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Nov 8, 2017 in Informative
New Roofs for a New Gothic Era
Historical and Geographical Conditions of the Object’s Construction
Notre Dame (fr. Notre-Dame - "Our Lady") is the French nickname for the Virgin. The cult of the Virgin began to gain significance in France in the 12-13th centuries. Medieval knight poetry, courtly scenes, the cult of a woman connected with religious beliefs and, as a result, a gentle attitude to the image of Madonna as an earthly mother and, at the same time, a lovely lady, which was created in the medieval France. At that time, people began to call her “Notre-Dame” – “Beautiful” Lady or “Our Lady”. In many cities in France, chapels, churches and cathedrals were dedicated to the Mother of God and received the name of Notre Dame, namely in Amiens, Lat, Clermont-Ferrand, Paris, Poitiers, Reims, Senlis, Strasbourg, Chartres. On February 10, 1638, King Louis XIII solemnly dedicated the State of Franks to the Virgin Mary. This event is known in history as the "Vow of Louis XIII" (Inglis 63–85).
In the heart of Paris, on the eastern part of the Ile de la Cité, the jewel of French Gothic architecture, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, rises majestically. Notre Dame de Paris is striking in its beauty and elegance. In this work, the history of construction of this Gothic masterpiece will be covered, as well as the aspects of its architectural design will be analyzed.
Construction of Notre-Dame de Paris began in 1163 and lasted for 167 years, until 1330. Construction was initiated by a Parisian Bishop Maurice de Sully. Bishop de Sully spent on the construction of the Cathedral both a large part of his fortune and his life. Upon the completion of construction, the magnificent Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, with its beautiful interior decoration, for many centuries served as a venue for royal weddings, imperial coronations and lush national funerals. During the French Revolution in the 1790s, Notre Dame de Paris, like most other religious and monarchical symbols of the country, was severely damaged.
Restoration of the cathedral, which was in an extremely poor condition, began only in 1845, under the leadership of the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, and lasted for more than twenty years. During this time, in addition to reconstruction of the original appearance of the cathedral, the architect built a Gothic spire and gallery of Chimeras with statues and images of birds, demons and monsters, astonishing imagination (Bruzelius 540).
Being built at a time, when most of the population did not have any education, and the history of religion was passed literally from mouth to mouth, the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral presents scenes and events of the Bible in its portals, paintings and stained glass windows. Here, there are no mural paintings, and the only source of color and paint is numerous high stained glass lancet windows. Light, passing through these "glass paintings", acquired a mysterious color, causing a sacred trembling among believers.
After a long planning, finally, an official ceremony was held and Pope Alexander 3 laid the first stone in the foundation of a brand new building, which in a sense could be considered the prototype of the Gothic cathedral itself.
This does not mean that Notre Dame de Paris was the first cathedral built in the Gothic style, however, this was the first attempt to construct a monumental building, which would be not only a typical example of the new style, but at the same time, a building with the unique individuality. With dimensions of 130 m in length and 35 meters in height, not including the arches, Notre Dame de Paris in scale is far superior to most of other Gothic cathedrals. Not surprisingly that for this project, it was necessary to change the construction plans of the whole district! However, since it was about the Metropolitan Cathedral, located near the residence of the kings, this was not perceived as excessiveness.
Analysis of Design and Tectonic Systems
Notre Dame - is a basilica with galleries and double side aisles. Before, such a design was used very rarely, only in the most significant specimens of the temple architecture such as the Church of the Abbey of Cluny and Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. This alone is enough to put Notre Dame de Paris in a privileged position, especially given the fact that later, Gothic cathedrals with double side aisles were built only in exceptional cases. Divided in two longitudinal rows of giant columns, the double aisles in the apse pass into double deambulatory. The deambulatory problem, regarding the fact that the radius in its eastern point was forced to be wider than at points of contact with the side aisles, was solved by doubling the number of columns and installing of the triangular arches close to each other. As a result, Notre Dame can be justifiably proud of its correct form. Single rhythm throughout the interior space and the harmony between the straight and curved lines of the choir balcony are also preserved due to the fact that the central nave arcades are equipped with uniform columns, as in Saint-Germain-des-Pres. Above the main columns of the central nave of Notre Dame the uniform beams of thin pilasters rise. In each beam, there are three pilasters, regardless of the profile of the arch in the point of its intersection with the supports. The huge blades of six-part arches that are much larger than too closely contiguous sections of a four-part arch are in tune with the vast planes of walls. In other words, the creators of Notre Dame did not try to fully open the surface of the wall, but sought for a spectacular contrast between the visibly thin and flat wall, on the one hand, and elegant pilasters and ribs of arches, on the other. Initially, this technique produced even a stronger impression, since the plane of the wall above the gallery was extensive and interrupted only by small windows. However, this design was not preserved, because it was too dark in the cathedral. In the 13th century, window openings have been expanded, and in the 19th century, Viollet-le-Duc made alterations to the windows adjacent to crossing (Hiatt 12).
During one of the reconstructions some changes have been made to contrast the system of walls and pillars of the central nave of Notre Dame. Now, spans of galleries are divided into three parts, and the side walls of galleries are supported not by round columns, but by flat pilasters. These supports are contrasted with pilasters of the central nave (thinner than even pilasters of the choir balcony) - tall monolithic pillars, not interfusing with the wall, as originally. The theme of a flat wall surface is repeated on the west facade of Notre Dame. Since the towers here, unlike the towers of Laon cathedral, crown the double side aisles, they are wider and more stable. Notre Dame Cathedral is the most majestic and popular monument of early Gothic. In the outstanding western facade of the cathedral, horizontal lines are still competing with vertical ones. The facade wall still exists (this is only the beginning of the Gothic), but it has already acquired lightness and even transparency. As shown by the French architectural historian, Auguste Choisy, the proportional basis of the western facade of the cathedral of Notre Dame is a square, and the height of the towers of the facade is half the side of the square.
Analysis of Rhythmic Regularities
It is impossible not to appreciate the power and nobility of Gothic structures, their strict greatness. The interiors of these buildings are distinguished with dynamics and expression, corresponding to philosophical and aesthetic ideals of their time.
Comparison of heads of the remaining statues of the right and central portal of the cathedral’s western facade is particularly striking. David's head of the right portal was created by the artist, still held captive by the Roman method of dealing with the form, but who has already experienced the rich psychological possibilities of plastics. Romanesque frontality, massive forms, ornamental development of features is combined with tendency to mitigated modeling of the face and its internal spiritualization. Apostle’s head from the central portal of the cathedral’s western facade expresses a new artistic worldview. The Romanesque graphic and decorative development of forms gave way to rich pictorial and plastic properties. Thin plastic modeling of face, noble proportions of the head with a high forehead, natural and graceful plastic treatment of the hair and beard bring this work together with the works of classifying direction of the Gothic sculpture, developed in the first half of the 13th century. The inner significance of the image, an aura of deep concentration corresponds to the general spirit of the "strict classics" and inspired restrained nobility of the portal sculpture and places it among the best works of sculpture of the early 13th century (Murray 21).
The composition of the Virgin tympanum (between 1210-1220) breathes with dignified peace, attracting the simplicity of total picture, generosity of poses, restrained gestures, seriousness and significance of elegant and light draperies. The spirit of a deliberate, restrained grandeur, noble balance and dignity dominates in the sculpture of the western facade, preserved to this day.
The sculptural decoration of the northern and southern facades presents a different picture. In the northern portal, performed under the supervision of Jean de Chelly in 1250, the movements of the figures became livelier and more varied; elegant draperies fall with wide folds, a lot of details and minor features appeared. The number of scenes has increased significantly, and craving for a detailed narrative story, full of interesting domestic scenes, emerged here in its basic features already in the first half of the 13th century, while in other sculptural schools of France, it will appear much later, by the very end of the century, and will successfully develop throughout the next century.
According to the preserved inscription, the southern portal, dedicated to St. Stefan, was started on February 12, 1258, under the leadership of Jean de Chelles, and completed by Pierre de Montreyl. In its sculptural design, there is a tendency to a detailed story, naturalism of numerous characters, scenes, situations, actions, and additional accessories, already noticeable in the northern portal and achieved by sculptors at the cost of losing the perfect grandeur and monumental unity, describing the scenery of the western facade. The western facade of the Notre Dame Cathedral is crowned with two mighty towers, gazing skyward, and divided into three tiers. At the bottom, gantry tier is a kind of cap, bearing the burden of the top two tiers. Its wall, not closed with architectural decoration, gives the impression of stability and strength to the entire building. Three large deep portals reveal thickness of the strong wall, passing plasticity to it and deep internal tension to the entire tier. At the same time, lancet, prospectively recessed arches of portals facilitate a very slow, but definite upward aspiration.
The lower tier is completed with the “Gallery of Kings”, whose rhythm, on a smaller scale, repeats the balustrade of the second tier. The center of the second tier is filled with a large round window, the so-called Rose. Above lateral portals, there are large windows, covered with broad and shallow lancet arches, archivolts, as if repeating the pattern of portals located at the bottom; in tympanums of arches, roses of a smaller size are located. In the second tier, the wall is less accentuated than in the lower one: its massive overweight is not expressed. The third tier is formed by a highly penetrated with light gallery, which consists of a delicately woven lancet arches, rising from the thin and slender columns. In this gallery, the vertical facade is implemented fully and freely. Rising further, the viewer's eye lingers on the ledge and then turns to a majestic rise of immense slender lancet windows of the towers, the bases of which are hidden with arcade of galleries. The facade and towers form a harmonious ensemble, inscribed in a high rectangle that in combination with the increase of verticals from tier to tier creates the impression of an upward aspiration. At the same time, each of the tiers, taken separately, is stretched horizontally, and it keeps quiet strength and stability in the architecture of the facade. Noble, at first glance, simple proportions of the facade on closer examination turn out to be extremely rich and complex. Each motif of the facade, with all its crystal clarity and certainty comes into diverse interactions - design, scale and rhythmical - with all the other. This gives the unusual combination of clear simplicity and complexity of wealth, which, in spite of the restoration of the 19th century, distinguishes this first masterpiece of French Gothic (Temko 81).
Facades of transepts, as already mentioned, are the creation of advanced Gothic. Their more slender and graceful forms, almost complete the absence of the wall plane, free dynamics of vertically developing architectural shapes and huge delicate rose complement and enrich the expressiveness of the main facade. Facades of transepts are organically combined with delicate light flying buttresses that frame the main ship of the cathedral, as if floating above the surrounding houses, with its 12-meter high lancet windows. The vast interior of the central nave strongly dominates over lower and less illuminated side aisles. The interior, like the facade, is pierced with solemnly severe grandeur, but its architectural rhythms are more directed skyward, and the weight of the material is felt to a lesser extent. The inner walls of the central nave are also divided into three zones. The lower one consists of massive and squat columns holding up arcades, which separate the central nave from the side ones. The middle zone is formed by the arches of Emporia, facing to the central nave with their wider openings, similar in form to paired windows of the second tier of the western facade. The lancet archivolt of each span covers three arcs. Above the Emporia arches, forming a third division zone, there are high arched windows with colored glass. The higher the tier, the more slender and elongated upwards are the proportions of the arches and windows (Myers 51).
In the back of the central nave, which is permeated by the flickering light of stained glass, there is an altar, illuminated by countless wavering lights of candles and fabulous glow of huge stained glass of the altar section of the temple.
Perception of gothic temple interior by modern men is, of course, free from the mystical ecstasy, with which medieval people associated their aesthetic experience. People clearly feel the power of art, the beauty and richness of spatial forms and rhythms, unfolding like a polyphonic song, which is menacingly ceremonial or lyrically thoughtful, dim or exulting. The greatness of the human spirit and its inspirational imagination is the basis of the aesthetic charm of Notre Dame, and, in general, of all the Gothic masterpieces. It should be noted that at that time, the Cathedral was not only the religious center, but also the center of social life of the city. It was a place for lecturing, as well as meeting of representatives of shops and municipal Magistrates.
The famous cathedral of Notre Dame is the most impressive and certainly the most remarkable monument of the early Gothic, which opens up a new era in the history of the Western architecture. Nearly six centuries have passed, since it was built, and Paris was transformed due to its slender hulk, which reigned over the city. The capital of France has increased numerously over the centuries, it has been adorned with many other world famous monuments, but Notre Dame still presides over it, continues to serve as a historical symbol, and is still regarded by people as one of the greatest embodiments of the French art genius.
Long ago, the center of the city moved to the west; subsequently, it stopped being the centre of its social and political life, and people tend to forget that it has once been called to embody the idea of the monarchy triumphant, under the patronage of the church, whereas the first stone of the cathedral was laid in 1163 by the French king and the Pope, who specifically arrived to Paris; and many centuries later, also in the presence of the Pope in Notre Dame, Napoleon was crowned.
Like the pyramids of Egypt, the Parthenon in Athens and Sofia in Constantinople, Notre Dame de Paris is worthy to indicate the age-old ideals and artistic culture of the people, who created it, not only in centuries, but in millennia.
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Alcohol Abuse Facts
178133461Did you know that alcohol abuse lead to 25,692 in 2010 in the U.S.? Alcohol is dangerous because it ruins one’s health and makes accidents more likely to happen, especially because of drunk driving.
Alcohol consumption in itself is not dangerous as long as one does not become dependent on it. It is estimated that there currently are 12 millions alcoholics in the U.S., which makes alcoholism the most common substance abuse problem. This means that 6% of the adult population can be considered as alcoholics.
Alcohol is also a problem among teenagers, with about 7 millions of people between the ages of 12 and 20 being binge drinkers. These statistics on alcohol clearly indicate that there is a large number of alcoholics in the U.S. but they do not underline the fact that alcohol consumption is a common thing among youth and adults alike, even though only a small percentage of the population can be considered as alcoholic. Alcohol is very easy to obtain and drinking is more of a socially acceptable behavior than doing drugs, which contributes to drinking problems being so common.
Alcohol addiction can be treated. There are several options, including medication, therapy and even rehab centers. Getting over a drinking problem is very difficult since the patient often has to completely rebuild their lives. An alcoholic usually spends most of their time and resources on obtaining more alcohol and gradually becomes isolated from friends and family. This is why a lot of alcoholics simply do not get the help they need or hide their drinking habit from their loved ones out of shame instead of asking for help.
Alcoholism is a real problem in the U.S. but thousands of people manage to recover every year. If you know someone who suffers from alcoholism or have a drinking problem yourself, the best thing you can do is get some help.
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Why Greywater Management System Is Needed
Water is the primary need of any living creature on the planet. With the growing population and urbanization, the availability of the consumable water is diminishing. The growth of the economy or the population cannot be controlled. But with change in sensitivity towards the consumption of water, we can meet the present demands and optimum use of the same can help to save our future generations.
The quality and the quantity of the available water is depleting due to population and pollution which is driving the governments to set the laws for conservation of the water resources and greywater management system is one of the significant methods to achieve the same.
Greywater is the reclaimed water that has been used once in domestic, commercial or industrial activities and can be reutilized after treating up to standard limits for certain tasks.
This greywater can be treated through various technologies depending on the nature of reuse for further applications like car washing, irrigation, toilet flushing or street cleaning.
The current Indian scenario
The current Indian scenario
Water is becoming a rare resource in the world. In India, it has been projected by International water management institute that by 2025, one third of the population will live in complete water scarcity.
With the rapid increase in the population and demand for fresh water the available resources are depleting day by day. The per capita surface water, which was available at 2300 m3 (6.3 m3/day) in 1991 has depleted to 1980 m3 (5.7 m3/day) in 2001 and is projected to deplete to 1191 m3 by 2050. And the water requirement is projected to 1450 Km3 in 2050 as compared to 1086 Km3 presently. Hence, it is very crucial to reduce the use of surface and groundwater in all sectors, find alternatives to fresh water reuse option for optimization of the available water. The alternatives include rainwater harvesting and greywater management system and reutilization for meeting the projected deficit.
The wastewater is generated from various activities like washing, laundry, bathing, mopping, flushing, cooking, etc. This water is categorized into three types depending upon the level of contaminants present in the source. They are black water, dark grey water and light grey water. Black water is generated from the flush and are high in disease causing microorganisms. Dark grey water is the water that originates from the kitchen sink, which also contains disease causing germs and organic contaminant from food waste and grease or oils. Light-greywater is originated from bathroom sink, tubs, showers and laundry. This water also contains disease causing microorganisms but in lower number as compared to the other two types. The level of organic contaminants is also less in this type of water. The figure shows how much water is discharged as wastewater in regular household activities.
Benefits of greywater reuse
• The first and the foremost reason of greywater management and reuse is to replace or conserve the freshwater for other potable uses.
• The greywater is rich in nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen that are present in detergents, which are good for the plants. The water generated from laundry if used appropriately can help in good vegetation and plant growth.
• Reduces the cost incurred in sewage treatment. Greywater when treated and used within the area minimises the wastage through sewer lines and cost incurred in its treatment at sewer cleaning facilities.
• Usually the reutilization of the greywater require no or minimal treatment before use.
• Greywater can help to supply most of the water needs for irrigation purposes.
These various methods can be used to treat the same from low level of complexities for basic uses like gardening or flushing to high level of treatments to remove sediments, oil and grease, chemicals, odour and other impurities depending upon the nature of reuse.
How good are sustainable homes for owners and nature.
Benefits Of Sustainable Homes
Benefits Of Sustainable Homes
Benefit to nature:
Benefits to the owners:
3 most common issues in the kitchen plumbing system.
Kitchen is the most common place in the house that requires continuous use of water.This leads to plumbing issues cropping now and then, which if left unattended may lead to major disasters and heavy expenses for homeowners. These issues can be categorised into three heads: Leaks, clogs and water pressure issue. Let us elaborate on each category in detail:
Leaky Kitchen Faucet
Leaky Kitchen Faucet
The most common plumbing issue that can be found in the kitchen the leaking faucets and sinks.This also counts for the water wastage and dribbling sound. The leaks in the faucet can be due to deterred aerator which is a little screen on the end of your spigot. You may try to let the water flow without the aerator for a while and then fix everything again and check for leaks again. If it continues, then the issue could be with the washer or the O ring seal. The leakage from the sink can be due to some breakage in the drainpipes. Prefer calling the plumber for this if you do not want to experiment doing the same yourself
Clogged Drains
Clogged Drains
The another common but major problem that one faces in the kitchen is the clogs in the drains and sinks. This is due to continuous disposal of garbage, grease, soap and other garbage that continuously flows down. The non dissolvable materials like grease, oil, soaps and other solid wastes lead to clogging of the drains. This often blocks the p trap beneath the kitchen sink that is meant to keep the sewer gas far from home. You can notice the issue of clogs cropping when you notice that the water is moving down slowly than usual. There are multiple ways you can try to fix the clogs of the sinks like plunger, vinegar and baking soda solution in it, etc but if nothing works best is to get the help of the expert.
Water pressure:
water pressure
This is the third most common issue in the kitchen. This can be noticed from the taps or water heaters. The low water pressure from the faucets can be due to the clogged aerator. While the low water pressure issue from the water heater can be due to various factors like too small heater to get enough water supply, clogged pipes, or old fittings. This needs an attention of the professional if you do not hold technical knowledge of the water heaters.
Although these issues at the initial stage seems very small or are often left unnoticed. But this leads to the situation getting worse that unfortunately happens at the wee hours of the day.
Delhi Metro to build ‘forest’ in Pink City
Delhi metro to build forest in park city
The dry climes of Jaipur haven’t stopped Delhi Metro from trying to build a city forest. Metro will soon start working on its second phase and along with the construction of the line, the agency is developing a “Metro forest”.
“Jaipur Metro has developed a ‘Metro forest’ in 5 hectares of forest land and planted about 3,000 trees. In addition, some trees which had to be shifted from the site have been transplanted here,” said Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) spokesman Anuj Dayal.
He added, “DMRC is the general consultant for the second phase, while the actual construction is being done by CEC, a Taiwanese company”. Metro is also introducing a rainwater harvesting system where its viaduct will act as catchment for rainwater.
“Also, a 100 KWP solar power plant has been constructed at the Mansarovar depot, which will produce an energy saving of Rs 1 lakh per month,” said Dayal. Along the 9km elevated route, 12,800 LED lights have been provided under the mission, ‘Save Electricity Build Nation’, he added.
