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All in the eyes: painting sparrow Shuttlecocks. That’s what many of the sparrows appearing in Chinese brush paintings look like to me—just extremely round heads with a trailing splay of feathers. Their heads are too big for their bodies. Sorry, I don’t think the effort to capture the spirit of the bird with such portrayals is working. Sparrows have long been a favorite choice to paint with willow or bamboo, probably right back to the Song dynasty when the bird-and-flower genre was invented. They are indeed a cheerful little bird, one that twitters and hops around a lot. They also seem to throw themselves into the breeze for the sheer fun of it. They are painted perched on branches or rocks, usually in pairs or groups, and often airborne just after lift-off or just before landing. Those last two postures take some understanding. I’ve been looking at a lot of old and newer paintings that feature sparrows and I’m not certain who decided they should be painted so ROUND, and ill proportioned. Generally, sparrows are small, plump, brown-grey birds with short tails and stubby, powerful beaks. (They actually have an extra bone in their tongue to aid in picking up seeds.) What does draw my attention in sparrow painting is the eye treatment. There seems to be two basic ways of portraying them—one involves an outlined oval with a central black pupil (which can also be enhanced with a white highlight), and the second is to use a simple black round dot. I’ve tried both methods as shown in these two small studies.. SparrowStudyRB SparrowStudyYB About the bird: The differences between sparrow species can be subtle. Members of this family range in size from the chestnut sparrow (Passer eminibey) at about 4.5 inches long to the parrot-billed sparrow (Passer gongonensis) at about 7 inches. A fellow blogger named Jennifer Stone has a post dedicated to differences between two common varieties—the tree sparrow (Passer montanus) and the house sparrow (Passer domesticus). She includes lots of details as well as distinguishing photos here. Sparrow folklore: For a seemingly small and ordinary-looking bird, the sparrow has certainly amassed a range of significant meanings to mankind from different cultures and in different times. One flying into the house in my grandmother’s day meant an impending death in the family. In Greek mythology the sparrow was associated with the love goddess Aphrodite and deemed a symbol of true love. The Indonesians saw the sparrow as a good luck omen, portending everything from imminent rain to fortune in love. According to the ancient Egyptians, sparrows would catch the souls of the recently deceased and carry them to heaven. Sailors often acquired sparrow tattoos in hopes the image would thus carry their souls to heaven should they be lost at sea. Chaucer and Shakespeare both relied on the sparrow as symbols of lust and lecherous behaviour. My reading also revealed that sparrows were sold as food in Elizabethan times, and of course biblical references abound, mostly exploiting the sparrow’s small size to show heavenly regard for even the tiniest of creatures. Others employ the sparrow as symbolic of pious behaviour, hope, fertility and resurrection. One surprise to me was discovering a tale from the brothers Grimm that exploited the cleverness of a sparrow to illustrate the triumph of goodness over evil in a rather graphic manner. It reads more like an Aesop’s fable. In China the sparrow was supposedly a candidate for the national bird, losing out to the much larger and perhaps more exotic, red-crowned crane. Sparrows were perceived as a symbol of humility, their feathers being simple and relatively unadorned. For many, the fact this species of bird would rather starve itself to death than be bred in captivity showed great spirit. Together with their symbolic associations of strength, vitality and perseverance, it was thought that this would make the sparrow an appropriate symbol of the Chinese people — despite the fact that Mao Zedong attempted to eradicate sparrows in the 1950s. Painting the sparrow: Until recently I had few resources addressing sparrow painting that I liked. As mentioned, several artists render these little birds in a plump manner with ill-shaped bodies and wings. (Even worse, the wings are sometimes curved concave; cute they may be to some viewers, but how they fly with wings caved in boggles the mind.) Many good bird books will include outline sketches (such as those shown below) to illustrate the correct ratio of head to body size and suggest postures for painting. A rather basic book on bird-and-flower painting I picked up on eBay doesn’t name the bird illustrated in their simple step-by-step instructions, but it can only be a sparrow based on the images. It is shown on the left below: The book on the right, which addresses several birds commonly used in CBP, is the one I used as a guide for sparrows with black dot eyes. (TIP: Delightful Lotus admired the book for its several pages of kingfishers, but discovered the treatment of bird feet was not always accurate. One has to consider all resources critically and trust your own “creature knowledge”.) It was an online resource that I used for the study based on outlined eyes. The artist also employs distinctive spotting on the bird’s back. His tutorial can be found here. His manner of painting the eye certainly adds to the expressiveness of his compositions. Here’s my study again, but do check out the video which shows five on a branch. My preferred sparrow characteristics: –expressive eyes, yellow on the eyeball for contrast –sharp beak –spotted back feathers –a head to body size ratio close to realistic –wings curved naturally (not concave in flight, puh-lease!) How to paint my ideal sparrow: 1. Eye and beak—using a detail brush dipped in black ink paint a black pupil within an eye outline. A straight line across the top of the eye helps contribute to a focused appearance; leaving white or adding a white highlight after the pupil is dry also helps yield a piercing stare to the gaze. Strive for a short, sharp beak executed with a firm stroke. Train your eye to ‘see’ where the bird’s eye should be placed relative to the beak—behind and slightly above the ‘gape’ line. When dry, add yellow mixed with burnt sienna or a minute amount of ink so the eyeball really stands out. Raggedy Bird artist Neil Armstrong mentions white will also have the same effect, but I prefer the dull yellow. I made this quick sketch to show how placement of the pupil can alter the bird’s look: 1. Head and body (upper back)—using a larger soft brush loaded with dark brown touch the brush to the paper and ‘plant’ a stroke for the head. It takes practice to control the moisture and color in the stroke. Some blurring of the edge is okay, but you want the pointy part that will be ‘forehead’ to hold the darkest color to the stroke. You place this stroke with the ‘prow’ aimed in the direction the bird is facing. The body lies behind the head, is made with one large and maybe two smaller strokes on either side with a ‘wipe’ stroke that may be slightly curved to convey the roundness to the bird’s body. You are not filling in the entire back of the bird, just suggesting the fullness of the shape and allowing a viewer’s eye to pick up the overall sense of the bird. You want these strokes made quickly and confidently. Again, it takes some practice to get the moisture level, color placement, and ‘swish’ just right. The bodies on these three turned out a deeper indigo than I intended, but their postures are useful to try again. This trio is on the cover of my general bird book mentioned earlier and I love that head-on pose on the far right. 1. Wings, lower body and tail. Using a lighter brown for the under body, and dark ink or really dark brown for the wing tips and tail seems to provide good contrast to your sparrow. Depending on whether your bird is perched or flying, you may have to define more wing feathers. Yang O-shi’s book Bird and Flower Painting offers six poses of the sparrow perched (sitting) that are very useful to learn; she also offers several in-flight poses for practice. In some of the compositions in the same book her sparrows have open beaks and appear to be ‘speaking’ to each other. 2. Legs, feet and back dotting. Paint the legs and feet with the detail brush dipped in dark ink. The sparrow clutches on to branches with three toes forward and one pointing to the back. In flight, the legs hang loosely below the body, angled by the air draft with toes slightly curled as well. The artist at Raggedy Bird touches up his sparrow body outlines, adding feathery bits at the beak, the top of legs and along outline edges. He also sprinkles dark dots across the sparrow’s back topped up with white paint. These final touches contribute significantly to the character and spirit of his birds. 1. Although the eye painted as an outlined oval with a black pupil is striking, sometimes the eye done as a simple dark dot can be effective. 2. Getting the eye placed properly with respect to the gape line, that being the break between a bird’s upper and lower mandibles, is getting easier for me. 3. Rendering a sharp little sparrow beak with a single stroke takes practice. Moisture level, the precise curve, length and speed to the stroke all must be ‘just right’. 4. Painting sparrows in bamboo requires planning and coordination of TWO creative processes—the birds plus the bamboo. A simpler setting that can be roughed in after the birds are finished is easier to execute. 5. A single sparrow (or maybe two?) with head cocked just so, eyes brightly focused on something, and body poised for action, can make a nice little scene. One comp I was sort of pleased with; for little birds they are a BIG challenge! Now that I’ve studied sparrows more fully in order to try and capture their essence on paper, I can see why they might be considered as ‘soul-catchers’. They do move about busily and seem to be aware of every movement in their immediate surroundings. Animated, perky, and energetic—they truly are all these things. That they could sense the passing of a soul is entirely credible, but I question they’d stay ‘on task’ long enough to carry one to its destination. I’d be more inclined to trust my soul to one of the big water birds. Just look at the steady wing beats and determined stare of a heron, cormorant, or pelican as they take off across a stretch of water. Sparrows flit. Soul-carrying strikes me as much too serious a business for such a little bird. This entry was posted in Chinese Brush Painting, sparrows. Bookmark the permalink. Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Learn Korean Addressing Peers at School Addressing Peers at School: seonbaeand In Korea, age is very important in establishing the relationship between speakers. Therefore, when you are at university, you will address people in the years above or below you with special titles. The title for someone in a year above you is ‘선배 (seonbae)’ and ‘후배 (hubae)’ is used for someone in a lower year level. For example, if you are a 2nd year student, you are the ‘seonbae’ of a 1st year student and ‘hubae’ of a 3rd year student. If you are not very close to a person in an older year level, you would add the respectful ‘님 (nim)’ to the title, so that they are called ‘seonbae-nim’. However, if you are very close to someone in an older year, you may also one of the kinship terms (hyeong, nuna, eonni, oppa ) Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
posted by . I tried to figure this out with my standard reduction potentials sheet, and tried to find a sulfate ion for the first part, but I don't think that is the answer...any help is much appreciated • apchemistry - PartA Suppose you had a solution containing Pb2+ and Tl+ and wanted to convert the lead to solid metal but leave the Tl+ in solutin. What reducing agent(s) would be able to drive the reaction? • apchemistry - a thin metal sheet is compposed of Fe and Cobalt You would like to recover the Cobalt What oxidizing agent(s) would allow you to ionize Fe to Fe2+ but not ionize Co? • apchemistry - The activity series of metals is Any metal at the top will displace the ION of any metal BELOW it in the series. Therefore, Co, Ni, and Sn will displace Pb^+2 from solution and deposit Pb metal but will not displace an ion ABOVE it (so Tl^+ doesn't get displaced). Co is the closest to Tl; therefore, I would pick Ni or Sn. Try those with your voltage numbers and see if that works. • apchemistry - thank you--also, does this work for the Fe iron part of the question too? • apchemistry - The same procedure works for the Fe/Co part but I don't have iron in the series. You need to put Fe in at the proper spot. By the way, I think you interchanged the words ionize/oxidize. I think you wanted the word oxidize. Respond to this Question First Name School Subject Your Answer Similar Questions 1. Chemistry Using the standard reduction potentials, calculate the equilibrium constant for each of the following reactions at 298 K. 10Br- + 2MnO4- + 16H+ -> 2Mn2+ + 8H20 + 5Br2 Work: 2Br- -> Br2 + 2e- (This would be multiplied by 5 to … 2. Trig How do I solve the following? sec 3 theta/2 = 2 on the interval 0<theta<2 pi? 3. chemistry (AAAAA)The standard reduction potentials of lithium metal and chlorine gas are as follows: (for Li, reduction potential is -3.04, for Cl it is 1.36) In a galvanic cell, the two half-reactions combine to 2Li{+](s) + Cl{-}2(g) --> … 4. chemistry... HELP Equilibrium constant question!!!? Standard reduction potentials Reduction half-reaction E(V) Ag+(aq) + e- ---> Ag (s) 0.80 Cu ^2+ (aq) + 2e- ---> Cu (s) 0.34 Sn^4+(aq) + 4e- ---> Sn (s) 0.15 2 H+(aq) + 2e- ---> H2 (g) 0 5. chemistry (electrochemistry) 1) For the following electrochemical cell Cu(s)\|Cu2 (aq, 0.0155 M)\|\|Ag (aq, 1.50 M)\|Ag(s) write the net cell equation. Calculate the following values using standard potentials as needed. Eo cell and dGo for each reaction............................................................. … 6. Chemistry Please help! I have spent hours trying to work these three problems. How many grams of solid barium sulfate form when 27.1 mL of 0.160 M barium chloride reacts with 53.4 mL of 0.065 M sodium sulfate? 7. Chemistry Given these standard reduction potentials at 25 C 1. Cr3+ + e- ===> Cr2+ E1=-0.407 V 2. Cr2+ + 2e- ===> Cr(s) E2=-0.913 V determine the standard reduction potential at 25C for the half-reaction equation Cr3+ + 3e- ===> Cr(s) … 8. Calculus My question is:Use L'Hospital's rule to find limit as x approaches 0 (e^x-e^-x-2x)/x-sinx. 1st I took the derivative to get (e^x-e^-x-2)/1+cosx. Substituting in 0, I got -1. The answer is supposed to be 2.I also tried (e^x-xe^-x-2)/1+cosx, … 9. Chemistry use the appropriate standard reduction potentials in the appendix of your book to determine the equilibrium constant at 285 K for the following reaction under acidic conditions 4H+(aq) + MnO2(s)+2Fe+2(aq)----> Mn+2 (aq)+2Fe3+(aq)+2H2O(l) … 10. Math, Algebra So I've tried for two days to figure out this problem. I tried to ask my friend to help me but she just won't. My parents don't know anything about math, they said so themselves. The first day I tried I cried I got so frustrated. The … More Similar Questions
top threat:zori.b executive summary name: w32.zori.b (symantec) what it does: zori.b spreads through windows file shares. the virus infects .exe files by writing its code to the beginning of the files. nine days after the original infection, the virus begins to delete files from all disks. the size of the infection code is 623,116 bytes. how to avoid it: use antivirus software and keep it up to date. try to limit file shares to folders that do not contain programs. how to remove it: use antivirus software to scan the system for files infected with the virus and delete them. when the zori.b code is executed it performs the following actions: 1. it displays a graphic from a file named andylau.bmp. 2. it creates copies of itself with the following file names • c:\windows\temp\ssshost.exe • %windir%\svchost.exe (%windir% is usually "c:\windows") 3. it adds the value "microsoft" = "%windir%\svchost.exe" to the registry key to start itself when windows starts. 4. it also adds the value: "(default)" = "%windir%\svchost.exe "%1" %*" to the registry subkey: to run it every time windows starts 5. it adds the value "version" = 0x3e9 to the registry key as a flag that indicates that the system is infected. 6. it opens a back door connection to on tcp port 1879 and listens for commands from the attacker. 7. it attempts to disable the following processes: • pfw.exe • kvfw.exe • kavpfw.exe • iamapp.exe • nmain.exe • freepp.exe • freekav.exe • freesys.exe • iparmor.exe • trojan_hunter.exe • rfw.exe • rav • taskmgr.exe 8. it attempts to delete the following values from the hkey_local_machine\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run registry key: • "skynet personal firewall" • "iduba personal firewall" • "iamapp" • "rfw" • "popproxy" • "ravmon" • "ravtimer" at this point, zori.b begins to search all hard disks for .exe files. when it finds one, it infects it by prepending its code to files it finds. infected files increase in size by 623,116 bytes. it may also spread by copying itself over windows file shares.
Microorganisms, genetic engineering, and alternative fuels • 01-Nov-2012 12:03 EDT Audi10-12 Krieger 2.jpg Audi's Michael Krieger believes his company's work with Joule points the way forward to new e-fuels. Achieving credibility for potential solutions is always a tough call for inventors, and an equally tough one for manufacturing companies that must make the “neat or nutty” decision about an idea. The automotive industry has had its fair share of creatives propounding theories to solve just about every known problem that it has faced. But the industry is conservative in its approach to such things, whether they come from an independent engineer or designer, or from the corporate ingenuity of a supplier or OEM. So, when Audi espoused an idea that may see the effects of the combination of microorganisms, waste CO2, sun-seared deserts, and genetic modification to create synthetic e-fuels to meet infinite global energy needs without draining the Earth’s resources, it might be thought that the word “caution” would be illuminated by flashing red lights. Discharged by the microorganisms, the fuels are separated from the water and purified, states the company. But Audi is very serious about it all, cooperating with U.S. company Joule Unlimited based in Cambridge, MA, with the aim of achieving commercial success via the production of e-diesel and e-ethanol, the former eventually rivaling the cost and efficiency of regular diesel. Michael Krieger, Project Manager Sustainable Product Development/e-fuels at Audi, is confident of success. “This type of plant producing e-fuels on an industrial scale would be cheaper than an oil refinery, and by 2020 we will be able to produce e-diesel at a similar cost level to that of fossil fuel diesel—about $100 per barrel at today’s prices,” he said. Audi and Joule already have commissioned a demonstration facility in New Mexico to produce sustainable e-ethanol, with e-diesel to follow next year. The plant is in an area of high-level solar radiation. The fuel is described as having the same qualities as biomass-based bioethanol but with a yield per unit area at least 10 times greater. Audi sees fuel sources that compete with food-producing agriculture as ultimately not a good solution because populations are growing rapidly. Also, biomass needs various quality processes that can be difficult to control, said Krieger. Which is why Audi is exploring a radical route. Krieger explained that a single organism is genetically modified and then allowed to reproduce over a period of weeks: “When there are billions of organisms, we introduce them into the process.” The production process involves single-cell microorganisms measuring less than 000.1 mm. Like plants, they grow via oxygenic photosynthesis, using sunlight and CO2 to form carbohydrates. They can be sustained in salt or waste water. The specialists at Joule have modified the photosynthesis process to enable the genetically modified microorganisms to produce ethanol or long-chain alkanes (vital elements of diesel fuel) directly from the CO2. Basically, the process works in a hosepipe that at present is 100 m long. “But you could have many sections next to each other,” Krieger noted. Audi states that e-ethanol has the same chemical properties as bioethanol. It can be burned as a blend with gasoline or as the basic component of E85. Development of e-diesel is now progressing. Audi describes it as being a particularly pure fuel, whereas regular diesel is a mix of various organic compounds. It also has a high cetane number, thus aiding combustion. It is said to easily blend with regular diesel and is free of sulfur and aromatics. Krieger adds that it is only now that computer and nanotechnology allow the necessary rapid programming (genetic modification) of sufficient microorganism examples: “You take billions of them at once and within seconds the required genetic modification can be achieved.” He believes that the production method will prove easily scalable and that eventually “just a fraction” of the world’s desert areas would be sufficient for global road transport fuel needs. CO2 emissions would be similar to those of diesel. Krieger is confident that investment costs likely will be far lower than those for a regular oil refinery, despite the facilities being sited in highly inhospitable areas. In a statement, Audi said: “Joule has protected its technology with patents for which Audi has acquired exclusive rights in the automotive field. Audi engineers with extensive know-how in the areas of fuel and engine testing are helping to further develop these remarkable fuels so that they can genuinely be brought to the market.” HTML for Linking to Page Page URL Rate It 4.07 Avg. Rating Read More Articles On Related Items Training / Education Training / Education Training / Education
September 23, 2013 How old is Chess? Chess is commonly believed to have originated in India as the game, Chaturanga Sanskrit meaning, "four parts", referring to divisions of the military of the Gupta Empire. In about the 6th century CE, it was adapted by the Persians who carried it west to Spain where it spread to Italy and then France. The game made its way to Wales in the 11th century, as a consequence of the Norman incursions, where it became known as Gwyddbwyll. Gwyddbwyll was also known as Fidchell in Ireland. Irish legend has it that Fidchell was actually invented by Lugh, the Irish god of light and was a game played by royalty as well as the gods. Board games modeled on war, using carved pieces and checkered patterns like Chess, have cross-cultural ties and appear to have been part of the human experience for hundreds, or even thousands of years. In the 5th Century BCE, one of the first known board games modeled on war was the ancient Greek military-style board game, Petteia (aka Poleis, Polis, City, Cities, Pessoi, or Pebbles). The game, Petteia, as Plato and Aristotle called it, was played on boards with black and white stones lined up on opposing sides. The goal was to capture an opponent's stones by blocking them in between two others. Sound familiar? So it could be argued that the game of Chess has its origins in ancient Greece. However, upon further examination, you will find archaeological evidence suggests board games, like Chess, can be found from the earliest stages of civilization and in all major ancient countries. This is particularly true in the Near East; the cradle of civilization. Numerous game boards with their playing pieces have been discovered in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Anatolia. While scholars still debate their significance, it is generally agreed that these games were played by people in both higher and lower social classes. Some of the most ancient archaeological examples of strategic board games were found in the Royal Tombs of Ur in Iraq by Sir Leonard Woolley in the 1920s. These game boards are some of the oldest examples excavated, dating from the First Dynasty of Ur, before 2600 BCE, as seen on the left. However, the trail does not stop here. Senet boards, found in Egyptian tombs, predate the game boards of Ur by almost 1000 years! The oldest hieroglyph depicting a game of Senet dates to about 3100 BCE. The image to the right is of a fresco from the tomb of Nefertari. It depicts Queen Nefertari playing Senet. Still, new information on the origin of Chess was uncovered as recently as 2013, when a complete set of small carved stones was found in a 5,000-year-old burial mound at Başur Höyük near Siirt in southeast Turkey. The site was inhabited as early as 7,000 BCE and was on a trade route between Mesopotamia and East Anatolia. These game pieces could represent the earliest ever found. The pieces, pictured below, were sculpted in such shapes as pigs, dogs and pyramids, and are painted in green, red, blue, black and white. Archaeologists are still trying to figure out exactly how the game was played, but have determined that it is, indeed, similar to Chess. So how old is Chess? It seems there is no way to be certain. From an archaeological perspective, its origins are still being unearthed. There does not appear to be a Scholar’s Mate on the horizon for this one. However, one thing is clear, Chess and Chess-like games have spanned many eras and cultures, undergoing numerous adaptations. The next time you sit down to a game of Chess, just think, you are taking part in a living history! For anyone who does not play Chess, you may want to consider trying it. Get back in touch with what it means to be human, as Chess has proven to be a steadfast part of our collective human experience. Click here to read another ancient use for game pieces. One you might never have expected...
Breakthrough to genome editing + See all authors and affiliations Science 18 Dec 2015: Vol. 350, Issue 6267, pp. 1445 DOI: 10.1126/science.aae0479 A, T, G, C: the alphabet code for the nucleotides that are the building blocks of life. Minor, but consequential, changes in this DNA coding can change gene function. Researchers have long sought better ways to edit the genetic code in cultured cells and laboratory organisms to silence, activate, or change targeted genes to gain a better understanding of their roles. This, in turn, could open the door to beneficial applications, from ecological to agricultural to biomedical. Over the years, several editing methods have been developed, but they have suffered from a lack of specificity, difficulty in assembling the molecular constituents, or concerns about off-target effects. Recently, accomplishments in genome editing across biological disciplines have been so remarkable that the method known as clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats—or CRISPR—is Science's 2015 Breakthrough of the Year (see p. 1456). “…CRISPR is poised to revolutionize research…” The 2015 advances using CRISPR that warrant this recognition have been on multiple fronts. Researchers have now delivered on the method's promise to, for example, disable retroviruses encoded in the pig genome that had posed a safety concern for organ transplantation from pigs to humans. Concurrently, CRISPR was used to develop a potent gene drive, a system that allows the rapid transmission of an introduced gene throughout insect populations faster than natural selection would permit. CRISPR should make it easier to study human genetic diseases, because it can quickly create cell and animal models for study and for the testing and screening of drugs. For certain diseases, genome editing of somatic cells may lead to potential therapy. Because CRISPR is poised to revolutionize research, the international community gathered earlier this month to address the implications of this technique for modifying human germ cells and embryos, articulating guidelines that clarify the ethical bounds for researchers, funders, and publishers. Many other achievements in 2015 gave CRISPR tough competition. One that came too late to be considered is last week's agreement in Paris by nearly 200 nations on a pact to fight climate change. Of those that made the short list, most notable are the stunning images from the New Horizons mission as it swept past Pluto; the mission is Science's “People's Choice” for the Breakthrough. Also startling was the discovery that the mammalian lymphatic system extends the immune system's reach into the brain, opening up possible new routes to treatment. In a form of modern-day alchemy, yeast was engineered to produce opiates. We gained experimental confirmation of the correlation in the quantum state of two widely separated p articles, a process called “entanglement.” Improvements in seismic imaging provided long-sought confirmation of the existence of mantle plumes, responsible for midplate volcanoes such as Hawaii. Our line of defense against Ebola virus has been bolstered with the successful development of a vaccine. Psychologists led the charge in research reproducibility. And affirming that there is still serendipity in science, a new member of the human family was revealed from a hidden cave in South Africa harboring 1500 human fossils. DNA sequencing has now settled the origin of Kennewick Man: Native American, with Asian ancestors. Choosing the Breakthrough is easy when new research resolves a long-standing question, such as the experimental confirmation of the Higgs particle in 2012. More commonly, the road to success is marked by glimmers of hope, setbacks, and uncertainty as to whether time will prove the value of a new finding or technique. Science has been tracking genome editing since the initial successes with zinc fingers; in 2012, we named transcription activator–like effector nucleases (TALENS) as a runner-up Breakthrough. By 2013, researchers were embracing CRISPR, enough so that it too was a runner-up Breakthrough. The Breakthrough nod in 2013 went to cancer immunotherapy, still in early clinical trials at the time. Our hope is that in 2 years' time, CRISPR will have brought to many diverse fields in biology the enduring level of excitement and optimism that immunotherapy has brought to cancer patients. Navigate This Article
Monday, August 11, 2008 Scientific Papers: The Introduction The Introduction to a scientific paper- whether that paper is an original data report, literature review or case report- has a very specific function. Its primary purpose is to let the reader know why your paper was written. It therefore provides context for the work you present. Typically, the introduction will provide a short overview of the topic area for your paper. For example, if you are presenting a case report on the successful management of an unusual condition, the Introduction will usually give the reader information about the condition in question, as well as some information about the intervention that was so successfully used. This information will be broad and general in nature; the Discussion section is where you can delve into the details about the condition in question. An Introduction need not be lengthy. In fact, it is likely that a lengthy Introduction contains information that more appropriately belongs in the Discussion section. And often the Introduction is written to demonstrate where a gap in the literature exists. That is, a certain measure of literature is cited, and the author then points out areas of confusion, disagreement or question and notes where his or her paper fits into that confusion, and how it will provide information that may help to resolve some or all of that confusion. Let me offer an example. Say we were writing a case report discussing the chiropractic management of Condition AB. My Introduction might proceed along these lines: “Condition AB is a disease affecting X% of the population at any given time, with a lifetime incidence of Y%. The condition occurs when something goes wrong in your organ system, affecting the function of this organ [AUTHOR”S NOTE: I am making this all up so am keeping comments purposely vague]. As a result, this lack of function leads to problems in the musculoskeletal system. Medical treatment for Condition X includes this, that and the other thing. However, there is no information in the literature regarding chiropractic management for Condition AB. This paper presents a case which was successfully managed using high-velocity low-amplitude adjustment.” Now, each sentence here would normally be expanded (and each factual statement referenced correctly) upon so that this entry would run to approximately 3 paragraphs, but you can see all the necessary elements in place. I highly recommend that to get a good sense of the elements I note above, simply read over a few papers from the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics or other chiropractic journal. This will give you a template from which you can begin to develop not only the Introduction to your paper, but the rest of the paper as well. No comments:
Author: admin SMTP Server at a Glance The flow of emails from the sender to the recipient undergoes a certain process which can be likened to the process of sending mails through a traditional postmaster. When you send a mail via the post, certain processes are undergone –including the necessary registration and eventual delivery– before the mail gets to the recipient. The same thing happens when an email is sent out by a sender. The procedure which the internet emails undergo before they get to the email inbox of the recipient is known as simple mail transfer protocol which is normally abbreviated as a SMTP Server. The SMTP server is an essential aspect of this process. It performs the function of a postmaster who in the traditional mail sending process handles mail delivery. It is a computer running SMTP that receives emails from the senders and delivers them to the recipients. You can buy SMTP server at authority providers on th web. Email sending process via SMTP Server Normally before you send an email, you need to have an email address with an email service provider such as Google, Yahoo and others. It is through this email ID that you will be able to send email to another person that owns an email address. When you compose your emails and click on the send button in order to deliver it to a particular recipient with your mail client or webmail (this is in technical language called message user agent), they normally leave you email compose box via port 25. But they are not delivered immediately to the recipients. It hits the SMTP server assigned to your message user agent when you set up an email address. The SMTP performs the function of MTA (message transfer agent). A short conversation is initiated between your client and the server. In this process, all the data concerning the transfer or delivery of the message such as the domain, the recipient and sender will be verified by the SMTP server. Bear in mind that the content of the message is not defined by SMTP. It only defines the transmission of the message. The email will be delivered quickly if there is a direct connection with the server and the domain where the recipient account is domiciled. When no such connection exists, the email will be pushed to the incoming server nearer to the recipient by the SMTP. In situation where the server of the recipient is busy or experiencing downtime, the message will be delivered to a backup server by the SMTP host. When there is no backup server, the email will be queued to be resent at a regular intervals. If no success is recorded after this, the email will be sent back to the sender as failed delivery. When everything goes smoothly without any hitches, the last stage of email delivery is handled by another protocol known as POP. It is the function of the POP to receive the email from the SMTP server and delivers it directly to the inbox of the recipient. Read More
Home / News / Community Affairs / Lenient, Authoritarian, and Authoritative Parenting Lenient, Authoritarian, and Authoritative Parenting ImageAuthoritative parents are more likely to establish a friendship relationship with their children. This is critical because in their teen years, young Muslims always need someone to talk to when facing social challenges. Strong parenting is key in Islam Today in many Muslim communities, we find a lot of young Muslims not behaving in an Islamic manner. This can perhaps be attributed to the fact that many young Muslims do not have strong social support within their homes. In Muslim communities, the two types of parenting styles that are most prevalent are the parents who are lenient in the upbringing of their children and the authoritarian parenting style. Both parenting styles are ineffective. The most widely accepted parenting style by psychologists is the authoritative parenting style, which is even seen in the Holy Qur'an. Parents who are lenient in the upbringing of their children are usually too busy with the material trinkets of life, while not really focusing on the mental and emotional development of their children. This does not allow for parents and their children to establish a friendship that is critical in every child's life. Children who live in a household with overly lenient parents tend to not have school as a priority. Not only that, but when these children reach their teenage life, they are usually given material object after material object without even earning it. This type of parenting style usually sets up children for failure in this life as well as in the hereafter. The second type of parenting that is seen very often in Muslim households is the authoritarian parenting style. Authoritarian parents are always trying to be in control of their children. These parents keep strict rules, without giving the children any room to discuss rules made within a household. Children are also told what to do without any explanation. The reason this parenting style interests us the most out of the four parenting styles is because we see this a lot in the Muslim community. Muslim parents enforce excessively strict policies on their children. Especially when it comes to religion, children are usually robots. They do all religious duties, such as praying five times a day and putting a scarf on, usually because they have to. Children are not told why they are performing their religious duties. Also, authoritarian parents usually try to place a barrier between society and their children. When this is done, children rebel from the strict rules enforced on them. That is why today we may see the most religious father or mother at the mosque on a weekly basis, but their son or daughter is nowhere to be seen. It is very possible that the strict guidelines that parents enforce turn their children off from religion. The opposite of the authoritarian parenting style is the authoritative parenting style. The authoritative parenting style is the ideal parenting style. Authoritative parents tend to raise children that are responsible and can make decisions for themselves. Authoritative parents usually have a household that is democratic. When rules are enforced in a house, parents explain the meaning and discuss the importance of the rules established. A perfect example from the Qur'an is the chapter of Luqman. In the chapter of Luqman, Luqman gives his son critical advice for this life and for the after life. He also gives his son advice on how to conduct himself as a person with good manners. Furthermore, Luqman establishes the foundation for his son's hereafter by encouraging prayer and patience and giving the positive effects of such actions. "O my son! Establish regular prayer, enjoin what is just, forbid what is wrong, and bear with patient constancy whatever betide thee; for this is firmness in affairs." Authoritative parents are more likely to establish a friendship relationship with their children. This is critical because in their teen years, young Muslims always need someone to talk to when facing social challenges. If there is not a friendship relationship between parents and their children, then there is a good chance a child may indulge in Islamically unacceptable actions. Today there is so much talk about solving social issues within our Muslim communities. The solution begins at home, and it is as simple as better upbringing of children, which will surely lead to the advancement of Muslim communities. About Ali Maki Check Also The Importance of Appreciating the Work of Mothers, Part III Awakening and Benefiting from the Divine Zephyr
THEY have no antennas or pointy little heads or the kind of death rays that H. G. Wells pictured in his "War of the Worlds." Even so, Martians may very well be real and living comfortably in secluded parts of the red planet, scientists are beginning to suspect. These hidden residents of Mars are envisioned not as large and complex organisms but as tiny specks of life smaller than a pinprick that flourish deep underground in the wet and more temperate regions of the planet's hot interior. By nature, such a microbial realm would have eluded the pair of robotic probes that landed on Mars two decades ago but found no signs of life on the dry surface. The creatures of the Martian deep, if they exist, may be hard to find and disappointing to some people because they probably resemble the scum around a shower stall more than the freaks of science fiction. Even so, experts say, the discovery of extraterrestrial microbes would be a watershed in science. Finding life on another planet would shed light on the mystery of how it started on Earth, especially if, as some analysts believe, Martian life evolved earlier. The discovery would also help figure the odds of life arising elsewhere in the universe. A renewed hunt for life on Mars, especially microbes, is to begin latter this year. Driving the exploration are recent findings that early Mars was hotter and wetter than previously believed and that microbes love such environments. Continue reading the main story Since the Mars landings two decades ago, microbes on Earth have been found thriving in places, like seabed volcanoes, that are extraordinarily hot, dark, deep and deadly to all other forms of life. Moreover, genetic studies have shown that microbes living in these extreme environments are most closely related to the first forms of terrestrial life, suggesting that evolution began in a hothouse, as Mars might have been some four billion years ago. "We're in a different world," Dr. Michael H. Carr, a scientist with the United States Geological Survey who led some of the Mars-probe analyses two decades ago, said in an interview. "Our understanding of biology has advanced so much in the past 20 years. The probability that life could have started on Mars is greatly increased." Dr. Jack D. Farmer, a Mars specialist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, echoed that judgment. "We now know that liquid water was abundant at the beginning and probably still is, below the surface," he said in an interview. "So you have to ask, why not life? What are the chances? I give it 50-50. But that's religion. What we need are more observations." Later this year, a pair of rockets carrying NASA payloads are to blast off for Mars to inaugurate a potent new round of international exploration. In the next decade or so, America, Europe, Russia and Japan are planning to send as many as 20 missions to Mars, if enough financing materializes. The main goals of the exploratory push are to find water and life. Even the discovery of fossil microbes or the biochemical forerunners of life would be an extraordinarily precious find, scientists say. On Earth, wind, rain, erosion and geological tumult over billions of years have erased most clues to what things were like in the beginning. Mars is different. "Much of its surface is ancient and might have a record of what went on in its earliest history," said Dr. Michael A. Meyer, head of NASA's program to find extraterrestrial life. "Exploring it might give us a window into the first billion years of our solar system and the origin of life, on Earth as well as Mars." Far from the warming rays of the Sun, the rust-colored planet is about half the size of Earth and has long generated debate about the existence of extraterrestrial life. In 1877 an Italian astronomer, Giovanni Schiaparelli, described its surface as covered with canals, seas and continents, setting off an international uproar. In 1976, two Viking spacecraft photographed the planet and landed on its surface, finding a world of stark contrasts. There were giant craters and extinct volcanoes and a canyon as long as the United States is wide. Close up, Mars resembled an earthly desert strewn with rocks and windblown sand. But the orbiting cameras found much evidence that water once flowed over its surface, cutting deep channels and lakes. Samples that the landers took of the Martian soil underwent a battery of tests but showed no unambiguous signs of life. So scientists with lingering hopes set their sights on more elaborate tests in the future. Back on Earth after the landings, a quiet revolution shook the foundations of biology as scientists began to find microbes thriving in odd places at temperatures up to 235 degrees Fahrenheit -- hotter than boiling water. They were discovered in terrestrial hot springs, in volcanic vents beneath the sea, in deep hot oil reservoirs and in solid rock miles down. Dr. Carl R. Woese of the University of Illinois stunned the scientific world by announcing that some of the heat-loving microbes constituted a third superfamily of life, distinct from that of bacteria and that of plants and animals. The newly recognized group, called Archaea, was linked to Earth's earliest known life. In 1992, Dr. Thomas Gold of Cornell University proposed that microbes might be ubiquitous throughout the upper few miles of Earth's crust, inhabiting fluid-filled pores, cracks and interstices of rocks while living off Earth's inner heat and chemicals. The total mass of this hidden biosphere, he calculated, might rival or exceed that of all surface life. "Such life may be widely disseminated in the universe," Dr. Gold wrote, "since planetary-type bodies with similar subsurface conditions may be common as solitary objects in space, as well as in other solar-type systems." It is these kinds of terrestrial findings that are giving Mars its new allure, as well as judgments that the planet was warm and wet in its early days. Dr. Norman H. Sleep of Stanford University recently proposed that originally Mars was probably more hospitable to life than Earth. Some scientists speculate that a collision billions of years ago between an asteroid and Mars could have knocked away microbe-bearing rocks that fell to Earth. This could have sown the seeds of life on Earth, the theory goes -- in effect, making humans the descendants of early Martians. Since the surface of Mars is now largely dry or frozen, scientists say, any microorganisms that evolved on the planet would probably have been forced to retreat into the interior of Mars to seek out warmth and moisture, possibly forming thriving colonies. "As you dig deeper, it gets warmer and warmer and eventually you're going to hit a depth where the temperature is warm enough to melt water," said Dr. Stephen M. Clifford, a geologist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. Martian rock, he added, might be porous enough to have ground water moving down to depths of about 10 kilometers, or six miles. "Water locked in the crust as ground ice or ground water could be equivalent to a global Martian sea up to a full kilometer deep," Dr. Clifford said in an interview. "That's based on a lot of geological evidence." Many scientific groups, including the American Geophysical Union, are holding meetings to discuss the possibility that microbes arose on Mars and might now teem inside the planet. "If there are life forms that can live in high temperatures in great depths on Earth, this may also be possible in Mars," Dr. Karl O. Stetter, a German pioneer in the study of heat-loving microbes, told a meeting held in London this month. Dr. Farmer of NASA, who works at the Ames Research Center south of San Francisco, is analyzing terrestrial sites that might mimic Martian ones. For instance, his team is studying Yellowstone National Park and its geysers and hot springs to better understand the geological deposits and visual clues of microbe-rich springs. The aim is to have spacecraft in orbit around Mars spot such sites, either active or fossilized. "There's no reason we can't find them," Dr. Farmer said. "There's an emerging consensus to target these kinds of deposits." The new round of Mars exploration has three main aims: to search for past or present life, to understand the Martian climate and its lessons for Earth and to search for resources of possible use by future human explorers. The unifying theme is water, so the early missions will focus on finding and understanding its past and present states. Later missions will try to pinpoint microbes, which is a far more challenging task. The exploration is to start with twin launchings late this year, probably in December. One is known as Mars Pathfinder, which is to fly directly to Mars and land on the surface in an ancient flood plain that is expected to be littered with interesting rocks. Pathfinder is to transmit images of the Martian terrain with a color camera, to monitor the weather and to deploy a small rover to explore the region around the lander and to sample soil and rocks. The other probe is known as the Mars Surveyor. It is to go into orbit around Mars and use a battery of six instruments to scan the surface for a full Martian year (about two Earth years), seeking visual clues to water and Yellowstone-type outpourings. Ultimately, scientists say, finding microbial life on Mars may require drilling into the crust, a difficult venture that would probably require the presence of humans. "It may be that you'd have to go deep to find liquid water," Dr. Meyer of NASA said. Many scientists are keeping their fingers crossed, eager to discover that humans are not alone, even if the company turns out to be microbial slime. "Part of the reason I got into planetary science in the first place was to seek out life on other worlds," said Dr. Clifford of the Lunar and Planetary Institute. "Mars is probably the best chance we're going to have of finding it in our own solar system." Continue reading the main story
Being pulled into the world of a gripping novel can trigger measurable changes in the brain that linger for at least five days after reading, scientists have said. The research, at Emory University in the United States, found that reading a good book may cause heightened connectivity in the brain and neurological changes that persist in a similar way to muscle memory. The changes were registered in the left temporal cortex, an area of the brain associated with receptivity for language, as well as the primary sensory motor region. These neurons have been associated with tricking the mind into thinking it is doing something it is not, a phenomenon known as grounded cognition. For example, thinking about running can activate the neurons associated with the physical act. - The Independent
American Bison Bizarre Animal in the World American Bison Bizarre Animal in the World The American bison is commonly known as American buffalo. They are native to North America and their massive heard use to rule the grassland of the America. Bison is herbivorous and grass comprises of more than ninety percent of the diet. It is also the largest mammals of the North America. There are two species of bison among them one is the Bison bison which is the National mammals of America. Due to intensive hunting and introduction of the disease by the domestic cattle, their population has steeply declined and they are on the verge of extinction. The conservation efforts have made the comeback and now they are in the least concern category by The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Interesting Facts 1. Speed They have reached the massive speed of 64 kilometers in one hour. They tend to travel merely 3.2 kilometers in a day (1). 2. Weight The weight of the American bison can grow up to one thousand kilograms during maturity (2). The weight of the domesticated bison is higher than the wild. Domestic bison can reach the weight of more than 1,700 kilograms. 3. Gestation Period The gestation period is around 285 days and the calf stays with the mother for 18 months. 4. Life Expectancy Life expectancy is observed to be around 15 years under the wild condition whereas in the captivity the life expectancy increases to 25 years. 5. Bottleneck Due to the mass slaughtering of the American Bison in 1889, only about 541 individual was left in the wild (3). These results in the decrease in the genetic diversity and have created the inbreeding depression. These make the organism highly susceptible to the disease of different kinds. 6. Commercial Harvesting Commercial harvesting of the bison is mainly done for the meat. The bison meat is lower in cholesterol and higher in protein content. 7. Natural Predator Wolves are the natural predator of the American Bison. Wolves tend to attack the herds with the calf in it. Hunting in the pack makes the successful killing. Grizzly and brown bear, coyote are also their natural predators. 8. Temperament Like other buffalos found around the world. The behavior of the bison is highly unpredictable. It can charge without giving warning of any kind. These strongly necessitate keeping the adequate distance with them. 1. McHugh, T. (1958). "Social behavior of the American buffalo (Bison bison bison)"Zoologica43: 1–40. 2. Meagher, M. (1986). "Bison bison" (PDF)Mammalian Species (266). Retrieved on 19 December 2016. 3. Hornaday, William T. (1904). The American Natural History. New York: C. Scribner's Sons. Popular Posts
David Ricardo (1772-1823) was one of the most influential economic theorists of the first half of the nineteenth century. Born in London, England, his father’s family were orthodox Jews originally from Portugal who had moved to England from Holland. His father was a highly successful stockbroker. David Ricardo learned the family business, and most likely would have inherited it from his father. Ricardo said it was all a matter of taking advantage of profit opportunities, while not waiting too long to gain the positive return. David Ricardo Thomas Phillips [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons David Ricardo But he fell in love with an English Quaker, converted from Judaism to Christianity, and at the age of 21 eloped without his family’s knowledge. His father disowned him and his mother never spoke to him again. He, therefore, had to go out on his own and set up his own brokerage company. He soon showed himself to be an expert at all financial and brokerage dealings. Making a fortune, including dealing in British government securities during Britain’s long war with Revolutionary and then Napoleonic France, Ricardo retired from business in his early 40s to an estate in the English countryside. Ricardo became interested in economics when he read Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations during a holiday in 1799. He began to write on economic topics in 1809 with a series of articles and a monograph on the causes for inflation in Great Britain that gained him wide notoriety. The publication of The Principles of Political Economy and Taxation in 1817 soon established his permanent reputation as one of the leading economists in the world. He also served as a member of the House of Commons in the British Parliament from 1819 until his death in 1823, when he was 52 years old. Ricardo’s Method of Making Money What was Ricardo’s “secret” for success in business? Shortly before his death, a friend asked how he had been able to accumulate such a large fortune when he was still a relatively young man. Ricardo said it was all a matter of taking advantage of profit opportunities, while not waiting too long to gain the positive return: “My whole art in getting rich lay in my always being contented with small profits; or, in other words, never holding on to the commodities or goods in my possession too long, when small profits could be had, in an ill-grounded expectation of realizing eventually a higher rate of profit. I had my eyes, for example, upon every new road, bank, or other joint stock concern, and, where I deemed the prospect of success to be a fair one, I was ever ready to buy a certain number of shares. These shares, from the nature of all new undertaking of a joint-stock character, seldom failed, after a short time, to rise in value beyond the point about which they would afterwards have a tendency to fluctuate. Before the full accomplishment of this rise, however, my shares were in most instances already disposed of to others, and the proceeds invested in a different manner.” This resulted in a reputation as a shrewd businessman who others attempted to emulate, often following his buying and selling to try to ride on his profit-making coattails. Explained Ricardo: “It was then that a new element of success was spontaneously presented to me. Many persons, who had heretofore been unsuccessful in acting on the suggestions of their own judgments, preferred now to be guided in their speculations by what they supposed me to be doing. My example was continually referred to on change. One said not infrequently to another – ‘Mr. Ricardo has purchased this and that article or stock, and depend on it, you cannot do better.’ In this state of things, it must be manifest that I may often have created that very demand that enabled me to dispose of the article purchased, with a small profit, only a very short time afterwards. At length, such had my reputation as a successful speculator become, that I had sometimes thought it possible for me to have gone into the market and purchased at random, no matter what, with a good prospect of advantage to be gained by selling out again promptly.” War, Government Debt and Paper Money Inflation Ricardo’s reputation as an economist emerged out of his writings during the long war that broke out between Great Britain and Revolutionary France in 1793, and which was almost continuous until 1815, with the defeat of Napoleon in the famous Battle of Waterloo in Belgium. The Bank of England insisted that the inflation had nothing to do with the issuance of banknotes to cover the government’s war borrowing. The British government’s war costs increasingly grew to cover the expenses of its own fighting forces, and the subsidized war expenditures of other European countries that were fighting France, as well, at various times. By 1797, the British government was covering over 70 percent of its expenditures with borrowed money from the Bank of England, a private bank with the “privilege” of having a monopoly of issuing banknotes in Great Britain. The Bank of England supplied the necessary loans by the issuance of increasing amounts of banknotes. As the government spent the banknotes, the paper money passed into the hands of people in the private sector, who proceeded to spend it, in turn, on desired goods and services. Prices began to rise, resulting in a growing demand to redeem the banknotes for gold from the Bank of England by people wishing to either hoard valuable gold rather than hold depreciating paper money or to export gold to buy less expensive goods from other countries. Fearing insolvency, or even eventual bankruptcy, the Bank of England said it could no longer extend loans to the government under these conditions. As a consequence, the British government passed the Restriction Act of May 3, 1797, freeing the Bank of England from redeeming banknotes for gold. The banknotes, therefore, were no longer claims to gold previously left on deposit by bank customers, but were de facto legal tender – irredeemable paper money. The Restriction Act of 1797 remained in effect until May 1, 1823. During the remaining war years, the government continued borrowing from the Bank of England. Between 1797 and 1801, the quantity of Bank of England notes in circulation had almost doubled from 9.7 million to nearly 17 million. The value of the paper pound fell nearly 10 percent against gold, while the foreign exchange rate of the paper pound lost more than 13 percent of its value. The supply of Bank of England notes continued to expand until 1817, two years after the defeat of Napoleon and the end of the wars with France, when it reached nearly 30 million, three times the money supply twenty years earlier when the Restriction Act had been imposed. The Bank of England notes reached their greatest degree of loss of value against gold in 1813, when it had decreased by 36 percent; that same year saw the foreign exchange value of the paper pound down by 30 percent on the Hamburg exchange market. The gold and foreign exchange value of the paper pound only returned to near 1, 234 - View Full Page
Breaking News How hand washing reduces health risks HAVE you washed your hands today? Did your children wash their hands before their breakfast? As a parent or guardian, these are the sort of questions likely to run through your mind even as you read this piece. Washing your hands and your children’s hands is the best way to stop the spread of germs. We are always collecting germs on our hands, by opening doors, wiping faces, playing with toys and changing diapers. We can’t avoid them, but can reduce the chance of passing them to others by washing our hands. Children washing their hands the global Handwashing day at Tafawa Balewa Square , Lagos. Washing hands correctly is the most effective thing you can do to protect against a number of infectious diseases. Not only will it help keep you healthy, it will help prevent the spread of infectious diseases to others. Health hazards When people who are sick sneeze or cough, the germs that are making them sick are expelled into the air in tiny droplets. If these droplets get onto the hands, and then you touch your mouth, eyes or nose without washing away the germs, you carry the infection. You can also get sick if you don’t wash your hands before and after preparing food, after handling raw meat, and after using the toilet. Washing hands not only prevents getting sick, but it also reduces the risk of infecting others. If you don’t wash your hands properly before coming into contact with others, you can infect them with the germs on your hands. Other people can also get sick from the germs unwashed hands leave on shared objects like doorknobs, keyboards, and other equipment in the home or workplace. Hand-to-hand contact can spread mild conditions, such as the common cold, but also more severe or life-threatening diseases. Infectious diseases are a particular risk to the very young, the elderly, those with a pre-existing disease, and people with a compromised immune system, such as those with HIV or AIDS. Proper methods of hand Although hand washing might seem like a simple task, follow these steps to thoroughly rid your hands of germs. If skin dryness is a problem, use a moisturizing lotion. When should parents wash their Every parent or guardian should wash their hands before cooking or eating, feeding a baby or child (including breast feeding) and giving medication to a child. Wash your hands after changing a diaper, helping a child to use a toilet, using a toilet yourself and taking care of a sick child. Other times to wash your hands include after handling pets or animals, cleaning pet cages or litter boxes, wiping or blowing your own nose or your child’s nose and after preparing food. When should children wash their hands? It is now well known and established that children should wash their hands before eating or handling food and after using the toilet. They should also wash their hands after playing outdoors or in sand or playing with pets or animals, sneezing or coughing into their hands or blowing noses. Four steps to proper Wet your hands under running water. Scrub your hands well with soap. Rinse your hands under running water. Dry your hands with a clean towel. When water and soap are not available, use premoistened hand wipes or alcohol-based hand rinses. Keep hand rinses out of the reach of children because they may be harmful if swallowed. How baby’s hands be washed? Dry the hands well.
