id string | concept_name string | domain string | content_type string | text string | quality_score float64 | information_density string | complexity_level int64 | token_count int64 | prerequisites list | builds_to list | cross_domain_connections list | quality_assessment dict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
855ec9dc-2e9b-41cf-a230-c28a1c29d860 | - Welcome to Botswana | technology | historical_context | - Welcome to Botswana
- Where To Go
- What To Do
- Where To Stay
- Flora and Fauna
- Visitor Information
- Contact Us
Shoulder Height: 1,8 m
Tail: 1,0 m
Mass: (bull) 2 000-2 300 kg, (cow) 1 400-1 600 kg
Record front horn length: (southern Africa) 1,58 m
Identification pointers: Large size; broad, square muzzle; hump on neck; large, pointed ears; two horns on face.
The White Rhinoceros, also known as the Square-lipped Rhinoceros, is much larger than the Black or Hook-lipped Rhinoceros. The skin colour is grey but this is often influenced by the colour of the mud and dust in which it rolls. A large, distinctive hump is present on the neck. The head is long and carried low, frequently only a few centimetres above the ground, and terminates in a broad square muzzle - hence the common name. There are two horns on the face, the front one usually being the longer. The ears are large and pointed.
This species shows a preference for short-grassed areas, with thick bush cover and water. Where adequate food and water is available it will occupy a wide range of open woodland associations. In Botswana, rhino can be found in Khama Rhino Sanctuary and Mokolodi Game Reserve.
The White Rhinoceros is much more sociable than the Black Rhinoceros. Territorial bulls occupy clearly defined territories which they will defend against neighbouring bulls; subordinate bulls may be allowed to remain within a territory if they remain submissive. The home range of cows may overlap with the territories of several territorial bulls but when a cow is receptive for mating the bull will attempt to keep her within his area.
Family groups usually number between 2 and 5 individuals, although larger numbers may come together for short periods. The home ranges and territories are only left when water is not readily available. When they move to watering points they follow the same paths each time. Feeding takes place during the cooler morning and afternoon hours but they are also active at night. Bulls have a number of fixed latrine sites within their territories.
White Rhinoceros are grazers, with a preference for short grass. A reliable source of drinking water is an essential requirement. Reproduction: Calves, weighing about 40 kg, are dropped at any time of the year after a gestation period of approximately 480 days. The cow moves away from the rhinoceros group to give birth and remains separated with her new-born calf for several days. In contrast to the Black Rhinoceros, the calf of the White Rhinoceros walks in front of the mother.
Their breeding period is throughout the whole year and usually the female raise one young. | 0.65 | medium | 4 | 604 | [
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b02861aa-66f2-465f-85e7-519ae5d426f4 | Long before professor psychology | social_studies | creative_writing | Long before he was a professor of psychology, Travis Langley was a budding geek.
"I was born a nerdy child," Langley confessed wryly. "Seriously, my baby book shows that Batman was one of my earliest words. We have this wonderful photo of me at age nine months, holding one of my mom's comic books and just looking delighted by it."
Langley turned that delight into a way of teaching his students at Henderson State University in Arkansas, using Batman and "The Walking Dead" to illustrate difficult and sometimes painful issues.
Langley is appearing at Illinois State University this week to deliver a series of talks regarding psychology and popular culture. He's also featured in "Legends of the Knight," a documentary about people who are inspired to overcome obstacles and embrace their inner superhero through their love of Batman. It's showing at the Normal Theater at 7 p.m. Thursday, and Langley will take part in a panel discussion following the film.
"A lot of things came together for me 10 years ago. I was teaching a psychology and literature course that summer, and what I found was that students were really having fun with the material. We were analyzing characters like Hamlet. And they were having fun with the material and learning the psychology really well. It was a powerful thing, using these fictional examples for them to learn about the psychology of real people."
"And this was very much in my mind as I attended my first San Diego Comic-Con that summer. I spoke with comic scholars, thinking about the fact that very little had been written in psychology in the past 50 years related to comics and superheroes. So it used to be the nerdy side of my life and the professor side of my life were two separate things, and that's when I knew that these must be the same thing."
Langley was determined to write an article about Batman. That article soon expanded into a well-received book, "Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight."
"And over the course of time, I've been using these things to teach. English professors get this. Fiction has to be truer to human nature to convince the audience and can get to the essence of what's going on."
Langley noted that individuals can often take a harder look at real life through a fictional examples because we step aside from our own predispositions and the feelings that might evoke. "Star Trek," back in the 1960s, was able to explore real-world issues in a way that nobody else on TV was doing because they would talk about civil rights issues, but through fictional species.
"When I teach forensic psychology, the psychology of crime, some of those topics can be so unpleasant and disturbing that the people I'm talking to miss the point I'm getting at. I can talk about the same things we know from real crime victims, but through a fictional example like Batman, as a child seeing his parents murdered, and they stay with me through what I'm talking about."
In addition to authoring "Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight," Langley serves as editor of a series of books on pop culture and psychology for Sterling Books. The book topics range from Captain America to Dr. Who to "The Walking Dead." His latest effort focuses on the popular TV series, "Supernatural."
You can also listen to GLT's full interview with Langley:
WGLT depends on financial support from users to bring you stories and interviews like this one. As someone who values experienced, knowledgeable, and award-winning journalists covering meaningful stories in central Illinois, please consider making a contribution. | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 768 | [
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944b3902-c485-4a8e-b923-f5a20f57ec31 | Origins name: Named after | interdisciplinary | historical_context | Origins of name: Named after Togoville in Germany, where Germany declared a “protectorate” over the area that came to be called Togo. Before then, the Togo coast and adjoining coastline in West Africa was collectively known as the Slave Coast
In an 1884 treaty, present-day Togo became a German protectorate. The status was formalised in 1905
In 1914 Britain and France wrested control and ruled under League of Nations mandate.
After World War II, the mandate was transferred to UN. At independence, British Togoland voted to join Ghana, and French Togoland became the Togolese Republic.
It gained independence on April 27, 1960.
Form of Government
The 1992 as amended in 2002, provides for a President elected for a five-year term
President serves as Head of State
Prime Minister is Head of Government
Executive President, Prime Minister appointed by President, Unicameral Parliament
Manpower fit for military service: males age 16-49: 929,395 and females age 16-49: 943,967
Expenditures – 1.6% of GDP
Branches – Togolese Armed Forces (Forces Armees Togolaise, FAT): Ground Forces, Togolese Navy (Marine du Togo), Togolese Air Force (Force Aerienne Togolaise, FAT), National Gendarmerie
1960-1963: Sylvanus Olympio
1963 – 1967: Nicolas Grunitzky
1967-2005: Gnassingbe Eyadema
Population: 719,000 people
Size: 6,961,049 (2012)
Life expectancy: 58.7 years
Gender make-up: Male – 49.13%, Female – 50.87%
GDP per capita
Area – 56,785sqkm
Land boundaries - Benin 644km, Burkina Faso 126km, Ghana 877km
French (official), Ewe, Mina, Kabye, Dagomba
Christian 29%, Muslim 20%, Indigenous beliefs 51%
African (37 ethnic groups; largest are Ewe, Mina, and Kabye) 99%, European and Syrian-Lebanese less than 1%
Cotton, Phosphates, Coffee, Cocoa
Arable land: 44.2%
Permanent crops: 2.11%
Main port: Lome
Main airport: Lome-Tokoin International Airport (also known as Gnassingbe Eyadema International Airport) located 7km northeast of central Lome
Togo has had one of the highest deforestation rates in the world. Since 1990, it has lost 44% of its forest cover
Slush-and-burn agriculture and uncontrolled fuel wood cutting has further degraded the tropical cover
The mining industry causes environmental degradation as well.
The transition to free multi-party politics remains troubled after decades of one-man rule
The army has disproportionate influence in the political sphere. This has complicated the transition to democracy
Despite steps being taken towards political reform and fiscal transparency, with Faure Gnassingbé still in power many are not certain about whether these changes are just part of a ploy by the ruling party to maintain its hold on power
In recent years, Togo has succeeded to be self-sufficient in basic food crops (corn, cassava, yams, sorghum, millet and groundnuts). But export earnings from phosphates and cotton have fallen as prices for these commodities have plummeted
In 2011, Togo took significant steps towards poverty reduction and economic reforms. As a result, Paris Club cancelled all of Togo's debt, amounting to some $143.1 million, in a bid to encourage the West African nation to pursue economic reforms.
Countries also indicated they intended to provide debt relief on a bilateral basis to Togo amounting to $404 million.
Prior to Eyadema’s dictatorship the 30-odd ethnic groups in Togo lived amicably. But favouritism to the advantage of the Kabye and a systematic policy of diluting Ewe cultural influence has heightened ethnic tensions
Since Faure Gnassingbe’s elevation, there has been a cooling off in relations with Togo’s most important ally, France. Relations had been badly frayed toward the end of his father’s dictatorial rule
The Major Conflicts
When: 1963 and 1967
Who: Founding President Sylvanus Olympio and his successor vs Gnassingbe Eyadema
Why: Tensions between the mainly southern politicians and the army, which is dominated by the Kabye of the north (Eyadema’s ethnic group).
Outcome: In 1963, Eyadema led a group of soldiers who assassinated President Olympio. In 1967, Olympio’s successor Grunitzky was overthrown by Eyadema
Who: Benin vs Togo
Why: Benin claimed Togo had illegally moved boundary markers along the common border
Outcome: A Joint Boundary Commission continues to survey the boundary, but has yet to reach a conclusive agreement
Who: Army was pitted against Opposition supporters
Why: Following the death of Gnassingbe Eyadema, violent protests broke out in many towns over the army’s imposition of Eyadema’s son, Faure, to succeed him. The AU called the imposition a coup d’etat
Outcome: The ensuing crackdown forced 40,000 Togolese, mainly Ewes from the south, to flee to Benin and Ghana as refugees
What to see?
Mt Agou – at 986m, it is the highest mountain in Togo. With a guide, it is possible to walk all the way up.
Most popular sport
Soccer (Togo qualified for first time for the World Cup in 2006)
Famous sportsmen and sportswomen
Emmanuel Adebayor. He plays for England’s Manchester City football club.
Despite a veneer of democratic rule, Togo is one of the handful of African countries that are run as family dynasties. Since 1967, the Eyadema family has run the country as its fiefdom, with the full backing of the army | 0.65 | medium | 6 | 1,436 | [
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5f84971f-3180-4710-8258-d9ff11625788 | beginner Buddhism, learn about | technology | historical_context | For a beginner in Buddhism, we learn about the 3 precious Gems of Buddhism. In modern language, that means the 3 most precious things, or the 3 cornerstones. Our conversion to Buddhism depends on our refuge or reliance upon the 3 precious objects (Buddha, Dharma and Sangha) to navigate our daily life.
What exactly is Sangha?
There is 2 ways to look at it. The spiritual hocus pocus way and the modern realist way.
The spiritual approach to Triple Gems acknowledges a spiritual dimension that is not perceivable by ordinary people. There is this mystical aspect about it and we look upon the Triple Gems as a “Higher” power. A mystical benevolent force that grant us protection from all dangers (known and unknown)
In this instance, Sangha refers to enlightened disciples of Buddha.
It is almost like the gods, saints and immortals in a god-worshipping religion. Except that, in Buddhism, we can also aspire to be enlightened and become part of the Sangha.
In the modern realist approach, one doesn’t believe in any hocus pocus. Everything is explainable by science and logic. The approach towards Buddhism is based on our daily human experience. We want to know the practicality of Buddhism. How can it bring happiness to the world and into my life? In this instance, what is Sangha to you?
To answer that question, we need to know what makes the Sangha.
Is it their country of origin? Is it their cultural practices? Is it their clothing style or hair style? Is it a birth lineage? A rational Buddhist will answer “No” to these questions without any hesitation. The Buddha had also answered similarly in the past.
The Sangha actually represents an ideal. (living man and woman)
- They are people who live their life in accordance to Dharma (teachings of Buddha)
- Their life’s goal is in line with Dharma (To reduce if not eliminate Craving, Hatred and Ignorance)
Different people have different aptitudes and aspiration. Thus, some people can practice or achieve more than others. Therefore, the Sangha consist of different categories of practicing Buddhist.
- Monks and Nuns who observes more than 250 rules of moral conducts
- Male and female novices (at least 10 vows)
- Lay man and lay woman. (at least 5 vows)
From the above, it is obvious that the Sangha is a living testimony of Buddha’s teachings. In another word, they are practitioners of Buddha’s messages. They prove the effect and efficaciousness of Buddha Dharma.
A person cease to be Buddhist when he/she commits a deed that is contrary to Buddha’s teachings or more stringently, harbors an intention that is contrary to Buddhist goal in life. Thus, we are more interested in their conducts or behavior, instead of their monastic robe, ceremonial hats, fans, seats, and etc.
Unlike other religion, where admission into a holy order is ordained by God(s)/Goddess(es) (unseen or imaginary); the Buddhist holy order (Sangha) is founded by sincere men and women who conduct themselves in a holy manner.(Buddhist way of living)
Therefore, one is automatically excluded from the Sangha when he or she does not follow the rules of moral conduct or harbors intentions that is contrary to Buddhist goals (aka. removing craving, hatred and ignorance).
From a realist perspective, our refuge in the Sangha is based on our belief in an ideal. We believe that the Sangha represents the best potential in human beings and how they can live a blameless life. We believe the Sangha creates positive changes in the world.
For example, people who observe the precept of non-killing bring peace and harmony. People who avoid lies brings out the Truth.
Our realist approach to taking refuge in Sangha is a dynamic belief in an ideal. It is faceless, genderless, raceless, casteless and beyond wardrobe styles. Whoever conducts themselves in accordance to the Dharma is part of the Sangha. Naturally, that includes both enlightened and unenlightened disciples.
This approach encourages us to practice due diligence and not be lazy. We learn to differentiate good practitioners from the bad. We only honor those who are worthy of our honor. Their wardrobe doesn’t matter to us. Their positions and prestige doesn’t matter. Their cultural practices and race doesn’t matter. Their extraordinary claims to supernatural ability doesn’t matter. Their numbers of followers doesn’t matter. The size of their property doesn’t matter. (We look beyond outward appearances (form) and learn to focus on the substance)
But more importantly, we acknowledge our contributory role in our refuge. We (as a practicing Buddhist) help make the Sangha a reality. (not imaginary). Our every conduct, speech and thought determine if there is one more or one less Sangha member at any one time.
May all be well and happy. | 0.65 | medium | 4 | 1,048 | [
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eb58c987-fb3c-40ec-9817-c78c1c7ef740 | First published 2 July 2012 | interdisciplinary | historical_context | First published 2 July 2012
Heterochronous Neural Baldwinism
Keith L. Downing
Neural Baldwinism concerns the Baldwin Effect in the evolution of brains and intelligence. The first phase of the Baldwin Effect (B.E.), wherein plasticity provides a selective advantage, is intuitive and commonplace in simulations of adaptive systems. However, the second (assimilation) phase often poses problems for Baldwinism in general, and this is particularly acute for biological neural networks, where a complex developmental process greatly confounds the mapping from genotype to functional phenotype: a brain whose synapses are tuned to perform particular tasks. Since a strong genotype-phenotype correlation is often viewed as a prerequisite to this second phase, the body's most plastic organ would appear to defy Baldwinism. However, a detailed examination of 3 key processes of neural adaptation blurs the distinction between classic developmental and learning stages of brain maturation, thus supporting a re-interpretation of Neural Baldwinism's phase II as a heterochronous shift of the bulk of these three adaptive processes from postnatal to prenatal stages. This article illustrates Heterochronous Neural Baldwinism (HNB) with artificial neural networks that evolve, develop and learn, and in which some degree of synaptic tuning shifts to the prenatal stage. | 0.6 | high | 5 | 260 | [
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e13cf5cc-5455-4917-8996-fbeb52a476b9 | passing lane basketball path | interdisciplinary | tutorial | A passing lane in basketball is the path the ball will follow in a simple pass between two players who are close to each other. In a game players must position themselves to create a passing lane, that way allowing for the ball handler to make a pass without much risk of getting it stolen or deflected by the defense. Passing is a fundamental part of the game, and understanding how to create and open passing lanes is one of the most important things for a team to pass the ball well.
Given that, it is particularly important for coaches at the youth level to teach their young athletes about passing lanes and make them understand their impact on the game, as that contributes for them to become better basketball players in the future. Also, by encouraging young players to stick to the passing lanes during games, coaches can avoid unnecessarily difficult passes that might end up in turnovers.
Passing lanes also impact the defensive part of basketball. Defenses must be able to defend the passing lanes, making it difficult for the opponent to switch many easy passes. Avoiding many easy passes will lead to less scoring opportunities. | 0.55 | medium | 4 | 220 | [
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31badc8a-8b4b-48f5-abeb-4756f354de5e | When began teaching California | technology | worked_examples | When I began teaching in California in the late 1990s, I was appalled by the conditions for students and teachers. So many of the resources I had taken for granted on the East Coast were missing in my high-poverty San Francisco school. Unfortunately, the situation only grew worse over the past 15 years, especially during the long budget crisis when school districts stripped away supports for disadvantaged students, such as summer school and reading specialists. Little wonder that California has some of the largest achievement gaps in the nation.
The recent passage of Governor Brown’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) is supposed to fix these conditions. LCFF is designed to close long-standing funding gaps between rich and poor districts by directing supplementary funding to low-income students, English learners, and foster youth. Districts with concentrations of students in poverty will receive even more dollars. This is a historic reform that was sold by the governor and legislative leaders as a way to improve outcomes for low-income students and English learners. Unfortunately, the promise of LCFF may not be achieved because of a series of last-minute changes in the legislature that watered down requirements to spend additional funding for high-need students in their classrooms and schools.
Previously, the governor’s LCFF model contained strong language requiring districts to use supplementary funding for the benefit of low-income students and English learners. Districts had to direct these funds to schools based on the proportion of disadvantaged students in those schools, and faced penalties for misusing the dollars. This system would have increased financial transparency and provided information on how much of education funding actually reached the school level.
The current legislation weakened all of these requirements. While the previous model clearly stated that disadvantaged students would be the primary beneficiaries of supplementary funding, the current version of LCFF vaguely suggests that services for needy students must increase. Even worse, it potentially allows districts to spend these dollars on initiatives where the majority of the beneficiaries are not disadvantaged. This means that a district could purchase instructional materials for all students with funding designed to increase services for disadvantaged students. There are no penalties for misusing the funds and limited transparency for the public.
Superintendents, school boards, and other central office special interest groups who sought these changes argue that they should be given maximum spending flexibility and then be judged on their results. But LCFF’s accountability measures for student outcomes do not kick in for three to four years, allowing districts near full reign with supplementary funding with little recourse for parents and community members.
In fact, there is no evidence in research that giving full spending flexibility to district central offices will ever close achievement or opportunity gaps. Instead of providing the highest need students with academic supports, such as an extended school year, and socio-emotional supports, such as mental health services, superintendents and schools boards will be under tremendous pressure to use supplementary funds to increase staff salaries and implement one-size-fits-all district initiatives like class size reduction. These decisions could divert critical funding away from disadvantaged students and undermine public faith in this historic reform. | 0.65 | medium | 6 | 619 | [
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a258fd4b-de59-4b36-95ef-1ed10f5235e3 | Free Bible Study | science | research_summary | Free Bible Study
After about a year’s worth of personal and public study, we have written and worked through the Gospel of Mark with the church here in Romania. We are making the study questions available for download in English and in Romanian for free for anyone who wants them. CLICK HERE to choose your preferred language and to read a little more on how to go through the study.
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Connecting to %s | 0.65 | medium | 4 | 213 | [
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09f865a4-3d52-4b95-9d85-6eee024f3445 | Poppitlikyano Loves Comments Views | technology | technical_documentation | Poppitlikyano
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About This Pattern
By binlana
May 27, 2012
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Please view the revised Terms here. If you don’t mind anything there, then you don’t need to do anything. Your continued use of the platform will constitute your acceptance of the latest version of the Terms. If you disagree with anything there, you can terminate your account within seven days from today. | 0.7 | medium | 4 | 712 | [
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77165138-99a6-487e-9a47-9d38d595db7e | We’ve been exploring power | technology | data_analysis | We’ve been exploring the power of the programming language R for data mining. In this post we will analyze tweets from game two of the NBA playoffs series between the San Antonio Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder and create a graph comparing the average sentiment score during the game. Sentiment analyses classify communications as positive, negative, or neutral.
Determining sentiment ranges from very simple classification methods to very complex algorithms. For ease and transparency in this example, we will classify the sentiment of a tweet based on the polarity of the individual words. Each word will be given a score of +1 if classified as positive, -1 if negative, and 0 if classified as neutral. This will be determined using positive and negative lexicon lists compiled by Minqing Hu and Bing Liu for their work “Mining and Summarizing Customer Reviews.” The total polarity score of a given tweet will result in adding together the scores of all the individual words. Below is an example of a tweet that may be found in Twitter data for the Spurs.
RT @BooshBush: The energy in this place is INSANE! @JMV1070
Using the scoring system provided above, we would score the individuals words as follows:
− Neutral (0): RT, The, energy, in, this, place, is
− Negative (-1): insane
− Positive (+1): N/A
Adding together the scores of the individual words gives this tweet a total score of -1.
This works as a simple example of how to calculate the polarity score, though clearly it’s not very accurate. The algorithm misses out on the overall context of the tweet because it focuses on individual words. This could be corrected using more complex sentiment scoring algorithms and taking context into account. But we’ll still use it as a simple example to demonstrate the capabilities of R using social media data.
We will reuse the Twitter app we created and authorized in the preceding post, Twitter Analytics Using R Part 1: Extract Tweets to extract tweets for @Spurs and @OKCThunder. For our purposes we created a script, ExtractTweets.R, to pull data from Twitter for the duration of the game and saved all unique tweets in a file for our analysis.
1. Install Packages and Load Additional Files
Before we run the sentiment analysis, we need to load the R packages required for processing tweet strings and graphing the data. We then need to load the script file that contains the above-mentioned sentiment scoring. Additionally, we need to load the positive and negative lexicons that we will use to score each word. If a word is not included in either list, it will be classified as neutral. Finally, we need to read in the data previously saved from our tweet extraction script.
Install packages for sentiment analysis
install.packages("ggplot2") install.packages("plyr") install.packages("gridExtra") library("ggplot2") library("plyr") library("gridExtra")
Load ScoreSentiment.R file that contains our specific sentiment scoring
algorithm described in this post
Load positive and negative lexicon files used to score individual words
pos = scan(file="positive-words.txt",what="charcter", comment.char=";") neg = scan(file="negative-words.txt",what="charcter", comment.char=";")
#read tweets into data frame from file Spursdf OKCThunderdf
2. Score Tweets
Now we proceed to score each extracted tweet using score.sentiment function. This function expects the tweet text and the positive and negative lexicons as inputs.
Score all the tweets for each team using the score.sentiment function available in the ScoreSentiment.R file
Spurs <- score.sentiment(Spursdf$text, Spursdf$created, pos,neg) OKCThunder <- score.sentiment(OKCThunderdf$text, OKCThunderdf$created, pos,neg)
3. Change Time Zone
The extracted tweets have a field (created) that shows the date timestamp of the tweets in UTC time zone. To improve readability, we will change the time zone to CST.
#change format of timestamp to CST Spurs$created <- format(Spurs$created,tz="America/Chicago") OKCThunder$created <- format(OKCThunder$created,tz="America/Chicago")
4. Summarize Data
Before plotting the scores on the graph, we will summarize the tweet scores by minute. Here we are using ddply from the plyr package to aggregate the tweets by minute and calculate the average score.
#group by hour, minute Spurs$hour <- as.POSIXlt(Spurs$created)$hour Spurs$min <- as.POSIXlt(Spurs$created)$min OKCThunder$hour <- as.POSIXlt(OKCThunder$created)$hour OKCThunder$min <- as.POSIXlt(OKCThunder$created)$min
#summary Spurs.summary <- ddply(Spurs, c("hour","min"), summarise, N = length(score), avg = mean(score)) Spurs.summary$created <-as.POSIXct(factor(paste0(as.character(Spurs.summary$hour),':',as.character(Spurs.summary$min))) , format="%H:%M")
OKCThunder.summary <- ddply(OKCThunder, c("hour","min"), summarise, N = length(score), avg = mean(score)) OKCThunder.summary$created <-as.POSIXct(factor(paste0(as.character(OKCThunder.summary$hour), ':',as.character(OKCThunder.summary$min))) , format="%H:%M")
5. Create the Grid
Now that we have extracted and scored the tweets for each team, we want to graph the results. Here we will use a line graph to display the results. The y-axis displays the average sentiment score of tweets. The x-axis shows the time the tweet was created. The two plots are arranged on a grid using the gridExtra package. The legend on the side helps map time to game events.
#plot by time and average score plot.OKCThunder <- ggplot(OKCThunder.summary, aes(x=created, y=avg))+ geom_line(color='blue')+ scale_x_datetime(limits = c(as.POSIXct(strptime("2014-05-22 20:00", "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")), as.POSIXct(strptime("2014-05-22 22:30", "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")))) + labs(title = "OKC Thunder", x = "Time", y = "Average Sentiment Score") + ylim(-1, 2) +theme_bw()
plot.Spurs <- ggplot(Spurs.summary, aes(x=created, y=avg))+ geom_line(color='slategray')+ scale_x_datetime(limits = c(as.POSIXct(strptime("2014-05-22 20:00", "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")), as.POSIXct(strptime("2014-05-22 22:30", "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")))) + labs(title = "Spurs", x = "Time", y = "Average Sentiment Score") + ylim(-1, 2) + theme_bw()
#create legend for grid legendtable <- data.frame(Time = c('20:00', '21:10', '21:30', '22:30'), Event = c("Tip Off","Half Time", "Third Quarter","Final Buzzer"))
legend <- tableGrob(legendtable,show.rowname=FALSE,gpar.coretext=gpar(fontsize=9), gpar.corefill = gpar(fill = "white", col = "grey95"), gpar.coltext=gpar(fontsize=9,fontface='bold'))
#arrange plots on grid grid.arrange(plot.Spurs, plot.OKCThunder, ncol=1, nrow=2, main="Spurs vs. OKC Thunder",legend=legend)
Sentiment analysis allows organizations to quantify perceptions. If we look at the two graphs, both teams have positive tweets at the beginning of the game and continue until halftime. After halftime, we see an increase in positive tweets for the Spurs and an inverse trend for Thunder matching the outcome of the game (112-77).
The examples in this series are a brief introduction into the many things you can do with R. It has many strengths in statistical analysis and is a very powerful tool in the hands of a data miner. A wide variety of companies are using R daily, including Google, Bank of America, the InterContinental Hotels Group, and Shell. | 0.7 | medium | 6 | 1,990 | [
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"accuracy": 0.6,
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a1f3eed4-d2b5-4d1a-a635-b7c0040466ac | repository copy B-cell memory | science | research_summary | This is a repository copy of B-cell memory in malaria : Myths and realities.
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INVITED REVIEW
B‐cell memory in malaria: Myths and realities
Damián Pérez‐Mazliah 1,2 |Francis M. Ndungu 3 |Racheal Aye 4 |Jean Langhorne 1
1
The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
2
York Biomedical Research Institute, Hull
Summary
York Medical School, University of York,
York, UK
3 KEMRI/Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya
4 Department of Immunology and Infectious Disease, John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Correspondence
Jean Langhorne and Damián Pérez‐Mazliah, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK. Email: email@example.com (J. L.); firstname.lastname@example.org (D. P‐M.)
Funding information
MRC/DFID African Research Leadership Award; DELTAS Africa Initiative, Grant/ Award Number: DEL‐15‐003; Medical Research Council, Grant/Award Number: FC 10101; Hull York Medical School, UK; Cancer Research UK, Grant/Award Number: FC 10101; Wellcome Trust, Grant/Award Number: 107499/Z/15/Z, 107769/Z/10/Z, FC 10101 and WT104777/Z/14/Z
B‐cell and antibody responses to Plasmodium spp., the parasite that causes malaria, are critical for control of parasitemia and associated immunopathology. Antibodies also provide protection to reinfection. Long‐lasting B‐cell memory has been shown to occur in response to Plasmodium spp. in experimental model infections, and in human malaria. However, there are reports that antibody responses to several malaria an‐ tigens in young children living with malaria are not similarly long‐lived, suggesting a dysfunction in the maintenance of circulating antibodies. Some studies attribute this to the expansion of atypical memory B cells (AMB), which express multiple in‐ hibitory receptors and activation markers, and are hyporesponsive to B‐cell receptor (BCR) restimulation in vitro. AMB are also expanded in other chronic infections such as tuberculosis, hepatitis B and C, and HIV, as well as in autoimmunity and old age, highlighting the importance of understanding their role in immunity. Whether AMB are dysfunctional remains controversial, as there are also studies in other infections showing that AMB can produce isotype‐switched antibodies and in mouse can con‐ tribute to protection against infection. In light of these controversies, we review the most recent literature on either side of the debate and challenge some of the cur‐ rently held views regarding B‐cell responses to Plasmodium infections.
KEYWORDS
classical and atypical memory B cells, long‐lived plasma cells, malaria, Plasmodium
1|INTRODUCTION
Malaria is a killer disease caused by infection with species of the protozoan parasite, Plasmodium. The most deadly of these parasites is Plasmodium falciparum, for which the estimates of morbidity and mortality in Africa were 219 million and 435 000, respectively, in 2017. 1 Although several control methods have been employed with substantial success, malaria continues to place a heavy burden on the health systems and economies of the countries affected. Experts agree on the need for the development and subsequent deployment of an effective vaccine, which would be the most cost‐effective means of disease control and could even lead to elimination of ma‐ laria. However, despite decades of research in malaria vaccine de‐ velopment, a highly effective vaccine remains elusive. RTS,S/AS01, the most advanced malaria vaccine so far, has 30% efficacy of short‐ lived protection. 2
A better understanding of the host immune response to ma‐ laria, and particularly how to induce and maintain protective levels of circulating antibodies, would be highly valuable for producing effective vaccines which provide long‐lasting protection from ma‐ laria. Through extensive studies of humoral responses to immuniza‐ tion with model antigens and in acute viral infections, it is generally
This article is part of a series of reviews covering Immunity to Malaria appearing in Volume 293 ofImmunological Reviews.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
© 2019 The Authors. Immunological Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Immunological Reviews.
2019;00:1–13.
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/imr
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1
accepted that there are two types of long‐lived pathogen‐specific cells of the B‐cell lineage commonly persisting in the memory pool: long‐lived plasma cells, which secrete specific antibodies, in some cases for life; and memory B cells, which confer rapid and enhanced responses to secondary pathogen challenge. Follicular helper T‐cell (Tfh) and germinal center (GC) B‐cell responses are essential to gen‐ erate isotype‐switched long‐lived plasma cells and memory B cells 3 (Figure 1A). An understanding of whether and how the immune re‐ sponse is compromised, and of the true longevity of the memory compartments in Plasmodium infection is necessary for successful vaccine development.
Protozoan parasites, such as Plasmodium, have complex life cy‐ cles and, in many cases, different cellular forms within the vertebrate host. The vast majority of protozoan parasites give rise to long‐lasting, and in some cases, lifelong, chronic infections, dramatically shaped by sophisticated immune evasion mechanisms which include a com‐ plex and diverse antigenic repertoire. Thus, protozoan parasites rep‐ resent a substantial challenge to the immune system. Mechanisms that regulate B‐cell responses to Plasmodium species have gained
increasing attention in recent years. It is now well‐established that B cells and antibodies are critical to control Plasmodium infection and to provide immunity to reinfection. 4‐10 Plasmodium‐specific antibod‐ ies, in particular of the IgG subclasses, act by inhibiting Plasmodium replication and cell invasion, opsonizing extracellular forms as well as infected red blood cells for their destruction by phagocytic cells, and promoting lysis by the complement. 11‐13
In contrast, Plasmodium infections trigger a series of tempo‐ rary yet striking events that can potentially alter Plasmodium‐spe‐ cific B‐cell responses. These include pronounced inflammation 14 polyclonal B‐cell activation and hypergammaglobulinemia, 15‐17 al‐ terations in splenic and bone marrow microarchitecture, 18‐20 and alteration in hematopoiesis. 21,22 Moreover, a series of field studies have suggested that B cell responses to Plasmodium spp. might be dysfunctional, with poor acquisition of long‐lasting B‐cell responses and accumulation of "exhausted" B cells. 23‐25 An intriguing subset of B cells expressing the transcription factor T‐bet, termed AMB, is expanded in subjects exposed to Plasmodium infection. 23 B cells with similar phenotypical characteristics have been observed in response to other infections, 23,26‐28 autoimmunity, 29 and aging. 30 Whether T‐bet + AMB cells contribute to protection from infection or rather represent a dysfunctional B‐cell subset that leads to parasite per‐ sistence and pathology remains a focus of intense debate.
Here, we will review and challenge some currently held views regarding B‐cell responses to malaria, with a focus on the longevity of the circulating antibody response and potential roles of AMB in Plasmodium infection in humans and mice.
1.1|Are B‐cell responses to malaria short‐lived?
Immunological memory refers to long‐lived immunity sustained in the absence of pathogen re‐exposure. The B‐cell response to a pathogen presents three distinct phases (Figure 1B): (a) Expansion and activation: encounter with the pathogen results in the activation and extensive proliferation of B cells, leading to several fold increase in the frequency of pathogen‐specific B cells as well as the produc‐ tion of pathogen‐specific antibodies by plasmablasts and short‐lived plasma cells; (b) Contraction: as the pathogen load is controlled by the immune response or curtailed by drug treatment, both the fre‐ quency of pathogen‐specific B cells and the titer of pathogen‐spe‐ cific antibodies drop significantly, (c) Memory: following pathogen clearance, a subset of pathogen‐specific long‐lived plasma cells and memory B cells survive the contraction phase; the former continue to produce pathogen‐specific antibodies, sustaining their circulat‐ ing levels above background; the later recirculate through blood and secondary lymphoid organs readily armed for a second encounter with the same pathogen which initiated the response. Subsequent encounters with the same pathogen have a cumulative effect, result‐ ing in increased precursor frequency of pathogen‐specific memory B cells with each round of exposure. Due to increased frequencies, reduced activation threshold, as well as isotype switching and affin‐ ity maturation resulting from GC reactions, the response of memory B cells is typically faster and of greater magnitude compared with
that of naive B cells, and results in faster and greater production of antibodies of switched isotypes and increased affinity. 31
While phases 1 and 2 can typically last for weeks to months, the memory phase can last for years to decades and even for life in the absence of pathogen re‐exposure. 32,33 Long‐term immunity is a fea‐ ture of many systemic infections such as mumps, polio, yellow fever, smallpox, measles, and rubella. 32,34 Studies showed that detectable antibody titers to smallpox could be sustained for over 75 years after a single vaccination, 35,36 and smallpox‐specific memory B cells could be detected in the blood of vaccinees up to 60 years postvaccina‐ tion. 37 Amanna and colleagues performed a longitudinal analysis of antibody titers and memory B‐cell frequencies specific for viral an‐ tigens (vaccinia, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella–zoster virus, and Epstein–Barr virus) and nonreplicating antigens (tetanus and diph‐ theria). 32 Both antibody responses and memory B‐cell responses were remarkably stable and long‐lived, with antibody responses half‐lives ranging from an estimated 50 years for varicella–zoster virus to more than 200 years for other viruses such as measles and mumps. 32 Similar longevity of virus‐specific B‐cell memory was ob‐ served to natural exposure, as demonstrated by the identification of memory B cells specific for the 1918 pandemic strain of influenza virus circulating in the blood of survivors 90 years after primary ex‐ posure. 33 In comparison, antibody responses to tetanus and diph‐ theria showed a shorter half‐life (11‐27 years) but still lasting at least a decade, and even over 50 years in some diphtheria cases. 32,35,38
Plasmodium infection, with its complex life cycle, antigenic vari‐ ation/polymorphism, and its ability to establish chronic infection could well influence development and longevity of B‐cell responses, and might not necessarily reflect the kinetics observed after acute viral or bacterial infections or vaccination. In fact, immunity to Plasmodium parasites is acquired much less efficiently than in most viral and bacterial infections, where a single infection is enough (sometimes) for life‐long protection. 39
Plasmodium parasites present two very distinctive stages in the mammalian host (Figure 2A). An initial pre‐erythrocytic or liver stage, during which Plasmodium sporozoites invade hepatocytes. The liver stage can last between 2 and 7 days, 40 depending on the parasite and host species, and does not lead to clinical disease. The liver stage is followed by a more prolonged erythrocytic stage in which Plasmodium merozoites invade red blood cells, giving rise to a continuous cycle of invasion, replication, and cell destruction fol‐ lowed by more invasion, leading to clinical manifestations which in some cases can be severe or even lethal. As mentioned, Plasmodium‐ specific antibodies confer protection from Plasmodium blood‐stage infection in both human and mice. 41 However, in humans, the pres‐ ence of Plasmodium‐specific antibodies alone seems not sufficient to prevent reinfection.
In areas of stable transmission, Plasmodium‐associated life‐ threatening disease is very much restricted to young children under 5 years of age and pregnant women. 41,42 Immunity to these severe clinical manifestations is acquired rapidly, generally after one or two infections, and appears to be maintained in the absence of boosting by reinfection. 43 In contrast, immunity to infection and non‐severe
disease takes several years to develop and requires continuous ex‐ posure to the parasite. These observations prompted the hypothesis that B‐cell responses to Plasmodium parasites might be dysfunc‐ tional or suboptimal, and that generation of long‐lasting humoral memory to the parasite might be defective. In support of this, a se‐ ries of field studies showed that titers of Plasmodium‐specific anti‐ bodies drop rapidly after acute infection. 44‐47 Moreover, persistent infection seems to be required to maintain high titers of Plasmodium‐ specific antibodies, as reduction of transmission due to insecticide spraying or antimalarial treatment leads to a general reduction of Plasmodium‐specific antibodies, albeit not to reach background levels from naive populations. These field studies have an intrinsic limitation in that the source of antibodies cannot be unequivocally determined. Circulating antibodies can be produced either by short‐ lived activated plasmablasts/plasma cells or from long‐lived plasma cells as part of a memory response. Thus, a decline in circulating an‐ tibodies does not necessarily represent a defect in long‐lived plasma cells. Measurements of the duration of antibody responses are fur‐ ther confounded by likely constant re‐exposure to the parasite in endemic areas. In order to control for these confounding factors, we resorted to study the different compartments of the B‐cell response
to Plasmodium using mouse models of infection. We have exploited Plasmodium chabaudi infections in mice, which present a series of advantages. In particular, similar to human Plasmodium infections, P. chabaudi erythrocytic infections in mice give rise to an acute phase of infection followed by a distinctive chronic persistent infec‐ tion with subpatent parasitemia which can last for up to 3 months, thus allowing to study the impact of low‐grade chronic infection on the B‐cell response (Figure 2B). Using this model, we showed that long‐lived plasma cells that secrete anti‐Plasmodium antibodies are generated and maintained in the later stages of malaria infections, and that these cells are maintained independently of the low‐grade chronic infection. 48 In the same study, using in vitro cultures and ELISpot, we showed that a distinctive P. chabaudi‐specific memory B‐cell pool survives for a very prolonged period following complete parasite elimination. 48 More recently, we confirmed this result using ex vivo flow cytometry in combination with natural mosquito trans‐ mission. 49 Thus, a single Plasmodium infection in mice leads to the generation of long‐lived plasma cells and memory B cells specific to a dominant Plasmodium blood‐stage antigen, which are maintained above naive background level for very prolonged periods of time (presumably for life in mice) independently of the presence of a chronic infection.
These results in mice not necessarily contradict with the results observed in studies of human malaria. As described in Figure 1B, the B‐cell response goes through a dramatic expansion phase shortly after infection, followed by a contraction phase once clearance of the pathogen has begun. Thus, the drop of Plasmodium‐specific antibodies after the acute infection observed in some field studies might not necessarily be evidence of poor B‐cell longevity, but rather part of a contraction phase characteristic of short‐lived effector re‐ sponses following reduction in parasite load or exposure to new an‐ tigenic variants (Figure 1B). In agreement with this, we have shown that Plasmodium‐specific antibody titers drop rapidly by several fold after P. chabaudi infection in mice, but are then sustained above background level for several months. 48,50 Moreover, Plasmodium‐ specific antibody levels after reinfection display kinetics consistent with secondary antibody responses. 48,50 Evidence of rapid boosting of antibody titers in response to Plasmodium re‐exposure has been largely documented in areas of seasonal malaria transmission, after outbreaks and in travelers. 47,51‐56 This is strongly indicative of sec‐ ondary B cell responses driven by memory B cells. Moreover, al‐ though clinical immunity wanes in the absence of exposure, it has been documented that individuals, who are no longer exposed, ex‐ perience significantly milder forms of the disease and lower levels of parasitemia when compared to fully naive individuals. 57‐59 Thus, immunological memory might indeed provide some level of protec‐ tion. One possible interpretation of these data is that memory B cells contribute to protection from life‐threatening symptoms, while clin‐ ical immunity to infection might be largely conferred by short‐lived recently activated antibody‐producing cells sustained by persistent infection and constant re‐exposure. In contrast, the mechanisms that control severe disease might be entirely independent of B‐cell responses and antibodies. Immunity to severe symptoms might be related to a change in the type of immune response, such as a re‐ duction in inflammatory responses or a switch away from a strong Th1 response, as we have shown in mouse models. 60 In contrast, elimination of infection (mild or asymptomatic malaria) might require antibody responses to all variant forms, something we might expect to take time to develop.
Constant re‐exposure in areas of high transmission is a major confounder in estimating the longevity of B‐cell responses. Thus, evaluating Plasmodium‐specific B‐cell responses in historically in‐ fected individuals, but who are no longer exposed to malaria might be the most insightful way to measure longevity. In a study of adult Swedish residents who had traveled to malaria endemic areas, Plasmodium‐specific memory B cells were detected in 80% of these individuals. These responses were maintained for prolonged peri‐ ods of time, lasting up to 16 years in the absence of re‐exposure to parasites in some cases. On the other hand, only 30% of travelers showed Plasmodium‐specific antibodies above naive levels; some displayed Plasmodium‐specific antibodies after at least a decade in the absence of re‐exposure. 61 In other studies, migrants from en‐ demic areas residing in Spain for long periods (>5 years) without continuous malaria exposure presented seropositivity of 32%‐98% for erythrocytic antigens, 55 while 88% of migrants residing in France showed Plasmodium‐specific antibodies, in some cases for up to 4 years in the absence of re‐exposure. 62 In studies of malaria out‐ breaks in Madagascar followed by drastic reductions in transmission, Migot et al showed that most exposed individuals maintained P. fal‐ ciparum and P. vivax‐specific antibody and memory B cell responses above naive levels for as long as 3‐8 years. 52,53 In a study of subjects briefly exposed to a Plasmodium vivax malaria outbreak in Brazil, out‐ side of the area in which malaria was endemic, Plasmodium‐specific antibody titers remained positive in 47% of cases after 7 years. 63 In a study of adults with previous exposure living in an area of ex‐ tremely low malaria transmission in Thailand, Wipasa and colleagues documented P. falciparum and P. vivax‐specific antibody titers and memory B cells which persisted for more than 7 years in the absence of re‐exposure. 64 Several other studies have documented stable Plasmodium‐specific memory B cell 56,65‐68 and antibody levels 69‐72 in non‐re‐exposed adults. Moreover, the magnitude and longevity of Plasmodium‐specific memory B‐cell responses was shown to be simi‐ lar to the responses to other classic vaccine antigens such as diphthe‐ ria and tetanus toxoid, 64,65,73,74 suggesting that the immune system can indeed mount memory B‐cell responses to Plasmodium antigens to the same extent as to other antigens. Most of these studies have been carried out with adults. However, it seems that previously ex‐ posed children who had documented P. falciparum infections several years ago, but minimal exposure since, maintain Plasmodium‐specific memory B cells at similar levels as compared to those of persistently exposed children living in a separate but nearby endemic area. 75
In contrast, several field studies, including ours, have shown that Plasmodium‐specific antibody responses can be substantially shorter‐lived than their cognate memory B‐cell responses, particu‐ larly in children. 46,47,61,75 Moreover, in some cases, Plasmodium‐spe‐ cific antibody responses were shown to be considerably shorter
than tetanus toxoid in the same individuals. 46,47,56 This would either suggest that while memory B cells can be long‐lived, there might be specific problems in the maintenance of their cognate plasma cells, or that antibodies specific to Plasmodium antigens are mostly gener‐ ated by short‐lived plasma cells not resident in survival niches such as the bone marrow. Similar results have been reported in HIV and HBV, where antigen‐specific memory B cells were found in circula‐ tion in the absence of their corresponding antibodies in contempora‐ neous plasma. 76 The molecular and cellular basis for this observation is unclear. However, there are two schools of thought on the mech‐ anisms for long‐term maintenance of plasma cells: (a) they could be intrinsically long‐lived or (b) are prone to decaying over time but replenished from the circulating memory B‐cell pool. In the latter case, it has been argued that this could be mediated by restimula‐ tion of memory B cells by either antigen retained in the system, or polyclonal stimulants including T cell cytokines and TLR ligands (by‐ stander activation). 46,77 In addition, environmental factors such as nutritional status and co‐infections can impact longevity of the hu‐ moral response. In this sense, pre‐established long‐lived plasma cells seem to be in constant competition for their survival niches with newly recruited plasma cells 77 and co‐infections with Plasmodium parasites and viruses seems to alter humoral responses to both viral 78 and Plasmodium 79 antigens.
Age seems to be another important factor affecting longevity of the humoral response, as adults seem to make better long‐lived antibody responses to Plasmodium antigens than children. 44,45,80 However, it is not clear yet if maturity of the immune system, rounds of re‐exposure, or a combination of both can explain this phenom‐ enon. Finally, low‐transmission regions seem to favor the devel‐ opment of long‐term humoral immunity to malaria. 64,65,72,81 Thus, Plasmodium‐specific memory B cells seem to have a longevity similar to that of memory B cells specific to other antigens. On the other hand, Plasmodium‐specific antibody responses may be shorter lived. However, this is not a universal finding, 62,64,65,74,82,83 and is proba‐ bly influenced by age of the host, nature of the antigen, intensity of transmission in specific regions, and natural host‐to‐host variations. Identifying the mechanisms that favor the generation of long‐lived plasma cells and consequently long‐lived antibody responses to Plasmodium parasites can critically contribute to the development of long‐lived protective malaria vaccines, and therefore should receive major attention.
1.2|Are atypical memory B cells "memory," "effector," anergic, protective or pathogenic?
An intriguing subset of B cells expressing the transcription factor T‐bet, termed AMB, has been shown to be expanded in blood of subjects exposed to Plasmodium infection. 23 B cells with similar phe‐ notypical characteristics have been observed in response to several other chronic infections including HCV, HIV, Mycobacterium tubercu‐ losis, Toxoplasma gondii, and Leishmania infantum. 28,84‐86 Moreover, their involvement in immune responses seems to go beyond infec‐ tions, as B‐cell subsets with very similar phenotypes have been
|
shown to be expanded with age, 30,87 and suggested to be a driving force in autoimmune disorders. 88 As these B cells have been identi‐ fied independently by different research groups working in differ‐ ent fields, they have received a variety of alternative denominations, including "exhausted memory B cells," "tissue‐like memory B cells," "age‐associated B cells," "double negative B cells," and "T‐bet + " or "CD11c + T‐bet + B cells." In this review, we will use the denomination they were originally given in the field of malaria: AMB. Whether T‐ bet + AMB contribute to protection from malaria infection, or rather represent a dysfunctional B‐cell subset that leads to parasite persis‐ tence and pathology, remains a focus of intense debate.
AMB were first described in the context of malaria by Weiss and colleagues over 10 years ago. 23 These cells showed a very sim‐ ilar phenotype to a FCRL4 + B‐cell subset that was described to be expanded in the blood of HIV‐infected individuals with high viral loads. 26 More recently, malaria‐associated AMB were shown to pref‐ erentially express FCRL5 and FCRL3 but not FCRL4 as previously thought. 24,89 Similar to HIV, high‐circulating antigen load (parasite‐ mia) seemed to favor the accumulation of this atypical B‐cell subset in malaria, thus suggesting chronic persistent infection may drive the expansion and accumulation of this B‐cell subset in peripheral blood. 23 In the context of HIV, AMB were termed "exhausted" tis‐ sue‐like memory B cells, due to their similarity to a memory B‐cell subset found in human tonsillar tissues. 90 In addition to FCRL5 and FCRL3, these cells express relatively high levels of other potentially inhibitory receptors including, CD22, CD85j, CD85k, LAIR‐1, CD72, and PD‐1, and show a trafficking receptor expression pattern con‐ sistent with a profile of migration to inflamed tissues, which includes CD11b, CD11c, and CXCR3. AMB are antigen‐experienced, class‐ switched B cells, which lack the expression of GC markers. Further studies demonstrated the expression of the transcription factor T‐ bet and the cytokine IFNγ by these cells, also characteristic of Th1 CD4 + T cells. 84,91,92 Although they received the "memory" denomi‐ nation, AMB do not express CD21 or the hallmark human memory B‐cell marker CD27, and have a substantially shorter life span than classical CD27 + memory B cells. 26
Comparison of B‐cell profiles from children living in a rural com‐ munity of P. falciparum transmission with those of age‐matched chil‐ dren living under similar conditions in a nearby community where P. falciparum transmission ceased over 5 years prior to the study shows that increases in AMB are driven by P. falciparum exposure, and not influenced by other factors commonly associated with malaria, such as coinfections and malnutrition. 25 Moreover, temporary expansion of AMB in blood has been documented in response to human con‐ trolled malaria infections. 93,94 The appearance of AMB is strongly as‐ sociated with high parasitemias or high exposure to the parasite, as individuals living in areas of high malaria transmission present higher frequencies of AMB than those in areas of moderate transmission. 89 Similarly, repetitive Plasmodium episodes result in higher frequen‐ cies of AMB, 92 and AMB frequencies are greater in children with persistent asymptomatic P. falciparum parasitemia compared with parasite‐free children. 23 Conversely, AMB frequencies decline as parasitemias are reduced or eliminated and when there is no further
exposure 61,74,95,96 supporting the view that the presence of a signif‐ icant level of parasitemia over a period of time is necessary for the induction and maintenance of AMB cells.
The important question is—can these AMB cells be induced by Plasmodium antigens during the infection, and differentiate into an‐ tibody‐producing cells and respond to malaria antigens the same way as classical memory B cells? No studies on human AMB have so far directly demonstrated that they differentiate into plasma cells, which secrete antibodies. Single‐cell antibody cloning from circulating AMB obtained from asymptomatic semi‐immune adults showed that AMB B‐cell receptors (BCR) codified for P. falciparum ‐ neutralizing antibodies, suggesting these cells could potentially con‐ tribute to the pool of P. falciparum‐ neutralizing antibodies detected in serum and play a protective role. 97 High levels of secretory IgG transcripts from cloned AMB that match amino acid sequences of antibodies found in circulation support the idea that these cells se‐ crete antibodies in vivo. 97 However, in vitro restimulation of sorted AMB suggests otherwise; there is reduced Ca 2+ mobilization, pro‐ liferation, cytokine production, and antibody secretion in response to BCR cross‐linking. 24,26 This has led to the hypothesis that AMB might represent an exhausted/dysfunctional/anergic B cell subset, which might not allow an effective antibody response to the parasite to develop and thus promoting chronic infection. However, in vitro assays to determine B‐cell capacity have relied on culture conditions developed for classical memory B cells. FCRL4 + CD27 ‐ CD21 ‐ AMB, contrary to classical memory B cells, proliferate poorly in response to either BCR ligation or Staphylococcus aureus stimulation, but can secrete high levels of immunoglobulins in response to IL‐2 and IL‐10 or to IL‐2, IL‐10, and CD40L. 90 Thus, activation requirements for AMB might be different from those required by classical memory B cells. In addition, the high expression of activation, proliferation, and apoptosis markers on AMB 24,49,97 might render these cells more sensitive to the manipulation required for cell sorting and in vitro restimulation.