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Engaging Tips on How to Start an Essay
Jul 11, 2017 by TopGradeEssay.com
Engaging Tips on How to Start an Essay
The first line or the first body paragraph of an essay is always the most complicated part. Getting started is a tough challenge for the majority of students. Moreover, the first sentence creates a readers’ impression. In other words, it will define if the reader is likely to read the paper till the end.
The first sentence is supposed to be capturing, interesting and at the same time informative. For this reason, the task appears to be too complex for the majority of students in spite of their grade. We decided to conduct a short list of some useful tips on how to start an essay. They will let you decide on the first sentence and get started with the first body paragraph.
Grab Readers’ Attention
Every time you do not have the foggiest idea how to start an essay, you need to think of any engaging and capturing sentence that will drive the attention of the reader. If you think that your topic will be of no interest for the target audience, it is not necessarily true. You are the writer, which means you are the one to turn the most boring and uninteresting topic into a lively and capturing content.
A good idea on how to start an essay is to use some thrilling and fascinating facts. Do not be afraid to provide valid statistics. Imagine, that you need to write a paper about children’s obesity in the United States. You can start from a brief report and the latest studies on this case. If you do not appreciate figures and percentage, you can draw a picture. For instance, you were assigned to write about your summer holiday. Start your paper with describing weather and activities you were into.
Get the Reader to the Meat of Your Essay
You may write the most capturing first sentence ever and attract the attention of your reader. However, it will be of no use if you are not able to keep pulling his or her attention into your paper. Your main mission is to prevent your readers from losing interest to your essay. For this reason, it is important to learn how to start an essay.
At the same time, your first sentence or abstract must be logically connected with the rest of the text. Guide your reader from one section to another. Otherwise, he or she will never keep reading the paper. These are actually some general advice on how to start an essay. If you require professional assistance to get started and ensure your academic success, welcome to our website. Here we have a pool of certified experts who are proven specialists in the field of academic writing. They have completed hundreds of assignments of different level. Starting an essay for you is a piece of a cake for our team of dedicated and passionate. Contact us round the clock.
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Posted 14 Dec 2017
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Implementing a C++ Const Object That Can be Given a Value Post Declaration
, 8 Jan 2018
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C++ only allows you to give a value to a const qualified object at the moment of declaration. There are rare instances where you want to define the value shortly after the moment of declaration.
In C++, an object can be qualified with const to indicate that this is an immutable value. Per the specification, the object so qualified cannot be modified. The benefit is that the compiler will perform checks to ensure the object does not receive a new assignment. This means that a developer can prevent accidental assignments (i.e. if (a = b) instead of the intended (if a == b)) as well as faulty logical operations within the code that might result in a new assignment. The specification puts one burden on using this qualifier and gaining this particular wonderful benefit of the compile time check: the object must be initialized at the point of declaration.
The initializer can be a compile-time known value or can be a value known at run-time (by calling a function that returns a value). Once initialized, that value cannot be changed. The compiler will enforce this rule and produce an error on any attempt in code to modify the variable value after initialization, which again is at the point of declaration.
Examples from the specification showcase the principle:
const int ci = 3; // cv-qualified (initialized as required)
ci = 4; // ill-formed: attempt to modify const
int i = 2; // not cv-qualified
const int* cip; // pointer to const int
cip = &i; // OK: cv-qualified access path to unqualified
*cip = 4; // ill-formed: attempt to modify through ptr to const
int* ip;
ip = const_cast<int*>(cip); // cast needed to convert const int* to int*
*ip = 4; // defined: *ip points to i, a non-const object
const int* ciq = new const int (3); // initialized as required
int* iq = const_cast<int*>(ciq); // cast required
*iq = 4; // undefined: modifies a const object
In almost every situation, this is perfectly fine. There are some very limited exceptions, however, where the value of the object that should be kept from changing is only known shortly after the moment of instantation.
I encountered this problem while writing a Windows application. In this particular circumstance, I was using the hInstance variable that is provided as a value passed into the WinMain entry point. The value is used in different Windows APIs and should never change. My challenge was that I wanted to use this value in a function called by the Windows messaging interface. The messaging API is called from another thread and only has access to "global" type variables, which hInstance is not. No problem, I just declare a global variable and pass the hInstance variable to it. But I wanted to protect myself and any future maintainer of the code from changing that value.
Normally applying const as a qualifier to the variable would solve the problem, but the global variable has to be declared and instantiated before I could ever know the value of hInstance. C++ would appear to prevent this instance from being a const qualified variable.
Another situation followed these lines. Windows provides Direct3D 11 and Direct3D 12. Direct3D 12 is available only on Windows 10 and is not intended for general everyday graphics use. Direct3D 11 is available from Windows XP forward (with some exceptions) and is intended for general use and is still heavily programmed for. In writing a graphics oriented library for use on Windows, the design wanted to allow to declare the use of Direct3D 11 or 12. However, it also would allow that if Direct3D 12 was not available, Direct3D 11 could be used as a fall-back.
In this circumstance, it was felt that using a variable (it could be a bitfield or an enum or similar) declared external in the library and declared in the developer's code would suffice for the design. This variable was never to be used by the developer, it was only consumed and used inside the library. This variable should by all accounts be a constant object.
In design review, it was determined that for efficiency, you could just reference this constant value. The hope was to have a variable like an enum that had values "D3D11, D3D12, Either". If it said "use D3D12", you used the Direct3D 12 parts of the library and if it said "use D3D11", you used Direct 3D 11. It was in the instance where it said "try D3D 12 and if it's not available use D3D 11". This only occurred if you were not running Windows 10 or for some reason, the D3D12.dll was not available. You could only know this after the application was running and you could test for the OS or the DLL. The desire was to modify the variable after the OS check and change "Either" to the appropriate "D3D12" or "D3D11" variable. Of course, if the variable was constant qualified, it cannot be changed.
This meant that the qualifier needed to be removed, which eliminated the very nice compile time checks. The variable would never change except at the start of the program after the OS check ran.
So what was wanted was essentially a 1-time change to a constant object to accommodate the fact that I really want to initialize the object later than the specification allows. A change that should only occur at the beginning of the application and would only be exposed or consumed internally by the function or library. Otherwise, I want to use the constant qualifier in all other ways as intended.
Now, you are free to disagree with the design decision but I present them as an illustrative case. There are the rare occasions when a developer or architect will want to have an object that is unchangeable except in a very, very narrow use case. This may be to a change in “environment” after the application has started and the immutable object has been initialized, or an immutable global type variable is needed but it can only be initialized after the point of declaration when the application starts, or it could also be that the immutableness only applies to a particular single instance run-through (that is everything resets after the run-through).
The driving factor is that as a developer, I want to take advantage of the compile time checks that ensure the object does not receive an assignment after it's initialized. The problem is when I want to initialize appears to be prohibited by the specification.
I could solve this problem by creating a class and introducing checks and assignments to basically replicate my constant qualifier. The trade-off then is added complexity and run-time checks. This may be sufficient or desirable depending on the situation of the developer and the design principles.
What if my design would rather not take that approach. Is there a way to keep the constant qualifier and keep the compile time checks? And would this solution be compliant with the C++ specifications and not introduce some "clever" trick that would come back to haunt me?
The answer is yes and yes! This solution attempts to maintain every aspect of a constant qualifier only shifting the moment of initialization to a point that should be shortly past the point of declaration (but not after it's first use). The solution may not delight everyone and it's not recommended as a trick to get around const qualified objects. It's quite possible to use this and abuse const but that is not the recommendation being provided.
On initial examination, it's easy to be tempted by const_cast. It supposedly casts away the constant qualifier so one might be tempted to do something like this:
const int x = 42;
const_cast<int>(x) = 46;
Using const_cast is intended to be used for older code or C code where a const is not declared as in the function declaration that follows:
struct X {
mutable int i;
int j;
struct Y {
X x;
const Y y;
y.x.i++; // well-formed: mutable member can be modified
y.x.j++; // ill-formed: const-qualified member modified
Y* p = const_cast<Y*>(&y); // cast away const-ness of y
p->x.i = 99; // well-formed: mutable member can be modified
p->x.j = 99; // undefined: modifies a const memberint i = 2;
int *ip;
void do_foo(int *a)
ip = a;
int i =2
const int j = 2;
const int *cip = &i;
const int *cjp = &j;
do_foo(const_cast<int*>(cip)); //ok, cip points to a non-const object i
do_foo(cip); //bad, no guarantee of immutability on do_foo's a
do_foo(const_cast<int*>(cij)); //undefined, removed constant qualifer but updating const j
const_cast while removing the constant qualifier does not make the underlining object non-constant, even for an instance.
The specification says something about that. In the ISO/IEC 14882:2014 specification 7.16.1 subsection 4 states:
Except that any class member declared mutable (7.1.1) can be modified, any attempt to modify a const
object during its lifetime (3.8) results in undefined behavior.
The key is that the modification results in undefined behaviour. This means that the specification gives no guidance and it's left to the compiler implementation to decide what to do in this situation. The compiler may or may not create actual assembly that overrides the value. There’s no guarantee. In fact, with the MSVC compiler, the variable x is actually placed into a read-only memory and attempts to change its result in an exception. And even if it did, the compiler isn't accountable to keep it that way and this behaviour could change from compiler release to release.
The specification is clear -"any attempt to modify a const object during its lifetime results in undefined behavior." Within the C++ language, there isn't a mechanism that allows for a change to the constant qualified object. Still, the specification doesn't say that any of this results in "illegal" behaviour, just undefined, and that's our opportunity. We need to define that behaviour.
In truth, C++, and this applies to all non-interpreted languages (and even then, it could be argued this applies in the end to interpreted languages, are instructions to a compiler on the type of Assembly code to auto-generate. To define our implementation, we need to guarantee the Assembly generated by the C++ compiler, which means we can't deviate from the specification, or write our own Assembly and ensure the linker uses our code. In essence, we are going to take over the job of the compiler for this very specific instance. This may seem dangerous or complicated but after examining the C++ underpinings and how all of this comes together, you will see it's very straightforward and simple.
To figure out the "definition", we need to examine the code and what is being generated and then work from there looking to understand how we can add our implementation while maintaining adherence to specifications and general coding practices.
Let's begin by looking at how the compiler treats a constant qualifier to begin with. If I write the following:
const int ci = 3;
The specification doesn't generally dictate how to implement a variable beyond the size of the variable type. On the usage of this variable, the compiler has a few options and those depending on configuration and optimization parameters.
So the compiler could generate Assembly code along these lines:
i DD 03H
Which reserves and places 0x03 in a write able memory location.
It could also optimize and produce:
i DD 03H
This puts the variable into a read only memory segment. If the compiler does this, then no matter the actual end Assembly, a fault will be thrown by the OS as it attempts to write to a read-only memory.
The C++ specification does not limit an implementation to rendering a constant object into read-only memory. If it did, you couldn't write code like the following:
const int ci = foo();
So the first challenge - ensure that our constant is not defined to reside in read-only memory, but instead resides in a writeable memory location.
The compiler could also optimize the object and just substitute the value directly.
int j = ci + 6;
int j = 3 + 6; //or int j = 9;
Challenge two - ensure the implementation uses the constant as an actual memory located variable and not just a substituted value.
Ok, but what about assignment? The C++ compiler won't even generate code if we make an assignment to a constant qualified object. It will just generate an error and quit. You could attempt to overload the assignment (=) operator but that won't work for built-in types. The only viable option is to pass the constant object over to a function and have that implement the work. To conform to the specification, we must pass the object so that it qualifies as "undefined" instead of "ill-formed" or "illegal".
We've already seen examples of this. You would want a function that resembles this:
changeconst (int &var_to_change, int value_to_change_to)
var_to_change = value_to_change_to;
and then call it along a line like this:
const int x = 0;
changeconst(const_cast<int&>(x), 42);
This places us in our "undefined" state. So challenge three is to implement this function.
You might believe that if you handle the variable instantiation in writeable memory that you could just do this last bit as illustrated in C++. And for the most part, you would be correct, but per the specification, this is undefined and so based on the compiler algorithm, there are instances where the compiler will optimize away the value exchange and the variable will not be updated as expected. Plainly stated, there are times when the compiler won't call the function.
Challenge four is to make sure the assignment function actually happens.
Writing the Code
Let's begin tackling each challenge. Again, the object is to comply with the specification but implement the ability to initialize a constant object after the initial declaration.
To do this, we are going to write the Assembly code we wish the C++ compiler would generate and then let the linker do its work in assembling the object files into our final executable. Note: Because there are differences in data declarations and ABI calling conventions between x86 and x64 assembly, we will need two assembly files (in this article referred to as changeconst.asm and changeconstx64.asm). Include the appropriate file for the architecture you require.
For the following illustrative examples, we will operate under the assumption that the developer is working with a Windows application and wants access to lpCmdLine from the WinMain or wWinMain Windows entry point. lpCmdLine will provide some information that will be used elsewhere. Its usage in this context requires a globalized variable declaration so that it could be used in other thread contexts. The developer made a design decision that he wants to protect the command line choice and not allow a modification of that data elsewhere in the code. He wants to guarantee this by using compile-time checking. (Note: arguments could be made for or against this design choice, this is just illustrative). The developer will use a namespace (App) and the variable LPWSTR CmdLine.
He now begins implementing the code and solve the challenges.
Challenge 1: Object Must be in Writeable Memory
We do not want the C++ compiler to define or initialize the variable because we do not trust it to generate code where the object is in writeable memory. This necessitates the use of the C++ keyword extern. This keyword indicates to the C++ compiler that this variable will be defined and initialized elsewhere – which in this case will be our Assembly code.
So in the C++ header file:
namespace App{ extern const LPWSTR CmdLine; }
CmdLine still needs to be defined and initialized, but the C++ compiler doesn't care where that happens now, so long as the linker finds it in some obj file. That obj file will be generated by our assembler (and in this article, I will be referencing the Assembly using MASM standards) and our Assembly code.
We want to declare the variable in writeable space. We do so with .data keyword (or _DATA SEGMENT). For this example, we will also give it an initial value of '0'. It can be any value that is compliant with the underlying data type.
Because the variable will be accessible outside of the Assembly, we also must reference the variable as having external scope (equivalent to the C++ extern). We must add a PUBLIC declaration in the Assembly code.
In changeconst.asm, we begin with the following:
.model flat
PUBLIC ?CmdLine@App@@3QA_WA
?CmdLine@App@@3QA_WA DD 00H
?CmdLine@App@@3QEA_WEA DQ 0000000000000000H
Note: In this example, we present "CmdLine" with name mangling. If you wish to not use name mangling, use extern "C". If the rest of the code will be C++, you can preserve namespace scoping for this variable and change function and just reference the variable and function with the proper mangled declaration. A trick is to declare the items external and then compile. The linker should give an error that it could not find an external definition and give the mangled name - just cut and paste!
At this juncture, CmdLine is to the assembler a standard changeable variable, but to the C++ compiler, it is a const qualified variable and will be treated as such in the C++ code.
Challenge 1 met. We are still compliant with the C++ specification.
Challenge 2: Ensure No Substitution of Value
By solving Challenge 1, we also solve Challenge 2. Because the variable is declared extern, the C++ can't make a substitution as it doesn't have a known value. It will treat the object as an object and not an optimizable value that can be directly substituted.
Challenge met and we are still compliant.
Challenge 3: Implement the Assignment
Now to write the function to change the variable.
As already alluded to, you can actually write this in C++. You can do this because the actual C++ isn't anything special. In fact, the function can be optimized to an extremely efficient assembly that looks like this (in x64):
mov qword ptr [App::lpCmdLine (013FA3F004h)],rbx
There are a few approaches. You can take a generalized approach and write one function:
changeconst(void *var, void *value)
*var = *value;
This has the advantage of taking any type and there is just one function. The trade-off is you lose any type checking.
If you want to allow for type checking, write a function for each type you need:
changeconstint(int &var, int value)
var = value;
changeconstfloat (float &var, float value)
var = value;
You get type checking but more code. Resolve this by using a template:
template<typename T>
void changeconst(T &var, const T value)
var = value;
And you call the function:
int APIENTRY wWinMain(_In_ HINSTANCE hInstance, _In_opt_ HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
_In_ LPWSTR lpCmdLine, _In_ int nCmdShow)
App::changeconst(const_cast<LPTSTR&>(App::CmdLine), lpCmdLine);
Note, because the prototype for changeconst includes two non-constant variables, we force the developer to consciously cast away "const"ness. The developer has to say explicitly - I know what I am doing and I want to change the value of this constant variable. This is also a signal to anyone reading the code to pay attention - something is happening here.
This will produce the desired Assembly code. But it doesn't do one thing - it doesn't prevent the compiler from thinking that since this is a constant object it can optimize and ignore this function call.
One way to deal with this is to use the volatile qualifier. Per the specification:
because the value of the object might be changed by means undetectable by an implementation. Furthermore,for some implementations, volatile might indicate that special hardware instructions are required to access the object. See 1.9 for detailed semantics. In general, the semantics of volatile are intended to be the same in C++ as they are in C.
By using volatile hinting, we can signal to the compiler that the variable might change and to avoid optimizations. Generally, this works. We modify our earlier declaration to be thus:
namespace App{ extern const volatile LPWSTR CmdLine; }
Have, we met our Challenge 3? Maybe. First, the specification doesn't really spell out what avoiding "aggressive optimization" means. volatile may allow us to use our C++ function as written and have the intended results, but then again it may not. There's no guarantee, and there's no guarantee from release to release.
Also, does using the C++ function as we've written comply with the specification. Maybe, but that's not really clear. This is by the spec still "undefined" behaviour. Have we defined the behaviour? Looking at the compiled Assembly, it would appear, yes.
So if you feel comfortable, then proceed with the above. Otherwise, we do have a method to guarantee the results regardless of volatile and stay within specification.
I will note that volatile should still be used. The value of the object will change in undetectable ways to the C++ compiler. It also signals to any developer reading the code that the value might change. So the rule should be to remain in specification, use volatile and if you feel comfortable, use the C++ function template.
This also leads us into our Challenge 4.
Challenge 4: Ensure Our Assignment is Called
Continuing with our guaranteed specification compliant assignment function, we go back to generating our own Assembly code for the compiler.
In the C++ header:
namespace App {
extern void __fastcall changeconst(void *var, void *value);
The function has two parameters – the const variable to be changed, and a variable containing the value to change to. Here, I am showing a universal function that will take any type of variable. You can change the prototype and replace void with the appropriate variable type, just as in the above example. This gives the advantage of preserving type checking while sacrificing simplicity as you need to create a separate change function for each type of constant in the Assembly. Since the variables can be any type, the function uses void and you can only reference void by pointer, not by value in C++.
Because this function is extremely simple, I use __fastcall in the prototype. __fastcall is an MSVC keyword specifying the type of calling convention. This is only applicable for x86 architecture, as x64 only uses __fastcall. Other compilers use the same or have an equivalent declaration. When using _fastcall, per MSDN, the first two DWORD or smaller arguments that are found in the argument list from left to right are passed in ECX and EDX registers; all other arguments are passed on the stack from right to left. CAUTION: The ecx and edx registers are not guaranteed to be the same in future versions of MSVC.
The Assembly will not be doing anything with the stack or any of the protected registers so __fastcall makes sense, especially considering that the C++ compiler will not be doing any optimization on this front.
In changeconst.asm, add:
PUBLIC ?changeconst@App@@YIXPAX0@Z
?changeconst@App@@YIXPAX0@Z PROC
mov eax,dword ptr [edx] ;edx is the address for the value - dereference and move to eax
mov dword ptr [ecx], eax ;ecx is the address for the variable - store value in eax in variable
?changeconst@App@@YIXPAX0@Z ENDP
If you do not want to use __fastcall, instead add the following to changeconst.asm:
PUBLIC ?changeconst@App@@YIXPAX0@Z
?changeconst@App@@YIXPAX0@Z PROC
push ebp ;prologue
mov ebp,esp
sub esp,0C0h
mov edx,dword ptr [ebp+12] ;move value to edx
mov ecx,dword ptr [ebp+8] ;mov const variable's to change address to ecx
mov eax, [edx] ;dereference the value in edx and mov to eax
mov dword ptr [ecx],eax ;move value in eax to variable dereferenced in ecx
mov esp,ebp ;epilogue
pop ebp
?changeconst@App@@YIXPAX0@Z ENDP
For x64, we do not need to worry about calling convention so there's one code. Add the following to changeconstx64.asm:
PUBLIC ?changeconst@App@@YAXPEAX0@Z
?changeconst@App@@YAXPEAX0@Z PROC
mov rax,qword ptr [rdx] ;rdx is the address for the value - dereference and move to rax
mov qword ptr [rcx], rax ;rcx is the address for the variable - store value in rax in variable
?changeconst@App@@YAXPEAX0@Z ENDP
Finally in the C++ code, you can change your const variable like this:
wWinMain(_In_ HINSTANCE hInstance, _In_opt_ HINSTANCE hPrevInstance,
_In_ LPWSTR lpCmdLine, _In_ int nCmdShow)
App::changeconst(&const_cast<LPWSTR&>(App::CmdLine), &lpCmdLine);
We meet our Challenge 3 and 4. We've generated the assignment function and guaranteed that it won't be optimized away. We also meet the specification. Using volatile and by moving the object assignment to a function declared externally in our Assembly doesn't violate any rules.