May 10, 2010 How waves of violence lead to better artistic production 1. You have a good point. Another example is to compare Virgil with Ovid. Virgil lived in an era of unceasing violence and civil strife, and even if his Aeneid is heavy-handed at times, he reflects the genuine hopes and anxieties the Romans have for the civil wars finally ending, as well as the vertigo of now living under an Empire. Ovid wrote a generation later, after the new norms of the Empire had set in and the Romans enjoyed Pax Romana. His work satirizes Roman religion and state, while being more preoccupied with fun, light, meaningless love affairs. Virgil wrote about the agony of lovers parting ways because of necessity; Ovid wrote about how to successfully initiate a break up. With artists, though, there can be individual exceptions. Wagner's work is profoundly emotional, Romantic to the superlative and so serious that it's on a league of its own in being satirized ( However, he lived from 1813-1883, a time period of relative peace and security. He was just exceptionally brilliant and sensitive to the vast changes of industrialism and the futility in so much of life. He was also a stubborn, dominating jerk. If you live in a cynical age, being intelligent, sensitive and bullheaded about your views shields you. 2. This post reminded me of this famous brief speech from Orson Welles (24 seconds) in the legendary movie, The Third Man: He pretty much declares the same sentiment you have: violent times beget great art and excitement. 3. This relates to what Arthur Koestler called the Tragic and the Trivial planes of life: "The ordinary mortal in our urban civilization moves virtually all his life on the Trivial Plane; only on a few occasions – during the storms of puberty, when he is in love or in the presence of death – does he suddenly fall through the manhole and is transferred to the Tragic Plane. Then all at once the pursuits of his daily routines appear as shallow, trifling vanities, but once safely back on the Trivial Plane, he dismisses the realities of the other as the products of overstrung nerves or adolescent effusions. Sudden catastrophes–famines, wars, plagues–may shift a whole population from the Trivial to the Tragic Plane, but they soon succeed in banalizing even tragedy itself, and carry on business as usual among the shambles." 4. What does this mean for the artist? Does it mean that during safe times a new Shakespeare would go unnoticed and brilliant works dealing with grand themes would be passed over until the times become more violent? How much affect then does all this have on the artist? Does it also mean that a great artist living in safe times is likely to waste his talent on self pleasure, despair at the trivialities of others and generally have little or no creative drive? And thus how much potential great works are lost this way? 5. "What does this mean for the artist?" On the supply side, I think a genetic talent doesn't grow up in the right environment and ends up wasting his skill satirizing rival elite tribes. Even if he really wanted to, it's hard -- probably impossible -- to force yourself into the on-the-brink mindset when you know full well how safe things are. I'm not sure about the demand side. Even during the post-Elizabethan, pre-Romantic period they all recognized how much better Shakespeare was than others who were more in line with contemporary tastes. But that's just detached appreciation. They weren't really hungry for it, or else none of the farcical stuff would've caught on. It's like how people now, if you quizzed them, would answer correctly that Help! or Thriller are better albums than anything in the past 20 years. Still, they don't listen to them more and are more supportive of recent junk. 6. Can someone provide a good starting list of works and authors that were done in wild times. Shakespeare is an obvious candidate and I am reading MacBeth at the moment. But who else is there? I am interested in writers, playwrights, poets and philosophers.
Ever known within a split second that your mates ‘Gucci’ handbag was a fake? Or been aware you’ve met a man who is really right for you without having spoken to him yet? Ever gone to a job interview or on a date that you were dreading just because your friends said you should? If you’ve ever realised your gut instinct was right and wondered why you didn’t listen to it in the first place, then maybe you should start doing so. That’s according to Malcolm Gladwells book Blink which indicates that chances are, you’re already one step ahead of yourself. Quick decisions Our brain has two strategies to make sense of a situation – the logical decision that you make consciously and the snap decision, which is the answer you just know. For example, a group of scientists at theUniversityofIowadid an experiment on a group of people using blue and red decks of cards where the blue cards won the gambler money and the red lost them money. What they discovered was that after the test subjects had turned over about 50 cards most of them had a hunch that the blue cards were the good ones and the red cards the bad. After about 80 cards most of them had figured out the game. But then the scientists did something else. They hooked the test subjects up to a machine to measure their stress responses. What the scientists found was that after card number 10, the subjects had realised what was going on and were already making decisions to adjust to this fact. In other words, they figured it out unconsciously long before they figured it out consciously. The Internal Computer Think first impressions don’t count? Think again. Whenever we meet someone for the first time we’re faced with making a decision about them quickly, under stress. This decision is made by our ‘adaptive unconscious’ which is the same part of our brain that decides to jump out of the way when a truck is coming in our direction. Often this decision about the person can be surprisingly close to the truth. As described in the book Blink, a psychologist gave a group of students two second tapes of some teachers and asked them to rate them on how effective they seemed as a teacher. The answers showed that the ratings for the teacher in the two second tapes given were very similar to the ratings given after an entire term. How does it work? “There’s a wonderful phrase in psychology – ‘the power of thin slicing’,” says Malcolm. “Which says that as human beings we are capable of making sense of situations based on the thinnest slice of experience. I have an entire chapter in “Blink” on how unbelievably powerful our thin-slicing skills are. I have to say that I still find some of the examples in that chapter hard to believe.” So its intuition? “Not exactly,” explains Malcolm. “You could also say that it’s a book about intuition, except that I don’t like that word. In fact it never appears in Blink. Intuition strikes me as a concept we use to describe emotional reactions, gut feelings, thoughts and impressions that don’t seem entirely rational. But I think that what goes on in that first two seconds is perfectly rational. It’s thinking, its just thinking that moves a little faster. In Blink I’m trying to understand those two seconds.” Why it doesn’t always work Outside factors such as emotion and other interests can influence your decision and get in your way of listening to your gut instinct. The book Blink aims to make you see the difference. Maybe the reason your mate bought that fake Gucci handbag in the first place was because she wanted to believe it was real – and as she fell in love with the handbag, her emotions got in the way of seeing what it was really like. But when she brought it back you knew straight away it was fake – your Blink judgement came into play. Listen to your instinct Haste makes waste. Stop before you think. Look before you leap. Never judge a book by its cover. Any of those phrases sound familiar? That’s because we hear them every day. As a society we promote gathering as much information as possible and spending lots of time thinking. We really only trust conscious decision making. So what if you didn’t have to lay awake all night worrying about all those decisions that need to be made, what if you went with your first gut decision every time? Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell is available from RRP €7.99 or to learn more go to
G7 Science Academies’ Statement 2015: Future of the Ocean: Impact of Human Activities on Marine Systems Human activities are driving major changes in the oceans of the world. One key driver of changes is elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the atmosphere caused by human activities. This leads to ocean acidification, warming and de-oxygenation, changes in ocean circulation, continued sea level rise, and an altered marine productivity and biodiversity. Other key drivers are pollution with nutrients, chemicals and plastic, overfishing and spreading of invasive species. All of the changes in the ocean have profound effects on human wellbeing and human societies in many regions of the Earth. The G7 Academies of Sciences call for: (1) changing the course of nations’ CO2 emissions, (2) reducing and further regulating man-made pollution of the sea, (3) ending overfishing and preserving marine biodiversity and ecosystem function through research-based management and (4) enhancing international scientific cooperation to better predict, manage and mitigate future changes in the ocean, and their impacts on human societies and the environment. Among the proposed actions, marine litter is included as: Halt the dumping and regulate the discharge of waste and toxic materials. Take urgent action to reduce the input of plastic debris from all sources into the marine system. Read more Logo de WordPress.com Imagen de Twitter Foto de Facebook Google+ photo Conectando a %s
Natural Homemade Toothpaste Typical mouthwash caution: In case of accidental ingestion, seek professional assistance or contact a poison control center immediately. Do not use in children under six years of age. Supervise children over six. There is a reason there are warnings about swallowing your toothpaste, in fact they mention it 3 times… and how often have we ourselves or our kids accidentally swallowed our toothpaste? Toxic or abrasive mouthwash and toothpaste ingredients: You can find detailed information about many of these ingredients HERE. An article at had this to say about just one of these ingredients: Real Dangers of SLS—Rumors Aside • SLS exerts its damage by stripping your skin of protective oils and moisture. Links Between SLS, Ethylene Oxide, 1,4 Dioxane, and Cancer With all the chemicals in toothpaste you might think maybe we can just do without it, but science has shown a connection between oral health and full body health. The Mayo Clinic website had this to say: What conditions may be linked to oral health?Your oral health might affect, be affected by, or contribute to various diseases and conditions, including: Remineralizing toothpaste comes under different names and packaging. What they seem to have in common is that they contain essential “bioavailable” calcium and phosphorus ions required for the natural recalcification (self-repair process) of the tooth enamel and dentin3. By furnishing tooth-repairing minerals during tooth brushing, smaller lesions in the enamel from acidic foods (fruit juices etc.), bacterial acids and/or over brushing (i.e. tooth erosion and abrasion) and the possibly resultant sensitivity have been observed to fill in and thus reverse.” But why buy some when you can make your own…All that information, and if you managed to get this far, or if you just skipped to the end…without further ado – the recipe!! 🙂 Combine all powdered ingredients together first, then add coconut oil to desired consistency. Add in essential oil for flavor. (my favorite is cinnamon) Recipe easily multiplies if you want to make a larger batch, but I recommend starting small and seeing if you need to manipulate any of the ingredients to suit your tastes and preferences. And there you have it! Now for why these ingredients work as toothpaste: • Baking Soda – “Chemically speaking, baking soda is a weak base that is amphoteric, which essentially means it can react with both acids and bases [source: American Chemical Society]. This quality makes it perfect for neutralizing acids produced by bacteria in plaque, which could potentially destroy tooth enamel if left unchecked.Additionally, baking soda crystals are softer than enamel and dentine (a tooth’s outer layers) and therefore can mechanically scrub off stains without scratching those parts of your smile.” • Coconut Oil – “Mixed with baking soda, coconut oil can replace your regular toothpaste. The baking soda will gently cleanse while the coconut oil’s antibacterial action may help keep harmful bacteria in check.” • Diatomaceous Earth – “The strong negative charge of diatomaceous earth means that it naturally attaches to and removes from the body things like: chemicals, viruses, bacteria, heavy metals and even radiation.” Please leave a comment below and let me know if you have a recipe you love, or if you try this one, let me know what YOU think of it. 🙂 Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
I got a question from a colleague about the difference between the dark and deep web. Trying to explain the difference clearly and quickly took effort. However, I think many people want a quick “what is [term]?” So here is my effort at tl;dr* friendly explanations of some terminology that keeps popping up in today’s conversations about the internet. The deep web is the term to refer to all of the internet content that for one reason or another cannot be indexed by search engines because blocks such as of paywalls or security measures. Think databases, medical records, or encrypted sites. The dark web is part of the deep web, but not all of the deep web is dark. The dark web is the term for a collection of sites that mask their IP address so it is difficult, if not impossible to find out where the servers originate. Most of these sites run encryption, like TOR, see below, which means that they cannot be accessed by normal browsers. In simplest terms, both the site and the user agree to talk only when both are anonymous. The dark web is not only used for illicit drugs and sex trade, it is also used to help whistleblowers or to avoid censorship TOR, short for The Onion Network, is an anonymity network. It encrypts the information sent through the network and sends the signal through several servers so as to hide the origination point. This allows for anonymity in browsing but makes traversing the internet very slow since the information has to travel through a great many servers end to end. TOR created a nifty little animation on what TOR is and why people might use it. Some libraries have even set up TOR exit relays. Blockchain is a digital ledger maintained by a network of individuals. It was used originally as a financial ledger to track Bitcoin, but can track anything of value. Fundamentally, a transaction occurs and the information of that transaction is simultaneously sent to all the individuals maintaining the ledger. After a certain amount of entries, the information is encrypted in such a way that it cannot be edited by anyone person as it would conflict with everyone else’s ledger. It is often described as incorruptible, but the system has a weakness. It depends on 51% of individuals being honest, but should 51% conspire to falsify some data point, it could be compromised. Therefore the more people involved, the more secure blockchain is. Here’s a great breakdown of way blockchain works and here is a video of blockchain at work. Have other terms you’re curious about, let us know in the comments, and we’ll see if we can help in a future post. *too long; didn’t read Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
I use the dev c++ IDE and was wondering if there is anyway in c++ or using system commands to send text packages to another computer that can be received by the other computer to process the information. 10 Years Discussion Span Last Post by Sturm Although you could probably use system() commands, there's several disadvantages to that. Firstly, it's very slow using system() commands, as it first has to call the operating system, which calls the program, etc, etc.. Secondly, it's not portable, (which may or may not be a problem for you) but it's certainly a good idea to make code as portable as possible. Starting from scratch and writing a networking application using sockets is a little bit difficult (or should I say a lot!), so you may want to let someone else to the low-level stuff. I recommend using the open-source networking framework libcurl to handle your communications for you. It's very easy to use, and your performance will thank you. Hope this helps
A Collection of Articles 35 Innovators Under 35 People who are reimagining how technology might solve perennial human problems. Manu Prakash, 34 Imaginative inventions liberate science from the ivory tower. • by Ted Greenwald • Manu Prakash is determined to push down the cost of doing science. Expensive facilities, he says, limit knowledge and expertise to a privileged elite. So from his lab in Stanford’s bioengineering department, he’s producing instruments that enable people to undertake scientific explorations on the cheap. Prakash’s Foldoscope is assembled like a paper toy. Many of Prakash’s inventions have a surreal quality. Consider his $5 microfluidic chemistry lab. At a holiday gift exchange, his wife received a hand-cranked music box that used a piano-roll-style punch tape to sound notes. Prakash recognized the mechanism’s potential to combine chemical reagents according to a program (the punch tape), without electricity (thanks to the hand crank), at a fraction of the usual cost. He now makes the tiny labs from scratch. Prakash was raised in northern India and has done fieldwork in Uganda, Ghana, and other developing countries, giving him a view of problems that might not be apparent in most well-equipped academic labs. His insights have led to devices like the Foldoscope, a research-grade microscope made of plastic-impregnated paper, which costs a mere 55 cents, and the OScan, a 3-D-printed smartphone add-on that helps diagnose the oral carcinomas that are responsible for 40 percent of cancer-related deaths in India. His aim, he says, is to put scientific tools in the hands of anyone with a question. Ted Greenwald Watch this Innovator at EmTech 2014 Meet the Innovators Under 35
Japan bets on plutonium Defying danger and protest, ship carries source of fuel venture November 22, 1992\|By John E. Woodruff \| John E. Woodruff,Tokyo Bureau TOKYO -- Three decades ago, plutonium, the stuff nuclea bombs are made of, became the stuff industrial countries' wildest dreams were made of. Now it looks more and more as if Japan may be left alone in the dream. Its neighbors, and other countries further away, tend to see it as a nightmare. Used in just the right mixtures with exhausted uranium from older nuclear reactors, plutonium would actually turn spent fuels into more plutonium than was being burned. And the world would have seemingly limitless pollution-free electricity. Three decades later, a ship named Akatsuki Maru is sailing the Atlantic, en route from France to Japan carrying casks filled with gray powder. That total of 1.7 tons of one of Earth's most toxic substances is to become fuel for the last remaining active attempt to make the plutonium dream come true. Guarded by a helicopter-carrying Japanese naval ship, monitored 24 hours a day by a U.S. spy satellite, reportedly followed by two American nuclear-powered submarines, the Akatsuki Maru and its potentially lethal cargo have been barred from territorial waters by at least four countries, vigorously protested by a dozen others and shadowed by two pursuit vessels of Greenpeace, the environmentalist organization. "We were not surprised by the interest of groups like Greenpeace, but nobody expected this would get such a high level of attention," said Toichi Sakata, who is in charge of the project at Japan's Science and Technology Agency. For Japan and for the world's nuclear power establishment, the stakes in the voyage of the Akatsuki Maru are immeasurable. To Japan, a project that started as a high-risk hope of cutting dependence on foreign oil holds a prospect of making this country the world's leader in a key electric-power technology of the 21st century. To the world's nuclear establishment, Japan is the last best hope of making the plutonium dream a reality. One by one, most industrial countries opted out of plutonium in the 1970s and 1980s. Extremely toxic and hard to manage, plutonium was too dangerous to make, handle and use, U.S. planners decided more than a decade ago. One danger, American policy makers thought, was that if the world had too much plutonium, some might fall into the hands of terrorists or renegade governments ,, that could use it to make a bomb. Accidents at Three Mile Island in 1979 and Chernobyl in 1986 brought even simpler kinds of nuclear development to a virtual standstill. Plants that use uranium, a much less risky fuel, were proving far more costly and dangerous than officially predicted. By the beginning of this decade, only two countries -- France and Japan -- still actively pursued the plutonium dream. And then there was one: Japan. A string of failures since 1990 has repeatedly forced curtailment of "Super Phoenix," the multibillion-dollar centerpiece of the French plutonium program. France remains heavily committed, but nobody knows whether or when Super Phoenix will get into full service. That leaves Monju, a $4.5 billion-dollar reactor being completed about 80 miles west of Tokyo. Monju is to start actively burning mixed plutonium-uranium fuel next spring. In Japan's energy master plan, Monju is the first step toward making plutonium Japan's leading electricity source by the middle of the next century. If that start-up succeeds, Monju will become the world's only fully active attempt to devise a commercially usable fast breeder-reactor, as the plutonium-burning, plutonium-producing plants are called. The next goal would give Japan the world's first commercial plutonium-burning power plant by 2020 or 2030. Necessity has already made resource-poor Japan a force in the plutonium business. When the G-7 industrialized countries wanted to help Russia dispose of thousands of tons of plutonium from nuclear weapons, it was Japan that they asked to design a "plutonium furnace," a plant to consume rather than propagate plutonium while making electricity. Goal is still far off But Japan is half a decade from being able to reprocess enough plutonium at home to keep Monju running. The fuel for next spring's start-up at Monju was processed here. The plutonium aboard the Akatsuki Maru is the first of 30 tons this country plans to import under contracts with French and British reprocessors over the next decade or two, Mr. Sakata said. Once it reaches Japan, late this month or early next, it will need two years or more of processing before it can go to Monju. That prospect of dozens of plutonium shipments between Europe and Japan -- two a year or more for more than a decade -- has aroused both Japan's neighbors and governments as far away as Chile, Argentina and South Africa. Several Asian governments have questioned whether the country that overran the Pacific in World War II should be trusted with so many tons of the stuff nuclear weapons are made of. Japanese officials bristle at any suggestion that the only country ever attacked by nuclear bombs might ever build them. Baltimore Sun Articles
Tuesday, December 24, 2013 Friday, April 12, 2013 E-textbooks workshop notes and my thoughts Who is paying for it? Data privacy extra it burden the teach digital divide. Creating a multiplayer classroom What does it mean EVERYONE has an F?" This is the reality in a gaming environment that relates to kids you start with 0 and move your score up. So have levels students need to master before moving onto anther topic. So you can set your classroom as a multiplayer classroom. Check out apetroski.wikispaces.com click Creating The Multiplayer Classroom Student centered, individualized, focus on exploration, connected topics, explore/activity/ discuss. Student s can delve into the topic student choice and teacher choice into what needs to be looked at more. Goes great with the common core to delve deeper into a topic from a variety of angles and methods. Having students creating roles in the group, quests instead of assignments that build upon one another and really dig into depth into the content. Example creating blogs, podcasts, e-book reading etc. each student must create at lease one. However they can add points be doing several at what they are comfortable at, yet still delivering the information they have learned while going deeper into a topic. Assessment has changed levels, instead of grade. Passing levels by each level becoming more intense or delving deeper into a topic or the amount of activities and subject matter content increases. How many topics is levels how they compete the levels is up to the student to choose how they complete. So if a student really likes blogging they can do more of those to raise points. My quest : How can the be adapted to the art room? Disruptive technology App phone era touch screen , speakers, wifi, cellular, Bluetooth. The phone is obsolete. Kids talk less on the phone now. They don't email or watch tv. Kids can even make the phone into a music instrument! Called the ocarina and students can listen to others all over earth playing the phone. The phone, tablet, iPod etc has passed into becoming a tool not just entertainment. Cultural ramifications of the iPhone? Augmented reality. Overlaying what is around you artistically, educationally and amusement. Look at word lens app for language classes. Changes Spanish to English by using the camera or reverses it. No it is not a joke app and can be very useful. Web 2.0 what is it? Facebook 2nd most used Web 2.0 after Google. Craigslist is being said to put newspapers out of business. They are not getting money for adds, more adds are posted at Craigslist and now most people check it first. Wikipedia has been found to be very accurate due to group editing things that are inaccurate are corrected quickly. Purpose of Web 2.0 connect people together with likes or searches. How does this affect the next generation? Everything is real time now they don't talk on the phone as much, they use APPS. TV isn't as big kids watch on their devices Hulu and Netflix, while doing other things. Privacy is not as a much of an issue with kids why? They are the ego generation they like to talk about themselves, post a video, and tell everyone everything. Looking at funny things are what this generation and up to the 30's want it. What do we need to teach? Permanence of the Internet things will be their later in life. Employers will check into you. Credibility is important check your facts and cite information. Teach what is private and what can be posted. They really don't know. It is the educators job to educate and keep up to date with the generation you are teaching and have fun doing it. Tuesday, January 29, 2013 Using technology in the art room: ipad , ipod and android laptops During this week I decided to do art centers and have technology play a part. I really wanted to give the students time to “play” with a variety of apps they see on the ipod/ipad or laptop and ask about. This way when I do a lesson and use that app or program later they are familiar with it. This technique can be used with other curriculum apps as well. App Screenshots Spirograph drawing one center had android laptop with the Spirograph app installed. Students would create a hand drawn Spirograph drawing and then try to recreate using the app. IMG_2234[1] Photography student created a drawing using colored pencil on a 3 by 4 index card. Then they could choose from a variety of camera apps allowing them to change the picture digitally. Apps they used Cam Wow, WordFoto,Make Cubist, and Fracture. ipad stop motion cameraStudents using the Stop Motion camera app with the ipad mini to create a clay stop motion video. We just had coils of clay slinky along.
The Symbols of the International Social Movement The Symbols of the International Social Movement “THE MORALITY MOVEMENT” The White-and-Blue Ribbon Symbolic ribbons of different colors are used as a sign of social attitude towards or as a means of attracting attention to a certain issue (e.g., the “Georgian ribbon” is a symbol of the Victory Day and a sign of respect to veterans). Everyone who shares the idea of the Movement has the right to wear such ribbons. The International Social Movement “THE MORALITY MOVEMENT” has chosen the white-and-blue ribbon as its symbol. The colors of the ribbon have a symbolic meaning. The color white: a natural symbol of light, the embodiment of purity and virginity, truth and goodness, mercy and spirituality. It embodies the Life itself. The color blue: a natural symbol of the radiant sky; it is synonymous to everything pure and high-spirited. It denotes high ideals, virtue and honesty. The combination of these two colors reflects the mission of the International Social Movement “THE MORALITY MOVEMENT” – to promote high morale and virtue in the society, to enlighten the people based on the spiritual ideals, in order to facilitate the spiritual revival of Russia and the entire world and to open a new opportunity for the development of the entire civilization. The Lily The lily is a most beautiful flower and the symbol of multiple virtues. In the cultures of different nations, a lily symbolizes the following: - purity and virginity - virtue, modesty, kindness - peace, rejuvenation, immortality - royalty, grandeur, chivalry - prosperity, happiness, well-being - elegance, harmony, balance - freedom and hope - compassion and mercy. This flower is loved by many around the world. It is said that the lily has gotten its name from the ancient Celtic word “li-li”, or “whiteness” (“white-white”). The lily was also used by the ancient Egyptians in their hieroglyphs, where it symbolized hope and freedom. Ancient Jews treated this flower with great love and as a symbol of virginity. In the Roman Empire, coins were decorated with the image of a lily, and lily chaplets were worn by the newly-weds. For the French, the lily has an important historical meaning. It was the emblem of the royal power, and France was called the kingdom of lilies. In the Catholic world, Jesus Christ is often depicted with a lily that he is giving to saints. In this case, the flower symbolizes mercy. In Christianity, the lily means purity and virginity; it is the symbol of Mother Mary. According to the scriptures, Archangel Gabriel came to Mary on the Annunciation Day with a white lily in His hand. In old Russia, the lily was also a symbol of virginity and purity. The lily was also cherished there as a symbol of peace. A white lily denotes purity, virginity, harmony, virtue. These are the meanings that are primarily carried out by the symbol of the lily in the International Social Movement “THE MORALITY MOVEMENT.”
Unit Information Game Strategies History Cavalry are mounted soldiers riding horses into battle. Cavalry dominated early battlefields but fell out of favor with the invention of firearms. The last major use of cavalry was in World War I, and the last major use was by the United States and the Soviet Union in World War 2. Ad blocker interference detected!
Monday, May 18, 2009 Likelihood Ratios Imagine that in trying to gather information about a particular patient you are seeing you come across an article that describes a diagnostic test that may help better confirm your suspected diagnosis. For example, let us assume that your patient is suffering from back pain, and you suspect that she might have a herniated intervertebral disc. You believe this because your work-up for that patient has found that there is pain in the low back which radiates down the leg and into the lateral side of the foot, that certain motions are quite painful, that this came on after a doing physical labor, and that it has worsened over the past three days. In addition, you have a number of positive diagnostic tests which have occurred, but they seem mildly contradictory and you feel that it may be due to the severe pain the patient is experiencing. What can you do to get a better handle on what is happening? You can look at the likelihood ratio for one of the diagnostic tests you did. Why look at this? Well, the main reason is that doing so will help move you from your estimate of the likelihood the patient has a disc herniation (also called the pre-test probability) to a more accurate estimate (called the post-test probability of the target disorder). The likelihood ratio is a tool which moves us from pre-test probability to post-test probability. Consider: the presence of a positive straight leg raise test is seen as indicative of a disc herniation. But it is not conclusive and there may be other possible explanations for its presence. But certainly, with the other information you have collected from your patient, a large likelihood ratio will likely move to you a more positive confirmation of disc herniation, and also may lead you to consider either diagnostic imaging or to a particular management protocol. A likelihood ratio is the relative likelihood that a given test would be expected to be positive (or negative) in a patient with a disorder as opposed to one without (1). Likelihood ratios can be calculated easily from 2x2 contingency tables used to calculate sensitivity and specificity; a likelihood ratio is actually [Sensitivity/(1- Specificity)]. For the actual math involved, please see But here is the key to understanding a likelihood ratio. It indicates the extent to which a diagnostic test will increase (or decrease) the pretest probability of the target disorder. LRs of 1 mean that the pre and post-test probabilities are exactly the same; if greater than 1, it indicates an increase in the probability that the target disorder is present (and the greater this number, the greater the probability), while the converse is true for likelihood ratios of less than 1. With a likelihood ratio, you can use a nomogram (such as the one found at to convert the pretest probability to a post-test probability. In our case, let’s begin by assuming that the pre-test probability of the presence of herniated disc is 50%; this is based on our own clinical expertise plus any literature we may have read. From the paper we found, we see that the likelihood ratio for a straight leg raise is 12. Plugging this into the online nomogram shows us that the post-test probability of a disc herniation is now 94%. One could feel quite comfortable that this patient does indeed have a disc herniation, and can proceed accordingly. You can find tables of likelihood ratios derived from the scientific literature, such as those seen in the Rational Clinical Examination series from JAMA. They are the most valuable test we have for the use of diagnostic tests. 1. Guyatt G, Rennie D, Meade MO, Cook DJ. Users’ Guides to the medical literature: a manual for evidence-based clinical practice, 2nd edition. New York, NY; McGraw Hill, 2008:426-430 2. Sackett D, Rennie D. The science of the art of the clinical examination. JAMA 1992;267:2650-2652 1 comment: Dr Mueller said... Are you talking about a bayesian distribution as a predictive value or are you using a different methodology to calculate likelihood?
Statistics reveal that in the UK almost 6 out of every 10 fatalities occur on rural roads. According to the Department for Transport, in the UK in 2015, 10,307 people were seriously injured or killed whilst on rural roads. This basically translates to the death toll on rural roads being 10 times higher that on our motorways. It is believed that the reason for why more of these accidents seem to take place on rural roads is because drivers meet hazards, which they weren’t expecting, such as oncoming traffic, sharp bends or animals. The ultimate message that’s been sent out is that drivers need to slow down. Although many rural roads state that they are the national speed limit (60mph), it is believed that driving at these speeds can be reckless and it’s not a necessity. Below are 5 points The Car Buying Group recommend to take into account to ensure safety when driving on rural roads: 1. Although you may be familiar with a particular stretch of road, never take anything for granted. Expect the unexpected as you approach the brow of a hill or a bend and be prepared to slow down dramatically or even stop if necessary. 2. Make sure that you drive slowly and at a speed which allows you to stop on your side of the road. 3. When overtaking, don’t leave anything to chance. Unless you know how you plan to complete a manoeuvre, do not begin it. 4. Be sure to read the road signs and markings that are available to you. These are here to ensure that you are prepared for potential hazards ahead. For example, horse manure (particularly if fresh) could suggest there are horse(s) ahead. If you can see mud ahead, then there could be a slow moving tractor on the road. 5. Be aware of the condition of the road. Often rural roads are not as well maintained so there is more of a chance of coming across potholes. Potholes can puncture tyres, damage wheels, affect the car’s tracking as well as mechanically damage the car. 6. Be on the lookout for animals and allow them plenty of space. You may even need to pull over and switch off your engine if approaching a farm animal or a nervous looking horse. 7. If you are driving on a rural road at night, take extra care. Often these types of roads don’t have street lighting and tend to only have cats-eyes.
The region about Jordan, Matthew 3:5. Here that of Borchard is not unuseful: "Know, that from the rise of Jordan under Libanus, unto the desert of Pharan, almost a hundred miles, Jordan itself, on both shores, hath spacious and pleasant fields, which are compassed behind with very high mountains." The truth of which, if his eyes had not experienced it, he might have learned from Josephus, who speaks thus: "Over Jericho hangs a mountain stretched forth northward, even to the country of Scythopolis; and southward to the country of Sodom, and the utmost borders of the Asphaltites. It is craggy, and not habitable by reason of barrenness. Against it runs out a mountain near Jordan, beginning at Julias, and the north country, and stretched out southward unto Gomorrah, where it bounds the rock of Arabia. The middle between these two mountainous regions is called The great plain, extended from the town Ginnabri into the Asphaltites: in length twelve hundred furlongs, in breadth one hundred and twenty. And it is cut in the middle by Jordan." The plain of Jordan before the overthrow of Sodom, &c. Genesis 19 is 'the country about it,' in the Seventy. Those words teach what is "the region about Jordan": and the word, 'all,' added by the evangelist, may persuade us that the further side may also be taken in, especially if it be considered how small a distance the river made. The space was so little, that, as the Gemarists relate, "a fire kindled on one side reached over to the other." And they suppose, water on this side might be spirted to the other, in that caution: "Let no man take the waters of purification and the ashes of purification, and carry them beyond Jordan; nor let him stand on this side, and spirt to the other." However, the river was not so broad, but that two, standing on each bank, might look upon one another, cast something over from the one side to the other, yea, and talk together. And then think, whether the inhabitants of the further side resorted not to the Baptist, being so near him, and, as it were, within sight of him. The masters dispute, whether Jordan be to be esteemed as 'the bounds of the land of Israel,' or as 'the land itself'; and the occasion of that dispute ariseth from another question, namely this: The flock of one man is separated and divided into two parts, and those two parts feed in distant places: it is asked, Whether tithe is to be taken as of one flock, or two? Hence the discussion of the point glides to Jordan; one part of the flock is on this side Jordan, the other on the other. If Jordan be to be esteemed for 'the bounds of the land,' then one part is within the land, the other without. But if it be to be reputed for 'the land itself,' then the business is otherwise. Among other things in this dispute, "Saith Rabbah Bar Bar Channah, R. Jochanan saith Jordan is not, but inwards from Jericho, and beneath it." You would think me more skilful than a diver, to fetch this secret from the bottom. 'Jordan is not Jordan above Jericho,' is a paradox that vexes the Glossers themselves, much more therefore may it me. One understands the thing according to the bare letter; for "he that voweth (saith he) that he will not drink of Jordan, may drink above Jericho." Another understands it of Jericho, as being a bounds, yea, as the bounds named below Jericho only; Joshua 18:20. We make no tarrying upon the business. But if Jordan had such a limitation, that Jordan was not above Jericho, 'The region about Jordan,' is to be understood in the same limitation, namely, that it is only below Jericho. See the Seventy on Genesis 13:10,12. The masters, sifting this business, out of one scruple move another; for they speak these words; "Jordan floweth out of the cave of Paneas, goes along by the Sibbechean sea, by the sea of Tiberias, by the sea of Sodom, and passeth on, and glides into the Great sea; but Jordan is not but inwards from Jericho, and below it." Let any shew me where Jordan flows out of the sea of Sodom into the Mediterranean. The river Shihor, carrying blackness in its name, may be taken for it, if it be any other; but neither does this appear concerning it. While you see multitudes gathered together to John, and gladly baptized in Jordan, without fear, without danger, alas, how much was Jordan changed from that Jordan in that story of Saligniac! "Jordan (saith he), in which place Christ was baptized, is famous for a ruinous building. Here, therefore, all we pilgrims went into the holy river, and washed our bodies and our souls; those from filth, and these from sin; a matter of very great joy and health, had not an unhappy accident disturbed our joys. For a certain physician, a Frenchman, of our company, an honest man, going something further into the river, was caught with a crocodile (whether one should call it a dragon or a beast, it is uncertain), and swallowed him up, not without the common grief of our brethren." The wilderness also, where our Saviour underwent his forty days' temptation, was on the same bank of Jordan where the baptism of John was; St. Luke witnessing it, that Jesus, being now baptized, "returned from Jordan," namely, from the same tract whereby he came thither.
June 2011 Billie Silvey The King's Speech Bertie was a boy who couldnâ€™t do anything right. He couldnâ€™t walk right or talk right or write his letters with the right hand. And he lived in a time when doing things the right way, the proper way, was very important. His father was the handsome and strong- King George V. His great- grandmother was that epitome of rightness and propriety, Queen Victoria. His brother David, who would follow his father as King Edward VIII, was the perfect person for the jobâ€”handsome and popular and right in all the ways Bertie was wrong. Their father never got furious at David the way he did at But Bertie grew up to be the handsome and popular King George VI, the perfect king to lead his country through the dark days of World War II. And he recently became the subject of the Academy-Award-winning film Kingâ€™s Speech. The title of the movie is a double entendre, referring at once to the speech defect that caused him to stutter and to the important address he needed to give on the radio about the threat posed by Nazi Germany. Bertie never expected to be king. In fact, it was the last thing he wanted. His brother did became king, but then he did the unthinkable. He abdicated. There are two reasons he decided to give up being king. One was the reason he gave in a speech at the time. He wanted to marry Wallis Simpson, an American woman who had been divorced. This is the reason many Americans still believe--that he gave up the chance to be king for love. The second reason was darker and more sinister. He liked Hitler, the leader of Germany. He didn't really believe that Hitler would imprison and kill the Jewish people in Germany, take over most of the rest of Europe, and try to bomb the British into submission. But that's just what he did! George VI David with Wallis Simpson and with Hitler The King's Speech is the story of Bertie's growing friendship with the speech therapist, Lionel Logue, his growing confidence in himself, and his growing conviction that he can be the right leader to inspire England to resist the Nazi threat. Queen Elizabeth Sense of Duty
Sanctuary Test \| Final Test - Hard Buy the Sanctuary Lesson Plans Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________ Short Answer Questions 1. What is the main piece of evidence in Goodwin's trial? 2. Popeye takes Temple to a bar that has _______________. 3. What realization does Temple finally come to? 4. What is Reba's profession? 5. Why does Benbow write Belle a letter? Short Essay Questions 1. What is Narcissa's position when she learns that Ruby and her child have been run out of the hotel? 2. What crime has Popeye committed against Temple? 3. What decision does Benbow make regarding his personal life? 4. Why does Clarence ridicule Virgil and Fonzo? 5. What does Narcissa think about Benbow's insistence on defending Goodwin? 6. What is strange about Reba's lack of questioning Temple's situation? 7. Why does Reba tell Temple that she should feel lucky that Popeye has chosen her? 8. What is Temple's condition when Benbow finally finds her? 9. What information does Ruby give Benbow regarding Temple and Temple's role in her shocking situation? 10. Why does Narcissa continue to insert herself into Benbow's life? Essay Topics Write an essay for ONE of the following topics: Essay Topic 1 Create a brief character study of Ruby. What does she look like? What are her positive personality traits? What are some of her negative characteristics? What are her hopes and fears? What motivates her--if anything--at this point? Essay Topic 2 Prejudice takes on an almost human persona in this story. What is this literary technique called? Cite three examples that support this position. Essay Topic 3 Explain the significance of the novel's title. What did the author mean by calling the book SANCTUARY? Cite an example to support your answer. (see the answer keys) This section contains 868 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) Buy the Sanctuary Lesson Plans Follow Us on Facebook
Explain the concept of land economic, Microeconomics (a) Give an overview of the Concept of Land Economic (b) Provide a definition of Land/Economics (c) Discuss the origin of Land Economics (d) Modern and Traditional Land Economics in PNG (e) The Relationship of Land Economics and Land Use Planning (f) How is Land Economics and Valuation inter-related Posted Date: 3/18/2013 2:13:26 AM \| Location : United States Related Discussions:- Explain the concept of land economic, Assignment Help, Ask Question on Explain the concept of land economic, Get Answer, Expert's Help, Explain the concept of land economic Discussions Write discussion on Explain the concept of land economic Your posts are moderated Related Questions Open Access Regime Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Survey Methods: The most direct method of forecasting demand in the short run is survey method. Surveys are conducted to collect information about future purchase plans of the Do not submit more than 1 file in the Canvas submission link. A few years ago peanut farmers in India experienced a super-bumper crop due to favorable weather conditions. Initially large firms charge the price which is higher than the small firms, contruct the diagram Banks: A company which accepts deposits and issues new loans. It makes profit by charging more interest for loans than it pays on deposits, and through several service charges. By THEORY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR: It is generally observed that market aggregate demand curve for a commodity is downward sloping, given other things. Our problem is to investigate
Photography: Triptychs I've been working on new triptychs and decided to study more about the history of the form and why it seems to resonate with viewers as a way of conveying emotion or even enhancing work that might not be as striking when presented in a continuous or uninterrupted format (thinking photography here). I think the presentation of panels is certainly a trend when it comes to modern interior design, but it is fascinating to see that the history stemmed from a solution to the issue of transporting works of art. I also have to wonder if the religious underpinnings of the form still resonate with people, even if they are not concious of why. -N "The triptych form arises from early Christian art, and was a popular standard format for altar paintings from the Middle Ages onwards. Its geographical range was from the eastern Byzantine churches to the Celtic churches in the west. Renaissance painters and sculptors such as Hans Memling and Hieronymus Bosch used the form. Triptych forms also allow ease of transport. From the Gothic period onward, both in Europe and elsewhere, altarpieces in churches and cathedrals were often in triptych form. One such cathedral with an altarpiece triptych is Llandaff Cathedral. The Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, Belgium, contains two examples by Rubens, and Notre Dame de Paris is another example of the use of triptych in architecture. One can also see the form echoed by the structure of many ecclesiastical stained glass windows. Although strongly identified as an altarpiece form, triptychs outside that context have been created, some of the best-known examples being works by Hieronymus Bosch, Max Beckmann, and Francis Bacon.
Zimmerman Pine Moth Pines have been popular landscape choices for their hardiness and year round aesthetic appeal. Recently, many of these species have fallen prey to the destructive Zimmerman moth, Dioryctria zimmermani.How can I tell if my pine tree is affected? In early summer, sawdust present on lateral branches may indicate a problem. Symptoms will appear the worst in late summer when larvae are the most active. The presence of a creamy white pitch mixed with frass on large branches or main trunk may indicate pest activity. Larvae from the Zimmerman moth burrow into the trunk and branch bases of pine trees, which weakens limbs and makes them very susceptible to wind or storm damage. Eventually the trunk may break and the entire tree may die. What can I do to prevent the spread of Zimmerman moths? Proper sanitation is the most effective cultural control of Zimmerman moth larvae. This pest is known to re-infest the same trees year after year; removal of these “brood trees” can help effectively control moth populations. Trees weakened or otherwise damaged are highly attractive to moth larvae; treating or removing these trees will give healthy potential hosts a better chance at survival. Spruce rust and needlecast are diseases caused by various fungi. Although rarely fatal, they make trees unattractive, ineffective for screening and more susceptible to other stresses. How can I tell if my spruce trees are affected? In the case of spruce rust, symptoms become visible in midsummer, when pale yellow bands can be seen on the current year’s growth. The previous year’s needles, if infected, will brown and fall. The following spring, telia (fungal fruiting bodies) will appear. The needlecast fungi also form microscopic black fruiting bodies in which thousands of spores form on the infected needle. What can I do to prevent the spread of these diseases? If detected early, infected branches can be pruned to slow or potentially stop the spread of the disease. Reducing moisture around plants by spacing trees widely and maintaining good weed control to allow for drying and good air circulation are recommended. Contact your arborist if you suspect the presence of spruce rust or needlecast in order to develop a management plan suited for your landscape. Find out, and learn how you can protect your ash trees. Ask your arborist or visit the Emerald Ash Borer page on for details. Click here to return to newsletter homepage
Interesting Facts About Jamaica The countries folks are known as colorful and happy but here is a more detailed look about Jamaica and it’s people. -60$ Jamaican is worth 1$ American. -Average temperature 84f. -Famous exports are Bananas, Rum, coffee, citrus and many more. -The population is around 2million and the capital is Kingston (also being the most populated city. -In Jamaica people can watch the political proceedings by the visitors gallery. -Snakes are really really rare in Jamaica, since they imported Mongooses to kill off rats, who also killed Snakes. -Obeahism is the practice of Voodoo in Jamaica, it is a punishable crime, mostly imprisonment. -Orchids grow everywhere in Jamaica and 72 of the species are native only to Jamaica. -Blue Moons have been observed more then once in Jamaica. -The coconut palm, sugar are not natives of Jamaica, they were brought by outsiders in different times of history. -They passport are required for tourists of Canada and US who visit for a period of 6months. -The Arawak Indians, who were living there at the time of Columbus’s arrival, were exterminated by him later. The Spanish were later defeated by the British and since then Jamaica is a member of the commonwealth. 7 thoughts on “Interesting Facts About Jamaica” Comments are closed.
