Or is Page & Co. feigning the true importance of Android to elude the possible damages of the Oracle suit? How could a loss of Android affect Google in the long run, especially in the mobile world?
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Creative activities can help improve your health and happiness and even help you realize your full potential. Creativity can be an outlet for communication of your personal ideas. Here are some of the many benefits of having a creative outlet.
Today, with so much more time to spend at home and away from the world, it’s understandable to feel distant from people, whether they be neighbors, family, customers, or clients. By being creative (and “thinking outside the box” as we like to say), you can keep people informed and engage with your audience without even leaving your home.
Discover & Develop Unique Talent
Tapping into your creative side can offer more benefits than just being able to make something. Creative thinking can help keep your mind sharp and allow you to think in new ways and looking at problems from a different angle. Consistent creative practice can make way for even more ideas to apply to other aspects of life.
Break From Stress
Let’s face it—there’s so many reasons to be stressed. You’ve heard of meditation, but you might think of it as just sitting still, trying to clear your mind. While that’s definitely an option, we understand if that sounds impossible. A creative activity can also be a method of meditation. Having something productive to focus on lowers stress and anxiety levels: a healthy distraction that leaves you with a satisfying result.
Sense of Schedule & Progress Satisfaction
Do you find yourself starting a project but it ends up getting lost in the pile of other tasks, forgotten and unfinished? Making a schedule for your creative plans makes sure they get done—what’s more, is that you’ll see consistent progress. Here at WhiteBox Marketing, we have experience planning creative projects. Turn to us to make a step-by-step plan and let’s get it done!
Meet New People
Becoming involved with creative communities is a great way to meet new people who will support your ideas. Being able to bounce your ideas off someone and receive strong, honest feedback is essential to making your project the best it can be. WhiteBox Marketing would love to be your creative support team. Let’s work together and bring your creative ideas to life!
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Regardless of ethnicity, people can look like other people. And it’s easy to get to similar looking people mixed up.
Thankfully, David Alan Grier is on hand to offer some advice on how to tell black people apart. Interestingly his advice also applies to all other races too.
This is, of course, nothing but a skit on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. It all stems from the moment that a news anchor mistook Samuel L. Jackson for Laurence Fishburne.
I actually think a little too much was made of that innocent error, as the anchor could have made exactly the same mistake with a white actor. Still, mocking the incident is rather amusing.
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A “New Energy Future Report” has been released by the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) that focuses on how the U.S. can achieve energy self-sufficiency by 2020. The report reviews the availability of U.S conventional and renewable resources and the polices that will need to be enacted to develop these resources. The report lays out a plan that incorporates elements of both Gov. Romney and President Obama’s state energy policies. It also offers several recommendations to help implement the plans.
“Consumer Energy Alliance believes this report will improve the overall understanding of energy security and the thoughtful development and utilization of our abundant energy resources,” said CEA President David Holt. “Energy policy greatly affects our country, and we believe it is essential that it remains at the forefront of issues under discussion by our elected officials. Our country needs sound energy policy to help maintain stable energy prices for consumers and facilitate economic growth.”
A few highlights of the report include:
- Expanded energy production in the United States and Canada can create of over 1.4 million jobs and generate nearly $803 billion in government revenues by 2030.
- In order to significantly and effectively lower U.S. imports of overseas crude, the United States must focus on both decreasing the demand for transportation fuels and increasing North American supply of fuel.
- CEA believes that North America can achieve “energy self-sufficiency” and close the gap between North American supply and demand where we can meet anywhere between 80 to 95 percent of our energy needs by 2020. This is the next “big thing.”
Holt added, “America is entering the New Energy Future, one that could potentially lead to North American energy self-sufficiency by 2020. Substantial investment in the development of oil and natural gas has buoyed the economy, helping to support millions of jobs, generate billions of dollars in government revenue, and, most significantly, supply millions of consumers with affordable energy.”
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Guest Author - Tammy Elizabeth Southin
September is Menopause Awareness Month! You might wonder if we really need a month dedicated to menopause and what purpose such a declaration serves. Menopause Awareness Month shows us just how much progress is finally being made regarding womenís health issues and attitudes towards aging.
Menopause Awareness Month
The idea of devoting a month to menopause came about in the early part of the 2000-2010 decade. Medical experts across America decided that the time was right to address menopause with an updated view. This coincided with a rather stark fact; upwards of 37 million American women would be living with menopause. These large numbers meant that for the first time in history, menopause could no longer be pushed to the sidelines. Greater numbers of menopausal women required more visits to their healthcare providers.
In response, Congress passed an official bill declaring September as Menopause Awareness Month. Finally, menopause was no longer something to be whispered about or something to be ignored.
What does this all mean?
Menopause Awareness Month provides a greater forum for discussion about menopause and the effects that this condition has on women. Yes, menopause is a condition and it will happen to every woman who lives long enough. Once thought of as a disease, the new shift in attitudes is an important step to helping women understand what is happening to their bodies.
During September, doctors, researchers, and other healthcare professionals can share their knowledge and resources about menopause. By coming together, the medical experts can learn of new advancements made in menopausal treatments. At the same time, other health issues associated with menopause and the aging process are given serious consideration. For example, after years of being thought of as a manís disease, heart disease in women is becoming better understood. Acknowledging serious health issues and their impacts on women is crucial to improving quality of life and preventative medicine.
Menopause Awareness Month and You
For too long, women have been made to feel ashamed about going through menopause. Old stereotypes are slowly giving way to new ways of thinking but there is still room for improvement. Women used to feel isolated from the medical profession and even from other women; each woman believed that she was the only one going through the difficulties of menopause.
Women are now learning from each other by sharing their experiences and discussing treatment options. Type in menopause or one of the many menopause topics on any Internet search engine, and the first few pages feature many discussion forums. Technology aside, such openness was unheard of in previous generations.
If you have been putting off talking to your doctor about menopause, make this September your time to take action. Bring in a list of symptoms you have been experiencing or a list of questions. Join a discussion forum and encourage other women to keep asking questions and seeking help for their health issues.
Most of all, tell yourself that what you are going through is completely normal. You are not making it all up or looking for attention; you are a woman going through a time of physical and emotional transition.
Menopause Awareness Month is a gift to all women. It is a time to celebrate how far we have come. We can celebrate that the medical profession is recognizing menopause for what it is; a condition, not a disease. Plus we can all benefit by knowing that now we can never go back to the old ways; we can only keep going forward.
Menopause, Your Doctor, and You
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Protein receptor cools passion of 'kiss and run' nerve cellsA new subtlety in the process of how the body's nervous system relays information may hinge on how "wet" the "kiss" is when one neuron fires a packet of neurotransmitter across a synapse to a receptive nerve cell.
A team of neuroscientists led by University of Illinois at Chicago biology professor Simon Alford report the finding in the March 14 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Until recently, the neuroscience field was solidly behind the idea that these little packets, or vesicles, either released all or none of their neurotransmitter into the synaptic cleft," said Alford. "We've identified a specific molecular mechanism that targets the machinery that causes the fusion process and found that instead of an all-or-none release, the vesicle just kisses the cell's presynaptic membrane. Neuroscientists call it 'kiss and run.' When it does it, our lab has now shown that only a little bit of neurotransmitter is released.
"This is important for the cell because it implies that we can change the degree of information that's passed through the synapse every time it's fired," said Alford.
The process involves a receptor protein on a pre-synaptic nerve cell -- the side that fires the packet of neurotransmitter -- that is affected by 5-hydroxytryptamine, or 5-HT, a body chemical often associated with mood. When 5-HT binds to this cell receptor, it activates something called a G protein that is made of two subunits -- one called alpha, the other beta-gamma. When these subunits are released, they activate the next step in a chain of events that move signal information through the nerve cell.
Alford's lab previously discovered that the beta-gamma subunit affects the molecular machinery that causes release of neurotransmitter -- the amino acid glutamate.
"It's very fast," said Alford. "You turn on a G protein, and it immediately targets the mechanism to modify release."
On the receiving cell, the post-synaptic side, there is a range of protein receptors that vary in sensitivity to the amount of neurotransmitter that's released. Some scientists think if the release of neurotransmitter can be controlled to take into account the sensitivity and roles played by post-synaptic receptors, new drugs for treating a range of neurological conditions might be developed.
Alford thinks that controlling agent may turn out to be 5-HT.
"When you release 5-HT onto the terminal (pre-synaptic) cell, you can switch the relative activation of different receptors on the post-synaptic cell," he said. "You don't just change the amount of neurotransmitter released, but you change what's activated -- the balance of different things that are activated in the next cell down the chain. In a sense, it's like you've turned a channel."
Heidi Hamm, professor and chair of pharmacology at Vanderbilt University, is a co-author of the PNAS paper. Other authors are Huzefa Photowala, Trillium Blackmer and Eric Schwartz, all former graduate students or post-doctoral researchers in Alford's UIC laboratory.
Funding was provided by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Eye Institute.
Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 30 Apr 2016
Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.
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July 17, 2013
Hampshire pig gets pioneering cancer treatment
Playful as a puppy even at 730 pounds, Nemo, a rescued black-and-white Hampshire pig, became a porcine pioneer when lymphoma struck.
Undergoing a novel care plan, he became a teaching case for veterinary oncologists at the Cornell University Hospital for Animals (CUHA), paving the way to combat cancer in large animals.
Nemo is believed to be the first pig to be treated for lymphoma. The pig’s medical treatment began when his owner, George Goldner, saw his friend fall ill.
“I want to do everything humanly possible for my animals,” said Goldner, who has a farm sanctuary in New York’s Catskill Mountains. “They’re rescues, and we [with co-owner Nancy Krieg] keep them for life. Pigs are very smart. If you’re nice to them they’re very friendly. Nemo’s a real performer; he’s attractive, loves people and has a great personality.”
When the 4-year-old had a coughing fit and laid down in the snow, Goldner drove Nemo nearly four hours to Cornell’s hospital, where the pig was diagnosed with presumptive B-cell lymphoma, a blood cancer.
CUHA clinicians from across fields worked to prepare for intravenous medication delivery. In the first such procedure ever done to treat a sick pig, surgeon Jim Flanders, who had performed similar procedures in smaller animals, joined large-animal surgeon Susan Fubini to surgically implant a vascular access port.
They ran a catheter up a vein in Nemo’s neck to a port behind his ear, creating a route for delivering drugs where they would be most effective while minimizing harm. Resident Emily Barrell selected and delivered the chemotherapeutic drugs.
“Although lymphoma has been documented in swine, there aren’t any documented cases of pigs being treated for it,” said CUHA oncologist Cheryl Balkman. “We adapted a treatment plan based on what we know is effective in dogs, cats and humans with lymphoma.”
Nemo’s clinical signs soon resolved, and he has continued to do well during long-term treatment. Though little is known about the prognosis for pigs with cancer, Nemo has the notable distinction of establishing a precedent for pigs battling cancer, giving veterinarians valuable information for helping large animals. Since arriving in March, Nemo has resided at CUHA.
“He has a better life there,” said Goldner. “He’s running around digging holes, eating pineapples, communicating vocally and getting lots of love. CUHA’s people play with him and bring him treats, and he plays funny tricks like tossing water at the residents. The vets have cared for him with amazing dedication and thoughtfulness, especially Dr. Barrell. It’s been a wonderful effort on the part of several people: a testament to the outstanding work done at Cornell.”
Carly Hodes ’10, MBA ’15, is a communications specialist at the College of Veterinary Medicine.
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Nightly News | April 27, 2013
>>> warnings about heart attacks , the things we can do to lower our risk, but now comes worry that despite our best efforts, many of us may have a hidden risk for heart attacks that doctors are just now beginning to understand. with more, here's robert bazell .
>> six years ago, linda was the very picture of health . she ate right and had frequent check-ups. then she had a heart attack .
>> i didn't think i was at risk for a heart attack , number one, because i was very thin. my cholesterol, they checked everything all these years.
>> many people have heart attacks even though they don't have high cholesterol , high blp and diabetes, so doctors are always looking for new risk factors t. latest culprit, a chemical called tamo. a three-year study of 4,000 people who had been treated for heart disease showed the higher level of tmao in the blood, the greater their future risk.
>> a simple blood test that's measuring a bacterial prukd is able to predict risk for heart attack , stroke --
>> when a person eats cheese, eggs and red meat , harmless bacteria help digest the food, but in the process, they increase tmao, which increases plaque in the arteries. this latest study is part of a growing understanding of the complex role of gut bacteria in health. we need the bacteria to help digest food and try to kill them off with antibiotics only makes things worse. if this latest research holds up, a blood test for tmao may become another way to identify people at risk frk heart disease . understanding the role of gut bacteria may lead to new ways to prevent heart disease . robert bazell , nbc news, new york.
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Spring 2018 exhibition will feature groundbreaking designs from the High’s collection, which represents the second largest public repository of Laarman’s work in the world
ATLANTA, Sept. 6, 2017 – From furniture generated by algorithms to a “living” lampshade made of genetically modified cells, the work of pioneering Dutch designer Joris Laarman (born 1979) redefines the boundaries between art, science and technology. The High Museum of Art will offer an in-depth look at his innovative oeuvre as the exclusive Southeast venue for “Joris Laarman Lab: Design in the Digital Age.” The exhibition, on view Feb. 18 through May 13, 2018, will feature numerous designs from the High’s collection, which boasts the largest public holdings of the Dutch artist’s work outside of his home country.
Organized by the Groninger Museum, the Netherlands, “Joris Laarman Lab” is the first museum survey to comprehensively explore Laarman’s creative prowess and curiosity through a range of works dating from 2004 to the present that blend emerging technologies with skilled craftsmanship. Furniture designs, applied projects and experiments from every phase of his career are presented alongside related videos, sketches and renderings that illustrate the Joris Laarman Lab’s creative and production processes. Founded in 2004, the Lab is a multidisciplinary hub of scientists, engineers, programmers and craftspeople who explore the possibilities of design through research, experimentation and groundbreaking technology.
“Laarman and his Lab are design pioneers and idea detonators. Laarman’s intellectual, thoughtful and collaborative approach to design propels him to explore new means and methods for creating, resulting in a remarkably innovative and beautiful body of work,” said Sarah Schleuning, High Museum of Art curator of decorative arts and design. “We have been supporting Laarman’s work for nearly a decade through major acquisitions and commissions, such as the ‘Digital Matter’ voxel tables he created for our 2011 exhibition ‘Modern by Design.’ It is an honor to further the High’s dedication to his practice by presenting an expansive view of Laarman’s landmark contributions to contemporary design.”
“On the heels of our piazza installation series and such exhibitions as ‘Making Africa,’ ‘Sneaker Culture’ and ‘Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion,’ which the High co-organized with the Groninger, ‘Joris Laarman Lab’ builds on the Museum’s commitment to showcasing design in all forms and to championing the visionaries who conceive the world we experience,” said Rand Suffolk, Nancy and Holcombe T. Green, Jr., director of the High Museum of Art.
Arranged into sections focused on the designer’s major bodies of work, the exhibition includes groundbreaking projects Laarman created as a student in the early 2000s and continues through his most recent 3-D printing innovations.
Featured works include:
- “Heatwave” radiator and “Ivy” climbing wall (2004) from Laarman’s groundbreaking thesis project “Reinventing Functionality”: “Heatwave” incorporates Baroque curves and aesthetics in a functional and beautiful wall radiator; the lavish curves provide greater surface area to radiate heat more efficiently. The High will present both the original prototype (2003) in its collection and the 2004 Jaga production model. The “Ivy” climbing wall is simultaneously an elegant architectural element and a means of exercise or transportation. Its curvilinear forms transform sterile white walls into a playful, interactive environment.
- “Bone Chair” (2006): Although the organic form of Laarman’s “Bone Chair” may be reminiscent of Art Nouveau furniture designs from the early 1900s, it is firmly rooted in the technology of the 21st century. Laarman created the design using computer software developed for the European automotive industry. Based on scientific research into the structural growth patterns of bones and trees, the software mimics their capacity to add, remove and redistribute matter in response to external stimuli. The chair, which is part of the High’s collection, joins six other works from Laarman’s “Bone Furniture” series in the exhibition.
- “Digital Matter” (2011): Commissioned by the High in 2011 for its “Modern by Design” exhibition, this series features tables constructed by a mounted robotic arm programmed to build relatively high-definition, digitally ornamented side tables in three different resolutions using thousands of building blocks called voxels (the three-dimensional version of a pixel). The tables’ designs reference the Rococo period; however, the ornaments (little flowers and clouds) come from the world of the famous video game character Super Mario.
- “Makerchairs” (2014): Laarman explores the intersections of design, DIY and digital technology with this series, which includes 12 chairs assembled like 3-D puzzles from modular elements produced using relatively small and affordable machines. Laarman experimented with different patterns for the chairs’ pieces, such as stripes, diamonds and diagonals. Some versions of the “Makerchair” are available for download as open-source design.
- “Dragon Bench” (2014): Laarman developed his own 3D-printing robot, the MX3D, to make this impressive bench, now in the High’s collection. The robot’s specially adapted arm draws molten metal lines in the air to create a form regardless of orientation and without the need for support structures. The “Dragon Bench” represents Laarman’s ongoing explorations in fabrication through 3-D printing innovation. Accompanying the bench will be dramatic renderings of Laarman’s current project using the revolutionary MX3D technology: a fully functional footbridge that will cross one of the oldest canals in central Amsterdam.
The exhibition was previously on view at the Groninger Museum and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. Following its presentation at the High, the exhibition will travel to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (June 17 through Sept. 9, 2018).
“Joris Laarman Lab” is curated by Mark Wilson and Sue-an van der Zijpp, Groninger Museum, and managed at the High by Schleuning. An updated catalogue featuring essays by Schleuning, Cindi Strauss (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, curator of modern and contemporary decorative arts and design) and Andrea Lipps (Cooper Hewitt assistant curator of contemporary design) will be published to accompany the North American tour.
About Joris Laarman
Born in Borculo, the Netherlands, Laarman graduated cum laude from the Design Academy in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, in 2003 with his thesis project “Reinventing Functionality,” which featured the lauded “Heatwave” radiator, now in the High’s collection. In 2004, Laarman and his partner Anita Star founded Joris Laarman Lab. Laarman’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at distinguished institutions worldwide and is found in the prestigious collections of The Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Denver Art Museum; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Laarman lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The exhibition is accompanied by a 302-page comprehensive monograph featuring a photographic overview of each of Laarman’s collections. The book features essays by Schleuning, Strauss and Lipps, which are complemented by detailed descriptions and interviews.
Exhibition Organization and Support
“Joris Laarman Lab: Design in the Digital Age” is organized by the Groninger Museum, the Netherlands. Support for this exhibition is provided by Creative Industries Fund NL. This exhibition is made possible by Premier Exhibition Series Partner Bank of America; Exhibition Series Sponsors Delta Air Lines, Inc., and Turner; Premier Exhibition Series Supporters Anne Cox Chambers Foundation, the Antinori Foundation, Ann and Tom Cousins, Sarah and Jim Kennedy, Jane and Hicks Lanier, Louise Sams and Jerome Grilhot, and wish foundation; and Contributing Exhibition Series Supporters Barbara and Ron Balser, Corporate Environments, Peggy Foreman, James F. Kelly Charitable Trust, The Lubo Fund, Margot and Danny McCaul, and Joyce and Henry Schwob. Generous support is also provided by the Alfred and Adele Davis Exhibition Endowment Fund, Anne Cox Chambers Exhibition Fund, Barbara Stewart Exhibition Fund, Dorothy Smith Hopkins Exhibition Endowment Fund, Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund, Forward Arts Foundation Exhibition Endowment Fund, Helen S. Lanier Endowment Fund, Howell Exhibition Fund, and John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Exhibition Endowment Fund.
About the High Museum of Art
The High is the leading art museum in the southeastern United States. With more than 16,000 works of art in its permanent collection, the High Museum of Art has an extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American art; a substantial collection of historical and contemporary decorative arts and design; significant holdings of European paintings; a growing collection of African American art; and burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, photography, folk and self-taught art, and African art. The High is also dedicated to supporting and collecting works by Southern artists. Through its education department, the High offers programs and experiences that engage visitors with the world of art, the lives of artists and the creative process. For more information about the High, visit high.org.
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Marci Tate Davis
Manager of Public Relations
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Although my favourite expression in class is ” It is very easy”, there’s no point in denying English prepositions are hard to learn, if you can ever say you learn them. I don’t know about other languages but Spanish students seem to consistently make mistakes when using prepositions after these two verbs. Let’s study them:
♥TO MARRY AND TO BE/GET MARRIED
- marry somebody (no preposition required)
Please, marry me !! he said
I married a person I am still in love with
- be/get married to somebody.
She used to be married to my brother
I got married to my childhood sweetheart
♥ TO DREAM
- dream about sth /sb when you are sleeping
Last night I dreamt about the exam
- dream of you are awake, you think about something pleasant you would like to happen .
I have always dreamt of visiting Japan
She had this romantic dream of changing the world
Hope it helps!! 🙂A little quiz , perhaps?
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68 years ago today, the Australian government approved a second attack on the enemy host — because the first one hadn't been particularly successful — in what was to become known as the "(Great) Emu War".
You read that correctly. The enemy that Australia was fighting was the large, silly relative to the ostrich known as the emu. About twenty thousand of them were causing enough trouble for the Australian farmers, that it was decided that military action was needed.
Guns against emus. I'm not making this up. Anyway, the first attack wasn't the amazing success one might expect when the Royal Australian Artillery with frigging machine guns moves against a group of flightless birds.
In the words of ornithologist Dominic Serventy:
Major Meredith also expresses his clear disappointment at the birds' sturdy builds:
I was going to say that in the century of gene modification, someone is bound to build an army of armed emus sooner or later. But I'm momentarily stunned by the comparison of emus to Zulus.
Anyway, the second attack was more successful, resulting in about a thousand direct kills, and about 2,500 birds dying from bullet injuries. Allegedly, 100 of the emu skins were collected, their feathers used to make hats for light horsemen.
A decent test suite can help you catch simple programming errors. An excellent test suite helps you with the design.
A decent test suite tells you "you missed a spot". An excellent test suite tells you "no, that's not it — I remember more of the design than you do". And then, when you get it mostly right, it tells you "you missed a spot". Or, put differently, you're not done until both you and the tests say it's fine. It's bloody frustrating, but it really helps, too.
Today, I had that kind of battle with
pls. The tests are pretty good, and thus they boss me around. Even when I want them to adhere to a new design, like I did today, they still drive me more than I drive them. Brings a slightly new ring to the term "test-driven".
Here's how I originally thought project installation would happen:
- Fetch recursively
- Build recursively
- Test recursively
- Install recursively
Simple, and fine.
Then jnthn showed up (about half a year ago) and told me that that's not how people expect things to happen. So I got a new model, which looks more like this:
- Fetch-Build-Test-Install all dependencies (recursively)
Had to drag the tests, kicking and screaming, into this new model, but it was OK. They made sure I didn't botch things up. Things were fine again.
pls with real projects, though, it turned out that the model contained a heinous oversight. See, we only know the dependencies of a project after it's been fetched, but the tests had all their dependencies given up front, and (oops) assumed in some places that they would be.
So I changed that. And everything broke completely.
Why? Because I had used test-driven development, and the code was shaped after the tests. So the code also relied heavily on the faulty assumption. Specifically, the counter-measures for cyclic dependencies seem to have assumed a static model of dependencies, and the cycle-detecting code seemed to end up doing infinite recursive nastiness when it didn't.
Making all of it work meant taking a good look at code that was perfect under the old model, trying to understand why it was less-than-perfect under the new. Ow; brain hurt.
The tests, and judicious debug output, helped me through it. Here's the commit. Now my model looks like this:
- Make sure there are no cycles
- Fetch recursively
- Built-Test-Install all dependencies (recursively)
And it seems to work. Both the tests and I are happy.
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Over the last week, Panini filed documents with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (that's TTAB for the cool kids) explaining why it believes Leaf's oppositions against Panini's LIMITED and PRIZM trademark applications should fail.
I slightly agree with Panini on one, and think Panini is dead wrong on the other.
Is PRISMATIC a Trademark?
For the Prizm challenge, the fight is going to be over whether Leaf uses the term PRISMATIC as a trademark.
Panini's argument: "Your honors, Leaf refers to certain cards as being 'prismatic.' 'Prismatic' simply describes what these cards are: shiny and normally limited in number. That's not a trademark use because 'prismatic' simply describes the cards. So, unless Leaf can show that the word has acquired 'secondary meaning,' it loses."
Legal translation: In this context, secondary meaning means when people hear "prismatic" they must think of Leaf.
Back to Panini's Argument: "PRIZM, on the other hand, is a proper trademark use because it refers to our product. It does not merely describe the product's characteristics. And because PRISMATIC is not a proper trademark, it can't block PRIZM. So Panini wins!"
It's a decent argument. Consumers do use "prismatic" to refer to the characteristics of the card. However, there's a rub, what the heck does prismatic mean?
Law of Cards definition of "prismatic": Having to do with prisms or having to do with bright, spectral colors.
Technically, PRISMATIC cards are just shiny cards. They don’t have anything to do with prisms, or really bright, spectral colors. So, arguably, Leaf is using the word PRISMATIC incorrectly.
While Leaf's use of the term "prismatic" might drive an eighth grade English teacher crazy, in the world of trademarks, it's a good thing. If you are using a word wrong, it can't be used to describe the card so, voila, it becomes a trademark use!
Leaf's counterargument, while legally valid, is a little complex, so their attorneys could lose the judges. I can also see Panini developing a good argument as to why the word PRISMATIC actually does describe the cards (prismatic might mean shiny colors) which could refute Leaf's position all together.
Bottom line? It'll come down to experts testifying about, in their expensive expert opinions, if a consumer hears the word PRISMATIC, do they think of Leaf or something else?
Now that I've learned both sides’ arguments (without seeing any evidence), I think Panini does have a slightly better position. It's simple and really requires less proof than what Leaf would need to bring to the table. So, in this instance, I give Panini about a 60 percent chance of winning.
It's probably the right result as well. I mean, Topps didn't file a trademark application on REFRACTOR
(Although I reserve the right to revise this opinion if Topps decides to file and obtain a REFRACTOR trademark, which, now that I think about it -- Topps, go for it. It's worth a shot.)
The Battle for LIMITED
While Panini has a slightly stronger position for PRISMATIC, I've repeated often that I think its LIMITED position is a loser.
Panini's TTAB response doesn't start strong, because it seems to concede that LIMITED is a descriptive term. But, unlike its position about Leaf and PRISMATIC, Panini believes LIMITED has acquired "secondary meaning" so that when a consumer hears it, they automatically think, "Panini."
On this one, I'm giving Panini just a 20 percent chance of winning.
As a consumer, when I think "limited," I think of a card being limited in number. Or a limited edition. Although maybe that's just because I never bought a LIMITED product.