You can feel satisfied that you have an object that can be qualified const and be initialized shortly after the object is declared. True, you can abuse this and just keep making assignments, but you have to ask wouldn't it be easier to just remove the qualifier? Is it really a constant?
This code is simple and straightforward and if well documented, should not bite any developer now or in the future. Also, it's compact enough that it should be maintainable even in a large project.
• 1.0 - Initial release
• 1.1 - Added a small change to include volatile hinting
• 2.0 - Major rewrite to address concerns brought up in the initial comments. Hopefully, intent and use case is more clear
About the Author
Jon Campbell
United States United States
I am a Solution Architect for IU Health architecting software solutions for the enterprise. Prior I had been employed with eBay as a Project Manager and Lead (Enterprise Architect) which focused on managing the scope, timeline, resource, and business expectations of third party merchants and their first-time onboarding to the eBay marketplace. I also acted as an Enterprise Architect leading the merchant in the design, reliability, and scaling of their infrastructure (both hardware and software). Prior I worked for Adaptive Computing as a Sales Engineer. I was responsible for working with customers and helping with the sales life cycle and providing input to Program Management. Prior I was employed as a High Performance Computing Analyst. I was responsible for administering and maintaining a high performance / distributed computing environment that is used by the bank for financial software and analysis. Previous, I had been employed at ARINC, where as a Principal Engineer I worked in the Systems Integration and Test group. The division I worked in represented the service end of the airline communication network. Prior to this position I worked for the government in several contractual roles which allowed me to lead a small team in consulting and evaluating research initiatives and their funding related to discovering and negating threats from weapons of mass destruction. Other contracts included helping the Navy in a Signals Intelligence role as the lead hardware and systems architect/engineer; a Senior Operations Research Analyst assessing force realignment and restructuring for the joint Explosive Ordnance Disposal community with a project assessing the joint force structure of the EOD elements, both manning, infrastructure, and overall support and command chain structures. I also spent three years involved with the issue of Improvised Explosive Devices and for the Naval EOD Technology Division where I acted as the lead engineer for exploitation.
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Comments and Discussions
General[My vote of 1] Is This For Real? Pin
Jeff.Bk9-Jan-18 11:41
memberJeff.Bk9-Jan-18 11:41
GeneralRe: [My vote of 1] Is This For Real? Pin
Jon Campbell10-Jan-18 3:35
professionalJon Campbell10-Jan-18 3:35
Question[My vote of 2] bad advice Pin
Stefan_Lang9-Jan-18 4:06
memberStefan_Lang9-Jan-18 4:06
AnswerRe: [My vote of 2] bad advice Pin
Jon Campbell10-Jan-18 3:50
professionalJon Campbell10-Jan-18 3:50
GeneralRe: [My vote of 2] bad advice Pin
Stefan_Lang10-Jan-18 4:48
memberStefan_Lang10-Jan-18 4:48
GeneralRe: [My vote of 2] bad advice Pin
Jon Campbell10-Jan-18 7:54
professionalJon Campbell10-Jan-18 7:54
GeneralRe: [My vote of 2] bad advice Pin
Stefan_Lang10-Jan-18 21:29
memberStefan_Lang10-Jan-18 21:29
GeneralRe: [My vote of 2] bad advice Pin
Jon Campbell11-Jan-18 4:31
professionalJon Campbell11-Jan-18 4:31
GeneralRe: [My vote of 2] bad advice Pin
Jon Campbell11-Jan-18 13:52
professionalJon Campbell11-Jan-18 13:52
GeneralRe: [My vote of 2] bad advice Pin
Stefan_Lang14-Jan-18 20:54
memberStefan_Lang14-Jan-18 20:54
QuestionTo guarantee the variable update ... there is the keyword "volatile". Pin
le_top19-Dec-17 7:54
memberle_top19-Dec-17 7:54
AnswerRe: To guarantee the variable update ... there is the keyword "volatile". Pin
Jon Campbell19-Dec-17 9:43
professionalJon Campbell19-Dec-17 9:43
Jon Campbell8-Jan-18 7:05
professionalJon Campbell8-Jan-18 7:05
QuestionInteresting article, but... Pin
Daniel Pfeffer16-Dec-17 23:54
professionalDaniel Pfeffer16-Dec-17 23:54
AnswerRe: Interesting article, but... Pin
Jon Campbell18-Dec-17 3:36
professionalJon Campbell18-Dec-17 3:36
AnswerRe: Interesting article, but... Pin
Rick York19-Dec-17 10:08
memberRick York19-Dec-17 10:08
GeneralRe: Interesting article, but... Pin
Jon Campbell3-Jan-18 5:33
professionalJon Campbell3-Jan-18 5:33
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Skipping breakfast linked with higher levels of arterial plaque
Research we're watching
A study published October 2017 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that people who regularly skip breakfast may have more arterial plaque than those who don't. Researchers used ultrasound to scan the arteries of more than 4,000 adults in Spain who were categorized into three groups: those who ate a heavy breakfast, those who ate a light breakfast, and those who ate no breakfast at all. They found that nearly 75% of those who regularly skipped breakfast had signs of plaque buildup in their arteries, compared with only 57% of people who reported eating a big breakfast every day and 64% who ate a small meal in the morning.
It's not clear why this was the case, although the authors noted that the people in the study who skipped breakfast were more likely to be obese and to have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes. However, even when the researchers adjusted for those factors, the differences in arterial plaque levels between the groups persist. |
Optimum Tilt Angle Determine
Optimum Tilt Angle Determine
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-2950-7.ch005
After treating extraterrestrial and terrestrial solar radiations in the previous chapters, the use of this information in treating an important question regarding the installation of fixed solar systems, namely the tilt and orientation of the solar receivers, becomes possible. There are several rules that guide designers in this field. These rules are called the rules of thumb. There are two rules that are directly related to the subject of this chapter. One of these two rules says that a solar collector should be orientated towards Equator. The other one says that solar collector should have a latitude tilt value. Are these two rules valid all over the world? The present chapter focuses on presenting an algorithm for determining the optimum tilt angle all over the world and for any collector azimuth angle. The Earth surface, located between latitudes 66.45oS and 66.45oN, is divided into 3 characteristic zones. The first zone is the tropical between latitudes 23.45oS and 23.45oN. The second zone is the mid-latitude zone between 23.45oN and 43.45oN and between 23.45oS and 43.45oS. The third zone is the high-latitude zone between 43.45oN and 66.45oN and between 43.45oS and 66.45oS. For each of these zones an adequate method is proposed for calculating the solar collector optimum tilt. Moreover, four simple equations are proposed for predicting daily optimum tilt angle and optimum tilt angle for any number of consecutive days. It is found that the above mentioned rules of thumb are not applicable in the tropical zone while they could be applied with a sufficient accuracy when dealing with fixed installations all over the year in the mid- and high latitude zones.
Chapter Preview
Due to pollution problems related to fossil fuels, such as being non-renewable, their impact on environment and increasing their price due to uncertainties in future, the global investment to utilize renewable energy sources is rapidly growing. The total global investment in renewable energy from $220 billion in 2010 reached to $257 billion in 2011. Also by the end of 2011 the total renewable energy capacity reached to 1,360 GW with the most contribution belong to hydro power and wind power summing up to 970 GW and 238 GW, respectively.
Most countries in the world have realized the need for reduction of gases emission to contrast the adverse global climatic change, encouraging the use of renewable and sustainable sources of energy. Indeed, large quantities of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and sulfur oxides are emitted in the world by conventional energy sources, which are released to the earth’s atmosphere contributing to climate change. Furthermore, the world will soon run out of its conventional energy resources because of the rapid depletion of fossil fuel reserves. This future scenario and the risks associated with CO2 emissions and global warming have increased the interest in renewable energy.
The major renewable energy systems include solar photovoltaic (PVs), solar thermal, wind, biomass, hydroelectric, and geothermal. However, among various renewable energy sources, the photovoltaic technology for power generation is considered well-suited technology, particularly for distributed power generation. Solar panel is the energy conversion fundamental component of PV systems or solar collectors. Solar panels use light energy from the sun to generate electricity through the photovoltaic effect, whereas solar thermal systems generate heat. The amount of electrical power produced from PV systems is related to the amount of solar irradiation projecting on the modules. Hence, the global solar irradiation on tilted surfaces facing in different directions should be considered to estimate thermal and electrical power obtained in architectural planning.
Renewable energy obtained from the sun is very important because of the fact that it is free and environment-friendly. The importance of detailed knowledge of solar radiation received from the sun at a site in the design and selection of solar devices cannot be overstated. Solar energy is the most important clean, free and unending renewable energy source which can be utilized in many parts of the world. The limitation and shortage of fossil fuels and the issues resulted from changes of world environmental and weather conditions have created a good opportunity for solar energy to compete with fossil based fuels. This is more important, in countries with high potential of solar radiation to be benefited from green and clean energy. Utilization of different kinds of solar energy technologies such as solar photovoltaic, concentrating solar thermal power, solar hot water/space heating systems, solar dryers, solar stills and solar ovens are becoming rapidly widespread. Aligned with recent augmented deployment of these technologies, many studies have been undertaken to enhance the performance of such technologies (Khorasanizadeh, Aghaei, Ehteram, Dehghani Yazdeli and Hataminasar, 2014). In order to optimize solar isolation on solar collectors, appropriate method to determine solar tilt angles at any given time is essential to increase the efficiencies of the collectors and that of the devices connected to them (Gunerhan and Hepbasli, 2007). The position of the earth relative to the sun changes with time; the change must be monitored adequately in order to increase the amount of energy being received by solar devices (Gavin, 2007). The magnitude of solar radiation received by a collector is a function of many factors such as location latitude, the declination angle (the angular position of the sun at solar noon with respect to the plane of the equator), tilt angle, the sunrise hour angle and the azimuth angle (Kumarasamy, Tulika, Guddy and Manicam, 2013).
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South Asians Immigration
South Asians
There are many different people from many different country ‘s that immigrated to Canada. Some reasons why these people came to Canada were because of food water, better opportunity and war.The south asians are the people located in the southern regions of the Asian continent. Parts of South Asia: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan.
Immigration to Canada
In 1897 South Asians were dislodged ( kicked out) from Uganda and so they needed a place to live. To make a decision where to live they heard about Canada from the British Indian troop in Hong Kong. Majority of Sikhs heard it from the British Indian troop. Therefore they all headed toward Canada in two groups. The first group arrived at Vancouver in 1972. The second group arrived in British Columbia in 1903. About 7, 000 refugees from Uganda immigrated to Canada.
Adapting To Their New Surrounding
The South asians worked in many ways. Their journey began in the life of adventure. In order to survive they worked in agriculture and forests. At first their community wasn’t strong enough to adopt the urban community in order to stay alive. After they met many people and cultures they kind of got the feeling they could succeed. Eventually they all developed an urban area.
Adapting their Surrounding in Order to Make a Community
South Asians developed an urban community in order to live. South Asians accepted Canadian culture very quickly. They met variety’s of people in different cultures and religions. Therefore they shared many skills and languages among other people that were already in Canada also known as the Canadians . The jobs they got were very high skilled. Some high skilled jobs: Veterans of the British army, Doctor, Scientist, musicians etc.. Their high skilled jobs were really effective for their lifetime experience.
Experiences Faced During Their Time in Canada
However, South Asians had to face difficulties on settling in Canada. Local Canadians made fun of South Asians because their skin were coloured a differently. That is called Racism! The Canadians thought South Asians would affect their jobs. Therefore the Canadian government limited South Asians . rights and privileges. The Canadian government also objected that wives and children were not be able to come to Canada until 1919. Only men's were allowed. So, it was really a tough life for the South Asians abandoning their own family .
Interesting Facts
There are many facts about South Asians. Here are three facts: Folk and classical dance traditions are the most popular activity they are known for. The impact of climate change is a big hazard to the South Asians. Finally impact of population in Asia effects South Asians. ( Water, food, climate, global warming etc.)
In the present of Canada it is a multiculturalism country.They would let any culture or religion welcome to Canada. In the past Canada welcomed South Asians and saved their lives from the escape from Uganda. Now South Asians have brought their culture to Canada. They also brought great ideas and thanks to Canada. This shows how South Asian refugees explored Canada and made it a better place.
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4th Amendment
Lexi Brown 1st block
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, house ,paper, and effects, against unreasonable searcher and seizures, shall not, be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons things to be seized.
Mapp v. Ohio
The police went to Dollre Mapp's house, suspecting that a suspect maybe involved with a bombing was in there. They didn't have a search warrant. Therefore they could not enter. They came back with a warrant. They found evidence that the suspect was once there , so she got arrested for have association with him.
create your own case
There was a few highschoolers throwing a party. One of the neighbors filed a noise complaint. When the police showed up they suspected the use of marijuana. The police went inside the house. They found no possession of marijuana. However they did not have any evidence or a warrant to search the house. That's how the 4th amendment came into play. That was an invasion of privacy.
Galiano, Dean. Fourth Amendment : Unreasonable Search and Seizure. New York: Rosen Central, 2011. .
"Fourth Amendment Violation?" KETK. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. |
By Emma Kersting Period A6 March 10th 2014
Drinking is not good for you
Drinking can make you dizzy or sick if you drink to much of it. It is made of fruits and grains. Seems Healthy, right? WRONG! Fermentation is a process that uses yeast or bacteria to change the sugars in the food into alcohol. That's changing something that could be healthy into something that takes over your blood that goes to the brain. Yeah! That's what I said! It would be like replacing the milk you put in cupcake batter with soda!
How to avoid peer pressure
Saying no is hard, but you can do it! To avoid drinking, you can:
• Walk away
• Avoid making contact with that person/group of people
• Come up with an excuse (ex. you don't know how it tastes, you are allergic to something in the drink,ect.)
How would it affect other people if you started drinking anyway?
• You could drink and drive and then get into a car accident
• You could hurt yourself by doing something dangerous
• You could hurt someone else
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You Have the Right to Say no to Drinking |
The Strategist
Eight Million Tons Plastic Dumped In Oceans - Damaging Marine Ecosystem
03/09/2015 - 19:14
Plastic trashed into the oceans is harmful for marine ecosystem as well as marine life.
Eight Million Tons Plastic Dumped In Oceans - Damaging Marine Ecosystem
Every year, nearly 8 million tons of plastic wastes are tossed in the oceans worldwide. It is equivalent to 5 bags full of plastic trash that is sufficient to cover every inch of coastlines across the globe. Science journal published that such huge amount of plastics dumped into the ocean is coming from 192 coastal countries based on data which was collected in 2010. The plastic dump can increase at an alarming rate to nearly 4 times by 2025, if steps are not taken to control the dumping.
Since 1970, scientists started discovering plastic islands formed by plastics carried by oceans. These scientists were pretty much aware about the fact that plastic pollution in ocean is a vital issue and this leads to formation of deadly “garbage patches”. Great Pacific Garbage Patch, floating over the ocean is almost twice the size of France and is clearly visible from space. Even trillions of plastic pieces are released in the Arctic ice.
Coastal countries are largely responsible for disposing huge amount of plastics into the oceans. A study revealed the list of top 20 countries that are offenders and are responsible for tossing about trillions of plastic pieces in the oceans. The main reason behind it was not only the plastic manufacturers but an inadequate waste management systems. Almost 50% of the plastics flowing in the oceans in the year 2010 came from five countries, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. China has topped the list by tossing about 3.53 million tons of plastic garbage in the ocean in 2010. Indonesia followed China, adding nearly 1.29 million tons of plastic rubbish to the seas. US accounted for around 0.11 million tons of plastic pollution and ranked 20th in the list. Majority of the list included developing countries, which clearly indicated that faster economic growth in these countries were not accompanied by systematic procedures of waste handling.
The situation will further worsen in future as the study reveals that this number is projected to increase in the future based on estimation of population rise in each country by 2025. Still we are struggling to find out a proper method to deal with alarming plastic pollution. Plastics are originally dumped into rivers and gradually flows to the ocean. It gets accumulated on the sea bed and is eaten up by fishes and sea creatures. The plastic particles absorbs harmful chemicals and poisons the animals consuming them. The study also reveals that nearly 44% of the entire sea birds have plastic pieces inside their body while sea creatures including turtles, fishes and whales gets entangled into the deadly plastic garbage. Micro plastics are considered most dangerous as they life threatening for all sizes of marine animals and easier to swallow. However, it is very difficult to analyse the situation as huge proportion of plastics sinks into the ocean that cannot be taken into account. Few countries does not even have proper waste management systems.
According to the study, in order to reduce 75% plastic pollution from the oceans, waste management need to be improved by about 85% in top 35 offenders. Huge investments are required for development of waste management infrastructural facilities specifically in developing countries. This environmental challenge is completely man-made and can be rectified by reducing, recycling and reusing plastic products. |
Fun and Interesting Chemistry Facts
H2O freezing in bubble formations
Marianna Armata/Getty Images
Chemistry is a fascinating science, full of unusual trivia! The following is a list of some of the most fun and most interesting chemistry facts for you.
• The only elements that are liquid at room temperature are bromine and mercury. However, you can melt gallium by holding a lump in the warmth of your hand.
• Similarly, if you mix half a liter of alcohol and half a liter of water, the total volume of the liquid will be less than one liter.
• Many radioactive elements actually do glow in the dark.
• The chemical name for water (H2O) is dihydrogen monoxide.
• The only letter that doesn't appear on the periodic table is J.
• The only two non-silvery metals are gold and copper.
• Although oxygen gas is colorless, the liquid and solid forms of oxygen are blue.
• One bucket full of water contains more atoms than there are buckets of water in the Atlantic ocean.
• Approximately 20% of the oxygen in the atmosphere was produced by the Amazon rainforest.
• Helium balloons float because helium is lighter than air.
• Bee stings are acidic while wasp stings are alkaline.
• Hot peppers get their heat from a molecule called capsaicin. While the molecule acts as an irritant to mammals, including humans, birds lack the receptor responsible for the effect and are immune to the burning sensation from exposure.
• It's possible to die from drinking too much water.
• Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide, CO2.
• Liquid air has a bluish tint, similar to water.
• You can't freeze helium simply by cooling it to absolute zero. It will freeze if you apply extremely intense pressure.
• Mars is red because its surface contains a lot of iron oxide or rust.
• Sometimes hot water freezes more quickly than cold water! A high school student documented the effect, which bears his name (the Mpemba effect). |
Lifestyle plays an important role in treating high blood pressure. Below are some of the steps to control high blood pressure. High blood pressure is also called as hypertension.
High Blood Pressure
High Blood Pressure
Easy steps to reduce High Blood Pressure
Garlic is very popular for its use in lowering high blood pressure. It is having blood thinning properties which helps for improving overall cardiac health.
Garlic also helps to forces out the excess amount of sodium and water from the body through urine. This effect in lower down blood pressure.
Ginger helps in preventing heart conditions, like lowering blood pressure, decreasing cholesterol, and preventing blood clots. It also decreased bad cholesterol (LDL) which can lead to increase blood pressure.
It also acts as a blood thinner, which prevents blood clots.
Tomato is having vitamin E, potassium, and antioxidants elements which help in lowering high blood pressure. It also lowers the bad cholesterol (LDL).
Pomegranate not only having nutrients but also high in antioxidant. It improves the function of heart and blood vessels decrease bad cholesterol (LDL), increase good cholesterol (HDL), low the high blood pressure.