The Name … “Bandung” By the way, is there any among us who never asked (either at someone else, or yourself): “From where and what they mean ‘Bandung’?”. This question occurred to me any time. Curiosity, and finally thanks to the help of “Mbah Google”, I get some references about “the origin of the name of Bandung and its meaning.” “Bandung” in Sundanese, synonymous with the word “appeal” in Indonesian, means side by side. “Ngabanding” (Sunda) means adjoining or adjacent. Another opinion says that the word “bandung” means big or large. The word comes from the word “bandeng”. In Sundanese, “ngabandeng” means a broad pool of water and look cool, but creepy impressed. Presumably the word “bandeng” it then changes the sound became Bandung. There is another opinion stating that the word Bandung comes from the word “dyke”. This is apparently associated with the event stream retention in areas of ancient Citarum River Padalarang by lava erupting Mount Tangkuban during the Holocene (± 6000 years ago). That glimpse of the following origins meaning of the name of Bandung, this beloved town. For more information you can visit: About bandoenglover One response to “The Name … “Bandung” Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s %d bloggers like this:
Zeta-Meter Inc - Model 4.0 - Electrophoretic Mobility and Zeta Potential Zeta potential measurements are made using a technique called microelectrophoresis. The measurement is very direct. First, your sample is placed in a viewing chamber called an electrophoresis cell. Then an electric field is activated. This causes the colloids to move with a velocity that is proportional to their zeta potential, and in a direction that indicates whether their charge is positive or negative. Colloids are comfortably observed and tracked using video optics or a high quality stereo microscope. Once your sample is in the cell, you get your first results in a matter of seconds, and complete results in minutes. Just fill the cell with your sample, insert the electrodes and connect them to the Zeta-Meter 4.0 unit. It determines the specific conductance of your sample and helps select the appropriate voltage. Energize the electrodes and watch the colloids as they move across a grid in your microscope or video display. Track one by simply pressing a keypad button and holding it down while your colloid moves across the grid. When you release the button, your colloid’s zeta potential (or electrophoretic mobility) is instantly displayed. The data display shows you: how many colloids you have tracked, their average zeta potential (or electrophoretic mobility) and the statistical standard deviation of your values. In addition, temperature and average specific conductance are also displayed. You can also review your data in detail at any time by using the keypad to step through each individual tracking value. We supply software that lets you feed your data directly into the serial port of a personal computer. Our software imports your data into a database that lets you store, search, graph, print and review your data. Understanding zeta potential can help you to understand and control colloidal suspensions. Examples include complex biological systems such as blood, and functional ones like paint. Water, milk, wine, clay, inks, dyes, paper, and pharmaceuticals are good examples of useful colloidal systems. In many cases, the performance of a suspension can be improved by understanding the effects of colloidal behavior on such properties as viscosity, settling, and effective particle size. Each colloid carries a 'like' electrical charge which produces a force of mutual electrostatic repulsion between adjacent particles. If the charge is high enough, the colloids will remain discrete, dispersed, and in suspension. Reducing or eliminating the charge has the opposite effect - the colloids will steadily agglomerate and settle out of suspension or form an interconnected matrix. We can often tailor the characteristics of a suspension by understanding how individual colloids interact with one another. At times we may want to maximize the repulsive forces between them in order to keep each particle discrete and prevent them from gathering into larger, faster settling agglomerates. Examples include pharmaceuticals and pastes. Sometimes we have the opposite goal and want to separate the colloids from the liquid. Removing the repulsive forces allows them to form large flocs that settle fast and filter easily. Viscosity is another property that can be modified by varying the balance between repulsion and attraction. Each charged particle is surrounded by a diffuse layer of neutralizing ions. This causes an electrical potential on the order of millivolts to develop across the diffuse layer between the colloid and the bulk of the liquid. The magnitude of this potential is approximately proportional to the surface charge on the colloid, and it is called the zeta potential. As a result, zeta potential an important measure of the electrokinetic forces involved. Customer reviews No reviews were found for Zeta-Meter - Model 4.0 - Electrophoretic Mobility and Zeta Potential. Be the first to review!
Oral cancer The term ‘oral cancer’ is used in this guideline to refer to cancer of the lip (ICD-9 code 140), tongue (code 141), gum (code 143), floor of mouth (code 144), other unspecified parts of the mouth (code 145), oropharynx (code 146), hypopharynx (code 148) and other ill-defined sites within the lip, oral cavity and pharynx (code 149). This definition excludes cancers of the salivary glands (code 142) and the nasopharynx (code 147).
Say i want to harmonize a melody by a major 3rd. do i just stack a note 4 semitones higher on top of each note of the melody? what if the harmony note disagrees with the key i'm in? singing question: how do you sing a harmony to someone elses singing without the aid of a musical instrument? 1. Yes 1a. You play it that way anyway or move the note down a semitone so it fits the key. This is called harmonizing in diatonic (fitting the key) thirds 2. It's hard and requires a lot of practice. Your best bet it to ask this in the vocals thread. just count 3 notes in the scale from the note you want to harmonize... should end up with a major and a minor melody playing in harmony. for singing you just do it Learn the difference between major 3rds and minor 3rds. Harmonize major thirds on I, IV, V notes. Minor Thirds on ii, ii, vi notes. For example, the C major scale, then the thirds: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 No matter what, when you harmonize in thirds, notes should be on the same scale. if you try and harmonize every note in the melody by a major third, you'll end up with out of key notes. Which may or may not sound good. you'll just have to listen to it and find out (but it probably won't sound good). You going to have to use some minor thirds along with the major 3rds. for example, if you melody goes C E D A F, harmonizing every note by a M3 will get you an E, G#, F#, C#, and A. Those three notes with a sharp are out of the C major scale. If you want to stay in key, E D and A will need to be harmonized by a minor third. When you harmonize a melody, take the note you want to add to ( for example, an E) and examine where it falls in the scale. In the case of an E in C major, it is a iii chord (third scale degree, which is a minor triad). Then, rather than paying attention to the quality of the interval you wish to harmonize it with, choose the quantity. In this case you chose a third. A 3rd from E is G, and in this scale it is a minor third. The qualities of the interval will take care of themselves. Traynor YCV50 Blue epi les paul w/ SD Alnico II pros Dunlop Slash Wah EH Deluxe Memory Boy Moen Jimi Vibe Danelectro Cool Cat Fuzz Zvex Vexter Fuzz Factory VHT 2x12 w/ V30's
Find information on different jobs in healthcare. Doctor (Physician) Doctors treat injuries and sick patients. Doctors examine patients, find out patient's medical histories and give medications. Nurses, also called registered nurses or RNs, take care of sick and injured people. They give medicine, treat wounds and give emotional support to patients and their families. Pharmacists are experts in medicine and its side effects. Recreational Therapist Back to Top Brain Scientist Meet Dave. He is a scientist who studies the brain and how addiction affects the brain. What’s cool about Science is scientists have these ideas and they don’t know whether they’re [ideas are] true or not. And to convince other people, they do experiments [a scientific test]. They try to prove it [their idea] and it’s really fun when they finally do prove it and say “A-ha! I was right!” and then they share it [their idea] with the world and people see the world a different way. Why did you want to study the brain? I think I thought the brain was interesting because it’s a lot of “us,” who we are. But when you learn about how it works, all the little machinery in it, all the things it does, it actually is [a] really sophisticated machine. I am at the National Institute on Drug Abuse so we’re interested in how the brain relates to addiction. An addiction is when you do something that’s bad for you, but you just can’t stop. Like some people get addicted to drugs; they take the drugs they know they’re bad for them, but they just can’t stop doing it. And we believe that addiction is a brain disease [illness or sickness] and that’s why we study the brain is we want to understand how the brain gets addicted to drugs and how we can get a person to be un-addicted by changing the brain. What’s your day like? Each day is different. Some days I go and talk to kids at schools about brains. Some days I talk to famous scientists. They call me with great ideas about what they discovered. It’s almost like, as if Albert Einstein would call me and say “Hey Dave! I just came up with the theory of relativity!” Everyday involves some learning, something new I learn about the world in Science. Do you have any advice for kids? Keep asking questions. Keep trying to discover things. Don’t accept things for just the way they are. I mean, scientists that’s what they do. They question. Back to Top Army Dentist Captain Ryan Romero a dentist for the Army. He explains his job, how dentistry relates to art, and what those crazy dentist goggles really do! My name is Captain Ryan Romero and I’m an Army dentist. It’s our job to make sure that everyone gets an exam every year and we have to make sure that everybody’s dentally fit. If they have any issues dentally, we have to take care of those before they deploy. A deployment is any type of mission where the patient or the service member has to go overseas, and basically stop everything they’re doing and help with a mission. What’s your day like? My day typically starts with exam and sick call. Anything [any person] that walks in the door, from exams to people in severe tooth pain. Some of the things that I like to do are root canals and crowns [putting a cap over the tooth] and bridges [replacing missing teeth]. What is a root canal? root canal is sometimes needed when somebody has a large cavity that’s real close to the nerve and the bacteria has gotten into the nerve and caused pain. So in order to save the tooth, you have to do what’s called a root canal. How did you get started? My first job was to be a dental assistant. So I was actually on the other side of the chair helping the dentist. So I enjoyed it so much that I decided to pursue a career in Army dentistry. How to become a dentist I would encourage that they [kids] get really good grades in school. Focus on math and science for the most part. And another thing I’d suggest is maybe taking an art class. It helps build a foundation for using their hands and that’s something that’s a very important aspect of dentistry, being comfortable working with your hands. It gives them a keen eye for detail. With working with such a small field [area], you really have to pay attention to detail. These are my Dental Loupes that I use to help magnify my field of vision. So basically every time I work I wear these so I can tell exactly what I’m looking at and how far down I need to go. How to take care of your teeth? My advice for kids would be, first and foremost a healthy diet. Believe it or not a healthy diet can really go a long way to keeping your teeth cavity free. I would encourage making smart decisions for snacking and incorporating fruits and vegetables into the daily diet. Drinking plenty of water and brushing twice a day for two minutes. And more importantly, they should probably keep up with their regular check ups with their family dentist. Back to Top FBI Fitness Instructor Watch what E. J., an FBI fitness instructor, does every day and how he trains future FBI agents. In this episode, we visit the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. They have the National Academy Training Program, which is a 10-week course for police men and women from all over the U.S. Meet. E.J. E.J.: A typical day at the FBI Academy for me would be, probably half the day spent teaching, researching as well as maybe an afternoon of hands-on activity. Our FBI agent trainees, as well as staff and our National Academy students, which are our basically our cops and our military, we prepare them and I think focus more on movement mechanics [how the body moves], working on [using your] basic body weight: pushing, pulling, squatting, lunging, bracing type activities to prepare them for any athletic endeavor. Mark: I’m going through the FBI National Academy, which is an executive leadership course with three main components being physical fitness, networking, and academics [classes]. We have usually four classes a day. Three times to four times a week, we do physical fitness. E.J. brings out the best in you as far as wanting to excel, wanting you to bring the best out of yourself and giving you the reasons why it’s important. Advice for Kids I think this is an amazing career for kids to get into. The health and fitness industry [area] is growing by leaps and bounds. I encourage them to out work their competition as well as all the habits that they do as a 7-13 year old kid will produce longevity [a long life] and durability [to perform over a long period]. To stay injury free, is just moving in all types of directions and really getting better with their body weight is really fundamental. Mark: Keep yourself grounded. 1. Pay attention in school. Do your studies. You’re going to be judged a lot on by how you speak and how you write. 2. Stay active, stay mobile. XBox isn’t the answer, get outside and play. Back to Top Meet Sasha, a registered dietitian nutritionist. She talks about how her job helps people eat healthy foods. I love food! And I love helping people. At USDA [U.S. Department of Agriculture], our job is to teach Americans, all Americans in the whole country, about healthy eating, which is a pretty big job. What does a nutritionist do? A nutritionist or a dietician is an expert in food, health and nutrition. And nutritionists are health professionals, so they work in a variety of settings: • Nutritionists work in hospitals helping patients get better. • Nutritionists also work in grocery stores helping customers. • There are nutritionists that work in gyms that help athletes perform their best. What's your day like? As part of my job, we get to create nutrition education resources. So handouts like these that are really bright and colorful and teach people about MyPlate and healthy eating. We have them in English and in Spanish. ¿Qué hay en su plato? I get to create web pages and also work with online apps and games. Any good nutrition apps? The SuperTracker is an online application [app] where you can enter in information about you: • How tall you are • What age you are • If you're a boy or a girl • How active you are And it'll tell you a food plan. It'll tell you just how many fruits and vegetables you need to be eating each day, how much dairyprotein, and grains so that you know you're getting the right foods from all five food groups. What advice do you have for kids? If you're interested in being a nutritionist, you should get out there in your community and volunteer [offer to help]. Volunteer at a food bank [free food for people in need] or a soup kitchen [place where food is given to the hungry or homeless]. See what it's like to help people get excited about healthy foods. It's also important, if you're interested in being a nutritionist, to be a healthy role model [a person looked up to by others] and you can start today. So eating healthy foods and being active and showing your friends and family that that's something that you enjoy, those are ways that you can be a role model for others in your life. Back to Top Physical Therapists Meet physical therapists from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. They talk about their jobs and working with patients. Lieutenant Mike Marmolejo, Physical Therapist: If you find, you know, you love the sciences and you love sports, physical therapy is a great combination of both. What’s your day like? Janette Scardillo, Physical Therapist: In the beginning of the day, we come in, get our patient lists and go throughout the hospital and we see a large variety of patients and do anything from getting them walking again, getting them in and out of bed, getting them into a chair, doing exercises with them. We want to have the patient be as functional as possible before they go home. Mike: A typical day in the office for me is actually really fun. I don’t have to sit at a computer all day. I actually get to work with my patients, almost doing, like, fitness with them, just to get them better. I have the honor and the privilege of working with these wounded warriors and they come in with different injuries. A lot of them come in with amputations to their legs or to their arms. So my job is to help them learn how to walk again; learn how to do activities that they used to do on a normal daily basis that they can’t do right now. For example, walking or running. So to challenge their balance a little bit, we put them on foam pads and have them walk on uneven surfaces. And that’s just gonna help them walk better on a harder surface. Army Master Sergeant Cedric King, Patient: I can see, but I can’t feel. So now that’s kinda like the trade off I have now. I can see it, but it does me no good because I can’t really feel, I can’t make those adjustments. Mike: And then the last exercise we did was a seated balance football toss. It’s for them to get again, a core workout, working on their abdominal strength, but it’s also to add some fun. What is GAIT? Barri Schnall, Physical Therapist: GAIT is basically your walking pattern. What we do here primarily is evaluate people’s walking patterns. We have a 27-camera system that sees reflective markers. The reflective markers are placed essentially from head to toe on the patient. What that does is it creates a stick figure on our computer monitor. That gives us our raw data. We review the data with the patient and the information we get is all about the time distance aspects of their walking. So how fast they walk, how wide apart their feet are, how long their steps are. What is CAREN? Some people have likened it to a Wii on steroids. It’s a virtual environment, where the patient can either drive a scene, meaning, or interact with a scene. The problem is we make it difficult. We can add waves and motion to the platform. So it makes it challenging on your balance and it’s really kind of a fun way to get to do your rehab [rebuild to a healthy state]. Advice for kids Mike: I’d like to say I have the best job in the world, to be honest with you. To come in everyday and play and to see the smiles on these guys faces. To see where they started and to see where they end up, it’s just so exciting. Back to Top Do you need help? What you think matters!
Thursday, November 18, 2010 Definitions on Terms. Pectoralis major-The pectoralis major is a thick, fan-shaped muscle, situated at the chest (anterior) of the body. It makes up the bulk of the chest muscles in the male and female. Lattissmuss Dorsi-The latissimus dorsi meaning 'broadest muscle of the back'. Phalanges- bones that form the fingers and toes. Abduction- is a movement which brings a part of the anatomy away from the body. Extention- The act of straightening or extending a flexed limb Inferior- away from the head. Muscle endurance- Muscular endurance is the ability of a muscle or group of muscles to sustain repeated contractions against a resistance for an extended period of time Saggital Plane- Plane in which foward and backward movements of the body and body segments occur. Pronation- the act of assuming the prone position, or the state of being prone. Applied to the hand, the act of turning the palm backward or downward, performed by medial rotation of the forearm Flextion- a movement allowed by certain joints of the skeleton that decreases the angle between two adjoining bones, such as bending the elbow, which decreases the angle between the humerus and the ulna. General Motion- A combination of angular motion and linear motion. It is the most common form of motion in sport. Type IIb Muscle fibers- These fibres, also called fast twitch or fast glycolytic fibres, contain a low content of myoglobin, relatively few mitochondria, relatively few blood capillaries and large amounts glycogen. Posterior- Further back in position; of or nearer the rear or hind end. Anterior- situated before or at the front of; fore (opposed to posterior ) Bilateral- pertaining to, involving, or affecting two or both sides, factions, parties. Superficial- concerned with or comprehending only what is apparent or obvious; not deep or penetrating emotionally or intellectually. Transverse Plane- The transverse plane (also called the horizontal plane, axial plane, or transaxial plane) is an imaginary plane that divides the body into superior and inferior parts. It is perpendicular to the coronal and sagittal planes. Lateral- situated on, directed toward, or coming from the side. Medial- Pertaining to the middle; in or toward the middle; nearer the middle of the body. diagonal plane- Upper limbs at shoulder joints; Overhand skills; EX. Baseball Pitch Tuesday, November 16, 2010 Activity 3 phase 1 This is a great drill to work on the eye hand coordination of a recevier plus working on the hands of a recevier as well. You start off by grabbing a tennis ball and getting about 7-8 feet from a wall. Activity 3 phase 2 Once you have access to a wall and a tennis ball start throwning it right hand to right hand in a diagonal plane movement. Right hand to left. Now right hand to two hands. Than Try to pick up the pace a little bit once warmed up. Activity 3 phase 3 Now, if you have access to a second person, you let the person stand behind you with the person catching the ball facing posterior and now throw. Right hand; left hand; two hands. Depending on the situation you want to be able to catch the body laterally away from your body and medially away from your body. This is a really good drill when you have the second person throwing behind you because it is rare in a football game when you see the ball come out of the quarterbacks hands, it's probably already thrown and this gives you a chance to find the ball; this is helping working on that. This part of the drill will work the Fast-twitch muscles fibers the most since the ball is unpredictable from where your going. Activity 2 phase 1 This is called the Side to Side drill for recievers to improve their ability to catch a football. This drill starts with two players standing on the goal line facing each other and about five yards apart. The reciever should in a stance with legs abducted to shoulder width apart. This drill works on concentration of the football while moving. Your not always going to get a perfect pass while playing football, you need to be prepared to catch a ball in all different angles while moving. Activity 2 phase 2 On command, both players start running sideways by twisting their torso in the transverse plane, tossing the ball back and forth until they reach the endzone. Activity 2 phase 3 They get a quick rest and start back up the field. Some type of time can be used. Extending their arms Bilaterally as they receive the ball. Make sure to stress good body control. Depending on the muscular endurance of yours players, depends on how long they can go before rest. If players get too tired towards the drills end sometimes players form can get sloppy and accidents can occur resulting in superficial bruises. Activity 1 phase 1 This activity should improve quickness and reaction time to help the person catch the ball better even if they can't see exactly when its thrown. This will mostly utilize your type IIb muclse fibers.This drill is called the throw and turn drill. The Drill starts off with the Quarterback throwning to the reciever who is facing posteriorly to him. Activity 1 phase 2 As the Quarterback is throwning the ball he signals the reciever to turn as the ball is in the air. The football will be moving in a general motion which can be unpredictable at times. Activity 1 phase 3 As the reciver turns anteriorly towards the QB he needs to be able to catch the ball. This drill will force the recieve to locate the ball quicker while it's in the air and improvw reaction time to the ball even if you haven't see it thrown. Phase 1 Stand in an athletic stance facing the person anteriorly throwing the football. Knees should be Flexed slightly getting ready to move if nessacary. Phase 2 Once your in a athletic stance Flex your shoulder's 90 degrees in the saggital put your pointer fingers and thumbs together with your hands pronated and extended away from your body getting ready for however the football may come at you. Phase 3 When the ball is thrown make sure your phalanges are abducted slightly around the middle of the football and catch the ball extended away from your body and inferior away from the head. Phase 4 Once you have the football secured, bring it into your body having the point of the football in one hand near the pectoral major and the other point of the football in the armpit near the latissimuss dorsi.
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement： Some people believe that the Earth is being harmed (damaged) by human activity. Others feel that human activity makes the Earth a better place to live. 学生习作第一段：Under the thousands of hundreds of reproduction and development, Earth has been changed a lot. Usage of high technology, public transportation really make our life more convenient. Modern development makes the Earth a better place to live. However, the trauma that we give to Earth is always exists, such as environment pollution. In some place, government is still passion on developing economic, and ignoring the environment effect. (点评：introduction part的作用就是背景信息陈述加本人观点。这个引入段一开始写的背景信息跟题目无关，属于为了凑字数而加的描述。托福作文虽然对字数有要求，但并不是说字数越多越好，事实上，有很多满分作文其实都是在300-400字之间的，而并不是坊间传说的一定要飚到500+。除了描述冗余外，还有语法错误，比如thousands of hundreds of...在英语中，一般讲hundreds of thousands of。还有中国学生常见的双谓语问题--“is always exists”） Revised version: Technology and public transportation make our life more convenient while at the same time various problems come up with the advancement of technology. Overall speaking, I think human activity has caused damage to the Earth. 学生习作第二段：The worst matter I want to mention is about pollution. A mount number of government develop economic in paid of environment pollution. I read a newspaper that local government decide to build an enormous fire electricity factory in order to satisfy the citizens’ need. Although, the original purpose of building this factory is benefit for citizens, the price of environment balance is really big. Now, citizens are suffering dirty air and bad smell. Human activity makes the Earth damaged. 点评: “I want to mention”属于口语表述，不适合用在写作中。一般来说，主题句要包括的是自己在这一段要着重讨论的方面。可以看到，学生在表达的精准性和精练程度方面还需要提高。 “I read a newspaper”这样的表述不如转换成“事实加出处”，尽量省去第一人称的表达。 Revised version: Environment pollution is one of the pains that human beings are suffering. Many governments choose to develop economic at the expense of the environment. There was a news report saying that the local government decided to build an enormous fire electricity factory in order to provide sufficient electricity power for the region. Although the original purpose of this deed is for the benefit of the citizens, they turned out to be the victims of the deteriorative environment. This is just one of many examples which demonstrate the damage caused by human activity. 学生习作第三段：Although the modern city construction makes the whole city beautiful, the space for each person has been decreased. Several of modern building expand the space of working, but shrink personal activity space, such as the skyscraper in NY City. In NY, the price of land is too expansive. A lot of them has been sold for office usage. The total space for office usage has been increased. On the contrary, the personal space is tiny. In a word, this kinds of place is not good for human to living. Revised version: The expansion of the big cities did symbolize the modernization, but it also leads to the frantic increasing of land price, which may cause other problems. For example, a large amount of the buildings are rented out as office buildings in Beijing. The overpriced market makes ordinary people can not afford the houses in the downtown, thus they have to live far away from the work place and take a subway or drive to work. Traffic jam and noise affect people lives a lot. Besides, there are few parks or urban public utilities for people to use. No one will feel happy to live in a place like this. In conclusion, we human beings need to reflect what we have done to the planet. There’s still a lot need to do before we can make the earth a better place to live.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007 How To Calculate Present Value The concept of present value is rather simple. If I want $1000 by the end of 2 years and then interest rate is 10%, how much do I need to invest today? The answer is $826. Today this is a pretty simple calculation. Just push the buttons on your calculator and done. But, what if you had to fiqure it out the "old-fashioned" way. Well here's the formula fiqure it out. Present Value = Future Value/ (1 + Interest Rate) For example, What would be the present value of $100 at 8% interest for 1 year? Present Value = $100/(1 + .08) Present Value = $100/1.08 Present Value = $92.59 Pretty simple, but what if you needed to fiqure it out for 3 years? Here's how to do that. Year 1 Present Value = $100/1.08 = $92.59 Year 2 $92.59/1.08 = $85.73 Year 3 $85.73/1.08 = $79.38 So in three years, if we invest $79.38 today, we will have $100 Of course there are a couple of shorter ways to calculate present value. Here is a formula that uses exponents. Another quick short cut is to use the present value interest tables. This chart is usually labeled as the PVIF table. The tables already have the (1 + interest rate) fiqured out for you. For example, 5% interest for 8 years gives us a factor of .677. Take $100 x .677 to get $67.70 as the answer. Can't get any easier than that. Technorati Tags: , , No comments:
حزب التحرير Friday, March 14, 2008 The Surface Exchange Process Although solar radiation is partially absorbed by the atmosphere it is actually the transfer of heat and evaporation of moisture (latent energy) from the underlying surfaces that are the major sources of energy which drive atmospheric circulation. Over the oceans there is a lot of latent energy and the important factor is wind speed which regulates the evaporation rate. Over land it is both wind speed and surface characteristics, such as soil moisture, which play a part. The way solar radiation is absorbed by the Earth's surface depends primarily on whether the surface is land or sea. Over land, the radiation is absorbed at the surface and it moves slowly through the earth beneath it. There is very little change in temperature, at a depth of a few metres, throughout the year. The surface, therefore, warms rapidly with increased radiation. Over winter, the land surface temperature cools somewhat because of the minimal amount of solar radiation. In contrast, solar radiation over the oceans is absorbed and penetrates the surface layers of the oceans. The water has quite a high thermal capacity and because of the wind, any extra heat is distributed across the upper layer. As a result of this the sea surface temperature responds a lot slower to the different solar radiation at different times of the year. Land and water that are next to each other heat and cool at different rates because of the different processes involved with absorbing solar radiation and the release of longwave radiation. In the summer, land becomes relatively hotter and then cools in the winter causing temperature and pressure gradients across boundaries areas. Air will blow inland from the cooler ocean as the land heats in summer and will blow toward the sea as land cools during winter. The distribution of land and seas has a significant impact on global climate and its seasonal cycle because of the different responses the surface makes to varying solar radiation. The annual average sea level pressure and wind distribution over the oceans is seen in the image below, although they do not reflect seasonal variability. However, there are clear indications of dominant processes in the Asia-Pacific region. In the Pacific there is mean high pressure in the subtropics of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and in the Indian Ocean there is average high pressure and anticyclonic winds in the Southern Hemisphere, but this is not reflected in the Northern Hemisphere. No comments:
From RimWorld Wiki Jump to: navigation, search A hive of giant insects. Will spawn additional insects and hives over time. 1 ˣ 1 A hive can spawn when opening an ancient structure or at Infestation events. It is imperative that you destroy it as fast as possible. A few seconds after the encounter, it will start to deploy insects like megascarabs, megaspiders and spelopedes. Megaspiders or spelopedes tend the hives, and without these "guardians," the hives will perish in 2.5 in-game hours. Insects will attack creatures trespassing the hive`s boundaries, except for wild animals. They will not chase too far away and won't defend themselves from attackers outside the radius. As well as mine random tiles which sometimes lead to Collapsed rocks falling from above and killing anything below. If left untouched, each hive will spawn another hive within a few tiles in a progressive pattern. The time between hive reproduction depends on difficulty. Hives can increase the temperature of their surroundings up to 38°C. It spawns 20 Insect jelly within 10.4 to 12 game hours in its direct radius, and 1 Glow pods within 12 and 24 game hours. Hives take damage at -20°C. During Infestation, full waves of insects appear during the first few seconds. The hives will not expand to tiles without a roof, but the hives may expand to tiles with an overhead mountain.
Thursday, November 10, 2005 The Bible and Pi From in an article written by Dr. Kent Hovind: Does the Bible contain a mathematical error? I Kings 7:23–26 and II Chronicles 4:2–5 describe a huge brass bowl built by King Solomon. If the diameter of this bowl was 10 cubits, then the circumference should have been 31.415926...cubits, not just 30 cubits! Any math student will tell you that the circumference of a circle is found by taking the diameter times Pi (3..141592653589793...). This apparent mathematical error caused me, as a new Christian, to doubt the accuracy of the Bible. The answer is so simple! The diameter of 10 cubits is from outer rim to outer rim, the way anyone would measure a circular object. The circumference of 30 cubits, however, was of the inner circle, after subtracting the thickness of the brass (two handbreadths—one for each side) from which the bowl was made. This would be the number needed to calculate the volume of water. read more
Broker: An entity that arranges the sale and purchase of electric energy, transmission, and other services between buyers and sellers, but does not take title to any of the power sold. Demand: The rate at which energy is delivered to loads and scheduling points by generation, transmission, and distribution facilities. Distribution: The delivery of electricity to retail customers (including homes, businesses, etc.). Distribution System: The portion of an electric system that is dedicated to delivering electric energy to an end user. Electric Service Provider: An entity that provides electric service to a retail or end-use customer. Energy Charge: That portion of the charge for electric service based upon the electric energy (kWh) consumed or billed. Green Power: Electricity generated from renewable resources. Grid: Usually used to describe the interconnected transmission system. Kilowatt (kW): A unit of energy equal to 1,000 watts. Kilowatt-hour (kWh): A unit of energy equal to 1,000 watts over the course of 1 hour. The kWh is most commonly known as a billing unit for energy delivered to consumers by electric utilities. Load: The amount of electric power delivered or required at any specific point or points on a system. The requirement originates at the energy-consuming equipment of the consumers. Megawatt (MW): One million watts. Megawatthour (MWh): One million watthours. Supply: Electricity available to the grid. Wires Charge: A broad term which refers to charges levied on power suppliers or their customers for the use of the transmission or distribution wires.
Colloidal Silver 7755188392_f2c419ab13Colloidal Silver To understand the power of silver as the world’s most safe and effective natural antibiotic, you need to know a few facts first. Antibiotic-resistant germs are now considered epidemic in the United States, accounting for a growing number of serious infectious disorders. An ordinary antibiotic kills perhaps a half dozen different disease causing organisms, which, in turn, grow more and more resistive to antibiotic treatments. The Los Angeles Times stated already a few years back, “…in the last decade, a broad resistance to antibiotics has begun to emerge. And because bacteria can transfer genes among themselves, experts only expect the resistance to grow. The potential nightmare is an Andromeda strain, which is immune to all antibiotics and could wreak havoc.” Still another problem that has plagued the medical profession from the beginning with modern antibiotics has been that beneficial bacteria and organisms play various important, natural functions in the body. Antibiotics often play havoc with some friendly organisms, producing long lasting side effects that may be difficult to correct. Silver has been a benefit to mankind’s health for thousands of years. It has been known to be a bactericide for at least 1200 years. In ancient times, it was known to prevent disease and it was said that disease could not be transmitted by drinking from a silver cup. In Ancient Greece and Rome, silver containers were used to store food and liquids to keep them fresh and free of disease. Pioneers of the American West would drop a silver dollar in the milk jug to prevent spoilage and put a silver dollar in the water trough to prevent disease. Eating utensils were made from silver, thus the name: silverware. The fact cannot be disputed: silver kills bacteria within six minutes of contact. Our ancestors knew the medicinal property of silver which is probably why they highly valued silver and used it as currency. THF-1048LRA colloid is a substance which consists of ultra-fine particles (such as silver) that are suspended in a medium, called the electrolyte (such as distilled water). The particles are so small, typically 0.01 to 0.001 of a micron in diameter (about four hundred thousandths to four millionths of an inch), that they will remain in suspension almost indefinitely, unaffected by the influence of gravity. A colloid of silver or, as it is more commonly called, colloidal silver, is a solution of extremely minute-sized silver particles suspended in water, with a positive electrical charge place on each silver particle. The silver particles in colloidal silver contain a positive charge and are attracted to viruses, fungi, bacteria and other single celled pathogens (disease causing organisms) which contain a negative charge (opposites attract). When the silver particles attach themselves to these pathogens, they disable the pathogens’ oxygen metabolism enzyme. In other words, they suffocate and kill the bad guys. These pathogens don’t have a chance to develop resistant strains. Once the bad guy is dead, the silver particle releases its bond and searches for a new pathogen to attach to. The dead pathogens are then cleared out of the body by the immune, lymphatic and elimination systems. Unlike pharmaceutical antibiotics which destroy beneficial enzymes (good guys), colloidal silver leaves these tissue cell enzymes intact. One wonders how colloidal silver differentiates between the beneficial bacteria and the harmful disease causing organisms. Research shows that the beneficial bacteria in our bodies contain a positive charge, therefore, the positively charged silver particles are not attracted to the positively charged good bacteria. This makes colloidal silver absolutely safe for humans, reptiles, plants and all multi-celled living matter. Taken orally, colloidal silver is absorbed from the mouth into the bloodstream, then travels quickly to the body cells. For faster absorption, swish colloidal silver under your tongue for a few seconds before swallowing. When taken on a daily basis, in 3 or 4 days the silver will have accumulated in the tissues enough for benefits to begin. After ingesting colloidal silver, it circulates in the body for about a week or two before being eliminated by the kidneys, lymph system and bowel. A regular daily intake of colloidal silver is recommended to protect the body against dangerous pathogens. Colloidal Silver frequently asked questions… Colloidal Minerals of The Health Factory are: • Extremely small, even smaller than plant derived minerals and are therefore very well absorbed by by the human body. • Non-toxic. Due to their small size they can pass organs and tissues and leave nothing behind for the immune system or digestive process to be considered a problem. • Spherical in shape, making it work much faster and more effectively than other products in the market place. • The shape of the particle is key to maximizing Zeta Potential. Zeta potential is the electrical charge surrounding each particle within the colloid. The electrical charge contains previously unrecognized healing properties. Maximizing Zeta Potential also means longer shelf life.
High salt diet increased risk of hypertension is known public knowledge, what are the tips to control salt in daily life? , control the total amount of salt Chinese dietary guidelines recommended daily intake of 6 grams of salt. A bottle of beer, salt is 6 grams, 6 grams of this includes cooking salt, including pre packaged foods and various seasonings of salt; so if three meals a day to eat at home, it can be used to a day of salt with a bottle of beer, according to the actual conditions to the distribution of daily three a meal. Taking into account the pre packaged food and a variety of spices in the salt, the proposed amount of salt is recommended in the bottle cap. two, high potassium and low sodium salt said the high salt diet may increase the risk of hypertension, is actually the sodium ion increased risk of hypertension, it is proposed to choose high potassium and low sodium salt, the salt sodium chloride content is 60%~80%, the content of potassium chloride is 14~40%, also contains a small amount of magnesium chloride and Magnesium Sulfate etc.. The characteristics of this kind of low sodium salt is conducive to the prevention of hypertension, in which potassium ion to prevent hypertension also play a positive role, so for patients with hypertension or to prevent hypertension, it is suggested that high potassium and low sodium intake should be controlled. three, reduce high salt food like pickles, salty egg, ham, pickled tofu, fruit and other food containing high salt content, try to eat. For example, a brand of a pack of 120 grams of candied fruit with high salt content of 9 grams of salt a day and a half, is the recommended limit. four, reducing the use of salt seasoning soy sauce, oyster sauce, mayonnaise, chives, chicken and other spices contain salt, such as soy sauce salt content is about 15%, while the salt content is 12%-15%, so should control the use of. five, reduce the use of sodium seasoning also called monosodium glutamate, although not containing salt, but containing sodium ion in cooking should be controlled. six, reduce processed foods, eat more natural food processed foods often add a variety of food additives, such as preservative benzoic acid sodium, sodium propionate, sodium metabisulfite, acidity regulator, sodium citrate, sodium bicarbonate, leavening agent, thickening agent, sodium starch phosphate, sodium alginate, sodium saccharin sweetener, color protecting agent, sodium nitrite, sodium nitrate, containing sodium ion;
All you need to know about Chinese food This content shows Simple View Uncover Interesting Facts About Chinese Food Someone once said that Chinese people eat everything that has four legs apart from tables and all items that fly except airplanes. Many dishes may make people from other parts of the world squeamish or feel weird like insects, dog hot pot, snakes, scorpions, pig’s ears, rats, feet, heads, kidneys intestines, and boiled blood, etc. That aside, it is a well- known fact that people from all over the globe love Chinese food. It is a typical dish when couples and families go out to eat or want to experiment different recipes at home. It is not without reason because it has many fantastic and finger licking dishes. The dishes have five essential flavors i.e. bitter, salty, spicy, sweet, and salty which must be balanced. Among the things that make Chinese food unique is the fact that their culture has a profound affection for food. Each celebration normally has a set menu that people must follow. All the dishes that people serve contain spiritual purpose and deep meaning. Ingredients chefs use for the meals be it meat, spices, or vegetables have meaning. Cooking techniques are also calculated to retain as many nutrients as possible to achieve balanced food. The Chinese are fond of saying “waste not, want not” in regards to food which makes perfect sense because everything in a Chinese meal is well put and planned. It results in a unique cuisine that stands out from the rest tantalizing people’s taste buds. The foods that are prominent in regards to Chinese cuisine include • Garlic- symbolizes eternity • Noodles- symbolize longevity • Rice- implies increasing prosperity • Bamboo shoots- a sign of wealth • Legumes- may mean success and coins, while seeds may symbolize fertility in women • Fish- it is for abundance and prosperity • Citrus fruits- indicate wealth, abundance, and luck • Duck- symbolism of dragon and phoenix which implies good marriage, unity, and strength • Egg- it is of fertility Cooking Methods If a word can be used to describe the cooking techniques for Chinese food, it would be simple. In a majority of the dishes, the aim is to make raw food edible without depriving it of its most essential nutrients or taking up too much time. It is one of the reasons people compare Chinese take-outs to fast foods as they are comparable in speed. Common cooking methods the Chinese use include: • Braising- it is the process of browning food before simmering it in small amounts of liquid seasoning. • Steaming- mostly used to make buns, meat, fish, and dim sum. • Roasting- a universal cooking technique that mainly used for meats and in the Chinese cuisine used for roasted Peking duck. • Hong-Shao- it means red-cooked, and it produces the richest reddish brown color that you see in meat dishes. Noteworthy is that the Chinese pay immense attention in regards to smell, color, taste, and shape of food. Taste is known as the soul of the dishes. It may also be important to understand that the Chinese love to give their meals catchy names. The names can be misleading at times. For instance, ants climb trees, is spicy minced pork, field chicken is a frog, while husband wife lung slices are thinly sliced tongue, bovine lung, and other cuts that they season using chili oil. When it comes to food decoration, some chefs especially the Jiangsu experts tend to go overboard. They believe that a person’s first bite is with the eyes; thus, they strive to serve their food in intricate patterns, or even life like shapes which they brighten with precise decorative herbs and vegetable carvings. You may also know that the Chinese do not use forks or knives to eat because traditionally they view this as barbaric and violent. Instead, they use chopsticks which do not chop because Chinese food is soft or chopped up to bite size pieces before cooking or serving. Why is Chinese food so popular? If you are looking for ethnic cuisines, there is perhaps none more popular than Chinese cuisine, a cuisine which has taken over the world by storm. Today, Chinese food has almost become a way of life, with China-originating dishes such as fried rice, noodles, and various chicken foods making their way to the favourite food list of many. Whether you are going out to restaurants, or ordering food at home, you are sure to have tried out Chinese one time or the other. And it is not just in restaurants that Chinese foods are popular. Chinese foods can be found in roadside stalls, which stay always crowded, and there are many joints all around the world that have opened up to deliver Chinese food to its customers. In the United States, where uncountable pizzas are consumed every day, the number of operating Chinese restaurants is more than the number of Pizza Huts, McDonalds, and Taco Bells combined. This alone is an astounding fact, but bear testimony to the popularity of the Chinese foods. And it is not only all-Chinese restaurants that serve Chinese foods. Other restaurants have Chinese food to, and you can choose from them as much as you prefer. So why exactly is Chinese food so popular? The main root of the answer to this question lies in the fact that, Chinese cuisine is incredibly diverse. It is hard to imagine any other food category so diverse in their variety as the Chinese food is. Chinese food has a global appeal, with its tastes suiting people in any parts of the world. Chinese food today is not the exact sort of food that you will find in China, but has a blend of the traditional roots and a part of the culture of the present countries where they are found. Still the essence remains the same. The Top Reasons You Will Love Chinese Food 1. The Great Taste In spite of the discrimination against the Chinese for centuries, which might have made it difficult for Chinese restaurants to make a stand, the fact is that, simply put, the food tastes too good. And no one can resist good food, food that satisfies your stomach as well as your taste buds. In fact, you can have this cuisine as a daily meal and have a full stomach without any serious stomach ailments. You can have it as vegetarian or non-vegetarian, cook it up at home, for your own self, or for a group of friends. This food is grand in its simplicity. 1. Its Cheap Another fact which makes it so popular is that it is cheap. It costs as much as the average meal, even less, and certainly lesser than other cuisines like Italian or Mexican. At the cost of one pizza, you can easily buy over sixty bowls of Chicken noodles, which goes to say a lot. This cheap cost combined with great quality and taste has raised its levels of fame. 1. It’s one ancient cuisine Chinese cuisine is the oldest cuisine and is a complex food category, cumulating years of research and wisdom. The original Chinese food was rather bland, but as it has adapted to the world around, taking a few flavors and ingredients from elsewhere, it has emerged as a strong force. This cuisine has been around, long before pizzas and McDonalds and Pizza Huts sprung up in every corner of America. Its taste is vastly different from that of the native American and European food, which makes it an even more unique experience. It gives you a welcome break from the blandness and uniformity of native food, and offers and an exotic burst of flavors on the palate. 1. Everybody knows a Chinese restaurant In fact, in the earlier days, when the concept of home delivery was still not a reality, Chinese restaurants became the first to bring food to the doorsteps of people, and became a popular option for people wanting to eat in their homes but not willing to cook. Moreover, Chinese restaurants also remained open on Christmas holidays and other Christian holidays and people turned to these restaurants when everywhere else was closed. 1. Offers some exquisite combinations Combining exotic flavors with great services and availability, Chinese food slowly climbed the rungs of the ladder to emerge as the top ethnic cuisine, and the most popular worldwide. Whether it is in their native continent, Asia, or elsewhere in the world, Chinese food is predominantly popular, perhaps for an accumulation of all the above reasons. While in the beginning, when Chinese immigrants first came to America, many had been sceptic about Chinese food, harbouring myths like the Chinese ate rats for food, the sarcasm slowly changed to admiration as people started getting the taste of the food. Today, even in spite of many emerging cuisines, Chinese cuisine remains safely popular and will continue to remain so. Chinese Food vs. Italian Food: Which one is the better of the two? Dining out, in restaurants or while ordering for home delivery, the debate always crosses our minds: should we order Chinese or Italian? In fact, these have become so popular worldwide that their names are well-known by everybody. And you will find these foods, not just in restaurants, but also in roadside stalls, in small hotels, whether in the city or located along the highway. Each cuisine reflects their country of origin, and brings with it the tastes and nativity of the culture where they were born. That is the reason perhaps, why they are so popular: they bring with them a taste of the world. Which Cuisine to Try Out? There are many types of cuisines you will find all over the world: Chinese, Italian, Mexican, French, Indian, and Thai. However, Chinese food and Italian food are the most popular of all these worldwide and are quite ahead in the competition to be the best. So which among these two popular cuisines is the best? Though Italian food offers a tough competition, studies have shown that Chinese food is preferred and deemed as better than Italian food. In fact, Chinese food tops the list of favourite ethnic cuisines in the U.S. and the case it similar in the U.K as well, with Chinese food taking first place while Italian food comes in fourth place. Foods of these cuisines that are found in other places are markedly different than the actual native food found in the countries of origin: perhaps, one of the reasons being that not all native ingredients are found elsewhere, and hence, people have had to adapt to the ingredients found in those countries. Thus, such cuisines today are a fusion of their country of origin as well as their present countries, but that doesn’t mean that their essence has changed. Italian food: A Great Taste If you are looking to enjoy something stylish and tasty with having something too heavy, Italian cuisine is a great option. It has many textures and uses many palettes of flavors that appeal to the taste buds. The most popular of the Italian foods is perhaps pizza. In fact, according to statistics, 94 per cent of Americans have pizza regularly and pizza accounts for roughly 10 per cent food service sales. This goes to show the enormous impact that Italian food has had on the masses. Other popular Italian foods include spaghetti and lasagne. All these can also be made at home, although pizzas sure seem tastier when ordered through popular pizza outlets. People are most prone to order such food while they are huddled together at home, watching a movie, or a sports match. If you are a fan of spicy food, you might not like the taste of Italian food a lot, although there are toppings that you can add in order to help it match your palate. Italian food is available both for vegetarian and non-vegetarians, with equal amounts of meat products and vegetable products available. You can also choose to have veg pizzas or non-veg pizzas, depending on what you prefer. Chinese food: The Better One? Chinese food has been around for centuries, and has evolved with time like all other cuisines. In fact, according to the Chinese American Restaurant Association, currently operating Chinese restaurants in the United States total to an amount of over 45,000. This number is more than the total number of KFC, McDonald’s, Pizza Huts, Taco Bells combined. This goes to show the enormous popularity of Chinese food in America. And not just in America, Chinese food also has a global appeal. From chow-chow to fried rice, to various chicken dishes, Chinese food has been a popular go-to food of most people. You can even find many popular Chinese roadside stalls in markets, where people out for shopping or just an outing swarm to eat. Whether you want spicy or non-spicy, Chinese food will appeal to your taste. You can even cook them up in the comfort of your own, to please your own appetite or to please the taste buds of guests. Chinese food is just as popular for eating alone or with groups of people you love. Whether the weather is cold or hot, Chinese food is just perfect for any kinds of weather. While the Chinese food that we eat today does, in fact, vary from the traditional food in China, the roots of all the foods remain the same. This Asian giant’s food is taking centre-stage and has been for a very long time. Now, not only specialized Chinese restaurants serve Chinese food, but you can get them in plenty in other restaurants as well. In the debate between Chinese food and Italian food, Chinese definitely is the winner, because of its versatility and global appeal.
