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Only 44 years ago in the U.S., Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was leading a fight to win blacks the right to vote. Ground zero for the movement became Selma, Alabama. Award-winning author Elizabeth Partridge leads you straight into the chaotic, passionate, and deadly three months of protests that culminated in the landmark march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. Focusing on the courageous children who faced terrifying violence in order to march alongside King, this is an inspiring look at their fight for the vote. Stunningly emotional black-and-white photos accompany the text.
Here is a great page from the University of Oxford on plagiarism. It’s mainly informational, but it does a great job of succinctly describing plagiarism, types of plagiarism, and how to avoid it. One more tool/example for teachers. Check out this great article on how a teacher uses turnitin to facilitate improved student writing. The article does a great job taking the reader through how to use turnitin. Turnitin is of course a writing tool not a solve all plagiarism checker. *While I have been named a Turnitin Global Innovator Honorable Mention for my work in class and this site, I have no obligations financial or otherwise to speak highly of turnitin. I just find it’s a great tool as a teacher! Harvard has had its fair share of plagiarism cases (see Harvard Student Commits Plagiarism Loses Book Deal). In the last few years, the Harvard College Writing Program has focused on decreasing student plagiarism through student education. The Harvard Guide to Using Sources is the fruit of that effort. It is a one-stop website for tips on avoiding plagiarism, proper citation methods, using and evaluating sources, and many other helpful tips to use to avoid plagiarism. Along with this great resource, they have developed two online quizzes that help students consider plagiarism scenarios. Quiz 1, Using Sources, Five Scenarios, helps students “work through examples based, in part, on real academic honesty cases. Upon [completion] of the tutorial, [the student] will be acquainted with the most common misunderstandings about academic integrity, and will know more about how to integrate sources responsibly into your writing” (Guide Website). Quiz 2, Using Sources, Five Examples, is “based on passages from real student essays, and illustrates problems with summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting sources. By taking the tutorial, [the student] will gain a deeper understanding of the most common forms of plagiarism and a solid sense of how to use sources effectively” (Guide Website). At the beginning of each quiz, the student can enter an email address and have the results sent to that address. So, a teacher can request students email their results directly or require a screen shot of their results to ensure student completion. This resources is a great resource for teachers who wish to introduce plagiarism issues to their students and then check understanding through the online quizzes. The first step in creating an environment that discourages plagiarism is educating students about plagiarism itself. To do this, I begin with a simple project. Create an awareness project to share with other students about why plagiarism is so bad. Of course, you could stand in front of the class and lecture your students about the evils of plagiarism and the horrors that await them if they are caught, but, in my experience, that does no one any good. Instead, get them to look at the issue themselves before going forward. Below are two examples of initial projects students complete for me this past year. First, students created posters to hang in all the common computer labs. Second, a group of my juniors and seniors made a brief educational video to place on our website. Both of these projects helped both the students making them and the larger school community begin thinking about plagiarism. They projects provide a starting point as I focus on my larger goal of plagiarism education. Plagiarism is a Crime Poster Types of Plagiarism Poster Introduction to Plagiarism Video
In the world of web technologies, the most commonly used technology for client-server communication is HTTP. Some might consider the synchronous, request-response nature of HTTP protocol as its weakness. Every change made in application database is not automatically passed to the client part of the application, and the user won’t see it on the interface. However, there is a solution to this communication issue – WebSockets. I’d like to present MeteorJS. It’s a platform where WebSockets is used as a base of communication protocol – DDP (Distributed Data Protocol). Let me tell you this: real-time is cool. It’s easy to see the benefits of automatic binding displayed data to database values in real-time. We have the possibility of creating web systems and applications more similar to native applications or even operating systems. To show it, I will use an example. How does a modern operating system work? Let’s imagine an operational system in which we’re opening two windows of our file manager. Both windows are open in the same location. Next, in the first window we create a new folder. We can see this change in the second window, automatically. This is our real-time effect. This approach is user-friendly, but not only that. It’s also very useful for business logic, which – in some cases – is even necessary. For example, some chats, web games or systems which observe some different types of states and react for changes require a real-time approach. Sadly, as it often is in life, there’s a downside. Communication based on WebSockets technology has some drawbacks. For example, there are more limits in the case of the number of users which can use our application/system at the same time than in communication based on HTTP. MeteorJS as full-stack platform From a developer’s perspective, a huge advantage of MeteorJS is its simplicity. Client-server communication is very intuitive, and its data synchronization is automatic. Thanks to this, we get the real-time effect for free! Let’s see some sample code, which presents the communication between client-server where we add some example objects to MongoDB. First, let’s create a MongoDB Collection: Let’s handle adding a book in our server: Then let’s add a book in our client: Now, a few words of explanation for this. MeteorJS automatically binds our application structure. Therefore, if we organize files in the presented way, we’ll have the following situation: client/ – files available for client side server/ – files available for server side both/ – files available for both This code is a very simple presentation of a situation where the client can add some books to database. MeteorJS handles communication and database connection matters. In addition, when we get and display all books it will automatically bind data: The presented code uses Blaze templates for rendering views and will work in real-time. MeterJS will bind data automatically. All these points makes the whole process of creating software very quick and efficient. What can we use when working with MeteorJS? In the paragraph above I wrote that MeteorJS is a full stack platform. So, it means that MeteorJS has to support the front-end and back-end. Let’s check which technologies you can use with it. The client-side part of MeteorJS provides you with a very wide set of most popular front-end technologies. It supports Angular, React or a template system called Blaze, created specially for MeteorJS (it’s generally based on Handlebars). But I don’t want to describe any of these technologies here. My goal is to advise you what to choose as a front-end technology, depending on product requirements. From my experience, I can say that when you need a quick solution, it’s better to use Blaze. It’s clear and simple, but like other, more popular solutions it’s also very powerful (reactivity, clean html templates). Furthermore, it’s still under development. There are plans to add e.g. components, so for me, it’s really great. On other hand, if you need a scalable, big product, it might be better to choose a popular and complex technology like Angular or React. The server side part of MeteorJS is based on NodeJS. It also supports a very nice and intuitive build system, which bases on npm (packages manager for NodeJS). It provides a set of packages for MeteorJS called Atmosphere.js. After starting a local server, the build system will ‘watch’ the state of our project. In case of changes, MeteorJS will automatically rebuild the project and refresh our client. There are also other useful features, like automatic minification and concatenation of static resources in production mode of application. Pretty cool, isn’t it? So, what’s the conclusion? MeteorJS is an all-round solution for web and mobile applications (it also supports Apache Cordova). Development is fast, because we’re using only one language on client and server. Communication based on WebSockets gives us a real-time effect. However, this type of communication has a very particular charm. It should be used in specific situations. Apart from this, I can definitely recommend this platform. What’s more, the number of applications and systems built with MeteorJS is growing, and there’s a large community working with this solution. You can check the full SPA template built with MeteorJS here.
Charles Brantley Aycock (November 1, 1859 – April 4, 1912) was the 50th governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1901 to 1905. After starting his career as a lawyer and teacher, he became active in the Democratic Party during the party's Solid South period, and made his reputation as a prominent segregationist. Charles Brantley Aycock \|50th Governor of North Carolina\| January 15, 1901 – January 11, 1905 \|Preceded by\|\|Daniel Lindsay Russell\| \|Succeeded by\|\|Robert Broadnax Glenn\| \|United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina\| \|Preceded by\|\|Charles A. Cooke\| \|Succeeded by\|\|Claude M. Bernard\| \|Born\|\|November 1, 1859\| Wayne County, North Carolina, U.S. \|Died\|\|April 4, 1912 (aged 52)\| Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. \|Cause of death\|\|Heart attack\| Cora Lily Woodard \|Alma mater\|\|University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\| He became known as "the Education Governor" for his advocacy for the improvement of North Carolina's public school systems, and following his term in office, he traveled the country promoting educational causes. Early life Edit Charles B. Aycock was born in Wayne County, North Carolina, as the youngest of the 10 children of Benjamin and Serena Aycock. His family lived near the present-day town of Fremont, North Carolina, then known as Nahunta. Though his father died when he was 15, his mother and older brothers recognized his abilities and determined that he should go to college. Aycock attended the University of North Carolina (today the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and joined the Philanthropic Society, a debate and literary society at the university. After graduating in 1880 with first honors in both oratory and essay writing, he entered law practice in Goldsboro and supplemented his income by teaching school. His success in both fields led to his appointment as superintendent of schools for Wayne County and to service on the school board in Goldsboro. His political career began in 1888 as a presidential elector for Grover Cleveland, when he gained distinction as an orator and political debater. From 1893 to 1897, he served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Personal life Edit Aycock married Varina Woodard, daughter of Baptist lay minister and farmer William Woodard and Delpha Rountree Woodard, in 1881. They had three children together: Ernest Aycock, Charles Brantley Aycock, Jr., and Alice Varina Aycock. His two sons from this marriage died in childhood. His daughter from this marriage went on to marry the writer Clarence Hamilton Poe. Aycock's wife died on July 9, 1889. On January 7, 1891 he married his late wife's sister, Cora Lily Woodard. They had seven children: William Benjamin Aycock, Mary Lily Aycock, Connor Woodard Aycock, John Lee Aycock, Louise Roundtree Aycock, Frank Daniels Aycock, and Brantley Aycock. White supremacy campaigns Edit In 1898 and 1900, Aycock was prominent in the Democratic Party's "white supremacy" campaigns. Aycock's involvement with the Wilmington insurrection of 1898 is chronicled in an official state commission report. "Planned violence to suppress the African American and Republican communities grew into unplanned bloodshed. The frenzy over white supremacy victory, incessantly repeated by orators such as Alfred Moore Waddell and Charles Aycock, simply could not be quieted after an overwhelming and somewhat anticlimactic election victory." Aycock was reportedly not present in Wilmington the day of the insurrection. In 1899, the heavily Democrat state legislature of North Carolina passed a suffrage amendment to the state constitution. This amendment added a poll tax and literacy test, as well as a grandfather clause to avoid disenfranchising poor white voters. Aycock supported the amendment, and urged legislatures to submit it to a popular vote in an August election - moved up from November. In the same election, Aycock ran for governor against Republican Spencer B. Adams. On the campaign trail, his supporters displayed one of the rapid-fire guns from the Wilmington insurrection of 1898 and Aycock regularly appeared with Red Shirts. Indeed it has become the fashion among Republicans and Populists to assert the unfitness of the negro to rule, but when they use the word rule, they confine it to holding office. When we say that the negro is unfit to rule we carry it one step further and convey the correct idea when we declare that he is unfit to vote. To do this we must disfranchise the negro. This movement comes from the people. Politicians have been afraid of it and have hesitated, but the great mass of white men in the State are now demanding and have demanded that the matter be settled once and for all. To do so is both desirable and necessary – desirable because it sets the white man free to move along faster than he can go when retarded by the slower movement of the negro.— Charles Aycock, Address Accepting the Democratic Nomination for Governor, April 11, 1900 In the 1900 North Carolina gubernatorial election, the suffrage amendment was confirmed and Aycock was elected governor. He reportedly won 60% of the vote, but this was in part due to voter fraud. In several counties the number of votes for Aycock exceeded the number of eligible voters by several hundred. As governor, Aycock became known as the "Education Governor" for his support of the public school system. It was said that one school was constructed in the state for every day he was in office. He was supposedly dedicated to education after watching his mother make her mark when signing a deed. Aycock felt that no lasting social reform could be accomplished without education. He supported increased salaries for teachers, longer school terms, and new school buildings; "690 new schoolhouses erected, including 599 for whites and 91 for blacks." While credited for an expansion of schools for black students, Aycock is also noted as having advocated that black students be properly educated through curriculum and care tightly controlled by North Carolina whites, to "benefit the black race to fit them into a subordinate role." Let us cast away all fear of rivalry with the negro, all apprehension that he shall ever overtake us in the race of life. We are the thoroughbreds and should have no fear of winning the race against a commoner stock. An effort to reduce their public schools would send thousands more of them away from us. In this hour, when our industrial development demands more labor and not less, it becomes of the utmost importance that we shall make no mistake in dealing with that race which does a very large part of the work, of actual hard labor in the State.— Gov. Aycock, Address Before the Democratic State Convention at Greensboro, June 23, 1904 Historian Morgan Kousser has demonstrated that Aycock's progressive attitude toward black education was based on white Democrats' desire to ensure that the disfranchisement of black voters would not be reversed by federal government intervention. Kousser observed, "Some scholars have made a great deal of the opposition of 'progressive' Governor Charles B. Aycock and state school superintendent James Y. Joyner to the movement for a constitutional amendment in North Carolina to limit black school expenditures to the amount paid by Negroes in taxes. It is true that Aycock threatened resignation if such a law passed and that, speaking to the legislature in 1903, he condemned the proposed measure as 'unjust, unwise and unconstitutional.' Yet in the same address he put greater stress on his view that the act was impolitic than he did on its injustice. The law would invite a challenge in federal court, he believed, and 'if it should be made to appear to the Court that in connection with our disfranchisement of the negro we had taken pains for providing to keep him in ignorance, then both amendments [the literacy test and racial separation of taxes] would fall together.' In other words, the disfranchisement of the almost unanimously Republican blacks, which was virtually priceless to the Democrats, would be bartered for the temporary gain of a few extra dollars of the school fund." Aycock did other progressive measures as governor such as building roads, increasing taxes on corporations, creating new regulations on railroads, and passing child labor and temperance laws. Aycock fought against lynching as governor, but expanded the state's convict leasing program, a de facto form of slavery. "The Negro Problem" Edit On December 18, 1903, while governor, Aycock went to Baltimore to give a speech to 300 people at the North Carolina Society. His speech, "The Negro Problem," outlined his thoughts on keeping blacks separate, subservient, and locked out of representative government by circumventing the Fifteenth Amendment, which guarantees the right to vote. Aycock's may have been a response to the book The Negro Problem, written by prominent black scholars, including W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington, in which they consider the web of economic, political, and social problems faced by blacks in their collective history as slaves and second-class citizens after Emancipation. The book had been released about two months before Aycock's speech. The speech is one of Aycock's most well known, and controversial: I am proud of my State … because there we have solved the negro problem … We have taken him out of politics and have thereby secured good government under any party and laid foundations for the future development of both races. We have secured peace, and rendered prosperity a certainty. I am inclined to give to you our solution of this problem. It is, first, as far as possible under the Fifteenth Amendment to disfranchise him; after that let him alone, quit writing about him; quit talking about him, quit making him “the white man’s burden,” let him “tote his own skillet”; quit coddling him, let him learn that no man, no race, ever got anything worth the having that he did not himself earn; that character is the outcome of sacrifice and worth is the result of toil; that whatever his future may be, the present has in it for him nothing that is not the product of industry, thrift, obedience to law, and uprightness; that he cannot, by resolution of council or league, accomplish anything; that he can do much by work; that violence may gratify his passions but it cannot accomplish his ambitions; that he may eat rarely of the cooking of equality, but he will always find when he does that “there is death in the pot.” Let the negro learn once for all that there is unending separation of the races, that the two peoples may develop side by side to the fullest but that they cannot intermingle; let the white man determine that no man shall by act or thought or speech cross this line, and the race problem will be at an end. These things are not said in enmity to the negro but in regard for him. He constitutes one third of the population of my State: he has always been my personal friend; as a lawyer I have often defended him, and as Governor I have frequently protected him. But there flows in my veins the blood of the dominant race; that race that has conquered the earth and seeks out the mysteries of the heights and depths. If manifest destiny leads to the seizure of Panama, it is certain that it likewise leads to the dominance of the Caucasian. When the negro recognizes this fact we shall have peace and good will between the races. But I would not have the white people forget their duty to the negro. We must seek the truth and pursue it. We owe an obligation to “the man in black”; we brought him here; he served us well; he is patient and teachable. We owe him gratitude; above all we owe him justice. We cannot forget his fidelity and we ought not to magnify his faults; we cannot change his color, neither can we ignore his service. No individual ever “rose on stepping stones of dead” others “to higher things,” and no people can. We must rise by ourselves, we must execute judgment in righteousness; we must educate not only ourselves but see to it that the negro has an opportunity for education. As a white man I am afraid of but one thing for my race and that is that we shall become afraid to give the negro a fair chance. The first duty of every man is to develop himself to the uttermost and the only limitation upon his duty is that he shall take pains to see that in his own development he does no injustice to those beneath him. This is true of races as well as of individuals. Considered properly it is not a limitation but a condition of development. The white man in the South can never attain to his fullest growth until he does absolute justice to the negro race. If he is doing that now, it is well for him. If he is not doing it, he must seek to know the ways of truth and pursue them. My own opinion is, that so far we have done well, and that the future holds no menace for us if we do the duty which lies next to us, training, developing the coming generation, so that the problems which seem difficult to us shall be easy to them. Later life Edit After leaving the governor's office in 1905, Aycock resumed his law practice. He was persuaded to run for the Senate seat held by fellow Democrat Furnifold M. Simmons in 1912. But before the nomination was decided, Aycock died of a heart attack while making a speech to the Alabama Education Association in Birmingham on April 4, 1912. The subject of Aycock's speech was 'Universal Education'. After he had talked for a few minutes, Aycock spoke the words: 'I have always talked about education—.' Here he stopped, threw up his hands, reeled backward, and fell dead. In Greensboro, North Carolina, the auditorium at UNC Greensboro, as well as a street, a neighborhood, and a middle school were all named for him. Dormitories at UNC-Chapel Hill and East Carolina University campuses were named after him, although ECU decided to rename the dorm in 2015. UNC-Chapel Hill followed suit in 2020, renaming the dormitory for Hortense McClinton, the first black faculty member at the school. In Pikeville, North Carolina, there is a high school named after him as well. There is an Aycock Elementary School in Henderson. The Aycock Elementary School in Asheville was closed over thirty years ago and has been used as the campus for Asheville City Preschool and, more recently, Asheville Primary School (public Montessori); the plaque bearing the Aycock name was removed in 2020. Aycock High School in Cedar Grove graduated its last class in 1963. Additionally, a small street in the Chapel Hill neighborhood of Governors Club is named after him, along with numerous other Governors of North Carolina. In 1965, a junior high school in Raleigh, North Carolina was named after him, although it was absorbed into William G. Enloe High School in 1979. A street in Raleigh's Five Points neighborhood was also named for him. In the 1933 textbook The Story of North Carolina, Aycock is described as "one of the best friends that colored people had." For most of the 20th century, Aycock was characterized by state historians and politicians as an admirable figure, reflected in the choice to have a statue of him as one of the two submitted by the state to the National Statuary Hall Collection. In recent years, that viewpoint has been challenged: Often overlooked was Aycock's role as a leading spokesman in the white supremacy campaigns of 1898 and 1900, which were marked by widespread violence, voter intimidation, voter fraud and even a coup d'état of the government of Wilmington … The campaigns had far-reaching consequences: blacks were removed from the voter rolls based on literacy tests, Jim Crow customs were encoded into law, and the Democratic Party controlled Tar Heel politics for two-thirds of the 20th century. In 2011, the N.C. Democratic Party dropped Aycock's name from its annual fundraiser after calls from both Democratic and Republican lawmakers brought attention to Aycock's white supremacy ties. Aycock had been included in the fundraiser's name since 1960. On June 17, 2014, Duke University removed his name from a residence hall. On February 20, 2015, East Carolina University trustees voted to remove Aycock's name from a residence hall after a months-long debate with faculty, students, staff and alumni. The trustees directed the university to represent Aycock's name in another campus location, where founders and other university supporters would be recognized. As of early 2015, UNC Greensboro was also reviewing proposals to remove Aycock's name from campus buildings. On February 18, 2016, UNCG's board of trustees voted unanimously to remove his name from the auditorium. On August 25, 2015, the Guilford County school board voted 9–2 to rename Aycock Middle School in Greensboro, dropping the Aycock name. On August 15, 2017, the Greensboro City Council voted to rename the Aycock Historic District, which included the formerly named Aycock Middle School (now Swann Middle School) to Dunleath Historic District. On February 28, 2018, North Carolina governor Roy Cooper requested from the Architect of the Capitol replacement of Aycock's statue with one of evangelist Billy Graham, pursuant to legislation signed in 2015. The statue will be replaced once sufficient private funds for Graham's statue are raised. On April 24, 2018, Greensboro City Council unanimously voted to rename North and South Aycock Street, which runs from West Florida Street to Wendover Avenue, to North and South Josephine Boyd Street after Josephine Boyd, the first black student to attend the all-white Greensboro High School (now Grimsley High School) in 1957. On May 4, 2021, Raleigh City Council voted to rename Aycock Street to Roanoke Park Drive following a neighborhood petition. - Weekend Edition (August 17, 2008). "How The Only Coup D'Etat In U.S. History Unfolded". National Public Radio. - "Aycock, Cora Lily Woodard". NCpedia. Retrieved 2023-03-20. - Christensen, Rob (October 6, 2007). "Aycock legacy gets reappraisal". Raleigh: News&Observer. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2014-06-05. But Aycock's legacy in the violent white supremacy campaigns of 1898 and 1900—once sugar-coated in history books—is now being debated for the first time in North Carolina's highest political circles. - Umfleet, LeRae (2009). A Day of Blood: The 1898 Wilmington Race Riot. Raleigh: North Carolina Office of Archives and History. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-86526-344-4. - Zucchino, pp. 304 - Zucchino, pp. 313 - "The Life and Speeches of Charles Brantley Aycock" : The Life and Speeches of Charles Brantley Aycock 1912 - Zucchino, pp. 316 - Leloudis, James (1996). Schooling the New South: Pedagogy, Self, and Society in North Carolina, 1880–1920. pp. 177–180. ISBN 9780807822654. - "The Life and Speeches of Charles Brantley Aycock" : The Life and Speeches of Charles Brantley Aycock 1912 - Kousser, J. Morgan. “Progressivism—For Middle-Class Whites Only: North Carolina Education, 1880–1910.” Journal of Southern History 46 (May 1980): 169–194. - "Aycock, Charles Brantley \| NCpedia". Archived from the original on 2020-08-21. Retrieved 2021-01-28. - James M. Buckley, ed. (1904). ""The Negro Problem": Perplexing and Portentous". The Christian Advocate. T. Carlton & J. Porter. 79. - Charles B. Aycock (19 Dec 1903). "DECLARES NEGRO PROBLEM SOLVED". Chicago Daily Tribune. - R. D. W. Connor; Clarence Hamilton Poe, eds. (1912). "The Life and Speeches of Charles Brantley Aycock". Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company. pp. 161–163. - "People Talked About". Leslie's Illustrated Weekly Newspaper. John Albert Sleicher F. Leslie. 98. 1904. - "Solving the Negro Problem". Brooklyn, New York: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 20 Dec 1903. - "7: Destiny of a Race". 1898 Wilmington Race Riot Commission Report (PDF). North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. May 31, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 24, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2018. - Washington, Booker T.; DuBois, W.E.B.; et al. (1 Sep 1903). "The Negro Problem; A Series of Articles by Representative American Negroes of Today". New York, J. Pott & Company. - The Federal Writers' Project of the Federal Works Agency, Works Projects Administration for the State of North Carolina, "North Carolina: A Guide to the Old North State", The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 1939, page 79. - "The risk of choosing names" : News-Record.com : Greensboro, North Carolina Archived 2012-09-05 at archive.today - "ECU renames its own Aycock Residence Hall". The Chronicle. Archived from the original on 10 August 2015. Retrieved 19 October 2015. - NC Policy Watch - Wicker, Mackenzie (June 30, 2020). "Asheville school will change its name from 'Vance,' a Civil War governor". Asheville Citizen Times. Raleigh, NC. - Zucchino, pp. 335 - "Vance-Aycock Dinner is history" Archived 2015-01-29 at the Wayback Machine : newsobserver.com : Raleigh, NC - "ECU to remove Aycock name from dorm, but retain it at another location" Archived 2015-02-23 at the Wayback Machine : News & Observer, Raleigh, NC - "UNCG to move ahead with review of Aycock name" : News & Record : Greensboro, NC - WFMY News 2 Staff. "Former NC Gov. Charles Aycock's Name Will Be Removed from UNCG Auditorium". WFMY. TENGA. Retrieved February 18, 2016. - "Guilford County school board approves renaming Aycock Middle School". 26 August 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2018. - firstname.lastname@example.org, Margaret Moffett. "Greensboro's Aycock neighborhood name changed". Greensboro News and Record. Retrieved 20 December 2018. - Murphy, Brian (February 28, 2018). "NC leaders move forward with another honor for Billy Graham: US Capitol statue". The News & Observer. Raleigh. Retrieved July 13, 2018. - Moffett, Margaret (April 24, 2018). "Street renamed for civil rights trailblazer Josephine Boyd". News & Record. Greensboro. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
In an effort to prevent tragedies to human life, CONRED (Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres) has set up a 24 hour emergency phone number that people can call to report cracks or ground movements. That number is 1566. Ecology Education and Festival Atitlán Fundraiser Roberto Luz , Violeta Luz and Rene Dionisio have designed an educational comic book in Spanish that informs about the causes of the cianobacteria at Lake Atitlan and some solutions. They have already printed and distributed 5,000 and are fundraising to print another 5,000. It is also a fundraiser for Festival Atitlan. Click here to view the comic book: Click here to donate: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2ZSNNS7C8YZGL Now that it is the season to plant trees, "Tepee" Bob Miller has offered up some tree planting ideas for reforestation. - Plant each tree with a good helping of wood charcol mixed into the soil of each hole. - Plant each tree in a depression so that water can accumulate when it rains. - Use a mulch around each tree to retain moisture. This mulch could be any organic material: tree moss, rotted sawdust, dry leaves, dry vetiver grass. Green sawdust and materials are not as good as they rob a bit of nitrogen to break down into compost. - In the dry season do the following using l-litre plastic water bottles per tree: Bury the neck/mouth part of the bottle in the ground a couple of inches and under the mulch so that the water will leave the bottle slowly over time to water each tree. Also with this method you will give each tree exactly the same water with no waste. It also reuses the bottles.
In Fig. 2, a thin uniform rod (mass ??3.0? kg , length ??4.0 m ) rotates freely about a horizontal axis A? that is perpendicular to the rod and passes through a point at distance ? ?d=1.0 ?? m from the end of the rod. The kinetic energy of the rod as it passes through the vertical position is ??20 J. (a) What is the rotational inertia of the rod about axis ?A ? (b) What is the (linear) speed of the end ? Bof the rod as the rod passes through the vertical position? (c) At what angle ? will the rod momentarily stop in its upward swing?
Whitworth Planing Machines This is a sub-section of Joseph Whitworth and Co Note: The photographs' prefix letters refer to the location of the machine (Manchester, London and Paris, Underfall Yard). Planing machines provided their designers with plenty of scope for innovation in the mechanisms for reciprocating the tables, providing automatic feed, reducing unproductive time, and minimising wear and power consumption. No consensus ever emerged on the best ways of meeting the aims, making planers interesting machines to study. In 1835 Joseph Whitworth patented a number of improvements to metal planing machines. Some of the patented features remained in production for many years, and can be seen on 1842 machines displayed in two museums, Manchester's Museum of Science and Industry (MoSI) and the London Science Museum. The Science Museum's machine has Whitworth's patented toolholder which held two opposing tools. At each end of the machine's stroke the toolholder was rapidly kicked round through 180 degrees to allow cutting in both directions. This was ingenious, but very complex, and attracted criticism, especially from Whitworth's rivals. It is not clear to what extent the various theoretical objections were borne out in practice, but the system was not universally popular. The MoSI example does not have the rotating toolholder. It does retain the cotton ropes and pulleys, but these had other purposes, namely to provide automatic cross feed, and also downward feed (if required). The MoSI machine's downfeed arrangement is illustrated in, but not necessarily clarified by, photos M4 & M5. Suffice to say that the rope moved back and forth, and the ratchet served to turn the toolpost's leadscrew in one direction only. Photo M5 shows a small lever which disengages the ratchet. The vertical peg, bolted in the curved slot, doubtless altered the amount of feed, by determining the number of ratchet 'clicks'. Cotton ropes may look out of place for actuating machine tool mechanisms, but makers and users of spinning mules (including Whitworth) would have been quite at home with such arrangements. However, Whitworth used a cordless arrangement on some machines, utilising rack, pinion, snail cam, and several rods. A unique feature is the patented drive for the table. Whitworth rejected rack and pinion or chain drive in favour of the regular motion offered by a leadscrew. Concerns about friction and wear were addressed by an interesting innovation. Instead of a conventional nut, the deep coarse-pitch screw engaged with two pairs of rotating discs or rollers. This arrangement is found on the Science Museum machine (see photo L2), whereas the MoSI machine has a plain nut (M7). It was important to carefully adjust the horizontal position of the discs relative to the leadscrew, and in photo L2 it will be seen that horizontal bolts are provided. These are also retained on the MoSI machine, perhaps suggesting that the nut was a replacement for earlier discs. Atkinson compares the arrangement with worm and wheel transmission, and calls the discs 'disc-pawls'. Certainly the leadscrew resembles a worm more than a leadscrew, but the discs make rolling contact in Whitworth's arrangement, rather than sliding contact. Friction does arise at the journal bearing on which the disc revolves. The velocity of the journal relative to the bearing is much lower than would have been the velocity of the leadscrew surface relative to a conventional nut (Whitworth aimed for a velocity ratio of 1:7). He originally applied this system in 1835 on the carriages of his self-acting spinning mules. He also used it on the feed screws of his vertical slotting machines.. Lubrication is key to the long term success of the arrangement, and it is not obvious that the bearings could be (or would be) readily lubricated on the planing machines. An interesting Whitworth planing machine, dating from c.1850, is on display at the Musee des Arts et Metiers in Paris (photos P1-P5). This is a 'crank-type' planing machine, in which the table is moved back and forth by a crank, rather than by leadscrew or by rack and pinion, or other mechanisms. The crank operating system had the advantage of avoiding the complication of other systems worked by screw, chain, or rack. It was simple and robust, but the stroke length was limited, and the cutting speed varies throughout the stroke. The Paris machine incorporates a quick-return motion for the table, which minimises the lost time on the non-cutting return stroke. Joseph Whitworth is credited with originating the quick return mechanism. Returning to the MoSI and Science Museum machines, Atkinson credits Whitworth with the simple table reversing arrangement which uses a single drive belt and two bevel pinions (L3) driven by coaxial shafts. The belt, which ran continuously in one direction, was automatically shifted sideways from one pulley to the other, via the loose pulley, so as to drive either the left or right hand pinion. Photo M8 shows the pulley and belt shifting arrangement. L1 shows the rod with two pins near the left hand end which move the bell crank to shift the belt. The rod is moved by the table after moving through a distance determined by two adjustable collars. In photo L1 the position of the collars would prevent any movement. Note: The bevel gear drive arrangement would later be improved by Thomas Shanks and Co with diffferent gear ratios for the forward and return stroke. Whitworth & Co later adopted this (see photo U2). Different speeds were not needed by Whitworth originally, since his machines were intended to cut on both the forward and return stroke. Returning to the arrangements for incrementally advancing the tool's position, the three older machines shown above all utilised a rope moved by a pulley oscillating back and forth through an arc. The method of achieving this on the MoSI and Science Museum machines is not apparent, although it involved a tumbling counterweight, seen in the photos. The motion was transferred to shafts, and the direction was changed by bevel gears. These did not have a full circle of teeth, since they were only turning through a limited arc. This may be apparent in photo M5 on the bevel gear with the vertical axis (note that the gears are not in mesh). Rope tension was maintained by a weighted idler pulley, visible at the top of photo M6. On the Paris machine, the oscillation of the rope drive pulley is obtained by an unusual arrangement. The slender pulley (to the right of the large gear) is rotated through an arc by a pin engaging with an eccentric groove in the face of the disc on the large gear's shaft (just visible in photo P4). Sources of Information - The Engineeer & Machinist's Assistant, p.196 in 1863 edition - 'Sir Joseph Whitworth 'The World's Best Mechanician by Norman Atkinson, Sutton Publishing, 1996 - The Engineer and Machinist's Assistant
When it comes to pursuing a career in machine learning, it is not as simple as learning and getting ahead in their careers. Beginners are often bewildered with countless learning resources out there. This guide tells exactly where to kickstart your proficiency towards ML. Step 1: Math And Statistics The first thing is the skill to understanding problems through a mathematical intuition. We would highly recommend starting with basics in linear algebra, then gradually moving to calculus. It may be hard to master them initially but given the time and practice with working, these areas will be familiar and comfortable to work on. Another subject that follows math is statistics. For any ML algorithm to be understood clearly, statistics is essential. Hence, fundamental knowledge in stats should be learnt hand in hand. By now, you might have easily thought of online websites such as Coursera or Udemy. Of course, these are good resources to learn at your own pace. The only hindrance is setting and following self-paced goals. On the other hand, here are a few resources that are equally good at teaching the basics of math and statistics. - Linear Algebra tutorials by Kardi Teknomo – This interactive tutorial is a gem of a resource. Dr Kardi Teknomo of Ateneo de Manila University explains every concept in a simple, easy to read the language. - Linear Algebra in Twenty Five Lectures – A concise course by the University of California, Davis scholars Tom Denton and Andrew Waldron. - Paul’s Online Notes – A complete online resource (free to download) for math by Paul Dawkins of Lamar University. This resource is mainly centred around algebra and calculus. - Stat Trek – Online website for statistics. - Khan Academy – An all-time favourite among students, you would find a plethora of content on various areas of mathematics and statistics. Step 2. Programming For beginners, programming is sometimes dreadful to learn. Naturally, it might be intimidating and difficult at first. But with regular practice, this skill can be aced eventually. Coming to programming languages in ML, Python stands out top due to its versatility and ease in coding. Other languages such as R, Julia and Java also help in building ML projects. Ultimately, programming should complement your math and stat knowledge. Once mastered, try working on various problems and build small projects around ML. See how it solves a problem particularly by making use of math and statistics concepts. Sites like Kaggle and DataCamp are extremely good at testing codes and collaborating with peers and developers. In addition, forums like Stack Overflow are excellent to discuss problems and queries related to programming. These are the top resources that we found for learning Python, R and sites that cover programming in general. - Pythonprogamming.net – One of the best online resources for learning Python out there. The programmer behind this website, Harrison Kinsley (popularly known as Sentdex in the Python community) explains every aspect of Python perfectly! - Automate The Boring Stuff by Al Sweigart – Another very good online resource on Python. Programming is deconstructed right from scratch. In fact, the beauty lies in how simple tasks can be automated through Python. - ListenData for R – This website offers R tutorials for free. Extensive coverage of R concepts is what makes this site a catch for ML beginners preferring R over Python. - Code Project – A popular discussion forum exclusively for discussing programming queries in general. With a big developer user base, ML beginners can share their code, ask where they face problems in the code and work around ideas. Step 3. Application-Oriented Approach Learning is only fruitful if it is applied sensibly. Many people do the mistake of learning every algorithm in ML and forget where it actually helps in solving a problem. For beginners, it is suggested that they learn the popular and standard algorithms. A complicated algorithm is not always the solution for complex applications. It is all about how an ML problem is solved optimally. Here are a few blogs which brilliantly tells about applications in ML, which is suggested for every beginner to go through them for realising how ML is actually helpful. - Machine Learning Mastery by Jason Brownlee – An amazing blog by expert Jason Brownlee. He explores the fascinating world of ML and captures its essence in the real world. - Adam Geitey’s blog– interesting write-ups in ML and Python - Arthur Juliani’s blog on Reinforcement Learning – an absolute gem of a blog which particularly focuses on reinforcement learning in ML. - Edwin Chen’s blog – it explores requisite concepts of ML such as neural networks, deep learning etc. as well as the math behind it. Provide your comments below If you loved this story, do join our Telegram Community. Also, you can write for us and be one of the 500+ experts who have contributed stories at AIM. Share your nominations here. I research and cover latest happenings in data science. My fervent interests are in latest technology and humor/comedy (an odd combination!). When I'm not busy reading on these subjects, you'll find me watching movies or playing badminton.
Raising Gardens for all Families Currently, the single largest source of food on reservations is government surplus commodities, like cheese and peanut butter. On the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, many people depend on these commodities for their very survival. Unfortunately, these commodities are often high in sodium and sugar and rarely include vegetables. And hunger and malnutrition are serious problems. Billy's efforts have helped to change that. He has helped raise enough money to fund a gardening program called the Slim Buttes Agricultural Development Program. In 15 years, the program has grown from half a dozen gardens to over 400 gardens. At Pine Ridge, the families are provided with land, seeds and advice. The gardening program runs education programs, helps with ground preparation and tilling, seed distribution and seedling production. Plus, wells were dug to provide irrigation which is critical in this dry part of the country. As a result, hundreds of families now grow fresh, healthy produce for themselves. In the fall, mentors help families learn how to can and store vegetables for the winter. The gardens help make sure people have food, even when they don't have any money. Plus gardens help people connect with each other and with the earth. Billy Mills is known internationally for the gold medal he won in the 10,000 meters at the 1964 Olympics. Now he uses his success 40 years ago to help improve the lives of other Native Americans. He is a spokesperson for Running Strong for Indian Youth, raising money and speaking all over the country. "His work is to help stamp out the suffering and starvation of America's 'Poorest of the Poor'," wrote Roberta D'Orazio in nominating him for the Garden Crusader Award. "The planting and harvesting of these gardens helps to lead these people out of starvation, helps to reunite families through hard work shared together, and helps to restore pride and self sufficiency." If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at: email@example.com
Glycosaminoglycan is a type of long, unbranched polysaccharide molecule. Glycosaminoglycans are major structural components of cartilage and are also found in the cornea of the eye. In some patients who died with severe COVID-19 and respiratory failure, a jelly was formed in the lungs. Researchers have now established what the active agent in the jelly is and thanks to that, this new discovery can now be the key to new effective therapies. Accumulation of assembled tau protein in the central nervous system is characteristic of Alzheimer's disease and several other neurodegenerative diseases, called tauopathies. Researchers around the world are racing to find treatments to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic that has caused more than 16 million human infections globally. An international team of researchers has conducted a study showing that differences in the human microbiome may influence the ability of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) to infect host cells. A common drug, already approved by the Food and Drug Administration, may also be a powerful tool in fighting COVID-19, according to research published this week in Antiviral Research. Researchers at Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands reported an increase of heparanase activity and heparan sulfate levels in the plasma of patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which was also associated with the severity of the condition – suggesting, in turn, potential treatment utility of low molecular weight heparins. The paper is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server. Researchers at the University of Sheffield have developed a new assay that can be used to assess the attachment of viruses to host cells and to test potential inhibitors of viral infection. Glycosaminoglycans can inhibit cell invasion by acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and other coronaviruses, which supports the utilization of such therapeutics in the fight against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) – reports a new study available on the preprint server bioRxiv. The neurobiological pathophysiology of schizophrenia differs significantly between males and females, according to a new study. In a study published online in Nature on June 26, research teams led by Dr. YANG Weiwei at the Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Dr. LI Guohui from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of CAS reported a new function of uridine diphosphate glucose (UDP-glucose), a metabolic intermediate in the uronic acid pathway: It impairs lung cancer metastasis by accelerating SNAI1 mRNA decay. Using FACS-based CRISPR screening, scientists have identified three candidate genes that may facilitate the invasion of Chlamydia trachomatis into host cells. More than 30 million Americans suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Biomedical scientists at the University of Salford found that sugars from the common cockle were approximately as effective as some standard chemotherapy drugs at relative lower dosage. Scientists in Dresden, Germany, have been successful in mimicking mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease in a novel, stem cell-based model system that reproduces features of human brain tissue. Higher leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) level promotes cartilage health in postmenopausal women with mild knee osteoarthritis (OA). The quest for a synthetic heart valve that faithfully mimics the original is a step closer to its goal with the Rice University find that a natural polymer called hyaluronan, one of the chief components of skin and connective tissue, can serve as a versatile template for growing spongiosa, the middle tissue layer in the valve's leaflets. Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company developing novel oncology and drug-delivery therapies, today announced the first patient has been dosed in its Halo-301 \| Pancreatic study, a Phase 3 clinical trial in previously untreated metastatic pancreatic cancer patients. Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that AbbVie has dosed the first subject in a clinical trial evaluating the safety and pharmacokinetics of adalimumab with Halozyme's proprietary ENHANZE technology. Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that Janssen Biotech, Inc. has dosed the first patient in a clinical trial evaluating subcutaneous (SC) delivery of daratumumab with Halozyme's proprietary ENHANZE technology in multiple myeloma. Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that the first healthy subject has been dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of a subcutaneous formulation of rivipansel, a compound discovered by GlycoMimetics, Inc. and being developed by Pfizer Inc., using Halozyme's ENHANZE formulation.