The majority of the studies of AMB in human malaria have been performed on peripheral blood B cells, as the only accessible human lymphoid tissue. B cells and other immune cells normally initiate their response to antigen in lymphoid organs, whereas the blood contains mostly cells either circulating or traffick‐ ing to lymphoid organs, and it is not known how far peripheral blood represents B‐cell responses in lymphoid organs. In addi‐ tion, the frequency of B cells in blood specific to any given an‐ tigen is very low, which makes difficult the investigation of their functional and developmental capacity. Therefore, we used our mouse model of mosquito‐transmitted P. chabaudi malaria to in‐ vestigate Plasmodium‐specific memory B cells. Using a transgenic mouse strain with high frequencies of B cells specific to the 21‐ kDa C‐terminal fragment of P. chabaudi merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1 21 ), 49 Plasmodium‐specific AMB could be tracked. We ob‐ served the expansion in the spleen of a distinctive P. chabaudi‐ specific CD11b + CD11c + B‐cell subset expressing similar surface markers as human AMB during the persistent stage of erythro‐ cytic infection. In agreement with an AMB phenotype described.
in humans, these cells were class‐switched and expressed low lev‐ els of CD21 and high levels of mouse FCRL5, CD80, and CD273, the last two previously shown to be expressed on mouse memory B cells. Transcriptome analysis of these cells compared well with previously published data of human AMB transcripts. In agreement with data on human AMB, P. chabaudi‐specific CD11b + CD11c + B cells expressed high levels of Tbx21 (T‐bet), Fcrl5, Ifng, Pdcd1 (PD1), Mki67, and class‐switched immunoglobulins, including Igha, Ighg1, Ighg2b, Ighg2c, and Ighg3. Moreover, similar to human AMB, P. chabaudi‐specific mouse AMB require parasite exposure to persist, as their numbers drop to background levels upon reso‐ lution of the persistent infection. P. chabaudi‐specific AMB also displayed high levels of the proapoptotic genes Bad, Bax, Fas, and Fasl, low level of the anti‐apoptotic gene Bcl2, and a transcriptome consistent with active replication and activation. 49 In parallel, and in agreement with our previous data, 48 a P. chabaudi‐specific clas‐ sical memory B‐cell pool expressing different combinations of the mouse memory markers CD80, CD273, and CD73 together with high levels of Bcl2 developed and persisted long after resolution of the infection. Interestingly, mouse FCRL5 was highly expressed on all different subsets of P. chabaudi‐specific classical memory B cells, including IgM + . 49 FCRL5 was also highly expressed on classi‐ cal memory B cells generated through immunizations of mice. 49,98 Persistent infection therefore seems to drive expansion of P. cha‐ baudi‐specific mouse AMB, but their existence does not prevent the generation of P. chabaudi‐specific classical memory B cells nor prevent resolution of the infection. These observations support the view that constant immune activation rather than impaired memory function leads to the accumulation of AMB in malaria. Nonetheless, although showing very high levels of IgG transcripts, the contribution of P. chabaudi‐specific AMB to the serum anti‐ body pool and to protection from P. chabaudi infections remains to be demonstrated.
The occurrence of CD11b + CD11c + T‐bet + AMB‐like B cells has been extensively described in mouse models of chronic viral and bacterial infections, and in many cases are shown to be a fully functional B cell subset able to contribute to protection from infection. 99‐101 The peak of CD11c + T‐bet + B‐cell produc‐ tion in the spleen is detected early after Ehrlichia muris peak in‐ fection, and these cells persist thereafter in lower numbers but above background levels accompanying the persistent infection. These cells very much resemble the P. chabaudi‐specific AMB (ie, CD11b + CD11c + Tbet + CD273 + CD73 + CD80 + Fas‐L hi ), with the ex‐ emption of being IgM + . Moreover, similar to P. chabaudi‐specific AMB, the CD11c + T‐bet + B cells expanded in response to E. muris resembled plasmablasts, including expression of CD138. 49,101 In accordance, these cells give rise to antibody‐secreting cells that produced antibodies which recognized E. muris antigens. 102,103 Moreover, AMB‐like cells have also been shown to be the orig‐ inal source of protective virus‐specific antibodies in mice. A CD11b + CD11c + T‐bet + AMB subset appears at the peak of murine gamma herpesvirus 68 (gHV68), lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV), vaccinia, and
Friend virus infections. 100,104 These cells are required for produc‐ tion of virus‐specific IgG2a and are critical to clear gHV68 infec‐ tion. 100,104 A T‐bet + AMB subset is also critical for the production of protective IgG2a and to control chronic LCMV cl13 infection. 99 Thus, in the strong Th1‐biased context of intracellular bacterial and viral infections, AMB appear to be a source of protective antibodies.
A subset of CD11c + T‐bet + AMB‐like cells, originally termed age‐associated B cells, have also been shown to expand in sev‐ eral mouse models of autoimmune disorders as well as in blood of subjects suffering autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn's disease. 88,105‐109 In mouse models of lupus‐like disease, AMB‐like cells expressed CD138, characteristic of antibody se‐ creting plasma cells/plasmablasts, and directly contributed to the production of auto‐antibodies. 110 Moreover, in the context of autoimmune disorders, AMB‐like cells showed potent anti‐ gen‐presenting capacity and production of proinflammatory cy‐ tokines. 108,110,111 Similar to malaria, AMB‐like cells identified in autoimmunity showed signs of previous activation and prolifer‐ ation in vivo, and defective Ca 2+ signaling and poor proliferation in response to BCR stimulation in vitro. 112,113 Surprisingly, pro‐ tective AMB‐like cells generated during E. muris infection also produced polyreactive autoantibodies. 102,103 This is intriguing and surprising, as these autoantibodies seem not to drive pathol‐ ogy in the E. muris infection model. A recent study showed that an AMB‐like CD11c + T‐bet + B‐cell subset expanded in the spleen during acute blood stage Plasmodium yoelii 17XNL infection in mice and secreted autoantibodies specific to erythrocyte phos‐ phatidylserine, which appear to drive anemia. 114 This opens the intriguing possibility that AMB might contribute to malaria pa‐ thology through the production of autoantibodies.
Nonetheless, whether protective or pathogenic, the outstand‐ ing majority of data on AMB‐like cells obtained in viral and bacterial infections as well as autoimmune disorders is so far not compatible with the hypothesis that AMB are exhausted or anergic. It might be argued that these AMB‐like subsets generated in different immune scenarios, despite sharing an impressive number of key characteris‐ tics, are in fact intrinsically different from the AMB cells observed in malaria. Alternatively, although being the same subset, different immune scenarios might differentially affect their function, with ma‐ laria and HIV preferentially driving AMB to exhaustion unlike other Th‐1‐biased chronic infections such as LCMV. If the latter is the case, then those signals affecting AMB which are unique to malaria and not shared by other chronic infections or autoimmune disorders re‐ main to be identified.
Together, most of these studies in human and experimental malaria as well as other infections suggest that AMB represent an effector B‐cell subset generated in, and sustained by, persistent an‐ tigen exposure. However, there are reports of relatively long AMB persistence in the apparent absence of malaria exposure, 68 and long‐lived T‐bet + memory B cells have been described in the E. muris infection model. 115 Therefore, AMB in malaria and beyond represent
an exciting field of study with many unanswered questions. What is the true nature of AMB? Do they contribute to protection, pathol‐ ogy, or both? Are they dysfunctional/exhausted/anergic? Do they contribute to the memory pool?
1.3|What are the signals required to generate long‐lasting B‐cell responses toplasmodium?
Although there is evidence of T‐independent B1 B cells, which bridge innate and adaptive responses, producing memory responses (B1 cells defined in mice by expression of IgM hi IgD lo CD23 − B220 lo , and in humans by CD20 + CD27 + CD43 + CD38 lo/int ), it is the adaptive response of B2 B cells (in mice B220 + AA4.1 − CD23 + IgM int IgD hi , and humans CD20 + CD27 + CD43 − B cells), and GC interactions which are critical for long‐lasting B‐cell responses in the majority of memory responses. 31,116,117 Despite the importance of antibody responses in malaria, details on GC formation and activation/regulation of T cell help by follicular helper T‐cell in malaria are only starting to emerge. CD4 + T cells producing IL‐21, a characteristic cytokine of Tfh, and Tfh defined by expression of PD‐1 and CXCR5 are present in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from malaria‐exposed im‐ mune adults 118‐120 and in some cases, correlate with P falciparum‐ specific IgG antibodies in children with acute P. falciparum malaria. 121 Alterations in the GC B‐cell response to Plasmodium infection will very likely affect generation of long‐lasting B cell memory, but this is difficult to investigate fully using human peripheral blood cells, and we need to turn to experimental models to elucidate GC interac‐ tions in malaria. Plasmodium infections in mice trigger a robust GC response, and CD4 + T cells producing IL‐21, of which a substantial proportion have a Tfh cell phenotype, are required to generate GC B‐cell and IgG responses, and to resolve P. chabaudi and P. yoelii in‐ fections. 10,50,122‐124 Moreover, mice deficient in IL‐21 signaling are not immune to reinfection, and fail to generate P. chabaudi‐specific long‐lived plasma cells and memory B cells. 10 P. chabaudi‐specific IgM responses are not altered in the absence of IL‐21 signaling, thus showing that IgM is not sufficient to clear the infection, 10 and that IL‐21 is essential to generate long‐lasting class‐switched protective B cell responses. Although IL‐21 is not required to activate Tfh cells in P. chabaudi infections, Tfh cells are an important source of IL‐21 and are also essential to generate class‐switched antibody responses and clear the infection. 10,122
The pattern recognition receptor cyclic GMP‐AMP synthase (cGAS), ICOS, and IL‐10 signaling on B cells are all required for GC B‐cell and IgG responses, 125 and this is the case also in experimen‐ tal P. yoelii infections. 123,126,127 Thus, these signals are probably also essential for generation of Plasmodium‐specific memory B cells. The signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM)‐associated protein (SAP), shown to be necessary for GC and B‐cell memory responses to immunizations and viral infections, 128,129 has only a partial impact on IgG and GC responses in P. chabaudi infections, but SAP does contribute to some control of chronic infection. 122 A requirement for SAP interactions in immunity to reinfection in Plasmodium remains unexplored.
Although GC formation clearly takes place in experimental ma‐ laria, there is some indication that this may not be optimal as GC responses are enhanced by in vivo blockade of CTLA‐4, or PD‐L1 in combination with LAG‐3. 130,131 However, another interpretation is that GC formation during Plasmodium infection is normal, and that the blockade is simply overriding the normal mechanism of control of GC and B‐cell responses. Malaria is characterized by a strong Th1–like response, which affect B cell responses. The signature Th1 cytokine, IFN‐γ, is responsible for switching to IgG2a/c antibodies in mice, and for the human analogues IgG1 and IgG3, 132‐134 isotypes which activate complement and Fcγ receptors on macrophages bringing about pathogen killing and phagocytosis. These isotypes have been shown to clear viral infections, 135,136 and to correlate with protection against Plasmodium infections. 137,138
There are, however, seemingly opposing views on whether Th1 responses promote or impair B cells and GCs in experimen‐ tal Plasmodium infections. On ‐one hand, Plasmodium‐specific Th1 CD4 T cells can support B‐cell responses. 137‐139 On the other hand, IFN‐γ and TNF‐α responses reduce activation of Tfh and GC B‐cell responses in Plasmodium berghei infections and P. yoelii infections in mice. 124,126,140,141 Similarly, a Th1‐polarized Tfh subset found expanded in blood from infected children shows reduced capacity to support B cell activation in vitro. 119 These data suggest that while Th1 signaling is important for switching to potentially protective antibody isotypes, in excess it might also negatively limit normal development of the GC response. As yet, the direct impact of these signals on the longevity of memory B‐cell responses has not been demonstrated. However, and similar to viral and intracellular bacterial infections, acute P. chabaudi blood‐stage infection triggers a robust Th1 response, 10 and yet we de‐ tect substantial GC formation and a long‐lived B cell and antibody re‐ sponses, suggesting that IFN‐γ production by Th1 cells is not sufficient per se to prevent robust humoral responses.
Another contribution of Th1 responses and IFN‐γ to the B‐cell response is their role in the generation of AMB cells. Indeed, T‐bet expression in B cells in malaria is regulated by IFN‐γ, 92 triggered by a combination of CD40, IL‐12, and IL‐18 signaling. AMB cells are not activated by cross‐linking the BCR unlike classical memory B cells, which may explain why they are difficult to activate in vitro, but age‐associated CD11c + T‐bet + B cells can be activated by TLR 7 and 9 signaling, 87,110 and antigen‐specific AMB‐like B cells in mice are transiently expanded after immunization with a TLR7/8 ligand together with Hen Egg Lysosome 100 or a recombinant Plasmodium antigen. 49 IFN‐γ or IL‐21 together with TLR signaling drives the generation of CD11c + T‐bet + AMB‐like cells, 142 which is particularly relevant in Plasmodium infections where there is a large co‐expres‐ sion of IFN‐γ and IL‐21 by CD4 + T cells. 10 Similarly, IL‐21 is required to activate AMB‐like cells in response to E. muris infection, 143 and IL‐21 and SAP are required to activate AMB‐like cells during au‐ toimmunity. 144 These data support the view that the signals to activate AMB in a variety of situations including malaria where there is or has been chronic antigen presence, are partially but not entirely shared with those required for the generation of classical memory B cells.
.
We are left with apparently contradictory findings. The same signals that seem to impair GC responses during malaria promote generation of AMB‐like cells. Are AMB cells a GC subset or are they generated outside of the GC, and is T cell support required for their generation? Most AMB cells have surface IgG, and Immunoglobulin variable regions from AMB generated during malaria are heavily mutated, suggesting a GC origin. 24,97,145 Signals able to drive AMB‐ like cell activation, including IL‐21 and SAP, seem to also suggest a GC origin, and MHCII has been shown to be required to activate AMB like cells to E. muris. 143,144 T‐bet + AMB‐like cells have been suggested to be involved in the formation of spontaneous GC in a mouse model of lupus. 146 Moreover, extrafollicular development of T‐bet‐expressing plasmablasts has been reported in response to E. muris infection, 102,143 suggesting that AMB‐like cells might also arise independently of the GC. To date, the origin of AMB during malaria remains uncertain. If, as some studies suggest, AMB and classical memory B cells share a common developmental origin, 24,145 then a key element might be the balance between IL‐21 and IFN‐γ, with ex‐ cessive IFN‐γ favoring GC disruption and AMB accumulation, while IL‐21 supporting both AMB and classical memory B cell generation. However, it is important to highlight that the robust IFN‐γ responses during P. chabaudi and other intracellular viral and bacterial patho‐ gens do not preclude protective long‐lasting B‐cell and antibody re‐ sponses, nor disrupt the GC response. In addition, the role of IL‐21 and GC in the generation of AMB in response to Plasmodium infec‐ tion remains unexplored. Figure 3 summarizes the main signals, ei‐ ther known or predicted, to be involved in the generation of classical and AMB.
FI G U R E 3 Signals known or suggested to support the generation of either classical or atypical memory B cells in response to Plasmodium spp. infection. SAP: signaling lymphocyte activation molecule (SLAM)‐associated protein; ICOS: inducible T cell co‐ stimulator; cGAS: pattern recognition receptor cyclic GMP‐AMP synthase; TLR: toll‐like receptor
2|CONCLUDING REMARKS
Many studies show that B‐cell and antibody responses to ma‐ laria are short‐lived and often low level or absent, particularly in young children in endemic areas. Given the very varied methods of B cell or antibody measurement in a large variety of studies, the different transmission intensities of the study sites, and in some cases single time‐point measurements at unknown times after a detectable parasitemia, it is hard to put together a cohe‐ sive picture of what is happening. Low levels of antibodies and/ or drops in antibody titer may be due in part to their production by short‐lived plasma cells in acute infection (Figure 1B), and we do not know when in the kinetics of the humoral response anti‐ body measurements have been taken. Thus, the drop in antibody titer may well represent the contraction phase of a normal B‐cell response rather than evidence of a deficient B cell memory re‐ sponse to Plasmodium. However, some studies clearly show poor Plasmodium‐specific antibody responses in endemic areas and we need to understand the reasons for this. It is difficult to carry out a systematic study over time in children or adults in all field set‐ tings following a defined infection. Controlled human Plasmodium infections (CHMI) of adults in endemic countries, only recently made possible, may help us elucidate this important aspect of the humoral response in malaria.
There is, conversely, a large body of literature showing long‐lived B‐cell and antibody responses to Plasmodium para‐ sites in humans and animal models, which challenge the con‐ cept of Plasmodium infection always driving the B‐cell response to exhaustion of dysfunction. Studies being performed in areas of different transmission intensity with consequently different reinfection rates might explain some of the apparent discrep‐ ancies. AMB, suggested as a reason for dysfunctional B‐cell re‐ sponses to malaria, may not be the culprit. Whether they could be a source of protective antibodies and thus play a role in im‐ munity to Plasmodium as has been shown in other infections in experimental models, remains to be conclusively demonstrated. The restimulation protocols used to demonstrate AMB anergy during malaria have not been exhaustive and might not be ade‐ quate to stimulate this subset of B cells. Moreover, even if AMB detected in the blood of malaria exposed individuals were indeed anergic, this would not rule out the possibility these might be ter‐ minally differentiated B‐cell subsets which have contributed to an antibody response in lymphoid organs during their past history. Thus, the true nature of AMB in malaria still remains elusive and intriguing, and animal models will very likely shed light on their origins, developmental history, and function during infection. Understanding the mechanisms that govern differential longev‐ ity of protective B‐cell responses among different individuals or to different Plasmodium antigens will greatly expand our capacity to improve antibody‐based malaria vaccines. In this regard, it is important to keep in mind that a single B cell target might not be sufficient to confer protection from complex protozoan parasites, including Plasmodium. Putative strategies might combine vaccines
9
against different targets which provide protection by different mechanisms and target different stages of the parasite life cycle, while taking into account the occurrence of polymorphisms on the selected targets. Moreover, B‐cell responses might not be suffi‐ cient, and modulation of other immune arms might be required to confer full protection from Plasmodium infection while preventing pathology.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank Dr Matthew Lewis for his critical reading of the manuscript. JL and DPM are supported by the Francis Crick Institute (FC 10101), which receives its funding from the UK Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, and the Wellcome Trust, UK. JL is a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator (WT104777/Z/14/Z). DPM has an Independent Research Fellowship in Immunology from Hull York Medical School, UK. FMN is a Senior Fellow with EDCTP, and is funded from an MRC/ DFID African Research Leadership Award, and the Wellcome Trust (107499/Z/15/Z). RA receives a DELTAS Africa Initiative [DEL‐15‐003] fellowship. The DELTAS Africa Initiative is an in‐ dependent funding scheme of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS)'s Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA), and supported by the New Partnership for Africa's Development Planning, and Coordinating Agency (NEPAD Agency) with funding from the Wellcome Trust [107769/Z/10/Z], and the UK government. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of AAS, NEPAD Agency, Wellcome Trust or the UK government. All authors de‐ clare that they have no conflicts of interest.
ORCID
Damián Pérez‐Mazliah https://orcid.org/0000‐0002‐2156‐2585 Jean Langhorne https://orcid.org/0000‐0002‐2257‐9733
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How to cite this article: Pérez‐Mazliah D, Ndungu FM, Aye R, Langhorne J. B‐cell memory in malaria: Myths and realities. Immunol Rev. 2019;00:1–13. https ://doi.org/10.1111/ imr.12822 | 0.6 | high | 6 | 22,150 | [
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e75fdf50-b8e1-463b-ac23-77f00c076de4 | So, you executable file | technology | data_analysis | So, you have an executable file recently downloaded or moved from another computer or drive. When you run the .exe file, you get an error message that reads “setup .exe is not a valid Win32 application”. No matter what you do to the file, it will return the error as soon as you run it.
This post will show you what the “.exe is not a valid Win32 application” error means and what you can do to fix your executable file so that you can run it again.
.Exe is not a valid Win32 application – Why is it happening?
Most of the time when this error message shows up, it indicates that the .EXE file you were trying to run is either corrupted or not complete.
Download or copy the .exe file again
Even though you’re sure that the executable file was successfully downloaded, it’s still possible that while downloading the file, it becomes corrupted. If the executable file was recently downloaded, try to delete the executable file and its entire program which you’ve downloaded. Clear your browser cache. Then, re-download the program and run it again.
There is also a slight chance that a file could get corrupted while being downloaded by a download manager. Try to download the executable file using solely your browser. Make sure the download is 100 percent completed before running its executable file.
The copy and paste process could also corrupt an executable file when it gets interrupted during the process. If the .exe was pasted or moved from another computer or an external drive, try to copy from its source again. This time, make sure nothing interrupts the file copying process and that your HDD is working as it should. Run the executable file again and verify if the .exe is not a valid Win32 application error is fixed.
The .exe file is not compatible with your Windows version
The .exe is not a valid Win32 application error may also indicates that the program is not compatible with the Windows version you’re running.
For example, if the program is designed for Windows 10 64-bit and you’re trying to run it on a 32-bit version of Windows 10, it will generate the error.
If the program is designed for older Windows version, for example, a program designed for Windows XP and you’re running it on Windows 10, it will also generate the error.
The file is not associated with the correct program
Each type of file extension is associated with a default program to be used when opening the same type of file extension. For example, if you’ve set .jpg to run on Windows Photo Viewer, all .jpg will be opened with Windows Photo Viewer. Be it .exe, .doc, .png, .txt, .zip, .pdf or others, they should be associated with the right program.
If a file extension is associated with an incorrect program, when you open the file, it may generate the .exe is not a valid Win32 application error. Check if you are opening the file with the right program by right-clicking the file and select Open With. Then, select the correct program to run it.
The executable file is a malware or virus
If an .exe file isn’t what it originally is, but a malware or virus in disguise, the .exe is not a valid Win32 application error may show up upon opening the file.
Check if you download the program from the correct source and that the source is safe. Try to scan the executable file with an antivirus software to verify if it’s a malware or virus. | 0.55 | low | 3 | 757 | [
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0dfcc61b-6b6c-4eb5-9412-ff843e3708ae | Resonance Silent City **Concept | science | historical_context | ## The Resonance of the Silent City **Concept Focus:** The Biophysics of Action Potentials and Membrane Potential (Focusing on the historical context of Hodgkin and Huxley's work). **Setting:** The year is 2077. The story takes place in Neo-Alexandria, a sprawling, bioluminescent research metropolis built on the ruins of ancient knowledge centers. **Characters:** * **Dr. Elara Vance:** A brilliant, aging neurophysicist, skeptical of purely computational models of the brain. * **Kael:** Elara’s young, enthusiastic protégé, specializing in nanotechnology and simulation. * **The Subject (Unit 7):** A sophisticated synthetic neuron culture, designed to mimic the complex firing patterns of human cortical cells. --- ### Part I: The Static and the Ghost The air in the Sub-Aqueous Laboratory hummed with the low thrum of filtration systems. Outside the reinforced viewport, the deep-sea currents churned, a chaotic ballet of dark water and glowing plankton. Inside, Dr. Elara Vance stared at a monitor displaying the erratic, beautiful chaos of Unit 7. “It’s beautiful, Elara,” Kael murmured, tapping a holographic schematic of the synthetic cell membrane. “The simulation predicts perfect, smooth integration. But look at the reality—the noise, the spontaneous fluctuations.” Elara, whose hands still preferred the tactile feel of old glass pipettes over modern sensors, sighed. “The simulation is built on the *ideal*, Kael. But the brain, the nervous system, it’s not an ideal circuit board. It’s a swamp, a dynamic, charged swamp.” Kael frowned. “We’ve mapped the ion channels, the voltage-gated gates. We know the *what*. Why is the *how* still so messy?” Elara walked over to a dusty, leather-bound volume resting on her desk—a relic from the mid-20th century. “Because, my dear Kael, for decades, we didn't even know the language the swamp was speaking. We had crude theories. Early pioneers, like Galvani, thought electricity was some mystical ‘animal spirit’ flowing through nerves.” She tapped the cover. “Then came the giants. They realized it wasn't just flow; it was a *potential*. A difference in charge across a barrier. Think of it like a dam holding back water, waiting for a precise moment to breach.” “The resting potential,” Kael supplied immediately. “The slight negative charge inside the axon, maintained by the sodium-potassium pump.” “Precisely. But the real revolution,” Elara continued, her voice gaining historical weight, “came when Hodgkin and Huxley dared to ask: *How fast* does the dam break? And *how* is the signal propagated without losing strength over distance?” Elara pointed back to the chaotic trace on the screen. “They didn't just measure the final result; they meticulously dissected the *mechanism* of the spike. They realized the membrane wasn't just a passive barrier; it was an active participant, studded with molecular gates that opened and closed based on voltage changes.” ### Part II: The Gates of Perception The conflict intensified when Unit 7 failed to respond to a critical low-frequency stimulus. It simply remained quiescent, flatlining on the monitor. “It’s unresponsive to the weak signal,” Kael reported, frustration tightening his jaw. “The threshold isn't being met. We need to artificially boost the input.” “No,” Elara countered sharply. “If we force it, we learn nothing about its natural threshold. This is where the beauty of the **Action Potential** lies. It’s an all-or-nothing event, Kael. It’s not a dimmer switch; it’s a cannon.” Elara pulled up a historical diagram—a schematic representing the Hodgkin-Huxley model, a set of differential equations that mathematically described the flow of sodium ($Na^+$) and potassium ($K^+$) ions across the membrane. “Imagine the membrane potential at rest—say, $-70$ millivolts,” Elara narrated, painting the picture with her hands. “A small stimulus arrives, perhaps a neurotransmitter nudges the potential to $-60$ mV. This slight depolarization is the key. It’s the trigger.” Kael leaned in, visualizing the historical breakthrough. “The voltage-gated sodium channels snap open.” “Yes! And this is the positive feedback loop that creates the spike,” Elara exclaimed, her eyes bright. “As $\text{Na}^+$ rushes *in*, the inside of the cell becomes momentarily positive—up to $+30$ mV. This massive influx is the **depolarization phase** of the action potential. It’s a cascade; the rising voltage opens *more* sodium gates down the line, propagating the signal like a wave crashing down the axon.” “But that’s the explosive part,” Kael mused, tracing the curve on the monitor. “If it just kept going, the cell would overload. What stops the explosion?” “The genius of the system lies in its built-in braking mechanism,” Elara explained. “Those same voltage changes that open the sodium gates also trigger the slower-acting **potassium channels** to open. As the cell peaks, the $\text{Na}^+$ channels inactivate, and the $\text{K}^+$ channels finally swing wide. Potassium, being positively charged, rushes *out*, restoring the negative charge inside. That’s the **repolarization phase**.” She pointed to the dip below the resting potential—the slight undershoot. “And that brief period of hyperpolarization? That’s the **refractory period**. The gates are momentarily locked, ensuring the signal only travels forward and preventing immediate re-firing. It’s elegant self-regulation.” ### Part III: Resonance Restored Kael looked from the historical equations to the living culture of Unit 7. He realized their simulations had focused too much on the *input* and not enough on the *intrinsic biophysics* of the membrane itself. “The problem isn’t the signal strength, Elara,” Kael realized aloud. “It’s the *timing* of the gates in this specific culture. They are slightly sluggish in their recovery phase, perhaps due to ambient pressure fluctuations in the tank.” He adjusted a parameter in the environmental control system, subtly increasing the hydrostatic pressure by a fraction of an atmosphere—mimicking the slightly higher pressure found deeper in natural neural tissue, which they had previously dismissed as negligible noise. On the monitor, the flat line flickered. A small, hesitant spike appeared. Then another, perfectly timed. The chaotic static resolved into a rhythmic, healthy firing pattern. “The membrane potential is restored,” Kael whispered, awestruck. “The gates are responding correctly to the stimulus threshold because the physical environment is allowing the ion gradients to establish themselves with the necessary speed.” Elara smiled, a deep satisfaction washing over her face. “That, Kael, is the legacy of those early neurophysicists. They didn't just describe electricity; they described the *language* of life—the precise, voltage-dependent dance of ions across a lipid barrier. They showed us that thought itself is a physical event, governed by the opening and closing of microscopic gates.” She patted the old book. “We build faster computers, Kael, but the fundamental architecture—the action potential, the propagation of that electrochemical wave—has remained the cornerstone of biological computation for centuries. It is the resonance that allows a silent city of neurons to think.” The rhythmic firing of Unit 7 pulsed across the screen, a steady, powerful heartbeat in the deep, quiet laboratory, proving that the physical laws governing a single axon were the same laws that governed perception, memory, and consciousness itself. | 0.75 | high | 6 | 1,660 | [
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ec508d0c-62da-4045-bb73-27dc7eaa02e6 | Physical activity been linked | life_skills | research_summary | Physical activity has been linked with longer life for all consumers. Now, a new study conducted by researchers from the American Academy of Neurology suggests that there are specific benefits that stroke survivors can enjoy from staying active.
According to the findings, having a regular exercise routine can significantly lower the risk of death for consumers who have survived strokes.
“A better understanding of the role of physical activity in the health of people who survive stroke is needed to design better exercise therapies and public health campaigns so we can help these individuals live longer,” said researcher Dr. Raed A. Joundi.
“Our results are exciting, because just three to four hours of walking a week was associated with big reductions in mortality, and that may be attainable for many community members with prior stroke. In addition, we found people achieved even greater benefit with walking six to seven hours per week. These results might have implications for guidelines to stroke survivors in the future.”
Staying active, living longer
For the study, the researchers compared data from nearly 100,000 older adults with no history of stroke with nearly 900 older adults who had survived a stroke. All participants answered questions about their physical activity, and the team followed up with them regularly over the course of more than five years.
The researchers learned that regular exercise was associated with a lower risk of death for stroke survivors. When participants exercised more, they tended to live longer. The study showed that stroke survivors under the age of 75 who consistently exercised had an 80% lower risk of death than those who didn’t exercise. Comparatively, stroke survivors over the age of 75 who exercised regularly reduced their risk of death by 32% when compared to their less active peers.
The team found that the minimum amount of exercise needed for these results was three to four hours of walking per week or two to three hours of biking per week. Sticking to this regimen was associated with the lowest risk of death for stroke survivors. Looking to the future, the researchers hope these findings encourage stroke survivors to stay as active as possible. Doing so can lead to longer life and better overall health outcomes.
“Our results suggest that getting a minimum amount of physical activity may reduce long-term mortality from any cause in stroke survivors,” said Dr. Joundi. “We should particularly emphasize this to stroke survivors who are younger in age, as they may gain the greatest health benefits from walking just thirty minutes each day.” | 0.65 | medium | 6 | 505 | [
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fefde4c7-62a8-4170-9400-2b6b270d53b4 | Soon, making improving medical | science | practical_application | Soon, making and improving medical drugs could be as easy for chemists as stacking blocks is for a child.
University of Illinois chemist Martin Burke, a pioneer of a technique that constructs complex molecules from simple chemical “building blocks,” led a group that found that thousands of compounds in a class of molecules called polyenes – many of which have great potential as drugs – can be built simply and economically from a scant one dozen different building blocks.
Photo by L. Brian Stauffer
University of Illinois chemistry professor Martin Burke led a team that discovered a simple system to synthesize a large class of medically important molecules using only 12 different chemical “building blocks.”
The researchers published their findings in the journal Nature Chemistry.
“We want to understand how these molecules work, and synthesis is a very powerful engine to drive experiments that enable understanding,” said Burke, a chemistry professor at the U. of I. and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. “We think this is a really powerful road map for getting there.
Once you have the pieces in a bottle, you can make naturally occurring molecules, or you can change the pieces slightly to make them better. Usually, that’s such a herculean task that it slows down research. But if that part becomes on-demand, you can make anything you want, and it can powerfully accelerate the drug discovery process.”
In the same way that plastic building blocks of different sizes and shapes can snap together because they share a simple connector, the chemical building blocks are linked together with one simple reaction. This gives scientists freedom to build molecules that may be difficult or expensive to extract from their natural source or to make in a lab.
One advantage of the building-block approach is that it allows the researchers to mix and match parts to build many different molecules, and to omit or substitute parts to make a potentially therapeutic substance better for human health. For example, Burke’s group recently synthesized a derivative of the anti-fungal medication amphotericin (pronounced AM-foe-TAIR-uh-sin), which led to a big breakthrough in understanding how this clinically vital but highly toxic medicine works and the discovery of another derivative that is nontoxic to human cells while still effective at killing fungus.
After their success in synthesizing derivatives of amphotericin, which fall into the polyene category, the researchers wondered, how many different building blocks would it take to make all the polyenes? (Polyene is pronounced polly-een.)
Looking at the structures of all the known naturally occurring polyenes – thousands in all – Burke and graduate students Eric Woerly and Jahnabi Roy focused on the smaller pieces that made up the molecules and found that many elements were common across numerous compounds.
After careful analysis, they calculated that more than three-quarters of all natural polyene frameworks could be made with only 12 different blocks.
“That is the key most surprising result,” Burke said. “We’ve had this gut instinct that there will be a set number of building blocks from which most natural products can be made. We’re convinced, based on this result, that we can put together a platform that would enable on-demand assembly of complex small molecules. Then researchers can focus on exploring the function of these molecules, rather than spending all their time and energy trying to make them.”
Watch a video of Burke explaining the building block approach.
To demonstrate this surprising finding, the researchers synthesized several compounds representing a wide variety of polyene molecules using only the dozen designated building blocks. Many of these building blocks are available commercially thanks to a partnership between Burke’s group and Sigma-Aldrich, a chemical company.
Burke hopes that identifying the required building blocks and making them widely available will speed understanding of polyene natural products and their potential as pharmaceuticals, particularly compounds that until now have been left unexplored because they were too costly or time-consuming to make.
Burke’s group hopes eventually to identify and manufacture a set of building blocks from which any researcher – trained chemist or not – can build any small molecule.
“Now that we have this quantifiable result, that with only 12 building blocks we can make more than 75 percent of polyenes, we are committed to figuring out a global collection of building blocks – how to make them, how to put them together – to create a generalized approach for small-molecule synthesis.”
The National Institutes of Health supported the work.
Liz Ahlberg | University of Illinois
NYSCF researchers develop novel bioengineering technique for personalized bone grafts
18.07.2018 | New York Stem Cell Foundation
Pollen taxi for bacteria
18.07.2018 | Technische Universität München
For the first time ever, scientists have determined the cosmic origin of highest-energy neutrinos. A research group led by IceCube scientist Elisa Resconi, spokesperson of the Collaborative Research Center SFB1258 at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), provides an important piece of evidence that the particles detected by the IceCube neutrino telescope at the South Pole originate from a galaxy four billion light-years away from Earth.
To rule out other origins with certainty, the team led by neutrino physicist Elisa Resconi from the Technical University of Munich and multi-wavelength...
For the first time a team of researchers have discovered two different phases of magnetic skyrmions in a single material. Physicists of the Technical Universities of Munich and Dresden and the University of Cologne can now better study and understand the properties of these magnetic structures, which are important for both basic research and applications.
Whirlpools are an everyday experience in a bath tub: When the water is drained a circular vortex is formed. Typically, such whirls are rather stable. Similar...
Physicists working with Roland Wester at the University of Innsbruck have investigated if and how chemical reactions can be influenced by targeted vibrational excitation of the reactants. They were able to demonstrate that excitation with a laser beam does not affect the efficiency of a chemical exchange reaction and that the excited molecular group acts only as a spectator in the reaction.
A frequently used reaction in organic chemistry is nucleophilic substitution. It plays, for example, an important role in in the synthesis of new chemical...
Optical spectroscopy allows investigating the energy structure and dynamic properties of complex quantum systems. Researchers from the University of Würzburg present two new approaches of coherent two-dimensional spectroscopy.
"Put an excitation into the system and observe how it evolves." According to physicist Professor Tobias Brixner, this is the credo of optical spectroscopy....
Ultra-short, high-intensity X-ray flashes open the door to the foundations of chemical reactions. Free-electron lasers generate these kinds of pulses, but there is a catch: the pulses vary in duration and energy. An international research team has now presented a solution: Using a ring of 16 detectors and a circularly polarized laser beam, they can determine both factors with attosecond accuracy.
Free-electron lasers (FELs) generate extremely short and intense X-ray flashes. Researchers can use these flashes to resolve structures with diameters on the...
13.07.2018 | Event News
12.07.2018 | Event News
03.07.2018 | Event News
18.07.2018 | Materials Sciences
18.07.2018 | Life Sciences
18.07.2018 | Health and Medicine | 0.65 | medium | 6 | 1,570 | [
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71ebaca0-6542-4b42-b795-61d857a38f3b | Check your wall and desk calendars | social_studies | historical_context | Check your wall and desk calendars! See how many show International Women's Day for this Friday. Although endorsed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1977 as a day to advocate for women's rights and for peace, International Women's Day actually began to be celebrated slightly over a century ago, by Socialist Parties in central Europe and Russia. By 1914 it was typically set on March 8. In 1917, on the Julian calendar equivalent of March 8 (i.e. in February) the housewives and working women in wartime Petrograd went into the streets to demand bread and peace. This spontaneous movement escalated into open rebellion when government troops and police refused to use force. Within a few weeks, the Tsar and his Romanov dynasty had abdicated and Russia lurched uncomfortably in the direction of western-style free government, before that prospect was crushed by Lenin and the Bolsheviks dooming Russia to another 70 years of dictatorship. | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 201 | [
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a735ce3a-8248-49c0-916f-fade73acf812 | Apple turns Japan beef | technology | research_summary | Apple turns to Japan to beef up its AI chops and lift Siri’s learning curve
Ed Oswald
Apple turns to Japan to beef up its AI chops and lift Siri’s learning curve
Apple is once again looking to Asia to turbocharge its research and development process, this time to improve its artificial intelligence efforts. But will it be enough to make Siri less "dumb?"
Apple is once again looking to Asia to turbocharge its research and development process, this time to improve its artificial intelligence efforts. In an interview with Nikkei Asian Review, CEO Tim Cook said the future of the iPhone is AI, which will be supported by its new research and development center that will open by the end of the year in Yokohama, Japan.
Cook seemed to suggest that AI in the iPhone would move beyond Siri and would actually help increase your battery life through resource management. It would also recommend music more skillfully, and perform other background tasks. As is typical with Apple, Cook stayed tight-lipped on specifics but said the Yokohama team will deal with “deep engineering” and be quite different from its planned R&D effort in China.
Apple’s new offices in Beijing’s Zhongguancun Science Park are expected to focus on hardware, and a second office in Shenzen is also planned. That second office is also likely to work on hardware, given that Shenzen is the home city of the largest manufacturing facility of Foxconn’s, a major Chinese partner to Apple.
Related: Soon you’ll be able to pay for your subway fare in Japan with your iPhone
Locating AI work in Japan seems like a wise move. The country has a long history in robotics, and Japan’s government has begun to invest in AI. However, at the same time, Apple is also looking beef up its own AI chops, an area where it has lagged behind Microsoft and Google.
Siri is sometimes criticized for its simplicity and lack of capabilities. The AI often struggles to answer basic questions, with Walt Mossberg going as far as to call Siri “dumb” in a recent opinion piece for The Verge.
“In its current incarnation, Siri is too limited and unreliable to be an effective weapon for Apple in the coming AI wars. It seems stagnant,” Mossberg wrote. “Apple didn’t become great by just following the data on what customers are doing today. It became great by delighting customers with feats they didn’t expect.”
Digital Trends also recently tested out all three major AI offerings — Siri, Cortana, and Google Now — and came up with a similar conclusion. Cortana scored the best out of all three, and Siri struggled, likely because up until recently it was a closed platform. It’s too soon to judge whether third-party integration will make a difference, but Siri still seems like it hasn’t become appreciably better in quite some time.
Even on the desktop, Siri in MacOS Sierra seems to have trouble dealing with more complex queries or tasks, like attempting to find photos. That was a new feature Apple made a big deal about during WWDC, but we’ve often found it to work less reliably than advertised — however it seems to be improving.
Perhaps this new R&D center will help change that, but Apple does have quite a bit of catching up to do. | 0.65 | medium | 4 | 713 | [
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3d7a0ea6-21ff-4961-8d87-5ea75e9b0f8b | UNIVERSITY PARK (CBSDFW | science | historical_context | UNIVERSITY PARK (CBSDFW.COM) – Seventy years since his escape from a Nazi death camp, Holocaust survivor Philip Bialowtiz, 83, shared his story with Southern Methodist University students Thursday night. Bialowitz is one of eight living survivors of the infamous Nazi death camp, Sobibór, where an estimated 250,000 people perished between 1942 and 1943 during WWII. By ’43, both of Bialowtiz’s parents were murdered by the Nazis and at the age of 14, he was taken to Sobibór.
SMU students listened as Bialowtiz described how he helped a small group of Jewish prisoners overpower their guards on Oct. 14, 1943. His brave actions allowed 200 of Sobibór’s 600 slave laborers to escape the camp. However, only 50 of those escapees survived the war. “Philip Bialowitz is one of the few people alive today who can speak with firsthand knowledge of the Nazi extermination process in eastern Poland,” said SMU Embrey Human Rights Program Director Rick Halperin.
Before the legendary revolt, Bialowitz was tasked with removing countless lifeless bodies of dead passengers who didn’t survive the Nazis’ unimaginably inhumane transport conditions. “I helped them out of the trains with all their baggage. My heart was bleeding knowing that in half an hour they would be reduced to ashes,” he told the BBC.
For the past 25 years, Bialowitz has lectured about the atrocities he witnessed. “This generation of Holocaust survivors will pass away in the years ahead, so this generation of SMU students will be the last group of young people who can ever speak with, and hug, such special people,” said Halperin.
For those who made it into Sobibór alive, Bialowitz explained that many were unaware their lives would end in a gas chamber immediately.
Bialowitz wrote a book three years ago called “A Promise at Sobibór: A Jewish Boy’s Story of Revolt and Survival in Nazi-Occupied Poland.” He has also testified at several war crimes trials. His lecture was sponsored by SMU’s Embrey Human Rights Program. | 0.65 | medium | 5 | 493 | [
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38a6e086-f6dd-452f-ab5d-c129968ca6f7 | The World Around Us | interdisciplinary | historical_context | The World Around Us
This exhibit might change the way visitors see our planet--it brings natural and earth sciences to life with interactive experiences such as Go H2O! – the water cycle exhibit that looks and "plays" like a giant pinball machine. Exhibits feature real animal mounts amid multimedia experiences. Visitors can get a glimpse into the forest canopy through a periscope or choose a sit-in adventure that feels like rocketing into space. This permanent exhibit allows visitors to explore three themed galleries: "Aquasphere: Water that Sustains Us," "Terrasphere: Environments that Support Us" and "Atmosphere: Air that Surrounds Us." In the Discovery Gallery, a hands-on learning area for all ages, the Science Center's natural history collection has a dynamic new home.
Learn more about "The World Around Us" at www.louisvillescience.org/site/exhibits-world-around-us/.
Credit: Courtesy of the Louisville Science Center/ Morris Images | 0.6 | high | 4 | 211 | [
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558335f6-53bc-4c58-861a-5c2fdbcec09a | Air-source heat pumps typically | science | historical_context | Air-source heat pumps typically deliver 1 1/2 to three times more heating energy to a home than the electric energy they consume. National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers are working to improve the performance of air-source heat pumps even further by providing engineers with computer-based tools to optimize heat exchanger designs.
The researchers developed a testing apparatus that uses a high-resolution camera to track the motion and distribution of air flow in finned-tube heat exchangers. Data from these laboratory experiments are being compared with computer simulations of air flow performed with computational fluid dynamics software. Once accurate models are developed and validated, engineers could use them as the basis for design changes to coil assemblies and refrigerant circuitries to accommodate the existing air distribution.
The program could increase finned-tube heat exchanger heating or cooling capacity by five percent, improving heat pump efficiency. Such improvements could allow manufacturers to reduce the heat exchanger size, thus reducing material cost and the amount of refrigerant needed. | 0.6 | high | 5 | 200 | [
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3cab2ef9-448b-4401-bfd6-99b54ae65301 | Review of Short Phrases and Links| | arts_and_creativity | historical_context | Review of Short Phrases and Links|
This Review contains major "Glossary of English Composers"- related terms, short phrases and links grouped together in the form of Encyclopedia article.
- Goring Thomas occupies a distinct place among English composers of the 19th century.
- Many English composers of Butterworth's time set Housman's poetry, but none are as famous as these.
- Within four months, two more great English composers - Gustav Holst and Frederick Delius - were also dead.
- He eventually studied music under Hubert Parry.
- He also briefly studied at the Royal College of Music where he worked with Hubert Parry among others.
- Bate is also a remarkable pianist and his contribution to contemporary music is rather exceptional." Priaulx Rainier also admired Bate's music.
- Bate was a good organist and pianist but did not do as well as Miss Martin and so lost the opportunity of gaining the regional prize of a Broadwood piano.
- Bate was always a prolific composer.
- Bate was both nomadic and prolific.
- Bate was engaged to write the music for the film The Pleasure Garden sponsored by the British Film Institute and produced by James Broughton.
- Gustav Holst is a classical composer best-known for his orchestral suite, The Planets.
- Gustav Holst was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in western England, to a musical family.
- Gustav Holst was born into a very musical family.
- Gustav Holst was born into a very musical family; as a child, he was taught the piano, organ and trombone.
- Alan Rawsthorne was born in Lancashire in the north of England.
- Alan Rawsthorne is one of the leading British composers of the twentieth century.
- Alan Rawsthorne was born in Lancashire in the north of England; at first he was aiming to be a dentist, but found that he disliked the profession.
- Alfred Cellier ( December 1, 1844 --- December 28, 1891), was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor.
- The original score for this little opera, which played at the Savoy Theatre in 1886 and 1887, was written by Alfred Cellier.
- Alfred Cellier composed the music.
- Anderson is a master of melody, creating the whimsical and the heartfelt.
- Anderson was singularly honored when Bruce Alfred Thompson devoted his Ph.D. dissertation at Indiana University to an analysis of his works.
- Anderson was without peer in writing works for "light" orchestra: short, often whimsical, always pleasant pieces for symphonic ensembles.
- There are plans to record all the Grieg violin sonatas on the flute, as well as the flute and piccolo sonatas of Andrew Downes.
- Andrew Downes' music has been performed throughout the world, in many leading concert halls and cathedrals, and has been broadcast at home and abroad.
- Andrew Ford is a composer, writer and broadcaster and has won awards in all three capacities.
- Andrew Ford: What about how they respond to 'Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet', because I've seen some extreme responses to that piece.
- Anthems were an English innovation to replace older, more Latin-Catholic elements in the services.
- The anthems were so distorted that they were rarely identifiable.
- Arnold Bax was born in 1893, and it is in his compositions that Pagan themes are particularly abundant.
- Arnold Cooke is a contemporary of Rawsthorne and Tippett; yet both his music and his career have taken a very different path from either of these two.
- Iolanthe, or the peer and peri, written by W.S. Gilbert composed by Arthur Sullivan.
- Trial by jury, a novel and original dramatic cantata by Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert.
- W.S. Gilbert wrote the words, Arthur Sullivan composed the music, and together they revolutionized theatre music in English.
- Avison was apparently the first composer to write sonatas of this type in England.
- Avison is also known as an essayist on music.
- Avison was also the author of An Essay on Musical Expression (1752), one of the major eighteenth-century works of musical aesthetics.
- Avison was back where he belonged: in the company of the great composers of the period.
- Avison was later assisted in his studies by Colonel John Blaithwaite who was a retired director of the Royal Academy of Music.
- Barry John was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in the first draft.
- Benjamin Britten is a useful rose to provide a highlight among the softer shades of most English Roses.
- Benjamin Britten is one of England's most revered composers of the 20th century.
- Benjamin Frankel (1906-1973), English composer of eight symphonies.
- BIOGRAPHY Born in Glasgow (1924), Buxton Orr gave up a career in medicine to study with Benjamin Frankel (early 1950s).
- Butterworth is a Mancunian, and his music has strong connections with the North of England; his Third Symphony, for chorus and orchestra, is called Moorland.
- Butterworth was a chief exponent at Morris dancing, and film footage exists of him dancing with other members of the English Folk Dance Society.
- Butterworth was also an expert folk dancer, being particularly fond of Morris dancing.
- Butterworth was posthumously awarded the Military Cross for his bold defense of a strategically important trench network, which was later named for him.
- Buxton Orr is a consummate professional.
- Buxton Orr was a pupil of Benjamin Frankel, himself, until very recently, a forgotten figure in British music.
- A possible identification of Byttering with a Thomas Byteryng has been made.
- According to Harrison, the manuscript contains four canons at the unison by Pycard, Byttering, and an anonymous composer, and a Sanctus by Pycard.
- Christopher Fox is a composer, teacher and writer on new music.
- Christopher Fox is a composer.
- The composer is a London native who has earned commissions from the BBC and performance groups from the U.S. Air Force Band to a wind orchestra in Tokyo.
- The composer was half-way through the third when he realised that they were really short sonatas, and wrote them out in fair copy under their present titles.
- The composer was later persuaded to re-score it for large orchestra for the BBC Philharmonic with the promise of a performance that has yet to take place.
- The composer was so badly shell-shocked he was given up by his doctors and only nursed back to health over several years by his wife.
- In a review of British composer Cornelius Cardew, he first introduced the word "minimalism" as a means of musical description.
- Rate link Includes information about Cornelius Cardew and other members of Scratch Orchestra.
- There are few more impressive-looking conceptions than Cornelius Cardew's Treatise (1963-7), a 236-page graphic score of exquisite intricacy.
- Daniel Purcell was born in 1664 - five years after his celebrated brother Henry.
- Dunstable is a real melodist, the pieces collected here are beautiful beyond belief.
- Dunstable was also an astronomer of considerable acclaim in his day, and astronomical charts believed to be in his own hand yet survive.
- Dunstable was the outstanding English composer of his time and influenced composers at the Burgundian court, including Guillaume Dufay and Gilles Binchois.
- A pity that there is no mention of his BBC studio conducting of the symphonies 3 and 4 of fellow Northamptonian, Edmund Rubbra, during the 1960s.
- One composer who has accepted and worked within the scope of the existing musical means is Edmund Rubbra, who was born in Northampton in 1901.
- He became friends with many of the leading composers of the day - including Edmund Rubbra, Gustav Holst, Arthur Bliss and Ralph Vaughan Williams.
- The fourth of six children, Edward Elgar had three brothers, Henry, Frederick and Francis, and two sisters, Lucy and Susannah.
- An example of this is in the sixth variation of the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar, called "Ysobel".
- Edward Elgar wrote relatively few works for the piano, but his Salut d'amour Op.12 - Love's Greeting, has proved to be very popular over time.
- Chappell (1875) pp9 Full-size with illustrated coloured cover 7.00 259 TOM JONES by Edward German.
- He wrote only one more comic opera, Fallen Fairies ( 1909; music by Edward German), which was not a success.
- Elgar was England's greatest late romantic composer.
- Elgar was experimental: even the sighs of river reeds were considered fair game for musical material.
- Elgar was knighted in 1904 and named master of the king's music in 1924.
- Elgar was one of Britain’s greatest composers, and his deep love of Nature was a strong influence on his work all throughout his life.
- Elgar was one of Britain-s greatest composers, and his deep love of Nature was a strong influence on his work all throughout his life.
- Eric Fenby was born in 1906.
- Eric Fenby was to have an influence on the young composer.
- Eric Jupp was a remarkably prolific and popular recording artist, a fact which can be gauged by his large discography.
- Eric Jupp was born in Brighton in 1922 and began to study piano at seven.
- Eric Jupp was born in Brighton, England in 1922 and began to study piano at seven.
- He moved to Harrogate with his family to escape the Zeppelin raids on London in 1915 and studied with Ernest Farrar for a short time.
- The son of an English ship broker, Gerald Finzi began to study music with Ernest Farrar in 1914.
- Frank Bridge is a great composer who has been shamefully neglected in the world's concert halls.
- Frank Bridge was Britten's teacher for four years.
- Frank Bridge was born in Brighton in 1879, a younger child in a large family.
- Frank Bridge was born in Brighton on 26 February 1879 from a working-class family.
- Gavin Bryars is a composer best known for two works that for some years existed only as concepts.
- Gavin Bryars is a contemporary British composer.
- Gavin Bryars is a contemporary composer of rare integrity and vision.
- Gavin Bryars is a contemporary music composer.
- Gavin Bryars is one of Britain's leading composers.
- George Frideric Handel is the best-known composer of Baroque oratorios.
- George Fenton is a composer with a great sense of lyricism, and ofcourse a creator of strong melodies.
- George Fenton is a master of melody.
- George Fenton is a wonderful composer of film music.
- Gerald Finzi is a respected name in British music, but he is little known in the United States.
- Gerald Finzi is a composer most well known for his songs, which have a very English feel despite his Italian Jewish origin.
- Gerald Finzi is one of the most admired British composers of the 20th Century.
- Gerald Finzi was born in London on 14 July 1901 and spent his early childhood in London.
- Gerald Finzi was diagnosed as having Hodgkinson's Disease in 1951.
- Gilbert was born on November 18, 1836.
- Gilbert was considered to have a prickly and sarcastic personality, and his often political satire was not always well-received in the circles of privilege.
- Gilbert was knighted in 1907 and subsequently retired to Middlesex, where he lived as a country squire; he accidently drowned in 1911 near his estate there.
- Gilbert was knighted in 1907 in recognition of his contributions to drama.
- Gilbert was not knighted until 1907, in recognition of his contributions to drama.
- Giles Farnaby was the same age as Bull, but his training and career were very different.
- Traditional words, and new words by Giles Swayne.
- A first retrospective of Giles Swayne's challenging but rewarding liturgical settings.
- Goehr was one of the many who have had a go at transcribing for orchestra Mussorgsky s Pictures from an Exhibition.
- Goossens was a major force in the elevation of the oboe to a solo instrument.
- Goossens was responsible for some editorial changes in the oboe part, and the composer made some last minute changes in the score.
- Gordon Jacob was born in Upper Norwood, south London, on July 5 th, 1895, the youngest child of a large family, having three sisters and six brothers.