Legal confession: OK, last week, I purchased my first Leaf LIMITED and Panini LIMITED cards to add to my collection of cards involved in lawsuits. But still, when I hear the word "limited," it has nothing to do in my mind with these products.
In its answer, Panini claims LIMITED gained secondary meaning since at least 1994 "via the substantially exclusive and continuous use of LIMITED in United States interstate commerce by Applicant and Applicant's immediate predecessors-in-interest, including Donruss…"
Legal conclusion: Anyone else catch the wiggle word? Substantially exclusive? That's like saying "almost" exclusive. And last time I checked, the words "exclusive" and "almost" do not go together.
It's like being a member of an "almost" exclusive club. Sounds bad, huh?
That just sets up Leaf's (and Topps', and maybe Upper Deck's) inevitable attack against Panini's mark: Hey, you let others use it! That's not exclusivity! You gave it away! And for years others used it! And you didn't say anything about it. But now you want it back? Too late!
I think Leaf has made a winning argument. Not to mention that the word "limited" is pretty generic in the industry too, and generic terms can never be trademarks, even if there is secondary meaning.
So, (again, without seeing any evidence), I think Panini's LIMITED will not be registered.
But, you never know. I thought the Trademark Office would reject Panini's LIMITED application in the first place.
For both cases, we're finally onto the evidence collection phase. That normally takes place off the public radar, so it might be awhile before we get to see each side's proof.
I suspect, however, these cases won't get that far. I expect they'll both settle, at the same time, in about six months. These are interesting issues to fight over, but neither side wants to spend the money to do that.
The information provided in Paul Lesko's "Law of Cards" column is not intended to be legal advice, but merely conveys general information related to legal issues commonly encountered in the sports industry. This information is not intended to create any legal relationship between Paul Lesko, the Simmons Browder Gianaris Angelides & Barnerd LLC or any attorney and the user. Neither the transmission nor receipt of these website materials will create an attorney-client relationship between the author and the readers.
The views expressed in the "Law of Cards" column are solely those of the author and are not affiliated with the Simmons Law Firm. You should not act or rely on any information in the "Law of Cards" column without seeking the advice of an attorney. The determination of whether you need legal services and your choice of a lawyer are very important matters that should not be based on websites or advertisements.
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How do we advance sustainable practices in a world driven by the profit motive? Public policy that mandates the use of renewables by private companies is one way. Not surprisingly, though, this sort of approach is often blockaded by those private interests. This week on Sea Change Radio, host Alex Wise talks with Ezra Garrett, the Chief Sustainability Officer from Pacific Gas and Electric, or PG&E, a private company that appears to be getting out of the way of sustainability advocates. This is no small matter, given that PG&E has a veritable monopoly in California, the nation’s most populous state. We hear from Mr. Garrett about PG&E’s track record on sustainability, what they are doing to get to the mandated threshold of 33% renewables within the next seven years, and whether they feel more comfortable backing policy or backing off from politics altogether.
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Jan 3, 2002
A unique fluconazol dosis :
1.- Can Control an oral candidisis? 2.- with a isoconazol cream Can control a balanitis ? Thanks and happy new year.
Response from Dr. Feinberg
A single oral dose of fluconazole may not be sufficient to cure oral candidiasis-- usually it takes at least 3 doses. It is possible to control candida balanitis with topical antifungals.
Immune Recovery Uveitis
This forum is designed for educational purposes only, and experts are not rendering medical, mental health, legal or other professional advice or services. If you have or suspect you may have a medical, mental health, legal or other problem that requires advice, consult your own caregiver, attorney or other qualified professional.
Experts appearing on this page are independent and are solely responsible for editing and fact-checking their material. Neither TheBody.com nor any advertiser is the publisher or speaker of posted visitors' questions or the experts' material.
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Despite continuous advances in the medical and pest control fields, eliminating dangers related to mosquito bites is not an easy feat. As the weather gets warmer, mosquitoes seem to be everywhere. Heat and humidity create the most favorable breeding ground for these annoyances. Historically mosquito-borne diseases were considered a threat throughout areas such as Africa, South America, Central America, and much of Asia. However, throughout the past decade mosquito-transmitted diseases have become a more common area of concern to the general population.
Mosquitos carry diseases
There are more than 3,000 species of mosquitoes documented and each one can carry a specific disease. Most people don’t understand the gravity of this health hazard or how to appropriately handle it. Medical breakthroughs such as vaccines and antibiotics are very useful, but do not always prove effective. Mosquito-borne diseases such as Malaria, Dengue Fever, West Nile virus, Yellow Fever, and Encephalitis can all lead to fatality if left misdiagnosed or untreated. More common are infections or sores caused by repeatedly scratched and aggravated mosquito bites.
How to avoid mosquito bites
Education and proper protection are the best ways enjoy the outdoors while avoiding potentially harmful mosquito bites. Keep these important facts in mind throughout the upcoming warm weather months:
- Mosquitoes are most active in the early evening and early morning
- They are attracted to darker colors; Wear long sleeved shirts and pants with fabric thick enough to prevent mosquito bites
- Wear shoes and socks; Your feet are easily accessible to those hiding throughout the grass. A mosquito hat can be worn to protect your face and neck rather than using repellants.
- If you do want a repellant, choose one that contains DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide); The correct DEET containing product should be determined by the wearer’s age and time spent outdoors:
- 30% DEET will remain effective for approximately 5 hours
- 10% DEET will provide approximately 3 hours of protection
- 5% DEET provides approximately 2 hours of protection
- Do not depend on outdoor repellents such as citronella candles and mosquito coils. In order to truly be effective the area must be protected so that the wind/elements do not dissipate the ingredients
- Ultrasonic devices, incents and bug zappers have not been proven effective in preventing mosquito bites. Their purpose is to attract mosquitoes, so if you’re using one ensure that it is located away from the community areas
- Mosquitoes are especially prevalent in temperatures around 45-68 degrees and near large bodies of water, in high humidity or marshy areas
- Eliminate any standing water in or around your yard’s community areas so there aren’t ideal breeding grounds available
Contrary to popular belief, mosquitoes actually feed off of nectar, not blood. However, several female species are also capable of drinking the blood of mammals. During their breeding season, female mosquitoes require iron and proteins to produce their eggs, which often lead them to readily available mammal blood. Although there is no venom or poison injected when a female mosquito bites you, the toxins from her saliva are what cause the dreaded itchy and inflamed reaction for most people. Any possible diseases or viruses are also passed through the saliva.
Now that you understand their breeding and feeding habits, as well as what proper protection is, taking the right precautions should be a breeze. However, if you feel that you have an unusual level of mosquitoes around your yard, call a pest control company for an experienced opinion about mosquito control. Their professionals should be able to offer additional methods or alternatives to preventing mosquito bites this season.
Modern Pest Services has been providing fast, effective pest control solutions throughout New England since 1945. If you’re having issues with mosquitoes, contact us at 1-800-323-7378. Call today to learn how you can get $25 off your first mosquito service.
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The Closing of the Academic Mind
LONDON – I would wager that I have been Chancellor of more universities than anyone alive today. This is partly because when I was Governor of Hong Kong, I was made Chancellor of every university in the city. I protested that it would surely be better for the universities to choose their own constitutional heads. But the universities would not allow me to resign gracefully. So for five years I enjoyed the experience of giving tens of thousands of students their degrees and watching what this rite of passage meant for them and their families.
When I came back to Britain in 1997, I was asked to become Chancellor of Newcastle University. Then, in 2003, I was elected Chancellor by the graduates of Oxford University, one of the world’s greatest institutions of learning. So it should not be surprising that I have strong views about what it means to be a university and to teach, do research, or study at one.
Universities should be bastions of freedom in any society. They should be free from government interference in their primary purposes of research and teaching; and they should control their own academic governance. I do not believe it is possible for a university to become or remain a world-class institution if these conditions do not exist.
The role of a university is to promote the clash of ideas, to test the results of research with other scholars, and to impart new knowledge to students. Freedom of speech is thus fundamental to what universities are, enabling them to sustain a sense of common humanity and uphold the mutual tolerance and understanding that underpin any free society. That, of course, makes universities dangerous to authoritarian governments, which seek to stifle the ability to raise and attempt to answer difficult questions.
But if any denial of academic liberty is a blow struck against the meaning of a university, the irony today is that some of the most worrying attacks on these values have been coming from inside universities.
In the United States and the United Kingdom, some students and teachers now seek to constrain argument and debate. They contend that people should not be exposed to ideas with which they strongly disagree. Moreover, they argue that history should be rewritten to expunge the names (though not the endowments) of those who fail to pass today’s tests of political correctness. Thomas Jefferson and Cecil Rhodes, among others, have been targeted. And how would Churchill and Washington fare if the same tests were applied to them?
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Some people are being denied the chance to speak as well – so-called “no platforming”, in the awful jargon of some clearly not very literate campuses. There are calls for “safe spaces” where students can be protected from anything that assaults their sense of what is moral and appropriate. This reflects and inevitably nurtures a harmful politics of victimization – defining one’s own identity (and thus one’s interests) in opposition to others.
When I was a student 50 years ago, my principal teacher was a leading Marxist historian and former member of the Communist Party. The British security services were deeply suspicious of him. He was a great historian and teacher, but these days I might be encouraged to think that he had threatened my “safe space.” In fact, he made me a great deal better informed, more open to discussion of ideas that challenged my own, more capable of distinguishing between an argument and a quarrel, and more prepared to think for myself.
Of course, some ideas – incitement of racial hatred, gender hostility, or political violence – are anathema in every free society. Liberty requires some limits (decided freely by democratic argument under the rule of law) in order to exist.
Universities should be trusted to exercise that degree of control themselves. But intolerance of debate, of discussion, and of particular branches of scholarship should never be tolerated. As the great political philosopher Karl Popper taught us, the only thing we should be intolerant of is intolerance itself. That is especially true at universities.
Yet some American and British academics and students are themselves undermining freedom; paradoxically, they have the liberty to do so. Meanwhile, universities in China and Hong Kong are faced with threats to their autonomy and freedom, not from within, but from an authoritarian government.
In Hong Kong, the autonomy of universities and free speech itself, guaranteed in the city’s Basic Law and the 50-year treaty between Britain and China on the city’s status, are under threat. The rationale seems to be that, because students strongly supported the pro-democracy protests in 2014, the universities where they study should be brought to heel. So the city’s government blunders away, stirring up trouble, clearly on the orders of the government in Beijing.
Indeed, the Chinese authorities only recently showed what they think of treaty obligations and of the “golden age” of Sino-British relations (much advertised by British ministers), by abducting a British citizen (and four other Hong Kong residents) on the city’s streets. The five were publishing books that exposed some of the dirty secrets of China’s leaders.
On the mainland, the Chinese Communist Party has launched the biggest crackdown on universities since the aftermath of the killings in Tiananmen Square in 1989. There is to be no discussion of so-called Western values in China’s universities. Only Marxism can be taught. Did no one tell President Xi Jinping and his Politburo colleagues where Karl Marx came from? The trouble these days is precisely that they know little about Marx but a lot about Lenin.
Westerners should take a closer interest in what is happening in China’s universities and what that tells us about the real values underpinning scholarship, teaching, and the academy. Compare and contrast, as students are asked to do.
Do you want universities where the government decides what it is allegedly safe for you to learn and discuss? Or do you want universities that regard the idea of a “safe space” – in terms of closing down debate in case it offends someone – as an oxymoron in an academic setting? Western students should think occasionally about their counterparts in Hong Kong and China who must fight for freedoms that they take for granted – and too often abuse.
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The treble crochet, commonly abbreviated Tr, is used in an array of projects! It’s the 4th tallest crochet stitch.
To make the treble crochet, yarn over 2 times, insert hook into next stitch, yarn over, draw up loop, yarn over, pull through two loops, yarn over, pull through two loops.
For a visual aid, refer to the video below
Make sure to subscribe to The Lavender Chair on YouTube to continue to stay updated on new tutorials.
For more videos subscribe to The Lavender Chair on YouTube.
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Basically by asking "How were Trimurthis born?" This question is asking "Who is the originator of whom?" Or "Who is the Ishwara?" Several answers are given here, but most of them are only from their perspective. Here I present all perspectives of all Trimurty.
Yajurveda Shatapatha Brahmana 18.104.22.168
Verily, Prajâpati [...
Vishnu has no beginning or end. As Vishnu's incarnation Krishna says in the Bhagavad Gita, "Neither the hosts of gods nor the great sages know My origin or opulences, for, in every respect, I am the source of the gods and sages. He who knows Me as the unborn, as the beginningless, as the Supreme Lord of all the worlds – he only, undeluded among men, ...
First of all, yes, there is a notion of a greater Vishnu and a lesser Vishnu. This concept is expressed in simplest terms in this chapter of the Vishnu Purana:
Affecting then the quality of activity, Hari, the lord of all, himself becoming Brahmá, engaged in the creation of the universe. Vishńu with the quality of goodness, and of immeasurable power, ...
When a person gets Brahma-Vidya / Moksha then there is no rebirth for that person. And when he doesn't have birth he can't do various sacrifices and rituals for Devatas. So, Gods do not want that men should attain Brahma Vidya. It is explained in Brihadaranyaka Upanishad as:
I-iv-9: They say: Men think, ‘Through the knowledge of Brahman we shall become ...
Your understanding is more or less proper. Brahman is One infinite whole as the Upanishads say. Same Brahman which is Nirguana appears as Various names and forms through its own power of Maya.
I have tried to explain the same but using terminologies of Upanishad in few write-ups in this link- https://nithinsridhar.wordpress.com/tag/saguna-brahman/
It's true that Brahman is conscious, and that Brahman is the one that gives both rewards and punishments, so in that sense it is the efficient cause of all suffering. But it is not being cruel or capricious in doing this; it is doing this in accordance with the law of Karma. Here is what Adi Shankaracharya says in his commentary on the Brahma Sutras:
The path of knowledge is commonly referred to as Jnana Yoga. What is meant by Jnana depends upon the scripture being read. Oftentimes scripture will distinguish between
Vijnana (refers to Knowledge -meaning Realization of Brahman, Transcendent Perception of the Ultimate) and
Jnana (meaning mental and scriptural knowledge/understanding of Brahman, but not ...
One has to see the full context regarding how the Mahavakya is spoken. The complete verse from Brihadaranyaka Upanishad is as:
ब्रह्म वा इदमग्र आसीत्, तदात्मानमेवावेत् ‘अहं ब्रह्मास्मि’ इति । तस्मात् तत् सर्वमभवतद्यो यो देवानां प्रत्यबुध्यत स एव तदभवत्तथर्षीणां तथा मनुष्याणां तद्धेतत्पश्यन्नृषिर्वामदेवः प्रतिपेदेऽहं मनुरभवं सूर्यश्चेति । तदिदमप्येतर्हि य ...
Indra is called as the Lord of the Universe, the all pervader and the Supreme Lord in many Vedic verses. Here are some examples from RigVeda:
रूपं-रूपं परतिरूपो बभूव तदस्य रूपं परतिचक्षणाय |
इन्द्रो मायाभिः पुरुरूप ईयते युक्ता हयस्य हरयःशता दश || (RigVeda 6.47.18)
In every figure he hath been the mode: this is his only form for us to look on. Indra ...
The following Veda Mantra describes the Divine Sun as the inner soul of all that exists.
Chitram devAnAm udagAd anikam chakshur mitrasya varunasya agneh (1),
AprA dyAvAprithivi antarikshma (2), surya AtmA jagatas tasthushah cha
The wonderful face of the Gods has arisen, the eye of the Mitra,
Varuna and Agni (1); The Sun has ...
The definition of Brahman is given in this chapter of the Taittiriya Upanishad:
yato va imani bhutani jayante ।
yena jatani jivanti ।
tad brahmeti ।
That from whence these beings are born, that by which, when born, they live, that into which they enter at their death, try to know that. That ...
Mahabharata, Santi Parva, Section CCLXXX says:
Know that this entire universe is under the control of one divine Being. The Veda that is in the soul.......regards the unity of various creatures. When a living creature realizes this unity in consequence of true knowledge, he is then said to attain to Brahman.
Mahabharata, Vana Parva, Section CCLXX says:
Brahman can be thought of in its as Saguna Brahman and as Nirguna Brahman. Parabrahman refers to Nirguna Brahman.
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says (Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Chapter 10, The Master and the Brahmo Devotees (III)):
MASTER: "When the Godhead is thought of as creating, preserving, and destroying, It is known as the Personal God, Saguna Brahman, ...
This answer is based on teachings of Swami Sivananda. Swami Sivananda wrote many books explaining Brahmacharya, such as Practice of Brahmacharya. I will quotes some of his words here.
Swami Sivanada says Brahmacharya literally means Achara or conduct that leads to the realization of Brahman or one’s own Self and conduct is control of semen, the study of the ...
There are Plenty of verses. I'm just selecting a few of them from RigVeda.
“त्वमघ्न इन्द्रो वृषभः सतामसि त्वं विष्णुरुरुघायो नमस्यः
त्वं ब्रह्मा रयिविद् ब्रह्मणस् पते त्वं विधर्तःसचसे पुरन्ध्या " (RigVeda 2.1.3)
“Hero of Heroes, Agni! Thou art Indra, thou art Viṣṇu of the Mighty Stride, adorable: Thou, Brahmaṇaspati, the Brahman finding ...
The single line answer is "Pure bhakthi and Pure Jnana are same".
If you try to study both gurus lives, you will understand that:
Sankaracharya is outwardly jnani but inside he is a pure bhaktha.
Sri Ramakrishna is Outwardly bhaktha but inside he is pure Jnani.
Sankara himself re-initiated most of famous south Indian temple daily procedures and we can ...
This is actually a Shanti Mantra (peace Mantra) from the Upanishads. It can be interpreted in different ways.
One translation from greenmesg.com is as follows:
ॐ पूर्णमदः पूर्णमिदं पूर्णात्पुर्णमुदच्यते पूर्णस्य पूर्णमादाय
पूर्णमेवावशिष्यते ॥ ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
Om Puurnnam-Adah Puurnnam-Idam Puurnnaat-Purnnam-Udacyate
The scriptural evidence that you are searching for is found in the Brahmanda Purana.It describes why and how Lalita Parameswari manifested out of the Yagna fire.Quoting from here:
In the heaven, all the Devatas including Brahma, could not comprehend
what was going on and what had caused the situation. Not knowing the
remedy for their hardship, they ...
It is explained in the Chhandogya Upanishad - Aadhyaya-6, Khanda-8.
What is the Sushupti actually and why do we experience it?:
उद्दालको हारुणिः श्वेतकेतुं पुत्रमुवाच स्वप्नान्तं मे सोम्य
विजानीहीति यत्रैतत्पुरुषः स्वपिति नाम सता सोम्य तदा
सम्पन्नो भवति स्वमपीतो भवति तस्मादेनꣳ
स्वपितीत्याचक्षते स्वꣳह्यपीतो भवति ॥ ६.८.१॥
Uddalaka the son of ...
What is Ishwara?
According to Sarva Vedanta Siddhanta Saara Sangraha (You can get Sanskti-Hindi version from Internet Archive).
verses 310-317 Ishvara
॥ १४ ॥ ईश्वरः॥
मायोपहितचैतन्यं साभासं सत्त्वबृंहितम् ।
सर्वज्ञत्वादिगुणकं सृष्टिस्थित्यन्तकारणम् ॥ ३१०॥
अव्याकृतं तदव्यक्तमीश इत्यपि गीयते ।
सर्वशक्तिगुणोपेतः सर्वज्ञानावभासकः ॥ ३११॥
Pure Advaita considers forms of God as unreal. Thus it does not matter what name the unreal Ishvara is called.
Shankara considers Isvara or Brahman with attributes as ultimately unreal. He writes in his commentary on Brahma Sutra Bhasya:
Since this Self is by nature Consciousness Itself, distinctionless,
beyond speech and mind, and can be taught by way ...
By reading scriptures one can not get Moksha. This is a well known conclusion of Hinduism.
Shabda Gyana (which are the scriptures) can not give Moksha. It is the direct perception or the Aparoksha anubhuti that will give.
Here's a verse from Patanjali Yoga Sutras.
shrutanumanaprajnabhyam anyavishayaa vishesharthatvat ||
The knowledge that is gained ...
Chapter six and seven of RUDRASAMHITA Section of Shiva Purana describes how Trimurti were born.
Brahma said this to his son Narada.
At the time of great dissolution when all mobile and immobile of the world are dissolved everything gets enveloped in darkness without the
sun, planets and stars.
There is no moon. The day and the night are not ...
Jnana or Jivanmukti is a state wherein, all the perceptions of duality is removed and the non-dual alone remains. In Isha Upanishad a Jnani is defined as a person "who perceives his Self in all objects and all objects in his Self/Atman"
Basically, Atma-Jnana or Brahma-Jnana means, realizing first-hand that one's true identity is not body or mind, but is ...
In Srimad Bhāgavataṃ 7.5.23-24, Prahlada says there are nine ways of worshipping the Lord. They are famously known as the Navavidha bhakti margas.
śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ
arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ
iti puṁsārpitā viṣṇau
bhaktiś cen nava-lakṣaṇā
kriyeta bhagavaty addhā
Since you have mentioned 'Advaitavaad' in your question I'm answering from Adi Shankaras Advaita perspective.
Yes, Self realization doesn't imply Omniscience.
It is because in Shankaras Advaita the attributes like Omniscient and Omnipotent etc... seen in Brahman are due to the product of Avidya. I discuss it in my answer here. Shankara in ...
Prof. Dr. Chandradhar Sharma gives an excellent writing on this often confusing aspect of Advaita in his book The Advaita Tradition in Indian Philosophy: A Study in Buddhism, Vedanta and Kashmira Shaivism. He goes through the sometimes technical details over many pages. In one section (pp 181-183) he writes:
Some critics have often failed to understand ...
From the book Who am I. His technique name is Self inquiry.
Que:10. How will the mind become quiescent?
Ramana: By the inquiry ‘Who am I?’. The thought ‘who am I?’ will destroy all other thoughts, and like the
stick used for stirring the burning pyre, it will itself in the end get destroyed. Then, there will arise
Ques:11. What ...
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No Ordinary Surgeon : The Life and Times of William Binley Dickinson
No Ordinary Surgeon centres around one of our most photographed works of art - the Boudicca group on the Thames Embankment opposite the Houses of Parliament - and is told through the life and times of surgeon William Binley Dickinson (1789-1870), who entered into partnership in Macclesfield, an affluent east Cheshire silk spinning and weaving town. He discovered a gifted boy, Thomas Thornycroft, misguidedly apprenticed to another surgeon, but who, through Dickinson's efforts, became one of Britain's greatest sculptors and a favourite of Prince Albert. Thomas's equestrian figure of Queen Victoria was given premier position at the famous 1851 Crystal Palace Exhibition, the preparations for which provide an interesting interlude.
The story involves many important people from all strata of society, from the Georgian era to that of Queen Victoria. It encompasses the foundation of many societies and institutions, such as the British Medical Association, the Numismatic Society, the enlargement of British Museum collections, the Royal Academy and the Royal College of Surgeons, and brings to life disasters and triumphs through newspaper reports of bodysnatching, epidemics of cholera, murders, eccentric personalities and the rise of Manchester medical facilities in a bid to rival those of London. Last, but by no means least, is the effect of parliamentary reform on the almost 600-year-old borough of Macclesfield, which, from having no previous members, had to deal with the fun, chaos and serious business of elections when sending two members to the House of Commons.
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Extreme weather conditions have become such a part of life all across the world over the last decade and more, that ways and means to understand and cope with them have become an essential element of survival strategies. Heatwaves in summer, cold waves in winter and extreme rainfall when it is least expected have almost become the norm. Each of these rounds takes its own toll on lives and livelihoods even as those in other areas are forced to stand as mute spectators. This summer in India, the number of lives lost to heatwave conditions has exceeded 2,000. While shrinking winter-spans are considered by specialists as a sure sign that climate change is a reality we cannot ignore, at the other end of the spectrum, hot summers are no less debilitating. Prediction of these phenomena is itself so difficult, not for lack of effort but because of the theoretical limitations of the models being used in the calculations. Broadly speaking, there is no doubt that summer heat is worsening by the year in parts of India. This fact is reflected in some climate studies. For instance, one on climate in the subcontinent over the period from 1961 to 2010 by scientists of the India Meteorological Department based in Pune and Chennai, found that compared to the first four decades, the number of heat-wave (HW) days per season was higher during 2001-2010 in many parts of north, north-west and central India. An increase was observed in the number of severe-heat-wave (SHW) days per season in some stations, mainly in north-west India. The study also found that the frequency, persistence and area coverage of HW/SHW days were more than average in years succeeding El Nin~o years.
The question remains whether humankind is preparing for eventualities such as this. For those in denial of climate change, there are clear pointers that cannot be ignored. Also, from the point of view of disaster mitigation, the rising number of heatwave related deaths should serve as an urgent signal to develop innovative methods to control summer-time losses. It is somewhat ironical that while the long, hot summer takes such a toll, in this subcontinent it is also a necessary condition for the monsoon to set in and provide adequate rainfall. In a sense, the unendurable heat and the rains that follow are tied together in a delicate balance. While it is important to preserve this balance by focussing on factors to mitigate climate change, it is also necessary to develop methods to cope with the impact of each of these when they go beyond normal.
Keywords: India heatwave, heatwave, extreme weather conditions
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The food industry is a lucrative field. People will always need nourishment and sustenance that food provides. Thus, every year, people see the rise of coffee shops, joints, or restaurants. With the many options, how can a restaurant owner set their business apart from others?
The answer is restaurant branding. This concept both applies to those starting or expanding their restaurant business. Branding is the distinct identity of your restaurant. This should be obvious from the moment your customers step inside your establishment. Also, all the details from their dining experience must be cohesive. It needs to speak of your branding. This way, the customer will remember your restaurant well. Effective branding helps to encourage a customer to return to your restaurant. Here are some components that you should look into when creating a strong brand identity.
How you present your restaurant is essential to how your customers would remember it. The moment people step inside your establishment, they should feel relaxed. Also, they should get an idea of what you are offering through the way your restaurant looks. There are some details that you should work on with your ambiance. These include the lighting, interior décor, color scheme, and music. For example, if your restaurant serves Italian dishes, aim to recreate an Italian vibe.
Regardless of what kind of ambiance you want to create, cleanliness is paramount to all. Since you are in the food business, the cleanliness of the place tells of how the staff handle food. It is a wise idea to have a stash of high-quality cleaning rags to keep your restaurant spotless. Pristine-looking restrooms are a definite plus for customers, too.
Like an individual, the name of a restaurant can tell a lot about it. You can give a hint of what is the specialty of the restaurant. The name of its founder may also be an excellent name for your business. A common food phrase used in the locality is another viable idea. There are many ways to name a restaurant.