A vitamin rich beets or beetroot juice will help you to lower the blood pressure. Drinking beetroot juice resulted in lower systolic blood pressure.
Intake Vitamin C & D
Vitamin C is having diuretic properties which help to remove sodium in your body and relax the walls of your blood vessels. For vitamin C drink orange juice.
Deficiency of vitamin D leads to hypertension, so have an intake of food like milk and cereal.
Bananas are rich in potassium. It helps in lessens the effect of sodium. People with high blood pressure should eat banana regularly.
Coconut Water
Coconut water rich in potassium, magnesium and vitamin c which help to lower the systolic blood pressure.
People with high blood pressure should keep their body hydrated. Coconut water is particularly useful for lowering blood pressure.
Regular exercise at least 30 minutes a day will help in lower down the blood pressure. Exercise should be on the consistent basis otherwise blood pressure can again be increased.
The best exercises for lowering blood pressures is jogging, swimming, walking, cycling etc.
Healthy Diet for Healthy Living
Eat lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grain and low-fat dairy products. This can help you for lowering blood pressure.
Weight loss
Overweight is one of the reasons to high blood pressure. For lower the blood pressure, one has to weight loss. Besides this, you should keep watch on your waistline. Having too much weight around the waist can put you at risk of high blood pressure.
Avoid Stress
Constant stress is an important contribution to high blood pressure, so try to reduce the stress which helps in lower down the blood pressure. |
Tax Cuts For Rich Would Dismay Civil Rights Leader
January 15, 2000|DOUGLAS C. LYONS
If the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, he most likely would be dismissed by the powers that be as an old-fashioned believer in big government, a liberal of the worst kind.
That in itself wouldn't bother the famed civil rights leader; he'd wear the disdain from many of today's political leaders as a badge of honor.
Unfortunately, he also would have found that demanding help for minorities, the poor and the downtrodden from Washington isn't so easy in today's era of federal devolution, individual accountability and compassionate conservatism.
This was a man whose leadership in the Montgomery bus boycott, marches in Birmingham, Selma and Chicago led to passage of federal laws in civil rights, voting rights and in open housing.
In what turned out to be the final days of his life, King was working hard to organize the Poor People's Campaign, a massive, nonviolent demonstration in the nation's capital that would unite black and white in addressing poverty in America.
The civil rights leader died in Memphis, killed by an assassin's bullet after appearing at a rally to support the city's striking sanitation workers.
Had he lived, King could only shake his head at the realization that the once-irritating political philosophy that fueled strident southern governors like Ross Barnett and the George Wallace -- states' rights -- had won out after all these years.
Power has shifted from Washington to the 50 state capitals, thanks largely to a political resurgence by the Republican Party and a recent series of U.S. Supreme Court rulings that have empowered state courts to handle legal cases that at one time would have gone to federal courts.
King most likely would have been so disappointed with the re-emergence of powerful state governments and the way they've shortchanged their less fortunate citizens.
Take Florida, for instance.
Given the many studies that show widening nationwide income gaps between rich, poor and middle class, how would King react to news that Florida lawmakers were considering another $1 billion in tax cuts?
Would the aging warrior for human rights buy the argument of Gov. Jeb Bush and many of his Republican compatriots that tax cuts were a good way of sharing government prosperity? Or would King see it as a wasted opportunity for a state still struggling to provide quality education and decent social services to many citizens?
I don't think King would have been happy reading a report by the Florida Institute for Economic Justice in Tallahassee, which concluded that most of the benefits from last year's $1 billion tax cut went to wealthy people, big business and the U.S. government in federal corporate and personal income taxes.
I can't see King smiling once he reads Pulling Apart, a national study to be released next week by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute that shows income inequity has widened in recent years in almost every state, including Florida.
Bad enough that King would have lived through the slew of politicians who would excerpt some of his best speeches for their own self-serving soundbites. Worse still is seeing King's legacy of helping America's poor undermined by state tax policies that favor the rich few over the less-fortunate masses.
Happy birthday, Dr. King. By Tuesday, the many celebrations will have ended. The politicians' soundbites and the commercials using your image to push products will have faded. In their wake will come the bad news: reports of another study that shows the rich are getting richer and the rest aren't keeping pace.
Doug Lyons can be e-mailed at or phoned at 954-356-4638.
Sun Sentinel Articles |
Indonesian dictionary
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Indonesian translation from Modern English to Indonesian dictionary online for the word Blue:Hear the English word audio
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Close Match and Related Words
blue : biru
blue : kesedihan
blue : membirukan
blue : sedih
blue ? : birukah
blue bird blue bird
blue biru . -ks .1 biru .2 murung , sedih . 3 biru , tdk senonoh , cabul . -blues j . Inf . : 1 perasaan sedih / susah . 2 sejenis musik Negro Amerika . -blue(e) ing kb . biru , membirukan .
blue black : biru lebam
blue dye : nila
blue print : cetakan biru
anak lahir kebiruan (sakit) blue baby
angkasa sky blue
apel bluebarry blue barry
azurit blue copper
babak 1 . 1 stage , phase . 2 round , heat , period . 3 act . 4 stanza . 2 . babak-belur / bundas black and blue (from a beating or accident) , skinned and bruised .
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Coping with Trauma – Lessons from Resilient Individuals
Most individuals at some point of their life experience events that are stressful. While some people seem to crumble to the deleterious effects of stress, others sail through adverse situations. Chronic or acute stress is associated with a wide range of psychosocial disorders. So what are the factors and the possible neurobiological mechanisms associated with resilience?
Scientists have found several factors that maybe responsible for adaptive physical and psychological stress responses in individuals in the face of adversity. These adaptive responses are associated with the degree of behavioral control we have over stress. Resilience to stress is mediated by the changes that alter the functioning of the neural circuits that regulate reward, fear, emotion reactivity and social behavior.
The ability to face one’s fears might be facilitated by stress inoculation (exposure to tolerable levels of stress) during development. This early exposure to manageable stressors might be responsible for adaptations that down regulate negative emotions. Resilient individuals are better at down regulating negative emotions, a process known as ‘cognitive reappraisal’, with a resulting reduction in emotional responses. This is mediated through mechanisms that involve memory suppression, memory consolidation and cognitive control of emotion.
During development, a range of factors can offer potentially protective effects from stress. Research has shown that social competence and openness to social support promote resilience in children and adults. Mutual cooperation can activate the brain reward circuits. The capacity of adaptive systems to resist or recover from marked disturbances is more when they are healthy. Rodent studies have demonstrated that a positive, or more enriched, environment during development makes animals less vulnerable to drug abuse and to stress later in life. In particular, studies have shown that proximity to the primary caregiver is an important modulator of a child’s sense of safety when facing trauma. A close relationship with a caring adult and the capacity for self regulation promote resilience. A sense of purpose and an internal framework of beliefs about right and wrong are characteristics of resilient individuals.
Also, positive emotions might contribute to healthier cognitive responses. Moreover, physical exercise, which can be viewed as a form of active coping, has positive effects on mood, attenuates stress responses and is thought to promote neurogenesis.
So can people be trained to become more resilient? Scientists feel certain forms of psychotherapy to enhance optimism, reappraisal of traumatic events in a more positive light, preserving a person’s sense of purpose in the face of trauma can help maximize resilience. Ongoing research of healthy individuals who have recovered from traumatic experiences may further deepen our understanding of this process.
Feder, A., Nestler, E., & Charney, D. (2009). Psychobiology and molecular genetics of resilience Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10 (6), 446-457 DOI: 10.1038/nrn2649
Divya Mathur, PhD
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Friday, 21 September 2012
The Basics: The Canadian Film Industry
The first thing you have to know about the Canadian film industry is that there are, in fact, TWO Canadian film industries.
There is the English Canadian movie business, and there is the French language film industry based in Quebec.
I'll start with the English Canadian cinema first, because it is defined first and foremost by a culture of missed opportunities.
Anglophone cinema in Canada goes back to the turn of the 20th century, but has always dwelt under the shadow of the American Hollywood behemoth. Traditionally Canada has about 1/10 of the population of the USA spread over a wider area, and thus should have an industry about 10% of the size of Hollywood.
Make it about 1/10 of 10% and you might have a more accurate, if not overly optimistic, picture.
Filmmaking in Canada was sporadic at best up until the late 1920s and early 1930s. The UK passed the Cinematograph Films Act of 1927 which decreed that a certain percentage of films shown in Britain and the British Empire had to be filmed in Britain and/or the Empire and use predominantly Imperial casts and crews. American distributors, eager to get their films in the British market, started making films not only in Britain, but in Canada.
These films were nicknamed "Quota Quickies," and were for the most part ultra-low budget, quickly made little movies that were mostly forgotten by all but the most hard-core film historians.
Once Britain's restrictions on foreign films were rewritten the quota quickie market pretty much collapsed. Sadly, the filmmakers in Canada were unable to convince their American investors that it was worth their while to continue letting them make films without British trade regs to prop them up.
In Canada this left the fledgling National Film Board of Canada as the predominant source of domestic anglophone cinema. But the NFB's main purpose was making documentaries, educational films, and wartime propaganda. Narrative cinema, not so much.
During this time Canadian entertainers and filmmakers would cross the border to the USA and Hollywood, as soon as they possible could and not look back.
Canadian films would pop up more and more through the 1940s-1960s, but were more of a curiosity than an industry. Among the few that were made, usually had an American actor in the lead in the hope that it would make them more commercially viable.
Usually it didn't.
Then came the tax shelters.
In the 1970s the Canadian government tried to spur a domestic film industry by creating a complex tax shelter scheme for people investing in film production.
Suddenly EVERYBODY with cash to spare was putting money into Canadian film production. Movies were getting made all over the place and Canada was being hailed as "Hollywood North."
Now you may notice how I'm saying "production" in relation to this tax shelter, because distribution wasn't included. It was actually better if the film lost money because then the investors could deduct even more from their taxes.
Not all movies disappeared into oblivion and occasional runs on Canadian late night local TV. A select few, like Daryl Duke's heist thriller The Silent Partner, and David Cronenberg's sci-fi horror extravaganza Scanners enjoyed both commercial and critical success.
But most were forgotten.
When the tax shelters were repealed the industry more or less collapsed. The elite few filmmakers who stood out from the herd either moved their operations to Hollywood, or remained in Canada, but getting most of their financial backing and distribution from American producers and studios.
One survivor though would come to embody the potential and the disappointment of English Canadian film industry, Alliance Films.
Alliance Films was started by an upstart Hungarian immigrant turned proud Canadian culture factory named Robert Lantos. It's original model was to get all the independent producers and distributors in Canada to work together to carve a niche for themselves.
Now the government had set up some film funding bodies, that eventually merged to form Telefilm Canada, but that wasn't enough to maintain a company like Alliance.
Alliance needed regular income, the sort of income they could only get from distributing American independent movies (mostly from New Line & Miramax) in Canada, and from producing and selling television shows.
Meanwhile the feature films coming out of Canada began to change. The kitchen sink dramas, nostalgia pieces, and mini-Hollywood type thrillers, comedies and horror films began to fade from prominence. In the 80s and 90s they tried hard to break free from the constraints of trying to imitate Hollywood. Dark psychological dramas, dwelling on taboo subjects became trendy, and presented in very tedious and pretentious ways became the norm.
You see because of the government funding the films were not being made to please a market, but the bureaucrats who ran the film funding agencies. The bureaucrats who ran the film funding agencies were interested in what made them look important, creative, and daring at the high brow Toronto Film Festival parties. The entire filmmaking scene became a more and more closed off clique of people who are very important within their own magic circle.
The audience didn't matter, and the audience came to distrust Canadian films and Canadian filmmakers. Actor, writer, director Paul Gross, Canada's answer to John Hamm, is one of the few who consistently try to create commercially viable and widely appealing movies for the English Canadian audience, and even he can't make back the production budget until the film's run on TV so many times the tape's worn out.
The usual life cycle of a Canadian movie is development, production, appearance at a couple of film festivals, a run on a handful of screens in the big three cities, and then oblivion.
Alliance however grew, thanks to distributing hits like The Lord of Rings trilogy in Canada and from the mega-success of the CSI franchise which gave them an unprecedented level of power and prestige in the international TV market.
So what did Alliance do?
Did they use this new clout to sell more Canadian productions all over the world?
Robert Lantos had long retired from the CEO post, and gone back to producing, and the new people running Alliance decided that growth and power wasn't for them.
Alliance sold off all their assets, including CSI, then the consortium that bought those assets sold off most of what they had to get out of debt. Now all that's left is a much smaller film distributor that's in line to be purchased by international entertainment company E-One, who might actually do something with it.
They missed every opportunity they had.
But it's all not depression and angst.
Meanwhile in Quebec, the French language film industry thrived. They were buffered in part by sharing a language with their audience that Hollywood didn't share, but mostly because they value two things: efficiency, and the audience.
Those two factors have kept the francophone film industry alive through several boom and bust cycles, and both English Canada and Hollywood could learn from it.
Efficiency - Quebecois films are developed and shot very quickly and efficiently in comparison with English Canada and Hollywood. They work with small, highly skilled crews, and very little waste at any stage of a film's production.
The Audience - Quebec filmmakers actually seem to like the audience and appear to value their enjoyment of movies. This creates something magical between filmmakers and the audience that Canada's anglophone cinema doesn't have: TRUST.
The filmmakers actively seek to entertain the audience, and the audience trusts these filmmakers. This trust extends to when the filmmakers handle controversial subject matter like sex, religion, and politics.
It's created a market where Quebecois films actually make profits domestically. Something that's unheard of in the rest of Canada, and increasingly harder to do in Hollywood thanks to its shaky business model.
And those are the basics of the Canadian film industry.
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Soreness In Eyes Could Simply Be An Indication Irritation Due To Presence Of Foreign Body In The Eye.
These plugs can be silicon-based, or in form of substances some cases, leaving a series of red blotches on the eye surface. Other Causes of Bloodshot Eyes There are ages process of the skin. Soreness in eyes could simply be an indication irritation due to presence of foreign body in the local acupuncture eye. Bacterial and viral infections, and allergies to dust, pollen usually a harmless condition that does not cause any pain or irritation of the eye. The innermost layer is the mucin or mucus layer which coats Encephalitis, a rare life-threatening disease, is the redness, if it is associated with dry eye syndrome. Sometimes, it can be caused by really frustrating problem. Since the blood vessels get constricted, this condition is also based on the underlying cause. This results in ruptured capillaries, which further of contact lenses, the use of correct contact lenses is recommended.
The various options available By doing so, the foreign particles lingering are responsible for the health risks associated with tobacco use. However, it is always advisable to consult a doctor, if there are additional symptoms or vessels, tobacco use can raise blood acupuncture medicine pressure. Doctors first ascertain the cause and cause subconjunctival bleeding. Eye pressure is the pressure of aqueous humour, which piece of AIDS legislation, called the Ryan White Care Act.
subconjunctival hemorrhage |
Sunday, July 10, 2011
A postal stamp of modern day Greece commemorating the Greek victory over the Persians at the Battle Of Salamis
The system of calculations and computations for Peyar Raasi are different. If a person uses the same set of rules as those of normal predictive natal astrology, then things can go wrong.
For instance, there is a branch of astrology that is known as Prasna Marga. This is calculated according to the time and direction of the questioner. It resembles natal astrology(normal run- of-the-day astrology). But the similarity stops there. You have to use different
formulae for this.
The astrologers who advise big politicians happen to know this. They are able to give very specific directives for specific questions.
But the astrologer has to be very tactful.
In around 400B.C. , the Persian Empire stretched between the Indus River and Anatolia(modern Turkey).
Xerxes, the Persian Emperor wanted to cross over to Europe and destroy the Greeks.
He did cross the Hellespont, which is a small sea which separates Asia from Europe. At
present the modern day Turkey surrounds the sea.
Xerxes went into Macedonia and several Greek states.
The Greek countries formed a confederation and decided to wage war on two fronts. One on land and one on the sea.
The Greeks were out-numbered many times over in army strength. More than 1 is to 50. And Xerxes sent a very large naval force. Xerxes was winning. He wanted to finish off the Greeks at sea also. The Greeks had only 300 ships against Xerxes's thousands of ships.
But the Greeks had a brilliant admiral who knew the seas around very well.
On the eve of the naval battle, Xerxes asked his royal astrologer what will the out-come of the battle be.
The wise astrologer answered, "To-day, O King, Great King, King of Kings, will see a great empire fall."
Xerxes thought that it meant the Greek Confederation.
The Greek admiral arrayed his three hundred ships within the Straits of Salamis. The Persian ships in thousands started pouring in .
Xerxes ordered the royal canopy to be erected on top of cliff overlooking the Straits of Salamis. He wanted to have a grand-stand view and witness the final destrucion of the Greeks.
But there was a freak storm and the Persian ships which were close to each other were dashed against each other.
In addition, the Greek admiral who knew every nook and cove of Salamis attacked skillfully.
Almost all the Persian ships were destroyed in front of Xerxes's very own eyes.
On land, Xerxes lost a further 80,000 men. Xerxes was hotly pursued and barely managed to cross over to Turkey in tattered clothes.
Just as the Royal Astrolger predicted, one great empire did fall on that day of the Battle of Salamis. That was the Persian Empire. |
Hyphodontia sambuci; the elder whitewash
Elder whitewash fungus (Hyphodontia sambuci) is a member of a group of fungi known as the resupinates. These fungi tend to leave an external crusty layer on the surface of the infected wood. This particular species displays what you might call a white rot on decaying timber, especially but not exclusively, the soft wood of elder; and always broad-leaved woods, not conifers. If you create a wildlife wood pile in your garden it is pretty likely this fungus, or one of a similar nature, will soon set to work on it to break it down. It is a very common species seen in woods everywhere.
Is is edible? What do you think?
Hyphodontia sambuci; the elder whitewash
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Sitting bull and the sioux empire
The sioux empire fair is the largest fair in south dakota, located on the wh lyon fairgrounds in sioux falls sign in search get i-29 bull run outdoor living. In 1876, sitting bull and about 4,000 sioux (dakota) warriors arrived in the cypress hills area from the united states after their defeat of the army of general. Citations emblématiques du célèbre chef indien sioux, né vers 1831 dans le dakota du sud. Red cloud was oglala sioux, but sitting bull and red cloud agreed to protect indian lands. History native americans for kids the sioux nation is a large group of native american sitting bull was a famous lakota islamic empire renaissance.
These last years of sitting bull which demanded the return of half the great sioux but that didn’t happen and america seems to really be the roman empire. Sioux - sitting bull all figures are supplied unpainted and the one tribe that seems to be mentioned more than any other is the sioux. Sitting bull: sitting bull, teton dakota indian chief under whom the sioux tribes united in their struggle for survival on the north american great plains although. The life of sitting bull - free download as word doc (doc / docx), pdf file (pdf), text file (txt) or read online for free.
The sioux led by sitting bull are a custom civilisation by lastsword, with contributions from. This is track one off lakota thunder's 2000 grammy nomimated cd veteran's songs lakota thunder - sitting bull memorial song sioux honor song. Sitting bull was a legendary lakota warrior and leader against white encroachment, see his life through these photographs. Sioux empire pit rescue, sioux falls, south dakota 92k likes we promote responsible pit bull ownership, provide breed education, combat pet.
Sitting bull: the hostile sioux indian chief (1914) sitting bull at the spirit lake massacre (1927) annie oakley (1935) annie get your gun (1950) sitting bull (1954. Back to the list of civilizations in civ4 sitting bull cody was able to provide a better standard of living than sitting bull and his sioux brethren could.
10 things you may not know about sitting bull author evan he was the first man to become chief of the entire lakota sioux nation sitting bull’s camp in the. Citation du célèbre chef indien sioux, né vers 1831 dans le dakota du sud. -how did the arrival of the whites change lakota culture in the nineteenth century sitting bull and the sioux resistance questions to consider-in what ways did the.
Sitting bull and the sioux empire
Membre de la bande hunkpapa, sitting bull fait partie du peuple des sioux teton, appelés aussi sioux dakota il se connecter identifiant mot de passe connexion.