A pregnancy test is usually conducted to determine if a woman is pregnant or not. There are primarily two different types of pregnancy test. The first type is the urine pregnancy test and the second type is the blood pregnancy test. The urine pregnancy test is more popular among the masses because of its easy availability in the form of the urine pregnancy test kit. The blood pregnancy test is a more conclusive test and tends to provide a higher degree of accuracy. However, both tests detect the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). The hCG hormone is produced in the body once the embryo attaches itself to the uterine wall of the female’s body and then rapidly grows in the next few days. This rapid growth triggers the placenta to release the hCG hormone which is used to determine pregnancy. Urine Pregnancy Test - The urine pregnancy essentially requires a urine sample from the woman affected by probable symptoms of pregnancy. - This urine sample should technically from the first urine passage of the day. - The sample is then used by the doctor to determine the presence of the hCG hormone in the sample. - This is achieved by either dipping the test strip on the urine cup or by urinating directly on the test strip. The results are available in a few minutes. - The home pregnancy test kit uses the same method. - You will just have to get one from a medical store and then use it as per the manufacturer’s instruction. - Most home pregnancy tests have markers on them which indicate a positive or a negative test. However, it is better to use the home urine pregnancy test kits after the period is delayed. - Most of these tests assure a 97% rate of accuracy and sometimes also indicate a false result to portray an ectopic pregnancy. Blood Pregnancy Test - Although a blood pregnancy test is generally used if the doctor suspects an ectopic pregnancy or any other complications, it is also used to determine whether a woman is pregnant or not. - The blood pregnancy test is usually expensive. However, its results are far more conclusive as not only does it detect the presence of the hCG hormone in the woman’s body, it also measures the amount of hCG hormone present. - It can also accurately calculate the number of days the pregnancy has progressed. - For the blood pregnancy test, a blood sample is taken from the woman suspecting pregnancy. - A quantitative blood pregnancy will tell the patient about the exact amount of hCG concentration in her blood. - A qualitative pregnancy test will simply tell her if she is pregnant or not. - A blood test should be technically undertaken at least 7 to 12 after probable conception. Whatever test it may be, it should be carried out appropriately. Read more articles on Pregnancy Test
Mindful eating means being present whilst preparing, blessing and eating our meals. It means fully enjoying and experiencing each bite of food. Notice the aromas of your food before and after it enters your mouth. Notice its textures and temperatures. Taste the combinations of flavours on your tongue, which can change as you chew. Feel the food moving down your oesophagus, and the response of your entire being to this act of nourishment. You will find that eating mindfully is more pleasurable, not less. As a time-poor culture with a 3-second attention span, we overeat not because we enjoy food too much, but because we do not enjoy it enough! When you make even one minute of your meal an eating meditation, you are more likely to digest efficiently, notice when you’re reaching your stomach’s capacity, and stop when you are full. But do not practice mindful or meditative eating solely as a means to eat less, or lose weight, as you will be missing the bigger picture. Eat mindfully not as a form of willpower with an ulterior goal, but to delight in food, and to listen to the body so that you can give it what it needs. Try it next time you're eating alone, and once you've practised a few times by yourself, do it when you're with friends. Taking just a few moments to really enjoy your food can contribute to greater satisfaction and in the long run, greater health.
Children, Native Americans. The Story of HIAWATHA adapted from Longfellow by Allen Chaffee and Illustrated by Armstrong Sperry. This book was prepared under the supervision of Josette Frank, Children's Book Adviser of the Child Study Association of American. (63 Pgs.). Ex- Lib with usual marks. Cloth Pictorial Boards slight edge and corner wear. Slight soiling of leaf edges and forepages.AUTHOR: Allen Chaffee PUBLISHER: Random House, NY ISBN: YEAR: 1951 FORMAT: Hardcover EDITION: First Ed.
Determine the occurrence, extent and effects of anthropogenic impacts on natural systems, and provide scientific guidance and resources to maintain and/or achieve the desired ecological state of a system. To ensure sustainable conservation of the Knysna Estuary, the research we do is used to guide and assist management authorities. The time has come to use scientific research to effectively manage the environment we depend on and our ongoing aim is to bring science and management together. Knysna Estuary Monitoring Platform (KEMP) The Knysna estuary is considered to be the most important estuary in South Africa in terms of conservation importance and roughly 42% of South Africa’s estuarine biodiversity is found within this system. The Knysna estuary contains the largest Eel grass beds in South Africa and is home to the endangered Knysna seahorse (Hippocampus capensis), which depend on this habitat type. These are just some of the features that highlight the ecological importance of this estuary, and the crucial need to ensure its long-term conservation. The Knysna estuary is not only ecologically important, but also functions as an important tourist attraction, providing much needed economical support for the town and surrounding communities. Many local communities also depend on it for subsistence in the way of fishing and/or bait collection. The Knysna estuary is Knysna’s most important ecological and economical asset. To continue to reap the benefits from this asset, the estuary and its biota need to be maintained in a healthy ecological state. Good water quality is integral to a healthy estuary. It is our responsibility to understand the hydrological and biological characteristics of the estuary, monitor patterns and changes over time, assess potential human impact on the estuary, and to use this information to successfully management and conserve this system. The Knysna Estuary Monitoring Platform (KEMP) was established by the Knysna Basin Project, by the generous contribution and support Konrad Taeuber from the Tauber Trust in 2015, with the overarching aim of providing a platform to monitor the water quality and hydrological processes of the Knysna estuary and to use the data generated to provide guidance to management and conservation authorities. The Knysna Estuary Monitoring Platform (KEMP) is a water quality monitoring programme located within the Knysna estuary. Water quality data is collected by two Monitoring Stations within Thesen Islands Marina and at Thesens Jetty respectively. At each station, a permanently deployed Hach sonde collects data on a real-time, 24/7 basis and measurements are taken on an hourly basis. This fine scale data collection enables us to observe all weather and environmental events that take place such as freshwater floods and upwelling events as well as assess the potential impact from drought and sea level rise. Parameters measured include: - Dissolved oxygen (mg/l and % saturation) A weather station located at Thesens Jetty measures the following: - wind speed - wind direction - rainfall per hour - absolute air pressure - air temperature - sun brightness The data collected by the sondes are logged on a data logger located at each Monitoring Station. From here the data is uploaded to a database which can be accessed online (www.hach.zednet.ac.za). Data is uploaded every four hours. Email at firstname.lastname@example.org The Shoresearch project is a long-term study of the biodiversity of the intertidal zone of the Knysna estuary. The project measures the invertebrate species that live between the low and high tide lines and their frequencies. There are 10 assessment sites from the Heads to Featherbed Bay with a diverse range of habitats which are assessed annually on a seasonal basis. The project demonstrates - The number of species and their frequency - The effect of zonation from low to high tide - Habitat differences - Differences caused by reduced salinity at sites higher up the estuary - Changes over time The Project is run by Frances and Peter Smith with the help of citizen scientists. Knysna Basin Project has published a revised and expanded second edition of its field guide – A Field Guide to the Shores of the Knysna Estuary – the common creatures, seaweeds and saltmarsh plants. The Guide aims to help the community learn about and appreciate the Estuary and to raise funds for the Project. Peter and Frances Smith at email@example.com
What Is Tables - A Table Is A Collection of Related Data Entries And It Consists Of Coolumns And Rows. - A table has a specified number of columns, but can have any number of rows. - Each row is identified by the values appearing in a particular column subset which has been identified as a unique key index. For example, an Employees table would contain the same basic details on each employee: name, title, department and so on. Each detail, each chunk of information you need to store lives in a field. When you view a single employee record, QuickBase displays it in a form. Whenever you want to view more that one record at a time, you do so in a table report, where fields appear as columns and each record is a row.
If your lawn has issues with brown spots or water puddles where water just cannot penetrate the soil, you may have heard of the method of just poking holes into the lawn, or lawn aeration. Is it legit or is it just a myth? Lawn aeration is necessary for lawn maintenance once a year. It opens up the thick top layer of thatch and compacted clay soil to allow for a better flow of water, oxygen, and nutrients to penetrate into the soil. It is beneficial for plant growth with better root growth and more soil organisms in promoting soil fertility. In this article, we will look at what lawn aeration is, and go through some studies to see if it is really necessary for your lawn. 1. What is lawn aeration? Aeration is also called perforation, staking, or core drilling (or drilling holes in the ground). Using a machine, lawn aeration can be done by removing or extracting small plugs or cores of soil (with a diameter of 1/2 or ¾ inch) out of the lawn and depositing them on top of the lawn. Aeration holes created by lawn aerators are typically 1-6 inches deep, 2-6 inches apart. The extracted cores of soil will decompose back to the lawn in 2-4 weeks. Lawn aeration can also be done manually using a hand aerator, which is shaped like a fork with spikes. Hand aerators or walking on spiked shoes are, however, not very effective and can even contribute to further compaction of the ground. This is because hand aerators punch into the ground, push into the soil, and do not remove the soil. 2. Benefits of lawn aeration The major benefit of lawn aeration is that it opens up compacted soil and clears the thatch which is dead grass accumulated on the top layer. This layer of dead grass prevents water, and oxygen from getting into the soil. Perforating holes into the thatch would allow more oxygen, water, and nutrients to enter the soil. Aeration also frees toxic gases from the earth, created by the death and decay of microorganisms, and prevents them from building up to dangerous levels. Because of more moisture, oxygen, and less toxic gases in the soil, more soil organisms such as earthworms, microbes, and plants can also flourish. The plants will also show healthier growth, with longer roots. Soil microbes are important for soil fertility as they can decompose organic matter in the lawn into nutrients readily available for plant uptake, thus promoting stronger plants and better growth. These benefits are proven by many studies comparing lawns aerated and not aerated. One study shows that the number of soil microbes increases after aeration (Franz, Taylor & Riina, 2005). Another study shows that aeration has significantly increased the density of grass growing in an area, the length of grass roots, and root depth (Sharbazery & Gareeb). \|Without aeration\|\|With aeration\| \|Plant density\|\|456 plants/m2\|\|520 pants/m2\| \|Active root length\|\|12.5 cm\|\|14.5 cm\| \|Root depth\|\|25 cm\|\|37.5 cm\| Another study also found a correlation between aeration and increase in plant root length (Sayed et al., 2012). It found that the best results come with a higher perforation density of 216 holes/m2 (21.6 holes/square feet), than 144 holes/m2 (14.4 holes/square feet). 3. How do you know if you need to aerate the lawn? There are five situations when your lawn is probably too compacted and needs aeration: -When there are brown spots on the lawn. Those are the thatch, or dead grass accumulating on the top like a mat preventing water from penetrating into the soil. -Water pools on the surface in puddles rather than penetrating into the ground, after watering or the rain. If this happens, the soil is water-repellent, in other words, hydrophobic. -When the soil becomes compacted due to heavy use from human activities, animals, being driven upon by cars and machinery. – When it is in heavy clay soil. -if the soil was dry without receiving any watering or rainfall for a while, it would most likely be water-repellent or hydrophobic. – Finally, you can take a soil sample of 6 inches deep. If the grass roots only reach down to the first 2 inches, your soil is probably too compacted. 4. What happens if you don’t aerate your lawn? If you do not aerate your lawn and it is exposed to soil compacting events, thatch (dead grass) or turf grass will build on the top layer of the grass like a mat. Thatch is a thick top layer of dead grass that builds up over time, which soaks up all the water and prevents water, fertilizer, and oxygen from penetrating into the soil. The soil underneath would then become more and more compact, resulting in fewer soil microbes and organisms for healthy soil, and poor plant growth with shorter roots. 5. When should you not aerate your lawn? The best time to aerate lawns is when the grass just comes out of dormancy and begins a period of vigorous growth. This is because aeration will do some damage to the grass which can recover quickly in its active growing period. Another reason is that competition from weeds is also minimal during this time. For warm-season grass such as Bermuda grass and zoysia grass, the best time to aerate is during their active growing season in mid-summer in June and July. For cool-season grass such as tall fescue and Kentucky bluegrass, the best time would be end of summer to early fall (around September). 6. How often should you aerate the lawn? For home lawns, it is enough to aerate lawns only once a year, even under heavy use. 7. Should you mow the lawn before aerating? You do not need to mow the lawn before aerating. But you should water your lawn two days prior to aerating it to make it moist, but not wet so that the machine can penetrate deeper into the soil. Avoid aerating areas with stones and heavy clay soils. Also, mark sprinkler heads and underground cable and utility lines before aerating so they will not be damaged. It is definitely necessary to aerate lawns that are compacted as it can help loosen the soil for a better flow of water, oxygen, and nutrients near the root zone. It helps increase the density of plants, root length, root depth, and for better microbial activity. It is best done by a machine than using a hand aerator once a year, at the beginning of the active growing season. Apart from lawn aeration, you can also use a wetting agent to improve water absorption for your lawn. 6 Reasons Your Soil Doesn’t Absorb Water (Must Read!) 7 Top Wetting Agents for Lawn (With Editor’s Pick) Aveni, M. (2013). Aerating Your Lawn. Virginia Cooperative Extension. Virginia Tech. Publication 430-002 Franz, E., Taylor, R. & Riina, C. (2005). Soil Aeration Background. “The Little Things that Run the World” Soil Ecology Program, Roland Park Country School. Sayed, C., Ahmed, D., Raoudha, G. & Khaula, A. (2012). Effects of the density of the mechanical aeration on the resistance to penetration of a turf soil and its impact on the plant root behavior. Agricultural Segment: 3(1) AGS/1578, 2012 Sharbazery, A. O. M. & Gareeb, B.A. (2018). Effect of Aeration and Compaction on Some Characters of a Turf Grass Mixture Under Sulamani City Conditions. Journal of ZankoySulaimani, Special Issue, 2nd Int. Conference of Agricultural Sciences. pp.37-42
Drought is Widespread Across Texas Summer is here and drought is already occurring across much of our state. As of late July, 2020, the portion of Texas experiencing some level of drought conditions is slowly increasing as the heat of summer sets in. There have been several harsh droughts in Texas’ history; notably, the seven-year drought of the 1950s, and the major drought beginning in 2010 and lasting through 2015. Check out this interactive story map to see how the most recent major drought evolved. Drought is one of the most common and costly types of natural disasters in the United States. It can impact the economy, environment, and society by limiting water, impacting habitat, and triggering health and safety problems. In general, drought is considered a prolonged period of below normal precipitation. Scientists consider factors such as rainfall amounts, vegetation conditions, soil moisture, and reservoir levels when characterizing droughts. Stay "In the Know" with These Drought Resources - Find out about drought conditions in your area. - Check the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ) drought website for updated drought information. You can also sign up to receive an email or text when this information is updated. Additionally, the TCEQ answers the public drought-information hotline during business hours: 800-447-2827. - Consult the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) map to monitor reservoir levels in your area. - Review the Texas Water Conditions Report to learn more about reservoirs, streamflow sites, and groundwater wells. - Learn about our State Water Plan, which addresses the needs of all water users in the event of a repeat of the record drought of the 1950s. How to Be Prepared for a Drought Weather patterns and demand on water supplies vary drastically across Texas. When dry conditions are prolonged, it can put a strain on all water uses. You can help by implementing practices that will reduce demand for water supplies—before drought strikes, so dry conditions will be easier to bear. In fact, water conservation is an essential part of the State Water Plan. Use Water Wisely in Your Landscape Billions of gallons of water are wasted each year due to inefficient landscape irrigation. Order or download our free landscape materials, which will help you learn about topics such as rainwater harvesting and effective lawn irrigation. Use the Native Plant Database from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to choose native plants that tolerate drought well. Check with your local government to learn about watering restrictions in your area. Save Water in Your Home Install water-efficient fixtures; look for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) WaterSense label to find quality products that save water. Some ENERGY STAR products can help you save water in addition to energy. Check out dishwashers and clothes washers with the ENERGY STAR label. You don’t have to spend money to save water—some small actions can make a huge impact. Take shorter showers, turn off the water while brushing your teeth or shaving, sweep your driveway instead of hosing it off, and run only full loads of laundry and dishes. Fixing household leaks can be an easy and inexpensive way to save on water. It’s estimated that the average household wastes more than 10,000 gallons of water each year due to leaks. Check our website to find even more ways to prepare for a drought by conserving water.
Eight miles southeast of Muscle Shoals, Alabama's first chartered college was established in 1830. After LaGrange College was moved to Florence, its name was changed to Florence Wesleyan University. It is known today as the University of North Alabama. The "West Point of the West" was open from 1857 until 1863. LaGrange College and LaGrange Military Academy are listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage. Site highlights include a welcome center, an antebellum cemetery, the Oaks Plantation log kitchen, an 1850 bed & breakfast inn, a country store, post office, blacksmith shop, log chapel, and the annual reenactment of the enlistment of students into the 35th Alabama Infantry Regiment.
Manual therapy migraine treatment, or manipulative therapy, is a physical treatment approach which utilizes several specific hands-on techniques to treat a variety of injuries and/or conditions. Manual therapy is commonly used by chiropractors, physical therapists and massage therapists, among other qualified and experienced healthcare professionals, to diagnose and treat soft tissue and joint pain. Many healthcare specialists recommend manual therapy, or manipulative therapy as a treatment for migraine headache pain. The purpose of the following article is to educate patients on the effects of manual therapies for migraine treatment. Manual Therapies for Migraine: a Systematic Review Migraine occurs in about 15% of the general population. Migraine is usually managed by medication, but some patients do not tolerate migraine medication due to side effects or prefer to avoid medication for other reasons. Non-pharmacological management is an alternative treatment option. We systematically reviewed randomized clinical trials (RCTs) on manual therapies for migraine. The RCTs suggest that massage therapy, physiotherapy, relaxation and chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy might be equally effective as propranolol and topiramate in the prophylactic management of migraine. However, the evaluated RCTs had many methodological shortcomings. Therefore, any firm conclusion will require future, well-conducted RCTs on manual therapies for migraine. Keywords: Manual therapies, Massage, Physiotherapy, Chiropractic, Migraine, Treatment Migraine is usually managed by medication, but some patients do not tolerate acute and/or prophylactic medicine due to side effects, or contraindications due to co-morbidity of myocardial disorders or asthma among others. Some patients wish to avoid medication for other reasons. Thus, non-pharmacological management such as massage, physiotherapy and chiropractic may be an alternative treatment option. Massage therapy in Western cultures uses classic massage, trigger points, myofascial release and other passive muscle stretching among other treatment techniques which are applied to abnormal muscle tissue. Modern physiotherapy focuses on rehabilitation and exercise, while manual treatment emphasis postural corrections, soft tissue work, stretching, active and passive mobilization and manipulation techniques. Mobilization is commonly defined as movement of joints within the physiological range of motion . The two most common chiropractic techniques are the diversified and Gonstead, which are used by 91 and 59% of chiropractors . Chiropractic spinal manipulation (SM) is a passive-controlled maneuver which uses a directional high-velocity, low-amplitude thrusts directed at a specific joint past the physiological range of motion, without exceeding the anatomical limit . The application and duration of the different manual treatments varies among those who perform it. Thus, manual treatment is not necessarily as uniform as, for instance, specific treatment with a drug in a certain dose. This paper systematically review randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the efficacy of manual therapies on migraine, i.e., massage, physiotherapy and chiropractic. The literature search was done on CINAHL, Cochrane, Medline, Ovid and PubMed. Search words were migraine and chiropractic, manipulative therapy, massage therapy, osteopathic treatment, physiotherapy or spinal mobilization. All RCTs written in English using manual therapy on migraine were evaluated. Migraine was preferentially classified according to the criteria of the International Headache Societies from 1988 or its revision from 2004, although it was not an absolute requirement [3, 4]. The studies had to evaluate at least one migraine outcome measure such as pain intensity, frequency, or duration. The methodological quality of the included RCT studies was assessed independently by the authors. The evaluation covered study population, intervention, measurement of effect, data presentation and analysis (Table 1). The maximum score is 100 points and ≥50 points considered to be methodology of good quality [5–7]. The literature search identified seven RCT on migraine that met our inclusion criteria, i.e., two massage therapy studies [8, 9], one physiotherapy study and four chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy studies (CSMT) [11–14], while we found no RCTs studies on spinal mobilization or osteopathic as a intervention for migraine. Methodological Quality of the RCTs Table 2 shows the authors average methodological score of the included RCT studies [8–14]. The average score varied from 39 to 59 points. Four RCTs were considered to have a good quality methodology score (≥50), and three RCTs had a low score. Randomized Controlled Trials Table 3 shows details and the main results of the different RCT studies [8–14]. An American study included 26 participants with chronic migraine diagnosed by questionnaire . Massage therapy had a statistically significant effect on pain intensity as compared with controls. Pain intensity was reduced 71% in the massage group and unchanged in the control group. Interpretation of the data is otherwise difficult and results on migraine frequency and duration are missing. A New Zealand study included 48 migraineurs diagnosed by questionnaire . The mean duration of a migraine attack was 47 h, and 51% of the participants had more than one attack per month. The study included a 3 week follow-up period. The migraine frequency was significantly reduced in the massage group as compared with the control group, while the intensity of attacks was unchanged. Results on migraine duration are missing. Medication use was unchanged, while sleep quality was significantly improved in the massage group (p < 0.01), but not in the control group. An American physical therapy study included female migraineurs with frequent attacks diagnosed by a neurologist according to the criteria of the International Headache Society [3, 10]. Clinical effect was defined as >50% improvement in headache severity. Clinical effect was observed in 13% of the physical therapy group and 51% of the relaxation group (p < 0.001). The mean reduction in headache severity was 16 and 41% from baseline to post-treatment in the physical therapy and relaxation groups. The effect was maintained at 1 year follow-up in both groups. A second part of the study offered persons without clinical effect in the first part of the study, the other treatment option. Interestingly, clinical effect was observed in 55% of those whom received physical therapy in the second round who had no clinical effect from relaxation, while 47% had clinical effect from relaxation in the second round. The mean reduction in headache severity was 30 and 38% in the physical therapy and relaxation groups. Unfortunately, the study did not include a control group. Chiropractic Spinal Manipulative Treatment An Australian study included migraineurs with frequent attacks diagnosed by a neurologist . The participants were divided into three study groups; cervical manipulation by chiropractor, cervical manipulation by physiotherapist or physician, and cervical mobilization by physiotherapist or physician. The mean migraine attack duration was skewed in the three groups, as it was much longer in cervical manipulation by chiropractor (30.5 h) than cervical manipulations by physiotherapist or physician (12.2 h) and cervical mobilization groups (14.9 h). The study had several investigators and the treatment within each group was beside the mandatory requirements free for the therapists. No statistically significant differences were found between the three groups. Improvement was observed in all three groups post-treatment (Table 3). Prior to the trial, chiropractors were confident and enthusiastic about the efficacy of cervical manipulation, while physiotherapists and physicians were doubtful about the relevance. The study did not include a control group although cervical mobilization is mentioned as the control group in the paper. A follow-up 20 months after the trial showed further improvement in the all three groups (Table 3) . An American study included 218 migraineurs diagnosed according to the criteria of the International Headache Society by chiropractors . The study had three treatment groups, but no control group. The headache intensity on days with headaches was unchanged in all three groups. The mean frequency was reduced equally in the three groups (Table 3). Over the counter (OTC) medication was reduced from baseline to 4 weeks post-treatment with 55% in the CSMT group, 28% in the amitriptyline group and 15% in the combined CSMT and amitriptyline group. The second Australian study was based on questionnaire diagnoses on migraine . The participants had migraine for mean 18.1 years. The effect of CSMT was significant better than the control group (Table 3). The mean reduction of migraine frequency, intensity and duration from baseline to follow-up were 42, 13, and 36% in CSMT group, and 17, 5, and 21% in the control group (data calculated by the reviewers based on figures from the paper). The prevalence of migraine was similar based on a questionnaire and a direct physician conducted interview, but it was due to equal positive and negative misclassification by the questionnaire . A precise headache diagnosis requires an interview by a physicians or other health professional experienced in headache diagnostics. Three of the seven RCTs ascertained participants by a questionnaire, with the diagnostic uncertainty introduced by this (Table 3). The second American study included participants with at least four headache days per months . The mean headache severity on days with headache at baseline varied from 4.4 to 5.0 on a 0–10 box scale in the three treatment groups. This implies that the participants had co-occurrence of tension-type headache, since tension-type headache intensity usually vary between 1 and 6 (mild or moderate), while migraine intensity can vary between 4 and 9 (moderate or severe), but usually it is a severe pain between 7 and 9 [16, 17]. The headache severity on days with headache was unchanged between baseline and at follow-up, indicating that the effect observed was not exclusively due to an effect on migraine, but also an effect on tension-type headache. RCTs that include a control group are advantageous to RCTs that compare two active treatments, since the effect in the placebo group rarely is zero and often varies. An example is RCTs on acute treatment of migraine comparing the efficacy of subcutaneous sumatriptan and placebo showed placebo responses between 10 and 37%, while the therapeutic effect, i.e., the efficacy of sumatriptan minus the efficacy of placebo was similar [18, 19]. Another example is a RCT on prophylactic treatment of migraine, comparing topiramate and placebo . The attack reduction increased along with increasing dose of topiramate 50, 100 and 200 mg/day. The mean migraine attack frequency was reduced from 1.4 to 2.5 attacks per month in the topiramate groups and 1.1 attacks per month in the placebo group from baseline, with mean attack frequencies varying from 5.1 to 5.8 attacks per month in the four groups. Thus, interpretation of the efficacy in the four RCTs without a control group is not straight forward [9–12]. The methodological quality of all seven RCTs had room for improvement as the maximum score 100 was far from expectation, especially a precise migraine diagnosis is important. Several of the studies relatively include a few participants, which might cause type 2 errors. Thus, power calculation prior to the study is important in the future studies. Furthermore, the clinical guidelines from the International Headache Society should be followed, i.e., frequency is a primary end point, while duration and intensity can be secondary end points [21, 22]. Dr. Alex Jimenez’s Insight Manual therapies, such as massage therapy, physical therapy and chiropractic spinal manipulative treatment are several well-known migraine treatment approaches recommended by healthcare professionals to help improve as well as manage the painful symptoms associated with the condition. Patients who are unable to use drugs and/or medications, including those who may prefer to avoid using these, can benefit from manual therapies for migraine treatment, according to the following article. Evidence-based research studies have determined that manual therapies might be equally as effective for migraine treatment as drugs and/or medications. However, the systematic review determined that future, well-conducted randomized clinical trials on the use of manual therapies for migraine headache pain are required to conclude the findings. The two RCTs on massage therapy included relatively a few participants, along with shortcomings mentioned in Table 3 [8, 9]. Both studies showed that massage therapy was significantly better than the control group, by reducing migraine intensity and frequency, respectively. The 27–28% (34–7% and 30–2%) therapeutic gain in migraine frequency reduction by massage therapy is comparable with the 6, 16 and 29% therapeutic gain in migraine frequency reduction by prophylactic treatment with topiramate 50, 100 and 200 mg/day . The single study on physiotherapy is large, but do not include a control group . The study defined responders to have 50% or more reduction in migraine intensity. The responder rate to physical therapy was only 13% in the first part of the study, while it was 55% in the group that did not benefit from relaxation, while the responder rate to relaxation was 51% in the first part of the study and 47% in the group that did not benefit from physical therapy. A reduction in migraine intensity often correlates with reduced migraine frequency. For comparison, the responder rate was 39, 49, 47 and 23% among those who received topiramate 50, 100 and 200 mg/day and placebo as defined by 50% or more reduction in migraine frequency . A meta-analysis of 53 studies on prophylactic treatment with propranolol showed a mean 44% reduction in migraine activity . Thus, it seems that physical therapy and relaxation has equally good effect as topiramate and propranolol. Only one of the four RCTs on chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy (CSMT) included a control group, while the other studies compared with other active treatment [11–14]. The first Australian study showed that the migraine frequency was reduced in all three groups when baseline was compared with 20 months post trail [11, 12]. The chiropractors were highly motivated to CSMT treatment, while physicians and physiotherapist were more sceptical, which might have influenced on the result. An American study showed that CSMT, amitriptyline and CSMT + amitriptyline reduced the migraine frequency 33, 22 and 22% from baseline to post-treatment (Table 3). The second Australian study found that migraine frequency was reduced 35% in the CSMT group, while it was reduced 17% in the control group. Thus, the therapeutic gain is equivalent to that of topiramate 100 mg/day and the efficacy is equivalent to that of propranolol [20, 23]. Three case reports raise concerns about chiropractic cervical SMT, but a recent systematic review found no robust data concerning the incidence or the prevalence of adverse reactions following chiropractic cervical SMT [24–27]. When to refer migraine patients to manual therapies? Patients not responding or tolerating prophylactic medication or who wish to avoid medication for other reasons, can be referred to massage therapy, physical therapy or chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy, as these treatments are safe with a few adverse reactions [27–29]. Current RCTs suggest that massage therapy, physiotherapy, relaxation and chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy might be equally efficient as propranolol and topiramate in the prophylactic management of migraine. However, a firm conclusion requires, in future, well-conducted RCTs without the many methodological shortcomings of the evaluated RCTs on manual therapies. Such studies should follow clinical trial guidelines from the International Headache Society [21, 22]. Conflict of Interest Open Access: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. In conclusion, chiropractors, physical therapists and massage therapists, among other qualified and experienced healthcare professionals, recommend manual therapies as a treatment for migraine headache pain. The purpose of the article was to educate patients on the effects of manual therapies for migraine treatment. Furthermore, the systematic review determined that future, well-conducted randomized clinical trials are required to conclude the findings. Information referenced from the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic as well as to spinal injuries and conditions. To discuss the subject matter, please feel free to ask Dr. Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900 . Curated by Dr. Alex Jimenez Additional Topics: Neck Pain Neck pain is a common complaint which can result due to a variety of injuries and/or conditions. According to statistics, automobile accident injuries and whiplash injuries are some of the most prevalent causes for neck pain among the general population. During an auto accident, the sudden impact from the incident can cause the head and neck to jolt abruptly back-and-forth in any direction, damaging the complex structures surrounding the cervical spine. Trauma to the tendons and ligaments, as well as that of other tissues in the neck, can cause neck pain and radiating symptoms throughout the human body. OTHER IMPORTANT TOPICS: EXTRA: Sports Injuries? \| Vincent Garcia \| Patient \| El Paso, TX Chiropractor
The wood duck is as unusual as it is interesting to look at. Unlike mallards, which nest in grass just upland from wetlands, wood ducks are cavity nesters that prefer the hollow of a tree to set up housekeeping. And they seem to have adapted to living in town, particularly in Washington Park in the heart of Springfield. They look as if a wood carver with an unexpired creative license created them in a fit of imagination. The male’s green crest sweeps back over its head like an emerald green helmet with white piping. The eyes are brilliant red, as if that was the only color left in the carver’s paint box. The female wears white spectacles that fit more like racing goggles. Together, male and female wood ducks are striking and hard to miss. And they’re homegrown, not just migrants passing through central Illinois on the way to more verdant forests elsewhere. The wood duck is as unusual as it is interesting to look at. Unlike mallards, which nest in grass just upland from wetlands, wood ducks are cavity nesters that prefer the hollow of a tree to set up housekeeping. And they seem to have adapted to living in town, particularly in Washington Park in the heart of Springfield. A few years ago, it was unusual to see a wood duck in the park. Now there are several pairs with up to six broods paddling around the lagoon. Mike Ward, an ornithologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey in Champaign, says he gets calls all the time about wood ducks flying through back yards. “I think that they are like other birds that are kind of getting used to living in town,” he says. “It helps that a lot of our wetlands are cleaner these days thanks to the Clean Water Act.” Ward says some birds have learned to make a pretty good living in urban areas. The wood duck, however, seems to be at home in town or in the country. “It’s not like the Cooper’s hawk that seems to be moving almost exclusively into town,” Ward says. “You see them increasing in urban areas as well as natural areas.” H. David Bohlen, assistant curator of zoology at the Illinois State Museum, says wood ducks moved in about a decade ago. Now they sometimes even spend the winter, huddling under the bridge crossing the lagoon when it gets really cold — forgoing their winter trip to the southern United States. Then they started nesting. “They usually like sycamore trees, and there are a few sycamores in the park with natural cavities,” Bohlen says. Bohlen has been studying the urbanization of Sangamon County and its effects on bird numbers and species diversity for years. Watching birds adapt to human environments sometimes leaves him shaking his head in amazement. “You see them coming from a long way off,” he says of the wood ducks in Washington Park. “You will see the mother trying to get the brood past all the dogs and other things in the park. “I saw two girls following them and taking pictures (Tuesday).” All that contact has made them more tolerant of people. Still, the environment seems to be agreeing with them. “I’ve seen half a dozen broods,” Bohlen says. “There are a lot of them out there. They just keep having them.” That’s a far cry from the 1930s, when wood ducks were in serous jeopardy. Before hunting regulations were developed in the early 1900s, resident ducks such as wood ducks were fair game all year long. The late Frank Bellrose of the Illinois Natural History Survey in Havana, along with colleague Art Hawkins, helped perfect the wood duck nesting box to replace natural cavities that are lost when dead trees are removed. Bellrose later authored the definitive book on the subject, “Ecology and Management of the Wood Duck.” Now the nest boxes are common and the wood duck is a conservation success story — one that can be witnessed in the heart of Washington Park. Chris Young can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.org or (217) 788-1528.
My grandfather, who was a first-generation German-American, was as proud of his German heritage as any man could be. But, when World War I broke out in 1914, he stunned his family by going against his heritage and supporting the Allied cause against Germany. He tirelessly supported U.S. entry into the war from its earliest days because of his hatred for German militarism. Later on, he wanted the U.S. to be in the League of Nations, which, of course, did not occur. No doubt, my grandfather would have little respect for today's historians who say the WWI was a war that was fought over nothing. My grandfather died in 1929, or four years before Hitler came to power. Perhaps, it's just as well that he never lived to see his beloved Germany become consumed by Hitler and his monstrous Naziism. In response to Michael Gerson's excellent column, "Keeping alive the memory of the Holocaust" that appeared on May 22, I find the notion of two-sidedness when considering the Holocaust to be not only dangerous but also morally offensive in the extreme. Granted, the pluralism and diversity of our world requires that we have an open and tolerant society. Perhaps, we have to accept a certain amount of moral ambiguity. But, the Holocaust remains one of the purest and most profound examples of evil that there is. I may not be able to readily define evil. But, I know it when I feel it, and the very word "Holocaust" just makes me cringe throughout. We should teach our young people about the Holocaust so as to make them fully aware of the reality and horror of evil. Only then, can our youngsters develop a tolerance and an acceptance that is combined with a passion for justice so as to right what is wrong.
We are often asked to recommend books that will assist with an introduction to and understanding of the Catholic classical liberal arts educational tradition. These are the works that have guided and inspired us and many others. Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB A summary and synthesis of modern Church documents on education. This would be the ideal place to start. Ask faculty to read it, then to discuss it chapter by chapter in faculty meetings or a retreat. As you educate parents, it would be good recommended, and simple, reading for them. Edited by Dr. R. Jared Staudt Catholic education remains one of the most compelling expressions of the Church’s mission to form disciples. Despite decades of decline in the number of schools and students, many Catholic schools have been experiencing renewal by returning to the great legacy of the Catholic tradition. Renewing Catholic Schools offers an overview of the reasons behind this renewal and practical suggestions for administrators, clergy, teachers, and parents on how to begin the process of reinvigoration. Habiger Institute for Catholic Leadership The Heart of Culture is a succinctly substantive history of Western education and a profound witness to the necessity of maintaining tradition. The West is the product, not of geographic, ethnic, or political forces, but of a dynamic educational tradition. When that tradition breaks down, the culture suffers a crisis of identity. Today, the West is undergoing just such a crisis, as the perennial wisdom of its tradition is ignored, misrepresented, or outright rejected. This short book confronts that crisis, bringing to light the living, intricate educational tradition that built the West, from the Greek ideal of paideia to John Henry Newman’s idea of a university. University of Mary Every human society possesses a moral and spiritual imaginative vision, a set of assumptions and ways of looking at things according to which life proceeds. This essay is an attempt to contribute effective strategies to engage our own time and culture once more with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and – for a weary world – to awaken the Catholic imaginative vision. Ryan S. Topping He does not speak extensively about “classical liberal arts education” but he is describing in easily accessible terms why Catholic education must be different. This is good for both teachers and parents. This and its companion (next on list) are two of our favorite books on Catholic education. Very inspiring and theological. This focuses on the Trivium, the arts of language and their significance; the next illuminates the Quadrivium, the arts of number, in the same beautiful way. Definitely a deeper dive, but when your teachers and parents are ready for it, very worthwhile and formative. Ravi Jain & Kevin Clark Not specifically Catholic (and therefore missing the Eucharistic aim of the effort) but very helpful in explaining each of the seven liberal arts, but also the sequence and context of their use. We are not just minds. We also need to nurture piety, story and music, physical grace. All of these combine to lead us to the truth of man and God (philosophy and theology) — which lead us to a life of virtue. St. Jerome Academy Firmly grounded in a holistic Catholic vision of education, St. Jerome Academy’s Educational Plan offers the most complete curricular guidance for Catholic elementary schools available. This second edition is enriched by the experience of SJA’s first decade of renewal.
In the first year of Belshazzar, Daniel saw a vision of four beastly creatures ascending from the chaotic sea – Daniel 7:1-8. Daniel received a vision in which he saw “four beasts ascending” from the sea. The first half of the chapter describes the vision, the second half presents its interpretation. The vision had a fourfold structure, corresponding to the four parts of the “great image” seen by Nebuchadnezzar in his earlier dream, with its golden head, silver arms and breast, brass belly and thighs, and legs of iron and clay. The seventh chapter is transitional. It concludes the first half of the book and introduces the main subjects of the last half. Parallels are provided between Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the “great image” and Daniel’s vision of four “beasts from the sea,” as well as verbal links to the visions presented in the next several chapters. The great image envisioned by Nebuchadnezzar had a “head of fine gold,” which represented his reign. Each of its four components signified a different kingdom, beginning with Babylon. Likewise, in Daniel’s vision, Babylon was the first of the four “beasts” that he saw “ascending from the sea” – (Daniel 2:31-45). Previously, Daniel identified the “head of gold” as Nebuchadnezzar but did not identify the three subsequent kingdoms. And the pictorial clues provided in his interpretation were too few and ambiguous to link the other three realms to any known historical empires. Likewise, in chapter 7, the identities of the second, third and fourth beasts are allusive, although more details are given. - (Daniel 7:1-2) – “In the first year of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, Daniel beheld a dream and visions of his head upon his bed, then he wrote the dream and told the sum of the matters. I was looking in my vision in the night when, lo, the four winds of the heavens bursting forth upon the great sea; and four large beasts ascending from the sea, diverse one from another.” The “first year of Belshazzar.” Daniel received the vision when Babylon was still the dominant power in the Near East. Belshazzar was the regent who governed the city for his father, King Nabonidus (reigned 556-539 B.C.). Belshazzar was killed when the city fell to the “Medes and Persians” in October 539 B.C. “Daniel beheld…visions of his head upon his bed.” The description forms a verbal link to the earlier dream of Nebuchadnezzar when he received “visions of your head upon your bed,” concerning things “which must come to pass in later days” -(Daniel 2:28-29). The verbal link is deliberate. The four beasts “ascending from the sea” correspond to the four metallic parts of Nebuchadnezzar’s “great image,” and in both dream-visions, the four parts represent four sequential kingdoms. - (Daniel 7:3-6) – “The first like a lion, having the wings of an eagle. I looked until the wings were torn out, and it was lifted from the earth, and stood upon its feet like a man, and the heart of a man was given to it. And, lo, another beast, a second, resembling a bear, and on one side was it raised up with three ribs in its mouth, between its teeth, and thus were they saying to it, Rise, devour much flesh! After that, I was looking, and lo, another like a leopard, and it had four wings of a bird upon its back, and four heads had the beast, and dominion was given to it.” “The four winds of heaven” were agitating the surface of the sea, symbolizing restive nations and peoples. The Aramaic text describes the winds as “bursting forth upon the great sea.” That is, it was the turbulence that caused the beasts to emerge from the sea. The verb rendered “ascending” is an active participle, denoting action in progress; here, the process of “ascending.” The beasts were “ascending” out of the sea in quick succession. The “four beasts” were unnatural, composite creatures with characteristics from disparate species; for example, the “lion with eagle wings.” Each creature was driven by its animalistic voracity to seize territory. The “winged lion” corresponds to the “head of gold” from Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. It represents the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Daniel was familiar with the writings of Jeremiah who also used lions and eagles to symbolize Babylon, a swift and voracious conqueror – (Jeremiah 4:13, 25:9-14, 49:19-22, Daniel 9:1-2). In Babylon’s art and architecture, lions represented the glory and might of the kingdom. One of its most important deities was Ishtar, the goddess of love and war. She corresponded to the Canaanite deity Ashtoreth (Astarte), and to the Greek god Aphrodite. Her symbols included the lion. Ishtar was linked to the planet Venus, and Old Testament references to the “Queen of Heaven” have in mind this very Babylonian deity – (Jeremiah 7:18, 44:18). The lion was a powerful predator. Its wings point to rapidity of movement, and their removal to its curtailment. Nebuchadnezzar conquered vast territories in only a few short years; however, that period of rapid expansion ceased after his death. The lion was “lifted up from the earth, made to stand,” and “given” a human heart. The Aramaic verb qûm rendered “stand” here is the same verb that was applied earlier to Yahweh by Daniel, the Very One who “removes and sets up” kings. Likewise, God caused the “lion” to achieve dominion, and later, its diminishment – (Daniel 2:21, 2:44, 4:17). The receipt of the human heart parallels the earlier loss of reason by Nebuchadnezzar and his downfall recorded in chapter 4, and subsequently, his recovery of a “human heart” – (Daniel 4:16, 4:34-37). The second beast is likened to a bear, with one side raised higher than the other. It corresponds to the silver portion of the earlier image, the torso and two arms that was “inferior” to the head of “fine gold.” A bear is as strong as a lion but lacks its agility, being more ponderous. Its two sides correspond to the two arms of the silver torso and suggest division. The image is not of a bear rearing up on its hind legs, but instead, of a creature elevating its feet on either side as it steps forward – (Daniel 2:32, 2:39). The bear was gripping “three ribs in its teeth,” prey seized by the ravenous animal. The ribs represented nations subjugated by it. Whether the number “three” was literal or symbolic is not clear. The bear was commanded to “rise and consume much flesh,” a summons to further conquests. A bear was poised to strike while gripping three ribs, indicating its insatiable appetite. The third beast resembled a leopard with four wings and four heads. The “dominion given to it” linked it to the third section of Nebuchadnezzar’s image that was destined to “rule over all the earth” – (Daniel 2:39). A leopard is also an agile predator, and again, wings suggest speed. Wings normally occur in pairs; however, the number “four” means this creature has two pairs of wings, and “four” may point to its motion in the four directions of the compass. The four “heads” of the leopard were not connected to its four wings. Elsewhere in the book, “heads” represent kings and kingdoms. The four heads were grouped together, suggesting they were contemporaneous, not consecutive; that is, a fourfold division of the kingdom represented by the leopard – (Daniel 2:32-38, 7:20). IN REVELATION, the vision of four “beasts ascending from the sea” is modified. The four creatures become a single beast that is summoned by the “Dragon” to “ascend from the sea” and attack the people of God. It has the same features from the animal world that were possessed by Daniel’s four “beasts from the sea.” However, its characteristics are listed in reverse order. Like the fourth beast from Daniel, in Revelation, the single “beast from the sea” has a “mouth speaking great things,” with which it “slanders those who are tabernacling in heaven,” and thus, wages “war against the saints and prevails over them.” The information provided by Daniel on the first three beasts is minimal and allusive. As will become apparent, the focus of the vision’s interpretation is on the fourth “beast,” especially on its “little horn with a mouth speaking great things.”