But, you must remember that, unlike other elements, this one is permanent. You have to think hard of a restaurant name that will resonate with people. This is even more important when you plan to expand your restaurant and open many branches. The name that you choose should ring a bell even in different locations.
Your restaurant concept can make you stand out or blend with other restaurants. This element includes the type of service you offer and your menu. You should decide if you want to go with fine dining, mid-scale dining, or fast food service. You can also have a buffet-style or experiment with a food truck. These types of services would help to establish the kind of customers you would have.
Your menu is not only a list of what your restaurant can offer. It is a powerful tool to help your customers remember your restaurant. Be creative with it. Think well of how you would name each dish. But, remember that how you present your menu should tie-up with other elements of your brand identity.
Among the components of branding, consistency is the most crucial. This component speaks of the uniformity with the quality of food and service. Consistency is the element that will encourage brand loyalty the most. You must ensure that the taste, serving size, and presentation of your food are always the same. This is more crucial when you have more branches. You may gain or lose customers depending on the consistency of your food.
In the same way, restaurant owners must provide training for their staff. You need to offer unrivaled customer service. This is an element that people remember well. The staff must be attentive to the needs of the customers. They should also be knowledgeable of the menu offerings. Also, the staff should be cordial at all times.
This component is not tangible but plays a crucial role in any business. A restaurant business is no different. Customers are more drawn to restaurants that display strong core values. Is your business connecting people like one community? Do you guide consumers to have dishes made with the freshest ingredients? Do your customers choose your place because you treat eating as a family experience?
Some examples of core values are family connectedness and sustainability. Others highlight support to the local economy and a strong sense of community. They are not only there to impress customers. But, these core values define what drives your passion for your business. They also serve as guidelines when you have to make important decisions.
Opening or expanding a restaurant business is hard work. It is not enough that you have a bright concept about food. You must think well of how to build a strong brand identity that will help you stay in the industry for a long time.
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Aliases for KCND3 Gene
External Ids for KCND3 Gene
Previous HGNC Symbols for KCND3 Gene
Previous GeneCards Identifiers for KCND3 Gene
Voltage-gated potassium (Kv) channels represent the most complex class of voltage-gated ion channels from both functional and structural standpoints. Their diverse functions include regulating neurotransmitter release, heart rate, insulin secretion, neuronal excitability, epithelial electrolyte transport, smooth muscle contraction, and cell volume. Four sequence-related potassium channel genes - shaker, shaw, shab, and shal - have been identified in Drosophila, and each has been shown to have human homolog(s). This gene encodes a member of the potassium channel, voltage-gated, shal-related subfamily, members of which form voltage-activated A-type potassium ion channels and are prominent in the repolarization phase of the action potential. This member includes two isoforms with different sizes, which are encoded by alternatively spliced transcript variants of this gene. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
GeneCards Summary for KCND3 Gene
KCND3 (Potassium Channel, Voltage Gated Shal Related Subfamily D, Member 3) is a Protein Coding gene. Diseases associated with KCND3 include spinocerebellar ataxia 19 and episodic ataxia/myokymia syndrome. Among its related pathways are Transmission across Chemical Synapses and Antiarrhythmic Pathway, Pharmacodynamics. GO annotations related to this gene include ion channel binding and A-type (transient outward) potassium channel activity. An important paralog of this gene is KCNA10.
UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot for KCND3 Gene
Pore-forming (alpha) subunit of voltage-gated rapidly inactivating A-type potassium channels. May contribute to I(To) current in heart and I(Sa) current in neurons. Channel properties are modulated by interactions with other alpha subunits and with regulatory subunits.
Voltage-gated potassium channels (KV) belong to the 6-TM family of potassium channel that also comprises the Ca2+-activated Slo (actually 7-TM) and the Ca2+-activated SK subfamilies. The pore-forming alpha-subunits contain a single pore-forming region and combine to form tetramers. Heteromeric channels can be formed within subfamilies e.g. KV1.1 with KV1.2 and KCNQ2 with KCNQ3.
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Part one in a two-part series about the technical textiles industry.
By Stephen M. Warner
The year 2015 was a pivotal time for both the U.S. and global technical textiles industries. However, other than in the automotive segment, it was not a particularly exciting year of increases in the end-market segments for technical textiles.
The U.S. economy grew 2.4-percent in 2015, which matched the growth in 2014. What is more worrisome is the lackluster fourth quarter of 2015 and a slow start to 2016. Many economists feel America already is in a manufacturing recession. A stagnant economy spells at least caution for the technical textiles industry. The slowdown in the rest of the world and the strong U.S. dollar also pose a challenge to the domestic textile industry seeking to export.
Many of the factors that will significantly influence the industry for years to come including a pending end to the decrease in military spending, the conclusion of negotiations on a free trade agreement, foreign-owned plant expansions, the passage of a massive commitment to address the crumbling transportation infrastructure and a severe drop in fuel prices.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) funding has been fundamentally shaped by the legally binding cap on appropriations as detailed in the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA). It required defense spending decreases for fiscal year (FY) 12 through FY21. Frequently, military cutbacks are associated with the term sequestered. This only technically happened though in 2013. It is the threat of sequestering that binds the spending limits. If the spending goes over the actual budget, sequestering takes place, which results in automatic cuts across the board. A subsequent Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 raised the DoD base budget — the budget for all activities other than those associated with ongoing combat operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East — for FY16 from $523 billion to $548 billion.
Despite the drastic past three-year reduction, military products remain one of the largest segments for technical textiles. The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA’s) Troop Support’s Clothing and Textile Directorate supplies more than 8,000 different items ranging from uniforms and body armor to tents and ammunition pouches. Table 1 shows a breakdown in the DLA’s actual and anticipated FY14 through FY17 purchasing (in millions).
Even with the BCA limits in FY15, the budget called for an increase in the Individual Equipment Category. But many of the planned purchases did not happen and, most likely, the entire $350 million budget authorization was not used. There was, for example, an anticipation of 190,000 tents and shelters to be procured in the FY15 budget, but a spot check of the numbers through October showed far fewer shelters actually have been ordered.
The military shelter contractors are seeing consolidation and refocus. Business has declined with the military by 40 to 50 percent from just a few years ago. It’s difficult to maintain a viable business with trained employees if one is dependent on military orders. The year 2015 began with eight primary shelter providers:
- Outdoor Venture Corp., Stearns, Ky.;
- Camel Manufacturing Co., LaFollette, Tenn.;
- Hunter Defense Technology (HDT), Solon, Ohio;
- Alaska Structures, Anchorage, Alaska;
- Diamond Brand Canvas Products, Asheville, N.C.;
- Johnson Outdoors Gear Inc. (Eureka), Binghamton, N.Y.;
- CAMSS Shelters, Kirkland, Wash.;
- Anchor Industries Inc., Evansville, Ind.; and
- DHS Technologies LLC, Orangeburg, N.Y.
During the year, Camel was sold to a private equity investor and HDT purchased DHS Technologies, the creator of the DRASH™ — Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter — shelter system.
Military industry consolidation also hit ballistic vest manufacturers and this even was a noted concern in the report that accompanied the 2016 DoD Appropriations Act. As a result of the defense spending cutbacks, the military has become more creative about working with less funding. One example is the force protection evolution of the ballistic vest. There are an estimated 400,000 of the Improved Outer Tactical Vests (IOTV) in inventory. The changes in camouflage pattern from Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) to Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) and protective barrier enhancements developed since then have made the vests in inventory outdated. Rather than discard and purchase new vests, which are estimated to be worth $791 per unit, a team from the DLA’s Troop Support has worked on a project over the past several years to convert these non-compliance vests into compliant vests at a cost of $412 each.
By retrofitting, rather than purchasing new vests, the DLA has saved taxpayers an estimated $56 million so far, and the potential overall savings total $150 million once conversion is complete. Good for the taxpayers and the military but, of course it means fewer vests being made by the textile industry. A decade ago, during the height of the Afghan and Iraq conflicts, the U.S. Army ordered 1.7 million IOTV vests. Today, the annual estimated need is 40,000 vests.
Another cost-saving initiative that has an impact on the technical textiles industry is the consolidation of combat uniform camouflage patterns. Prior to 2002, there were two basic combat uniform pattern designs — woodlands and desert — for each of the four service branches. Starting with the Marines in 2002, 10 new distinct patterns were introduced over the next decade, each designed for a specific application within each military branch. The transition to the Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) for the U.S. Army alone cost $5 billion. Eight years later, in 2010, the Army again decided to change from UCP to a newer version of the Operational Camouflage Pattern. The transition cost is estimated at another $4 billion. The process began in July 2015, and the Army expects to fully transition by October 2019.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), investigating the spiraling costs camouflage design, found more than $12 million has been spent developing many of these designs. In a scathing report sent to Congress in 2014, the GAO said: “Although the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps stated that they have established certain requirement for combat clothing, performance standards were mixed and not specific to the combat environment. The effectiveness of the camouflage was not one of the operational criteria used to measure performance.” GAO estimated that a consolidation of designs for combat uniforms used by all services could save at least $80 million.
Recent increased involvement in Iraq and Syria support has caused an uptick in foreign military sales (FMS) of equipment and combat uniform needs. FMS items include 11,000 sets of desert battle dress uniforms, 12,000 assault packs, 71,000 ammunition pouches and 12,000 grenade pouches. The support likely will increase over the next year.
The Berry Amendment continues to protect the textile markets of products used by the U.S. military and Homeland Security. Three basic factors important in the Berry Amendment are:
- If a product made of textiles can be sourced in the United States, procurement stays in the domestic industry;
- The procurement threshold is $150,000 before the Amendment applies; and
- The amendment does not necessarily apply to certain high-tech products such as chemical protective clothing that may be sourced within some North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries.
Despite these protective measures, improved enforcement is still needed. In August 2015, the U.S. Navy conducted an audit of 55 contracts to determine whether they were compliant with the Berry Amendment and the Buy America Act. Eleven of the 23 contracts worth $73 million were not in compliance with the Berry Amendment, and 12 of 32 contracts worth $1.2 million were not compliant with the Buy America Act. The most common non-compliance cause was because the purchaser was not aware of the requirements.
In the United States, a record 17.5 million cars and light trucks were made in 2015 — a 15.7-percent increase over 2014. At an average of 28 square yards of fabric used per vehicle, that’s an increase of 16.8 million yards.
Industry consolidation continues in the airbag supplier industry. A few years ago there were 17 manufacturers of automotive airbags; today, there are only a handful because automotive manufacturers are facing consolidation, as well as requiring them to become global players. In 2015, Livonia, Mich.-based TRW Automotive was acquired by Germany-based ZF Friedrishschefen AG; and in January 2016, Sterling Heights, Mich.-based Key Safety Systems announced it was being acquired by China-based Nigbo Joyson.
The automotive supplier industry tends to cluster around its customer. This is why there has been a burst of composite and nonwoven plant developments and expansions in the southeastern United States as companies such as BMW, Volvo, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz locate assembly plants in the region.
In 2015, the global industry estimates were $20 billion for airbags and $9 billion for seatbelts. Looking at 2015, the airbag market situation can be characterized as the good, the bad and the ugly.
The good is that the markets for airbags and seatbelts are growing both because of increased car production and, in the case of airbags, because of the increased number in each vehicle. Airbags now account for almost 19 percent of all automotive textiles according David Hart, PCI Consulting Group. New mandatory safety regulations requiring cars sold in Brazil and India to have airbags now is in place and will be adding a significant increase in the number of airbags used globally. In developed nations, automotive manufacturers strive to receive high safety ratings through programs such as the New Car Assessment Program and this becomes a significant market driver for adding more airbags.
The bad is only bad in the immediate future. A few countries, including the fourth-largest car maker in Mexico, have not made airbags a mandatory safety feature. General Motors CEO Mary Barra recently defended GM’s decision not to include airbags in cars being made for Latin America and it’s a financial decision. Cars with airbags increase the costs by 8 to 10 percent.
The ugly, of course, is the association with recalls as part of the Takata airbag system. The number of vehicles affected is up to an incredible 20 million and growing. Neither the production nor the fabrication of the airbag has anything to do with the actual problem, which is the choice of propellant to inflate the bag, but unfortunately the bag gets a bad rap because of the phrase “airbag system.” As recently as 2014, Takata was estimated to have about a 25-percent share of the airbag market. Its difficulties have put pressure on the other remaining bag manufacturers not only to match the record growth of vehicle manufacturing, but also to make up some of Takata’s lost market share as car makers look elsewhere for a supplier.
Protective Workwear Expansion
According to a recent research report, thermal protection is the major driver in the protective clothing market, followed by visibility and mechanical properties. The flame-resistant (FR) fabrics market can be broadly segmented into apparel and non-apparel.
Market research reports stated FR fabrics going into the U.S. protective workwear industry was a $720 million market in 2015. The progression of distinct market penetration has ensured a steady growth of FR workwear over the past few decades. Besides the obvious applications such as firefighter protective equipment, the use of FR garments is seen in the mining, refinery, industrial, petrochemical, healthcare, and utility industries — almost every industry where there is a risk of fire or severe heat. In the last five years, there has been a massive expansion into the oil and natural gas industry.
However, FR workwear growth stalled in 2015 because of the slowdown in oil and gas resource development. More than 129,000 oil and gas jobs were eliminated during the year. Fewer workers equals fewer buyers of FR-treated workwear.
Another market driver is the increased understanding of work hazards such as arc flashing, drilling and dust. Federal agencies such as the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) are demanding increased worker protection.
Medical protective clothing can shield medical professionals from harmful pathogens. These garments not only protect medical professionals, but also patients from possible contamination from non-sterile garments. There was a surge in medical protective clothing after the 2014 Ebola crisis. There may be another surge in light of the Zika virus or as other potential pandemics occur.
In addition to the physical protection offered by workwear garments, the other driver for basically all major markets of protective clothing is comfort. The importance of comfort cannot be overstated. Comfort can impact whether workers wear their personal protective equipment. This results in a blending of the fashion and protective industries. Gone are the days of utilitarian work uniform in many cases.
Editor’s note: Stephen M. Warner is publisher of BeaverLake6 Report, beaverlake6.com, a Web-based newsletter reporting on trends, data and issues that he feels influence the technical textiles industry. He also is former president and CEO of Industrial Fabrics Association International. The article is based on Warner’s presentation given at the 2015 Textile World Innovation Forum.
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an organic compound that is made of one or more chains of amino acids and that is a principal component of all cells
basic building blocks of protein molecules
a simple compound whose molecules can join together to form polymers
large compound formed from combinations of many monomers
building block (monomer) of nucleic acid polymers
a long chain of smaller molecules called nucleotides
site of photosynthesis
control center of the cell
Golgi Body Apparatus
Packages Proteins, receives Proteins, and sends them out
a thin membrane around the cytoplasm of a cell
Powerhouse of the cell, organelle that is the site of ATP (energy) production
trait that will show up in an organism's phenotype if gene is present
trait that will only appear in the phenotype if organism inherits two of them; covered up by the dominant gene
one of two alternate forms of a gene that can have the same locus on homologous chromosomes and are responsible for alternative traits
When neither of the traits can show as one. (Red flower with a white center)
blending together of two alleles
deoxyribonucleic acid, the material that contains the information that determines inherited characteristics
change to a chromosome in which a fragment of the chromosome is removed
Change to a chromosome in which more is added to a fragment of the chromosome
change to a chromosome in which part of the chromosome is repeated
change to a chromosome in which a fragment of one chromosome attaches to a nonhomologous chromosome
The physical traits that appear in an individual as a result of its gentic make up.
genetic makeup of an organism
having identical alleles at corresponding chromosomal loci
having two different alleles for a trait
ability of an organism to control which genes are transcribed in response to the environment
(genetics) a segment of DNA that is involved in producing a polypeptide chain
a threadlike body in the cell nucleus that carries the genes in a linear order
(genetics) the organic process whereby the DNA sequence in a gene is copied into mRNA
decoding of a mRNA message into a polypeptide chain
(genetics) cell division that produces reproductive cells in sexually reproducing organisms
cell division in which the nucleus divides into nuclei containing the same number of chromosomes
(biology) an organism that has characteristics resulting from chromosomal alteration
protein that acts as a biological catalyst
organism whose cells contain nuclei
unicellular organism lacking a nucleus
(biology) the basic structural and functional unit of all organisms
a structure that carries out specific activities in the cell
the quality of being probable
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The Executive Representative and Head of the United Nations (UN) Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL), Jens Toyberg-Frandzen, will present the Tenth Report of the Secretary-General on the UN's Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Sierra Leoneto the Security Council. UNTV
The United Nations General Assembly today pays a tribute to the memory of His Excellency Hugo Chávez Frías, late President of the BolivarianRepublicof Venezuela. UNTV
Jordan is now home to nearly 400,000 Syrian refugees, most of them living in small villages or towns, without work or money. According to UNHCR, their numbers will continue to grow.
Valerie Amos, the United Nations (UN) Emergency Relief Coordinator is visiting Turkey to draw attention to the humanitarian impact of the conflict in Syria. ANADOLU NEWS AGENCY
Besides going through the trauma of war, children in Syria in many cases have not been to school for two years. UNICEF is filling the gap of closed schools with remedial classes that give children the chance to get caught up. UNICEF
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Controlling population peaks on the edges of the gypsy moth range may help to slow their invasion into virgin territory, according to a team of researchers.
"Slowing the spread of the gypsy moth is a priority in forest management in the U.S.," says Ottar Bjornstad, associate professor of entomology and biology, Penn State. "Understanding the underlying patterns in the spread of invasive species is important for successful management."
The accidental release of the gypsy moth in 1869 in Massachusetts has led to an infestation covering more than 386,000 square miles of the U.S. Northeast. Native to Europe and Asia, gypsy moths are currently found from Maine to North Carolina and west into Wisconsin where they defoliate trees and occasionally, cause extensive damage to northern deciduous forests.
"We analyzed historical data on the spread of the gypsy moth in the U.S. and found that its invasion has been characterized by regular periods of rapid spread interspersed between periods of little expansion," says Bjornstad. "This is the first identification of pulsed invasions for an invading species."
Bjornstad; Derek M. Johnson, Department of Biology, University of Louisiana, and Andrew M. Liebhold and Patrick C. Tobin, U.S. Forest Service, used historical, county-level quarantine records as well as forest service data from more than 100,000 pheromone traps set along the expanding gypsy moth population front for their theoretical model. The pheromone trap data were collected from 1988 to 2004.
They used a theoretical model to show how an interaction between negative population growth at low densities -- "the Allee effect" -- and the existence of a few satellite seed colonies created by human transfer of the insects over long distances, explain the invasion pulses, the researchers explain today (Nov. 16) in Nature. The gypsy moth adult is flightless and usually only spreads a short distance beyond infestation boundaries. External colonies occur when moths hitch a ride on vehicles or other items relocated by people. Without an Allee effect, these colonies would establish, but because gypsy moths exhibit an Allee effect, the low populations are insufficient for establishment of permanent populations.
This is also true at the edges of the population area. If the population density is low, the Allee effect prevents growth across the boundaries. The model showed that no pulsed expansion exists for populations unaffected by the Allee effect. However, when the it is a factor, not only does pulsed expansion occur, but it mimics the historic pulses of the gypsy moth population from 1960 to 2002 found in the quarantine records.
Currently, the containment program for gypsy moths aims at controlling outbreaks outside the current population boundaries. The researchers suggest that "the invasion might also be slowed by suppressing outbreaks near the invasion front (within the populated area), to reduce the number of dispersers to below the donor threshold." This would decrease edge populations and prevent the periodic surges of growth that expand the territory.
Other invading species may also exhibit pulsed spreading. If researchers can determine that the Allee effect is in place, than this same plan of containment might aid in controlling a variety of pests.
The National Research Initiative of the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service supported this research.
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The club will surely be a success if money enough can be reaised, for the boys are always glad to join a club of this sort, and it looks as if men enough to run it could easily be found in college. Sixteen or more active workers are needed to run the club and a much larger number are needed to raise the money. About $1300 a year will be needed. The volunteers are to be divided into four committees, of which the chairmen are: R. Talbot '94, R. W. Emmons '95, R. Wheatland '95, W. S. Patten '95. Anyone who would like to help may send his name to T. R. Kimball, 7 Linden street.
St. Paul's Society.
Rev. Endicott Peabody of Groton addressed the St. Paul's Society last night, and then laid before them a plan for a Boys Club to be founded in Boston this winter. Poor boys in large cities have almost no home life and have hardly any pleasure. In a winter as hard as this is sure to be they will be especially badly off and so this is a very good time to start a club. The idea is to have two rooms in some crowded part of Boston, probably near Florence street, and in one of these to have a gymnasium and in the other a reading room. This will be open three or possibly four nights a week, and as many boys as can be handled will be taken in. There are already several such clubs in Boston, but there are not nearly enough.
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Find out how to describe a numerical pattern with a pattern rule.
A list of student-submitted discussion questions for Equations that Describe Patterns.
To activate prior knowledge, to generate questions about a given topic, and to organize knowledge using a KWL Chart.
Promote connections between specific points in the concept’s reading and the reader’s personal experiences. Connect text with personal experience in order to deepen understanding and engagement as well as promote class discussion.
Use patterns, equations and inequalities to figure out how many Cheez Its you can eat, based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This study guide looks at the properties of equality and solving linear equations in one variable. It also looks at the number of solutions to linear equations in one variable.
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-Of the Battle of Dale-
Let the reader know that this text is the fruit of conjecture, for the mind that devised the story in which the Battle of Valle takes place left no record of anything other than the precedents and the outcome of the battle; the movements of the armies up to the moment of combat and the details of their engagement, that is to say, the course of the battle, were never narrated. Also note that the original version of the following text was not composed in the language the reader will see it written.
'(...) When you think of the great Battle of the Pelennor, do not forget the battles in Dale and the valour of Durin's Folk. Think of what might have been. Dragon-fire and savage swords in Eriador, night in Rivendell. There might be no Queen in Gondor. WE might now hope to return from the victory here only to ruin and ash. But that has been averted - because I met Thorin Oakenshield one evening on the edge of spring in Bree. A chance-meeting, as we say in Middle earth.'
Many great deeds of arms have been sung of the battles in the South (during the War of the Ring), and yet this war waged in the North too, and wherever the forces of Good and Evil met; for Sauron, even without the Ring, wielded immense power and sent his hosts on the assault upon every border, town and village west of Mordor and the plains in the East. While the Men of Gondor and Rohan fought in the Pelennor, the realm of the Elvenking was attacked from Dol Guldur;a battle took place under the trees, and the forest suffered many wounds in that fray. But this war, the great struggle of our time, was also fought in Dale further north.
This is the story of two twinned peoples and two destinies alloyed into one; the story of two cities that thrived in a Dale and a mountain after rising from the slumber of their ruin.
While in the land of Mordor the forges burned in deep caverns and the air was foul with fumes and smoke, in preparation for the war that was coming, the Dark Lord unleashed his heralds into the land of the free, seeking to corrupt their resistance. To the Lonely Mountain came one of these messengers; He offered immense gifts and his promises were great, though false; for King Dain II (son of Nain, son of Gror; King of Durin's folk under the mountain of Erebor) knew of their intrigues and spoke to the Men of Dale and sent Glóin and his son to Rivendell with Elrond; but he did not reject the messengers to make the Enemy believe that his flattery had some effect, and not unleash his wrath yet.
Pronto vino el que sería el mensajero de la última oportunidad para los enanos de someterse a Sauron y salvarse de su fuego, y Dain le expulsó de su ciudad sin intimidarse por sus amenazas y se preparó para la guerra; sin embargo, desde entonces en los corazones de los enanos hubo sombra, porque habían prosperado en Erebor y la guerra que se avecinaba era mayor amenaza de lo que jamás fuera Smaug el Dorado. Unos vientos venidos del Este comenzaron a azotar los bosques junto a la montaña, sacudiendo las copas de los árboles con violencia; entonces los Bardings sintieron un pesar todavía más grande que aquel de los enanos, y de la Montaña llegaron al valle armas y armaduras de buena artesanía.
Soon came the one who would be the messenger of the last chance for the dwarves to submit to Sauron and save themselves from his fire, and Dain expelled him from his city undaunted by his threats and prepared for war; However, from then on there was a shadow in the hearts of the dwarves, because they had prospered in Erebor and the coming war was a greater threat than Smaug the Golden had ever been. Some winds coming from the East began to hit the forests next to the mountain, shaking the treetops violently; then the Bardings felt even greater sorrow than that of the dwarves, and from the Mountain came to the valley weapons and armor of good craftsmanship.
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How To Calm A Cat In Heat
This video shows a vet from Cats Protection providing information about how to tell if your intact female cat is in heat and what you can do about it. The vet goes into great detail describing the signs and behaviors of the cat in heat, including calling, affection, and a lordosis pose, as well as how your cat can attract male toms from far away.
Hi, my name is Karen. I'm one of the vets at Cats Protection, the UK's leading cat welfare charity, and I'm going to talk to you today about some aspects of pet care. I'm going to talk to you today about how to calm a cat that's in heat.
First of all, what do we mean by saying a cat that's in heat? Well, we're talking about a female cat or a queen who's in heat or ready for mating. Sometimes it's called “in season.” If you have an intact female, one that's not been spayed, she will come into heat periodically throughout the year, even if there aren't any male cats around.
How do you know that she's in heat? Well, the kind of signs you might be looking for are if she's calling. And, what we mean by calling is that she'll be meowing an awful lot. She will sometimes make different meows than what she normally does, and I have had people bring their pet cats to me thinking that they're in extreme pain or they've had an injury, thinking that crying out in pain when in fact, they're just in heat.
Other things to look for is that they may look around their backend a bit more than normal, they may be very affectionate to you, very smooching. They may do what's called a lordosis pose, which is where they get into a mating position, where they go down on their front legs and put their bottom up into the air, sometimes waving their tail a little bit as well. Sometimes, they may even back up against vertical surfaces and spray small amounts of a strong smelling liquid.
All of these signs can point to the fact that your cat's in heat. When your cat is calling and making these meowing noises, male cats will come from far around, so you may see intact male toms hanging around your home, or you may just smell the urine spraying from around your home as well. So, how do you calm your cat when she's in heat? Well, the short answer is that you can't.
It's a natural behavior of unsprayed or intact female cats and they will come into heat periodically. The first thing to do is to contact your vet about getting your cat neutered. It's the only sure-fire way of stopping them from coming into heat and from getting pregnant as well.
Cats can come into heat from their first season, any time from about 4 months of age and they can produce litters anytime after this. It's important to remember that family-member cats can breed with each other and produce litters as well. So, if you have, let's say a brother and a sister, they certainly can breed with each other.
Cats Protection would recommend neutering anytime from 4 months of age, and they can actually give you financial assistance for this if you're on limited incomes within the UK for getting your cat neutered. If you want any more information on this subject, log onto www.cats.