The Return of the Native Test \| Mid-Book Test - Hard Buy The Return of the Native Lesson Plans Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________ Short Answer Questions 1. Why does Clym spend many hours reading? 2. What has happened to the reddleman's skin and clothing? 3. Where does Clym want to move when he becomes a teacher? 4. Why does Clym want to meet Eustacia? 5. For what are Mrs. Yeobright and Thomasin preparing? Short Essay Questions 1. Why does Mrs. Yeobright not approve of Clym's relationship with Eustacia? 2. How does Johnny Nonsuch help Eustacia? 3. How does Christian lose the money? 4. Who is Clym Yeobright? 5. How does Eustacia feel after her contact with Clym? 6. Why does Thomasin go to see Mrs. Yeobright? 7. What is Venn doing at the beginning of Chapter Two? 8. Describe furze-cutting. 9. What does Clym want to do after he and Esutacia marry? 10. What are the locals building? Essay Topics Write an essay for ONE of the following topics: Essay Topic 1 Damon Wildeve is married to Thomasin and in love with Eustacia. Part 1) Why does he marry Thomasin? Part 2) Does he truly love Eustacia? Why or why not? Part 3) How do his feelings affect his actions? To what do his actions lead? Essay Topic 2 A theme in this novel is that the object of one's affection is seen as a possession. Part 1) What does this mean? Part 2) Give an example of this from the text. Part 3) How does this view of love affect the relationships between the characters? Essay Topic 3 The presentation of the character of Diggory Venn is full of ambiguity. Part 1) What does it mean to be ambiguous? Part 2) How is this character ambiguous? Part 3) How does this ambiguity affect the reader's view of him? Does he grow less or more ambiguous throughout the novel? Does he stay the same? (see the answer keys) This section contains 565 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) Buy The Return of the Native Lesson Plans The Return of the Native from BookRags. (c)2017 BookRags, Inc. All rights reserved. Follow Us on Facebook
Image: Bare spot, or "fairy circle" in Nambia Mike and Ann Scott of the NamibRand Nature Reserve Mysterious bare spots called "fairy circles" dotting the sandy desert grasslands of Nambia have long stumped scientists who have no idea how the strange patterns form. By Senior Writer updated 6/27/2012 8:40:30 PM ET 2012-06-28T00:40:30 In the sandy desert grasslands of Namibia in southern Africa, mysterious bare spots known as "fairy circles" will form and then disappear years later for no reason anyone can determine. A new look at these strange patterns doesn't solve the wistful mystery but at least reveals that the largest of the circles can linger for a lifetime. Small fairy circles stick around an average of 24 years, while larger ones can exist as long as 75 years, according to research detailed Wednesday in the journal PLoS ONE. Still, the study sheds little light on why the circles form, persist and then vanish into the landscape after decades. "The why question is very difficult," said study researcher Walter Tschinkel, a biologist at Florida State University. "There are a number of hypotheses on the table, and the evidence for none of them is convincing." [ See Photos of Fairy Circles ] 1. Science news from 1. NOAA Cosmic rays may spark Earth's lightning 2. How our brains can track a 100 mph pitch 3. Moth found to have ultrasonic hearing 4. Quantum network could secure Internet Circles of life (and death) Tschinkel grew interested in fairy circles during a 2005 safari to NamibRand Nature Reserve in southwest Namibia, in the Namib Desert. It was his first experience with the round clearings, tens of thousands of which expose the red sandy soil in the area. A short time after the circles form, a tall ring of grass grows around the border, highlighting the bare area. Few researchers have studied fairy circles, in part because of their remoteness, 111 miles from the nearest village. It's an arid landscape where springbok, ostriches, leopards and other large animals roam, Tschinkel told LIveScience. "It's like dying and going to heaven if you like remote, beautiful desert places," he said. At first glance, Tschinkel assumed the circles marked underground nests of harvester termites. But digs have shown no evidence of termite nests under fairy circles. Other explanations, such as differences in soil nutrients or the death of seedlings by toxic vapors from the ground, have likewise failed to hold up to study. In fact, little was known even about the life cycle of the circles, Tschinkel said. With the help of the nature reserve's staff, satellite images and aerial photos, he set out to change that. By comparing satellite images from 2004 and 2008, he found that circles are quite stable, popping up at nearly their full size, or growing quickly to full size once they get started. The smallest are about 6.5 feet in diameter, while the largest can be almost 40 feet across. Winds scour the bare areas of soil, turning them into slight depressions. Eventually plants move back in, recolonizing the circles and leaving only slightly indented "ghost circles" behind. [ Gallery: Aerial Photos Reveal Mysterious Stone Structures ] Assuming that the overall number of fairy circles on the landscape is fairly steady, Tschinkel used the satellite photos to look at how quickly the circles go from birth to maturity to revegetation. That yielded rough estimates of the circles' life spans. Most probably exist for 30 to 60 years, Tschinkel said. Persisting mystery Tschinkel was able to bolster these estimates thanks to a fundraising effort by the Namib Rand Nature Reserve, which sells sponsorships to fairy circles. The sponsored circles are marked with a ceramic plate, and their GPS coordinates are recorded. Over the 10 years of the sponsorship program, staff members have checked on the status of the sold circles. Their data yielded similar age ranges for fairy circles as the satellite images did, Tschinkel found. He also determined that the circles form only on sandy soil with minimal stoniness, and that they don't form on shifting dunes or alluvial fans, where sands are deposited by water. Some of Tschinkel's experiments are still ongoing, but so far, they've generated no leads on the circles' origins. Tschinkel suspects the circles are the product of some form of natural self-organization by plants. "There are some mathematical models that are based on the idea that plants can withdraw resources toward themselves, which has a positive feedback on plant growth where they're located, but it has a negative effect on plants at a greater distance," he said. Computer models based on this math can generate landscapes that look a bit like the fairy circle fields of Namibia, he said. But even if that hypothesis is on the right track, it doesn't explain how the plants are creating this pattern, not when hoarding soil nutrients and some other possible factors have already been ruled out. With few people studying the circles — and no funding for chasing down the mysteries of the landscape of southern Africa — Tschinkel said the fairy circles will likely remain an enigma. "I'm not too worried that this mystery is going to be solved anytime soon," he said. And the persistence of the mystery makes it ever more intriguing. "That's science, isn't it?" Tschinkel said. "If you knew the answer ahead of time, it wouldn't be much fun." Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter@sipappasor LiveScience@livescience. We're also onFacebook&Google+. © 2012 All rights reserved. Discussion comments Most active discussions 1. votes comments 2. votes comments 3. votes comments 4. votes comments
Why you can’t rotate text In a previous entry, I said that the word "Start" disappears because the alternative is worse. Somebody in a comment asked, "Why not draw the text vertically?" Ah, now you get to learn about the exciting world of vertical text. We originally intended to run text vertically in the new XP Start menu. In original designs for the menu, your name ran vertically up the left side of the menu instead of running across the top. Rotating text is problematic in languages that traditionally run vertically, such as Chinese. Since you probably don't have Chinese fonts installed, pretend that %, &, and ' are the Chinese characters for your name. In traditional vertical text, it would be written as shown in Example 1 below. Notice that the English text is rotated clockwise. This preserves the top-to-bottom reading order. (Amy Smith) Amy Smith %&' (Amy Smith) Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 As a concession to Western influences, it is permissible to render Chinese characters left-to-right, in which case your name would be written as "%&' (Amy Smith)". Compare this to the traditional Western way of rotating text. Text which would normally be rendered as "Amy Smith" is rotated counter-clockwise and rendered as shown in Example 2. Now consider what happens if you take a Chinese name rendered the Western way, "%&' (Amy Smith)", then rotate the Western way, resulting in Example 3. Notice that from a Chinese point of view, everything is upside-down! The character that is supposed to be at the top (%) is now at the bottom. Windows for many years now has been multilingual. This means that the same underlying code runs regardless of language. Changing a language merely changes the strings being displayed. This means that there can be no language-specific UI. In this case, it means that we can't have separate rotation rules for Chinese as opposed to English or German. (And even if we were allowed to have separate rotation rules, we would have to be able to tell whether the name was in the form above or was in the form "Amy Smith (%&')". In this form, we should rotate it as in example 2, since this is an English string with Chinese characters embedded; as opposed to our example above where we had a Chinese string with English characters embedded. Those of you who have seen Arabic and English mixed together get to see punctuation marks bandied about with similar degrees of confusion.) Multilingual support also explains why you see things like "1 folder(s)" instead of "1 folder" and "2 folders". Why not have two format strings, one for when the number of items is exactly one, and one for when the number of items is two or more? Well, for one, that would significantly increase the number of strings we would have to carry around. (If you say "just add s to make the plural" then you really need to get out more!) For two, some languages (such as Slovene) have a "dual" number in addition to singular and plural. The Lahir language has singular (one), dual (two), trial (three), paucal (a few), and plural (many). So now you have to have perhaps five versions of every string that contains a replaceable number. This also explains why you see a lot of strings of the form "Property: Value" (for example, "Last modified: Monday, September 29, 2003") instead of a phrase ("Last modified on Monday, September 29, 2003"). This is necessary to avoid problems caused by grammar. If you attempt to compose a phrase, you have to worry about subject/verb agreement, gender and number agreement, declensions, all sorts of things that computers aren't good at. The only safe solution is to avoid it entirely and use the "Property: Value" notation instead. We did get one special exception to the "grammar independence" rule: Personalized folders. When you view somebody else's "My Documents" folder, it says "Chris's Documents". We made this request to the translators and they worked really hard to make sure that the templates for possessive forms were accurate in all the languages we support. (Fortunately, we didn't have to deal with languages where the form of the template depended on us knowing whether Chris is a man or a woman.) Comments (20) 1. J F says: Im not so sure about rotating english text clockwise. I find english text is most readable when it is rotated either counter-clockwise or so that the bottom of the text points towards the centre of the working area. So if the title is on the right side, it should be clockwise, if it is on the left side, it should be counter-clockwise. 2. SC says: >Fortunately, we didn’t have to deal with languages where the form of the template depended on us knowing whether Chris is a man or a woman. Just out of interest, can you give an example of a language in which the templates need to conside the subject’s gender? On a more general note, is there a set of documents, sites or guides that provide a good reference internationalising programs from a developer’s perspective or is this highly dependent on liasing with the localisation team? BTW, another great article. We need to see all these collated into a book:-) 3. Spyder says: There are a ton, but here’s the microsoft one :) 4. Raymond Chen says: In Italian, one would say "Documenti del Chris" or "Documenti della Chris" depending on whether Chris is a man or a woman. The translators used "Documenti – Chris" as a workaround. 5. Matthew Lock says: Did you know the toolbars in Office XP rotate the text 90 degrees if you drag the menubar on to the side of the application. 6. Jakub Skopal says: As to multiple formats of strings according to the number in front of it. Solving it with adding "(s)" is not very good and works only for English too (i.e. in Czech you would have to write "2 soubor(y/u)", becouse we have different endings for 0,1,2-4, 5 and more. Anyway, Java has framework which tries to address this (format string for files in English is: "There {0,choice,0#are no files\|1#is one file\|1<are {0,number,integer} files}." displaying "there are no files", "there is one file" and "there are X files". The same would work for Czech and many other languages I guess… Why not to implement it this way? :-) 7. Jakub Skopal says: And to SC — as for subject’s gender — in Czech you have to decline the other way, so you would have to decline the name right to obtain right "one’s document" (Jakub -> ‘Jakubovy dokumenty’; Bara -> ‘Bariny dokumenty’ etc.etc… :-)) This one really depends on the very rules of the language as how to express posessions. Not easy :-( 8. >Rotating text is problematic in languages that >traditionally run vertically, such as Chinese. But when I saw screenshots of Chinese Windows, the text in dialogs was placed like in ‘normal’ languages?.. 9. S. Antonov says: I don’t get it: >Now consider what happens if you take a Chinese name rendered the Western way, "%&’ (Amy Smith)", then rotate the Western way, resulting in Example 3. Example 3 is a counter-clockwise rotation, so it is not Western, Is it? I suppose that rotating any text clockwise is safe for both English and Chinese, providing that the "regular" Chineese text is rendered in a Western way i.e horizontally. 10. Centaur says: I say stick with the native (ie US English) language for the interface, and allow all the multilanguageness for user input :) And no, my native language is Russian and in Russian we have many such joys like: 3 templates of declination which have some (but not one-to-one) connection to gender; different forms for singular odin fajl (1 file), dva\|tri\|chetyre fajla (2\|3\|4 files), pyat’\|desyat’\|neskol’ko\|mnogo fajlov (5\|10\|several\|many files), etc. 11. Soeren Sandmann says: The Nautilus file manager from the GNOME desktop contains this function to generate something similar to "Chris’s Documents": static gpointer default_home_link_name (void) /* Note to translators: If it’s hard to compose a good home * icon name from the user name, you can use a string without * an "%s" here, in which case the home icon name will not * include the user’s name, which should be fine. To avoid a * warning, put "%.0s" somewhere in the string, which will * match the user name string passed by the C code, but not * put the user name in the final string. return g_strdup_printf (_("%s’s Home"), g_get_user_name ()); 12. Ryan says: When I posted my question to the original article about the Start text, I hadn’t actually considered rotating the text, but was just arranging the letters vertically. This would seem to solve the vertical language issue because all the characters would be treated in the same way. This may not be acceptable for a long string of characters, but it might work in the specific example of the start button where the text is static and (presumably for most languages) relativly short. P.S. I have not had to deal with non-western languages before in programming. I can see it opens up a world of new issues that I have never considered. 13. Walter Smith says: Looking at my bookshelf, I question the existence of a "traditional Western way of rotating text". American book spines read top-to-bottom (the opposite of Example 2), but most European books I’ve seen go the other way. I think this is true for CDs as well (I have a lot of "upside-down" import CDs on my shelf). Great explanation of the "folder(s)" rationale…sadly I still see apps saying things like "1 minutes" out of what I assume to be sheer laziness. :-) 14. GMan says: Here’s a great article on the problems of localization 15. GMan says: Here’s a great article on the problems of localization 16. Leonardo Brondani Schenkel says: To SC — In Portuguese, if Cris (Portuguese for Chris) is a man, you’d say: "Documentos do Cris" If Cris is a woman: "Documentos da Cris" 17. Timwi says: While this posting is quite interesting and illuminating, and I hope that a great many developers will read it and thus lose some of their linguistic ignorance, it is still only the tip of the iceberg. In English it is reasonable enough to read things like "1 file(s)". In languages where you have three forms, like some people have already mentioned, "1 fajl(a/ov)" looks really odd — and that’s just a special case because one of the forms is a prefix of all the others! What about "1 user(s)", which would probably look something like "1 polzovatel(‘/i/ej)" (where the apostrophe represents an actual Russian letter)? What about words that have an entirely different plural: should you write "1 rebyonok/rebyonki/detej" or "1 rebyon(ok/ki)/detej"? What about your own example of Lahir, which has not three and not four, but five different forms? The only way to keep a user interface professional-looking is to actually perform an algorithm to cater for the rules of each language. This is not actually too difficult; I and many other developers have done this. As for rotating text — what you said does not convince me. If you rotate text that contains Chinese characters counter-clockwise, a Chinese person will certainly not think they are upside-down. Certainly you can distinguish a normal "e" from a 90°-rotated one; similarly, a Chinese would notice that the characters are 90° rotated — as in, each character’s actual appearance, not just their relative positions — and thus read it with their head tilted and realise it’s the Western-influenced order. As for the gender-neutral possessives, well, several people in this thread have already pointed out that your claims that this worked in every language are entirely bogus. The Italian, Portuguese and Russian translators apparently had to come up with workarounds — I have no idea how much the translators for languages even less related to English were racking their brains over it. What you have silently skipped over is all the issues relating to number representation (decimal points and thousands separators; not to mention that Japanese uses ten-thousands), date and time formats, etc.etc. Additionally, the translation system you describe where "%s" is used to place variables in a string is completely insufficient, inefficient, and unnecessarily difficult to use for translators who are trying to concentrate on the task of translating text into another language rather than figuring out how positional arguments work. If you have two %s’s in your source string, and the translator needs to put them in the other order, this should not be considered a special case. Additionally, "%s" gives the translator not the slightest clue what %s means and what sort of text or information is going to be replaced in its stead. This is why even languages closely related to English, such as German, have embarrassing mistakes in their translations of very short strings — the bottom of the Search Files/Folders window, while searching, reads "Searching %s…", where %s is the current directory. Had the translator known that %s was going to be replaced with a directory path, they probably would have used the correct translation "%s wird durchsucht…", but since they didn’t, they provided the nonsensical construction "Suche %s…". Some more issues that I have come across are keyboard navigation keys (what if a language has, say, only 18 letters and there are 19 options in the dialog?), context-dependent identical source strings (you may have used the term "current account" in two places in your English software, but in German one may have to be translated as "aktuelles Konto", another as "laufendes Konto"), string grouping (translators should know what strings occur together in a dialog, and what strings are in entirely different dialogs), and "hidden" strings (developers often forget that things like URLs or e-mail addresses may also need to be translatable so that a Swahili user can reach the Swahili version of the site and contact the Swahili support team). Internationalisation is a far more complex issue, and most problems are not as easily overcomeable as you are claiming them to be. 18. I’ve enjoyed reading Raymon Chen’s series of articles about different historical aspects of Microsoft Windows. Today, he writes about why you can’t rotate text…. 19. A few days ago Elliotte Rusty Harold blogged about The Downside of Localization. He gave the example of the Xerces XML parser and how error messages are now available in various languages. Mr Harold correctly recognized that this could introduce a new Comments are closed. Skip to main content
From Wikiversity Jump to: navigation, search Biodiversity is the total of all the genetic variation contained within the biosphere. There are three types of biodiversity-Specie Biodiversity,Genetic Biodiversity and Ecosystem Biodiversity Genetic Biodiversity-This is the sum total of all the different genetic forms within a particular specie or on the Earth Ecosystem Biodiversity-This refers to the variety of habitats,community and ecological processes in the biosphere. Specie Biodiversity is all the different specie that makes up the biosphere.
Solar System, technical/Neptune From Wikiversity Jump to: navigation, search This picture from the Voyager 2 sequence shows two of the four cloud features which have been tracked by the Voyager cameras during the past two months. Credit: NASA. Neptune is a gaseous-object in orbit around the Sun. Sciences humaines.svg Educational level: this is a tertiary (university) resource. Nuvola apps kmoon.png Subject classification: this is an astronomy resource. Notation: let the symbol Def. indicate that a definition is following. Notation: let the symbols between [ and ] be replacement for that portion of a quoted text. To help with definitions, their meanings and intents, there is the learning resource theory of definition. The proof-of-concept structure consists of 1. background, 2. procedures, 3. findings, and 4. interpretation.[1] Neptune has an equatorial radius of 24,764 ± 15 km and a polar radius of 24,341 ± 30 km.[2] Meteor astronomy[edit] Combined colour and near-infrared image of Neptune, shows bands of methane in its atmosphere, and four of its moons, Proteus, Larissa, Galatea, and Despina. Credit: . Bands of high-altitude clouds cast shadows on Neptune's lower cloud deck. Credit: . The Great Dark Spot (top), Scooter (middle white cloud),[3] and the Small Dark Spot (bottom), with contrast exaggerated. Credit: . The Great Dark Spot is imaged by Voyager 2. Credit: . "[A]t the time of the 1989 Voyager 2 flyby, the planet's southern hemisphere possessed a Great Dark Spot ... In 1989, the Great Dark Spot, an anti-cyclonic storm system [spanned] 13000×6600 km,[4] was discovered by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft. ... Some five years later, on 2 November 1994, the Hubble Space Telescope did not see the Great Dark Spot on the planet. Instead, a new storm similar to the Great Dark Spot was found in the planet's northern hemisphere.[5]"[6] "The Scooter is another storm, a white cloud group farther south than the Great Dark Spot. Its nickname is due to the fact that when first detected in the months before the 1989 Voyager 2 encounter it moved faster than the Great Dark Spot.[7] Subsequent images revealed even faster clouds."[6] "The Small Dark Spot is a southern cyclonic storm, the second-most-intense storm observed during the 1989 encounter. It initially was completely dark, but as Voyager 2 approached the planet, a bright core developed and can be seen in most of the highest-resolution images.[8]"[6] "The persistence of companion clouds shows that some former dark spots may continue to exist as cyclones even though they are no longer visible as a dark feature. Dark spots may dissipate when they migrate too close to the equator or possibly through some other unknown mechanism.[9]"[6] "The upper-level clouds occur at pressures below one bar, where the temperature is suitable for methane to condense."[6] "High-altitude clouds on Neptune have been observed casting shadows on the opaque cloud deck below. There are also high-altitude cloud bands that wrap around the planet at constant latitude. These circumferential bands have widths of 50–150 km and lie about 50–110 km above the cloud deck.[10]"[6] "Because of seasonal changes, the cloud bands in the southern hemisphere of Neptune have been observed to increase in size and albedo. This trend was first seen in 1980 and is expected to last until about 2020. The long orbital period of Neptune results in seasons lasting forty years.[11]"[6] Neptune has "the strongest sustained winds of any planet in the Solar System, with recorded wind speeds as high as 2,100 kilometres per hour (1,300 mph).[12]"[6] On Neptune "winds [reach] speeds of almost 600 m/s—nearly attaining supersonic flow.[12] More typically, by tracking the motion of persistent clouds, wind speeds have been shown to vary from 20 m/s in the easterly direction to 325 m/s westward.[13] At the cloud tops, the prevailing winds range in speed from 400 m/s along the equator to 250 m/s at the poles.[14] Most of the winds on Neptune move in a direction opposite the planet's rotation.[7] The general pattern of winds showed prograde rotation at high latitudes vs. retrograde rotation at lower latitudes. The difference in flow direction is believed to be a "skin effect" and not due to any deeper atmospheric processes.[15] At 70° S latitude, a high-speed jet travels at a speed of 300 m/s.[15]"[6] Optical astronomy[edit] Observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reveal an increase in Neptune's brightness in the southern hemisphere. Credit: NASA, L. Sromovsky, and P. Fry (University of Wisconsin-Madison). At right is a set of images from different years for Neptune. These images "show that Neptune's brightness has increased significantly since 1996. The rise is due to an increase in the amount of clouds observed in the planet's southern hemisphere. These increases may be due to seasonal changes caused by a variation in solar heating. Because Neptune's rotation axis is inclined 29 degrees to its orbital plane, it is subject to seasonal solar heating during its 164.8-year orbit of the Sun. This seasonal variation is 900 times smaller than experienced by Earth because Neptune is much farther from the Sun. The rate of seasonal change also is much slower because Neptune takes 165 years to orbit the Sun. So, springtime in the southern hemisphere will last for several decades! Remarkably, this is evidence that Neptune is responding to the weak radiation from the Sun. These images were taken in visible and near-infrared light by Hubble's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2."[16] Blue astronomy[edit] Neptune's south pole is photographed by Voyager 2. Credit: NASA. "A trace amount of methane is also present. Prominent absorption bands of methane occur at wavelengths above 600 nm, in the red and infrared portion of the spectrum. As with Uranus, this absorption of red light by the atmospheric methane is part of what gives Neptune its blue hue,[17] although Neptune's vivid azure differs from Uranus's milder cyan. Since Neptune's atmospheric methane content is similar to that of Uranus, some unknown atmospheric constituent is thought to contribute to Neptune's colour.[18]"[6] Infrared astronomy[edit] These are infrared images of Neptune. Credit: VLT/ESO/NASA/JPL/Paris Observatory. This is an infrared image of Neptune using adaptive optics (AO). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell. At right are three images of Neptune using infrared astronomy. "Thermal images of planet Neptune taken with VISIR on ESO's Very Large Telescope, obtained on 1 and 2 September 2006. These thermal images show a 'hot' south pole on Neptune. These warmer temperatures provide an avenue for methane to escape out of the deep atmosphere. Scientists say Neptune's south pole is 'hotter' than anywhere else on the planet by about 10°C. The average temperature on Neptune is about minus 200 degrees Celsius. The upper left image samples temperatures near the top of Neptune's troposphere (near 100 mbar pressure). The hottest temperatures are located at the lower part of the image at Neptune's south pole (see the graphic at the upper right). The lower two images, taken 6.3 hours apart, sample temperatures at higher altitudes in Neptune's stratosphere. They do show generally warmer temperatures near, but not at, the south pole. In addition they show a warm area which can be seen in the lower left image and rotated completely around the planet in the lower right image."[19] Atmospheric astronomy[edit] "Neptune's atmosphere ... is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium, along with traces of hydrocarbons and possibly nitrogen, contains a higher proportion of "ices" such as water, ammonia, and methane. ... Traces of methane in the outermost regions in part account for the planet's blue appearance.[20]"[6] "At high altitudes, Neptune's atmosphere is 80% hydrogen and 19% helium.[21] A trace amount of methane is also present. Prominent absorption bands of methane occur at wavelengths above 600 nm, in the red and infrared portion of the spectrum. As with Uranus, this absorption of red light by the atmospheric methane is part of what gives Neptune its blue hue,[17] although Neptune's vivid azure differs from Uranus's milder cyan. Since Neptune's atmospheric methane content is similar to that of Uranus, some unknown atmospheric constituent is thought to contribute to Neptune's colour.[20]"[6] "Neptune's atmosphere is sub-divided into two main regions; the lower troposphere, where temperature decreases with altitude, and the stratosphere, where temperature increases with altitude. The boundary between the two, the tropopause, occurs at a pressure of 0.1 bars (10 kPa).[22] The stratosphere then gives way to the thermosphere at a pressure lower than 10−5 to 10−4 microbars (1 to 10 Pa).[22] The thermosphere gradually transitions to the exosphere."[6] "[Neptune']s thermosphere is at an anomalously high temperature of about 750 K.[23][24]"[6] "In 2007 it was discovered that the upper troposphere of Neptune's south pole was about 10 °C warmer than the rest of Neptune, which averages approximately -200 °C (70 K).[25] The warmth differential is enough to let methane, which elsewhere lies frozen in Neptune's upper atmosphere, leak out as gas through the south pole and into space. The relative "hot spot" is due to Neptune's axial tilt, which has exposed the south pole to the Sun for the last quarter of Neptune's year, or roughly 40 Earth years. As Neptune slowly moves towards the opposite side of the Sun, the south pole will be darkened and the north pole illuminated, causing the methane release to shift to the north pole.[26]"[6] Classical planets[edit] “Neptune is never visible to the naked eye, having a brightness between magnitudes +7.7 and +8.0,[27][28][6]. Neptune ... was the Roman god of water and the sea[29] in Roman mythology and religion. He is the counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon. In the Greek-influenced tradition, Neptune was the brother of Jupiter [Italic Neptune has been securely identified as a god of freshwater sources as well as the sea.][29][30]. Syncretic traces of a Lybian/Punic agrarian god of fresh water sources, with the epithet Frugifer, "fruit-bearer"; have been enumerated”[31][30]. The “German scholar H. Petersmann proposed an etymology from IE rootstem *nebh- related to clouds and foggs ... The concept would be close to that expressed in the name of Greek god [Uranus].”[30] "I find it most useful to refer to the eight planets Mercury through Neptune as the "classical planets"."[34] "By restricting the new definition to the eight existing “classical planets,” the second resolution implied that dwarf planets were a subcategory of planets, too."[35] See also[edit] 3. Lavoie, Sue (8 January 1998). "PIA01142: Neptune Scooter". NASA. Retrieved 26 March 2006. 4. Lavoie, Sue (16 February 2000). "PIA02245: Neptune's blue-green atmosphere". NASA JPL. Retrieved 28 February 2008. 5. Hammel, H. B.; Lockwood, G. W.; Mills, J. R.; Barnet, C. D. (1995). "Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of Neptune's Cloud Structure in 1994". Science 268 (5218): 1740–1742. doi:10.1126/science.268.5218.1740. PMID 17834994. 6. 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 "Neptune". Wikipedia (San Francisco, California: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc). February 17, 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-21. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Neptune" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Neptune" defined multiple times with different content 7. 7.0 7.1 Burgess (1991):64–70. 8. Lavoie, Sue (29 January 1996). "PIA00064: Neptune's Dark Spot (D2) at High Resolution". NASA JPL. Retrieved 28 February 2008. 9. Sromovsky, L. A.; Fry, P. M.; Dowling, T. E.; Baines, K. H. (2000). "The unusual dynamics of new dark spots on Neptune". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society 32: 1005. 10. Max, C. E.; Macintosh, B. A.; Gibbard, S. G.; Gavel, D. T.; Roe, H. G.; de Pater, I.; Ghez, A. M.; Acton, D. S.; Lai, O.; Stomski, P.; Wizinowich, P. L. (2003). "Cloud Structures on Neptune Observed with Keck Telescope Adaptive Optics". The Astronomical Journal, 125 (1): 364–375. doi:10.1086/344943. 11. Villard, Ray; Devitt, Terry (15 May 2003). "Brighter Neptune Suggests A Planetary Change Of Seasons". Hubble News Center. Retrieved 26 February 2008. 12. 12.0 12.1 Suomi, V. E.; Limaye, S. S.; Johnson, D. R. (1991). "High Winds of Neptune: A possible mechanism". Science 251 (4996): 929–932. doi:10.1126/science.251.4996.929. PMID 17847386. 13. Hammel, H. B.; Beebe, R. F.; De Jong, E. M.; Hansen, C. J.; Howell, C. D.; Ingersoll, A. P.; Johnson, T. V.; Limaye, S. S.; Magalhaes, J. A.; Pollack, J. B.; Sromovsky, L. A.; Suomi, V. E.; Swift, C. E. (1989). "Neptune's wind speeds obtained by tracking clouds in Voyager 2 images". Science 245 (4924): 1367–1369. doi:10.1126/science.245.4924.1367. PMID 17798743. 14. Elkins-Tanton, Linda T. (2006). Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and the Outer Solar System. New York: Chelsea House. ISBN 978-0-8160-5197-7. 15. 15.0 15.1 [1] 16. Phil Davis (October 9, 2009). "Brighter Neptune". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 2012-07-20. 17. 17.0 17.1 Crisp, D.; Hammel, H. B. (June 14, 1995). "Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Neptune". Hubble News Center. Retrieved April 22, 2007. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Crisp" defined multiple times with different content 18. Munsell, Kirk; Smith, Harman; Harvey, Samantha (November 13, 2007). "Neptune overview". Solar System Exploration. NASA. Retrieved February 20, 2008. 19. VLT/ESO/NASA/JPL/Paris Observatory (September 18, 2007). "Neptune's 'Hot' South Pole (VISIR/VLT)". Santiago, Chile: European Southern Observatory. Retrieved 2012-07-11. 20. 20.0 20.1 Munsell, Kirk; Smith, Harman; Harvey, Samantha (13 November 2007). "Neptune overview". Solar System Exploration. NASA. Retrieved 20 February 2008. 22. 22.0 22.1 Jonathan I. Lunine (1993). "The Atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune". Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics 31: 217–63. doi:10.1146/annurev.aa.31.090193.001245. 23. Broadfoot, A.L.; Atreya, S.K.; Bertaux, J.L. et al. (1999). "Ultraviolet Spectrometer Observations of Neptune and Triton" (pdf). Science 246 (4936): 1459–1456. doi:10.1126/science.246.4936.1459. PMID 17756000. 24. [2] 25. Orton, G. S., Encrenaz T., Leyrat C., Puetter, R. and Friedson, A. J. (2007). "Evidence for methane escape and strong seasonal and dynamical perturbations of Neptune's atmospheric temperatures". Astronomy and Astrophysics 473: L5–L8. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078277. 26. Orton, Glenn; Encrenaz, Thérèse (18 September 2007). "A Warm South Pole? Yes, On Neptune!". ESO. Retrieved 20 September 2007. 27. David R. Williams (September 1, 2004). "Neptune Fact Sheet". NASA. Retrieved August 14, 2007. 28. Fred Espenak (July 20, 2005). "Twelve Year Planetary Ephemeris: 1995–2006". NASA. Retrieved March 1, 2008. 29. 29.0 29.1 J. Toutain, Les cultes païens de l'Empire romain, vol. I (1905:378) 30. 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 "Neptune (mythology)". Wikipedia (San Francisco, California: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc). April 9, 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-09. 33. Raymond Bloch "Quelques remarques sur Poseidon, Neptunus and Nethuns" in Revue de l'Histoire des Religions 1981 p.341-352, p.346; Servius Ad Georgicae IV 24 34. R. P. Binzel (December 2006). "Definition of a planet: Prague 2006 IAU resolutions". The Minor Planet Bulletin 33 (4): 106-7. 35. Govert Schilling (September 1, 2006). "Underworld Character Kicked Out of Planetary Family". Science 313 (5791): 1214-5. Retrieved 2012-05-21. Further reading[edit] External links[edit] {{Astronomy resources}} {{Principles of radiation astronomy}}
Zapping Brains, Seeing Scenes More than fifteen years ago, neuroimagers found a region of the brain that seemed to be all about place. The region lies on the bottom surface of the temporal lobe near a fold called the parahippocampal gyrus, so it was called the parahippocampal place area, or PPA. You have two PPAs: one on the left side of your brain and one on the right. If you look at a picture of a house, an outdoor or indoor scene, or even an empty room, your PPAs will take notice. Since its discovery, hundreds of experiments have probed the place predilections of the PPA. Each time, the region demonstrated its dogged devotion to place. Less clear was exactly what type of scene information the PPA was representing and what it was doing with that information. A recent scientific paper now gives us a rare, direct glimpse at the inner workings of the PPA through the experience of a young man whose right PPA was stimulated with electrodes. The young man in question wasn’t an overzealous grad student. He was a patient with severe epilepsy who was at the hospital to undergo brain surgery. When medications can’t bring a person’s seizures under control, surgery is one of few remaining option. The surgery involves removing the portion of the brain in which that patient’s seizures begin. Of course, removing brain tissue is not something one does lightly. Before a surgery, doctors use various techniques to determine in each patient where the seizures originate and also where crucial regions involved in language and movement are located. They do this so they will know which part of the brain to remove and which parts they must be sure not to remove. One of the ways of mapping these areas before surgery is to open the patient’s skull, plant electrodes into his or her brain, and monitor brain activity at the various electrode sites. This technique, called electrocorticography, allows doctors to both record brain activity and electrically stimulate the brain to map key areas. It is also the most powerful and direct look scientists can get into the human brain. A group of researchers in New York headed by Ashesh Mehta and Pierre Mégevand documented the responses of the young man as they stimulated electrodes that were planted in and around his right PPA. During one stimulation, he described seeing a train station from the neighborhood where he lives. During another, he reported seeing a staircase and a closet stuffed with something blue. When they repeated the stimulation, he saw the same random indoor scene again. So stimulating the PPA can cause hallucinations of scenes that are both indoor and outdoor, familiar or unfamiliar. This suggests that specific scene representations in the brain may be both highly localized and complex. It is also just incredibly cool. The doctor also stimulated an area involved in face processing and found that this made the patient see distortions in a face. Another study published in 2012 showed a similar effect in a different patient. While the patient looked at his doctor, the doctor stimulated the face area. As the patient reported, “You just turned into somebody else. Your face metamorphosed.” Here’s a link to a great video of that patient’s entire reaction and description. The authors of the new study also stimulated a nearby region that had shown a complex response to both faces and scenes is previous testing. When they zapped this area, the patient saw something that made him chuckle. “I’m sorry. . . You all looked Italian. . . Like you were working in a pizza shop. That’s what I saw, aprons and whatnot. Yeah, almost like you were working in a pizzeria.” Now wouldn’t we all love to know what that area does? Photo credit: thisisbossi on Flickr, used via Creative Commons license In case you’re wondering, the patient underwent surgery and no longer suffers from seizures (although he still experiences auras). Mégevand P, Groppe DM, Goldfinger MS, Hwang ST, Kingsley PB, Davidesco I, & Mehta AD (2014). Seeing scenes: topographic visual hallucinations evoked by direct electrical stimulation of the parahippocampal place area. The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 34 (16), 5399-405 PMID: 24741031 Did I Do That? Distinguishing Real from Imagined Actions If you’re like most people, you spend a great deal of your time remembering past events and planning or imagining events that may happen in the future. While these activities have their uses, they also make it terribly hard to keep track of what you have and haven’t actually seen, heard, or done. Distinguishing between memories of real experiences and memories of imagined or dreamt experiences is called reality monitoring and it’s something we do (or struggle to do) all of the time. Why is reality monitoring a challenge? To illustrate, let’s say you’re at the Louvre standing before the Mona Lisa. As you look at the painting, visual areas of your brain are busy representing the image with specific patterns of activity. So far, so good. But problems emerge if we rewind to a time before you saw the Mona Lisa at the Louvre. Let’s say you were about to head over to the museum and you imagined the special moment when you would gaze upon Da Vinci’s masterwork. When you imagined seeing the picture, you were activating the same visual areas of the brain in a similar pattern to when you would look at the masterpiece itself. When you finally return home from Paris and try to remember that magical moment at the Louvre, how will you be able to distinguish your memories of seeing the Mona Lisa from imagining her? Reality monitoring studies have asked this very question (minus the Mona Lisa). Their findings suggest that you’ll probably use additional details associated with the memory to ferret out the mnemonic wheat from the chaff. You might use memory of perceptual details, like how the lights reflected off the brushstrokes, or you might use details of what you thought or felt, like your surprise at the painting’s actual size. Studies find that people activate both visual areas (like the fusiform gyrus) and self-monitoring regions of the brain (like the medial prefrontal cortex) when they are deciding whether they saw or just imagined seeing a picture. It’s important to know what you did and didn’t see, but another crucial and arguably more important facet of reality monitoring involves determining what you did and didn’t do. How do you distinguish memories of things you’ve actually done from those you’ve planned to do or imagined doing? You have to do this every day and it isn’t a trivial task. Perhaps you’ve left the house and headed to work, only to wonder en route if you’d locked the door. Even if you thought you did, it can be hard to tell whether you remember actually doing it or just thinking about doing it. The distinction has consequences. Going home and checking could make you late for work, but leaving your door unlocked all day could mean losing your possessions. So how do we tell the possibilities apart? Valerie Brandt, Jon Simons, and colleagues at the University of Cambridge looked into this question and published their findings last month in the journal Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Neuroscience. For the first part of the experiment (the study phase), they sat healthy adult participants down in front of two giant boxes – one red and one blue – that each contained 80 ordinary objects. The experimenter would draw each object out of one of the two boxes, place it in front of the participant, and tell him or her to either perform or to imagine performing a logical action with the object. For example, when the object was a book, participants were told to either open or imagine opening it. After the study phase, the experiment moved to a scanner for fMRI. During these scans, participants were shown photographs of all 160 of the studied objects and, for each item, were asked to indicate either 1) whether they had performed or merely imagined performing an action on that object, or 2) which box the object had been drawn from.** When the scans were over, the participants saw the pictures of the objects again and were asked to rate how much specific detail they’d recalled about encountering each object and how hard it had been to bring that particular memory to mind. The scientists compared fMRI measures of brain activation during the reality-monitoring task (Did I use or imagine using that object?) with activation during the location task (Which box did this object come from?). One of the areas they found to be more active during reality monitoring was the supplementary motor area, a region involved in planning and executing movements of the body. Just as visual areas are activated for reality monitoring of visual memories, motor areas are activated when people evaluate their action memories. In other words, when you ask yourself whether you locked the door or just imagined it, you may be using details of motor aspects of the memory (e.g., pronating your wrist to turn the key in the lock) to make your decision. The study’s authors also found greater activation in the anterior medial prefrontal cortex when they compared reality monitoring for actions participants performed with those they only imagined performing. The medial prefrontal cortex encompasses a respectable swath of the brain with a variety of functions that appear to include making self-referential judgments, or evaluating how you feel or think about experiences, sensations, and the like. Other experiments have implicated a role for this or nearby areas in reality monitoring of visual memories. The study by Brandt and Simons also found that activation of this medial prefrontal region during reality-monitoring trials correlated with the number of internal details the participants said they’d recalled in those trials. In other words, the more details participants remembered about their thoughts and feelings during the past actions, the busier this area appeared to be. So when faced with uncertainty about a past action, the medial prefrontal cortex may be piping up about the internal details of the memory. I must have locked the door because I remember simultaneously wondering when my package would arrive from Amazon, or, because I was also feeling sad about leaving my dog alone at home. As I read these results, I found myself thinking about the topic of my prior post on OCD. Pathological checking is a common and often disruptive symptom of the illness. Although it may seem like a failure of reality monitoring, several behavioral studies have shown that people with OCD have normal reality monitoring for past actions. The difference is that people with checking symptoms of OCD have much lower confidence in the quality of their memories than others. It seems to be this distrust of their own memories, along with relentless anxiety, that drives them to double-check over and over again. So the next time you find yourself wondering whether you actually locked the door, cut yourself some slack. Reality monitoring ain’t easy. All you can do is trust your brain not to lead you astray. Make a call and stick with it. You’re better off being wrong than being anxious about it – that is, unless you have really nice stuff. Photo credit: Liz (documentarist on Flickr), used via Creative Commons license * Of course, the mental image you conjure of the painting is actually based on the memory of having seen it in ads, books, or posters before. In fact, a growing area of neuroscience research focuses on how imagining the future relies on the same brain areas involved in remembering the past. Imagination seems to be, in large part, a collage of old memories cut and pasted together to make something new. *The study also had a baseline condition, used additional contrasts, and found additional activations that I didn’t mention for the sake of brevity. Check out the original article for full details. Brandt, V., Bergström, Z., Buda, M., Henson, R., & Simons, J. (2014). Did I turn off the gas? Reality monitoring of everyday actions Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 14 (1), 209-219 DOI: 10.3758/s13415-013-0189-z The Slippery Question of Control in OCD It’s nice to believe that you have control over your environment and your fate – that is until something bad happens that you’d rather not be responsible for. In today’s complex and interconnected world, it can be hard to figure out who or what causes various events to happen and to what degree you had a hand in shaping their outcomes. Yet in order to function, everyone has to create mental representations of causation and control. What happens when I press this button? Did my glib comment upset my friends? If I belch on the first date, will it scare her off? People often believe they have more control over outcomes (particularly positive outcomes) than they actually do. Psychologists discovered this illusion of control in controlled experiments, but you can witness the same principle in many a living room now that March Madness is upon us. Of course, wearing your lucky underwear or sitting in your go-to La-Z-Boy isn’t going to help your team win the game, and the very idea that it might shows how easily one’s sense of personal control can become inflated. Decades ago, researchers discovered that the illusion of control is not universal. People suffering from depression tend not to fall for this illusion. That fact, along with similar findings from depression, gave rise to the term depressive realism. Two recent studies now suggest that patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may also represent contingency and estimate personal control differently from the norm. OCD is something of a paradox when it comes to the concept of control. The illness has two characteristic features: obsessions based on fears or regrets that occupy a sufferer’s thoughts and make him or her anxious, and compulsions, or repetitive and unnecessary actions that may or may not relieve the anxiety. For decades, psychiatrists and psychologists have theorized that control lies at the heart of this cycle. Here’s how the NIMH website on OCD describes it (emphasis is mine): The frequent upsetting thoughts are called obsessions. To try to control them, a person will feel an overwhelming urge to repeat certain rituals or behaviors called compulsions. People with OCD can’t control these obsessions and compulsions. Most of the time, the rituals end up controlling them. In short, their obsessions cause them distress and they perform compulsions in an effort to regain some sense of control over their thoughts, fears, and anxieties. Yet in some cases, compulsions (like sports fans’ superstitions) seem to indicate an inflated sense of personal control. Based on this conventional model of OCD, you might predict that people with the illness will either underestimate or overestimate their personal control over events. So which did the studies find? In a word: both. The latest study, which appeared this month in Frontiers in Psychology, used a classic experimental design to study the illusion of control. The authors tested 26 people with OCD and 26 comparison subjects. The subjects were shown an image of an unlit light bulb and told that their goal was to illuminate the light bulb as often as possible. On each trial, they could choose to either press or not press the space bar. After they made their decision, the light bulb either did or did not light up. Their job was to estimate, based on their trial-by-trial experimentation, how much control they had over the light bulb. Here’s the catch: the subjects had absolutely no control over the light bulb, which lit up or remained dark according to a fixed sequence. After 40 trials, subjects were asked to rate the degree of control they thought they had over the illumination of the light bulb, ranging from 0 (no control) to 100 (complete control). Estimates of control were consistently higher for the comparison subjects than for the subjects with OCD. In other words, the people with OCD believed they had less control – and since they actually had no control, that means that they were also more accurate than the comparison subjects. As the paper points out, this is a limitation of the study: it can’t tell us whether patients are generally prone to underestimating their control over events or if they’re simply more accurate that comparison subjects. To do that, it would need to have included situations in which subjects actually did have some degree of control over the outcomes. Why wasn’t the light bulb study designed to distinguish between these alternatives? Because the authors were expecting the opposite result. They had designed their experiment to follow up on a 2008 study that found a heightened illusion of control among people with OCD. The earlier study used a different test. They showed subjects either neutral pictures of household items or disturbing pictures of distorted faces. The experimenters encouraged the subjects to try to control the presentation of images by pressing buttons on a keyboard and asked them to estimate their control over the images three times during the session. However, just like in the light bulb study, the presentation of the images was fixed in advance and could not be affected by the subjects’ button presses. How can two studies of estimated control in OCD have opposite results? It seems that the devil is in the details. Prior studies with tasks like these have shown that healthy subjects’ control estimates depend on details like the frequency of the preferred outcome and whether the experimenter is physically in the room during testing. Mental illness throws additional uncertainty into the mix. For example, the disturbing face images in the 2008 study might have made the subjects with OCD anxious, which could have triggered a different cognitive pattern. Still, both findings suggest that control estimation is abnormal for people with OCD, possibly in complex and situation-dependent ways. These and other studies indicate that decision-making and representations of causality in OCD are altered in interesting and important ways. A better understanding of these differences could help us understand the illness and, in the process, might even shed light on the minor rituals and superstitions that are common to us all. Sadly, like a lucky pair of underwear, it probably won’t help your team get to the Final Four. Photo by Olga Reznik on Flickr, used via Creative Commons license The experiment also manipulated reinforcement (how often the light bulb lit up) and valence (whether the lit bulb earned them money or the unlit bulb cost them money) across different testing sections, but I don’t go into that here because the manipulations didn’t affect the results. Gillan CM, Morein-Zamir S, Durieux AM, Fineberg NA, Sahakian BJ, & Robbins TW (2014). Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients have a reduced sense of control on the illusion of control task. Frontiers in Psychology, 5 PMID: 24659974 In the Blink of an Eye It takes around 150 milliseconds (or about one sixth of a second) to blink your eyes. In other words, not long. That’s why you say something happened “in the blink of an eye” when an event passed so quickly that you were barely aware of it. Yet a new study shows that humans can process pictures at speeds that make an eye blink seem like a screening of Titanic. Even more, these results challenge a popular theory about how the brain creates your conscious experience of what you see. To start, imagine your eyes and brain as a flight of stairs. I know, I know, but hear me out. Each step represents a stage in visual processing. At the bottom of the stairs you have the parts of the visual system that deal with the spots of darkness and light that make up whatever you’re looking at (let’s say an old family photograph). As you stare at the photograph, information about light and dark starts out at the bottom of the stairs in what neuroscientists called “low-level” visual areas like the retinas in your eyes and a swath of tissue tucked away at the very back of your brain called primary visual cortex, or V1. Now imagine that the information about the photograph begins to climb our metaphorical neural staircase. Each time the information reaches a new step (a.k.a. visual brain area) it is transformed in ways that discard the details of light and dark and replace them with meaningful information about the picture. At one step, say, an area of your brain detects a face in the photograph. Higher up the flight, other areas might identify the face as your great-aunt Betsy’s, discern that her expression is sad, or note that she is gazing off to her right. By the time we reach the top of the stairs, the image is, in essence, a concept with personal significance. After it first strikes your eyes, it only takes visual information 100-150 milliseconds to climb to the top of the stairs, yet in that time your brain has translated a pattern of light and dark into meaning. For many years, neuroscientists and psychologists believed that vision was essentially a sprint up this flight of stairs. You see something, you process it as the information moves to higher areas, and somewhere near the top of the stairs you become consciously aware of what you’re seeing. Yet intriguing results from patients with blindsight, along with other studies, seemed to suggest that visual awareness happens somewhere on the bottom of the stairs rather than at the top. New, compelling demonstrations came from studies using transcranial magnetic stimulation, a method that can temporarily disrupt brain activity at a specific point in time. In one experiment, scientists used this technique to disrupt activity in V1 about 100 milliseconds after subjects looked at an image. At this point (100 milliseconds in), information about the image should already be near the top of the stairs, yet zapping lowly V1 at the bottom of the stairs interfered with the subjects’ ability to consciously perceive the image. From this and other studies, a new theory was born. In order to consciously see an image, visual information from the image that reaches the top of the stairs must return to the bottom and combine with ongoing activity in V1. This magical mixture of nitty-gritty visual details and extracted meaning somehow creates what we experience as visual awareness In order for this model of visual processing to work, you would have to look at the photo of Aunt Betsy for at least 100 milliseconds in order to be consciously aware of it (since that’s how long it takes for the information to sprint up and down the metaphorical flight of stairs). But what would happen if you saw Aunt Betsy’s photo for less than 100 milliseconds and then immediately saw a picture of your old dog, Sparky? Once Aunt Betsy made it to the top of the stairs, she wouldn’t be able to return to the bottom stairs because Sparky has taken her place. Unable to return to V1, Aunt Betsy would never make it to your conscious awareness. In theory, you wouldn’t know that you’d seen her at all. Mary Potter and colleagues at MIT tested this prediction and recently published their results in the journal Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics. They showed subjects brief pictures of complex scenes including people and objects in a style called rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP). You can find an example of an RSVP image stream here, although the images in the demo are more racy and are shown for longer than the pictures in the Potter study. The RSVP image streams in the Potter study were strings of six photographs shown in quick succession. In some image streams, pictures were each shown for 80 milliseconds (or about half the time it takes to blink). Pictures in other streams were shown for 53, 27, or 13 milliseconds each. To give you a sense of scale, 13 milliseconds is about one tenth of an eye blink, or one hundredth of a second. It is also far less than time than Aunt Betsy would need to sprint to the top of the stairs, much less to return to the bottom. At such short timescales, people can’t remember and report all of the pictures they see in an image stream. But are they aware of them at all? To test this, the scientists gave their subjects a written description of a target picture from the image stream (say, flowers) either just before the stream began or just after it ended. In either case, once the stream was over, the subject had to indicate whether an image fitting that description appeared in the stream. If it did appear, subjects had to pick which of two pictures fitting the description actually appeared in the stream. Considering how quickly these pictures are shown, the task should be hard for people to do even when they know what they’re looking for. Why? Because “flowers” could describe an infinite number of photographs with different arrangements, shapes, and colors. Even when the subject is tipped off with the description in advance, he or she must process each photo in the stream well enough to recognize the meaning of the picture and compare it to the description. On top of that, this experiment effectively jams the metaphorical visual staircase full of images, leaving no room for visual info to return to V1 and create a conscious experience. The situation is even more dire when people get the description of the target only after they’ve viewed the entire image stream. To answer correctly, subjects have to process and remember as many of the pictures from the stream as possible. None of this would be impressive under ordinary circumstances but, again, we’re talking 13 milliseconds here. Sensitivity (computed from subject performance) on the RSVP image streams with 6 images. From Potter et al., 2013. How did the subjects do? Surprisingly well. In all cases, they performed better than if they were randomly guessing – even when tested on the pictures shown for 13 milliseconds. In general, they scored higher when the pictures were shown longer. And like any test-taker could tell you, people do better when they know the test questions in advance. This pattern held up even when the scientists repeated the experiment with 12-image streams. As you might imagine, that makes for a very crowded visual staircase. These results challenge the idea that visual awareness happens when information from the top of the stairs returns to V1. Still, they are by no means the theory’s death knell. It’s possible that the stairs are wider than we thought and that V1 is able (at least to some degree) to represent more than one image at a time. Another possibility is that the subjects in the study answered the questions using a vague sense of familiarity – one that might arise even if they were never overtly conscious of seeing the images. This is a particularly compelling explanation because there’s evidence that people process visual information like color and line orientation without awareness when late activity in V1 is disrupted. The subjects in the Potter study may have used this type of information to guide their responses. However things ultimately shake out with the theory of visual awareness, I love that these intriguing results didn’t come from a fancy brain scanner or from the coils of a transcranial magnetic stimulation device. With a handful of pictures, a computer screen, and some good-old-fashioned thinking, the authors addressed a potentially high-tech question in a low-tech way. It’s a reminder that fancy, expensive techniques aren’t the only way – or even necessarily the best way – to tackle questions about the brain. It also shows that findings don’t need colorful brain pictures or glow-in-the-dark mice in order to be cool. You can see in less than one-tenth of a blink of an eye. How frickin’ cool is that? Photo credit: Ivan Clow on Flickr, used via Creative Commons license Potter MC, Wyble B, Hagmann CE, & McCourt ES (2013). Detecting meaning in RSVP at 13 ms per picture. Attention, perception & psychophysics PMID: 24374558 Perfect Pitch Redux I can just hear the advertisement now. Do you have perfect pitch? Would you like to? Then Depakote might be right for you . . . Perfect pitch is the ability to name or produce a musical note without a reference note. While most children presumably have the capacity to learn perfect pitch, only one in about ten thousand adults can actually do it. That’s because children must receive extensive musical training as youngsters to develop it. Most adults with perfect pitch began studying music at six years of age or younger. By the time children turn nine, their window to learn perfect pitch has already closed. They may yet blossom into wonderful musicians but they will never be able to count perfect pitch among their talents. Or might they after all? Well no, probably not. But a new study, published in Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, has opened the door to such questions. Its authors tested how young men learned to name notes when they were on or off of a drug called valproate (brand name: Depakote). Valproate is widely used to treat epilepsy and bipolar disorder. It’s part of a class of drugs called histone-deacetylase, or HDAC, inhibitors that fiddle with how DNA is stored and alter how genes are read out and translated into proteins. The intricacies of how HDAC inhibitors affect gene expression and how those changes reduce seizures and mania are still up in the air. But while some scientists have been working those details out, others have been noticing that HDAC inhibitors help old mice learn new tricks. These drugs allow adult mice to adapt to visual and auditory changes in ways that are only otherwise possible for juvenile mice. In other words, HDAC inhibitors allowed mice to learn things beyond the typical window, or critical period, in which the brain is capable of that specific type of learning. Judit Gervain, Allan Young, and the other authors of the current study set out to test whether HDAC inhibitors can reopen a learning window in humans as well. They randomly assigned their young male subjects to take valproate for either the first or the second half of the study. (Although I usually get my hackles up about the exclusion of female participants from biomedical studies, I understand their reason for doing so in this case. Valproate can cause severe birth defects. By testing men, the authors could be one hundred percent certain that their participants weren’t pregnant.) The subjects took valproate for one half of the study and a placebo for the other half . . . and of course they weren’t told which was which. During the first half of the study, they trained twenty-four participants to learn six pitch classes. Instead of teaching them the formal names of these pitches in the twelve-tone musical system, they assigned proper names to each one (e.g., Eric, Rachel, or Francine), indicating that each is the name of a person who only plays one pitch class. The participants received this training online for up to ten minutes daily for seven days. During the second half of the study, eighteen of the same subjects underwent the same training with six new pitch classes and names. At the end of each seven-day training session, they heard the six pitch classes one at a time and, for each, answered the question: “Who played that note?” Study results showing better performance at naming tones for participants on valproate in the first half of the experiment. From: Gervain et al, 2013 The results? There was a whopping effect of treatment on performance in the first half of the study. The young men on valproate did significantly better than the men on placebo. That’s pretty cool and amazing. It is particularly impressive and surprising because the participants received very little training. The online training summed to a mere seventy minutes and some of the participants didn’t even complete all seven of the ten-minute sessions. As cool as the main finding is, there are some odd aspects to the study. As you can see from the figure, the second half of the experiment (after the treatments were switched) doesn’t show the same result as the first. Here, participants on valproate perform no differently from those on placebo. The authors suggest that the training in the first half of the experiment interfered with learning in the second half – a plausible explanation (and one they might have predicted in advance). Still, at this point we can’t tell if we are looking at a case of proactive interference or a failure to replicate results. Only time and future experiments will tell. There were two other odd aspects of the study that caught my eye. The authors used synthesized piano tones instead of pure tones because the former has additional cues like timbre that help people without perfect pitch complete the task. They also taught the participants to associate each note with the name of the person who supposedly plays it rather than the name of the actual note or some abstract stand-in identifier. Both choices make it easier for the participants to perform well on the task but call into question how similar the participants’ learning is to the specific phenomenon of perfect pitch. Perhaps the subjects on valproate in the first half of the experiment were relying on different cues (e.g., timbre instead of frequency). Likewise, associating proper names of people with notes may help subjects learn precisely because it recruits social processes and networks that people with perfect pitch don’t use for the task. If these social processes don’t have a critical period like perfect pitch judgment does, well then valproate might be boosting a very different kind of learning. As the authors themselves point out, this small study is merely a “proof-of-concept,” albeit a dramatic one. It is not meant to be the final word on the subject. Still, I am curious to see where this leads. Might valproate’s success with seizures and mania have something to do with its ability to trigger new learning? And if HDAC inhibitors do alter the brain’s ability to learn skills that are typically crystallized by adulthood, how has that affected the millions of adults who have been taking these drugs for years? Yet again, only time and science will tell. I, for one, will be waiting to hear what they have to say. Photo credit: Brandon Giesbrecht on Flickr, used via Creative Commons license Gervain J, Vines BW, Chen LM, Seo RJ, Hensch TK, Werker JF, & Young AH (2013). Valproate reopens critical-period learning of absolute pitch. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 7 PMID: 24348349 Known Unknowns Why no one can say exactly how much is safe to drink while pregnant I was waiting in the dining car of an Amtrak train recently when I looked up and saw that old familiar sign: One finds this warning everywhere: printed on bottles and menus or posted on placards at restaurants and even train cars barreling through Midwestern farmland in the middle of the night. The warnings are, of course, intended to reduce the number of cases of fetal alcohol syndrome in the United States. To that end, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommend that women avoid drinking any alcohol throughout their pregnancies. Here’s how the CDC puts it: “There is no known safe amount of alcohol to drink while pregnant.” And here’s ACOG’s statement in 2008: “. . . ACOG reiterates its long-standing position that no amount of alcohol consumption can be considered safe during pregnancy.” Did you notice what they did there? These statements don’t actually say that no amount of alcohol is safe during pregnancy. They say that no safe amount is known and that no amount can be considered safe, respectively. Ultimately, these are statements of uncertainty. We don’t know how much is safe to drink, so it’s best if you don’t drink any at all. Lest you think this is a merely a reflection of America’s puritanical roots, check out the recommendations of the U.K.’s National Health Service. While they make allowances for the fact that some women choose to drink, they still advise pregnant women to avoid alcohol altogether. As they say: “If women want to avoid all possible alcohol-related risks, they should not drink alcohol during pregnancy because the evidence on this is limited.” Yet it seems odd that the evidence is so limited. The damaging effects of binge drinking on fetal development were known in the 18th century and the first modern description of fetal alcohol syndrome was published in a French medical journal nearly 50 years ago. Six years later, in 1973, a group of researchers at the University of Washington documented the syndrome in The Lancet. Even then, people knew the cause of fetal alcohol syndrome: alcohol. And in the forty years since, fetal alcohol syndrome has become a well-known and well-studied illness. NIH alone devotes more than $30 million dollars annually to research in the field. So how come no one has answered the most pressing question (at least for pregnant women): How much is safe to drink? One reason is that fetal alcohol syndrome isn’t like HIV. You can’t diagnose it with a blood test. Doctors rely on a characteristic pattern of facial abnormalities, growth delays and neural or mental problems – often in addition to evidence of prenatal alcohol exposure – to diagnose a child. Yet children exposed to and affected by alcohol during fetal development don’t always show all of these symptoms. Doctors and agencies now define fetal alcohol syndrome as the extreme end of a spectrum of disorders caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. The full spectrum, called fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), includes milder forms of the illness that involve subtler cognitive or behavioral problems and lack the classic facial features of the full-blown syndrome. As you might imagine, milder cases of FASD are hard to identify. Pediatricians can miss the signs altogether. And there’s a fundamental difficulty in diagnosing the mildest cases of FASD. To put it crudely, if your child is slow, who’s to say whether the culprit is a little wine during pregnancy, genetics, too much television, too few vegetables, or god-knows-what-else? Unfortunately, identifying and understanding the mildest cases is crucial. These are the cases that worry pregnant women who drink lightly. They lie at the heart of the uncertainty voiced by the CDC, ACOG, and others. Most pregnant women would like to enjoy the occasional merlot or Sam Adams, but not if they thought it would rob their children of IQ points or otherwise limit their abilities – even just a little – down the line. While it’s hard to pin down the subtlest cases in the clinic, scientists can still detect them by looking for differences between groups of children with different exposures. The most obvious way of testing this would be to randomly assign pregnant women to drink alcohol at different doses, but of course that experiment would be unethical and should never be done. Instead, researchers capitalize on the variability in how much women choose to drink during pregnancy (or at least how much they report that they drank, which may not always be the same thing.) In addition to interviewing moms about their drinking habits, the scientists test their children at different ages and look for correlations between prenatal alcohol exposure and test performance. While essential, these studies can be messy and hard to interpret. When researchers do find correlations between moderate prenatal alcohol exposure and poor test performance, they can’t definitively claim that the former caused the latter (although it’s suggestive). A mysterious third variable (say, maternal cocaine use) might be responsible for them both. On the flip side, interpreting studies that don’t find correlations is even trickier. It’s hard to show that one thing doesn’t affect another, particularly when you are interested in very small effects. To establish this with any confidence, scientists must show that it holds with large numbers of people and that they are using the right outcome measure (e.g., IQ score). FASD impairments can span language, movement, math skills, goal-directed behaviors, and social interactions. Any number of measures from wildly different tests might be relevant. If a given study doesn’t find a correlation between prenatal alcohol exposure and outcome measure, it might be because the study didn’t test enough children or didn’t choose the right test to pick up the subtle differences between groups. When studies in humans get tricky, scientists often turn to animal models. FASD research has been no exception. These animal studies have helped us understand the physiological and biochemical mechanisms behind fetal alcohol syndrome, but they can’t tell us how much alcohol a pregnant woman can safely drink. Alcohol metabolism rates vary quite a bit between species. The sensitivity of developing neurons to alcohol may differ too. One study used computational modeling to predict that the blood alcohol level of a pregnant rat must be 10 times that of a pregnant human to wreak the same neural havoc on the fetus. Yet computational models are far from foolproof. Scientists simply don’t know precisely how a dose in a rat, monkey, or other animal would translate to a human mother and fetus. And here’s the clincher: alcohol’s prenatal effects also differ between humans. Thanks to genetic differences, people metabolize alcohol at very different rates. The faster a pregnant woman clears alcohol from her system, the lower the exposure to her fetus. Other factors make a difference, too. Prenatal alcohol exposure seems to take a heavier toll on the fetuses of older mothers. The same goes for poor mothers, probably because of confounding factors like nutrition and stress. Taken together, these differences mean that if two pregnant women drink the same amount of alcohol at the same time, their fetuses might experience very different alcohol exposures and have very different outcomes. In short, there is no single limit to how much a pregnant woman can safely drink because every woman and every pregnancy is different. As organizations like the CDC point out, the surest way to prevent FASD is to avoid alcohol entirely while pregnant. Ultimately, every expecting mother has to make her own decision about drinking based on her own understanding of the risk. She may hear strong opinions from friends, family, the blogosphere and conventional media. Lots of people will seem sure of many things and those are precisely the people that she should ignore. When making any important decision, it’s best to know as much as you can – even when that means knowing how much remains unknown. Photo Credit: Uncalno Tekno on Flickr, used via Creative Commons license Hurley TD, & Edenberg HJ (2012). Genes encoding enzymes involved in ethanol metabolism. Alcohol research : current reviews, 34 (3), 339-44 PMID: 23134050 Stoler JM, & Holmes LB (1999). Under-recognition of prenatal alcohol effects in infants of known alcohol abusing women. The Journal of Pediatrics, 135 (4), 430-6 PMID: 10518076 fMR-Why? Bad Science Meets Chocolate and Body Envy Imagine this: You have bulimia nervosa, a psychiatric condition that traps you in an unhealthy cycle of binge eating and purging. You’ve been recruited to participate in a functional MRI experiment on this devastating illness. As you lie in the scanner, you are shown pictures of pizza, chocolate and other high-calorie foods and you’re told to imagine eating them. You do this for 72 pictures of delicious, fatty foods. At other points in the experiment, you see pictures of bodies (sans heads) of models clipped from a women’s magazine. You are told to compare your body to each of the bodies in the pictures. You do this 72 times, once for each skinny (and probably retouched) model’s body. The experience would have been unsettling enough for normal women trying to eat healthier or feel happier with their not-so-super-model bodies. But for women with bulimia, it must have truly been a hoot and a half. Luckily, the misery was worth it. When the researchers publish their findings, they claim to have shown that patients with bulimia process body images differently. In their conclusions, they say that their results can inform how psychotherapists should treat patients with the illness. They even suggest that it might someday lead to direct interventions, such as a targeted zap to the head using transcranial magnetic stimulation. My recommendation? Cover your therapist’s ears and stay away from the head zapper. This study shows nothing of the sort. Functional MRI is a widely used and quite powerful method of probing the brain, but it is only useful for experiments that are thoughtfully conceived and carefully interpreted. Unfortunately, many fMRI papers that make it to publication are neither. One of the most common problems in fMRI is making bad comparisons. All fMRI studies rely on comparisons because brains are all different and scanners are all different. If you are going to say that Region X becomes active when you see a picture of chocolate, you first have to answer that crucial question: compared to what? If you’re interested in how the brain reacts to unhealthy food in particular, you might compare looking at pictures of chocolate with looking at pictures of raisins or eggplant. And if you’re comparing these comparisons across subject groups (such as patients versus non-patients), both groups had better have the same the control condition. Otherwise, you’re not even comparing apples to oranges. You’re comparing apples to gym socks. Sadly, that is just what these experimenters did. They compared brain blood flow when the subjects looked either at junk food or skinny women with blood flow during 36-second stretches of time when subjects just stared at a small, white ‘+’ on the screen. The authors say that using a more similar control condition (say, imagining using non-food objects like a lamp or a door) would be bad because patients with bulimia might respond to these objects differently than healthy subjects. This argument is nonsensical. There’s no reason to believe that people with bulimia feel any differently about doors or lamps than anyone else, but there’s plenty of reason to believe that they would spend 36-second moments of downtime before or after comparing their bodies to those of models either obsessing or trying not to obsess about how their bodies ‘measure up.’ In fact, I suspect that could not help but wonder if the authors didn’t originally intend to use this ‘+’ as the control condition. They actually had less crappy control conditions built into the experiment. As a control for imagining eating pizza and chocolate, the participants were also shown non-food objects like tools and told to imagine using them. They also saw interior décor photos and had to compare the furniture to those in their own homes – a control for comparing each model’s body to one’s own. When the authors did their analyses using these (better) control conditions, they found very few differences between patients and non-patients. None, in fact, for the imagine-eating-junk-food portion of the study. For the comparing-oneself-to-models portion, they only found that patients showed less activation than controls in two regions of visual cortex. These regions may correspond to areas that specifically process body images. But would less activation in these regions mean that patients with bulimia process body images differently than other people? Not at all. If the patients were not looking at the pictures as much as non-patients or were more distracted/less attentive to them, you would see the same pattern of results. In short, the authors had no story to tell when they used the better controls. They had a ‘null result’ that would not get published. Based on the design of their experiment, I suspect that find myself wondering if this was how they originally intended to analyze their data. And it’s really the only sensible way to analyze these data. Experiments like these include the ‘+’ condition to establish a baseline (essentially, what you’re going to call ‘zero’). These ‘+’ blocks also correct for an unfortunate phenomenon called scanner drift that adds noise to the data. It’s possible that I have to wonder if the authors decided to use the ‘+’ for their comparisons because they didn’t get any exciting results with the actual control conditions. If so, it unfortunately worked. Using the baseline condition, they found two differences between patient and non-patient activations in the food task and even more differences between the groups in the body task. Ultimately, the authors got their significant results and they got them published. But those differences have nothing to do with the causes of bulimia and everything to do with what flits through people’s minds while they stare at a plus sign. Unfortunately, this is just one example from a growing sea of bad fMRI studies out there. And while many people do wonderful work with the technique and advance the field, others do it a disservice and set us all back. From researchers to reviewers, publishers, science writers and reporters, we all need to proceed with caution and evaluate papers with a critical eye. The participants in our experiments deserve it. The public deserves it. Most of all, patients deserve the best information we can give them. Science done well and served to them straight. Update: I’ve made a few small changes to this post to clarify my intent. I don’t personally know the study’s authors and have no insight into their actions, intentions, or motivations. In writing the piece, I hoped to bring attention to a widespread problem in fMRI research. Of the study’s authors I can only say that they did some seriously flawed research. Why, when, or how is as much your guess as mine. Since posting this piece, I’ve contacted the editor of BMC Psychiatry regarding my concerns with the paper. Not only have I received no reply from her, but this paper is still listed as one of the ‘Editor’s Picks’ on their website as of 1/5/14. *For curious fMRI folk: each run contained 6 food/body blocks, 6 non-food/décor blocks, and only 3 baseline ‘+’ blocks. That means they collected twice the data for the control conditions that they supposedly didn’t intend to use than for the ones that they did. Photo #1 credit: MRI scanner, photo by Matthias Weinberger (cszar on Flickr), used via Creative Commons license Photo #2 credit: Structural MRI of kiwi fruit by Dom McIntyre (McBadger on Flickr), used via Creative Commons license Van den Eynde F, Giampietro V, Simmons A, Uher R, Andrew CM, Harvey PO, Campbell IC, & Schmidt U (2013). Brain responses to body image stimuli but not food are altered in women with bulimia nervosa. BMC Psychiatry, 13 (1) PMID: 24238299 %d bloggers like this:
Can the Japanese-Internment be applied to the post-9/11 discrimination? Japanese Americans: Pearl Harbor You don’t really know what you have ‘til it’s gone, ‘til it’s washed away like lost lives in the Pacific, ‘til you experience Battleship Row, open water purgatory where ships hope to live but come to die… a date which shall live in infamy…December 7, 1941, it is all over the news, as FDR’s voice masks fear with courage, and we sense change…U.S. attacked by the Empire of Japan… location: Pearl Harbor; method: fighter plane; reason: it is anyone’s guess, but the decision wasn’t ours, we did not ask for blackness, death, bombs dropped from ‘Zero’ fighter planes, smoke and sinking ships; Americans remember, we regret: 2,403 dead, 188 planes destroyed, a crippled Pacific Fleet; when the Empire of the Sun suffocated the sun with smoke, it wasn’t just American lives that were changed forever: as battleships kissed the ocean floor, we kissed our old lives goodbye. 3 responses 1. Pingback: Japanese-Americans: Pearl Harbor–Commentary « Japanese-American Internment Memories 2. Pingback: Blog Presentation « Japanese-American Internment Memories 3. I really like this poem. The imagery is really well placed and you did a great job presenting it! There is an appropriate balance of specific details and broader themes that paint a vivid picture of Pearl Harbor and how it affected society. I am very impressed with your syntax as well. It flows- and that is not easy. April 16, 2012 at 12:32 am Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Open main menu Wikipedia β Death by natural causes manner of death (Redirected from Natural causes) Death by natural causes is often recorded on death records as the cause of a person's death. Death from natural causes might be a heart attack, stroke, old age, illness or infection. Cancer is not considered a natural cause of death.[1] Also, a cause of death can be recorded as "undetermined" if the person kills themself.[2] 1. Stark, Martha (2000). A physician's guide to clinical forensic medicine. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press. pp. 225. ISBN 0-89603-742-8. 2. Palmer, Brian (21 December 2009). "What, Exactly, Are "Natural Causes"?".
Screen culture- advertising Screen cultures are widely blended into our daily life. People can just reach out some information through their finger clicks. However, where does the budget come from for producing movies or episodes that showed on screens nowadays? Sometimes I wonder how a movie or episode was produced, or how does movie producers earn their money. The answer is sponsor. Movie producers have to rely on sponsors in order to produce their movies and present to the audience. Therefore, movie producers have to insert those brands inside the film for exchanging their works. Asian screen is a method to advertise products because Asian screen usually sponsored by companies. From the early centuries, while television started to be known for people, almost every person owns a television and made watching television becomes one of their daily hobby. People flips through channels while get home from work. As a result, television channels become a tunnel for companies to transmit messages for the audience. It was the fastest way to spreads out information in the old days. Today, television becomes the most common device that every single person holds one. Therefore, the world developed screen culture for adding more color into our normal life. Screen culture includes television, computer, phones, and I-Pad, etc. People can learn more information through screen culture every single day. According to the course from University of Hertfordshire, Screen Culture, screen culture is defined as, “the way so much of work, pleasure and leisure, personal lives and other parts of the day-to-day involve the display of image, text or other signs on a ‘screen’ of some kinds. It looks at the contemporary world as a place where is a ‘print culture’ of fixed texts is giving way to a ‘screen culture’ of ephemeral, networked, interactive, fluid texts embedded in ubiquitous media devices.” People live in a world with many different types of screen devices that influence their way of life every second. People may take it for leisure or work. Nevertheless, sometimes people are affected by the screen culture, such as purchasing products from brand promotion inside the films or episodes. In Asia, sponsors who provide them the budget for producing movies for audience display many films. Or in other words, sponsors are the people who want to produce movies because they can let more people get to know their brands, then rise up their sales for earning more money. Therefore, those movies or episodes have to insert many brands for helping those sponsors to increase their sells in the market. For example, I had watched a Korean drama in the year before last year when I was going to come to the U.S. with my best friends in the summer. The name of the episode is called “My love from the star”, and the movie doesn’t only advertise on those luxury products but also the celebrities. They had invited the most famous celebrities in Korea for participate in the series for attracting more audiences. After that year, “My love from the star” has become the most popular television series in Asia. The reason for that is because the materials that were used in the episode are all very famous and expensive. In addition, all of the products from the series are the highest quality. Generation Z This week during one of my PR courses, our team did a research on the topic of communicating with generation Z. To know how to reach out to a certain group of audience, we start from learning its background. We did the research on how generation Z is different from other generations then analysis their channels. Generation Z is referring to the people who are born after 2000 to 2020. They are the first generations whom are raise up from the era of smartphones and digital. They didn’t been through the lifestyle before the rise of technology. After did the research, we found out that you only got eight seconds to engage them. Since they raised up by the digital era, you are easily lose their attention. Compare to other generations, they are less patience. The research also shows that it is better to grab their attentions with a visual image and limited the message into five words. After knowing the tactics to communicate them, we found out the channels to reach out. Since they are familiar with smartphones, they are also familiar with social media platforms. The interesting part is, most people conceived the idea that generation Z would stick to Snapchat and Instagram more but turns out not. Instead of thinking Facebook sounds old to them, surprisingly Facebook is the most popular social media platform used by generation Z. They prefer to use Facebook because it constantly renovate with new features. Today, Facebook no longer just a platform to post message and image but has new function such as Facebook live or face swap for taking pictures and videos. These new features have fit their interests. Facebook is also considers as gen Z’s modern day phone book. They can abstract tons of information on there whenever they need to. It is an extremely convenient tool for them to use. If you want to reach out to a certain group of people, it is better to do research on their background. Thus, you can reach out to them easier and faster by using the right channel and right communication strategies and tactics. WeChat links people to the world During our Chinese Lunar New Year, we have a tradition of giving red envelop to family members.Inside the red envelop, we will put some money to symbolize wishing our loved ones a peaceful new year. Instead, they transfer money via WeChat to me every year during this special holiday. There is a mobile red envelop on that social media app, which allows people to send money without going through a complicated process. WeChat is one of the main social media tools in China. It provides a lot of services that combine with several business companies. The App allows people to send messages, use free video calls, check news updates, transfer money, pay bills, donate to charity, buy train tickets, and even book hotels. It has brought a new era to the Chinese that advances their lives’ efficiency. Thus, the advantages of the App are to increase numbers of business transactions, and to promote economic market. If you look at American’s social media tool such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, you can see that they are all simply just tools for communication. They don’t collaborate with any business industry to create additional services. Instead, they connect with several companies to create campaigns that raise certain topics’ awareness. The advantage of American’s social media is to link people together, where the advantage of Chinese social media, WeChat, is to link people to many services. The biggest advantage is to make the world a cashless economy. To refer back to my personal experience, I noticed that people use WeChat to transfer money and buy goods, just like they can with Apple Pay. WeChat was released in January 2011. With less than 20 years of history, it has developed so rapidly that nowadays it has 806 million active users per month. More surprisingly, not only Chinese people use WeChat; people from other countries also use WeChat as their daily social tool. The research has found out that there are 70 million users outside of China. Today, WeChat has become a part of people’s daily routines. They use it as their main tool to pay for goods, chat with friends, check movie schedules, and so on. It has made people’s lives more convenient so that they can do anything without leaving their place and the WeChat universe. It is not only a social media tool, but also a portal to let people connect to the world. Promote culture through utilizing media If you ask me about my impression of China, I would say how strong its food culture is. Every district has its own food culture. If you go up to the North side of China, you can see how people are obsessed with spicy food. This is because the temperature in Northern China is much colder than Southern China. Therefore, people eat spicy food to keep their bodies warm. However, where did my information come from if I have only been to China once? A Bite of China,a television show that introduces Chinese food culture, has informed me a lot about not only Chinese food culture but also Chinese culture in general. Through watching this television show, I learned about Chinese tradition, life style, behavior, and society. It depicts people’s interactions through making and serving food. Thus, there is story behind every scene for people to dig in to. The show is made from CCTV, China Central Television, which is the predominant state television broadcaster in China. It is accessible to more than one billion viewers. China uses this huge audience base to made this television show and promote its culture via media flexibly. It has successfully reached out to foreigners through publishing channels on YouTube. CCTV makes a clear goal that targets people’s interest in eating, then presents the story that fits the audience’s taste. The broadcaster has done thorough market research to lead people from diverse countries to get a sense of Chinese culture. Different from other food television shows, A Bite of China records the foods that are not made from famous chefs or expensive restaurants. It depicts the dishes that are made from ordinary people everyday. The show presents Chinese people’s daily diets, their habits of eating, and their food spirit. Moreover, the show records how the farmers grow the food, and shows the process of making noodles and main dishes from scratch. It gives the audience the chance to get closer with ordinary Chinese living style, thus to understand Chinese society via the portal of food. The motto of this television show, is “telling the truth.” All of the people that the audience can see on the show are not actors. They are real farmers and cooks. They have no script to memorize; every word and every food dish they make is original. The show has touched my heart because there is story behind every dish. Some recipes are inherited from thousands of years ago, and some recipes are originally made from this generation. It is considered as a food documentary television show that only presents the truth. Through this television show, China successfully promotes Chinese culture to the world. By targeting human interest, the show picks the topic that everyone can relate to—food—thus demonstrating its core message. The show uses media flexibly to enhance foreigners’ understanding toward China. Innovation of social media Recently, I found Instagram‘s new feature very interesting. It allows people to post videos and re-play it within 24 hours. More surprisingly, people can add icons, location, temperature and other additional information to the video or images that posted. Then I started to play with it by making my Instagram story in to a series of videos and form my little story. However, at the beginning, I thought Instagram was copied the idea of Snapchat. Snapchat allows people to record videos and send it to friends or posts on a personal story. Both features are similar but not completely the same. I later found out that Snapchat is harder to use than Instagram because videos only pop up for few seconds and you can’t tag friends. Snapchat turns this feature too personal that it makes me feel hard to share to all of my friends or follow my favorite brands. Brands started to use social media to reach out to the new generations. Technology and Internet is the two biggest things younger generations have spent their time on. However, to approach new target audiences, companies cannot just pop up everywhere and show their existence. People would get tired of the ads from the same company again and again. It is companies’ job to navigate the right communication tool and use it efficiently. Last Spring, when H&M collaborate with KENZO, I was so happy that I could learn the news so early. I knew their new collection from my H&M Instagram story. The company didn’t take long to spread the news and promote their new collections because it used the right tool to attract their target market. The new collection from H&M and KENZO is more with color and printed, which fits younger generations’ dress up styles. The Instagram story gave audience the chance to look behind the scene and gave the company the chance to be transparent. The evolution of social media gives people more convenience. Today, Instagram cannot only post videos but also go live on its story. It combines the features from Snapchat and Facebook to create fresh new tool for people to play with. On the other hand, Snapchat also has new features to allow people to create group chat, create custom stickers, and others. Social media has become better each day with the evolution of adding new features. It allows people to contact each other easier and allows companies to stay in touch with the customers. By providing more engagement and interaction, the companies get closer to the audience. Alibaba turned 11/11 into $20 billion global shopping festival Nowadays Chinese industry is growing rapidly. With 13 billion people, China has the biggest market in the world. If you have heard of Taobao and Tmall, they are two of the main sites under Alibaba Group that sell online products. Alibaba Group, established in 1999, by some measures, is considered as the world’s biggest ecommerce store. It has 80 percent of the Chinese online shopping market which it has grown its online store since 2003. Alibaba set up its main company at Hong Zhoug and also set up the branch companies in diverse countries for established cross culture community. It has the branch companies in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, India, London, and the United States in Silicon Valley. After Alibaba Group successfully won the public’s recognition, it started to expand its service to online dating app, online television and to so many other services. Last year, the founder of Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, invested the company in going global and digital. During the Chinese Singles Day Nov. 11, Alibaba Group sold $17 to $20 billion worth of goods in 24 hours. It turned Chinese singles day into global shopping festival. Chinese Singles Day is considers as the Chinese version of Black Friday. Many retailer stores do promotion and sales during this special holiday. Jack Ma said, his vision is to let Chinese feel proud of their company. He wants to let the world know how great a Chinese company can do. Ma starts to pursue his goal because of his passion. He wants to serve people and provide what the public needs. It is the first time, when Alibaba introduced global brand engagement to its online store, Tmall, including Apple, Maserati, Target, Costco, Macy’s, Starbucks and Zara. With expected 600 million Chinese consumers and 10,000 merchants, the sales from Nov. 11 each year increased 40 percent year-to-year surge. Although the amount of buying and selling is huge, Alibaba Group didn’t make any mistake during the holiday. With huge amount of Internet traffic, the website still runs smoothly without making any error. The ecommerce is “[t]he most critical opportunity for brands to connect and engage with Chinese consumers, to build awareness and relationships for the long term” says Denise Sabet, manager of Labbrand in New York, a Shanghai-based brand positioning and naming agency. Alibaba has made its app, online shopping store and online television successfully became people’s topic of conversation. It strongly used media to boost both the world and Chinese economy and bring its audience huge benefit by providing a platform for people to buy and sell. It brings huge profit not only for itself but also for anyone who runs small businesses online. Alibaba group has successfully connects China into global business trends by using media flexibly. How to attract brand’s fan base? The evolution of technology changed people’s living style by transforming paper work to digital work. This provoked the development of the digital communication era. However, after discussing what social media does in the industry, it is important to know how to do the management. In the article “Why every brand should curate content” from Ragan’s PR Daily, the author analyzed the importance of content curation. She stated the phenomena that most people produce heavy loads of content but didn’t do the organizing. The reason why brands should do the curation, stated by the author, Kristin Piombino, is repurposing existing content. After curating the content, people can easily search and find information of the brand, making it people’s top choice while searching online. Given these reasons, how are we going to attract customers’ attention and win their interests? Brands tend to produce lots of informational content on their social media. They tried to market themselves by appearing more to let the public remember their existence. They do media posting, blog management and customer interaction. However, some companies are successful through these methods, but some of them aren’t. Although their methods are the same, their tactics are different. From the article “The five levels of content marketing in the fashion industry” written by the author Daniel Marks, he listed the five levels which includes: • Overtly promotional content • The classic blog • Making your content unique • Engagement and interaction • Bringing everything together Let’s talk about the first three levels. He pointed out the phenomena that most companies do not examine if their spread out information works. Companies should focus on one specific media outlet, then put efforts into it. Many brands distract customers’ attention by working with diverse media outlets. If we take a look at Zara’ s strategy, we discover most of the time its published content on social media is promotional. The brand didn’t overly advertise itself, but it delivered the news of products, sales and new items, which is what the customer is looking for. Moreover, if you go check out its Twitter and Instagram accounts, you can see how differently Zara presents its new apparels. Zara presents its new items by displaying them on live models to do the demonstration to the customers. It overtly does promotional content presented simply and clearly. In addition to Zara, another company successfully managed their brand through posting promotional content on social media. In the article, Marks later mentioned how a New York Tumblr account, What I Wore, beat other brands through investing in its blog. He explained how it is useless to produce tons of posts everyday without putting effort in any of those. It’s not enough to just throw information on a blog and wish the public takes it. Companies should let their audience feel their concerns about them beyond their management on social media. It’s important to plan the goal and mission of the brand and develop the blog along with it. After the company identifies its media outlet, it should then think about its theme. The goal for each brand is different. Companies should know who their target audience is. Same as with many different media outlets, many companies tend to focus on diverse topics that distract audience attention. Therefore, companies should focus on a specific topic. For example, the brand Barneys New York, write about the stories of their designers. It gives the audience the chance to learn from their designers for inspiration. When companies combine the brand with stories, the popularity increased. In addition, it stands out from the rest because of its uniqueness. Brands can attract the fan base by focusing on curating content. With these successful brand examples, content management is essential to most companies. Therefore, the the industry should apply the right outreach strategies to approach their target audience.
The future of planetary exploration robots An article in Popular Science about explorer robots: BwPQ4LWIcAAefKu (1) This is a nice idea for an explorer. I’m a bit surprised it is in Popular Science, unless it’s an old edition, since the idea first appeared ages ago, but then again, why not, it’s still a good idea. Anyway… The most impressive idea I ever saw for an explorer robot was back in the 90s from Joe Michael of Robodyne Cybernetics, which used fractal cubes that could slide along each face, thereby rearranging into any shape. Once the big cubes were in place, smaller ones would rearrange to give fine structure. That was way before everyone and his dog new all about nanotech, his thinking was well ahead of his time. A huge array of fractal cubes could become any shape – a long snake to cross high or narrow obstacles, a thin plate to capture wind like a sail, a ball to roll around, or a dense structure to minimize volume or wind resistance. NASA tends to opt for ridiculously expensive and complex landers with wheels and lots of gadgetry that can drive to where they want to be. I do wonder though whether people are avoiding the simple ideas just because they’re simple. In nature, some tiny spiders get around just by spinning a length of thread and letting the wind carry them. Bubbles can float on the wind too, as can balloons. Where there’s an atmosphere, there is likely to be wind, and if simple exploration is the task, why not just let the winds carry you around? If not a thread, use a balloon that can be inflated and deflated, or a sail. Why not use a large cloud of tiny explorers using wind by diverse techniques instead of a large single robotic vehicle? Even if there is no atmosphere, surely a large cloud of tiny and diverse explorers is more capable and robust than a single one? The clue to solving the IT bits are that a physical cloud can also be an IT cloud. Why not let them use different shapes for different circumstances, so that they can float up, be blown around, and when they want to go somewhere interesting, then glide to where they want to be? Dropping from a high altitude is an easy way of gathering the kinetic energy for ground penetration too, you don’t have to carry sophisticated drills. Local atmosphere can be used as the gas source and ballast (via freezing atmospheric gases or taking some dust with you) for balloons and wind or solar can be the power supply. Obviously, people in all space agencies must have thought of these ideas themselves. I just don’t understand why they have thrown them away in favor of far more heavier and more expensive variants. I’m not an expert on space. Maybe there are excellent reasons that each and every one of these can’t work. But I also have enough experience of engineering to know that one of the most likely reasons is that they just aren’t exciting enough and the complex, expensive, unreliable and less capable solutions simply look far more cool and trendy. Maybe it is simply that ego is more important than mission success. 2 responses to “The future of planetary exploration robots 1. like the post, keep it up! 2. Pingback: The future of planetary exploration robots \| ForwardGrasp Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
In a Tooth, DNA From Some Very Old Cousins, the Denisovans Carl Zimmer, New York Times, November 16, 2015 A tooth fossil discovered in a Siberian cave has yielded DNA from a vanished branch of the human tree, mysterious cousins called the Denisovans, scientists said Monday. Their analysis pushes back the oldest known evidence for Denisovans by 60,000 years, suggesting that the species was able to thrive in harsh climates for thousands of generations. The results also suggest that the Denisovans may have bred with other ancient hominins, relatives of modern humans whom science has yet to discover. The Denisovans are named after the cave where their bones were found in the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia. Every summer, a team of Russian scientists led by Anatoly Derevianko of the Russian Academy of Sciences explores the cave, unearthing thousands of bone fragments. Before the latest discovery, Denisovans were known only from DNA in another tooth and a finger bone found in the cave in 2008. Analysis had shown them to be at least 50,000 years old. In 2010, Dr. Derevianko and his colleagues reported that the genetic material in the bone and the tooth belonged to the same lineage of hominins, which they called Denisovans. Scientists estimate that Neanderthals and Denisovans diverged on the human family tree 400,000 years ago. The newest batch of Denisovan DNA comes from a tooth discovered in 2010. Svante Paabo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and his colleagues described it in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The new tooth, called Denisova 8, yielded only a modest amount of DNA. But the scientists gathered enough to draw some important conclusions. Denisova 8, it turns out, is much older than the previously discovered remains. The researchers estimated its age at 110,000 years. {snip} Chunks of Denisovan DNA are found in Australian aborigines, New Guineans and Polynesians. Topics: , Share This
Port Authority Edition – Internet Vulnerability Profiling by Steve Gibson, Gibson Research Corporation. Goto Port 109 Probe Port 110 Enter Port: 0-65535 Goto Port 111 Port Authority Database Port 110 Post Office Protocol - Version 3 Pop3 "post office protocol" is used by eMail clients for the retrieval of their eMail from designated eMail "post office" servers. Email Clients such as Microsoft Outlook, Netscape, Eudora, and many others, connect to port 110 of a remote eMail server, then use the pop3 protocol to retrieve their eMail. They first identify and authenticate themselves by logging on to the remote eMail server using their eMail account information. After doing so they are permitted to view and download their waiting eMail. Related Ports: 25, 143 Background and Additional Information: Pop3 on port 110 is the older of the two popular protocols used to retrieve eMail from remote mail servers. (The newer protocol, imap, the Internet message access protocol, uses port 143.) End-user eMail clients send eMail to remote eMail servers using the SMTP protocol on port 25 and typically retrieve their eMail using either pop3 or imap. Email clients and servers must each support both an eMail sending (SMTP) and retrieving (pop3 or imap) protocol. Local POP proxies Although it is uncommon for end-user PCs to host a full eMail server, anti-virus and anti-spam "filtering" programs often open the user's local port 110 to provide convenient eMail filtering through a technique known as "proxying". The bad news is that some of these programs cause this port to be opened and exposed to the outside world — to the whole Internet — which can create serious vulnerabilities for the user's PC. The idea behind a "local proxy" is that the anti-virus or anti-spam program needs to "filter" the remote eMail before it reaches the local eMail client program. So the proxying filter program creates a little local pop3 or imap server right there on the user's machine. The user instructs their eMail client to retrieve eMail from port 110 or 143 of their own computer, and the proxy, in turn, fetches the eMail from the remote eMail server. This places the proxy "in line" between the remote eMail server and the local eMail client. The Proxy retrieves eMail from the remote server, checks it, filters it, virus scans it, or whatever, then offers it to the local eMail client through its own local pop3 or imap server running on port 110 or 143. The only trouble with this is that poorly or hastily written local proxies can sometimes create the side-effect of opening the same local server to connections from the entire Internet. If such a proxy also had some insecure features which could be exploited (which is always a concern with any publicly accessible Internet servers) it might be possible for nefarious hackers to exploit the local server's security weaknesses as a means of gaining an advantage of some sort. Closing port 110 Under no circumstances would you want port 110 of a local proxy (or any local proxy ports for that matter) to be open to the outside world. It's unlikely that you would have a full eMail server running on your machine, but a local proxy such as that described above is becoming more common. If our probes show that your machine has port 110 open, you should determine the cause and see about updating your software, or determine how to close this port to outside access. If all else fails, the use of a NAT router or personal firewall would do the trick. The POP3 RFC (the complete specification) The specification of every nuance and detail of the POP3 protocol: Trojan Sightings: ProMail trojan Jump to top of page NanoProbe, and any other indicated trademarks are registered trademarks of Gibson Jump to top of page
posted by . word problem: The Rory family drove 310 miles each day for 4 days. Then on Friday they drove 250 miles to Centerville. On Saturday they drove 150 miles to Westfield. What else do you need to know to determine how many miles they averaged each day for that one week? a) number of miles driven back home b) number of days in a week c) distance from Centerville to Westfield d) number of miles driven on the seventh day. I picked d. is that right? • math - Respond to this Question First Name School Subject Your Answer Similar Questions 1. Math Leon drove 270 miles to the lodge in the same time as Pat drove 330 miles to the lodge. If Pat drove 10 miles per hour faster than Leon, then how fast did each of them drive? 2. algebra 1A a family travels to Bryce Canyon for three days. on the first day, they drive 150 miles. on the second day, they drive 190 miles. what is the least number of miles they drove on the third day if their average number of miles per day … 3. math Drove an average of 55mi/h on her trip to the mountains. You can use the expression 55h to find out how many miles she drove in h hours. If she drove for 5 hours, how many miles did she drive? 4. math I drove 843 miles to Florida. On the first day, I drove 483 miles. On the second day, how long did it take to reach florida if the average speed is 60 miles per hour? 5. algebra 1 A man drove 48 more miles an hour than the number of hours he drove. if he drove 208 miles in all, how many hours did he drive? 6. Math Hunter and his father drove 582 miles in 4 days. They drove 102 miles on the first day. Then they drove the same number of miles on the second, third, and fourth days. How many miles did they drive each day after the first day? 7. math crctprep The Jones family drove a total of 3584 miles in 9 days. They drove the same number of miles each day. Which of the following is closest to the number of miles they drove each day? 8. MAth The wilkinson family drove 1.374 miles in 9 many miles did they drive on last day 9. math solve the problem using the four step plan At the end of their 3-day vacation, the Palmers traveled a total of 530 miles. On the third day,they drove 75 miles. On the second day,they drove 330 miles. How many miles did they drive the first day? 10. math If I drove 3078 miles on Monday an drove 582 miles on Tuesday how many miles did I drive altogether. More Similar Questions
Saturday, March 19, 2011 The Sun of York Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of York; And all the clouds that lour’d upon our house In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. On this last day of Winter, the words from Shakespeare Richard III reverberate. But we discover in the first line already, if we read it closely, that the subject here is really discontent, not the season that, just now, buds energetically in a young but still weak sun. Comes the second, punning line. The sun of York was King Edward IV of England. He’s dubbed the sun because he later adopted a blazing sun as his badge. And he was the son of York because he was the son of Richard Plantagenet, third Duke of York. Richard III, briefly king of England himself, was Edward’s youngest brother. Edward’s dates were 1442-1483, a mere 41 years. Despite living in a violent time—much of the violence caused by his own good self (but in a good cause, as always)—he died of natural causes. So much for life expectancy then. And though a king of England, he was born in France. Now to provide the flavor of the fifteenth century, here is Edward’s early resume as brought to us by Wikipedia: “Before becoming King he was 4th Duke of York, 7th Earl of March, 5th Earl of Cambridge, and 9th Earl of Ulster. He was also the 65th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.” (Image source is here). What sort of world was the fifteenth century? Here in the Americas, the big name was Moctezuma. The Aztecs had reached their pinnacle—but the European ships were heading out their way. Just nine years after Edward died, Columbus landed. In the Old World the Ottomans were just beginning their great expansion into an empire. The Hunnish Golden Horde had invaded Siberia a couple of years before Edward was born. Joan of Arc was a big name, but she was burnt alive (at 19) eleven years before Edward was born. In Edward’s time, and under his rule, civil war raged in England, not between the haves and have nots but between the House of York and the House of Lancaster. That was the War of the Roses. Other wars? How about the Thirteen Years War? In that conflict the Teutonic Knights buckled under and Poland seized Prussia. There was the Hundred Years War, the Valois v. Plantagenets (to the latter of whom we are related, in this post, by way of Edward’s dad). The Sikh religion was founded in 1469 with Edward just 27. Now some footnotes. The Order of the Golden Fleece was a chivalric order founded in 1430 in Burges in Flanders. That word in the quote, lour’d? It comes from Middle English louren. One of its meanings is to lie in wait; another is to look sullen or to frown. And thus the line might be rendered modern by saying “And all the clouds that frowned upon our house.” Now our distance in time from the Sun of York’s ascension to the throne (1461) is 550 years. And his world looks very, very different from ours—except for the important things, the wars. So I got to thinking. What might it be like 550 years from now, thus in the year 2561. I was hoping that Star Trek would help me. But it happens that the farthest-out episode in that glorious series, in this millennium, anyway, is 2387. Now around our clan we like to sigh, or acerbically remark, that we’ve not yet achieved a Star Trek level of civilization. And, indeed, I rather suspect that we won’t. But what we might achieve is whatever blazing glory Edward IV represented. And with that in mind, the winter of our discontent might ease up just a little—especially since the sun will dawn on Spring tomorrow. 1 comment: 1. I've never looked so closely at these famous lines... such layers. Nice.