I watched the film JFK, directed by Oliver Stone, 1991. The movie, which takes place in New Orleans, is about an attorney general, Jim Garrison, who decides to reopen the case of the JFK assassination a few years after the event and the release of the Warren Commission. Garrison and his team spend years doing research, interviewing people who are suspected of being related to the case, and disproving the theories that the Warren Commission produced. They create new theories of who committed the crime and how they did it but in the end, Garrison loses his case but he is determined to keep fighting until he is able to obtain justice. Most of what Garrison bases his work off of is what in the Warren Commission does not make sense. He uses this document to disprove itself and the theories that the American public has taken to accepting as fact. Using the events surrounding the JFK assassination including the investigation that followed, and exploring other possible conspiracies such as the magic bullet theory, the Warren Commission and Shaw as a participant, Oliver Stone exposes the idea that the American public does not have faith in its government agencies especially the FBI and CIA, while exploring the role that press plays in advancing this distrustful relationship through its sometimes unreliable facts. In my paper I will discuss the distrust that American’s have in the government, especially after tragic events like loosing the president, and how the media is able to influence the opinions of the majority of the public. One way I will look at this is by discussing the role that people believe the CIA and FBI had in helping LBJ with the Kennedy assassination. In a poll done by Gallup in 2003, it was found that 20% of Americans believed that Johnson was involved in the assassination. The most common reasoning is that LBJ was afraid that he would not be re-selected as the running candidate in the 1964 election. Many researchers and critics of the Warren Report have accused Johnson of being involved in the assassination of JFK. Another approach I will take is how American citizens felt about the government after the attacks on 9/11. There are still many conspiracies about that day and the role that the government played in those events. After the attacks on the Twin Towers on September 11th, 2001, many Americans began to question the government and its role in protecting and supporting its citizens. The fact that Garrison felt that the case needed to be reopened shows his distrust in the government. With events happening everyday, most recently, the government shutdown, many polls have been done that have proven that the American people’s faith in their government is constantly decreasing. Most importantly, even today, people question the press and its connection to the government constantly. It is said that the media is controlled by the government and that they only publish what is desired for the public to know. There is supposed to be freedom of speech but do media sources really publish whatever they want? Why can the government withhold so much information from the public view if this is supposed to be a government of the people, for the people, by the people?
Drinking cherry juice reduces high blood pressure at a level comparable to that achieved by taking medication, a new study claims. Researchers at the U.K.’s Northumbria University, found that men with early signs of hypertension – more commonly known as high blood pressure – saw a seven per cent reduction in blood pressure after drinking Montmorency cherry concentrate when compared to drinking a fruit-flavored cordial. This reduction is comparable to the level achieved by high blood pressure medication. For their study, researchers worked with 15 participants who were displaying early hypertension with blood pressure readings of at least 130/90 mmHg, meaning they were at higher risk of experiencing cardiovascular related problems. They were told that the study was to investigate the effect of a fruit juice on vascular function and were given either 60ml of a Montmorency cherry concentrate or the same amount of cordial. Blood pressure and blood samples were taken before the cherry concentrate was consumed and blood pressure was measured on an hourly basis thereafter. Blood samples and a series of other cardiovascular screening tests were taken again on a regular basis over the following eight hours. Accordingly, the researchers found that the participants who were given the cherry concentrate saw a peak reduction in their blood pressure of 7 mmHg in the three hours after consuming the antioxidant-rich drink. Past studies have shown that a reduction of between 5-6 mmHg over a sustained period has been associated with a 38 per cent reduced risk of stroke and 23 per cent reduced risk of coronary heart disease. Lead study author Karen Keane said the discovery highlights the potential importance that Montmorency cherries could have in the effective management of high blood pressure. “The magnitude of the blood pressure lowering effects we observed was comparable to those achieved by a single anti-hypertensive drug,” she explained, adding, “Raised blood pressure is the leading cause of deaths from cardiovascular disease, yet relatively small reductions in blood pressure can have a large impact on mortality rates.” High blood pressure affects over five million people in England and, if left untreated, increases risk of heart attack, heart failure, kidney disease, stroke or dementia. Normal blood pressure is around 120/80 mmHg, researchers said. In recent years, Northumbria University has undertaken a number of studies into the health benefits of tart Montmorency cherry concentrate. To date, they have found that the drinking the concentrate improves the quality and quantity of sleep, significantly reduces the symptoms associated with the painful condition of gout and enhances the recovery of muscle function after intense exercise, probably thanks to its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative properties. The findings were first published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia. pigment,substance that imparts color to other materials. In paint, the pigment is a powdered substance which, when mixed in the liquid vehicle, imparts color to a painted surface. The pigments used in paints are nearly all metallic compounds, but organic compounds are also used (see lakelake, in dyeing, an insoluble pigment formed by the reaction between an organic dye and a mordant. The color of a lake depends upon the mordant as well as the dye used. Generally, lakes are not as colorfast as many inorganic dyes, but their colors are more brilliant. ..... Click the link for more information. ). Most black pigments are organic, e.g., bone black (animal black or charcoal) and lampblack. Some of the metallic pigments occur naturally. The brilliant and beautiful coloring of the rock and soil in some parts of the United States, especially in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, the Painted Desert of Arizona, and Bryce and Zion canyons of Utah, is largely produced by such compounds, chiefly oxides. Yellow ocher, sienna, and umber are oxides of iron. Litharge is a yellow oxide of lead. Red lead is also an oxide of this metal. Lead chromate, or chrome yellow, is an important yellow pigment. White lead, or basic lead carbonate, is a pigment long in use; it is rendered more durable by mixture with zinc oxide. Cadmium yellow is a sulfide of cadmium. Ultramarine is an important blue pigment, as is Prussian blue (ferric ferrocyanide). Green pigment is produced by mixing Prussian blue and chrome yellow. Vermilion (mercuric sulfide) is red. Pigments occur in plant and animal bodies. The bright colors of plants, for example, are the result of the presence of such substances as chlorophyll (green) and xanthophyll (yellow), both of which are also found in some animals. Among others are carotene, the yellow of carrots and certain other vegetables, and anthocyanin, which imparts blue, red, and purple to flowers. Blood receives its color from the hemoglobin in the red corpuscles. Coloration of human skin is caused by the presence of pigments (see pigmentationpigmentation, name for the coloring matter found in certain plant and animal cells and for the color produced thereby. Pigmentation occurs in nearly all living organisms. ..... Click the link for more information. ). (in biology), a coloring substance that is incorporated into body tissues. Pigments are colored by intramolecular chromophores, atomic groups that selectively absorb light in the visible part of the solar spectrum. Pigments play an important and varied role in the life processes of organisms, especially photobiologic processes. Occurrence. The most widespread pigments, porphyrins and carotenoids, are found in the majority of plants and animals. Porphyrins are included in the chlorophyll molecules of green plants, in bacteriochlorophylls of photosynthesizing bacteria, and in the respiratory pigments of animals, for example, hemoglobin, myoglobin, and chlorocruorin. Cytochromes, which, like hemoglobin, contain the iron-porphyrin complex heme, are very common. Carotenoids, which are unsaturated isoprenoid hydrocarbons, and their oxidized derivatives xanthophylls are yellow, orange, or red pigments and are present in green plants, algae, fungi, and bacteria. Blue-green and red algae contain auxiliary photosynthetic pigments, called phycobilins, whose nonprotein portion consists of a chain of four pyrrole rings; the blue phycobilin is phycocyanin, and the red—phycoerythrin. Structurally similar to the phycobilins is phytochrome, which is found in plants, and the animal-bile pigments, which are formed during the decomposition of hemoglobin. The large group of plant pigments called flavonoids encompasses substances that differ in chemical structure, color, and occurrence, for example, an-thocyanins and flavones. Flavonoids give color to flowers, fruits, and leaves. The eyes of animals contain visual pigment, which is structurally complex. Other common pigments of plant and animal tissues are the respiratory chromogens, which are derivatives of quinone, and the melanins, which are found in the skin, fur, and hairs of animals. Fungal and bacterial pigments display a wide variety of chemical structures. Pigments that are identical or close in chemical structure may be found in groups of organisms that are phylogenetically distant from each other. Pigments are usually contained in various cell structures and, less commonly, dissolved in body fluids. For example, chlorophyll is concentrated in chloroplasts, carotenoids in chromo-plasts and chloroplasts, hemoglobin in red blood cells, and flavonoids in the cell sap of plants. Pigments in combination with proteins and lipids are a structural part of biological membranes. Many animal and plant species have specialized pigment cells, or chromatophores. Biological role. The pigment system links metabolic processes to light from the environment. One of the most important functions of pigments in plants is participation in photosynthesis. The absorption of light by pigments also plays a role in the growth, development, and movement of plants. The most important function of pigments in animals is participation in visual processes. Hemoglobin and other pigments in the blood transport oxygen from the respiratory organs to the tissues. Cytochromes, respiratory chromogens, and certain other pigments act as enzymes in tissue respiration. Carotenoids and flavonoids in plants and melanins in animals protect the organism against the harmful effects of the sun’s ultraviolet light. Pigments account for coloration, an important feature of an organism’s adaptation to the environment. Coloration in plants serves to attract insect pollinators and birds who spread seeds; in animals it helps to protect against enemies and acts as camouflage while the animal stalks prey. Until the second half of the 19th century, plant and animal pigments, such as alizarin, indigo, and carmine, were widely used as dyes. Some pigments are used in the food-processing industry and medicine, for example, riboflavin, carotene, and antibiotic pigments. A. A. KRASNOVSKII In man. Disruption of any stage of pigment metabolism in man results in the accumulation of various metabolic products and in the development of certain diseases. A distinction is made between hereditary and acquired disturbances; the former are caused by hereditary defects in pigment synthesis and in the synthesis of the chemical precursors of pigments in the liver— red blood cells. Acquired disturbances in pigment metabolism can follow prolonged feverish periods, deficiencies of the vitamins folic and pantothenic acids, and liver diseases, including hepatitis, hepatic tumors, and obstructions of the biliary tract. They can also result from poisoning, Addison’s disease, or some blood diseases. Diseases of pigment metabolism occur at all ages with varying frequencies. The hereditary forms are generally seen in children. Three main groups of disturbances of pigment metabolism are recognized: hemoglobinopathies, hyperbilirubinemias, and porphyrias. IU. A. KNIAZEV REFERENCESTsvet, M. S. Khromofilly v rastitel’nom i zhivotnom mire. Warsaw, 1910. Timiriazev, K. A. Solntse, zhizn’ i khlorofill (vol. 1 of Izbr. soch.). Moscow, 1948. Prosser, L., and F. Brown. Sravnitel’naia fiziologiia zhivotnykh. Moscow, 1967. Chapters 8 and 19. (Translated from English.) Biokhimiia rastenii. Moscow, 1968. Chapters 24, 26, and 28. (Translated from English.) Konev, S. V., and I. D. Volotovskii. Vvedenie v molekuliarnuiu fotobiologiiu. Minsk, 1971. Lemberg, R., and J. W. Legge. Hematin Compounds and Bile Pigments. New York-London, 1949. Chemistry and Biochemistry of Plant Pigments. London-New York, 1965. Photobiology of Microorganisms. London, 1970. A finely divided material which contributes to optical and other properties of paint, finishes, and coatings. Pigments are insoluble in the coating material, whereas dyes dissolve in and color the coating. Pigments are mechanically mixed with the coating and are deposited when the coating dries. Their physical properties generally are not changed by incorporation in and deposition from the vehicle. Pigments may be classified according to composition (inorganic or organic) or by source (natural or synthetic). However, the most useful classification is by color (white, transparent, or colored) and by function. Special pigments include anticorrosive, metallic, and luminous pigments.
A South African researcher says an experimental gel is showing promise in protecting women from the AIDS virus. Dr. Salim Abdool Karim says preliminary results show about one-third of the women who used the vaginal gel appeared to be protected. The researcher from the Center for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa presented the findings Monday at a conference in Montreal, Canada. Karim said the test results are not conclusive. However, scientists say this is the first study indicating that this type of product may protect women from the AIDS virus. Similar products have failed. Sexual gels are called microbicides. Researchers say they could be key to helping to protect women in parts of the world where their partners may refuse to use condoms. The gel is made by the Indevus Pharmaceuticals company. The study involved about 3,100 women. A larger study of the gel involving more than 9,000 women is now underway. According to a United Nations report on AIDS, an estimated 33 million people were living with HIV in 2007. The U.N. says about 22 million live in sub-Saharan Africa. Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP.
One of the biggest questions in the universe is whether or not we are alone. The Fermi Paradox seeks to answer this question and try to make sense of our place amongst the cosmos. The basis of the paradox is if a civilization had the right rocket technology and the will, they could colonize the galaxy in 10 million years. In the scope of the universe, this is a very short amount of time to colonize a whole galaxy. A study was done from the Kepler Space Telescope that found that one in five sun-like stars have an Earth like planet orbiting them. So, why havent they come here? There are several “explanations” as to why we haven’t made contact with aliens based off of this statement. The first is because the technology to have feasible space travel does not exist, so colonizing of different planets couldnt happen in the first place. The second is that aliens never had the drive to colonize. Maybe they have the technology, but Earth isnt worth colonizing for some reason. Another explanation is that the intelligent life advanced recently and they just havent come yet. We could be the first advanced life form in the universe and none have developed anywhere else. Lastly, we could have already been visited, maybe when the Earth was still developing, so the aliens overlooked us. (Source) Either way, contact with aliens still has not been done, but we also need to answer the question of whether we want them to come or not? Bill Nye gives his take on the subject and comes up with a possible solution to this paradox:
"Hugs can do great amounts of good - especially for children." - Princess Diana Hugs are one way of giving a child proprioceptive input. Proprioception is our body’s ability to know where it is at any given time (also called body awareness).Anytime we squeeze into a tight space, hug, or jump up and down we are getting proprioceptive input. Proprioception is the sense that helps calm us when used the right way. Most people like proprioceptive input, and many seek it out. Think about how you use propriocpetive input to calm and relax yourself throughout the day...do you chew on pens, layer heavy blankets on your bed, take a bath, or cross your legs while sitting? All of these activities give you proprioceptive input. Proprioceptive activities added to your child's daily routines can be beneficial to help them calm down when they get upset or to relax before bedtime. Activity: Cozy Cove Try making a Cozy Cove for your child that is just big enough for them to fit, but tight enough that they can push their arms and legs against the sides. You can create this space out of a box, laundry basket, bath tub or plastic tote. Just make sure your child can breathe and get in and out safely. Show us your Cozy Cove! Share photos of your child in their Cozy Cove in the comments.
The authors utilize a 1 CNY coin to demonstrate that the particular procedure for calculating the volume. When trying to figure out the tone of a text, then just ask yourself what sort of words he’s using, and that is your answer. The tone that he uses greatly influences what type of story he or she informs and how the audience perceives it. They use mean volume mistake to appraise volume estimation results. 1 writer might concentrate on modern events while some may think just of imagined situations. Technical writing is a kind of writing in which the writer is writing about a certain subject which requires leadership, education, or excuse. Colloquial Casual writing is like a spoken conversation. Tone is normally conveyed via the selection of phrases, or the viewpoint of a writer on a specific subject. Moreover, it lends shape and life to a piece of literature since it creates a mood. The design of a component of work are observed in various manners. It is great due to its universality. Tone affects how viewers will react to your own writing. Besides style, it can also be put by material. Tone and mood aren’t the exact same, even though they are usually confused. When writing a paper, it’s very important to identify so as to decide the author’s disposition and attitude towards the subject. While currently utilized to talk about literature, the expression tone has been initially applied solely to songs. While tone comes from the writer, mood could be credited to the reader. The feasible tones are bounded solely by the variety of feasible emotions that a human being may have. There are certainly a number of learners that went along to school for four decades to help you to have their level and finish university simply to find their niche features a great deal of competitiveness or it doesn’t pay well. Folks are persuaded by tone and personality far more than they’re by logical arguments, so therefore it’s absolutely critical to set your tone correctly. Grammar instruction is going to be given via various writing assignments. A literary method or literary device can be employed by authors to be able to improve the written framework of a component of literature, and produce particular results. A different way to check in a literary analysis is to take a look at a bit of literature from your personal perspective. It ought to be simple for users to do their objective through utilizing the site. Even though the definition of voice can feel to be a somewhat nebulous belief, voice is essential to enjoying a sheet of literature. Definitions of the term literature are usually circular. Nevertheless, it ‘s well worth it. Writing style needs to be real, either it’s personal or neutral. Style Style is your third element utilized for altering or creating the feel of a story or scene, although it’s somewhat different from tone and mood as it is utilized to affect and produce both of the other elements. It is the manner in which something is composed, instead of the significance of what’s written. Personal style is prediction to find concern from the reader. Writing for professional functions is very likely to take the formal fashion, though individual communications may use the casual style once you’re familiar with the recipient. Emotional layout is an immense area of the user experience. Broadly speaking, tone color is the thing which allows a listener to recognize that a sound as being produced by a certain instrument and also to distinguish between instruments of the identical type. In addition, it can have a great effect on the psychological impact of a piece. Though its consequences can be particularly subtle, they types of reports‘re profound, in much the identical way for a individual’s body language and basic personality. The mood denotes the atmosphere that’s widespread in the poem.
2 Answers \| Add Yours For any polynomial P(x), the remainder when it is divided by (x - a) is equal to P(a). When the polynomial P(x) = 3x^4 - 8x^2 + 3x - 2 is divided by (x - 2), the remainder is P(2) = 32^4 - 82^2 + 3*2 - 2 = 20 The remainder when 3x^4 - 8x^2 + 3x - 2 is divided by (x - 2) is 20 I would like to add that, with 20 being the remainder, if you remember the long division, there were 3 different ways you could express the remainder: 1) as a decimal, 2) as a fraction, or 3) with R then the number after it. For polynomials, #1 isn't used. For the other two, though, it could depend upon how your teacher would want the remainder expressed. For, if as a fraction, the remainder would be shown as: Good luck, xata. I hope this helps. We’ve answered 395,995 questions. We can answer yours, too.Ask a question
IntroductionThe moon lotus is a flower gifted from Visalth dragon of the earth to his brother Niadgohar dragon of the seas it is most commonly found in pools of water on rocky outcrops along the coast. DescriptionThe flower has blue-green, straight woody stems, rounded leaves, and white velvet oval-shaped petals that emit a soft silver light even when picked. When it is picked, it is essential to thank Niadgohar for sharing his gift and Visalth for making it. The flowers fibers are used to make sea silk, silk used solely for ritual purposes and festivals. The flower petals are dried and burned with driftwood when the full moon is at its zenith as an offering to Niadgohar as the smoke emits a sweet perfume that pleases him. Harvestingwhen harvesting the flower, it is important to cut at the base of the stem so that the plant can reproduce the flower and take no more than five a month so that others may enjoy them. Roots are only allowed to be harvested during the mid-autumn festival and are considered a delicacy. Uses and preparations To prepare the silks for weaving and petals for burning, you must first separate the flowers from the stems. You then take the petals off one by one and lay them on a flat stone. This is founded by an estuary where the river flows into the ocean. This stone represents the trust and companionship of the two brothers and is usually carved with scenes depicting that companionship. (generally with the scene of Visalth gifting the flower to his brother). Once the petals are laid flat, place them in a drying room along with the seed pods. The stems are then snapped, and the fibers are teased out to avoid breaking them; they are then twisted and turned into a fine yarn with a blue/silver tint that, when woven, give off the impression of the ocean bathed in moonlight. When a yard of silk is made, it is embroidered with the family symbol that depicts their trade (fish for fishermen, a spool of thread for seamstress or weaver, a sheaf of wheat for farmers, etc.). This is common practice among the coastal towns, and it is a sign of good fortune and will to have a yard. It is also considered a right of passage to have a finished yard as it takes a long time to harvest the silk and weave it, so a child will start the process at twelve and finish when they are sixteen symbolizing that they are now an adult. Its also fair to note that the hues of the fibers can very from location to location and a trained eye can tell you where exactly the silk came from depending on its color (a pale green to a deep blue or even navy colored). This is due to the exact chemical composition of the soil that the flowers grow in Mid autumn festival To go further into the rite of passage for teens who finished their yards they present them on the full moon in mid autumn. This is a massive festival for the mid autumn full moon is a favorite time for Niadgohar and it is also harvest time for the people and the more that gets harvested, the bigger the festival. Lotus flowers that have lived a full life are picked from the roots and cooked in various ways. Cakes are filled with pastes made from ground lotus seeds and sweetened (another favorite for people living further inland is red bean pastes.) Families will leave two cakes out for Niadgohar and visalth as a thank you for a bountiful harvest. for the rite of passage a priest of Niadgohar and a priest of Visalth stands next to an estuary where the river and oceans meet. The teenagers present their silks to the priests by bowing and holding the silks up to them priests deem if the yard is worthy and it is a great honor if a priest approves. And a greater humiliation if he does not approve. The teenagers that are approve bathe where the river meets the sea and praise both gods for blessing them and giving life. When someone dies their silks are wrapped around them and they are placed in a boat depending on the exact region the boat will have a leak (in which lead weights are tied to the dead so that they sink with the ship). Will be allowed to sail into the unknown, or Branches and dried grass will be packed in with the body and set aflame before being pushed into the ocean. When a ship is lost at sea the family and village will gather on the shore during a new moon and wait until dawn with the lost ones silk. If a jellyfish is spotted then the loved ones will place the silks in the ocean. The jellyfish signifies that the loved ones are dead and come back to the shores to see their families and friends one last time. The silks are then whisked away by the current but if a jellyfish does not appear then the loved ones are in fact alive. After the takeover by Ores its become more common for the sea silk to be made and sold commercially. This has caused a decline in the lotus flowers making the silks worth their weight in gold. The custom of weaving the silk is saved only by a few and the rituals that accompany the rites of passage is illegal and if caught then the participators are tortured paraded around the villages and then burned alive in the village square. Anyone caught harvesting the lotus for non commercial uses will be tried for theft and if found guilty forced to work in labor camps or as slaves to nobles. Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
The end might not be nigh, but it is real -- and Alan Weisman's new book, The World Without Us, is earth-shaking in its speculative tale of what the world will look like when humanity is history. Speculative, but not fiction. The book's premise is the question, "What will the world look like when all the people are gone?" The conclusions are based in science and observation, blending what we know about the materials of the man-made world -- plastics, concrete and steel -- with what we've seen happen in areas of the world where people have been forced to move on. Chernobyl, which has been free of people for two decades, has become a de facto refuge for Russian wolves. The radiation has shortened their life spans, Weisman explains, but the animals are reaching sexual maturity at an earlier age and having more children. Nature finds ways to endure even if we don't. Just days after the extinction of man, the New York City subways flood because the pumps that remove the water from beneath the city fail. The water weakens the concrete and rusts the steel supports beneath the roads and buildings. In two decades, the city surface, buildings included, begins to collapse. Animals that depend on us are affected too. Rats have no food to eat, and cockroaches disappear from northern climates because they have no warm homes where they can weather the winter. If you look no further than your front porch or sidewalk, you can see what happens to the concrete in just a few decades. Water invades and expands when it freezes, bursting it apart. Most homes would stand for less than 100 years. Elsewhere, nuclear reactors run out of fuel and melt down a couple of weeks after we're gone. The Panama Canal closes in 20 years. Thousands of years later, it's the plastic and nuclear material that's still around. Earth's oldest structures -- those made of stones that fit tightly together like Machu Picchu -- might remain. Our radio and television signals endure indefinitely on their interstellar journey. The Earth, says Weisman, will be better off without us, though it could be better off with us. Endangered species, the atmosphere and the environment will all recover when we're gone. We're ephemeral, as are all the things and places we hold dear. As engrossing as this simple idea is, the point of the book is that how long we last and what we do with the time we have is the single thing we can control. Our destiny as a species, however limited, is up to us. CONTACT STEPHEN CARTER-NOVOTNI: snovotni(at)citybeat.com
The collapse of the Eastern Bloc at the end of the 1980s prompted a period of re-alignment and change in world politics. Although Russia was temporarily reduced to political and economic chaos, it was allowed to retain its seat on the UN Security Council. But President Yeltsin was consumed by the man domestic problems he faced. China was also undergoing a transformation from a socialist planned economy to a socialist capitalist economy. The United States thus found itself the world’s supreme superpower and soon saw the opportunity to create “a new world order”. It was potentially a time for a ‘peace dividend’ to mark the end of the Cold War era. But in US government circles it soon came to be seen as a window of opportunity to bring about change in what were perceived to be the world’s greatest trouble spots. Countries such as Libya, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and Syria had been long-running problems for the USA. In the early 1990s, for the first time in a long time, the possibility of genuine and beneficial change seemed real. Yugoslavia was different. Initially it was Europe that took charge of efforts to contain the nationalism that had been growing in the Yugoslav republics. But from an early stage the so-called “neocons”, who were advocating a more hawkish foreign policy, began to see Yugoslavia as part of their plans. Europe and the USA were soon pursuing different policies to Yugoslavia, though this was not formally acknowledged for several years after conflicts broke out in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia.
Play is a universal phenomenon with a pervasive and enduring presence in human history. Play has fascinated philosophers, painters, and poets for generations. Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognizes the significance of play in the lives of children, acknowledging play as a specific right, in addition to and distinct from the child's right to recreation and leisure. Early childhood educators have long recognized the power of play. The significant contribution of play to young children's development is well documented in child psychology, anthropology, sociology, and in the theoretical frameworks of education, recreation, and communications. Being able to play is one of the key developmental tasks of early childhood. Play is, "the leading source of development in the early years": it is essential to children's optimal development. Children's opportunities to play are under threat Ironically, play is persistently undervalued, and children's opportunities for uninterrupted free play—both indoors and out—are under threat. The physical and social environments of childhood in the Western world have changed dramatically over the past several decades. Many children are spending substantial time in peer-group settings from a very young age. Many of these settings focus on structured educational and recreational activities, leaving little time for participation in open-ended, self-initiated free play. Children's play advocates are concerned that access to outdoor play opportunities in natural environments in neighbourhoods is vanishing. Technology, traffic, and urban land-use patterns have changed the natural play territory of childhood. Parents are increasingly concerned about safety and children find themselves in carefully constructed outdoor playgrounds that limit challenge in the name of safety. The priority currently given to the early acquisition of academic skills is another threat to children's play. This emphasis often constrains and limits the scope of the learning that unfolds naturally in play. The question of how and what children should learn in preparation for formal school is a subject of vigorous debate in Canada. It used to be that children spent their preschool years playing, whether at home, in child care, or in preschool social settings. Many now advocate for early childhood programs focused on literacy and numeracy experiences, particularly in cases where social and environmental circumstances potentially compromise children's readiness for school. In recent years the trend has been to introduce more content via direct instruction into the practice of early childhood professionals. Research demonstrates that this approach, while promising in the short term, does not sustain long-term benefits and, in fact, has a negative impact on some young children. Long uninterrupted blocks of time for children to play--by themselves and with peers, indoors and outdoors—are becoming increasingly rare. The developmental literature is clear: play stimulates physical, social, emotional, and cognitive development in the early years. Children need time, space, materials, and the support of informed parents and thoughtful, skilled early-childhood educators in order to become "master players." They need time to play for the sake of playing. - reprinted from Canadian Council on Learning
Mysterious high-rise clouds seen appearing suddenly in the martian atmosphere on a handful of occasions may be linked to space weather, say Mars Express scientists. Amateur astronomers using telescopes on Earth were the first to report an unusual cloud-like plume in 2012 that topped-out high above the surface of Mars at an altitude around 250 kilometres. The feature developed in less than 10 hours, covered an area of up to 1000 kilometres by 500 kilometres, and remained visible for around 10 days. The extreme altitude poses something of a problem in explaining the features: it is far higher than where typical clouds of frozen carbon dioxide and water are thought to be able to form in the atmosphere. Indeed, the high altitude corresponds to the ionosphere, where the atmosphere directly interacts with the incoming solar wind of electrically charged atomic particles. Speculation as to their cause has included exceptional atmospheric circumstances, auroral emissions, associations with local crustal anomalies, or a meteor impact, but so far it has not been possible to identify the root cause. Unfortunately, the spacecraft orbiting Mars were not in the right position to see the 2012 plume visually, but scientists have now looked into plasma and solar wind measurements collected by Mars Express at the time. They have found evidence for a large ‘coronal mass ejection’, or CME, from the Sun striking the martian atmosphere in the right place and at around the right time. “Our plasma observations tell us that there was a space weather event large enough to impact Mars and increase the escape of plasma from the planet’s atmosphere,” says David Andrews of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics. “But we were not able to see any signatures in the ionosphere that we can categorically say were due to the presence of this plume. “One problem is that the plume was seen at the day–night boundary, over a region of known strong crustal magnetic fields where we know the ionosphere is generally very disturbed, so searching for ‘extra’ signatures is rather challenging.” To go further, the scientists have looked at the chances of these two relatively rare events – a large and fast CME colliding with Mars, and the mysterious plume – occurring at the same time. They have been searching back through the archives for similar events, but they are rare. For example, the Hubble Space Telescope observed a similar high plume in May 1997, and a CME was registered hitting Earth at the same time. Although that CME was widely studied, there is no information from Mars orbiters to judge the scale of its impact at the Red Planet.
Wind farms may not be as invasive as oil drilling. However, giant wind towers can still upset natural habitats with adverse effects on local wildlife. The American Wind Wildlife Institute (AWWI) has embarked on a mission to preserve this delicate balance and ensure that wind energy projects are developed responsibly. The organization -- created in 2008 by the nation's top 20 science-based environmental groups and wind energy companies -- protects wildlife sanctuaries by collecting data about local habitats, conducting landscape mapping, and holding outreach and training events to address the wind industry's impact on animal life. AWWI's recently appointed first president, Kraig Butrum, is hopeful that the United States can generate renewable energy in a responsible and sustainable manner. "The time is now for America to address global climate change, diversify its energy base and lessen its dependence on foreign sources of oil," said Butrum, adding that our nation's goal to triple development of wind energy in the next few years can be achieved "while protecting biodiversity and critical habitat."
Smt. Rajashree Ramakrishna presented a lec dem titled “An analysis of the structure of the varnam with special reference to the styles of varnam composers” at Shri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Chennai on 23rd Dec 2008. She was accompanied by M. Subhashree on vocal support and Sri Nagarajan on the mrudangam. Here are some excerpts from the same based on the notes I took. I have taken the liberty to organize these under my own headings. 1 INTRODUCTION – MUSICAL FORMS Musical forms are compositions which occupy a major chunk of repertoire of art music practitioners in South India. We have different types of musical forms pertaining to sacred dance, opera and art music. These are nothing but expressions which define different facets of a raga. Musical forms are thus musical expressions bound by time (i.e. tAlam) and meaningless or meaningful text. The main musical forms that existed in the 17th century were AlApa, ThAyA, gItam and prabandhA. We come to know about these from the musical treatises of that period like “caturDanDi prakAshikA” and “svara mELa kalAnidhi”. Of these, only the AlApa and gItam exist today. ThAyA and prabandhA have metamorphosed into other forms. Varnam, kriti, kIrtana, svarajati, padam, jAvaLi and tillAnA are the other musical forms which are performed in art music concerts. These came into existence in the period from the 17th to the 19th centuries. 2 EVOLUTION OF MUSICAL FORMS The emergence of raga concept and the desi musical forms can be traced to the period of Matanga. Treatises like Brhaddesi, Sangeetha Makaranda, Sangeetha Samaya Sara, Sangeetha Ratnakara and Sangeetha Sudhakara describe the lakSana of musical forms that existed in their respective periods. The evolution of musical forms can be classified into the following stages: 1. prabandhA is the forerunner of all later musical forms. The emergence of prabandhA can be described as the first stage of the development of the musical forms 2. The second stage could be the emergence of the kriti and kIrtanAs. This can be compared to the north Indian Hindustani music where the dhrupads are longer and metrical in structure unlike the very popular khayAls which are smaller and are in the vernacular language. The dhrupads and prabandhAs were mostly composed in Sanskrit and it was not easy for the common man to follow them. After vernacular languages became very popular, the prabandhAs went out of use/vogue and kritis started coming to the forefront. 3. The third stage was the rise of technical compositions illustrating rAgams and rAga rUpams. There were also a large number of prabandhAs still in existence. There was also a phase were all the tAnAs were notated. ThAya refers to tAnA patterns notated to tALam. There were a lot of notated tAnAs in existence. While composers were trying to realize the rAga rUpam, they needed a lot of exercises to enhance the understanding the rAga svarUpam which led to the emergence of a lot of these musical forms. An example is the emergence of ciTTa tAnAs which would have later developed into tAna varNams. 4. The fourth stage has a lot of bhAva sangItam ex. padam compositions. A lot of padams became popular and there was a lot of stress on realizing the musical svarUpam of a rAga 5. The fifth stage was the development of dance dramas and dance/musical compositions such as svarajati, tAna varNams, pada varNams, shabdams and kauthuvams. 6. The sixth stage is the contribution of the musical trinity. 7. The seventh stage is the post trinity period that has rAgamAlikAs, tillAnAs etc. All these musical forms helped people realize the individuality and scope of rAgams The first type of musical form which a student of music learns after solfa or sargam abhyAsa gAna exercises is the gItam. gItam has very simple melodic structure and is mostly a continuous composition without the sections pallavi, anupallavi and caranam. Some gItams have two or more sections called khanDikAs. Sometimes, the opening section is repeated after every khanDikA. gItam is sung at a medium tempo and does not have melodic variations (sangatIs) The structure of the gItam is such that it can be sung in three speeds. This prepares the students for tackling the other musical forms like prabandhAs later on. prabandhAs are longer compositions with many more khanDikAs. Dikshitar’s style of composing was steeped in prabandhAs. In his composition sUryamUrtE (saurAshTram), Dikshitar uses 2 akSarams for dhIrga syllables and 1 akSaram for all hrisva syllables. He adheres to this even in his 2 kaLai compositions. Thyagaraja and Shyama Sastri have composed in a different style in that they have resorted to the prose order where there is lot more scope for the musical aspects and for expanding the musical composition gItam is a continuous piece and is sung from beginning to end without repeated tAlA cycles. No section is repeated usually. Svarajati and jatisvarams are musical forms that are familiar to both music and dance students. As the names of these forms suggest, they have - swara – solfa - jati – rhythmic syllables - sAhityam – text The architect of svarajati as a musical form is Melattur Veerabhadraiah who lived in the 18th century. His svarajati in the rAgam husEni is the earliest example of a svarajati. Shyama Sastri later composed svarajatis that are concert worthy. Svarajatis are of three types: - Those learnt in the abhyAsa gAna section – simple form without any jatis intended for students - Those that are typical dance forms with solkaTTus, rhythmic syllables etc - svarajatis of Shyama Sastri – performed only in music concerts and not in dance concerts Svarajatis used in dance concerts are replete with nAyakA-nAyikA bhAvA and are suitable for performing abhinaya. There are also simple svarajatis that are taught to students after they acquire a sufficient number of gItams. A svarajati is neither as syllabic as gItam, nor does it have as many vowel extensions as in a varNam. In a svarajati, the text and the tone play an equal role. Some composers of svarajatis are Shyama Sastri, Shobanadri, Swati Tirunal, Chinni Krishna Dasa, Melattur Venkatrama Sastri, Ponniah, Vadivel, Adiyappaiah, Veena Seshanna and Mysore Sadashiva Rao The structure of a jatisvaram is also like that of a svarajati but it does not have sAhityam and comprises of only solfa syllables. There are some jatisvarams of Tanjore Quartette that have half Avartanam of solfa syllables and half Avartanam of jatis. The first half of svarajati is performed at a slower pace and the later half is performed at a faster pace. Svarajati has more scope for abhinayam. These are the main differences between svarajati and jatisvarams. Svarajatis and jatisvarams are optional in music concerts but are indispensable in dance concerts. In jatisvarams and svarajati which have pallavi, anupallavi and caraNam, the pallavi is sung first followed by the anupallavi. The pallavi is then repeated. This is followed by the caraNam. If there are many caraNams, they are sung in a sequential order and the pallavi is repeated after every caraNam. A varNam is a musical form which has in it all the elements of gItam, jatisvaram and svarajati. It prepares the students with adequate skills to be able to learn a kriti. The first half of a varNam which has profuse vowel extensions resembles a kriti while the second half beginning with ettugaDa pallavi and caraNam swarams resembles a svarajati or a jatisvaram. The pallavi of a varNam usually consists of 2 Avartanams followed by an anupallavi of equal length. The third section is an optional upapallavi of the same length. The theme of the text could be devotional, shringArA or in the praise of a patron. The varNams were a realization of the musical structure of a rAgam. For example, the bEgaDa varNam “inta cAlamu” starts at the madhya sthAyi, goes to the tAra sthAyi and comes back. When the upapallavi is over, the varnam is musically complete. 6.3 TANA VARNAMS These are compositions played or sung at the commencement of a concert. The tempo is usually madhyama kAlam. The pallavi and anupallavi consist of very few sAhityam syllables with profuse vowel extensions. In the second half of the varNam, the ettugaDa pallavi consists of sAhityam syllables. The remaining portions comprise of solfa or swara passages. Therefore tAna varNam is an instance of a composition which consists of two parts – one in which sAhityam is predominant and the other in which solfa is predominant. They both are mutually exclusive. Once the first section is over, we are done with it. It is like putting two different compositions together, one of which is sAhityam oriented and the other that has swarams as the main forte. The ettugaDa caraNam swarams increase in size and complexity starting from the 1st to the 4th or 5th caraNam swarams tAna varNams are mostly set in Adi and kanDa jAti aTa tALam. They are rarely set to other tALams. Almost all of them start with sama eDuppu if in Adi tALam and at the third beat if set to aTa tALam 6.4 PADA VARNAMS pada varnams are also called cauka varNams. As the name implies, the tempo intended for these is caukam or slow to give scope for the depiction of bhAva. ciTTasvaram and ettugaDa swaram have sAhityA. The theme of a pada varNam is devotional, shringArA or in praise of a patron. It is usually set in Adi tAlam. Unlike tAna varNams that are sung in different speeds, pada varNams are usually sung only in slow speeds. Most pada varNams have eDuppu at samam while a few have different eDuppus. The entire varNam has the sAhityA. tAna varNams were in existence earlier than the pada varNams. There was no term as pada varNam earlier. All varNams used to be called tAna varNams and used to have sAhityam . tAna varnams were perhaps intended to be sung in madhyama kAlam and melodic variations (sangatIs) were not to be resorted to. Earlier all varNams had sAhitya. But may be the sAhityam presented considerable difficulty in emphasizing the tAna progression and the madhyama kAlam tempo of the dhAtu. Hence may be the idea of introducing sAhityam for tAna varnams was given up. Later composers like Patnam Subramanya Iyer, Pallavi Gopala Iyer, Veena Kuppaiyer, Tiruvotriyur Tyagayyar and others have composed tAna varnams without sAhityam for the muktAyi swarams and ettugaDa swara sAhityam portions. 6.5 RAGAMALIKA VARNAMS Ragamalika is a concept as old as Matanga who refers to it as “rAga kadambakA”. Many have used this concept but Veerabhadraiah was supposed to be the first one to compose a rAgamAlikA varNam. He was the guru of Ramaswami Dikshitar. He was also the first to use the rAga mudrA. One of the most popular rAgamAlika varNams is “valaci vacci”, the navarAgamAlikA varNam of Patnam Subramanya Iyer. Another example is ghana navarAgamAlika varNam by Kalahasti Venkatasami Raja that is composed in the rAgams nATTai, gauLai, varALi, Arabhi, shrI, nArAyaNagauLa, rItigauLa, bauLi and kEdAram. 6.6 GANAKRAMA OF A VARNA The ganakrama of a varNam is different compared to that of a svarajati/ jatisvara. The pallavi, anupallavi and muktAyi swaram are performed continuously and the first Avartanam of the pallavi is sung as a conclusion to the first half of the varNam. The second half has an ettugaDa pallavi with many caraNams sung in sequential order. The caraNam begins with ettugaDa pallavi and after each caraNam swaram, the ettugaDa pallavi is repeated and is also sung as the concluding Avartanam. In earlier days, a section called anubandham existed after caraNam in which the sAhityam of the muktAyi swaram would be sung followed by the pallavi. The anubandham used to link the end of the varNam back to the pallavi. Examples are anubandhams in viribONi (bhairavi), in the pantuvarALi varNam “sAmi nine” of Shatkala Narasaiah and in Shyama Sastri’s kalyANi varNam “nIvE gatiyani” in tisra maTya tALam 6.7 COMPOSERS OF VARNAMS Composers of varnams include Govindasamayya, Shatkala Narasaiah, Adiyappaiah, Sonti Venkata Subbiah (?), Pallavi Gopala Iyer, Pallavi Doraiswamy Iyer, Ponnaiah, Chamarajendra and Veena Kuppaiyer. Govindasamayya and his brother Kuvasamayya was known to have composed the famous pancaratna varNams in the rAgams mOhanam, kEdAragauLa, nATTakurinji, navarOj and one another rAgam that is not known today. Apart from being composers, the brothers were also dancers. Govindasamayya is considered to be the first composer of varnams. The period of the trinity saw many varNam composers. Ramaswami Dikshitar and his guru Veerabhadraiah were among the earliest composers. Pacchimiriyam Adiyappaiah is called the “Tana Varna Margadarshi”. He composed the immortal bhairavi varNam “viribONi”. Gangai Muthu Nattuvanar, Subbaraya Nattuvanar and the Tanjore Quartette have composed many pada varNams. Some of the modern day composers are Tiger Varadachar, Muthiah Bhagavathar, G.N. Balasubramaniam, T.M. Thyagarajan, Tanjavur Sankara Iyer, Calcutta Krishnamurthy and Lalgudi Jayaraman. 6.8 CHARACTERISTICS OF A FEW VARNAM COMPOSERS PATNAM SUBRAMANYA IYER Most of Patnam Subramanya Iyer’s varNams adhered to a format that had 6 Avartanams each for both pUrvAngam and uttarAngam. Examples of this include his AbhOgi, nAgaswarAvaLi, kannaDA and cakravAham varNams. Exceptions are his tODi and navarAgamAlikA varNams. The nAgaswarAvaLi varNam is a good lesson on how/ where to employ nyAsa swarams, which note to emphasize etc. RAMANATHAPURAM (POOCHI) SRINIVASA IYENGAR He concentrated more on developing the rAgam. His varNams are thus more rAgam oriented. He followed Patnam Subramanya Iyer’s format in many of his varNams. He was known to be a very good performer and may be this is the reason for his experimentation with different formats for his varNams. He has brought out the essence of rAgams beautifully in his varNams KOTHAVASAL VENKATRAMA IYER & MANMBUCHAVADI VENKATASUBBAIYER They both gave 4 Avartanams for the muktAyi swaram while most other composers usually gave only 2 Avartanams. PALLAVI GOPALA IYER His varNams typically have either 4 or 5 swarams in the caraNam. In his suruTTi varNam (example of a varNam having 5 swarams), the first caraNam swaram has only dhIrga syllables, the second and third ones have both dhIrga and hrisva, the fourth one has only hrisva syllables and the fifth one is long and of four Avartanam duration. In his varNams with four caraNam swarams, the first one will have only dhIrga syllables, the second will have dhIrga and hrisva, the third will have only hrisva and the fourth one will be a long one of 4 Avartanam duration. His suruTTi varNam is set to a speed well suited to the rAgam Many of the composers before Tiruvotriyur Tyagayyar composed varNams in pentatonic scales. He was the first one to compose a lot of varNams in rakti ragams like sahAnA, darbAr, kEdAragauLa and madhyamAvati 6.9 SIGNIFICANCE OF VARNAMS Of all the raga forms that emerged, the varNam is very significant. varNam denotes the four melodic movements: - sthAyi varNam - ArOhi varNam - avarOhi varNam Therefore a varNam consists of all the possibilities of melodic movements. It has now become customary to sing the varNam at the beginning of a concert. 6.10 BOOKS ON VARNAMS Many books have been published on varNams. Some of them are: - Ganamrutha Varna Malika by A.S. Panchapakesa Iyer - A book with 100 varnams published by N.C. Parthasarathy in 1973 - Varnasagaram by T.K. Govinda Rao (Ganamandir Publications) - Tana Varna Tarangini by B.M. Sundaram (Rajalakshmi Trust) The following varNams were either sung fully or partially in the lec dem: - inta cAlamu (tAna varNam) – bEgaDa – Adi – vINa kuppaiyer - sakhiyE inda vELayil (pada varNam) – Anandabhairavi – Adi – ponnaiAh - nIvE gatiyani – kalyANi – tisra maTya – shyAma sAstri - inta kOpa (ghana navarAgamAlikA varNam) – rAgamAlikA – Adi – kALahasti venkaTasAmi rAja - sAmi nI pai – nAgasvarAvaLi – Adi – paTTaNam subramaNya iyer - nera nammiti – kAnaDA – kanDa aTa – rAmanAthapuram srInivAsa iyengAr - jalajAkSa – hamsadhwani – Adi – mAnmbuchAvaDi venkaTa subbaiyer - entO prEma – suruTTi – Adi – pallavi gOpAla iyer - annamE – Arabhi – Adi – tiger varadAcAr - ambOruha pAdamE – ranjani – Adi – g.n.bAlasubramaNiam 11 thoughts on “Lec Dem on Varnam” Detailed write-up on a thorough and excellent presentation. Thanks yet another time.. I’ve been reading your posts for the past one or two months… Very nice compilation throughout.. Couldn’t have asked for a better source of such useful info… Keep it up! Very informative.Thank you. These help to assuage the guilt about missing such lec-dems. great blog.. I came across it while searching for ‘hey govinda hey gopala’ sung by maharajapuram santhanam. nice lectures.. keep up the good work.. p.s: i have still not found the file i was searchin for… any ideas where i can find them??? Thanks for taking the time..this is very nice information The information on varnams was useful. Can you pls. let me know more info. regarding the sighnificance of sahitya in varnams, why it si sung in the beginning of the concert, etc. Where can you get T.K. Govinda Rao’s book on varnams/ PALLAVI GOPALA IYER His suruTTi varNam is set to a speed well suited to the rAgam I am wondering which varna this one is. To the best of my knowledge, Pallavi Gopala Iyer didnt compose a varna in Surati. Can you please clarify ? Also the varna structure outlined may not hold true always- for example his Kambhoji varna. Appreciate if you can update from your notes ! Forgot to add. The varna ‘Ento Prema’ in Surati/Adi tala is by Vina Kuppier not Pallavi Gopala Iyer.