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Thursday, December 27, 2007
PRAY FOR PEACE
No, you haven’t arrived at the wrong blog. Today’s topic is still Mosaics, but it was impossible not to make note of a world in turmoil.
Just in case you haven’t heard, Benazir Bhutto, former Pakistani Prime Minister and a candidate in her country’s next election, was murdered today.
The first woman to head the government of an Islamic country, she has championed democracy and moderation in an area of the world where both are often in short supply.
Pray for peace.
And now we continue with our regularly scheduled program…
STOP AND SMELL – THE ROSES
In my opinion, the urge to create mosaics is truly universal. Siobhan, an Australian artist, proves my point.
This Melbourne resident makes mosaics with a passion … a passion for roses.
Her romantic creations all feature pretty pink roses as depicted on English, Bavarian, Austrian, and French Limoges china.
Siobhan loves to shop for vintage goods and pretty bone china.
Some of her old world finds she sells online, others she uses in her mosaics for tables, lazy Susans, birdhouses, photo frames, or jewelry boxes.
You can join Siobhan on her shopping missions on her blog Vintage Mosaic Boutique:
Her most recent venture is THE ROSE TRELLIS. Similar in concept to America’s MAKE MINE PINK boutiques, this online directory is a central hub catering to Australian (as well as worldwide) romantics’ shabby chic needs.
*** BLOG DU JOUR ***
How could you resist a blog written by a woman who introduces herself as follows:
“Hi my name is Mary. I am a 50-something reluctant housewife (I’d rather be an international supermodel or a forest ranger or a jockey)…. ? Don’t resist. Visit Little Red House today.
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for anyone "looking for a job", the following equation will almost certainly drive the decision about how much pay will be offered:
(fees/expenses) + ((skill-sets+need)/availability) = rate x (duration of project)
or some variation thereof. in shorthand: the rate's driven by a combination of the fees and expenses (direct costs) of a project, combined with what skills are needed and the availability of people who possess those skills. in classical economics, if the skill-sets are rarer and in higher demand (say, someone who can design a BL-4 lab in their sleep, combined with a sudden rise in the number of BL-4 labs needed to combat the coming zombie apocalypse), the pay that worker can obtain will be higher than someone who possesses more common, average or less quantifiable skills.
at least, that's the longstanding theory.
over the past 10 years (but acutely over the past 3 or so), manufacturing sectors have lamented the so called 'skills gap' between what they've looked for in a worker and what's available. adam davidson, of planet money, laid waste to that myth in a recent editorial:
"Eric Isbister, the C.E.O. of GenMet, a metal-fabricating manufacturer outside Milwaukee, told me that he would hire as many skilled workers as show up at his door. Last year, he received 1,051 applications and found only 25 people who were qualified. He hired all of them, but soon had to fire 15. Part of Isbister’s pickiness, he says, comes from an avoidance of workers with experience in a “union-type job.” Isbister, after all, doesn’t abide by strict work rules and $30-an-hour salaries. At GenMet, the starting pay is $10 an hour. Those with an associate degree can make $15, which can rise to $18 an hour after several years of good performance. From what I understand, a new shift manager at a nearby McDonald’s can earn around $14 an hour. (emphasis mine)
The secret behind this skills gap is that it’s not a skills gap at all. I spoke to several other factory managers who also confessed that they had a hard time recruiting in-demand workers for $10-an-hour jobs. “It’s hard not to break out laughing,” says Mark Price, a labor economist at the Keystone Research Center, referring to manufacturers complaining about the shortage of skilled workers. “If there’s a skill shortage, there has to be rises in wages,” he says. “It’s basic economics.” After all, according to supply and demand, a shortage of workers with valuable skills should push wages up. Yet according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of skilled jobs has fallen and so have their wages."
this kind of shift isn't limited to traditionally 'blue collar' jobs, at least within the advanced industrial economies. in short, a confluence of vastly improved technology infrastructures have opened up a truly global market for skilled workers, especially in white collar jobs (outsourcing for the professional set). i've lived this with my software project - we've hired programmers from vietnam, india and the phillipines, all online, all remote, all without ever having met them. and, all for about 1/10th the cost of hiring someone here.
now, there's no absolutes here: highly skilled workers are hired all the time and paid handsomely for it. and manufacturing isn't the same as a service industry. but if this is the canary in the coal mine, it begs a few questions:
does this kind of extreme push (more specialized skills for less pay) translate between industries/professions?
is there any long term correlation between fees/income and the operating costs (salaries predominantly) in terms of rising/falling amounts?
most importantly: what skillsets are truly driving value in the service economy? ie, what's truly creating rising income in terms of fees?
have we truly replaced lower skilled labor (draftsmen) with entry level professionals? (i'm contending it's been this way for the last 20 years at least but still asking the question) if so, is this because we've sold ourselves that way? ie - we're selling ourselves as the raw production instead of something with a higher value?
how do we avoid the race to the bottom?
Central to the blog is a long running interest in how we construct practices that enable and promote the kind of work we are all most interested in. From how firms are run, structured, and constructed, the main focus will be on exploring, expanding and demystifying how firms operate. I’ll be interviewing different practices – from startups to nationally recognized firms, bringing to print at least one a month. Our focus will be connecting Archinect readers with the business of practice.
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Melvin Schwartz, (born Nov. 2, 1932, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Aug. 28, 2006, Twin Falls, Idaho), American physicist and entrepreneur who, along with Leon M. Lederman and Jack Steinberger, received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1988 for their research concerning neutrinos (subatomic particles that have no electric charge and virtually no mass).
Schwartz studied physics at Columbia University, New York City, and received a Ph.D. there in 1958. He taught at Columbia from 1958 to 1966 and then was a professor of physics at Stanford University, Calif., from 1966 to 1983. In 1970 he founded Digital Pathways, Inc., a company that designed computer-security systems. Schwartz later served as an associate director at Brookhaven National Laboratory (1991–94), and in 1991 he also rejoined the faculty at Columbia, where he became professor emeritus in 2000.
Schwartz received the Nobel Prize for research he and his Columbia colleagues Lederman and Steinberger performed at Brookhaven in 1960–62. Neutrinos almost never interact with matter, and consequently it had been extremely difficult to detect them in laboratory research. (It was estimated that from a sample of 10 billion neutrinos traveling through Earth, only one neutrino would interact with a particle of matter during the entire passage.) Acting on Schwartz’s suggestion, the three researchers devised a way to increase the statistical probability of neutrino interactions by producing a beam consisting of hundreds of billions of neutrinos and sending the beam through a detector of solid matter. To achieve this, the scientists used a particle accelerator to generate a stream of high-energy protons, which were then fired at a target made of the metal beryllium. The bombardment produced a stream of different particles, including those called pions (pi mesons) that, as they traveled, decayed into muons (mu mesons) and neutrinos. The stream of particles exiting from the beryllium target then passed through a steel barrier 13.4 m (44 feet) thick that filtered out all other particles except neutrinos. This pure neutrino beam subsequently entered a large aluminum detector in which a few neutrinos interacted with the aluminum atoms. In analyzing these interactions, the three physicists discovered a new type of neutrino, which came to be known as the muon neutrino.
Schwartz was the recipient of numerous honours, including a Guggenheim Fellowship (1965). In 1975 he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
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The crossword puzzle clue today is "Last name in Scotch". To solve this puzzle clue, we look for the similarity crossword puzzle definitions for our clue. Below are the possibilities crossword solution and answer for "Last name in Scotch".
Similar crossword puzzle definitions:
Big name in Scotch;
Scotch whisky brand;
Try this 5 letters answer: DEWAR
If there is another crossword solution for Last name in Scotch , feel free to leave a comment below and we will rate as the right answer for this crossword puzzle clue.
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The Consumerist has more details, noting that the FTC is looking into how Intelius and the others collect and use data about consumers.
Here’s what the FTC is looking into, according to a press release issued today:
- the nature and sources of the consumer information the data brokers collect;
- how they use, maintain, and disseminate the information; and
- the extent to which the data brokers allow consumers to access and correct their information or to opt out of having their personal information sold.
Other companies that are part of the investigation include Acxiom, the Arkansas company led by former aQuantive and Microsoft ad executive Scott Howe; Corelogic; Datalogix; eBureau; ID Analytics; Peekyou; Rapleaf; and Recorded Future.
Intelius has found itself in hot water before, settling a suit with the Washington State Attorney General two years ago.
“Intelius chose cash over candor,” Attorney General Rob McKenna said at the time. “Despite a continuous stream of complaints from consumers about mysterious charges, despite a consultant’s belief that Intelius’ advertising practices were causing confusion and despite a recommendation from its own staff to make it easier for consumers to opt out of additional purchases, the company wouldn’t change course.”
In today’s action, the FTC writes:
“Consumers are often unaware of the existence of data brokers as well as the purposes for which they collect and use consumers’ data. This lack of transparency also means that even when data brokers offer consumers the ability to access their data, or provide other tools, many consumers do not know how to exercise this right.”
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What Does Climate Change Mean For CA's Wine Industry?
A new study out this week looks at the wine industry through the lens of climate change. The study, which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that many of the current wine producing regions in the world will be less suitable for wine production, and that at least some wine production will need to move to higher elevations.
So what does that mean for California? We spoke to Dr. Lee Hannah, who was lead researcher on the study, to find out more about what climate change means for the future of the California wine industry. He said that, as a scientist, he couldn't predict the business outcomes for the industry, but that there's no doubt things will have to change.
"There are many vineyards currently in place that are losing suitability," he said. "So they will have to do business in different ways. That means shifting varieties, trellising differently." He said that while much environmental awareness around wine has been about carbon footprint up until now, climate change will make water use and conservation and wildlife impact more and more important. Why wildlife impact? Because vineyards may have to move into higher elevations where wildlife now thrives.
Climate change may also change the varietals we see grown in California. "If you look at one of California's popular varietals, merlot, it has an upper temp limit of about 18.8 degrees Celsius. As temperatures rise, vineyards might be looking at changing to zinfandel or granache. For sav blanc or riesling, those will be cycling out even sooner."
Hannah says that California has a competitive advantage over Europe, in that we label by varietal, making it easier to switch out one grape for another. In Europe, where wines are labelled by region, with many of those regions having very strict rules about what kinds of grapes can be grown and used, the transitions necessary for the industry as a result of climate change will be harder to implement.
You can read the study, titled "Climate change, wine, and conservation," here. (PDF)
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With a population of more than 1.3 billion people and a recorded history that goes back more than four millennia, China is both the largest country and arguably the oldest continuous civilization in the world. As such, it has rich and diverse traditions.
To understand some of China's important cultural traditions, let's first delve into some background about the country. The Han are the largest ethnic group in China, making up about 91 percent of the population. However, even Han peoples have various cultural and linguistic differences across several regions. Other major ethnic groups include Zhuang, Manchu, Hui, Miao, Uyghur, Yi and more.
About 70 percent of the Chinese people speak Mandarin, one of seven major dialects of the Chinese language [source: State.gov]. Despite differences in spoken language, however, a common written language helped strengthen unity and common social values among the civilization, as well as the political control of successive dynasties throughout history.
Although China was historically an epicenter for religious thought and practice, today only about 31 percent of adults are religious believers [source: State.gov]. The country is officially atheist, but government-sanctioned religious practice is allowed. Buddhism is the biggest religion, followed by Taoism, Islam, Protestantism and Catholicism (without official ties to the Vatican, due to government rules).
However, the country's social values have long been deeply rooted in Confucianism, which is not strictly a religion, but rather considered a way of life. For instance, Confucianism values among other things a reverence for one's ancestors, one of the most important traditions for the Chinese. In fact, Confucianism has been a major unifying factor in Chinese culture, along with written language.
Although our discussion of Chinese traditions certainly can't be exhaustive for such a culturally rich civilization, we'll cover the basics of some of their significant traditions, as well as the predominant philosophies behind them.
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Leslie Anderson had no reason to distrust the nurse she let into her home to care for her 4-year-old daughter, who requires around-the-clock medical attention for a rare disease that has left her a quadriplegic and unable to talk.
Five months later, Anderson caught the nurse, Kelli Ingalls, stealing her daughter’s pain medication.
Anderson did not know until contacted by the Star Tribune that Ingalls had a drug history that included methamphetamine abuse and a county finding that Ingalls maltreated a child by allegedly operating a meth lab in her home.
“That’s something that should obviously be in someone’s background check,” Anderson said.
What happened to Anderson and her daughter reveals how gaps in the state’s system for background checks prevent employers and patients from learning the full history of nurses who have committed crimes, neglect or maltreatment, a Star Tribune examination of Nursing Board and criminal records shows.
Nurses can practice for years before their past troubles catch up with them, because the responsibility for vetting caregivers is split between the Department of Human Services and the Minnesota Board of Nursing. Even when these nurses have lied about their backgrounds, the board typically takes disciplinary action only when they commit more misconduct.
As a result, patients and their families have little access to the records of the nurses caring for them.
“Obviously, had I known [about Ingalls], I would have never let her into my home,” Anderson said.
State Sen. Kathy Sheran said she will examine whether the public should be able to learn more about the backgrounds of nurses as part of an investigation she is launching into the Nursing Board.
“The public has a right to have information so they can make good decisions about who they have as their caregivers,” said Sheran, DFL-Mankato, and a former nurse. “That has to be the priority, over taking care of the license holder.”
Licensing a criminal
Nearly all health care providers licensed by the state are required to conduct background checks on new hires who will provide direct care. Those checks are done by the Department of Human Services, which is obligated to disqualify caregivers from direct patient contact if they have committed certain serious crimes. But DHS concedes that the background checks fall short of catching all prior misconduct.
“We know that our current system of notifying us is not adequate,” Jerry Kerber, DHS’s inspector general, said last week.
The Nursing Board does not run criminal background checks. It asks license applicants about trouble in their past, but it does not inquire further if the applicants deny it.
Some nurses have taken advantage of the honor system.
Michael L. Allison obtained his Minnesota license in 2008 after writing “No” on his application when asked if he had ever committed a crime, despite convictions for deceptive practices and theft in Illinois, according to a Nursing Board report. By May 2011, allegations that he had stolen drugs from his workplaces had cost him nursing licenses in Illinois, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin, according to reports from boards there.
In June 2011, Allison applied to renew his Minnesota license and wrote “No” if had ever violated controlled-substance laws or faced any other nursing board disciplinary action. When Allison’s employers asked DHS to do a background check on him, that also failed to detect Allison’s record.
DHS looks for out-of-state convictions only if that person has a conviction in Minnesota, which Allison didn’t have.
“That’s a gap in our system,” Kerber said.
With a clean background check and license in Minnesota, Allison was able to get nursing jobs at facilities in Onamia, Minn., and Crosby, Minn. In February 2012, the Onamia facility found discrepancies in how he handled narcotics, including withdrawing them when he was off-duty, records show.
Two months later, the Nursing Board suspended Allison’s license, revealing for the first time that it had learned about his background. He continued to practice in Crosby for two months, when that employer discovered he was withdrawing numerous doses of narcotics and administering only a few of them, according to the Nursing Board report. His license was revoked in December 2012.
‘Will that behavior continue?’
After years of applicants covering up their past convictions, the Nursing Board will start running criminal background checks on new applicants next year. That will not affect active nurses, who are exempt from checks until 2017 at the latest. That’s the deadline set by the Legislature for licensing boards to devise a plan to check all caregivers’ backgrounds.
Records analyzed by the Star Tribune show the Nursing Board has licensed 294 nurses who have criminal convictions in Minnesota that would appear to disqualify them from providing direct care, ranging from assault to drug crimes to felony theft.
Last week, DHS said it will disqualify up to 107 of those nurses after it was presented with records by the Star Tribune. The agency said it was not aware of those nurses’ crimes because of shortcomings in its background checks.
Records show that nurses who lie about their backgrounds do not always jeopardize their license. At least 67 nurses since 2010 have been allowed to continue to practice in Minnesota after the board discovered that they had made false statements to hide past misconduct.
“Yes, the individual provided false information, but that does not necessarily say that the individual will provide false information in every instance forward,” said Shirley Brekken, the executive director of the Nursing Board. “The board ... has to look at what was the intent. What was the level of seriousness of the breach, that breach of ethics, and ... where is the individual now, today? Will that behavior continue?”
Patients also have few ways to find out whether nurses have been found responsible for serious neglect or other maltreatment, misconduct that would prevent them from providing care to patients if they were not licensed professionals.
The state disqualifies nursing aides, personal care assistants and other unlicensed caregivers from patient contact if they have been deemed responsible for recurring or “serious” maltreatment. Serious maltreatment is defined by statute as sexual abuse or neglect that results in death or serious injury.
If the caregiver found responsible for maltreatment has a license from a health board, DHS cannot disqualify them. Instead, state law directs the agency to refer those cases to the appropriate board for action.
From July 2012 through June 2013, DHS sent 18 such cases to the Nursing Board. The public cannot learn the names of those nurses, because state law shields the identities of nearly all caregivers found responsible for maltreatment or neglect.
Records show that since 2010, only two nurses lost their licenses after being found responsible for serious or repeated maltreatment. Eight are still able to practice.
Nine were allowed to continue to practice until they retired or lost their license following more misconduct. One of them was Kara Wenger, who was twice found responsible for child maltreatment in 2007 and 2009 after being accused of using drugs in front of her child and abandoning the minor in a gas station parking lot for 15 minutes, according to a Nursing Board report.
That recurring maltreatment would have disqualified an unlicensed caregiver from direct care, Kerber said. However, DHS forwarded her case to the Nursing Board, which took no action against her at the time.
Wenger began working at a Winona senior living facility in October 2010. Her maltreatment would not have shown up on her employer’s background check. The Department of Human Services reports only maltreatment that results in disqualification, Kerber said.
Nine days after she was hired, Wenger was fired due to concerns over her professional conduct, the Nursing Board report said. When the facility suspected Wenger had stolen hydrocodone tablets, the Nursing Board asked to meet with her three times in January and February 2011, the board report said. Wenger failed to attend any of those meetings and was suspended in April 2012.
Stealing from a child
Kelli Ingalls obtained a nursing license and landed a job without anyone asking about her drug history.
In 2008, Morrison County social workers found Ingalls was responsible for maltreatment, three years after she was accused of making meth in her basement while her child was home. During the investigation, Ingalls tested positive for meth and said she used marijuana two to three times a week, according to a Nursing Board report.
Ingalls, 48, of Deerwood, Minn., told the Star Tribune that she did not make meth but acknowledged the finding of maltreatment and that she used drugs in the past.
But when Ingalls applied for a nursing license in August 2010, she wrote “No” to questions asking whether she had ever violated a drug law or abused drugs or alcohol.
Ingalls said she was not trying to mislead the board but believed, wrongly, that the board would check her background.
“I assumed if they had a question about it, they would call me,” she said.
Ingalls did not mention the maltreatment on a job application with Good Neighbor Home Health Care, either, and the company never asked her about it, she said.
Kerber, the inspector general of DHS, said nothing would have shown up on a background check of Ingalls. Kerber said DHS can report maltreatment to employers only if it means a job applicant cannot provide direct care.
But the inquiry by Good Neighbor alerted DHS that Ingalls was now a licensed nurse, so the agency informed the Nursing Board about the maltreatment finding.
Anderson, who lives a half-hour west of Brainerd, Minn., said she had no reason to worry about Ingalls. She had already used Good Neighbor without problems since her daughter Addison first started requiring 24-hour care in June 2010.
As a toddler, Addison was diagnosed with a stroke caused by Moyamoya disease, a rare disorder caused by blocked arteries at the base of the brain. She depends on caregivers for feeding, dressing and bathing, as well as for administering medications and monitoring her condition. Addison can smile and sometimes tracks people with her eyes.
When Ingalls arrived at her home in December 2010, Anderson said she initially found the nurse to be friendly and attentive to her daughter.
In April 2011, Ingalls got a letter from the Nursing Board. The board was inquiring for the first time about the maltreatment finding and requested her response. Ingalls said she was going to respond but then, “I did the other thing.”
Ingalls was referring to what happened at the Anderson house. In the spring of 2011, Anderson noticed strange behavior by her daughter’s nurse. Ingalls became manic and spent an unusual amount of time in the bathroom with her purse, Anderson said. Then her daughter’s oxycodone started disappearing.
Anderson suspected the nurse. She called Good Neighbor. They agreed to put out a fake bottle of prescription medication, which soon went missing during Ingalls’ shift. Ingalls confessed to her boss, then to police.
Ingalls said that when she was caught, she was struggling with back pain and ran out of medication.
“I borrowed some from my client,” she said. “It was just a stupid ass thing to do.”
Good Neighbor Home Health Care did not respond to requests for comment. When told that the state was forbidden from telling the home health care company about the maltreatment, Anderson said, “That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.”
Ingalls pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft in September 2011. The Nursing Board suspended her license in June 2012, after she missed two scheduled meetings.
Ingalls said she could have gotten another job before she was suspended but didn’t because she had back surgery. In September 2013, she pleaded guilty to a new charge of felony drug possession.
Ingalls said she hopes to get her nursing license reinstated, for which she can petition the board after she is able to show two years of sobriety. But that’s been difficult, she said. She said she has become addicted to painkillers due to the back injury and is going through methadone treatment.
Data editor Glenn Howatt contributed to this report.
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Base Contact Information
Naval Base Point Loma base operator (619) 553-1011, DSN 553-1011
Housing (619) 556-8443
Public Affairs (619) 553-7175
Geography and Area Information
Naval Base Point Loma is located in San Diego California at 32°40′37″N, 117°14′41″W on the Pacific coast. The peninsula the base occupies is directly west of Coronado Island, another US Naval facility. Naval Base Point Loma sits on a small peninsula approximately 20 minutes from downtown San Diego. Within the peninsula Naval Base Point Loma is bordered by the San Diego Bay to the east and the Fort Rosecrans Cemetery and the Pacific Ocean to the west. To the south the base borders the Pacific Ocean and Cabrillo National Monument. On the north the base juts up to the residential area of La Playa. Naval Base Point Loma is located directly on the Pacific coast and as a result is subject to the full fury and mercy of ocean weather patterns. Despite this, the area experiences year round warm and humid weather. Summers can peak in excess of 90 degrees and winters are generally around 50 degrees.
The area around Naval Base Point Loma has been in use as a strategic point since 1795 when the Spanish built a fort near Point Guijarros. This fort was abandoned in 1845 and in 1846 the fort was taken over by Capt. Samuel Du Pont of the United States Navy who claimed the area for the US. In February of 1852 1,400 acres in the southern section of Point Loma was set aside by then President Millard Fillmore for military purposes, designated as Fort Rosecrans and turned over to command of the Army. In 1898 the Army built a costal artillery battery at Fort Rosecrans that remained active and in service until 1945. When the Army costal artillery battery was decommissioned the Navy Electronics Laboratory was established and run by the University Of California Division Of War Research. This was eventually renamed the Naval Ocean Systems Center and in 1997 was incorporated as part of the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command at Point Loma.
In 1959 the command of Fort Rosecrans was transitioned from the Department of The Army to the Department of The Navy. The area was designated as The Navy Submarine Support Facility and officially brought into action in November of 1963 on a 280 acre plot of land on the coast. In November of 1974 the base was re-designated from a submarine support facility to a shore command serving Submarine Group Five, Submarine Development Group One, the Submarine Training Facility, assigned submarines, Submarine Squadron Three and later Submarine Squadron Eleven. On October 1st 1981 the base was officially designated as a Naval Submarine Base.
Starting in April of 1995 with the Base Realignment and Closure recommendations several US Navy commands were decommissioned or had home ports reassigned. Multiple commands throughout San Diego were regionalized and in an effort to reduce budget spending and the six naval installations in and around Point Loma were consolidated and designated as Naval Base Point Loma on October 1st 1998.
Primary and Ancillary functions
The primary mission of Naval Base Point Loma is to provide support and direct daily operation to and all US Navy tenants and commands in the region under command of Navy Region Southwest. Naval Base Point Loma is comprised of seven different facilities, each with its own unique purpose and mission. The base is home to the Fleet Antisubmarine Warfare Training Center, Submarine Base Point Loma, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), SPAWAR Systems Center, Combat Training Center Pacific, Naval Consolidated Brig, Miramar and the Fleet Intelligence Command Pacific.
Tenants and home based US Navy vessels at Naval Base Point Loma include command of the U.S. Third Fleet, Narwhal (TWR-842), Torpedo Weapons Retrievers Devil Ray (TWR-6), Swamp Fox (TWR-821), USS Hampton (SSN-767), Homeported submarine USS Albuquerque (SSN-706), USS Jefferson City (SSN-759), USS San Francisco (SSN-711), USS Asheville (SSN-758) and the USS Topeka (SSN-754).
Support from Naval Base Point Loma is broken down into three main categories, Air Operations, Port Operations and Other Operations. Air operations include shore and airfield aviation support, maintenance, and management of Naval Air Forces in the region. Port operations cover shore installation support and that of naval forces afloat in Navy Ports. Other operations covers all functions associated with deployment and training of naval forces including but not limited to weapons and ammunition storage, disposal, accounting safety and range training support.
Naval Base Point Loma is not an open facility to those with a valid military ID card but visitors can access the base. More information can be found by contacting the Naval Base Point Loma public affairs office at (619) 553-7175.
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BY MARDALE JAY
The last twelve years of our lives have been spent in school. We moved from classroom to classroom and within those four walls we pushed ourselves to learn the skills and knowledge we are told will allow us to reach the future we so desperately want for ourselves. Soon, we will reach the moment we have spent all this time working for.
95 days, 15 hours and one minute until graduation.
The Class of 2017 is focusing on staying on track and meeting the various requirements to walk at graduation this May. While we feel a push to meet the requirements and try to fight the pull of senioritis and procrastination, we are ultimately left facing our biggest concern: to prepare ourselves for the next chapter in our young lives.
The truth of the matter is, whether we want to admit it or not the thought graduating leaves us with a bittersweet feeling. We know graduation will mean no more bell schedule, no more lunch detention, and most importantly that our identity as high school students will fade. We also know that graduation will also move us closer to finally getting to experience what we’ve been working towards for more than a decade now: college and adulthood. But reaching this juncture in our lives comes anxiety and bitterness.
We know moving forward means we have to leave behind what we spent years building: a community we feel deeply connected to.
Five days a week for the last four years, we have walked through the hallways and seen the same faces. We banded together in uncertain times. We laughed together in times of celebration. We started to define and understand ourselves as a part of this larger community. These strong bonds we developed with peers, teachers and staff have become strong and meaningful. People who were once strangers, now are considered family. Part of the procrastination we experience comes from our fear to leave this behind.
We know that beginning this new chapter in our lives will require we step outside of the community and space where we feel safe and comfortable. We must take a risk and move into the unknown. Deep down, we understand that while letting go of what we now hold is hard, not doing so would be an injustice to ourselves.