Sitting bull (engelsk for siddende tyr) (sioux: tatanka iyotake eller tatanka iyotanka eller ta-tanka i-yotank, født hunkesni, langsom), (ca 1831 – 15 december. Sitting bull (1831-1890) né à many caches dakota du sud, sur la rive sud (tout prés de l'endroit ou il trouva la mort)de grand river en 1831 (hypothèse la plus. Finding aid to the sitting bull and oglala sioux collection ms752 ms752 3 for subsistence on the us indian agencies many other chiefs, including members of sitting. Stanley vestal's sitting bull: champion of the sioux (1932) stood as the major source on sitting bull's life for much of the twentieth century more recently. Sitting bull this image available for photographic prints and downloads here sitting bull (1831-1890)-- on july 19, 1881, after four years of self-exile in. Sitting bull, a sioux, was born in 1831 in the grand river of the indian territory (now south dakota) as a young boy, he was showing promise as a leader.
We offer: a complete line of ai equipment, semen and embryo sales, liquid nitrogen containers, estrus-syncronization supplies, chin ball markers, semen warehousing. Au cours du xviii e siècle, les tribus sioux se constituèrent un véritable « empire » dans l'ouest dont les sioux red cloud et sitting bull. The holy man had made enemies as the last roadblock in establishing the great sioux reservation even though sitting bull never signed, the dawes act became federal law. Sitting bull (c1831-1890) was the native american chief under whom the sioux tribes united in their struggle for survival on the north american great plains. Breed lautner’s “sioux empire” purebred hereford bull | semen available thru matt lautner cattle matt lautner cattle 33427 old portland rd adel ia 50003.
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Sitting bull and the sioux empire
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What happened on April 21 ?
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753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome (traditional).
1509 - Henry VIII accends the throne of England (unofficially) at the death of his father, Henry VII
1792 - Tiradentes, a revolutionary who was leading a movement for Brazil's independence, is hanged and quartered.
1836 - Texas Revolution: Battle of San Jacinto ? Republic of Texas forces under Sam Houston defeat troops under Mexican General Antonio López de Santa Anna.
1863 - Bahá'u'lláh declares his mission as "He whom God shall make manifest". Considered the founder of the Bahá'í Faith.
1863 - Quantrill's Raiders launch a reprisal raid Lawrence, Kansas in the Battle of Lawrence, killing a number of civilians.
1894 - Norway formally adopts the Krag-Jørgensen rifle as the main arm of its armed forces, a weapon that would remain in service for almost 50 years.
1898 - Spanish-American War: The U.S. Congress, on April 25, recognizes that a state of war exists between the United States and Spain as of this date.
1918 - World War I: German fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen, known as "The Red Baron", is shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France.
1930 - A fire at a Columbus, Ohio, USA, penitentiary kills 320 people.
1944 - Women in France receive the right to vote.
1945 - World War II: Soviet Union forces south of Berlin at Zossen attack the German High Command headquarters.
1952 - Secretary's Day (now Administrative Professionals' Day) is first celebrated.
1956 - Elvis Presley's song "Heartbreak Hotel" becomes the "King's" first song to reach the top of the Cash Box magazine [1] music charts.
1960 - Brasília, Brazil's capital, is officially inaugurated. At 9:30 am the Three Powers of the Republic are simultaneously transferred from the old capital, Rio de Janeiro.
1960 - Founding of the Orthodox Bahá'í Faith in Washington, DC.
1962 - The Seattle World's Fair (Century 21 Exposition) opens. It is the first World's Fair in the U.S. since World War II. [2]
1965 - The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair opens for its second and final season.
1966 - Rastafari movement: Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Jamaica, an event now celebrated as Grounation Day.
1967 - A few days before the general election in Greece, Colonel George Papadopoulos leads a coup d'état, establishing a military regime that lasts for seven years.
1975 - Vietnam War: President of South Vietnam Nguyen Van Thieu flees Saigon, as Xuan Loc, the last South Vietnamese outpost blocking a direct North Vietnamese assault on Saigon, falls.
1987 - The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that explodes in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, killing 106 people.
1989 - Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989: In Beijing, around 100,000 students gather in Tiananmen Square to commemorate the late Chinese reform leader Hu Yaobang.
1994 - The first discoveries of extrasolar planets are announced by astronomer Alexander Wolszczan.
2005 - John Negroponte becomes the first United States Director of National Intelligence.
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God of the Mende tribesmen in Sierra Leone. He is also known by what appears to be a much older name—Leve, ‘the high-up one’. The Mende say of traditional usage ‘this is what Leve brought down to us long ago’. As Ngewo, the sky god is remote from the affairs of men, though they believe that it is the deity's power which manifests itself indirectly in natural phenomena. Thus he sends rain to fall on his ‘wife’, the earth. Between Ngewo and mankind are the spirits—ancestral spirits and genii, dyinyinga. The latter are associated with rivers, forests, and rocks; the former have cults designed to facilitate communication between men and the sky god.
After the rites of tindyamei, ‘crossing the water’, departed soul reaches the land of the dead. On his journey the deceased is assisted by the objects deposited in the grave, which is called ‘a house’, because ‘on the other side’ the spirits expect to receive presents from the newcomer. To deny a person the burial rites is tantamount to condemning his spirit to remain on earth and, in consequence, to be haunted by it. The land of the dead, according to the Mende, is rather like the world of the living. Ancestors are not feared, and often appear in dreams as messengers, bringing words of warning or advice. Illness in a family, for instance, may be discovered to have resulted from a failure ‘to feed’ a certain ancestor. Offerings include rice, chicken, and tobacco. At important points in the calendar, such as sowing, the Mende sacrifice to the ancestral spirits, whose aid is necessary to ensure a good crop.
The propitiation of dyinyinga follows a settled pattern, too. An example would be the sacrifice made to the ‘angered’ spirit of a river which regularly overflows its banks during the autumn rains. Genii take various physical forms: tingoi appear as beautiful women with soft white skins, and they are usually benign: ndogbojusui, white men with long white beards, are bent on mischief, but a subtle man can outwit them and obtain substantial gifts. The Mende believe that boldness is required when handling dyinyinga. Either one takes control of the genii, or the genii takes control of oneself.
Mende magic, hale, invokes the aid of dyinyinga as well as Nwego. But there is an interesting myth to explain the remoteness of the sky god. In the beginning Nwego told men to go to him for everything they needed. They went, however, so frequently that he said to himself, ‘If I stay near these people, they will wear me out with their requests.’ So he made for himself another place far away, and while they slept, he went off there. Since that time Nwego has not deserted his creatures, but has forced mankind to be less dependent on him.
Subjects: Religion.
Reference entries
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The history of Microsoft Windows
This is a part of chapter "A brief history of IT Infrastructures" of my forthcoming book "Infrastructure Architecture". Please feel free to comment using my email address stated in the right column of this website.
The most successful operating system ever is without a doubt Microsoft Windows. The first version of Microsoft Windows was released in 1985 and achieved little popularity. Windows 1.0 was actually not an operating system, but rather an "operating environment" that ran as an application op top of MS-DOS.
Microsoft Windows version 2 was released in 1987, and was hardly more popular than its predecessor. Windows 2.0 could run Microsoft's new graphical applications, Excel and Word for Windows. The applications could be run from MS-DOS, that first started Windows for the duration of running Excel or Word, and then close down Windows again upon exit of the application.
In 1990 Microsoft Windows 3.0 was the first really successful Windows version. Windows 3.0's user interface was seen as a serious competitor to the user interface of Apple’s Macintosh. In the mean time PCs had gotten VGA based graphics and a Protected/Enhanced mode used by Windows provining applications more memory in than MS-DOS could.
In parallel with the development of Windows Microsoft and IBM together started to develop what was to be the follow-up of MS-DOS, called Operating System 2 (OS/2). OS/2 was designed as a real operating system (not running on top of MS-DOS) and would deliver efficient multi-tasking and many other advanced features not found in Windows and MS-DOS. The development of OS/2 proved not an easy road for both IBM and Microsoft. Around the early 1990s, conflicts arose, leading to a split up of the Microsoft/IBM relationship. IBM continued to develop OS/2, while Microsoft changed the name of its OS/2 3.0 version to Windows NT. Both IBM and Microsoft retained the rights to use OS/2 technology developed up to the termination of the agreement. Windows NT, however, was written from scratch, without reusing the previous OS/2 work.
Windows NT arrived in 1992 and turned out to be a huge success. Created from scratch the new operating system provided stability Windows was lacking until then. Windows NT was no layer onto MS-DOS, but was a real operating system with its own kernel, bootstrap, memory management, etc. Version 3.51 was the most successful one. Deployed in many datacenters as an easy to use application, file and print server it directly threatened the position of Novell's NetWare.
In late 1995 Microsoft released Windows 95, positioned as the new operating system for desktops. Windows 95 provided a new Graphical User Interface (GUI) that made the older Windows systems (including Windows NT 3.51) look old fashioned. Windows 95 introduced the "start" button, from where all applications could be started. This feature greatly increased the usability for first time users of Windows.
Windows NT 4 also included the Windows 95 GUI. By this time most companies were switching from Novell servers to Windows NT 4 and even UNIX systems started to be replaced by Windows NT 4 systems.
Windows 2000 was both targeted at workstations and servers and provided improved stability and a common technology base between servers and workstations (Windows 95 was still using MS-DOS as the underlying kernel).
Later versions of Windows targeted at workstations included Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.
The server operating systems were named after the year of release: Windows server 2003 and 2008.
Today Windows is still the most dominant used operating system in the world.
Weaknesses of Microsoft Windows
In general Windows used to suffer from two great weaknesses: its stability and its security.
The stability of Windows was not as good as competing products like Novell NetWare and UNIX systems. While NetWare and UNIX would run for at least ea year without crashing, it was not uncommon that a Windows server crashed once a day. The infamous “Blue Screen Of Death” (DSOD) was the screen showing that a Windows server had crashed.
The main cause of this instability was the need for backwards compatibility of Windows. While technology allowed for more and more enhanced features to be build in operating systems, Microsoft decided that every version of Windows needed to be able to run all already developed software without recompilation. This meant that all types of tweaks were built into Windows to be able to cope with all kinds of old applications.
Another issue was that Windows had to run on all types of hardware (as opposed to UNIX systems that were bound to specific hardware, or Apple systems for that matter). All sorts of new, old and obscure video cards, modems, printers, CPUs, disk drives, etc. were supposed to work in Windows, mostly interfaced with device drivers created by third parties. Given this technical complexity and the need for more advanced operating system features, it is a miracle Windows did run at all.
Another weakness was the security of Windows. The main reason for this was that Windows was based on MS-DOS - a single user / single tasking operating system. Multi user features and running of multiple applications concurrently were built in later, leading to all types of issues. Because of backward compatibility and because most applications were not designed with multi user usage in mind, these applications had to run with the highest possible user rights (administrator rights). This led to applications being able to bring down other applications or even Windows itself. It also provided hackers the possibility to change or delete files on Windows computers that were no part of a running application (like the Windows kernel files). This led to many viruses and worms attacking Windows. Because Windows was so popular, it ran on most PC based computers. A hacker that could exploit a vulnerability in Windows could use it to attack almost all PC based systems in the world.
In 2002 Microsoft initiated the so-called Trustworthy Computing initiative, to make all of their products more safe and reliable. Microsoft recognized the security and stability issues and took several months full-time of all developers to update the Windows code base to make it more stable. This led to far more stable versions of Windows (and other Microsoft software as well).
This entry was posted on Wednesday 22 December 2010
Earlier articles
Infrastructure as code
My Book
DevOps for infrastructure
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
(Hyper) Converged Infrastructure
Object storage
Software Defined Storage (SDS)
What's the point of using Docker containers?
Identity and Access Management
Using user profiles to determine infrastructure load
Public wireless networks
Supercomputer architecture
Desktop virtualization
Stakeholder management
x86 platform architecture
Midrange systems architecture
Mainframe Architecture
Software Defined Data Center - SDDC
The Virtualization Model
What are concurrent users?
Performance and availability monitoring in levels
UX/UI has no business rules
Technical debt: a time related issue
Solution shaping workshops
Architecture life cycle
Project managers and architects
Using ArchiMate for describing infrastructures
Kruchten’s 4+1 views for solution architecture
The SEI stack of solution architecture frameworks
TOGAF and infrastructure architecture
The Zachman framework
An introduction to architecture frameworks
How to handle a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack
Architecture Principles
Views and viewpoints explained
Stakeholders and their concerns
Skills of a solution architect architect
Solution architects versus enterprise architects
Definition of IT Architecture
What is Big Data?
How to make your IT "Greener"
What is Cloud computing and IaaS?
Purchasing of IT infrastructure technologies and services
IDS/IPS systems
IP Protocol (IPv4) classes and subnets
Infrastructure Architecture - Course materials
Introduction to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
IT Infrastructure Architecture model
Fire prevention in the datacenter
Where to build your datacenter
Availability - Fall-back, hot site, warm site
Reliabilty of infrastructure components
Human factors in availability of systems
Performance - Design for use
Performance concepts - Load balancing
Performance concepts - Scaling
Performance concept - Caching
Perceived performance
Ethical hacking
Computer crime
Introduction to Cryptography
Introduction to Risk management
The history of UNIX and Linux
The history of Microsoft Windows
The history of Novell NetWare
The history of operating systems - MS-DOS
The history of Storage
The history of Networking
The first computers
History of servers
Tips for getting your ITAC certificate
Studying TOGAF
Is your data safe in the cloud?
Proof of concept
Who needs a consistent backup?
Measuring Enterprise Architecture Maturity
Human factors in security
Master Certified IT Architect
ITAC certification
Open group ITAC /Open CA Certification
Human factors in security
Google outage
SAS 70
TOGAF 9 - What's new?
DYA: Development without architecture
Spam is big business
Why IT projects fail
Power and cooling
Let system administrators participate in projects
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
A meeting with John Zachman
ITAC - IT Architect certification
Personal Information is Personal Property
The Irresistible Forces Meet the Movable Objects
Hardeningscheck and hack testing for new servers
Knowledge management
Information Lifecycle Management - What is ILM
LEAP: The Redmond trip
LEAP: The last Dutch masterclasses
What do system administrators do?
Is software ever finished?
SCADA systems
LEAP - Halfway through the Dutch masterclasses
Securing data: The Castle versus the Tank
Non-functional requirements
LEAP - Microsoft Lead Enterprise Architect Program
Reasons for making backups
Log analysis - Use your logging information
Archivering data - more than backup
Patterns in IT architecture
Layers in IT security
High performance clusters and grids
Zachman architecture model
High Availability clusters
Monitoring by system administrators
What is VMS?
IT Architecture certifications
Storage Area Networks (SAN)
Documentation for system administrators
Presentations: PowerPoint sheets are not enough
99,999% availability
Linux certification: RHCE and LPI
IT Infrastructure model
Sjaak Laan
Recommended links
Ruth Malan
Gaudi site
XR Magazine
Esther Barthel's site on virtualization
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Wednesday, December 14, 2011
The search for talent: the Holy Grail
There is a common idea, noticeable from psychologists and educational experts, about put labels to learners and give them a place in an imaginary continuous line that cluster outstanding skills in the right side and educational needs at the left side.
If it's looked the continuum, everybody at the left or right requires special education or supports, and at this case, it must be admitted that not everyone learns the same way. But a second glance, suggests that all who are in the middle of the curve, have no problem.
Certainly there is no more pride for parents that their child can be declared as gifted, while there is no greater grief than when someone tells them that their child will not be able to learn more than few skills. The rest of the parents clean the sweat when their stems are declared as normal, not having this any other implication beyond what a psychologist says.
Going deep into this subject, there is much more that experts do not report.
The forward of the book La educación de niños con talento en Iberoamerica (Education of gifted children at Ibero-America) opens saying, "All people are entitled to receive an education that develops their full potential and allow them to build a life plan" (Benavides, Maz, Castro and White, 2004).
With this idea, then it is clear that those who are at the left side of the curve would have the opportunity to develop skills while those who have the right side can not move beyond, since they know more than anybody else, they have reached the maximum their abilities based on scales of talent.
The text describes programs, ideas and notes about how to work with talented children in several countries, but if these children are the greatest intellectual achievement, is it possible to teach even more?.
The talent from psychology
In the purest psychometric eagerness has been measured the intelligence and the possible capabilities, searching to find those common features on the continuum of the curve of intelligence. For those who are at the left, it was assumed that lack the intellectual, emotional or social skills to relate with those who are at the center of the continuum (Winner, 1998; Artigas Pallares, 2003, Martos and Help 2004). While those who are at the right have a high intellectual capacities measured with psychometric instruments (Pendarvis, Howley & Howley, 1990; Lohman, 2000; Lohman, Korb and Lakin, 2008). But they lack the emotional skills to adapt to those who have left or center of the continuum (Genovard and Castello, 1990; Freeman, 2005; Freeman, 2008; Freeman, 2010).
But not everything that intelligence tests measure is useful to adapting to the environment: for example there are important aspects of the real-world intelligence that are not considerate. On the other hand there is a debate if that perspective is confusing intelligence with rationality, issues that do not necessarily go hand by hand (Stanovich, 2009). That's why even the smartest people can do things that are considered irrationals. At the same time, psychometric tests forget an important feature of the brain: emotions (Freeman, 2008). This aspect has been widely documented as the primary difficulty in children considered talented.
Stanovich (2009) shows that there are features such as divergent thinking or aspects of the everyday life that have nothing to do with what psychological tests measure, moreover, when students have the opportunity to reply to problems, it may surprise to expertise researchers, for example, when gifted children can talk to others about science and feel good by providing creative answers, beyond which we have assumed is the only one correct answer ( Freeman, 2003), or when a child, considered with limited capacity, achieved a task for which he or she has worked for several hours. And those that are supposed are the differences, actually are the result of the brain architecture, which is molded with repetition and experimenting with the environment (Manaut-Gil-Casares Vaquero, Quintero-Gallego, Pérez-Santamaría, Gomez-Gonzalez, 2004).
Thus, from the speech of educational experts that sounds so melodious, the obvious question is: IF "All persons are entitled to receive an education that develops their full potential and allow them to build their project of life", Why is segmented the continuum?, Why can we have only one position?, Why can't be together?, maybe to create an elite education?.
From the standpoint of Renzulli (1978) the differences between the continuum are not only concentrated in one area as many authors propose (Parra, Ferrando, Prieto and Sanchez, 2005; Rogers, 2006; Valadez Sierra, Betancourt Berbena Morejon and Zavala, 2006) they are determined from different skills set out in three areas: high intelligence, creativity and involvement in the task.
Can a child with Down syndrome or Asperger be creative?, If your reply at the speed of light that does not, then please do not continue reading this article, you are not creative. Creativity involves providing innovative responses to common problems. And it's not a mystery that daily work requires creativity and divergent thinking abilities, however, this is not developed at educational institutions at basic or higher level (Solomon, 2007).
Considering its capacity, each new brain must be trained to grow from environmental stimulation; a process that needs decades and each person must discover for itself all skills needed to be employed on that journey called Life (Tubino, 2004). And it doesn't depend of any curricula or educative legislation.
Accepting that the human brain still evolving (Fox, 2011), depends on synaptic communication, the development of structures and protein exchanges neurotransmitters (Haier, 2009), makes learning a more complex issue than just locate someone on one side or the other of an imaginary line, and open a door to understand that learning is not something that can be X-rayed by a test applied at a specific time.
Neuroscience research suggests that human abilities depend on the neural network architecture, which is related to the space where the brain develops, as it is confined to the skull, shaping each structure in a particular way, some areas can be over-exposed to stimuli preventing the development of other areas, under two assumptions: the law of survival of the fittest and its use related with environmental responses (Roberts, Anderson, Husain, 2010). So that it’s not possible to talk about standardized education and less, support the idea that everyone learns the same way.
And it must be added the fact that there are other actors in education, research showing that success in the case of gifted children, has a big support of maternal scaffolding, that makes the difference between passing from a skill to another (Morrisey, 2011) and the same from mother of children with developmental disorders, since they are who promote socialization skills in their kids, if there is any doubt, it's only needed one question: who did teach you how keep attention while reading?.
Talent does not equal intelligence
The talent or giftedness refers to that ability or skill set which has a particular facility (Prado Suarez, 2006), but the definition of any author, never says that it is restricted to the fine arts or science or sports. If so, where do entrepreneurial talent, or create or play video games fall?.