A Russian-built Soyuz rocket boosted the European Space Agency’s CHEOPS spacecraft into space 18 December, kicking off an ambitious exoplanet research mission. Designed to build upon discoveries made by previous pioneering exoplanet telescopes — like NASA’s Kepler mission — the ESA’s Characterising Exoplanet Satellite, or CHEOPS, mission was injected into orbit some 700 kilometres 435 miles) above Earth. “We are extremely relieved,” said Günther Hasinger, ESA’s director of science. “CHEOPS is working. All systems are green. telemetry is stable, temperatures are fine, power voltages are fine, so everything is good to go.” CHEOPS will be capable of registering tiny changes in the brightness of stars as planets block their light from reaching the telescope. This way of observing exoplanets is called the transit method, and it’s been used by Kepler, NASA’s TESS observatory and the French space agency’s CoRoT mission to discover planets around other stars. Astronomers designed CHEOPS to follow up on discoveries made by other telescopes. “What makes CHEOPS quite special to all the other transit missions so far is that CHEOPS is not really a discovery mission,” said Willy Benz, the mission’s principal investigator from the University of Bern in Switzerland. “It’s a follow-up. We will be looking at one system at a time, and not trying to discover thousands of others.” “The idea is that we know now several thousands of these exoplanets,” Benz said. “We are more interested slowly toward characterising them with precision, knowing what they’re made of and their temperature, and so on and so forth.” Astronomers can determine the mass of an exoplanet through a technique called the radial velocity method, in which telescopes can detect the wobble of a star caused by the pull of gravity from a smaller planetary companion. The amplitude of the wobble can tell scientists about the planet’s mass. Combining the size information from CHEOPS with mass estimates obtained through other telescopes can yield significant insights into exoplanets, Benz said. “By measuring the radius and by knowing the mass through radial velocity, we can place these different planets and try to figure out what they’re made of, whether they’re rocky planets, whether they’re a gas ball, an icy world, or the like,” he said. “You need to have pretty small error bars if you want to say anything meaningful about this, and this is why we need precision measurements.” Didier Queloz, a Swiss astronomer at the University of Cambridge, won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics with Michel Mayor for their work in discovering the first exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star in 1995. Queloz is chair of the CHEOPS science team. “We started this project more than 10 years ago, and now we’re in the sky,” he said. “The field has just exploded,” he said after launch. “There are just thousands of exoplanets. There are a lot of planets known to be transiting, which means the planet goes right in front of the star, and that’s the technique that we’re using for the CHEOPS mission. “We have so many planets, so different,” Queloz said. “We have these super-Earths, mini-Neptunes. We don’t really understand all these systems. So that’s the purpose of CHEOPS, providing new data, very precise data, to understand a bit better.” CHEOPS can help identify prime targets for additional observations by future missions, such as the James Webb Space Telescope scheduled for launch in 2021. “We want to look at atmospheres, following planets in their orbits around the star, we may want to see if a planet has moons, rings, and so on, and we want to provide the best targets for the very large facilities under construction or going into orbit like JWST,” Benz said. David Ehrenreich, mission scientist for the CHEOPS consortium at the University of Geneva, said future large telescopes likes JWST and the Extremely Large Telescope in Chile will be under high demand. “We think that in the coming years there will be far too many very interesting small planets to characterise with powerful facilities than observing time available on these over-booked facilities,” Ehrenreich said. “So it will become extremely important to down-select the golden target — the very best of these targets — so we could go and spend a lot of time with Hubble, with James Webb, and with the ELT on the ground. “CHEOPS is going to be a key in this process by confirming and obtaining the first step characterisation of these many targets, and determining which one we should look for,” Ehrenreich said.
« 이전계속 » the functions of the judge and the jury does not yet appear to be very clearly defined. It would seem, however, that while the existence and abstract meaning of the law must, in general, be determined by the jury on the testimony of the skilled witnesses, it will be the duty of the court to decide, first, as to the competent knowledge of the witnesses called ;? next, as to the admissibility of the documents by which they seek to refresh their memory; and lastly, as to the special applicability of the law, when proved, to the particular matter in controversy. If, indeed, the admissibility or inadmissibility of certain evidence depends on the existence or interpretation of a foreign law, the proof should exclusively be addressed to the court, as in other cases where questions respecting the admissibility of evidence rests upon disputed facts.5 Perhaps, also, as all matters of law are properly referable to the court, and as the object of the proof of foreign law is to enable the court to instruct the jury as to its bearing on the case in hand, it will always be advisable for the judge to assist the jury in ascertaining what the law really is. $ 49. Before leaving the subject of foreign law, it will be § 41 important to notice, that the peculiar rules of evidence adopted in one country,—whether established by the practice of its courts, or enacted by the legislature for the government of those courts, -cannot be permitted to regulate the proceedings of courts in another country, when transactions, which took place in the former country, become the subject of investigation in the latter.? require fresh proof of the law, as a matter of fact, on each particular occasion ; M'Cormick v. Garnett, 23 L. J., Ch. 717, per Knight-Bruce, L. J.; 5 De Gex, M. & G. 278, S. C. R. v. Picton, 30 How. St. Tr. 536–540, 864–870. ? Bristow v. Sequeville, 5 Ex. R. 275. The whole of this subject will be discussed, post, $$ 1423—1425. 3 See Sussex Peer. Case, 11 Cl. & Fin. 114-117; Ld. Nelson v. Ld. Bridport, 8 Beav. 527; Church v. Hubbart, 2 Cranch, 187, 236-238. Story, Confl. § 638. 5 Trasher v. Everhart, 3 Gill & John. 234, 242; Story, Confl. § 638, n. 3; ante, § 23. 6 Story, Confl. § 638, & n. 3; Mostyn v. Fabrigas, 1 Cowp. R. 174, per Ll. Mansfield. 7 Clark v. Mullick, 3 Moo. P. C. R. 279, per Ld. Brougham. The law of evidence is the lex fori which governs the courts. Whether a witness is competent or not,-whether a certain matter requires to be proved by writing or not,—whether certain evidence proves a certain fact or not,—these, and the like questions, must be determined, not lege loci contractûs, but by the law of the country where the question arises, where the remedy is sought to be enforced, and where the court sits to enforce it. The case of Clark v. Mullick, which was decided before the law was altered by the Evidence Amendment Act, of 1851,” affords a striking example of this rule. There, the assignees of a bankrupt under an English fiat having brought an action in Calcutta against a debtor of the bankrupt, and the pleas having put in issue the bankruptcy and the assignment, it was held that the affirmative of these issues could not be proved by producing copies of the proceedings in the Bankruptcy Court, purporting to bear the seal of that court, and to be signed by the Clerk of Enrolments; for although, by the statutes relating to bankruptcy, such evidence was sufficient in English courts of justice, it was not at that time admissible in India, as the Acts did not extend to that country.3 Again, although by the Scotch law, all instruments prepared and witnessed according to the provisions of the Act of 1681, are probative writs, and may be given in evidence without any proof, yet still, if it were required to prove one of these Scotch instruments in an English court, its mere production would not suffice, but it would be necessary to call one or other of the attesting witnesses. The case of Brown v. Thornton 5 is another illustration of this rule. There, a charter-party had been entered into at Batavia ; and, in accordance with the Dutch law which prevails in that colony, the contract had been written in the book of the notary, and a copy, signed and sealed by him and countersigned by the governor of Java, had been delivered to each of the parties. In the courts of Java, the contract is proved by producing the notary's book; but in all other Dutch courts the copies are i Bain v. Whitehaven & Furness Junc. Rail. Co., 3 H. of L. Cas. 19, per Ld. Brougham. ? 14 & 15 V., c. 99, $$ 11 & 19. 3 Clark v. Mullick, 3 Moo. P. C. R. 252, 280. 4 Yates v. Thomson, 3 Cl. & Fin. 577, 580, et seq., per Ld. Brougham. 5 6 A. & E. 185. received as due evidence of the original. Under these circumstances, the plaintiff in an English court tendered his copy of the charter-party, as evidence of the contract, but the court held that it was inadmissible, on the ground that English judges could not adopt a rule of evidence from foreign courts. Several other cases could be cited to the same effect ;) and in all, the distinction is recognised between the cause of action, which must be judged of according to the law of the country where it originated, and the mode of proceeding, including of course the rules of evidence, which must be adopted as it happens to exist in the country where the action is brought.” 1 Trimbey v. Vignier, 1 Bing. N. C. 151; Huber v. Steiner, 2 Bing. N. C. 202 ; British Linen Co. v. Drummond, 10 B. & C. 903 ; Appleton v. Ld. Braybrook, 2 Stark. R. 6; 6 M. & Sel. 34, S. C.; Black v. Ld. Braybrook, 2 Stark. R. 7; 6 M. & Sel. 39, S. C.; Don v. Lippmann, 5 C1. & Fin. 1, 13– 17; Leroux v. Brown, 12 Com. B. 801 ; Finlay v. Finlay, 31 L. J., Pr. & Mat. 149. : Mostyn v. Fabrigas, 1 Smith, L. C. 641. See also Story, Confl. $$ 550, et seq. & 629–636. THE GROUNDS OF BELIEF. § 50.1 We proceed now to a brief consideration of the General $ 42 Nature and Principles of Evidence. No inquiry is here proposed into the origin of human knowledge; it being assumed, on the authority of approved writers, that all that men know is referable, in a philosophical view, to perception and reflection. But, in fact, the knowledge acquired by an individual through his own perception and reflection, is but a small part of what he possesses ; much of what we are content to regard and act upon as knowledge, having been acquired through the perception of others. It is not easy to conceive, that the Supreme Being, whose wisdom is so conspicuous in all his works, constituted man to believe only upon his own personal experience; since, in that case, the world could neither be governed nor improved ; and society must remain in the state in which it was left by the first generation of men. On the contrary, during the period of childhood we believe implicitly almost all that is told us; and we thus are furnished with information, which we could not otherwise obtain, but which is necessary at the time for our present protection, or as the means of future improvement. This disposition to confide in the veracity of others, and to believe what they say, may be termed instinctive. At an early period, however, we begin to find that of the things told to us some are not true; and thus our implicit reliance on the testimony of others is weakened ; first, in regard to particular things, in which we have been deceived ; then, in regard to persons, whose falsehoods we have detected; and, as these instances multiply upon us, we gradually become more and more distrustful of statements made to us, and learn by experience the necessity of testing them by certain rules."'3 “ Confidence," exclaimed Lord Chatham, on a memorable occasion, “is a plant of 3 Id. Part 2, § 3, p. 73. 1 Gr. Ev. § 7, nearly verbatim. slow growth in an aged bosom ;” and indeed, it may be generally observed, that, as our ability to obtain knowledge by other means increases, our instinctive and indiscriminate reliance on testimony diminishes, by yielding to a more rational belief. Still, in every 1 * Gamb. Guide, 87; M‘Kinnon, Phil. of Ev. 40. This subject is treated more largely by Dr. Reid in his profound Inquiry into the Human Mind, c. 6, $ 24, pp. 196, 197, of his collected Works, in these words :-“The wise and beneficent Author of Nature, who intended that we should be social creatures, and that we should receive the greatest and most important part of our knowledge by the information of others, hath, for these purposes, implanted in our nature two principles, that tally with each other. The first of these principles is a propensity to speak truth, and to use the signs of language, so as to convey our real sentiments. This principle has a powerful operation, even in the greatest liars; for where they lie once they speak truth a hundred times. Truth is always uppermost, and is the natural issue of the mind. It requires no art or training, no inducement or temptation, but only that we yield to a natural impulse. Lying, on the contrary, is doing violence to our nature ; and is never practised, even by the worst men, without some temptation. Speaking truth is like using our natural food, which we would do from appetite, although it answered no end ; but lying is like taking physic, which is nauseous to the taste, and which no man takes but for some end, which he cannot otherwise attain. If it should be objected, that men may be influenced by moral or political considerations to speak truth, and therefore, that their doing so is no proof of such an original principle as we have mentioned ; I answer, first, that · moral or political considerations can have no influence, until we arrive at years of understanding and reflection ; and it is certain from experience, that children keep to truth invariably, before they are capable of being influenced by such considerations. Secondly, when we are influenced by moral or political considerations, we must be conscious of that influence, and capable of perceiving it upon reflection. Now, when I reflect upon my actions most attentively, I am not conscious, that in speaking truth I am influenced on ordinary occasions by any motive moral or political. I find, that truth is always at the door of my lips, and goes forth spontaneously, if not held back. It requires neither good nor bad intention to bring it forth, but only that I be artless and undesigning. There may indeed be temptations to falsehood, which would be too strong for the natural principle of veracity, unaided by principles of honour or virtue; but where there is no such temptation, we speak truth by instinct; and this instinct is the principle I have been explaining. By this instinct, a real connection is formed between our words and our thoughts, and thereby the former become fit to be signs of the latter, which they could not otherwise be. And although this connection is broken in every instance of lying and equivocation, yet these instances being comparatively few, the authority of human testimony is only weakened by them, but not destroyed. Another original * Gr. Ev. § 7, n. verbatim.
1. Bring a change by giving newspaper Campaign ( 2011) Bring a change by giving newspaper campaign was introduced in the year 2011 for the project “Aaoo School Chale” It was an innovative way to generate resources for the underprivileged children to bring them into mainstream education process. Corporate bodies like Genpact, Interglobe, Ranbaxy, Panansonic and Huawei Software Services participated in the campaign and donated newspapers. The funds collected by selling these newspapers was dedicated to arrange a mobility facility for the children going to the government school from their slum pocket. The newspapers transform lives by - By creating a linkage between the underprivileged children and schools so that the child can access to their education needs - By creating a community library to promote the goal of increased literacy and develop the habit of reading and learning among rural children. 2. Community Participation Campaign (2012) Community participation and involvement ensures a project ownership and sustainability. Prior to the launching of the community library and learning center, a community participation campaign was conducted in village Bandhwari in the year 2012, which involved intensive meetings with the village stakeholders and the Panchayat. During this campaign a land was allotted by the Panchayat for the building the community library. The villagers committee took the responsibility to build the community library and learning center. The rural men, women and children were all involved in the identification of land, building the center and monitoring. The objective of the campaign was not only to aware people about the importance of active participation but also to practically do it at the grounds to guarantee sustainable results in the future. Interglobe, the corporate house supported the community by giving funds to build the center. 3. Book Donation Drive ( 2012, 2015) Book donation Drive was launched in 2012 and then in 2015.The objective was to involve students, parents and teachers from the urban area to donate books to the rural community library. The campaign was conducted in schools, corporate offices and residential apartments. The books collected were given to the rural community library at Bandhwari. The Hindi story books were the most preferred ones. The books in the library and the community center inculcated the habit of reading among the children. 4. Creative Education Campaign ( 2012) Education beyond the four walls of the school and the prescribed curriculum was the objective of the campaign. It is believed that if the children are given the freedom to explore, question and learn, they develop interest and make them thoughtful. The campaign focused on using the various creative arts like storytelling, paintings on paper, music and learning through rhythm. This helped the children to express themselves without a fear and bring out the best in them. The children find comfort and pleasure in expressing themselves. The campaign was spearheaded by Nalini from Interglobe. The passionate Interglobe Volunteers visited the rural village twice a week and conducted creative classes for the children. The campaign helped not only a positive increase in the confidence level of the rural children but also gave an encouraging insight to the volunteers. 5. Education through Games Campaign ( 2015) Games encourage teamwork and collaboration and help cultivates a problem solving attitude that helps a student in every aspect of their lives. The Interglobe parterned with us and led educational sessions and conducted a month long campaign for 40 students from the village to play different games and sports and inculcate an habit of teamwork, learning and sharing. This empowers the child with confidence. 6. Newspaper Collection Drive ( Ongoing) Newspaper collection drives is conducted time to time in the schools, corporate and residential apartments which motivates people to give away their old newspaper. The awareness is created among the people and the society about recycling and upcycling. The trash of newspapers becomes a potential raw material for the women clusters. Giving away their old newspaper will help them to connect to the groups of rural women who turn this newspaper into a different line of eco friendly utility products and earn an income for themselves. 7. Swacch Bharat Campaign ( Ongoing) Swacch Bharat Campaign is a national level campaign to clean the street, roads and the other infrastructure. The community, primary involving the children and the women are implementing the Swacch Bharat Campaign in the village Bandhwari to make their community clean and healthy. 8. Plantation Drive ( 2012, 2015) Under the Million Tree Plantation drive, in Gurgaon, ACT participated in the plantation drive in the monsoons of 2012 and 2015 to plant 100 trees in villages around to make the city and the villages green with their participation. 9. Good Health Campaign ( Ongoing) Good Health Campaign is a self supported campaign in the project villages where ongoing counseling to the women groups are provided on the various health issues like reproductive mother and child health, food and nutrition, safe drinking water, child care, adolescent health, sanitation and hygiene. 10. Blood Donation Campaign ( 2011, 2012, 2013) ACT joined hands with Bangiya Parishad and participated in the Blood Donation Campaign which was organized by Red Cross Society, Gurgaon. ACT helped in motivating people to donate blood for emergency situations. At the same time during these camps the people were asked to bring old cloths which were distributed in the nearby slums of Gurgaon to the underprivileged people. 11. Corporate and Students Doers ( Ongoing) ACT believes in Corporate Social responsibility and encourages this gesture among young people from the corporate sector and educational institutions..It motivates the young and the privileged to think about their fellow counterparts who are not so privileged. We encourage people to give their time and expertise to the various programs of the organization and experience the rich and rewarding practice through volunteerism. Volunteers from companies, corporate, schools and universities and other organizations are associated with ACT from time to time. We welcome any help and support which will strengthen our program. We will be happy to have more passionate volunteers who can work along with us to make a difference. Each year we have students from IICD, NID, Delhi University, XISS and other colleges as a part of our Student Learning Program. ACT gives them an environment to understand the existing social issues and gives them training on leadership and their role and responsibility as change agent. We believe that the youths are the next generation which will bring change in the society with their creative leadership and out of box ideas.
Thompson Papers Chronicle Family's Life in 19th Century Japan PHS volunteer Sue Althouse is currently processing the David D. Thompson family papers. Sue, a retired missionary who served in Japan, draws on her field experience and knowledge of the Japanese language to arrange and describe the correspondence, diaries, sermons, and photographs of Rev. Thompson, one of the earliest Presbyterian missionaries in Japan, and his wife, Mary Parke Thompson. David Thompson was born September 21, 1835 in Harrison County, Ohio. He graduated from Franklin College (New Athens, Ohio) in 1859 and from Western Theological Seminary (Pittsburgh, Pa.) in 1862. The Board of Foreign Missions of the PCUSA appointed him to serve in Japan in 1862, and he remained in the field until his death in 1915. When Rev. Thompson arrived in Japan in May 1863, Christianity was outlawed in the country. Sue reports that one of the most interesting aspects of the papers is the documentation of the world tour Thompson led in 1871 and 1872. The Japanese government sponsored the tour, which included representatives from every clan in Japan. In the United States and Europe, the delegation was constantly questioned about the persecution of Christians in Japan. Thompson’s tour was followed by the more famous “Iwakura Mission” of 1872-1873, led by Japanese ambassador Iwakura Tomomi. Both tours took place during the time when the Meiji government decided to allow the legal existence of Christian churches and the freedom to practice Christianity in Japan. Throughout his career, Rev. Thompson was a strong advocate for the unification of Protestant denominations in Japan. At one point, he severed relations with the PCUSA Board of Foreign Missions over the issue. However, the Board came to support the idea of a union church, and Thompson was one of the organizers of the United Church of Christ in Japan, a union of all Presbyterian and Reformed bodies in the country that first met as a council in 1876. David Thompson married fellow missionary Mary Calhoun Parke in 1874. Mary, born April 17, 1841 in Ednahannon, Ireland, grew up in Ashland County, Ohio, and graduated from Xenia Female Seminary in 1866. After several years as a school teacher, she applied to the Board of Foreign Missions in 1872 and was posted to Japan where she met David. They married in 1874 and together had three daughters. Mary remained in Japan after her husband's death in 1915 and died in Tokyo in 1927. The collection includes Mary’s journals, which span most of her adult life, 1865 to 1924, and comment on her work as an educator, evangelist, wife, and mother. Particularly moving, according to Sue, is the account of her daughter’s death from a “fever” at age nine in 1887. --Director of Programs and Services Nancy Taylor, with Sue Althouse
An Art History of the Indian Sub-Continent By Padma Shri Dr. John R. Marr and Mrs. Wendy A.P. Marr. Thursday evenings 6-8pm This slide lecture series of 24 lectures (6 independant modules) gives a historical overview of the archaeology, art and architectural practices in the Indian Sub-continent from c.3000BC to the days of the British Raj in the 1900s Beginnings - Earliest External Contacts 6 - 27 October, 2016 Enrol by September 22, 2016 Introduction: some concepts; architectural terms The Harappan or Indus Valley culture: cities, seals and script The imperial Mauryas; rock-cut ‘architecture’ - beginnings Gandhara: pilgrimage and silk routes the Indo-Greeks Rock - Cut Architecture - Prototypic Temples 3 November - 1 December, 2016 Enrol by October 6, 2016 Rock-cut ‘architecture’: Buddhist: – the Stupa The gorge of the Indus: Hindu and Jain Pilgrimage and silk routes Film: John Seeley at Ellora The Chalukya-s in the Deccan The South: Pallava rock-cut ‘architecture’ and temples Fees: £50 per Module 50% concession for Dip/PDip Bhavan students Karnatic Music Theory Course description: The 5-year Karnatic Music Theory course has been developed in close association with the 5-year practical course taught by our Karnatic Vocal and Vina Teacher, Smt Sivasakti Sivanesan. The first 2 years develope notions of scale, pitch, interval, notation and rag-identification. In the 2nd year, composers such as Tyagara and Rasa are studied. The Natya Sastra, together with further ragas and composers comprise the 3rd year which also includes Melakarta scalar classification. The 4th and 5th advanced years include the development of the raga concept, detailed examination of Bharata's text on classical music, mode and interval. Edgware Outreach Classes As well as a full range of classes at our centre in Kensington, The Bhavan also conducts outreach classes at the Sangam Centre in Edgware during term time. The subjects taught are Music: Hindustani Vocal and Tabla Dance: Bharatnatyam, Kathak For more information please contact: Sangam Centre, 210 Burnt Oak Broadway, Edgware HA8 0AP. Call 020 8952 7062 Discounts on course fees may be considered for senior citizens/unemployed/those with disabilities. Techniques of Indian Miniature Paintings, by Ramu Ramdev Timings Monday 25th July - Friday July 29th, 2016. 11:00pm - 5:00pm Master Miniature Painter Ramu Ramdev will be visiting The Bhavan for the Fourth time, to share his skills with students keen to learn techniques of Traditional Indian Miniature Painting in five day workshop. Fees include the use of all painting material. An Exhibition of the Finest work of Master painter Ramu Ramdev and his brothers, Govind Ramdev, Shyamu Ramdev & Hemant Ramdev will be on show during the workshop. Previous students are welcome to bring in their framed artwork for exhibition. Fees: £150, £125 (under18) Hindustani Music - History, Theory and Practice: A series of 10 Lectures by Dr.Jameela Siddiqi Fees: £150 for complete course, £20 individual lectures ( £100 for Bhavan's existing students) Venue: The Bhavan Centre Course Description: This is designed as a general interest course for enthusiasts of North Indian Classical music and could also prove very useful for Indian music students in terms of furnishing more background on the history, theory and practice of this ancient Indian art. The lectures will cover origins and evolution as well as examining Hindustani classical music’s journey within India and beyond – from temples to Royal Courts to the public arena and, finally, on international concert stages around the world. Dr.Jameela Siddiqi: An award-winning journalist and broadcaster, Siddiqi is also a lecturer in North Indian Classical Music and a former Degree Manager for The Bhavan & Trinity-Laban’s BMus(Hons) degree course in Indian Classical Music. She has written extensively on all aspects of Indian music and dance as well as translating Hindi and Urdu poetry and is the author of two novels.
Parent‐offspring recognition is usually crucial for survival of young. In mammals, olfaction often only permits identification at short range, and vocalizations are important at longer distances. Following and hiding antipredator strategies found in newborn mammals may also affect parental recognition mechanisms. We investigated mother‐offspring recognition in fallow deer, an ungulate hider species. We analyzed the structure of adult female and fawn contact calls to determine whether they are individually distinctive and tested for mother‐offspring recognition. Only females (and not fawns) have individualized vocalizations, with the fundamental frequency as the most distinctive parameter. Playback experiments showed that fawns can distinguish the calls of their mothers from those of other females, but mothers could not discriminate their own and alien fawn calls. Thus, the vocal identification process is unidirectional. In followers, mother‐offspring acoustic recognition is mutual, and therefore the different antipredator strategies of newborn mammals may have shaped the modalities of parent‐offspring acoustic recognition. Torriani, M. V., Vannoni, E., & McElligott, A. G. (2006). Mother‐Young Recognition in an Ungulate Hider Species: A Unidirectional Process. The American Naturalist, 168(3), 412-420.
A newborn male, day of life 0, presented with respiratory distress requiring intubation. He was noted to have low set ears, micrognathia, and a cleft palate. Upon closer examination, he was also noted to have a right-sided complete aural atresia and the left canal is stenotic. His midface appeared hypoplastic and he was noted to have a cleft palate. A genetics consult was obtained and the patient was diagnosed with Treacher Collins syndrome (Figure 34-1). Surgical repair of palate was performed at 10 months of age, and a softband bone conduction device was provided in infancy for hearing habilitation. The family was counseled regarding ultimate options for reconstruction of microtia and aural atresia. Treacher Collins syndrome in an infant with severe manifestations, as seen on lateral (A) and frontal (B) views. Note the microtia (underdeveloped pinna) and aural atresia. Severe maxillary and zygomatic hypoplasia leads to downsloping lateral canthi. This infant also has a facial pit and cleft palate. (Used with permission from Prashant Malhotra, MD.) Congenital anomalies in the head and neck are numerous and varied. In this chapter, we provide a general approach to the diagnosis and management of children with these anomalies and then outline an anatomic approach to considering these abnormalities using some illustrative photographs of those commonly encountered or unique entities. Consensus terminology is critical for discussion. An anomaly is a structural or functional defect, which is present at the time of birth. A malformation is a major defect that is the result of incorrect morphogenesis. A sequence is a series of defects that occur in a nonrandom fashion. A single event then leads to a series of malformations. Pierre-Robin sequence is an example of a sequence. An association is encountered when there is a tendency of some malformations to occur together more commonly than would be expected by chance, but are not considered to be a part of an established malformation syndrome. An example is the CHARGE association, which includes coloboma, heart anomaly, choanal atresia, retarded growth, genital, or ear anomalies.1 Congenital anomalies in the head and neck are common and a thorough head and neck examination is recommended. An initial airway evaluation for signs of distress or obstruction is essential. This includes observation of retractions and desaturations, listening for stridor, stertor, as well as evaluation of the voice. Stridor is generally a higher pitched sound and can occur during inspiration, expiration, or both. Stertor sounds more like snoring and occurs on inspiration, and is more indicative of obstruction in the nasal cavity, nasopharynx, or oropharynx. A hoarse, quiet, or raspy cry may indicate vocal cord pathology such as cord immobility or ...