It is tempting to stay home and sleep away our final semester in an effort to avoid what we are afraid of confronting. But we must remember that the payoff is to be able to live the lives we have so desperately worked for. Not allowing ourselves to grow into something much bigger would be doing a injustice to all those who helped us get to this point. We hold an obligation to not only make ourselves proud, but to make our supporters and fellow classmates proud as well.
Are we prepared for life after high school? Of course. Are we just tired? Do we just wish we had already reached graduation and moved onto the new stage of our lives? Yes, but it isn’t this simple. It is alright for us to feel conflicted. It is alright for us to anticipate and fear the unknown experiences ahead. The senior classes before us felt this same way, and this feeling will happen for the senior classes that come after us. It’s just a small part of being seniors. We’ve worked so hard and this feeling is one we have earned.
Now, as we have less than four months left until graduation, it is up to us how we will choose to spend these fleeting moments.
As one of the Class of 2017 myself, I feel I must urge all of us to appreciate what we currently have. Whether it’s that class you love, the quick conversations you share with friends during a passing period, or that teacher who has always remained at your side– just lose yourself in appreciation of what it means to be a part of this community for this will be what we miss when we move forward into the next stage in our young lives.
When we appreciate this, we will find that the bonds we have developed with each other with withstand time and distance. When we leave, we will carry with us the lessons we have learned, memories of each other, and experiences we have shared along with the strength we have gained through these four year at Manual. This is the power of community: our bond with each other will forever be a source of support and inspiration.
Decide today to honor our collective journey. Decide today to spend our final four months together dedicated to our individual futures and to the future of our community.
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Facebook is having major technical issues with they’re fan pages. The like button will not show anyone that clicks on it. It appears that the stats stays the same. This is a real concern because I’m trying to boost my fans. Facebook needs to fix this issue as soon as possible.
Everyone needs to start paying attention to all they’re social media accounts, adding extra security measures because attackers are on a move to control or make changes to those accounts that they hack. Monitoring your accounts is vital for your own safety.
Road conditions here in Puerto Rico are getting worst as time passes. Accidents are at high risk due to unsafe roads which are covered by pot holes. At night and when it rains these holes are very limited to drivers. Mix these holes with limited or no lights in the streets and it’s a mix that becomes very dangerous. Who do we blame for these conditions? Who will take the responsibility to fix these roads? It is obvious that our local Government is ignoring the calls for assistance in this matter.
There are more complicated situations that need great attention with these pot holes and darkness. Used tires are not cheap and vehicle repairs are very expensive. It is time for action.
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Defined in header
template< class T, class... Args >
shared_ptr<T> make_shared( Args&&... args );
Constructs an object of type
T and wraps it in a std::shared_ptr using
args as the parameter list for the constructor of
|args||-|| list of arguments with which an instance of |
Return value
std::shared_ptr of an instance of type
May throw std::bad_alloc or any exception thrown by the constructor of
T. If an exception is thrown, this function has no effect.
This function is typically used to replace the construction std::shared_ptr<T>(new T(args...)) of a shared pointer from the raw pointer returned by a call to
new. In contrast to that expression, std::make_shared<T> typically allocates memory for the
T object and for the std::shared_ptr's control block with a single memory allocation (this is a non-binding requirement in the Standard), where std::shared_ptr<T>(new T(args...)) performs at least two memory allocations.
Moreover, code such as f(std::shared_ptr<int>(new int(42)), g()) can cause a memory leak if
g throws an exception because
g() may be called after
new int(42) and before the constructor of
shared_ptr<int>. This doesn't occur in f(std::make_shared<int>(42), g()), since two function calls are never interleaved.
See also
| constructs new |
(public member function)
| creates a shared pointer that manages a new object allocated using an allocator |
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STATEHOUSE (Jan. 8, 2013) — State Sen. Randy Head (R-Logansport) today announced new legislation aimed at protecting children and staff members in schools.
Senate Bill 345 would require each school corporation, including charter schools, to develop a policy that reduces the use of physical restraint or seclusion when students become aggressive.
“Over the summer, the General Assembly’s Autism Commission reviewed evidence showing the horrible, but unintended consequences restraint and seclusion can have,” Head said. “There have been reports of students dying due to the well-meaning actions of untrained individuals. While this is a rare situation, it is a tragedy that should never have to happen. We can prevent this by making certain our teachers and staff members are prepared for these situations.”
Head said his plan would require school policies to include statements on the following:
Additionally, the policy must provide requirements for time limits and enclosures used for seclusion, adult supervision in the event of isolation, appropriate documentation and immediate parent notification. Schools must also require training for employees on the appropriate use of restraint and seclusion as well as effective alternatives.
“There are times when seclusion and restraint may be necessary to stop a student from harming someone,” Head said. “But we can’t leave that open to interpretation. Putting policies like this in place will help ensure our students are treated with care, regardless of the situation.”
Head filed SB 345 yesterday at the opening of the 2013 legislative session.
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I was determined to go to Japan to outstrip them all, to learn judo. It wasn't to
go to the Olympics, it was to become really, really good at judo. Doug Rogers
How very Canadian - I had a one-way ticket to the Olympics. Doug Rogers
In the tunnel
the black taxi roof
a stream of neon Colin Oliver, haiku
Youth is not a time of life
it is a state of mind
it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees
it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions Samuel Ullmann, Youth
There was a link on a judo site to an old documentary called Judoka. It's about a Canadian called Doug Rogers and his serious judo training in Japan. He was there from 1960 to 1965. He was obviously an exceptionally talented and determined judoka and he became one of the very best in the world. At the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 he won the heavyweight silver medal.
It's a very interesting documentary. It shows the training and life of a young martial artist in Japan. It was a simpler, more innocent time.
There is a nice scene of Doug Rogers doing randori free training in the Nippon Budokan. The Nippon Budokan is a huge martial arts hall in central Tokyo. It was constructed for the 1964 Olympics. Over the years it has been used for rock concerts and many artists have recorded Live at Budokan albums. The All-Japan Aikido demonstration is held there every year in May.
On the wikipedia page about Doug Rogers there is a link to a thesis written about him by his daughter. It adds another dimension to the documentary. She interviews him about his life in Japan and together they go on a trip to Japan to try to make sense of the past.
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Americas | International | Santa Cruz Indymedia | Global Justice and Anti-Capitalism | Government & Elections
Cubans celebrate 55 years since overthrow of Batista
On Jan. 1, mass celebrations took place throughout Cuba to mark 55 years since the hated dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on Jan. 1, 1959 and a new dawn arose with the Cuban people in power.
After five years, five months and five days of determined struggle led by revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, the Rebel Army forces began the march westward to Havana from several rebel strongholds, to secure the revolution’s triumph.
Fidel Castro’s rebel column arrived on Jan. 8, and he spoke to thousands of enthusiastic people amassed to hear his historic declaration.
Within days, weeks and months, new revolutionary decrees tore down the oppressive chains of the capitalists — U.S. and Cuban.
One can only imagine the enthusiasm of the Cuban people when more than 2 million acres of U.S.-owned land were turned over to Cuban hands, in the land reform law of May 17, 1959. Or when rents were cut in half in the first weeks, and in the next two years, the Cuban people became outright owners of the housing they occupied.
Cuba became the first country in the western hemisphere to successfully wipe out illiteracy in 1961, in the midst of a U.S.-financed plot to invade the island. Despite the CIA’s terrorist attacks that killed young Cuban literacy volunteers and peasants who backed the land reform, the revolutionary process moved ahead.
Looking at Cuba today, and all the economic, social and political gains that the whole population enjoys, we must remember that it has taken place despite more than 50 years of U.S. genocidal blockade, an armed invasion, and constant counterrevolutionary plots.
In economic terms alone, Cuba has calculated its losses at over $1 trillion dollars due to the blockade. The Obama administration — continuing the policy of every previous president since1959 — has imposed hundreds of millions of dollars in fines on European banks that do business with Cuba. The U.S. government pursues governments around the world to force an illegal compliance with the U.S. blockade.
Achievements of the revolution
Yet, Cuba’s social indices are truly remarkable, and prove that socialism is the only system that meets people’s needs and lays the basis for real equality and development.
Just to mention a few: According to the Cuban government’s declaration of December 13, 2013, “Cuba: The Meaning of Human Rights,” 9,960 young people graduated as medical doctors from 58 countries, at Cuba’s Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM). Think of how many lives they have saved worldwide.
Cuba was the first Latin American territory free of illiteracy in 1961. Its stupendous literacy programs, “Yes, I can,” and “Yes, I can go further,” have brought 7,926,530 people into the light of reading and writing, as of November 2012.
The Haitian people have been virtually abandoned after hundreds of NGOs took advantage of the earthquake and cholera catastrophes. But Cuba’s doctors have provided free medical care since 1998, and almost 75,000 lives were saved post-earthquake by Cuban doctors. Cuba’s internationalism is most notable for its emphasis on other people’s development. 817 Haitians have graduated as doctors in Cuba’s schools, and 324 are now in medical school.
While U.S. students are forced to run up school debts of tens of thousands of dollars, in Cuba nearly 70 percent of Cuban youth age 18 to 23 are in university. And they don’t pay a cent to become educated.
Tonight, Cuban President Raúl Castro spoke in Santiago de Cuba at an outdoor rally to celebrate the Revolution. In his concluding remarks, he said, “The new generations of leaders—who gradually and in an orderly way are assuming the main responsibilities in leading the nation—will never forget that this is the Socialist Revolution of the humble, by the humble and for the humble…”
As he concluded, he repeated Fidel Castro’s words uttered 55 years ago, at almost exactly the same hour, “’The Revolution triumphs with absolutely no compromise with anyone, only with the people, which is the only one to whom the Revolution owes its victory.’” Raúl continued, “Fifty five years later, in this very same place, we can repeat with pride, the Revolution remains the same, with absolutely no compromise with anyone, only with the people!”
The Party for Socialism and Liberation salutes Fidel and Raúl Castro and their comrades who fought alongside them, the Cuban people, the Cuban Communist Party and the country’s mass organizations, for showing what struggle, socialist ideals and internationalism can accomplish, and for proving that another world is possible with socialism.
Content may be reprinted with credit to LiberationNews.org.
JANUARY 2, 2014
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HMS Lapwing (U 62)
|Name||HMS Lapwing (U 62)|
|Type:||Sloop (Modified Black Swan)|
|Completed||1943 - Scott´s Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Greenock|
|Date of attack||20 Mar 1945||Nationality: British|
|Fate||Sunk by U-968 (Otto Westphalen)|
|Position||69° 26'N, 33° 44'E - Grid AC 8867|
|Complement||229 officers and men (168 dead and 61 survivors).|
|History||Completed in March 1944 |
|Notes on event|
In the afternoon on 20 March 1945, U-968 attacked the convoy JW-65 and reported a destroyer and a Liberty sunk and another Liberty ship torpedoed. In fact, the sloop HMS Lapwing (U 62) (Cdr J.A. Binnie, Rtd, RN) of the 7th Escort Group and the Liberty ship Thomas Donaldson were sunk. The survivors of the sloop were rescued by HMS Savage (G 20) (LtCdr C.W. Malins, DSO, DSC, RN).
At 10.14 hours on 20 March 1945, U-716 (Thimme) had attacked the same convoy and reported a Groznyj class destroyer sunk, but the U-boat probably missed HMS Lapwing (U 62).
|On board||We have details of 163 people who were on board.|
If you can help us with any additional information on this vessel then please contact us.
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Teachers’ notes for my new novel Scar Town are now available here. The notes include an interview where I share the background and inspiration for the writing of the book, including images, video, music, maps, as well as creative writing tasks based on the story. The notes are useful for teachers using Scar Town for reading circles, in-class discussion, student book club and for keen readers wanting to dive deeper.
Below is an overview of the notes. Just click the images to go to the resources in full. Teachers are enjoying using the teaser-trailer and the free ebook chapters and audiobook chapters to share the book with students, too.
SCAR TOWN IS RECOMMENDED FOR
Upper primary and lower secondary (ages 1o or 11 to 14; years 5/6 to 9)
1. Plot summary
2. About the author
3. Author’s inspiration
4. Writing style
5. Key study topics
7. Further discussion points and activities
8. Further reading 13
KEY CURRICULUM AREAS
• Learning areas: English, Legal Studies • General capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking; Literacy; Personal and Social Capability; Ethical Understanding
REASONS FOR STUDYING THIS BOOK
• Award-winning author Tristan Bancks brings readers another story with challenging moral and ethical dilemmas to explore. • A fast-paced and action-packed story with broad appeal for young readers. • Find out more from Tristan Bancks about the creative writing process and strategies and tips you can use to improve your own writing. THEMES • Friendship • Family • Loss • Ethical and moral dilemmas • Coping with death and uncertainty • Masculinity in remote regional towns • Childhood and what happens when it ends prematurely • Place, displacement and belonging • Dealing with loss and letting go • Guilt and shame • Secrets, mysteries
‘A taut and fraught fast-paced rollercoaster of hidden dangerous secrets, family betrayals, misplaced trust and the bonds of friendship that can sustain in the most terrible of circumstances … It’s a fabulous and thrilling journey this one, and readers will eat it up, just as I did over just one night’s binge-read … Highly recommended for readers from upper primary upwards.’
– Sue Warren, Teacher-Librarian / Blogger, Just So Stories
Read more Scar Town reviews here.
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A Japanese supermarket group is slashing the price of this year’s Beaujolais Nouveau and selling the wine in plastic bottles in a bid to beat the recession.
Nearly 5m bottles of the 2009 vintage will hit the shelves in Japan next Thursday, 19 November, but there are fears that sales in Beaujolais’ biggest export market could fall by as much as 30% this year.
Japanese supermarket group Aeon is aiming to counter the downturn in consumer spending by selling Beaujolais Nouveau in PET bottles, at a knockdown price of JPY980 or US$10.90.
The wine is typically sold in Japan at around JPY2,000-3,000.
Aeon, the owner of Jusco and other retail chains, said it was the first time it had sold Beaujolais Nouveau for less than JPY1,000.
The company added that the PET bottles were almost indistinguishable from glass, and were ‘light, environmentally friendly and low-priced.’
Japan has long had a thirst for the light, easy-drinking style of Beaujolais Nouveau, but sales have plummeted since their peak in 2004, when about 12.5m bottles were sold in the country.
The move by Aeon comes a year after French group Boisset announced that it was shipping all its US-bound Beaujolais Nouveau in PET.
Boisset claimed a 40%-plus cut in shipping weights and a halving of greenhouse gas emissions as a result.
New video: How to Serve Wine, with Steven Spurrier
Written by Richard Woodard
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Americans are known to work hard and play even harder. That’s why when they’re exhausted from their 9-5’s, they like to relax, kick up their feet and take a vacation to get away from the daily stresses.
What if Americans could jet off to some place that offers an exotic twist but still maintains the familiar comforts of the American lifestyle? What if they could spend the day hiking through the rainforest but still grab a Big Mac for supper, all while feeling safe, comfortable, and welcome? Here are the 7 most ‘American’ places outside the US, places where Americans will feel right at home.
Population: 2.5 million
Approximate Distance: 60 miles
Peter Ustinov famously described Toronto as “New York run by the Swiss”, and it is one of the top vacationing spots for Americans looking for fast and easy international travel. Toronto comes without the dreaded culture shock or 10 flights.
Only a 90 minute drive from the US border, Toronto’s climate is similar to any of the northern states complete with hot, humid summers.
Since the US is Canada’s leading trading partner, it’s pretty easy to understand why Toronto would share many of the same restaurants, shopping centers, products, customs and amenities that are present in the US.
Toronto may make Americans feel like they’ve never left home but the city definitely has great tourist attractions to keep tourists busy.
The CN Tower which held the world record of tallest free-standing structure for 30 years, one of the largest zoos in the world, the Toronto Zoo, as well as several famous art galleries, museums and sporting events – just to name a few.
Overall, Canada isn’t that different from the US. While staying there, Americans can still watch their favorite television shows, rent the same movies, eat many of the same foods, read about the same celebrities and communicate fluently. And despite some sibling rivalry between the two countries, Americans are overwhelmingly welcome to cross the border.
Population: 4.28 million
Approximate Distance: 9400 miles
Considering Australia is predominantly of British origin, it makes sense that this is another country that will provide a safe and homey tourist destination for Americans. The two countries share a very long and deep relationship spanning back many years and have subsequently developed a tight bond.
Both countries share similar outlooks, cultures and values and both have a strong commitment to democracy and human rights.
From evolution to linguist similarities, Americans share much common ground with the Aussies down under.
The climate is temperate with warm summers making for easy adjustment for southern or northern Americans. Australia is also one of the top ten most tourist friendly countries in the world so Americans don’t have to worry about feeling unwelcomed.
Sydney provides an ‘American’ feel while still offering incredibly unique experiences. From the wild outback to fascinating wildlife, Sydney is known for its spectacular beauty and famous landscapes. Check out Sydney’s most famous beach, Bondi Beach, take a tour of Taronga Zoo, visit the Chinese Garden of Friendship or taste a bit of culture at the famous Sydney Opera House.
Sydney will gladly open her arms and take tourists on a journey of a lifetime, all while still providing the basic comforts and luxuries Americans are used too.
Population: 7.55 million
Approximate Distance: 3000 miles
London, England may be on the other side of the world, but it is another great place for a comfortable American vacation. The US was founded by 13 British colonies but the two share much more than just history and lineage.
The predominant language used in London is English (though the British certainly have their own unique slang) so the learning curve is small. London is also influenced by the familiar Anglo-Saxon culture Americans are accustomed too.
From music and art to fashion, sports and media, the similarities between the US and London are great. London is also a European hub for business, finance, politics and more so Americans will recognize many of the brands and companies while travelling through the city.
However, London is still rich with historic treasures, containing four of the World Heritage Sites and for those looking for a bit of fun and adventure, there are many worthwhile tourist attractions including beautiful parks and gardens, theaters, galleries, museums, and many famous landmarks such as the Buckingham Palace.
Tourists can enjoy London all while still feeling the ease of being at home in “the States” England is also one of the top ten countries that love America, so Americans can expect a warm and friendly welcome - just remember to drive on the other side of the road!
Population: 1.3 million
Approximate Distance: 280 miles
143 miles south of the US border lies another top destination spot for Americans looking to balance familiarity with the exotic. As one of Mexico’s largest cities, Monterrey looks and feels much like Phoenix but with a more pronounced Spanish flavor.
Sharing a border and being large trading partners has had a huge impact on Monterrey life, blending mariachis and tacos with Wal-Marts and Applebee’s.
Monterrey is a fast growing metropolis full of ‘americanizados’ (Americanization) as well as rich culture. Although some of the more southern areas of Mexico have shown concern regarding the growing American influence, in Monterrey, residents welcome it with open arms.
The great thing about travelling to Monterrey is while you can still experience things like American-style football, fast-food restaurants, American television and the latest US fashions, there is still a very strong commitment to keeping Mexican tradition and culture alive.
There are hundreds of landmarks and cultural sites such as the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey or Museo de Historia Mexicana and breath taking scenery full of waterfalls, mountains, caves and wildlife.
Monterrey has also been ranked as one of the most secure cities in Latin America and Mexico, so Americans thinking of making Monterrey their getaway of choice, will find themselves in a safe home away from home.
Approximate Distance: 5400 miles
With the unique location of being built on 14 different islands, Stockholm, Sweden is certainly a rare sight to behold for any tourist. It is considered one of the most beautiful capital cities on the planet, but it’s also one of the most Americanized cities in Europe.
The Swedes have always been early adopters of American products and trends, and this has created a melting pot of western and European culture that is prevalent in Stockholm.
Stockholm is also a very ‘English-friendly’ European city. Since the late 1940’s, English has been a compulsory subject in school for Swedes and despite its northerly location; Stockholm’s weather is much like Seattle but with a slightly colder winter.
The beauty of Stockholm for American tourists is not just its minimal learning curve, but also the extraordinary location, preserved mediaeval city Gamla Stan with fairy tale towers, renowned museums, distinguished theaters, World Heritage Sites and how easy it is to see it all – most attractions are found in the inner city. There is even an amusement park complete with a tunnel of love, roller coaster, and funhouse.
Stockholm is known for its superb and diverse food thanks to immigration, but Americans can still enjoy an all-American chain like TGI Friday’s.
Approximate Distance: 4000 miles
Frankfurt, Germany seems an unlikely place for those looking to vacation in an ‘American’ city, but it’s the most US-influenced city in Germany. After World War II, Frankfurt was left in ruins and the city turned to innovation rather than restoration and constructed a city skyline that would give New York a run for its money.
Another surprising fact about Frankfurt is that one in three people living there do not hold a German passport. That means it’s easy to find someone who speaks your language and serves your favorite food. Frankfurt has long developed a reputation as being a liberal and hospitable haven stemming from centuries of being a trading center.
Frankfurt has already secured itself as a major economic and business hub for Germany and Europe, but it is working to distinguish itself as an attraction for literature and art connoisseurs.
The city has an energetic nightlife, an array of museums and festivals and one of the most important zoos in Europe, the Frankfurt Zoological Garden – almost all of which lie inside the old city walls.
Frankfurt offers the frills of home surrounded by historic wonders spanning back 1200 years.
Panama City, Panama
Approximate Distance: 2600 miles
Panama and the US have had close historical ties dating back decades. The US has assisted Panamanians in promoting economic, political, security and social development through out the country and many Americans are now making Panama their retirement destination of choice because Panama is such a welcoming and friendly place for Americans to travel to, particularly Panama City.
Panama City is the capital and largest city of Panama and has previously been chosen to be the American Capital of Culture. Panama uses the American dollar and most Panamanians are bilingual in English as well.
However, even with such a strong American presence, Panama City still offers many stunning attractions and historical sights to see that are exclusive to Panama culture.
Stroll along beautiful beaches, hike through tropical rain forests, relax in world-class hotels (Panama City has the 2nd highest hotel occupancy rate in the world behind Perth, Australia), and get a taste of Panamanian culture by visiting the Old Quarter.Panama City offers a safe and beautiful vacationing spot where Americans can easily fit in.
Whether Americans want to travel to the other side of the world or take a 90 minute road trip to the neighboring country, they can easily find a warm, welcoming tourist destination where they can relax and explore something new, all while feeling like they’ve never left home.
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Npower and British Gas fuelled fears of a "cold winter" for more households after they raised gas and electricity prices.
Npower announced it was raising average gas tariffs by 8.8pc and 9.1pc for electricity on Friday afternoon - a £9 a month rise for its 3m customers.
Hours earlier, British Gas increased energy costs for 8.5m customers by 6pc, adding £80 to the average dual fuel bill.
Both companies blamed rising costs largely outside their control, but with food and some mortgage costs also on an upward path there were fears about how the elderly and hard-up will cope with the latest rises.
Unions and consumer groups attacked the increases and called on the Government to take urgent action to tackle rising fuel prices. Some were critical of a 23pc rise in half-year profits at its Britsh Gas's residential arm to £345m.
Audrey Gallacher, Director of Energy (NYSEArca: JJE - news) at Consumer Focus, said the price rises would push even more households into fuel poverty, with over six million UK households already struggling to afford their bills.
Npower's chief commercial officer Paul Massara said: "There is never a good time to increase energy bills, particularly when so many people are working hard to make ends meet.
"But the costs of new statutory schemes, increases in distribution charges and the price of gas for the coming winter are all being driven up by external factors, for example government policy."
Phil Bentley, the British Gas managing director, said he knew increase was "unwelcome news for customers", but said: "Britain's North Sea gas supplies are running out, and British Gas had to pay the going rate for gas in a competitive global marketplace.
"Furthermore, the investment needed to maintain and upgrade the national grid to deliver energy to our customers' homes, and the costs of the Government's policies for a clean, energy-efficient Britain, are all going up."
The annual dual fuel bill for British Gas customers with average consumption will rise to £1,238, the company said.
Of the £80 rise, British Gas said £50 will go on "non commodity" costs, such as the cost of delivering energy to homes, meeting Government environment policies such as the Renewables Obligation and other social costs, such a feed in tariffs.
The rest covers the cost of wholesale gas, operating costs, and profit. British Gas expects wholesale gas prices to rise 13pc over the winter.
The average cost of delivering energy to homes has risen by around £25 over the year and this is expected to rise by a further £40 next year. While investment in upgrading Britain's gas and electricity grids are expected to add more than £15 to the cost of supplying households.
Other companies are expected to follow British Gas and nPower in raising prices.
Mrs Gallacher, of Consumer Focus, said: "Wholesale gas prices are volatile and suppliers will look to pass on those commodity costs to their customers. But despite many trying, no-one has managed to convince consumers of the necessity for price rises in the context of wholesale prices and company profits.
"It is difficult to achieve ... We would encourage consumers to do what they can to cut their bills by switching tariff, payment method and supplier. But we need much more focus on the big steps that Government and the regulator can take to insulate consumers from the effects of growing energy costs."
Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at uSwitch, said the increase would leave many households facing a winter where they are "scared to turn on heating for fear of the cost".
Customers who want to escape these rise can fix their energy prices for up to two winters. The cheapest fix for most people available on the market is with First Utility until March 31 2014, but there are exit fees of £30 per fuel.
For those who do not want to sign up to a deal with an exit fee, Scottish Power's deal locks in prices until March 31, 2014 and has no exit fees.
Centrica (Xetra: A0DK6K - news) said British Gas Residential profits for the second half of 2012 are expected to be around 15pc lower than for the same period of 2011, assuming normal weather conditions. The company estimates residential margins after tax in 2012 will be 5p in the pound - a similar level to last year and lower than the prior year.
Mr Bentley said: "Unfortunately, we cannot run our business sustainably on lower margins and still make the investments in jobs and future energy sources that Britain needs, especially if the country is to grow its way out of recession."
Higher utility bills could skew the Bank of England's inflation forecasts. The central bank has predicted a gradual slide in the consumer price index rate towards the end of the year and into 2013.
While inflation has fallen from 5.2pc in September last year to 2.5pc in August this year, many economists expect the rate to rise again as droughts in the US and poor summer weather in the UK are likely to mean higher food prices.
Paul Steedman of Friends of the Earth said: "Soaring gas prices are the main reason why fuel bills have rocketed in recent years. Unless our failing energy system is urgently overhauled, cash-strapped households will continue to pay a hefty price for our fossil fuel dependency.
"Ministers must abandon their plans for a reckless dash for gas, take rapid steps to make our homes and businesses more energy efficient, and harness the huge power potential from the wind, waves and sun."
British Gas last raised its tariffs in August 2011, when gas prices went up by 18pc and electricity prices by 16pc. Then in January 2012, it cut its electricity prices by 5pc.
Find the cheapest energy prices near you and switch online in minutes
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What Does brake repair Mean?A drum brake is often a car or truck brake through which the friction is caused by a list of brake footwear that push towards the inner surface area of the rotating drum. The drum is connected to the rotating roadwheel hub.