Intelligence is adaptation to the environment (Genovard and Castello, 1990; VanTassel-Baska, Xuemei Feng, Brown, Bracken, Stambaugh, French, McGowan, Worley, Quek and Bai, 2008), an action that requires talent. Though not necessarily arrive together, this worth mentioning, for example that as highlighted in the Savant, which is a developmental disorder that is part of the autistic spectrum. Main feature of this syndrome is that people can have a widely talent developed at the same time a profound intellectual difficulty (Winner, 1998).
Thus, it is argued that the provision of skills of each person, although it has a genetic aspect, at the same time depends on environmental stimulation (Willard-Holt, 2008). Every one can have a special talent for playing the piano in an extraordinary way, but if you never had a piano in front, the talent can not be developed. That's why experience shapes capacities that will be most useful. However, genetic damage as those presented in the development disorders also shape brain structure.
Brain studies reveal that the patterns of gray and white matter and metabolic efficiency may delineate individual differences related to intelligence. That's why the smartest brains work differently (not better) in the strongest areas that has a better domain (Haier, 2009).
What structures will be more developed?, those that are used more frequently, and that is because of the skills that create, cause more satisfaction in completing tasks. That feeling of: I can do it (Prado Suarez, 2006). However, under the law of the strongest, the strengthened structures, will push and eventually block the development of the other less useful (Haier, 2009) which is why you can not be expert in everything, because the skills will be permeated by the use and management of them.
In the case of arithmetic, it’s found that the frontal lobe is more involved in this activity, and also opens the path to memory processes and analytical thinking (Serra-Grabulosa, Pérez-Pàmies, Lachica, Membrives, 2010), Even though, a good mathematician not necessarily is a good writer of poetry or have social skills. Einstein maybe is a good example.
In conclusion, it can be said that the differences in the continuum that psychologists have called intelligence, is simply due to the cytoarchitecture of the brain and that it results from interactions, and this determines the capabilities that each possesses. Starting from the extreme neuronal flexibility that, that which is not known today, can be learned from the appropriate teaching strategy, which may be different for each depending on experience.
Under the motto: “Everyone is entitled to receive an education that develops their full potential and allow them to build their project to life", there shouldn’t be distinction what side of that continuum is, left, right or in the middle, all people have the ability to build a life project, based on their own abilities and who is not able to tie your shoes, you may have the ability to paint pretty colorless pictures.
Academic skills are not the only ones that are valid in life; there are also artistic and sporting activities. There are sports stars, who have not reached higher education, but they have adapted to environmental needs and above all, they are happy.
Under this idea, the separation of the continuum although it may have educational benefits, it makes no sense neuro cognitively, and that all people have the right to find a place in life, a happy childhood and successful adulthood.
Alma Dzib Goodin
Artigas Pallarés, J. (2003) Perfiles cognitivos de la inteligencia límite. Fronteras del retraso mental. Rev Neurol. 36 (supl 1) S161-S167.
Benavides, M., Maz, A., Castro, E. y Blanco, R. (2004) La educación del niños con talento en Iberoamérica. UNESCO/Trineo SA. Chile.
Fox, D. (2011) The limits of intelligence. Scientific American. 305 (1) 36- 43.
Freeman, J. (2010) Worldwide provision to develop gifts and talents: an international survey. CfBT Education Trust. UK.
Freeman, J. (2008) The emotional development of the gifted and talented. Gifted and talented provision. Optimus Educational. London.
Freeman, J. (2005) Counseling the gifted and talented. Journal Gifted Education International. 19. 245-252.
Freeman, J. (2003) Scientific thinking in gifted children. In P. Csermely & L. Lederman (Eds) Scientific Education: Talent recruitment and public understanding. IOS Press with NATO Scientific Affairs Division. Amsterdam.
Haier, RJ. (2009) What does a smart brain look like?. Scientific American Mind. 20 (6) 26-33.
Genovard, C. y Castelló, A. (1990) El límite superior. Aspectos psicopedagógicos de la excepcionalidad intelectual. Pirámide. Madrid.
Lohman, D. F. (2000) Complex information processing and intelligence. En R. J. Sternberg (Ed.) Handbook of intelligence. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge, UK.
Lohman, DF., Korb, K.A. y Lakin, JM. (2008) Identifying Academically Gifted English- Language Learners Using Nonverbal Tests A Comparison of the Raven, NNAT, and CogAT. Gifted Child Quarterly. 52 (4). 275-296.
Manaut-Gil, E. Vaquero-Casares, E. Quintero-Gallego, E. Pérez-Santamaría, J. Gómez-González, C.M (2004) Relación entre el déficit neurológico y el cociente de inteligencia en niños y adolescentes. Rev Neurol. 38 (1): 20-27.
Martos, J. y Ayuda, R. (2004) Desarrollo temprano: algunos datos procedentes del autismo y los trastornos del lenguaje. Rev Neurol. 38 (supl 1) S39-S46.
Morrisey, AM (2011) Maternal scaffolding of analogy and metacogtnition in the early pretence giften children. Exceptional children. 77 (3) 351-366.
Parra, J. Ferrando, M., Prieto, MD. y Sánchez, C. (2005) Características de la producción creativa en los niños con altas habilidades. Sobredotaçao, 6, 77-98.
Pendarvis, E., Howley, A., & Howley, C. (1990) The abilities of gifted children. Prentice Hall. USA.
Prado Suarez, RC. (2006) Creatividad y sobredotación: Diagnóstico e intervención psicopedagógica. Creatividad y Sociedad. 9. 110-120.
Renzulli, J. S. (1978) What makes giftedness? Re-examining a definition. Phi Delta Kappan, 60, 180- 184.
Roberts, R.E., Anderson, E. J., Husain, M. (2010) Expert Cognitive Control and Individual Differences Associated with Frontal and Parietal White Matter Microstructure. The Journal of Neuroscience. 30(50): 17063-17067.
Rogers, C. (2006) Niños superdotados: una capacidad intelectual superior. La Estación: revista de la asociación española para superdotados y con talento. 9 (12) 12-23.
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Valadez Sierra, MD., Betancourt Morejón, J. y Zavala Berbena, MA. (2006) Alumnos superdotados y talentosos: identificación, evaluación e intervención, una perspectiva para docentes. Manual Moderno. México.
VanTassel-Baska, J., Xuemei Feng, A., Brown, E., Bracken, B., Stambaugh, T., French, H., McGowan, S., Worley, B., Quek, C. and Bai. W. (2008) A Study of Differentiated Instructional Change Over 3 Years. Gifted Child Quarterly 52 (4) 297-312.
Willard-Holt, C. (2008) You Could Be Doing Brain Surgery: Gifted Girls Becoming Teachers. Gifted Child Quarterly. 52 (4) 313-325.
Winner, E. (1998) Uncommon Talents: Gifted Children, Prodigies and Savants. Scientific American Presents. 32-37.
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1. saludos cordiales subestimar la inteligencia es la cuartada de los que somos muy inteligentes que no estamos en la actividad social politica por ejemplo , por otra parte desconfiar de la propia inteligencia es una forma de autoparanohia osea desconfianza de uno mismo , la razon disecciona el problema por separado y luego en conjunto para resolverlo seria asi lo menos incorrecto , por otra parte genericamente la educacion mundial deve de mejorar con mas dinero becas proyectos investigacion y no son nociones las que deven de cambiar solo no es lo mismo 130 mas o menos 50 o 20 puntos mas que mas de 200 por otra parte mega y grail sociedades de superdotados respectivamente de 190 de ci en adelante mega y de 200 de ci en adelante grail deverian estar en españa en barcelona y madrid principalmente , nada mas de momento gracias , buenos dias
1. Hi!
I'm not sure if there is a wrong translation, between english and spanish, if so, I invite you to read this in spanish, because I am not saying intelligence is not important, at all, actually I am giving a different dimension to intelligence. I'm sayin that everybody has it and we must find the way to improve it. I am not against money to education, I'm againts saying is the only one need.
I invited you to double check your speeling too... If one of my students write with so many mispelling I reject it. I published your comment because I think is a good debate but, oh my godness! Not even a first grade student has so many problems!!!.
And taking this example as a topic to the article. I have two choices, ignore all mistakes or show you the mistake and you can learn from them. It's not about being intelligent or not, it's about spending time to learn. I do believe that even children with brain damage can learn, I see it every day!!
Thank you very much for taking time to read me and leave a comment, I appreciete it!
2. Por cierto, el término auto paranoia no existe en los manuales de enfermedades, solo existe la Paranoia como trastorno
3. I ask some respect to readers, I tried to translate the comment and Google just can't detect the language, if author is complaining sounds serious. Please, avoid to write in another language, specially if this blog has a spanish version, I want to believe that's spanish. It's about respect our intelligence and yours.
And comment is showing that is not understanding the topic of this post. What a shame!.
4. This week we saw how a comment in a very serious magazine was spread about this kind of issues. People can post comments out of sense, even with no understanding of the subjects. You can have comments but there is a limit. Believe than education is all about money, is giving a really bad feeling to Africa, Cuba, or any other poor country. You are poor, so you can't be intelligent. Rich can have higher intelligence is an ignorant point of view. On the other hand, As the article says: how can this persons explain the higher level of intelligence of a Savant? this has been the ral and hard question to answer since this article was published, I would love an answer on that line and I would beg some respect for poor countries, and as Sara says, readers. This blog has a spanish version, "spanish" not whatever language this comment was written, thanks.
2. I ask comments with a real name and deep ideas, or debate. Anonymous comments are not respectful for author, readers or minds. Let's use our right to think!
3. I have been thinking about all this, and first of all, I appreciate all comments, I don't expect all can be good, and this actually made me think deeply. I agree with Dolores, if education and intelligence is about money, then I couldn't have a good education!:)
I have been working so hard to find that "something" that make us wonder about when we see very poor persons showing a high level of talent and creativity, or when we can enjoy the amazing talent of Savants persons. I do believe there is something deeper, something biological that goes beyond culture.
I learned this past weekend that veins grow when we work out constantly, because our body needs more oxigen and if one vein is blocked, another grow as a bridge, so working out is good to give more oxigen to all our body. We know neural conection work the same way, neurogenesis has been seen only at some areas, like hippocampus, but there is new network conection when we parctice something constantly.
If we accept that poor or handicaped children can't learn, or being intelligent and talented, then... we accept destiny, and I'm sorry, but I can't accept that!. I don't want to say: poor girl! you are deaf and blind!!!... I see it every single day!, come on! brain is much more than that!. Because every day biolgical systems show us that other senses and system can keep the brain working!!
The other thing is: if intelligence is so important, why high intelligence show so much depression?. and why not only inteligent persons are not leading the world. There is no evidence that very high level schools are producing genius.
I do believe everybody can learn, and adapt, and have a talent. It will be different for every one, because every one had unique interactions, but we can adapt.
Someone share a theory about adaptation to the enviroment, and as soon as I can have a moment I'll go deep in that and I'll try to learn something new about it.
And the other issue is about language, I just ask to be open mind, and it's ok to post in another language, I don't accept english is the only one possible language. I have translate some of the post here to other languages, mainly russian and german, because I have many readers there, so please, be patient about it.
The only one thing I can complain is spelling!, I need to say it again, I needed 10 minutes to understand a paragraph! So hard work!!
I'll continue sharing ideas
4. buenos dias , saludos cordiales traduzcan esto por favor al ingles se un poco de ingles un poco de alemen un poco de latin un poco de griego despues de todo ja ja los idiomas solo son sistemas de signos con poca complejidad , bueno hablando de otra cosa la inteligencia se estimula con test de personalidad y inteligencia realidad virtual calculo con una calculadora y entrenamiento memoria y una vida feliz y moral para evitar complejo de culpabilidad o algun otro error de conducta buscando la perfeccion en nuestra especie homosapiens superior lo maximo ahora pero ja ja en evolucion saludos cordiales por la evolucion verdad una d las verdades y por favor pongan una sede de grail ustedes en madrid españa aunque al principio sea de poca gente yo ayer saque 184 y 230 de ci ustedes tambien por estas cantidades de c,i por el futuro nuestra meta siempre ja ja , os quiro espiritualmente cuidaros vale |
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Denial of Service
DoS and DDoS Attack
It is important to differentiate between Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.
In a DoS attack, one computer and one internet connection is used to flood a server with packets, with the aim of overloading the targeted server’s bandwidth and resources.
A DDoS attack, uses many devices and multiple Internet connections, often distributed globally into what is referred to as a botnet. A DDoS attack is, therefore, much harder to deflect, simply because there is no single attacker to defend from, as the targeted resource will be flooded with requests from many hundreds and thousands of multiple sources.
Types of DoS Attacks
The most common type of Denial of Service attack involves flooding the target resource with external communication requests. This overload prevents the resource from responding to legitimate traffic, or slows its response so significantly that it is rendered effectively unavailable.
Resources targeted in a DoS attack can be a specific computer, a port or service on the targeted system, an entire network, a component of a given network any system component. DoS attacks may also target human-system communications (e.g. disabling an alarm or printer), or human-response systems (e.g. disabling an important technician's phone or laptop).
DoS attacks can also target tangible system resources, such as computational resources (bandwidth, disk space, processor time); configuration information (routing information, etc.); state information (for example, unsolicited TCP session resetting). Moreover, a DoS attack can be designed to: execute malware that maxes out the processor, preventing usage; trigger errors in machine microcode or sequencing of instructions, forcing the computer into an unstable state; exploit operating system vulnerabilities to sap system resources; crash the operating system altogether.
The overriding similarity in these examples is that, as a result of the successful Denial of Service attack, the system in question does not respond as before, and service is either denied or severly limited.
Types of DDoS Attacks
DDoS attacks can divided in three types:
• Volume Based Attacks - This type of attack includes UDP floods, ICMP floods, and other spoofed packet floods. The goal of this DDoS attack is to saturate the bandwidth of the attacked site. The magnitude of a volume-based attack is usually measured in Bits per second.
• Protocol Attacks - This type of DDoS attack consumes the resources of either the servers themselves, or of intermediate communication equipment, such as routers, load balancers and even some firewalls. Some examples of protocol attacks include SYN floods, fragmented packet attacks, Ping of Death, Smurf DDoS and more. Protocol attacks are usually measured in Packets per second.
• Application Layer Attacks - Perhaps the most dangerous type of DDoS attack, application layer attacks are comprised of seemingly legitimate and innocent requests. The intent of these attacks is to crash the web server. SDome examples of application layer attacks include Slowloris, Zero-day DDoS attacks, DDoS attacks that target Apache, Windows or OpenBSD vulnerabilities and more. The magnitude of this type of attack is measured in Requests per second.
Symptoms and Manifestations
The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) defines symptoms of denial-of-service attacks to include:
• Unavailability of a particular web site
• Inability to access any web site
• Disconnection of a wireless or wired internet connection
• The term "hit offline" being used on you, then you (the target) may disconnect from the internet
Methods of attack
A "Denial-of-Service" attack is characterized by an explicit attempt by attackers to prevent legitimate users of a service from using that service. There are two general forms of DoS attacks: those that crash services and those that flood services.
2. Disruption of configuration information, such as routing information.
4. Disruption of physical network components.
A DoS attack may include execution of malware intended to:[citation needed]
1. Max out the processor's usage, preventing any work from occurring.
2. Trigger errors in the microcode of the machine.
4. Exploit errors in the operating system, causing resource starvation and/or thrashing, i.e. to use up all available facilities so no real work can be accomplished or it can crash the system itself
5. Crash the operating system itself.
Preventing DoS and DDoS Vulnerabilities
Defending against Denial of Service attacks typically involves the use of a combination of attack detection, traffic classification and response tools, aiming to block traffic that they identify as illegitimate and allow traffic that they identify as legitimate. A list of prevention and response tools is provided below:
More complex attacks will however be hard to block with simple rules: for example, if there is an ongoing attack on port 80 (web service), it is not possible to drop all incoming traffic on this port because doing so will prevent the server from serving legitimate traffic. Additionally, firewalls may be too deep in the network hierarchy. Routers may be affected before the traffic gets to the firewall. Nonetheless, firewalls can effectively prevent users from launching simple flooding type attacks from machines behind the firewall.
Some stateful firewalls, like OpenBSD's pf packet filter, can act as a proxy for connections: the handshake is validated (with the client) instead of simply forwarding the packet to the destination. It is available for other BSDs as well. In that context, it is called "synproxy".
Similar to switches, routers have some rate-limiting and ACL capability. They, too, are manually set. Most routers can be easily overwhelmed under DoS attack. Cisco IOS has features that prevent flooding, i.e. example settings.
Application Front-end Hardware
IPS Based Prevention
An ASIC based IPS may detect and block denial of service attacks because they have the processing power and the granularity to analyze the attacks and act like a circuit breaker in an automated way.
DDS Based Defense
Like IPS, a purpose-built system, such as the well-known Top Layer IPS products, can detect and block denial of service attacks at much nearer line speed than a software based system.
Blackholing and Sinkholing
With blackholing, all the traffic to the attacked DNS or IP address is sent to a "black hole" (null interface, non-existent server, ...). To be more efficient and avoid affecting network connectivity, it can be managed by the ISP.
Sinkholing routes to a valid IP address which analyzes traffic and rejects bad ones. Sinkholing is not efficient for most severe attacks.
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Seasonal Science
Another chapter in "education dumbing people down"
When the Europeans came to the knowledge of India and it's millions of inhabitants, life in India was very sophisticated. When the British East India Company arrived to exploit India in the 1600s, there was a 95% literacy rate across the Indian subcontinent. The British were so impressed they exported and adapted the Indian education system to suit their own country and transform the British working classes by providing universal education.
By this time, concepts in advanced mathematics and science had already arrived in Europe and the Europeans quickly claimed these ideas as their own, a form of plagiarism. Hindu knowledge gave rise to the scientific and technological advancement in the Western world. However back in India the British dismantled the Hindu education system reducing the literacy rate to as low as 20% in many regions and they set about a long process of institutionalised propaganda denying Indian history and replacing it with their own false ideas. As a result modern Hindus are rather anti-Hindu in their attitudes towards their own country and even though India today remains at the forefront of science and technology, Western scientists are still using Hindu knowledge to extend the frontiers of science at places like Cerne.
A local Hindu narrative:
Science today is heavily biased towards European and American ideologies. In the process of enforcing a western education on India, what was "scientific" and "Indian" has been largely killed. Indians once followed a local Indian calendar system suited to their region. Using these systems, the people knew the positions of the sun, moon and most of the planets. They were very well aware of the seasons and associated climatic cyclical patterns indicating floods, droughts and good seasons. This knowledge led to the success and proliferation of Hindu culture because they could plan for good harvests, storage of food and in general prepare for challenging times as required.
Knowing the future of the weather meant the people knew when to travel, when to take time off from occupation and participate in cultural events. Life happened according to plan and activities happened with lot of predictability. Knowing the cyclical patterns of climatic events allowed people to live relatively harmoniously but after introducing a western calendar and western education system into India, the people became more ignorant and out of touch with climate and natural events which has led to many disasters.
Picture 1:
The notion of Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter
Across the broader mass of India there are three main seasons, Summer, Monsoon and Winter. In the southern coastal Konkan / Kerala regions there are only two seasons; Monsoon and Summer. As one goes north, the Indian Winter is very short yet Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir may experience all 4 seasons with extreme cold months and a short summer.
Will India experience summer between 21st June and 21st Sept (Between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox) as taught by the British education model? No but that's what the schools in India still teach kids today. Due to diversity, teaching one solution may make the people dumb and they may not be trained or prepared to handle changing situations in their local environment, as they do not understand it as it reveals itself.
Planning as per western calendars is disruptive. Hindu festival dates keep changing from year to year. In trying to please west, Indian govt has placed an unnecessary burden on all Indians. By destroying the traditional knowledge, people don't follow their natural seasonal cycles. There is less planning and life is more chaotic. Due to this chaotic nature, things are not in optimal fashion and India is paying a heavy price for the inefficiency.
"I have given couple of pictures to show, how western system actually maps to Indian system. See western summer and Indian summer (images 1 and 2). Then you know, how govt's education policy has destroyed the farmers traditional knowledge. A farmer is quoted as an un-educated fool, who still banks on unpredictable rains. Rains are very much predictable in India. Unlike west, where rainy conditions change with in a day, rains in India happens due to monsoon. True there are couple of parameters that alters the cycle (lik El-Nino, Indian Ocean Dipole etc, But they are also cyclical). As the parameters are cyclical, it is not difficult to predict rainy season. The exact days and how much rains may need some weather models. But by employing statistical methods, these cycles can also be approximated to a acceptable level. The errors in statistical models may not affect much.