First Time Visitor? See instructions below table. CLICK VOWEL LETTER COMBINATIONS BELOW TO HEAR THEIR SOUND The links above provide an excellent way to practice and memorize the essential vowel sounds. If the person you are teaching to read does not have these sounds the rate at which they will learn new reading and spelling words will be dramatically The only exception being the fortunate upper 10%-20% of our readers who are able to read no matter which method they are taught. HOW TO USE THE VOWEL SOUND TEACHER ABOVE 1) Click any letter sound in the table above 2) I will say the letters and then pause 5 seconds giving you time to say the sound before I say it. 3) I then give several word examples and ask you to say it again - this time pausing for only 2-3 seconds 4) This can be used in teacher training or adult reading programs - and is an excellent resource for college professors preparing education To hear the sounds, you must have the REAL PLAYER G2 (or higher) installed on your computer. Download takes approximately 10-15 minutes with a 28K modem and is very easy to do. You only need to do this once and you'll then be able to hear all the great teaching audio and video we are placing on TampaReads.com Click the DOWNLOAD PLAYER link below - and scroll to the bottom of the page to look for the "FREE" Real Audio Player. DOWNLOAD REAL PLAYER - CLICK HERE No doubt about it - Children who have all the vowel sounds memorized will learn to spell and read at a much faster rate. Although we as educators have done a satisfactory job in making sure children have memorized their basic consonant sounds (b - d - f - etc), we have been unsuccessful in teaching our children all the essential 31 vowel sounds above. This lack of complete memorization seriously handicaps children of average and below average reading ability. Please do whatever it takes to get these sounds memorized for maximizing student reading progress. reward any student who is able to say all sounds correctly. BACK TO TampaReads.com
The United States of 1960: History and Presence Term Paper The 1960s was a decade of revolution among the various aspects in the American history that shaped the perception of such views in the present America. Majority of present happenings and information draw a correlation with the cultural, social and political revolution of the 1960s in the United States of America. Many historians argue that the sixties was a decade for the young in the United States of America (Farber, 1994). This saw the involvement of many young Americans getting involved in activities that were directed towards making the US a batter place for all people. An example of a remarkable event that saw the involvement of young people in the US was the election of the youngest US president in history; John F. Kennedy and the civil rights movements that was pioneered by Martin Luther King (Farber, 1994). Impact on Personal Experience The events of our daily lives in the present date, to a greater extend, depends on the events that happened during the 1960s. This decade laid a framework for the present happenings and the way people perceive them. Recently, I got caught up in a university student violent protest marches, which they claimed was directed towards the stringent rules and measures that the university had established in order to help increase the behavioral ethics at the university. The protests were characterized by violence and mass destruction of property that left many who were caught unawares, I being included subjected to serious injuries. The students said that the university could not consider their pleas if they had not taken it to the streets, they further asserted that the Free Speech and academic freedom of the 1964 permitted them to hold street protests. The freedom speech movement laid a ground work for student activism in the US and continues to be witnesses even today. If the Freedom Speech Movement (FSM) had never been implemented in 1964, there would be no student activism in the present times (Morgan, 1992). Another experience that would have turned differently were it not for the inventions of the 1960s was my experience when receiving medication. Laser technology was perfected during 1961 and its application extended to medicine (Ward, 2009). The medicine practice has been the same since it was first introduced however the perfection of the laser technology made it easier. My surgical operation was a fun experience through the use of laser surgery compared the way it would have been if it the diagnosis was done manually. Impact of the 1960 Events on My Career Path and Discipline My major discipline is social sciences. Social sciences basically deal with analysis of individual behaviors towards individuals. The primary objective of social science / social work is to ensure that there is deviant behavior that will affect other individual in a way that is perceived not to be correct or may harm another person (Brigid & Dye, 2007). The events of the 1960s in the United States have had a transformation in the field of social sciences today. Theories in Social Sciences Social sciences use a number of theories in day to day evaluation of social work activities. Theories in the field of social work attempt to relate between observable occurrences and notable facts and then draw a correlation with the past events in order to determine a future trend or course of action. Some of the theories used in social work include the concept of racial and gender inequality, the concept of power and ideology; which entails concepts such as liberalism, fascism, socialism and communism. All these concepts were affected during the sixties in the United States (Brigid & Dye, 2007). The concept of racial equality attempts to establish a balance between the different racial orientations in a given society. Racial prejudice is a common phenomenon in any society and therefore social sciences attempt to integrate all the different racial divisions into a one unified race. On the other hand, gender equality attempts to integrate the gender roles in a given society and therefore reducing the gap between the roles that are traditionally assigned to either males or female in a particular context. The field of social sciences, commonly characterized by social work attempts to evaluate the level of racial and gender inequality in given society, and then establish relevant strategies to approach the situation (Brigid & Dye, 2007). The concept of power and ideologies on the other hand analyses the various schools of thought that define individual to individual relationship and individual to state relationship. Various theories under this division include socialism, communism, Marxism, liberalism and capitalism. These ideologies are used to characterize the relationship between the individuals and those in power, which in most cases represent the state and its authorities. Those that have power have the capacity to influence a large group of people. One most important characteristic of power is that it is never equally distributed, at any given level. Whenever the power is equal, then there is no power or supremacy over authority (Brigid & Dye, 2007). Correlation Between Social Science Theories and the 1960s In the context of racial and gender equality, the 1960s provided a framework towards the need to have those key issues that involves racial prejudice and gender inequalities solved. A key pioneer in fighting of racial inequality during the sixties was the civil rights activist, Martin Luther king. He was influential in ensuring that people were not judged basing on the color of their skin but their personality. Martin Luther is famous for demanding equal rights between the Black Americans and the White Americans. The shift in the gender roles of the sixties can be attributed to the social revolutions of the sixties that saw a different American culture being born, on characterized with pop culture, different fashions among many others (Stuart, 2001). This shift in lifestyles was accompanied by the shift in gender roles which saw a reduction in gap between the male and female roles in the society. In terms of the concept of power, the united state of the sixties was a liberal state with the gap between the state agencies and the US citizens being reduced. It is during this decade that one of the most successful US presidents was elected, John F. Kennedy, although he was assassinated later. Various civil and human rights movements were established in order to monitor the government operations (Brigid & Dye, 2007). Social science/ work as a disciplined have undergone various transformations since the sixties. While administering social service, concepts such as gender equality and racial equality are always referred basing on the social revolution of the sixties. Presently, there are few incidences of racial and gender prejudice in the United States; this can be mostly attributed to the efforts of Martin Luther during the sixties (Brigid & Dye, 2007). International Relations and the Events of the 1960s International relations basically refer to the relationship that exists between different countries based on a mutual concept such that each country benefits from the relationship. International relations is subject to the concept of globalization (Milward, 2003); which is commonly to refer to the world as global village. The events of the 1960s laid a framework towards the realization of globalization. The Events of the 1960s and the Concept of “Global Village” The concept of global village is used to describe how the world has been virtually reduced into the size of a village, through the availability and increased use of electric media; which facilitates faster movement of information from place to place. The development of the global village is most cases is associated with the development of internet and the world wide web (Brigid & Dye, 2007). One of the major inventions of the sixties that facilitated the global village concept was the invention of the internet in 1962 by the US military. Further developments to the internet on the forthcoming years resulted to the development of the World Wide Web, which is a major communication platform in the present date. Increased and instantaneous communication helped to build on the concept of globalization which resulted to the world being virtually reduced to the size of a village, hence global village. Another aspect of the 1960s that resulted to the global village is the increased used and the availability of mass media. The 1960s saw the rise of television and radio broadcasting that used to target large audience. The television broadcasting took a different approach; the use of satellite television that could broadcast on a global level hence facilitating fast exchange of information which soon resulted to a global village (Milward, 2003). Positive Aspects of Globalization Globalization is based on the concept of universalism, implying a uniform world which involves the integration of cultural, political, economic and social factors (Morgan, 1992). The positive aspects of globalization are outlined below. Globalization is responsible for the increased investment and capital flows, this causes the flow of foreign capital and foreign investments. This is vital for the economic development of a country through increased free trade between the various countries. It can therefore be argued that globalization is the pioneer of international trade and this provides an opportunity for developing countries to enhance their economy (Morgan, 1992). Another positive aspect of globalization is that it fosters global peace. This is achieved through the integration f political and cultural factors at a global level. Such integration implies that there will be better diplomatic relations among different countries therefore resulting to global peace (Milward, 2003). Negative Aspects of Globalization Despite the good that is accompanied with globalization, there are also negative aspects that are associated with it. One of the negative aspects of globalization is that globalization is a threat to the cultural heritage that a nation or a state upholds. The integration of culture among the different nations poses a threat to the cultural values of preservative countries (Milward, 2003). This is why majority of Muslim countries are against the idea of globalization. Universal political structure means that there is a threat of the global system being controlled by a few super powers. This inhibits the global political equality among the weak nations such as developing countries. The weak nations can not therefore maintain their position of power at the global level (Milward, 2003). Brigid, H. C., & Dye, T. R. (2007). Power and Society: An Introduction to the Social Sciences. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning. Farber, D. (1994). The Age of Great Dreams: America in the 1960s. New York: Hill & Wang. Milward, B. (2003). Globalisation?: internationalisation and monopoly capitalism : historical processes and capitalist dynamism. Northhampton, MA : Edward Elgar Publishing. Morgan, E. P. (1992). The Sixties Experience: Hard Lessons About Modern America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Stuart, K. (2001). Life in America During the 1960s. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books. Ward, B. (2009). The 1960s: A Documentary Reader. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Ideology is the set of morals that the US Foreign policy is based on. Although some analysts believe that the ideology of American congressmen is forever changing, some believe that […] Columbus’s encounter with the native people of the Caribbean and the perceptions of the people were highly shaped by his background and religious beliefs. His background was centered on the […] Introduction Abraham Lincoln gave a speech in the year 1858 in which he expressed his concern over divisions that were becoming clear in the US society. He noted that both […] The main origin of the civil war in America was the declaration of seven states that had split from the U.S and grouped to form a confederacy. The main reason […] Introduction Progressive Era was a period of great reforms in the United States that occurred in the early part of 20th century. The progressives formulated reforms focused on promoting good […] Introduction The Progressive era in the United States which lasted from 1890 to 1920 was known for two things, namely that it was a period of progressive social movement and […] In the year 1862, President Abraham Lincoln had only one goal which was to save the union in whichever way he knew possible with less concentration on slavery. Restoration of […] As the American history was passing through a time of great depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt presented the NEW DEAL, a series of economic programs which were implemented in the United […] Conflicts of interest between the United States and the Soviet Union were the main cause for the cold war which replaced the Second World War in the year 1945. The […] Introduction The 1960s was a decade of revolution among the various aspects in the American history that shaped the perception of such views in the present America. Majority of present […]
Yesterday was the 837th anniversary of the English defeat of the Scots in the Battle of Alnwick (Northumberland), 13th July 1174. In the summer of 1174, King William I of Scotland threw in his lot with the other protagonists hostile to King Henry II in the ‘Great Rebellion’ of 1173-1174. William’s allies included Henry II’s three elder sons, Louis VII of France and dissident English earls such as the Earls of Chester and Norfolk. In other words, William I’s invasion of northern England in 1174, was not simply an Anglo/Scottish conflict. The combined impact of this unholy alliance was to give Henry II a major challenge to his authority. In May 1174, William’s Scottish Army invaded Cumbria, while William’s younger brother, David secured control of the Earldom of Huntingdon. To meet the challenge of William’s invasion, Robert of Estouteville, Sheriff of Northumberland and Yorkshire raised an army to combat the Scots. Interestingly, Robert was assisted by the former sheriffs of Northumberland (William de Vesci) and Yorkshire (Rannulf de Glanville). We know quite a lot about the Scots invasion because of the account of a contemporary chronicler, William of Newburgh. William of Newburgh wrote his chronicle in the 1190s, and is generally thought to be a reliable writer. William of Newburgh relates how Robert of Estouteville, de Vesci and de Glanville acted promptly to raise a force to counteract the Scots invasion. Indeed, as the chronicler relates; ”the occasion was so urgent that they had no time to collect their infantry.” [English Historical Documents, Volume II, page 377]. Arriving at Alnwick under cover of mist, the English force espied the “King of Scots with a squadron of sixty horsemen” [ ibid, page 378]. Taken completely by surprise, the English force captured King William, on 13th July, 1174. With William’s capture, the remainder of the now leaderless Scots Army “were at first thunderstruck . . . and soon after, as if goaded by the Furies, they turned against each other with the sword.” [ibid, page 379]. The Scots invasion was over, and, a fortnight after the Battle of Alnwick, on 26th July 1174, King William I was delivered to King Henry at Northampton, King William’s legs being pinioned beneath his horse, to signify Henry’s triumph. The defeat of William’s invasion heralded the wider defeat of the Great Rebellion. Perhaps today this medieval Anglo-Scottish battle at Alnwick conjures up the apparently increasingly extreme feelings of English/Scottish nationalism which seem increasingly common in 2011. Increased intense sporting rivalry between England and Scotland, combined with separatist political developments have seemingly begun to engender a fervent patriotism (especially in Scotland), which threatens to undermine the shared heritage of both countries within the UK. Such zealous appeals to nationalism inevitably make spurious entreaties to History, in order to justify the misguided policies of political separation which are increasingly in evidence within the UK in 2011. It might therefore be the case that modern-day nationalists could use the Anglo/Scottish conflict of 837 years ago in the north of England to glorify their ill-advised policies of political separation, on the ‘Braveheart’ model. In fact, Scotland did rather well within the Angevin Empire; and Anglo/Scottish co-operation was as much a feature of Anglo-Scottish relations in the Angevin Empire as conflict – if not more so. The key element governing relations between England and Scotland in the Angevin period between 1154 and 1216 was delimiting the Anglo-Scots border, within the Empire. The policies pursued by the Angevin kings towards Scotland differed. Henry II pursued policies which effectively amounted to favouring Scottish devolution within the Angevin Empire. In contrast, his successor, Richard, seemed to favour Scots independence. It is my contention that Henry’s policies of devolution were in reality more realistic for Scotland:- - In 1157, King Henry II and King Malcolm IV of Scotland agreed that all the English territory the Scots had obtained under King Stephen would be restored to England. It is true that this co-operation reflects some bullying by Henry, who was anxious for a foreign policy success to cement his recent accession to the English throne; but Malcolm was not humiliated, as he was granted his father’s old earldom of Huntingdon in England, as well as the territory of Tynedale in Northumberland. - In December 1174, after his abortive invasion of northern England, King William I of Scotland was released from custody, after agreeing to the Treaty of Falaise. By this treaty, Henry II took possession of the Scottish castles of Berwick, Edinburgh, Jedburgh, Roxburgh and Stirling. This may again at first sight seem like Henry bullying the Scots, rather than genuinely negotiating with them, but this would be a mistaken view. Henry was punishing William for his rebellion – he was making a political point, rather than trying to dominate Scotland. Henry believed that the Scots should rule themselves, within the Angevin Empire. Henry never garrisoned Stirling, and returned Edinburgh to William in 1186, after William had demonstrated his trustworthiness. In contrast, Richard was prepared to countenance Scots independence. Soon after his accession, In December 1189, Richard and William signed the ‘Quit Claim of Canterbury’. This agreement ostensibly favoured Scots independence because, by abrogating the Treaty of Falaise, it effectively conceded Scots independence from the Angevin Empire. However, on second sight, it does not appear that Scotland benefitted unduly from the Quit claim. To begin with, William had to ‘buy’ Scots independence; for the not inconsiderable sum (for a poor country) of £6,666. In addition, Richard had certainly not abandoned designs on Scotland. Richard schemed to make Otto of Brunswick (his nephew) King of Scotland after William’s death. This would be achieved by getting Otto to marry Margaret, William’s daughter and heir. In fact, this scheme came to nothing; but only because in 1198, William had a son, the future Alexander II of Scotland. King Alexander II imitated his father in October 1215 by invading northern England, at a time when the last Angevin monarch, John, was facing opposition from all sides. The invasion did Alexander no good, as John’s forces expelled the Scots from northern England in January 1216. (1) The final chapter in Anglo/Scottish relations was concluded by King Alexander II of Scotland, and King John’s son, King Henry III. In September 1237, the two monarchs signed The Treaty of York, by which King Alexander quitclaimed all his hereditary rights to the northern English counties of Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland. That settled the Anglo-Scottish border dispute once and for all; but by then, the Angevin Empire had itself disintegrated. Scotland was by then gradually developing the ‘Auld Alliance’ with France, which was in reality a euphemistic phrase masking Scotland’s increasing subservience to France. France effectively duped Scotland in the later Middle Ages, by using it as a pawn in its struggles with England. For all its support for France in the later medieval period, Scotland received hardly any tangible rewards. (2) It is my contention that Scotland really prospered within the Angevin Empire under King Henry II, under the latter monarch’s enlightened policy of effectively supporting Scottish devolution. Here, surely, is the parallel for Scotland to follow in the 21st century: a devolved Scotland, prospering within the UK, rather than following spurious independence outside of it, on the model of the medieval ‘Auld Alliance’.
EBOLA GENOME BROWSER ONLINE TO AID RESEARCHERS RESPONSE TO CRISIS The UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute late Tuesday (Sept. 30) released a new Ebola genome browser to assist global efforts to develop a vaccine and antiserum to help stop the spread of the Ebola virus. The team led by University of California, Santa Cruz researcher Jim Kent worked around the clock for the past week, communicating with international partners to gather and present the most current data. The Ebola virus browser aligns five strains of Ebola with two strains of the related Marburg virus. Within these strains, Kent and other members of the UC Santa Cruz Genome Browser team have aligned 148 individual viral genomes, including 102 from the current West Africa outbreak. UC Santa Cruz has established the UCSC Ebola Genome Portal with links to the new Ebola genome browser as well as links to all the relevant scientific literature on the virus. "Ebola has been one of my biggest fears ever since I learned about it in my first microbiology class in 1997," said Kent, who 14 years ago created the first working draft of the human genome. "We need a heroic worldwide effort to contain Ebola. Making an informatics resource like the genome browser for Ebola researchers is the least we could do." Scientists around the world can access the open-source browser to compare genetic changes in the virus genome and areas where it remains the same. The browser allows scientists and researchers from drug companies, other universities, and governments to study the virus and its genomic changes as they seek a solution to halt the epidemic. The release of the new Ebola genome browser comes as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday confirmed the first case of Ebola in the United States. The Ebola browser was started shortly after a phone conversation between Kent and his sister, an epidemiologist at the CDC, who spoke of how she and her staff were consumed with Ebola research in the face of the escalating crisis. UC Santa Cruz Professor Phil Berman, an HIV specialist, had also asked Kent for help with his efforts in developing a vaccine for Ebola. Kent asked his supervisor, UC Santa Cruz bioinformatics researcher David Haussler, if he could divert his team to Ebola work. Haussler replied with an enthusiastic affirmative, and they pulled together a team of UC Santa Cruz bioinformatics scientists that, within a week, was able to create a fully functional Ebola genome browser. "The incredible speed with which this group was able to assemble all the genetic information about Ebola and make it available to the world shows what a great team Jim Kent has assembled," Haussler said. In June 2000, Kent and Haussler released the first working draft of the human genome sequence on the web. Two months later, Kent developed the UCSC Genome Browser, which has become an essential resource to biomedical science. In a similar marshaling of forces in the face of a worldwide threat 11 years ago, UC Santa Cruz researchers created a SARS virus browser.
Xanax History and Statistics Xanax is the well-known brand name for alprazolam. This medication belongs to a class of sedative and anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) drugs called benzodiazepines. History of Xanax Xanaxis most commonly prescribed to treat: - Panic disorders. Dr. Leo Sternbach created the first benzodiazepine, chlordiazepoxide (Librium), in 1956 in an attempt to create safer, less addictive alternatives to traditional tranquilizer drugs such as alcohol, barbiturates, and meprobamate. First introduced in the US market in 1981, alprazolam is distinguished by: - Intermediate onset of action. - Shorter half-life, or quicker elimination from the body than other commonly prescribed benzodiazepines such as Valium or Librium. Xanax became widely used in anxiety disorders because it provides rapid symptom relief for these disorders (within a week of beginning treatment) and shows no decrease in its effectiveness over time, even when used for several years. Like many other anxiolytic and sedative drugs, alprazolam works by binding ?-aminobutyric acid A (GABAA) receptors in the brain, which decreases the overall level of brain activity. By activating GABAA receptors, Xanax reduces feelings of anxiety and panic in patients, but it can also produce euphoria when taken in larger doses, leading some people to abuse this medication. Abuse, Dependence, and Withdrawal Among Xanax Users Although benzodiazepines were initially thought to have little potential for abuse , dependence and withdrawal symptoms are now well known for many of these drugs—including alprazolam. In fact, severe withdrawal symptoms can be observed when individuals stop taking alprazolam suddenly—even in patients who take this drug exactly as directed. For this reason, doctors gradually reduce a patient’s dose over time before directing them to stop taking it altogether. In users who become dependent outside of a doctor’s care, withdrawal symptoms are often pronounced and include: Despite problems with abuse and withdrawal, Xanax is still commonly prescribed because it remains a very effective treatment for anxiety, and laboratory studies have suggested its abuse potential is lower than older alternatives. However, this does not suggest it has no potential for abuse or addiction. Non-medical use or inappropriate doses can quickly lead to a problem. Xanax dependency can lead to users to seek it out illegitimately for non-medical use. The high number of legal prescriptions for alprazolam being issued has increased the availability of this drug on the street. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has identified “doctor shopping” and prescription forging as major sources of alprazolam on the black market. Who’s Abusing Xanax? Since 2006, there has been a rapid increase in the number of people admitted to drug treatment centers in the US for sedative or tranquilizer use in general—as well as for Xanax, in particular. This increase tracks closely with the increase in legal prescriptions written for Xanax and other forms of alprazolam over the same time period, suggesting that the increase in legal availability of these medications may be indirectly fueling their abuse. It is a hopeful sign that treatment admissions for alprazolam abuse have leveled off and the number of people reporting recent non-medical use of Xanax or related drugs has declined in recent years. Such figures may indicate that the peak of alprazolam abuse has passed, but whether these trends will continue remains unknown. The following statistics further illustrate the current picture of alprazolam and benzodiazepine abuse: - The 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that young adults were the most likely to have ever used alprazolam or the closely related drug lorazepam for non-medical purposes. The rate of abuse for those aged 18-25 (10.3%) was nearly double that for people aged 26 or over (5.7%). - Alprazolam and other benzodiazepines are frequently combined with other drugs by abusers. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, more than 50% of the nearly 176,000 emergency room visits for benzodiazepines in 2011 also involved alcohol or other drugs. - A 2011 study in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence reported that men and women and all racial groups were equally represented among young adults abusing benzodiazepines in nightclubs. Online Interest in Xanax Additionally, Google Trends shows that monthly numbers of Internet searches including the term “Xanax” have nearly doubled since 2004, with the highest increases concentrated in the southern and eastern regions of the country. The Xanax Market Over 49 million prescriptions for alprazolam were written in 2012, making this drug the second-most prescribed psychoactive drug that year after the narcotic painkiller hydrocodone. According to figures from the DEA, alprazolam is one of the top 3 prescription drugs being diverted to the black market. Because alprazolam is available as a generic, costs for legal prescriptions are very low, ranging from $17-$27 for 30 2mg tablets, or between $0.56 and $0.90 per pill. The street cost of alprazolam varies significantly, but has been estimated at $5 per 2mg tablet. This high profit margin likely explains why such a large amount of this drug is diverted to illicit use. Xanax and the Law In the US, alprazolam is available by prescription only. Furthermore, this drug is classified as a Schedule IV controlled substance by the DEA, reflecting the consensus that this drug has a relatively low, but real, potential for abuse or dependence. The increase in abuse that has been reported in the last 10 years has led to efforts to further restrict its use. Tennessee has enacted rules requiring doctors to: - Check patients’ drug histories in a statewide database before prescribing drugs such as Xanax. - Dispense no more than a 30-day supply at one time. In the United Kingdom, alprazolam is no longer made available through the public National Health Service. Legal Penalties of Using Xanax Doctors and pharmacists are required to keep detailed records when prescribing or dispensing alprazolam. Users found to be in possession of the drug without a prescription can be subject to: - Up to 5 years in prison for a 1st offense. - 10 years for a 2nd offense under federal drug laws. These penalties apply for any quantity of Xanax, even a single pill. Additionally, states can apply their own penalties to cases involving controlled substances. In Florida, for example, anyone convicted of illegal possession of Xanax: - Must have their driver’s license revoked for a minimum of 2 years. - Are subject to other penalties. How Dangerous Is Xanax? The motivation behind the development of alprazolam and other benzodiazepines, as stated earlier, was to find safe and effective alternatives to older sedative and anxiolytic drugs. However, the dangers of abuse and dependence associated with alprazolam is greater than initially thought. Overdose with alprazolam can cause symptoms of sedation including drowsiness or confusion, but life-threatening symptoms are rare when this drug is taken alone. However, abusers frequently combine Xanax with other drugs—such as alcohol or cocaine—to enhance the drugs’ effects; such combinations can indeed be deadly if large doses are taken. Multiple studies have reported that drinkers and former drug abusers experience significantly greater mental impairment when taking alprazolam than other people. This suggests that such groups are at greater risk of abusing alprazolam and may experience more severe adverse reactions if they do. Increases in emergency room visits due to alprazolam have increased in parallel with the increase in abuse observed in the last 10 years. The fact that approximately 50% of Xanax-related emergency room visits do not involve any other drugs demonstrates that there is still a real danger to health, even to those who do not combine alprazolam with other drugs. To share your story or talk to others who understand, visit our Forum today. - US National Library of Medicine. (2016). Alprazolam. - Google Trends - Web Search interest: Xanax - United States, 2004-present - Drug Enforcement Administration. (2013). Benzodiazepines. - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2013). National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) 2012 and 2013. - QuintilesIMS. (n.d.). Top 25 Medicines by Dispensed Prescriptions (U.S.). - Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2014). The DAWN Report: Benzodiazepines in Combination with Opioid Pain Relievers or Alcohol: Greater Risk of More Serious ED Visit Outcomes. - Kurtz SP, Surratt HL, Levi-Minzi MA, Mooss A. Benzodiazepine dependence among multidrug users in the club scene. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2011 Dec 1;119(1-2):99-105. - Verster JC, Volkerts ER. Clinical pharmacology, clinical efficacy, and behavioral toxicity of alprazolam: a review of the literature. CNS Drug Rev. 2004 Spring;10(1):45-76.
Greek History from the Bronze Age to Alexander Formerly: GRS 201 Survey of Greek history from the emergence of Minoan-Mycenaean civilization until the death of Alexander the Great. Emphasis on the relationship of the Greeks to other Mediterranean and Near Eastern civilizations, the nature of the Greek polis, Greek colonization, the rise of democracy and Athenian, Spartan, Theban and Macedonian bids for leadership in Greece. - Credit will be granted for only one of GRS 331, GRS 201, CLAS 330.
Monday, April 14, 2014 Apparently some folks are concerned that seeing a "blood moon"means the earth is going to end or something like that.While I have complete respect to anyone and everyone's religious beliefs, this time science can come to the rescue. There is a full lunar eclipse tonight. This means that the moon, the Earth and the Sun are all lined up with the Earth in the middle - the moon is in the Earth's umbra, or shadow. The moon isn't completely invisible though - because of the angle at which the light from the sun passes through the Earth's atmosphere, the moon appears reddish. This is where the name "blood moon"comes from. There will be another total lunar eclipse sometime this autumn - I forget exactly when. There are between two and five lunar eclipses each year, although not all of them are full eclipses. Sometimes the full moon in October is called the Blood Moon. This, like another traditional name, the Hunters Moon, is referring to the fact that October is when animals were slain to prepare for the long winter ahead.
Museums in LahoreEdit This While in Pakistan, don't miss the opportunity to see one of the many Lahore Museums. Pakistan is a country steeped in deep cultural traditions and with Lahore lying at the hub of it all, it is a great place to see cultural relics. The largest museum is Lahore Museum, also known as the Central Museum. It is the oldest in the country, and dates back to 1864. Being one of the largest museums in South Asia it contains many artifacts significant to Pakistani culture and history. The most notable collection in the museum is the Fasting Buddha, which draws throngs of Japanese tourists to the area. The Lahore museum includes musical instruments, ancient jewelery, textiles, pottery, armory, and paintings that date back to the Mughal, Sikh and British reigns. Visitors should schedule between 2 and 3 hours to properly take in all the sights. Another museum of interest is the Armourey Museum, also known as the Fort Museum. It is said that the architecture of the museum is worth the trip alone, with its classic Mughal era workmanship. The city has 6 museums in total, ranging in size and scope: - Allama Iqbal Museum - Lahore Fort Museum - Faqir Khana Museum - Holy Museum of the Badshahi Masjid - Museum of Science and Technology - Zoological Museum So, while in Lahore check out the various museums to enrich your knowledge of the different eras in Pakistan's history. The museums of Science and Technology and the Zoological Museum will help provide visitors in depth knowledge in more modern aspects of the country. Lahore is a city in Pakistan that is known for its rich historical and cultural heritage. It is regarded as the capital of the Punjab province in Pakistan, and it is sometimes referred to as the "Garden of Mughals," because it was once the capital of the Mughal Empire. Due to its illustrious history, Lahore is home to many interesting museums, which are dedicated to Mughal and Sikh cultures, as well as other important developments in the history of the city and the nation. The most visited museum in the city is the Lahore Museum. This museum was founded in 1894, and it is considered one of the most important museums in South Asia. It has a wide collection of artifacts and paintings that date back to the times of the Mughal and Sikh empires. Visitors can also find Graeco-Bractian relics as well as Nepalese and Tibetan artwork. One of the highlights of the museum is The Fasting Buddha, an impressive statue that was created in the 2nd century. Mughal and Sikh Gallery Those who wish to discover Lahore’s art heritage should visit the Mughal and Sikh Gallery. This gallery was established in 1928, and it features some of the finest artwork from the Mughal and Sikh empires. Fakir Khana Museum There is also a museum that is dedicated to the appreciation of Muslim culture in Lahore. The Fakir Khana Museum houses the private collection of a Muslim ascetic, which consists of more than 13,000 pieces of artwork and relics, a few of which allegedly belonged to Mohammed. Other museums that are worth visiting in Lahore include the Armoury Museum in the Old Fort, the Allama Iqbal Museum, Chughatai Museum, Arts and Craft Museum, Shakir Ali Museum and the Science Museum.
So, I've been project euler problems lately, and hit one that asks for the 10,001st prime number. After some research, it seems as if a sieve is the way to go. Though, I'm not sure how to implement it. I was originally thinking of making a struct to hold a hold a number, and a bool saying whether it's composite or not. Though this would require making probably 100k plus objects of this, and that definitely seems pretty slow and sloppy. Any suggestions? I solved this problem a long time ago, and what I remember I did was to use an array of booleans, and to apply the algorithm of the sieve and set a position to true if it was a prime. It ran pretty fast, and I remember the runtime was less than a second... and that's saying something, considering I wrote it in Java. Never done this myself. Seems like you make a bool array (much larger than 10001), and set everything to true. Then consider the index in the array to be the number you are checking: I don't know if you're reading this, but I've learned as I posted. Make yourself a very large bool array and set all of the values to true. The integer you deal with is the index in the array. and don't count, our first prime is . 2 is prime, which means that 4,6,8... is not prime, so go through the array setting every multiple of 2 to false. Then increase your counter to 3, look at if it is true. Since it is, every index that is a multiple of three is false. Then go through looking for true, so skip over 4 and find 5.... Repeat It's proven that when you increase your index looking for "true", the index you find is a prime number. There is no math type math going on.
At the secondary level, core computer science (CS) concepts and practices are taught in courses typically within the information technology (IT) career cluster under the umbrella of career and technical education (CTE). However, CS concepts and practices are also increasingly being incorporated into academics and also electives (and are influenced by art and design). No matter the discipline, creating computational artifacts is one of the core CS practices students should consistently experience to become better problem-solvers. Computational artifacts may include images, videos, presentations, audio files and computer programs. Precise and consistent practice in computer programming (CP) will help students construct cross-curricular knowledge in tandem with both academic and CS concepts and practices. As CP is the process of writing a program from start to finish, students receive exposure in the amalgamation of practices 3-6 found in the K-12 Computer Science Framework. So, how can we successfully engage students in CP? Here’s how we can do so in four major steps. Step 1: Identify the problem When students are new to CP, we typically start teaching them how to program and code using tutorials. Although there’s nothing wrong with that, we don’t want to keep them there. Usually the writer of a tutorial has already identified both the problem and the solution of the program. The best way for kids to learn is by writing their own problems and solutions and creating their own programs. Otherwise, they will focus more on learning to code specific functions in a particular language, which is generally no different than rote memorization, which should be replaced with the development of working memory. Identifying (or defining) the problem is the most critical part of the CP process as students will need to develop a concrete plan for what their complete program will do. This process involves identifying both the known inputs (or given data) and what is to be obtained via outputs (the result). Although CP isn’t a simple process, consistent and precise practice will build student confidence over time in articulating the details on the kind of input, processing and output desired for their programs. To get students started in programming, read this great intro to a lesson for building and sharing apps by Code.org. Step 2: Find a solution To find or plan the solution to the problem identified in Step 1, students can either create a flowchart or write pseudocode. Experienced programmers can and will use either of these methods to convey program development to clients, teachers, etc. A flowchart is a step-by-step solution to a problem that uses a pictorial representation of the direction of the program and consists of arrows, boxes and other symbols that represent actions (i.e., input/output, process, etc.). Pseudocode is similar to English and is used to convey the solution with more accuracy than in plain English — but with less meticulousness required by a formal programming language. The solution process enables the programmer to focus on the logical flow of the program without having to adhere to the actual syntax used by the programming language for the project. Check out this fun Technovation lesson to help your students plan their code. Step 3: Code it Often coding is confused with programming, but coding is just one part of the programming process. Good coders can create instructions from the solutions (discussed in Step 2) and write them into code for the computer to understand. This is where the algorithmic design skills from computational thinking come into play. It helps when you think of your problem as a math problem, not because you’re always doing a lot of math while programming, but because the thought process is the same. In mathematics we often use algorithmic sets of instructions that we follow in a sequence of steps to achieve a goal. That process is likened to both a well-detailed flowchart and code (in a specific programming language). Practicing coding will help students understand that coding isn’t complicated when they learn how to think logically and in steps. Getting students started by writing simple programs will teach them how to give computers instructions, how computers actually work and that good coders aren’t vague and don’t skip steps. They will also understand that the code they write is processed (translated) by a compiler into machine language for execution. For kids new to coding, I recommend starting with a visual programming language (VPL), which allows kids to describe their algorithms using illustrations and lets coders describe the process in terms that make sense to them. Here are some popular VPLs: - Scratch, ScratchJr - Ardublock (block programming language for Arduino) - ROBOLAB (programming language for LEGO Robotics) - ROBOTC (graphical for VEX Robotics) - LabVIEW (National Instruments) Although there are several ways to get students started in coding, I highly recommend your entire school participate in an Hour of Code and also teach kids to code within the context of a STEM/STEAM design challenge. Step 4: Test it Testing in CP is a critical process used to determine the quality of a program and find bugs (problems). As a college intern, I was first introduced to testing and debugging of ActiveX Controls in the Visual Basic programming language. Although testing has different levels and will determine if programs work or don’t — working to find bugs for the software developers to correct was very powerful in helping me understand the quality of the programs I used every day and also the importance of updating them regularly. Requiring students to present their work publicly, is an excellent technique for engaging and instilling in them the importance of the testing process for discussing and showcasing high-quality CS work. Again, the App Lab (in Step 1) is a great lesson and project for helping kids learn CP from start to testing. CP for different grade levels Computer programming can be taught at all grade levels. Here are some tools to use with various ages and levels of learners. Grades 3-8: littleBits Code Kit. The code kit comes equipped with electronic building blocks and an app with coding tutorials, and is an excellent scaffold for teaching students the concepts of coding, light, sound and motion in the context of a design challenge or invention. What I find most powerful about the code kit is the app because it helps users become grounded in basic coding principles. A good coder, no matter the language or coding experience, will need to understand the basics — like input/output, loops, functions, variables and also logic. Success always relates to developing internal self-mastery of the fundamentals. Like Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, once said, “Put first things first.” The code kit also works in conjunction with all of the educational resources an educator would need, including lesson plans, student handouts and alignment to the Next Generation Science Standards. Many of the resources were tested and developed by the littleBits Lead Educator Cohort of 2017 and as a proud member, I was very fortunate to have worked and learned with such a talented group of educators! Grades 6-8: robotics. Getting kids started in programming is fairly easy. In my previous role as a curriculum specialist, we used the Lego Mindstorms robot as the intro. These were the steps we took in helping kids understand key concepts, as well as programming: - Build their robots. Practically every kid loved this part. - Learn the basics. Through exploring tutorials, they learned about motors, sensors, gears and other components. - Learn to program. The brick had six built-in missions, which enabled students to see how to make the robot move with motors and respond to touch or motion with sensors. As they became more accustomed to the built-in programs, they started making their own programs, using ROBOLAB programming blocks. - Connect to CS and STEM. We found that this helped greatly elucidate the concepts and practice of both pattern recognition and algorithmic design. And then, of course, lessons in CS and STEM, which included coding, force and motion, and design and technology. We also found that the VEX IQ Kit was great for similar purposes and we used both VEX and Lego, based on the different competitive events that our students participated in. I recently began learning to program the VEX EDR when I participated in an Engineering Design course training with the International Technology and Engineering Educator’s Association. It was there that I met and was partnered with Tim Oltman — the Martha Layne Collins high school teacher of the year. He and fellow teacher Shane Ware have considerable experience teaching kids to program robots for various VEX robotics competitive events and have won numerous awards in Kentucky. I asked Tim for his thoughts on how teachers should proceed when moving kids from programming in a VPL to a C-based program like for VEX, and he said, “First, build relationships with your students, and then learn with them. Let them see you try and fail, and they will enjoy struggling through the process with you. Eventually, they will surpass you and become the teachers.” Jorge Valenzuela is an educational coach and a graduate teaching assistant at Old Dominion University. He is also the lead coach for Lifelong Learning Defined, Inc., a national faculty of the Buck Institute for Education, a national teacher effectiveness coach with the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) and part of the Lead Educator program for littleBits. You can connect with Jorge on Twitter @JorgeDoesPBL to continue the conversation.