* Alan Bush
* Bruce Montgomery
* Composers Born In Lancashire
* Frederick Delius
* George Dyson
* Granville Bantock
* Harold Truscott
* Havergal Brian
* Henry Purcell
* Imogen Holst
* James Butt
* Jeremiah Clarke
* John Addison
* John Barry
* John Blow
* John Bull
* John Buller
* John Dowland
* John Dunstable
* John Foulds
* John Gardner
* John Ireland
* John Murphy
* John Rutter
* John Sheppard
* John Stainer
* John Stanley
* John Tavener
* John Taverner
* Jonathan Harvey
* Joseph Holbrooke
* Joseph Horovitz
* Kenneth Alford
* Lennox Berkeley
* Leonel Power
* Leslie Stuart
* Madeleine Dring
* Malcolm Arnold
* Margaret Avison
* Maurice Greene
* Michael Berkeley
* Michael Finnissy
* Michael Tippett
* Neil Ardley
* Orlando Gibbons
* Percy Grainger
* Peter Maxwell Davies
* Peter Warlock
* Philip Sparke
* Rachel Portman
* Ralph Vaughan Williams
* Rebecca Clarke
* Richard Addinsell
* Richard Rodney Bennett
* Richard Stoker
* Robert Farnon
* Robert Simpson
* Robin Holloway
* Roger Quilter
* Roy Budd
* Samuel Arnold
* Sir Cecil
* Stephen Oliver
* Third Symphony
* Thomas Arne
* Thomas Attwood
* Thomas Bateson
* Thomas Campion
* Thomas Morley
* Thomas Tallis
* Thomas Tomkins
* Thomas Weelkes
* Tim Benjamin
* Walford Davies
* William Alwyn
* William Boyce
* William Byrd
* William Walton
Books about "Glossary of English Composers" in | 0.7 | medium | 4 | 3,307 | [
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5bf6975b-ca55-4024-8105-6b108a31de96 | Art specific collection human | language_arts | historical_context | Art is a specific collection of human activities and the goods of those activities. Art includes different kinds such as music, painting, literature, theatre and many others. There are many various forms of arts and persons use of art on daily schedule. In our lives people have got different forms of arts in their homes for meeting their gaily demands and for decorative aims too.
Art plays an important role in the development of the mankind. Art helps us to relax and forget about problems. For some people it is a job. They enter on art faculty. In such cases students often need to create various kinds of papers about art. An essay about art is the most well-known assignment in the educational institution.
How to write an essay about art? There are some rules which assist modern students to create such type of essay. Before starting your essay you should select a good topic. It can be some actual issue or problem. In the introductory part you need to attract attention to your work. That is why you can use some quotations or proverbs about art. The body of art essay is the biggest part of the whole work. In your art essay you can present a description of some art building, sculpture or painting. Also you can write about famous person who connects own life with art. You must explore some aspects of the topic of your essay. You must be well-informed of art terms and conditions. If you write your art essay about some person, you need to describe the artist’s private and professional life and how it impacts on her/his work. You must examine the artist’s style. The final part of each essay is a conclusion. It is a brief generalization of all facts and thoughts clearly and shortly.
Today very popular thing is to order essays online. It is a good way to save free time for more exciting events. Writing company is a perfect variant for young people who have not enough knowledge and free time. Sometimes students afraid that their papers will not be unique and correct. That is why if you decided to buy essay online, you must read reviews and comments of another users before ordering papers. If you will choose professional checked writing service, you will not regret! | 0.65 | medium | 4 | 441 | [
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0a285299-e4d5-4ca7-9ba5-16a11a8f35c1 | population development Oyigbo well | social_studies | data_analysis | The population development of Oyigbo as well as related information and services (Wikipedia, Google, images).
|Oyigbo||Local Government Area||85,334||125,331||176,100|
Source: National Population Commission of Nigeria (web), National Bureau of Statistics (web).
Explanation: The population projection assumes the same rate of growth for all LGAs within a state. The undercount of the 1991 census is estimated to be about 25 million. All population figures for Nigeria show high error rates; census results are disputed.
Further Population Figures:
|Gender (C 2006)|
|Age Groups (C 2006)|
|Age Distribution (C 2006)| | 0.5 | high | 6 | 169 | [
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be5658a9-ef78-414c-80f8-143aa02a030a | FLEETWOOD Tommy Tommy FLEETWOOD | technology | ethical_analysis | FLEETWOOD Tommy
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All rights reserved. No reproduction, distribution or transmission of any information, part or parts of this website by any means whatsoever is permitted without the prior written permission of the PGA European Tour. | 0.65 | medium | 4 | 466 | [
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21ed492e-576e-48f3-b37c-e6b248b29864 | Python program check given | technology | problem_set | Python program to check the given number is the power of 2 or not
In this tutorial, we will learn how to check the given number is the power of 2 or not in python programming. A positive number N is given by the user and we have to check whether it is equal to 2^x or not where x may be zero or any positive number. We will use a simple method to solve this problem, we simply take the log of the number base 2 and if you get an integer then the number is the power of 2. Before going to solve the absolute problem we will learn to find the log of any positive number N base M.
How to find the log of any positive number N base M in Python
Here, the user gives us the value of N and M which are 23458 and 3 respectively. To find the log value of positive number N, we will import the math module in the program. Now we will simply calculate the log of N base M.
N=23458 M=3 from math import log s=log(N,M) p=round(s,2) print('log of N base M:') print(p)
The round function uses to get the value of s to two decimal places.
log of N base M: 9.16
How to check the given number is the power of 2 or not in Python
let’s assume the value of N given by the user is 241565.
N=241565 M=2 from math import log s=log(N,M) if int(s)==s: print('Power of 2') else: print('Not power of 2')
Not power of 2
Similarly, we can also check the number is the power of another number by replacing the value of M.
So Guy’s, I hope you find it useful.
You may also read: | 0.6 | low | 4 | 414 | [
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a3032c3f-4d25-4d56-a158-1fa5fd41369f | School English Literature Trip to The Somme | technology | historical_context | School English Literature Trip to The Somme
Wilfred Owen's poems have served to bring the harsh realities of war to the generations that have succeeded him and his work has now been given a context with the creation of the Walking in Wilfred Owen’s Footsteps Trail. The 6km trail takes visitors from the Maison Forestière – or Forest House – where Wilfred and his men were sheltering, to the canal banks where he fell. Historic and military context will fascinate and challenge your students.
Specifications & Topics Supported
GCSE: Edexcel English Literature: Unit 2: Understanding Poetry
AS / A2:
AQA English Literature A Unit LTA1B World War One Literature
OCR Unit F661: Wilfred Owen
|Day 1||Travel from UK||
Arrive in Cambrai for the Wilfred Owen trail, visiting Forest House and the Sambre Canal, where Owen fell, and the cemetery at Ors where Owen is buried
Visit Thiepval Memorial, Lochnagar Crater and Newfoundland Park
|Return travel to UK|
This price includes:
- Return executive coach travel from school
- Return ferry or tunnel crossings
- 1 night's half-board accommodation
- Experienced battlefields guide
- Detailed information pack
- Free staff ratio 1:8
- Travel & medical insurance
- Itinerary planning service
The six-kilometre trail takes visitors from the Maison Forestière – or Forest House – where Wilfred and his men were sheltering, to the canal banks where he fell. The Forest House was transformed in 2011 to become a work of art from Simon Patterson, dedicated to the fateful night when the men advanced on enemy lines; but the path also leads walkers through quiet woodland which e...
From the 9th to the 16th centuries, the people of Albert, like many in the region, got used to hiding underground to avoid attacks from the invaders from Normandy and then Spain. During the First World War Albert became a British garrison town. It was from Albert that the doomed offensive on July 1st 1916 was launched. Later in 1918, at the time of the Ludendorff offensive, most of the town was be...
On the first day of the battle of the Somme, eight hundred men of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment went over the top here. Half an hour later, only 68 were left alive and uninjured. The preserved trenches and Caribou monument are a fitting memorial to these men who died thousands of mile from home. The site no longer books guide in advance, from 2016 guided tours are on a ‘first come, first served’...
On the morning of the first day of the battle of the Somme, Welsh miners blew a huge mine under the German trenches here. The crater it left, an immense, permanent scar on the landscape, is still clearly visible today. The largest crater ever made by man in anger is now a unique memorial to all those who suffered in the Great War. It is dedicated to peace, fellowship and reconciliation between all...
The slaughter on the Somme wiped out a generation, and continues to cast a shadow on Britain’s popular consciousness. This colossal brick structure records the names of 72,000 British soldiers whose bodies were never found. Here students can read the Wilfred Owen poem "Anthem for a doomed youth".
The Hotel can accommodate 3 coaches at a time and each group of 45 people or more is allocated sole occupancy of their floor.
Students are accommodated in multi-bedded rooms all of which have en-suite shower, toilet and washbasin. Breakfast is served at the hotel, but the evening meal is taken in a local restaurant.
Each floor has a games room with a pool table and a drinks machine. There is also a staff lounge on each floor with computer, free internet access and minibar. A room is available for group activities. Next to the hotel are a football pitch and a swimming pool, both of which are happy to be used by the hotel's guests. View on map
What our teachers had to say about this destination
Students cannot speak highly enough of the battlefields trip. Many are begging us to organise another as they found it so intresting. | 0.7 | medium | 4 | 907 | [
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da24f4a7-d5f3-450c-81b0-81f9781db6de | Knowledge Network Position Embedded | technology | historical_context | ## Knowledge Network Position Embedded systems occupy a crucial nexus within the vast landscape of human knowledge, bridging the gap between the abstract world of computation and the tangible reality of physical processes. At its core, an embedded system is a specialized computer system designed to perform a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electrical system. This fundamental characteristic places it at the intersection of **computer science**, **electrical engineering**, and **mechanical engineering**. From a **computer science** perspective, embedded systems represent a practical, resource-constrained application of software engineering principles. They demand a deep understanding of operating systems (often real-time operating systems), compiler design, and low-level programming. The need for efficiency, reliability, and predictable performance in embedded environments pushes the boundaries of traditional software development. In **electrical engineering**, embedded systems are the "brains" that control and interact with hardware components. This involves a profound understanding of microcontrollers, sensors, actuators, digital signal processing (DSP), and power management. The design of embedded systems is intrinsically linked to the physical characteristics of the devices they control, requiring a tight integration of hardware and software. The connection to **mechanical engineering** is equally significant. Embedded systems are increasingly vital for controlling complex mechanical devices, from automotive engines and robotic arms to sophisticated manufacturing machinery. This necessitates an understanding of control theory, mechatronics, and the physical dynamics of the systems being managed. Furthermore, embedded systems are deeply intertwined with **materials science** and **physics**. The choice of materials for sensors, the energy efficiency of components, and the electromagnetic compatibility of the system all rely on fundamental scientific principles. Finally, the development and deployment of embedded systems are increasingly influenced by **human-computer interaction (HCI)** and **user experience (UX)** design, as these systems become more pervasive and interact directly with people in everyday life. ## Real-World Applications The ubiquity of embedded systems means they are fundamental to modern life, powering a vast array of technologies: * **Consumer Electronics**: Smartphones, smart TVs, digital cameras, washing machines, microwaves, and wearable fitness trackers all rely on embedded systems to manage their functions, user interfaces, and connectivity. * **Automotive Industry**: Modern vehicles are packed with hundreds of embedded systems controlling everything from engine management, anti-lock braking systems (ABS), airbags, infotainment, and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS). * **Aerospace and Defense**: Aircraft autopilots, flight control systems, navigation equipment, missile guidance systems, and communication devices are all critical embedded systems where reliability and precision are paramount. * **Industrial Automation**: Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), robotics, and automated manufacturing lines utilize embedded systems to monitor and control processes, optimize production, and ensure safety. * **Medical Devices**: Pacemakers, insulin pumps, MRI machines, and patient monitoring systems are life-critical embedded systems that require extreme reliability and accuracy. * **Internet of Things (IoT)**: The explosion of smart devices in homes, cities, and industries is driven by embedded systems that collect data, communicate wirelessly, and enable remote control and automation. Examples include smart thermostats, smart meters, and connected security cameras. ## Advanced Extensions The principles and practices of embedded systems development enable and drive innovation in numerous advanced fields: * **Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS)**: For systems requiring deterministic timing and predictable responses, specialized RTOS are developed, forming the backbone of many safety-critical and high-performance embedded applications. * **Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS)**: Embedded systems are the physical manifestation of CPS, which integrate computation, networking, and physical processes. This field focuses on the design, analysis, and control of such systems, with applications in smart grids, intelligent transportation, and advanced manufacturing. * **Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI)**: Embedded systems are essential for the perception, decision-making, and actuation of robots. The integration of AI algorithms onto embedded platforms allows for intelligent autonomous behavior in robots and other machines. * **Edge Computing**: As data processing moves closer to the source, embedded systems are at the forefront of edge computing, enabling localized intelligence and reducing reliance on cloud connectivity for real-time decision-making. * **Embedded Machine Learning (TinyML)**: This rapidly growing field focuses on running machine learning models on resource-constrained embedded devices, enabling on-device intelligence for tasks like anomaly detection, predictive maintenance, and personalized user experiences. * **Functional Safety and Security**: For safety-critical embedded systems (e.g., in automotive or medical domains), rigorous methodologies for ensuring functional safety (e.g., ISO 26262) and security are developed, often requiring specialized hardware and software design. ## Limitations & Open Questions Despite their pervasive nature, embedded systems face inherent limitations and ongoing challenges: * **Resource Constraints**: Embedded systems often operate with limited processing power, memory, and battery life, demanding highly optimized code and efficient hardware design. This is a perpetual trade-off. * **Hardware-Software Co-design**: The tight coupling between hardware and software can make updates and modifications complex and expensive, especially in deployed systems. * **Security Vulnerabilities**: As embedded systems become more connected, they represent a significant attack surface. Ensuring the security of these devices against sophisticated threats is a major ongoing challenge. * **Debugging and Testing**: Debugging complex interactions between hardware and software in a resource-constrained environment can be extremely difficult, often requiring specialized tools and techniques. * **Reliability and Longevity**: Many embedded systems are designed for long operational lifespans in harsh environments, posing challenges for component selection, fault tolerance, and long-term maintenance. * **Open Questions**: * How can we develop more robust and adaptable embedded systems that can be easily updated and reconfigured in the field? * What are the most effective strategies for securing the vast and diverse ecosystem of embedded devices against evolving cyber threats? * How can we create truly autonomous embedded systems that can learn and adapt to unforeseen circumstances with minimal human intervention? * What are the ethical implications of increasingly intelligent and autonomous embedded systems in society? ## Historical Context The concept of embedding computing power into devices began to take shape with the advent of microprocessors in the early 1970s. * **Early Developments (1970s)**: The Intel 4004, the first commercially available microprocessor, paved the way for integrating computing capabilities into dedicated applications. Early embedded systems were found in calculators, industrial controllers, and military equipment. * **The Rise of Microcontrollers (1980s)**: The development of microcontrollers, which integrate a CPU, memory, and I/O peripherals onto a single chip, democratized embedded system design. This led to their widespread adoption in consumer electronics and automotive applications. * **The Internet of Things Era (2000s-Present)**: The proliferation of low-cost, low-power microcontrollers, coupled with advancements in wireless communication and sensor technology, fueled the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT). This era has seen embedded systems evolve from isolated devices to interconnected nodes in vast networks. * **Key Contributors**: While no single individual can be credited, pioneers in microprocessor and microcontroller design (e.g., **Ted Hoff** at Intel for the 4004) and early adopters in various industries were instrumental. The development of real-time operating systems by companies like **Wind River** and the open-source movement around platforms like **Arduino** and **Raspberry Pi** have also significantly shaped the field. ## Systems Integration Embedded systems rarely operate in isolation; they are integral components within larger, more complex systems and frameworks: * **Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)**: Embedded software is a critical part of a product's lifecycle, from initial design and development through manufacturing, deployment, and maintenance. Changes in embedded systems can have ripple effects across the entire product. * **Industrial Control Systems (ICS) / Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)**: In industrial settings, embedded systems (often PLCs) are the fundamental building blocks of ICS/SCADA systems, collecting data from sensors, executing control logic, and communicating with higher-level supervisory systems. * **Smart Grids**: Embedded systems in smart meters, substations, and grid management devices enable real-time monitoring, control, and optimization of energy distribution. * **Healthcare Information Systems**: Embedded systems in medical devices collect patient data, which is then integrated into hospital information systems (HIS) or electronic health records (EHRs) for analysis and management. * **Autonomous Systems**: In complex autonomous systems like self-driving cars or drones, numerous embedded systems work in concert, each responsible for specific tasks (e.g., sensor fusion, path planning, motor control) and communicating through standardized protocols. The integration of embedded systems into these larger frameworks highlights the importance of **interoperability**, **standardization**, and robust **communication protocols**. ## Future Directions The evolution of embedded systems is driven by ongoing technological advancements and evolving societal needs: * **Ubiquitous Intelligence**: Expect to see embedded systems with increasingly sophisticated AI capabilities, enabling more autonomous and adaptive devices in all aspects of life, from personalized healthcare to intelligent infrastructure. * **Enhanced Connectivity and Communication**: The continued development of wireless technologies (5G, Wi-Fi 6, etc.) will lead to more interconnected embedded systems, facilitating richer data exchange and enabling new forms of distributed intelligence. * **Security-by-Design**: As threats become more sophisticated, there will be a greater emphasis on building security into embedded systems from the ground up, utilizing hardware-based security features and advanced cryptographic techniques. * **Energy Harvesting and Ultra-Low Power**: The drive for sustainability and longer device lifespans will push innovation in energy-efficient embedded systems, including those powered by energy harvesting technologies. * **Human-Machine Symbiosis**: Embedded systems will become more intuitive and responsive to human needs, blurring the lines between human and machine interaction through advanced sensing, natural language processing, and adaptive interfaces. * **Democratization of Embedded Development**: Tools and platforms will continue to evolve, making embedded system development more accessible to a wider range of creators and innovators. | 0.7 | medium | 7 | 2,106 | [
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d969f313-97ef-4aa7-9673-2a983f4c6b9b | Weeping willows (Salix) belong | technology | historical_context | Weeping willows (Salix) belong in the family Salicaceae, which is a large family with more than 200 species. There are 30 species of willows native to the United States, which are hardy in USDA planting zones 2 through 9. Weeping willows are suitable for growing in the northern and central regions of Florida, encompassed in USDA planting zones 8 and 9. The tree is characterized by its gracefully drooping canopy falling almost to the ground, making it suitable as a specimen or screening tree. Tolerant to a wide variety of soils, the tree will thrive in Florida's sandy and loam soils.
Select an area in your Florida landscape that is large enough to house the tree at maturity. Weeping willows grow quite large rather quickly, reaching a mature height and spread of 45 to 70 feet.
Choose an area in your Florida landscape situated in full to partial sun throughout the day. Weeping willows will grow best if they receive some amount of sunlight during the day.
Select an area to plant the weeping willow where the aggressive root system will not interfere with structures, walkways, septic systems or water pipes. The roots grow approximately three times larger than the distance from the tree's trunk to the boundary of the canopy, seeking out water sources. Consider this aggressive growth when choosing a planting site.
Plant the weeping willow either next to a pond or in a dry area of your Florida landscape. Weeping willows grow well next to water but are also drought tolerant and will grow quite well in a dry area of the landscape when watered regularly.
Plant the weeping willow in a hole that is two times larger than the plant's root ball and as deep as the tree's original container. Weeping willows will grow fine in Florida's native soils without amending. Plant the tree at the same depth it was growing in the container, as planting too deep puts undue stress upon the tree.
Water the weeping willow weekly with one inch of water, if planting the tree away from a water source. Weeping willows are drought tolerant, but too little water causes the tree to drop its leaves. Trees planted next to a source of water do not require watering as its roots will receive an adequate amount from the nearby water.
Prune young weeping willow trees in Florida so they develop a strong trunk structure to help prevent breakage in windy conditions. Prune away multiple branches leaving one main branch as the main trunk. Prune away multiple branches in crotch sections of the tree, making them wide so they will be stronger as the tree matures. Prune away any dead wood. | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 540 | [
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ab574e5e-8014-4040-94ec-103b289592e9 | Remote viewing traces its | science | experiment_design | Remote viewing traces its roots at least as far back as the Greek historian Herodotus. Herodotus recorded the story of Croesus, the king of Lydia who, in the 6th Century BC successfully tested the psychic abilities of the Oracle of Delphi. Modern remote viewing history dates from a number of pioneering experiments performed in the late 1960s and early 1970s at the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR). The focus of these experiments was New York artist and psychical researcher Ingo Swann.
The ASPR experiments ultimately led to Swann teaming up with Dr. Harold E. “Hal” Puthoff at Stanford Research Institute’s Radio Physics Laboratory in Menlo Park, California. Working together, Puthoff and Swann–and soon a number of others–conducted a series of ever-more sophisticated experiments, further developing the approach that Swann had originally named “remote viewing.”
The earliest Swann/Puthoff experiment quickly attracted the attention of the Central Intelligence Agency. In an era of disturbing revelations from behind the Iron Curtain, it appeared that the Soviets were heavily financing experiments in various psychic phenomena, and finding success. The CIA needed to know if there really was anything to the sorts of things the Soviets were investigating and funding with such enthusiasm. If the phenomena turned out to be real, they could pose a significant threat to national security. They might also prove useful to our own defense establishment.
Representatives from the Agency brought a select few projects to Swann and one of his colleagues, Pat Price, who also had impressive remote viewing talents. The results in some cases were spectacular, and in all cases sufficiently intriguing that the CIA kept coming back for more. This led to formal research contracts between the Agency and the now-renamed SRI-International.
However, in the mid-1970s a number of scandals involving the CIA forced it to divest itself of any controversial activities in which it was at that time engaged. Remote viewing counted as being controversial. Oversight for the program passed first to the US Air Force, and then to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) under the program name “Grill Flame.” In the meantime, the US Army began its own program in 1977, and by 1979 this was moved under the Grill Flame umbrella.
Founded by Lt. F. Holmes “Skip” Atwater and Maj. “Scotty” watt, the Army’s remote viewing program originally began as a counter-intelligence effort, with the mission to evaluate through “reverse engineering” how vulnerable US secrets were to psychic spying. So successful was this effort, that Department of Defense and Army officials decided to change the program’s assignment. Now, instead of merely evaluating adversaries’ ability to spy on the United States using ESP, Grill Flame’s mission became to actively collect intelligence against foreign threats–thus turning the tables on America’s Cold War opponents.
Unfortunately, psychic spies were not especially popular among many generals, upper-level bureaucrats, and politicians. By the early 1980s most of the Army program’s cousins in the other military services were gone or moth-balled, and DIA had scaled back its Grill Flame effort. In 1980, the Army itself lost all funding for its remote viewing program. However, Major General Albert Stubblebine, who commanded the Army’s Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM)–parent headquarters for the Army’s part of Grill Flame–took a personal interest in the psychic program. In 1983 he directed that the program be redesignated the “INSCOM Center Lane Program,” and be funded directly from INSCOM’s budget.
By this time, Swann and Puthoff had developed an improved methodology for teaching remote viewing known as “coordinate remote viewing” (later renamed “controlled” remote viewing), or “CRV.” Along with Center Lane’s debut, the Army signed contracts with SRI-International to train military and DoD civilian personnel in the new remote viewing technique, with Dr. Hal Puthoff and Ingo Swann managing the training at SRI facilities in California and New York.
Ultimately, the Swann/Putoff team trained four members of the Army’s Center Lane program. These were Capt. Tom McNear, Capt. Bill Ray, Army civilian Charlene Shufelt, and Capt. Paul H. Smith. A member of another Army intelligence unit, Capt. Ed Dames, was included as a temporary addition to the training. With their training completed, these individuals would go on to form the core of military remote viewing, and to train various new remote viewers later selected for the program. Eventually some of them would bring remote viewing to the outside world.
In early 1986, the Army transferred the INSCOM unit to DIA, and changed its name to “Sun Streak.” In late 1990 the program went through yet another name change–this time to “Star Gate,” the name by which it became known to the world upon its declassification in 1995.
During its lifetime, the remote viewing unit collected intelligence against a broad range of targets: strategic missile forces, political leaders, narcotics operations, research and development facilities, hostage situations, military weapons systems, secret installations, technology developments, and terrorist groups. The list was staggering, and the successes were many–in some cases, even spectacular.
But Congress directed that the CIA take back responsibility for the program from DIA in 1995–and the CIA didn’t want it. Under the guise of an “objective” study by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), the CIA commissioned the services of one of the most prominent skeptics in the country. The end result was a study that falsely claimed to show that the RV program was useless as an intelligence resource. On June 30, 1995, the CIA terminated Project Star Gate and promised to declassify its holdings.
CIA officials no doubt thought they had seen the end of remote viewing. But their action had unintended consequences. When the Agency revealed publicly that remote viewing existed, and then declared that it “didn’t work,” it made it impossible for the government to keep it out of the hands of civilians. Several of the former military remote viewers decided to take their versions of the story to the world.
Canceling the Star Gate program turned out to be a great blessing, as it freed remote viewing from the shackles of secrecy and made it available for dissemination to any and all who wanted to learn about it. That act made it possible for RVIS, Inc. to exist and to promote our ongoing mission of spreading the knowledge and skill of remote viewing. And that part of remote viewing history has just begun. | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 1,426 | [
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9cd65070-b35c-4618-872f-73eef283bd1f | SIDE DISCHARGE Zero-Turn Lawn | interdisciplinary | data_analysis | SIDE DISCHARGE
Zero-Turn Lawn Tractor 107 cm/42"
The Cub Cadet XZ 1107 zero-turn ride on lawn mower is a popular design for larger lawns. It is powered by a 547cc Cub Cadet single-cylinder overhead valve engine. Dual hydrostatic transmission provides you with the highest manoeuvrability. This "special order" machine features two adjustable levers or lap bars which provide maximum control from the quickly adjustable seat. The soft grip features on the lap bars make control more confident and comfortable.
Zero-turn means that on full lock this lawn mower leaves no uncut grass. The dual hydrostatic transmission is fully automatic, ensuring one foot pedal does everything. The 107cm/42" floating deck follows the contours of the ground for superior cutting, providing a smoother and more uniform look.
The Cub Cadet XZ 1107 features two anti-scalping deck wheels to minimise damage to the turf, especially during tight turns. Cut grass is discharged through the side and there is an optional twin grass bag available to collect grass via a side chute.
Durability is ensured thanks to the reinforced steel frame and chassis and heavy-duty fabricated front axle. The deep frame allows easy entry on your Cub Cadet and there is plenty of legroom which, combined with the high back seat, provides matchless mowing comfort.
Cutting Height Range: 38 mm-100 mm
Cutting Width: 107 cm /42"
Mowing Area in M2/h: 10,000
Cylinders: Single Cylinder
Displacement: 547 cc
Engine: Cub Cadet OHV
Power: 12.5 kW / 2.300 rpm
Transmission: Dual Hydrostatic
NOTE: Specifications may vary according to the types, and are subject to change without notice.
BRANCHES:
Bellville Cnr Cilmor & Labelle Rd, Stikland, Bellville Tel: (021) 945-4106/7/8
Fax: (021) 946-2371
Durban
Port Elizabeth
Nelspruit
Cnr Bevis & Bishop Rd
No.11 Old Main Road, Pinetown
Tel: (031) 701 8233
Fax: (031) 701 3097
Cnr Friedenheim & Fuchsia Rd,
Nelspruit
Tel: (013) 492 0490
20 – 6th Ave.,
Walmer, Port Elizabeth
Tel: (041) 581-8443/4/5
Fax: (041) 581-8446
HEAD OFFICE: NIGEL, GAUTENG
1 Third Avenue, Vorsterkroon
Tel: 011 730 3400 / Fax: 011 814 2345
Email: firstname.lastname@example.org
Website: www.turfmaster.co.za
Pretoria
Unit 9 Miracle Park, Lenchen Ave
Ext off Old JHB Road, Centurion
Tel: (012) 653-8342/8
Fax: (012) 653-8343
ENGINE
Engine
Engine displacement (cm
Rated power (kW/min
3 )
SPECIFICATIONS
XZ1 107
Cub Cadet OHV
547
-1
)
Cylinders
12,5 / 2.300
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d8f02587-488b-4a72-8078-3387d1167175 | Today spend much our | life_skills | problem_set | Today we spend much of our work or personal time in front of computers. While this is often considered normal in the frantic pace of contemporary life, working on computers can be a great source of muscular tension and stress in the body. Long hours in front of the computer can result in the emergence of the red light reflex. Somatic movement can correct this reflex, align the body and make it more functional while creating greater health in the muscles.
The Red Light Reflex is also known as the startle response. It is the muscular reflex that our body moves into when it is startled. Constant sitting at a computer can cause a person to begin displaying this same reflex. It results in:
- a rounded pelvis
- hunched shoulders
- compressed chest cavity
- tight hips and legs
- tight back
- hyper extended neck
- shallow breathing
Over time, all these symptoms can contribute to a significant amount of pain and stress in the body and spine.
If these symptoms are not corrected, we forget how to release the stress we hold in our muscles and restore the body back to a stress-free and comfortable state. Somatic movement relaxes muscles, reduces muscular pain and soothes the nervous system. The movement also teaches the muscles how to be relaxed in the body and this muscle re-education can reverse the red light reflex.
All the exercises are done slowly, actively and without force. By moving slowly, a student can feel how a muscle contracts and relaxes, as well as recognizing other muscles that also contract to assist that specific muscle.
Because Somatic movement is slow and deliberate, it is healing and restorative. With these exercises, people develop a greater awareness of how their muscles function as well as a deeper feeling of relaxation and comfort. As a person develops greater sensory awareness, she/he can use that awareness to sense when the body is out of alignment and correct it. This is of great value when sitting in front of a computer on a daily basis.
Sitting and computer work can be an adaptive or maladaptive process. We learn to be in our body through experience and a Somatic practice can teach anyone to be functionally healthier and more alive. This is the value of a Somatic practice. | 0.7 | medium | 4 | 453 | [
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0ccaa6a8-690f-4a85-b4f4-72e34f78fef0 | Children constantly reminded they | interdisciplinary | creative_writing | Children are constantly reminded that they know nothing of the world. Adults act as if they couldn’t understand, so no use trying to explain. Other children posit guesses or deliver information accompanied by shrugs or exaggerated confidence. Our childhood experiences drift rootless in the fog of unknown contexts, despite our interaction with it. A future of knowledge awaits us.
In Shigeru Mizuki’s semi-autobiographical work, written when he was in his eighties, Nononba, the illusion of knowing is peeled back to reveal mystery as beauty, spirits as practicality, and respect as imperative to wonder.
The story follows Gege, a young boy growing up in rural Japan, and his relationship to the yokai (Japanese spirits) through an elderly woman in the community. Nononba, as she is familiarly called, is a prayer hand and occasional housekeeper who spends a lot of time at Gege’s house, helping the family and telling stories of the yokai and their domains.
As Gege works to make sense of difficult events in his life, Nononba tells him of Akaname, the dirt-licker, who will come to lick the dirt off your walls if you don’t clean them well enough. For those who pray only in times of need, a selfish prayer will bring an Otoroshi down from the shrine gates. If you embark on a long journey without eating or bringing food, you may find yourself paralyzed by the Hungry Gods.
Not all of the yokai represent moralistic lessons, however; the creaking steps you hear behind you when walking at night could well be Mr.Sticky, a yokai who walks in noisy sandals. All you need to do to send him away is step to the side of the road and say, “Mr.Sticky, please, after you.”
In Mizuki’s style, the backgrounds are ornate and detailed, conveying realism within the world of the story, juxtaposed by highly stylized characterization. In reading this translation, you might find yourself doubling back to read the panels in the correct order (top right to bottom left), but it also takes time to adjust to Mizuki’s visual language. There are certain expressive cues that all characters display–for example, the puff of air emitting from a nostril indicates exasperation, or a stressed emotion, usually anger or frustration–but each character also possesses unique physical features, and adjusting to their general expressions behind their sometimes overwhelming physicality take a little getting used to. At least, until their personalities sweep you away into their world.
The yokai are conveyed in a different style altogether, recognizable from Japanese folk art, with grand features rendered in great detail–almost a mix of the natural world Mizuki represents and the exaggerated and cartoonish characters he generates within it. The yokai also remain part of the background to the characters for the beginning of the story, never seen by those who speak of them. But as the story progresses, and Gege’s thoughts and drawings turn more and more towards these unseen spirits, they begin to show themselves to him–even speak with him–and become incorporated into the story as recurring characters.
Though his family and friends often scoff when Gege makes reference to the yokai, they all enjoy reading his illustrated stories about them. It is because of his stories that one yokai in particular, Azuki-Hakari, chooses to interact with Gege, and show him its true image so that Gege can draw it accurately. Drawing is Gege’s way of understanding the world, particularly the parts he can’t make sense of within himself.
As his internal life unfolds, the yokai begin to come to him more often, though it is unclear as to whether or not these interactions take place in dreams or reality. As Gege learns, this doesn’t matter. The respect he regards them with is fundamental, and despite the disbelief of his peers and family, he continues to explore and take part in this spiritual existence, and is rewarded by more and more dream-like interactions with the yokai.
By the end of the novel, a childhood has been lived, and you, the witness, will have been moved. The experiences of Gege range from tender and heartbreaking to brutal and self-actualizing–a coming of age story too rich to draw any one conclusion. Except, perhaps, that looking inside ourselves and valuing our individual experiences of the world–however mysterious they may be–might actually connect us more deeply to it. Reading this graphic novel could be your first step.
Georgia Webber is a Toronto-born cartoonist living in Montreal. Whenever she’s not obsessing over comics, she can be found fixing bikes, serving coffee, studying languages, and doing yoga. She loves learning and sharing her knowledge through workshops, discussions, and generally hanging out. She welcomes your inquiries, enthusiasm and conversation on any of these subjects. | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 1,027 | [
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54fea2f2-cac4-4f8c-8454-6483a588fd7d | Moto Race Extreme 1.0.055 | interdisciplinary | worked_examples |
Moto Race Extreme 1.0.055
Moto Race Extreme 1.0.055
By:
Package Name: com.sportsgame.moto.race.xp [Play Store]
Filename:
com.sportsgame.moto.race.xp-1.0.055-10055_APKdot.com.apk
Version: 1.0.055 (10055)
Uploaded: Saturday, 24-Sep-16 20:55:59 UTC
File size: 25.04 MB (25035016 bytes)
Minimum Android version: 2.3 and up
MD5sum: 015c786801819dc912d29f7ed6d46302
SHA1sum: 39f08431ec4a7f5ab9a5d5ec485d250e4f971954
Downloads: 91
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Comments | 0.6 | high | 6 | 399 | [
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16d147b6-ed46-4f52-89ac-60c0a2c2da25 | **Definition**: Ergonomics: scientific discipline | arts_and_creativity | historical_context | **Definition**: Ergonomics: The scientific discipline of optimizing human well-being and system performance through the design of environments, tasks, and equipment. **Intuitive Explanation**: Imagine trying to use a tool that's awkward to hold, or working at a desk that makes your back ache. Ergonomics is about making sure the things we use and the environments we work in fit *us*, rather than forcing us to contort ourselves to fit them. It's about designing for human comfort, safety, and efficiency. **Purpose**: The fundamental purpose of ergonomics is to prevent injury, reduce fatigue, and enhance productivity by aligning human capabilities and limitations with the demands of tasks and environments. In the domain of applied fields, this translates to creating safer, more effective workplaces and products, thereby improving quality of life and economic outcomes. **Mechanism**: Ergonomics operates by systematically analyzing the interaction between humans and their work systems. This involves understanding human physical and cognitive characteristics (anthropometry, biomechanics, psychology) and applying this knowledge to design or modify workstations, tools, tasks, and organizational structures. The goal is to minimize physical strain, cognitive overload, and error potential. **Historical Development & Context**: The roots of ergonomics, or "human factors" as it was initially known, emerged significantly during World War II. Engineers and psychologists observed that human error in operating complex machinery, like aircraft, was a major cause of accidents. They began studying how human perception, attention, and physical capabilities influenced performance under stress. Pioneers like Alphonse Chapanis, often called the "father of human factors," advocated for designing systems around human users, rather than expecting humans to adapt to poorly designed systems. Post-war, the discipline expanded into industrial settings, recognizing the link between workplace design and worker well-being, efficiency, and injury rates. The rise of computers and office work in the late 20th century further propelled ergonomics into mainstream awareness, focusing on issues like repetitive strain injuries (RSIs) and visual fatigue. **Examples**: * **Example 1: The Office Chair**: * **Problem**: A standard, flat chair offers no lumbar support, forcing the user to slouch, leading to lower back pain. * **Ergonomic Solution**: A chair with adjustable height, armrests, and a contoured backrest that supports the natural curve of the spine. * **Reasoning**: By matching the chair's design to the human spine's natural lordosis (forward curve), lumbar support reduces muscular effort required to maintain posture, thus preventing strain and discomfort. The adjustable height ensures feet are flat on the floor or a footrest, maintaining proper leg circulation and posture. * **Example 2: Software Interface Design**: * **Problem**: A complex software program with inconsistent button placement, unclear icons, and excessive steps to complete a common task. * **Ergonomic Solution**: A user interface with intuitive navigation, standardized icons, logical workflows, and clear feedback mechanisms. * **Reasoning**: This applies cognitive ergonomics. By minimizing cognitive load (the mental effort required to understand and use the software), users can complete tasks faster, with fewer errors, and less frustration. Consistent design reduces the need for users to constantly re-learn patterns, improving efficiency and satisfaction. **Common Misconceptions**: * **"Ergonomics is just about office chairs."**: While office ergonomics is a prominent application, the field encompasses a vast range of environments and tasks, from manufacturing assembly lines and surgical suites to aviation cockpits and video game design. * **"Ergonomic products are always expensive and unnecessary luxuries."**: While some specialized ergonomic equipment can be costly, many ergonomic principles are about smart design and simple adjustments that can be implemented affordably. The long-term cost savings from reduced injuries and increased productivity often outweigh initial investments. **Connections**: * **Prerequisites**: Basic understanding of human anatomy and physiology (e.g., skeletal structure, muscle function) and fundamental principles of design. * **Builds To**: Advanced topics like biomechanical modeling, cognitive workload analysis, safety engineering, user experience (UX) design, and industrial design. Ergonomics provides the foundational understanding of human capabilities and limitations crucial for these more specialized areas. | 0.6 | high | 6 | 865 | [
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1c3c080a-03a7-4772-ad79-b7f3be065127 | scaffolding aims build strong | mathematics | historical_context | This scaffolding aims to build a strong foundation for understanding Algebraic Combinatorics by connecting core ideas from Combinatorics and Abstract Algebra. ## Building Bridges to Algebraic Combinatorics **Prerequisite Review** * **Key Concept 1: Permutations and Combinations (Combinatorics)** Recall that permutations deal with the *ordered* arrangements of objects, while combinations deal with *unordered* selections. For instance, the number of permutations of selecting 2 letters from {A, B, C} is P(3,2) = 3!/(3-2)! = 6 (AB, BA, AC, CA, BC, CB), whereas the number of combinations is C(3,2) = 3!/(2!1!) = 3 ({A,B}, {A,C}, {B,C}). * **Key Concept 2: Group Theory Basics (Abstract Algebra)** Remember that a group is a set with an operation satisfying closure, associativity, an identity element, and inverses. A key example is the symmetric group $S_n$, the set of all permutations of $n$ elements, with the operation of function composition. * **Key Concept 3: Polynomial Rings (Abstract Algebra)** A polynomial ring, like $\mathbb{Z}[x]$, consists of formal sums of terms $a_k x^k$ where coefficients $a_k$ are integers. Operations like addition and multiplication are defined component-wise and distributively, respectively. **Knowledge Gap Identification** * **Common Gap 1: The "Why" of Algebraic Structures in Counting** Learners often see combinatorics as purely about counting discrete objects. The leap to using algebraic structures (like groups or rings) to *represent* or *generate* these counts can feel abstract. * **Bridge:** Think of algebraic structures as powerful languages or tools. Just as calculus provides tools to understand continuous change, algebraic structures provide frameworks to understand patterns and relationships in discrete counting problems. For example, the symmetries of an object (a group) can tell us how many distinct ways we can arrange its parts. * **Common Gap 2: Connecting Abstract Operations to Concrete Counts** It's not always obvious how operations like group multiplication or polynomial addition translate into combinatorial insights. * **Bridge:** Consider the structure of the symmetric group $S_3$. Its elements (permutations) can be mapped to specific arrangements of objects. The group operation (composition) then corresponds to performing one arrangement after another. This systematic way of combining arrangements is a form of counting. **Building the Bridge** * **Step 1:** From the combinatorial world of counting arrangements and selections (permutations, combinations), we have established methods for enumerating possibilities. * **Step 2:** We extend these ideas by associating these counts and structures with algebraic objects. For example, we can represent permutations as elements of a group ($S_n$), and the properties of these group elements (like conjugacy classes) directly correspond to patterns in arrangements. * **Step 3:** This leads us to Algebraic Combinatorics, where we use the tools and language of abstract algebra (groups, rings, modules) to solve combinatorial problems, and conversely, use combinatorial objects to understand algebraic structures. We might represent a set of combinatorial objects as coefficients of a polynomial or as elements in a ring. **Conceptual Transformation** * **How Permutations become Group Elements:** Permutations, initially viewed as functions mapping elements to other elements, are formalized as the members of a group ($S_n$), where their composition follows group axioms. * **Why Abstract Operations Matter:** Operations like composition in $S_n$ aren't just abstract; they directly model sequential transformations of combinatorial objects, providing a systematic way to analyze their structure and count them. * **Where Familiar Patterns Appear:** The concept of "distinct arrangements" from basic combinatorics is now viewed through the lens of group actions and orbits, revealing deeper structural similarities. **Connection Reinforcement** * **Similarity:** Both fields are concerned with structure and enumeration, albeit with different primary tools. * **Difference:** Basic combinatorics focuses on direct counting formulas, while algebraic combinatorics uses algebraic machinery to uncover and prove combinatorial identities and structures. * **Extension:** Algebraic combinatorics extends basic counting by providing powerful algebraic frameworks to represent, manipulate, and prove properties about combinatorial objects and their enumerations. **Checkpoint Questions** 1. Can you explain the difference between a permutation and a combination, and provide a simple example for each? 2. What are the four fundamental properties of a group, and how might the set of permutations of three items satisfy them? 3. How might associating a combinatorial count with the degree of a polynomial offer a new perspective on the counting problem? | 0.65 | medium | 6 | 1,005 | [
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36811038-034c-4117-ae13-95316be55125 | new study indicates medication | interdisciplinary | research_summary | A new study indicates that medication can reverse many of the defining symptoms of fragile X syndrome in mice, a finding which could have implications for people with other developmental disabilities too.
The development reported Thursday in the journal Neuron is significant, scientists say, because the treatment brought about major changes even in adult mice with fragile X, the most common form of inherited intellectual disability.
For the study, researchers looked at a new drug intended to target a protein in the brain that’s been linked to fragile X. Mice given the medication began exhibiting fewer symptoms of the condition, researchers said. Improvements were seen in learning and memory capabilities as well as behavioral areas, with the mice becoming less sensitive to sound, for example.
Read more HERE. | 0.6 | medium | 5 | 149 | [
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f2d0464f-567f-4838-a2df-9dc9eecd54f1 | Source: U | life_skills | practical_application | Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Library of
Medicine, MEDLINEplus Medical Encyclopedia
"Histoplasma grows as a mold in soil and infection results from inhalation of airborne fungal particles. Soil
contaminated with bird or bat droppings may have a higher concentration of mold..." | 0.35 | high | 4 | 65 | [
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70d26d9d-83e1-41ab-b338-c6c7b532dc4d | ONE-A-DAY 50s, 60s 70s | life_skills | historical_context | ONE-A-DAY – In the 50s, 60s and 70s, commercial aviation didn’t have a very good safety record. News of airline accidents frightened my mother and rightly so. However, in June, 1971, I was graduating from USAF pilot training, and my mother wanted to pin pilot wings on her boy’s chest. So, with my father holding her hand, she took a deep breath and boarded a Frontier Airlines Prop Jet, and flew from Salt Lake City to Denver and then on to Enid, Oklahoma. Today, things are quite different. The last fatal airline crash was Colgan Air flight 3407 in 2009, killing 50 people near Buffalo, New York. In sharp contrast, private-plane crashes have killed over 1,500 people since 2009 – 30 times as many as the Colgan Air Crash. That’s a rate of a little over one death per day!
WHAT CHANGED? – Advances in technology created the Angle of Attack indicator, GPWS (Ground Proximity Warning System), the onboard Wind Shear Alerting System, TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System), advanced color weather radar, and a myriad of other gee whiz devices to improve safety. The airlines, following FAA mandates, installed all of ‘em and greatly enhanced their recurrent training programs. Today, commercial airline crashes due to icing, inadvertently hitting the ground, mid-air collisions, wind shear and other causes have been almost wiped out. The Commercial Jetliner accident rate has dropped 85% since 2000. Conversely, the private-pilot crash rate has increased 20%. (Reference: U.S. National Transportation Safety Board). Accidents involving private pilots in their own or rented planes, mostly small, single-engine aircraft, averaged about 12 per 100,000 flight hours from 2007 through 2010. Private-flight crashes were 12 times higher than the average rate for other types of general-aviation flying. More disturbing is the rate of deadly wrecks in the world of private flying. It’s growing faster than the accident rate and deaths are up 25 percent since 2000.
THE MISTAKES JUST KEEP COMIN’ – Pilots have overloaded planes, failed to check weather reports, and made flying mistakes that caused planes to lose lift (stall) or go out of control. Pilots can’t seem to stop flying into rising terrain or weather when on a VFR flight. In an average week, three GA aircraft crash due to fuel starvation (Reference AOPA’s Safety Institute). Pilots seem to be oblivious to the lessons that could be could be learned previous accidents.
MISTAKES LIKE: VFR to IMC – In 2005, the NTSB issued a study focusing on the role of weather as a common cause of small-plane accidents. In May 20, 2011, a Beechcraft Bonanza crashed in Taos, NM, after the pilot chose to fly into a cloud and slammed into a mountainside. Investigators found that the pilot, who died, hadn’t checked weather reports for the route he flew.
LOSS OF CONTROL AND THE “AFFORDABLE” BUT NOT MANDATED, AOA – The largest category of accidents are those in which pilots lose control during flight, said Bruce Landsberg, President of the AOPA Foundation. An NTSB safety panel, which met in June 2012, has endorsed working with the FAA to make it cheaper for small planes to install an Angle of Attack Indicator or AOA which will warn pilots when wings are in danger of losing lift. AOPA installed an AOA in the Air Safety Institute’s Archer. However, pilots are not interested in using the Archer’s AOA because they are more comfortable with the “old, unreliable airspeed [indicator] because that’s what they had lived with since they began flying.” (AOPA Pilot, August 2012, page 20). Landsberg lamented that, “AOAs will only be of value to a generation of pilots who are exposed to it at the beginning of training.”
IF YOU’RE YELLING “YAHOO!”, IT’S PROBABLY NOT GOING TO END WELL – I confess, I’ve been caught up in a juvenile stunt or two; even yelled “Yahoo!” Yes, the number one cause of accidents is still PILOT ERROR. Pilots can be trained ad nauseum, (“until the cows come home”), but they are still human and sometimes make bad choices. The following accident is particularly tragic. On Feb. 15, 2010, a Cessna T337G twin-engine plane crashed near Monmouth County Executive Airport in Farmingdale, New Jersey, as family members of those on board watched. The three adults and two children on the plane died. The NTSB found that after buzzing the airfield at high speed, the plane pulled into a climb and a section of the right wing separated from the aircraft. The plane was overloaded and flying too fast for such a maneuver.
THE WINGS PROGRAM – Strapping yourself and friends/family into your aircraft is serious stuff. It’s not a hobby. Flying radio controlled airplanes is a hobby with, I might add, a better safety record than GA. The FAA’s Wings Program was developed to increase a pilot’s exposure to aviation safety courses and enhance flight proficiency. After signing up for “Wings” at http://FAASafety.gov/ , pilots complete three Safety Courses a year and fly with a CFI three times year. That’s six flights in 24 months versus one in the BFR program. However, fuel and instructors aren’t free and “Wings” takes more time. So, the “Wings” participation level is very low. At the end of 2009, there were 234 recreational pilots, 3,248 sport pilots, 211,619 private pilots, 125,738 commercial pilots and 144,600 airline transport pilots. Yet, this year, only 14,745 pilots have earned at least one phase in the WINGS – Pilot Proficiency Program. (Reference http://faasafety.gov/). That’s just 4% of the Private, Recreational, Sport and Commercial pilots in the US. Is it ignorance or apathy? Apparently, many pilots don’t seem to know, or care.
IT’S UP TO US! –The accident rate is not going to get better until something changes. Mandatory continuation training would rejuvenate flight schools and invigorate Pilot Proficiency Programs and companies like Flight Safety, Inc. But, for now, it’s up to each pilot to be as professional as possible! At least take the AOPA and FAASafety.gov courses. Friends and family who fly with you believe that you are outstanding, professional and proficient pilot; otherwise, they wouldn’t get in your airplane. I contend that pilots should be as proficient and competent as their family and passengers think that they are. Until something changes, we can count on one thing: Somewhere in America – TODAY – at least one life will be lost in a GA accident.