Servicio de Información Comunitario sobre Investigación y Desarrollo - CORDIS GIANT ALIEN Informe resumido Project ID: EVK2-CT-2001-00128 Financiado con arreglo a: FP5-EESD País: Czech Republic Ecological, biological and demographical determinants of H. mantegazzianum invasion in relation to habitat and land use characteristics Studies of Heracleum mantegazzianum in the Czech Republic and Germany revealed high seedling density, low mortality of established plants and fast population development. Flowering occurred in the 3rd year but was postponed up to 12 years under stress. Overlap between male and female phases allows for self-pollination and production of viable seed. This together with high fecundity allows single plants to start invasion after long-distance dispersal. A short-term persistent seed bank is formed; 90% of the seed germinate next spring but some survive longer. Morphophysiological dormancy is broken by cold stratification. These features, together with efficient dispersal by humans, water and wind, result in enormous invasion potential. At a local scale, populations increased by 1,260m2/year. Early in succession, life strategy accords with that of ruderal monocarpic plants, later with competitive perennials. Population growth rates of open stands depend on transition into next life-stages; generation time is ±3 years. In dense stands, stasis is more important and generation time exceeds 5 years. Productive human-disturbed habitats and inappropriate landscape management favoured invasion in Europe. Native diversity is adversely affected locally but not regionally. In its native region in the Caucasus, Heracleum is confined to disturbed sites and rare in natural subalpine meadows. Información relacionada Petr PYSEK, (deputy director) Tel.: +420-271015266 Fax: +420-267750031 Correo electrónico
Monday, 12 December 2016 Functional Language When we speak we also need to use FUNCTIONAL LANGUAGE: Functional language is language that we use to perform various "functions" such as giving advice or apologizing. Functional language typically uses fixed expressions for each function–for example "if I were you" or "my suggestion is" in giving advice, and "it was my fault" or "please forgive me" in apologizing. The following pages list common expressions for each function, graded by level. You should focus on INTERMEDIATE EXPRESSIONS Have a look! Wednesday, 30 November 2016 -ING or Infinitive? Doing little is fun. I love lounging... Remember the general rules: WE use the -ing form After certain Verbs After prepositions When the verb is the subject of the sentece We use the infinitive: After certain verbs After adjectives For reason or purpose See the following links Verbs followed by INFINITIVE Verbs followed by -ING Verbs Followed by Gerunds OR Infinitives (Different Meaning)* 1. Do they enjoy_____ (read) ? 2. Sorry for ______(be) so late. I overslept! 3. I don't mind _____ (help) in the house. 4. It was stupid _________(run): the train had left. 5. She's always dreamt of ________(have) a house by the seaside . 6. ___________(not/have) a mobile phone nowadays is old-fashioned. 7. What about________ (ask) our teacher? 8. We stopped_________ (talk) when the teacher entered the room. 9. Please, keep__________ (tell) us what happened yesterday. 10. She promised_________ (help) me with the essay. 11. They would prefer ________(fly) to England. 12. Will you be able________ (speak) English fluently next year? 13. She left without _________(say) good-bye. 14. He persuaded her________ (buy) another washing-machine. 15. Susan bought the car _________(give) it to her daughter for her birthday. Answers in Comment 1 :-) What do you do? I'm an artist General vocabulary What do you do? I'm a model She works as a lawyer o a regular job o commuter o employee o employer o He took a job as a waiter. o occupation o profession o to earn one's living o to run a firm o trade o What do you do for a living? o Worker o Temporary/ part-time job o application o application form o apprentice, trainee o apprenticeship o CV (curriculum vitae)/ resume o job interview o skilled worker o to apply for a job o training o training course o vacancy o period of notice o To be unemployed/ to be out of work/ to be on the dole o to fire/ to sack /to dismiss somebody o to resign, to quit o to retire o unemployment o unemployment benefit, dole money Working hours, Pay o a full-time job o a part-time job o wages o flexitime o payslip o salary o to get a rise, to get a raise o to work shifts o to work overtime o wage cut Generally, people who get paid a "salary" get their money monthly, and get the same amount each month. A salary usually doesn't change based on the number of hours you work. If you get paid a "salary", you usually say things like "I make $30,000 a year." If you get paid a wage, it usually means that you get a certain amount per hour. The more hours you work, the more money you will make. • vacancy · the state or condition of being vacant or unoccupied; emptiness · an unoccupied post or office: we have a vacancy in the accounts department o flexitime a system that allows an employee to choose the hours for starting and leaving work. o Payslip ‘nómina’ o to get a rise, to get a raise (In American English, a person receives a raise in salary. In British English it is a rise.) NOW PLEASE write a comment saying what you do Wednesday, 16 November 2016 These days we've been looking at the second conditional and the vocabulary of Homes and Houses... Visit these links for further practice ... Do some Practice on Revise vocabulary Watch, listen, enjoy this old song ;-) Lyrics to the song 'Our House' HERE Have a nice weekend. Thursday, 13 October 2016 Listening on EDUCATION • This one on LISTENING. • Next one is the powerpoint presentation seen in class and further practice on LET, BE ALLOWED, MAKE • And below there is a guideline for an OPINION COMPOSITION. Visit the following link to practice your listening skill a bit further: British Education These days we have started the topic of Education. Watch the ppt presentation again. Could you explain in similar words what the Spanish Education is like? PRACTICE the new grammar. Visit the link: Opinions matter How to Write An Opinion Composition Imagine you are given the following topic: Should police officers carry guns? Discuss. Make a draft copy and write down your ideas on the topic. When you are ready... • Always write a/ the title • Paragraph 1 This is your introduction. After you have introduced the reader to the subject of the essay, you write a thesis statement. This is the last sentence of the first paragraph, and it should do two things Directly answer the essay question Tell the reader what your opinion is • Paragraph 2 This is the first paragraph of the essay body. Use any of these at the beginning of this paragraph: first, first of all, in the first place, for one thing, to begin with. Give a reason and a justification or an example. • Paragraph 3 This is the second paragraph of the essay body. Use any of these at the beginning of this paragraph: second, next, in addition, also, furthermore, more importantly, another key point is Give a reason and a justification or an example. • Pargraph 4 At this point, you can add the opposite view point giving reasons why this should or could be considered too. On the other hand, however, nevertheless... Give a reason and a justification or an example. • Paragraph 5 This is your conclusion. Use any of these at the beginning of this paragraph: in conclusion, to sum up, all in all, all things considered Restate your opinion using different words from those used in the introduction. See example below Should police officers carry guns? Many communities have been debating whether or not police officers should carry guns. In some situations, guns protect the police officer as well as the public. However, guns often result in injuries and death. In my opinion, no police officer should ever carry a gun. First of all, guns cause more harm than good. There are often stories in the newspaper about people who are accidentally shot. Moreover, many of these stories involve police officers. If guns were not involved, these accidents would not happen. On the other hand, there are very few stories about how a gun has saved somebody's life. In addition to the previous point, in most cases police officers do not need guns. My uncle, for example, has been a police officer for over 20 years, and he has never had to use his gun. In fact, he says that most people who break the law are unarmed. Thus, it is often unnecessary for police officers to carry guns. In conclusion, I do not think that police officers need to carry a gun with them in order to do their job well. I am sure we would all live in a safer and happier world without guns of any type .
Sunday, February 1, 2009 Konstantin Gorodnov The main idea in the reading, is still creating jobs for people in need and making social security work, because most of the older people had no income and government wasn't helping them at all. President Roosevelt asks Hopkins to work on creating jobs. The thing that stood out to me the most; was the way people treated President Roosevelt. They seemed to love him! And i think that he earned the respect and admiration from these people. He was really making the difference in the hard time like this. It wasn't just regular people that liked him, but mostly everyone in the government seemed to admire him. Here is an example of that :" Three-quarters of the seats were taken by Democrats. They spilled across the aisle and pushed the Republicans into an island of glum silence while they interrupted him repeatedly with applause and shouts of support. Even conservative Democrats, no fans of the New Deal, could count votes, they had absorbed the lesson, the CWA had taught them; jobs were popular." 1 comment: 1. I was surprised the how the Democratic Party took both house and senate since they are not doing better job than Republican Party
Don’t Whine, Just Adapt \| How the Outdoors Teaches Us Adaptation Adaptation is one of those qualities of leadership, which makes leaders stand out. The ability to adapt is required when conditions change. For example, when conditions change in the market a previously sought after product can become obsolete overnight. Conditions can change in relationships, when conflict arises, or when decisions are required but the data or objectives are unclear to come to a unified agreement. Conditions can change in the weather, which forces us to adapt if we are in the outdoors. And conditions can change in your body, like when you get sick, over-tired, or when you start aging and your metabolism or eyesight changes which forces you to adapt your diet, exercise routine, etc. We know that conditions will change constantly. The question is do we have the courage and skill to successfully adapt? Time to Adapt! Jesus modeled adaptation in the Last Supper scene when it became apparent to him from the Father that his time on earth was coming to a close, and his mission would soon be coming to an end on the cross. John records this unforgettable scene in the upper room, as conditions for both Jesus and the Disciples were about to radically change: Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13:3-5) Soon Jesus would be betrayed, persecuted, and hung on a cross to die. And the Disciples would be given the greatest test they had ever known: to keep their faith in Christ in the chaos and confusion of the Passion week. Jesus adapted here by putting on the garmet of a slave and washing his Disciples feet. In this parabolic action, Jesus action became the parable. He was the Suffering Servant mentioned in Isaiah 53, and the Disciples had to see it to believe it. RELATED POST: Servant in the Shadows \| Acts of Service Create a Culture of Christ True leaders adapt when the conditions change. Leaders rise up when adaptation is needed. They don’t whine about their limitations, lack of resources or support. They just adapt. For successful leaders, adaptation is automatic because they consistently adapted over the test of time. As I try to put myself in the shoes of young people today I am even more convinced that developing the capacity to adapt will become increasingly necessary as our culture faces a myriad of ominous cliffs ahead. Adaptability is a close cousin to courage. And it will be courage that gives our younger leaders the ability to hurdle the mounting pile of seeming impossible, yet very solvable problems, which our leader-less culture is putting off. There are too many to list. photo by Thomas HainesI still vividly remember one summer evening when, as a young guide, my ability to adapt was tested. My wife, Becky (we had been married about a year at the time), and I awoke our group of eager high school students in the middle of the night to ascend Pyramid Peak in the Weminuche Wilderness of Colorado. We knew that if we started right away, we could reach the peak by sunrise (which is an unparalleled experience in the backcountry). We climbed for about four hours toward the peak. Hiking more efficiently than expected, we reached just below the summit way too early: it was still pitch black! The stars were bright and beautiful, but the wind was so cold that we could not stop for long before the sweat on our bodies would chill us—causing hypothermia. One is really exposed in this kind of situation. The group wanted to wait to see the sunrise, so I had to adjust to these new conditions. I decided to clamor down some rocks and we were able to tuck ourselves under the cleft of a huge boulder. We pulled out the emergency sleeping bag and boiled a pot of hot chocolate (which takes a while at 14,000’). Pressing together tightly kept us sheltered from the wind. Hot chocolate was passed around in a water bottle for each to hold for a few seconds, enjoy a sip, and then share with the next person. We managed to stay warm enough; singing, praying, and telling stories, until the sun finally came up. And wow was it worth it. Had we not been prepared with the right gear and the know-how to keep everyone safe and warm, we would have been in trouble. A huge part of being able to adapt to changing conditions is the whether or not you are prepared to perform when the going gets rough. RELATED POST: “Casual” Can Lead to Catastrophe Outdoors \| Outdoor Leadership Skills Unfortunately we are seeing too many people finding their way into leadership positions because they can speak well or persuade an audience, but when push comes to shove, they have not been prepared to lead. I believe wilderness experiences are one of the best ways to help people learn adaptation. It is not a theory out there. • Think back over your experiences in the outdoors and write down a few stories or situations where you were forced to adapt? • Share your story below in the comment section or on my Facebook page. I’d love to hear from you! 3 thoughts on “Don’t Whine, Just Adapt \| How the Outdoors Teaches Us Adaptation 1. When I was first learning to set up to repel, I was given a 100′ for 200′ ft descent 🙂 If it wasn’t for some very good spotters, I would have tested the route to my peril. Maybe more of tale for good council, but when trusted friends provide wisdom beyond your reach, you can adapt your plan to preserve life. • Thanks Chris for your note… and what a testimony! It isn’t the first time I’ve heard of such an experience… and I’m glad it turned out well for you! Probably unforgettable though! Thanks again for your comment. -Ashley Comments are closed.
Claude Monet Claude Monet was, perhaps, the most driven and influential of all of the Impressionists. When he was still little more than a boy, Monet began drawing caricatures which he sold for a nominal fee at the local art store. It was only after Monet’s work was praised by Boudin, a prominent artist at the time, that he heavily considered painting as a career. It wasn’t long after than Monet moved to Paris, the heart of the artistic world. Within a decade Monet had moved away from the early caricatures that provided little more than pocket money and, along with Pierre-Auguste Renoir andFrederick Bazille had begun a brand new artistic technique called Impressionism. Impressionism captures a single moment in time, much the way a camera would. This is done with paint mainly by using light. The play of sunlight shining through the trees or glinting off ocean waves that, in just a breath’s time, would change and never again be seen in that exact way. No one produces this aspect better than Monet. His painting Coming into Port-Goulphar, Belle-Ile is a sea scape in the Impressionist style. Sunlight glints off the waves as they roll gentle towards the shoreline. The cliff side and rocks are half hidden in the shadows created by their own craggy outcroppings combined with the natural angle of the sun. Monet did paint people, though the vast majority of his paintings are landscapes of different varieties. Individuals in the paintings were usually not overly emphasized, the overall scene having more importance than a single individual. The one person who crops up in his works again and again is his wife, Camille. At first she was simply his model, posing in costume for various scenes Monet had wanted to paint. Eventually they became lovers, had a child, and then married. Again and again we see Camille in Monet’s paintings, sometimes at a distance as in Woman with a Red Scarf where we see her looking in at us from outside of a window. Other times she is part of a crowd as in The Picnic. In this painting not only is Camille amongst a group of other individuals, but Camille posed multiple times in different costumes. This way Monet saved a great deal of money by only having one model instead of many. The man portrayed is his fellow painter Bazille, who was none too thrilled with the idea of being on the other side of the canvas, but was a good sport about it anyway. Claude Monet was, perhaps, the greatest driving force behind Impressionism. His extra push behind the scenes for the Impressionist’s to break away from the safe ideals of the Academie in Paris and keep pursuing this new vision of art if could have easily suffered a premature death at the hands of the academic art community who were vehemently against the small group of artists whose artistic ideals were so very different from their own. Monet’s enthusiasm and sometimes nagging of his fellow artists to not give in but to continue their artistic dream, not only was Impressionism born but the seeds that would grow to become modern art were planted. free templates This free website was made using Yola. No HTML skills required. Build your website in minutes. Go to www.yola.com and sign up today! Make a free website with Yola
There is an interesting value you can get in BASIC, which exposes a bug and offers an insight into how numbers are stored within Petit Computer. Z=FLOOR(-524287.5) or Z=&H80000 or Z=&B10000000000000000000 (that's 19 zeroes) will set the variable Z to this value. ?Z will show -0. Interestingly, ?-Z will also show -0. ?Z1 gives the result Overflow (?), as does ?1Z, ?Z+0, ?0+Z, ?Z-0, and ?Z/1. Petit Computer stores all numbers as a 2s-complement signed 32-bit fixed-point (as opposed to floating-point) value with a particular format, probably to prevent unexpected results from occurring when using bitwise operators like AND and XOR. 12 bits of precision are assigned to fractional values, thus, a value v is really represented as (v * 4096). (Interestingly, since Petit Computer only allots 12 bits for the fractional value, it can only store the noninteger part of a number in units of 1/4096. A simple two-line program can demonstrate this: M=1/4096:IF (M4096)==1 THEN PRINT "1/4096 is calculated precisely" N=1/4097:IF N==0 THEN PRINT "1/4097 is rounded to zero" This program will print both lines, showing that 'epsilon', the smallest nonzero value that SmileBasic can handle, is 1/4096.) Here's an example of how a typical number might be stored, in this case -250.125 (multiplied by 4096, this gives 1024512, or in binary, 1111 1010 0010 0000 0000): 1111 1111 1111 0000 0101 1110 0000 0000 \| \| integer part (rounded down) fractional part The advantage of 2s complement representation is that signed numbers can be added with the same binary rules as unsigned numbers, the only difference being detection of overflows. The disadvantage is an asymmetry in the numbers represented: one more negative number can be represented than positive numbers (e.g. in 8-bit signed arithmetic, you can represent numbers from -128 to 127 inclusive). A side-effect of this is that if you do the 2s complement operation for negating a number (flip all the bits, then add 1), this will work for all numbers except -128... if you try it on -128 you get... -128. This is obviously somewhat unsatisfying, but most software engineers have come to terms with this quirk. Part of the reason for this acceptance is because if you try to work around it, it's all too easy to leave a loophole... exactly as the designers of Petit Computer did. The FLOOR operation simply clears the last 12 bits of the representation of the number. This will always have the effect of transforming the number to the next lowest integer, if it is not an integer already. The bit breakdown for the value 524287.5 is as follows: 0111 1111 1111 1111 1111 1000 0000 0000 \| \| integer part fractional part -524287.5, then, is: 1000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1000 0000 0000 \| \| integer part fractional part The floor of this value is: 1000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 \| \| integer part fractional part By the rules of 2s complement arithmetic, this is really the value -524288. This is the one value on which negation will not work, you cannot represent the positive value 524288 with this format. Negating this binary representation gives the same binary representation (which is why both ?Z and ?-Z both produce the same result). The value -524288 cannot be generated by the arithmetic operators: subtraction, e.g. -524287-1, or multiplication, e.g. -2621442, will cause an Overflow error. Other results from the interpreter's math operations (after assigning -0 to Z) are as follows: • Z==0 gives 0 (false) • Z<0 gives 1 (true) • NOT Z gives 524287 • Z/2 gives -262144 • Z%3 = -2 • Z OR 1 = -524287 • HEX$(Z) = "80000" • ABS(Z) = -0 (the only time ABS will give a negative result) • SGN(Z) = -1 • EXP(Z) = 0 (but then, -36909/4096 and all lower values give 0) • DEG(Z) = 369214.3505859 • ATAN(Z) = -1.5708078, which is -PI()/2. • ATAN(0,Z) = 3.14160156 • ATAN(Z,0) = -1.57080078 • ATAN(Z,Z) = -2.35620117, which is -PI()*3/4 • POW(Z,1) gives -0 • SIN(Z), COS(Z), TAN(Z), and the two-parameter ATAN with Z as either parameter (except as shown above) will crash the application with no warning. IAmAPersson made the CrashPTC application which utilizes this glitch. For another bug with some similar properties, see 524287.999755859375 (Numerical Value), and for another interesting numerical bug, see 0.999995 (Numerical Value). Ad blocker interference detected!
Wednesday, August 29, 2012 Neil Armstrong is Remembered Neil Armstrong, official NASA photo. Known as a "WSS," or "White Space Suit" image, this type of portrait became the iconic image of the American Astronauts. It was inevitable, you know. Last Saturday the family of astronaut Neil Armstrong announced that he had passed away due to complications from heart surgery performed a couple of weeks before. Born in 1930, Armstrong was 82 when he died. All of our Apollo astronauts are getting along in age. Some have passed on already, like Alan Shepard (First American in space, and commander of Apollo 14) and Jack Swigert (command module pilot, Apollo 13). The Apollo astronauts all remain in our hearts as heros of space education. But Neil Armstrong, and his Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, have the distinction accorded to few astronauts who have ever flown. Because of their famous and dangerous first landing on the Moon in the Apollo 11 mission, their names are forever enshrined in our memories. Perhaps because school textbooks have only so much space for history, or perhaps because television documentaries mention them more than the others, it seems to me that theirs are the first astronaut names that come to mind of the general public. I know this, because for years, working at the Christa McAuliffe Space Education Center, I have questioned children and adults alike as they visited us. I've asked "trivia questions" to see what the general public really knows about our space exploration history. And I've come to several generalized conclusions: 1) Ask any kid "which astronaut" did whatever, and their first response is almost always Neil Armstrong. Asked to name a second astronaut, they often respond Buzz Aldrin (although some kids enjoy saying, "Buzz Lightyear". 2) Older people always know about Apollo 11. Some people remember Jim Lovell in command of Apollo 13 (thank you Tom Hanks and Ron Howard!). 3) Many older people remember Alan Shepard as the first American in space, but have forgotten that he also walked on the Moon (and played golf there!). 4) Many people remember a Russian was first is space, and half of them remember his name was Yuri something. 5) The number of kids and adults who have a good knowledge of the other astronauts in space history is rare. With the passing of Neil Armstrong, I've enjoyed talking to people about what they remember that incredible day of July 21, 1969. Everyone who witnessed it on TV remembers where they were and what they were doing. It was a world-wide event, and one of those generational moments when the world and nation came together in awe. I won't go into Armstrong's career here, as there are many other tributes being published this week. But I would like to take a moment and let you know that Neil was not alone, he served with a team of heroes that prepared for and/or went to the Moon, and here they are: Apollo 11: Neil Armstrong (deceased 2012), Buzz Aldrin, Mike Collins Apollo 1: Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Ed White II, Roger Chaffee (All perished in the Apollo 1 fire-1967) Apollo 7: Wally Schirra (deceased 2007), Don Eiselle (deceased 1987), Walt Cunningham Apollo 8: Frank Borman II, Jim Lovell, William Anders Apollo 9: James McDivitt, David Scott, Russell (Rusty) Schweickart Apollo 10: Tom Staffard, John Young, Eugene Cernan Apollo 12: Pete Conrad, Jr (deceased 1999), Richard Gordon, Alan Bean Apollo 13: Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert (deceased 1982), Fred Haise Apollo 14: Alan Shepard Jr (deceased 1998), Stuart Roosa (deceased 1994), Ed Mitchell Apollo 15: David Scott, Alfred Worden, James Irwin (deceased 1991) Apollo 16: John Young, Thomas "Ken" Mattingly II, Charles Duke Apollo 17: Eugene Cernan, Harrison "Jack" Schmidt, Ronald Evans (deceased 1990) Please remember them all. No comments:
Using interpreters in health care Language is the foundation for effective nurse-patient relationships and is important for interpersonal and cross-cultural communication. Being able to communicate with a patient is vital for obtaining an accurate and comprehensive patient and family assessment, formulating and implementing a treatment plan, determining the effectiveness of nursing care, and evaluating outcomes of care.As result of dramatic demographic changes in the United States, nurses are increasingly faced with the challenge of communicating with the patient who cannot speak English or speaks English with limited proficiency. People who speak English with limited proficiency are a significant percentage of the U.S. population. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 14 percent of the population speak a language other than English at home. This percentage is greater than 40 percent in major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Honolulu, and El Paso, Texas. Of all non-English speakers in the United States, 17.3 million (54 percent) speak Spanish at home, and 8.3 million Hispanics report that they speak English less than „very well.“ People who speak Chinese rank second among people who speak English less than „very well.“ The vast majority of health care and human service institutions receive federal financial assistance such as Medicare, Medicaid, or Hill-Burton funds and thus are subject to Title VI mandates, requiring policies that do not limit access of limited English proficiency persons (LEP) to health care services. The Department of Health and Human Services requires that reasonable steps be taken to provide services and information in languages other than English to ensure that LEP patients are informed and can effectively participate and benefit from health care. The JCAHO requires that health care institutions make translation services available. Demographic changes; federal, state, and local laws; accreditation standards for health care organizations, and the potential for legal liability are all important reasons for nurses to incorporate in their practice appropriate strategies for communicating with LEP patients. There are important differences between a translator and an interpreter. A translator is a person who can speak English and the patient’s native language. However, the translator often does not have equal fluency in both languages and may lose important cultural nuances and meanings. In contrast, an interpreter is a professionally trained person who interprets the meaning of words and phrases from the health care provider’s language to the patient’s language and provides the same services on behalf of the patient to the health care provider. Non-English speaking patients
Farm Ireland Friday 18 August 2017 Cows can be bred to produce milk with less saturated fats Research has shown that it is possible to breed cows that produce milk with lower levels of saturated fats. Studies on the saturated fatty acid content in fat of the Next Generation trial herd at Moorepark show 'considerable' differences among Holstein Friesians. The milk from some cows had 69pc of the fat in saturated form, which is widely perceived as being the unhealthiest fraction of fat. At the other end of the scale, some cow's fat only had 57pc saturates present. "Can you imagine how powerful it would be to be able to approach a global retailer or food company to tell them that you've got a naturally healthier milk?" Prof Donagh Berry asked delegates at the Positive Farmers Conference in Cork. However, the Teagasc researcher noted that the selection criteria used by breeders appeared to select for cows with higher overall milk fat concentrations was creating a bias towards cows with high saturated fat contents. The power of genomics has also allowed Teagasc researchers to identify cows that are 30pc better feed converters, and lines that have greater resistance to health problems and diseases such as TB, cystic ovaries, lameness and mastitis. "We will be able to tell you from a calf's DNA that it will be 50pc more likely to get mastitis than another, or if it has a 31pc or 5pc chance of being susceptible to TB," he said. Indo Farming
• Join over 1.2 million students every month • Accelerate your learning by 29% • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month 1. 1 2. 2 3. 3 4. 4 5. 5 6. 6 7. 7 8. 8 9. 9 10. 10 11. 11 12. 12 13. 13 14. 14 15. 15 16. 16 17. 17 18. 18 19. 19 20. 20 21. 21 22. 22 23. 23 24. 24 25. 25 26. 26 27. 27 28. 28 AS Communication Studies Presentation Extracts from this document... Investigation Essay I have chosen to investigate gender stereotypes in the media, with the significant breakthrough of Angelina Jolie's starring role in Tomb Raider. I believe that, generally, females are rarely shown equally (or superior) to men, within the film industry. I will focus on how this traditional concept has been reversed, and analyse the different communication techniques accompanying this. After examining the promotional poster used to advertise the film, it became apparent that the lead character, Lara Croft, is portrayed as a strong, assertive and powerful female. This is evident from the body language and facial expressions which are used; she has an open, yet challenging body posture, accompanied by a distant gaze; ignorant of all those admiring her beauty. This communication text can be viewed as entropic, as it is high in new information; the sort society has rarely seen before. The poster used to promote the second film, 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider The Cradle of Life', is similar in many respects as it features Lara Croft as the main character. However, this time a semantic communication barrier is present. That is, the audience is prevented from knowing the full title of the film, as the action heroine is masking it from view. The preferred reading is that the audience will recognise the action figure, and all that she represents, from the huge success of the previous film, as well as the infamous video games. After performing a content analysis of the film 'Tomb Raider: Lara Croft', it became evident that Angelina was the only visible female character, who featured in more than one scene. This emphasises the extreme oppression faced by women due to overwhelming patriarchy, and the loneliness accompanied by this struggle for survival. (Even the robotic machine featured in the film is appropriately named 'Simon'.) Ironically however, Angelina still meets the 'male gaze'; "she was generally praised for her physical performance"�, whilst reversing almost every other gender stereotype in existence. ...read more. (20-30 seconds) Furthermore... I will analyse aspects of non-verbal communication which are evident in the following film, 'Lara Croft: Tomb Raider The Cradle of Life'. This follows on from some of the effects created by the previous film, i.e. Angelina Jolie is now instantly recognised Lara Croft, a larger than life character. (30-40 seconds) Summary I will summarise some of the main effects of the film and link them back to the main title, posing the question whether 'females are now superior to males?' (within the film industry) (10-20 seconds) Questions and Answers Finally, there will be a question and answer session, in which members of the audience can ask any questions which they feel are appropriate to the topic at hand, and I will do my best to answer both clearly and concise. (5 minutes +) Analysing my Microsoft PowerPoint presentation in greater depth As I created my presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint, I was able to include several graphics and animations, which would otherwise be unavailable. Consequently, I feel it is necessary to analyse these in greater depth, stating the sources used and possible effects they might have on the audience. Slide 1: This title features first, with the 'compress' custom animation, causing the words to squeeze in from the sides. This subtitle is set to 'descend' after the previous one, creating the effect of it being subordinate, yet still eye catching. (Background image from: http://screenshots.softonic.com/s2de/15000/15317/0_15317.jpg) This image effectively represents what my presentation is about. It features Angelina Jolie/Lara Croft's seductive gaze which connotes the stereotypical view associated with women in the media. Slide 2: This image features first as it demonstrates how women need to be perfect and look 'ideal', in order to feature in the media (Source: : http://celebrity-hotvideo.10ad.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/angelina_jolie_resize.jpg) The writing 'whips' along, i.e. flies in from the left as if it's being written. This gives the audience time to consider what is being presented to them, before I continue speaking. ...read more. I believe there was a logical order to my presentation. I started with some background debates, followed by the 'introduction' of Tomb Raider to the audience, allowed them to form their own opinions about the character, and finally gave a brief summary of what I had discussed. I feel that I managed to communicate with the audience considerably well, and felt superiorly confident when elaborating upon my findings, which were from a textual and content analysis of Lara Croft 'material'. I found my PowerPoint presentation to be extremely useful, as it contained my organised thoughts and ideas of what to discuss. Additionally, it provided an extra visual stimulation for the audience, so they didn't just have to rely on their auditory senses. I found the audience to be highly responsive when it came to answering questions, which was an enormous relief, and I was extremely glad of their generous participation. This sparked new comments and ideas that I had previously not considered, and found myself feeling confident when giving my opinions on the subsequent topic. Whilst reviewing my personal performance, I was quite pleased to learn how coherent and professional I behaved. I found myself adopting a similar style to what a teacher might take and actively embracing the different social norms and expectations which apply to such a role. I have learnt that it is important to be concise in the message that you are trying to encode, in order to ensure that it is decoded correctly, that is in the desired way. In order to improve my presentation, I would have shortened the length of the video clip. This is because it seemed to consume quite a large part of my presentation, although it did prove quite thought provoking and accurately summarised all of the ideas that I had presented to the group. In conclusion, I believe my presentation was a complete success as I managed to effectively communicate with the audience, removing any barriers to communication that might exist, and remained in a total sense of self-control throughout. ...read more. The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our AS and A Level Social Psychology section. Found what you're looking for? • Start learning 29% faster today • 150,000+ documents available • Just £6.99 a month Not the one? Search for your essay title... • Join over 1.2 million students every month • Accelerate your learning by 29% • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month See related essaysSee related essays Related AS and A Level Social Psychology essays 1. Enter Achilles (DV8) Review - Laura Mathis glasses, lifting them up and bringing them to their lips - sometimes crouched, sometimes missing their mouths but always portraying the simple action of drinking and always, ultimately portraying the behaviour of a typical 'man'. Meanwhile, an unshaven twenty something, sporting nothing but a pair of boxer shorts pulls his 2. Psychology Questions Ansewered [ note if you did not have four points, you could just use the strength and the limitation of the same one.] Only so much can be captured using second hand communication-it is limiting-give an example from the study where this could have occurred, I underlined that to say it 1. Psychology Phobias Coursework These results indicate that the alternative hypothesis was correct. The animal which had the highest rating for both fear and whether the animal is likely to bite you was the crocodile. "Is it ugly? E.g. is the animal unpleasant to look at" mean response From the graph above, correlating fear (Y) 2. conjugal roles In this chapter I will be displaying my results and explaining them in a way that is easy to understand. I will do this by using pie charts as I believe they present the information in the easiest simplest way so you can extract the information without any trouble. • Over 160,000 pieces of student written work • Annotated by experienced teachers • Ideas and feedback to improve your own work
• Join over 1.2 million students every month • Accelerate your learning by 29% • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month What impression does Dickens give us of Coketown and its people in Hard Times? Extracts from this document... What impression does Dickens give us of Coketown and its people in Hard Times? Firstly, Dickens' crude choice of names for the characters reveals much about their individual personalities. 'Gradgrind', the schoolteacher, epitomises Dickens' disapproval of his contemporary educational system, which was based on the principle that 'facts are knowledge'. The name metaphorically suggests that he is grinding down his pupils' imagination and replacing it with facts in their memory. The name also holds connotations of the gradual, repetitive motion of grinding which mirrors the dull, repetitive manner in which he teaches his pupils. Also, the name 'Gradgrind' is composed of hard sounding syllables, giving the impression he has an unfriendly nature and is unapproachable. Gradgrind's bland name suggests that he himself has been ground down by the nature of the society he now promotes. 'The M'Choakumchild school' emphasises the hated impression of school in the nineteenth century. Corporal punishment is frequently seen in Dickens' contemporary schools and here, the name holds exaggerated implications, to the extent of death. ...read more. The connotations are that Coketown is not a safe place to be and that it is full of danger. Dickens goes on to emphasise the devastation caused by the industrial age, saying 'It was a town of red brick, or of brick what would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it'. This emphasises the domination of industry over Coketown, suggesting that the smoke has affected the physical appearance of the town. Also, the fact that the smoke does not 'allow' this to change suggests that the smoke has some sort of control over Coketown and that even if the people wanted rid of it they could not do so, emphasising the necessity of industry in Coketown. Unfortunately for the inhabitants, Coketown is fuelled by industry and would therefore be nothing without it. To exaggerate how unpleasant and oppressing the effects of industry are, Dickens makes use of the different senses. For example, the description of the smoke and ash from the industrial work covering the buildings. ...read more. Coketown only contains that which is necessary to allow it to run, it is a utilitarian town. The 'fancy' has been removed from Coketown. Dickens continues to criticise the ways of nineteenth century society, saying '... the jail might have been the infirmary, the infirmary might have been the jail...' Dickens' use of juxtaposition creates a dramatic comparison as the two buildings are effectively opposites. Coketown is illustrative of all towns in the nineteenth century, in Dickens' view. Through the exaggerated description of uniformity, he is telling how the society in which he lived was in fact a very tedious and unpleasant one. Throughout the text, Dickens skilfully uses key words and phrases to continue the emphasis he is placing on the uniformity of Coketown. He uses forceful language to develop the point being made, 'you saw nothing in Coketown but what was severely workful'. Other key images with further meaning are also used to create emphasis and provoke thought from the audience, 'in severe characters of black and white'. The 'black and white' are used to represent the blandness of Coketown as well as emphasise the importance of fact. Georgia Reeve 1 ...read more. The above preview is unformatted text Found what you're looking for? • Start learning 29% faster today • 150,000+ documents available • Just £6.99 a month Not the one? Search for your essay title... • Join over 1.2 million students every month • Accelerate your learning by 29% • Unlimited access from just £6.99 per month See related essaysSee related essays Related GCSE Hard Times essays 1. Compare and Contrast Dickens's picture of Coketown with Lodge's introduction to the industrial environment ... Most of the mechanized account and in particular p.20 creates such an impression on the reader to think this. Dickens believed that this was a brutal world where everything is "measured by figures" in a Gradgrind gospel of "Fact". He has written a satire against the foundation and the constitutions of Industrial Society. 2. How appropriate is the title of Frayn's text Spies? Within Frayn's enigmatic and richly ... When Stephen discovers the box in the tunnel, he finds that 'there's no trace of any light reflected from the bottom of the box.' He looks into sheer 'blackness.' This is a metaphor for the overwhelming depth and complexity of his fear. 1. analysis of hard time by charles dickens He has an imposing figure and his entire body is oversized, swelled and overweight. He calls himself a "self-made man" and he always tells his friends (the Gradgrinds, primarily) stories of how he grew up in the most wretched conditions. 2. What does Dickens have to tell us about education in Hard Times and how ... I say this, as he didn't marry Mrs Gradgrind because he loved her he married her because she is weak, feeble and won't disagree with Mr Gradgrind. The reader knows this as she has said plenty of times "My poor head continually wearing me out." 1. Y10 English Literature Coursework Dickens then describes Gradgrinds 'the speaker's square forefinger.' Anything that is square is usually hard and rigid. A square is opposite to a circle and describes people who are out of the times, in others words, old-fashioned. From this, the new repetition word is 'sqaure'. This shows they were taught in a military style. Dickens introduces Bitzer and Sissy to show a contrast, and the effects of the education system. Sissy is from the circus and Bitzer has been in the school all his life. Bitzer is the model pupil. "His skin was so unwholesomely deficient in the natural tinge.... He would bleed white." 1. Charles Dickens - A disscussion on &quot;HardTimes&quot;. At the centre of it all is Mr.Gradgrind, who controls the lives of his children, Sissy and Bitzer, in a way that the readers can tell is wrong by the way Dickens uses imagery and symbolism to describe him. For instance, in the first chapter the simile, "like the crust 2. Compare and contrast the way in which particular aspects of education are presented in ... Mr. M'Choakumchild automatically backs up Gradgrind's 'suggestions' regarding facts. Gradgrind is a man of very harsh realities and "proceeds upon the principle that two and two are four and nothing else". Dickens states in Hard Times that the schoolmaster, Mr. M'Choakumchild, along with another one hundred and forty schoolmasters, had been taught everything there is to know. • Over 160,000 pieces of student written work • Annotated by experienced teachers • Ideas and feedback to improve your own work
Phyl 1000 Only available on StudyMode • Download(s) : 28 • Published : May 23, 2013 Open Document Text Preview Neural Reflexes * all neural reflexes begin with stimulus that activates sensory receptor * receptor sends info in form of AP through sensory neurons to CNS * CNS: integrating center that evaluates all incoming info and selects appropriate response * Initiates AP in efferent neurons to direct response of muscles or glands (effectors) * Negative feedback: * Feedback signals from muscle or joint receptors keep CNS continuously informed of changing body position * Feedforward: * Component that allows body to anticipate stimulus and begin response Neural Reflex Pathways Can Be Classified in Different Ways * reflex pathways in NS consist of chains or networks of neurons that link sensory receptors to muscle or glands * classified in several ways: 1. efferent division of NS that controls the response/effector a. somatic motor neurons control skeletal muscles b. autonomic neurons control smooth and cardiac muscles, glands, and adipose tissue 2. CNS location where reflex is integrated (integrating region within CNS) c. Spinal reflexes don’t require input from brain – may be modulated by higher input from brain but integrated in spinal cord d. Cranial reflexes are integrated within brain 3. Whether reflex is innate or learned (time at which reflex develops) e. Innate (inborn) reflexes are genetically determined Ex. Knee jerk rxn f. Learned (conditioned) reflexes are acquired through experience Ex. Pavolv’s dogs 4. Number of neurons in reflex pathway g. Monosynaptic reflexes – have only 2 neurons: one afferent (sensory) and one efferent. Only somatic motor reflexes can be monosynaptic h. Polysynaptic reflexes include 1+ interneurons between afferent and efferent neurons. All autonomic reflexes are polysynaptic because they have 3 neurons: one afferent and 2 efferent * divergence: of pathways allows single stimulus to affect multiple targets * convergence: integrates input from multiple sources to modulate the response * maybe involved in excitation of inhibition * aka visceral reflexes: often involved internal organs of body * some are spinal reflexes: urination and defecation * often modulated by excitatory or inhibitory signals from brain carried by descending tracts from higher brain centers * ex. Urination: voluntarily initiated by conscious through or may be inhibited by emotion or stressful situation * often higher control of a spinal reflex is learned response * ex. Toilet training * other autonomic reflexes are integrated in brain, primarily in hypothalamus, thalamus and brain stem * contain centers that coordinate body functions need to maintain homeostasis: HR, BP, breathing, eating, water balance, body temp * brain stem: * contains integrating centers for autonomic reflexes * salivating, vomiting, sneezing, coughing, swallowing, gagging * interesting type of autonomic reflex = conversion of emotional stimuli into visceral responses * limbic system-site of primitive drives: sex, fear, rage, aggression and hunger- has been called “visceral brain” due to role in emotionally driven reflexes * ex. Gut feelings, butterflies in stomach * urination, defecation, blushing, blanching, piloerection: tiny muscles in hair follicles pull shaft of hair erect * all polysynaptic, with at least 1 synapse in CNS between sensory neuron and preganglionic autonomic neuron and additional synapse in ganglion between perganglionic and postganglionic neurons * characterized by tonic activity: continuous stream of AP that creates ongoing activity in effectors * ex. Tonic control of blood vessels * receptors that sense changes in joint movements, muscle tension, muscle length fee this info to CNS which... tracking img