Forth Bridge opens Spanning the Firth Of Forth , the Forth Bridge is a titanic structure whose steel frame shoulders both trains and the burden of history as being, arguably, Scotland’s most iconic feat of civil engineering. It took seven years to complete. The making of the bridge – an industrial skeleton of steel – was as dangerous an undertaking as the fight for the River Kwai. There is some doubt as to the number of men who lost their lives in its construction, but between 57 and 98 men never returned to their families. Thousands were injured. Some who had fallen from their working stations were picked up by rescue boats. This was a precarious business. From the 11th Century the crossing between North Queensferry and South Queensferry had been an important route for religious pilgrims making their way from Edinburgh to Dunfermline and St Andrews . So much so that a road or rail route was hugely desired as an alternative to the ferry. But this was a time when civil engineering in Scotland was recoiling from the Tay Bridge Disaster. On the 28th December, 1879 , 75 people died when Sir Thomas Bouch’s Tay Bridge collapsed, taking a passenger train into the river below. The Tay Bridge was an iconic construction, but when a enquiry was launched into its collapse, Bouch’s design was faulted. This left the Forth Bridge project at a crossroads. Bouch’s professional reputation was seriously damaged, and his original design for the Forth Bridge was now rejected. He died soon after. The Forth Bridge project was, however, still a priority – it was imperative that Edinburgh and Lothian would have a direct crossing, reflecting the importance of both areas to Scotland’s economy. Scotland was entering a brave new age of industrial endeavour, the Forth Bridge was just a matter of time. In 1883, a cantilever bridge designed by Sir John Fowler, Sir Benjamin Baker and Allan Stewart went into production. Using only steel – over 55,000 tonnes of it – and over 8 million rivets, Sir William Arrol & Co. were tasked with the bridge’s construction. Of the thousands of men who grafted on the bridge, the final rivet was the responsibility of royalty. At the bridge’s opening ceremony the last rivet, cast in gold, was hammered in by the Prince Of Wales and future King Edward VII . Built by blood, toil and steel, it stands to this day – one of the strongest symbols of Scotland’s nationhood, and its aptitude for industrial endeavour. More famous dates here 6030 views since 4th March 2008
- Development & Aid - Economy & Trade - Human Rights - Global Governance - Civil Society Saturday, September 23, 2017 MEXICO CITY, Jan 14 2013 (IPS) - The Coatzacoalcos river basin in southern Mexico is so polluted that you can sense the mercury in the air, feel it and breathe it, and the population living in the area is only too aware of its undesirable neighbours: refineries and petrochemical complexes that emit this toxic element into the air and water. “People are concerned about the situation and want solutions. We are talking to the communities in order to take strong action,” activist Isaúl Rodríguez, head of the Tatexco Ecological Producers Association (APETAT), told IPS from the affected area. This NGO has some 2,500 members whose livelihoods are affected by their location close to the petrochemical plants and refineries established in the basin, in the southeastern state of Veracruz. Their plight illustrates the problems associated with emission and management of mercury faced by Mexico, just as the fifth and final round of negotiations for an International Treaty on Mercury is being held Jan. 14-18 in Geneva. This will be the first legally binding global treaty to limit mercury emissions. A study released on Jan. 9 about the petrochemical industry in the Coatzacoalcos river basin, which has implications in the context of ongoing international treaty negotiations, was eloquent in stating reasons for concern. The average mercury level in the samples of human hair from the Coatzacoalcos basin was 1.7 times the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reference dose of one part per million. The results “make us worry about the problem we face. People wonder whether they are going to die, or what will happen if they seek medical treatment. It’s a difficult social and economic problem,” Lorenzo Bozada, head of Ecología y Desarrollo Sostenible en Coatzacoalcos (Ecology and Sustainable Development in Coatzacoalcos), an NGO, told IPS. Bozada took part in taking samples and writing the research report, together with two other independent organisations: the Mexican Centre for Analysis and Action on Toxins and their Alternatives (CAATA) and the Arnika Association of the Czech Republic. The report is part of the Global Fish and Community Mercury Monitoring Project, coordinated by the International Persistent Organic Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) and the U.S. Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI). The study covered 25 municipalities, with a population of close to two million people and economic activities that include fishing, livestock raising and cultivating maize, squash and fruit. The state General Lázaro Cárdenas refinery, which processes 285,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, is located at Minatitlán, on the banks of the Coatzacoalcos river, while in the nearby city of Coatzacoalcos, on the same river, is the state Pajaritos petrochemical complex, in whose grounds a private chlor-alkali plant operates, using mercury in its manufacturing process. Exposure to mercury, which is naturally present in air, soil and water, can harm the nervous, immune and digestive systems, the skin, lungs, kidneys and eyes. It is also harmful to foetal neurological development. The toxic element enters soil and water through the use of fertilisers, small scale artisanal gold mining, the use of mercury thermometers, and energy saving light bulbs. The case of the Coatzacoalcos river basin does not appear to be unique in the country, although there are not enough data to be sure. A 2012 study, “Patterns of Global Seafood Mercury Concentrations and their Relationship with Human Health,” conducted by David Evers, Madeline Turnquist and David Bucks, all researchers at the BRI, indicates that the highest mercury concentrations are found in the Gulfs of California and Mexico, on the border with the United States. “Mexico’s policies are inadequate. There is a need for a more systematic programme on the presence of mercury at the national level, and for more work on critical areas, like this river basin,” the head of CAATA, Fernando Bejarano, told IPS before travelling to Geneva for the final negotiations of the treaty, which has been promoted since 2009 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Mercury Watch, an international alliance, says that small scale artisanal gold mining emitted 7.5 tonnes of mercury in Mexico in 2010, when the country exported 134.24 tonnes of mercury and imported 13.89 tonnes, almost all from the United States. The Mexican Mercury Market Report for 2011, prepared by José Castro for the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America, estimates there are nearly 27 million tonnes of mercury waste, accumulated in mines and the chlor-alkali industry. Trade in mercury is a challenge for Mexico because the European Union has banned exports since 2011, while the United States has prohibited exports of elemental mercury effective Jan. 1, 2013, making it difficult for Mexico to acquire the metal. Mexican policy has focused on studying domestic issues related to mercury and withdrawing its use from hospitals, as shown in the letter sent to the UNEP in August 2010, when Mexico joined the Mercury Products Partnership. But it does not address recycling. In another letter sent on Aug. 31 by the Directorate General for Global Issues of the Office of the Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights, to the UNEP Division of Technology, Industry and Economics, the Mexican government stated that the minimum limits for reporting emissions and transfers of mercury and its compounds are one and five kilogrammes a year, respectively. “PEMEX (the Mexican state oil company) must take responsibility for reducing and monitoring mercury emissions, and it has a historic environmental debt towards the people who live in this region. The Health Secretariat (ministry) should carry out a clinical and epidemiological assessment of the impacts and take steps to reduce exposure,” Bozada said. The IPEN network is critical of the draft treaty on the table because it does not demand clean-up of contaminated sites, payment for bio-remediation or compensation for accident victims. It also absolves the oil and gas sector of responsibilities. “Mexico should achieve a higher commitment in these sectors,” said CAATA’s Bejarano about the treaty, which, if all goes as planned, will be signed in October by the 128 states participating in the negotiations. But for producers like Rodríguez, the head of APETAT, the treaty is a pipe dream and there are few other options. “To begin with (there) could be a ban fishing, so that fishers are not exposed to mercury, and then it is essential that the polluting companies help the people,” he said. IPS is an international communication institution with a global news agency at its core, raising the voices of the South and civil society on issues of development, globalisation, human rights and the environment Copyright © 2017 IPS-Inter Press Service. All rights reserved. - Terms & Conditions You have the Power to Make a Difference Would you consider a $20.00 contribution today that will help to keep the IPS news wire active? 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Oberleutnant Friedrich Freiherr von Hadeln led a reconnaissance section during the war in German South West Africa. He played a prominent part in supporting the South African rebel forces and was involved in the German attack on Kakamas, the only invasion of a British Commonwealth town by German forces in the First World War. Background to the Raid: At the end of 1914 South Africa was in a predicament. The government had entered the war on the side of the Allies, but many high ranking officers had gone into open rebellion and had taken to the field with groups of Boers who thought the time had come to finally kick the British out of southern Africa. Amongst the most dangerous rebels was Manie Maritz, commander of the troops on the South West African border who instead of getting ready to attack the Germans, crossed the border and joined them. Riding to join Maritz was General J.C.G Kemp, another hero of the Boer war. He had led his group of 800 men on a dramatic chase of 700 miles through the Kalahari Desert losing most of their horses and almost 300 men. By the end of the chase most of his men had lost their horses and were marching and fighting on foot. The conditions endured by Kemp and his pursuers can best be summed up by a doctor in the Loyalist Govt forces who wrote “I had seen Kemp’s pursuers pass through Prieska and, when they came back disappointed over his gallant escape, I saw their over-ridden, starving horses so desperately hungry that they devoured the guide ropes of a number of our tents”. Leutnant von Hadeln, Kommandant D. F. Flemming, General J. C. G. Kemp, Veggeneraal A. P. J. Bezuidenhout. Flemming and Bezuidenhout were part of Gen. Kemp's commando that trekked through the Kalahari desert to meet up with Gen. Maritz. (This superb Photo courtesy of Gordon McGregor) Kemp and his men joined Maritz and his men as well as a “Burenfreikorps” that had been been formed in South West Africa from Boers who lived there. Maritz had promised the Germans more than he could deliver. Although they were keen to see a rebellion in South Africa the general lack of discipline of the Boers did little to satisfy the German sense of order. Maritz’s organisational skills were disastrous. At the end of January 1915 Maritz and his men were to attack the Loyalist government forces at Upington. To support them the Germans sent a detachment under Major Ritter to attack Steinkopf. Hearing of the failure of Maritz’s attack Major Ritter changed direction towards Upington hoping to support the Boers but then changed direction again and headed towards Kakamas, a town along the Orange river about fifty km south of Upington. Here, for want of a better target Ritter decided to attack. The detachment had 205 men, four artillery pieces and four machine guns. Left: Typical terrain in the area in which the raid took place. A member of the detachment wrote: The advance went through areas where there was little or no fodder or water to be found. There had been no possibility to arrange for supplies along the way as the orders had come at such short notice. The Boers under Maritz had left eight days earlier and on the evening of the 31st of January, as we left Ukamas, we received the news that despite an initial success at Upington, they had been beaten. In the following days we heard that they had negotiated with the enemy and that most had surrendered. Maritz had returned with a handful of followers, Hausding's battery and the machine guns. In spite of this setback our advance continued. There was no specific goal, but Kakamas on the Oranje River was where we headed. Right: A map of the GSWA-South Africa border. From Gerald L'Ange's excellent book "Urgent Imperial Service" On the morning of the first of February we reached Nakab, on the border. There was not a single blade of grass and very little water. Not all the horses were able to drink before we left that night in spite of the men working all day on the well. That night we marched to Esterhuizenputz, a farm with good grazing, but only one well. Once again the men spent the day trying to get water for the horses. There was barely enough for the horses of the 1. Komp. and 2. Batt. The 8. Komp. had to move ten km further to Longklipp where the horses could drink from a muddy pond. During the night we marched fifty km to Ceydas on the Molopo where once again we found bad grazing and little water. Once again during the day the men and animals had little rest. A "Bastard" (from the Bastard tribe) was questioned about Kakamas. He informed us that there were two ferries across the river and that about 1000 soldiers were encamped there. We were also told that telephone cables ran along our side of the river. That evening we marched through Luriputz whose superb well had unfortunately been destroyed. At this point our excess baggage was sent back. In the night of the third-fourth of February we halted about five km form the Oranje River. We had covered 175 km from Ukamas. The Patrol Abteilung von Hadeln, always a number of hours ahead to reconnoitre the way, had captured an ox wagon with natives. A "Bastard " was questioned. Hauptmann Petter was told that the ferries were approximately 1.5 km apart and that there was an enemy encampment on our side of the river. It was decided that the Abteilung von Hadeln would overpower the enemy post just in front of us on the road to Kakamas, then advance to the lower ferry. The rest of the troops would curve to the left to attack the upper ferry. To protect the remaining baggage wagons a section of the 8. Komp. remained to the rear. Above: The Iron Cross 2nd class award document to Freiherr von Hadeln (The Iron Cross is not his) In reality the ferries were five km apart and during the march contact between the two groups was lost. The two companies and artillery battery (the left wing) advanced rapidly, guided by a "Bastard" on horseback. At sunrise we stood on the last heights looking down to the river 1000 m below us, the fertile ground flanking the Oranje River and its canals. Enemy concentrations were only to be seen on the far side of the river. The town of Kakamas consisted of isolated houses surrounded by gardens, spread along the banks of the river for a number of kilometers. War Graves at Kakamas, including that of Reiter Kriegsfreiwilliger Hendrik Lerm of Abteilung von Hadeln, killed at kakamas on the 4th of February 1915. Up on the heights we had to decide our course of action. Crossing the river would be pointless as there was no place to cross back to our side. Time was our enemy as reinforcements would soon be on the way from Upington and they could easily cut off our retreat. Behind us the narrow mountain pass at Bisjepoort was critical to our withdrawal. After coming so far we could not turn around without having done something, so an attack on the houses on our side of the river was ordered. Once we had secured the river bank we could at least let the horses drink. There were few enemy soldiers on our side and soon the 1. Komp. and two sections of the 8. Komp. were at the river. The artillery destroyed the ferry and fired on the enemy positions on the far side of the river, then advanced to join the infantry. There was no news from von Hadeln”s detachment. The patrols sent to establish communications with him were missing. Hauptmann Petter therefore decided to march along the river with the men of the 8. Komp. and the artillery battery and to connect up with von Hadeln. Hauptmann Petter rode with me on this mission, and we were soon under fire from the front and both flanks. Leutnant Moebius and one of his men were killed while riding ahead of the column. Leutnant d.R. Voigt of the 2. Gebirgsbatterie was also killed. The clock was ticking against us and due to the danger of enemy reinforcements arriving from Upington Hauptmann Petter called off the march. Above: The award document for Von Hadeln's wound badge, issued in 1936. I have been unable to find out exactly when he was wounded. The two sections of the 8. Komp. were sent back to join the baggage column. The 1. Komp. and artillery retired to the heights where they stayed until about one pm. A message had arrived from von Hadeln asking for artillery support. The enemy occupied the heights in front of his position covering the way that led down to the Oranje. His detachment would suffer heavy losses if forced to withdraw without the artillery to aid it. Half of the 2. Gebirgsbatterie under the command of Leutnant d.R. Bertram was sent to support von Hadeln and his men. At three pm the main column had assembled at the baggage column. Hauptmann Petter announced his intention to take the 8. Komp. to go to von Hadeln's aid but this was vetoed by Major Ritter. Time was running out, the column had to cross through the narrow Bisjepoort before the arrival of the enemy troops from Upington. With heavy hearts we pulled back leaving the Abteilung von Hadeln and the two supporting guns to their fate. We were delighted to get news at six pm that the Abteilung had succeeded in breaking contact with the enemy and had retreated, supported by the two guns. We were all weak from exhaustion and thirst, the Abteilung von Hadeln suffering most as they had not been able to water their horses at the river and had also spent the last three days and nights doing reconnaissance patrols. Luckily it rained at Bisjepoort and the animals were able to drink from puddles. By early morning we had crossed the narrow pass at Bisjepoort. I received orders to bring up the rear, encouraging the last stragglers, exhausted men from the 1. Komp. A message arrived that the enemy was advancing from Upington. When the last of the stragglers arrived at Ceydas (on the road to Ukamas) the rest of the column continued the withdrawal. The enemy had reached Luriputz and had found no water. When they saw we had already crossed the narrows at Bisjepoort they turned back. We heard that a number of their men and many animals died of thirst and exhaustion on their return journey. Our slow withdrawal continued under the hot sun, Major Ritter hoping that our exhausted men could avoid a skirmish with the enemy. A number of horses and mules died of thirst along the way. On the evening of the fifth of February we reached Longklipp, There was not a single drop of water. We marched through the night and in the morning we arrived at the border at Nakab. Here there was very little water. Most of the animals had to continue 18 km further to Ariams where they stampeded into the water, a number of animals dying in the process. We arrived back at Ukamas on the morning of the seventh. A large percentage of the horses had died, the remaining ones would needing a long time to recover if they recovered at all... We had achieved...nothing. Yet every man who had participated would look back on the endeavour with pride. We had acted with discipline and courage. We had continued our march in spite of thirst, deprivation, exhaustion and extreme heat. According to L'Ange The Germans lost 7 officers and men killed. 6 were wounded and 16 captured. The Germans wrote that the South Africans had cleverly exploited the terrian and that "Their marksmanship, even at far distances, was good, resulting in heavy losses of horses and mules". For the further adventures of Freiherr von Hadeln go HERE To continue to the Group of a man who was opposing the rebellion and attack at Upington click HERE
The human brain is believed to be the most complex organ in the body, responsible for processing information, regulating important functions and a host of other intricate activities which help keep the body in balance. In the brain there are molecules called neurotransmitters which are constantly changing as varying amounts are released by the brain. These neurotransmitters seem to govern the emotional state of individuals, directly affecting one’s happiness. A primary neurotransmitter is Dopamine, which is responsible for the reward and pleasure systems of the brain. Dopamine’s relationship to the way humans behave appears to be in proportion to the levels in the brain; the higher the dopamine levels, the happier one might feel. Dopamine is believed to play an important role in ‘‘positive reinforcement, making humans likely to repeat pleasurable actions.’’ Recently, Northeastern University published a research journal which suggests dopamine might play a key role in the way humans form social connections. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Northeastern University Professor Lisa Feldman Barrett headed up a study into the connections between Dopamine and human bonding. According to the journal published, the significance of this study was to exploring impact early life bonding in humans and its potential long-term implications on ‘‘health, productivity, and well-being in society.” Participating in this study were 19 mother-infant pairs whose brain activity was monitored through the use of two, simultaneous, brain scans. This technology used to facilitate the simultaneous brain scans, is known as a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The fMRI technology was used to closely examine the brain activity in each mother-infant pair while they participated in a series of activities. The fMRI monitored the regions of the brain to provide data on how the mind responded to different tasks which regions to offer a detailed presentation of an active human mind. Using this method, the researchers were able to confirm increased activity in the brain when the mothers gazed at their infants, suggesting increased pleasure levels during this interaction. This was contrasted with the infants playing on their own, however, the researchers noticed a distinct increase in dopamine levels when an infant played with their mother. Professor Lisa Feldman Barrett’s team concentrated their study on the release of dopamine in the brain and the brain as both parties responded during the mother and infant interaction. The results of this experiment seemed to indicate a relationship between social interaction and the release of the reward neurotransmitter, dopamine; a discovery which potentially suggests social interactions may be important to maintain a healthy mental state. The synchronicity in behaviour between a mother and her infant is known to scientists as “maternal attunement”. This recent study, and its results, seemed to observe maternal attunement as it occurred naturally, between the 19 mother-infant pairings. As mothers responded and adjusted their behaviour to their infant’s cues for social engagement, Professor Lisa Feldman Barrett and her team noticed greater activity in the regions of the brain responsible for pleasure. This study between the intimacy and social relationship of mothers and their infants might shed light on how humans perceive and respond to social relationships. Professor Lisa Feldman Barrett noted these findings might have the potential to reveal how the social environment may impact the developing brain. The results of this study may improve understanding of human bonding by providing more information on the neurochemistry behind social interactions. Through understanding the importance and function of the human bonding process at an early age, social development and optimum mental health might be achieved later in life. How might the social environment of developing minds play an important role in mental health?
Introduction to the Function of a Solar Parabolic Dish A parabolic dish is manufactured in the shape of a parabola (same shape as your satellite TV dish) and come in different sizes to suit the particular application. It is one of a number of solar energy concentrators that work on the principle that a paraboloid shape will reflect incoming light-rays from the sun and focus them at one point. The parabolic dish has been used in number of experimental sites to produce industrial power through the linking of numerous micro-power units. However the parabolic dish has mainly been used to provide heat in the domestic sector. This is another article in my series on the domestic use of renewable energy. We shall have a look at the design and operation of a typical parabolic dish which can produce high temperature. This can be utilized in domestic heating systems, or to power a heat engine generating electricity. The function these systems along with other uses will be covered in future articles. We begin then with the design and operation of the parabolic dish. Design and Operation of a Solar Parabolic Dish for Domestic Applications A parabolic dish is fashioned into a parabola by the fixing of various mirrored sections onto the shaped template. The parabola shape is designed to have the ability to catch incoming solar light-rays, parallel to the axis of the dish. This is the most significant property of the parabola shaped dish, as these rays arriving on earth from the sun are nearly all parallel. Now, regardless of where the solar light-rays strike the dish the light rays will be reflected to a focal point known as the receiver point where, due to the high concentration of the solar light – rays, a high temperature is produced. - The optimum efficiency is obtained by tracking the suns passage across the sky, which is achieved using a tracking device. This consists of a dual-axial device designed to track the sun’s azimuth in both the horizontal plane by turning longitudinally, combined with the ability to tilt in the vertical plane. There are several disadvantages of using a Parabolic Dish solar collector, - The sun Conversion of the thermal energy collected by the receiver into kinetic energy to drive a machine raises reliability and maintenance issues, as the machinery is usually integral to the dish. - The tracking system must be strong enough to perform its function despite the sometimes heavy weight of the heat or electrical producing equipment. This requires a strong, rigid support frame making the tracking system more expensive to purchase, raising the operating costs, as well as being somewhat cumbersome in appearance. The dishes come in a number of sizes, - A small dish – just over 1m diameter and used to heat domestic water. - A Medium dish – 1.7m diameter used to heat domestic water in commercial or industrial buildings, large propagation greenhouses, etc. - A Large Dish – Over 4m diameter, used to heat domestic water in hotels, swimming pools in leisure centers etc. The Current Applications of a Solar Parabolic Dish The current applications of a solar parabolic dish are as follows, - Supplying thermal energy to heat domestic hot water and to operate central heating systems - Supplying thermal energy to run a heat engine such as a Sterling engine to drive a power generator producing electricity. - Microturbine Power Generation At present there are research and development operations in progress to produce a micro turbine which will operate on hot air. This is being designed on existing micro turbines running on natural gas - Heat Engines The use of Sterling engines powered by solar parabolic dishes is used in several locations throughout the world to produce power to the national grid. This is achieved by connecting numerous modules together to give a high capacity electrical output.
The great Indian tradition consists of ancient literary tradition, regional traditions and local or little traditions. The great Indian tradition encompasses the whole universe from Kashmir to Kanniyakumari and from Puri to Guwahati. Study of Indian tradition is difficult and complex as its composition. Social change in India has been natural as well as planned or sponsored. Both types of changes have been simultaneous, mutually reinforcing and yet distinct. With the passage of time, history has witnessed rise of individualism, “atomism”, ‘secularism’ and ‘scientism’. These concepts are opposed to the traditional nature and structure of Indian society. Indian society (Hindu India) is based on caste system. Caste society is integrative, hierarchic and yet discriminatory. In Indian society individual though is the bearer of social values, one is a part and parcel of the social system that bears round caste system. The contrast between caste society contrasts with the non-hierarchic, egalitarian or class- based societies. In caste society there are certain restrictions, compulsions and has ritual code of conduct. In contradistinction to this casteless societies, cherish liberty, equality and mobility. Caste societies are based upon ascription values and positions. In casteless society there is scope for mobility, hence positions are achievable. The classical Hindu Indian society is based upon certain eternal values, such as dharma, artha, karma, papa, punya and moksha. Indian society has been continuing amidst several natural, religious . social and political upheavals. In contrast to is in Indian subcontinent modern society has evolved from the middle ages; may from the invasion of India by certain Greek rulers, namely, Darius-1 and Alexander the Great. Modern Indian society emerged conspicuously from the time of Muslim rule in India. The Hindu conception of universities, i.e. social bodies was conceptualized as a whole, of which living humans were merely parts. Many elements of Indian culture are treated as unique and their distinctiveness is considered as cultural systems. For instance, dhrama is a normative order, karma is the moral commitment of jati or caste as hierarchical principle operative in the society. Caste is both a structural and a cultural concept, The cultural dimension is more important then the structural dimension, because structural counterparts of the caste system are also found outside the Indian tradition and not the cultural elements. Society is a persistent configuration of elements and consensus is a universal element in the social system. This is the functionalistic view. The dialectical approach treats society as a dynamic entity, i.e. change inherent. The functional approach treats, change as slow, cumulative, adjustive and situation – specific, whereas the dialectical approach treats changes as revolutionary, as cataclysmic and qualitatively significant. Functional approach treats social changes as constant in social systems. Through internal growth and adjustment with forces from without, whereas the dialectical approach treats social change as eminent in the system itself.
Joey Counts to Ten Little Hare Books, 2016 AC Links/EYLFEYLF1, EYLF2, EYLF3, EYLF4, EYLF5, ACELT1575, ACELT1783, ACELT1580, ACELT1831, ACSSU002, ACMNA001 EYLF1, EYLF2, EYLF3, EYLF4, EYLF5, ACELT1575, ACELT1783, ACELT1580, ACELT1831, ACSSU002, ACMNA001, ACMNA002, ACMNA003, ACAVAM106, ACAVAR109, ACELT1582, ACELT1584, ACSSU017, ACSSU211, ACELT1587, ACELT1589, ACELT1593 Add to Favourites In lyrical, rhythmic prose, a young joey learns how to count to ten by noticing the wonderful wildlife surrounding him in the Australian bush as he follows the mood of the weather from dawn to night. The bright, colourful illustrations by Aboriginal artist Ambelin Kwaymullina will hold readers’ attention. Sally Morgan was born in Perth and belongs to the Palkyu people of the eastern Pilbara in Western Australia. She is best known for her award-winning book, My Place, which charts the history of her family but is now specialising in writing and illustrating books for children and young people. Ambelin Kwaymullina is an Aboriginal writer and illustrator from the Palyku people of the eastern Pilbara in Western Australia. She has written and illustrated a number of award-winning picture books as well as young adult novels. - Reading Time review Stephanie Ward 3 June 2016 'Joey Counts to Ten' http://readingtime.com.au/joey-counts-ten/ - Counting Songs for Kids \| Count to Five and Ten https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTRL6cU5R7M - Learn Numbers - Baby Kangaroos - Nursery Songs For Kids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gaIKixApKg - 15 Preschool Counting Songs, Fingerplays & Rhymes https://childhood101.com/15-preschool-counting-songs-fingerplays-rhymes/ - Hop Like a Kangaroo & Count 1-10 \| Coach Josh Active Animals for Toddlers & Preschoolers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKRve3OLuN0
Definition of light reaction in English: 2 (the light reaction) Biochemistry The reaction that occurs as the first phase of photosynthesis, in which energy in the form of light is absorbed and converted to chemical energy in the form of ATP. - Two proteins may participate in the light reaction. - The light reaction relies upon two clusters of pigments, known as photosystems I and II, which each possess a different type of chlorophyll and several accessory pigments. - Chlorophyll and several other pigments such as beta-carotene are organized in clusters in the thylakoid membrane and are involved in the light reaction. Definition of light reaction in: - British & World English dictionary What do you find interesting about this word or phrase? Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed.
Recent meningitis scares in Ohio, Wisconsin, the U.K., and Brazil have sparked a flurry of headlines about the potentially fatal condition. If you or your family have been exposed, arming yourself with the facts about symptoms and treatment can help protect your loved ones and prevent complications. One important part of meningitis care is careful monitoring of fluids. “Both dehydration and overhydration are common with meningitis,” says Nathan Litman, MD, director of pediatric infectious diseases at New York’s Children’s Hospital at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx. Different types of meningitis require different amounts of fluid, and imbalances or abnormalities can have serious adverse effects — including death. Here’s what you need to know. Severe Dehydration Symptoms and Treatment Options People with severe viral meningitis can suffer from dehydration. “They often come into the hospital a little on the dry side because they’ve been sick for a day or two with fever, which increases fluid requirements,” says Dr. Litman. If dehydration worsens and goes untreated, it could lead to: - Brain damage Severe dehydration can also cause low blood pressure, which can hinder antibiotic treatment in bacterial meningitis. This is because antibiotics may not get to the brain if blood pressure is too low. Mild to moderate dehydration symptoms may include: - Feeling thirsty - Sunken eyes - Dry or sticky mouth - Sunken fonatelle — the soft spot on a baby's head - Skin that doesn’t bounce back after being pinched - Low or no urine output - In children, crying without tears - Dark yellow urine (the color of apple juice) Severe dehydration symptoms include all of the above symptoms, and also one or several of the following: - Rapid, weak pulse (faster than 100 at rest) - Cold hands and feet - Fast breathing - Blue lips Severe dehydration is a medical emergency and requires immediate medical attention. Severe dehydration requires IV (intravenous) fluid treatment in a hospital. Mild to moderate dehydration can typically be treated at home by drinking plenty of fluids. Water, juices, and rehydration solutions are best. Frozen pops and snow cones also help to rehydrate. If your child refuses to drink fluids, try spoonfeeding or use a syringe to increase fluid intake. Overhydration Symptoms and Treatment Options Bacterial meningitis can cause overhydration by preventing the body from eliminating fluids the way it should. This can lead to hyponatremia, an electrolyte disturbance in which the sodium concentration in the blood plasma is lower than normal. “Hyponatremia can cause seizures and brain [swelling],” adds Litman. Monitoring how much fluid is coming in and going out — and adjusting fluids if necessary — can help prevent these problems. Meningitis patients treated in the hospital usually receive fluids intravenously, and the amount of fluids administered is carefully monitored. Hydration is monitored by frequently: - Weighing the patient - Taking blood pressure - Monitoring urine output - Measuring the sodium in plasma with blood tests Because severe hyponatremia can sometimes make water shift from blood plasma into brain cells and cause swelling, meningitis treatment may involve restricting fluids to help manage this condition. However, this approach is controversial since some studies suggest that restricting fluids may worsen brain edema, or swelling, which can cause death. Keeping a patient’s fluid situation under control helps ensure the success of meningitis treatment.
Adapted from Beyond Biocentrism: Rethinking Time, Space, Consciousness, and the Illusion of Death, by Robert Lanza with Bob Berman (BenBella Books 2016). In the popular movie “Avatar,” humans mine a lush moon inhabited by blue-skinned extraterrestrials, the Na’vi, who live in harmony with nature. Human military forces destroy their habitat despite objections that it could affect the bio-network connecting its organisms. On the eve of the big battle, the protagonist Jake communicates via a neural connection with the Tree of Souls, which intercedes on behalf of the Na’vi. We think of time and consciousness in human terms. But like us, plants possess receptors, microtubules and sophisticated intercellular systems that likely facilitate a degree of spatio-temporal consciousness. The movie suggests that we don’t understand the conscious nature of the life that surrounds us. Although I saw the movie three times, I still cringe whenever someone tells me that a plant has consciousness. As a biologist, I can accept that consciousness exists in cats, dogs and other animals with sophisticated brains. Studies show that dogs have a level of intelligence — and consciousness — on par with a two- or three-year-old human child. In fact, in 1981, Harvard psychologist B.F. Skinner and I published a paper in the journal Science showing that even pigeons were capable of certain aspects of self-awareness. But a plant or a tree? To consider the possibility seemed absurd — until the other day. My kitchen merges into a conservatory, a mini-rainforest with palms and ferns. While having breakfast, I looked up at one of my prize specimens, a Queen Sago tree. For the last several months I’d been watching it send up new fronds, which, since the winter solstice, have been repositioning themselves towards the shifting sun. During that time I also watched it respond to an injury to its trunk by sending out air-roots in search of new soil to re-root itself. It was a clever life-form, but clearly not conscious in any known biological way. Then I remembered the episode of “Star Trek” called “Wink of an Eye.” In this episode, Captain Kirk beams down to a planet and finds an empty metropolis. The only trace of life is the mysterious buzzing of unseen insects. When he returns to the ship, the crew continues to hear the same strange buzzing sound. Suddenly, Kirk notices that the movements of the crew slow down to a stop, as if time itself were being manipulated. A beautiful woman appears and explains to Kirk that the bridge crew hasn’t slowed down, but rather, he has been sped up, having been matched to the Scalosians’ hyper-accelerated physical existence. Back in real time, Spock and Dr. McCoy figure out that the strange buzzing is the hyper-accelerated conversations of aliens that exist outside normal physics. We think of time — and thus consciousness — in human terms. In my mind, I could easily accelerate the plant’s behavior like a botanist does with time-lapse photography. The feathery creature, there in my conservatory, responded to the environment much like a primitive invertebrate. But there was more to it than that. We think time is an object, an invisible matrix that ticks away regardless of whether there are any objects or life. Not so, says biocentrism. Time isn’t an object or thing; it’s a biological concept, the way life relates to physical reality. It only exists relative to the observer. Consider your own consciousness. Without your eyes, ears or other sense organs, you would still be able to experience consciousness, albeit in a radically different form. Even without thoughts, you would still be conscious, although the image of a person or tree would have no meaning. Indeed, you wouldn’t be able to discern objects from each other, but rather would visually experience the world as a kaleidoscope of changing colors. Like us, plants possess receptors, microtubules and sophisticated intercellular systems that likely facilitate a degree of spatio-temporal consciousness. Instead of generating a pattern of colors, the particles of light bouncing off a plant produce a pattern of energy molecules — sugar — in the chlorophyll in its stems and leaves. Light-stimulating chemical reactions in one leaf cause a chain reaction of signals to the entire organism via vascular bundles. Neurobiologists have discovered that plants also have rudimentary neural nets and the capacity for primary perceptions. Indeed, the sundew plant (Drosera) will grasp at a fly with incredible accuracy — much better than you can do a fly-swatter. Some plants even know when ants are coming towards them to steal their nectar and have mechanisms to close up when they approach. Scientists at Cornell University discovered that when a hornworm starts eating sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), the wounded plant will send out a blast of scent that warns surrounding plants — in the case of the study, wild tobacco (Nicotiana attenuata) – that trouble is on its way. Those plants, in turn, prepare chemical defenses that send the hungry critters in the opposite direction. Andre Kessler, the lead researcher, called this “priming its defense response.” “This could be a crucial mechanism of plant-plant communication,” he said. As I sat in the kitchen that day, the early-morning sun slanted down through the skylights, throwing the entire room into gleaming brightness. The Queen Sago tree and I were both “happy” the sun was out.” My turnaround in my appraisal of our chlorophyllic companions, and the idea that we may have previously limited ourselves in what we’ve allowed into the “conscious life” fraternity, has been gaining scientific respectability for years. The subject has been widely popularized by the likes of UC Berkeley professor Michael Pollan, who has written about how plant science is increasingly pointing to a high degree of botanical intelligence. All this is a bit of a resurrection of the hippie idea of the 1960s, that plants respond if you talk to them. When the environmental movement burgeoned in the decades to follow, and forests started to be seen as more than mere unprocessed lumber, such plant-kingdom spokes mammals were pejoratively called “Tree huggers.” It all gave way to a new field of science sometimes called plant neurobiology, which starts off a bit controversially because not even the most ardent plant-boosters claim that plants have neurons (nerve cells) — let alone actual brains. “They have analagous structures,” Pollan explained in a New Yorker piece. “They take… the sensory data they gather in their everyday lives… integrate it and then behave in an appropriate way in response. And they do this without brains, which, in a way, is what’s incredible about it, because we automatically assume you need a brain to process information.” Neurons aren’t necessary in order to have cell to cell communication — and even information processing and storage! In a 2012 Scientific American article titled, “Do Plants Think?” Israeli Botanist Daniel Chamovitz insisted that plants “see, feel, smell—and remember.” But how is this possible without neurons? Explained Chamovitz, “Even in animals, not all information is processed or stored only in the brain. The brain is dominant in higher-order processing in more complex animals, but not in simple ones. Different parts of the plant…exchange information on cellular, physiological and environmental states. For example root growth is dependent on a hormonal signal that’s generated in the tips of shoots [while] leaves send signals to the tip of the shoot telling them to start making flowers. In this way, if you really want to do some major hand waving, the entire plant is analogous to the brain. But while plants don’t have neurons, plants produce and are affected by neuroactive chemicals!” But what about experience? Consciousness. The experience of sounds. We assume you cannot hear anything without ears. But according to Pollan’s New Yorker piece, researchers have played a recording to plants, “of a caterpillar munching on a leaf — and the plants react. They begin to secrete defensive chemicals.” Pollan and others claim that plants possess all the human senses and also some additional ones. Plants even have a memory. And not just simple reflex. “Plants definitely have several different forms of memory, just like people do,” said Chamovitz. “They have short term memory, immune memory and even transgenerational memory! I know this is a hard concept to grasp for some people, but if memory entails encoding information, retaining the memory (storing information), and recalling the memory (retrieving information), then plants definitely remember.” We naturally hold ourselves as humans as the epitome of conscious intelligence. Most of us would include other mammals as well, especially cats, dogs, and other favorite people pets. But is this bias borne solely of their familiarity — the fact that we can recognize a face in a way we do not perceive when watching, say, a worm? Or do we instead regard ownership of a brain a prerequisite for joining the club? Time is relative to the observer, and despite our human preconceptions, lower animals – and even plants – may experience consciousness albeit in a considerably different fashion from us. Space and time relationships depend on the entirety of the detector, even if that logic is diffuse and not concentrated into a brain-like structure. Plants clearly have a different information and archiving process from the brain, but time is relative to the observer and need not operate on our human timescale. According to biocentrism, time is bio-logical — completely subjective and invariably emerges from a unitary co-relative process. All knowledge amounts to relationships of information, with the observer alone imparting spatiotemporal meaning. Since time doesn’t actually exist outside of perception, there is no experiential “after death” even for a plant, except the death of its physical structure in our “now.” You can’t say the plant or animal observer comes or goes or dies, since these are merely temporal concepts. People have long wondered whether plants ‘feel’ even though it’s obvious they’re very aware of things like gravity, water sources, and light. It’s also obvious that they accomplish these perceptions in very different ways from us mammals or even so-called lower life forms. Tadpoles and other amphibians detect light with pigmented cells in their skin so they can adapt their camouflage to different backgrounds; sparrows can adjust their circadian rhythms without using their eyes at all. They can sense light through feathers, skin and bone! And mice can do the same thing even when blind. Life forms lacking eyes, such as plants, obviously rely exclusively on other kinds of sensory methods to experience reality. How they perceive time in the world involves sensing and responding to light in a nonvisual way. In higher-order animals, the brain keeps track of time. But a plant doesn’t have a brain, so information and “memories” must be stored in other ways — perhaps in the same way a plant knows in what direction it should grow. How we humans record our sensations of time is still mysterious. So it will be even harder to figure out how plants “stretch and twist” all this information to serve their survival needs. Since the passage of “time,” in the final analysis, is just a tool organisms create and utilize to perceive what’s happening around it and to effectively respond to the flow of its physical environment, plants have obviously done a good enough job at it to survive for 700 million years. We usually only call something sentient if it talks or responds to us on the biologic time scale we humans use. But we may have much to learn about the nature of life from the fictional Na’vi, where the plants have an exaggerated sense of touch sensitivity and can communicate through “signal transduction.” “The plants in the film are fake,” says Jodie Holt, a plant physiologist from the University of California, Riverside, “but the science is real.” "Beyond Biocentrism is a joyride through the history of science and cutting-edge physics, all with a very serious purpose: to find the long-overlooked connection between the conscious self and the universe around us." —Corey Powell, ex editor-in-chief, Discover magazine "Will machines ever achieve consciousness? Are plants aware? Is death an illusion? These are some of the big questions tackled in Beyond Biocentrism, which serves up a new, biology-based theory of everything that is as delightful to read as it is fascinating." —Pamela Weintraub, ex editor-in-chief of OMNI Magazine "Like "A Brief History of Time" it is indeed stimulating and brings biology into the whole. Any short statement does not do justice to such a scholarly work… Most importantly, it makes you think." —Nobel Prize Winner E. Donnall Thomas
Everyone knows how important it is to get eight hours of sleep each night so that they can be at their best the following day. What you might not know, however, is that if your employees don’t get enough rest, they will experience decreased motor skills, impaired thought processes, and memory loss, all of which can make them susceptible to injury. In addition to being a safety hazard, sleep deprivation can also affect your employees’ health. Research shows that night shift workers typically get an hour less of sleep per day than day workers. Taking away this hour of sleep interferes with their circadian rhythms. These are the events that occur within a 24-hour period, like sleeping/waking, which are regulated by an internal clock. If you try to readjust that clock, such as when you switch sleep times, it can cause difficulties, because circadian clocks affect almost every level of bodily functions. As a result, employees can develop peptic ulcers, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Not getting enough sleep also causes an employee to consume more calories. That’s because sleeping plays an important role in regulating the body’s leptin levels, a hormone that tells the brain when the body needs more food. Low levels of leptin cause the individual to eat more which can lead to obesity. Obesity can lead to diabetes, hypertension or other health problems, as well as decreased productivity and increased absenteeism. As an employer, you need to find ways to combat the effect sleep deprivation can have on your workers’ health and safety. Here are some steps you can take: - Break up the monotony of repetitive tasks – A sleep deprived employee’s attention span wanes after one to two hours of doing the same task over and over. To reduce mistakes, schedule frequent, short break periods in which the employee stops work and stands up, or moves around. - Put high-intensity lighting in the work area – The short-term effect is that the lighting keeps workers alert. Over time, exposure from this type of light retrains the body’s circadian rhythms to delay the onset of sleep. When the worker does go to sleep, because the body has been retrained that this is the new sleep period, the worker actually experiences a more restorative sleep. - Permit napping – When employees first begin working a night shift, it is important that they have an opportunity to nap until they become acclimated to their new schedule. Allowing an employee to nap for 30 minutes can significantly improve their ability to function. - Use the buddy system – Create employee teams of two who are responsible for monitoring each other for signs of sleep deprivation. If an employee notices their teammate is looking tired or starting to make mistakes, they can insist that their co-worker stop what they are doing, and take a break.
VLT Technique Measures Smaller Asteroids A team of French and Italian astronomers have devised a new method for measuring the size and shape of asteroids that are too small or too far away for traditional techniques, increasing the number of asteroids that can be measured by a factor of several hundred. This method takes advantage of the unique capabilities of ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). “Knowledge of the sizes and shapes of asteroids is crucial to understanding how, in the early days of our Solar System, dust and pebbles collected together to form larger bodies and how collisions and re-accumulation have since modified them,” says Marco Delbo from the Observatoire de la CÃƒ´te d’Azur, France, who led the study. Direct imaging with adaptive optics on the largest ground-based telescopes such as the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, and space telescopes, or radar measurements are the currently favored methods of asteroid measurement. However, direct imaging, even with adaptive optics, is generally limited to the one hundred largest asteroids of the main belt, while radar measurements are mostly constrained to observations of near-Earth asteroids that experience close encounters with our planet. Delbo and his colleagues have devised a new method that uses interferometry to resolve asteroids as small as about 15 km in diameter located in the main asteroid belt, 200 million kilometers away. This is equivalent to being able to measure the size of a tennis ball a distance of a thousand kilometers. This technique will not only increase the number of objects that can be measured dramatically, but, more importantly, bring small asteroids that are physically very different from the well studied larger ones into reach. The interferometric technique combines the light from two or more telescopes. Astronomers proved their method using ESO’s VLTI, combining the light of two of the VLT’s 8.2-metre Unit Telescopes. “This is equivalent to having vision as sharp as that of a telescope with a diameter equal to the separation between the two VLT Unit Telescopes used, in this case, 47 meters,” says co-author Sebastiano Ligori, from INAF-Torino, Italy. The researchers applied their technique to the main belt asteroid (234) Barbara, which was earlier found, by co-author Alberto Cellino, to have rather unusual properties. Although it is so far away, the VLTI observations also revealed that this object has a peculiar shape. The best fit model is composed of two bodies each the size of a major city ““ with diameters of 37 and 21 km ““ separated by at least 24 km. “The two parts appear to overlap,” says Delbo, “so the object could be shaped like a gigantic peanut or, it could be two separate bodies orbiting each other.” If Barbara proves to be a double asteroid, this is even more significant: by combining the diameter measurements with the parameters of the orbits, astronomers can then compute the density of these objects. “Barbara is clearly a high priority target for further observations,” concludes Ligori. Having proven the validity of their new and powerful technique, the team can now start a large observing campaign to study small asteroids. These observations are presented in a paper by Delbo M. et al., First VLTI-MIDI direct determinations of asteroid sizes, in press in the Astrophysical Journal. The team is composed of Marco Delbo and Alexis Matter (OCA, France), Sebastiano Ligori and Alberto Cellino (INAF-Torino, Italy), and Jerome Berthier (IMCCE, Observatoire de Paris, France). Image Caption: Artist’s impression of the asteroid (234) Barbara. Thanks to a unique method that uses ESO’s Very Large Telescope Interferometer, astronomers have been able to measure sizes of small asteroids in the main belt for the first time. Their observations also suggest that Barbara has a complex concave shape, best modeled as two bodies that may possibly be in contact. Credit: ESO/L. CalÃƒ§ada On the Net:
There are five main facts on students who drop out. First the main two factors that affects the students ability to graduate from high school. One of the main factors is the socioeconomic status of the families. Students also drop out of school do to individual and contextual factors such as attitudes and behavior. And the two main consequences of leaving school early and not graduation, such as limited Job opportunities and the probability of being incarcerated. And the last fact what minority group is affected the most. Students of low income families are five times more likely to drop out of high school than students from high income families. Poverty triples the chance of a student of leaving school early. Another link between family income and high school graduation is that children who live in poverty and read below grade level by third grade are three times as likely not to graduate from high school as students who were born in families with income above poverty level. Individual and contextual factors are another reason why students drop of school, uch as attitudes, behavior, school performance, and student prior experience. Students often leave school because of school, family, or work responsibilities. For example low education aspirations, moving from school to work, not passing a grade, suspension, and pregnancy are among the contributors to the decision to leave school. Students who not finish high school limit their ability to find a Job that will allow them to earn enough to support a family and live comfortably. That is the reason why the U. S Department of Education expects high schools to prepare all tudents for college or career readiness, which does not always require a four year degree. Another consequence of leaving school early is the chance to be incarcerated, compared to their peers who earn a diploma. Students who drop out are disproportionately the students who are punished by school authorities. This practice have contributed to the disproportionate number of minorities males who are suspended and expelled from school, often on their way to prison. Dropout rates have the greatest negative impact on African American and Hispanics students. African Americans and Latinos males in some urban areas have only a 50 – 50 change of graduation from high school in four years. There seems to be a relationship between graduation and the discipline gab, which has the greatest negative impact on students from low income families and African American and Hispanic students. The main problem is that this factors interrupt school and the learning process of students who already have a disadvantage in life or academically. Drop Out Students By ferminl 234
It doesn’t matter how old your kids are nature study is something that you can easily introduce your kids to whether they are home educated or in school. Weekend walks, garden activities and seasonal activities means that you and your young kids can understand more about the world around them and older children and teens can benefit from connecting abstract ideas in science and geography to real life situations. We’ve put together our favourite nature study activities as well as some resources, books and more so that you can explore the nature around you with your kids. Benefits of Nature Study with Kids Although we are passionate about playing outside whenever the weather is great (and even if it’s not with the right gear) adding in nature study activities connects even more deeply with the natural world and helps your children to understand even more. It is a great way for children to disconnect from the screens especially as much of their schooling is now online or involving screens of some sort as well as games, TV and the social networks that older tweens and teens may be members of. Exploring nature, seeing the seasons change and learning about plants and animals that are both local and the wider world benefits in more ways than one. It brings them in contact with traditional beliefs, customs and inspires them further. Foraging for blackberries and learning that after Michaelmas the blackberries are ruined by the devil an old wives tale but probably true as the frosts at the end of September would have ruined the fruit. From your point of view as a parent, the awe on your children’s faces seeing deer in the wild for the first time or hearing a cuckoo as spring arrives on your walk is amazing. But, if you are new to nature activities where do you start? Getting Started with Nature Study So your ready to get started with your kids but where you do start? Is it going to cost you a lot of money in equipment? How about knowing what you are looking at etc… It’s really not going to cost you a lot and you don’t need a lot of equipment. To get started why not put together your own Nature study kit, this can be taken out on a walk with you or let your children use at the local park, nature reserve, or even your own backyard. Once you are heading out for nature walks you will probably find that you have lots of nature finds in your pockets and bag. We have always had a little nature display at home and when I taught had a nature table in my classroom. The space doesn’t have to big but it’s a great way to show your kids that you are interested in their finds and discoveries and gives you opportunities to explore those items further. Read about setting up a nature table and some of the books that we keep to add throughout the year. Throughout the year it’s great to observe what happens with the sky. Whether this is seeing the moon during the day and or laying out at night under a clear sky and seeing how many stars you can spot and some of the constellations. Check out our recommendation for an easy telescope for younger kids that actually works as well as exploring the phases of the moon with our FREE printable moon calendar and cards. Check out these 50 simple outdoors activities for a nature filled childhood. Nature Activities for Spring As the world awakes after winter it’s seems the perfect time to indulge in even more nature activities than normal check out some of our favourites below. As soon as the weather starts to warm up head to the local pond and look out for frog and toad eggs or spawn as it’s called. If you are lucky enough to find some then why not follow our guide on raising tadpoles and collect some to teach your children about the life cycle of the frog. Why not watch our video for a glimpse at the amazing sights you will see raising your own frogs with kids It’s also time to start growing things whether you have a garden or windowsill there are plants, flowers, and even vegetables that you can grow. Our bean in a jar is a great way for kids to see what happens below the soil as a seed begins to grow. Of course, if you’ve got space get out and plant things whether it’s food or flowers touching the soil and the joy of having grown things is such a thrill for kids and adults alike. Start off by looking through our list of easy and quick plants to grow with kids and then choose some seeds and use an egg carton seed tray to get them started. If you are lucky enough to have a nest box then it’s also the time to watch out and see the busy birds as they build a nest and raise their young. With any spring storms if you live near a lake or beach it’s worth heading there and exploring the strand line (debris left at the highest tide mark) and see what you can discover, from crabs and starfish to algae and more you and your kids will be amazed at what you can find. Summer Nature Activities with Kids Head to the shore and explore the pools left in rocks by the tide to see what wonderful creatures you can find. Never done it before, don’t worry it’s so much fun and as you can see you can even take toddlers to do it just follow our rock pooling guide, want to see how much your kids can find then we have a rock pool scavenger hunt that is perfect for some summer fun. Nothing says summer more than heading to the seaside and going crabbing. We love this and it’s one of the kids’ favourite activities to do. We release them back to the water at the end but bringing them up over the side of the jetty and into our net is great fun. Crabbing keeps you out of the water but if you fancy getting wet then nothing beats shrimp netting. It’s fun and you’ll be amazed at what you can discover below the waves. As a child this was one of my favourite things to do at the beach and the prawns and shrimps we found if they were large enough would be brought back to the campsite and cooked on the barbecue for dinner. As summer starts to end then head to the countryside with your container and pick some fresh blackberries once you have some get baking and make some delicious blackberry sponge cakes they are ideal to cook with young children or your school kids can cook independently. Autumn Nature Activities for Kids As the weather gets colder it’s time to come closer to home and spend time preparing for your nature study next spring. We love planting spring bulbs early in autumn around the garden so that we can see the seasons change from our windows as well as when we head outside. Head out on a nature walk and hunt for leaves, can you identify them? Don’t forget to collect some as they can be used to make some of these wonderful leaf crafts or even try this symmetry art project with your kids. Before it gets too cold why not make a log pile house in the garden so that any animals that hibernate or need a little more protection from the cold have a home to go to. If you are lucky you may find hedgehogs, toads and more appear from it next spring. Autumn is also a great time to try out your woodworking skills and create a nest box with the kids. They’ll love observing the birds coming and going next year and if you are lucky you may even find one that uses it for protection throughout the winter months too. Autumn is also the time to make sure you have food out for the birds, check out our recipes for bird food so that they have enough to survive the winter. Don’t forget to put out some water as well. Autumn and winter are the perfect time of the year to hunt for fungus, I promise once you start you will be noticing them everywhere. Why not go on a fungus hunt and then graph and record where you have found them ideal for discovering the ideal conditions that fungus need to grow where you live. Nature Study Activities for Winter Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean your nature study needs to stop. Whether it’s snow or mud it’s a great time to take a walk in the wild and spot some animal tracks. The deer print above was found on a snowy walk but we’ve also spotted them in the fields in the mud. If it’s cold the birds will need a little extra energy and our homemade fat balls are perfect, they are so easy to make and involve no heating of fats so ideal for even young kids to do (although they will need help as some elbow grease is needed).