To read more, see Bloomberg Newsweek, Deadly Private-Plane Crashes Prompt U.S. Call for Basics, by Alan Levin on June 19, 2012 | 0.7 | medium | 6 | 1,637 | [
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d020ba1d-c71f-47ed-8f03-d3d5be29fc5c | Let's dive into problem | interdisciplinary | historical_context | Let's dive into a problem that showcases the mechanical aspects of photonics, focusing on the precision required in optical system design. ## Problem: Designing a Stable Optical Mount for a High-Power Laser Diode **Problem**: You are tasked with designing a mechanical mount for a high-power laser diode intended for a precision alignment system. The mount needs to hold the laser diode securely while minimizing thermal drift and vibration-induced misalignment. The laser diode has a standard TO-Can package (e.g., TO-18 or TO-56) and emits light at 808 nm. The operating temperature range for the laser diode is specified as 20°C to 60°C, and the system must maintain beam pointing stability within 50 microradians (µrad) over this temperature range. The mount will be integrated into a larger optical bench. --- ## Common Pitfalls * **Pitfall 1: Over-reliance on a single material for the entire mount.** * **Why it's wrong**: Assuming that a single material, even a good one like aluminum or stainless steel, will perform optimally across the entire temperature range is a common oversight. Different materials have different coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE). If the mount is made from a single material, and that material expands or contracts significantly with temperature, it can induce stress on the laser diode package or cause relative movement between the laser diode and other optical components, leading to misalignment. For instance, a mount with a high CTE might expand too much, pushing the laser diode out of its intended position. * **Pitfall 2: Neglecting thermal gradients and localized heating.** * **Why it's wrong**: High-power laser diodes, while efficient, still dissipate some energy as heat. This heat can cause localized temperature increases within the mount itself, even if the ambient temperature is stable. If the mount design doesn't account for how this heat is conducted and radiated, or if it traps heat, uneven expansion can occur. This leads to thermal gradients across the mount, which are more damaging to alignment stability than uniform temperature changes. For example, a mount that tightly clamps the laser diode without adequate heat sinking might cause the base of the mount to be significantly hotter than its outer edges. * **Pitfall 3: Ignoring the mechanical interface and clamping forces.** * **Why it's wrong**: Simply screwing a laser diode into a hole or using a generic clamp can apply uneven or excessive forces. The TO-Can package is relatively delicate, and the semiconductor chip inside is susceptible to stress. Excessive or non-uniform clamping can deform the package, shift the internal optics (like the laser facet or internal lensing), or even cause catastrophic failure. The goal is to secure the diode without distorting it or inducing stress that changes with temperature or vibration. --- ## Correct Method The core challenge is to maintain the precise position and orientation of the laser diode relative to other optical elements, despite temperature fluctuations and potential vibrations. This requires a careful consideration of materials, thermal management, and mechanical interfaces. * **Step 1: Select appropriate materials based on CTE mismatch and thermal conductivity.** * **Because**: To minimize thermal drift, we need a mount material whose expansion or contraction has a predictable and manageable effect on the laser diode's position. Ideally, the mount's CTE should be chosen to compensate for or minimize the relative movement of the laser diode package itself. Furthermore, efficient heat dissipation is crucial to prevent localized heating and thermal gradients. * **Action**: Consider using materials with low CTE, such as Invar (a nickel-iron alloy) or Zerodur (a glass-ceramic), for critical alignment components. For heat sinking, materials with high thermal conductivity like copper or aluminum are beneficial. A common strategy is to use a combination: a thermally conductive base for heat dissipation and a low-CTE material for the primary mounting surface that interfaces with the laser diode. * **Step 2: Design for thermal management and gradient minimization.** * **Because**: Localized heating from the laser diode can create significant thermal gradients, leading to differential expansion and misalignment. Effective heat sinking and airflow management are essential. * **Action**: Incorporate a heat sink directly attached to the laser diode's mounting surface. This could be a finned heat sink or a conductive block designed to draw heat away from the diode and dissipate it into the ambient environment or a cooling system. Ensure the design allows for convection cooling by leaving adequate space for air circulation around the heat sink. Consider thermal interface materials (TIMs) like thermal paste or pads between the laser diode package and the heat sink to improve thermal contact. * **Step 3: Design a stress-free and adjustable clamping mechanism.** * **Because**: The laser diode package must be held securely without inducing mechanical stress that can cause misalignment or damage. The clamping mechanism should allow for fine adjustment of the diode's position and orientation. * **Action**: Instead of a simple screw-down clamp, use a kinematic mount design or a set-screw system with a compliant element. A common approach for TO-Can lasers is a threaded collar that gently presses against the side of the can, or a clamp that uses spring-loaded screws to apply even pressure. For fine alignment, the mount itself can be designed with adjustment screws that allow for tip, tilt, and sometimes even lateral adjustments of the laser diode relative to the mount's base. These adjustment screws should be lockable to maintain their position. * **Step 4: Calculate and analyze thermal expansion effects.** * **Because**: The target stability is 50 µrad. We need to quantify the expected movement and see if it meets the requirement. * **Action**: * **Estimate Laser Diode Package CTE**: TO-Can packages are typically made of Kovar or similar alloys, with CTEs around 5-7 ppm/°C. * **Estimate Mount Material CTE**: Let's assume we use a copper base (CTE ~17 ppm/°C) for heat sinking and an aluminum housing (CTE ~23 ppm/°C) for the main structure, with a small Invar (CTE ~2 ppm/°C) insert for the precise mounting surface. * **Calculate Temperature-Induced Displacement**: The temperature change is ΔT = 60°C - 20°C = 40°C. * **Consider a critical dimension**: Let's say the critical distance from the laser diode's emitting facet to a reference point on the mount is L = 10 mm. * **Calculate expansion of the laser diode package**: ΔL_diode = CTE_diode * L * ΔT = (6 ppm/°C) * (10 mm) * (40°C) = 2400 ppm * mm = 2.4 µm. * **Calculate expansion of the mount**: This is more complex due to material combinations. However, if the Invar insert is the primary mounting surface, its expansion will be minimal: ΔL_invar = CTE_invar * L * ΔT = (2 ppm/°C) * (10 mm) * (40°C) = 800 ppm * mm = 0.8 µm. * **Analyze relative movement**: The critical factor is the *difference* in expansion between the laser diode and the mounting surface. A well-designed mount would aim to have the mounting surface (Invar) expand very similarly to the laser diode package. If the Invar is rigidly attached to an aluminum housing, the housing's expansion could pull the Invar, causing relative motion. * **Translate displacement to angular error**: For a beam divergence angle, a lateral shift Δx over a distance d to a target results in an angular error θ ≈ Δx / d. If we consider the laser diode to be emitting from a point L = 10 mm away from a pivot point, and the entire assembly shifts by Δx = 2.4 µm (diode expansion) - 0.8 µm (invar expansion) = 1.6 µm, the angular change would be θ = (1.6 µm) / (10 mm) = 0.16 mrad = 160 µrad. This is higher than the 50 µrad requirement. * **Refine the design**: This calculation highlights the need for a more sophisticated design. Perhaps the Invar insert should be thermally isolated from the aluminum housing, or the Invar itself should be the primary structure. A better approach might be to use an Invar structure, with a copper heat sink attached to the *outside* of the Invar structure to draw heat away without directly expanding the mounting surface. Or, use a material like machinable ceramic with very low CTE and moderate thermal conductivity. * **Step 5: Incorporate vibration isolation.** * **Because**: Mechanical vibrations can also cause misalignment. * **Action**: Consider damping materials or carefully chosen mounting points for the entire assembly to the optical bench to minimize vibration transmission. --- ## Verification 1. **Thermal Cycling Test**: Place the assembled mount with the laser diode in a thermal chamber. Cycle the temperature between 20°C and 60°C. Monitor the laser beam's pointing stability using a position-sensitive detector (PSD) or a camera system. Record the angular deviation over multiple cycles. 2. **FEA Simulation**: Perform Finite Element Analysis (FEA) on the mount design. * **Thermal Analysis**: Apply the temperature range (20-60°C) and the estimated heat load from the laser diode. Analyze the resulting temperature distribution and thermal gradients. * **Structural Analysis**: Use the temperature distribution from the thermal analysis as input for a structural analysis. Calculate the resulting displacements and rotations of the laser diode's emitting facet. Convert these displacements into angular errors (µrad) based on the optical lever arm. * **Modal Analysis**: Perform a modal analysis to understand the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the mount. This helps identify potential resonances that could be excited by vibrations. 3. **Vibration Testing**: Mount the assembly on a vibration table and subject it to relevant vibration profiles (e.g., MIL-STD-810G). Monitor the beam pointing stability during vibration. 4. **Material Property Verification**: If using custom materials or complex alloys, verify their CTE and thermal conductivity properties with supplier datasheets or independent testing. --- ## Generalizable Pattern The reasoning process for designing stable optical mounts, especially concerning thermal and mechanical stability, follows this pattern: 1. **Define Stability Requirements**: Quantify the acceptable misalignment (e.g., angular, lateral) and the environmental conditions (temperature range, vibration levels). 2. **Identify Sources of Instability**: Recognize that thermal expansion/contraction (due to uniform temperature changes and gradients) and mechanical vibrations are primary culprits. 3. **Material Selection Strategy**: Choose materials based on their Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) and thermal conductivity. Prioritize low CTE for critical alignment surfaces and high thermal conductivity for heat dissipation. Consider material combinations to optimize performance. 4. **Thermal Management Design**: Design for effective heat transfer away from sensitive components to prevent localized heating and thermal gradients. This involves heat sinks, thermal interfaces, and consideration of airflow. 5. **Mechanical Interface Design**: Develop clamping and mounting mechanisms that are stress-free, provide secure holding, and allow for fine adjustment without introducing backlash or hysteresis. Kinematic principles are often useful here. 6. **Quantify Performance**: Use analytical calculations or FEA simulations to predict the expected misalignment under the specified environmental conditions. 7. **Iterate and Verify**: Refine the design based on calculations/simulations and then experimentally verify the performance through rigorous testing (thermal cycling, vibration testing). --- ## Broader Application This structured approach to problem-solving is fundamental in many areas of mechanical and optical engineering: * **Aerospace Engineering**: Designing satellite instruments or aircraft components that must maintain precise alignment in extreme temperature variations and subject to vibration during launch. * **Semiconductor Manufacturing**: Developing wafer chucks or lithography stages that require sub-micron precision over varying temperatures. * **Precision Metrology**: Creating stages and fixtures for interferometers or coordinate measuring machines where even nanometer-level deviations are critical. * **Optical System Design**: Beyond just the mount, this thinking applies to the design of entire optical benches, telescope structures, or microscopes where maintaining the relative positions of lenses, mirrors, and detectors is paramount. The core principle is to systematically analyze the requirements, identify potential failure modes (instabilities), select appropriate solutions (materials, design features), quantify performance, and verify through testing. This methodical approach ensures that the final engineered product meets its demanding specifications. | 0.65 | medium | 6 | 2,674 | [
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d53f2602-ef8c-4525-bba0-90a9774d2b26 | ATEC 205 : ENGINE PERFORMANCE II, ADVANCED FUELS | language_arts | problem_set | ATEC 205 : ENGINE PERFORMANCE II, ADVANCED FUELS
Continuation of ATEC 200. Emphasis on modern fuel-injection systems. Includes diagnosing fuelrelated drivability; emission testing; computerized inputs and outputs relating to fuel delivery and emission control; and an introduction to alternative fuels.
- Describe computer control inputs, outputs and operation as they pertain to fuel delivery and emissions.
- List automotive fuel injection types, and operation.
- Describe engine knocks, detonation, pre-ignition, and timing.
- List and define emissions, testing, and the causes and results thereof.
- Perform diagnosis and repair of fuel injection components including computerized inputs and outputs.
- Demonstrate proper use of scan tools and digital storage oscilloscopes while diagnosing sensors and actuators associated with fuel injection systems.
- Diagnose emission related problems.
- Demonstrate proper use of a five gas analyzer.
- Read with understanding in order to perform competently as an Automotive Technician.
- Convey ideas in writing in order to perform competently as an Automotive Technician.
- Communicate effectively to perform competently as an Automotive Technician.
- Use math to solve problems and communicate to fulfill responsibilities of an Automotive Technician.
- Understand the expectations of the workplace, the responsibilities of an Automotive Technician and the methods of securing employment within the field.
- Demonstrate the ability to use technology effectively in the workplace.
- Demonstrate professionalism in workplace appropriate dress and conduct.
- Demonstrate the ability to work as a productive member of a team.
At a Glance
2.0 or higher in ATEC 200 and ATEC 202.
Program: Automotive Technology | 0.65 | medium | 4 | 367 | [
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71a5b9f2-c272-4a5a-a5f7-7ec88e7f7df3 | Scottish Palaeoecological Archive Database | technology | data_analysis | The Scottish Palaeoecological Archive Database (SPA Database) provides information on sites in Scotland where the natural archives of peat bogs, mires and lochs preserve evidence of past environments and environmental change. The University of Edinburgh and Historic Scotland are jointly involved in the development of the SPA database as a national resource, available through the medium of the Internet.
2005-2008 has seen a major upgrading of the Scottish Palaeoecological Archive Database. The database and server have been upgraded and all of the searches have been rewritten and improved. We hope that users will notice the improved speed and ease of use of the system.
Details about the ArcMap and ArcView compatibility of the SWAD are available here.
Palaeoecology is the study of ancient life. It aims to reconstruct how past ecosystems worked and how the environment has changed through time. By gaining an understanding of how the environment has changed over time we may gain a better explanation for the environment of today.
Palaeoecologists use many different forms of evidence ranging from fossil plants to animal bones to the sediments in which they are found; in Scotland the majority of our evidence for past environments comes from the study of peats and lake sediments and the fossil pollen and spores which they contain. This database, therefore, concentrates upon those sites where pollen evidence has been recovered although the addition of other classes of palaeoecological data will be possible in the future.
It is important you are aware of the Copyright Restrictions on the use of the SPA Database, before trying to access it.
We greatly value your comments, both on the utility and functionality of the system and on the data records held. Please email feedback to the address below. Please include as much detail as you can, particularly if you encounter any problems. For example, please describe the series of operations you have undertaken, or specify which site, worker or other data record was in error. | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 394 | [
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ee9e1f85-0f8e-4d54-b705-112c93e9adde | Happy Hanukkah from OUP | interdisciplinary | creative_writing | Happy Hanukkah from OUP! This year we’re celebrating with a series of eight books celebrating Jewish history and culture over the eight nights of Hanukkah. As your menorah candles burn bright, take this opportunity to honour both the endurance of the Maccabees and the Jewish people.
In this blog post, Carol J. Ola, author of Bernstein Meets Broadway: Collaborative Art in a Time of War, discusses how Leonard Bernstein and the creative artists of the musical On the Town used their hiring decisions to challenge racial performance practices of the day.
As we celebrate the golden anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a significant aspect of the struggle for racial equality often gets ignored: racial activism in performance. Actors, singers, and dancers mobilized over the decades, pushing back against racial restrictions that shifted over time, and On the Town of 1944 marked an auspicious but little-recognized moment in that history.
On the Town opened on Broadway in December of 1944 towards the end of World War II, and marked the debut of a dazzling group of creative artists: the composer Leonard Bernstein, the lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green, and the choreographer Jerome Robbins. All were the children of Jewish immigrants. Balancing left-leaning personal politics with the pressure of launching their first show, this team of twenty-somethings made a number of hiring decisions that boldly challenged racial performance practices of the day. Exploring those progressive choices opens a perspective on the racial climate for performers of the day.
One daring step was to feature the Japanese-American dancer Sono Osato in the starring role of Ivy Smith, a character shaped as an “All-American Girl,” while the United States was at war with Japan, internment camps established on the West Coast and Southwest, and government propaganda aggressively targeting the Japanese. Like thousands of Japanese nationals, the US government detained Osato’s father, Shoji, immediately after Pearl Harbor, and he remained on parole in Chicago for most of the war. As a result, he could not attend his daughter’s opening night on Broadway. Declassified FBI files tell the story of Shoji’s imprisonment and persecution, revealing no justification for the treatment he received.
As a result, On the Town—a show about three American sailors on a one-day leave in New York City—flirted with what was then called miscegenation. The pursuit of Ivy by one of those sailors — Gabey (played by Cris Alexander, an actor of Caucasian heritage) — was the central premise of the show. A promotional photo, now housed in clipping files at the New York Public Library at Lincoln Center, shows Osato standing seductively over Alexander, giving a sense of how brazenly their relationship was portrayed.
Equally audacious were staging decisions related to African Americans in the cast. On opening night, there were 6 blacks out of a cast of 56. By today’s standards, that number appears as tokenism. Yet these black performers directly challenged racial stereotypes of the day. On the Town eschewed blackface, steering clear of bandanas, maids, and butlers. It did not segregate the black performers on stage, as was often the case, but rather it modeled an integrated citizenry. Black dancers in sailor costumes stood comfortably alongside their white comrades, and there was mixed-race dancing, some of which required training in ballet. These staging decisions modeled a vision of urban interracial fellowship. They imagined an alternative to the segregated US military of World War II, and they offered an early case of what has become known as color-blind casting. The Times Square Ballet, which closed Act I (pictured here), was one of the principal showcases for these progressive racial statements.
In yet another gesture towards civil rights, Everett Lee took over the podium of On the Town, becoming one of the first African Americans to conduct an all-white orchestra in a mainstream Broadway production. Lee had been concertmaster of the show since opening night, and he became conductor nine months into the run.
The racial desegregation of performance on New York’s stages gained traction as the Civil Rights Movement grew more effective in the 1950s and 1960s. Yet the advances were never completely game-changing, as has been the case in the culture at large. To its credit, however, the first production of On the Town yielded a site of opportunity, and many of its performers of color went on to distinguished careers in the theater and concert hall.
Featured image credit: ‘Light beams in the England Sky’ by Paul Green. CCO via Unsplash. | 0.65 | medium | 6 | 968 | [
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7a50072c-5376-4f3f-9a4a-93c4b40d8ac5 | California-based startup Air Protein | science | historical_context | California-based startup Air Protein developed an alt meat called Air Meat, which is made using microbes that turn recycled carbon dioxide (CO2) into protein. Described by the company as “the meat of tomorrow,” Air Meat was designed to replicate the flavor and texture of real meat products like chicken, pork, steak and seafood. So, how does the company make alt protein out of thin air?
Inspired by old NASA research, which focused on innovative ways to feed astronauts on long space missions, the startup uses microbes to recycle old factory CO2 emissions and combine them with water and energy to create protein. After that, in a process like beer fermentation, the protein is turned into a flour-like substance. Then, oils, nutrients and flavorings are added to turn that powder into the final product: Air Meat.
“Air fermentation begins with the same building blocks that all plant life needs to grow — air, water and renewable energy,” according to Air Protein’s website. “Elements of the air are whisked together with our cultures until they produce protein within a matter of hours — a process similar to how yogurt, cheese and wine are made. The protein that the cultures produce is harvested and purified, then dried to remove water.”
Related: Nature’s Fynd: The Billionaire-Backed Alt Meat Derived from a Volcanic Microbe
The alt meat sector has come a long way since soy was being used as the go-to source of protein. Now, as the sector booms, food scientists can take all manner of ingredients, including fungi, peas, sunflowers and even cells from living animals, and create realistic-tasting, plant-based or animal-free meat products.
Air Protein is among several companies, including Finland-based Solar Foods, that are making meat and dairy alternatives from captured emissions in a bid to mitigate the climate impact of agriculture. Air Meat requires zero arable land to produce, and only needs recycled and purified CO2 in addition to other elements found in the air, renewable energy, water and minerals. Those are then fed to a culture to nourish and grow protein, which involves no greenhouse gas emissions in the process.
According to Air Protein’s founder, Lisa Dyson, the company is driven by an impact-focused mission to transform the food system. The animal agriculture industry not only slaughters billions of animals, but also contributes around 14.5 percent of global greenhouse emissions and destroys rainforests. Not only does Air Meat use 524,000 times less land and 112,000 times less water per kilogram than traditional meat production, but it also takes considerably less time.
Founded in 2019, Air Protein already has big names backing the brand, and has received nearly $33 million in investments during a Series A funding round led by ADM Ventures, Barclays and Google Ventures (GV). Air Protein has won numerous awards including the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Innovation Award and the Davos World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer Award.
Although Air Protein is not yet available at retailers across the US, the brand promises consumers that the launch will take place soon, as the company scales up production to meet expected demand. In the future, the company plans to use direct air capture units to remove CO2 directly from the air.
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b7e79b4a-cb13-4535-9705-93ed22524de7 | DIY Chatroom Home Improvement | interdisciplinary | historical_context | DIY Chatroom Home Improvement Forum - View Profile: Super33
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| 0.6 | medium | 4 | 213 | [
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3503db3a-ce78-476e-b2ec-3ea3aada1762 | use often add kind | language_arts | creative_writing | We use it often to add a kind of distance to an event, as if our own viewpoint is not enough. Did the traveller stop him in the street just to tell this story? Yes, Shakespeare wrote them.
Language Ozymandias calls himself 'king of kings' - a phrase taken from Biblical language - which smacks somewhat of arrogant pride. Finally, instead of a concluding couplet we get another EF group.
Any type of essay. Not only does it make a powerful and profound statement about humanity, but it does so in 14 lines. The final caesura repeats this effective trick, following 'Nothing beside remains.
This is THE poem where all the words, the breaks, the punctuation, the form, the structure, everything is worth commenting on. It certainly puts a lot of the Youtube myths to bed. The ninth line — the first line of the sestet — marks a shift in the direction of the poem and is frequently called the "turn" or, for you Italian scholars, the volta.
It is Petrarchan in that the poem is structured as a group of eight lines octave and a group of six lines the sestet. A sonnet is a fourteen-line poem, whose ideal form is often attributed to the great Italian poet Petrarch.
After the initial trochee, we get two iambs, but then we go back to a trochee with "round the," finally ending with an iamb; there's no name for this jumping around! | 0.7 | low | 4 | 313 | [
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0a6b0dfb-4201-47f5-a465-cc8e1553d108 | How one write history | interdisciplinary | historical_context | How can one write the history of Convivencia from the perspective of Islamic Legal History? In front of such a big task, one must confront an empty space in legal historiography.
The central place of Dhimma (the religious minority) has not been sufficiently studied in the context of Islamic Studies, thus remaining quasi unexplored in juristic matters. Why is this so? It is so much more difficult to understand because the episode of Al-Andalus has grounded two points of view: first of all, one knows that the concept is rather old as it arose just some centuries after the death of the Prophet. Two texts are at the basis of developing the juristic status of dhimmi, one of which is ṣaḥīfat al-Medina (The Charter of Medina), better known as the “constitution” of Medina (7th century). This is the Prophet Muhammad’s first legal document. The establishment of peace—necessary for the cohabitation of different tribes that had been in conflict in Medina for ages (with very complex alliances and divisions between the Arab Jewish tribes, on the one hand, and polytheistic Arab tribes, on the other)—through the “constitution” of Medina took place thanks to the religious and moral authority of the Prophet.
The second text is the Convention of Najrān (7th century) promulgated between the Prophet and the Christians. And even if the juristic framing between Muslims and Christians had been formalized in the famous pact of Umar—the second successor of the Prophet—the document would still remain a very controversial document; but the major turning point took place in Al-Andalus with Abu Bakr Muhammad al-Turtucī (1059–1126), by way of fixing the applicable juristic rules definitely. But why did this all happen in Al-Andalus? Why did one have to wait for the contact of Islam with non-Islamic Europe? The theory of Dhimma implies that Jews and Christians—as a counterpart to paying taxes, called Jizya—profited from a far reaching protection (himāyā): the integrity of their physical and moral security; the free practice of religious liberty, belief, and practice by their cults; and freedom of trade and residence. Even more: the status of dhimmi was a guarantee to have access to science. Respect for their language, costumes, religious places, temples, schools, and tribunals were as sacred as those of Muslims! The Dhimma as a category of Islamic Law embraces, for example, the obligation of a debtor towards the creditor. This etymological origin underlines that the concept is highly normatively loaded. In its origin, it is a kind of contractual hospitality. This normativity is very much embedded in ethics and philosophy: Convivencia is only possible by exteriorizing one’s relationship to oneself—the creation of an alter ego, which demarcates the frontiers of a normative transgression.
Secondly, the Andalusian episode is additionally fundamental in the opposite direction. Indeed, it refers also to the re-conquest of Al-Andalus by Almohadi puritans and their abolition of dhimmitude by targeting and massacring not only Jews and Christians, but also tolerant Muslims. This was followed, albeit much later, by texts from jurists of the Hanbali school—the legal and ideological wing of present day Wahhabism—who increasingly strove for and advocated intolerance and repression of Christians and Jews in the land of Islam (dār al-islām). The founding texts of the three Sunni Islamic legal schools (al-islām al-sunnī) malikite, ḥanafite, and šhāfiīte only dedicated short chapters to the question of dhimmi and dhimmitude, the governing of the payment of jizya (tribute), and sometimes inter-religious marriage but with very little—almost nothing, in fact—on cohabitation between them and Muslims or about the regulation or details of daily life. Where does this lack of regulation originate? The question merits more in-depth legal and sociological study.
Finally, Dhimma and dhimmitude are key concepts to approach Convivencia in a different and conceptually as well as historically more profound way. These issues deserve a deeper examination.
Similarities, differences, and tensions between the relationship to the collective identity of the Self and of the “Other” as well as of the “Other” as the Self deserve to be further explored and better understood by returning to Iberian origins. Transfer from the Iberian dhimmi under Muslim domination to the “Indio dhimmi” under Christian domination merits study as well.
Thus, Convivencia has to be reflected in the light of theorizing the fundamental relation between the Self and the “Other”: The question of living together among others. The “Other” casts a special light on this issue. Besides being read from a religious as well political, lingual, and cultural dimension, Convivencia must be examined in the context of the complex discourse about Otherness in the sense of transforming the particularized “otherhood” into a kind of universal “samehood.”
The limits to this universalization are too obvious, but we need more theoretical insight into “Dhiminess” in the context of a discourse about the forms and origins of “citizenship”—a concept of the modern world—as a central membership role in society, on the one hand, and the legal conceptualization of a variety of legal cultures within the Islamic tradition on the other hand.
Thereby, the project will try to deepen our knowledge of the legal basis of cohabitation in a specific historical context as seen through the lens of those dominating, that is the Islamic culture of the time, while also elucidating some limits and possibilities of learning from the fascinating historical experience known as “Convivencia.” | 0.55 | medium | 5 | 1,214 | [
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9e7e281c-2d83-411f-92e3-da56875bbbc5 | August Ganghofer April 1827 | technology | historical_context | August Ganghofer (* 23 April 1827 in Diessen at the bunting lake; " 29. March 1900 in Munich) was an important Bavarian Forstbeamter and father of the writer Ludwig Ganghofer. It was married with the professor daughter Charlotte Louis.
August Ganghofer studied the subject forestry in Aschaffenburg and Munich after the Abitur in Ottobeuren. It received its training as the Forstbeamten in the Sachsenrieder forest. After the engagement in the year 1847 he married 1854. It had its first employment in Kaufbeuren. From 1859 to 1873 to it Forstrevier in pastures in the Upper Palatinate was subordinate. 1872 it published the standard work the practical wood computer, whereby with "wood" the forest was meant. From 1873 to 1875 Ganghofer was circle forest master in peppering castle, then he was promoted to forest advice and shifted to Munich.
it receives the rank of a Minsterialrates to 1879 and becomes the director/conductor of the Bavarian Forstwesens.Er operated in this function the fundamental reorganisation of the Bavarian Forstwesens by introduction of the Furthermore August Ganghofer already used itself the 1870er for years for the knowledge transfer between practice and teachings. On its operation 1881 the royal Bavarian laboratory, today Bavarian national institute for forest and forestry of the University of Munich (LWF) in freesing based. 1887 were raised Ganghofer for its earnings/services into the not-paled knight conditions. As it 1897 into the retirement goes receives it also still the title secret advice.
We found here 3 articles.
|Andrew Ellicott Douglas|
» August Adolph of Berlepsch
» August Ganghofer | 0.65 | medium | 5 | 435 | [
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98470530-d3dc-46ef-8d89-5aa121a3f4fe | These images, acquired High | technology | historical_context | These images, acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), which is developed and operated by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) and carried on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, show Rabe Crater, situated in the southern highlands of Mars. A vast field of black dunes, some towering up to 200 metres high, is located at the centre of the crater, which is about 100 kilometres across.
These dark dunes are composed of fine volcanic ash, which is also visible as a dark layer clinging to the sides of the depressions in the crater floor. The ash is carried out of this layer by the wind, accumulating elsewhere to produce impressive dune fields. Referred to as ‘basalt dunes’ due to their volcanic mineral composition, these formations are particularly frequent on Mars. Indeed, basalts represent the most common volcanic rock found on the Red Planet. This kind of dune is a very rare occurrence on Earth, found on Hawaii, New Zealand and Iceland, for example. They only arise where volcanic activity occurs in a dry climate.
Signs of the winds in Rabe Crater
The dunes display a variety of patterns that indicate the different prevailing wind directions. Scientists determine the wind direction that produced a dune based on the orientation of the dune ridge and the upwind side of the dune. For instance, the dunes in image 1 can be seen spreading over a cliff and down into a depression; these are referred to as ‘falling dunes’. Dunes elsewhere in the field are aligned in a variety of different directions.
The dark dunes on Mars were produced in the more recent geological past, less than 100 million years ago, when the water once found on Mars had probably disappeared. This is evident from the absence of chemical weathering, that is, the oxidation of the iron-rich ash with its typical reddish discolouration – which is seen on the majority of the Martian surface.
Another unusual feature of Rabe Crater is that a large part of its floor has subsided. Of the layered sediments that once filled this crater, only a kind of table mountain remains, protruding from the floor. Its cause is yet unknown, although it may have been produced by ice that previously filled cavities beneath the crater and then melted and flowed away as water. The large, dark field of dunes formed on the plateau later on.
A smooth environment produced by ‘terrain softening’
Rabe is an impact crater with a diameter of 108 kilometres. Like most craters in this region, it has a severely weathered appearance. Characteristics that define young impact craters, such as high crater walls, terraces or central mountains are no longer as pronounced or have disappeared.
Some craters in the vicinity, especially to the north of Rabe, remain visible only as outlines; the material creep occurring along slopes gradually levels the terrain. The geological process that shapes the surface in this way is referred to as ‘terrain softening’. A high concentration of ice in the substrata probably assisted this process, permitting surface material to ‘creep’ on the slippery layers of subterranean ice, even at low slope angles. Additionally, most craters in this region possess a smooth floor, as they are filled with sediment. Only one smaller, substantially younger, impact crater at the bottom left of image 3 is an exception.
The location of Rabe Crater on Mars
Rabe Crater (named after the astronomer Wilhelm Rabe, 1893-1958, former director of the Munich University Observatory in Bogenhausen) is situated roughly 320 kilometres to the west of the gigantic impact crater Hellas Planitia. Measuring 2300 kilometres in diameter and with a depth of over seven kilometres, the Hellas Basin is among the largest impact craters in the Solar System. Rabe Crater and Hellas Planitia are both located in the southern highlands of Mars, a region far older than the northern lowlands and one that therefore possesses a large number of impact craters. This topographical dichotomy is one of the most noticeable features of our neighbouring planet.
The images acquired by the HRSC and used to produce this image mosaic come from Mars Express orbits 12,736 and 2441. The image resolution is approximately 15 metres per pixel. They show an area located at approximately 44 degrees south and 35 degrees east. The colour plan view (image 3) was acquired using the nadir channel, which is directed vertically onto the surface of Mars, and the colour channels; the oblique perspective view (image 1) was derived from data acquired by the HRSC stereo channels. The anaglyph (image 2), which produces a three-dimensional impression of the landscape when viewed through red-blue or red-green spectacles, was derived from the nadir channel and one stereo channel. The colour coded aerial view (image 4) is based on a digital terrain model of the region from which the landscape topography can be derived.
The HRSC experiment on the Mars Express mission
The High Resolution Stereo Camera was developed at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) and built in collaboration with partners in industry (EADS Astrium, Lewicki Microelectronic GmbH and Jena-Optronik GmbH). The science team, which is headed by principal investigator (PI) Ralf Jaumann, consists of over 40 co-investigators from 33 institutions and 10 countries. The camera is operated by the DLR Institute of Planetary Research in Berlin-Adlershof. The images presented here were created by the Planetary Sciences Group at the Freie Universität Berlin. | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 1,198 | [
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bec53ef1-667f-466e-86e8-275f2c62206b | accepted manuscript article published | interdisciplinary | research_summary | This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in the Journal of Web Librarianship on March 18, 2021, available at https://doi.org/10.1080/19322909.2021.1906823 .
Examination of Academic Library Websites Regarding COVID-19 Responsiveness
Kristine Condic Reference Librarian University Library Oakland University Rochester, Michigan email@example.com
Kristine Condic is a reference librarian at the Oakland University library. She teaches a General Education course called Introduction to Library Research and Technology in the Information Age. Her research interests include the use of electronic resources and leadership in libraries.
Abstract
The COVID pandemic has affected all aspects of life including academic libraries. While many are now open, services have changed to accommodate social distancing such as limiting guests to those within the university community and requiring face coverings for those who enter and study. In order to determine a library's COVID policy, users may examine the library website, but is this information easy to find? In a study of library websites from 132 "R2" academic libraries, it was found that most libraries displayed COVID-related services and hours directly on the library's webpage or one click away. Opening status and hours were readily displayed on library webpages, however, user populations accepted in the library and face covering requirements were not as easily discovered. During this time of uncertainty, it behooves libraries to make their COVID policies clear on their websites.
Keywords: University Libraries, COVID response, Library Hours, Face Coverings, COVID-19
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many aspects of daily life. People have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in different ways, from eating out to staying in, going to work or setting up a home office, and stocking up or taking it one day at a time. Are academic libraries responding in different ways as well?
At the beginning of the pandemic's onset in the United States in March 2020, many academic library buildings closed. While users could still access online databases and, in many cases, receive reference assistance, they were unable to browse the physical collections and study within the building. Then, as libraries progressed through the various stages of COVID-19 responsiveness, many libraries began opening their doors to users, albeit with reduced services and various restrictions. As of December 2020, when this article was written, many but not all libraries had re-opened. Some open libraries have limited visitors to those within the campus community, and some have required users to wear a face covering in the building. Given the varied levels of access, potential library users have a heightened need for information about their library's COVID-19 adjustments, and it has become necessary for each library to provide clear guidance on its new policies and protocols. How easy is it for library users to find this information?
Literature Review
Many authors have discussed the importance of clear web communications during a disaster or public emergency. Schmidt (2010) highlighted the importance of using the latest web technologies to enhance communications, including Google Documents and Google Talk. The Auburn University libraries used these services internally as well as externally to distribute
information effectively. Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Eng (2002) positioned the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) library's "Ask a Librarian" button prominently on the library's webpage. While library services were up and running five days after the 9/11 attacks, BMCC librarians felt it was vital to provide open communications with the public.
Many libraries have turned to their disaster plans to guide them through best practices during times of crisis. Though numerous disaster plans address procedures for elevated security risks such as 9/11, floods, and hurricanes, these plans may still be appropriate to use for addressing the current pandemic. Hamilton and Brown (2016) studied how library disaster plans have shifted focus from item recovery to maintaining library services, and noted the importance of providing up-to-date, accurate information. This recommendation is certainly applicable during the current pandemic.
Having clear information on the library website is important at all times but it becomes a necessity during a pandemic. In a thorough literature review, Riley-Huff (2012) identified best practices for effective web content, and these include:
* blocking or "chunking" information so that only one idea is outlined in one paragraph;
* presenting information as bullet points to allow for more effective comprehension compared with paragraphed prose;
* avoiding use of images as a way to present textual information; and
* refraining from using color to highlight desired text since some users are colorblind and would not catch the emphasis placed on red lettering.
QuickSprout, a website devoted to search engine optimization, encourages web designers to keep navigation simple so that users can find desired information quickly (Lofgren, 2020). Other recommendations include minimizing text and using short sentences (Lofgren, 2020). Hick's law can be applied to web design, and this law states that users faced with many choices will take longer to make decisions than users faced with fewer choices (What is Hick's Law, n.d.). Optinmonster, a web design site, applies Hick's Law and asserts that users can make decisions quicker from website content if extraneous material is removed (Thompson, 2021). Applying this theory of simplicity and straightforwardness can guide web designers as they enter updated information about a library's hours and services. Additionally, users tend to view websites as if they were reading a big letter F across the website (Nielsen, 2006). As a result, important notices need to be located at the top or in the middle of the webpage (Thompson, 2021). Similarly, Dominguez, Hammill, and Brillat (2015) determined that it is prudent for librarians to provide time-sensitive information to users efficiently so as not to waste their time. This includes providing jargon-free text, as well as a simplistic layout with a limited number of links.
Other medical emergencies and crisis situations have illustrated the need for accurate information. Majid and Rahmat (2013) surveyed students and working adults in Singapore regarding their information needs during the H1N1 virus outbreak in 2009 and discovered that the primary purpose for users to seek information was to understand the proper measures to take in order to stay healthy. The authors found that one of the major concerns identified by users was too much information – the important nuggets were getting lost in the vast amount of information provided. In a similar vein, Zach (2011) examined public library websites in the United States during emergencies and found that libraries tend to share information about the library itself as opposed to information about the emergency. They concluded that libraries are in a great position to enhance their reputation by providing trustworthy information that users can easily find. The New York Public Library showed one approach to doing this while responding
to COVID-19, by using Twitter to notify the public of latest developments related to the pandemic, as well as announcements regarding health and financial support (Alajmi & Albudaiwi, 2020).
How have academic libraries in the United States addressed the COVID-19 pandemic? Hinchliffe and Wolff-Eisenberg (2021) developed an ongoing survey to academic libraries seeking information on many topics including library building hours, general access to the library, library services provided during the pandemic, and student resident status. Mehta and Wang (2020) described a case study of Bridgetown State University's shift from in-person services to remote. This was also the case in Nigeria, where many libraries closed but still provided electronic resources for their users (Fasae, Adekoya, & Adegbilero-Iwari, 2020). Rafiq et al. (2021) described the issues encountered by seven Pakistani university libraries when making the shift to remote services, such as unreliable internet connectivity and the digital divide. In the United States, Wang and Lund (2020) examined public library websites during March and April 2020 and found that over 90% of the libraries were closed and 98% announced programs that were suspended or discontinued.
How easily can a potential user determine if an academic library is open, if the general public is permitted to enter, or if face coverings are required while in the building? Does the user need to burrow deep within a website to find answers to these questions, or are these issues addressed on homepage of the library's website? The purpose of this study is to determine the ease of finding COVID-19-related information on the library's website.
Methods
Websites from 132 academic libraries in the United States were examined between October 29 and November 5, 2020, to determine if library buildings were open, if the general public was permitted to enter, and whether face coverings were required. The selected libraries were "R2" Carnegie classification institutions – doctoral universities with high research activity. "R1" institutions, doctoral universities with very high research activity, were not included, since many of these libraries tend to have branches, and it was easier to focus on the status of main libraries. A list of libraries whose websites were examined in this study is listed in the Appendix.
In order to search for information on the library's website about building closures, nonaffiliate access, and requirements for face coverings, the researcher initially examined the homepage of the website. First, it was assessed whether the homepage presented an indication that COVID-19-related information was available. That information might be explicitly stated, in the form of information about library access, or indirectly presented, in the form of a link to COVID-19-related information on another page.
The researcher also recorded the number of clicks needed to view the actual information. If information regarding building closure, face covering use, or non-affiliate access was present, then the researcher recorded that incident as zero clicks. If COVID-19-related information was found on the next page after clicking on a homepage link, that was recorded as one click. Two clicks were recorded if another link needed to be clicked, and so on. The key question the researcher wanted to answer was: how many clicks does it take before one of the three types of information (building closure, face covering requirement, or non-affiliate use) was answered?
Regarding homepage links that counted as a first click, these included links specifically labelled as COVID-19-related information and also generic, non-COVID-19 links. However, if COVID-19 related information was not readily apparent, links such as "Library Hours" and
8
"News Items" were investigated. If no information was found, the university's homepage was then explored.
It is important to note that data were gathered from websites of main libraries, not branch libraries. In addition, many times information regarding building closure, face coverings or community use was not found in the same location on the website, however, if one of these issues was addressed, then the number of clicks was recorded for that once piece of information.
Results
First, did the library homepage provide any COVID-19-related information or any indication that services had been adjusted? See Figure 1.
[PLACE FIGURE 1 HERE]
Of the 132 R2 libraries, 109 (83%) did provide some level of COVID-19-related information or an indication that COVID-19 updates were available on another page, for example with helpful labels such as "COVID-19 Updates", "Returning to Campus", or "Latest COVID-19 Message". However, the remaining 23 libraries (17%) did not provide any sort of COVID-19-related information on the homepage, in other words, the webpage appeared not to have changed since the onset of the pandemic.
If the desired information on library status, non-affiliate users, and requirements for face coverings was not readily available on the website, then links would need to be followed. How many clicks did it take to find information about any one of these issues (Figure 2)?
[PLACE FIGURE 2 HERE]
Many libraries provided relevant information right on the library's homepage (42%, n = 55). This means that a notice was on the homepage providing information about the library's opening or closure, face covering requirement, or non-affiliate use. However, more libraries required users to click on a link to find specific information about these adjustments. Library information was most commonly found within one click (45%, n = 59) and was usually clearly labeled as a COVID-19 update or message. However, in the case of nine libraries, relevant library information about COVID-19 related services was found after two clicks, and two libraries positioned it even deeper under three links. In these cases, the researcher needed to peruse the website using links labeled "About the Library" and "Library Hours". In other words, the information about COVID-19 was on the library's website but not easily located.
Seven libraries provided no COVID-19-related information regarding a change in library hours, the need for a face covering or building use for the general public. In these instances, COVID-19-related information was found on the university website, usually quite easily.
How many libraries were open at the time of evaluation (between October 29 and November 5, 2020)? Eighty-eight percent (n = 116) of the library buildings were open, while the remaining 12% (n = 16) were closed. (See Figure 3.) Of the 116 open buildings, three were open by appointment or reservation-only, while two were open every other day or three days/week. These statistics reflect the building status of the general libraries. On one campus, a specialized library was open while the general library was closed.
[PLACE FIGURE 3 HERE]
If the building was open, was it open to non-affiliate users such as the general public as well as area researchers, or was building access limited to those affiliated with the university?
10
(See Figure 4.) While 52% (n = 68) had restricted library access to university students, faculty, and staff, 8% of library websites (n = 10) explicitly stated that the general public may enter. In addition, 29% (n = 38) did not mention whether non-affiliate users could enter the building. There were two noteworthy idiosyncrasies: of the 68 libraries that restricted access to the campus community, two stated that university retirees were welcome in the library. In addition, two libraries, identified as libraries not allowing non-affiliate use, did permitted the general public to use the building during daytime and weekday hours only.
[PLACE FIGURE 4 HERE]
Are library users required to wear face coverings? While face coverings are one of the overt signs that a pandemic is taking place, are they required within the library building? (See Figure 5.) Over 91% (n = 106) of the libraries that were open required users to wear face coverings. The information presenting this kind of requirement was usually straightforward. The most extreme policy was one library's emphasis on the need to wear face coverings even when studying alone.
The other cases need some explanation. No library website explicitly indicated that face coverings were not required in the library. Rather, there was either no mention for the need for face coverings (n = 2), or a statement (usually on the university, not library, website) indicated that the wearing of a face covering was either recommended, encouraged or promoted. In two cases, website viewers were asked to go to other websites (such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)) for clarification.
[PLACE FIGURE 5 HERE]
Discussion
Libraries have addressed this pandemic on their websites in different ways. Some sites contain brightly-colored banners boldly announcing COVID-19-related policies and services. Others provide COVID-19 information via links that blend into the background. A few libraries have placed COVID-19-related information on pages with homepage links ambiguously labeled "Working Together" or "Updates to Library Services". However, too many bury the information in news announcements or updates that, in some cases, scroll across the page like mini ticker tapes.
The literature states that the best way to make sure that users receive messages is through clear, straightforward web design. In other words, if the library building is closed, it should be stated on the front page of the library's website. If face coverings are required while users are in the building, this should be stated clearly. In some cases, information regarding face coverings was buried under PDF links labeled "COVID-19 procedures", only to be found by users who are willing to spend time searching for the desired information in a text-heavy PDF document. If non-affiliates are not allowed in the building, libraries should state this clearly on the homepage. Libraries should not find themselves needing to turn away users, possibly including potential donors, because of an ambiguous or unstated directive.
In order to communicate effectively with users during emergencies and disasters, the following practices are recommended:
* Keep navigation simple. Position important information on the homepage and under a series of links.
* Remember the letter F and place important items at the top or in the middle of the page.
* Focus on one announcement at a time. If the building is closed, state so explicitly. Do not bury that information in large blocks of text.
* Display the information using bullet points.
* Avoid placing text-based information within images or PDFs.
* Avoid using colorful lettering to provide emphasis. Instead, use bold lettering, or better yet, use <strong> for greater accessibility.
* Keep in mind Hick's Law and remove extraneous material so that users can focus on the important issue.
* Keep vocabulary simple. Avoid jargon and flowery language.
* Use short sentences and phrases.
* Recognize that users spend minimal time viewing a website. If the information is not clearly presented or labeled, they likely will not find it.
While many of these recommendations can be applied to web design in general, it is imperative that library web designers present pandemic-related information as clearly as possible.
This study found that almost 90% of the libraries were open at the time the data was gathered in early November 2020. Many of the library websites indicated that the library building was re-opening or that new hours were in place indicating that libraries are adjusting their building status and hours as COVID-19 related statistics change. A majority of the libraries restricted access to the campus community, though 38 libraries made no mention of community restrictions. Non-affiliate users would likely find this lack of clarity on the library's website quite frustrating. Face coverings were required for entrance into most libraries in early November during a time when COVID-19 hospital admissions and deaths were high, however, even then,
not all libraries explicitly stated that face coverings were mandatory. As building status, community use, and face covering issues change because of a decrease in COVID-19 deaths and hospital admissions, it remains vital that libraries state their requirements for entry clearly on their library homepages.
One of the limitations of this study is the thoroughness of the search. First, the library's home page was examined for links to COVID-19 related information. In some instances, the information was readily available on the home page or links were provided where more information could be found. If COVID-19 related information was not readily apparent, links such as "Library Hours" or "News Items" were investigated. If no information was found, the university's homepage was then explored.
Conclusion
In summary, most libraries have provided useful information about COVID-19-related policies on their website. The goal is to make sure that users can find COVID-19-related information quickly, and this can be achieved through clear, straightforward web design. Keeping the message simple and directly on the library homepage are key factors. Given the extraordinary times people face with this pandemic, it is best that libraries provide COVID-19related policies as clearly as possible for the health and welfare of their users.
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Lofgren, L. (2020). 13 Website Design Best Practices for 2021. Quicksprout. https://www.quicksprout.com/website-design-best-practices/
to-covid19/
Majid, S., & Rahmat, N. A. (2013). Information Needs and Seeking Behavior During the H1N1 Virus Outbreak. Journal of Information Science Theory and Practice, 1(1), 42-53. https://doi.org/10.1633/JISTaP.2013.1.1.3
Mehta, D., & Wang, X. (2020). COVID-19 and digital library services – a case study of a university library. Digital Library Perspectives, 36(4), 351-363. https://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-05-2020-0030
Nielsen, J. (2006). F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content (original study). Nielsen Norman Group. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped-pattern-reading-web-contentdiscovered/
Rafiq, M., Batool, S. H., Ali, A. F., & Ullah, M. (2021). University libraries response to COVID19 pandemic: A developing country perspective. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 47(1) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2020.102280
Riley-Huff, D. (2012). Web accessibility and universal design: a primer on standards and best practices for libraries. Library Technology Reports, 48(7), 29-35.
Schmidt, G. (2010). Web 2.0 for Disaster Response and Recovery. Journal of Web Librarianship, 4(4), 413-426. https://doi.org/10.1080/19322909.2010.511038
Thompson, N. (2021). 11 Web Design Principles that will Boost your Conversion Rate. Optinmonster. https://optinmonster.com/11-web-design-principles-that-will-boost-yourconversion-rate/
Wang, T., & Lund, B. (2020). Announcement Information Provided by United States' Public Libraries during the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic. Public Library Quarterly, 39(4), 283-294. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2020.1764325
What is Hick's Law? (n.d.). The Interaction Design Foundation. https://www.interactiondesign.org/literature/topics/hick-s-law
Zach, L. (2011). What Do I Do in an Emergency? The Role of Public Libraries in Providing Information During Times of Crisis. Science & Technology Libraries, 30(4), 404-413. https://doi.org/10.1080/0194262X.2011.626341
APPENDIX: Library websites examined
Air Force Institute of Technology-Graduate School of Engineering & Management
American University
Arizona State University-Downtown Phoenix
Arkansas State University-Main Campus
Azusa Pacific University
Ball State University
Baylor University
Boise State University
Bowling Green State University-Main Campus
Brigham Young University-Provo
Catholic University of America
Central Michigan University
Chapman University
Claremont Graduate University (Claremont Colleges Libraries)
Clark Atlanta University
Clark University
Clarkson University
Cleveland State University
College of William and Mary
Colorado School of Mines
CUNY City College
Delaware State University
DePaul University
Duquesne University
East Carolina University
East Tennessee State University
Eastern Michigan University
Florida A&M - Agricultural and Mechanical University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Institute of Technology
Fordham University
Gallaudet University
Georgia Southern University
Hampton University
Howard University
Idaho State University
Illinois Institute of Technology
Illinois State University
Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis
Jackson State University
Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University)
Kennesaw State University
Kent State University at Kent
Lehigh University
Louisiana Tech University
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola University Chicago
Marquette University
Marshall University
Mercer University
Miami University-Oxford
Michigan Technological University
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Montclair State University
Morgan State University
New Mexico State University-Main Campus
North Carolina A & T State University
North Dakota State University-Main Campus
Northern Arizona University
Northern Illinois University
Nova Southeastern University
Oakland University
Ohio University-Main Campus
Old Dominion University
Portland State University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rockefeller University
Rowan University
Rutgers University-Camden (original in New Brunswick)
Rutgers University-Newark
San Diego State University
Seton Hall University
South Dakota State University
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
Southern Methodist University
St Louis University
Stevens Institute of Technology
SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry SUNY = State Univ of NY
Teachers College at Columbia University
Tennessee State University
Tennessee Technological University
Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi
Texas A & M University-Kingsville
Texas Christian University
Texas Southern University
Texas State University
The New School
The University of Montana
The University of Texas at San Antonio
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
University of Akron Main Campus
University of Alabama in Huntsville
University of Alaska Fairbanks
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of California-Merced
University of Colorado Colorado Springs
University of Dayton
University of Denver
University of Idaho
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
University of Maine
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
University of Maryland-Baltimore County
University of Massachusetts-Boston
University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
University of Massachusetts-Lowell
University of Memphis
University of Missouri-Kansas City
University of Missouri-St Louis
University of Nebraska at Omaha
University of New England
University of New Orleans
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
University of North Carolina Wilmington
University of North Dakota
University of Rhode Island
University of San Diego
University of South Alabama
University of South Dakota
University of Toledo
University of Tulsa
University of Vermont
University of Wyoming
Utah State University
Villanova University
Wake Forest University
Western Michigan University
Wichita State University
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Wright State University-Main Campus
Yeshiva University
FIGURES
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e73bdc45-f883-44d0-9d68-1d6534f28950 | “Writing Women Back Into | social_studies | historical_context | “Writing Women Back Into History” is the national Women’s History Month theme for 2010.
“The history of women often seems to be written with invisible ink. Even when recognized in their own times, women are often not included in the history books.”
Woman suffrage in the United States goes back to the early-1800s. Women were not granted the right to vote until 1920, with the passage of the 19th Amendment.
This year marks the 90th anniversary of this important achievement in women’s history. Visit the exhibit in the Perry Library lobby through April 15, 2010 to learn more about the Woman Suffrage movement. | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 151 | [
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89f3131c-5cb5-4f47-91c3-2c976467c101 | As we all know, the U | social_studies | historical_context | As we all know, the U.S. jury system has been under constant attack for at least the last 30 years. Some of our current leaders don’t seem to understand how important the U.S. civil jury system has been over the years. Neither do they seem to grasp the importance of preserving it for this and future generations. I thought it might be a good idea to see how some of our Nation’s more well-known statesmen from years past felt about the importance of the jury system and the right to a trial by jury. Let’s see what each had to say.
The founders of our nation considered the right of trial by jury in civil cases an important bulwark against tyranny and corruption, a safeguard too precious to be left to the whim of the sovereign. Juries represent the layman’s common sense and thus keep the administration of law in accord with the wishes and feelings of the community.”
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist (1979)
The provisions of the Bill of Rights that safeguard fair legal procedures came about largely to protect the weak and the oppressed from punishment by the strong and the powerful who wanted to stifle the voices of discontent raised in protest against oppression and injustice in public affairs.
Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black
A native Alabamian
Freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and the blood of our heros have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith.”
First Inaugural Address (1801)
Representative government and trial by jury are the heart and lungs of liberty. Without them we have no other fortification against being ridden like horses, fleeced like sheep, worked like cattle and fed and clothed like swine and hounds.
John Adams (1774)
I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man.
Trial by jury is the best appendage of freedom by which our ancestors have secured their lives and property. I hope we shall never be induced to part with that excellent mode of trial.
Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel.
Patrick Henry (1788)
The protection of life and property, habeas corpus, trial by jury, the right of an open trial, these are principles of public liberty existing in the best form in the republican institutions of this country.
Daniel Webster (1848)
Trial by jury must be preserved. It is the best system ever invented for a free people in the world’s history.
Dean John Henry Wigmore (1929)
Trial by judge and jury is immensely superior to any other mode of trial that the wit of man has ever devised; and evil will be the hour when the people of this country supinely acquiesce in its invasion or consent to its abolition.
Judge Henry Clay Caldwell, U.S. Court of Appeals (1899)
The right of trial by jury is expressly secured by the Seventh Amendment. The U. S. Supreme Court has always guarded this constitutional right with jealousy.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stanley Matthews (1885)
The absence of any provision respecting the mode of trial in civil actions was so generally regarded as endangering the right of trial by jury, and evoked so much criticism on that ground, that the first Congress proposed the Seventh Amendment, which was promptly ratified.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Willis Van Devanter (1913)
A gentleman from England, who was an inspiration to his country during the dark days of World War II, also recognized the importance of the jury system. Winston Churchill had this to say:
The jury system has come to stand for all we mean by English justice, for as long as every case must be scrutinized by twelve honest men and women, both the plaintiff and the defendant alike have a safeguard from arbitrary perversion of the law.
Winston Churchill (1956)
I have to wonder what has happened in modern times to motivate some public officials to work hard to destroy the jury system. Could it be that powerful corporations – and the super rich – don’t want to be held accountable for their wrongdoing? Hopefully, that’s not the case, but I have to wonder!
Contact us today for a free legal consultation with an experienced attorney.
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Attorney Advertising - Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. | 0.65 | medium | 4 | 1,087 | [
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deb484ba-c440-4827-bb97-949ce2839d5c | MapGive community online volunteer | technology | experiment_design | MapGive is a community of online volunteer mapper. Volunteers who possess basic computer skills and have access to a reliable internet connection can join together to create illustrations of locations that are typically not represented in digital maps.
Often, when students are given an assignment to complete, whether responding to literature, researching another culture, performing a science experiment, or practicing calculations, they gloss over the power of place. What’s so special about a location?
Quite a bit, actually.
Having a firm grasp of location brings a great deal of context to all manner of content. When a student, a teacher–anyone really–has a solid understanding of where an event, idea, or process originated or a particular person or group of people came to prominence, the likelihood of engaging, memorable learning increases significantly. The power of place includes (but is certainly not limited to):
- knowing more about the setting of a story
- where an author lived or traveled
- the site of a famous scientific investigation
- a location where a student executed experiment is take place
- where a famous mathematical equation first appeared
- where a society began, flourished, or encountered the beginning of its end
- a place that is yet to be
Even when when teachers and pupils think they know a place very well, there’s always more to the story.
Related Resources: What digital tools and resources might teachers and students use to enrich what they know about a place? Take a journey through the following and see what you discover. | 0.65 | medium | 6 | 308 | [
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38e40c56-f2b5-4479-9c50-5df8348677b3 | Generational Values and Desires | science | historical_context | Generational Values and Desires
Generational study is important, helping organizations understand the various age groups they are working to help. For Focus on the Family, Millennials are the present generation moving (or not) into family life.
Like all generations, this one is shaped by those that preceded it. Millennials have unique characteristics, but in other ways not so different from others. This report examines a number of important aspects of this current generation while comparing it with other recent generations of Americans.
Millennials Largest Generation
Generations in America have toggled between growing and shrinking since 1910. The big jump of course, was the Baby Boomers (1946-1964). The Gen-Xers declined markedly from the Boomers’ high and Millennials, according to the Population Reference Bureau “include almost as many births as the original baby boom… They will become the largest generation of any living during the century.”1 Immigration will contribute significantly to their growth, unlike previous generations.
Fewer Married, But Desire to Wed
While Millennials (one in five / 21%) are half as likely to be currently married as their parents at the same age, Pew reports that generally the “youngest generation has the strongest desire to marry” which is “a reflection of their stage in the life cycle.”2 However, Pew explains that Millennials are five percentage points less likely than those of older generations to say that “successful marriage is one of their most important life goals.”3
Percent Married as Young Adults (age 18-28)
Millennials Less Likely to Have Children, More Likely Prior to Marriage
Millennials are less likely to have children than those of previous generations at the same age. This declines with every new generation in recent history. What is a stark contrast is that Millennials are twice as likely to have children out of wedlock and live as single parents compared to Boomers at the same age. They are also less likely to be living in the same household with their children than Boomers were (20% vs. 30%).5
Millennials More Likely Living with Parents and Cohabiting
Millennials are more likely to be living with other family members such as parents or siblings than the immediate two generations: 47% for Millennials, 43% for Xers and 39% for Boomers. Thirty-six percent of Millennials depend on their parents or other family members for financial assistance.6
They are also markedly more likely to cohabit but to do so with a strong desire to marry.7 Much of their decision to cohabit rather than commit to marriage is due to their deep anxiety over the possibility of failure based on so many of their parents’ own marital failures. This fear and pain is a key marker of this generation, and it nearly paralyzes them in terms of relational development.