Why Mexicans celebrate ‘St. Patrick’s Day’ in September Posted on: 6th March, 2014 Category: Features Contributor: West Cork People Francisco Rebollo, a Mexican living in Timoleague, West Cork, has been fascinated with the history of these Irish soldiers since, as a young boy he stumbled upon a stone plaque erected in memory of these men in Mexico City. Francisco shares his experience tracing this fascinating connection between Ireland and Mexico. John Patrick Riley (Seán Pádraic Ó Raghallaigh), (c. 1817 – August 1850), a United States Army private, was one of the several hundred immigrant Catholic Irishmen who defected from the US Army and formed the Saint Patrick’s Battalion to fight for Mexico in the 1846-48 Mexican-American War. Inside the sprawling monster of overpowering urban chaos that is my native Mexico City, there is a small neighbourhood that has been bypassed by time. About 10km southwest of the Mexican capital´s historic city centre, old ‘San Jacinto’ square hides an Irish-Mexican secret. Having grown up in Mexico City, it was around this neighbourhood that I once discovered something that seemed quite unique to me. Years later, on a short family visit away from my adoptive Ireland, I set out to find my earliest connection with Ireland. Francisco Rebollo pictured in front of the memorial plaque to the foreign soldiers of the ‘Batallon de San Patricio’ who died defending Mexico over 160 years ago. Surrounding the square are old buildings that date all the way back to the 1500s, back to the time when the small church of ‘San Jacinto’ was founded by Dominicans under the Spanish crown’s orders. It hits me again like so many years ago, that the secret this square hides is that many Irishmen once died here; in this unlikely and peaceful place. I cross the quiet cobblestones and stand face to face with ‘la placa’ as it is locally known. It is the stone slab in honour of the ‘San Patricios’ that is, the humble memorial plaque to the foreign soldiers of the ‘Batallon de San Patricio’ who died defending Mexico over 160 years ago. An eagle holding a snake in its beak perched upon a Celtic cross crowns the stone rectangle, underneath it, a number: ‘1847’; further down are 71 names, by far mostly Irish; but there are a few English and German names also. One name precedes all others: ‘Captain John Reily’. The stone is worn and for a moment I think there might be a misspelling, I question my knowledge of the spelling for the surname. Is it ‘Reily’ or ‘Reilly’? It actually looks like the stonemason tried both spellings. As I work my way down the names, I find an inscription in Spanish ‘…with the gratitude of Mexico.’ Going by the date of 1847 it’s easy to remember why so many Irishmen were away from their country, but why would they have defended Mexico’s homeland from invasion by the US army? This was a question I asked myself years ago; a question, which in turn might have led me to Ireland itself. I move out of the way of some tourists who walk past and completely miss the slab, then I spot something new to me; across the street, facing the memorial on the edge of the square itself is a copper bust; the face looks Irish. Underneath the bust is a neat rectangular space that seems to have once housed a copper sign about a foot by a foot and a half. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry: Someone has ripped off Reily’s inscription! Looking around, I feel the need to confirm the bust’s identity. If I remember correctly, John Reily was from Galway; a professional soldier; a veteran of the British army, then the US army and finally of the Mexican army; he was the leader of the deserters who made-up St. Patrick’s Battalion. As I return my gaze to his face after scanning an empty street. I remember that he was spared the fate of his men after the war, now I can’t remember why. I enquire at a nearby art gallery. I find a kind smile at a counter. ‘Yes, that’s Reilly.’ After a quick few pleasantries I find the kind lady who is part-owner of the gallery is full of information; I pump. ‘This building was originally the church’s granary. During the war of 1847 it was an army barracks, and the San Patricios’ HQ.’ I explain my interest in the subject to her by saying that I’m a Mexican who emigrated to Ireland a long time ago, and that as a youngster I found the stone slab outside on her wall and since then I’ve been keen to learn about and spread the story of the Irish soldiers who fought for Mexico. Her next sentence shows me how little I know about the subject. ‘They were hung right outside. Down in the centre of the square, where the arch and the fountain now stand…’ I walked right past that. I refocus and try to bring up facts long unchecked: ‘I thought they were brought to the castle of Chapultepec to be hung…’ ‘No, walk around down there, there are a few inscriptions here and there, on metal signs put up by different people through the years, the stone slab outside this building was only put there only the 1950s, the local authority asked the neighbours if they would like to house the San Patricios’ slab and the former owner of this building agreed… he’s long passed.’ I sense the nice lady is feeling anxious to tend to some more tourists, I grab an image of the Virgen of Guadalupe — my agnosticism does not apply to ‘la Virgencita’ — I pay cash; I don’t want her to feel like she wasted her time with me. ‘Come back on September 12, they bring an Irish pipe band and a Mexican brass band. There are speeches and everything!’ I smile a confused smile and say: ‘okay, gracias!’ September 12? That must be the day the hangings happened; because it sure isn’t St. Patrick’s Day! I think to myself. Gladly surprised to hear there is more of an effort made for the San Patricios than when I was growing up here, I leave her delightful gallery determined to find the inscriptions she mentioned. I walk back past Reily and his fiery-friendly countenance, my long shadow precedes me riding on the sunrays that weave through the trees in the warm afternoon haze, at one of the walkway entrances to the plaza I find one of the metal signs she mentioned. Worn by the years, it tells a tale of General Santa Anna — yes, the same Mexican strongman who lost Texas 10 years before the San Patricios defended Mexico. According to the sign, Santa Anna looked on from a nearby hill as the battle raged here and chose not to aid the defenders even though it looked desperate for them. Sounds like the Santa Anna I once learned about in school. I read on and find something even worse, I feel freezing in spite of the balmy afternoon: ‘…after the battle was lost, the invaders flogged and then hung some of the vanquished defenders from the trees lining the square.’ I read on: as soon as the invaders withdrew from the plaza, the local people cut the trees down from which the Irish soldiers had been hung; such was their disgust at the mass execution. The picture was becoming clear now, San Patricios were flogged or hung because they had deserted from the US army and chosen to fight for Mexico’s cause. Not far away, I can see the centre of the plaza where a stone fountain drips a few drops and an old arch covers a small bandstand on which children play chasing each other, tripping on to the ground with dusty knees and dimpled cheeks. I look around me, if those who were hung here were to return to this place today, I think they would be pleased to see that people here still remember what happened, that children still play freely here and that their adopted country calls them heroes. Hours of research leave me with a sense of outrage that the San Patricios’ story is not more widely known. In spite of a few Hollywood films, a handful of excellent books on the Mexican-American war and several tribute YouTube videos; it seems to me that the most important question remains unanswered: Why did these Irishmen desert the US army for the Mexican army? It seems to me there were three main reasons: 1. The Irish immigrants were ill-treated in the US army where they were seen as different; some authors claim that they were not allowed to practice their Catholic religion. I think this intolerance would seem highly offensive to them, considering that it is estimated that Irish immigrants made-up a considerable portion of the invading US army, some say close to 50 per cent. 2. The Mexican government offered them incentives such as land if they switched sides. A clever move by the Mexican government who knew the background of the Irish immigrants; however, I would criticise the Mexican government of the time as — with the benefit of historical hindsight — we can spot the hypocrisy of a ruling class which had seized land from its own rebel citizens not too many years previously in Zacatecas for standing up against centralised control. 3. The Irishmen were uncomfortable with the US army’s treatment of the Mexican population. One can only shiver while thinking of how on earth, the treatment under the US army occupiers could have been even worse than the treatment of the Mexican population under their own despotic military rulers. Whichever way, the words of Ulysses S. Grant, who served the US in Mexico under General Taylor, — and who would one day become president of the United States of America — give us a clue that the San Patricios were men of principle: “(The invasion of Mexico) was an instance of a republic (the US) following the bad example of European monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory.” Ulysses S. Grant’s memoirs, 1885. Grant also drew a connection between the Mexican-American war and the fratricidal American Civil War, which came 14 years later: “The Southern rebellion was largely the outgrowth of the Mexican war. Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions. We got our punishment in the most sanguinary and expensive war of modern times.” Ulysses S. Grant’s memoirs, 1885. This quote, and the claim by author James Callaghan that some of the non-Irish San Patricios included actual American citizens — among them runaway slaves from the southern states- makes me think that the San Patricios were ahead of their times in becoming objectors of conscience, soldiers who fought for ideals and preferred to defend rather than to attack. Mexico had abolished slavery when it achieved independence from Spain in 1821. I think that not only their religion but also their ideals were very important to these men. Why else would they join the losing side? Maybe the San Patricios could see where it was all going. It is a fact that the outcome of the war with Mexico strengthened the hand of the pro-slavery faction in the US by adding territory to which slavery could be extended, as it had happened in Texas previously. Interestingly, at the time, the war against Mexico was deeply unpopular in the US itself. American author, philosopher and abolitionist Henry David Thoreau was jailed for his refusal to pay taxes to support the war, and penned his famous essay ‘Civil Disobedience’ motivated by his opposition to the war against Mexico. The sixth president of the United States of America John Quincy Adams was among the first to voice his concern that war with Mexico would eventually add new slavery territory to America. In light of the ‘San Patricios’ story and from an Irish perspective it is interesting that the very concept of ‘Manifest Destiny’ which later fuelled the belligerent expansion of the US into Mexico was coined by American columnist John L. O’Sullivan; a man of obvious Irish ancestry. As Irishmen, I also wonder what went through the San Patricios’ minds as they opened fire upon their own fellow immigrant sons of Erin, fighting on the US side of the conflict. The San Patricios were an artillery battalion of fearsome reputation. In the vastness of Irish involvement in world events, the memory of men who chose to defend a losing side stands proudly as an example of discerning men who true to their own sense of freedom and principles brought a little dignity to a devastated —yet courageous —Mexican defence force. I would question the morality of those who would pass sentence on the San Patricios. Death by hanging was not the adequate punishment for a deserter in those days in the US army. They were denied the relative dignity that the ‘articles of war’ stipulated at the time: the firing squad. To me, the fact that the high command hung the men is a reflection of how meaningful the San Patricios’ choice was. According to author Peter F. Stevens, over 5,000 US soldiers deserted during the war, others cite official reports, putting the figure closer to 9,000…Out of a total of approximately 40,000 regular US troops. Seems to me that the San Patricios started somewhat of a revolution, in that sense they must have felt right at home in Mexico. John Reily was one of the first to desert the US army; he actually did so in 1846; before the imminent war with Mexico began, thereby influencing hundreds of others to do the same through his personal charisma. That was the only reason why he didn’t hang with his men. Instead, he was flogged and his face branded like an animal, then made to dig his men’s graves. After the war Reily was freed by the US and he continued to serve in the Mexican army. Stevens quotes John Riley as once saying: ‘…a more hospitable or friendlier people…than the Mexicans there exists not on the face of the earth…’ Considering what he did and suffered for the people he praises, his words are an example of humility and loving kindness. It is this Irish trait, which is celebrated on September 12 every year on that tiny Mexican plaza on the ‘Dia del Batallon de San Patricio.’ I imagine what that stolen copper plate might have read underneath his gaze, staring at the names of his men on that slab of stone in San Jacinto square… Latest News Articles: Global Shares to create 80 new jobs Ford 100 Fest on Ford family farm to mark 100 years of Ford in Ireland A Taste of West Cork Food Festival launches delectable programme Healing with a harp Plan the perfect wedding day at the Fota Island Resort Wedding Forum Clutching at straws for Coalition Lee’s and Nils: West Cork clubs in the city The walk of a lifetime West Cork farmers take gold at National Farmer of the Year Awards Shining success for Union Hall Centra store at 2017 Quality Awards Join us on Facebook This year Wild Atlantic Tag sponsored by Marine Harvest will take place in Adrigole on Saturday August 5th. All are welcome, whether you are a team entry or an individual looking to join a team. The teams will be divided into two sections, Social & Seriously Social! Please contact Sean (0879568363) or Joey (0879865827) to register. It promises to be great craic with plenty of refreshments available pre and post-match! Fantastic local musician Eoghan McEllhenny will entertain the rugby masses from 4.30pm followed by Peadar O’Callaghan and renowned Natural Gas will round off the night from 9.30pm! ... See MoreSee Less 14th July, 2017 · A woodland walk will take place on the 22nd June at 7pm in Glengarriff Nature Reserve. This is a great opportunity to learn about woodlands, their plants and wildlife and is an opportunity not to be missed. Glengarriff Nature Reserve was designated as a Nature reserve in 1991, and covers over 300 acres in size. It is a beautiful and unique woodlands containing many different habitats and is owned and managed by NPWS primarily for conservation and amenity purposes. The event is led by National Parks Ranger Clare Heardman and has been organised by Cork Nature Network For further information please contact events@corknaturenetwork.ie ... See MoreSee Less 19th June, 2017 · Union Hall lifeboat Station are looking for a volunteer lifeboat training coordinator. See poster for details. ... See MoreSee Less 13th June, 2017 · Jump to:
callout background Callout Image 1 Callout Image 2 Get started now - download the Top 10 European diet secrets for free!! « All Posts‹ PrevNext › Dead Men Smell No Tales Nov. 3, 2014\|209 views 4504771449 cf442c9011 Spread An astonishing new report has concluded that elderly people who lose their sense of smell are not long for this earth. The National Social Life, Health and Aging Project [NSHAP] began in the mid-2000s. It is an ongoing study of more than 3,000 older Americans (57-85 years of age in 2005). Five years later, investigators looked at this group again, looking for any signs that might have been used to predict the onset of death. Doctors use numerous “biomarkers” to detect disease, or the risk of disease. A biomarker is usually a substance that can be isolated from the blood, urine, or other body fluids. Biomarkers are usually proteins, although not necessarily. They provide useful information about current and future health. The hemoglobin A1c test, for example, evaluates a protein that signals poor blood sugar control. It for can be used to detect high blood sugar and monitor its control. If blood sugar levels remain high or otherwise out of control, doctors can predict with some accuracy how this may impact a patient’s health and prognosis. Investigators are always on the lookout for new biomarkers that may signal pending disease, or even death. But not all such signposts are proteins circulating in the bloodstream. The research confirms what has been suspected for some time: The loss of the sense of smell (olfactory function) among the elderly is closely associated with pending death. Loss of the sense of smell is not uncommon among the elderly and frail. The researchers discovered that people suffering from a total loss of the sense of smell are three times more likely to die than similarly-aged people whose sense of smell is still intact. People with diminished sense of smell are also more likely to die, in a “dose-dependent” fashion. This means that the worse the sense of smell, the more likely an individual is to die soon. These relationships remained firmly in place even after investigators allowed for a number of possible confounding factors, such as nutrition, mental health, smoking, or alcohol abuse. “Olfactory function is thus one of the strongest predictors of 5-year mortality and may serve as a bellwether for slowed cellular regeneration or as a marker of cumulative toxic environmental exposures,” investigators concluded. Pinto JM1, Wroblewski KE2, Kern DW3, Schumm LP2, McClintock MK3. Olfactory dysfunction predicts 5-year mortality in older adults. PLoS One. 2014 Oct 1;9(10):e107541. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0107541. eCollection 2014. Tags: health tips, genetics
Many of the words considered in these posts are from A Dictionary of the Choctaw Language by Cyrus Byington. It is a Choctaw lexicon that was collected over the course of Byington’s near 50 years of missionary work in Mississippi from 1819-1868. Choctaw people named a lot of stuff for him, and yet it is hard to know how many of the words were distinctly Choctaw, or were not, or in either case, have unique and traceable or untraceable etymologies. A look at most pages will show words that were created as descriptive names for English words, like to help make a translation of the New Testament. Some words come from diverse Choctaw dialects that don’t exist today, but the words still do. There are quite a few cognates that were derived from other languages, and ironically, it’s harder to know this when they are derived from other North American languages. Most importantly, there are so many words that were not influenced by other languages even if they rarely see the light of day. Luckily, there are some specific examples of all these types of lexemes in the Byington Dictionary, that even come with etymological notes of explanation. And this is what makes things fun. At this point in time, some words in Byington could be considered extinct, in that they will likely never return to use in the living language, most probably because they were never colloquial. But other words really need to be revitalized, which is a big part of reversing a language from its decline. So, as a language revitalizer, the more time spent with the Byington dictionary makes it clear that it is still vital because it provides a tool for reclaiming Choctaw words; it provides a jumping off point for discourse; and there is still plenty to be researched and considered within it. Now jump ahead 100+ years, from when the edited version of the Byington dictionary was published by Swanton and Halbert in 1915. You will be pleased to know that plenty of lexicography work continues to be done for Choctaw. It is the opinion of this writer that no matter what, new glossaries or lexicons need to be accompanied with audio samples of the words, spoken by fluent speakers, and preferably, contextualized (see rant below). So, because this writer is involved in that activity in Mississippi, it is now time to share a newer lexicon: Chahta Anno̱pa Áyikhana: Teaching Dictionary, Trial Edition. This will be helpful for readers who are not as familiar with the modern Choctaw alphabet. It is a trial edition so if you have helpful input or insights your feedback is appreciated. Our goal, is that in less than 100 years, all the words and phrases in this dictionary will be available with audio samples, or, in other more interactive digital forms (hint, hint). The two lexicons paired here will be the primary sources for these posts. This is noted because, even as the writer may be conducting an analysis of lexemes from Byington, the Choctaw has likely been transliterated to match the orthography used in the modern dictionary. Examples of this type of transliteration are on the Transliteration page under Choctaw Primer. Rant: Additionally, colloquialisms, namely contractions, need to be better documented. They are how the language has evolved, and so formal constructions of complex phrases really do not help language learners become conversant, because fluent speakers do not talk that way to each other.
Should the watermelon be renamed? 2 12 2012 The watermelon; a large, round, pink fruit. Yes PINK fruit, yet its name is the WATERmelon. Water is clear, not orange or purple or PINK! This name, ‘watermelon’ gives a completely wrong perception of the fruit. People would imagine a clear fruit or even a blue fruit because of the colour of the sea. This is not what they get; they get a sphere with an outer shell of green and an inside of pink! Ridiculous! The colour of a fruit can very much determine if a person will buy or eat it. Imagine walking around in a store one day – looking for some fruit to eat. You read the name, “Watermelon.” You think it sounds interesting. A clear fruit! You think, How odd – I might just buy it to experience eating a nearly invisible fruit! But little did you know when you arrived home, all excited to eat your invisible fruit; you slice it open and find that it is not clear. It was not clear at all! It was PINK! Can you imagine the disappointment you would feel? Enough on colour, there are plenty of other reasons why the watermelon should be renamed. What about its taste? It’s full of sugar – completely different to water. Water is a plain taste, a taste you can’t even really taste. A taste that can in no way be even remotely related to that of the watermelon. Why on earth was it named the watermelon in the first place? It’s juicy enough to be called a juice-melon, and sweet enough to be called a sweet-melon! So why a WATERmelon? The person who thought up the name must be very odd, thinking up a name so utterly different from the actual fruit! The watermelon should not have ever been called the watermelon. By Anette Palm oil 20 06 2011 The Palm Oil industry is the biggest oil industry in the world. Palm oil is used worldwide in just about everything we eat. Palm oil comes from a special type of palm tree. This palmtree only grows in tropical regions such as Indonesia and Malaysia. The reason why palm oil is so popular is that it has a very high boiling temperature which means it can be used at places like McDonalds. They cook with the same batch of oil for five or six burger runs without changing the oil. Palm oil is used i n one in ten supermarket products. Nowthat may not seem bad but because it is used in many products the demand for this oil is so high the palm oil industry has to plant more palm trees than ever before, in turn destroying the natural environment. As the palm tree produces the fruit that holds the oil only every seven years, planting more trees attempts to meet the demand. This demand is so high that the industry has to remove the natural habitat at the rate of 300 football fields an hour, seven days a week. There is no regard for the animals or the natural eco system and now over half of the animals in Borneo are either extinct or critically endangered. There are so many different products that involve palm oil it is ridiculous. The outrageous thing is palm oil is not necessarily called palm oil – it is often found as vegetable oil. This means that consumers don’t know where the oil has come from or how it has been produced. They fail to see the destructive element of having this product. It is only in the past three years that more and more people are becoming aware of the issues with palm oil. Large companies like KFC have now stopped using palm oil in their products. Ironically the company Cadbury has just discovered the importance of palm oil and they are now using it to make their chocolate. I am now trying to avoid palm oil but it is very hard. I believe that we don’t need palm oil and should use it sparingly. I think food tastes better without having oil added to it. By avoiding great use of palm oil, we can all help to reduce the destruction of our environment and make the world a better place. Thai beef salad 29 04 2011 As I walked through the garden, my gaze was captured by a bright, beckoning fruit. I had never eaten this before; I never really knew why. I thought that I should finally use it in a dish. I reached forward to grab the brightest and ripest fruit. It had a smooth texture about it. Round and red like a cherry. I moved along the garden, towards a corner of greenery. Small leaves, dark green and fresh, tumbled into my basket. I kept walking through the garden, collecting as many items as I could, wandering back to my kitchen to create my soon to be delicious meal. As I slowly cut through the round red fruit, juice squeezed out pressuring seeds to fall onto the wooden chopping board. The texture, sweetness and scent of my tomato was perfect. I pulled out the freshly picked baby spinach leaves and tossed them around in water to clean them. I chopped a dark maroon onion and slowly chopped it up, receiving a slight sting along with tears. Finally I diced up my cucumbers. I tossed all of the vegetables into a bowl with the baby spinach and topped it off with succulent strips of Thai beef. I had created the perfect Eating Out? Where to Go! 27 07 2010 If you’re heading out for a meal you think, “Where to go and for what occasion? Do I try a food court? Do I try a fancy restaurant or a steak house?” This is a guide to help you with these tough decisions. If you’re going out for a meal with friends, try your local restaurant. Another option could be to try a bowling club or RSL. Most offer quite reasonable food and also have a bar. Chinese, Thai, Indian and Japanese restaurants, Yum Cha and Noodle bars offer tasty Asian cuisine and a very reasonable price. Most dishes are stacked onto the plate so you definitely get your money’s worth. Alternatively if you’re just heading home from work late at night or are leaving for work in the morning, it may be convenient to try a fast food restaurant. Most offer breakfast and most are open 24 hours. These are also a great idea for chilling with friends if you are under the age of 18. The food is not very “real” but boy does it come quickly. If you are looking for a romantic setting with a “special” friend, I’d recommend a flashy joint with outrageously high prices. I’d go for an expensive wine or Champaign and you MUST offer to pay for the meal. An evening meal is so much nicer than lunch. Order something that you can eat properly and finish. Don’t order the five kilo steak if you have a small stomach and don’t order creamy spaghetti if you have not yet mastered the art of eating sloppy food. If you have to use chopsticks, make sure you know how to use them. There is a meal for everyone, for all occasions, so choose wisely. By Will Food for Thought 22 06 2010 Whilst food can be a very fattening and unhealthy, it can also be a delicious source of energy and fibre. In a recent survey about food nutrition, 41% of respondents claimed that meal planning had a large effect on having healthy meals. For example, if you prepare what you are going to have for dinner the night before, you probably won’t resort to the last minute option of takeaway or other quick, easy but fattening dinners. You don’t even have to know in advance exactly what you’re going to cook in the evening as long as you prepare the fridge with the right sorts of products like salad ingredients. You can whip up anything quickly from nutritional tins of lentils and beans. Keep healthy cartons of homemade soup in the freezer. Have you ever wondered how long you could last without food? Well according to scientists it is possible to stay alive without food for as long as 60 days. But, without water, someone could not last more than 3-5 days. Food is an essential part of our daily life. We may as well make the most of it and prepare it properly. We can aim to have not only tasty snacks but healthy and nutritious meals too. Get yourself a recipe book of quick, healthy meals and you’ll be a popular cook in your household. 19 11 2009 Lavender is a great plant. This herb is grown for its scent foliage and flowers in the garden and there are 39 species in total. Lavender is a heavily branched short shrub that grows to a height of roughly 60 centimeters. The oil in lavender’s small, blue-violet flowers gives the herb its fragrant scent. It is used in many different ways for e.g. in soaps, shampoos, and sachets for scenting clothes. This herb is also considered a natural remedy for a range of ailments from insomnia and anxiety to depression and mood disturbances. Research has confirmed that lavender produces calming, soothing, and sedative effects. It is frequently used in baths to help purify the body and spirit. Lavender can be grown from seeds or cuttings. The best time to plant them in the garden is in the late spring or early summer, when the weather is warm. Lavender is a plant that likes full sun and prefers dry soil. Lavender is very low maintenance and only requires watering once to twice a week. Most lavender plants will only flower for around 3 years. Lavender also contains medicinal qualities that stimulate and improve health such as insomnia, alopecia (hair loss), anxiety, stress, postoperative pain, and as an antibacterial and antiviral agent. There is now scientific evidence to suggest that aromatherapy with lavender may slow the activity of the nervous system, improves sleep quality, promote relaxation, more stable mood, increased mental capacity, reduced anxiety and lift mood in people suffering from sleep disorders. You can buy lavender products such as aromatherapy oil, bath gels, extracts, infusions, lotions, soaps, teas, whole, dried flowers the list goes on. There are so many uses of lavender! Basic Lavender Bath Salt Recipe 2 Cups Epsom salt 2 Cups coarse salt or sea salt 5 Drops of lavender high grade essential oil 5 Drops of blue food coloring 4 Drops of red food coloring Ceramic or glass mixing bowl Combine all ingredients except food coloring and stir. When working with essential oils, always wear rubber gloves and work in a well-ventilated area. Combine both food colorings in a small dish and blend. Incorporate the food coloring into the salt mixture, stirring thoroughly. More coloring can be added if a deeper hue is desired. Spread bath salts on a length of wax paper to dry. If you are in a humid environment, the mixture can be placed on a lined cookie sheet and dried in an oven set on warm. The drier the salts are, the less likely they are to clump By Vivian Chia Seeds – What are they? 11 11 2009 Chia seeds are harvested from the Salvia hispanica plant, which is a type of sage in the mint family. These seeds are high in Omega-3 fatty acids and have a very versatile use in a range of foods. Chia seeds can be eaten raw, ground into a fine powder or soaked. Chia seeds are very absorbent they absorb nine times their weight in water and develop a gelatinous texture when soaked. Once soaked they will last up to two weeks in the refrigerator. Chia seeds have been recently named a ‘super food’ as they have many dietary benefits. They help the body to retain fluids and are full of hydrating minerals and proteins. They form a gel in your stomach that slows the conversion of carbohydrates to sugar, and it helps build muscle and other tissues. As they are full of antioxidants Chia seeds are useful for various different things such as weight loss, heart disease, diabetes, bone health and digestive disorders. You can add chia seeds to just about anything such as: on salads, in your favourite smoothie recipe or even in muffins or cookies. To make a chai drink you can use any juice or water in a 600ml water bottle • fill till it’s about half way with your juice or water • spoon in 1tp of chai seeds, shake vigorously for about 20 seconds • Fill the bottle till it is full. • Refrigerate overnight and in the morning your chai drink is ready to drink after just a little shaking of the bottle. • You may add more chai seeds if you would like and may eat up to 10-25 grams of your chai seeds throughout the day to ensure you are getting all the minerals your body needs. Now I can here you saying where can I get chai seeds from? You can order them online or get them from your local health food store. So I hope you enjoy the newly found “super food” on the market. By Vivian
Kyle Pitt's Portfolio Graphics and Design \| Chattahoochee High School The Gutenberg Press 1436 The way the Gutenberg Press worked was that first, ink was rolled over a raised surface of movable hand-set black letters that were held together in a wooden form. The form was then pressed against a sheet of paper. The Gutenberg Press is an example of letterpress printing. The image above is of the Gutenberg Press. Movable type is a method of printing that uses movable components to reproduce each elements that goes into a document. The image above is of movable type. Porous printing uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil. Intaglio printing is a printing technique in which an image is incised into a surface. Lithography is a printing method that requires the use of a stone or a metal plate with a completely smooth surface to print text or other designs onto paper or other similar materials. Offset lithography is a printing method in which an inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket and then to printing surface. Printing presses used today are similar to the Gutenberg Press. The image above is of an offset lithography press. CMYK is a subtractive color model. CYMK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and key, which is black. Four-color process printing is the printing process that utilizes the CMYK color model. It works by partially or completely masking colors on a white background. No Responses to “The Gutenberg Press 1436” Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s %d bloggers like this:
Noël Conruyt Learn More In this paper, we present two techniques for reasoning from cases: induction, and case-based reasoning. We compare and contrast the two technologies (that are often confused) and show how they complement one-another. We then describe how they can be integrated in a single platform for reasoning from cases: the INRECA system. 1 Introduction Currently, the(More) Nowadays, huge sheet music collections exist on the Web, allowing people to access public domain scores for free. However, beginners may be lost in finding a score appropriate to their instrument level, and should often rely on themselves to start out on the chosen piece. In this instrumental e-Learning context, we propose a Score Analyzer prototype in(More) Web applications and mobile tablets are changing the way musicians practice their instrument. Now, they can access instantaneously thousands of musical scores online and play them while watching their tablet, put on their music stand. However musicians may have difficulties in getting appropriate tips and advice to play the chosen piece correctly. This is(More)
Introduction to Cloud Computing You hear about the cloud on the TV, radio, and around work, but what is it. This introduction will help you wrap your head around the term “Cloud Computing”. Cloud has often been used as a marketing term and in network diagrams. Cloud wasn’t just formed, but has been around since the late 1970’s. With all of the new technology like smartphones, smart televisions, and tablets you can now use the cloud anywhere. We will start the introduction of cloud computing by understanding the definition. “Cloud computing is a model of enabling convenient, on demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.” Now you know the definition, but let us go a little deeper into what makes cloud computing work. How can cloud computing be deployed? As of now there is only three ways to deploy the cloud: Public cloud, Private cloud, and Hybrid cloud. Public cloud is where computer resources are being used for free or limited amount. Examples are E-Mail providers and sites like Instagram and Imgur. Private cloud is where the cloud infrastructure is not being shared for free by the organization. Example is CRM. Hybrid cloud is the combination of public and private cloud. Example is when you have five gigabytes free, but you have to pay for more than that. What are the models of cloud computing? The cloud has three service models SaaS (Software as a service), PaaS (Platform as a service), and IaaS (Infrastructure as a service. Let us dig deeper into the three service models. SaaS: Applications hosted by a provider on cloud infrastructure are accessed from thin or thick clients over the network or a program interface. Example for SaaS is the public Google Docs and private CRMs. PaaS: Providers deliver not only infrastructure but also middleware and solution stacks for application build, development and deploy. Example for PaaS is Microsoft Azure. IaaS: It is the delivery of computing infrastructure as a service. Example for IaaS is the Amazon cloud (Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)). Cloud computing is a marketing term that doesn’t describe a single thing. It is used as general term to sound simple for the consumers. You always want to know where your data is being located.
The Golden Age Of Nutrition Health Professionals Begin To Recognize Dietary Needs Of The Elderly. May 23, 1996\|By STEVEN PRATT and Chicago Tribune With all the research in the past two decades relating what we eat to our health, precious little of it has focused on the dietary needs of those at retirement age and older. Yet golden-agers are an increasingly larger segment of the population. While a library full of studies has examined things such as the effect of a low-fat diet on heart disease, cancer and other chronic ailments, most participants have been young or middle-age adults, says Susan B. Roberts, chief of the energy metabolism lab at the Department of Agriculture's Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston. But older people have some unique health requirements, researchers are discovering - requirements being emphasized on Wednesday, which is National Senior Health and Fitness Day. In seniors, physical activity as well as intake of vitamins, protein and other nutrients seem to play different roles than they do in younger adults. For example, calorie restriction seems to slow aging to some degree, says Roberts. For the elderly, getting fat doesn't necessarily mean gaining weight. As people age, they grow less active and their metabolism slows, so fat tends to replace the lean muscle tissue developed during younger years, especially when the diet stays the same. This can happen even if a person stays the same weight or loses a few pounds. Young bodies self-regulate food intake and energy expenditure - the more they eat, the more they tend to burn off - but the elderly may have problems with both, Roberts says. Ideally, older people should get the same or more nutrients on a diet that has fewer calories: That requires more nutrient-dense foods. There is more. Losing weight can be just as harmful as gaining it, she says. "A lot of elderly people - especially women - are pleased when they lose, but it's the last thing they should be doing," says Roberts. They need to maintain a stable weight for their stature and consume enough nutrients. Older people may need fewer calories and certainly less fat, but they require at least as much protein as when they were younger, says Carmen Castenada, another Tufts nutrition researcher. One irony, she says, is that the body needs calories to absorb protein. People on a low-fat diet, for instance, must get 12 percent to 16 percent of their calories as protein to be sure enough will be retained. One way to utilize protein, hold on to lean body mass and use up excess calories is through vigorous exercise. Resistance training such as weight lifting, even for 80-year-olds, will increase calories burned by about 15 percent and enable old people to lose fat while developing new muscle, according to studies by William Evans, director of the Noll Physiological Research Center at Penn State University in University Park. Evans recommends beginning by walking, then gradually increasing activity to climbing stairs, bicycling and more strenuous exercises. Sun Sentinel Articles
Caitlin Woolsey From Hst250 Jump to: navigation, search Wiki Article #2 Explanations of SOPA, PIPA, and Anonymous • SOPA and PIPA • SOPA and PIPA are bills that were designed to stop online piracy, and to protect intellectual property. They are essentially the same bill and are both designed to eliminate piracy, especially from foreign sites. The bills give power to the Office of the Attorney General, who can then take action against these foreign sites. The issue with this comes with what could be considered a foreign site. Under the bill the site is domestic if it has a domestic domain name. Sites that are “domestic” tend to have .org, .com, or .us, but that is not always indicative of if a site is actually domestic. For instance, The Pirate Bay has a .org domain, but is actually a foreign site, as it was created in and is from Sweden. However, under these guidelines, it is domestic. There is a lot of controversy as to whether these bills will help, or will limit the internet, because of how vaguely they are written. This could hurt small sites staring up because these bills are so general they could come at you for practically anything. So in a way these bills may end up creating censorship rather than eliminating piracy. • Anonymous • Anonymous is a collective of hackers. Famous for the use of the Guy Fawkes mask that was used in “V for Vendetta”(a movie that was anti-government). They use the internet as a tool to bring about change, bring things to light, or sometimes just mess around. The hacker collective work outside the law with the help of the internet. Anyone can be a part of Anonymous, they don’t have any center of command, or any guidelines, they just are. As The New Yorker article “The Masked Avengers” says “Anons tend to rebel against institutional structure”. Parts of Anonymous are more influential than others, and have had a hand recently in major changes in the global community. A few years back in Tunisia parts of the collective worked to help overthrow the dictator and to facilitate communications between members of the opposition. They came from humble origins, growing out of a site called 4chan that was made for entertainment. Anonymous and Internet Privacy In a direct act against SOPA and the closing down of the Megaupload file-sharing site, Anonymous led a serious of attacks on websites for organizations that were involved. The attack went as far as taking down the FBI’s website. They used distributed denial of service attacks, also known as DDoS. The attacks are not just limited to the United States and SOPA, but are worldwide, and on all similar instances where governments have tried to introduce anti-piracy measures that could be seen at limiting the internet. DDoS is not the only means of attack either, they say that they also have hacked into and stolen documents from countries like Poland. Edward Snowden's Influence on Internet Privacy Edward Snowden was a “contractor” working for the NSA as a systems administrator. He had access to many highly classified documents and programs that he felt needed to be shared with the public. These documents and programs showed that the government was closely watching and recording information about its citizens, without their knowledge. The government’s response was that they were doing these things to protect the people from acts of terror, and that in monitoring everything they could prevent terrorist attacks. Snowden felt it was important to let the people know that they had been misled by the government, and that the Iraq war was started on “false pretenses”. These false pretenses could again be used by the government to cause another conflict, and do further harm. While there are bills like PIPA and SOPA that are there to “protect” our intellectual property, the information released by Snowden shows that the government is also covertly taking that information from us. SOPA has also lead the way for other bills, like CISPA, which is supposed to protect not from piracy, but from “cyber threats”. However, they have the same impact in giving the government more power to regulate and control the internet, whether it’s stopping you from seeing something or taking personal information from you. Like SOPA and PIPA, CISPA in written in such a general way that it offers almost too much control to the government in deciding what is a threat, and what actions it can take against said threat. As time goes on the role the internet and technology play in our lives gets more expansive and complicated. With this expansion comes threats to peoples privacy and freedom by those who try to regulate the internet, and in some cases this threat comes from our government. Works Cited:
Loy Kratong Festival Sawatdee ka, Every year the Loy Kratong Festival falls on the full moon night of the twelfth lunar month, this year the festival falls on the 10th of November.The festival originally started from the Sukhothai period a symbolic tradition, as one floats away their Kratong at the same time it releases bad luck or vibes, as well as expressed apologies to the River Goddess Khong Kha. (เจ้าแม่คงคา) ลอย ‘Loy’ literally means ‘to float,’ while กระทง ‘kratong’ is the lotus-shaped receptacle which can float on the water. Originally, the kratong was made of banana leaves (ใบตอง [bai-dtong]) or the layers of the trunk of a banana tree or a spider lily plant. A kratong contains food, betel nuts, flowers, joss sticks, candle and coins. The making of a kratong is much more creative these days as many more materials are available. Where to celebrate If you are in the North of Thailand, you can join the spectacular occasion at Chiang Mai where it is specifically called Yee Peng (ยี่เป็ง) -floating of lanterns into the sky. Source: Thailand.com Let's keep in touch! 8 Responses to Loy Kratong Festival 1. alvin 17/11/2011 at 21:43 # สบายดีครู Mod ครับ ใช่ยี่เป็ง = ลอยกระทงรึเปล่าครับ Also, ครับผมจะถามว่า..เทศกาลนี้ คนไทยจะไม่ค่อยใช้คำทักทายใช่ไหมครับ 2. Leonid 11/11/2011 at 02:23 # Leave a Reply
Adjective "essayed" definition and examples Definitions and examples A short piece of writing on a particular subject. 1. 'Many of the essays are just too short to really get into the subject.' 2. 'Quentin Williams makes this point in a perceptive essay on painting and photography.' 3. 'In addition, he has published several books of essays, poems and photographs.' 4. 'Each section centers around a theme and is introduced with a short essay by one of the editors.' 5. 'He's since written many novels, and essays, and short stories.' 6. 'In writing essays, I only follow one rule, which is that all the information is independently verifiable.' 7. 'I think I did a reasonable science essay on house design.' 8. 'I won an award for a poem, and consistently scored really well for essays, short stories and other English stuff in high school.' 9. 'He has published essays, reviews and short stories in a number of journals and anthologies and is currently at work on a novel.' 10. 'This juxtaposition is a characteristic feature of George Eliot's essays and reviews.' An attempt or effort. 1. 'Tourism at its best is an attempt, an essay, and not all essays are trivial.' 2. 'The Prince Consort essay shown here can be regarded as the forerunner of later Victorian stamps.' Attempt or try. 1. 'The chief minister's younger son, Karan Pratap Singh, deftly essayed by Rohit Roy, is both feared and adored by his mother who sees him as both a liability and as her political heir.' 2. 'Nevin scampered for space and from 30 metres essayed a left-footed shot over the bar.' 3. 'For any sportsperson, the point of contact in essaying a stroke is the moment of joy.' 4. 'Born in December 1924, Ezekiel essayed many roles with energy and grace: poet, editor, art critic, playwright, teacher, and literary organiser.' 5. 'Rajkumar essayed the role of many a mythological character as well as historical figures.' 6. 'The Socialist Party alone seems to be essaying a relatively sophisticated campaign, and taking the trouble to tell voters who its candidates are.' 7. 'Some months ago, the Government essayed a crackdown on youths staying late at internet cafes.' 8. 'Subsequently, Beckham essayed a long, high shot but this one, in contrast to the one that made it into the net, was comfortably caught by Jones.' More definitions 2. anything resembling such a composition: a picture essay. 3. an effort to perform or accomplish something; attempt. 4. Philately. a design for a proposed stamp differing in any way from the design of the stamp as issued. 5. Obsolete. a tentative effort; trial; assay. verb (used with object) 6. to try; attempt. 7. to put to the test; make More examples(as adjective) "fields can be essayed." (essay)Late 15th century (as a verb in the sense ‘test the quality of’): alteration of assay, by association with Old French essayer, based on late Latin exagium ‘weighing’, from the base of exigere ‘ascertain, weigh’; the noun (late 16th century) is from Old French essai ‘trial’.
Index of Historic Collectors and Dealers of Cubism Duchamp, Marcel Blainville-Crevon, France, 1887–Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, 1968 Marcel Duchamp is widely considered to be one of the most important European artists of the twentieth century. He is known primarily for his invention of the “readymade” in 1915, in which an everyday object is proposed as a work of art. Duchamp notoriously withdrew from exhibiting and selling his artworks in the traditional circuits of the art world, and studiously avoided making a profit through his art. However, paradoxically, throughout his life he was involved directly in the art market as a dealer and adviser to collectors. Duchamp’s father was a notary public who encouraged his children’s artistic ambitions: Suzanne Duchamp, Jacques Villon, and Raymond Duchamp-Villon were all painters or sculptors. Rather than offer his children an inheritance, their father provided a modest allowance to support their art. Growing disillusioned by the Cubist milieu which he and his siblings frequented, in the early 1910s, Duchamp decided to support himself through work as a librarian and, later, an English teacher. At the same time he pursued artistic experiments known only to a small circle of supporters, including fellow artists from the European and American avant-gardes and certain trusted patrons such as the fashion designer Jacques Doucet and Americans including Walter and Louise Arensberg. Duchamp left Paris in 1915, partly due to his pacifism during World War I and partly due to the fact that his art was repeatedly suppressed by the Section d’Or cubists, including his brothers, Jean Metzinger and Albert Gleizes. When he arrived in New York, however, he discovered that he had become famous due to his painting Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) (1912; Philadelphia Museum of Art), which had caused a scandal when exhibited at New York City’s Armory Show of 1913. In 1915, Duchamp moved in with the Arensbergs, who were important patrons of modern art and hosted a legendary literary and artistic salon. Duchamp became their art advisor, and in this capacity, he helped the Arensbergs to build what was undoubtedly one of the preeminent American collections of European modernism, including works by Picasso, Georges Braque, Matisse, and Duchamp himself, among others. In 1950, with Duchamp’s help in negotiations, the Arensbergs donated their collection to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, making Philadelphia the site of the most important collection of works by Duchamp in the world. In 1916, while living in New York, Duchamp founded the Society of Independent Artists with Walter Arensberg, Katherine Dreier, Walter Pach, and others. Membership in this society, which could be purchased for $6, entitled artists to participate in society exhibitions, which had “no jury, no prizes.” On the occasion of the “First Annual Exhibition,” held in April–May 1917, Duchamp submitted, under the pseudonym Richard Mutt, his Fountain, 1917: an industrially-produced urinal that Duchamp had bought from a supplier, signed, and designed a work of art, as a means to test the limits of his own supposedly democratic art institution. After the predictable censorship of the Fountain, Duchamp resigned from his directorship in protest, closing an act that not only has gone down in history as one of the most important events of twentieth-century art history, but epitomized his ambivalent role within the institutions of art. When Duchamp’s father passed away in 1925, he discovered that, against expectations, he had inherited a small sum, which he used to purchase John Quinn’s collection of sculptures by Constantin Brancusi. Like other members of the avant-garde such as André Breton, Duchamp began to earn a modest living by making buying and selling modern art, all the while maintaining a strict separation between his speculative investments and his own artistic experiments. Perhaps Duchamp’s most important activity in the art world was his work for the Société Anonyme, founded with Dreier and Man Ray in 1920. For thirty years, the Société sponsored events and exhibitions and built a collection dedicated to expanding knowledge of modern art in America. While maintaining his critical stance with respect to the commodification of art, Duchamp was one of the most effective proselytizers for the cause of modern art and acted as an advisor to Peggy Guggenheim, Alfred H. Barr, and James Johnson Sweeney. Contributed by Trevor Stark, November 2016 For more information, see: Naumann, Francis. Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Making Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. New York: Harry Abrams Publishers, 1999. Nesbit, Molly. Their Common Sense. London: Black Dog Publishing, 2000. Schwarz, Arturo. The Complete Works of Marcel Duchamp. New York: Delano Greenridge Editions, 1997. The Alexina and Marcel Duchamp Papers and the Arensberg Archives are both held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the Bibliothèque Littéraire Jacques Doucet, Paris also holds a Duchamp archive.