From this point forward, I will do what is best for this country just like my father! Bolsheviks and Mensheviks 1898-1920 WE WANT SOCIALISM Repeat after me! We want socialism! Sign the pact! Nicholas inherited the throne in 1894 after his father died. He made poor decisions with the country he ruled, so his people were not very happy. After Bloody Sunday and World War l, he removed himself from the throne. His family then got murdered by the Bolsheviks in July 1918. Revolution of 1905 Cmon! Let's get it! Lenin and the Bolsheviks wanted socialism by revolution and the Mensheviks wanted pursuit of democratic goals. Lenin created his own Bolshevik party in 1912. The Mensheviks got angry and walked out, and they tried to recreate another party, but it did not work out. World War l 1914-1918 Stalin had control over all of the party members’ appointments so he was then able to build his base. He gained power and proceeded to exile people. In 1939, Stalin signed a pact with Germany, but Hitler betrayed him. Stalin then died on March 5, 1953. Lenin in Control 1917-1924 During 1890 and 1910, the population in many Russian cities were getting overpopulated. Food got very short over the years. Russian workers protested and many unarmed protesters were murdered. With many angry workers, they striked throughout the country. World War l began after the assasination of Ferdinand. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Ottoman Empire fought against Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Japan, and U.S, but the U.S. did not join the war until 1916. The war ended once Germany was forced to seek armistice. Let's go men! Vladimir Lenin was the leader of the Bolshevik group. Red army and White army eventually fought. Lenin made all the grain to go to his Red army, so many people died of famine. A treaty between Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Transcaucasus created the U.S.S.R.
Many people are of the opinion that cancer is a deadly disease. Of course, it is a deadly disease, but thanks to our medical scientists, they have now come out with various medicines and other medical procedures by which you can effectively manage the disease. If the disease is diagnosed early, then it can be cured completely. There are hundreds of people who are affected by cancer, but they are leading a normal life. Basically, cancer which is also called as malignant tumor is nothing but abnormal growth of cells. Researchers have identified about 100 different types or categories of cancers that can affect human beings. Common type of cancer: Some of the types of cancer are those affecting the bladder, liver, lung, ovary, kidney, breast, thyroid, brain and so on. Breast is one of organs in the human body which is known to be commonly affected by this ailment. This type of cancer can affect both male and female and statistics show that female has a higher incidence of breast cancer as compared to male. In fact, medical science classifies cancer affecting the breast as a common type of cancer. Although cancer affecting the breast is considered to be a dangerous ailment, it can be effectively managed if diagnosed at an early stage. This type of cancer is caused by malignant tissues in the breast. Unfortunately, this disease does not get detected at an early stage itself. As physicians say the symptoms of this type of cancer manifests itself when the cancer cells have substantially or fully grown up. But, that does not mean to say, the disease will not give out any symptoms. There are symptoms like presence of a lump or a feeling of a lump or knot in the breast, withdrawal of nipples, discharge of blood from the nipple, skin getting thick on the breast, or nodes near the armpit are some of the known symptoms of this ailment. But, unfortunately, most of the people ignore such symptoms for the simple reason; they are unaware of the fact that these are symptoms of cancer disease. They rush to the physician only when they experience miserable pain or discomfort in the breast by which time the disease would have affected considerable portion of the breast. But, these symptoms do not necessarily mean that the person is affected by cancer. Once the symptoms surface, the person should undergo several tests to establish presence of cancerous cells. It is only then the physician will categorize the ailment as cancer. The ailment can be cured: Once the symptoms surfaces, the person should visit the physician who would physically examine the affected part and also examine the general health of the patient. The physician would normally suggest mammogram, which is a pathological test conducted to ascertain the presence of cancerous cells. If the mammogram shows the presence of cancerous cells, then the person is said to be suffering from breast cancer. After the mammogram, the physician may suggest several other tests to evaluate the growth of cancerous cells. After all these, the physician would decide on the line of treatment. The treatment normally consists of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and in severe cases, surgical intervention is also undertaken. By surgical intervention the surgeon would remove the cancerous cells from the breast. Again, depending on the severity, the surgeon may even decide to remove the affected breast either in full or in part. Normally after surgery the physician may suggest radiation therapy so as to prevent the re-growth of cells in the affected part. In addition to theses, the physician will prescribe several medicines. The question that naturally arises is; whether cancer can be cured? As already said cancer can be effectively managed and cured if it is detected at an early stage. But, the medical science is yet to find out permanent cure for this ailment. But, medical scientists are of the opinion the ailment can be effectively prevented. To achieve this, medical scientists suggest that the person should give up smoking and alcohol. He must have regular physical exercises and good eating habits. The food should be rich in nutrients, fiber, antioxidants and less on trans fat, meat, junk food, certain types of carbohydrates and so on. The person should have good sleeping habits. As you may be aware, many renowned medical scientists are conducting research to combat this ailment. These scientists are confident that the dreaded cancer ailment will be conquered in the near future.
The Basics of EPS In car language, EPS is the acronym for Electric Power Steering. It’s a relatively new feature that more and more vehicles will have in the coming years. The obvious questions are what is it exactly and how does it differ from the traditional hydraulic power steering? Let’s start with the basics. Most cars have hydraulic power steering. Basically, a power steering system is designed to help you when you’re exerting force on the steering wheel to turn the vehicle. The hydraulic system is constantly pumping fluid, which has been found to waste horsepower, and that leads to the waste of fuel. Bottom line: it negatively affects the fuel efficiency of your vehicle. Electric Power Steering is slowly replacing many hydraulic systems in vehicles today. This system increases fuel efficiency by eliminating the need for the bulk and weight of a power steering pump and its hoses. This also takes away the issue of fluid leaks and the need to check steering fluids. An added bonus: the EPS is quieter than the hydraulic system because it doesn’t create the noise of a pump. Drivers appreciate a higher level of steering accuracy and refinement. Because this system is driven by software, it can better adapt to changing driving conditions, and it even provides steering assistance when the engine is not running. Some models that have the EPS feature include the Acura NSX (the first production car with EPS), the Toyota Prius and RAV4, the Chevy Malibu (2004-2009), the Pontiac G5 (2007-2009), the Saturn VUE (2002-2009) and the Chevy Cobalt and Equinox (2005-2009). Any new system is not without its challenges. In March of this year, GM recalled 1.3 million 2005-201 Chevy Cobalt; 2007-2010 Pontiac G5s; and 2005-2006 Pontiac Pursuits sold in Canada, along with 2005-2006 Pontiac G4s sold in Mexico to fix power steering motors that had the potential to fail. If the EPS fails, the driver will experience an increased steering effort, especially if the car is going under 15 mph. The recall was the result of a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation that stemmed from over 1,100 complaints it had received from drivers whose vehicles lost steering power. GM stated that the older models will get repaired first because the problem doesn’t typically appear until after 20,000 to 30,000 miles of driving. With hydraulic systems, fluid leaks, over time, lead to stiffer driving conditions and more effort needed to turn your vehicle. The EPS failure means a much more immediate difficulty, although the vehicle is still drivable. As the system continues to evolve, such challenges will become less frequent. Johnny Nocera has been on the radio airwaves in Southwest Florida with “Dr. Johnny’s Car Clinic” on FOX News radio 92.5 FM, 1240/1270 AM every Saturday morning from 9-10 for over 25 years. He also owns, along with his sons J.R. and Jimmy, Supreme Auto and Collision located in downtown Naples, and has been in business for more than 35 years.
The comet won't be visible to the naked eye, and will require a professional-grade telescope to witness. It will be closest to Earth around 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time. The fly-by comes hot on the heels of another comet, 252P/LINEAR, which streaked past the planet at a distance of 3.3 million miles (5.3 million km) Monday -- the fifth-closest encounter. Given the two bodies' similar orbits, it is thought that the two may be "twins" -- with 2016 BA14 possibly a fragment that came off the larger 252P/LINEAR at some point in the past. Comets are "cosmic snowballs" of frozen gases, rock and dust, according to NASA , and can be the size of a small town. This week's visitors are much smaller: 252P/LINEAR, the larger of the two, is only 750 feet (230 meters) in size. As they tumble through space, their orbit can bring them near to the sun and when they heat up, form a giant glowing head and a tail that can stretch for millions of kilometers. The Virtual Telescope Project offers an opportunity for those of us without a pro telescope a chance to track them from here on Earth. "We know comets are relatively fragile things, as in 1993 when comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was discovered and its pieces linked to a flyby of Jupiter," said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center of NEO Studies (CNEOS) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in a statement released earlier this month. "Perhaps during a previous pass through the inner-solar system, or during a distant flyby of Jupiter, a chunk that we now know of as BA14 might have broken off of 252P." Although Tuesday's encounter represents a remarkably close call in celestial terms, there is no danger to us here on Earth, and the two comets' visits provide a rare chance for astronomers to study them (relatively) close up, with the Hubble telescope and NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility. "March 22 will be the closest comet P/2016 BA14 gets to us for at least the next 150 years," said Chodas. "Comet P/2016 BA14 is not a threat. Instead, it is an excellent opportunity for scientific advancement on the study of comets." A comet that flew by Mars in 2014, however, was a much closer-run thing . Comet Sliding Spring came within 140,000 km (87,000 miles) of the planet then, disrupting its atmosphere and magnetic field.
A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Raleigh, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Walter (1552?-1618). -- Explorer, statesman, admiral, historian, and poet, s. of Walter R., of Fardel, Devonshire, was b. at Hayes Barton in that county. In 1568 he was sent to Oxf., where he greatly distinguished himself. In the next year he began his career of adventure by going to France as a volunteer in aid of the Huguenots, serving thereafter in the Low Countries. The year 1579 saw him engaged in his first voyage of adventure in conjunction with his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Their object was to discover and settle lands in North America; but the expedition failed, chiefly owing to opposition by the Spaniards. The next year he was fighting against the rebels in Ireland; and shortly thereafter attracted the notice of Queen Elizabeth, in whose favour he rapidly rose. In 1584 he fitted out a new colonising expedition to North America, and succeeded in discovering and occupying Virginia, named after the Queen. On his return he was knighted. In the dark and anxious days of the Armada, 1587-88, R. was employed in organising resistance, and rendered distinguished service in action. His favour with the Queen, and his haughty bearing, had, however, been raising up enemies and rivals, and his intrigue and private marriage with Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the maids of honour, in 1593, lost him for a time the favour of the Queen. Driven from the Court he returned to the schemes of adventure which had so great a charm for him, and fired by the Spanish accounts of the fabulous wealth of Guiana, he and some of his friends fitted out an expedition which, however, though attended with various brilliant episodes, proved unsuccessful. Restored to the favour of the Queen, he was appointed an Admiral in the expeditions to Cadiz, 1596, and in the following year was engaged in an attack on the Azores, in both of which he added greatly to his reputation. The death of Elizabeth in 1603 was the turning point in R.'s fortunes. Thenceforward disaster clouded his days. The new sovereign and his old enemies combined to compass his ruin. Accused of conspiring against the former he was, against all evidence, sentenced to death, and though this was not at the time carried out, he was imprisoned in the Tower and his estates confiscated. During this confinement he composed his History of the World, which he brought down to 130 B.C. It is one of the finest specimens of Elizabethan prose, reflective in matter and dignified and grave in style. Released in 1615 he set out on his last voyage, again to Guiana, which, like the former, proved a failure, and in which he lost his eldest s. He returned a broken and dying man, but met with no pity from his ungenerous King who, urged, it is believed, by the King of Spain, had him beheaded on Tower Hill, October 29, 1618. R. is one of the most striking and brilliant figures in an age crowded with great men. Of a noble presence, he was possessed of a commanding intellect and a versatility which enabled him to shine in every enterprise to which he set himself. In addition to his great fragment thepage 313 History of the World, he wrote A Report of the Truth of the Fight about the Azores, and The Discoverie of the Empire of Guiana, besides various poems chiefly of a philosophic cast, of which perhaps the best known are The Pilgrimage, and that beginning "Go, Soul, the Body's Guest."
Propagating your blackberries ensures healthier plants and more berries for the next seasons. Blackberries are most commonly propagated by a process called tip layering. Blackberry bushes naturally take root whenever their stems touch soil, and tip layering takes advantage of this natural characteristic. This is the easiest and safest manner of propagation for home gardeners. The new plant grows easily and quickly, still attached to the parent plant until it finally establishes itself. Once the new plant is established, the attachment is severed, leaving the gardener with two healthy bushes. Look over your blackberry bush, and find a stem that is in the best condition. It must have no blemishes or dead material growing from it. Typically, your tallest or longest stem with the best production is the right one to choose. Stretch the stem towards the ground. The stem should be in a relaxed stretch. It does not matter how far away the stem is from the plant because the new plant that will be produced will be re-planted in a different area. Dig a small, 6-inch hole, and bury the tip of stretched stem in the hole. The weight of the soil should hold the stem down; however, attaching the stem to the ground with twine will ensure the stem does not spring back up. Water the area until the ground is moist, and add a small layer of mulch to help retain moisture. Make sure the area is always moist, watering when needed for 2 to 3 months. Sever the parent stem from the new plant after 2 to 3 months when a new plant has emerged from the soil. Cut the parent stem so that 12 inches of the original stem is left to the new plant. Dig up the new plant at the roots, and move it to its permanent location. Blackberries thrive best in full sun. Things You Will Need - Begin propagation in mid-September so the new plant will begin thriving in spring.
Multitasking? That one employee who can do several things at once. A multitasking employee can save a lot of time. They are more productive, they can bear more responsibilities and they can deliver quality in a chaotic environment. Especially if your company has just been established and you have not yet found an employee for all tasks, it is ideal if you have a few of these centipedes in the office. Research shows that it is impossible for a person to concentrate on different tasks at the same time. We can not multitask, not even women. Why not? And what is the downside of multitasking? What is multitasking? Wikipedia writes about multitasking : Multitasking is the execution of multiple actions or processes at the same time. Multitasking is often associated with fast business. The term comes from the computer world, where multitasking means that different computer programs are running simultaneously, using the same processor. An example of multitasking is reading an e-mail at the same time, eating a meal and having a telephone conversation. Now, as humans, we are of course not a computer. We can (unfortunately) only do one thing at a time. Let’s delve deeper into that: Multitasking can lead to more stress and therefore more absenteeism. In our toolkit, you will find useful tools to combat this absence. Download the toolkit for free here Multitasking: advantages and disadvantages Multi-taxing means that you would perform two information processing or thought processes simultaneously. You perform both processes accurately and just as quickly. When an employee multitasks, it seems that he is doing the tasks simultaneously and is efficient, but the tasks require different attention. He cannot fully concentrate on a task and becomes increasingly distracted. His focus goes from one task to the other and that takes time and energy and he will make more mistakes. The idea that multitasking saves you time and is able to deliver the same quality is therefore incorrect. A manager who is looking for a multitasking employee probably means that he is looking for an employee who is professional, efficient and flexible. Also read: increase the effectiveness of employees Multitasking and stress Multitasking employees are usually busy with their work all day long and with all kinds of aspects of their work. Many of them find all tasks equally important and they get stressed out if they don’t complete a part of a task. In addition, employees are often required to deliver a certain amount of work and that the work is also of a certain quality. It is difficult or even impossible to multitask while meeting all those requirements. Multitasking leads to more stress. It is also interesting that in the brain the Frontal Lob and the Hippocampus are important for multitasking. These are the same areas in the brain that are active during stressful situations. Also read: Stress among employees Is there a lot of stress among colleagues and is this really a problem? Do something about it! View the training here: stress management for employees The consequences of multitasking There are managers who can also have their employees multitask under meetings. Just answer an e-mail from a customer under the meeting. But while they allow multitasking, their opinion about this employee is influenced by it. This is because it seems as if the employee is not involved in the meeting and with the team. Multitasking, therefore, takes more time and gives more stress, while the quality also goes down. Employees can therefore tackle tasks as much as possible one by one. That way they can give every task 100% attention. An employee who performs tasks not simultaneously but one after the other gets more done. He can concentrate better and is more involved. He is also more efficient and he will make fewer mistakes. But what is perhaps most important is that he will at least stay fit to do all the work. He will experience less work stress and will, therefore, enjoy his work more. Also read: let the employee set limits Who are we? Milltain supports, with a team of experienced trainers, organizations in the prevention of stress and the (re) finding of work happiness in the workplace. Our training courses are aimed at managers within companies. A burnout quickly costs the organization € 70,000. In addition to financial suffering, human suffering is great. Not only for the employee but also for close colleagues who have to deal with the blows. Before you know it you are in a negative vicious circle. Do you want an effective approach to long-term absenteeism and increasing work pleasure? (instead of extinguishing continuous fires). We are happy to inform you about our training courses: - Stress prevention training - Training in absenteeism interviews - Training Time management - Work pleasure training - Assertiveness training in the workplace
The Bugis or Buginese are one of the three major cultures of South Sulawesi (Sulawesi is also called Celebes). The others are the Makassarese and the Torajan. Bugis call themselves Ugi' or ToUgi' and speak a Western Austronesian language. The Bugis are considered one of the most devout Muslim groups in Indonesia, though they maintain many pre-Islamic elements in their religion. The sacred epic La galigo gives an incomplete picture of pre-Islamic Bugis religion. A small group of non-Muslim Bugis still believe La galigo to be sacred. La galigo is an account of creation, a collection of princely rituals, and a manual of princely conduct. The princely rituals are performed by bissu, transvestite priests in charge of the royal regalia. Other rituals of daily life are carried out by sanro, popular practitioners, for new houses and boats, rites of passage, first-use rites, anniversaries, phases of the rice cycle, and at times of war, epidemic, and crop failure. Allah is called Puang Allataala or Dewata Seuwae. Besides Allah, Bugis believe there are many other spiritual beings it is necessary to pay homage to if you wish them to intercede between humans and the remote supreme being. One of these spititual beings is Sawerigading, who is the Bugis national hero described in La galigo. However, there seems to have been a cult of Sawerigading that was more important to the bissu than the laity. Another cult of the bissu was for Dewata Mattanru' Kati, "the god with golden horns", also from La galigo. There is a general cult among all Bugis to Sangiang Serri, the rice goddess, who in La galigo was the first child born on earth to Batara Guru, son of Datu Patoto, a god at the summit of Heaven according to La galigo. Sangiang Serri died after seven days and was buried. Then her body was transformed into the rice plant. Taddampali is an aquatic god who may be equated with La Punna Liung, the messenger of the Abyss in La galigo. Also important are tomanurung, descended beings, and totenrita, spiritual or invisible beings. The totenrita intercede between humans and the divine and include house and boat spirit guardians and local spirits that live in trees, large stones, and springs. The paddengngeng, hunters, are dangerous invisible horsemen who lasso one's soul, causing illness and death. The kingdom of the paddengngeng is told of in oral traditions and is like the Land of the Dead in La galigo. This is a far island in the western seas. First the dead have to wait in another land until the funerary ritual is over and to be punished if they are sinners. Then a ritual bath is taken, an entrance fee paid to the keeper of the heartland and they cross a golden bridge to the isle of the dead. In this inner Land of the Dead all is the opposite of life among the living. The creation myth of the Bugis has become mixed with Islamic mysticism, but we can gain an outline of this with La galigo as the main source. From a supreme deity, To Papunna, "the owner of everything," emanated a male and a female, who gave birth to the main gods of the upper world and the underworld. Different versions of the myth number these as seven, fourteen, or nineteen. Two couples of gods are most important, one at the depths of the Abyss, the male being Guru ri Selle, and one at the summit of Heaven, the male being Datu Patoto, "the prince who fixes destinies." Datu Patoto was the highest god. The eldest son of Datu Patoto was Batara Guru and he was sent with Guru ri Selle's daughter to Luwu', the Middle World, to found the first human settlement. However, mankind does not descend from them but from their servants and the servants of other divine rulers. In La galigo we read of the lives of six generations of earthly descendents of the first divine rulers. The most important figure is Sawerigading, a grandson of Batara Guru, and he is regarded as the Bugis cultural hero. After the sixth generation, all princes of divine origin returned to Heaven or the Abyss except for the princely couple in Luwu', from whom all Bugis nobility are descended or from other divine princes sent from Heaven or the Abyss. Some contact with Indian religions was followed by a long period of trade with Muslims, mainly Malay, who settled in the trading harbours. The first European contacts came during the spice trade. South Sulawesi then had many small kingdoms ruled by three ruling groups, the Luwu', Gowa or Makassar, and Bone. There was rivalry between the Europeans and in the early 1600's the Portuguese were defeated by the Dutch. The Bugis fought and rebelled against the Dutch for more than two centuries until the early twentieth century and then there was fierce resistance after the Second World War to Dutch re-occupation. There were some attempts by the Bugis in the middle of the sixteenth century to adopt Christianity as introduced by the Portuguese and the Dutch, but these did not succeed. Between 1605 and 1610 the Bugis officially became Muslims under the influence of the neighbouring kingdom of Goa, which is where Islam first entered South Sulawesi. Islamicisation has meant that most pre-Islamic traditions of the Bugis religion have gone. Muslim funerals have replaced traditional ones. The bissu are rapidly declining and their activity is increasingly restricted. However, the importance of Bugis sacred places still exists and an ancestor cult conduct pilgrimages to sacred non-Islamic graves. This cult also make offerings to family ancestors in a special place in the house. And on ceremonial occasions the La galigo epic is recited. Most Bugis lordships and kingdoms claim to have been founded by a divine couple. These divine ancestors are said to have brought swords, banners, ploughs, and other objects with them and these are kept today as royal regalia. The rituals of both bissu and sanro include sacrifices of buffalo, goats, or chickens, as well as offerings of sticky rice. The rice is presented usually in four colours, though sometimes in two, seven, or eight colours, which have magic symbolism as with the Batak. Many Bugis have in their houses wooden tabernacles or miniature beds where the tomanurung, descended beings, can come during ceremonies. There are between three and four million Bugis, the great majority living in South Sulawesi. There are also important Bugis setttlements, mainly on the coast, throughout Indonesia including Kalimantan, Flores, Malaku, and Irian Jaya. Ujung Pandang (now Makassar), South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Kredit kepada: http://www.philtar.ac.uk
Natural Remedies for Gout Gout in Foot Gout in Foot is a type of disorder caused by the accumulation of uric acid around the foot area. This type of disorder results in painful symptoms around the Foot. In return the patient develops problems when walking. The foot tissues are the ones affected by this type body disorder. This type of disorder is more common among adults than in children. But in rare cases does it occur among children and young adults. What is gout from? Gout is a form of arthritis that affects the joints of an individual. It occurs due to the accumulation of uric acid around these joints. This results due to the inability of the body to eliminate successfully uric acid from the body system. It is the responsibility of the kidney to eliminate the poisonous uric acid from the body system. Kidney failure can thus be attributed to the accumulation of uric acid in the body. This is eliminated together with the urine through the urethra. Another cause of accumulation can be as a result of excessive production of uric acid by the body. This makes the kidney to eliminate just a portion of the uric acid while leaving the rest to accumulate around the joints hence causing Gout in Foot. How do you get gout? In some cases, gout is known to be a hereditary type of disease. On the other hand you can acquire this disease due to the type of food you consume. This is due to the fact that gout involves the accumulation of uric acid around the joints and tissues. Gout in foot is one of the most disorders registered in many patients with gout. Intake of food substances that result in the failure of the kidney to filter out an eliminate uric acid will result in gout. These foodstuffs are also responsible for the overproduction of uric acid in the body. This poisonous body waste when left to accumulate in the body it will cause the inflammation of the joints and hence gouts. How to treat gout Once gout has invaded your body, it is advisable to seek help from a doctor. The doctor will provide with an injection of corticosteroids drug. In the blood stream, this type of drug will relieve the pain while you experience lesser symptoms of the disease. Gout in Foot can best be treated when detected early enough. This will help the drug to function effectively in getting rid of the major symptoms of the disease. In the end you will start experiencing a change of recovery within a period of about 24 hours. Natural remedies for gout Gout is a disorder that can be easily managed by patients who suffer from it. This is achieved through watching what you eat. This means that you should avoid inorganic foods that are not easily processed by the body. In that case, adopt the intake of organic foods that will keep your body healthy throughout. Intake of fresh clean water in large quantities will also help greatly. Regular exercises will also aid in the elimination of uric acid in the body tissues. This is due to the fact that exercises will increase the metabolic reaction of the body hence toxic waste from the body system will be eliminated through the skin and urethra. In that case, you will; be able to eliminate Gout in Foot even in the near future. Foods to avoid with gout It is clear that some categories of foods are not healthy especially when you are diagnosed with gout. They include foods rich in purines like animal foods. This is due to the fact that when these types of foods are broken down into a soluble form, they produce uric acid. In that case your Gout in Foot situation will worsen one you consume these types of foods. This goes also for individuals not suffering from gout. However, they only need to cut back on the intake of these types of foods. How to prevent gout The doctor can recommend some medications that will help eliminate the build up of uric acid in your body system in future. This will keep away the build up of uric acid around the joint area and tissues. Gout in Foot is worse for overweight individuals as the body pressure is exerted around the joints. In that case, one should control their weight by what they eat. Frequent exercises have also been proven as the best way to manage your body weight. This will help control and prevent the gout. written by: heminjie2
Updated: Sep 18, 2019 Jack Horner is a world renowned paleontologist who helped create all 4 Jurassic Park movies. He runs the biggest dinosaur research program in the U.S. out of the University of Montana and is an esteemed professor of paleontology. He is currently working on genetically engineering a Dino-chicken. Yes, you read that right, A Dino-chicken! More on that later. If you had asked Jack Horner’s father if he thought that his son would be so successful based on his academic performance in school, his answer would likely have been a resounding no. Jack had trouble from the very beginning with the letters of the alphabet in kindergarten. He also struggled with math in elementary school. His father attempted to teach his son algebra when Jack was just 8 years old. This attempt failed miserably and left both father and son confused and frustrated. Jack fared no better in high school and graduated with a D- . His English teacher told him that what that meant was that he had failed, but that he never wanted to see Jack again. Despite these wounding childhood experiences, Jack had a passion. He had a goal for himself and it involved dinosaurs. From an early age, Jack loved dinosaurs of all varieties, and he found his very first dinosaur bone while on a trip with his father when he was 8. After that his mother, who was integral in helping young Jack develop skill and knowledge in his passion by taking him anywhere he wanted to go to dig up dinosaur bones. He gathered so many, that he started a small museum in their local library in Shelby, Montana. The collection, now rather famous, is still there. He used books to identify the various bones he found. Due to his struggle with reading, this often meant identifying them by photographs and diagrams. Jack knew that to work in the field of paleontology, he would have to go to college. Though much of Jack’s school experiences up to that point had been steeped in failure, he had also experienced some successes. Science was the subject that Jack Horner shone in, so long as it didn’t involve much reading or spelling. He won several awards for projects that he made for the school science fairs. In fact, his high school senior science project about comparing dinosaur bones from Montana to those found in Canada was so impressive that it earned him an invitation to attend the University of Montana, then known as Montana State University in Missoula. Luckily back then, all someone needed to attend college was a high school diploma, which by the skin of his teeth, Jack had earned. He was admitted and majored in geology. Jack Horner speaks very candidly about failing college 7 times. He had to change majors several times in part so that the professors in the “new” department didn’t know who he was. Had it not been for his supportive advisor who believed in him and knew that he was neither lazy nor stupid, he would not have been allowed to continue, so poor where his grades.Try as he might, Jack could not demonstrate his mastery of the subject matter he had learned in geology, zoology, microbiology and archaeology on paper, and so never officially graduated and he left college with no degree. Jack went to work for his father’s gravel pit. Perhaps Jack Horner’s story would have ended there if not for his passion, tenacity and the fact that he valued the knowledge that he had gained over those tumultuous years of seeming failure. Jack felt that even without a degree, he had the knowledge base of any other doctoral student with a degree in his field of study. And so, he resumed chasing his dream of working in the field of paleontology. He sent out applications to numerous museums all over the U.S. and Canada. He received 3 interviews from 3 different museums. One at Princeton University in New Jersey, one in Los Angeles, and one in Canada and was offered all three. He ended up accepting the lowest paying job at Princeton University as a technician. This turned out the be the “open door” that he would need to prove himself as a capable scientist. While working at Princeton, Jack was diagnosed with dyslexia. At last he understood why reading and writing was so difficult for him. At Princeton, Jack was eventually recognized for his extensive scientific knowledge, and was promoted to research associate. He began writing proposals for research grants. Though he wrote many successful proposals that secured the funding of several research projects, he could not sign the proposals himself because he lacked a PHD. While visiting Montana, several years after accepting his job at Princeton, Jack Horner and a close friend discovered evidence that a species of dinosaur cared for their young and with a research grant from the National Science Foundation, began an ambitious excavation project which led to the first discovery of a clutch of dinosaur eggs in North America. Jack was also the very first scientist to crack open a dinosaur egg, and therefore discovered the first dinosaur embryo! In 1982, a funny thing happened. The same university that had failed Jack Horner 7 times and denied him a degree, recruited him to come and work for them as a paleontologist! Jack happily accepted, and was eager to return to his home state of Montana. Jack Horner proceeded to build a world-recognized dinosaur program responsible for many amazing discoveries in paleontology. Some years after that, the University of Montana finally granted Jack his hard-earned degree in the form of an honorary PHD. Not only that, but they even made Jack a professor of paleontology! Jack’s impressive knowledge of dinosaurs and his passion gained him the attention of one Steven Spielberg (another famous and wildly successful dyslexic). Spielberg was working on the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park and needed a dinosaur expert to help make it as realistic as possible. Jack continued to work as an advisor on all of the sequels that followed Jurassic Park. Jack is not at all bitter about being dyslexic and even credits this brain difference and the experience that came with it for his success. He continues to make breakthroughs in the field of paleontology, and as mentioned, is working on engineering a dino-chicken, or as Jack calls it a “chickenosaurus”. For more on that, click on the links below. Children with dyslexia often struggle in the school setting, where it is often very difficult for them to prove their intelligence on paper. While it is critical to get them the explicit help that they need in reading and writing, it is equally important to help them find their strengths and interests. This is what Jack Horner’s mother did for him. By giving him plenty of opportunities to experience success, passion, and a love of learning, he was able to prove himself to himself, and that was everything. Little did his mother know while driving Jack from dig site to dig site that one day her little boy would go on to win the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship Award, widely known as the “Genius Grant”. She only knew that he loved dinosaurs, and that was enough. To hear Jack’s story from his own perspective, click on this link to listen to a talk he did for Dyslexic Advantage on dyslexia and talent:https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=jack+horner+dyslexia&view=detail&mid=CAA7D3A9A095197829B0CAA7D3A9A095197829B0&FORM=VIRE
The first principle of combinational logic is that a circuit must not contain feedback loops. No logic gate may have an output which could affect its input. The shortest way to explain why is just this: Feedback Is Memory. Continue reading → Structural Verilog specifications are very handy for simulation purposes, especially when verification of a large scale system design is needed: you can be certain that all desired transistors are definitely where they need to be if your layout passes LVS, and your Verilog passes your tests. (You could still have trouble with timing of course!) But that same Structural Verilog code that validates every logic gate in your design probably isn’t very fit for human consumption, and you definitely don’t want to write it by hand. You want to specify as much hardware in as little HDL as possible. Continue reading → Let’s look at an example of a Verilog file that contains some modules. In the previous demonstration file, I lumped everything together into a single module called “test”. This is fine for simple modules (by which I mean modules which are simple to describe, not necessarily simple to build), but at scale, organization is handy. This module will also illustrate a simple example of two different approaches to the same modeling problem. Continue reading → The best material model of a cat is another, or preferably the same, cat. As I start to compile notes for a series on Verilog models, one of the first issues that pops up is that simulation itself isn’t nearly as obvious as it looks on the surface. This is true of any simulation of anything, of course. A computer can’t reproduce the physical complexity of the world for anything other than itself, which is rarely that useful. (One notable exception being testing that computer.) But with Verilog simulation in particular, there is the issue of it having a malleable level of abstraction. When students in beginning digital circuit classes begin learning Hardware Descriptive Languages (HDLs), it’s often through a big, heavy GUI tool like Quartus. If you stick to small examples, this works fine, but in bigger tasks things can start to slow down a lot. It’s because of these slowdowns that I use Icarus Verilog instead. Continue reading →
Exclusion, Schooling and Inclusive Education Should disabled students be in regular classrooms all of the time or some of the time? Is the regular school or the special school or both the solution for educating students with a wide range of differences? Inclusive education has been incorporated in government education policy around the world... Published November 24th 2010 by Routledge School effectiveness research together with what is now described as the 'school improvement movement' (Barber, 1996) has captured both the Conservative and New Labour imaginations as a basis for educational planning and policy making in the UK. Internationally school effectiveness enjoys and... Published March 30th 1998 by Routledge Behaviour problems" in our schools occupy a considerable part of the education agenda and media attention. The major thrust of the literature has been on the provision of "new classroom management approaches". Too often these "packages" are inappropriate to the specific context of the school and... Published December 22nd 1994 by Routledge The Politics Of Integration The satisfactory inclusion of children with disabilities in regular schools and classrooms provides a basis for debate from all corners of the world. This internationl collection looks at and analyzes the implications of policy for teachers, parents and students.; The views and experiences of... Published March 29th 1993 by Routledge
The immune system is a group of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to defend a body against invasion by harmful microbes. This book presents a study of the immune system, explaining the crucial role of each member and discussing immuodeficiency disorders, autoimmune diseases, and allergies. Reading Essentials in Science. This book takes a scientific look at keeping our food and water safe. Reading Essentials in Science. This book gives an overview of sound and the sense of hearing, looking at how sound is produced, ways it is measured, and how the ear works. Reading Essentials in Science. Heredity is the passing of traits from one generation to the next through genes. Genetics is the branch of science that studies heredity. Reading Essentials in Science. The complex processes that go on inside cells keep all living things alive. Reading Essentials in Science. This book discusses how the digestive system breaks down food, absorbs nutrients, and gets rid of waste. The alimentary canal along with help from the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas form this organized system of digestion. Reading Essentials in Science. his book discusses how the main job of the circulatory system is to deliver oxygen and nutrients to the body. The heart, blood vessels, and blood make up the circulatory system. Reading Essentials in Science. This book is an introduction to the harmful effects of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. Reading Essentials in Science. This book explains what the brain and nervous system are and how they function in the human body. Reading Essentials in Science. This book introduces bones and the human skeleton and explains their functions, which include supporting the body, giving it shape and structure, and protecting the major organs such as the heart and lungs. Reading Essentials in Science. Bacteria are single-celled organisms with the ability to help and harm other living things. Viruses can only reproduce in host cells, often causing infections. Reading Essentials in Science. Medicine developed into a science in the 1800s, but it was a long evolution from folk remedies and superstition to a modern understanding of how the human body works and how disease is spread. Throughout much of the century, the life expectancy of the average American was decades shorter than it is now. A lack of understanding of simple hygiene contributed to the early death of many women after childbirth, and children routinely died of common childhood diseases like measles. An incorrectly treated broken arm could kill a healthy young man, and pain, disfigurement, and epidemic disease was the fate of many Americans. Traditional herbal remedies were sometimes the best treatments available, while patent medicines often contained toxic substances, and medical procedures were often painful, disgusting, and ultimately useless. The dedicated scientists and medical researchers of the 1800s made a tremendous contribution to the health and happiness of Americans. Women have made major contributions to science throughout history, including in the field of medicine. Learn about the lives of some of the most amazing women in medicine, from Rita Levi-Montalcini to Margaret Chan, as well as their exciting and important work. Discover what it takes to be a doctor. Find out about the opportunities for women in medicine. Read Women in Medicine to see if following in the footsteps of the many brilliant women who have made their mark in medicine is something you want to do. Water plays a vital role in nearly every bodily function, including regulating temperature and removing toxins. Fiber is essential for gastrointestinal health. This compelling book examines how fiber and water work together to help our digestive tracts run smoothly. Our organs, bones, muscles, skin, and hair either contain or are made of proteins. This engaging title explains how our bodies break down large protein molecules into the amino acids that our bodies need to maintain our muscles, bones, blood, and body organs. There is a great deal of fuss about fat! Fat is an essential nutrient for optimal health, however too much fat can lead to health problems. This informative title helps clear up the confusion about this controversial nutrient. Minerals boost our immune systems, support normal growth and development, and help cells and organs function. This engaging title explores the roles of key minerals, such as calcium, iron, potassium, and magnesium. We all know that vitamins are necessary for proper growth and good health. But what vitamins do we need and how does our body use them? This informative title identifies essential vitamins and explains how our bodies absorb them. Even though carbohydrates have been given a bad rap in recent years, they are essential for maintaining good health. This fascinating title examines the chemical structure of carbohydrates and explains the differences between simple and complex carbohydrates. A look at potential future developments in medicine, including the use of nanotechnology, as well as genetic mapping and other technologies that are currently considered state-of-the-art. A look at heart disease, examining the ways in which it develops, its symptoms and diagnosis, the effects it has on a person's daily life, and improvements in medicinal and surgical treatments. A look at Parkinson's disease, examining the ways in which it develops, its symptoms and diagnosis, the effects it has on a person's daily life, and research toward finding better treatments. A look at HIV/AIDS, examining the ways in which the disease can be contracted, its symptoms and diagnosis, the effects it has on a person's daily life, and ongoing efforts to find a cure. A look at Alzheimer's disease, examining the ways in which it develops, its symptoms and diagnosis, the effects it has on a person's daily life, and research toward finding better treatments. A look at cancer, examining the ways in which the disease develops, its different forms and symptoms, the effects it has on a person's daily life, and ongoing efforts to find a cure.