Millennials are more likely to say they have better relationships with their parents compared with older generations.8
Care for Elderly Parents:
Younger See Their Duty
Millennials are more likely (63%) to see it as their duty to care for their aging parents compared to Boomers (55%) and Silents (38%). Xers were the only generation more likely than Millennials to feel this obligation (67%).
(The lower measure for Silents could be attributed to the reality that the question applied to very few of them since they were 60+ years of age when the question was asked in 2005.)
Thoughts on Changing Family Forms:
More Accepting of New Family Forms
Millennials are continuing the prior generational trend of being increasingly in favor of new family forms, but by a slightly higher margin. Pew explains, “Nearly half of those younger than 30 say the growing variety of family arrangements is a good thing.”9
What Makes Your Generation Unique?:
Silents Greatest to See Themselves as Unique
Pew has tracked how the past four generations see themselves as unique and distinct compared to others. Millennials are very likely to see themselves as unique and distinct, but not as highly as the Silents, primarily because of their experience of growing up during the Great Depression and serving in World War II.10
When asked what qualities set their generation apart, the following are their most-cited answers by percent.11
A majority of Millennials say that older generations are superior to the younger generations in strength of work ethic, moral values and respect for others.12
Education and Work:
Millennials Highly Educated, Less Employed
Millennials are the most educated of the last four generations, the most likely to have graduated from high school, and the most likely to have some college as well as completing 4 years or more of college. Millennials and Xers represent the first generations to have more women than men earn college degrees.
Workwise, Millennials are less likely to be employed, with 63% of today’s young adults employed compared to 70% of Xers and 66% of Boomers at the same age.13 This youngest adult generation is more than twice as likely (24%) to be working part-time compared to Xers (10%) at the same age and just slightly less than half than the Boomers (13%).
Millennials are more likely to be in the workforce than the Silents were at the same age, but as Pew explains, “That’s mainly because … a large share of the young women were stay-at-home moms.” 14 Millennials are the only generation of the last four that did not cite “work ethic” as one of their key qualities.
Millennials Markedly Low
Even with our nation engaged in foreign wars on many fronts over the last decade in the shadow of 9/11, military service among Millennials is dramatically lower compared previous generations, reducing the steady and steep generational decline to what is now a mere 2%.
Life Goals and Values: Marriage, Parenting, Big Income, Helping Others High Desires. Faith is Not Key for Millennials
Marriage - Fewer Millennials than Xers say having a successful marriage is one of their “most” or “very” important life goals, (82% vs. 85%).15
Parenting - Millennials are two percentage points more likely than Xers to say that being a good parent is their most important life goal, 52% vs. 50%.
Faith – Millennials are markedly less likely to say a “religious life” is important to them compared with Xers, 43% vs. 53%. Silents and Boomers were 68% and 59%.
Career Success and High Pay – Markedly more Millennials say that career success and high-pay are their “most” or “very” important life goals than Xers, 62% and 50% respectively.
Xers are slightly more likely that Millennials to say a religious life is a more important life goal than a successful, high-paying career (53% and 50%). Millennials said a financially rewarding career is a markedly much more important life goal than living a very religious life (62% v. 43%).16
Contrary to Popular Opinion, Millennials Are Actually Quite Low.
It has been widely reported and understood that Millennials may be the most civic, other-minded generation of the last century. Going by popular books and articles, one is likely to conclude largely that Millennials are “Generation We”, primarily dedicating great parts of their lives to helping others and their communities.
But nationally representative research by leading scholars on the issue comes to dramatically different conclusions. Two of these scholars are Professors Jean Twenge (San Diego State) and Christian Smith (Notre Dame). They explain that the “Generation We” understanding of the Millennials issues from surveys that examined relatively small, non-representative population samples and did not compare them with previous generations.
Jean Twenge’s Findings
As Twenge explains in a May 2012 Atlantic article, “You can’t really conclude anything about generational difference if you have data from only one generation.”17 Twenge’s work does not have this limitation. She uses two massive, nationally representative samples - 1 million high schoolers and 9 million college respondents - comparing Boomers, Xers and Millennials at the same age. Her data draws from what respondents said about themselves.
Her 2012 article published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that “For the most part, Millennials continued the downward trend in concern for others begun by GenX. In sum, Millennials generally score lower than previous generations in concern for others …”18
Twenge explains that most of the items on the social/community concern measures declined “faster or just as fast” for Millennials compared to Xers, than between Boomers and Xers.
Millennials were less likely to think about social problems, make efforts to conserve natural resources, be interested in or participate in government, voting, contacting their representatives, participate in demonstrations or boycotts or giving money to political causes. The decline in environmental concern and action are markedly steep. Three times as many Millennials said they “made no personal effort at all to help the environment” compared to Xers, (15% vs. 5%). 19
Millennials did show increased levels of community volunteering; however, Twenge explains that this could result from high schools being much more likely to encourage community volunteerism through school-organized programs, with only 9% of schools doing so in 1984, while 46% did so in 1999.
“In sum, these results primarily support the ‘Generation Me’ view, with linear downward trends in civic engagement and community feeling … the data analyzed here suggests that the popular view of Millennials as more caring, community oriented, and politically involved than previous generations is largely incorrect.” 20
Christian Smith’s Findings
The other large population-based study is Professor Christian Smith’s, who has been studying emerging American adults since 2001. Smith followed a large cohort of young Americans from beginning at ages 13 to 17 into their twenties, considering them in contrast with previous generations. Smith’s findings are similar to Twenge’s.
Based on interviews with hundreds of emerging adults in national samples, Smith reports these youngest adults possess an “extremely low estimation of anyone’s ability to make a positive impact on the world … very few are idealistic activist when it comes to their making a mark on the world.” Just as few “are bothered by their disconnection and low expectations.”21
The young adults who are hopeful about meaningful change and involved in efforts on behalf of others are a markedly small percentage of their generation, less than 5 percent. However, these few are notable, striving for the educational and economic opportunity of others, involved in urban renewal, promoting racial justice and ending human trafficking through communication, organizing and social-movement activism. These young adults “view anything less as selfish indifference that is morally intolerable.”22
Smith addresses the phenomenon of so many journalists adopting and spreading the “Generation We” story line of Millennials in stark language.
“The idea that today’s emerging adults are as a generation leading a new wave of renewed civic-mindedness and political involvement is sheer fiction. The fact that anyone ever believed that idea simply tells us how flimsy the empirical evidence that so many journalistic media stories are based upon is and how unaccountable to empirical reality high-profile journalism can be.”23
Generational study and comparisons are important because they provide a smarter context for understanding one’s work to reach and assist present generations in developing thriving families and growing faiths. And to do this, one must have a realistic, reliable research-based picture of how these generations are changing and how they compare and contrast with one another, regardless of the story those findings might tell.
These findings have significant implications for the work of ministries like Focus on the Family because they reveal that generations have been getting more self-focused and less self-sacrificing, an important quality for success in marriage, parenting and general healthy family functioning as well as overall life happiness and contentment. Given that these youngest generations consistently report marriage and successful parenting as important life goals, we must help them understand how essential strong family health and happiness are related to self-sacrifice and service mindedness.
Glenn T. Stanton is theGlenn T. Stanton is the Director of Global Family Formation Studies at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, CO and the author of Secure Daughters, Confident Sons: How Parents Guide Their Children Into Authentic Masculinity and Femininity and The Ring Makes All the Difference .
Andrew Hess is Research Associate for Family Formation Studies at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, CO and Adjunct Professor of Humanities and Theology at Colorado Christian University.
Originally published June 2012
© 2012 Focus on the Family. | 0.6 | medium | 5 | 2,762 | [
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993151d0-b961-4674-8eb0-267b9a8f97ad | term "fashion" generally refers | interdisciplinary | historical_context | The term "fashion" generally refers to a popular practice or style in the areas of clothing, makeup, accessories, footwear and so on. However, when considered in a strict sense, fashion mainly reflects the trend in dresses or the kind of attires and apparels people put on. The issues of style and design have a lot to play when looking at fashion across the globe. Fashion production has continued to be a moving trend all over the world. Several kinds of fashion attires are all over the place. Fashion trends keep coming onboard on yearly basis. The fashion enterprise is indeed an interesting aspect of business that is generating waves across the world.
Fashion productions are thriving all over the world. Different kinds of fashion products have continued to be produced by many companies across the globe. The fashion industry is always a beehive of activities in almost every nation of the world.
Actually, the fashion industry is a modern age product. This is a fact since most clothing materials were custom made prior to the mid 19th century. Before the advent of the fashion industry, people only made use of handmade and homemade clothing materials. Such materials were made by local tailors and other dressmakers in those days.
However, the dawn of 20th century marked the beginning of newventions in the fashion industry. Diverse kinds of modern technological tools were introduced. Different kinds of sewing machines, threads and other tools came onboard. There's also the development of the factory system of production whichave rise to the establishment of many fashion industries across the globe. Big fashion companies started making waves in various countries. This brave rise to the production of quality fashion attires, apparels and other clothing materials.
Today, mass production of fashion wears is the order of the day. There's the proliferation of fashion industries, companies, wholesale outlets, retail outlets and so on. Different kinds of fashion wears are now produced in diverse patterns. Diverse kinds of approaches are also being used in the production process.
The bulk of fashion production activities as it specific to the fashion industry actually started in the European and American continents. However, it has now assumed an international status. Fashion is now a highly globalized industry which is found in every continent of the world. Some fashion wears and products can be designed in one country while they are produced in another country. Such fashion products are also imported or exported across the globe after the production process.
Meanwhile different kinds of approaches are being used in the modern day fashion production. There's the production of raw materials such as textiles, fibers, fur and leather. There's also the production of different kinds of fashion products by manufacturers, contractors and fashion designers. Different kinds of styles and designs are also used in the production process.
Finally, fashion production has also attained another great height with the invention of the internet technology. Today, several fashion producers operate their business online. Lots of fashion products are now sold online. This has continued to change the face of the fashion enterprise across the globe. | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 607 | [
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a737625e-ad6c-4bf9-b19d-15fb1ddc76bd | Significant declines child deaths | technology | data_analysis | Significant declines in child deaths from pneumonia prove that strategies to defeat the disease are working, UNICEF said on the sixth World Pneumonia Day. But much more is needed to stop hundreds of thousands of children from succumbing to this preventable illness each year.
Pneumonia is still among the leading killers of children – accounting for 15 per cent of deaths, or approximately 940,000 children per year – but deaths from the disease have declined by 44 per cent since 2000, according to figures released recently by UNICEF.
“Pneumonia is still a very dangerous disease – it kills more children under five than HIV/AIDS, malaria, injuries and measles combined – and though the numbers are declining, with nearly 1 million deaths a year, there is no room for complacency,” said Dr. Mickey Chopra, head of UNICEF’s global health programmes. “Poverty is the biggest risk factor, and that means our efforts need to reach every child, no matter how marginalized.”
Deaths from pneumonia are highest in poor rural communities. Household air pollution is a major cause of pneumonia, so children from households which rely on solid fuels such as wood, dung or charcoal for cooking or heating, are at high risk. Overcrowded homes also contribute to higher pneumonia levels. In addition poor children are less likely to be immunized against measles and whooping cough, which are also among major causes of the disease.
Early diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia, and access to health care, will save lives, thus strategies must target low income communities.
The increased use of pneumonia vaccines, particularly in low income countries has led to progress against the disease, but inequities exist even in countries with wide coverage.
“Closing the treatment gap between the poor and the better off is crucial to bringing down preventable deaths from pneumonia,” Dr Chopra said. “The more we focus on the causes and the known solutions, the faster we will bring this childhood scourge under control.”
UNICEF’s Supply Division has today put out a call to innovators for new, improved and more easily affordable respiratory rate timers to aid in the timely recognition and management of pneumonia.
One simple treatment has had great success: trained community health workers give sick children the antibiotic amoxicillin in a child-friendly tablet form, as part of an integrated case management programme at the community level. Scaling up the availability of similar inexpensive medicines will help to reduce the treatment gap especially among hard to reach populations.
Simple measures such as early and exclusive breastfeeding; handwashing with soap; vaccination; and provision of micronutrients will also reduce the incidence of pneumonia. | 0.65 | medium | 6 | 542 | [
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d9c7eb11-9a08-418f-bdf1-3c11275d3418 | 57, their mother, Eloise | interdisciplinary | historical_context | At 57, their mother, Eloise, is the oldest known elephant to give birth to twins.
By Vicki Croke
The wise mother: Eloise, the 57-year-old matriarch, gave birth in August 2017 to twins who are thriving. Conservationists who monitor the group have named them “Elon Tusk” and “Emma” (after the actress Emma Watson).
Though it’s exciting to find twin elephant calves born among the wild group you study, Dr. Charles Foley, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Tarangire Elephant Project in Tanzania, was concerned the moment he met the two babies belonging to 57-year-old matriarch Eloise.
“The first time I saw them, when they were about three months old, they looked very thin and lethargic, and I wasn’t sure they were going to make it,” he says.
The odds were against them. Not many elephant conceptions result in twins in the first place—only about one percent. For the particular subpopulation Foley’s group monitors, these were the first recorded twins in 18 years. It’s then extra difficult to keep them alive. Among elephant twins, mortality rates are generally higher, according to WCS. A double challenge to provide for two babies at once.
Here & Now’s Lisa Mullins talked to Vicki Croke, host of WBUR’s The Wild Life blog.
So, Foley worried. But, as it turned out, the calves had drawn some lucky cards: A strong mother, early rains that brought out green grass, a home park with an enviable record of protection against poaching, and a set of siblings who seem happy to share their mother’s milk.
Today, the twins—brother, “Elon Tusk,” and sister, “Emma” (after the actress Emma Watson)—are 8 months old, playful, robust, and starting, in the words of Foley, “to pad out nicely.” They started off life at about 200 pounds each and are now perhaps 350 to 400 pounds, with Elon, the boy, bigger than his sister. Foley says that he and other members of the team “frequently see the two of them suckling happily at the same time.”
Those peaceful nursing sessions are a particular relief. Twins can end up competing over resources, an especially troublesome situation with male calves who tend to be larger and have, as Foley says, “higher growth rates and greater milk demands.” The conservationist has been observing the elephants here for 25 years, and he has seen that a male can become aggressive toward his twin sister by “trying to prevent [her] from suckling.” In the cases in the past where this has been observed, “The females would simply wait until the males were sleeping, playing, or otherwise distracted before suckling.” Yet, perhaps surprisingly, it was the females in these situations who have tended to do better. “Despite monopolizing their mother’s milk, it was the male infants that proved to be most vulnerable,” Foley reports. “Among them mortality rates are quite high.” In the case of Eloise’s twins, Foley says, “the male has shown no aggression towards his sister.”
At 57, Eloise, “is probably the oldest female ever recorded having twins,” Foley says, and in general, female elephants start having fewer infants over the age of 50.
But older elephants are often wiser elephants. They’re experienced. And Eloise, whom Foley has followed for a long time, has had a lot to do with the progress of the twins. “We have recorded Eloise’s group every month or so for close to 25 years, with a few gaps when I was away from the field,” he says. “She is the matriarch of her group (the oldest and largest female), and because of her large size, she is one of the more dominant females in the population, meaning that her group seldom gets pushed around.”
This matriarch is judicious though. “All elephants have individual personalities,” Foley explains in an email, “and Eloise is very relaxed around vehicles and has never been aggressive towards us. However, she has no qualms about throwing her weight around with other, more subordinate elephant groups, and will readily displace them from waterholes or fruiting trees.”
So the twins have a mother who can make sure they have access to food and water, and, at this point, the babies are feeding themselves as well as nursing. “Infants usually start feeding on grass at three months of age (to supplement suckling which they will do for 3-5 years),” Foley explains, “and we were fortunate that this year we had some good short rains, which provided lots of green grass for the twins to feed on. This helped them recover their body condition.”
Counting her own twins plus three calves recently born to other mothers, Eloise is the matriarch of a big group of 40 elephants. That’s one of the largest in Foley’s study population, though he says there are larger groups, including one with about 60 elephants.
Within Eloise’s group itself, there is plenty of help for the twins.
“Other females will provide general support such as protection and will generally fuss over the infants. Young females within the group that have yet to give birth will act as allomothers or ‘aunties’ to the youngsters, making sure they don’t get separated from the group, looking after them, and letting them suckle even though they don’t have any milk. Adult females rarely let other infants in their family group suckle from them—the energy requirements are simply too high.”
Elephant populations in Africa have been devastated by poaching, reduced by about thirty percent in just one seven-year period—from 2007 to 2014. And in Tanzania, it’s estimated that the elephant population fell by 60 percent in five years—from about 109,000 in 2009 to 43,000 by 2014.
But Tarangire National Park, Foley says, “is one of the safest Parks for elephants in Africa.” The park’s size, security, and its popularity with tourists help. He explains, “The Park is relatively small, has lots of tourists, and lots of Park rangers, and as a result there is very little elephant poaching in the ecosystem, even when the elephants leave the safety of the Park.”
In an important and comprehensive tally, “The Great Elephant Census funded by Paul Allen, that took place in 2014,” Foley points out that Tarangire was found “to be one of the few parks in Africa where the elephant population had increased” by more than five percent over a five year period. “We monitor a sub-section of the Tarangire elephant population numbering approximately 1,000 elephants, and, as best we can tell, none of these animals have ever been lost to poaching since the start of the study (although we do not monitor the bulls, so we don’t know what happens to them). The twins should therefore be as safe as they could be anywhere.”
Foley factors in the work of park rangers and local communities, as well as the experience and skill of Eloise for his sense of optimism about the twin calves. In a statement released by WCS, he said, “We have high hopes for their survival. Every elephant calf born is a step towards the recovery of the species, and twins are even better.” | 0.65 | medium | 5 | 1,631 | [
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6a87f177-3c9f-42b6-8c77-c95486b77053 | Recently Viewed clear all | technology | data_analysis | Recently Viewed
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L.A. Rams 72"x15" Snowman Table Runner
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Decorate your table with this Snowman Table Runner.
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Decorate your table with this Snowman Table Runner. 72" long by 15" wide, this plush table runner features a snowman parent and child at each end dressed in your favorite team's colors, along with the team logo and embroidered stars. Add the Table Top Snowman Family to complete the look!
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36d1e103-254c-45c5-b355-7dbce3b6bf77 | Last Updated Sep 2, 2009 4:31 PM EDT | technology | research_summary | Last Updated Sep 2, 2009 4:31 PM EDT
The idea that people have an equal opportunity to climb the economic ladder remains central to this country. It doesn't matter where you start, according to this doctrine, because what matters is where you're going.
But a new study out of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston suggests the American Dream may require revision. It shows that income mobility for U.S. families has been falling for nearly 40 years. Income inequality accelerated in the 1990s, compared with the '70s. Notably, the poorest families fare the worst in improving their economic circumstances.
Put another way, these findings suggest that where people start on the economic ladder more or less determines how high they climb, and by and large that's not very high. In an era of rising unemployment, rampant home foreclosures and uncertain health reform, that has grave implications for any discussion of public policy and, more broadly, for social welfare.
It's also -- and I don't use this term lightly -- un-American. One of our most cherished cultural ideals is that economic opportunity nullifies inequality, whether stemming from class, race or other factors that historically have impeded progress. If lower-income people are, in effect, economically immobilized, then it's time to re-think that particular nostrum (click on chart to expand).
Assessing income mobility is difficult. Results can differ significantly depending on whether you look at, say, pre- versus post-tax income, what period of time is being measured and myriad other factors. Social scientists even disagree on what "mobility" really means.
For their study, economists Katharine Bradbury and Jane Katz define it as the "pace and degree to which individuals' or families' incomes (or other measures of well-being) change over time." Drawing on an ongoing U. of Michigan study launched in 1968, the researchers examined income patterns through 2004 for 3,000 to 4,000 families to see how they fared over four-, 10- and 16-year periods (data from more recent years were less rich, which made it hard to draw conclusions). "Income" here consists of wages, salaries, rent, interest, pensions, welfare and other standard sources of funds. The research also considers how black families' income has moved relative to white families.
By one key measure of mobility, the percentage of the poorest families who were able to rise to the next level of income fell from 51 percent in the period 1968-1978 to 46 percent in 1993-2003. Top income earners who fell to a lower level declined less, from 56 percent to 54 percent. From the late 1970s through the early 1990s, more families became very poor, and fewer succeeded in escaping extreme poverty.
In short, income mobility is falling faster at the bottom of the ladder than at the top. And the poorer you get, the more likely you're going to stay that way.
Other findings from the study:
- 40 percent of families were in the same income class in 2004 as in 1994, while only 22 percent moved up or down by more than one class
- 54 percent of families who started in the poorest income class in 1994 were still in the poorest class in 2004; only 5 percent of these families made it to the richest income class (see chart below)
- Although families who started in the middle three income classes were more likely to move than those who began at the top or bottom, they were more likely to end in the same income class where they started
- 53 percent of families who started in the richest income class were at the top in 2004; about 10 percent of these families fell to the poorest two classes
- In 1994, 44.5 percent of black families were in the poorest income class, while 6 percent were in the richest class; those figures were virtually unchanged in 2004
- Of black families who began in the poorest class, almost three"quarters were in the lowest income segment 10 years later; that compares with 44 percent of white families who stayed very poor
Meanwhile, the route to higher income mobility cuts across many policy domains, from taxes and financial services to education, health care and urban planning. Clearly, it's a Herculean task to reverse the trend toward this evident narrowing of opportunity, and it will take social awareness and, perhaps most of all, political will.
Some will argue that upward mobility, or its absence, is largely a function of individual talent and effort. Perhaps. But that's a discussion unto itself. What's clear is that it's no easier to lift yourself out of poverty today than it was 40 years ago. And for most of us getting ahead is harder than it used to be. Whatever progress looks like, this isn't it.
In his seminal book "The Other America," the writer and political scientist Michael Harrington highlighted the importance of something he regarded as a defining feature of American life. "If a group has internal vitality, a will -- if it has aspiration -- it may live in dilapidated housing, it may eat an inadequate diet and it may suffer poverty, but it is not impoverished."
That vitality, passed along from fathers and mothers to sons and daughters, is in increasingly short supply. By that measure, we're all getting poorer.
Graphs courtesy of Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. | 0.7 | medium | 4 | 1,198 | [
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fd067e42-335f-4eb7-9b1f-6392d16790d2 | Posts Tagged ‘Jens Pulver: Driven’ | arts_and_creativity | creative_writing | Posts Tagged ‘Jens Pulver: Driven’
by Ad Wasey
July 9th, 2010
Wanna get your film funded? Kickstarter Film Festival filmmakers share their tips for running a successful crowd-funding campaign.
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NY Magazine Eastern Effects Edgeworx Studios Sailor Jerry Vulture SXSW Film NEA Listrak Two Boots Pizza Ray-ban Festology The Ford Foundation Fledgling Fund IFP NYSCA NYCulture indieWIRE Dirty Bandits Brigade marketing Listrak Intrepid Travel Radeberger Clausthaler | 0.6 | high | 6 | 209 | [
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74875e49-b998-49ad-bf6a-ba75a074e2aa | About this Research Topic | science | historical_context | About this Research Topic
Acute pain has a physiological protective role in preventing tissue damage. However, pain can become chronic due to a multitude of pathophysiological states, such as: trauma, inflammation, neural injury, viral infection, cancer, autoimmune diseases and vascular and metabolic disorders. These pathological states can trigger alterations of the pain pathways that can lead to hypersensitivity, and in such circumstances, pain loses its protective role and instead, becomes persistent and debilitating affecting seriously to the quality of life of patients.
Chronic pain is one of the most important health problems worldwide. It has been estimated that 10% of adults are diagnosed with chronic pain each year. However, despite the high prevalence of chronic pain, its management is still no fully satisfactory probably due to the variety of chronic pain conditions with different etiologies (neuropathic, visceral and musculoskeletal pain), and because their pathophysiological mechanisms are only partially known. Therefore, there is a huge need for new effective therapies for the control and/or prevention of the different types of chronic pain.
Chronic pain is associated with plastic changes in pain circuits of the peripheral and central nervous system, including changes in the expression of ion channels, neurotransmitters and receptors. In addition, there is growing consensus on non-neuronal mechanisms that can amplify or resolve chronic pain, and cells traditionally thought to act just as coordinators of the inflammatory response (such as immune and glial cells) are now accepted as real modulators of pain signaling. In this regard, animal models of persistent pain, such as models of neuropathic and visceral pain and models of arthritis, are helping to elucidate our understanding of the pathogenesis of chronic pain and make it possible to test experimental treatments.
The purpose of this Research Topic is to collect original research studies as well as review and perspective articles that provide recent advances and future directions in the pathophysiology and treatment of chronic pain. We welcome the submission of preclinical or clinical manuscripts, especially those describing emerging targets for the treatment of chronic pain. However, manuscripts describing new methods for the study of pain or opinion articles exposing a particular point of view about any aspect of chronic pain are also welcome.
Keywords: Chronic pain, neuropathic pain, inflammatory pain, visceral pain, pain treatment, analgesics
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review. | 0.55 | medium | 5 | 511 | [
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bf47ef33-3727-4eee-87a3-652981677669 | - CSIRO re-creates the perfect kilogram | technology | research_summary | - CSIRO re-creates the perfect kilogram
- Southerner migration north slows
- People ignore ad-like content
- IT’s dirty little secrets
Australian CSIRO researchers are redefining something taken for granted the world over – the kilogram.
They are cutting, grinding, and polishing a boule — a big crystal — of ultrapure silicon-28 into two baseball-sized spheres (one is for double-checking) that weigh exactly one kilogram each, according to Wired. The scientists are using silicon because it allows them to measure precisely the number of atoms of that silicon isotope in any given hunk.
What’s more, the boules are “the roundest objects in the world,” according to one of the scientists working on the project. Sticking to the circular means technicians only have to worry about one dimension – diameter – making the delicate measurements much easier.
Why are they bothering? Wired says the official kilo, a 118-year-old lump of metal stored in a vault at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris — has eroded by as much as 50 micrograms in the past century. Without an official kilo, chaos is likely to break out any moment – let’s hope we can just hold on.
The flow of NSW and Victorian residents into Queensland is slowing according to Queensland’s top demographer. But there is still a significant number of “Mexicans” heading for better jobs and more sunshine: 98,000 people made the move north last year giving Queensland a net gain of 25,800.
The planning, information and forecasting unit of Queensland’s Department of Local Government and Planning predicts that this will rise again from next year, and peak at 40,000 a year by 2012.
It’s official – people ignore content that looks like advertising, according to a new study reported by webpronews.
A group of people were asked to use a particular website to find the US’s current population. The figure was displayed in large red letters in plain sight in the right hand corner – 86% of users failed to find the answer.
According to the study’s authors, users tend to ignore heavily formatted areas because they look like advertisements. Interestingly, however, most users said they saw the “Population Clock”; they just didn’t use it, even though it contained the exact information they were looking for.
Most users said they scanned the big red number US 302,781,150, but only made it to 302 before skipping off to the search box labelled “Population finder” or some other area.
The study’s authors say it shows that it’s not just paid ads users are filtering from web sites, but areas that might contain ads. Web users are conditioned to focus on the main area of a web site, when looking for meaningful information.
TechRepublic has come up with 10 dirty little secrets of working in IT – the sort of thing they usually tell you only after you’ve started the job.
1. The pay in IT is good compared to many other professions, but since they pay you well, they often think they own you.
The longer the skills shortage rolls on, the better the pay, but there is a downside. If you need to work six hours on a Saturday to deploy a software update to avoid downtime during business hours, you get “there’s no time in lieu for that since you’re on salary – that’s why we pay you the big bucks!”
2. It will be your fault when users make silly errors.
There is no fury like a PC user scorned. Expect “what’s wrong with this thing?”, “this computer is NOT working!” or “what did you do to the computers?”. In fact, the problem may be that they unplugged the mouse from the back of the computer with their foot. When you tell them that, don’t expect an apology.
3. You will go from hero to zero and back again several times a day.
When you put in the fix, they will love and praise you like a god; when the printer stalls because of a network slow down, their wrath will know no limit. Quite like small children, really.
4. Your co-workers will use you as tech support for their home PCs.
Your less tech-savvy co-workers will view you as their personal IT support department. They’ll stop by for a quick chat, all friendly like, and then just throw in a casual question: “that reminds me, I was using my computer last night when…”.
5. You’ll spend far more time propping up old technologies than implementing new ones.
Budding young IT workers often imagine they will spend their days toying with the latest cutting-edge technologies. The reality is that’s not usually the case in most IT jobs. The truth is that IT professionals typically spend far more time maintaining, babysitting, and nursing established technologies than implementing new ones. | 0.7 | medium | 4 | 1,067 | [
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ea501cc5-0be1-4ee6-b1dc-17f50964e7c1 | Unlike Arctic sea-ice, possible | interdisciplinary | historical_context | Unlike Arctic sea-ice, it is not possible to predict the loss of large areas of rainforest, says Dr Lewis
Is the Amazon heading towards a 'tipping point' as a carbon sink?
27th May, 2011
The world's largest rainforest is ravaged by deforestation and two recent droughts. If they continue, says one expert, the Amazon risks entering a period where it can no longer be relied upon to absorb more greenhouse gas emissions than it produces
The Amazon rainforest is facing the combined threat of increasingly severe droughts and continuing deforestation that could wipe out large areas of the forest, warned a respected forest scientist this week.
In a groundbreaking study published in the journal Science earlier this year, Dr Simon Lewis, of Leeds University, found the 2010 drought in the Amazon was more widespread than the 2005 one, previously thought of as a once-in-a-century event.
In an interview with the Ecologist he now says if greenhouse gases are the cause of the severe droughts and such droughts are repeated three or more times a decade it could set in motion a vicious cycle by which droughts would lead to higher emissions of carbon dioxide from rotting trees and, in turn, potentially more frequent and severe droughts.
'If the climate changes in the Amazon to a regime with more severe and frequent droughts, then the dead trees may be numerous enough to cancel-out all the usual carbon uptake, and perhaps even add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere...our current emission pathways are, to be blunt, playing Russian roulette with a substantial portion of the world’s largest rainforest,' he says.
Dr Lewis says much of the forest has survived past climatic changes over millions of years, but what is different now is the interaction of other human interventions, such as deforestation, which together poses an even greater threat to the Amazon rainforest.
For example, he explained, droughts allow more forest to be burnt and cleared, while logged forest dry-out more easily making them more susceptible to fires. To make matters worse, large-scale deforestation can reduce local rainfall and potentially exacerbate future droughts.
Despite the fears over large-scale losses to the Amazon rainforest and the demise of its role as a major carbon sink, Dr Lewis says it was not possible to predict the loss of large areas of rainforest, unlike, say, the disappearance of the Arctic sea-ice.
'The Arctic sea-ice will certainly disappear, as the trend it already clear and physical mechanism – air temperature warming – will continue. So in terms of an irreversible shift in the average state, then the sea-ice is the place to watch.
'For both the Amazon and the Tundra the situation is much more complex, as they both include lots of living organisms, which adapt to changing conditions. For example, trees might die due to droughts, but more drought-tolerant species will likely take their place, so ‘living tipping points’ are much more difficult to predict than those more purely physical parts of the Earth system,' he says.
Dr Simon Lewis: we're playing Russian roulette with a large portion of the Amazon
The world's largest rainforest is under combined threat from deforestation and human-caused climate change. In an interview with the Ecologist, tropical forest expert Dr Simon Lewis explains what is happening
Why only the Amazonians can save the rainforest
'Saving the rainforest' has been a battle-cry of the environmental movement since its inception. But just what does that mean, how does it work, and who exactly does the 'saving'?
Why our growing taste for cheap Brazilian beef is devastating the Amazon
Brazil’s cattle sector has become the largest driver for deforestation globally, overtaking palm oil plantations in Asia. With the UK sourcing 40 per cent of its processed beef from Brazil, campaigners are calling for a consumer boycott
Denise Hamu: Brazil 'needs to increase' beef and soya productivity
Matilda Lee talks exclusively to the head of WWF Brazil about controversial beef and soya production, the REDD mechanism and deforestation
Forget trees and carbon: trees and rain is the real problem
As economists and policymakers scramble to put a price on the stored carbon of rainforests, they could be missing the bigger (wetter) picture...
Using this website means you agree to us using simple cookies. | 0.55 | medium | 5 | 881 | [
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49617e71-978b-49fa-8259-f8596f35ea63 | Danish researchers developed new | science | research_summary | Danish researchers have developed a new coating system which increases the performance of offshore wind turbine blades. Currently, new technologies are being tested under the European project Windtrust to overcome blade erosion caused by heavy rain in harsh offshore environment.
LM Wind Power developed a new polyurethane coating protection system, and said the system significantly increases the reliability of blade leading edge performance by ensuring longer lifetime, less down-time and lower maintenance costs.
During operation, a blade’s leading edge is exposed to wear and tear over time, which results in blade material surface deterioration and increased surface roughness — and thus reduced Annual Energy Production (AEP). This leading edge surface erosion increases dramatically with increased rotor speed. Additionally, certain environmental conditions — such as rain, hail and particle impacts — can cause leading edge erosion if the blade is unprotected, LM Wind Power explained.
To test the system in extreme operational environments, the company conducted a reliability study of more than 1,300 blade leading edges from numerous sites.
In April, a new video as part of the Windtrust project was filmed, featuring LM Wind Power’s solution for erosion protection on offshore wind turbines. | 0.6 | high | 5 | 233 | [
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384c6666-2423-48c7-ad59-c514c6f22206 | Arctic vulnerable natural global | interdisciplinary | practical_application | The Arctic is vulnerable to natural and global economic changes. Global warming creates opportunities for new economic activities in resource extraction and shipping, while at the same time threatening traditional livelihoods.
The Arctic warms twice as fast as other regions, which affects the conditions for daily life, production and culture. The Arctic is also exposed to cyclical events in international markets for energy and raw materials. As a result, circumstances in the Arctic regions may shift rapidly.
The ECONOR III project updates and expands circumpolar overviews of economic growth and industrial development in Arctic regions, building on earlier phases of the ECONOR project as documented in the reports The Economy of the North and The Economy of the North 2008. Furthermore, socioeconomic indicators reflecting the living condition of the Arctic population are highlighted. The ECONOR III project will also present time series that may increase insight into how the Arctic is influenced by global trends, and will provide analysis of petroleum sector development and other mineral extraction.
Comparable data on economic development in Arctic regions are still not readily available in official statistics. It is therefore important to update and expand the supply of data on Arctic regions in a common format to facilitate comparison. The project will thus help to close a gap in information about Arctic development in terms of economic activities and livelihood.
While the Arctic has a narrow economic basis, the region is nonetheless highly influenced by the global economy, in particular by international mineral markets. Furthermore, the area has a population that relies heavily on local natural resources which are coming under pressure from global warming and local pollution. The project is being conducted to give a circumpolar overview that will enhance knowledge about the Arctic regions which share many common features, but which operate within different national states and under different resource endowments and political regimes.
The project runs from 2013 to 2015, and is being carried out in cooperation with a network of statisticians and researchers across the Arctic. The ECONOR III project is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Research Council of Norway. | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 423 | [
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3a9748c7-6840-4c7b-809e-167f1f5e517e | Vestment worn priest lost | interdisciplinary | historical_context | Vestment worn by priest in lost painting of Munster soldiers in war comes to light
Stole found in storage in London museum with copy of famous painting
The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois, a painting by Fortunio Matania.The painting shows Co Tipperary-born Fr Francis Gleeson, igiving absolution on the evening before the Battle of Aubers Ridge in May 1915. Photograph: Illustrated London News Ltd/Mary Evans Michael Parsons
A vestment worn by an Irish priest on the battlefields of the first World War has come to light. The stole, worn by Fr Francis Gleeson, a chaplain to the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Munster Fusiliers regiment, has been located in storage in a museum in London.
Fr Gleeson wearing the stole – a scarf-like vestment worn over the shoulders – was immortalised in the famous “lost” painting, The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois by the artist Fortunino Matania. The painting depicts the priest, on horseback, blessing Irish soldiers on the eve of the Battle of Aubers Ridge in May 1915.
Research by The Irish Times has revealed the stole, contained in a glazed wooden case, was acquired by the National Army Museum in Chelsea in 1959. It is catalogued as: “Purple silk lined with white, in the form of a continuous ribbon sewn at the edges; either end is a yellow silk fringe; cross pattern sewn onto it”.
Laura Gordon, a spokeswoman for the museum which is devoted to the history of the British army, said the stole cannot currently be seen or photographed as the museum is “closed for redevelopment” until 2016.
The museum also confirmed it did not have the original The Last General Absolution of the Munsters at Rue du Bois painting but has an oil-on-canvas copy, made in 1925, by an unknown artist who signed the picture “A. Thomas”.
It is not known why, or when Fr Francis Gleeson parted with the stole.
Fr Gleeson, born in Templemore, Co Tipperary, and ordained in 1910, was one of 17 Catholic priests who volunteered to serve as chaplains with the British army in 1914. On the day after his “general absolution” at Rue du Bois, the Royal Munster Fusiliers suffered very heavy casualties.
In his diary, Fr Gleeson recalled how after the battle he had “spent all night trying to console, aid and remove the wounded. “It was ghastly to see them lying there in the cold, cheerless outhouses, on bare stretchers with no blankets to cover their freezing limbs”.
He survived the war, returned to Ireland, served as a priest in Dublin and also became a chaplain in the new National Army of the Irish Free State. He was appointed a Canon by the church in 1956, died in 1959, and is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery.
During the memorial Mass on Sunday at Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral for Irishmen who died in the first World War, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin referred in his homily to Fr Gleeson’s diary which “captures in a unique way the bravery of the soldiers he ministered to and what their faith meant to them” and said it “was also a diary which captures the horrors of war”.
The diary, which is in the archive of the Dublin Catholic archdiocese, will be published later this year. | 0.55 | medium | 4 | 772 | [
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1340b3a0-a9bc-464f-8721-09c451712c1f | - UNC-TV Series | technology | practical_application | - UNC-TV Series
- UNC-TV Specials
- Programs A-Z
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The Spanish take the lead in colonizing and exploiting the lands from the Caribbean, through what is now Central America and into much of South America. Their successful colonies thrive on sugar production, a valuable commodity, but one that demands a lot of labor.
With the introduction of unfamiliar European diseases, five decades would see a drastic decline in the native population, leaving an enormous need for people to work the fields. And that meant the importation of slaves from Africa into the New World.
Even more important to the Spanish crown is the flow of silver from the mines at Zacatecas in the north central part of present-day Mexico. Treasure-laden ships ply the Atlantic, returning to Spain with the wealth of the new colonies, vulnerable targets for privateers from rival nations.
King Philip envisions a Catholic colony called La Florida, a vast area North of the Caribbean that will offer a defense for his treasure vessels. He sends Spanish forces under Captain Juan Pardo to establish a fort at St. Augustine, wipe out a French outpost near the mouth of the St. Johns River and then establish a beachhead on tip of present-day Parris Island. From here, he begins his ill-fated march into hostile Indian territory in a vain effort to establish a road to Zacatecas. Pardo and his men have no idea of the vastness of this New World and would not even dream that the silver mines are more than 1700 miles away!
Captain Pardo's 120 men follow Indian trading paths, carrying weapons and gifts for exchange but almost no provisions. He was expected to march to the silver mines and return in nine weeks. [Harry Watson]
By New Year's, 1567, they eventually reach Joara, a large native town in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains. Winter is fast approaching and the Spanish build a fort to wait out the snows before heading west. Fort San Juan becomes the first European settlement built in North Carolina. The Indians at first considered these newcomers as possible allies against their traditional enemies and were generally welcoming to the Europeans. [David Moore]
They will eventually build six forts, from the coast of South Carolina to the mountains of eastern Tennessee, supplemented by native-built corn cribs to supply the Spanish soldiers stationed along this road.
The Spanish supplied virtually nothing to the natives, failing to recognize the importance of reciprocal trading to build a successful relationship with the Indians. Pardo leaves a small garrison at each fort and returns to his fort on the coast. The Spanish and the Native Americans co-exist peacefully at first, but the relationship goes bad and the Indians have finally had enough. In May of 1568, they attack all the forts, killing all of Pardo's men but one who survives to deliver the bad news to the Spanish captain.
With native support now gone, the Spanish retreat to Saint Augustine and King Phillip's dream of an expansive North American colony fades. Never will there be an attempt by the Spanish to settle the interior of North Carolina. But the Europeans leave a trail of unfamiliar diseases behind, and when Europeans return again, many towns and villages would be a memory. | 0.65 | medium | 4 | 676 | [
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2cfda7a4-49d2-49c1-b953-cdb09f91ba59 | Pathology - Exam 3 | science | technical_documentation | Pathology - Exam 3
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. What would you like to do?
What is the largest organ in the body?
How often are cells replaced?
Every 26-28 days
What are the basic functions of the skin?
- environmental barrier
- sensory reception
What are the layers of the skin from the outermost layer to deepest?
- --stratum corneum
- --stratum lucidium
- --stratum granulosum
- --stratum spinosm
- --stratum basal (germinativum)
- subcutaneous tissue (hypodermis)
- deeper tissue
What are the five layers of the epidermis?
- stratum corneum
- stratum lucidium
- stratum granulosum
- stratum spinosm
- stratum basal (germinativum)
Describe the epidermis
- stratisfied squamous epithelial
- 0.06-0.6mm thick
- thickest on the palms and soles of feet
Describe the stratum corneum
- "horny" outermost layer
- 20-30 cells thick
- thickest in the palms and soles of feet
- callus forms from pressure
Describe the stratum lucidium
- clear layer of dead flattened keritinocytes
- thicker and most prominent in hands and feet
Describe the stratum granulosum
- forms waterproof layer
- --prevents water loss
- langerhans help with immune system
Describe the stratum spinosum
- "spiny" appearance due to kerotin fibers
- progressive maturation and migration of germinal cells
Describe the stratum basale
- aka: germinativum
- single undulating layer of columnar and cuboidal cells
- undulations produce fingerprints
- provides germinal kerotinocytes for regeneration of epidermis
- melonin produced here
Name and describe the epidermal cells
- Melanocytes: pigment, UV protection
- Merkel cells: light touch, mechanoreceptors
- Langerhan Cells: fight infection, decrease as we age, risk of skin cancer increases, dendritic cells
What are the epidermal appendages?
- hair follicles (soft keratin)
- sebaceous glands (lubrication)
- sudoriferous glands (sweat)
Describe the basement membrane and what layer of skin it is found in.
- Part of the epidermis
- attaches stratum basale to dermis
- scaffolding for epidermis
- filters substances and moving between dermis and epidermis
- semipermeable - nutrients from dermis
- blisters occur here due to friction between basement membrane and papillary dermis
- anchors epithelial to loose tissue
Describe the dermis layer of the skin
- --capillary beds
- --rosy/pink color
- lymphatic system
- --returns water, proteins, other substances to the blood
- high water content
- 2.0-4.0mm thick
What are the functions of the dermis?
- nutritional support to epidermis
- houses epidermal cells and growth factors for epidermal replication and dermal repair after trauma
- thermoregulation through control of skin blood flow
- contains immune cells
- --defense against foreign invaders
- sensory assist to epidermis for info on environment
What are the dermal cells?
- fibroblasts (collagen/elastin) flexability
- --modulate lymphocyte function and promote growth
- mast cells - histamines
What are the structures of the dermis?
- hair follicles
- erector pilae muscles
- sweat glands
- sebaceous glands
- pacinean corpuscle and free nerve endings (vibration and pressure)
Describe the subcutaneous tissue in the skin.
- aka - hypodermis
- highly vascularized
- more moist
- adipose tissue
- --shiny whitish yellow in color
- if cut -> see blood
- stores energy and vitamins A D E and K
- cushioning over bony prominences
- deeper lymphatic vessels here
- --fibrous white connective tissue
- --seperate structures facilitating movement
Describe the deeper tissue in the skin
- muscle: bloody red is normal
- tendons: white regularly arranged fibers
- ligaments: white regularly arranged fibers
- joint capsule: white irregularly arranged fibers
- bone: milky white, hard when probed
What are superficial thickness wounds?
- wounds caused by shearing, friction, and mild burn
- healing occurs by regeneration of epithelial cells on wound surface an migration of epidermal cells across the surface
- affects epidermis layer only
- skin remains intact
- examples - blisters, 1st degree burns
Describe partial thickness wounds
- effects epidermis and part of the dermis
- accessory structures are spared (hairs and glands stay in tact)
- heals similarly to superficial thickness wounds
- eschar may form
- --dessicated necrotic tissue
- --black color
- examples - road rash, deeper burns
Describe full thickness wounds
- effects epidermis, dermis, and into subcutaneous tissue
- muscle, tendon, and bone can be involved
Describe the biomechanics of the skin
- normal skin has elastic, tensile and viscous properties
- much of elasticity comes from viscous elements (viscoelastic)
- tendons are very stiff and elongate very little
- --due to parallel arrangement of thick collagen
- --due to different proportions of glycosaminoglycans
- --ability of skin to recoil when pinched
- --decreases with dehydration
What type of wounds heal by re-epithelialization?
superficial and partial thickness wounds
What are the three phases of healing?
Describe the inflammation phase of healing
- "exudative" phase for homeostasis and fight infection
- platelet aggregation
- --forms plug to stop bleeding
- coagulation and fibrin formation
- --controls bleeding
- neutrophils, macrophages, and mast cells
- --assist with destruction and removal of bacteria and cellular debris
- --secrete inflammatory mediators
- --phagocytosis and proteolysis
What are the cardinal signs of inflammation?
- swelling (tumor)
- redness (rubor)
- warmth (calor)
- pain (dolar)
- decrease in function (functio laesa)
Describe the proliferation phase of healing
- begins as early as 48 hours
- --sprouting of capillaries
- --tiny red dots in wound bed
- granulation tissue
- --tissue fills wounds
- --temporary matrix of vascular connective tissue formation (laid down by fibroblasts)
- --red, beefy, shiny, granular beds
- --very fragile
- --if trauma -> may cause bleeding
- wound contraction
- --decrease in size of wound
- --actin-rich myofibroblasts pull wound margins together
- --keratinocytes migrate across wound
- --slowed by debris
- --clean/moist facilitates movement
- needs warm environments with high oxygen and nutriant demands
Describe maturation/remodeling phase of healing
- "differentiation" phase
- maturation of collage, scar formation, and epithelialization
- rosy, pink scar
- remodeling of collagen fibers as they thicken, reorganize and mature
- --scar color similar to surrounding tissues
- 9 days - 2 years after injury
- tissue strength - 15-20% initially, 80% of original when healed
What are the three types of wound healing?
- Primary Intention
- Secondary Intention
- Teritiary Intention
What is primary intention of wound healing?
- primary closure
- uses sutures, staples, adhesives
- minimal inflammatory phase
- fastest closure
- proliferation is epithelialization
What is secondary intention of wound healing?
- secondary closure
- allow wounds to heal on own
- used for wounds with tissue loss, irregular edges, tissue necrosis, high microbial count, or presence of debris
- increased healing time
- granulation has to be generated to close
- increased healing time
- increased scarring
What is tertiary intention of wound healing?
- delayed primary closure
- leaving wound open until closing is prudent
- wound is not allowed to granulate
- closure of wound after time to start healing
- combo of primary and secondary
- needs cleansing of wound prior to closure
What factors affect healing?
- necrotic tissue
- mechanical stress
- foreign body
What intrisic factors affect healing
- chronic disease
- perfusion and oxygenation
- neurologically impaired skin
What extrinsic factors affect healing?
- irradiation and chemo
- psychophysiological stress
- necrotic tissue
What iatrogenic factors affect healing?
- local ischemia
- inappropriate wound care
- sheer injuries
How does age affect the healing process?
- decreased immune system
- --decreased inflammatory response
- --delays angiogenesis
- dermal and epidermal atrophy
- --increased risk of skin tears
- decreased collagen synthesis
- decreased dermal vascularity (decreased nutrition)
- decreased oil and sweat activity decreased barrier
How does nutrition affect the healing process?
- malnourished: increased wound complications
- water: vital to wound healing
- protein: risk of protein depletion
- carbs: provide energy for repair and regeneration
- vitamins: needed to build new tissue and aid in immune function
- fats: essential fuel and vitamin transport
How do comorbidities affect healing?
- disease processes that affect tissue perfusion affect wound healing (PVD, anemia, COPD)
- immunocompromised patients
- --ineffective immune system increases infection risk (HIV/AIDS, steroids, chemo)
- activity limitations
- --increased risk of skin breakdowns and delayed repairs
How does temperature affect healing?
as temperature decreases, speed of healing decreases
What is involved in a wound assessment?
- systems review
- tests and measures
- --assistive/adaptive decives
- --gait, locomotion, balance
- --ROM, MMT, posture
What is involved in a wound evaluation?
- clues concerning the cause of the wound and prognosis for healing
- surrounding skin color
How does color affect a wound evaluation?
strong indication for vascular supply
How does odor affect a wound evaluation?
- indicates infection
- clean wounds have no smell
- sweet (fruity)
- --suggests psudeomonas
- foul (fecal smell)
- --gram negative bacteria
How does drainage affect a wound evaluation?
- thick, creamy drainage indicates infection
- type - serous (clear), sanguinous (pinkish)
Why does evaluating the surrounding skin color help?
- melanin and hemoglobin
- --primary determinates of skin color
- palor suggests arterial insufficiency
- purplish hue
- --due to desaturated hemoglobin
- --severe arterial insufficiency
- --severe CHF or pulmonary disease
- heavy pigmented skin
- --hyperemia produces violet/eggplant color
- look at nail beds and lips
- trophic changes
- --indicators of poor arterial circulation
- --dry, scaly, leathery skin
- --brittle nails
- --hair loss (epidermal appendage)
What are the different types of tissue?
- slough: yellow or white strings or thick clumps
- granulation: pink or beefy red tissue, shiny, moist, granular appearance
- epithelial: new pink or shiny tissue, grows in from edges
- necrotic: eschar, black , firmly adheres to the wound bed
- closed/resurfaced: wound completely covered
What is involved in a physical exam of a wound?
- limb girth
What does shape determine about a wound?
- highly regular: associated with pressure
- irregular: associated with vascular insufficiency
- extremely irregular: has "peninsulas and bays", areas of healthy skin surrounded by necrosis, associated with venous insufficiency
What do edges determine about a wound?
- attached: quicker to heal
- unattached: slower to heal
- rolled: signs of chronic wound
- callused: diabetic
What does temperature determine about a wound?
- check severity of inflammatory response by temperature of surrounding skin
- increased in skin temperature due to developing cellulitis or infection
- decreased temperature caused by arterial insufficiency
- decreased temperature delays healing by reducing oxygen release
What does size determine about a wound?
- length and width
- --tracing, photographic grid
- greatest length by greatest width method
- depth, tunneling
- --cotton tip applicator, tunneling stick
- surrounding skin errythema
How do you determine the volume of a wound?
fill wound with Hydrogel from a syringe
Limb girth of a wound
- document landmarks for reproductability
- pitting, or firm?
Describe vascular testing of a wound
- --dorsal pedis, posterior tibial, popliteal pulses
- capillary refill
- --tests surface arterial blood flow
- -- ~30 seconds to normally return
- dependent rubor test
- --tests arterial flow
- --supine, lift leg, observe initial color, after 1 minute, observe change in color of foot. ~15-20 seconds to return. >40 seconds with insufficiency
- ankle brachial index (ABI)
- --measure BP on arm and on ankle
- --divide ankle pressure by arm pressure
- --normal indext is 1.0
- --<0.95 - narrowing
- --<0.8 - intermittent claudation
What are the different patterns of PT treatment for wounds?
- Pattern A: prevention/risk reduction
- Pattern B : superficial skin involvement
- Pattern C: partial-thickness skin involvement
- Pattern D: full thickness skin involvement
- Pattern E: skin involvement extending into fascia, muscle, or bone, and scar formation
What does the endocrine system regulate and control?
- works with the nervous system
- water and salt balance
- blood pressure
- sexual reproduction
What are the major glands of the endocrine system?
- repoductive glands
What is the role of the hypothalamus?
- link between endocrine and nervous system
- nerve cells control pituitary gland by producing chemicals that either stimulate or supress hormone secretion
What is the role of the pituitary gland?
- controls other glands
- anterior lobe secretes: ACTH, TSH, GH, LH, FSH, prolactin (produced after childbirth, stimulates milk production)
- posterior lobe secretes:
- --ADH (controls body water and balance by acting on kidneys to modify urine out)
- --oxytocin (triggers contraction of uterus during labor
What is the role of the thyroid gland?
- regulates metabolic rate, growth and development and protein synthesis
- thyroid hormones:
- --thyroxin (T4) - blood stream
- -- triiodothyroix (T3) - cell functioning
- --calcitonin - stimulates calcium deposits in bone
What is the role of the parathyroid gland?
- increases blood levels of calcium by removal of calcium from bone to increase levels in the blood
What is the role of the adrenal gland
- --acts primarily on kidney to promote absorption of sodium and excretion of potassium
- --increase of sodium levels contribute to retention of water and increased blooe volume
- absence of aldosterone
- --sodium is excreted resulting in decrease blood volume and decreased blood pressure
- --produced in response to stress
- --increase blood glucose by stimulating liver to produce glucose from stored, non-glucose sources
- --decreased swelling by inhibiting immune system response to injury or infection
- --prednisone produced from cortisol
What is the role of the adrenal medula?
- composed of modified neurons
- secretes hormones in response to stress
- --epinepherine (adrenaline)
- --norepinepherine (non-adrenaline)
- stimulate fight or flight response of sympathetic nervous system
- --increase HR and BP
- --dilate airways to facilitate oxygen flow to lungs
What is the role of the pancreas?