Friday, March 7, 2008 From Wikipedia The term is usually used in the context of film and television. It is an informal, cross-over term that can apply to several genres but is most often heard in the context of historical dramas and romances, adventure films and swashbucklers. The implication is that the audience is attracted as much by the lavish costumes as by the content. The most common type of costume drama is the historical costume drama, both on stage and in movies. This category includes Barry Lyndon, Braveheart, Rob Roy, and Robin Hood. Plays that took place in the 1930s and 1940s, such as Last Man Standing, may also be placed in this category. This type of costume drama is usually shown as a movie or a TV series. Examples of this category include Marie Antoinette, Middlemarch, and Pride and Prejudice.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 Year 8 English Homwork 1. Complete your drawing of page 94 2. Read Las Cebollas page 100-120 3. Think about what we did in class today and pay close attention to the two passages we discussed: Image by malias Esperanza went to the washtub and hesitated, staring in to the water. Bits of onionskins floated on the surface of the soapy water. She held a corner of the diaper, lightly dipping it in and out of the water, her hand never getting wet. After a few seconds, she gingerly lifted the diaper from the water. “Now what?” She said. “Esperanza! You must scrub them! Like this.” Isabel walked over, took the diapers, and plunged them into the water up to her elbows. The water quickly became murky. She rubbed the diapers with soap, vigorously scrubbed them back and forth on the washboard, and wrung them out. Then she transferred them to the next tub, rinsing and wringing again. Isabel shook out the clean diapers and hung them on the line stretched between the chinaberry and mulberry trees. Image by kaiton In her entire life, Esperanza had never held a broom in her hand. But she had seen Hortensia sweep and she tried to visualize the memory. It couldn’t possibly be that hard. She put both hands near the middle of the broomstick and moved it back and forth. It swung wildly. The motion seemed awkward and the fine dirt on the wooden planks lifted into a cloud. Onion jackets flew in to the air instead of gathering together in a neat pile like Hortensia’s. Esperanza’s elbows did not know what to do. Neither did her arms. She felt streams of perspiration sliding down her neck. She stopped for a moment and stared at the broom, as if willing it to behave. Determined, she tried again. She hadn’t noticed that several trucks were already unloading workers nearby. Then she heard it. First tittering then louder. She turned around. A group of women were laughing at her. Now in a well thought out, emotional, personal blog post please answer the following questions: 1. How did you feel about this kind of work before you started? How have your feelings changed? 2. What did you learn about yourself while doing this kind of work? Was it easy? Was it difficult? 3. How did you feel while doing this work? Did you enjoy it? Were you proud? Were you embarrassed? Why? 1 comment: 1. I thought that it wasn’t that hard but whe we were doing it ourselves it was harder than I thought especially washing by hand. and it isn’t nice to have the smell of onions the hole time. I really enjoyed it but if i had to do it every day I wouldn’t like doing it anymore
Sunday, January 14, 2007 Hofmeyr skull supports the 'Out of Africa' theory: Dating of skull delivers the first fossil indicator that modern humans evolved in Africa. Earliest evidence of modern humans in Europe discovered by international team: Spread of modern humans occurred later than previously thought, profs say: The spread of modern humans out of Africa occurred 40,000 to 50,000 years later than previously thought, according to researchers including one Texas A&M University anthropologist. Exploring the molecular origin of blood clot flexibility: Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the School of Arts and Sciences have shown that a well-known protein structure acts as a molecular spring, explaining one way that clots may stretch and bend under such physical stresses as blood flow. This knowledge will inform researchers about clot physiology in such conditions as wound healing, stroke and cardiovascular disease. Brookhaven lab scientists stabilize platinum electrocatalysts for use in fuel cells: Platinum is the most efficient electrocatalyst for accelerating chemical reactions in fuel cells for electric vehicles. In reactions during the stop-and-go driving of an electric car, however, the platinum dissolves, which reduces its efficiency as a catalyst. This is a major impediment for vehicle-application of fuel cells.Now, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have overcome this problem. White blood cells in lung produce histamine seen in allergies: In a surprise finding, scientists have discovered that histamine, the inflammatory compound released during allergic reactions that causes runny nose, watery eyes and wheezing, can be produced in large amounts in the lung by neutrophils, the white blood cells that are the major component of pus. Gene that makes people 'early to bed and early to rise' demystified: The recent discovery that a mutant "clock" gene made some people "early to bed and early to rise," a condition known as familial advanced sleep phase syndrome (FASPS), offered one of the first glimpses into the genetic basis of sleep in humans. Now, researchers report in the Jan. 12, 2007, issue of the journal Cell, published by Cell Press, new evidence that helps to explain just how their bodies' natural alarm clocks get set to such an early wake-up time. Scientists discover new life forms in the Arctic Ocean: An international team of scientists, including Université Laval biologist Connie Lovejoy, has discovered new life forms in the Arctic Ocean. The team's findings are reported in the Jan. 12 edition of the journal Science. You still can't drink the water, but now you can touch it: Wheat can fatally starve insect predators: A newly identified wheat gene produces proteins that appear to attack the stomach lining of a crop-destroying fly larvae so that the bugs starve to death. The gene's role in creating resistance to Hessian flies was a surprise to US Department of Agriculture and Purdue University researchers, discoverers of the gene and its function. Why doesn't the immune system attack the small intestine?: Answering one of the oldest questions in human physiology, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have discovered why the body's immune system -- perpetually on guard against foreign microbes like bacteria -- doesn't attack tissues in the small intestine that harbor millions of bacteria cells. Tumor-suppressor gene is critical for placenta development: An important cancer-related gene may play a critical role in the development of the placenta, the organ that controls nutrient and oxygen exchange between a mother and her fetus during pregnancy, and perhaps in miscarriages. Those conclusions come from a new study of the retinoblastoma (Rb) gene in mice. In humans, this gene, when mutated, raises the risk of a rare cancer of the eye called retinoblastoma. Scientists discover new, readily available source of stem cells: Scientists have discovered a new source of stems cells and have used them to create muscle, bone, fat, blood vessel, nerve and liver cells in the laboratory. The first report showing the isolation of broad potential stem cells from the amniotic fluid that surrounds developing embryos was published today in Nature Biotechnology. Labels: , Post a Comment << Home
Friday, August 24, 2012 The Sri Lanka Junglefowl is the National Bird of Sri Lanka. Thursday, August 23, 2012 Platonic Solids Wednesday, August 22, 2012 Tuesday, August 21, 2012 Friday, August 10, 2012 A cockatrice is a legendary creature, essentially a two-legged dragon with a rooster's head. "An ornament in the drama and poetry of the Elizabethans", Laurence Breiner described it. It featured prominently in English thought and myth for centuries. The cockatrice was first described in its current form in the late twelfth century. The Oxford English Dictionary gives a derivation from Old French cocatris, from medieval Latin calcatrix, a translation of the Greek ichneumon, meaning tracker. According to Alexander Neckam's De naturis rerum (ca 1180), the cockatrice was supposed to be born from an egg laid by a cock and incubated by a toad; a snake might be substituted in re-tellings. It is thought that a Cock egg would birth a cockatrice, and could be prevented by tossing the yolkless egg over the family house, landing on the other side of the house, without allowing the egg to hit the house. Its reputed magical abilities include turning people to stone or killing them by either looking at them—"the death-darting eye of Cockatrice"—touching them, or sometimes breathing on them. It was repeated in the late-medieval bestiaries that the weasel is the only animal that is immune to the glance of a cockatrice. It was also thought that a cockatrice would die instantly upon hearing a rooster crow, and according to legend, having a cockatrice look itself in a mirror is one of the few sure-fire ways to kill it. Like the head of Medusa, the cockatrice's powers of petrification were thought still active after death. Thursday, August 9, 2012 Christmas Frigatebird The Christmas Frigatebird or Christmas Island Frigatebird (Fregata andrewsi) is a frigatebird endemic to the Christmas Islands in the Indian Ocean. Like other frigatebirds, this species does not walk or swim, but is a very aerial bird which obtains its food by picking up live prey items from beaches or the water surface, and the aerial piracy of other birds. It is estimated that the population of this species will decline by 80 percent in the next 30 years due to predation of the young by the introduced yellow crazy ant (Anoplolepis gracilipes), which has devastated the wildlife of the island, and has also killed 10–20 million Christmas Island red crabs. The adult male of this species is easily identified, since it is all black except for a white belly patch. Other plumages resemble those of the smaller Lesser Frigatebird, but have whiter bellies and longer white underwing spurs. The binomial of this bird commemorates the British palaeontologist Charles William Andrews. Wednesday, August 8, 2012 Ham is a cut of meat from the thigh of the hind leg of an animal, especially pigs. Nearly all hams sold today are fully cooked or cured. Ham is uncooked preserved pork. It is cured (a preservation process) usually in large quantities of salt and sugar. Then the ham is hot smoked (hung over a hot, smokey fire but out of direct heat) to preserve it more. This process keeps the pink hue of the uncooked meat. Standard pork, like chops, are raw and unpreserved. When heat is applied to the meat a chemical reaction happens that turns the hemoglobin white. This also happens when an acid is applied to meats. The pink color of ham develops in the curing process which involves salt and usually either nitrites or nitrates. The nitrate cure is used for product that will either be kept a long time or at room temperature like dry salami. Most hams are cured with nitrite and salt today. The cure prevents the growth of unhealthy or deadly bacteria before enough moisture is withdrawn by the salt. This is particularly important if the product is to be smoked above 40F when these bacteria grow. The "danger zone" for uncured product is between 40F and 140F. There is confusion in the words curing and brining. Brining is done with salt and usually sugar and only alters the product color a little. Curing is done with salt and nitrates. Sodium nitrite is used for the curing of meat because it prevents bacterial growth and, in a reaction with the meat's myoglobin, gives the product a desirable dark red color. Because of the toxicity of nitrite (the lethal dose of nitrite for humans is about 22 mg per kg body weight), the maximum allowed nitrite concentration in meat products is 200 ppm. Under certain conditions, especially during cooking, nitrites in meat can react with degradation products of amino acids, forming nitrosamines, which are known carcinogens.
Inter-Access Point Handoffs In a voice mobility network with Wi-Fi as a major component, we have to look at more than just the voice quality on a particular access point. The end-user of the network, the person with a phone in hand, has no idea where the access points are. He or she just walks around the building, going in and out of range of various access points in turn, oblivious to the state of the underlying wireless network. All the while, the user demands the same high degree of voice quality as if he or she had never started moving. So now, we have to turn our focus towards the handoff aspect of Wi-Fi voice networks. Looking back on how Wi-Fi networks are made of multiple cells of overlapping coverage, we can see that the major sources for problems with voice are going to come from four sources: 1. How well the coverage extends through the building 2. How well the phone can detect when it is exiting the coverage of one access point 3. How well the phone can detect what other options (access points) it has available 4. How quickly the phone can make the transition from the old access point to the new one Let's try to gain some more appreciation of this problem. Figure 1 shows the wireless environment that a mobile phone is likely to be dwelling within. Figure 1: The Handoff Environment As the caller and the mobile phone move around the environment, the phone goes into range and out of range of different access points. At any given time, the number of access points that a client can see, and potentially connect to, can be on the order of a dozen or more in environments with substantial Wi-Fi coverage. The client's task: determine whether it is far enough out of range of one access point that it should start the potentially disruptive process of looking for another access point, and then make the transition to a new access point as quickly as possible. The top part of Figure 1 shows the phone zigzagging its way through a series of cells, each one from an access point on a different channel. Looking at the same process from the point of view of the client (who knows only time), you can see how the client sees the ever-varying hills and valleys of the differing access points' coverage areas. Many are always in range; hopefully, only one is strong at a time. The phone is a multitasker. It must juggle the processes of searching for new access points and handing off while maintaining a good voice connection. In this section, we'll go into details on the particular processes the phone must go through, and what technologies exist to make the process simpler in the face of Wi-Fi. But first, we will need to get into some general philosophy. 1 comment: Paul Edison said... Conference Call Telecom Made Simple Related Posts with Thumbnails
Thursday, 28 April 2016 Signs of recent Zika virus infection of babies soon after birth... According to a study released 10 days ago, the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 30 of 31 babies born with microcephaly in Pernambuco, Brazil between 21 and 30 October 2015, contained IgM antibody that was Zika virus (ZIKV) specific.[1] This suggests that these babies had recent or current infection by ZIKV. From [1]. ZIKV RNA was not detected in any baby's CSF or serum samples - nor was Dengue virus or Chikungunya virus. No word on other viruses such as cytomegalovirus, rubella virus, enteroviruses etc. No unbiased investigation for viruses were described nor was the serostatus of the partner at conception or birth. This was a "first past the post" diagnostic conclusion. The authors remind us that IgM does not cross the blood-brain barrier (it's a big molecule) and so its presence in the CSF suggests that the foetus was infected, not the mother. The absence of RNA could be interpreted as the infection having occurred at least a week ago. But that's hard to know and it is unclear how long IgM lingers for in the foetus and child after ZIKV infection. There is no discussion about the possibility of the BBB being less than perfectly intact or in some other way failing to perform its role as a barrier in these babies. Unfortunately, as has usually been the case throughout the Brazil microcephaly surge, there is little by way of a denominator to help us understand the scale of the proposed role of ZIKV here. What is happening in the serum and CSF of babies delivered to mothers from the same regions of Brazil who gave birth to babies sampled in the same way, at the same time after delivery, which were not diagnosed with microcephaly or other central nervous system disorders? We can probably be safe in assuming that not every mother who has been infected with ZIKV delivers a baby with congenital abnormalities but that many mothers have in fact, been infected during this epidemic. If ZIKV or ZIKV together with something else is the cause of microcephaly, why is it still relatively so rare among so many births?
Justification I. Introduction A. Romans 3:20, 28 1. Paul declares that by works of the law no man shall be justified before God 2. Instead, in Romans 3:28, a man is justified by faith B. Justification by faith a major principle in Paul's preaching and teaching, and thus a doctrine of importance in Christianity C. Unfortunately, made more complicated and controversial thanks to Reformation disputation 1. Martin Luther's "breakthrough" involved his understanding of Paul's teachings of "justification by faith alone" 2. He famously had little use for the letter of James, thought it not inspired, should not be in the canon 3. To this day, discussions of justification tend to proceed on the basis of the sixteenth century disputation between Luther and Roman Catholic Church, Calvinists D. We do well to seek to come to a Biblical understanding of justification 1. What is justification? 2. What is the basis and nature of the justification of the believer? 3. When is one justified? II. What is Justification? A. Justification, according to Webster 1. The act of justifying; a showing to be just or conformable to law, rectitude or propriety; vindication; defense 2. Absolution 3. In law, the showing of a sufficient reason in court why a defendant did what he is called to answer. Pleas in justification must set forth some special matter 4. In theology, remission of sin and absolution from guilt and punishment; or an act of free grace by which God pardons the sinner and accepts him as righteous, on account of the atonement of Christ B. Greek terms 1. "To justify": Greek dikaioo a. Literally, "to make just or righteous" b. Thayer: to render righteous or such he ought to be; to show, exhibit, evince, one to be righteous, such as he is and wishes himself to be considered; to declare, pronounce, one to be just, righteous, or such as he ought to be c. A Greek concept not really found in English: best way of rendering it is to imagine "righteous" as a verb: "to righteous," or, "righteoused by faith" 2. Justification: Greek dikaiosis a. Thayer: the act of God declaring men free from guilt and acceptable to him; abjuring to be righteous, justification b. Romans 4:25, 5:18 C. Justification, therefore, involves the process by which one is considered righteous D. But what is involved in that process? III. The Necessity, Basis, and Nature of Justification A. Justification is important because it proves necessary for our salvation! 1. Psalm 33:5: God loves righteousness 2. Leviticus 19:2, 1 Peter 1:16, Habakkuk 1:13: God is holy and pure, cannot stand evil, perversity, and treachery 3. Those who are of God and with God must therefore be considered as righteous and holy (Matthew 5:20, Hebrews 12:14) 4. How can we be reckoned as righteous and holy? B. Many, however consciously or unconsciously, consider themselves righteous on the basis of their nationality, perceived privileged status, wealth, "goodness," etc. 1. Wealth perceived as blessings from God: if one has received God's blessing, one has received His favor and thus is righteous before Him (cf. Matthew 19:16-26) 2. People inflate the view of their "goodness" and de-emphasize their sinfulness, think that their good deeds will outweigh bad deeds, and thus be considered righteous 3. Many in Israel believed themselves to be righteous before God because God elected Israel and gave them the Law (Numbers 16:1-3, Luke 3:8-9, John 8:31-58, Romans 2:17-24) 4. Gentiles were used to considering themselves righteous as long as they offered requisite sacrifices to the relevant gods at the right time in the right manner 5. Many times "Christians" are convinced they stand as righteous before God because God loves them and they give mental acceptance to the fact that Jesus is Lord, regardless of their conduct C. Yet John the Baptist, Jesus, and Paul devastate these presumptions 1. Luke 3:8-9: John demands fruit of repentance, for God can make children of Abraham out of stone 2. Matthew 7:21-23: Jesus declares that merely professing that He is Lord is not sufficient to be saved, but one must do the will of the Father 3. John 8:31-58: Jesus demonstrates how the Jews with whom He spoke were children of the Devil, even if genetically descendants of Abraham 4. Romans 1:18-3:20: Paul makes a thorough demonstration that all, both Jew and Gentile, have sinned, have fallen short of the glory of God, and cannot by their own deeds be justified D. The Problem: Our Sin 1. As all must admit, we have all sinned, done what is wrong, have not done what is right (Romans 3:23, Ephesians 2:1-18, Titus 3:3-8, James 4:17) 2. According to the law, righteousness not established by "greater weight" of righteousness over evil: law either justifies as righteous if fully performed or condemns as transgressor if even one law is broken (cf. James 2:9-10) 3. Since we have all transgressed in some way, according to the law, we are all transgressors, and thus we cannot be justified by the law (Romans 3:20) 4. Therefore, on our own, we have no basis upon which to stand as righteous before God: we have sinned, we cannot make up for our sin, and we deserve death and condemnation (Romans 6:23) E. Justification by faith (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17) 1. God is aware of this situation and has a remedy! 2. Throughout time, those who have stood before God have done so by faith 3. Habakkuk 2:4: the righteous live by their faith 4. Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 in Romans 1:17, makes it the centerpiece of his argument in the first section of Romans 5. Galatians 3:11: even under the Law, those who were justified were justified by faith 6. This is possible because God loves people and has provided a means by which they can receive atonement for their sin a. Under the Law, this atonement was obtained through the sacrificial system: one would offer an animal for sin (in faith), and God would consider the person as cleansed from sin b. Yes, Hebrews 10:4: bulls and goats could not actually take away sin, but since Christ's sacrifice was sufficient once for all, the faith of the ancient Israelite who offered the animal to atone for their sins would lead to their atonement through the blood of Christ (cf. Hebrews 7:26-28, 9:13-14) c. Jesus died on the cross so that our sins could be forgiven through His blood (Romans 5:6-11, 8:1-2, 1 Peter 2:21-25) 7. Thus, we can be justified, or considered as righteous, when we put our trust in Jesus Christ as Lord! F. Yet what does it mean for the believer to be "justified"? 1. Some have speculated that justification involves the imputation of righteousness, that Christ's righteousness is somehow granted to the believer: the idea that Jesus took our sin and gave us His innocence 2. Yet this presumes that righteousness and sin are properties that can be transferred 3. In the Bible, neither sin nor righteousness are described as such: they are not like a gas that you could spray on someone! 4. The key concept is this idea of "imputation" a. The problem comes from the Latin meaning: imputatio, "to throw or impose upon" b. Hebrew chashab: to think, plan, esteem, calculate, invent, make a judgment, imagine, count; to be accounted, be thought, be esteemed; to consider, be considered (BDB, so Genesis 15:6, Psalm 32:2) c. Greek logizomai: to reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over (Thayer's, so Romans 4:8-9, Genesis 15:6 and Psalm 32:2 LXX) d. Even English impute: to charge; to attribute; to set to the account of; To attribute; to ascribe; To reckon to one what does not belong to him (Webster's) e. The terms used in Hebrew and Greek are clearly "accounting" terms, perhaps best reflected by English "to reckon" f. A reckoning does not demand a transfer of an actual property: we can reckon someone as cleansed or forgiven without actually giving or taking away from them a substantive thing 5. Justification, therefore, properly a matter of accounting: even though we are guilty, God reckons us as not guilty because of the blood of Christ 6. This does not mean that we possess Christ's righteousness or anything of the sort; it means that because of Christ's righteousness we are restored to a right relationship with God (Romans 5:6-11)! IV. Justification by Faith A. Justification by Faith vs. Justification by Faith Alone 1. As we have seen, believers are not justified by anything they have done but by their faith in God and what He has done on their behalf 2. So does this mean that we are justified by faith alone, as the Reformers would suggest? 3. An argument could be so advanced a. Faith, in the New Testament, is never simply a matter of profession or mental acceptance of a proposition b. Even demons thus "believe," and shudder (James 2:19)! c. Faith demands conscious trust in the One believed, thus, to do what He says to do (cf. Hebrews 11:1-40) d. Such is how the same Paul who strenuously asserts that believers are justified by faith apart from works of the law also says his mission is for the obedience of faith among the nations, to stress the need for baptism, to speak of life in terms of obeying sin or righteousness, and exhorting toward Christlike conduct (Romans 1:5, 6:1-23, 12:1-15:33) e. When faith is so understood to include following after Jesus, one could argue that one is justified by faith alone 4. Yet James 2:14-26, especially James 2:24 a. Paul himself never speaks of faith alone or only b. In fact, the only time "faith alone" is spoken of in the New Testament is in James 2:24, in which James declares that a man is not justified by faith alone! c. On what basis, therefore, would we attempt to argue for an understanding of justification which is explicitly negated in the New Testament? B. Paul and James on Justification 1. Many seem to think Paul and James are contradicting each other 2. After all, Paul speaks of justification by faith apart from works, and James speaks of justification by faith and works! 3. Yet there is no real contradiction but contrasting emphases which are both accurate 4. Paul never denies the role of obedience in faith and thus justification, but emphasizes that justification is not obtained without faith on the basis of one's works 5. Likewise, James never denies the principle of justification by faith, but emphasizes that faith must be empowered by works of obedience to be effective 6. Paul's emphasis would correct those who would take James' words and conclude that one's works merit or earn righteous standing before God 7. James' emphasis would correct those who would take Paul's words and conclude that obedience is not necessary to obtain righteous standing before God C. Therefore, the believer is justified by true faith in God in Christ 1. He or she has not deserved to be considered as righteous before God because of who they are or anything they have or have not done (Titus 3:3-8) 2. He or she must put their full trust in Jesus as Lord 3. By necessity this demands for them to obey Jesus as Lord and do the things which He has commanded in order to receive the forgiveness of sin and thus justification (Matthew 6:14-15, 7:21-23, Acts 2:38, Romans 10:9-10) 4. Trusting in one's own righteousness cannot justify one as righteous before God 5. Likewise, mere profession of belief without substantive obedience is not true faith and does not justify one as righteous before God D. This is an immediate and continual need 1. Believer receives "initial" justification at conversion (Titus 3:3-8) 2. Yet the believer requires continual cleansing on account of continual sin (1 John 1:8-9; cf. Ephesians 5:25-27) 3. If God must continually reckon one as righteous through one's faith on account of one's continual transgression, the possibility exists that one will cease putting one's faith in God in Christ, and thus no longer would maintain a righteous standing before God (cf. Hebrews 3:12-14, 6:14-16, 10:26-31, 2 Peter 2:20-22)! V. Conclusion A. We have investigated justification B. Justification as being reckoned as righteous C. We can do nothing to be reckoned as righteous by our own unaided efforts D. Yet God provides justification by faith in Christ E. Let us always put our trust in God in Christ and thus continually receive justification! F. Invitation/songbook
Disposable Drones A Reality by US Military U.S military scientists claimed to have creates a drone that can locate enemy submarines, trace conversation and carry our weather analysis. The drone is small enough to fit within your hand. The drones have been designed based on insects called cicadas, which tend to live underground and travel in swarms in great numbers for feeding before they die. The cicada drones are also expected to work in swarms in order to gather Intel and track the movement of enemies. The lead scientists have exclaimed that due to their massive numbers, it would be difficult for the enemies to eliminate all of them. Their large swarms would enable the UAV to collect and deliver the data to the Headquarters even if they are being attacked by the enemy. The drones are designed to agile and small in order to be carried out in large numbers for any kind of Intel related mission. The drones use only 10 parts in their design and use gliding system in order to reach their pre-programed targets. The drone also has the ability to be quiet, despite the absence of any propulsion system the drones can tract the target very accurately. The drones have a very simple design, which enables the companies to drive the cost of the drones very low. A single drone can be made out of mere $1000. The drones are also capable of carrying different gadgets such as microphones, and other gadgets that can record temperature, distance, wind pressure and also have the ability to take photos. Leave a Reply
The only electronic website that replies to every comment, and addresses all circuit related issues. Battery Level Indicator Circuit using Arduino In this post, we are going to construct a battery level indicator using Arduino, where a series of 6 LEDs show the level of the battery. If you are interested in monitoring and maintenance of your 12V battery, this circuit might become handy. By: Girish Radhakrishnan All batteries have certain voltage limit to discharge, if it goes beyond the prescribed limit, the life span of the battery will reduce drastically. Being electronics enthusiasts, we all might have a battery for testing our prototype circuits. Since we concentrate on the prototype during experiment, we care less on the battery. The proposed circuit will show you how much energy left in the battery, this circuit may be connected to battery, while you prototyping your circuits. When this circuit indicates low battery, you may put the battery to charge. The circuit has 6 LEDs, one LED glow at a time to indicate the voltage level of the battery. If your battery is full, the left most LED glows and you battery is dead or about to die, the right most LED glows. The circuit: Battery Level Indicator Circuit using Arduino The circuit consists of Arduino which is the brain of the system, a potential divider which helps the Arduino to sample the input voltage. A pre-set resistor is used to calibrate the above setup. The series of 6 LEDs will indicate the battery level. The relation between LED and battery level is given below: LED1 – 100% to 80% LED2 – 80% to 60% LED3 – 60% to 40% LED4 – 40% to 20% LED5 – 20% to 5% LED6 - <5% (charge your battery) The Arduino measures a narrow range of voltage from 12.70V to 11.90V. A fully charged battery should have voltage above 12.70V after disconnecting from charger. A low battery voltage must not go below 11.90V for a 12V sealed lead-acid battery. Author’s prototype: //--------Program developed by R.Girish---------// int analogInput = 0; int f=2; int e=3; int d=4; int c=5; int b=6; int a=7; int s=13; float vout = 0.0; float vin = 0.0; float R1 = 100000; float R2 = 10000; int value = 0; void setup() void loop() value = analogRead(analogInput); vout = (value * 5.0) / 1024; vin = vout / (R2/(R1+R2)); Serial.println("Input Voltage = "); if(vin>12.46) {digitalWrite(a,HIGH);} else { digitalWrite(a,LOW);} if(vin<=12.46 && vin>12.28) {digitalWrite(b,HIGH);} else { digitalWrite(b,LOW);} if(vin<=12.28 && vin>12.12) {digitalWrite(c,HIGH);} else { digitalWrite(c,LOW);} if(vin<=12.12 && vin>11.98) {digitalWrite(d,HIGH);} else { digitalWrite(d,LOW);} if(vin<=11.98 && vin>11.90){digitalWrite(e,HIGH);} else {digitalWrite(e,LOW);} if(vin<=11.90) {digitalWrite(f,HIGH);} else {digitalWrite(f,LOW);} How to calibrate the circuit: The calibration for this Arduino 6 LED battery level indicator circuit must be done carefully, if you did not calibrate correctly, the circuit will show incorrect voltage level of the battery. When you turn on the circuit, it starts with LED test, where the LEDs glow up sequentially with some delay. This might help you to debug errors while arranging the LEDs. 1) Set the voltage of your variable power supply to precisely to 12.50V. 2) Open the serial monitor. 3) Rotate the preset resistor clock wise or counter clock wise and bring the readings to 12.50V. 4) Now, reduce the variable power supply to 12.00V, the readings on the serial monitor should show the same or very close to 12.00V 5) Now, increase the voltage to 13.00V, the readings on serial monitor should also show the same or very close. 6) At the same time when you increase or decrease the voltage, the each LED should turn on/off with different voltage levels. Once the above steps are done successfully, your battery level indicator circuit will be ready to serve the intended purpose. Please Share this Post: • Facebook • Twitter • Google+ • Stumble 1. Hi Mr swagatam well I need to do my final year project. I need to do battery indicator using Bluetooth and wifi. My question is do I need to do a vdr to avoid a more volt supply to my arduino+LCD+bluetooth module. I hope you can help me 1. Hi Fatin, you can use a 7805 IC voltage regulator for ensuring a safe 5V for the Arduino. 2. Hello; I have been searching for a circuit that can detect if lithium ion 4.2v rechargeable battery is at fault i mean consuming very less current like 10-100mA but not getting the proper charging current.With LED indication. 1. Hello, the only way to detect this could be through a current sensing resistor and a voltage amplifier circuit which will indicate whether the cell is consuming around 1C current or not......LM3915 IC looks a candidate for making this system. 3. Can this be done using arduino with less parts i want to achieve the result. 4. I only need one LED to indicate so small opamp like lm393 can be use?.Please suggest a circuit. 1. you can try the following concept, keep only one opamp instead of the shown 4 2. ....connect the LED cathode to the input supply ground line. LED will ON for good battery and OFF for bad battery...for an opposite response connect the LED across opamp output and positive line. 5. can you provide a circuit for solar panel powered battery charging circuit that charges 12V 7Ah battery 1. you can make the following circuit: adjust the 10K to get exactly 14V for the battery, and use an input of 15V at 1 amp 6. Good evening....please sir how can i make the led to be constantly ON but Turn OFF when the battery is LOW 7. If a dead battery attached to this circuit but the battery is also attached to the charging circuit how can we get low battery indication?.As charger output is above 13v so the green LED ON instead of red LED.What to do? 1. when a good battery is connected the supply voltage will instantly go down and settle down to the battery discharge level...but for a dead battery this might not happen and will indicate something's wrong with the battery. 2. Hi, Faizan Do not charge your battery along with this circuit, it won't indicate the correct battery level. 8. hello i have calibrated the circuit FOR LITHIUM ION battery charger i have connected the charger it shows 4.2v when no battery and when a 3.7v battery attached to it the serial monitor shows voltage more then 4.7v what to do?.Why it is not showing correct charging voltage or do i need to change the formula? 1. Hello, Mr. Girish will hopefully see your question here and respond appropriately....please be patient. 2. Hi, Faizan, The circuit is NOT designed for Li-ion batteries, it is proposed for 12V SLA batteries. The code is written for 12V batteries and will not monitor 3.7V Li-ion batteries. Do not charge your batteries along with this circuit. It is designed to monitor the battery only on discharge. Please read the article properly, this will keep most of the misunderstanding about the project at bay . 9. Its adding battery voltage as well 10. hy sir i make circuit same as above but the serial monitor shows 20+ reading without battery. and only secondary battery are use. 1. Hi Unknown....LOL :) Please elaborate your issues and please comment you problem in a way that others can understand. 11. Waiting for the reply anxiously. 1. Please refer to your previous comment above, for the reply.... 12. OK if i calibrate for Li battery but once charging circuit connects what will be the changes to be done to detect original voltage of battery under charge? instead it add up the battery voltage with the charging circuit voltage. 13. Hi faizan, You cannot calibrate the circuit for li-ion battery as the program is written for 12V battries only. That's why you are getting unusual voltage readings on serial monitor when you connect the charger. If you are looking for li-ion based projects this is not the right one. 14. Hi, I need to do battery level circuit for my intern project. The will be 5v at the input and there will be five leds. For example if there is 1v just one of the leds will light then for 2v first two of themcan you help me about this? 1. Hi, Mr, Girish will be able to advise you better, I'll forward the question him soon.... 2. Hi, Gizem Are you sure about your design, because a 5V (4.5v etc) battery should not be allowed to fall to 1 Volt and most of the circuit will only work above 3V in general. I will design a circuit for you, if you want me to proceed with your requirements. 15. Dear sir, Is it only use the battery terminal voltage as input? can i used this for stand alone PV system (12V battery monitoring)?.Because I want to disconnect the battery from the load or pv array at the required charging levels. 1. Dear Dinusha, Yes you can use it separately for monitoring battery only, the Arduino can be powered from the battery under monitor. 16. Thank you sir. Actually I want to design a controller circuit for stand alone pv system to energize the 12V DC bus. This controller must have the MPPT (with P & O algorithm). normally systems disconnected at the overcharging and over discharging the 12V battery. I want to design a controller to disconnect MPPT at the battery charging is greater than the 95% ,then it track the voltage without MPPT until 100% charging. if the charging level less than the 95% then it connect to the MPPT again. can it do this by using arduino. ? {i want to prevent the problem of cut off the MPPT at the No-load and fix this disconnection & re-connection in smoothly} 1. Dinuasha, if your requirement is to keep the charging thresholds within the margin of 100% and 95%, then I think it could be done with a simple opamp circuit, using Arduino will be an overkill for such a a simple operation. Please Note: If you find any DEAD link starting with http//, please replace it with for making it visible and alive again.
August 19, 2010 Ancient Bird Fought With Its Beak According to a new study, 90-pound birds that once lived in South America used their giant, sharp beaks like a boxer giving their opponent a quick jab. Researchers reported in the online journal PLoS ONE that the creatures, officially known as Andalgalornis, were built to strike forward, attacking their prey with sudden jabs. "These guys were not sluggers, they couldn't go in and grapple with prey. They had to stand back and dance around and make hatchet-like jabs," Lawrence Witmer of the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine told The Associated Press. The design of the birds' head "dictated what their killing style must have been. Attack and retreat strategy ... trying to kill the animal then swallow it whole, if they could, or use the bill and strong neck muscles to rip off chunks of flesh," he said in a telephone interview with AP. The birds stood at 4 1/2-foot tall and roamed the earth about 6 million years ago in northwestern Argentina. The Andalgalornis had a skull that was deep, along with a bill that was narrow and armed with a powerful hook. "Birds generally have skulls with lots of mobility between the bones, which allows them to have light but strong skulls. But we found that Andalgalornis had turned these mobile joints into rigid beams. This guy had a strong skull, particularly in the fore-aft direction, despite having a curiously hollow beak," Witmer told AP. An engineering analysis found that the bird was well equipped to strike with its beak and pull back, but it would have been badly strained if it tried to shake prey from side-to-side. Hard sideways shaking could damage the bird's hollow beak. According to research led by Witmer and Federico J. Degrange of Museo de La Plata in Argentina, using the beak like an ax could compensate for the bird's weak bite. Witmer told AP that the researchers were surprised by the findings. The thought process going in to the research was "these were pretty tough guys, and they absolutely were, but they had to be kind of careful," he said. "Being a predator is a really risky business. A prey animal is going to fight back." He said the researchers approached the study both anatomically and by using engineering to simulate potential behaviors of the creature. "The cool thing was we both came up with the same answer," he told AP. "And a surprising thing is we could figure it out ... and feel pretty good about it." The creature was one of a variety of giant birds that lived in South America during that time. The U.S. National Science Foundation funded the research along with the Australian Research Council, the Australia and Pacific Science Foundation and the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Investigation of Argentina. Image Caption: The terror bird Andalgalornis by John Conway On the Net:
Navigate Yoozpaper Yoozpaper Front Page The Yoozpaper Yoozer Profile Shared Paper Shared Paper Create Newspaper Create Paper Create Customized Paper Custom Paper Create Album Create Album Yoozer Notifications Edit Profile Edit Profile Login on Yoozpaper Facebook Login 44d. The Spanish-American War and Its Consequences Written by on 44d. The Spanish-American War and Its Consequences 0 YOOZ this The United States was simply unprepared for war. What Americans had in enthusiastic spirit, they lacked in military strength. The navy, although improved, was simply a shadow of what it would become by World War I. The United States Army was understaffed, underequipped, and undertrained. The most recent action seen by the army was fighting the Native Americans on the frontier. Cuba required summer uniforms; the US troops arrived with heavy woolen coats and pants. The food budget paid for substandard provisions for the soldiers. What made these daunting problems more managable was one simple reality. Spain was even less ready for war than the United States. Prior to the building of the Panama Canal, each nation required a two-ocean navy. The major portion of Spain's Pacific fleet was located in the Spanish Philippines at Manila Bay. Under orders from Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt, Admiral George Dewey descended upon the Philippines prior to the declaration of war. Dewey was in the perfect position to strike, and when given his orders to attack on May 1, 1898, the American navy was ready. Those who look back with fondness on American military triumphs must count the Battle of Manila Bay as one of the greatest success stories. The larger, wooden Spanish fleet was no match for the newer American steel navy. After Dewey's guns stopped firing, the entire Spanish squadron was a hulking disaster. The only American casualty came from sunstroke. The Philippines remained in Spanish control until the army had been recruited, trained, and transported to the Pacific. The situation in Cuba was far less pretty for the Americans. At the outbreak of war the United States was outnumbered 7 to 1 in army personnel. The invading force led by General William Shafter landed rather uneventfully near Santiago. The real glory of the Cuban campaign was grabbed by the Rough Riders. Comprising cowboys, adventurous college students, and ex-convicts, the Rough Riders were a volunteer regiment commanded by Leonard Wood, but organized by Theodore Roosevelt. Supported by two African American regiments, the Rough Riders charged up San Juan Hill and helped Shafter bottle the Spanish forces in Santiago harbor. The war was lost when the Spanish Atlantic fleet was destroyed by the pursuing American forces. The Treaty of Paris was most generous to the winners. The United States received the Philippines and the islands of Guam and Puerto Rico. Cuba became independent, and Spain was awarded $20 million dollars for its losses. The treaty prompted a heated debate in the United States. Anti-imperialists called the US hypocritical for condemning European empires while pursuing one of its own. The war was supposed to be about freeing Cuba, not seizing the Philippines. Criticism increased when Filipino rebels led by Emilio Aguinaldo waged a 3-year insurrection against their new American colonizers. While the Spanish-American War lasted ten weeks and resulted in 400 battle deaths, the Philippine Insurrection lasted nearly three years and claimed 4000 American lives. Nevertheless, President McKinley's expansionist policies were supported by the American public, who seemed more than willing to accept the blessings and curses of their new expanding empire. This is from by It is from http://www.ushistory.org/us/44d.asp Return to US History News. Articles Of The Week As Donald Trump threatened North Korea with 'fire and fury,' Justin Trudeau quietly got an imprisoned Canadian released After 'horrible' spring, Dwayne Allen knew he had to be in better condition Phoebe Schecter latest example of injection of female coaches in NFL Cramer: How compounding can help you double your money in 7 years Guide to Purchasing a Juicer
At the Gates of Sleep 497736998_45c09a136e_oNow that my daughter is about to reach her first birthday, I’m in the mood to reflect on the year that just passed. Unfortunately, my recollections of it are a little fuzzy, probably because I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve enjoyed a good night’s sleep over the past year. Some people have babies who regularly sleep through the night and I am happy for them. Truly, I am. But clearly I was not meant to be in their ranks. Still, the never-ending parade of nighttime awakenings has taught me something about my own brain. It is precisely tuned to hear my baby. Although I sleep blithely through my husband’s thunderous snoring and the loud buzz of his alarm clock – multiple times a day, thanks to the snooze button – I awaken at the faintest sound of my daughter’s sighs, coos, or grumbles. When she cries, I am immediately awake while my husband sleeps on beside me, undisturbed. People are generally able to sleep through minor sounds and sensations thanks to a subcortical structure in the brain called the thalamus. This structure receives incoming signals from our senses and relays them to cortical areas devoted to processing sensory information like sounds or tactile sensations. When we’re awake, the thalamus faithfully relays nearly every sensory signal on to the cortex. But when we’re asleep, neurons in the thalamus participate in strong, synchronized waves of activity that squelch incoming signals. As a result, about 70% of these signals never make it to the cortex. This process, known as sensory-gating, is how we manage to sleep through the roar of rainstorms or the brush of the sheets against our skin each time we turn in bed. It is also how we sleep through our husband’s room-rattling snores. Yet some sensory information does get through to the rest of the brain during sleep. These signals do get processed and can even wake us up if they are either intense (like a loud noise) or personally relevant. A clever study illustrated the importance of personal relevance by exposing sleeping subjects to a loud presentation (via tape recorder) of their own name spoken aloud. The scientists played the recording either normally or backwards and found that subjects awoke in less than half the time when they heard their names presented in the recognizable form. So did my daughter, in effect, sleep train me by training my brain to recognize her sounds as personally relevant? It’s a plausible explanation, but one that is ultimately lacking. It cannot explain that first night when I slept beside my baby at the hospital nearly one year ago. Although I had labored through the entire night before and had not slept in the ensuing day, I awoke constantly to every little sound my mewing newborn made, not to mention the cries that told me she wanted to nurse. She’d had no time to train me; I had come pre-trained. Just as my breasts were primed to make milk for her, my brain was primed to wake for her. We seemed to be engineered for one other, mother and child, body and brain. And we spent that first long night discovering how clever a designer Nature can be, while my husband slept peacefully on the couch. Photo credit: planetchopstick On Nano-Naps and Dreamscapes New mothers must be collectors of broken sleep, eagerly taking a sliver here, a shard there – whatever they can get. Now that my baby is four months old, she’s finally sleeping at night. Still, she wakes me every two hours to nurse. She is half asleep while she feeds and I am always nodding off. In the few seconds it takes for my sinking head or my nursing baby to summon me back, I’ll have a momentary dream. A micro-dream. A nano-nap. No more intricate dreams of forgetting to do my homework or going to prom in a maternity dress. These dreams are all business: snapshots of everyday life. Once it may be a view of my husband lifting the baby out of her crib. Another time, I glimpse a lump in bed beside me and realize it’s my baby buried in our blankets (a terrifying dream.) But usually I simply dream that she’s nursing. A dream of mere reality: no more, no less. How do I even know that I’m dreaming? The details are off. And in these cases, the switch from dreaming to wakefulness can be particularly strange. Once the transition felt as seamless as a change of camera shots in a television show. One moment I was looking down at my nursing baby; the next, she was flipped (mirror-reversed) in my arms and her head was noticeably smaller! Never before have I had such an immediate comparison between the mind’s eye and the naked eye, nor realized how very similar they feel. And never before have I had such uninventive, literal dreams. It’s as if I can’t muster the energy to dream up anything better. In the face of my lackluster dreaming, I am all the more fascinated by the rich dream life of my daughter. From the day she was born I’ve watched her smile, pout, and wince and heard her scream and giggle madly in her sleep. In fact, she smiled in her sleep months before she gave us her first waking smile. Physicians have observed rapid eye movements in fetuses, suggesting that babies dream in the womb. But what are they dreaming of? Is it limited to what they know: heartbeats and jostling and amniotic fluid? Or perhaps their dreams are wilder than our own, unconstrained by the realities of life on this earth. After all, the infant brain contains legions of unpruned synapses and far more neurons than that of an adult. Who’s to say what sort of fantasy it might come up with? Whatever sort of dreams a newborn has, we don’t remember them as adults. By late infancy, we’ve already pruned enough synapses and experienced enough of the world to have a basic vocabulary for our dreams. An adult’s dream may create some odd combinations – eyeballs growing on trees or hats that unfurl into snakes – but the vocabulary, the unitary elements, are fixed. Eyeballs, trees, hats, snakes. Grow, unfurl. Our potential dreamscapes are wholly constrained by the details of our waking existence. As my baby examines new places and things, I am reminded that she’s cobbling together her own vocabulary of the world. She will store away sensations, objects, creatures, actions, concepts, cultures, and myths. A knowledge that the sun shines from above and plants sprout from below. That rivers run and lakes loiter. That caterpillars turn into butterflies and never the other way around. For better or for worse, her future dreams will be shaped by the idiosyncrasies of our funny little world. Dreaming of Me My belly button has all but disappeared. In its place, an odd little pillow of skin lies flush with the rest of my stomach. A dark line – the linea nigra – now runs down the length of my abdomen, dividing me in two. My appendix and intestines, previously at home in my abdominal cavity, have been pushed up and to the sides so that they now form mysterious bulges just below my ribs. Stranger still, I find myself in possession of someone else’s breasts. And then there’s the most noticeable change: the beach ball sized stomach that wholly eclipses my view of my feet. Of course these changes didn’t come on all at once. I’ve had many months to notice and adjust to them. Still, they’ve happened more rapidly than any other physical changes I’ve experienced in my life. Faster than an adolescent growth spurt, certainly, or any weight gain or loss. My brain has had trouble keeping up. I bump into things with my belly, forgetting its size. I struggle to maintain my balance as my vestibular system tries to adjust to my changing weight distribution. But the lag that has fascinated me most is how I envision myself in my dreams. Even months into my pregnancy, after my stomach had visibly ballooned, the self I inhabited while dreaming remained as lean as ever. Although thoughts of my pregnancy filled my waking hours, at night I wasn’t the least bit pregnant. In fact, I often dreamt of myself as a high schooler again, wandering the halls without a class schedule or scrambling to find a bus that would deliver me there on time. Why high school? I don’t put much stock in the elaborate interpretation of dream symbols, but I imagine that my dreams of being a lost high school student reflect my waking awareness that parenthood is at my doorstep and I am unprepared. In the face of such a dramatic life change, I can’t help but feel that I’ve lost my lunchbox or forgotten a homework assignment somewhere. Then, a month or so ago, my dreams began to change. Or rather my dream self changed. My new self often had a swollen midsection and wore maternity clothes (or in one case, a maternity prom dress). She couldn’t drink alcohol and got worn out just walking from the car. The dreams weren’t usually about my pregnancy; my enormous belly was simply present, just like my arm, hands, and feet. Something about my self-image, my internal body schema, had updated. A switch had been flipped and my mind was caught up with my changing body. I began to wonder about these internal self-schemas that reveal themselves in our dreams. Do other pregnant women experience the same switch and a similar lag? And how long does it take for them to switch back after they’ve delivered their babies? What about other changes to one’s appearance, like growing or shaving off a beard? Or, in a more dramatic example, what happens when someone loses a limb? I haven’t found much written on baby bumps and beards, but several people have studied whether amputees dream of themselves with intact or amputated bodies. The answer, in short, is it depends. One study found that a majority of surveyed amputees dreamt of themselves with amputated bodies at least some of the time. Among them, 77% made the switch within the first 6 months following their amputations. But the study also showed that a surprising percentage of the surveyed amputees (31%) dreamt exclusively of themselves with intact bodies, even a decade or more after their amputations. Preliminary findings suggest that those who undergo the amputation at a later age, those who regularly use a prosthetic limb, and those who experience phantom sensations from the missing limb may all be more likely to dream with their bodies intact. It should come as no surprise that the results of the studies are complicated and variable. We can’t expect anything as complex as dreams and internal self-representations to be wholly consistent from person to person or from one dream to another. In my case, I may be pregnant in one dream but not in the next. At times I even dream I’m someone other than myself. Wading into dreams can be a messy business, certainly, but my curiosity is piqued and I’m eager for more data. To all those pregnant or post-pregnant ladies, beard growers, or head shavers out there: please comment and share your experiences! How long did it take for your dream self to catch up with the real thing? Photo credit: Sabin Dang Daily Death, Part 2 I’ve blogged about sleep before, specifically how I didn’t get any and how sleep is a very strange phenomenon when examined closely. Now, in Part 2, I write about sleep from a different perspective: that of someone who gets enough. Everyone knows sleep is important. Neuroscience research has shown that sleep allows the ‘replaying’ of neural activity that took place during wakefulness, strengthening pathways relevant to the prior day’s events. And a plethora of psychology experiments have shown that the human capacity for learning and memory goes down the toilet when people are sleep deprived. A recent medical study has added evidence to the claim that sleep deprivation hampers our immune response. When I worked as a neuroscience researcher, I averaged about five hours of sleep. Sometimes it was as little as three. My lack of sleep was caused by a combination of busyness and stress. Now that I write full time, I get seven or eight hours of sleep pretty much every night. Since then, I’ve noticed a dramatic change in my cognitive abilities, but the changes are different for logical and creative thought. The clarity with which I can reason and attend have improved substantially since I started spending quality time with my bed. No longer do I listen to the end of someone’s sentence and realize I’ve forgotten how the sentence began. (Yes, after really sleepless nights that could happen.) The effect of sleep on creative writing has a subjectively different feel. Some writers feel that they are most creative when they are half-asleep or when they’ve just awoken (see this essay by one of them.) My writing teacher describes his routine of waking at dawn and immediately writing by candlelight. He doesn’t wear his glasses because he doesn’t want to read the words, just let them flow. He claims that his best lines and descriptions come from those sessions. I’ve tried a few times to do the same thing and have come up with fun lines myself. My favorite so far is, “a helicopter julienned the morning sky.” When I was sleep deprived and drowsy all day, I found it easier to come up with creative uses of language. Now, as a well-slept gal, I find it easier to explore larger-scale situational, plot, and character issues, but harder to toy with words. What to do? What to do? As with mental illness, the unhinged-ness of the drowsy mind may give artists greater flexibility and inventiveness with language, metaphor, and description. A rare upside to sleep deprivation? Maybe. But for me it was small consolation for having to ask people, “how did that sentence begin?” Daily Death Think about it people: every night we lose control of our bodies and minds. For those who don’t remember your dreams, you could well think of that time as entirely stolen, a death you were lucky enough to come back from. You know what it’s like not to be. Yes, there are neural, and I’m sure other biological explanations for sleep, but I don’t feel like doing that today. Besides, much of it is still a mystery. My point for now is that if we all got as much sleep as our bodies were designed for, we’d be unconscious for a third of our lives. This means that if you live to be 90 years old, you will have spent 30 years drooling on your pillow. Yes, people sleep more or less in different stages of their lives, but let’s not nitpick. I’ve calculated approximately how much time I’ve spent asleep in my lifetime, factoring in my chronic sleep deprivation, and come up with 6.5 years. That hurts. Because this is a lot of your exciting life to give away, many of you probably stay up late reading emails, eating ice cream, watching QVC, or whatever perverse things you do that we don’t want to know about. Of course, your boss doesn’t care what you did last night either, so you wake up early regardless. Well done. You’ve squeezed some extra life out of life. Today, like most days, I’ve been squeezing as best I can, and the result is underwhelming. Like many of you, I now rely on caffeine for my very survival. Without it, I’d find the words on this screen blurring and my head would start to sink. I might even do The Nod that got me in trouble in Modern European Literature class freshman year. So here’s the question I pose to you and to myself: is it better to be outright dead for a third of your life or to be outright dead for a fourth of your life and a fourth dead for the rest of it? OR would you prefer to beat the system through addiction? Tough call, huh? Kinda makes me sleepy. %d bloggers like this:

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