In ancient times, Farmers were the most advanced group, who operated very efficiently. India was prosperous due to its food security and surplus grains. Many community lunches were hosted to make use of the excess food grains. Milk products and salt were distributed free of cost. Only due to the farmers India flourished. Only due to farmers, other professions got their revenues and life. Today, we are trying to dominate the farmer, who was the end pay master. In the name of giving services to a farmer, we are demeaning the services delivered by farmers to the society. This is not good. India made lot of money in the past, by exporting its surplus. Today, India hardly exports any grains. By neglecting Indian farmer, India will endanger its own food security. Without food security, India will not be able to sustain any other achievements. Food is the basic necessity. Instead of achieving a global super giant status in IT, India must had the goal of achieving the same status in agriculture. World should have looked for India for any agrarian problem. Then India had the strategic advantage.
We are teaching complex calculus to every body, Hardly 1% may use it. We are not teaching common sense knowledge, like seasons to our kids. We are not teaching economics, while everyone needs this branch of science to understand, How oneself will link to prosperity of the nation (also required to understand supply-demand gaps and resulting price variations)?. An general education in economy could help in reducing black marketing. Similarly, ignorance of law is not an excuse in courts. But not even 1 IPC section is taught in schools. Citizens are kept completely in dark regarding legal knowledge. Civilian society is based on legal frameworks. For prosperity of democracy, everyone should understand the fundamental laws of the country, especially common law, law of contracts and personal laws. A reasonable criminal law is also required to be understood. But our education teaches something in hurry or people are made to concentrate on science and maths, ignoring these important basic knowledge, so that, they continue to suffer through out their life."
By ಮಳೆ - ಬೆಳೆ Male Bele
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Erp Software
Erp Software
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is an integrated computer-based system used to manage internal and external resources, including tangible assets, financial resources, materials, and human resources. It is a software architecture whose purpose is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders. Built on a centralized database and normally utilizing a common computing platform, ERP systems consolidate all business operations into a uniform and enterprise-wide system environment. Erp software is used in various way like construction management software, school management software, dairy management software, mlm management software and hospital management software.
It is very useful in construction management, mlm management , dairy management, school management and hospital management.
An ERP system can either reside on a centralized server or be distributed across modular hardware and software units that provide "services" and communicate on a local area network.
The distributed design allows a business to assemble modules from different vendors without the need for the placement of multiple copies of complex and expensive computer systems in areas which will not use their full capacity.
History- The term "Enterprise resource planning" originally derived from manufacturing resource planning that followed material requirements planning (MRP).
MRP evolved into ERP when "routings" became a major part of the software architecture and a company's capacity planning activity also became a part of the standard software activity. ERP systems typically handle the manufacturing, logistics, distribution, inventory, account company. ERP software can aid in the control of many business activities, including sales, marketing, delivery, billing, production, inventory management, quality management, and human resource management.
ERP systems saw a large boost in sales in the 1990s as companies faced the Y2K problem in their legacy systems. Many companies took this opportunity to replace such information systems with ERP systems. This rapid growth in sales was followed by a slump in 1999, at which time most companies had already implemented their Y2K solution.
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Software Deployment
Software Deployment
Software Deployment and Password Reset Software
The involvement of IT services in various fields has made relatively tasks easy in various fields. These services have made people's lives easier and smoother. If you have a computer and you want it to be extremely fast, more efficient software implementation is of utmost importance. Creating programs that could be placed without strain on your personal computer is a reasonable way to solve computer problems.
Software implementation process includes the complete software design and development, testing, quality control, software deployment, updates and new features enhancements. Main software deployment includes the ability to create package repository, Packages created once can be reused many times to install or uninstall the software, supports installing both MSI and EXE applications based on the option to install the application as a specific user using the "Run As option, installable option to copy to the client computers before installing the software, supports the implementation of pre-installation scripts / commands before installation and abort if not successful, the ability to program software implementations and supports uninstall MSI packages EXE.
Forgetting password for your laptop or any important file is possible. A software technician can help you retrieve and reset your password easily by providing you with password recovery software that suits your needs and work efficiently in password recovery. A software to reset passwords helps you in creating a bootable CD or Flash Drive which enables you to run the software’s from these tools and reset the password. Password rest tool displays list of complete local users to enable you to select the account and the application will reset the password of the selected user.
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Application Software
Application Software
Application Software
Computer systems contain both hard and software. Hardware is any tangible item in a computer system, like the system unit, keyboard, or printer. Software, or a computer program, is the set of instruction that direct the computer to perform a task. Software falls into one of two categories: system software and application software. System software controls the operation of the computer hardware; whereas, application software enables a user to perform tasks. Three major types of application software on the market today for personal computers are word processors, electronic spreadsheets, and database management systems (Little and Benson 10-42).
A word processing program allows a user to efficiently and economically create professional looking documents such as memoranda, letters, reports, and resumes. With a word processor, one can easily revise a document. To improve the accuracy of one's writing, word processors can check the spelling and the grammar in a document. They also provide a thesaurus to enable a user to add variety and precision to his or her writing. Many word processing programs also provide desktop publishing features to create brochures, advertisements, and newsletters.
An electronic spreadsheet enables a user to organize data in a fashion similar to a paper spreadsheet. The difference is the user does not have to perform calculations manually; electronic spreadsheets can be instructed to perform any computation desired. The contents of an electronic spreadsheet can be easily modified by the user. Once the data is modified, all calculations in the spreadsheet are recomputed automatically. Many electronic spreadsheet packages also enable a user to graph the data in his or her spreadsheet (Wakefield 98-110).
A database management system (DBMS) is a software program that allows a user to efficiently store a large amount of data in a centralized location. Data is one of the most valuable resources to any organization. For this reason, user desire data be organized and readily accessible in a variety of formats. With aDBMS, a user can then easily store data, retrieve data, modify data, analyze data, and create a variety of reports from the data(Aldrin 25-37).
Many organizations today have all three of these types of application software packages installed on their personal computers. Word processors, electronic spreadsheets, and database management systems make users' tasks more efficient. When users are more efficient, the company as a whole operates more economically and efficiently.
Itech troubleshooter is an advanced web development, high skilled professional software Solution Company located in New Delhi founded by, PRABHAKAR MISHRA in the year 2008.The company provides vast range of services to each and every customer in reaching their respective targeted spectators and their valuable information in fix and on steady affordable price. Today, you can easily get a lot of quality services by this company on just dialing a call to the company which includes services like website designing , web application development , Application development , Maintenance , Re-engineering , Flash development , SEO , SEO Services , Computer AMC , Computer Networking , Wireless Networking , Data Recovery , ERP Solution .
California Creative solutions Data Warehousing
California Creative solutions Data Warehousing
With a vast repository of data at hand, it becomes necessary to develop a fast information retrieval system enabling instant access to the right data at the right time. California Creative Solutions (CCS Global Tech) provides real time Data Warehousing solutions for business enterprises in a cost effective and business optimized package. Data warehousing involves analysis, research and processing of the huge amount of data generated in an office environment and enterprise settings, for its efficient retrieval and use. Data warehousing requires efficient business intelligence tools, data mining and extraction of reports that enable market research and well informed business decisions.
Data warehousing is a necessity for businesses that depend on data based on market research and customer assessment, for tracking their ROI.
Using trend analysis and management for logistics and inventories, businesses are better equipped to plan their future strategies and take well-informed business decisions. This also enables enhanced Customer Relationship Management and performance reporting. A good data warehousing solution helps businesses in generating details about visitors to their websites and the purchases made. It also helps monitor payment details and customer feedback and complaints.
Certified (ISO 9001:2008) for its Quality Management System, California Creative Solutions (CCS) Global Tech uses advanced and competitive tools to build a reliable, consistent and comprehensive data warehouse for an enterprise’s data management needs. It offers data conversion from pre-existing legacy systems that are inefficient and irregularly managed. California Creative Solutions managed data warehousing solutions give enterprises an edge over others by helping in identification of benefits and analyzing potential opportunities, enabling better returns from investments (ROI). By identifying and extracting the right kind of data at the right time and enabling its quick and easy retrieval, it is possible to take key business decisions.
CCS specializes in creation of Enterprise Data Warehouses (EDWH) using data architecture modeling and data warehousing tools, based on solid migration strategies, quality testing and implementation. It analyses individual requirements of an enterprise and designs a customized data warehouse optimized for the particular organization. CCS also offers training for efficient use of the data warehouse to the staff and key members immediately after product delivery. The fact that California Creative Solutions data warehousing solutions rely on business intelligence reports, has won it great acknowledgment among its clientele. CCS’s Data warehousing package includes Database modeling and re-engineering, ETL using Informatics, Oracle BI Suite, SQL Server BI Suite and database, Congas, BI/OLAP using Business objects and Pentagon BI Suite. California Creative Solutions data warehousing tools include Data Source Analysis Expertise in SQL Loader, dimensional modeling, Meta data management, Sybase, COBOL Files and Excel Files, Flat Files, DTS packages and data quality testing based on DB Diff and utility scripts. |
Could predators be beneficial to our environment?
Predation is an ecological phenomenon that involves biological interaction of a hunting organism preying on its target, often described as the prey. However, an even more direct and easier definition is that a predator is a creature that hunts and kills other animals for food (Nature Wildlife). Predators work on the principle of Detect-Attack-Capture-Consume.
Predators employ various techniques and skills in order to catch their prey, some hunting in groups, others in solitary through ambush or even through poisoning their victims.
Some of the world’s deadliest predators make for a fascinating watch as they hunt, strike and ambush their prey squeezing out the life in them. But this is only so when watching at a safe distance or through the comfort of a camera lens, television set or binoculars.
The food chain and food web cycle work through these activities as a predator strikes prey, feeds on it and the remains decompose to feed other micro-organisms lower in the food chain and when broken down further, fertile soils are created conducive enough for the growing plants that herbivores (prey) readily live on. And the cycle therefore continues.
Predators abound in numbers and are of different species and are found in various but particular terrains depending on their hunting habits. The list is long from the lions, leopards, tarantula spiders, the great white shark, black mamba, crocodiles, piranhas, wolves, grizzly bears and the list goes on.
Lion in predatory action.Photo credit;Catersnews
Lion in predatory action.Photo credit;Catersnews
However, these are the most well-known predators, others are less recognized but do an equal job.
Consider the case of white pelicans which cooperate and form a semi-circle and by flapping their wings continuously, they drive fish to shallow water where they are easily captured.
It’s still a strategy used to acquire a meal through a predatory trap. It is however important to note that not all predators kill their prey and feed on them, some cause harm to their prey in a form that will eventually kill the victim or some simply lay a trap for their prey.
Some also chew and eat their prey in bits while others swallow their prey in full and digestion occurs over some days.
So we may wonder what, if at all, is the benefit of predators to the environment? Predators contribute greatly to biodiversity of communities of organisms by preventing dominance of a particular species or organism.
This maintains the equilibrium of populations, and prevents occurrences such as over-grazing and over-browsing of grassland savannas and woody shrubs by herbivores which are the prey.
To continuously thrive in their environments, predators and prey both have adaptation strategies such as camouflage to help blend into their environments.
Predation is always a constant calculation of energy costs and benefits. This is because an attack consumes a lot of a predator’s energy and therefore each attack is carefully considered by the animal and the most preferred attacks are those that have a higher chance of success, otherwise the hunt is deferred for a later but better time when the benefits of the attack will yield more energy than which will have been consumed during the hunt.
This mostly applies to predators that attack and chase down their prey. Due to this reason, some predators prefer to attack humans or domestic animals. Such predators adapt to such behavior possibly due to old age or disease that weakens them and therefore hinders them from chasing after their kill, leaving them to rely on easier targets.
An example of such an occurrence is of the Tsavo Man Eaters, two mane-less lions that attacked Indian workers who were in the Tsavo area building the railway bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya.
The number of people killed by the lions remains unclear but several people were devoured before the lions were finally killed by a Briton named John Henry Patterson.
Specimens of these lions can be found in the Field Museum in Chicago, USA. Very recently, in Kenya and still in the Tsavo area, a game warden was attacked by a lion while guarding tents in preparation for the Presidential visit in the area to oversee progress of the Standard Gauge Railway that is currently underway.
Could this be the return of the ‘Man-Eaters’? |
Home>>Asia Atlas>>Japan Atlas
Japan Maps Collection
Panda Volunteer Picture
Japan National Flag
Japan National Flag
Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, together comprising about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. Honshu's Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.
Japan Imperial Seal
Imperial Seal
A major economic power, Japan has the world's third-largest economy by nominal GDP and fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the world's fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer. Although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military force used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. After Singapore, Japan has the lowest homicide rate (including attempted homicide) in the world. According to both UN and WHO estimates, Japan has the longest life expectancy of any country in the world. According to the United Nations, Japan also has the third lowest infant mortality rate.
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Lifeless Laws
Physical laws present to us, (or would present to us in ideal case), the necessary relation (necessary for any measured system in this world) between different values we measure on a system.
Number is ratio, and measurement is applying of such ratio to certain quality of the system by comparing to the quality which is taken as unit. In such way through measurement, we abstract number from the physical system.
Time is merely one of those values which are measured.
Can we say then that physical laws are not the thing that give life to universe? They just say that for any system in the universe, the values will fall into certain relation.
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Any type of airplane designed to operate from water. Sea planes come in two flavors. Float planes or flying boats. The first sea plane to fly was Henri Fabre's Hydravion, which first flew on March 28, 1910. Glenn Curtiss advanced sea plane technology into production aircraft during World War I.
Although never produced in numbers approaching those of land-based aircraft, sea planes have always been appealing due to their unique ability to use nearly the entire surface of the planet as a runway.
Sea planes have served as fighters, transports, bombers and civil aircraft. An experimental American sea plane was even designed that was capable of speeds over Mach 1.
Advances in engine technology have made sea planes less practical today, although they are gaining popularity as recreational aircraft.
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Thursday, August 27, 2009
Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen Peroxide is a weak, nearly colorless acid that was discovered by Louis Jacques Thénard in 1818 ( It's basically made up of water and oxygen. Manufacturers have used this acid to bleach paper products, produce rocket fuel and propel submarines through the water. Hydrogen Peroxide is so versatile that it can also be used for many tasks in your home. (The strength you'll use at home is the 3% grade.)
Here are 10 awesome uses for Hydrogen Peroxide:
1. Whiten Your White Laundry
Pour in a cup of hydrogen peroxide into a washer load of white laundry instead of chlorine bleach and it will whiten your clothes. Don't pour it directly on your clothes. It can fade out the color just like bleach does!
2. Sanitize Your Kitchen Surfaces
Mix up a 50/50 solution of hydrogen peroxide and tap water and pour it into a spray bottle. Use it to sanitize your kitchen counter tops, clean appliances and help keep your kitchen germ-free. Note: Mix up only as much as you'll use at one time. If you don't store hydrogen peroxide in its brown bottle, light will break down its chemical makeup.
3. Sanitize Public Drinking Fountains
Did you know you can get contagious diseases like Trenchmouth from using public drinking fountains? Carry a small container of hydrogen peroxide with you so you can sanitize fountains before you drink from them. Just splash some peroxide on the spout and let it set for several seconds. Then turn the water on and let it run to the count of five before you drink from it.
4. Kill Fingernail and Toenail Fungus
Soak your fingernails or toenails in a 50/50 solution of hydrogen peroxide every day and it will kill harmful fungus.
Swish a teaspoon full of 3% strength hydrogen peroxide in your mouth for five to ten minutes every day. It will kill harmful germs and bacteria. It will also act as a homemade tooth whitener!
6. Help Houseplants Grow Healthier
Mix up an ounce of hydrogen peroxide into a cup of water and spray your houseplants with this solution. It will help your houseplants grow greener and more lush.
7. Remove Harmful Pesticides From Fruits and Veggies
Pour a fourth of a cup of hydrogen peroxide into a sink of cold tap water. Place your fruits and veggies in the solution and wash them off well. Then, rinse each piece off with tap water and dry.
8. Clear Up Skin Acne
Use a clean cotton ball to generously dab straight hydrogen peroxide onto skin acne two or three time a day. The peroxide will dry the problem up in no time at all!
9. Remove Waxy Build Up From Your Ears
Tilt your head and use an eye dropper to put three or four drops of hydrogen peroxide into the ear that has the waxy build up. Let it set for several minutes. Then, use a syringe and flush your ear out carefully with warm water. Dry your ear with a soft, clean cloth.
10. Kill Germs in Your Bathroom
Mix together equal parts of 3% hydrogen peroxide and tap water and pour it into a spray bottle. Use this solution to kill germs in your bathroom and keep it smelling clean!
And here is one more dentist recently recommended that I use hydrogen peroxide as a mouthwash. Here is how:
Using hydrogen peroxide as mouthwash is simple: just swish some 1% to 3% hydrogen peroxide (straight or diluted in 50% water as was recommended to me) around in your mouth, then spit it out. Like you'd do with any kind of mouthwash, right?
Why 1% to 3%? Some people feel that 3% is a bit strong to use as a mouthwash. You can try 3%, or water it down with some water. (Some 3% hydrogen peroxide with an equal amount of water added will give you 1.5% hydrogen peroxide.)
Hydrogen peroxide as mouthwash will kill bacteria and viruses in your mouth. However, it takes time for hydrogen peroxide to work, so this is not going to remove all the bacteria and viruses in your mouth – it will just lessen them.
Hydrogen peroxide as a mouthwash can taste a bit weird. Also, any time hydrogen peroxide is killing germs, it will foam -- so there can be some foaming when you are using hydrogen peroxide as a mouthwash.
If you want to get at the bacteria in your gums, try it this way: brush your teeth, then floss between your teeth, and then swish with peroxide. This way any gunk is out of the way, and the peroxide can get in to the gums more easily. Swishing for a minute or longer will be more effective than a shorter swish.
I have to say from personal experience, rinsing with hydrogen peroxide gives you that smooth, clean, fresh-from-the-dentist feeling!
- Shannan
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Phytic acid is a unique natural substance found in plant seeds.
Phytic acid impairs the absorption of iron, zinc and calcium and may promote mineral deficiencies ().
Therefore, it is often referred to as an anti-nutrient.
This article takes a detailed look at phytic acid and its overall effects on health.
Phytic Acid
Phytic acid is also known as inositol hexaphosphate, or IP6.
Summary Phytic acid is found in plant seeds, where it functions as the main storage form of phosphorus.
Phytic acid is only found in plant-derived foods.
The following table shows the amount contained in a few high-phytate foods, as a percentage of dry weight ():
Summary Phytic acid is found in all plant seeds, nuts, legumes and grains. The amount contained in these foods is highly variable.
Phytic acid impairs absorption of iron and zinc, and to a lesser extent calcium (, ).
In other words, phytic acid reduces mineral absorption during the meal but doesn't have any effect on subsequent meals.
Summary Phytic acid impairs the absorption of iron, zinc and calcium. It may contribute to mineral deficiencies over time, but this is rarely a problem for those following well-balanced diets.
Fortunately, several preparation methods can significantly reduce the phytic acid content of foods.
Here are the most commonly used methods:
• Soaking: Cereals and legumes are often soaked in water overnight to reduce their phytate content (, ).
• Sprouting: The sprouting of seeds, grains and legumes, also known as germination, causes phytate degradation (, ).
• Fermentation: Organic acids, formed during fermentation, promote phytate breakdown. Lactic acid fermentation is the preferred method, a good example of which is the making of sourdough (, ).
Combining these methods can reduce phytate content substantially.
For example, soaking, sprouting and lactic acid fermentation can reduce the phytic acid content of quinoa seeds by 98% ().
In addition, sprouting and lactic acid fermentation of white sorghum and maize may almost completely degrade the phytic acid ().
Summary Several methods can be used to reduce the phytic acid content of foods, including soaking, sprouting and fermentation.
For most people, it’s a healthy plant compound. Not only is phytic acid an antioxidant, it may also be protective against kidney stones and cancer (, , , ).
Summary Phytic acid may have several positive health effects, such as protection against kidney stones and cancer.
This may be especially important for those with an iron deficiency, as well as vegetarians and vegans (, , ).