- digestive and endocrine gland
- islet or langerhans are cells that secrete
- --insulin (removal of glucose from blood to store as glycogen, promotes build up of fats and proteins and uses as energy source)
- --glucagon (increases levels of glucose in blood, released from alpha cells)
- secretes digestive enzymes into duodenum through pancreatic duct
What is the role of the adipose tissue?
- considered endocrine
- pear shaped
- apple shaped
- secretes hormones responsible for:
- --cell growth and development
What is the role of the gonads?
- LH from pituitary gland stimulates sex hormones
- responsible for secondary sex characteristics such as facial hair and breast development
What is the role of the pineal gland?
- secretes melatonin
- light from eye stimulates gland through optic nerve
- melatonin is formed at night
- longer nights = increased levels of melatonin
- --levels vary with seasons and time of day
- melatonin helps regulate (rhythms):
Describe basis for Endocrine Disorders
- more prevalent in women than in men
- most disorders prepresent hypofunction of gland secondary to:
- --defects in development
- --enzyme deficiencies
- --autoimmune destruction
- --decrease hormone stimulation
- --infection, neoplasia, hemorrage, or infarction
Muscle weakness, myalgia, and fatigue associated with what endocrine diseases?
- thyroid disease
- parathyroid disease
- acromegaly (GH - pituitary)
- diabetes (pancreas)
- cushings syndrome (Cortisol - adrenal)
Bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome associated with what endocrine diseases?
- diabetes mellatus
- hormone imbalance
- --oral contraceptives
Neuromuscular signs and symptoms of the endocrine system
- --deposits of calcium salts in joint cartilage
- --5-10% have underlyng endocrine or metabolic disease
- within anterior pituitary gland
- growth hormone deficiency
- --short stature
- --delayed grouth and puberty
- --adrenocorticol insufficiency
- --gonadal failure
- --neurologic signs if caused by tumore
- --lifetime hormone replacement
What is hypofunction of the posterior pituitary?
- result from the posterior pituitary gland
- diabetes insipidus -> RARE
- --lack of secretion of vasopressin antidiuretic (ADH)
- --water not reabsorbed in kidneys
- --excretion of large amounts of dilute urine
- --expect patient to be fatigued and irritable due to nocturia
What are the symptoms and treatment for hypofunction posterior pituitary?
- imbalance of water
- hydration and replacement of ADH
What is hyperfunction of the posterior pituitary?
- acromegaly (adults)
- abnormal enlargement of skeleton due to hypersecretion of GH
- clinical signs and symptoms
- --enlargemnet of face, hands, and feet
- associated musculoskeletal signs
- --carpal tunnel, hand pain and stiffness, back pain (thoracic and/or lumbar)
- giantism (Childhood)
- overgrowth of long bones
- grows past growth plate
- timely diagnosis is key
- drug therapy
- removal of tumor (if present)
What are thyroid gland diseases?
What is a goiter?
- enlargement of the thyroid gland due to iodine, deficient diet, inflammation or tumor
- pressure on trachea and esophagus causes difficultly breathing and swallowing
- may or may not be regional
- surgery if affecting trachea
What is thyroiditis?
- inflammation of thyroid due to infection or autoimmune process
- Hashimoto Thyroiditis is most common form
- --early disease hyperfunction
- --late disease hypofunction
- long term hormone therapy
What are the different types of hyperthyroidism?
- execessive secretion of thyroid hormone
- causes general increase in body metabolism
- Graves Disease (most common)
- gerneralized enlargement of gland
- protruding eye (exopthalamus)
- heat intolerance
- weight loss
What are they signs of hyperthyroidism in adults >50
- hyperactive reflexes
- heat intolerance
- purple anterior tibia
- increased appetite
- weight loss
What is hypothyroidism?
- insufficient production of thyroid hormone
- generalized depression of body metabolism
- untreated congenital hypothyroidism in infants was called Cretinism (now: neonatal hypothyroidism)
- mostly 30-60 years old, 50% in families, 95% impaired
What are the signs and symtoms of hypothyroidism?
- proximal muscle weakness
- slowed speeched and mental function
- carpal tunnel
- muscle and joint edema
- respitory muscle weakness
- poor wound healing
What is the treatment for thyroid gland diseases?
ongoing synthetic hormones
What are the musculoskeletal effects of hypothyroidism?
- CTs may develop before other signs
- proximal muscle weakness
- myalgias and trigger points
- muscle and joint edema
- back pain
What is hyperparathyroidism?
- usualled caused by tumor
- causes release of calcium by bone and accumulation of calcium in the blood stream
- excessive calcium leads to bone damage, hypercalcemia, kidney damange
What are the symptoms of hyperparathyroidism?
- bone demineralisation and bone pain
- proximal muscle weakness and fatigability
- GI problems and pancreatitis
- slow mental ability, personality changes
- concurrent illness and surgery can induce acute arthritic episodes
- --condrocalcinos and calcified tendinitis
What is hypoparathyroidism?
- usually back accidental removal of the parathyroid gland, but sometimes genetic disease, tumor/trauma
- muscles weakness and pain
- thinning hair
- brittle nails
- hypocalcemia leading to muscle spasms, parethesias, tetany, and cardiac arrythmias
- actue episodes can be life theratening and treated with calcium replacement
- can be idiopathic - children 9x>adults, women 2x > men
- treatment: pharmacologic management
What are the adrenal gland diseases?
- hypofunction (Addisons disease)
- hyperfunction (Cushings)
What are the risk factors for hypofunction of the pituitary gland?
- salt loss from profuse diaphoresis
- treated by administering exogeneous cortisol
- fatal if not treated
What is Cushings Disease?
- hyperfunction of the adrenal gland
- hypercortisolism from over secretion of ACTH from the pituitary
What is Cushings Syndrome?
- hyperfunction of the adrenal gland
- hypercortisolism from adrenal oversecretion or excessive corticosteroid meds
- corticosteroid administration must be stopped gradually so normal adrenal function can resume
What are the symtoms of hyperfunction of the adrenal gland?
- abnormal fat distribution
- moon shaped face
- "buffalo hump"
- enlarged supraclavicular pads
- protuberant abdomen with purple striae
What are the two categories of adipose tissue?
- Brown: specialized tissue for thermoregulation "baby fat"
- White: storage of triglycerols as long-term reservoir of energy
What is the role of adipose tissue in the endocrine system?
secretes proteins which have important roles in fat metabolism, feeding behavior, hemostasis, vascular tone, energy balance and insulin sensitivity
What are the proteins of adipose tissue?
- good adipokines: leptin and adiponectin
- bad adipokines: tumor necrosis factor, resistin, interleukin-6, IL-8, acylation-stimulation protein, and angiotension and plasma activator inhibitor
Obesity and cancer are increasing link for:
- colon cancer
- pancreatic cancer
- non-hodgkins lymphoma
- uterine cancer
- breast cancer (after 65 years)
- prostate cancer
- greater risk for cancer
- --worst outcome - recurrance, malignancy and lifespan
How is adipose tissue and Type 2 diabetes related?
- excessive white adipose tissure
- visceral and hepatic fat are key
- subcutaneous fat (little insulin resistance)
What is visceral fat?
- fat that accumulates around organs
- intra abdominal deposits
- --omental fat
- --intrahepatic fat
What is diabetes?
- persistnt elevation in blood glucose caused by a relative or absolute deficiency in insulin production by the beta cells of the pancreas (in the presence or absence of insulin resistance)
What impact on health does diabetes have?
- 6th leading cause of death
- changes life expectancy 5-10 years
- vascular disease 2x to 4x
- nontraumatic amputation
- nerve damage in 60-70%
- kidney failure
- kills 1 in every 3 minutes
Types of cells involved in glucose regulation
- Alpha Cells
- --acts on liver to release glucagon
- --increase blood sugar
- Beta Cells
- insulin (decrease blood sugar)
- Delta Cells
- --stops glucagon and GH
- --decrease blood sugar
Role of Islet Cells in Glucose Regulation after intake of food
- after intake of food, blood glucose increases
- beta cells release insulin
- insulin transports glucose
- cascade leads to decreased blood glucose
- homeostasis restored
Role of Islet Cells in Glucose Regulation When Hemoglycemic
- decreased blood glucose
- alpha cells release glucagon
- stimulated liver to release glucose
- increases blood glucose and homeostasis restored
Type 1 Diabetes
- about 10% of all cases
- cell-mediated autoimmune destruction of beta cells
- --usually leading to absolute insulin deficiency
- --insulin dependent
- requires injection
- onset before age 30
- beody weight at onset is normal or thin
- --envirnomental exposure
- --genetic mutation
Type 2 Diabetes
- about 90% of all cases
- onset usually after age 35
- insulin production may be below or above normal
- ineffective insulin action at cellular level
- 20-30% require insulin injections
- body weight at onset:obese in 80%
- diabesity - obesity dependent DM in children
- oral hypoglycemic agents
- Other Characteristics:insidious
- obesity or weight gain
- related to other IRS signs (hyperlipidemia, acanthosis nigricans)
- older (increased obesity =decreased age, fatter and younger)
- ethnic links
- family Hx
- no ketones
Physiology of Type 2 Diabetes
- impaired insulin secretion = insulin deficiency
- increased hepatic glucose production
- carbohydrate absorption
- decreased glucose uptake = insulin resistance
Criteria for adult screening for diabetes
- test a fasting plasma glucose in:
- all adults over age 45 years (repeat every 3 years)
- particularly those with BMI >25
- younger adults if BMI >25 and one or more risk factors
Risk factors for Type 2 Diabetes
- primary relative with diabetes
- high-risk ethinic group
- previous gestational diabetes
Diagnostic Criteria to Determine Diabetes
- fasting plasma glucose:
- <70: hypoglycemic
- <100: good
- 100-126: prediabetic
- >126: diabetic
- measures percentage of glycated hemoglobin or HbA1c, in blood
- how dody handles sugar
- look back over time
- ~120 days (lifespan of blood cell)
What is prediabetes?
- occurs when body can't utilize glucose
- incomplete transfer of glucose into cells (for use as energy) by insulin due to:
- --body cells don't recognize insulin (decreased insulin sensitivity)
- --cells top responding to action on insulin (increased insulin sensitivity)
- increases blood glucose (but not as high as DM)
- inslin resistant cells stop responding to action of insulin
What is metabolic syndrome?
- a group of risk factors that occur together and increase the risk for coronary artery disease, stroke, and T2DM
- diagnosis is established when >3 risk factors are present
What are the risk factors for metabolic syndrome?
- abdominal obesity
- --men - >102cm (>40 in)
- --women - >88cm (>35in)
- TG >150 mg/dl
- --men - < 40mg/dl
- --women - < 50 mg/dl
- BP - > 130/85
- fasting glucose > 110 mg/dl
Signs and symptoms of Diabetes
- polyuria (T1DM>T2DM)
- polydipsia (T1DM>T2DM)
- polyphagia (T1DM>T2DM)
- weight loss (T1DM>T2DM)
- recurring badder infection in skin and gums
- numbness and tingling in hands and feet
- slow healing of cuts and bruises
- assymptomatic becaue of physical adaption
- blurred vision
- fatigue and weakness
What is acanthosis nigricans?
- hyperpigmented velvety patches of skin in axillary regions and in neck
- prediabetic and diabetics
Insulin resistace may lead to
- glucose intolerance
- --high TG and low HDL
- cardiovascular diseasse
Complications of diabetes
- macrovacular diseases:
- --cerebrovascular disease
- --cornoary artery disease
- --venal artery disease
- --peripheral vascular disease
- microvascular diseasesneuropathy
- decreased microcirculation to skin and organs
- decreases in wound healing and blood flow
- neurological complications
How does hyperglycemia affect diabetic patients?
- eye:retinopathy, cataracts and glaucoma
- --lead to blindness
- --cause death or disability
- kidneyneuropathy, microalbuminuria, and gross albuminuria
- --lead to kidney failure
- --can cause death or disability
- nervesneuropathy (peripheral and autonomic)
- --lead to amputation
- --can cause death and disability
What is diabetic retinopathy, treatments and preventions
- bood vessels in back of eye affected
- hemmorages and exudates
- --growth of new vessels
- --leads to vision loss
- --yearly dilated rentinal exam
- --blood glucose control (intensive combined therapy)
- --BP control (ace inhibitors)
- --lipid control
- --no contraindication to asprin
- laser therapy for proliferative retinopathy or macular edema
- more prevelant in T1DM
- 25x increase in diabetics
What are the two types of neurological complications with diabetes?
- autonomic:gastroparesis, diarrhea, incontinence
- postural hypotension
- decreased HR
- peripheral:diabetic foot
- charcot's join - arthropathy
- carpal tunnel
How do you approach a patient in PT when they arrive in a confused lethargic state?
- finger-stick glucose test
- immediate physician referral
- alteration in mental status caused by
Treatment for diabetes
- exogenous insulin
- diet whole grains
- serving size
What are the causes of hyperglycemia?
- acute stress
- chronic liver disease
- renal disease
What are the symptoms of hyperglycemia?
- increased urine
- blurred vision
- sever dehydration
- abdominal pain
What is ketoacidosis?
- ketones in blood and urine
- fruity acetone breath
- rapid pulse
- immediate care is essential
- kussmaul resperation
- defer Rx if BS > 300-350 or 240 with ketosis until levels are corrected
- critical level BS >450 - NO EXERCISE
What are the symptoms of hypoglycemia?
- increased heart rate
- double/blurred vision
- slurred speech
- numbness in lips/tounge
- blood glucose <70
- can appear <60-70
- rapid large drop (ie. 400 to 200) can also hae glycemic effects
- hold Rx until BS is corrected
- critical level <50
How does exercise affect patients with diabetes?
- musculosckeletal activities increase glucose homeostasisnew activity at a well-tolerated intensity and duration
- patients with active retinopathy and neuropathy should aboid anything that auses increased BP
- increases in BP may cause further damage
- ok to do low impact activities, strength training preferred (initially)
- pre-existing conditions may limit working to goal HR
- may have difficult with thermoregulation
- no resistance training, valsalva
- do not exercise alone
- when initiating exercise program, T1DM may:
- monitor BG beofre exercising, every 30 min and then 15 min after
- exercise >20min continuous aerobic activity
- reduce insulin dose
- increase food intake
- eat 10-15g carbo snack for each 30 min of exercise
- place fluid loss adequetly
- avoid:high intensity exercise
- exercise placing head below waist (bad for retinopathy), increases BP
- avoid insulin injection to active extremities
PT implications for diabetics
- gentle, progressive program
- patient education - self management
- monitor vitals
What would you like to do?
Home > Flashcards > Print Preview | 0.6 | medium | 7 | 7,209 | [
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4c098a19-0e04-4d8e-aea6-7505ee298a0b | Shining bright constellation Orion | science | data_analysis | Shining bright in the constellation of Orion the Hunter, the Orion Nebula, with its gorgeous colours and distinctive features, is arguably one of the most beautiful areas of the winter night sky. A masterpiece painting in the museum called Universe!
Winter in the northern hemisphere is definitely the season of Orion the Hunter, the legendary constellation sparkling bright and proud against the dark sky.
The three bright stars that form a short, straight row known as the Orion’s Belt are among the most distinctive features in the winter night sky. One that I’m sure, everyone has glanced at.
Just beneath the Belt lays the Orion Nebula, a diffuse nebula that obviously takes the name from its hosting constellation. This is one of the brightest nebulas we know of; so bright that is visible to the naked eye, even from light polluted areas. It is in fact one of the most observed and photographed targets among the astronomy community.
The discovery of the Orion Nebula is generally credited to Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, who first recorder its observation through a refracting telescope in 1610.
According to some speculations, however, the nebula was first observed by the Mayans who referred to it as a “cosmic fire of creation”.
In 1880, it became the first ever nebula to be photographed. The American doctor and amateur astronomer Henry Draper, in fact, used the new dry plate photographic process to take a long exposure photograph of the Orion Nebula. For this reason, Draper is considered a pioneer of modern astrophotography.
Later inserted in its catalogue by Charles Messier as object 42, the Orion Nebula is a stellar nursery, a place where new stars are born out of collapsing clouds of interstellar gas and dust.
Its central region hosts four massive stars known as The Trapezium: a very young open cluster that illuminates the nebula.
Always escorted by its loyal companion, the Running Man Nebula, the Orion Nebula is the closest star-forming region to our planet, approximately 1,350 light years away from Earth.
It extends for roughly 30 light years across and has a mass of around 2,000 that of our Sun. Perhaps for this reason, it is often called the Great Orion Nebula. | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 470 | [
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3cee12d5-7fb4-4f05-8abe-9998ba9a645a | One favourite things Alexander | technology | historical_context | One of my favourite things – Alexander the Great.
One of my favourite subjects – Alexander the Great – potted !
There is a lot of myth and mystery surrounding Alexander the Great, which is perhaps what makes him so interesting. Among other things he was said to have been fathered by a god, a reputation that grew as his power grew.
Alexander the Great
was the son of King Phillip of Macedon. He was born in 356 BC and died aged 33 in 323 BC. He came to the throne when he was only twenty and by the time he died he had created the biggest empire of the ancient world, stretching from the Ionian Sea to the Himalayas. He was a great commander, never defeated in battle, and his clever battle tactics are still taught at military academies to this day, almost two and a half thousand years later. He conquered all of Persia and, at the time of his death, had plans to conquer all of India and Arabia.
Alexander was tutored by Aristotle, and it is from Aristotle’s writings that we know what we do know about him. Although some historians have stated that he was probably homosexual, there is no evidence for it and Aristotle denies it completely. The story has evolved because of Alexander’s great friendship with his lifelong friend Hephastion over whose death in battle Alexander grieved uncontrollably.
Alexander had at least two wives, one of whom was Roxanne, technically a slave after the defeat of Persia, but in fact the daughter of a nobleman. His son, Alexander IV was also the son of Roxanne, born after Alexander’s death.
Death of Alexander
Just as there is mystery surrounding Alexander’s birth, so there is similar mystery surrounding how he died. For a long time it was thought he was poisoned – his own father had been assassinated – and this was an age where those vying for power had no qualms with murder. However it is equally likely that he died of typhoid or any number of other diseases.
Roxanne’s son Alexander succeeded to the throne while still a child. Both he and Roxanne were murdered shortly afterwards.
Catherine Broughton is a novelist, a poet and an artist. She is widely travelled and writes regularly for magazines and blog sites. Her sketches are on her web site http://turquoisemoon.co.uk . Her books are available from Amazon and on Kindle, or can be ordered from several leading book stores.
If you enjoyed this item please share.
Catherine Broughton is a novelist, a poet and an artist. Her books are available as e-books on this site:-
https://payhip.com/b/tEva “A Call from France”
https://payhip.com/b/OTiQ “French Sand”
https://payhip.com/b/BLkF ”The Man with Green Fingers”
https://payhip.com/b/1Ghq “Saying Nothing”
They are also available on Amazon & Kindle, or can be ordered as paperbacks from most leading book stores and libraries. | 0.6 | medium | 3 | 654 | [
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8d787f75-7e9a-46bd-8de6-a4e36a8cb521 | There significant issues widespread | technology | worked_examples | There are significant issues with widespread adoption of bio-fuels from energy crops (i.e. growing wood or oil seed specifically to burn it). See for example the Friends of the Earth campiagn (www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/biodiversity/press_for_change/biofuels/index.html).
However this does not mean that we cannot make better use of waste materials. Effectively we are considering incineration of selected wastes to produce useful heat.
There is some excellent information on this subject at: www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk
We are specifically interested in using:
- Untreated wood – www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk/portal/page?_pageid=75,18712&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
- Fibre Board (MDF) – www.biomassenergycentre.org.uk/portal/page?_pageid=75,18712&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
Note that there have been changes made to the categorisation of Waste to allow the use of untreated timber and SOME wood composites as bio fuels. In preparation for using redundant set materials (which cannot be re-used) we need to consider elimination of materials which cannot be cleanly burnt (ply is probably one of these). | 0.55 | high | 6 | 297 | [
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4c60b645-bad4-44e7-b609-1f3e3819cbc2 | year before published his | social_studies | tutorial | A year before he published his full critique of the French Revolution Edmund Burke (1729-1797) wrote to a young Frenchman and offered his definition of liberty. His was not “unconnected, individual, selfish liberty” but a “social freedom” which is “secured by well-constructed institutions”:
Permit me then to continue our conversation, and to tell you what the freedom is that I love, and that to which I think all men entitled. This is the more necessary, because, of all the loose terms in the world, liberty is the most indefinite. It is not solitary, unconnected, individual, selfish liberty, as if every man was to regulate the whole of his conduct by his own will. The liberty I mean is social freedom. It is that state of things in which liberty is secured by the equality of restraint. A constitution of things in which the liberty of no one man, and no body of men, and no number of men, can find means to trespass on the liberty of any person, or any description of persons, in the society. This kind of liberty is, indeed, but another name for justice; ascertained by wise laws, and secured by well-constructed institutions.
About this Quotation:
In this passage from a letter written to a young Frenchman François Depont in November 1789 only 4 months after the outbreak of the French Revolution, Burke makes a very clear distinction between two theories of liberty. The first is the individualist notion of liberty (described by Burke as “solitary, unconnected, individual, selfish”) which was based upon the natural rights of the individual to the unfettered enjoyment of their life, liberty, and property. This was the notion of liberty accepted by most of the American Revolutionaries and the more moderate constitutional branch of the French Revolutionaries. The second notion, the one he preferred, was “social” in nature, where various institutional and legal “restraints” were in place to prevent any one person from “regulat(ing) the whole of his conduct by his own will”. The strengths and weaknesses of each of these theories was hotly debated in the late 18th century which you can follow in this collection of texts on The Debate about the French Revolution. The issue often came down to the following questions: to what extent do existing institutions make the exercise of liberty possible, to what extent do those same institutions violate the rights of individuals, and how does one resolve that tension? | 0.55 | medium | 5 | 518 | [
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8559abf6-aa21-4602-a44e-09312957c8c8 | Weekend Grammar Workshop | language_arts | research_summary | Weekend Grammar Workshop
Basil Paterson's weekend grammar workshop is an intensive, 2-day course aimed at pre-CELTA and recently qualified English language teachers. Its aim is to raise language awareness, increase familiarity with terminology and build confidence with grammar.
Working in small groups with an experienced trainer, you will cover essential areas of grammar such as tenses, modality, conditionals, comparative & superlatives and verb patterns. The workshop also includes aspects of language teaching methodology, using an interactive activity-based approach.
Your trainer will provide advice and suggest further resources for continued language awareness development. By the end of the two-day course, you will have a better understanding of English grammar and the tools for further selfstudy.
Drop us an email or give us a call for more information on how to book.
Dates
Saturday 15 th – Sunday 16 th April Saturday 5 th – Sunday 6 th August
Times
10am – 4pm each day with one hour for lunch
Location
Basil Paterson, 66 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4NA
Fees
£120
Contact
firstname.lastname@example.org 0131 225 3802 | 0.65 | high | 4 | 288 | [
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0290bab5-671e-4cbc-8248-1ea0810c59b6 | Please work through topics | interdisciplinary | data_analysis | Please work through the topics below in the order they are provided, unless you feel confident that you know the subject.
Select individual arrows beside the topic heading or 'Open all'. This action will show one long page of content. The arrows and titles work like a toggle to open and close sections. When you have finished a topic you may find it easier if you close that section before you move onto the next one.
This is more of a chance to review and exploration topics such as:
Further access and emerging technologies
Identifying unmet needs
Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI)
Emerging technology and innovation for access
So before you read on...
We have discussed a wide range of ways it is possible to access AAC systems, environmental aids and games by direct or indirect methods. Think about the ones you remember? You can make a note of these in your reflective journal. Looking at the list you have created think about the following questions
What skills and ability does a child need to use each of your input methods ?
Can you think of a child you have worked with where none of these options would be easy to use?
Why would they be difficult?
How many of these options do you recognize? Which ones have you used and why? Move the slider at the bottom of the picture to the right.
Challenges to AAC access
It is reasonable to ask, why we need further innovation in access to AAC when so many options already exist. As we have discussed earlier in the course each form of AAC access requires or demands that the user has certain skills. These might include:-
Gross motor, large physical movements such as with an arm
Fine Motor, including use of hands or fingers
Production of sounds, often before the formation of words.
Intellectual or cognitive skills which might include cause and effect, choice making or sequencing.
Access to AAC systems is based on identifying the ability of the child to make reliable, consistent movements or actions. These might involve any part of the body, in the past we have found switches that have used hands, feet, eyebrows or tongue to provide
access. But despite this there are some cases where such consistency of movement may not be possible, and innovation is finding ways to address this.
Advances in Technology
Gradually, new technologies are emerging that help overcome some of the barriers experienced by children where other options have not been successful. We would stress that these are not always available or affordable, but think it is important that as
professionals we are aware of future options in providing a solution where all other options have been exhausted.
These new technologies may yet become readily available in the future as we found with multi-touch devices such as tablets. Here are some new technologies to think about.
Did you know that it is possible to control a tablet such as an iPad or Android device using a Bluetooth pointing device such as a mouse, joystick or trackball? Some of these connect to the device using a Bluetooth whilst others require a special interface
box that allow different USB devices to work. Don't forget there may be others accessing devices using Wifi and Bluetooth - always check your AAC user can use their access method - USB and cable may be the most robust method!
Watch the following video and then think of situations or children that you have worked with where this might have been helpful?
There have always been some children who find it is extremely difficult to achieve a reliable and consistent movement that can be used to activate a switch in order to access and control a device or application. Eye pointing at symbols has been
one approach to address this challenge. Solutions such as an e-Tran frame have been used as a low-tech solution based on eye movement and gaze.
We have learnt that these same eye movements
can also be used to control an AAC device electronically. But there are challenges to think about :
Glasses: Sometimes the eye gaze camera has difficulty locating the user’s eye.
Other visual issues: Some children have strabismus, nystagmus etc. Calibration can take too long or be hard for the child when the set up does not work immediately calibrate.
Cognitive impairments: There can be a significant learning curve without optimal support and positioning etc.
Language impairments: Layout and ease of access to symbols etc remains vital to speed access
Environmental supports: Resources, time and expert knowledgeable human support are crucial for success as with all AAC systems
One of the most fascinating areas of research in recent years involves making a connection between brain impulses and controlling technology. These interfaces are not likely to be suitable for young children currently but may become an
option in the future
BCI technology is based upon a series of sensors being attached to the skull of the person with a disability. In most cases these are “non-invasive” resting on the scalp of the user with a signal being strengthened through a conducting
gel similar to that used for ultrasound scans during a pregnancy. The sensors detect and identify patterns of brain impulses that are consistent when the person thinks about something specific, something with strong emotional connotations
is often used.
These patterns become the basis of making selections on an AAC grid as each pattern in effect becomes the equivalent of a switch press. For instance one pattern might be used to scan through rows and columns, whilst a second pattern is
used to make a choice as discussed in Brain–Computer Interfaces for Augmentative and Alternative Communication: A Tutorial.
To learn more about potential uses of BCI, the TechPlanet video provides some explanations, as well as some points for discussion regarding the dangers of losing control of signals that might be sent or even received.
Improved AAC through Artificial Intelligence
“Livox” is an AAC app that uses AI to assist symbolcommunication skills. Artificial Intelligence can be described as the development of computer systems that are able to perform tasks normally requiring human intelligence, such as visual perception,
speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.
Livox uses machine learning to adapt to the child’s situation and skills. Through artificial intelligence Livox learns a user’s routine and creates grid options that are consistent with use based on time and location. The algorithms adapt content to the
tasks and environment of child. This reduces the number of choices of boards that a child has to navigate and then helps speed up AACcommunication.
AAC and Wearable Technology
Wearable technology has been one of the most rapidly growing areas of technology in recent years with fitness trackers become very widely used. At the same time smart watches have also become widespread and offer new opportunities to provide access to
communication through innovation. Watch the next video showing an AAC solution on a smartwatch, what do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of this as a solution. At the very least it might be that wearable technology is one way in which we
can make sure that a child never forgets their device!
Using Alexa with Sign Language
Further developments and research are now exploring how someone whose first language is signing could interact with an Echo device using Alexa. Watch the next video and think about the opportunities for communication and control offered for people who
By providing an AAC and communication solution you may be enabling far more than just functional communication, the tools can allow children to have
control over the environment,
access to entertainment and
search the internet as well as
engage with their peers
These activities may be highly motivating to the child learning AAC. Innovations and new ways of engaging with technology, mean that increasingly communication need not be denied to anyone. This research and development is very exciting and many of the ideas discussed could become real options for you to recommend in the near future.
Plug and Pray - A disability perspective on artificial intelligence, automated decision-making and emerging technologies. (Download
Four Recent trends in Assistive Technology - For several years now, many companies that design and sell assistive devices have ditched
the medical model in favour of a more social approach and are more concerned about the wants and needs of consumers with disabilities. This, as well as innovations in technology, have started new trends in the assistive technology industry | 0.65 | medium | 6 | 1,675 | [
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681ae1b8-8522-46cf-a9f9-20abc413f626 | Greenhouse gases: measurement challengeAugust | interdisciplinary | experiment_design | Greenhouse gases: The measurement challengeAugust 17th, 2011 in Space & Earth / Environment
The continuing increase in the level of carbon dioxide and other "greenhouse gases" in the Earth's atmosphere has been identified as a cause for serious concern because it may radically accelerate changes in the Earth's climate. Developing an effective strategy for managing the planet's greenhouse gases is complicated by the many and varied sources of such gases, some natural, some man-made, as well as the mechanisms that capture and "sequester" the gases. A new report sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) focuses on one of the key challenges: defining and developing the technology needed to better quantify greenhouse gas emissions.
The new report, "Advancing Technologies and Strategies for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Quantification," is the result of a special workshop in the NIST Foundations for Innovation series, convened in June 2010, to bring together greenhouse gas experts from government, industry, academia and the scientific community to address the technology and measurement science challenges in monitoring greenhouse gases.
A wide variety of techniques are used for measuring greenhouse gas emissions and, to a lesser extent, the effectiveness of "sinks"things like the ocean and forests that absorb greenhouse gases and sequester the carbon. The problem is that developing an effective global strategy for managing greenhouse gases requires a breadth of measurement technologies and standards covering not only complex chemical and physical phenomena, but also huge differences in scale. These range from point sources at electric power plants to distributed sources, such as large agricultural and ranching concerns, to large-scale sinks such as forests and seas. Satellite-based systems, useful for atmospheric monitoring, must be reconciled with ground-based measurements. Reliable, accepted international standards are necessary so governments can compare data with confidence, requiring a lot of individual links to forge an open and verifiable chain of measurement results accepted by all.
The report identifies and discusses, in detail, four broad areas of opportunity for technology development and improvement:
Advanced science and technology for reliably quantifying greenhouse gas emissions, regardless of geography, sector or source;
Accurate and reliable quantification of distributed carbon sources and sinks;
Consistent, standardized methods for measurable, reportable and verifiable greenhouse gas emissions data; and
Integration of ground-based (bottom-up) and remote atmospheric observation (top-down) methods.
More information: Copies of the new report are available at the Website for the 2010 June meeting, "Greenhouse Gas Emissions Quantification and Verification Strategies Workshop" at http://events.energetics.com/NISTScripps2010/downloads.html, along with additional materials from the workshop.
Provided by National Institute of Standards and Technology
"Greenhouse gases: The measurement challenge." August 17th, 2011. http://phys.org/news/2011-08-greenhouse-gases.html | 0.6 | medium | 6 | 614 | [
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10f1ef25-8d4f-4405-a4f0-b96af36723a0 | Today mark end what | science | historical_context | Today we mark the end of what is variously called The War Between the States, The War of Northern Aggression, The War of Southern Independence, Abe Lincoln’s War, or — most neutrally — The American Civil War. Now, I know enough history to know the war ended in toto on April 12, 1865 at Appomattox Courthouse, but for all intents, the Confederacy lost the war July 3, 1863; it just took two more years to realize it, but in military terms, the South lost the war at the Battle of Gettysburg, which ended 150 years ago today.
Since it is impossible to duck slavery when the Civil War is the topic, I’ll say anyone who says the issue of slavery was the sole cause of the war is ignorant of history; while anyone who says the issue of slavery had nothing to do with the war is an unmitigated fool. The Civil War had many roots and slavery was the largest, but men also fought for other reasons. This war also shares one tragic trait with all wars , it was started by the rich men and fought by the poor ones.
Regardless of origins, the three-day Battle of Gettysburg made clear what anyone then or now knew all along — the Confederacy was doomed. People — especially my fellow Southerners — like to blather on about how losing the war came down to blockades or lack of allies and other such drivel. They seem to think, as did my sainted great-grandmother Mattie Gray, “If we’d had just one more corn crop we’d have whipped the Yankees.” Nothing is farther from the truth. Truthfully, the South had a snowball’s chance in Columbia, SC of winning the war the moment the battery in Charleston opened fire on Fort Sumter.
The northern army outnumbered us in every way that matters in a war: they had more men, more guns, more bullets, more ships, more artillery, more food, and when I say more, I don’t mean a LITTLE more, I mean a crap-load more! We were outnumbered nearly three to one in soldiers alone. Southerners don’t like to hear this, but the only reason we did so well in the first two years of the war was the unbroken string of idiots and morons commanding the Army of the Potomac. Immediately following Gettysburg, President Lincoln called Grant and Sherman east and the gig was up. Those two men realized this wasn’t a garden party and war — by definition — meant a LOT of people die. Though casualties stayed the largely the same in the South while doubling in the North under the new generals’ command, they had way more men to lose than us.
Strangely, the very hopelessness of the War Between the States contributes to its romantic status — at least in the South. The David versus Goliath aspect brings misty tears to wild-eyed Southern boys, and nowhere is this love of the hopeless more apparent than in the concluding action of Gettysburg — one of the bravest, most gallant, most needless, and most useless mass discardings of life in the history of this continent — Pickett’s Charge.
Since books have been written about Pickett’s Charge, I’ll dispense with the details other than this event is known as the “High Watermark of the Confederacy.” For two days, Blue and Grey had pounded one another and it seemed General Lee’s invaders were getting the best of General Meade’s defenders, but they couldn’t break the lines and force an end to the battle. What they needed was a knockout punch and what Lee dreamed up — some believe in the throes of a minor heart attack — was Pickett’s Charge. In a nutshell, 13,000 Southerners under the command of General George Pickett would charge across the ground between the two armies, shatter the Union center, and secure victory for the Army of Northern Virginia.
That didn’t happen.
Instead, the long Confederate artillery barrage mostly sailed long and landed harmlessly behind the Union position. Also, Lee underestimated the damage his army had done in the first two days. Finally, the ground between the positions was smooth, grassy, and devoid of any cover for the attacking Southerners. The result was 13,000 boys in grey marched out against one of the most heavily dug in positions the Union achieved during the war. Cannons firing canister shot (picture huge shotgun blasts) blew hole after hole in the Confederate line and time and again, the Southerners closed ranks around their dead and dying and continued in good order across the killing field. With Southern grit and gallantry, they broke the Union line at the top of the hill . . . only to find Union reinforcements no one knew of.
The fresh bluebellies plugged the gap leaving spent Southerners nowhere to go except back across the open field. Casualties were enormous. Barely an hour after the charge began, over 50% of the attacking force lay dead or dying on the green fields of Gettysburg. General Pickett summed up the scene in his simple, heartbreaking answer to Lee’s order to reform his division in preparation for a counter charge by the Union troops saying, “General, I HAVE no division.” From the High-water Mark of the Confederacy, the Southern troops receded slowly, brokenly, tortuously, but inexorably back into Virginia and on towards Appomattox.
I first heard of the place Pickett’s Charge occupies in Southern legend and myth when my AP US History teacher, Mr. Sublett, quoted quintessential Southern writer, William Faulkner’s words from Intruder in the Dust:
For every Southern boy fourteen years old, not once but whenever he wants it, there is the instant when it’s still not yet two o’clock on that July afternoon in 1863, the brigades are in position behind the rail fence, the guns are laid and ready in the woods and the furled flags are already loosened to break out . . . waiting for Longstreet to give the word
I hope everyone has a tremendous Independence Day feast; be careful with the fireworks, remember I love you all and keep your feet clean! | 0.55 | medium | 4 | 1,312 | [
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b70a41cb-43d7-4f05-92c8-d3ad475917d8 | tutorial transforms provided analysis | social_studies | tutorial | This tutorial transforms the provided analysis and commentary regarding McDonald's performance and strategy into a structured framework for evaluating the company's market position, specifically focusing on international growth potential. --- ## Tutorial: Analyzing McDonald's Market Recovery and International Strategy Gaps **Overview**: This tutorial guides you through analyzing the core arguments presented in the 2012 commentary regarding McDonald's financial performance, investor sentiment, and the strategic gap identified in its Asian market approach compared to competitors like Yum Brands (KFC). **Prerequisites**: Basic understanding of stock market terminology (e.g., "buy," "neutral," "share price") and familiarity with major fast-food chains. --- ### Step 1: Document Recent Financial Performance Metrics Action: Extract and record the specific sales figures and trends mentioned in the text to establish the baseline for the recovery analysis. - **Instruction 1.1**: Note the global sales increase percentage reported for November. - *Example*: Global sales increase for November was **2.4%**. - **Instruction 1.2**: Record the sales trend from the preceding month (October). - *Example*: October saw a **1.8% decline**, marking the first monthly decline since 2003. - **Instruction 1.3**: Note the regional breakdown of the November growth. - *Example*: Greatest sales increases were concentrated in the **U.S. and Europe**. - **Instruction 1.4**: Record the sales growth figure for Asian markets in November. - *Example*: Asian market sales rose only **0.6%**. - **Checkpoint**: Verify that you have documented the 2.4% global rise, the prior 1.8% decline, and the significant disparity between U.S./Europe growth and the 0.6% Asian growth. ### Step 2: Analyze Investor Sentiment and Stock Movement Action: Capture the market reaction and analyst opinions surrounding the reported sales figures. - **Instruction 2.1**: Identify the specific analyst action taken by Janney analyst Mark Kalinowski. - *Example*: Upgraded McDonald's rating from **"neutral" to "buy."** - **Instruction 2.2**: Record the rationale provided for the positive outlook. - *Rationale*: Claimed that **easier comparisons over 2013** would be healthy for the stock. - **Instruction 2.3**: Document the specific share price movements mentioned. - *Example*: Share price recovered from a November low of **$84.05** to **$89.41** after plunging from an October mini-high. - **Practical Guidance**: Recognize that positive analyst ratings and stock recovery are often linked to easier year-over-year comparisons (i.e., comparing current performance against a previous weak period). ### Step 3: Define the Identified Strategic Gap (The "Missing Ingredient") Action: Isolate the core strategic recommendation made in the article concerning international markets, particularly China. - **Instruction 3.1**: Compare McDonald's menu localization efforts against its main competitor, Yum Brands (KFC), in Asia. - *McDonald's Approach*: Largely remains the same, with minor adaptations (e.g., offering chicken thighs instead of breasts; regional items like the "Shogun Burger"). - *KFC's Approach*: Takes on an **entirely new menu** in Asia, offering items like **noodles and congee** made from local ingredients. - **Instruction 3.2**: State the consequence of this difference in market adaptation. - *Consequence*: KFC **consistently beats McDonald's in China** due to better menu adaptation. - **Instruction 3.3**: Articulate the proposed solution for McDonald's. - *Actionable Step*: McDonald's should **adapt its menu overseas** to fight KFC for supremacy, mirroring the localized strategy successful competitors use. - **Checkpoint**: Confirm that the primary strategic deficiency identified is the **lack of aggressive, localized menu adaptation** in high-growth Asian markets. ### Step 4: Catalogue Counterarguments and Alternative Perspectives Action: Systematically record the diverse opinions offered in the comments section regarding McDonald's core strategy, quality, and customer service. - **Instruction 4.1 (Consistency Argument)**: Document the argument favoring the current global standardization model. - *Key Principle*: McDonald's success is built on **consistency**—the idea that a customer gets the same item prepared the same way globally (Ray Krotz’s template). - *Warning*: Changing this too much (e.g., adding pasta alfredo in Italy) undermines the original concept. - **Instruction 4.2 (Customer Service Argument)**: Record the critique focusing on employee interaction. - *Observation*: Customer service is a missing ingredient; employees often seem unenthusiastic compared to competitors like **Chick-fil-A** (noting the "my pleasure" phrase). - **Instruction 4.3 (Menu Philosophy Argument)**: Note the viewpoint against constant menu evolution. - *Preference*: Some customers prefer the **"greasy burger and fries"** and are irritated by attempts to appear overly healthy or offer fine dining options. - **Instruction 4.4 (Value Argument)**: Note the consumer-focused tip for saving money. - *Tip*: Consumers should utilize the **dollar menu items**, as they taste the same as more expensive items but offer better value. - **Troubleshooting**: If you find conflicting views (e.g., some want localization, others want consistency), recognize that this reflects the inherent tension in managing a global brand: balancing standardization with local relevance. ### Step 5: Identify Operational Improvement Suggestions Action: Extract specific, actionable suggestions related to in-store efficiency and product quality mentioned by commentators. - **Instruction 5.1**: Record the suggested technological upgrade for order processing. - *Suggestion*: Implement **pre-order kiosk menu boards**. - *Benefit*: Reduces bottlenecks at the main order board caused by indecisive customers, improving flow during busy times. - **Instruction 5.2**: Note specific product quality critiques. - *Critique 1*: Beef is described by one user as **"tasteless."** - *Critique 2*: The **Angus burgers** caused physical discomfort ("throw up") for one user. - **Instruction 5.3**: Record operational observations regarding flow. - *Observation*: The **"double drive through thing"** can cause confusion and bottlenecks during rush hour, resembling reduced highway lanes. - **Checkpoint**: Ensure you have captured suggestions related to *technology (kiosks)*, *product perception (taste/digestion)*, and *physical flow (drive-thru design)*. --- **Practice Exercise**: Assume the role of a McDonald's regional manager in Southeast Asia. Based *only* on the analysis in this tutorial, draft a one-paragraph memo to headquarters arguing for a significant menu localization budget increase, citing the key data point that justifies the risk of deviating from the global template. **Key Takeaways**: 1. McDonald's financial recovery in late 2012 was primarily driven by mature markets (U.S. and Europe), masking weak performance in Asia (0.6% growth). 2. The primary strategic weakness identified is the failure to aggressively localize the menu, allowing competitors like KFC to dominate markets like China. 3. The company faces internal tension between maintaining global consistency (the core template) and adapting locally to capture growth. 4. Operational critiques focus on customer service deficiencies and potential improvements via in-store technology (kiosks). **Next Steps**: Research McDonald's current (post-2012) menu strategy in major Asian markets (e.g., India, China) to determine if the recommended localization steps were eventually implemented and what the resulting market share changes have been. | 0.55 | high | 6 | 1,644 | [
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e44ff129-570c-4a34-96d3-291b71f3407e | Below three sentences June | language_arts | research_summary | Below are three sentences from the June 22, 2020, issue of The New York Times. All three sentences have writing problems. Can you figure out what they are? (Hint: All three sentences are grammatically correct.)
Sentence 1: In a survey conducted this month by the Partnership for New York City, a business group, respondents from 60 companies with Manhattan offices predicted that only 10 percent of their employees would return by Aug. 15.
Sentence 2: More riders have already returned to public transportation during the first phase of reopening than officials at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city’s subway systems and buses, had anticipated.
Sentence 3: A team of scientists including Sarah H. Olson, an epidemiologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society who directed the research, posted a report of their research, which has not yet been peer reviewed but has been submitted to a scientific journal, on a website for unpublished research, bioRxiv.
First problem: length. The number of words in the sentences is 36, 31, and 46, respectively. The more words in a sentence, usually the harder that sentence is to understand.
Second problem: clauses. Sentence 1 has two clauses; sentence 2 has three clauses; and sentence 3 has three clauses. Sometimes two or three clauses do not make a sentence hard to read. (For example, “My son, who is three, likes to look for bugs which are dead.”) But if those clauses are long, or are in long sentences, they can be hard to understand.
Third problem: subject-verb separation. In sentence 1, six words separate the subject [respondents] and verb [predicted] in the independent clause. In sentence 2, thirteen words separate the subject in the dependent clause [officials] from its verb [had anticipated]. In sentence 3, sixteen words separate the subject of the independent clause [team] from its verb [posted]. When subjects and verbs are separated, readers find meaning harder to understand.
Fourth problem: long words. Sentence 1 has seven words of three or more syllables. Sentence 2 has eight. Sentence 3 has seven. Long words can be good if they are specific. But when you place long words in long sentences with multiple clauses whose subjects and verbs are separated by many words, confusion increases and understanding decreases.
Luckily, The New York Times attracts well educated readers. They understand long words and can hold many thoughts in their minds as they read multiple clauses in long sentences.
How about your readers? Can they understand your writing without having to stop and start over? If not, try shortening your sentences, separating clauses into separate sentences, keeping subjects and verbs next to each other, and eliminating words of many syllables when a simpler synonym exists.
I’ve noticed this in many newspapers. I ften have to reread the first sentence to get the gist of it. | 0.65 | medium | 5 | 618 | [
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f1d63458-e034-4db7-9e76-c6a8769c3814 | 10th Aug 2020 | interdisciplinary | problem_set | 10th Aug 2020
In this article, we continue looking at the meaning of entropy change, how it relates to enthalpy change and overall, how these quantities provide a reliable method of predicting whether a reaction or process is favourable or not.
Throughout this part of the short series on chemical thermodynamics, I will emphasise a little more on the changes taking place with respect to the system, the surroundings and the universe. Make sure that you are comfortable with the differences between these terms. For chemical reactions, the system is made up of the reactants and products which are of interest. The surroundings is made up of everything-else: the solvent (if present), the thermometer, you, your neighbours, the Earth and the surrounding solar systems and galaxies. The universe is the combination of the system and the surroundings.
Showing even a reasonably complete derivation of the following equations is well beyond the scope of this series. What I will try to show, however, are some of the features and relationships of some of the mathematical equations used in the derivation which you can then advance further at university. My approach, and I believe that of all other authors at this level, will require stating most of the equations without justification. Throughout this article, I will use the terms 'increase' and 'decrease' to refer to something becoming more positive and something becoming more negative, respectively.
As given by the subheading, our goal is to come up with a method that enables us to predict whether a reaction or process is favourable or not. Later, we will also consider intermediate cases where we attempt to compare which process is more favourable or more likely to occur. The subscript 'sys' refers to the system and 'surr' refers to the surroundings.
You will probably have come to realise that processes where the total entropy increases are ones which are favourable. Such processes are likely to occur. We will formalise the idea below. The change in total entropy ΔStotal is sometimes written as ΔSuniverse in some texts. The challenge is to devise a method which enables us to calculate this value.
The universe is made up of the system and surroundings, so you can see why the total entropy change is also made up of ΔSsys and ΔSsurr. You already know how to calculate ΔSsys. In fact, this is the same ΔS in the equation from my previous article, reproduced here in Figure 14.1. The reactants B and products A are part of the system of interest. The value ΔSsys measures the change of entropy for the forward reaction. The entropy change for the backward reaction is the negative of the forward.
You can appreciate that it would be impossible to calculate the entropy change of the surroundings in a similar way because this would require you to have knowledge of the entire universe. What we need to do first is express ΔStotal in terms of variables which relate to the system only i.e. variables which we have a chance of measuring! To begin, we look at how enthalpy change of the system is related to entropy change of the surroundings.
When the enthalpy change is negative, energy is transferred as heat from the system to the surroundings. From the point of view of heat only (that is, assuming all other properties do not affect what we are monitoring), the entropy of the system decreases and the entropy of the surroundings increases (Figure 14.2). Conversely, for endothermic reactions, the entropy of the system increases and the entropy of the surroundings decreases.
Assuming, of course, that all other properties do not lead to differences is quite optimistic! However, such approximations will end up being adequate for our needs.
When two bodies, say two metal blocks, have the same temperature, then the potential for energy to transfer from one body to the other is statistically zero. Such an expectation would see one block to get colder and the other to get hotter without influencing it. The favourable process is one in which energy is transferred when there is a temperature difference. One metal block is more likely to absorb heat if its neighbouring block is at a higher temperature. (Figure 14.3).
The more energy transferred between the two blocks (or more generally between the system and surroundings) the greater the magnitude of the entropy change.
The enthalpy changes you have been asked to calculate have all been related specifically to the enthalpy change of the system, which I symbolise here as ΔHsys. The following equation states the relationship between enthalpy change of the system, the absolute temperature of the surroundings and the entropy change of the surroundings.
The more exothermic a reaction, that is, the more energy that can be transferred (Figure 14.3) the more the entropy of the surroundings increases (leading to a more positive ΔSsurr). Put a different way, the more endothermic the reaction, the less the entropy of the surroundings increases i.e. ΔSsurr becomes more negative. Again, take care not to conclude that exothermic reactions are always more favourable than endothermic reactions. We have not finished our derivation yet.
From this point forward, we assume that the temperature of the system is equal to the temperature of the surroundings, that is, the system and surroundings are in thermal equilibrium. The assumption is explained if you read from a more advanced, rigorous treatment of the subject. We will drop the 'surr' subscript for Tsurr and note that Tsys = Tsurr.
If we substitute ΔSsurr into our equation, then we can present the next part of the derivation (Figure 14.5).
You will notice here that all of the variables which relate to ΔStotal are all in terms of the system. You are now ready to state whether a reaction or process is favourable or not. I should also mention here that the equation applies when the reaction takes place at constant pressure and temperature, and is another part of the derivation which is explained at a more advanced level.
With the equation from Figure 14.5 now stated, we can readily explore the spontaneity of a reaction (finding out if a reaction is spontaneous). We have already covered the ideas regarding favourable and unfavourable processes but the term spontaneous processes is more mathematically refined as a definition. A spontaneous process or reaction is one in which the total entropy of the universe increases or more succinctly, ΔStotal > 0, at the given temperature T and constant pressure. As we shall soon see, spontaneous reactions are ones which tend to favour the formation of products. A reaction or process is non-spontaneous when ΔStotal < 0 at the given conditions of temperature and constant pressure. Non-spontaneous processes tend not to favour the formation of products.
If you study this topic as part of your course then you might be asked to compare entropy changes and decide which reaction is more or less spontaneous, particularly if two or more reactions have the same sign for ΔStotal.
The next part of the derivation is of particular interest and use to chemists. We tend to compare the spontaneity of a process in terms of energy, for which the units are J mol-1 or kJ mol-1, instead of comparing ΔStotal. We rearrange the equation and build a new definition. Multiplying the equation from Figure 14.5 by -T and defining ΔG = -TΔStotal, leading to a more convenient form shown in Figure 14.6.
The term ΔG (more formally, ΔGsys) is referred to as the change in Gibbs Free Energy (quite often referred to more concisely as Gibbs Free Energy), named after the 19th century American mathematical physicist, Josiah Willard Gibbs. Many pre-university textbooks omit the 'sys' subscripts in ΔHsys and ΔSsys though they are almost certainly referring to the equation given in Figure 14.6.
The equation given in Figure 14.6, like Figure 14.5, applies when the pressure and temperature are constant. Since we have defined ΔG = -TΔStotal, it follows that a spontaneous process is one in which ΔG > 0, at the temperature T and under constant pressure. Non-spontaneous processes and reactions are ones in which ΔG < 0. We will outline why it is called 'Free' energy shortly.
There are a number of features which you should be comfortable with when interpreting the results of the equation from Figure 14.6.
We need to clarify what happens to the chemical composition when we say something is likely to occur or is spontaneous. Shortly, we will see that all processes and reactions occur to some extent. Overall, reactions which are more spontaneous are ones which produce more products. Less spontaneous processes result in a mixture made up of more reactants than products. Let us go through these ideas a more detail.
Let us start with an important assumption made thus far. Whenever we calculate ΔSsys, we are comparing the entropy change of the system assuming that all reactants are converted into products. It is the same when we calculate ΔHsys. We are comparing the enthalpies of pure products to pure reactants. What happens if we only convert some of the reactants? What other factors affect absolute entropy and absolute enthalpy?
With enthalpy, you learned that there is an energy barrier to each reaction direction and, at least temporarily, absolute enthalpy increases at first whether you start from reactants or from products. With entropy, there are multiple factors which determine entropy: how much random motion is present, how many configurations are present and how are energy and matter dispersed. The number of configurations and the entropy solely dependent on the number of configurations always increases whenever we start a reaction from pure reactants or pure products (Figure 14.7) for any reaction. The other two factors are what we are really interested in because either can either add to the increase in entropy or oppose the increase. These two factors ultimately determine what happens to the absolute entropy as the reaction proceeds. With more experience of the subject, you will learn that the absolute entropy of the system always increases at first, from either direction. (It follows then that all reactions, as written, are apparently reversible.) Take care to note, however, that this does not mean ΔSsys is always positive.
For any reaction starting from either reactant or from product, if we assume that the entropy change of the surroundings is constant (which is also equivalent to saying that the enthalpy change and temperature are constant, Figure 14.4) then a process or reaction which moves away from pure reactants or pure products always leads to an increase in the system's entropy and therefore the total entropy. We can view all these results graphically, plotting the total entropy against chemical composition (Figure 14.7).
With more data points, the two curves which lead away from reactants and products eventually join, resulting in one curve with a maximum. The chemical composition at the maximum total entropy largely depends on the sign of ΔStotal. If ΔStotal > 0 then the reaction mixture at the maximum total entropy is composed mostly of products (this can be demonstrated through experimentation). If ΔStotal < 0 then the chemical composition at the maximum is characteristic of more reactants. The results are shown in Figure 14.8. In both cases, the entropy increases, which means that all reactions, forward or backward, are likely to proceed to some extent. For Figure 14.8, going uphill is favourable!