Notable illustrations include gliders and many Environment War II-period plane, generally some fighter plane and plenty of dive bombers on the era. These enable the plane to take care of a safe pace inside of a steep descent. The Saab B seventeen dive bomber and Vought F4U Corsair fighter utilised the deployed undercarriage as an air brake.
Engineered to match the particular braking specifications of one's auto developing OE overall performance and pedal sense even though pretty much removing brake squeal and mud.
Do you as well as other motorists listen to sounds when You begin to brake? Do you are feeling your brakes grinding, vibrating or pulsating if you press down around the brake pedal?
The Pep Boys Standard Brake Support package includes a thorough brake process analysis, brake pad or brake shoe alternative, and off-automobile resurfacing of drums or rotors over the serviced axle(s) executed by our Licensed Qualified Pep Boys experts.
We retain the services of only the most beneficial brake professionals. Every one of our specialists is ASE-Accredited. This suggests they’ve passed the take a look at and have the ideal mixture of encounter, expertise and schooling to carry out your brake task right.
Energy – Brakes are often described as "effective" when a small human software power contributes to a braking power that's bigger than usual for other brakes in exactly the same course.
Brake pad substitute is the most common repair job for automotive brake techniques. The rationale is easy: brakes are meant to have on out. The pads rub around the brake disk to halt your car, so worn pads are the 1st portion to examine For anyone who is suffering from any braking problems.
Brake pads do the job Together with the brake caliper to halt the brake repair spinning movement within your wheels. The caliper squeezes the pads together, creating friction among the pads along with the brake rotors.
Brake rotors, also known as brake discs, really are a critical Section of your vehicle’s braking technique, Since the brake pads clamp down on them, the used tension will cease the spinning of one's wheels.
This fluid triggers a sequence reaction within the hydraulic method shifting from cylinder to cylinder to a number of the smaller drive used by your foot to provide your vehicle to some end.
Delight in comprehensive automotive products and services and preventive upkeep at amongst our fifty four places throughout six states. We also have an intensive line of tires available. Shop for Yokohama, and Toyo tires on line. Immediately after browsing our website, simply call your closest areas for personalized company.
Some vehicles, like some transit buses, don't already have an electric motor but utilize a secondary "retarder" brake that's successfully a generator with the internal brief-circuit. Associated different types of such a brake are eddy current brakes, and electro-mechanical brakes (which really are magnetically driven friction brakes, but at present are frequently just referred to as "electromagnetic brakes" also).
Brake upkeep is important in serving to ensure the basic safety of both you and your passengers. If the brakes are producing a squealing seem, that may be a sign that you choose to want brake company promptly.
Our mobile brake repair model don't just enables us to repair our clients’ brakes with the usefulness in their homes or workplaces–Additionally, it cuts out the additional cost of functioning brick and mortar repair retailers–and we pass that benefit on for you!
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Welcome to Indian Hills Fire Rescue
Winter Fire Safety
Winter is right around the corner. With the colder weather and approaching holidays, electricity use rises as well as the use of woodburning fireplaces and stoves. Understanding basic electrical and chimney safety principles can help you protect your home and family from the devastation of a house fire.
Here are some electrical considerations:
- Routinely check electrical appliances and wiring. Replace all old, damaged, or worn cords immediately.
- Watch for warning signs of electrical problems such as outlets or switches that are warm or make crackling, sizzling, or buzzing noises.
- Do not use extension cords on a permanent basis and never use them with appliances, space heaters, or air conditioners.
- Avoid overloading circuits.
- Do not use light bulbs that exceed the recommended wattage of the light fixture.
- Replace any electrical tool that overheats, shorts out, gives off smoke, sparks, or causes even small electrical shocks.
- Avoid putting cords where they can be damaged or pinched by furniture, under rugs and carpets, or across doorways.
- Keep clothes, curtains, and other combustible items at least three feet from all heaters.
- Buy electrical products that have been evaluated by a nationally recognized laboratory.
- Do not allow children to play around electrical appliances like space heaters, irons, and hair dryers.
- Never put a three-prong plug into a two-slot outlet or extension cord.
- Properly label all electrical panel circuits. Replace fuses and circuit breakers with the correct size and amperage.
- Unplug Christmas tree lights when leaving the house or going to bed.
- Hire a qualified electrician to do any electrical work or repairs.
- And donít forget to regularly check the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors!
Creosote is the main cause of chimney fires. If it builds up in sufficient quantities and ignites inside the chimney flue, the result can be a chimney fire. Here are some tips to minimize creosote:
- Have your fireplace or woodstove inspected and/or cleaned annually.
- Burn only seasoned woods.
- Avoid burning trash or debris in a fireplace or woodstove.
- Do not allow the fire to smolder.
- Keep the area around the hearth clear of all combustibles.
- Use a metal mesh fireplace screen.
- Ensure that the chimney flue is never obstructed.
- Never leave a fire unattended.
- Install a spark arrester terminator cap at the end of your flue.
For the latest updates and information, please:
Help Us Find You:
Order Your Reflective Address Signs Here:(.pdf)
Show Your Support!Or click on the donate button and use Paypal to donate today.
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- 20 Pins
H H Holmes Serial Killers, True Crime, Hotel Murder, Crime Serial, American Serial, City America S, Hh Holmes Serial Killers
Devil in the White City - H. H. Holmes - First documented American serial killer. Energy? Every effort was dedicated to his World's Fair Hotel, where he trapped and incinerated victims.
(Historic WTF) America's First Serial Killer HH Holmes - INFOGRAPHIC, hotel murder castle had 51 doorways that opened to brick walls. All for insurance money...
HH Holmes - serial killer living near the fairgrounds during the 1893 World's Colombian Exhibition in Chicago.
America's First Serial Killer HH Holmes - INFOGRAPHIC. I wonder if his "castle" still stands and if it holds tours. genius
America's First Serial Killer HH Holmes - INFOGRAPHIC. Built a hotel for the specific purpose of murdering guests and employees.
America's First Serial Killer HH Holmes - INFOGRAPHIC that we know of probably more but not documented in history.
America's First Serial Killer HH Holmes - INFOGRAPHIC Love that this infographic is sponsored by an insurance company.
America's "First" Serial Killer HH Holmes. Ad at the bottom for term life insurance is *Hilarious*
H.H. Holmes serial killer during the 1892-1893 Chicago Worlds Fair.
Angelo Buono Jr. and Kenneth "Kenny" Alessio Bianchi, collectively known as "The Hillside Strangler(s)", were a pair of serial killers responsible for the murders of at least 12 women.
True Crime, Murdered 10, Kenneth Bianchi, Death, Angelo Buono, Murders Bianchi, Murdered Raped
Angelo Buono Jr. and Kenneth "Kenny" Alessio Bianchi, collectively known as "The Hillside Strangler(s)", were a pair of serial killers responsible for having murdered, raped and tortured at least 12 women and children and more
The Hillside Strangler were cousins Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono. During a 4 month period from 1977 to 1978, they kidnapped, raped, and murdered 10 women who ranged from ages 12 to 28 years old, dumping the bodies in hilly areas of CA. In WA, Bianchi was arrested for murdering two women and this led to his and Buono’s connections to the CA murders. Bianchi and Buono was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Kenneth Bianchi & Angelo Buono (The hills' stranglers)
Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi
Nathan Freudenthal Leopold, Jr. - November 19, 1904 – August 29, 1971, charged with murder in Chicago
Chicago Law, Chicago Long, Chicago Historical, Articles, Collection Chicago, Law Students, Article Leopold, Description Photograph, Chicago Daily
Nathan Freudenthal Leopold, Jr., (November 19, 1904 – August 29, 1971) and Richard Albert Loeb (June 11, 1905 – January 28, 1936), more commonly known as "Leopold and Loeb", were two wealthy University of Chicago law students who kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks in 1924 in Chicago. The duo was motivated to murder Franks by their desire to commit a perfect crime.
Description Photograph of Nathan Leopold Source Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society. Article Leopold an...
This article is about teen killers.
Lizzie Borden On August 4, 1892, Andrew Borden had gone into Fall River to do his usual rounds at the bank and post office. He returned home at about 10:45 a.m.; Lizzie Borden claimed that she found his body about 30 minutes later. During the murder trial, the Bordens' twenty-six-year-old maid, Bridget Sullivan, testified that she was lying down in her room on the third floor of the house shortly after 11:00 a.m. when she heard Lizzie call to her, saying someone had kille...
True Crime, Lizzie Borden, Serial Killers, Father Forty, Forty Whacks, Mother Forty
Lizzie Borden; "Lizzie Borden took an axe, gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one."
Lizzie Borden.→ Rhyme Inspired by true story.... Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks. And when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one.
Lizzie Borden took an axe And gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done She gave her father forty-one. Lizzie Borden
Lizzie Borden, Lizzie Borden took an axe And gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done She gave her father forty-one. Funny I know another woman with LB initials and she's a stalker, psycho, loony tunes too...Gotta Keep eyes on those Women who share LB intials...That's some scary shit!
Lizzie Borden took an axe And gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done She gave her father forty-one. It was this rhyme that started my journey into the world of criminology at age 9.
"Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one"...In reality Lizzie's stepmother suffered 18 or 19 blows and her father just 11 blows. Even though she was acquitted, Lizzie was ostracized by neighbors after the trial.
Lizzie Borden - Shortly before noon on 8/4/1892, the body of Andrew Borden, a prosperous businessman, was found in the parlor of his Fall River, MA home. The body of Abby Borden, his wife, was discovered in an upstairs bedroom. A week later, Andrew's younger daughter, Lizzie, was arrested for the double murder. The trial - and subsequent acquittal - of Lizzie Borden made her a media sensation.The case remains unsolved.
Lizzie Borden was a woman in New England who was tried for killing her father and stepmother with a hatchet in Fall River, Massachusetts, she was acquitted, no one else was ever arrested or tried and she has remained a notorious figure in American folklore. Dispute over the identity of the killer or killers continues to this day. Lizzie Borden took an axe And gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done She gave her father forty-one.
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was an American serial killer and sex offender. Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991.
True Crime, Serial Killers, Criminal Justice, Dahmer 39, Criminals True, American Serial, Dahmer Prisoner, Dahmer Murdered, Jeffrey Dahmer
Killer: Jeffrey Dahmer enters the courtroom of judge Jeffrey A Wagner August 6, 1991
Why I killed Jeffrey Dahmer': Prisoner reveals how serial cannibal ...
Jeffrey Dahmer | Crime and Investigation
Dennis Lynn Rader is an American serial killer and one time mass murderer who murdered ten people in Sedgwick County, between 1974 and 1991. He was known as the BTK killer. "BTK" stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill", which was his infamous signature.
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In October 1974, Rader sought fame and attention for his crimes, placing a letter in a public library book in which he took responsibility for killing the Oteros.
“Dennis Rader, an infamous serial killer known as the “BTK Killer” before his arrest and conviction revealed his true identify, was active in the Wichita, Kansas area between 1974 and...
Dennis Rader (the BTK Killer): Dennis Raider murdered 10 people in Sedgwick County, Wichita, Kansas between 1974 and 1991. Obsessed with notoriety, Raider sent taunting letters to police under the name BTK which stood for ‘Bind, Torture, Kill’. Rader stalked his victims before breaking into their homes, then binded their limbs before strangling them. Having disappeared in 1988, BTK remerged 2005 when he sent a floppy disc to the press which was to be his downfall. Tracing him via the floppy disc
Dennis Rader BTK Serial Killer Agrees to Book to Help Grieving Families
Serial Killers - Dennis Rader (BTK) - Documentary - YouTube
Dennis Lynn Rader "The BTK killer"
John Douglas was one of the FBI's first profilers.
Criminal Profilers, Book Love, Crime Scene, John Douglas, Profilers I Ve, True Crime Books, Profilers Douglas, Crime Criminals
John E. Douglas, one of the original FBI criminal profilers. I've read almost all his books. Can you even begin to imagine the things he has seen? A true hero of mine.
“There are certain crimes that are simply too cruel, too sadistic, too hideous to be forgiven.” John Douglas
John E. Douglas, one of the original FBI criminal profilers. I've read almost all his books.
John E. Douglas (born June 18, 1945) was one of the FBI's first profilers. Douglas examines a crime scene and creates profiles of perpetrators, describing their habits and predicting their next moves. Douglas pioneered "criminal profiling"; at the time of criminal profiling's conception, Douglas claimed to have been doubted and criticized by his own colleagues, until both police and the FBI realized that he had developed an extremely useful tool for the capture of criminals.
john e.douglas mindhunter | One of the first criminal profilers.
John E. Douglas, one of the original FBI criminal profilers.
Aphrodite Jones, true crime author.
Books Worth Reading, Crime Authors, Jones True, Favorite Authors, Author I M, Aphrodite Jones Jpg, Books True Crime
♥ღ Aphrodite Jones, true crime author. I'm so thrilled she in back on ID TV - I love HER.
♥ღ Aphrodite Jones, true crime author. I really MISS her TV shows on TRU TV
♥ღ Aphrodite Jones, true crime author.
Author/journalist Carlton Stowers' books include bestsellers TO THE LAST BREATH and CARELESS WHISPERS, both winners of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allen Poe Award as the Best Fact Crime Book of the Year, INNOCENCE LOST, which was nominated for a Pulitzer, and his autobiographical SINS OF THE SON.
Fact Crime, Author Journalist, Stowers Books, Its
THE CARLTON STOWERS PAGE
Charles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction. He was convicted of the murders through the joint-responsibility rule, which makes each member of a conspiracy guilty.
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Charles Manson, American musician and murderer. Created what became the Manson Family in Calafornia during the 1960's. Took part in the horrific madness known as The Manson Murders
I believe Charles Manson is an excellent example of the "odd and unusual" traits that are notably present in schizophrenia, though Manson hasn't been formally diagnosed with this ailment as far as I know.
Charles Manson has never killed a single person. He does not deserve what he got. This is an innocent man.
Charles Manson convinced his 'family' that a race war was coming but was not fast enough for his liking. Therefore he instructed his followers to commit murder in the name of Helter skelter (title taken from the Beatles white album which he believed explained how the race war would begin and be won)
#January25 1971 - Charles Manson and His Followers are Convicted of Murder #OnThisDay in #History http://www.mapsofworld.com/on-this-day/
Charles Manson..born Nov. 12, 1934..A " life long " criminal & leader of a commune in the late 1960's. Though never directly committing the Tate / La Bianca murders he was tried & convicted of being the " mastermind " of the murders by his " followers ". He & his followers were given the death penalty, In 1972 the death penalty was struck down . It has since been restored in many states...but cannot be applied " retroactively ". Manson remains incarcerated at Corcoran State Prison
Charles Manson Mug Shot
Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy was an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, and necrophile who assaulted and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s, and possibly earlier.
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The Last Words of 15 Famous Serial Killers "I'd like you to give my love to my family and friends." - Ted Bundy Great Reads from Exceptional Authors at http://wildbluepress.com. True crime, thrillers, mystery and business books.
Ted Bundy (1946-1989) was an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, and necrophile who assaulted and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier. After more than a decade of denials, he confessed shortly before his execution to 30 homicides committed in seven states between 1974 and 1978; the true total remains unknown, and could be much higher.
Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy (born Theodore Robert Cowell; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) was an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, and necrophile who assaulted and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier.
Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy (born Theodore Robert Cowell; 1946–1989, aged 42) was an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, and necrophile who assaulted and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Bundy#
american serial killers | Famous American Serial Killer Ted Bundy | Serial Killers Central
Monster next door: Ted Bundy "Sociopath" AKA Lady Killer, Ted, The Campus Killer. Born Theodore Robert Cowell; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989 was an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, & necrophile who assaulted & murdered numerous young women & girls during the 1970s & possibly earlier. After more than a decade of denials, he confessed shortly before his execution to 30 homicides committed in seven states between 1974 & 1978; the true total remains unknown, and could be much higher
Robert K. Ressler is a former FBI agent and author. He played a significant role in the psychological profiling of violent offenders in the 1970s and is often credited with coining the English term "serial killer".
Favorite Things, Killers Murderers, Serial Killer, Fbi Criminal, Favorite Authors, Fbi Agent, Robert Ressler, Invented Fbi
Robert Ressler, pretty much invented FBI criminal profiling.
Robert Ressler highly regarded in FBI Criminal Profiling
Gary Ridgway. America's most prolific serial killer. He claimed he murdered prostitutes because he thought he could get away with the crimes -- and for nearly two decades, Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, did. Ridgway murdered at least 49 people in and around Washington state's King County.
Born Killers, Crime File, Crimes Serial Killers, Killers True Crime, Killers Crimes, Killers Scumbags, Killers Victims, Garyridgway Serialkillers, Killers Cults
"I killed so many women I have a hard time keeping them straight." - Gary Ridgway. Read our Crime File: http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/gary-ridgway/biography.html #GaryRidgway #SerialKillers
Serial Killers : Investigation Discovery
Ann Rule, True Crime Author
Start Reading, Adult Writers, Authors Alive, Crime Author, Reading True, Alive Today, Favorite Author, Admirable People
Ann Rule. Ann Rule was one of the first contemporary adult writers I ever read out of school. My mother is a fan of crime/true crime stories. Her work is bone-chilling, sad but true. I'd love to meet her.
Ann Rule, True Crime Author. The book, "If You Really Loved Me" is a "can't stop reading" true crime--unreal!
Ann Rule, true crime writer. She is my absolute favorite author. I've been blessed to have meet her 3 times. What a fantastic lady!
Love all of her books. She is the reason I love reading true crime novels. "The Stranger Beside Me" started my love for her books.
Ann Rule rules!!!-- Once you start reading one of her books-you can't put them down!
Ann Rule is one of my favorite author's. I have several of her book's.
Ann Rule - one of THE best true-crime authors alive today
Ann Rule, true crime writer, my favorite author
Alphonse Bertillon (April 24, 1853 – February 13, 1914) was a French police officer and biometrics researcher who created anthropometry, an identification system based on physical measurements. Anthropometry was the first scientific system used by police to identify criminals. Before that time, criminals could only be identified based on unreliable eyewitness accounts.
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Boris Johnson was in Merton this morning to open Britain’s first ‘intergenerational centre’ which will provide training and leisure facilities for people of all ages. The centre, which was funded by the London Development Agency, was first announced in February 2008 by former Mayor Ken Livingstone.
Speaking this morning Mayor Johnson said the centre was an example of London “yet again leading the way” in bringing people together. During his visit Johnson helped to bury a a time capsule at the site which includes a letter from him to future generations.
Johnson said he was “honoured to be able to contribute a small piece to what is sure to become a fascinating part of Merton’s history – and future.”
Councillor Debbie Shears, cabinet member for children’s services in Merton said the centre “will be a place where people from all ages and backgrounds can meet, organise activities and hold events that promote family support, healthy lifestyles, mentoring and intergenerational understanding.”
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Whystler’s 3D approach to making.
Meet Whystler – a Canadian digital sculptor with a medieval bend.
How did you used to make products before Ponoko?
-I make my living selling virtual products, that is products designed in 3D for virtual worlds (ie. clothing, furniture, apartments etc). Since I already use digital imaging programs, like 3d Studio Maze and Corel PhotoPaint, it was a simple matter of taking these skills and using them to design things for Ponoko. Even before my career as a virtual artist, I was a potter and sculptor specializing in clay and paper. I think this experience also translates well to 3d printing and laser cutting.
What type of products do you make with Ponoko?
-I think you might say that I am still experimenting with different angles on Ponoko. I have created products that are recreational, like the 3D chess game and some toys. I’ve gone into housewares like products for lighting and decor. I tested out a table design, and my harddrive is full of other pending products for Ponoko. I just love this service. It really opens up the floodgates for artists who like the sculptural process.
How would you describe your creative process?
-Everything starts with a spark of inspiration: an external source or combination of ideas hits me in such a way that I think it would translate well to laser cutting. Sometimes I actively pursue the inspiration and sometimes it comes as a surprise. The next step involves a pretty rigorous research period, where I spend a lot of time on internet searches. This information not only builds on the inspiring idea, but also exposes me to what already exists on the market and allows me to make the decision about whether to continue with the project. If something close to what I am preparing to do has already been done, I quickly lose interest. I like new things. Next, if the idea has survived to this point, I start drawing it in Inkscape, or I might make a 3D model as a virtual prototype.
What material/s do you use/ have you used and why?
-I think my favourite material from Ponoko is bamboo. It has such a nice grain, the material feels good and the look is very natural. I’ve also done a bit of work with other plywoods and acrylics. Acrylics are nice because of the range of colours available, and the finished product looks slick with flame polished edges.
Have you been surprised by anything in the Ponoko process: positives/negatives?
-I think the fact that your service completely opens up manufacturing processes to artists that were previously only available to companies who could afford large scale product is wonderfully surprising in this age of industrial competition. I am very grateful that folks like Ponoko, Shapeways, and Spoonflower are doing this sort of thing.
Do you have any tips for other users?
-Tip 1: Don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions, but don’t be discouraged when you aren’t given all the answers you want. Learn how to search effectively on the internet and be tireless in your quest on the Ponoko website for information. If you really want to be a designer, no one is going to hand you information on a platter. You have to get out there and find it. It’s all there and really, it’s not hard to find.
-Tip 2: Strive to be original. If you just want to make a quick buck by copying someone else’s idea more cheaply, then this game is not for you. You will get no enjoyment out of it. The *real* thrill is creating something unique that you can say has a lot of “you” in it. It’s not about making money fast.
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Geremy Tibbles was born 1232 on an uknown date in somwhere in Sibera by will of Communism alone. He lived there for a century before teaching Karl Marx about Communism. He was a drinking buddy of Lenin and Chairman Mao and once beat Stalin in a game of beer pong. Upon the disbanding of the Soviet Union in the 90's he moved to America where he attempted to gather a following of fellow communists and retake Mother Russia. He failed, but is now drinking champion of New England and wanted for drunk in public.
Geremy Tibbles is the greatest communist ever.
by Geremy Tibbles May 02, 2008
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Adult-Onset Flat Feet is a condition caused by constant stress on the feet. It’s not just a problem of one’s feet, but also throughout the rest of your body.What causes adult-onset flat feet?
There are several causes of adult-onset flat feet. Common reasons include poor circulation, being overweight, being inactive, and having a sedentary job. These factors can cause flat feet and other problems in your foot that you may not even be aware of.
What are the symptoms of adult-onset flat feet?
The symptoms of adult-onset flat feet can be different for each person. Some common symptoms that most people experience when they have Adult-Onset Flat Feet include pain in your arch, ankle, heel, and foot numbness. They are tingling in your foot with or without pins and needles and a bruise in your arch area.
How are adult-onset flat feet diagnosed?
Different ways that doctors can diagnose Adult-Onset Flat Feet. The doctor may use X-rays and blood tests to see an underlying issue in your body. If there is not, the doctor may use a simple examination to know if you have problems with your foot. This examination may be done by taking your shoe off and seeing how long it takes for the blood to come back up in your foot when you put pressure on it. If the time taken is more than 30 seconds, this means that there is a problem with how your blood gets back into your foot, and this will cause Adult-Onset Flat Feet.
How can adults avoid adult-onset flat feet?
Several things that you can practice to prevent Adult-Onset Flat Feet. You can follow a healthy diet, exercise, and get rid of any excess weight that you have. Make sure that you have good circulation in your feet and your legs. Additionally, it would be best if you took care of any skin and hair problems, such as dry skin or psoriasis.
How to prevent adult-onset flat feet from happening in the first place
If you are experiencing adult-onset flat feet, the first step is essential is to identify the problem. ISome of the simple things to prevent adult-onset flat feet from happening in the first place:
1. Take care of your feet! This includes taking care of your skin and hair, eating healthy, and taking care of your feet.
2. Avoid putting yourself under too much stress! Life does have other priorities, and you need to take care of yourself so that IP cannot be used as a platform to hurt yourself further.
3. Get moving! Only an hour per day can help reduce developing flat feet.
4. Get enough water! Gellner should be taken seriously as one of the top experts in this area when it comes to his feet.
5. Eat enough fruits and vegetables because the affected part of your body will be active all the time. The good news is that there are a lot of foods that can help you stay healthy for an Adult-Onset Flat Foot
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Are you a school supervisor and wish to make use of school management software to keep control inside your college? If you then must read this article thoroughly in understanding its own advantages and about college administration software as it can assist you.
Company management application is a software program for schools which assists in managing student information. For all your workforce, homes, persons, teachers, directors, etc. the knowledge is stated with people that are registered it really is a web based process finance part, and files are often offered the reviews. To read more about Student Information System visit Classe365 or you can even browse the web for more.
The program makes performance of any educational institute easy and addresses every section of the college and each. This software was made retaining because specific requirements of the particular school. A program that retrieves real-time data into organizes merchants and a protected database construction comes from the application. Because of increase in trouble of supervision, the application form is unquestionably error and updated proof.
Critical characteristics of the faculty management software are. It links all educational stakeholders at college, subsequently communicating collectively quickly. Teachers contain the benefit to talk to different instructors and develop effectively organized functions to show along with accessibility features of the learners and function of these out of your period they joined the partnership. Parents are often introduced connect to light about their ward’s success through parent places or to it team. Parents may be made tuned in to university activities happening their levels, along with insufficient their children.
That is also an incredibly cost effective substitute for administration, which can be cause of massive name being acquired by it in an exceedingly short-time. Need for web based availability, escalation in hope of total and amount of knowledge, greater workflow, dependence on integration of information have the influence of performance of software management software. The school supervision software can be a deal with numerous rewards. Listed below are a little selection of them. You can also visit to trackolade to live examples.
If supplied at a particular school, furthermore, it handles hostel boarding and lodging service. Student thought will also be updated without the usage of pen and history and is merely accessible. Indication approach extended and it’s also accelerated with email reports. Cash that is payrolls and demand series line are easy any more. These processes typically contact most of college processes.
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This report was written by Heather Caygle of the Washington bureau.
House Republicans took advantage of their newfound majority status by hauling President Obama‘s chief regulator to Capitol Hill to defend the administration’s actions.
Rep. Joe Barton
Cass Sunstein, head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (ORIA), was on the hot seat at a hearing held by the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations — the first of a yearlong series of hearings designed to highlight the economic cost of Obama administration environmental and safety regulations.
Republicans said their hearing was in response to an executive order issued last week by President Obama — with an accompanying opinion article the president penned for the Wall Street Journal Op-Ed page — mandating a government review of some regulations and removal of those that hamper economic growth.
But the hearing soon devolved into a partisan fracas, with Republicans warning of the cost of regulations and Democrats generally praising regulatory action. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said Americans’ “lives are longer and safer and better” because of regulations.
Republicans were far more skeptical about government intervention.
“There has been an explosion of regulations and regulation issues in the first years of the Obama administration. Quite frankly, I haven’t seen that your organization has done anything to slow them down,” said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Ennis. “What gives us the confidence to think that this new executive order is going to be any different?”