Using semipermeable membranes, semipermeable contaminants are removed through ultrafiltration. Reverse osmosis removes bacteria, viruses, and parasites from water, but ultrafiltration retains minerals. The Process of Ultrafiltration A membrane filtration process called ultrafiltration separates contaminants such as bacteria, viruses, and other harmful organisms from clean water. Using ultrafiltration, water is forced through membranes with a thickness of .02 microns. Particles of too large a size can also fall through the membrane in addition to sticking to the outer membrane surface. It allows only the passage of dissolved minerals and fresh water. Reverse Osmosis vs Ultrafiltration The main component of ultrafiltration systems is the hollow fiber membrane, which filters water from within. Having a large surface area, this membrane is attracted to particles. With spiral wound RO membranes, the filtering process begins from the outside inward. In contrast, hollow fiber membranes resist oxidants and chlorine, while TFC reverse osmosis membranes cannot. Reverse osmosis membranes provide the most thorough filtration, but they may not be appropriate or desirable in all applications. Ultrafiltration membranes retain minerals, while RO membranes eliminate them. Salt, fluoride, and TDS are not removed by ultrafiltration. Booster pumps are required with reverse osmosis systems, however. Nanofiltration and Microfiltration vs. Ultrafiltration Each type of membrane filtration differs in terms of the pore size of the membrane between reverse osmosis, nanofiltration, ultrafiltration, and microfiltration. The type of membrane filtration to use depends on the quality of the water. What are the uses of ultrafiltration? Each type of filtration has a different purpose depending on what kind of particles are removed and how big the pores are. Aqua is ultrafiltered to remove microscopic contaminants while leaving minerals in. You may be able to save money by using an RO system over one with UF. Californians, for instance, may choose UF systems. UF might be your best option if you live in South Carolina, where there are few dissolved minerals in the water. It is sometimes possible to use ultrafiltration to recycle effluent water for irrigation after filtration. Particles and dissolved substances are often removed from water using reverse osmosis. People with well water often prefer RO water to tap water. Using RO, salt can also be added back to aquarium water, allowing the aquarium owner to precisely measure the amount of salt to add. In the dairy industry, nanofiltration is commonly used to remove heavy solids and soften water. Nanofiltration removes algae from water while microfiltration removes sediment. What can ultrafiltration remove? The UF membrane is 5,000 times thinner than a human hair. The reduction of contaminants using ultrafiltration is 100 percent. The use of a carbon block pre filter is essential for the reduction of taste and odor from chlorine, lead, cysts, volatile organic compounds (VOC) and metallic trace elements (MTEs). UV membranes last for 2 to 3 years. - Low pressure is used in the system - Anti-virals, anti-bacteries - Keeps water mineral-rich - It’s easy to install - Waste water is not generated It is eco-friendly to use a filtration system. The recovery rate of ultrafiltration is 90-95%, so wastewater can be recycled. By using a home ultrafiltration water system, you can reduce the amount of plastic bottles being thrown away in landfills. Drinking water ultrafiltration A large city’s water plant or hospital would use ultrafiltration prior to now. Now, undersink water filters offer ultrafiltration as well. UF drinking water systems help you take great-tasting water anywhere you go. With a BPA-free stainless steel water bottle, you won’t have to worry about harmful chemicals leaching into your drinking water. Neo-Pure TL3 is designed with a carbon filter that is improved and cartridges that are easy to change. A built-in shutoff valve makes it possible to change filters without turning off the water. Your cold-water supply is connected to your Ultrafiltration system with 1/4″ quick-connect fittings, and it comes with polyethylene tubing and chrome faucets. Our inspections are also free regardless of whether our core services are used. No hidden fees or charges are applied to our inspections. We go beyond what is expected of us. If you have any questions, please contact Jei Aqua Tech customer support.
Persuasive Speech is one of the most powerful forms of speech. A well-delivered persuasive speech with strong source material never fails to leave a lasting impact on the audience. However, preparing a good persuasive speech and then delivering it with perfection to change the audience’s thought process is anything but easy. Therefore, we are here to help you master your persuasive speech. This article will discuss all the key points that encompass a good Persuasive Speech. We will also share a well-written Example of a Persuasive Speech that will give you insights into preparing your speech. So, if you want to change your audience’s viewpoint with an impactful Persuasive Speech, go through this article to the end. Fundamentals of a Persuasive Speech Before we move towards a thorough discussion about the structure and substance of a Persuasive Speech, let us try to understand its fundamentals. The speaker delivers a Persuasive Speech to change the audience’s point of view on a certain topic. So, for this, the speaker must understand the bare basics of the speech. A good persuasive speech is made up of the following three fundamentals:- - The credibility of the Speaker: The audience will only pay attention to your speech if they find you credible. For this, you need to be well-versed in the topics you are speaking about. - Emotional Connection with the Audience: Whatever you are conveying to the audience must resonate with them. Only then will the audience consider changing their viewpoint on something. - Logic and Reasoning: Your speech needs to be backed with strong logic and reasoning to influence the audience. Example of a Persuasive Speech Introduction The introduction part of a Persuasive Speech is extremely crucial. If you fail to capture the audience’s attention from the get-go, they will unlikely be influenced by the rest of the speech. For this, you must work on preparing something that engages your audience. One of the easiest ways to get the audience’s attention is by sharing a personal experience or anecdote with them. However, if the topic of your speech does not allow you to do that, you can also start by sharing a baffling statistic with the audience. For example, if the topic of your speech is Ozone Layer Depletion, then you can use the following statistic in your introduction. “The total mass of ozone in the atmosphere is about 3 billion metric tons. That may seem like a lot, but it is only 0.00006 percent of the atmosphere.” After grabbing the audience’s attention with such a statement, you can proceed with establishing the argument of your speech. Persuasive Speech Body Once you establish the key argument of your speech in your introduction, you can move toward the body of your speech. You will expand on your argument in-depth in this part of the speech. For this, you can also use facts and figures in your support. Remember, you must make this part of the speech the most substantive. So, you should cover all of your key arguments and their counterparts in this part of the speech. Give your audience insights into your topic to the fullest. Another thing you must keep in mind while writing the body of your speech is that you do not introduce a new argument here. Considering the time constraints that the speaker has during the speech, it is better to stick to arguments established during the introduction part. How to Conclude a Persuasive Speech? The conclusion of a Persuasive Speech determines how likely the audience is to be persuaded by your speech. Therefore, it is necessary for this part of the speech to have a lasting positive impression on the audience. Since the conclusion consists of only 10% of your speech, you must ensure it does not venture into the territory of preachiness. Here, you must only summarize the arguments you have established and expanded on earlier in the speech. In addition to this, you must also tell the audience what will happen if your speech persuades them. And what will happen if your speech does not persuade them? Lastly, end your speech with a powerful “takeaway” statement neatly. Example of a Persuasive Speech Sample: Environmental Pollution is a global concern “Over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals are killed by Pollution every year. 5000 people die almost every day because of drinking unclean water. Thousands of people suffer from Lung Cancer due to Air Pollution. It is about time we open our eyes and accept the fact that even in today’s era, Environmental pollution is a global concern” Pollution is arguably one of the biggest challenges that humans are facing in today’s time. The primary reason is the government’s incompetence in explaining the issue’s importance to the people. And more importantly, the blatant ignorance of people towards it. There are four types of pollution: Water Pollution, Air Pollution, Soil Pollution, and Sound Pollution. All of them have proven to be deadly for humans, animals, and our vegetation. Despite this, the people and the government put little to no effort to reduce them. We still use abundant fertilizers and chemicals for agriculture, destroying our soil. The daily increase in the number of vehicles constantly increases the amount of Carbon Dioxide and Monoxide in the air. Instead of finding the remedy for the problem, we are contributing to making it worse. It is time for us to unite as a unit to fight this global concern. We all need to plant more trees and reduce the use of vehicles to make a change. This is the only way of getting rid of the evil of pollution. Otherwise, it will destroy our homes and our people in no time. We hope our article was a worthwhile read for you. You can ask us your queries in the comment section below. Also, through our page, we cover informative topics like these regularly. So, be sure to stay connected with us through the NVSHQ Homepage.
Plumbing Guidelines For Solar Heaters Systems can be configured in several different ways depending on the type of standard hot water cylinder you have; Low pressure conversion diagram Mains pressure conversion diagram How to attach a solar hot water system to an existing Explanation of how to deal with overheating Mains Pressure Water Cylinder Hotwater cylinders if not manufactured specifically for solar will have a manufacturers maximum temperature limit, in most cases this will be 70°c - 80°c. 1. Check the cylinder specifications for parameters suiting your temperature application. 2. Install a temperature limiting device to bring the operating temperature to within specifications 1m² of solar collector panel should have at least 1.5 kilowatt heat dissipation. Low Pressure Cylinder Low pressure hot water cylinders are usually manufactured from copper, insulated, having specifications stamped on the cladding, providing details of the pressure rating etc. Low pressure hot water cylinders are excellent candidates for conversion to storage tanks. Cylinders Used For Conversion Cylinders best suited for solar conversion are either stainless or copper both of these tank liners have the ability to sustain high temperatures. Stainless cylinders can operate to 90 degrees c, however this is the maximum your tank should reach bearing in mind someone should be using hot water every day to prevent overheating. Copper hot water cylinders usually have a 70 degrees c maximum operating temperature this means you will probably have to de-tune your panel to prevent excess heat. Vitreous enamel tanks have a maximum operating temperature of 70 degrees celcius, measures should be taken not to exceed recommended maximum temperature. Solar Ready Tank Replacement Converting your existing standard hot water cylinder will halve your investment giving outstanding performance and savings. We recommend getting maximum value using your existing cylinder until the tank fails then upgrading to a solar ready tank, should you get 3 or more years use from the cylinder you would be well on your way to paying for the new cylinder, once your solar ready tank is fitted you will enjoy even more efficiency. Performance modelling recommends Peter Cocks solar ready cylinder complying with current nz standards. SR868C8 controller can be programmed to heat to 60ºc plus through three different time frames throughout 24 hours, controller will automatically trigger the electric element when 6 degrees below the pre-set electric booster setting. Sixty degrees celcius should be achieved every day either by the sun or electrical element this will reduce legionella growth. Once a frost valve has been installed the exit point should be facing downwards (permits total drainage) during frosty conditions the frost valve opens releasing a slow water flow through the collectors until water temperature is low enough for closing the frost valve. Frost valves should be fitted at the water exit end of the collector on an extended 300mm of un-insulated pipe. Frost valves are used as a backup to the solar controller frost protection. Frost valves are not a fully reliable method of frost protection but the chances of total failure when used with a solar controller reduces dramatically. Frost valves can also be used in a thermosyphon systems where no solar controller is fitted. Heat Rejection Thermal Pressure Relief Valves Hot water systems either standard or solar ready must have some way of releasing pressure in the event of failure. Solar collectors need an independent relief system of the cylinder itself, to prevent the cylinder from exploding, this is achieved by either a relief valve (TPR) or open vent. Relief valves must not have isolation valves installed between the heat source and the relief discharge point (drain all roof valves to the gutter). It is important not to oversize the solar water heating system. Temperature Pressure Relief Valve The TPR pressure relief path is to be sized for the total output of the solar heating system @ 99 degrees celcius and 1500 w/m2 and 45 degrees ambient temperature plus any additional heating source. Discharge On Roofing Material Caution must be taken where valves discharge on to building (rooftops) roofs or other material, discharge will damage surfaces if adequate care is not taken. When freezing occurs these discharge locations need to be of such a length freezing will not occur. An air break or TUNDISH is required to be piped away safely, if in doubt check the manufacturers specifications or someone qualified to assess the problem. Roof Penetration Methods It will be necessary for both solar pipes and electrical cables to penetrate the roof. Roof penetrations should be done as per standard practice using either lead flashings or rubber DECTITE seal as required. Methods for roof penetration could include using a low cost CARBORUNDUM hole saw, fitting threaded brass plumbing tube through the hole, fit brass basin back nuts either side of the roof material, stainless washer to the sun side of the roof being careful not to over tighten particularly on concrete tile, apply silicone under the washer so as to shield the silicon from the sun,care should be taken the integrity of the roof is not compromised. Hot Water Circulating Pump Used In Secondary hot water systems Wilo solar pumps are designed to pump hot water from minus 10 to 100 degrees c, consuming a minimal 100 watts of electricity (230v) at maximum speed. All rotating parts of the solar pump are surrounded by flowing water, including the motor rotor. Solar Heating Auckland \| Solar Water Heating Systems \| Diy Solar Installers \| Solar Hot Water Cylinder Installing Solar \| Contact \| Plumber \| Recommended Resources \| RSS news feed
Since I spent nineteen years as a community organizer prior to becoming a public school teacher, I feel pretty strongly that one of the key purposes of schools is to help prepare students to participate actively in a democratic society, and to help them reflect on how they can make their society better. There are many resources out there that teachers can draw on for ideas on how to do that effectively in the classroom without doing it in a dogmatic way and, instead, doing it in a way that helps students connect current and historical issues of justice and injustice with their own personal stories, and the stories of their families. Here are the resources that I’ve found most useful to me, though the sites in this “The Best…” list are not ranked in any particular order. With these links, as with all the sites I share in this blog, you have to pick-and-choose from the resources they contain to determine what makes most sense in your situation. You might also be interested in: Here are my picks for The Best Teacher Resource Sites For Social Justice Issues: Facing History is officially called “Facing History and Ourselves: Helping Classrooms and Communities Worldwide Link the Past To Moral Choices Today.” It’s a mouthful, but does accurately portray their work. It’s quite an impressive international organization, and people whom I respect have worked closely with them and speak highly of their work. Their website has a lot of useful resources. Rethinking Schools has been helping spread the word about bringing social justice into the classroom for years through its exceptional magazine and their excellent books. Their archives of past issues are available for free on the Web. Teaching Tolerance is probably familiar to a lot of readers from their widely distributed magazine. They offer some incredibly useful and well-done materials for free, including some excellent DVD’s and videos on the Civil Rights Movement. EdChange has a number of good useful hand-outs, plus sends out a regular email newsletter. Some of the materials are a little too ideological for me, but, nevertheless, they have some good resources. I also have to give its director, Paul Gorski, an incredible amount of credit for developing research-based critiques on the work of Ruby Payne. Ms. Payne’s perspective (popular, unfortunately, among many school districts) on how schools should work with low-income families is not only, I think, destructive, but it’s also an inaccurate “blaming the victim” analysis. Even though I’m not a math teacher, but other math teachers whom I respect have spoken highly about the lessons available at Radical Math. Oxfam Educational Resources offers excellent online and classroom materials on international development issues. Zinn Education Project: Teaching a People’s History is a collaboration between Rethinking Schools and Teaching for Change! As their announcement states: The new site features over 75 free, downloadable teaching activities for middle- and high- school students to bring a people’s history to the classroom. These are the best U.S. history-teaching articles from the Rethinking Schools archives. The site also lists hundreds of recommended books, films, and websites. The teaching activities and resources are organized by theme, time period, and grade level. Though teachers would have to modify the materials to make them accessible to English Language Learners, the site is truly extraordinarily. YES Magazine has a number of useful classroom materials on environmental and social justice issues. Lucinda Leugers, a professor at Urbana University, compiled (with help from the Rethinking Schools listserv) an extensive list of books related to social justice that can be used in the classroom. She’s given me permission to upload it here. Teaching Tolerance, the organization justifiably well-known for developing very good social-justice oriented teaching resources, has unveiled: “Perspectives for a Diverse America… a literacy-based curriculum that marries anti-bias social justice content with the rigor of the Common Core State Standards.” It’s a very ambitious site, and I think most teachers will find the highlight to be 300 great texts, often from larger works, all set-up to print out and copy for students. Those are a gold mine! I hate to say it, but I generally found the site’s set-up to be fairly convoluted and confusing to navigate, though others may very well feel differently. But, whether you agree with me or not on that, I’m sure you’re going to agree that the texts are a wonderful resource. You do have to register in order to access the site, but it takes a minute to do so. ADDENDUM: They just released this video providing helpful hints to navigating the site: This Teacher Taught His Class A Powerful Lesson About Privilege is from BuzzFeed. 6 Videos To Use In Your Social Justice Lessons is from Teach Thought. Here is how it describes itself: Split This Rock explores and celebrates the many ways that poetry can act as an agent for change: reaching across differences, considering personal and social responsibility, asserting the centrality of the right to free speech, bearing witness to the diversity and complexity of human experience through language, imagining a better world. Split This Rock is dedicated to revitalizing poetry as a living, breathing art form with profound relevance in our daily lives and struggles. Our programs integrate poetry of provocation and witness into movements for social justice and support the poets of all ages who write and perform this vital work. It looks like a great site, and I think teachers will particularly like that it’s searchable by theme and through other categories. Teaching Democracy: A Hands-On Exercise (Tara Kini) is from Larry Cuban’s blog. “He Named Me Malala”: Understanding student activism through film – Lesson Plan is from the PBS News Hour and offers a lot of good ideas and resources. A Collection of Resources for Teaching Social Justice is from Jennifer Gonzalez. Feel free to offer feedback on this list. If you found this post useful, you might want to check out my other “The Best…” lists. In addition, you can also subscribe to this blog for free.
A new satellite view of the Smoky Mountains shows the blue mist that gives the region its name. The image, shared by NASA's Earth Observatory, is a best-pixel image of Great Smoky Mountains National Park in east Tennessee. That means that it's made up of the most cloud-free pixels taken from the Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 satellites between 1986 and 2013. Gatlinburg, the town hit hard by a fast-moving wildfire in November, is visible in this view as a grayish blur tucked between ridges. East of Gatlinburg is Clingmans Dome, the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, at 6,643 feet (2,025 meters). Clingmans Dome is also the highest point in all of Tennessee. The body of water just right of the center of the image is Fontana Lake in North Carolina, a reservoir on the Little Tennessee River. [Photos: Stunning Views of US National Parks from Space] According to the National Park Service (NPS), the Smoky Mountains were formed between 310 million and 245 million years ago, when the tectonic collision that created the supercontinent Pangaea rucked up the land into mountains as high as today's Rockies. Erosion softened their edges and lowered their soaring heights. Today, the mountains are eroding at a rate of about 2 inches (5 centimeters) every thousand years, according to the NPS. The mist that creeps through the valleys in these mountains prompted the Cherokee to call the region "Shaconage," or "place of blue smoke." This haze, according to the Earth Observatory, is the result of humid air and volatile compounds exhaled by plants, which scatter blue light. Moisture is key to life in the Smokies. The valleys in the park get an average of 55 inches (140 cm) of rain a year, while some peaks average as much as 85 inches (216 cm) annually, according to the NPS. At least 1,500 plant species make their home in the park, along with 68 mammal species, more than 200 types of birds and 43 amphibian species, according to the NPS. Thirty of those amphibian species are salamanders, making the Smokies the global center of salamander biodiversity. The largest salamander species in the park, according to the NPS, is the hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis). This salamander can grow to be 29 inches (74 cm) long. Original article on Live Science.
NASA's Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) was launched on August 25, 1997, carrying six high-resolution spectrometers that measure the abundances of the elements, isotopes, and ionic charge states of energetic nuclei in space. Data from these instruments is being used to measure and compare the composition of the solar corona, the nearby interstellar medium, and cosmic-ray sources in the Galaxy, and to study particle acceleration processes in a variety of environments. ACE also includes three instruments that monitor solar wind and energetic particle activity near the inner Lagrangian point, "1.5 million kilometers sunward of Earth, and provide continuous, real-time data to NOAA for use in forecasting space weather. Eleven of the articles in this volume review scientific progress and outline questions that ACE will address in solar, space-plasma, and cosmic-ray physics. Other articles describe the ACE spacecraft, the real-time solar-wind system, and the instruments used to measure energetic particle composition. Number of pages: 663 Weight: 1061 g Dimensions: 240 x 160 x 35 mm Edition: Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 199
Courtesy University of FloridaKevin Folta, an assistant professor of horticultural sciences at the University of Florida, examines arabidopsis plants growing under a bank of LED lights. Many growers and researchers have long known that light can enhance the exterior color of fruits and vegetables. That's why some growers have taken to laying metalized plastic under fruit trees. But now researchers have found that various light wavelengths can change the aroma and taste in several crops, including tomatoes, strawberries and blueberries, according to a news release. Their findings could eventually be used to enhance the nutritional qualifies of fruits and vegetables. A University of Florida group led by Thomas Colquhoun, an assistant professor in environmental horticulture, exposed petunia cuttings to LED light at different wavelengths. They found that a floral volatile increased when the plant was exposed to red and far-red light. They then conducted similar tests on tomatoes, strawberries ane blueberries, and found that flavor volatiles could be manipulated with light. Blueberry volatiles changed the least, but were still statistically significant. The group is now working with UF dentistry professor and taste expert Linda Bartoshuk on a study that will test whether consumers can taste differences in light-treated fruit.
With the emerging development of the global economy, while the global demand for mineral resources continues to grow, the demand for mining equipment is also growing. Although the mine’s operating conditions remain basically unchanged, it requires more equipment and higher efficiency. Frequent tire replacement leads to downtime, which will greatly reduce operational efficiency, increase costs and loss of revenue. Therefore, the operational stability of tires is currently a rigid demand for industrial solid tires. Under normal working conditions, pneumatic tires installed in heavy equipment are at risk of puncture. In some special engineering applications, especially underground mining, the advantages of solid tires are obvious to all. Solid tires are puncture-resistant and are made of a highly abrasion-resistant rubber compound. Generally speaking, the service life of solid tires is three to five times longer than that of conventional pneumatic tires. Moreover, since there is no risk of tire blowouts, solid tires significantly improve operational safety. Large-scale earth and stone mining in mines can produce chaotic soil and tumbling rocks. Even with hard-tread underground mining tires, the continuous wear and tear caused by driving on rough rock surfaces may cause the tire tread to crack-it is the rough ground and jagged rocks that cause the tread to crack, cut, tear and partially The process of tread falling off. Solid mining tires made of high-quality compounds (such as high-quality natural rubber/carbon black mixtures) are chip-resistant and chip-resistant, preventing rock damage and rough use, thereby ensuring tire life, cost-effectiveness and operators Security is significantly improved. The solid tire for mining uses an advanced three-layer structure design. By using elastic rubber compound in the middle layer of the tire, the elasticity of the tire can be improved, and the best resilience and shock absorption can be provided, thereby making the ride more comfortable. In addition, the tread pattern of solid mining tires is much deeper than that of pneumatic tires. The tread depth of 17.5-25 super solid tires is 150 mm (6 inches), which increases the amount of wear and thus extends the service life.
The title of the book is "Braiding Sweetgrass," and braiding is what Robin Wall Kimmerer does, weaving her strands of biology professor, mother and Potawatomi woman. Her book of wisdom, knowledge and teachings celebrates life that is both ordinary — her simple days as a working parent — and magical, filled with many gifts from good-hearted communities. Her interactions, however, are not solely with human groups but are equally and necessarily with the natural world. She introduces readers to a language of flora and fauna that is readably right in front of them, and nudges — at times, urges — her readers to recognize an inclusive reciprocity with our environment. The gift of Kimmerer's book is that she provides readers the ability to see a very common world in uncommon ways, or, rather, in ways that have been commonly held but have recently been largely discarded. She puts forth the notion that we ought to be interacting in such a way that the land should be thankful for the people. As even the casual gardener knows, harvesting promotes new growth. Kimmerer's focus is interdependence: Plants that are loved and used form a reciprocal relationship with human communities. In an example, she relates a study by one of her graduate students who finds that sweetgrass grown near basket-makers, who harvested in skillful moderation, grew in a more healthy and prolific manner than sweetgrass left to multiply without interference. Kimmerer's smart comparisons work to reorder her readers' thoughts and observations. The symbiosis of lichen mirrors her parents' 60-year marriage, both strengthening community. In a chapter titled "Collateral Damage," the homing migration of salamanders to their ponds to reproduce is paralleled with the technological homing device of "smart bombs" used in the Gulf War. Without explicitly stating it, Kimmerer makes readers uncomfortably conscious of the difference: the one following a predetermined path in order to create offspring, the other following a man-made path to inflict "acceptable" collateral damage. While she lovingly weaves a braid of literary sweetgrass, as her narrative develops she reminds that, like the actual braiding, there has to be someone on the other end holding the strands taut. She slowly, patiently builds the case for "cultures of regenerative reciprocity" because, as she says, "it makes us happy." She asks readers "to demand an economy that is aligned with life, not stacked against it," but acknowledges, "It's easy to write that, harder to do." Elizabeth Wilkinson is an assistant professor of English at the University of St. Thomas, where she teaches American Indian, women's and sports literature courses.
A lot of people are getting interested about the Codex Sinaiticus controversy, which involves the Holy Bible. When talking about the origin of the Holy Bible, it all started as ancient hand-written manuscripts. These ancient hand-written manuscripts are known as the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament, which is also known as the Codex Sinaiticus, is written in Hebrew. Meanwhile, the New Testament or also known as Codex Vaticantus is written in Greek. These two parts of the Holy Bible have different origins yet could be proven through scriptures to one though not the same. The Holy Bible itself has a lot of variations that compromise a lot of issues regarding the truth. The Belief Explained The Codex Sinaiticus, also known by many as Aleph, was found at the Monastery of St. Catherine on the famous biblical location Mount Sinai in 1859 by Count Tischenrof. The Codex Sinaiticus originally has 400 pages or leaves. On the other hand, the Codex Vaticantus was found in the holy city of Vatican in its own library. The Codex Vaticantus originally has around 759 pages or leaves. Though the origin of who brought or when did the Codex Vaticantus arrived remains a mystery. There are a lot of theories about these two ancient hand-written scriptures that puzzled a lot of people up until now. Ancient manuscripts are supported by the Roman Catholic to be pure. Yet, there are a lot of people worldwide that are not convinced by them. When it comes to Codex Sinaiticus controversy, there are so many people who will react to this topic. Some said that because man had made these ancient hand-written scriptures it is considered by many to be questionable. When it comes to the truth, there is no certainty. Most people say that to see is to believe, which makes this saying dependable most of the time. Yet, there are always things that are unexplainable that makes it complex. It is always up to you whether to believe it or not. But the Codex Sinaiticus controversy shows that man are capable of manipulating other people especially those that are in need of something to believe in. With this uproar, many people worldwide have begun to question their belief specifically the truth. One of the concrete truths is that the Bible is made by man, and it is inevitable that it holds a lot of secrets. The Holy Bible generally provides good inputs in man especially for those that are in need of something to believe in and lean on to. Yet, if it is used as personal gain, it adds another inhuman story. In history, may it be about the Bible or any other ancient scriptures, it is noted that man is known for being capable of making a sin, which makes humans unpredictable. The Codex Sinaiticus controversy shows that every beginning holds untold secrets and each secret is bound to be uncovered. It is only a matter of time that this secret will be unfolded and will give birth to the truth behind the curtains.
Click image for enlargement and elaboration - Humans have evolved numerous mechanisms to respond to physical, biotic and social threats. - The major causes of extrinsic mortality are biotic, and include competition for nutrient supplies with other organisms of the same or different species; predation; and infection by micro-organisms. - Detection of a stressor elicits physical, endocrine and behavioural responses that evolved to cope with the threat or perceived threat. There may be pathological consequences of inappropriate stress responses. - Pathogens and parasites have co-evolved with their hosts. - The adaptive immune system is a key component of protection against microbial infection in vertebrates. Its specificity is a consequence of variation and selection. - Variations in drug-metabolising ability may be an echo of past adaptive responses to new food sources encountered by migrating humans. Age-specific mortality rates in the influenza epidemics of 1911-1917 and the ‘Spanish’ influenza epidemic of 1918 The high virulence of the 1918 virus may have resulted from an aberrant host immune response that caused extensive tissue damage in the lungs; in addition, previous exposure of older persons to an antigenically related virus several decades earlier may have contributed to the relatively higher mortality in younger people.
On December 29, 1876, at about 7:30 in the evening during a snowstorm, the iron bridge over the Ashtabula River collapsed as a train carrying 156 people was crossing it. When the bridge collapsed, the train fell into a seventy foot gorge and caught fire, killing at least 80 people. An investigation after the accident revealed flaws in the design and construction of the bridge, and concluded the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railway company was to blame. Chief engineer Charles Collins, after giving testimony regarding the bridge, shot himself. Amasa Stone, the principle designer and erector of the bridge, committed suicide a few years after the disaster. The citizens of Ashtabula and the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad erected a memorial to the victims in Chestnut Grove Cemetery on the 20th anniversary of the disaster. The Ashtabula Disaster was immortalized in Julia A. Moore's Sentimental Song Book which was published in 1876: The Ashtabula Disaster Have you heard of the dreadful fate Of Mr. P. P. Bliss and wife? Of their death I will relate, And also others lost their life; Ashtabula Bridge disaster, Where so many people died Without a thought that destruction Would plunge them 'neath the wheel of tide. Swiftly passed the engine's call, Hastening souls on to death, Warning not one of them all; It brought despair right and left. Among the ruins are many friends, Crushed to death amidst the roar; On one thread all may depend, And hope they've reached the other shore. P. P. Bliss showed great devotion To his faithful wife, his pride, When he saw that she must perish, He died a martyr by her side. P. P. Bliss went home above -- Left all friends, earth and fame, To rest in God's holy love; Left on earth his work and name. The people love his work by numbers, It is read by great and small, He by it will be remembered, He has left it for us all. His good name from time to time Will rise on land and sea; It is known in distant climes, Let it echo wide and free. One good man among the number, Found sweet rest in a short time, His weary soul may sweetly slumber Within the vale, heaven sublime. Destruction lay on every side, Confusion, fire and despair; No help, no hope, so they died, Two hundred people over there. Many ties was there broken, Many a heart was filled with pain, Each one left a little token, For above they live again.
There seem to have been more wasps than ever around this summer and the insects can be a real nuisance. But, there is a simple reason that wasps have been more prevalent this summer. The Sussex Wildlife Trust has offered a reason for all the irritating insects this summer, reports Cambridgeshire Live. "It actually lies in the unusual ecology and bizarre anatomy of social wasps," says the wildlife charity. "Adult wasps cannot digest the food they catch because their gut is so constricted by their thin 'wasp waists'. "Instead the workers chew up the pray and feed it to the larvae. In return, the larvae produce a sugar-rich spit that workers can drink." So for most of the summer adult wasps can feed on this sugar spit. But, when the queen stops laying eggs and there is no more larvae, the adult wasps have nothing to eat. "This means the workers no longer have access to larvae. Instead, they live on the sugar produced by rotting fruit. This can be a problem because fermenting fruit contains alcohol, so wasps can become intoxicated and rather irritating," the wildlife charity explained. "They are also attracted to the abundance of sweet foods that humans provide. To a starving wasp, a jam sandwich or a can of Coke is just too tempting to avoid. For this reason, wasps are generally only a nuisance in late summer. "Remember that these drunken workers don’t have long to live, and as soon as the winter weather sets in the entire colony will die, leaving only the new queens to hibernate through to next year." More than pests Despite their reputations, wasps are vital to our ecoystem. They catch flies, aphids, caterpillars and other invertebrates so are actually quite handy if you're a gardener. They are also important pollinators of flowers, and some orchid species are exclusively pollinated by wasps. Their nests only last a season too, so unless they are particularly close by, its far better for your local ecosystem to leave them alone. What to do when bothered by a wasp The NHS says you should remain calm, and move away slowly. Don't wave your arms or swat at them. The NHS also say: "Apply insect repellent. Repellents that contain 50% DEET are most effective. Avoid using products with strong perfumes - e.g. soaps, shampoos and deodorants - as these can attract insects."
Vascular compression syndromes are caused by a strong lumbar lordosis. The first steps to reduce symptoms after a thorough diagnosis are thus aimed at reducing the lordosis. This can be achieved by certain body postures which aim to reduce the anterior tilt of the pelvis. Tilting of the pelvis develops around the age of 12 months when children start walking. Younger children do not tilt the pelvis anteriorly since they lay on their back or belly with flexed hips or they crawl or creep. In these body postures the hips remain flexed. Only with the beginning of an upright posture and bipedal walk they begin to overstretch their hips in order to bring the upper thighs and the knees in one line with the back. This can only be achieved by turning the entire pelvis anteriorly, thus resulting in the so called anterior tilt of the pelvis. Stretching of the hip joints without tilting of the pelvis is impossible since tight ligaments within the capsule of the hip joints prevent a movement of the femoral bones more then 45° cranially or caudally with respect to the pendulum line of the hip joint. This pendulum line is 90° to the direction of the spine. Thus human beings are the only animals with a lordosis. For details see my explanation under the section lordosis. The rationale for treatment of vascular compression is thus reducing lordosis by flexing the hips. This immediately reduces pain and discomfort. Such body postures cannot be held for longer periods. But at least for an acute situation this provides some relief. In order to achieve longer lasting effects the muscles around the spine should be strengthened. Their inherent tension reduces the anterior and posterior curvatures of the vertebral column and thus reduce the lordosis. Any type of physical exercises which strengthen the truncal and the gluteal muscles are helpful. If physical therapy is insufficient to reduce symptoms to a bearable amount, then medical treatment and surgery should be contemplated. Stents, the coiling of congested veins and the removal of painful organs are often recommended. This can be a fatal mistake. Any treatment requires a thorough functional colour Doppler sonographic diagnostics of all possibly involved compression syndromes. It is a difference if there are veins, arteries or intestines involved. Moreover, it is crucial, which combination of compressions is present in an individual. The compression syndromes influence each other and this must be taken into account by the proper treatment. We are sorry that this post was not useful for you! Let us improve this post! Tell us how we can improve this post?
February is International Prenatal Infection Prevention Month and the obstetrics and gynecology team at Sidra Medical and Research Center (Sidra) is sharing advice on preventing prenatal infections. Prenatal infection can, in some cases, have a serious impact on both mother and child during and after pregnancy. There are, however, some simple steps pregnant woman can take to reduce the risk of contracting an infection. “In many cases education and prevention are the best ways to fight disease. At Sidra, our mission is not only to treat patients but to ensure that they lead a healthy lifestyle throughout their lives. We hope to bring awareness to simple preventative measures that will help improve quality of life for mothers and families,” said Dr. Guy Fender, Senior Attending Physician in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Sidra. Is an infection more dangerous during pregnancy? Viral infections like coughs and colds generally do not harm the mother or baby. However, persistent flu-like symptoms should be discussed with a doctor. Serious flu can be prevented via a vaccination offered to all mothers in the winter months. This vaccine is safe to give in early pregnancy and provides combined protection against flu and ‘bird-flu,’ a condition which can be very serious for pregnant women. Urinary infections are more frequent in pregnancy but don’t affect the baby’s health. It is important to avoid dehydration and seek medical advice if there is persistent burning, blood in the urine or a fever. Are there any foods that pregnant women should avoid to prevent infection? Some bacterial infections, such as Listeriosis, can be passed on to an unborn baby through the placenta, even though the mother might not be displaying any symptoms of an infection. To help prevent this, pregnant women are advised to avoid certain foods such as unpasteurized milk and mold-ripened soft cheeses. This means that it is OK to eat cottage cheese, mozzarella, feta, paneer, ricotta, halloumi, and goat’s cheese provided the packaging states they are made from pasteurized milk. According to the NHS Choices website, hard cheeses are safe to eat in pregnancy, including cheddar, edam, emmental, gouda and parmesan.1 Pregnant women should also be aware of parasitic infections. These can be avoided by rigorously washing fruits and vegetables to remove all traces of dirt and soil and ensuring all meat and poultry is cooked thoroughly. Can pets pass on infection to women during pregnancy? Pregnant women should avoid any contact with cats or cat litter to avoid infection with toxoplasma, which can harm an unborn baby. If contact is unavoidable, women must wash their hands before and after interaction or alternatively wear gloves. It’s also advisable to avoid contact with any farm or other domestic animals during pregnancy. Should pregnant women avoid contact with young children who may be ill? 2, 3, 4 Pregnant women can take steps to reduce their risk of exposure to childhood diseases by avoidingcontact with young children with a rash or a fever. Women should also seek medical advice if they haven’t had a blood test to check for immunity against German measles or Rubella infection. Other infections passed on by children include CMV virus, chickenpox and parvovirus or ‘slapped cheek’ disease. If a woman experiences any symptoms relating to these, she should see a doctor immediately. Simple hygiene including hand-washing with soap and hot water before and after contact with young children is also an effective prevention against infection. Should pregnant women be tested for Hepatitis B? 2, 3, 4 All mothers should be tested early in pregnancy for Hepatitis B; this is part of a routine series of blood tests. Vaccination is a key form of prevention.. Hepatitis B is a serious condition for a pregnant mother and, if contracted, specialist hospital-based care is required. Does traveling abroad increase the risk of prenatal infection? 5 If travelling abroad to a high-risk area, women should be aware of serious infections including malaria and HIV. Often vaccinations are not recommended due to concerns that the virus or bacteria in the vaccine could harm the unborn child. Women are generally advised to avoid travelling to countries where immunization is required but if this isn’t possible, women should seek specialist advice about prevention to reduce the risk of infection. 1 NHS Choices. Foods to avoid in pregnancy. Available from:http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/foods-to-avoid-pregnant.aspx 2NHS Choices. Infections in pregnancy that may affect your baby. Available from:http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/pregnancy-infections.aspx 3 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Chickenpox in pregnancy. Available form: https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/patients/patient-leaflets/chickenpox-in-pregnancy/ 4 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Group B streptococcus (GBS) infection in newborn babies. Available from: https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/patients/patient-leaflets/group-b-streptococcus-gbs-infection-in-newborn-babies/ 5 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. HIV and pregnancy. Available from:https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/patients/patient-leaflets/hiv-and-pregnancy/
Physiotherapy means physiotherapeutic system of medicine which includes examination, treatment advice and instructions to any person in connection with movement, dysfunction, bodily malfunction, physical disorder, disability, healing and pain from trauma and disease. The physiotherapists skill are required by the health care team in most disciplines of medicine including surgery, neurology, orthopedics, gynecology, obstetrics, dermatology, ENT, cardiothoracic, vascular surgery, pediatrics, rehabilitation and sports medicine, etc. Purpose of physiotherapy : The purpose of physiotherapy is to decrease body dysfunctions reduce pain caused either by trauma, inflammation, degeneration, and surgery. The various conditions in which physiotherapy useful are as follows: 1) Management of a fracture and return to normal function is possible with simple methods of physiotherapy. It allows for regain of full joint movements and muscles power after healing of a fracture. 2) In joints and soft tissue injury rapid repair of damaged tissue occurs with quick reduction of pain and swelling. 3) Restoration of full joint movements with reduction of pain and deformity is possible various kinds of joint diseases like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid, arthritis juvenile arthritis etc. 4) In degenerative disease of spine, physiotherapy arrests the progress of disease as in cervical spondylosis. Suitable arthroses are also provided for giving support to spine. It also has a major role to play congenital disease of spine like spina-bifida. 5) Chest physiotherapy has a vital role to play in medical and surgical conditions like bronchial asthma, chronic obstructive lungs disease, pneumothorax but also surgical procedures involving spine, pelvis, extremities and abdomen. 6) In hemiplegia or paraplegia physiotherapy greatly helps the patient to gradually increase his mobility. 7) In children physiotherapy is assuming real importance in children with cerebral palsy, spina-bifida, clubfoot, muscular dystrophy etc. 8) It easies labour and return to normal after delivery. It is also useful in gynecological problems like incontinence, prolepses of uterus, pelvis inflammatory disease. 9) Sort medicine- A physiotherapist is mandatory for any sport event. He maintains the fitness of sports person and provide first aid in case of various sport injuries. The aims of the physiotherapy education : 1. To produce the physiotherapists with basic knowledge and skill. 2. To enable them to recognize the disease, traumatic, physical and mental conditions affecting health. 3. Take steps to prevent such diseases. 4. To treat such diseases scientifically. 5. To be able to recognize and referred patients for the timely intervention of other healthcare professional specialized in the area of investigation and skilled treatment. 6. Must be capable of under taking further study and advancing the knowledge and be able with further training to undertake teaching, research and practice. Scope of Physiotherapy : Physical therapists practice in: Residential homes/ Rehabilitation centers Private offices/Private practices/Private clinics Community health care centers/ Primary health care centers Fitness centers/ Health clubs Occupational health centers Senior citizen centers Public settings( e.g. shopping malls) Courses : 1) Bachelor of physiotherapy/ B.Sc. (Hons.) physical therapy duration:- 4 and 1 /2 year (including Internship) Eligibility for admission: - Inter Science with Biology with 50% marks.Process of admission: Through entrance test. Entrance test will be held in April or May.Age: not less than 17 years. 2) Master in physiotherapy (M.P.T) Duration: 2 years , Eligibility: B.P.T. (4 and 1/2year) Speciality: Neurology, Orthopedic/ Musculoskeletal, Sports, Cardiothroacic and Rehabilitation. Commencement of the course: The course will commence from the 1st April, every year. Physiotherapy - Other Courses And Institutes
Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. Sociological inquiry shows that much of what people do, believe, and become arises from their social relationships and that social life has discernible patterns. The subject matter of sociology ranges from the intimate family to the hostile mob; from organized crime to religious cults; from the divisions of race, gender and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture; and from the sociology of work to the sociology of sports. In fact, few fields have such broad scope and relevance for understanding and engaging with the world. The Department of Sociology is committed to a program of research and teaching that is both firmly grounded in the classical tradition of the discipline and addressed to contemporary issues. The Department’s intellectual distinction is based on work that is macro-sociological, theoretically driven, and empirically grounded. To take some representative examples, current research includes studies of the culture of science, organizations, and the city; collective memory, and the collective identities of race, ethnicity, and nation; gender and inequality in global perspective;religion and the family; care and caregivers; class and education; economic and historical sociology.
International activists joined envoys from the United Nations and African Union in Senegal to “promote the adoption of a resolution that explicitly bans female genital mutilation as a practice that is contrary to human rights.” The cutting or removal of young girls’ and women’s clitoris and/or labia affects some 120 to 140 million women in 28 countries, mostly in Africa and the Middle East, according to the World Health Organisation. What Is Female Circumcision? Female genital cutting (FGC), also controversially known as female circumcision, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C), or female genital mutilation (FGM), is any procedure involving the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs “whether for cultural, religious or other non-therapeutic reasons.” The term is almost exclusively used to describe traditional or religious procedures on a minor, which requires the parents’ consent because of the age of the girl. When the procedure is performed on and with the consent of an adult it is generally called clitoridectomy, or it may be part of labiaplasty or vaginoplasty. It also generally does not refer to procedures used in gender reassignment surgery, and the genital modification of intersexuals. FGC is practiced throughout the world, with the practice concentrated most heavily in Asia and Africa. Opposition is motivated by concerns regarding the consent (or lack thereof, in most cases) of the patient, and subsequently the safety and long-term consequences of the procedures. In the past several decades, there have been many concerted efforts by the World Health Organization (WHO) to end the practice of FGC. The United Nations has also declared February 6 as “International Day Against Female Genital Mutilation”. Sources: newsone.com and wikipedia

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