Take note of what ΔStotal actually means in chemistry. It represents the total entropy change assuming that all reactants are converted to products. It does not measure the difference between the maximum entropy and a starting point (reactants or products). In practice, reactants are not converted completely to products (and vice versa) based on entropy change. When the system reaches the maximum total entropy, any further chemical change (in the forward or backward directions) would require a decrease in total entropy. This further change would be unfavourable. We will come back to this point soon.
Moving on to Gibbs Free energy, which is essentially the negative of ΔStotal, you can see that the results are inverted (Figure 14.9). As one moves away from pure reactants or pure products, the free energy of the system always decreases initially and reaches a minimum. Spontaneous processes with a negative ΔG lead to a minimum where the mixture is made up mostly of products, whereas non-spontaneous processes with a positive ΔG lead to mixtures made up mostly of reactants. As explained for total entropy change, forward and backward reactions are both likely to occur to some extent but unlikely to go to completion. For Figure 14.9, going downhill is favourable.
The maximum from Figure 14.8 and the minimum from Figure 14.9 represent the equilibrium composition. At either stationary point, one would need to provide an 'external influence' to decrease total entropy or increase free energy. Without external influence, the composition of the mixture remains constant, which we know is indicative of a system that has reached dynamic equilibrium. To an experimentalist or observer, it would eventually appear that any additional forward reactions are countered by 'backward reactions' (and vice versa) preventing the reaction from going all the way forward or backward.
As I hope you can see, the calculations with regards to spontaneity are not really about whether a reaction will proceed or not but more to do with what the composition will be once the total entropy is maximised or the Gibbs Free energy is minimised. How far does the reaction go, as it were. Spontaneous reactions produce more product than non-spontaneous reactions. By changing the conditions, chemists can design procedures which effectively shift the position of the stationary point. For some reactions, the stationary point is very close to one of the starting points. As such, these reactions are viewed as 'irreversible reactions', although a detailed analysis would indicate otherwise.
Let us look at why we use the phrase 'free energy'. What is free? Recall from the previous article that a system can exchange energy with the surroundings, some of which may be (though not always) used to do work through expansion or contraction. The remainder of the energy is exchanged or transferred as heat, leading to an increase in the entropy of the system (for an endothermic process) or the surroundings (for an exothermic process). The important point here is that the enthalpy change, as described, is not related to expansion or contraction.
If we rearrange the equation from Figure 14.6, we can state:
ΔH = ΔG + TΔS
This helps show that enthalpy change is split into two parts. The TΔS part is related to changes random motion of the system or surroundings. The ΔG part is related to work. Remember, work due to expansion or contraction was already accounted for and is not related to enthalpy change so we refer to ΔG more appropriately as non-expansion work. The energy represented by ΔG is said to be 'free' to do other forms of work, other than expansion or contraction.
Perhaps the most common example and use of the energy provided by ΔG is the work done to drive electrons around a circuit. When you study electrochemistry, any spontaneous reaction produces heat, most of which is dissipated to the surroundings and a smaller portion is used to drive electrons around the circuit in a uniform manner.
We end this article with a few more cautionary remarks. The predictive tools explained above are indeed quite powerful though you will also encounter examples or observations which seem to diverge from the predictions. One significant area of chemistry which we have overlooked is chemical kinetics. There are lots of examples of reactions which, while supposedly spontaneous on paper, are actually very slow and might appear non-spontaneous (the mixture is made mostly of reactants).
At this level, the thermodynamic variables ΔS and ΔH are assumed to be independent of pressure and temperature, assumptions which are not supported by more rigorous studies. Bear this in mind if you find that the predictions fail when temperature or pressure change significantly as a process takes place. As you will see from a range of calculations, ΔG is strongly dependent on temperature. Whenever quoting ΔG values, always state the temperature.
In conclusion, these articles are intended to give you more of the background needed to pursue more advanced study of chemical thermodynamics. There will undoubtedly (indeed, hopefully) be more questions that you want to ask. We have seen how the energy of a reaction can be distributed as work and heat. After giving more meaning to enthalpy change and entropy change, we have developed predictive tools that enable scientists to foresee the nature and composition of the resultant mixture. We have also seen how the total entropy changes and free energy changes tie in with dynamic equilibrium. | 0.65 | medium | 6 | 3,510 | [
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35d839aa-0736-41c0-ab60-e32bedf833fb | Stratford Auto Repair | philosophy_and_ethics | concept_introduction | Stratford Auto Repair
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When your Check Engine Light turns on, it can feel like one of the most frustrating problems that can crop up with your vehicle. It is just a little light that indicates an issue--but what is it? Is it something simple or something to be concerned about? It could be either one, and it should be checked as soon as possible.
If your Check Engine Light has turned on, please call Desi Auto Care or stop at 307 South White Horse Pike Stratford, NJ, 08084 by to speak to our friendly and knowledgeable staff. We can diagnose the problem quickly and repair any issue which may be causing the problem. Our skilled technicians are adept at swiftly identifying the problem and performing the needed repairs.
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When that Check Engine Light turns on, give Desi Auto Care a call at (856) 474-1213! We would be happy to make an appointment for your vehicle.
Desi Auto Care is committed to ensuring effective communication and digital accessibility to all users. We are continually improving the user experience for everyone, and apply the relevant accessibility standards to achieve these goals. We welcome your feedback. Please call Desi Auto Care (856) 784-1212 if you have any issues in accessing any area of our website. | 0.65 | medium | 3 | 424 | [
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586dfd02-01a2-4920-aa92-ec56a2cf2318 | Growing biracial Puerto Rico | technology | technical_documentation | Growing up biracial in Puerto Rico made me aware at a very young age of the racism in Latino culture. Although family and friends called me triguena (wheat colored), I recall classmates' and even teachers' cruel taunts because I stood out. They told me, "Eres una mosca en un vaso de leche" (You are a fly in a glass of milk). When I powdered my face, children laughed and called me Cucarachita Martina. I was reminded, "No eres arroz con leche" (You are not rice with milk). When I dressed in my best, I was taunted, "La puerca de Juan Bobo" (Juan Bobo's pig).
Arroz Con Leche (Rice With Milk), Cucarachita Martina (Cockroach Martina), and Juan Bobo (Simple John) are part of the rich Puerto Rican oral tradition. They are culturally authentic folklore. I grew up disliking these stories and characters and shied away from using them in my own classroom. They always brought back painful memories of how I was taunted. I continue to be concerned about the use of such folk tales in today's classrooms by teachers who seem to be unaware of their subtle, damaging messages.
In Arroz Con Leche, children in a circle sing: "Rice and milk wants to wed a little widow from the capital state, who can embroider and knows how to knit, and in the same safe place her needle does keep." A child inside the circle responds: "I am the little widow, a daughter of the king. I want to get married and cannot find with whom." The group sings back: "If you are so beautiful and can't find with whom, here you have plenty, choose at your taste." Children imitate church bells: "Ti-lin, Ti-lan, . . ." The child inside chooses among the players: "With you, yes. With you, no. With you, my dear, I will marry." The chosen child steps inside the circle and the game begins again.
Arroz con leche is a sweet hot cereal for children. It is also a popular expression for a light-skinned and often preferred child - as white as rice and milk and just as desirable or sweet. This is not unique to Latino culture; other cultures have references for very "fair" children. We often hear "milk and honey" for blond children and "peaches and cream" for those with rosy cheeks.
The game Arroz Con Leche reflects Latino gender and racial biases favoring boys and light-skinned people. In the game, a man seeks and chooses a wife and sets his expectations: She must be a good cook, seamstress, and tidy housekeeper. The wife sets no expectations for her husband; she just wants to get married, and it doesn't matter much to whom. | 0.6 | medium | 3 | 610 | [
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dee752b3-4ae9-4e2f-bf91-ad4e7c727fbd | Bath one country’s most | arts_and_creativity | historical_context | Bath is one of the country’s most well recognised cities for historic and memorable architecture. The city attracts a huge number of tourists year on year. Due to such architectural history, Bath was made a World Heritage Site in 1987. It is the only city in the country to receive World Heritage Status boosting its popularity as a tourist destination.
There are many locations throughout the city that feature many different eras of architecture, from Roman and Celtic, to the dominant Georgian and Regency House styles. The city features many reputable and famous buildings such as the Roman Baths, Bath Abbey, Theatre Royal and No. 1 Royal Crescent.
The centre of the city features a deep Palladian revival style, which was most popular during the early 18th century. Many notable buildings in Bath featuring this style involve architecture designed by John Wood the Elder and John Wood the Younger; an example of their work is one of Bath’s most recognised sites the Circus, consisting of three long, curved terraces.
Many of the buildings built during this time used the local golden-coloured Bath stone, sourced from the limestone quarries Combe Down and Bathampton Down. Both of these quarries were owned by Ralph Allen (entrepreneur and philanthropist 1693-1764), who then commissioned John Wood the Elder to design his country house at Priory Park, enabling him to show the aesthetics and properties of the Bath stone.
With these architectural styles during both early and late Georgian periods, as well as Regency House styles, came many variations of sash and casement windows. While sash windows in particular were very popular, amendments to fire regulations at the time led to changes in their design and improvements in craftsmanship. Early examples were usually flush and exposed against the brick. However, once new regulations had been implemented in 1709, these required the outer sash boxes to be set back 4 inches. This was then changed once more in 1774, requiring the outer boxes to be recessed behind the brickwork, all in an effort to stop the spread of fire across the front of the building. For the same reason these regulations also identified wooden decorative work, which was banned completely.
Other design changes that involve period windows can include the thickness of the glazing bars. As the years progressed during the 18th Century, these bars became thinner and thinner, and often had to be supported with metal rods. It’s these design features and subtle changes throughout the period that the local specialists at JoineryWorkshop.com aim to identify and repair sympathetically. Should you live in or around Bath and require our speciality services please feel free to enquire about how JoineryWorkshop.com can help maintain the traditional look and feel of your property. | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 574 | [
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0d5305c8-81d6-42ca-b2f0-2b0b50c1a50f | Outcome Chart Saskatchewan Health | life_skills | problem_set | Outcome Chart - Saskatchewan - Health Education Grade 2
This outcome chart contains media-related learning outcomes from the Saskatchewan Health Education curriculum with links to supporting resources on the MediaSmarts site. The foundational and learning objectives of the elementary health curriculum are not categorized by grade level, as it is intended that these objectives will be attained over the entire period from grade 1 to grade 5.
Develop the understanding, skills, and confidences necessary to take action to improve health
Determine how healthy snacking practices influence personal health.
Discuss how to determine if a snack is healthy/unhealthy (e.g., reflect on what is known, gather information).
Examine, sample, and describe (i.e., taste, look, smell, feel, sound) a variety of healthy snacks.
Investigate benefits of healthy snacking (including but not limited to growth and development, increased concentration, healthy weight, improved oral health).
Illustrate how healthy snacking provides sustained energy throughout the day.
Examine why people choose particular snacks (e.g., culture, cost, preference, availability, media).
- Comparing Real Families to TV Families
- Eating Under the Rainbow
- Looking At Food Advertising
- Packaging Tricks
- Can You Spot the Ad?
- Finding Balance in Our Digital Lives
- Adversmarts: Introduction to Food Advertising Online
- Healthy Food Web | 0.7 | high | 4 | 284 | [
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092e7aca-0457-4b41-af75-6ae13375c116 | Carpetbagger history United States | interdisciplinary | historical_context | # Carpetbagger
In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical pejorative used by Southerners to describe allegedly opportunistic or disruptive Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War and were perceived to be exploiting the local populace for their own financial, political, or social gain. The term broadly included both individuals who sought to promote Republican politics (including the right of African Americans to vote and hold office) and individuals who saw business and political opportunities because of the chaotic state of the local economies following the war. In practice, the term carpetbagger often was applied to any Northerners who were present in the South during the Reconstruction Era (1865–1877). The word is closely associated with scalawag, a similarly pejorative word used to describe white Southerners who supported the Republican Party-led Reconstruction.
White Southerners commonly denounced carpetbaggers collectively during the post-war years, fearing they would loot and plunder the defeated South and be allied politically with the Radical Republicans. Sixty men from the North, including educated free blacks and slaves who had escaped to the North and returned South after the war, were elected from the South as Republicans to Congress. The majority of Republican governors in the South during Reconstruction were from the North.
Since the end of the Reconstruction era, the term has been used to denote people who move into a new area for purely economic or political reasons despite not having ties to that place.
## Etymology and definition
The term carpetbagger, used exclusively as a pejorative term, originated from the carpet bag, a form of cheap luggage, made from carpet fabric, which many of the newcomers carried. The term came to be associated with opportunism and exploitation by outsiders. It is now used in the United States to refer to a parachute candidate, that is, an outsider who runs for public office in an area without having lived there for more than a short time, or without having other significant community ties.
According to a 1912 book by Oliver Temple Perry, Tennessee Secretary of State and Radical Republican Andrew J. Fletcher "was one of the first, if not the very first, in the State to denounce the hordes of greedy office-seekers who came from the North in the rear of the army in the closing days of the [U.S. Civil] War", in the June 1867 stump speech that he delivered across Tennessee in support of the re-election of the disabled Tennessee Governor William G. Brownlow:
No one more gladly welcomes the Northern man who comes in all sincerity to make a home here, and to become one of our people, than I, but for the adventurer and the office-seeker who comes among us with one dirty shirt and a pair of dirty socks, in an old rusty carpet bag, and before his washing is done becomes a candidate for office, I have no welcome.
That was the origin of the term "carpet bag", and out of it grew the well known term "carpet-bag government".
In the United Kingdom at the end of the 20th century, carpetbagger developed another meaning, referring to people who joined a mutual organization, such as a building society, in order to force it to demutualize, that is, to convert into a joint stock company, seeking personal financial gain by that means.
## Background
The Republican Party in the South comprised three groups after the Civil War, and white Democratic Southerners referred to two in derogatory terms. Scalawags were white Southerners who supported the Republican party, "carpetbaggers" were recent arrivals in the region from the North, and freedmen were freed slaves.
Most of the 430 Republican newspapers in the South were edited by scalawags and 20 percent were edited by carpetbaggers. White businessmen generally boycotted Republican papers, which survived through government patronage.
Historian Eric Foner argues:
...most carpetbaggers probably combine the desire for personal gain with a commitment to taking part in an effort "to substitute the civilization of freedom for that of slavery"...Carpetbaggers generally supported measures aimed at democratizing and modernizing the South – civil rights legislation, aid to economic development, the establishment of public school systems.
### Reforming impulse
Beginning in 1862, Northern abolitionists moved to areas in the South that had fallen under Union control. Schoolteachers and religious missionaries went to the South to teach the freedmen; some were sponsored by northern churches. Some were abolitionists who sought to continue the struggle for racial equality; they often became agents of the federal Freedmen's Bureau, which started operations in 1865 to assist the vast numbers of recently emancipated slaves. The bureau established schools in rural areas of the South for the purpose of educating the mostly illiterate Black and Poor White population. Other Northerners who moved to the South did so to participate in the profitable business of rebuilding railroads and various other forms of infrastructure that had been destroyed during the war.
During the time most blacks were enslaved, many were prohibited from being educated and attaining literacy. Southern states had no public school systems, and upper-class white Southerners either sent their children to private schools (including in England) or hired private tutors. After the war, hundreds of Northern white women moved South, many to teach the newly freed African-American children. They joined like-minded Southerners, most of which were employed by the Methodist and Baptist Churches, who spent much of their time teaching and preaching to slave and freedpeople congregations both before and after the Civil War.
### Economic motives
Carpetbaggers also established banks and retail businesses. Most were former Union soldiers eager to invest their savings and energy in this promising new frontier, and civilians lured south by press reports of "the fabulous sums of money to be made in the South in raising cotton." Foner notes that "joined with the quest for profit, however, was a reforming spirit, a vision of themselves as agents of sectional reconciliation and the South's "economic regeneration." Accustomed to viewing Southerners—black and white—as devoid of economic initiative, the "Puritan work ethic", and self-discipline, they believed that only "Northern capital and energy" could bring "the blessings of a free labor system to the region."
Carpetbaggers tended to be well educated and middle class in origin. Some had been lawyers, businessmen, and newspaper editors. The majority (including 52 of the 60 who served in Congress during Reconstruction) were veterans of the Union Army.
Leading "black carpetbaggers" believed that the interests of capital and labor were identical and that the freedmen were entitled to little more than an "honest chance in the race of life."
Many Northern and Southern Republicans shared a modernizing vision of upgrading the Southern economy and society, one that would replace the inefficient Southern plantation regime with railroads, factories, and more efficient farming. They actively promoted public schooling and created numerous colleges and universities. The Northerners were especially successful in taking control of Southern railroads, aided by state legislatures. In 1870, Northerners controlled 21% of the South's railroads (by mileage); 19% of the directors were from the North. By 1890, they controlled 88% of the mileage; 47% of the directors were from the North.
## Prominent examples in state politics
### Mississippi
Union General Adelbert Ames, a native of Maine, was appointed military governor and later was elected as Republican governor of Mississippi during the Reconstruction era. Ames tried unsuccessfully to ensure equal rights for black Mississippians. His political battles with the Southerners and African Americans ripped apart his party.
The "Black and Tan" (biracial) constitutional convention in Mississippi in 1868 included 30 white Southerners, 17 Southern freedmen and 24 non-southerners, nearly all of whom were veterans of the Union Army. They included four men who had lived in the South before the war, two of whom had served in the Confederate States Army. Among the more prominent were Gen. Beroth B. Eggleston, a native of New York; Col. A.T. Morgan, of the Second Wisconsin Volunteers; Gen. W.S. Barry, former commander of a Colored regiment raised in Kentucky; an Illinois general and lawyer who graduated from Knox College; Maj. W.H. Gibbs, of the Fifteenth Illinois infantry; Judge W. B. Cunningham, of Pennsylvania; and Cap. E.J. Castello, of the Seventh Missouri infantry. They were among the founders of the Republican party in Mississippi.
They were prominent in the politics of the state until 1875, but nearly all left Mississippi in 1875 to 1876 under pressure from the Red Shirts and White Liners. These white paramilitary organizations, described as "the military arm of the Democratic Party", worked openly to violently overthrow Republican rule, using intimidation and assassination to turn Republicans out of office and suppress freedmen's voting. Mississippi Representative Wiley P. Harris, a Democrat, stated in 1875:
If any two hundred Southern men backed by a Federal administration should go to Indianapolis, turn out the Indiana people, take possession of all the seats of power, honor, and profit, denounce the people at large as assassins and barbarians, introduce corruption in all the branches of the public administration, make government a curse instead of a blessing, league with the most ignorant class of society to make war on the enlightened, intelligent, and virtuous, what kind of social relations would such a state of things beget.
Albert T. Morgan, the Republican sheriff of Yazoo, Mississippi, received a brief flurry of national attention when insurgent white Democrats took over the county government and forced him to flee. He later wrote Yazoo; Or, on the Picket Line of Freedom in the South (1884).
On November 6, 1875, Hiram Revels, a Mississippi Republican and the first African American U.S. Senator, wrote a letter to U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant that was widely reprinted. Revels denounced Ames and Northerners for manipulating the Black vote for personal benefit, and for keeping alive wartime hatreds:
Since reconstruction, the masses of my people have been, as it were, enslaved in mind by unprincipled adventurers, who, caring nothing for country, were willing to stoop to anything no matter how infamous, to secure power to themselves, and perpetuate it...My people have been told by these schemers, when men have been placed on the ticket who were notoriously corrupt and dishonest, that they must vote for them; that the salvation of the party depended upon it; that the man who scratched a ticket was not a Republican. This is only one of the many means these unprincipled demagogues have devised to perpetuate the intellectual bondage of my people...The bitterness and hate created by the late civil strife has, in my opinion, been obliterated in this state, except perhaps in some localities, and would have long since been entirely obliterated, were it not for some unprincipled men who would keep alive the bitterness of the past, and inculcate a hatred between the races, in order that they may aggrandize themselves by office, and its emoluments, to control my people, the effect of which is to degrade them.
Elza Jeffords, a lawyer from Portsmouth, Ohio who fought with the Army of the Tennessee, remained in Mississippi after the conclusion of the Civil War. He was the last Republican to represent that state in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1883 to 1885. He died in Vicksburg, Mississippi 16 days after he left Congress. The next Republican congressman from the state was not elected until 80 years later in 1964: Prentiss Walker of Mize, Mississippi, who served a single term from 1965 to 1967.
### North Carolina
Corruption was a charge made by Democrats in North Carolina against the Republicans, notes the historian Paul Escott, "because its truth was apparent." The historians Eric Foner and W.E.B. Du Bois have noted that Democrats as well as Republicans received bribes and participated in decisions about the railroads. General Milton S. Littlefield was dubbed the "Prince of Carpetbaggers", and bought votes in the legislature "to support grandiose and fraudulent railroad schemes". Escott concludes that some Democrats were involved, but Republicans "bore the main responsibility for the issue of $28 million in state bonds for railroads and the accompanying corruption. This sum, enormous for the time, aroused great concern." Foner says Littlefield disbursed $200,000 (bribes) to win support in the legislature for state money for his railroads, and Democrats as well as Republicans were guilty of taking the bribes and making the decisions on the railroad. North Carolina Democrats condemned the legislature's "depraved villains, who take bribes every day"; one local Republican officeholder complained, "I deeply regret the course of some of our friends in the Legislature as well as out of it in regard to financial matters, it is very embarrassing indeed."
Escott notes that extravagance and corruption increased taxes and the costs of government in a state that had always favored low expenditure. The context was that a planter elite kept taxes low because it benefited them. They used their money toward private ends rather than public investment. None of the states had established public school systems before the Reconstruction state legislatures created them, and they had systematically underinvested in infrastructure such as roads and railroads. Planters whose properties occupied prime riverfront locations relied on river transportation, but smaller farmers in the backcountry suffered.
Escott claimed "Some money went to very worthy causes—the 1869 legislature, for example, passed a school law that began the rebuilding and expansion of the state's public schools. But far too much was wrongly or unwisely spent" to aid the Republican Party leadership. A Republican county commissioner in Alamance eloquently denounced the situation: "Men are placed in power who instead of carrying out their duties...form a kind of school for to graduate Rascals. Yes if you will give them a few Dollars they will liern you for an accomplished Rascal. This is in reference to the taxes that are rung from the labouring class of people. Without a speedy reformation I will have to resign my post."
Albion W. Tourgée, formerly of Ohio and a friend of President James A. Garfield, moved to North Carolina, where he practiced as a lawyer and was appointed a judge. He once opined that "Jesus Christ was a carpetbagger." Tourgée later wrote A Fool's Errand, a largely autobiographical novel about an idealistic carpetbagger persecuted by the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina.
### South Carolina
A politician in South Carolina who was called a carpetbagger was Daniel Henry Chamberlain, a New Englander who had served as an officer of a predominantly black regiment of the United States Colored Troops. He was appointed South Carolina's attorney general from 1868 to 1872 and elected Republican governor from 1874 to 1877. As a result of the national Compromise of 1877, Chamberlain lost his office. He was narrowly re-elected in a campaign marked by egregious voter fraud and violence against freedmen by Democratic Red Shirts, who succeeded in suppressing the black vote in some majority-black counties. While serving in South Carolina, Chamberlain was a strong supporter of Negro rights.
Some historians of the early 1800s, who belonged to the Dunning School that believed that the Reconstruction era was fatally flawed, claimed that Chamberlain later was influenced by Social Darwinism to become a white supremacist. They also wrote that he supported states' rights and laissez-faire in the economy. They portrayed "liberty" in 1896 as the right to rise above the rising tide of equality. Chamberlain was said to justify white supremacy by arguing that, in evolutionary terms, the Negro obviously belonged to an inferior social order.
Charles Woodward Stearns, also from Massachusetts, wrote an account of his experience in South Carolina: The Black Man of the South, and the Rebels: Or, the Characteristics of the Former and the Recent Outrages of the Latter (1873).
Francis Lewis Cardozo, a black minister from New Haven, Connecticut, served as a delegate to South Carolina's 1868 Constitutional Convention. He made eloquent speeches advocating that the plantations be broken up and distributed among the freedmen. They wanted their own land to farm and believed they had already paid for land by their years of uncompensated labor and the trials of slavery.
### Louisiana
Henry C. Warmoth was the Republican governor of Louisiana from 1868 to 1874. As governor, Warmoth was plagued by accusations of corruption, which continued to be a matter of controversy long after his death. He was accused of using his position as governor to trade in state bonds for his personal benefit. In addition, the newspaper company which he owned received a contract from the state government. Warmoth supported the franchise for freedmen.
Warmoth struggled to lead the state during the years when the White League, a white Democratic terrorist organization, conducted an open campaign of violence and intimidation against Republicans, including freedmen, with the goals of regaining Democratic power and white supremacy. They pushed Republicans from political positions, were responsible for the Coushatta Massacre, disrupted Republican organizing, and preceded elections with such intimidation and violence that black voting was sharply reduced. Warmoth stayed in Louisiana after Reconstruction, as white Democrats regained political control of the state. He died in 1931 at age 89.
George Luke Smith, a New Hampshire native, served briefly in the U.S. House from Louisiana's 4th congressional district but was unseated in 1874 by the Democrat William M. Levy. He then left Shreveport for Hot Springs, Arkansas.
### Alabama
George E. Spencer was a prominent Republican U.S. Senator. His 1872 reelection campaign in Alabama opened him to allegations of "political betrayal of colleagues; manipulation of Federal patronage; embezzlement of public funds; purchase of votes; and intimidation of voters by the presence of Federal troops." He was a major speculator in a distressed financial paper.
### Georgia
Tunis Campbell, a black New York businessman, was hired in 1863 by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton to help former slaves in Port Royal, South Carolina. When the Civil War ended, Campbell was assigned to the Sea Islands of Georgia, where he engaged in an apparently successful land reform program for the benefit of the freedmen. He eventually became vice-chair of the Georgia Republican Party, a state senator and the head of an African-American militia which he hoped to use against the Ku Klux Klan.
### Arkansas
The "Brooks–Baxter War" was a factional dispute, 1872–74 that culminated in an armed confrontation in 1874 between factions of the Arkansas Republican Party over the disputed 1872 election for governor. The victor in the end was the "Minstrel" faction led by carpetbagger Elisha Baxter over the "Brindle Tail" faction led by Joseph Brooks, which included most of the scalawags. The dispute weakened both factions and the entire Republican Party, enabling the sweeping Democratic victory in the 1874 state elections.
#### William Furbush
William Hines Furbush, born a mixed-race slave in Carroll County, Kentucky in 1839 received part of his education in Ohio. He migrated to Helena, Arkansas in 1862. After returning to Ohio in February 1865, he joined the Forty-second Colored Infantry.
After the war, Furbush migrated to Liberia through the American Colonization Society, where he continued to work as a photographer. He returned to Ohio after 18 months and moved back to Arkansas by 1870. Furbush was elected to two terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives, 1873–74 (from an African-American majority district in the Arkansas Delta, made up of Phillips and Monroe counties.) He served in 1879–80 from the newly established Lee County.
In 1873, the state passed a civil rights law. Furbush and three other black leaders, including the bill's primary sponsor, state senator Richard A. Dawson, sued a barkeeper in Little Rock, Arkansas for refusing to serve their group. The suit resulted in the only successful Reconstruction prosecution under the state's civil rights law. In the legislature, Furbush worked to create Lee County, Arkansas, from portions of Phillips County, Crittenden County, Monroe County, and St. Francis County in eastern Arkansas, which had a black-majority population.
Following the end of his 1873 legislative term, Furbush was appointed as county sheriff by Republican Governor Elisha Baxter. Furbush twice won re-election as sheriff, serving from 1873 to 1878. During his term, he adopted a policy of "fusion", a post-Reconstruction power-sharing compromise between Populist Democrats and Republicans. Furbush originally was elected as a Republican, but he switched to the Democratic Party at the end of his time as sheriff. Democrats held most of the economic power and cooperating with them could make his future.
In 1878, Furbush was elected again to the Arkansas House. His election is notable because he was elected as a black Democrat during a campaign season notorious for white intimidation of black and Republican voters in black-majority eastern Arkansas. He was the first-known black Democrat elected to the Arkansas General Assembly.
In March 1879, Furbush left Arkansas for Colorado. He returned to Arkansas in 1888, setting up practice as a lawyer. In 1889, he co-founded the African American newspaper National Democrat. He left the state in the 1890s after it disenfranchised black voters. Furbush died in Indiana in 1902 at a veterans' home.
### Texas
Carpetbaggers were least numerous in Texas. Republicans controlled the state government from 1867 to January 1874. Only one state official and one justice of the state supreme court were Northerners. About 13% to 21% of district court judges were Northerners, along with about 10% of the delegates who wrote the Reconstruction constitution of 1869. Of the 142 men who served in the 12th Legislature, some 12 to 29 were from the North. At the county level, Northerners made up about 10% of the commissioners, county judges and sheriffs.
George Thompson Ruby, an African American from New York City, who grew up in Portland, Maine, worked as a teacher in New Orleans from 1864 until 1866 when he migrated to Texas. There he was assigned to Galveston, Texas as an agent and teacher for the Freedmen's Bureau. Active in the Republican Party and elected as a delegate to the state constitutional convention in 1868–1869, Ruby was later elected as a Texas state senator and had wide influence. He supported construction of railroads to support Galveston business. He was instrumental in organizing African-American dockworkers into the Labor Union of Colored Men, to gain them jobs at the docks after 1870. When Democrats regained control of the state government in 1874, Ruby returned to New Orleans, working in journalism. He also became a leader of the Exoduster movement. Blacks from the Deep South migrated to homestead in Kansas in order to escape white supremacist violence and the oppression of segregation.
## Historiography
The Dunning school of American historians (1900–1950) espoused White supremacy and viewed "carpetbaggers" unfavorably, arguing that they degraded the political and business culture. The revisionist school in the 1930s called them stooges of Northern business interests. After 1960 the neoabolitionist school emphasized their moral courage.
## Modern use
### United Kingdom
#### Building societies
In the late 1990s, carpetbagging was used as a term in Great Britain during the wave of demutualizations of building societies. It described people who joined mutual societies with the hope of making a quick profit from their conversion to joint stock companies.
Those so-called carpetbaggers were roving financial opportunists, often of modest means, who spotted investment opportunities and aimed to benefit from a set of circumstances to which they were not ordinarily entitled. The best opportunities for carpetbaggers came from opening membership accounts at building societies to qualify for windfall gains, running into thousands of pounds, from the process of conversion and takeover. The influx of such transitory "token" members, who took advantage of the deposit criteria, often instigated or accelerated the demutualisation of the organisation.
The new investors in those mutuals would receive shares in the newly created public companies, usually distributed at a flat rate, which equally benefited small and large investors, providing a broad incentive for members to vote for leadership candidates who were pushing for demutualisation. Carpetbaggers first was used in this context in early 1997 by the chief executive of the Woolwich Building Society, who announced the society's conversion with rules removing the entitlement of the most recent new savers to potential windfalls, stating in a media interview, "I have no qualms about disenfranchising carpetbaggers."
Between 1997 and 2002, a group of pro-demutualization supporters, "Members for Conversion", operated a website, carpetbagger.com, which highlighted the best ways of opening share accounts with UK building societies, and organised demutualisation resolutions.
That led many building societies to implement anti-carpetbagging policies, such as not accepting new deposits from customers who lived outside the normal operating area of the society. Another measure was to insert a charitable assignment clause for new members into the constitution of the organisation, requiring customers opening a savings account to sign a declaration agreeing that any windfall conversion benefits to which they might become entitled would be assigned to the Charities Aid Foundation.
The term continues to be used within the co-operative movement to, for example, refer to the demutualisation of housing cooperatives.
#### UK politics
The analogous term to carpetbagging in Britain is "chicken run", to denote an MP running in a safer constituency to seek re-election. The term was first used by the Labour Party to describe Norman Lamont's move from Kingston-upon-Thames in London to Harrogate and Knaresborough in North Yorkshire. The term has been used at subsequent elections, to describe MPs including Shaun Woodward (Witney to St Helens South), Mims Davies (Eastleigh to Mid Sussex), Kieran Mullan (Crewe and Nantwich to Bexhill and Battle), and Richard Holden (North West Durham to Basildon and Billericay).
The term carpetbagger has also been applied to those who join the Labour Party but lack roots in the working class that the party was formed to represent.
### World War II
During World War II, the U.S. Office of Strategic Services surreptitiously supplied necessary tools and materials to resistance groups in Europe. The OSS called this effort Operation Carpetbagger. The modified B-24 aircraft used for the night-time missions were referred to as "carpetbaggers". (Among other special features, they were painted a glossy black to make them less visible to searchlights.) Between January and September 1944, Operation Carpetbagger operated 1,860 sorties between RAF Harrington, England, and various points in occupied Europe. British Agents used this "noise" as cover for their use of Carpetbagger for the nominated Agent who was carrying monies [authentic and counterfeit] to the Underground/Resistance.
### Australia
In Australia, "carpetbagger" may refer to unscrupulous dealers and business managers in indigenous Australian art.
The term was also used by John Fahey, a former Premier of New South Wales and federal Liberal finance minister, in the context of shoddy "tradespeople" who travelled to Queensland to take advantage of victims following the 2010–2011 Queensland floods.
### United States
In the United States, the common modern usage, usually derogatory, refers to politicians who move to different states, districts or areas to run for office despite their lack of local ties or familiarity. For example, West Virginia Congressman Alex Mooney was attacked as a carpetbagger when he first ran for Congress in 2014, as he had previously been a Maryland State Senator and Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party. 2022 Republican nominee for Pennsylvania Senator Mehmet Oz was prominently attacked as a carpetbagger by his opponent John Fetterman for previously living in New Jersey until months before the election. Fetterman won the election, with some claiming that this attack was vital to his victory. The term is now sometimes even used for politicians who relocate from the South to the North for politically opportunistic reasons. For example, former Arkansas First Lady Hillary Clinton was attacked by opponents as carpetbagging because she never resided in New York State or participated in the state's politics before the 2000 Senate race; Republican candidate and New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani mocked Clinton by putting an Arkansas flag on top of the New York City Hall. Ahead of the 2024 United States House of Representatives elections in Colorado, Republican representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado's 3rd congressional district was accused of carpetbagging after switching to the less-competitive 4th district for reelection.
### Cuisine
A carpetbag steak or carpetbagger steak is an end cut of steak that is pocketed and stuffed with oysters, among other ingredients, such as mushrooms, blue cheese, and garlic. The steak is sutured with toothpicks or thread, and it sometimes is wrapped in bacon.
The combination of beef and oysters is traditional. The earliest specific reference is in a United States newspaper in 1891. The earliest specific Australian reference is a printed recipe sometime between 1899 and 1907.
### French politics
In French politics, carpetbagging is known as parachutage, which means parachuting in French.
### Bibliography
- Ash, Stephen V. When the Yankees Came: Conflict and Chaos in the Occupied South, 1861–1865 University of North Carolina Press, 1995.
- Barnes, Kenneth C. Who Killed John Clayton. Duke University Press, 1998; violence in Arkansas.
- Brown, Canter Jr. "Carpetbagger Intrigues, Black Leadership, and a Southern Loyalist Triumph: Florida's Gubernatorial Election of 1872" Florida Historical Quarterly, 1994 72 (3): 275–301. ISSN 0015-4113. Shows how African Americans joined Redeemers to defeat corrupt carpetbagger running for reelection.
- Bryant, Emma Spaulding. Emma Spaulding Bryant: Civil War Bride, Carpetbagger's Wife, Ardent Feminist; Letters and Diaries, 1860–1900 Fordham University Press, 2004. 503 pp.
- Campbell, Randolph B. "Carpetbagger Rule in Reconstruction Texas: an Enduring Myth." Southwestern Historical Quarterly, 1994 97 (4): 587–596. ISSN 0038-478X
- Candle, TX. "Louis Post as a Carpetbagger in South Carolina: Reconstruction as a Forerunner of the Progressive Movement". American Journal of Economics and Sociology 34#4 (1975): 423–432.
- Current, Richard Nelson. Those Terrible Carpetbaggers: A Reinterpretation (1988), a favorable view.
- Currie-Mcdaniel, Ruth. Carpetbagger of Conscience: A Biography of John Emory Bryant, Fordham University Press, 1999; religious reformer in South Carolina.
- Davidson, Gienapp, Heyrman, Lytle, Stoff. Nation of Nations: A Concise Narrative of the American Republic. 3rd. New York: McGraw Hill, 2002.
- Durden, Robert Franklin; James Shepherd Pike: Republicanism and the American Negro, 1850–1882 Duke University Press, 1957
- Paul D. Escott; Many Excellent People: Power and Privilege in North Carolina, 1850–1900, University of North Carolina Press, 1985.
- Fleming, Walter L. Documentary History of Reconstruction: Political, Military, Social, Religious, Educational, and Industrial 2 vol 1906. Uses broad collection of primary sources.
- Foner, Eric. Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction, Oxford University Press, 1993, Revised, 1996, LSU Press.
- Foner, Eric. Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 at Google Books (1988). Harper & Row, 1988, recent standard history.
- Fowler, Wilton B. "A Carpetbagger's Conversion to White Supremacy." North Carolina Historical Review, 1966 43 (3): 286–304. ISSN 0029-2494
- Galdieri, Christopher J. 2019. Stranger in a Strange State: The Politics of Carpetbagging from Robert Kennedy to Scott Brown. SUNY Press.
- Garner, James Wilford. Reconstruction in Mississippi (1902)
- Gerth, Jeff; Van Natta, Don (2007). Her Way: The Hopes and Ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 978-0-316-01742-8.
- Harris, William C. The Day of the Carpetbagger: Republican Reconstruction in Mississippi Louisiana State University Press, 1979.
- Harris, William C. "James Lynch: Black Leader in Southern Reconstruction", Historian 1971 34 (1): 40–61. ISSN 0018-2370; Lynch was Mississippi's first African American secretary of state.
- Klein, Maury. "Southern Railroad Leaders, 1865–1893: Identities and Ideologies" Business History Review, 1968 42 (3): 288–310. ISSN 0007-6805 Fulltext in JSTOR.
- Morrow, Ralph E.; Northern Methodism and Reconstruction Michigan State University Press, 1956.
- Olsen, Otto H. Carpetbagger's Crusade: The Life of Albion Winegar Tourgee (1965)
- Post, Louis F. "A 'Carpetbagger' in South Carolina", The Journal of Negro History Vol. 10, No. 1 (Jan. 1925), pp. 10–79 autobiography. in JSTOR
- Prince, K. Stephen. "Legitimacy and Interventionism: Northern Republicans, the 'Terrible Carpetbagger,' and the Retreat from Reconstruction." Journal of the Civil War Era 2#4 (2012): 538–63
- Simkins, Francis Butler, and Robert Hilliard Woody. South Carolina during Reconstruction (1932).
- Tunnell, Ted. Edge of the Sword: The Ordeal of Carpetbagger Marshall H. Twitchell in the Civil War and Reconstruction. LSU Press, 2001, on Louisiana.
- Tunnell, Ted. "Creating 'the Propaganda of History': Southern Editors and the Origins of Carpetbagger and Scalawag", Journal of Southern History, (Nov 2006) 72#4.
- Twitchell, Marshall Harvey. Carpetbagger from Vermont: The Autobiography of Marshall Harvey Twitchell. ed by Ted Tunnell; Louisiana State University Press, 1989. 216 pp.
- Wiggins, Sarah Woolfolk; The Scalawag in Alabama Politics, 1865–1881. University of Alabama Press, 1991
- Wintory, Blake. "William Hines Furbush: African-American Carpetbagger, Republican, Fusionist, and Democrat", Arkansas Historical Quarterly, 2004 63 (2): 107–165. ISSN 0004-1823
- Wintory, Blake. "William Hines Furbush (1839–1902)" Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture (2006).
- Woolfolk, Sarah Van V. "George E. Spencer: a Carpetbagger in Alabama", Alabama Review, 1966 19 (1): 41–52. ISSN 0002-4341
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98da2bae-0298-4c0f-91c1-648f4890317b | “In order Brazilian economy | interdisciplinary | practical_application | “In order for the Brazilian economy to grow around 5 per cent per year in the next few years, Brazil needs to add 5,000 megawatts per year to its installed capacity” said Mauricio Tolmasquim, of the Brazilian government’s Energy Research Company in an article last week in the Financial Times.
What is the solution?
$11bn Belo Monte dam, which the new government of President Dilma Rousseff wants to build on the river Xingu, one of the Amazon’s biggest tributaries.
Obviously, there are many environmentalists who are against it. Some are very famous, like James Cameron, director of Avatar , or Bianca Jagger. Others are very exotic, like the 50-60 Amazonian Indian tribal leaders, some in traditional dress, who gathered outside the offices of BNDES in London last Wednesday (02/04/11).
Protesters argue that Belo Monte will destroy the livelihoods of people living beside the Xingu. It will flood 516 sq km (201 sq miles) and will lower the river’s level as it passes between two indigenous reservations.
The 11,200MW dam would help keep up Brazil’s standing as one of the few large economies that are powered by sustainable energy.
By the way, Brazil’s power comes 90 per cent from renewable sources compared with 18 per cent for the world average.
The dam could also suffer from irregular rainfall, such as the drought presently afflicting the Amazon. Opponents say it will only be able to produce at full capacity for three months of the year. Instead, they state the government should build smaller, less disruptive hydroelectric projects.
Mr Tolmasquim, president of Brazil’s Energy Research Company said Belo Monte would generate about 40 per cent of capacity – below Brazil’s average of 55 per cent – only because of environmental concerns.
Environmentalists are also worried the project will attract nearly 100,000 outsiders – migrant workers and their families, which will lead to conflict with indigenous communities.
The government counters that the investors are planning to invest $3.3bn as “social and environmental compensation” in the area and see the migrant workers as a good way of developing local economy. | 0.65 | medium | 5 | 488 | [
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3239d210-fd39-4d93-ada0-ce6bfd6b5f3d | your skies clear Friday | interdisciplinary | data_analysis | If your skies are clear on Friday night, January 29, 2010, take advantage of one of the skywatching highlights of the year. A full Moon and Mars will be putting on a show, and the pair will be prominently close to each other in the sky. Plus, this Friday night’s full Moon is the biggest and brightest full Moon of the year. It’s a “perigee Moon,” as much as 14% wider and 30% brighter than other full Moons you’ll see later in 2010, according to Spaceweather.com. And, even though you’ve likely not gotten an email from an excited acquaintance relaying that Mars is really close to the Earth now — that is the case. Mars is at opposition on the 29th, which means it lines up opposite the Sun and is now the closest to Earth their orbits, and so will shine brighter.
The image above of the not-quite-full Moon from January 27, 2010 is shared by Universe Today reader Alan Walters, from Florida. You can see more of his wonderful photography of the night sky, launches and shuttle landings, Florida wildlife and more at Alan Walters Photography.
This image, courtesy of Stardate Online and the McDonald Observatory, shows the positions of the Moon and Mars in the night sky the next few evenings.
This is not a great opposition for Mars because it occurs around the time that Earth is closest to the Sun and Mars is farthest. The gap between the two planets will be a hefty 62 million miles (99 million km). The smallest possible distance at opposition is about 35 million miles (56 million km), which happened a back in August of 2003, and prompted the infamous emails that now surface every August, that Mars would be as big the full Moon, which of course, is not — and was not — true. Mars appeared more than twice as bright then as it will this year, but was still a star-like dot in the sky.
JPL is sponsoring a Facebook Event, Friday Night With the Moon and Mars, to heighten awareness of what a great sight it will be; plus its a great way to share in the experience with others online.
And for more information, see this [email protected] article about the close encounter. | 0.6 | low | 4 | 493 | [
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71a2a605-e886-4c68-aa93-5f46b57c8dfe | you ever plaque buildup | science | worked_examples | Have you ever had plaque buildup on your teeth, seen a thin clear film on the top of your pet's water bowl, or stepped into a locker room shower where the floor felt slick and slimy? If so, then did you realize these were all forms of biofilm? Biofilm is a complex microbial community containing self- and surface-attached microorganisms that are embedded in an extracellular polymeric substance, or EPS.1,2 The EPS is the slimy substance in the previous examples and is primarily a polysaccharide protective matrix synthesized and secreted by the microorganisms that attaches the biofilm firmly to a living or non-living surface. This film protects the organisms from destruction first by being tenacious and keeping the microbial community strongly attached to a surface.
Although the organisms in biofilm are microscopic, when biofilm is allowed to grow for extended periods of time and remains undisturbed, it becomes visible. This can happen in as little as 24 hours. Some organisms produce pigments that make them more easily identifiable. For example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces pyocyanin, which gives the bacterium a distinctive green color. However, we must remember that just because a wound has green drainage, it does not always mean that Pseudomonas is growing in the wound.3 The EPS coating of biofilm also does not allow the body's immune system to recognize the presence of the microorganism; therefore, the bacteria evade an immune response, avoid detection by standard diagnostic techniques, and avoid destruction by standard treatments and therapies.4
Biofilms are resistant to biocides and are known causative agents of medical device-related infections and chronic infections.5 Although attempts are under way, so far there has not been a laboratory test developed that can identify or diagnose a biofilm-associated infection. Two of the more successful organisms identified as being able to develop biofilms are Staphylococcus aureus (gram positive) and P. aeruginosa (gram negative). Syskin et al.5 have attempted to develop a quantitative laboratory assay for biofilm-associated organisms. These investigators noted that because this assay took into account only two organisms, more studies are needed for quantitation of biofilm formation by other organisms. This issue is very important because the prevalence of chronic and medical device-associated infections in the United States has skyrocketed, and the impact on clinical and financial outcomes is enormous.5
Biofilms are not made up just of bacteria. Research has shown that all species of microorganisms, and in addition to bacteria, viruses, yeast, and fungi, have the ability to develop biofilm and adhere to surfaces and each other. For example, studies show that as many as 300 different species of bacteria can inhabit biofilm in dental plaque.6 Wound biofilm may have either a single microbial or multimicrobial origin, and microbial diversity in a wound can be affected by wound location and characteristics, but not necessarily by wound type.7
Even though numerous studies have been completed on biofilms, the exact mechanisms that result in delayed wound healing are not clearly understood and are still under investigation. It is thought that biofilms delay healing by compromising and evading the body's immune response and by causing damage to host cells. Research verified, however, that biofilms play a detrimental role in many chronic illnesses, such as cystic fibrosis, sinusitis, and infections related to indwelling medical devices.
It has also been shown in studies that DNA sequencing gives more information on the microbial makeup of biofilms in chronic wounds, their production, and their ability to promote infection.7 The same study also discussed how the consumption of oxygen by aerobic bacteria in biofilm promoted the production of anaerobic bacteria in the biofilm. Determination of biofilm's existence in a wound is not an easy feat because currently no diagnostic tests are available.7 Visual assessment many times causes slough, debris, and exudate to be mistaken for biofilm. Tools such as tissue biopsies are more reliable than swab specimens and cultures to determine biofilm in wounds, but results of routine cultures are not definitive. The combination of approaches is necessary to make an accurate determination of biofilm's presence.
Further research is needed on methods, diagnostic test, tools, and devices to identify the presence of biofilm, as well as the communal organisms it contains. This will be the first step in establishing guidelines for prevention and treatment strategies addressing biofilm and wound management, thus subsequently reducing the risk of resulting infections. Understanding the appropriateness and accuracy of assessment and monitoring of wounds will improve wound healing outcomes and will result in decreased use of clinical and financial resources.
1. Barker JC, Khansa I, Gordillo G. A formidable foe is sabotaging your results: what you should know about biofilms and wound healing. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2017;139(5):1184094.
2. Hurlow J. Understanding biofilm: what a community nurse should know. Br J Community Nurs. 2016;21(9):26-33.
3. Phillips PL, Wolcott RD, Fletcher J, Schultz GS. Biofilms made easy. Wounds Int. 2010;1(3). Available at: http://www.woundsinternational.com/made-easys/view/biofilms-made-easy
4. Song T, Duperthuy M, Wai SN. Sub-optimal treatment of bacterial biofilms. Antibiotics. 2016;5(2):23.
5. Syskin E, Tran L, Duessel S, Heuertz RM. Bacterial biofilm assay for the clinical laboratory. Clin Lab Sci. 2017;30(3):155-60.
6. Roy S, Elgharably H, Sinha M, et al. Mixed-species biofilm compromises wound healing by disrupting epidermal barrier function. J Pathol. 2014;233(4):331-43.
7. Schultz G, Bjarnsholt T, James GA, et al.; Global Wound Biofilm Expert Panel. Consensus guidelines for the identification and treatment of biofilms in chronic non-healing wounds. Wound Repair Regen. 2017;25(4):1-50.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author, and do not represent the views of WoundSource, HMP Global, its affiliates, or subsidiary companies. | 0.65 | medium | 4 | 1,317 | [
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eef6ca7c-789b-4397-b319-14cd55e1080b | Udawaththakele Forest Reserve | science | technical_documentation | Udawaththakele Forest Reserve
Udawaththakele Forest Reserve is a historic forest reserve with a Royal touch and located on a hill in the hill capital city of Kandy. It covers an approximately 257 acres of area. (104 hectares) The reserve is famed for its wide-ranging avifauna. The forest reserve contains a huge variety of plant species, especially lianas, shrubs and small and giant trees.
Source : Wikipedia
Udawattakele was known as “Uda Wasala Watta” in Sinhalese which means “the garden above the royal palace”. It was used as a pleasure garden by the Kandyan kings and the Royal family. The pond in the forest was used by the crowned heads for bathing. It was a “Forbidden forest” for the general public as they were restricted from accessing the forest.
A study has revealed that there are nearly 400 species of plants inclusive of ferns, orchids and lianas. Around the lake is mostly covered with exotic Mahogani and Myroxlion balsamum and most of the forest reserve is covered with some introduced species of trees. A breathtaking beauty is added by native liana, which is called as “Wevel” and other exotic creepers.
Mammals & Birds
The reserve boast of a rich vegetation and it helps many wild animals. Udawaththakele hosts 15 different mammals, 32 species of Butterflies and more than 80 species of Birds and many varieties of reptiles and amphibians. Among the large mammals, Barking Deer, Wild-boar and Toque-monky can be seen inside the Park. Dark fronted babbler, Gray horn-bill, Hill myna and Layard paraquet can be seen as well. Other commonly found birds are Owls, Eagles, Kingfishers, Wood-peckers and Fly-catches.
Fresh water turtle species named Black Turtle and fish species of Thilapia also found in the pond at the Udawaththakele forest reserve.
Puss-wel (Giant liana)
A giant liana named Pusswel (Entada puseatha) is spread across nearly 2 hectares can be found and it is estimated to be 200 years old.
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4f7ed41f-3345-45ff-b98d-5151aeb5795f | About Urethral Cancer | interdisciplinary | code_implementation | About Urethral Cancer
Urethral cancer is most commonly a secondary type of cancer, often the result of bladder cancer spreading into the urethra. It’s one of the rarest strains of cancer and is difficult to catch since some people manifest symptoms while others won’t until later stages. Unfortunately, in some cases, people will not experience any symptoms until after the cancer spreads to other organs.
Where is Urethral Cancer located?
The urethra is different in men and women. For men, it’s an 8-inch long tube that passes from the prostate gland, through the penis and out. In women, it’s a 1.5-inch tube that is directly above the vagina. Depending upon the type of Urethral cancer, cancerous cells can form in the opening, or in the cells and tissue lining the tube.
How Does it Impact your Body?
In early stages, Urethral cancer can immediately impact urinary function and the ability to have sex. If cancer cells spread to nearby organs like the bladder and prostate, they can cause damage to those as well; eventually causing them to fail.
Are There Different Types of Urethral Cancer?
There are three primary types of urethral cancer. They are:
- Squamous cell carcinoma – The most common type of urethral cancer. For women, squamous forms in the thin cells in the area closest to the bladder. For men, it forms in the lining of the urethra.
- Transitional cell carcinoma – For men, it forms near the prostate gland. For women, it forms near the opening of the ureter.
- Adenocarcinoma forms – For both men and women, the cancer cells form in the glands surrounding the urethra.
Urethral Cancer Statistics
According to the Urology Care Foundation, urethral cancer is the rarest of all urological cancer, and approximately 1% of all cancer patients will have it.
Based on years of research and clinical trials, urethral tumors are more common in men than women, and typically occur in people above the age of 65.
Causes and Risk Factors
The exact reasons why urethral cancer forms remain unknown. We do know that there are risk factors that can increase the chances of it developing, including:
- A history of bladder cancer
- Chronic inflammation, stricture or swelling in both the male urethra and female urethra
- Sexually transmitted diseases such as HPV
- Regular urinary tract infections
Early Detection, Diagnosis, and Staging
Signs and Symptoms of Urethral Cancer
Signs and symptoms of urethral cancer will rarely be seen in the early stages. That said, signs you should be aware of are:
- Trouble urinating
- Stop-and-go urination
- Weak urinary flow
- Frequent need to urinate, particularly at night
- Discharge from the urethra
- Blood in urine or from the urethra
- Lump in the penis or perineum
- Painless swelling in groin or pelvis
The Different Stages of Urethral Cancer
Like most every strain of cancer, this type of cancer is graded on a staging scale of 0-4.
These stages are:
- Stage 0 – Carcinoma in situ (small, potentially malignant tumor forms).