Concerns expressed by Republicans included the effect of regulations on small businesses, the number of regulations relating to the health-care bill and regulations that allowed the EPA to seize control of Texas permitting last month because the state refused to implement new rules for carbon dioxide and green house gas emissions.
“Do you think this is helpful is helpful in creating a climate for job creation that Texas be singled out in this way?” asked Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Lewisville, in regards to the permitting issue in the state.
While Sunstein conceded that no state should be singled out, he did state that 49 states complied with the EPA’s permitting rule and Texas did not.
“This was going to help people in Texas get permits. In order to go forward there had to be some permitting process and the court approved it,” said Sunstein.
Not all Texans raised concerns about the ORIA and the new executive order, though.
Rep. Gene Green, D-Houston, praised regulations relating to the new health-care reform law, stating that such rules would “make insurance better and less expensive” and “make the insurance marketplace more transparent.”
Throughout the meeting, Democrats continually expressed that idea that regulation was not a bad thing.
“This Groundhog Day recitation of how regulations will destroy the economy and jobs has already been shown to be flat out wrong,” said Markey.
According to Sunstein, the ORIA will review any regulations that raise concern dating back until 1920 if necessary.
“Everything is fair game. Needless to say, regulations that have been issued within the last weeks and months wouldn’t the first candidates for the retrospective review because they were reviewed very recently,” said Sunstein.
The retrospective review will cover all executive agencies including the EPA. Independent agencies like the FCC and the Federal Reserve are not included.
Sunstein also expressed hopes that the public would continue to help the ORIA identify regulations that don’t work or are overly burdensome.
“I think you can expect in the relatively near future one very important cabinet agency going out into the public and asking for ideas about retrospective analysis and what rules are causing trouble,” said Sunstein. “The public has a lot more information than we do about what rules are actually doing on the ground so we need their help.
“I agree with that,” said Rep. Cliff Stearns, the subcommittee chairman from Florida.
Finally, agreement on something.
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Loans are funds that you must repay. Federal Loan programs offer a secure, government-regulated and reasonably affordable way to invest in yourself and your goal of a higher education. Even though some loans are based on financial need, there are programs available to all federally eligible students regardless of income.
Federal Perkins Loans
This is a low interest (5%) loan to help pay for both undergraduate studies, and graduate studies. Priority is given to students who show exceptional financial need. Federal Perkins Loans are made through Arkansas State University with government funds. This loan must be repaid.
Federal Direct Loans
The Federal Direct Student Loan is available from the U.S. Department of Education. The loan proceeds are delivered to the school for eligible students and is available to both undergraduate and graduate students to help pay for their educational costs. ASU disburses the loans after they have been approved and processed and classes have begun.
Federal Direct PLUS Loans
(For Parents to Assist their Student)
For dependent students that may need additional loan assistance, Federal Direct PLUS Loans enable parents of dependent students with good credit history to borrow for each student who is enrolled at least half time. Plus loan eligibility is not based on financial need, so these loans are made regardless of income level. Parents must pass a credit check to be eligible.
Private Student Loans
These Student Loans are recommended only for students who have exhausted all of their eligibility for Federal Direct Subsidized, Unsubsidized, Parent PLUS and Grad PLUS Loans, or are not eligible for the Federal Direct, Unsubsidized Federal Direct Student Loans, Parent PLUS or Grad PLUS loans.
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|Author:||Henry Ramsey (registered user: 3010 posts )|
|Date:||Wed, Apr 18th, 2012 @ 19:27 ( . )|
I'm trying a different approach. I rewired the second tube to the same 12V supply as the 12K5s.
They're powered from the CT. (I was thinking this was 12VAC for some reason, but it reads 12VDC. )
I have the 6V regulator now only powering a single tube, for now a 12au7, but I may go to another 6V tube such as an EF86 that needs 200mA or a pentode/triode like a 6U8A which uses 450mA.
Either way I've dumped some heat from the regulators. ;-)
I realised too I was getting close to 1.7A of current draw from the PT only rated for 2A. This change also drops 150mA from that. The PT was humming when I had it on last night and I suspect the high current draw is why. Isn't there a rule of thumb to not exceed 80% of a PT ampacity?
It's a 25.2VCT@2A transformer, btw from Radio Shack.
--* Something different
4/19/2012 @ 15:12--Merlin
4/19/2012 @ 18:38----Henry Ramsey
4/19/2012 @ 23:20----Henry Ramsey
4/20/2012 @ 04:19------Merlin
--------* 11.9VDC, 6VAC at CT
4/20/2012 @ 08:35--------Henry Ramsey
--- 22 Users Online --- 57 Recent Unique Posters
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UI Kits for Developers – Prototyping and Homemade Design
Hope you guys are enjoying our posts on UI Kits functionality. It’s such a new topic that it’s even hard to find other opinions out there, all we find is UI Kits collections, but no reflections or creative uses. So, hope to see more discussion on this, the door (a.k.a. comments / trackbacks section) is open!
In our comments section I’ve heard once “why should I pay $20 for something that I can get for free?”. I mean, why should I get premium UI Kits, while free ones are clearly “good enough”?
Well, dear Padawan, here we’ll see a lot of reasons. And those uses that we’ll see here is almost restricted to premium UI Kits. The free ones are good to try things, but they are often limited or just not so good, so every time we write “UI Kits” you should read “The really good UI Kits”.
I’m not trying to convince you to do anything, I’m just telling my own experience as a 7-year-experienced-developer. If I’d been asked one, and only one advice to give to anybody on this field, I’d say: there are things out there that you just should use. I mean, what makes my job easier and my incomes higher are things like:
- Premium job boards
- jQuery mobile
- UI Kits
So, today we’ll be talking about how you can use UI Kits as a Developer, so you can impress your clients with higher quality and faster service.
Are you ready? So, let’s rock!
The developer / designer syndrome
Since many of the tasks in our area are so close it’s pretty easy to suffer the developer designer syndrome. We tend to be more a jack of all trades, doing one thing really well and the others just ok.
Also, especially for the guys who go programming first and then learn a little on design it’s easy to go for “Ignore the design, please” pages, where you have functionality and little or no design, or even worse, you have a really bad design.
The truth is that it’s pretty easy to do “good” things. You just need to know color combinations, a little on typography, set spacing and aligning right. Grid systems and even WordPress themes will help you on this. You can be good at this stuff in no more than 30 days.
But, though you’ll have a good overall aspect you will need to be a way better designer to get a professional look for every single element in your page. And it’s hard to really look professional.
The magic is that instead of hiring a guy to do a few components for you, you can just buy UI kits and get enough elements for a plenty of projects. So you can do the basic design stuff you already know and use the UI Kits as your secret sauce. You don’t need to reject projects because your designer can’t do things right now, just accept as many stuff as you can and try to invest more in the details.
Notice that I’m not saying that UI Kits replace good designers. It’s just that they can allow not-so-good designers to get a much better result, in spending less time. Same thing for premium themes or sliced PSD’s out there, but the UI Kits are focused in the small stuff so you can do your own the big things (like good headers, AI, select the best grid system).
Proof-of-Principle Prototyping: super fast & useful feedback
Proof-of-Principle prototypes are prototypes that don’t need to contain the final look and feel of things, they are there just to try and proof concepts. So you can try a big button that you can click, a smaller button at the top of the page, and just a text-only CTA.
It’s a simple principle to achieve the best option for elements. Instead of just sticking with your first idea for every single item, you keep on trying, assuming that the previous thing didn’t work. So you try and try and try again.
This technique is especially good for critical elements. Slideshows, forms, CTAs, menus. You just keep on trying until you find a thing that will just grab user’s attention.
For me those are the best ones. Clients are glad to give you feedback when they can actually click on things, even if you just set a few image maps over that final png you just sent him. I’ve done once a Proof-of-Principle Prototype for mobile. You can’t imagine how amazed the users were to try things on their own mobiles. That was one of the best things I’ve done, such great input and actually understanding what works and what doesn’t.
But by “Proof-of-Principle Prototype” the first thing that may spring to your mind is a wireframe. Well, it isn’t (or doesn’t need to be!). With UI Kits and your basic design you can easily set up a better looking page and get a more “real-world” experience.
Remember what I just said about “Ignore the design, please” pages? They could actually work if you are showing your work to a developer, that kind of guy who could do same thing you are doing, so he can imagine how things should work. But it just won’t work for other normal people.
Now what happens if you show this kind of thing to your clients? It’s the same as taking you to an oil well and telling you to just imagine how those pumpjacks works, by looking at a technical drawing.
Pretty hard, huh?
It’s far easier if you just show them something closer to the final look, and make things clickable. For each component you’ll probably get a few options in your UI Kit. So why not just setting them up and showing to users? See how each one performs and chose the best for each project.
You’ll see how you’ll get a much better feedback if the client doesn’t need to worry about missing colors, or that Latin text (seriously, only nerds can see how the actual text will be when you remove the lipsum stuff).
Despite of UI Kits help on this, here a few checkpoints for good prototyping:
- It should be fast – Since you want to try at least 2 things, you don’t want to lose time
- Client should understand how things will work before you have the actual code – Ok, A/B testing works pretty well, but any change in the final work will have at least double the cost of same change in the beginning.
- Clients should be able to give you good feedback without having to guess which element is real and which isn’t – If you have a bunch of lipsum’s there client may assume that the element you’re testing is also a placeholder
- Image maps are good – They are really bad for your final code, but just to test things they’ll work great
- Get a few friends to try this – You don’t need to get tons of users, just get a few friends of yours (if they are the target user, the better) and tell them to do a few simple tasks
So, what do you think?
Do you have any use for UI kits that we missed? We’d love to hear from you!
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The internet has tons of tips on how you can deal with a teenager talking back. It’s crucial to understand why before you get into solving this issue. It’s a combination of many things and the best way to deal with it is by treating the problem from its root.
Why do teenagers talk back?
Teenagers have a lack of identity. As they evolve physically, they’re often victims of an identity crisis. You need to communicate with your child the way you would with an adult. Have a mature discussion about what you can do to make them comfortable. Ensure that you make them feel that they can talk about things in an open way. A teenager’s attitude is often a reflection of the attitude of the parents in the household. A little personal space and space for growth can help them evolve into a pre-adult. This can help significantly.
How do you deal with a teenager talking back?
It isn’t necessary for you to worry if your child talks back sometimes. You need to give them time and assurance that the things they’re experiencing are normal. Sit your teenager down and have a mature conversation about why is talking back disrespectful.
Peer pressure can be at its strongest, especially at this phase of their life. Give them talking back examples that you might feel are disrespectful. It’s important for adults to understand that children copy the behaviour of the adults and that change can take a while. It’s important to convey to your teenager that they can always reach out to you and talk to you without having the fear of being judged. Change can take time, but If you’re patient and you deal with it in an open manner, then it can be fruitful.
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Updated: 02/13/2014 10:15 AM KSTP.com By: Tim Sherno
Demolition of the remains of the Metrodome is under way. Allen Troshinsky is the Director of the Sports Group for Mortenson Construction and says there's nothing fancy about this project. "It's a traditional mechanical demolition," he said.
Demolition crews are attacking the dome with two types of equipment, a wrecking ball and a high-reach boom equipped with a hydraulic device that Troshinsky calls a muncher - "Basically a large scissors."
Crews will work from the top down, removing the concrete ring beam from the top of the structure. The ring beam is the structure to which the dome support cables were attached. Troshinsky says the beam was a critical element of the dome's design and will play a major role in the demolition. "It's a pre-cast concrete shape about 20 feet wide and about 5 feet deep," he said.
Apart from the controlled blasts that removed the support cables from the ring beam, Troshinsky says there will be no more explosives used to bring down the dome. Troshinsky says nearby buildings, including Hennepin County Medical Center, ruled out any possible blast.
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Worksite Stigma and Burnout
This is a protocol designed to reduce entanglement with stigmatizing thoughts about clients and through that reduction in burnout and stress at work.
Hayes, S. C., Bissett, R., Roget, N., Padilla, M., Kohlenberg, B. S., Fisher, G., Masuda, A., Pistorello, J., Rye, A. K., Berry, K. & Niccolls, R. (2004). The impact of acceptance and commitment training and multicultural training on the stigmatizing attitudes and professional burnout of substance abuse counselors. Behavior Therapy, 35, 821-835.
The protcol is for a 6 hour group workshop. It is not very detailed -- refering in a single line to exercises that might take 40 minutes. For those familiar with experiential ACT workshops, this should be enough. You will see most of these exercises at major ACT / RFT conventions such as the World Conferences or the Summer Institutes.
This protocol is currently being revised for a large new grant (which will run from 2005 to 2008) that will replicate and extend the study above. It is our sense that we can do better than the protocol that is here, so don't feel bound by it. Use it as a starting point.
The adherence manual include both ACT and Multicultural Training items since that was the comparision in the study (and in this new grant ... which will include an ACT and MT combination group as well as ACT alone and MT alone and a control).
For more information contact Steve Hayes (email@example.com), Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557-0062
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10 procedures across 4 departments
Hypertension Treatment abroad High blood pressure is a common condition in which the long-term force of the blood against your artery walls is high enough that it may eventually cause health problems, such as heart disease. Blood pressure is determined both by the amount of blood your heart pumps and the amount of resistance to blood flow in your arteries. The more blood your heart pumps and the narrower your arteries, the higher your blood pressure.Learn more about Hypertension Treatment
A laparoscopy is a minimally invasive surgical procedure performed to examine the abdomen to help make a diagnosis, take a tissue biopsy, or to make surgical repairs. It is a modern surgical technique that involves making small incisions in the abdomen, through which a laparoscope is inserted. A laparoscope is a flexible tube which is fitted with a light and camera which transmits images of the inside of the abdomen to a computer which the surgeon can view. for more details about Laparoscopic suLearn more about Laparoscopy
Find Liver Disease Consultation abroad,Learn more about Liver Disease Consultation
Pancreatitis Treatment abroad with mozocare Pancreatitis is inflammation in the pancreas. The pancreas is a long, flat gland that sits tucked behind the stomach in the upper abdomen. The pancreas produces enzymes that help digestion and hormones that help regulate the way your body processes sugar.Learn more about Pancreatitis Treatment
Preoperative Evaluation Abroad A history and physical examination, focusing on risk factors for cardiac, pulmonary and infectious complications, and a determination of a patient's functional capacity, are essential to any preoperative evaluation. In addition, the type of surgery influences the overall perioperative risk and the need for further cardiac evaluation. The purpose of a preoperative evaluation is not to “clear” patients for elective surgery, but rather to evaluate aLearn more about Preoperative Evaluation
View all 4 procedures View less Procedures
Treatment of Gastrointestinal Carcinoid Tumors treatments abroad Carcinoid tumor is a subset of neuroendocrine tumors, normally starts in digestive tract. Carcinoid tumors are a type of cancer which can arise at several places in the body and grow at a very slow speed.Learn more about Treatment of Gastrointestinal Carcinoid Tumors
Search Procedure and Hospital
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Mozocare is a medical access platform for hospitals and clinics to assist patients access best medical care at affordable prices. Mozocare Insights provides Health News, Latest treatment innovation, Hospital ranking , Healthcare Industry Information and Knowledge sharing .
The information on this page was reviewed and approved by Mozocare team. This page was updated on 07 Sep, 2021.
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How Fast Can A 50cc Quad Bike Go
How fast does a 70cc quad go?
API quota exceeded. You can make 500 requests per day.
How fast is 50cc in mph?
Typically, a 50cc moped is going to have a top speed of 30 miles per hour. At 30mph, you are going to be driving more than fast enough for most local trips. Driving around a town, city, village, or local area is much easier at 30mph.
How fast is a 125cc dirt bike?
On average, the top speed of a 125cc dirt bike ranges from 55 to 60 mph. Most riders, however, will not run at these maximum speeds, since they are often young people who are yet to master the skill of dirt riding. Others will try to clock a speed of up to 100 mph.
Which is better 50cc or 125cc?
Like 50cc scooters, they make a great choice for those new to the road, but the extra engine power might come as a surprise after riding everywhere at 30mph. If you’re likely to do less city riding, and longer distance journeys, a 125cc will be the right choice for you.
Can a 50cc moped go 60 mph?
What’s the top speed of a 50cc moped? Most 50cc scooters come with a restricted engine, which limits the bike to a top speed of 30mph (48kph). However, a 50cc scooter can go at speeds of up to 60mph (96kph), while most will comfortably reach 40mph (65kph).
How fast is a 50cc mini bike?
How fast is 50cc dirt bike? Most of the 50cc dirt bike models are configured to reach speeds between 25 to 40 miles per hour. These bikes are targeted for users between 5 to 7 years. The pace may seem fast for kids of this age although, during normal riding, they will probably not reach the maximum speeds.
How fast does a 1000cc ATV go?
1000cc—80 MPH For the fastest ATV top speed, you need to go with a quad rocking a 1000cc engine. With a limiter raised to 80 MPH, it stands to reason that if you want to go fast, there’s nothing better than a 1000cc ATV.
How fast is a 110cc quad bike?
110cc is pretty small, which means that 110cc ATVs won’t go very fast. Up to 35-40 mph is probably what you should expect from such an ATV. There are plenty of things that will affect the maximum speed of a 110cc ATV though.
How fast does a 90cc ATV go?
A stock 90cc ATV will go about 15-18 mph, with the factory speed restrictor in place and an 80lb rider. Adjusting the throttle restrictor, or removing the jumper can increase speeds up to 30-33 mph. With mods, I’ve even seen speeds over 40 mph.
How fast do electric quad bikes go?
Most quad bikes, especially those for kids, come with different power levels with restricted top speeds. However, most will achieve up to 22kmh (15mph) – and pretty quickly too thanks to the high torque electric motors. Typically batteries will last around 45 minutes, depending how hard you’re riding.
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ATHLETIC EDGE NUTRITION
Gone are the days of simply drinking water, or one of those high sugar packed sports drinks intra-workout (DURING). If you are working out to gain muscle, Instead of carrying around something that simply hydrates you, or fills you with a bunch of simple sugars, which can actually be detrimental to the goals of a physique athlete. Why not fill your water bottle or shaker with peptides, amino-acids and electrolytes, that are actually going to fight against the catabolic (muscle breakdown) effects of exercise, increase recovery, decrease fatigue, in addition to staying hydrated?
Continuing to evolve with the latest advancements in Nutrient Timing Science, we bring you IntrAbolic.
|Service Size: 13.5 grams|
Servings Per Container: 30
|Ingredient||Amount||% Daily Value**|
|Calories from Fat||<5g||<1|
|Vitamin C (as ascorbic acid)||30mg||50|
|Vitamin E (as d-alpha tocopheryl acid succinate)||15IU||50|
|Calcium (as calcium citrate)||45mg||5|
|Phosphorus (as sodium phosphate)||74mg||6|
|Magnesium (as magnesium aspertate)||25mg||6|
|Chloride (as sodium chloride)||7mg||1|
|Sodium (as sodium phosphate)||60mg||3|
|Potassium (as Potassium Citrate)||90mg||3|
|PeptoBolic Response Blend:||10063mg|
|->30% Hydrolyzed Whey Protein||5000mg|
|-Potassium, Phosphorus, Sodium, Coconut (Cocos nucifera) Water Powder, Calcium, Magnesium, Chloride|
| ** Percent Daily Value is based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.|
† Daily Value not established.
This product contains milk. This product was produced in a facility that may also processes ingredients containing milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans.
Other Ingredients: Citric Acid, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Calcium Silicate, Sucralose, Red Beet Juice Powder (for color), Acesulfame Potassium.
Mix 1-2 servings of IntrAbolic in 14-20 oz of water. Vigorously shake for 10-20 seconds. Allow the powder to fully dissolve (2-5 minutes). SLOWLY sip IntrAbolic throughout your workout session.
Not for use by individuals under the age of 18. Do not use if pregnant, or nursing. Consult a physician or licensed qualified health care professional before using this product. Keep out of reach of children.
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As a conservative, you can imagine my disappointment in the reporting of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio's GOP response to the president's State of the Union Address. It was a great speech by the Floridian, full of substance, vivid illustrations of his life, policy contrasts with President Obama, a direct talk to the American people, and a real display of the GOP approach to economic growth, job creation, and lowering the size and scope of government.
Here we are three days later and the U.S. news media is still transfixed on the speech; not on its substance, sadly, but on a five-second blip in the speech.
As we all know by now, in the middle of his speech, Rubio stopped to take a quick sip of water. With hot television klieg lights beaming on him from three feet away, he got overheated, he began to sweat, his mouth became dry, and he reached for a bottle of water.
And the fun began in the news media.
The morning after President Obama's address to the nation, the morning shows all understandably led with the president's speech. The SOTU speech is an important event. The president sets his agenda for the country. It is high drama and newsworthy.
And what of the speech by Senator Rubio? One would be hard-pressed, the morning after, to find one substantive analysis of his speech.
But they certainly did spend days analyzing the senator's sip of water.
It reached an almost childish crescendo Wednesday when CNN's Wolf Blitzer, host of the 'The Situation Room,' suggested that Rubio's sip of water might break his career. In fact, the CNN screen-scroll flashed the words "Career-Ender?" as Blitzer remarked "so, can a drink of water make or break a political career?"
Not to be outdone, CBS' Norah O'Donnell began her report on Rubio's speech by saying "Substance aside..." and then she vaulted off into the silly sip of water routine. Substance aside? How often did Walter Cronkite begin a news story with "substance aside"? Oh... and not surprisingly, Ms. O'Donnell never returned to the actual substance of the Rubio speech.
I'm not a journalist, but can I now assume that this is the 21st century standard for sound journalism? I certainly hope not!
On Tuesday night, a bright young conservative senator, from one of the largest states in America, stood before the American people to talk about the GOP vision for American. He did a terrific job. It was an outstanding speech; yet today more Americans know about Poland Spring water than they do the substance of Sen. Rubio's speech.
And we wonder why there are low-information voters in America.
Jeffrey L. Taylor is managing partner of USGRI. He is the former chief of staff to former Rep. David McIntosh (R-Ind.) and served in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on Twitter at @USGRI_Lobbyist.
A Note from Politix: We want to offer our users high-quality, informed perspectives from outside writers. We're excited to bring you Guest Posts from top writers, elected officials, thought leaders, organizations and others. We'd love to make Politix a welcoming place for activists, intellectuals and others to contribute their views, so please help us grow by keeping your comments respectful and on topic.
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17 June 2022
The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated many digital health innovations. A remarkable example of this is the ground-breaking National Immunisation Management System (NIMS).
If you think back to the beginning of the pandemic, national digital systems were a distant aspiration as organisations focused on more short-term goals to integrate care at an ICS level. At the time many STPs/ICSs had achieved or were working hard to achieve a basic shared care record to ensure an individual’s care information flowed between care settings in their patch.
As Covid-19 took hold of the nation there was serious concern within NHE/I around the potential for a high prevalence of flu during the pandemic.
A solution was urgently needed to help increase immunisation uptake that would ensure the nation didn’t face a health crisis with flu and Covid-19 in the same season. There was also an urgent requirement for a national call and recall service to drive uptake of flu vaccine. At the same time, the Covid-19 vaccine development was advancing, and a national system needed to be mobilised in readiness.
Just how do you create an immunisation system for 60m citizens, at speed, for a country relying upon an effective vaccine programme to save lives and kick-start economic recovery?
Projects of this scale can be achieved when partnerships are formed between the NHS and industry. Strong working relationships, committed partners and robust contract management are critical to success.
NHS South Central & West CSU (SCW) previously commissioned its technology partner, System C, to provide a leading Child Health Information Service (CHIS) managing data for millions of children.
Based on SCW’s successful CHIS delivery (in partnership with System C) we secured the commission to deliver something similar for the national flu programme.
SCW, the System C and Graphnet Care Alliance and a hybrid mailer supplier, rapidly came together and worked hand-in-glove alongside commissioners NHSE/I, PHE and NHSD/NHSX to design the system.
System C’s alliance partner, Graphnet, was brought into the fold as the data analytics and interfacing specialist, while System C would lead on the data and system development.
Despite the huge challenges to maintain discipline of robust governance and assurance with everyone working from home due to lockdown, and against a backdrop of political pressure to deliver at such a rapid pace, The National Immunisation Management System (NIMS) was successfully designed and delivered to plan.
For the first time, 60m eligible individuals in England have a record on NIMS.
It is the main system of record for all flu and Covid vaccinations programmes across England and holds a record in near real-time of all vaccinations given at an individual patient level and can schedule the calling of patients in the various priority groups by sending letters, emails or text message invitations according to schedules which are matched to the availability of vaccines.
The cloud-based solution hosted on Microsoft’s Azure platform, includes a data capture service which collects details of patients at the point of vaccination covering citizens' demographics, clinical records (including adverse reactions) and vaccination status to integrate with numerous other NHS point of care, booking and analytical systems to send and receive data for cohort selection, planning and prioritisation.
NIMS flows data to UK Health Security Agency and NHSE/I for analysis and statistics. Given the scale and importance of the system particular focus was given by all partners to cyber security and clinical safety.
The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines across the country has been widely praised and NIMS is part of the country’s digital health infrastructure. Added to that, the NHS delivered the most successful national flu immunisation management programme ever. Far exceeding the uptake targets that were set.
The System C and Graphnet Care Alliance and its staff are immensely proud to be part of it.
Covid-19 has taught the nation and its health and social care organisation many things including that for the right reasons and with the right partnerships effective national care systems are possible.
By Markus Bolton, Director, Graphnet
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National Network To Focus On Severe Autism
A first-of-its-kind research network is forming with an eye toward better understanding autism by studying kids who are most severely affected by the developmental disorder.
Six inpatient psychiatric facilities across the country that specialize in treating individuals with autism and other developmental disorders are coming together to form the new initiative known as the Autism and Developmental Disorders Inpatient Research Collaborative.
While significant resources have been devoted to autism research in recent years, those behind the new effort say large studies have generally failed to include individuals at the severe end of the spectrum.
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“There is so much that remains unknown about autism … and those most severely affected by the disorder both deserve our attention and are likely to provide us clues for understanding the core features of autism,” said Matthew Siegel of Spring Harbor Hospital and the Maine Medical Center Research Institute who is working with his colleague Susan Santangelo to spearhead the new project.
The network will be looking to better understand the genetics behind the communication, intellectual and psychiatric components of autism in hopes of developing more individualized treatments for the disorder, organizers said.
In addition to Spring Harbor Hospital in Westbrook, Maine, the network will include Bradley Hospital in East Providence, R.I., Hampstead Hospital in Hampstead, N.H., Sheppard Pratt Hospital in Baltimore, The Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, Colo. and Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinics in Pittsburgh.
The new effort is funded with a two-year $1.2 million grant from the Simons Foundation and the Nancy Lurie Marks Family Foundation. In that time, researchers plan to enroll 500 individuals at the hospitals in their study.