- Stage I – Tumor forms in the subepithelial connective tissue. It may or may not metastasize in a small lymph node that is less than 2cm.
- Stage II – Tumor pushes through to the corpus spongiosum, prostate, or periurethral muscle. It may metastasize in a lymph node that’s larger than 2cm but smaller than 5 cm. The disease hasn’t spread to distant regions of the body.
- Stage III – Tumor grows through the corpus cavernosum, prostatic capsule, anterior vagina or bladder neck. It has spread to multiple lymph nodes, but hasn’t gone to other organs, as demonstrated in a CT scan.
- Stage IV – Tumor enters nearby organs. It has spread to multiple lymph nodes and moved to other regions of the body.
Alternative / Natural Urethral Cancer Treatment
Today, there are new and cutting-edge alternative treatments for urethral cancer, whether characterized as squamous cell carcinoma, transitional cell carcinoma, or adenocarcinoma. At Immunity Therapy Center, we specialize in providing patients with holistic treatments to combat this disease, without relying on forms of chemotherapy, radiation, or invasive surgery. These therapies work by boosting the patient’s immune system so it can fight cancer on its own without the aid of destructive drugs.
At ITC, each of our patients are provided with a unique plan that is customized to best treat their specific condition. Every day, a doctor will meet with patients and see whether or not the plan requires modification, or if additional therapies need to be added. This tailor-made approach ensures the most optimal results.
If you’re looking for a way to fight cancer naturally, ITC is the place for you. We encourage you to give us a call so we can schedule your consultation posthaste!
- Urology Care Foundation. Urethral Cancer. https://www.urologyhealth.org/urologic-conditions/urethral-cancer
- National Cancer Institute. Urethral Cancer Treatment. https://www.cancer.gov/types/urethral/patient/urethral-treatment-pdq
- Cancer.org. What is Bladder Cancer? https://www.cancer.org/cancer/bladder-cancer/about/what-is-bladder-cancer.html
Therapies we use
Customized Care For the Body And The Mind
Discuss Your Custom Alternative Treatment Plan With Our Team Today
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ac4ccdc5-3595-42c6-a1d7-71f56cb74161 | Each young woman recognize | science | historical_context | Each young woman will recognize the responsibilities her generation has to prepare for the Second Coming.
Picture 16, The Second Coming (62562), located at the back of the manual.
Make a large poster of Doctrine and Covenants 87:8, or write this scripture on the chalkboard.
Make a small, attractive card for each young woman with the words of Doctrine and Covenants 87:8 or with another brief statement from any of the quotations in the lesson.
Bring several hymnbooks and prepare to sing or read
“Come, O Thou King of Kings” (no. 59).
Assign young women to present any scriptures, stories, or quotations you wish.
Suggested Lesson Development
Begin by telling the young women that throughout the history of the world, kings and queens have ruled many of the earth’s people. Some of these kings and queens have been righteous monarchs who treated their subjects justly. Others have been wicked rulers who used their power to abuse the people they ruled. These rulers have not been worthy of their people’s loyalty.
Tell the young women that faithful people everywhere have long looked forward to the reign of a king so just and loving that he is worthy to be called the “King of Kings.”
Display the picture of the Savior. Explain that the generation the young women are part of has been called a “royal generation” because the valiant among them will help prepare the world for the second coming of the Savior.
Ask the young women to name some of the qualities that might describe the youth of the royal generation, whose king is Jesus Christ. List the words on the chalkboard and discuss them briefly:
Have a class member read the following statement addressed to the young people of the Church:
“My dear friends, you are a royal generation. You were preserved to come to the earth in this time for a special purpose. Not just a few of you, but all of you. There are things for each of you to do that no one else can do as well as you. … If you will let Him, I testify that our Father in Heaven will walk with you through the journey of life and inspire you to know your special purpose here” (H. Burke Peterson, “Your Life Has a Purpose,” New Era, May 1979, p. 5).
The Earth Must Be Made Ready for the Savior’s Return
Point out that those who are righteous look forward with great joy to the second coming of the Lord. It is a blessing to be among those who may help prepare the earth for his coming. Explain that there are many signs and events that must occur before the Lord will come in glory. They include events that have already happened, some that are now occurring, and others that will yet come to pass as predicted by ancient and modern prophets.
What must happen on the earth before the Savior returns?
Some of the many signs and prophecies include: the calling of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, the restoration of the priesthood and of the Church, the restoration of temple and priesthood ordinances, the preaching of the gospel to the world, the destruction of the wicked, and the saving of the righteous. (Note: Do not spend time discussing all of the signs and events that must precede the Lord’s return.)
Point out that these and other events preceding the Second Coming have required and will continue to require a noble generation in order to occur. (Note: If the word generation is defined only in the usual way—meaning a short span of time, perhaps thirty to forty years—class members might wrongly assume that we know approximately when the Savior will return. Point out that the term generation has several different meanings, including a time span of a thousand years. [See Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966), p. 310.]) It is the responsibility of all members of the Church to help prepare the earth for the return of the Lord through righteousness and through faithful and devoted service. There must be dedicated Saints to receive and carry out the Lord’s instructions and purposes, a generation of strong and unwavering members to continue building the kingdom of God on the earth.
Read the following statement:
“When he comes to us it will be as a glorious, heavenly King. …
“… Building his kingdom has always been the theme of his people. … It is our charge to build Zion—not yet the Lord’s own city of Zion, but the religious, social, and economic order that must precede his coming as a standard to the nations. (D&C 64:42.) We must prepare a generation of sanctified saints who are ready to receive their King. ‘Wherefore, stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come’” (Courtney Lassetter, “When He Comes Again,” Ensign, June 1976, pp. 68–70; italics added).
Display the poster of Doctrine and Covenants 87:8 or refer to it on the chalkboard.
What does it mean to “stand … in holy places, and be not moved”?
After the young women have expressed their ideas, have them mark the verse in their scriptures.
This Generation Has Been Chosen to Help Prepare for the Savior’s Second Coming
Tell the young women that it is a great privilege to live in the dispensation of the fulness of times. Ancient prophets looked with joyful anticipation to this day when the gospel would be restored and preached among all nations and when final preparations would be made for the second coming of the Savior.
How can we make sure we are among the faithful who help prepare for the Savior’s return?
Why and how must we be on guard against worldly conditions that surround us?
Use any or all of the following quotations to summarize the role of the “rising generation.” You could ask class members to read aloud the statements that describe the challenges and responsibilities of our times and that express the Lord’s expectations for the youth of the Church.
“This is a very different generation from any others. It is a generation when the Lord has decreed—and that, too, before the world was made—that in the last days the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed nor given to other people” (Wilford Woodruff, Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, sel. G. Homer Durham [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1946], p. 145).
“The Lord has chosen a small number of choice spirits … to come forth in the last day … to organize the Kingdom of God upon the earth, to build it up and to defend it” (Wilford Woodruff, as quoted in Our Lineage [course of study for genealogy classes, 1933], pt. 1, p. 4).
“You are not just ordinary young men and young women. You are choice spirits, many of you having been held back in reserve for almost 6,000 years to come forth in this day, at this time when the temptations, responsibilities, and opportunities are the very greatest. …
“… We pray that you will be prepared for the reins of leadership. …
“… I pray that you—the young and rising generation—will keep your bodies and minds clean, free from the contaminations of the world, that you will be fit and pure vessels to bear off the kingdom of God triumphant in preparation for the second coming of our Savior” (Ezra Taft Benson, in Conference Report, Oct. 1977, pp. 43, 46–47; or Ensign, Nov. 1977, pp. 30, 32).
“The Lord has now sent a wonderful generation of youth who will not be men and women to be conquered. …
“Remember, my young friends, you must be lean and hard. You must be fit for the race. You must place character, integrity, and principles of truth as the guiding lights for the dark days ahead. …
“Future greatness … awaits those who are pure and true to the teachings and example of the Master” (Vaughn J. Featherstone, “These Are Not Men to Be Conquered,” New Era, Apr. 1980, p. 5).
“Sisters, you were not born at this time and place by chance. You are here because this is where the Lord wants you to be. …
“… Strong women are needed, women who will stay morally clean when all about them do not, women who will establish homes that are a little bit of heaven and where the family is upheld and little children are cared for and given love and attention by their own mothers, women who will shun pornography—not just older women, but young women too, who will seek personal and social refinement, who will strive to become more cultured, who will respect the authority of the home and the priesthood. As the Church grows, there will be a need for more women who are leaders, for more women everywhere who have the courage to proclaim their testimony of Jesus Christ, women who will pray and study to find out what the Lord requires of them and who will then make right choices and put themselves in the hands of the Lord” (Betty E. Brown, in Conference Report, Melbourne Australia Area Conference 1976, p. 29).
“You, our youth of today, are among the most illustrious spirits to be born into mortality in any age of the world. … Be prepared to become leaders in that glorious millennial day when Christ himself will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (Harold B. Lee, Happiness through Faith in Jesus Christ [family home evening manual, 1977–78], pp. 34, 39).
Give each young woman the card that you have prepared for her containing the words you have chosen to remind her of her royal role. Ask her to keep it where she may refer to it often.
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538e83eb-8f22-40a9-9cbb-7c53235f6d75 | Staff Senate Meeting Agenda | science | concept_introduction | Staff Senate Meeting Agenda
Wednesday, February 20, 2019 @ 2:00pm
Executive Board Room 201, Delta Center
1. Call to Order
2. Roll Call
3. Routine Business
a. Meeting Minutes
b. Treasurer's Report
4. Guest Speakers
a. Sara Saucedo – A-State Environmental Club
b. Thomas Hamaker – Student Philanthropy Council
c. Dr. Bryan Terry – Enrollment Management Update
d. Jon Mark Horton – Gratitude Exercise
5. Old Business
6. New Business
a. Hope Philips – Distinguished Performance Awards Ceremony
b. Sheryl Puckett – Staff Appreciation Picnic
c. Rebecca Oliver – Election Procedures
7. President's Report
8. Open Discussion
9. Announcements and Reminders
The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for March 20 at
a. 2:00pm in Delta Center Board Room 201.
Arkansas State University Staff Senate Treasurer's Report
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ce51731d-a63a-4a74-a419-604c1d62bd1b | High-Performance Computing (HPC) leverages | technology | data_analysis | High-Performance Computing (HPC) leverages parallel and distributed computing principles to tackle computationally intensive problems that are intractable for single, conventional computers. It builds upon foundational concepts in computer architecture and parallel computing, pushing the boundaries towards exascale and beyond, often utilizing specialized hardware like GPUs. ### Example 1: Foundation - Parallelizing a Simple Loop **Problem Statement:** Consider a simple C++ program that calculates the sum of squares for a large array of numbers. We want to parallelize this computation to speed it up. ```cpp #include <iostream> #include <vector> #include <numeric> // For std::accumulate (though we'll implement our own sum) long long sum_of_squares(const std::vector<int>& data) { long long sum = 0; for (size_t i = 0; i < data.size(); ++i) { sum += static_cast<long long>(data[i]) * data[i]; } return sum; } int main() { const size_t array_size = 100000000; // 100 million elements std::vector<int> data(array_size); // Initialize data (e.g., with sequential numbers) for (size_t i = 0; i < array_size; ++i) { data[i] = i % 100; // Simple pattern for demonstration } long long total_sum = sum_of_squares(data); std::cout << "Total sum of squares: " << total_sum << std::endl; return 0; } ``` **Solution Steps:** 1. **Identify the Parallelizable Task:** The core of the problem is the loop that iterates through the `data` vector and performs an independent calculation (squaring and adding to a sum) for each element. This is a classic "embarrassingly parallel" task because each iteration's work does not depend on the results of other iterations. * **Reasoning:** In parallel computing, we seek independent units of work that can be executed concurrently. Loops with element-wise operations are prime candidates. Contrast this with a loop that calculates a running total where each step depends on the previous one (e.g., `a[i] = a[i-1] + b[i]`), which is harder to parallelize directly without specific techniques like parallel prefix sums. 2. **Choose a Parallelization Model:** For this shared-memory scenario (a single process with multiple threads on a multi-core CPU), **OpenMP** is a suitable and straightforward choice. It uses compiler directives to parallelize code. * **Reasoning:** OpenMP is designed for shared-memory parallelism, making it easy to adapt existing sequential code. Other models like MPI (Message Passing Interface) are typically used for distributed-memory systems (multiple machines), which would be overkill and more complex for this single-machine example. 3. **Apply OpenMP Directives:** We can parallelize the `for` loop by adding the `#pragma omp parallel for` directive. To handle the summation correctly, we need to address the data dependency on the `sum` variable. * **Code Modification:** ```cpp #include <iostream> #include <vector> #include <numeric> #include <omp.h> // Include OpenMP header long long sum_of_squares_parallel(const std::vector<int>& data) { long long sum = 0; #pragma omp parallel for reduction(+:sum) // Parallelize the loop, handle sum reduction for (size_t i = 0; i < data.size(); ++i) { sum += static_cast<long long>(data[i]) * data[i]; } return sum; } int main() { const size_t array_size = 100000000; std::vector<int> data(array_size); for (size_t i = 0; i < array_size; ++i) { data[i] = i % 100; } // Timing the parallel version double start_time = omp_get_wtime(); long long total_sum = sum_of_squares_parallel(data); double end_time = omp_get_wtime(); std::cout << "Total sum of squares (parallel): " << total_sum << std::endl; std::cout << "Execution time: " << end_time - start_time << " seconds" << std::endl; return 0; } ``` * **Reasoning:** * `#pragma omp parallel for`: This directive tells the compiler to create a team of threads and distribute the iterations of the following `for` loop among them. Each thread will execute a portion of the loop. * `reduction(+:sum)`: This clause is crucial. Without it, multiple threads would try to update the shared `sum` variable concurrently, leading to a race condition (incorrect results). The `reduction` clause ensures that each thread computes a partial sum locally, and then these partial sums are combined (reduced) into the final `sum` variable in a thread-safe manner after the loop finishes. This is a common pattern for aggregate operations in parallel loops. **Key Insight:** This example demonstrates the fundamental principle of **data parallelism** – dividing a large dataset into smaller chunks and processing each chunk concurrently on different processing units. The `reduction` clause highlights a common challenge in parallel programming: managing shared mutable state and avoiding race conditions. --- ### Example 2: Application - Matrix Multiplication on a GPU **Problem Statement:** Implement a matrix multiplication routine for two large square matrices (N x N) using CUDA, targeting a GPU for acceleration. **Background:** Matrix multiplication (C = A * B) is defined as $C_{ij} = \sum_{k=1}^{N} A_{ik} B_{kj}$. Each element $C_{ij}$ requires N multiplications and N-1 additions. **Solution Steps:** 1. **Understand GPU Parallelism Model (CUDA):** CUDA uses a hierarchical execution model: * **Kernels:** Functions executed on the GPU by many threads in parallel. * **Grids:** A collection of thread blocks. * **Thread Blocks:** Groups of threads that can cooperate using shared memory and synchronize. * **Threads:** The smallest execution unit, each executing the same kernel code but potentially on different data. * **Reasoning:** GPUs achieve massive parallelism by executing thousands of simple threads concurrently. Understanding this hierarchy is key to mapping a computational problem onto the GPU architecture effectively. This differs from CPU threading (OpenMP) where threads typically operate more independently or with finer-grained synchronization. 2. **Determine Thread and Block Assignment:** For matrix multiplication, a natural mapping is to assign one thread to compute one element of the resulting matrix `C`. We can organize threads into blocks. A common strategy is to use 2D thread blocks, where threads within a block correspond to rows and columns of the output matrix `C`. * **Decision Point:** How large should a thread block be? Typical block sizes are powers of 2 (e.g., 16x16, 32x32). This choice impacts performance due to hardware limitations (e.g., number of threads per multiprocessor) and the potential use of shared memory. Let's choose a 16x16 block. * **Reasoning:** A 2D mapping aligns well with the 2D nature of matrices. Using blocks allows threads within a block to cooperate efficiently, particularly if we were to use shared memory for optimization (discussed later). 3. **Allocate GPU Memory and Transfer Data:** We need to allocate memory on the GPU (`cudaMalloc`) for the input matrices `A` and `B`, and the output matrix `C`. Then, we must transfer the data from host (CPU) memory to device (GPU) memory (`cudaMemcpy`). * **Reasoning:** GPUs have their own dedicated memory (VRAM). Data must reside in device memory for the GPU kernel to access it. This data transfer is a significant overhead, so efficient data management is crucial in HPC. 4. **Write the CUDA Kernel:** The kernel function will be executed by each thread. Each thread calculates its assigned `C[row][col]` element using the formula $C_{row,col} = \sum_{k=0}^{N-1} A_{row,k} B_{k,col}$. * **Code Snippet (Conceptual):** ```c++ __global__ void matrixMulKernel(const float* A, const float* B, float* C, int N) { // Calculate the row and column index for this thread int col = blockIdx.x * blockDim.x + threadIdx.x; int row = blockIdx.y * blockDim.y + threadIdx.y; // Ensure thread is within matrix bounds if (row < N && col < N) { float sum = 0.0f; for (int k = 0; k < N; ++k) { // Access A[row][k] and B[k][col] // Note: 1D array indexing for 2D matrix: A[row][k] -> A[row * N + k] sum += A[row * N + k] * B[k * col]; } C[row * N + col] = sum; } } ``` * **Reasoning:** * `__global__`: Keyword marking a function that runs on the device (GPU) and is called from the host (CPU). * `blockIdx`, `blockDim`, `threadIdx`: Built-in CUDA variables that allow threads to determine their unique global index within the grid and their local index within their block. This is how we map threads to matrix elements. * `N`: Dimension of the square matrices. * The `if (row < N && col < N)` check is essential for non-perfectly divisible matrix sizes or when using non-square thread blocks. * Accessing matrices stored in 1D arrays requires calculating the correct offset: `index = row * num_columns + column`. 5. **Configure Kernel Launch:** Define the grid and block dimensions and launch the kernel. * **Code Snippet (Conceptual):** ```c++ // ... (memory allocation and data transfer) int N = matrix_size; dim3 threadsPerBlock(16, 16); // 16x16 threads per block // Calculate grid dimensions needed to cover the entire N x N output matrix dim3 numBlocks((N + threadsPerBlock.x - 1) / threadsPerBlock.x, (N + threadsPerBlock.y - 1) / threadsPerBlock.y); matrixMulKernel<<<numBlocks, threadsPerBlock>>>(d_A, d_B, d_C, N); // ... (Error checking, synchronize, copy C back to host) ``` * **Reasoning:** The grid dimensions (`numBlocks`) are calculated to ensure that enough blocks are launched to cover all `N x N` elements of the output matrix `C`. The ceiling division `(N + dim - 1) / dim` is a standard way to compute the number of blocks needed. 6. **Transfer Results Back:** Copy the computed matrix `C` from device memory back to host memory. **Alternative Approach (Shared Memory Optimization):** The naive kernel above involves many global memory accesses for `A` and `B` for each element `C[row][col]`. Global memory is slow. We can improve performance significantly by using **shared memory**. * Each thread block loads a tile (sub-matrix) of `A` and `B` into fast on-chip shared memory. * Threads within the block then perform the multiplication using data from shared memory, which is much faster than global memory. * Synchronization (`__syncthreads()`) is required to ensure all data is loaded into shared memory before computation begins and after computation finishes before proceeding. * **Comparison:** This shared memory approach introduces complexity (managing tiles, synchronization) but drastically reduces global memory bandwidth bottlenecks, a key performance factor in GPU computing. This is a common optimization technique in GPU HPC. **Key Insight:** This example illustrates **task parallelism** mapped onto a massively parallel architecture (GPU). It highlights the importance of understanding the hardware's execution model (threads, blocks, grids), memory hierarchy (global vs. shared memory), and the overhead associated with data transfer. It also shows how a seemingly simple algorithm like matrix multiplication requires careful consideration of data locality and parallelism strategies for high performance. This contrasts with CPU parallelism where thread management and synchronization might be less granular. --- ### Example 3: Advanced/Edge Case - Handling Large Datasets and Communication Overheads in Distributed Memory (MPI) **Problem Statement:** Imagine simulating a large weather model distributed across multiple compute nodes. Each node holds a portion of the simulation grid. At each time step, nodes need to exchange boundary data with their neighbors on adjacent nodes to ensure simulation continuity. We want to optimize this communication. **Background:** * **Distributed Memory Systems:** Each compute node has its own private memory. Data must be explicitly sent and received between nodes using message passing (e.g., MPI). * **MPI (Message Passing Interface):** A standard library for distributed-memory parallel programming. Key operations include `MPI_Send`, `MPI_Recv`, `MPI_Isend`, `MPI_Irecv`, `MPI_Allgather`, etc. * **Communication Overhead:** Sending and receiving data between nodes takes time and can become a bottleneck, especially as the number of nodes increases. **Solution Steps:** 1. **Identify Communication Pattern:** In this weather model, each process (running on a separate node) needs to send its "right" boundary data to the process on its right and receive its "left" boundary data from the process on its left. Similarly for top/bottom boundaries. This is a **neighbor communication** pattern. * **Reasoning:** Understanding the communication topology (how processes connect and exchange data) is paramount in distributed HPC. This pattern is common in scientific simulations like fluid dynamics, finite element analysis, and grid-based models. 2. **Basic MPI Implementation (Blocking Sends/Receives):** A straightforward approach uses `MPI_Send` and `MPI_Recv`. * **Code Snippet (Conceptual for 1D):** ```c++ // Assume 'my_data' is the local grid portion, 'left_neighbor_rank', 'right_neighbor_rank' // are ranks of adjacent processes. int N = my_data_size; // Size of local data boundary // Send my left boundary to the right neighbor MPI_Send(my_data + N - boundary_width, boundary_width, MPI_DOUBLE, right_neighbor_rank, tag_left_to_right, MPI_COMM_WORLD); // Receive my left boundary from the left neighbor MPI_Recv(my_data, boundary_width, MPI_DOUBLE, left_neighbor_rank, tag_right_to_left, MPI_COMM_WORLD, &status); // Send my right boundary to the left neighbor MPI_Send(my_data, boundary_width, MPI_DOUBLE, left_neighbor_rank, tag_right_to_left, MPI_COMM_WORLD); // Receive my right boundary from the right neighbor MPI_Recv(my_data + N - boundary_width, boundary_width, MPI_DOUBLE, right_neighbor_rank, tag_left_to_right, MPI_COMM_WORLD, &status); ``` * **Reasoning:** `MPI_Send` blocks until the message is successfully sent (or buffered). `MPI_Recv` blocks until the message is received. This is simple but inefficient because computation cannot proceed until all communication is complete. If process A sends to B, and B sends to A, they deadlock if they both start with `MPI_Send`. 3. **Optimization: Non-Blocking Communication:** To overlap communication with computation and avoid deadlocks, use non-blocking operations (`MPI_Isend`, `MPI_Irecv`). * **Code Snippet (Conceptual for 1D):** ```c++ MPI_Request req_send_left, req_recv_left, req_send_right, req_recv_right; // Initiate sends first (non-blocking) MPI_Isend(my_data, boundary_width, MPI_DOUBLE, left_neighbor_rank, tag_right_to_left, MPI_COMM_WORLD, &req_send_left); MPI_Isend(my_data + N - boundary_width, boundary_width, MPI_DOUBLE, right_neighbor_rank, tag_left_to_right, MPI_COMM_WORLD, &req_send_right); // Initiate receives (non-blocking) MPI_Irecv(buffer_for_left_data, boundary_width, MPI_DOUBLE, left_neighbor_rank, tag_left_to_right, MPI_COMM_WORLD, &req_recv_left); MPI_Irecv(buffer_for_right_data, boundary_width, MPI_DOUBLE, right_neighbor_rank, tag_right_to_left, MPI_COMM_WORLD, &req_recv_right); // *** Perform Computation Here *** // Computation can proceed using local data, potentially overlapping with communication. // Wait for receives to complete and process data MPI_Waitall(2, &req_recv_left, MPI_STATUSES_IGNORE); // Wait for both receives // Copy received data (from buffer_for_ | 0.65 | medium | 6 | 3,863 | [
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1530d57a-32fa-42ac-8e3b-867ebce6a64a | Only modest carbon tax | interdisciplinary | historical_context | Only a modest carbon tax is needed to keep atmospheric concentrations below a high target but the required tax rapidly increases with the stringency of the target. If concentrations are to be kept below 450 ppm CO2eq, the global carbon tax should reach some $210/tCO2 in 2020 or so (Tol 2013).
Tol, to his credit, replied to me (and others) in the cliscep comments. In particular
Note that these climate policies consist of two components: An initial carbon tax, and its rate of increase (4-6% a year).
The $210 carbon tax in 2020 is just a starting point. With a 5% escalation, it would double every 14 years making the carbon tax $910 in 2050, $3070 in 2075 and $10,400 in 2100. The escalator is the far more important aspect in reducing demand for fossil fuels through a combination of reducing energy use and switching to more expensive (and often less convenient) renewable sources. The escalator was not clear in the original article, and Richard Tol has agreed to make a correction.
Consider again just imposing a fixed $210 carbon tax. From the British perspective the additional tax on petrol (gasoline), with 20% VAT applied, is equivalent to 47p a litre added to the retail price. The tax is already nearly 70p a litre, so unlikely to have the impact on motorists of reducing their consumption by 90% or more. Even with the tax at 200p a litre implied by a $910 t/CO2 tax (making petrol £3.13 a litre) may not achieve this objective. For a car doing 15000 miles at 39mpg, this would generate an additional cost to the owner of £3500 per year. It would still be less than the depreciation on a family car averaged over the first three years. It might also be less than the full costs of converting to electric cars, particularly if the roll-out was not subsidized on the purchase cost and provision of charging points. Within the UK, the carbon tax would also replace the current renewables policy. Here the escalator would really hit home. For coal-fired power stations producing 400kg CO2 per megawatt hour, the carbon tax would be £70Mwh in 2020 and £300Mwh in 2050. Gas-fired power stations would have a tax of about half that level. Even wind turbines, backed by massive pump-storage schemes would be much cheaper. Nuclear power would be the cheapest alternative of all. But British voters are hardly going to keep on voting for a Government that imposes real increases in taxes of five percent a year until they become unaffordable except for the very rich.
However, it is from the global perspective that the cost of the carbon tax really hits home. In another comment Tol says
The big worry for climate policy, studiously avoided by the majority of its advocates, is that you need lots of cheap energy in the early stages of economic development.
It is worth stating again that a Global Carbon Tax needs to be Global to achieve the desired objectives. From the UNIPCC AR5 Synthesis Report Summary for Policy Makers is graphic SPM11(a). This shows the non-policy or Business as Usual RCP8.5 scenario, where emissions in 2100 are projected to be over 2.5 times the level of 2010. The 2C warming target is the RCP2.6 scenario. I have inserted a big arrow to show the difference that the global carbon tax needs to make. It can be demonstrated that most of the emissions growth will come from the developing countries, following the pattern from at least 1990.
The scale of the harm of policy is by assuming that the $210 carbon tax is applied without any change in demand at all, using the estimated CO2 emissions from fossil fuels for 2013 from CDIAC and the IMF 2015 GDP figures for ballpark estimates.
Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels were about 33.8 billion tonnes (two-thirds of total GHG emissions). A $210 carbon tax without any effect on demand would thus generate $7100 bn. This represents nearly 10% of global GBP of $73500bn. If we assume 2% emissions growth and 3% economic growth, then the carbon tax would represent 9.6% of GDP in 2020 without any drop in emissions.
Here is the same calculation for selected countries using 2013 emissions and GDP data.
30-33% Iran, Russia, South Africa
19-20% India, China
16-18% Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam
11-14% Poland, Czech Republic, Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia.
7% Bangladesh, Philippines
6-7% USA, Japan, Canada, Australia
4-5% Spain. Germany, Nigeria
UK 3.4% France 2.9%
The highest tax rates are a result of inefficient economic systems. Iran has subsidised petrol, effectively a negative carbon tax. South Africa’s high emissions are as a result of apartheid. Oil embargoes caused it to convert coal to liquids, a process that generates 4-5 times the CO2 of burning coal alone. Russia, in common with its neighbours, still has the legacy of the economically-inefficient communism.
The carbon tax would also be high as a proportion of GDP for the rapidly emerging economies. It highlights the Tol’s comment about needing lots of cheap energy in the early stages of economic development. With higher fossil fuel emissions per $1000 of GDP the impact on output would be relatively greater in the emerging economies than in the OECD. A globally uniform carbon tax would end up transferring back some manufacturing back to the more energy efficient economies, slowing economic growth and thus emissions growth.
More importantly, emerging countries have large parts of the population with very low energy consumption. Even those with access to gas and electricity have much lower energy consumption than is typical in the West, whether from heating, air conditioning, cooking, or private transport. Pushing up the cost of energy will massively slow down the spread of consumerism and consequent improvements in living standards.
Three years ago I looked at the takeaway policy quote from the Stern Review.
Using the results from formal economic models, the Review estimates that if we don’t act, the overall costs and risks of climate change will be equivalent to losing at least 5% of global GDP each year, now and forever. If a wider range of risks and impacts is taken into account, the estimates of damage could rise to 20% of GDP or more. In contrast, the costs of action – reducing greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst impacts of climate change – can be limited to around 1% of global GDP each year.
I largely agree with Richard Tol when he states that a carbon tax is the optimal policy in terms of maximum effect for minimum cost, at least with respect to fossil fuel emissions. Yet a high, and rapidly increasing, carbon tax would cost far more than 1% of global GDP each year, even if the additional tax revenue was spent efficiently and/or used to reduce other taxes. But the most pernicious effects would be felt in the effects on long-term economic growth – the very growth that is moving billions of people out of poverty towards the far better living standards we enjoy in the Western World. The carbon tax does not present a feasible policy even in theory to achieve the objectives desired. Yet is, in theory, the best policy available. | 0.65 | medium | 4 | 1,666 | [
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0f259aa3-0e62-48ec-932e-4f87a8cb346b | How to Do Hypopressive Exercises | life_skills | tutorial | How to Do Hypopressive Exercises
Hypopressive exercises were developed by Marcel Caufriez, a doctor who concluded that in certain circumstances, standard core abdominal exercises could result in incontinence issues or sexual dysfunction. Noticing a difference in breathing from the diaphragm on the pelvic area, his conclusion was that lowering the pressure in the abdomen could increase tonality and strengthen core muscles. Doing so would lessen the likelihood of incontinence and other complications from traditional pelvic floor exercises. The aim is the same as traditional sit-ups (i.e. reducing abdomen fat) while minimizing the risks mentioned above. oneHOWTO has the step-by-step guide to show you hot to do hypopressive exercises.
To follow the hypopressive method, you need to look after your posture and breathing. As hypopressive exercises work to reduce pressure in the abdominal area, they are sometimes referred to as low pressure exercises and a technique known as low pressure fitness was created using hypopressive exercises as a base. As opposed to other abdominal and core strength exercises, hypopressive exercises use breathing itself as the fundamental base to strengthen the area. Using your diaphragm during breathing to exercise these muscles might also lessen the possibility of certain conditions like hernias as you do not exert as much physical strain.
Once the postures explained below have been adopted, you have to inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth calmly to work out the diaphragm. You'll notice that this will make your abdomen contract and your chest expand, something that wouldn't happen normally. This is because you are working your diaphragm thanks to the postures we explain below.
One of the reasons diaphragmatic breathing strengthens the abdomen more is due to slow twitch muscle fibers. Slow twitch muscle fibers are types of muscles which are more efficient at using oxygen and therefore help us with endurance and preventing fatigue. It is a combination of diaphragmatic breathing and apnea which helps get this effect. Apnea is a cessation in breathing (something which can be dangerous if it occurs during sleep) and holding your breath during hypopressive exercises will tone your abs as well as lifting up internal organs. This contracts the pelvic floor muscle while lessening the pressure put on them.
After inhaling deeply, you need to exhale while expanding the ribcage at the same time. This is counterintuitive as normally the opposite happens when breathing out. After exhalation, but with the rib cage still expanded, you perform the apnea (temporary cessation of breathing) and the hypopressive exercises exert their lowered pressure on the abdomen and pelvic area. This gives the abdomen its characteristic contracted belly and expanded ribcage appearance. Once you get these basics down, you can use a variety of different motions to strengthen the abdomen, pelvic area and perineum.
Before we get into our different hypopressive techniques, we will detail some of the advantages this type of low pressure exercise can give:
- Preventing prolapse: it was during examination of a patient with uterine prolapse that Dr. Caufriez discovered the importance of breathing from the diaphragm. A prolapse is when an organ falls or slips out of its usual place. Exercising after birth can lead to women suffering prolapse as additional strain on an already strained area can lead to uterine or even rectal prolapse. As hypopressive exercises do not put as much pressure on these areas, some doctors recommend it as an alternative way to exercise after childbirth.
- Improves breathing and respiratory function: the deep breathing and chest expansion of hypopressive exercises can help overall respiratory function.
- Decreases waistline: can be useful for those who are on a weightloss program as continued practice along with a balanced diet has been known to decrease waistlines.
- Preventing incontinence: incontinence can happen for numerous reasons, but it is also exacerbated by age. This is why hypopressive exercises can be useful for those of an advanced age to practice as it helps prevent leakage.
- Improving posture and preventing hernia: hypopressive exercises help with postural muscles without straining lumbar muscles which can cause hernias.
- Improves sexual function and performance: just as training your legs can make you a better runner, training using hypopressive exercises can lead to muscle tone of the vaginal area which can lead to greater pleasure during sex.
Hypopressive exercise techniques
Now, we're going to show you an easy hypopressive exercise that will help tone your abdomen and show it off firm and fat-free. Here's a step-by-step guide to do it properly:
- Stand up with your feet totally parallel to each other.
- Flexing your knees, put your hands on them.
- Tuck your chin towards your neck and let the weight of your body fall on your feet.
- Breathe deeply trying to open your rib-cage as much as possible. Hold your breath for 10 seconds between each breathe in and out.
The best thing to do is try 3 series of breaths and then, continue to the next hypopressive exercise that will keep you working on the area.
The next exercise you can incorporate to your hypopressive exercise routine is called the "plank exercise". This is a method in which the abdomen muscles are working, as well as the back, glutes, legs, and the whole body. In fact, this is a very popular exercise among people who want to sculpt their body as much as possible.
- Go on all fours leaning your body on the floor with your forearms and the tips of your toes. The elbows must be in parallel line with your shoulders and your back should be relaxed in order to prevent injuries.
- Make sure your body is in a perfect line and hold this position. Your body should be parallel to the floor with your abs completely stretched.
- Hold the position for 5 minutes breathing deeply.
If it's your first time doing this hypopressive exercise, we recommend you start practicing progressively. Hold for 2 minutes, rest for 1 and try 2 more minutes. The longer you can hold in this position, the more toned your abs will be. This slower form of exercise will increase slow muscle fibers and improve stamina.
Now we're going to show you another hypopressive exercise that is known as "the Taylor". To do this exercise, follow these steps:
- Sit down on the floor with your legs folded.
- Keep your back straight and place your arms on your hips.
- Start taking deep breaths, holding your breath for ten seconds after breathing in and out each time.
Three series of this exercise will help you work on your abs. This is also a great postpartum hypopressive exercise as it can help tone your body after the loosening effects of pregnancy and childbirth.
The last exercise we suggest will help you work on your abs thanks to hypopressive breathing. In this case, you need to lie on the floor:
- Lie down face-up, flexing your knees slightly.
- Your heels should be leaning on the floor while the rest of your foot should be lifted (this is known as dorsiflexion).
- Flex your arms and place them at your stomach's height, facing upwards.
- Auto-elongate and push your chin towards your neck.
In order to do hypopressive exercises correctly, you should take some things into account so you can get the right position and technique at home. Let's go over the vocabulary of the hypopressive method:
Stretch your back as much as possible, putting strength on your bones and muscles, as if you wanted to grow taller.
Push your chin downwards, as if you wanted to touch your throat with your chin. This will allow you to stretch your spinal column and achieve the basic position to do hypopressive exercises.
It's also essential to take very deep breaths, feeling how your lungs fill with air completely. You must keep them full for around 10 seconds approximately.
This is the moment when we exhale air. It should be done slowly and evenly until you feel your lungs are completely empty and there is no air left.
Tucking the abdomen
It's essential to tuck your abdomen in, as if you were hiding your stomach to do these exercises. This way we separate our ribs and exercise you stomach's muscles.
If you want to read similar articles to How to Do Hypopressive Exercises, we recommend you visit our Fitness category.
- It is advisable to get help from a professional before practising hypopressive exercises. The technique is complicated and it can cause injuries if done wrongly. | 0.7 | medium | 6 | 1,761 | [
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bb9996d4-04fa-4ab7-a371-a17f5f67d78a | (RxWiki News) Being obese | life_skills | research_summary | (RxWiki News) Being obese or overweight can increase the risk of a host of health problems — diabetes, heart disease and stroke, for instance. Packing too many pounds may also raise the risk of rheumatoid arthritis.
A recent study found that women who were overweight or obese faced an increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic condition marked by joint inflammation and pain.
"Maintain a healthy weight to lower your risk of health problems."
This study was conducted by Bing Lu, MD, of Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues.
The study authors analyzed two groups of female nurses from previous studies: one group of 109,896 from the Nurses' Health Study and another group of 108,727 from Nurses' Health Study II.
The researchers reported that the women in both groups took surveys every two years. The Nurses' Health Study was conducted between 1976 and 2008, and the Nurses' Health Study II lasted from 1989 to 2009.
The surveys asked questions about general health, lifestyle and body mass index (BMI) — a weight-to-height ratio used to determine if someone is a healthy weight. Between both surveyed groups, the study authors noted 1,181 cases of rheumatoid arthritis.
Although the researchers found an overall increased risk of rheumatoid arthritis among the overweight and obese women (with a BMI of 25 or higher), the most pronounced risk was among younger obese women. Women who were obese at age 18 were 35 percent more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis than the other participants.
Those younger women were about 50 percent more likely to develop rheumatoid arthritis, the study authors noted.
The study authors also reported that women who were obese for 10 years were 37 percent more likely to develop arthritis at a younger age.
The researchers concluded that, in general, rheumatoid arthritis risk increased only modestly in obese women, but the more acute risk was in women who were obese at younger ages.
"Our study implicates being overweight or obese throughout adult life as a risk factor in the development of [rheumatoid arthritis] for women diagnosed with [it] at age 55 years or younger," they wrote.
BMI accounts for overall weight but does not factor in lean muscle weight, the study authors noted. Because people tend to lose lean muscle as they age, the study might not have produced accurate information about rheumatoid arthritis in older women.
The study authors noted the need for further research on this topic to determine the effect of diet — not just BMI — on arthritis in women.
BMJ published this study online July 23.
The National Institutes of Health funded the research. One study author received funding from a Canadian Institute of Health Research Fellowship Award. | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 589 | [
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a935b9ae-2b00-42c6-8e94-3fd5cf3a1dab | Johns Hopkins researchers say | technology | historical_context | Johns Hopkins researchers say a review of groundbreaking neurosurgeon Harvey Cushing's notes, made at the turn of the last century, has turned up copious documentation of his own surgical mishaps as well as his suggestions for preventing those mistakes in the future.
Authors of the article, published in the Feb. Archives of Surgery
, suggest that such open documentation may have played an important role in spurring groundbreaking medical treatment advances in Cushing's era — and could have the same effect today.
"Acknowledging medical errors is evidently something that doctors identified early on as critical to advancement a very long time ago," says principal author Katherine Latimer, B.S., a medical student at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Latimer and her colleagues scoured Johns Hopkins' archives to locate operative notes covering 878 of Cushing's patients. The notes, transferred decades ago to microfilm, covered the early years of Cushing's career, from 1896 to 1912, at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. After deciphering the notes—a monumental task, the authors say, owing to Cushing's poor handwriting, abbreviations, and pages crowded with notes of other physicians, too—the researchers selected 30 cases in which errors were clearly delineated.
The cases fell into categories of errors similar to those that plague doctors today, the authors said, classifying 11 of the cases as errors of judgment in which Cushing made the wrong choice during a surgery. One example: operating on the wrong side of a patient's brain. Seventeen cases were identified as "human error," mistakes in which Cushing revealed clumsy or careless behavior, such as dropping an instrument into a surgical wound. Three of the errors were considered equipment or tool oversights, such as the case in which a woman's heavy bleeding left Cushing and his colleagues without enough wax, a substance used at the time to seal blood vessels.
Latimer and her colleagues say they were surprised by Cushing's frank and copious documentation of his own shortcomings. His notes acknowledged mistakes that may have resulted in patients' deaths, as well as those that didn't seem to harm patients' outcomes. They said the documentation took place in an era in which malpractice litigation was becoming a growing concern for doctors. Though malpractice penalties were substantially smaller in Cushing's day, lawsuits presented a serious risk for physicians' reputations, the authors noted.
The authors also emphasized that Cushing practiced in a time of enormous surgical innovation. For example, patient mortality from surgical treatment of brain tumors fell from 50 percent to 13 percent during his career. While some of this jump ahead was due to improving technology, the authors propose that part of the reason was open documentation of errors, which helped Cushing and other surgeons develop fixes to avoid them.
"People are human and will make medical mistakes," says Latimer, "but being vigilant about your own shortcomings is critical to improving. To keep medical innovation flowing, we need to strive to maintain this same vigilance today."
Alfredo Quinones, M.D., associate professor of neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and senior author of the study, adds that today's medical errors continue to have a tremendous impact on patients and their families. "Recognizing errors and reporting them can help us greatly improve medicine," he says. "After all, we are all working towards the same goal: better patient care." | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 692 | [
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8d910c7c-357b-4a06-8d3d-17caa17110b0 | They sound complex, super | interdisciplinary | historical_context | They may sound complex, but super foods are quite simple. These foods not only can be easily found in your local grocery store, they may be in your refrigerator or kitchen cabinet right now.
Imagine a food that can help prevent cancer, reduce your cholesterol or help you lose weight — while at the same time making you feel more healthy and energized. Food plays an important role in how long we live, how our body responds to disease and how we feel on a daily basis.
Next time you’re at the grocery store, stock your cart with some of our favorite super foods.
Sweet potatoes are rich in beta-carotene and have 150 percent more antioxidants than blueberries. They are also high in vitamin A, which is good for your heart, and vitamin C, which helps build a strong immune system. Haylie Pomroy, author of The Fast Metabolism Diet, suggests pairing sweet potatoes with baked salmon for a super-food packed meal.
Although eggs have been linked to high cholesterol, in reality, studies have shown one egg a day doesn’t change your current cholesterol levels. Avoid eating only egg whites — you’re missing out on the yolk, where the egg’s key nutrients are found. Eggs are loaded with calcium, magnesium and several vitamins, and are rich in protein and carotenoids that produce healthy eyes.
Chia seeds pack a punch of calcium for your diet. In fact, they contain 500 percent more calcium than milk. They also have the same amount of omega-3 acids as wild salmon, and have an added bonus for weight loss — they help you feel full faster, according to the Dr. Oz show.
Blueberries are not only delicious, they are packed with antioxidants, phytoflavinoids, potassium and vitamin C, making these tasty little berries a great super food for someone looking for a sweet treat. Not only are blueberries anti-inflammatory, they also lower your risk of getting heart disease and cancer. While blueberries are easy to snack on, Pomroy suggests using them in smoothies. Try the mixed berry-cashew smoothie — an awesome fat-blasting smoothie — for a quick and easy breakfast option.
Spinach may be most associated with Popeye, but research has shown eating spinach can be more than a good source of iron. This super food can help reduce your chances of getting cardiovascular disease, cancer and age-related macular degeneration. Spinach contains carotenoids, several antioxidants and minerals, and plant-derived omega-3 fatty acids. Keeping spinach in the fridge is an easy way to make sure your family gets a healthy side dish — whether that’s in the form of a salad or spinach cooked on the stove top.
Comfort foods often are loaded with sugar and unhealthy fats. But adding cinnamon to your food is a great way to get the comfort of Grandma’s kitchen without the unhealthy saturated fats. One of the oldest spices in the world, cinnamon helps regulate blood sugar, studies show. It’s also a natural food preservative, and may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease — studies have shown it reduces LDL cholesterol levels (the harmful cholesterol). Pomroy also suggests in her book, The Fast Metabolism Diet, to use it in your morning smoothie, especially if you are trying to wean yourself off caffeinated coffee. | 0.6 | medium | 4 | 667 | [
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01493f29-d344-4179-910c-c8a494abfedb | Vs > Tambov | social_studies | historical_context | Vs > Tambov
Puerto Plata vs Tambov Climate & Distance Between
Puerto Plata vs Chapais, Qc, Canada
Puerto Plata vs Studsgård, Denmark
Puerto Plata vs Ruatoria, New Zealand
Puerto Plata vs Mogoca, Russia
Tambov vs Lisbon, Nd, Usa
Tambov vs Dzardzan, Russia
Tambov vs Peshawar, Pakistan
Tambov vs Sejmcan, Russia
Socotra vs Coimbra
Val D’Or, Quebec vs Malakal
New Plymouth vs Foz Do Iguacu
Saint Johnsbury, Vt vs Lahore, Punjab
- The distance between Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic and Tambov, Russia is approximately 9,644 km or 5,993 mi.
- To reach Puerto Plata in this distance one would set out from Tambov bearing 299° or WNW and follow the great circles arc to approach Puerto Plata bearing 214.2° or SW .
- Puerto Plata has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) whereas Tambov has a warm summer continental/ hemiboreal climate with no dry season (Dfb).
- Puerto Plata is in or near the subtropical moist forest biome whereas Tambov is in or near the cool temperate moist forest biome.
- The mean annual temperature is 19.7 °C (35.4°F) warmer.
- Average monthly temperatures vary by 24.9 °C (44.8°F) less in Puerto Plata. The continentality subtype is truly hyperoceanic as opposed to truly continental.
- Total annual precipitation averages 1375.8 mm (54.2 in) more which is equivalent to 1375.8 l/m² (33.77 US gal/ft²) or 13,758,000 l/ha (1,470,822 US gal/ac) more. About 3 1/2 as much.
- The altitude of the sun at midday is overall 32° higher in Puerto Plata than in Tambov.
Climate Comparison Table
The table shows values for Puerto Plata relative to Tambov. You can also view this comparison the other way around from the perspective of Tambov vs Puerto Plata
|Average Temperature °C ( °F)
|Average Precipitation mm (in)
|| -2 (0)
|Average Daylight Hours & Minutes/ Day
|Sun altitude at solar noon on the 21st day (°)
There are so many comparison pages. Please post a link to one to help people find them:
Puerto Plata vs Tofino, Bc, Canada
Puerto Plata vs Watertown, Ny, Usa
Puerto Plata vs Edinburgh, Scotland, Uk
Puerto Plata vs Spencer, Wv, Usa
Tambov vs Meekatharra, Australia
Tambov vs Podgorica, Montenegro
Tambov vs Kutchan, Japan
Tambov vs Valparaiso, Chile
Pendleton, Or vs Eastport, Me
Ozark, Ar vs Kosice
Keetmanshoop vs Brinkley, Ar
Olekminsk vs Yakima, Wa
Puerto Plata vs Tambov Discussion
You are welcome to incorporate your thoughts on the differences in climate or other matters such as contrasts in culture, standard of living, demographics etc.
Currently under general maintenance.|
Climate Guides for Locations near Puerto Plata
- Cabrera, Dominican Republic - 71 kms (44.1 miles) E
- Rio San Juan, Dominican Republic - 52 kms (32.3 miles) ESE
- Gaspar Hdez., Dominican Republic - 32.7 kms (20.3 miles) ESE
- Moca, Dominican Republic - 41.3 kms (25.6 miles) S
- Salcedo, Dominican Republic - 45.1 kms (28 miles) SSE
- Nagua, Dominican Republic - 86.5 kms (53.7 miles) ESE
- S. F. Macoris, Dominican Republic - 56.5 kms (35.1 miles) SSE
- La Vega, Dominican Republic - 61.4 kms (38.1 miles) S
- Pimentel, Dominican Republic - 79.9 kms (49.7 miles) SE
- Cotui, Dominican Republic - 86.3 kms (53.6 miles) SSE
Climate Guides for Locations near Tambov | 0.7 | medium | 4 | 1,044 | [
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a6daa9ea-55ff-454a-8030-80dafc7fcbbb | XII Math: Objective Type | technology | problem_set | # TN XII Math: Objective Type Questions and Answers ## Question If \[ f(x) = \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} kx^{2}, & \quad 0 < x < 3 \\ 0, & \quad \text{elsewhere} \end{array} \right. \] is a probability density function, then the value of \( k \) is: - \((1)\frac{1}{3}\) - \((2)\frac{1}{6}\) - \((3)\frac{1}{9}\) - \((4)\frac{1}{12}\) ### Related Questions 1. **Find \( k \) for the probability density function:** \[ f(x) = \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} kx^{\alpha-1}e^{-\beta\;x^{\alpha}}, & \quad x, \alpha, \beta > 0 \\ 0 ,& \quad \text{elsewhere} \end{array} \right. \] 2. **Find \( p(x > 10) \) for the probability density function:** \[ f(x) = \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} kx^{\alpha-1}e^{-\beta\;x^{\alpha}}, & \quad x, \alpha, \beta > 0 \\ 0 ,& \quad \text{elsewhere} \end{array} \right. \] 3. **Find \( p\left(\frac{\pi}{2} < x < \frac{3\pi}{2}\right) \) for the probability density function:** \[ f(x) = \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} k, & \quad 0 < x < 2n \\ 0, & \quad \text{elsewhere} \end{array} \right. \] 4. **Find \( p\left(0 < x < \frac{\pi}{2}\right) \) for the probability density function:** \[ f(x) = \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} k, & \quad 0 < x < 2n \\ 0, & \quad \text{elsewhere} \end{array} \right. \] 5. **Verify that the following are probability density functions:** \[ f(x) = \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} \frac{2x}{9}, & \quad 0 \leq x \leq 3 \\ 0, & \quad \text{elsewhere} \end{array} \right. \] 6. **For the probability density function \( f(x) = \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} cx(1-x)^{3}, & \quad 0 < x < 1 \\ 0, & \quad \text{elsewhere} \end{array} \right. \), find \( p(x < \frac{1}{2}) \).** 7. **For the probability density function \( f(x) = \left\{ \begin{array}{ll} cx(1-x)^{3}, & \quad 0 < x < 1 \\ 0, & \quad \text{elsewhere} \end{array} \right. \), find the constant \( c \).** | 0.65 | low | 6 | 747 | [
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00c4bf4c-358e-407a-873d-ac47dcc74500 | Today Monday, July 28 | interdisciplinary | historical_context | Today is Monday, July 28, the 209th day of 2014. There are 156 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On July 28, 1914, World War I began as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
On this date:
In 1540, King Henry VIII’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, was executed, the same day Henry married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard.
In 1655, French dramatist and novelist Cyrano de Bergerac, the inspiration for a play by Edmond Rostand, died in Paris at age 36.
In 1794, Maximilien Robespierre, a leading figure of the French Revolution, was sent to the guillotine.
In 1821, Peru declared its independence from Spain.
In 1928, the Summer Olympic games opened in Amsterdam.
In 1932, federal troops forcibly dispersed the so-called “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans who had gathered in Washington to demand payments they weren’t scheduled to receive until 1945.
In 1945, a U.S. Army bomber crashed into the 79th floor of New York’s Empire State Building, killing 14 people. The U.S. Senate ratified the United Nations Charter by a vote of 89-2.
In 1959, in preparation for statehood, Hawaiians voted to send the first Chinese-American, Republican Hiram L. Fong, to the U.S. Senate and the first Japanese-American, Democrat Daniel K. Inouye, to the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced he was increasing the number of American troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000 “almost immediately.”
In 1976, an earthquake devastated northern China, killing at least 242,000 people, according to an official estimate.
In 1984, the Los Angeles Summer Olympics opened.
In 1989, Israeli commandos abducted a pro-Iranian Shiite Muslim cleric, Sheik Abdul-Karim Obeid, from his home in south Lebanon. (He was released in January 2004 as part of a prisoner swap.)
Ten years ago: The Democratic National Convention in Boston nominated John Kerry for president. A car bomb exploded outside a police station used as a recruiting center in Baqouba, Iraq, killing 70 Iraqis. Francis Crick, a Nobel Prize-winning scientist who co-discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, died in San Diego at age 88.
Today’s Birthdays: Movie director Andrew V. McLaglen is 94. Actor Darryl Hickman is 83. Ballet dancer-choreographer Jacques d’Amboise is 80. Musical conductor Riccardo Muti is 73. “Garfield” creator Jim Davis is 69. Singer Jonathan Edwards is 68. Actress Linda Kelsey is 68. TV producer Dick Ebersol is 67. Actress Sally Struthers is 66. Actress Georgia Engel is 66. Rock musician Simon Kirke (Bad Company) is 65. Rock musician Steve Morse (Deep Purple) is 60.
CBS anchorman Scott Pelley is 57. Alt-country-rock musician Marc Perlman is 53. Actor Michael Hayden is 51. Actress Lori Loughlin is 50. Jazz musician-producer Delfeayo Marsalis is 49. Former hockey player turned general manager Garth Snow is 45. Actress Elizabeth Berkley is 42.
Singer Afroman is 40. Country musician Todd Anderson (Heartland) is 39. Rock singer Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach) is 38. Country singer Carly Goodwin is 33. Actor Dustin Milligan is 29. Actor Nolan Gerard Funk is 28. Pop/rock singer Cher Lloyd (TV: finalist “The X Factor”) is 21. | 0.65 | medium | 6 | 952 | [
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