“In the short term, this will raise the standard of care in the participating hospital units and inform best practices for psychiatry units in the U.S. and abroad,” Santangelo said. “Ultimately we intend to make this study the launching point for future autism research that will unlock some of the mystery surrounding this disorder.”
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Item Description: Letter, 24 November 1863, in which Parker informs his parents that his horse was condemned by the Army, and asks them about the possibility of him buying another horse and keeping it with them during the winter. Parker served in the 2nd Virginia Cavalry of the Confederate States of America Army from the onset of the American Civil War, and attained the rank of 4th Sergeant. Robert was killed in action at Appomattox Courthouse, Va., on the morning of 9 April 1865, the same day that Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to the Union Army. Surviving him was his wife, Rebecca Louise Fitzhugh Walker Parker, and two sons.
[Item transcription available below images]
Camp 2nd Va cavalry
Nov 24th 1863
I’ll try and drop you a fiew lines though have nothing fresh for you this leaves me in usual health. nothing new in camp one of my reasons for writing at this time is to know why some dont write to me I cant account for it unless it is you keep putting it of from time to time and thus neglect it for I have not received a line from you all since Gills came down and if I mistake not I have answered it long since I usto get one a week but now they are fiew and fair between I received a letter from the … of 18th a fiew days since which releaved my mind very much and was glad to hear they are getting on so well and hope if nothing hapens to see them before long Pa I want you if you can to have Nelly put by the time I get home I am sorry to inform you that jinnie has been condemed and I fear getting her home but will try and send her soon if I have any chance even before I have the chance to come she has some thing like distemper for near a month and is greatly reduced and getting but little to feed on but think we will get more as soon as the tax in kind begins to come in the board is getting very strict receiving horses Pa I want you to write me word what you think of my buying a young horse at a reduced price and keep him til next spring to ride for horses will be horses next spring if we live to see the time I am well aware that the expences wintering a horse would be quite heavy cost some $200 or three hundred dollars and say 300 or400 hundred to pay for one now would be quite heavy write me word what you and ma think of it I have not bought one but want your opinion I have not heard from uncle P for some time nor had the chance to send the letter to him except by male I must close write soon and often my love to you and all
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Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.
Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.
I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me:
There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siege works against it.
Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man.
So I said, “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.
The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.
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Today: January 26, 2017
From the very early days Crossref has supported creating DOIs for components which are parts of an article that needed their own DOI. This allowed members to create DOIs for images, tables, data items or whatever piece of an article should have its own DOI.
With the introduction of relations, which allow for any DOI to be associated with any other DOI by a defined set of relationship types, the old methods for modeling components is showing its age. First, the XML structure for depositing a component captures the component's metadata within the metadata of its parent (typically the journal article). Over the years members have often worked around this constraint to achieve the goal of registering DOIs for non-article level content (e.g. supporting material) by abiding by the XML constraints but abandoning the spirit of the article/component pairing. Second, since in the beginning we had no way to express the pairing of articles and their components we inserted this concept directly into the component's metadata (not really a good idea).
The good news is we're modernizing the treatment for components to address both of these creaky old concepts. The first is the introduction of new genres of content for which DOIs can be assigned. Last year we added preprints and the concept of early DOI registration and this year we're already talking about other new content genres (stay tuned). This 'opening up' of our content type genres will greatly ease the decision of how component DOIs may be deposited and do away with the mandatory (and often artificial) embedding imposed by the XML structure. Don't worry the current deposit model for components will not be going away anytime soon.
Second we're about to convert all existing components and newly deposited components to use the new relations metadata constructs. When complete the pairing between a component and its parent article(s) will be declared in the <crm-item> tag in the section of XML where we insert Crossref generated metadata for a DOI. This section separates member supplied metadata from auto generated metadata, a really good idea. This change will impact any XML metadata consumers who are looking for the article/component pairing relationships in the metadata. Essentially we're just moving it. Also, since Crossref's REST-API will soon reflect relationship data, our converting article/component pairings to use relations results in all relationship data appearing in a uniform manner.
This change will not impact deposits at all. Members can continue with their existing work flows. DOI metadata viewed using the UNIXSD format will change.
Instead of this:
<parent_doi last_update_date="2016-12-01" parent_relation="IsPartOf">
You'll see this:
<crm-item name="relation" type="doi" claim="hasComponent">
See the Crossref help documentation for a fuller description of DOI relations.
We expect the impact to be fairly small and would like to introduce this change in the next two to three weeks. For more information or to express any concerns please contact email@example.com.
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As requested, here are some pictures.
An RF-IR remote system contains several components. First, is the actual RF remote control. The RF remote communicates with the RF extender seen here:
This RF extender is hidden in a cabinet and out of sight. It has a power cord to keep it turned on, as well as several ports in the back for IR emitters. Each cord typically has 2-3 emitters on it, so you can hook up several pieces of equipment.
The next step is to plug in an extender and work the cable through your cabinet to the piece of equipment you wish to control. Keep in mind that RF and IR do not talk to one another, so the sole purpose of the extender is convert the RF signal to IR (line of sight). You must locate the IR sensor on each piece of equipment you own. This can typically be found in the owner's manual, or by shining a flashlight across the front panel and looking for the sensor there. Once located, you simply attach the end of the emitter to that location as I've done on my receiver below:
The plastic square around the emitter allows it to stick to the equipment, while also blocking any external light so that it's a very secure transmission. Repeat this step for each piece of equipment.
You may have to run emitters to equipment that is visible. In most situations, your TV will be the only thing that applies. Follow the same steps and route the cable up through your cabinet and to the sensor on the TV. Again, here's a quick pic of mine:
Once the remote is programmed to include all of your equipment, you can now simply press the button marked "watch TV" and everything will turn on as it should. Close the cabinet doors and the problem is solved.
Keep in mind that the only visible cable at this point is the one connected to the television. If that bothers you, you can always omit this step and simpy point your remote at the television directly to turn it on via IR. All of the equipment in your cabinet will still work over RF. The benefit of having the television added to this scheme is that you can turn everything on (tv included) from pretty much anywhere.
Hope that helps!
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CSC Announces FDA Approval Of Phase II Cancer Stem Cell Clinical Trial For Ovarian Cancer
IRVINE, Calif. (February 18, 2014) — California Stem Cell, Inc. (CSC) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Company’s application to begin a Phase II clinical trial exploring the potential of a patient-specific cancer immunotherapy in women with Stage III or IV ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer. The randomized, double-blind study is the Company’s second cancer therapy approved for clinical trials by FDA, bolstering its platform approach to treating late stage solid-tumor cancers. The Company’s patient-specific approach to treating metastatic melanoma, recently approved to begin a Phase III trial, provided sufficient safety data to proceed directly to a Phase II study in ovarian cancer.
Led by Chief Medical Officer Robert Dillman, M.D., the study design randomizes an estimated 99 adult female patients to two treatment arms. The treatment group will receive Ovapuldencel-T, which is a combination of autologous dendritic cells loaded with irradiated autologous tumor cells in GM-CSF. Ovapuldencel-T is created by first isolating cancer stem cells from the patient’s resected tumor sample, then enriching, inactivating and combining these cells with dendritic cells – or antigen-presenting immune cells – which are harvested from the patient’s blood.
The control group will receive the “MC” treatment, harvested from the patient’s blood (autologous peripheral blood mononuclear cells) combined with GM-CSF, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, a white blood cell growth factor.
The trial design calls for both groups to receive subcutaneous injections of their respective treatment weekly for three consecutive weeks, then monthly for the following five months. The trial is expected to last approximately sixty months, including enrollment, treatment, and long-term patient follow-up.
“We are very pleased with the recent news and what it could mean to women suffering from late stage ovarian cancer, a disease in which very little progress has been made,” said CSC President and CEO Hans Keirstead. “We are also excited at what this approval represents for our platform cancer program and our potential to pursue similar clinical studies in additional cancer types.”
About the DC-TC Treatment
The DC-TC treatment is based on findings in recent years that the rapid proliferation and subsequent spreading of cancer throughout a patient’s body may be fueled by a small number of cancer stem cells. Through proprietary processes developed at CSC, researchers have refined their ability to isolate and expand these cancer stem cells to clinically useful numbers, combine them with autologous dendritic cells, and reintroduce them into the patient with the intention of training and bolstering the patient’s immune system to target the cells that have ability to form new tumors.
About California Stem Cell
California Stem Cell Inc. (CSC) is an Irvine, CA-based company focused on the development of stem cell-based therapies for metastatic cancers and neuromuscular disorders such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and spinal cord injury.
CSC has proprietary methods to generate human stem cell lines, expand them to clinically and commercially useful numbers, and differentiate them at extremely high purity using fully-defined, proprietary media and cGMP processes.
Source: California Stem Cell Inc.
Posted: February 2014
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“Labour economics used to be easy,” lamented David Blanchflower in Monday’s Independent. He continued:
All you had to do was watch the unemployment rate and that told you most of everything. As it went up things were bad and pay weakened. When the unemployment rate fell that meant the economy was getting better and that meant pay rises. Low unemployment meant big pay rises. High unemployment meant smaller rises. Simple.
But, over the past few years, falling unemployment hasn’t led to higher wages in the UK or the US. If anything, wages have continued to fall as employment has picked up.
The picture is even stranger when you look at skills. Employers have been talking about skills shortages for some time now. Earlier this week, the UK Commission for Education and Skills (UKCES) published a paper saying that Britain is already facing a skills challenge and that the country will need 2 million more highly skilled workers by 2022.
UKCES expects the skills profile of the workforce to polarise over the course of this decade, as there is an increased demand for jobs at the high and low skill end while demand falls in the middle.
That’s not what seems to have happened since the recession though. The ONS data on skills indicate that the employment recovery has been largely a highly skilled one. This chart in the Bank of England’s inflation report shows that, while a lot of the very recent job growth has been in lower skilled occupations, most of it since 2010 has been among the higher skilled. (Definitions are based on the Labour Force Survey categories.)
I wondered how much of that might be due to the self-employed bigging themselves up in the Labour Force Survey. As the ONS said:
The nature of self-employment is such that many people manage their business and are therefore likely to state they are in a managerial role despite the level of responsibility they may have.
Using at the ONS data and applying the definitions the Bank used, I broke the same period down between employed and self-employed.
Among the employees, even more of the increase is accounted for by those in the highest skill groups, so bang goes that theory.
Take the figures over a longer period, since the start of the recession, though, and things look even more skewed.
Almost all the increase in employment since the recession has been among the more highly skilled groups. There are still fewer medium and low skill employee jobs than there were six years ago.
There’s something else funny going on here, though. We’ve just had the longest decline in wages for half a century. It looks even worse if you include the self-employed.
Since the recession, pay has fallen by about 12 percent yet, over the same period, almost all the net gain in employment has been among the most highly skilled occupational groups. So we have a more highly skilled workforce earning a lot less.
Some of this may be due to the hours people are working, or not working. All the net increase in employment since the recession has come from self-employment or part-time jobs. Last week’s figures showed a slight fall in the number of employed full-time jobs for the second month running. There are still fewer people in full-time employment than there were in 2008.
That said, hourly pay rates have fallen too. The reduction in earnings isn’t just because people have gone part-time and not done as much work. The amount they are paid per hour has also fallen. In recent years, the drop has been particularly steep at the top end.
This suggests that, while Britain’s workforce may be more highly skilled, employers either don’t have enough work or are not paying a premium for those skills.
Of course, some of this might be due to the zeitgeist. It may be that people are becoming more inclined to talk themselves up when they answer the Labour Force Survey. A decade of programmes like the Apprentice may have convinced us that we are all managers and professionals now. Somehow I doubt it though. The increase in jobs is skewed so far towards the high skilled that an increased tendency to talk up our jobs couldn’t explain all of it.
Could it be that the distribution of skills is wrong? Perhaps people are skilled but not in the things that employers are prepared to pay a high premium for. There has been a lot in the media about skills shortages but a UKCES paper earlier this year found that only 4 percent of employers said they couldn’t fill vacancies because they couldn’t find people with the right skills. More common was the problem of insufficient skills within the existing workforce. 15 percent of employers reported having staff in jobs whose skills did not fully meet the job requirement. 13 percent said that the skills of their employees were either not relevant to their jobs or there was little opportunity to use them. This suggests that some highly skilled people may have been taking lower-skilled jobs.
Whatever the explanation, none seems entirely satisfactory. If the UK has skill shortage it is a very strange one if it is not bidding up wages. It is very odd that pay has fallen so spectacularly at the same time as highly skilled employment has risen. We hear a lot about the UK becoming a low wage, low-skill economy but, if these figures are a true reflection of what’s going on, it looks more like a low-wage high-skill recovery.
It reminds me of a question one of my lecturers tossed out to the class many years ago: Is a skill still a skill if nobody is prepared to pay for it?
I don’t think we ever came up with an answer to that one.
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This song, Prisecolinensinenciousol, a parody by Adriano Celentano is sung entirely in gibberish designed to sound like American English. Celentano’s intention with the song was to explore communications barriers.
«Ever since I started singing, I was very influenced by American music and everything Americans did. So at a certain point, because I like American slang — which, for a singer, is much easier to sing than Italian — I thought that I would write a song which would only have as its theme the inability to communicate. And to do this, I had to write a song where the lyrics didn’t mean anything.»
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Last week’s Microsoft Live Mesh announcement had many observers dreaming of the day when their PCs, cell phones and other devices would all communicate and share data with each other.
At least one Microsoft partner had an even grander vision — one in which Live Mesh would promote truly open interaction among different devices and platforms. But Microsoft is still stressing how Live Mesh will work with Windows and Windows Mobile (even though it will be able to run on any device). And now that partner, Digipede Technologies CTO Robert Anderson, is calling that strategy “disappointing.”
“… it is a little disappointing that there is such a heavy emphasis on Windows and Windows Mobile,” Anderson writes on his blog, Expert Texture. “I discount the coming Macintosh support because support for non-Windows mobile devices is really the issue. If iPhones and Blackberrys are out of the equation, then the synchronization story isn’t so compelling.”
Live Mesh will run, as Anderson describes it, “as a set of open protocols that anyone can implement.” He had hoped that Live Mesh would run on a modified version of Silverlight — Microsoft’s .NET runtime for Internet applications — which would make it available on any device without the need for third-party development.
As my editor Barb Darrow pointed out during last week’s Partner News Podcast, Live Mesh is starting off as a consumer-oriented strategy, but it will sooner or later have ramifications for business users, the VARs who sell to them and the ISVs like Digipede who develop additional software for them. And if Microsoft plans to use Live Mesh to help compete against Google in the SaaS and Web-based applications markets, more partners should be like Anderson and start paying attention now.
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back when pappa bush was president there was an article that said, “the word going around washington is that george bush has already delivered the biggest achievement of his presidency. he made barbara bush the nation's first lady. democrats and republicans in this town rarely agree on much but on one thing they speak as one. barbara bush is first rate.” it goes on and talks about people in the opposition party praising her. it says, “she’s filling the roll better than anybody in memory in my lifetime,” says one person. “what's going to make bush is his wife. she brings out the best in him.”
how do you do that? how do you bring out the best in people? if you want to bring out the best in somebody, what do you do?
the bible says that love is the foundation of all relationships and in john 13.34 (niv) JESUS said, as I have loved you, so you must love one another. so how did JESUS love people?
well one way HE did it was to accept people’s uniqueness.
we understand that GOD made everybody different, HE made each one of us unique. but it’s easier to accept some people than others. it’s easier to affirm some than others. the bible says in romans 15.7 (niv), accept one another just as CHRIST accepted you.
you can’t help somebody until first you’ve accepted them. this feeling of acceptance is the foundation of all confidence.
how can you tell if you've accepted somebody? the bible in 1 corinthians 13.5 (lb) says, love does not demand it’s own way.
when you accept them, you don’t insist that other people be like you. parents, you need to understand that GOD never intended for your children to be a carbon copy of you. HE wants them to be different. you need to affirm their uniqueness, encourage their uniqueness, accept their uniqueness, tell them they’re not in competition with anybody. they don’t have to be like anybody else.
marlo thomas was afraid when she started acting that people were going to compare her to her dad, danny thomas who was a successful actor. he took her aside one day and said, “babe, you’re a thoroughbred. thoroughbreds run their own races without looking at the other horses.” that’s what it means to accept somebody’s uniqueness. challenge them to be themselves.
just a thought from the front porch…
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|Unidentified Umbara capital city|
The Umbara capital city was the capital of the Ghost Nebula planet of Umbara. During the Clone Wars it was the site of a massive battle. During the battle, the city was resupplied from a nearby airfield until the airbase was captured by the 501st Legion led by Jedi Master Pong Krell and Captain Rex.
The city served as the capital of Umbara during the Clone Wars. At one point, the Umbarans decided to defect to the Confederacy of Independent Systems, which prompted an attack on Umbara by Republic forces. The Capitol was a major battlefield, being defended by the Umbaran militia. It was supplied during the battle by a nearby airbase, before the base was captured by clone troopers of the 501st Legion.
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Darkness on Umbara" (First appearance)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "The General" (Mentioned only)
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Plan of Dissent"
- Star Wars: The Clone Wars – "Carnage of Krell" (Mentioned only)
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Q: What is Calcination?
A: CALCINATION - Calcination is where limestone or limesand is burnt in a kiln. The raw material temperature is elevated to beyond 825C causing it to decompose. The resultant of the thermal decomposition is Quicklime with Carbon Dioxide released as a by-product.
CaCO3 + Heat ↔CaO + CO2
100g 56g 44g
Q: What is Hydrated Lime?
A: HYDRATED LIME – Is a derivative of Quicklime, the result of the hydration reaction between Quicklime and Water. The reaction also generates heat. The amount of water added will determine the whether the hydrated lime is a powder or a liquid. Hydrated Lime is available as a powder or a liquid.
CaO + H20 = Ca(OH)2 + heat
Q: What is the difference between Slaked Lime and Hydrated Lime?
A: Slaked lime and hydrated lime are often confused. Technically the addition of water to form a hydrated lime in powder form is called hydration. When the addition of water produces hydrated lime in a liquid form this process is called slaking.
Q: Is Agricultural Lime the same as Lime?
A: The term agricultural lime, or "Ag-lime," usually refers to limestone. Limestone (calcium carbonate) is not the same as hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide).
Listed below are different names that are associated with lime in its different forms. These are not necessarily always accurate however in most cases the forms can be classified as follows:
Limestone- Often the criteria associated with these products are the particle size and the purity of the limestone.
Limestone is also known as: Limestone Road base, Ag-lime, Crushed limestone, Calcium Carbonate, CaCO3
Quicklime- Often the criteria associated with this product is the chemical purity, the quicklime reactivity and the particle size
Quicklime is also known as: Burnt lime, Active lime, Calcium Oxide, CaO
Hydrated Lime (Powder) - Often the criteria associated with these products are the particle size and the purity of the hydrated lime. The purity can be expressed as a percentage of its Calcium Hydroxide component or by its Calcium Oxide (Quicklime) component.
Hydrated Lime Powder is also known as: Lime, Powdered lime, Hylime, Builders lime, Slaked Lime (See above), Calcium Hydroxide and Ca(OH)2
Hydrated Lime (Liquid) - Often the criteria associated with these products are the sloid content in the liquid or its chemical equivalent expressed as a percentage of its Calcium Hydroxide component or by its Calcium Oxide (Quicklime) component.
Hydrated Lime Liquid is also known as: Lime Putty, Lime Slurry, Milk of Lime, MOL, Calcium Hydroxide slurry, Calcium Hydroxide, Hydrated Lime slurry, Slaked lime and Liquid Lime.
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This article details troubleshooting computers which are Drive Encrypted (previously PGP Whole Disk Encrypted) and the PGP BootGuard screen is not displayed or your operating system fails to start. This applies to computers using:
- Symantec Drive Encryption
- Symantec Encryption Desktop Corporate
- Symantec Encryption Desktop Professional
- Symantec Encryption Desktop Storage
- PGP Desktop Corporate
- PGP Whole Disk Encryption
- PGP Desktop Professional
- PGP Desktop Storage
When you encrypt an entire disk using the Symantec Drive Encryption (previously PGP Whole Disk Encryption) feature, every sector is encrypted using a symmetric key. This includes all files including operating system files, application files, data files, swap files, free space, and temp files.
On subsequent reboots, the PGP BootGuard screen prompts you for the correct passphrase. Then the encrypted data is decrypted as you access it. Before any data is written to the disk, Drive Encryption secures the data. As long as you are authenticated to the encrypted disk, the files are available. When you shut down your system, the disk is protected against use by others.
The PGP BootGuard screen is not displayed.
This issue may occur when Windows boot files are corrupted or missing. While the chances are extremely low that a master boot record could become corrupt on a boot disk or partition protected by Drive Encryption, it is possible. If it happens, it could prevent your system from booting.
To troubleshoot Drive Encryption when PGP BootGuard is not displayed
- Use the Recovery Disk (bootg.iso) to attempt to boot into Windows.
- Remove the hard disk and slave the disk to another computer with Encryption Desktop installed to fix corrupted Windows files.
Operating system does not load.
After entering your correct passphrase at the PGP BootGuard screen, your operating system fails to load. This can occur for a variety of reasons including missing Windows boot files, hardware problems, or a conflict with third-party defragmentation software. The following methods can be used to troubleshoot
- Use PGP Recovery Disk (bootg.iso) to boot the system and decrypt the disk. Then try booting to Windows.
Note: Depending on the size of your hard disk, decrypting your disk using the Recovery Disk can consume a large amount of time.
- Use PGP Recovery Disk (bootg.iso) to boot the system to Windows and decrypt the disk using Encryption Desktop.
- Remove the hard disk and slave the disk to another computer with Encryption Desktop installed to decrypt the disk.
- Use Windows Recovery to repair the master boot record (fixmbr).
- After authenticating with PGP BootGuard, use WinPE to decrypt your disk using the PGP WDE command-line tool.
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[Moscow, Sept. 12th] – Leading solid waste treatment solution provider Genox was a standout participant at the recently concluded ECWATECH exhibition in Moscow. The company presented its tire recycling system, Li-battery recycling system, and fridge recycling system, highlighting their significant contributions to environmental sustainability.
ECWATECH is one of the largest international exhibitions dedicated to water and wastewater treatment, environmental technologies, and solid waste management. The event brings together industry leaders, experts, and professionals from around the world to discover the latest innovations and share knowledge on sustainable solutions.
Tire recycling has long been a challenge due to the vast amount of discarded tires that end up in landfills or are improperly disposed of, causing significant environmental hazards. Genox's tire recycling system aims to combat this problem by efficiently breaking down used tires into reusable materials. The system implements advanced shredding and granulating techniques to transform waste tires into valuable resources like rubber granules and fine steel.
Another critical aspect of Genox's solid waste management solutions is the Li-battery recycling system. As the demand for lithium-ion batteries continues to rise, proper disposal becomes crucial to prevent toxic leakage and the release of harmful chemicals into the environment. Genox's Li-battery recycling system enables the safe and efficient recovery of valuable materials, such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, from discarded batteries. This sustainable approach reduces the ecological impact and promotes the circular economy.
Additionally, Genox showcased its state-of-the-art fridge recycling system, which addresses the growing concern of electronic waste management. Old refrigerators often contain hazardous components like CFCs, HCFCs, and other ozone-depleting substances. Genox's solution incorporates advanced technology to safely extract and neutralize these harmful substances, ensuring proper disposal and minimizing environmental risks.
Genox's participation at ECWATECH further solidified its position as one of the pioneers in waste recycling technology and integrated service of the solid waste industry. The company's dedication to sustainability and its focus on developing innovative solutions for solid waste management have garnered recognition and respect from industry peers.
As the world continues to grapple with mounting waste challenges, Genox's solid waste management systems offer a glimmer of hope. With tire recycling, Li-battery recycling, and fridge recycling as priority areas, the company is driving positive change and paving the way for a greener future.
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A Test of CO2 Sensitivity in a Coupled Atmosphere-Ocean Model with Implications for Future Climate Change Predictions
OCCI Funded Project: 2006
Concerns over the magnitude of future global warming cause us to look back in Earth history to periods when atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations were higher than present and the surface temperatures were much warmer than present. Using data from these past warm periods and computer climate models of the Earth’s climate system, we can test the “CO2 sensitivity” of climate models used to predict future climates. The most important question here is, “Does a realistic amount of warming occur in the models when CO2 is increased?”
In the paleoclimate model-data comparison approach, past surface temperatures and pCO2 are estimated from well-preserved geochemical proxies (see below, Figure 1). The inferred CO2 concentration is specified to the model, along with other realistic boundary conditions for the study interval, and the model is run to equilibrium. If the model CO2 sensitivity is adequate, then model-predicted temperatures should match the temperatures inferred from data to within the uncertainty in the data technique.
Previous such studies (Bice et al., 2006) using an atmospheric climate model with no dynamical ocean suggest that the model sensitivity to CO2 is far too low, grossly underestimating the amount of warming that will result with a similar increase in CO2 in the future (see below, Figure 2).
In this project, we are performing tests of model CO2 sensitivity using a global general circulation model with a fully dynamical ocean component, the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology coupled model ECHAM5/MPI-OM. We are assessing the MPI model CO2 sensitivity and experimenting with modifications to model parameterizations and resolution, following on leads that suggest changes that have significant positive impacts on the model CO2 sensitivity.
One possible cause of the discrepancy shown above between temperatures predicted by the models and temperatures inferred from geochemical data is that the model CO2 sensitivity is inadequate, thereby causing the model to underestimate the amount of past (and future) warmth.
IPCC model data output are archived by the Program for Climate Model Diagnosis and Intercomparison (PCMDI) at http://www-pcmdi.llnl.gov/ipcc/about_ipcc.php .
Cretaceous temperature estimates are from Bice et al., 2003 (for the southern hemisphere), Bice et al., 2006 (the tropics) and Jenkyns et al., 2004 (the Arctic ).
Bice, K. L., B. T. Huber, and R. D. Norris, 2003, Extreme polar warmth during the Cretaceous greenhouse?: Paradox of the Late Turonian ∂18O record at DSDP Site 511, Paleoceanography, 18, doi: 10.1029/2002PA000848.
Bice, K. L., D. Birgel, P. A. Meyers, K. A. Dahl, K. Hinrichs, and R. D. Norris (2006), A multiple proxy and model study of Cretaceous upper ocean temperatures and atmospheric CO2 concentrations, Paleoceanography, 21, PA2002, doi:10.1029/2005PA001203. Available online through the Woods Hole Open Access Server: https://darchive.mblwhoilibrary.org/handle/1912/846
Jenkyns, H. C., A. Forster, S. Schouten, and J. S. Damste, High temperatures in the Late Cretaceous Arctic Ocean, Nature, 432, 888-892, 2004.
Originally published: January 1, 2006
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