In addition, zinc is well absorbed from meat, even in the presence of phytic acid ().
Summary Phytic acid is usually not a concern in industrialized nations, where food diversity and availability is adequate. However, vegetarians, vegans and others who eat a lot of high-phytate foods may be at risk.
High-phytate foods, such as grains, nuts and legumes, can raise the risk of iron and zinc deficiency.
As a countermeasure, strategies such as soaking, sprouting and fermentation are often employed.
For those who eat meat regularly, deficiencies caused by phytic acid are not a concern.
On the contrary, consuming high-phytate foods as part of a balanced diet has numerous benefits.
In most cases, these benefits outweigh any negative effects on mineral absorption. |
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Sandra Ardoin @Sandra Ardoin
When I was writing A Reluctant Melody, I wanted my hero, Kit Barnes, to have founded an organization designed to help those who suffered from alcohol abuse. While researching ways he might have done that in 1892, I came across the history of the Salvation Army, founded in London by William Booth and his wife, Catherine, in 1865.
Originally called the Christian Mission, it’s purpose was to aid the destitute in London’s East End, meeting both physical and spiritual needs. In 1878, the organization took on the name Salvation Army, and in 1880, the army invaded the United States.
We’ve all heard the bells and seen the red kettles outside stores around Thanksgiving and Christmas. That particular campaign was the brainchild of Captain Joseph McFee and began in San Francisco in 1891. McFee wanted to provide a Christmas meal for 1,000 of the area’s poor.
But why the kettle?
Feeding so many people wouldn’t come free, so he had to raise funds. Remembering an iron pot at a dock in Liverpool where people tossed in coins for the poor, Captain McFee had his answer. He placed a pot at the Oakland Ferry Landing and raised the money he needed to provide those thousand meals. Within a few years, the idea had spread across the country.
Enjoy this short history of the Salvation Army as narrated by the late Walter Cronkite.
Frankly, I’m not sure Christmas would be the same now without hearing those bells. What about you? |
August 03, 2006
What is death?
Dr. R.L. Bijlani Editor's note: Written by an eminent physiologist, this article explores different aspects of death.
Death is both an event and a process. It is an event after which a collection of matter that was once alive becomes just a collection of matter. Nobody has seen what it is that escapes from the living body during this radical transformation. That is why the phenomenon called life is shrouded in mystery. It naturally follows that the event during which it escapes is equally mysterious. But the event called death is the culmination of a process from which it cannot be divorced, viz. the process of aging.
In a broad sense, aging is a continuous process which begins with conception and ends with death. But what is more relevant to death is the impairment of function seen in the latter part of life. In this restricted sense, aging is due to a decrease in the efficiency of homeostatic mechanisms. Hence the body is unable to mount an adequate response to challenges originating in the external or internal environment. This increases the vulnerability of the individual to a number of diseases, to one of which he finally succumbs during the event called death. Although progress towards the event of death may be a slow and insidious process, the event is precipitated when the functional capacity of at least one of the vital organs falls below a critical minimum. When that happens, the heart stops beating or the lungs stop breathing. In either case, the result is that no part of the body any longer has a continuous supply of oxygen. However, modern technology may create situations which are not so clear-cut. The lungs may be made to work like bellows by mechanical means in a person who is unlikely to be ever able to regain meaningful life. That is what has necessitated the concept of brain death. If all the features of brain death are present, it is no longer justified to continue artificial life-support. But since artificial life-support may maintain a large number of organs in a viable state long after brain death, these organs are still fit to be transplanted where they can continue to live in another body.
I. Physical aspects of death
Clinical death
Doctors know very little about death. The only course in which they learn the subject at some length is forensic medicine. This is so because it is commonly assumed that their job is to postpone death as much as possible. If inspite of their efforts a patient dies, it signifies their failure, and they are out of the picture except perhaps to answer, in some cases, unpleasant medicolegal questions such as the time of death or the cause of death. That is why, confronted with an incurable fatal disease, doctors are often unwilling to face the issue. They avoid talking about impending death to the patient or relatives. They are ill-equipped to talk to them in a manner that would make acceptance of the inevitable easier. Instead, they hide their distaste for death behind a cloak of intense activity. In the pre-ICU days, the parting service to the patient was cardiopulmonary resuscitation and intra-cardiac adrenaline. These days, the patient is transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) where tubes, flashes and beeps occupy the attention of doctors and nurses more than the patient to whom the equipment is connected. It is only recently that the importance of facing the issue of dying has been recognized, and some attention given to the best way of doing so (1). But this new trend is yet to get reflected in the medical curricula.
Pronouncing clinical death
Till about forty years ago, the boundary between life and death was clinically well defined. Death was defined as total stoppage of blood circulation and a consequent cessation of the animal and vital functions, such as respiration and pulsation (2). Doctors pronounced death when respiration and heartbeat had ceased, and when it seemed certain that these functions would not start and could not be started again (3). This could be presumed if heartbeat and breathing remained absent for at least ten minutes because the brain survives without oxygen for only about three minutes, and without a living brain, resumption of circulation and respiration is impossible. But now that respiration and circulation can be maintained artificially for long periods of time, brain death has become an important criterion of death. Now death is defined as the permanent and irreversible cessation of function of any one of the three interconnected vital systems, viz. nervous system, circulatory system and respiratory system (4). If any one of these systems fails, the other two also fail because the three systems are interlinked. The criteria of brain death are:
a. fixed, dilated pupils, unresponsive to light.b. absence of corneal reflex, vestibuleocular reflex and cough reflex.c. absence of cranial motor nerve responses to painful stimuli.d. inability to breathe when the mechanical assistance provided by the ventilator is temporarily withdrawn.e. coma and inability to breathe spontaneously continuously for at least six hours.f. EEG silence continuously for at least thirty minutes. EEG silence is defined as an absence of electrical potentials over 2 microvolts from symmetrically placed electrode pairs over 10cms apart and with an interelectrode resistance of between 100 and 10,000 ohms (5).
However, very few countries insist that an EEG be available for determining brain death: clinical criteria are considered adequate. Being an expensive facility, EEG cannot be done in every hospital. Brain death has to be certified by a team of doctors consisting of a neurologist, anaesthesiologist and an experienced doctor of the intensive care unit of the hospital. The patient should be examined by the team at least twice at an interval of 6-12 hours. Furthermore, none of the members of the team should have any interest in transplantation of an organ from the patient.
The criteria of brain death have become necessary because artificial life-support systems can today keep intact in several patients the two cardinal signs of life, heartbeat and breathing, for several months after all reasonable hope of resuscitation has disappeared. Technology can thus maintain a semblance of life when the person is not alive any more. Therefore additional criteria are needed to determine the point at which hope may be abandoned, and support systems switched off. On the other hand, strict guidelines for certifying brain death are also necessary because artificial life-support can keep several organs in the body fit for transplantation for several hours after the person as a whole is, for all practical purposes, dead.
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Wearable tech also blamed for distracted driving
Wearable technology is one of the reasons behind distracted driving, a new study by scientists at The University of Texas at San Antonio has concluded.
Researchers discovered that while a driver texting with a wearable device can marginally reduce their level of distraction, it ultimately makes texting while driving just as dangerous as with an ordinary cell phone.
More than a quarter of car accidents reported each year are attributed to some form of distraction among drivers, often the result of talking or texting while driving. Nine people are estimated to die every day in the U.S. from distracted driving and 330,000 injuries occur each year because of texting while driving, which is also the most common cause of death in teenagers.
Researchers created a safe environment where distracted driving could be measured. After that they recruited about 20 volunteers on a university campus and used a driving simulator in a laboratory that included a three-screen display, a wheel and pedals.
Student volunteers were tasked with “driving” in the simulator, using either a smart phone or Google Glass. Jadliwala and his collaborators sent the participants text messages and challenged them to drive safely while receiving and responding to the messages. The simulator recorded deviations in the steering wheel and whether the volunteers drifted out of their lane.
Researchers found that the Google Glass distracts the driver slightly less, but that also gave the participants a false sense of safety.
Because the wearable device responded quicker and used voice-activated controls, the drivers noticed the increased efficiency but also were more likely to engage with the device, which negated the marginal safety difference between the smart phone and the wearable device.
While Google stopped producing Google Glass in 2015, wearable technology is becoming increasingly popular. Jadliwala noted that wrist wearables such as Apple Watch has been very successful and that more modern head-mounted displays like Google Glass are in development.
Yhumi Tsun
About Yhumi Tsun
Yhumi is keen on novel technologies and how they can help people with their day to day lives. Startups has the been thing for Yhumi and she loves covering their work, technologies, research and lot more.
View all posts by Yhumi Tsun → |
What Is The Cooling System And Why Should You Care?
As we mentioned in our series on Air Filter Service, debris in the engine can cause major system damage. Likewise, the engine running too hot can cause the metal parts to wear away on one another.
To mitigate the problems caused by excessive heat, the cooling system keeps the engine running at optimal temperature.
Most drivers confuse the cooling system with the AC system. To clear up the confusion, and to help you better understand one of your cars most important systems, Christian Brothers Automotive is dedicating the month of October to Cooling System Service.
For the next 4 weeks, we’ll discuss the in’s, out’s, and misconceptions associated with your vehicle’s cooling system.
Today, we’ll discuss the main components of this essential system and the system’s primary purpose.
What is the cooling system?
The engine cooling system is comprised of several parts, including:
• The water pump
• Anti-freeze (or coolant)
• Upper radiator hose
• Radiator
• Lower radiator hose
• Several pipes and fans
As coolant travels through the system’s passageways, it picks up excess heat from the engine. The coolant then disperses this heat into the radiator, where it is sent into the passenger cab or the outside air.
What does the cooling system do?
While it’s called the “cooling” system, this system does more than simply cool the engine. In fact, the cooling system has three main functions.
• Disperse excess engine heat
• Quickly heat a cold engine
• Maintain optimal engine running temperature
The most obvious function of the system is to cool down the engine, which creates a series of controlled explosions during operation. However, the coolant’s responsibilities include heating the engine to the right temperature necessary to run and maintaining that temperature during every drive.
Today’s engines are designed to run around 200 degrees (+/- 10 degrees), and it’s up to the cooling system to keep the engine at this temperature.
As you can see, your car’s cooling system has a big job
While not a part of the vehicle’s AC system, the cooling system is responsible for cooling, heating and maintaining the engine’s temperature. With proper, regular cooling system maintenance, you can avoid catastrophic engine failure down the road.
If you have any questions about the cooling system or are in need of an inspection, call your local Christian Brothers Automotive. We’ll show you the nice difference! |
History of the United Kingdom – Exercise 1
Task No. 6707
Choose the correct answers.
1. Who designed St. Paul's cathedral?
2. Who was the second wife of King Henry VIII?
3. What is the name of the first bridge built across the river Thames?
4. By what name is the Collegiate Church of St. Peter better known?
5. Which British explorer was murdered by natives in Hawaii?
6. Which monarch succeeded Queen Victoria?
7. Who wanted to blow up King James I and Parliament in 1605?
8. In 1066 the Battle of Hastings began. Who was King in England at that time?
9. Which king founded Eton College and King's College, Cambridge in the 15th century?
10. When was the United Kingdom of Great Britain founded? |
Landcare Research - Manaaki Whenua
Landcare-Research -Manaaki Whenua
Ahi Pepe | MothNet: making moth-lovers of the masses
Barbara Anderson is passionate about moths.
Over 2,000 species of moths and butterflies in New Zealand play an important role in the ecosystem, as pollinators and food for our native birds, insects, spiders and reptiles. They are often underappreciated, but thanks to Barbara and her team many others now better understand their value. Through the project Ahi Pepe | MothNet, a citizen science endeavour, the team aims to raise public appreciation of moths and explore their potential to act as ecological indicators of the health of our natural world.
To make moth-lovers of the masses, the team has provided teachers, students and whānau with the skills, tools and connections to run a nationally significant scientific experiment, including internationally recognised moth-monitoring techniques, to evaluate the effectiveness of vegetation restoration in restoring ecosystem function.
And they do it by making moths fun.
Ahi Pepe | MothNet started in the Otago region and will be rolled out in the North Island in 2018. It has its own community radio show, an excellent series of guides, and 14 schools engaged in monitoring moths. Barbara’s collaborators include Orokonui Eco-sanctuary, Ngāi Tahu, the Geography Department, Te Tumu (University of Otago), Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ōtepoti, and the Otago Museum.
Barbara said, ‘Making citizen scientists of New Zealanders is deeply satisfying but also really important science.’ |
Teen sleep issues 'lead to dangerous habits'
Young people who have trouble sleeping are significantly more likely to develop an unhealthy relationship with alcohol and drugs, according to a new study.
This is the finding of researchers from Idaho State University, who conducted an investigation into the wider effects of insufficient sleep on people's lifestyles.
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To reach their conclusion, the team analysed interviews and questionnaires from the 1994-95, 1996 and 2001-02 National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which detailed health issues such as sleep difficulties and substance abuse problems relating to 6,504 participants.
Previous studies have shown that around one in ten adolescents experience problems falling asleep at night, with the US doctors discovering that this means they are significantly more likely to adopt potentially dangerous lifestyle habits.
Director of experimental training in the department of psychology at the university Maria M Wong commented: 'The purpose of this study was to examine whether sleep difficulties and hours of sleep prospectively predicted several serious substance-related problems that included binge drinking, driving under the influence of alcohol and risky sexual behaviour.'
The results of the analysis showed that individuals who experienced trouble falling asleep in the earlier National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were then much more likely to drink-drive, use illegal drugs or have gotten into a sexual situation they regretted due to being under the influence of alcohol in later years.
Ms Wong explained that these situations can all lead to serious health problems or even injury, such as a sexually transmitted infection, unplanned pregnancy, fatal car crash or accidental overdose.
In a bid to prevent these extremes from occurring, she suggests that parents need to do more when their children are still young to try to encourage them to adopt a regular sleeping pattern and to not play video games, text or watch television after a certain time each night to help them to drift off more easily.
Ms Wong recommended: 'Parents could explain the importance of sleep to their children - for example, how sleep may affect the development of the brain and thus self-control and behaviour.'ADNFCR-554-ID-801770712-ADNFCR
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More From Wellbeing |
Gamma-ray bursts.
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are bright flashes of gamma rays coming from the cosmos. They occur roughly once per day, typically last for tens of seconds, and are the most luminous events in the universe. More than three decades after their discovery, and after pioneering advances from space and ground experiments, they still remain mysterious. The launch of the… CONTINUE READING |
South Korea: Money supply (broad money)
(measure: billion currency units, source: Bank of Korea)
Money supply, billion currency units in South Korea, May, 2018: Data for that indicator for South Korea are available from January 1960 to May 2018. During that period, the average value for South Korea was 535584.37 billion currency units with a high of 2609834.8 billion currency units in May 2018 and a low of 22 billion currency units in September 1960. The source of the data for this indicator for South Korea is: Bank of Korea. Click on the following link to see the values of Money supply, billion currency units around the world.
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Measure: billion currency units
Source: Bank of Korea
Definition: The money supply is the total amount of currency and other liquid instruments circulating in the economy. The indicator represents the broad money that include currency outside banks; demand, time, saving, and foreign currency deposits of resident sectors other than the central government; bank and traveler’s checks; and other securities such as certificates of deposit and commercial paper.
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The big picture's past, present and future
July 27, 2007
History needs Grand Narratives and long-term perspectives to help us understand our lives, says Penelope Corfield.
Historians haven't yet lost the plot but they have lost the big picture. We are indeed good at understanding plots and unravelling them in all their intricate detail. We are good at taking wide-angled views and writing ambitious studies of empires and identities, nation-building and ideas.
But we have taken our eye off the very long term. We don't, with very few exceptions, write about the entire human story. And having written our time and-place-specific histories, we generally don't indicate what light these studies throw on a diachronic or through-time perspective.
This collective silence has deprived the research and especially the teaching of history of a powerful tool - the power of what is termed Grand Narrative. Such big accounts provide mental frameworks that act as mental "locators" into which people fit the detailed histories that they learn. If historians are not providing and debating Grand Narratives, then those who study history will end up confused and reliant on half-digested ideas, culled from a medley of political, religious or cultural traditions.
One major reason for the neglect of the very long term is an obvious practical one. As the quantity of research multiplies, so history as a discipline is sub-divided into separate specialisms. In Britain alone, there are more than 2,000 academic historians. Worldwide, the number is probably well over 100,000. Since no one can keep up with the output of all these busy scholars, the professional answer is to specialise, either in a particular period and/or on a particular theme.
Furthermore, these subdivisions of academic history are incorporated into research, teaching and assessment at all levels. History students at university choose bits and pieces from the expertise of their lecturers. Yet students are rarely invited to debate the possible long-span frameworks of history, whether cyclical, linear, static, revolutionary or multi-stranded.
British schoolchildren similarly take selected topics from the national curriculum. They may jump from (say) the Romans to Henry VIII to the Industrial Revolution, and on to the two world wars. One certainty is that they will study Hitler - that is, if they take history as an option after Key Stage 3. Another is that they will be confused, without a framework into which to "fix" the different periods.
A call for historians to resume consideration of the very long term does not mean stopping what we now do. It is a plea for an addition, not a subtraction.
Especially, it is not a call for a return to over-simple models. The 20th century witnessed the wreckage of two influential Grand Narratives. One was the inevitable "march of progress", from barbarism to civilisation. That vision sank before world wars, tyrannies, famines, killer epidemics and genocides. The other was the Marxist revolutionary sequence of historical stages, driven by the class struggle. It was scheduled to produce an egalitarian communism and the "withering-away" of the state. But this model too has fallen by history's wayside, disproved by events.
Oversimplified versions of history have led to disasters, especially when they are taken as guides to public policymaking, and oversimplifications have also stultified learning when they are taught to students and the public as infallibly true.
The abuse of past Grand Narratives does not, however, mean that there is no place for a collective human story. Instead the challenge is to produce and to debate a more rounded and complex picture. Such big stories are likely to be pluralist accounts of quest and conflict, rather than tending to a single triumphant goal. And understanding narratives entails debate and analysis, and even, if need be, rejection and the search for something better.
In secondary schools, in particular, long-term perspectives are needed within the national curriculum, as Ofsted has just noted. Why aren't teenagers offered strong Grand Narratives about outcomes that affect their daily lives? Why not a unit on the peopling of Britain, from the Celts to the present day? Or on the history of wars and peace-making, from tribal warfare to the United Nations? Conflict and conflict avoidance can hardly be more urgent as issues of our time.
Another obvious agenda needing a long-swing approach is citizenship education. Why not cover the contests for rights from Magna Carta to a (coming soon?) written constitution? The framework for Key Stage 4 offers great potential for basing both skills and understanding on documented historical experience.
All people and peoples are living histories. It is part of their education to understand and debate the complex human story in which we all participate. Historians, along with human geographers, archaeologists, environmentalists and all other long-span experts, are well placed to frame such diachronic accounts via the worldwide wealth of our in-depth understanding. That makes a good new agenda.
Penelope J. Corfield is professor of history at Royal Holloway, University of London. She is the author of Time and the Shape of History , published by Yale University Press (£25) and recently hosted the conference "Returning to the Big Picture: Historians and Periodisation".
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S p i c e for the shang dynasty
Recorded history in china begins with the shang dynasty scholars today argue about when the dynasty began, with opinions ranging from the mid-18th to the mid-16th century bce regardless of the dates, one event more than any other signaled the advent of the shang dynasty — the bronze age. Region how far north did the shang dynasty reach 5movement how did the changes in agriculture contribute to the development of the shang dynasty. Tang dynasty overview the tang dynasty was founded in 618 by the li family who took power after the assignation of the sui dynasty emperor the empire’s capital was located in the city of chang’an. Writing the shang dynasty developed a writing system around 1766 bce bronze the shang dynasty had one of the most sophisticated methods for smelting bronze.
s p i c e for the shang dynasty The tang dynasty (june 18, 618 – june 4, 907 ce) was preceded by the sui dynasty and followed by the five dynasties and ten kingdoms period in chinathe dynasty was founded by the li family, who seized opportunity in.
(1766 - 1122 bce) territorial extent of the shang dynasty compared to modern china. The reality is that we don't know much about shang dynasty at all writings were scattered among animal bones and ritual bronzes much about shang were records arranged/organized much later. Shāng yāng (商鞅 kung-sun yang wei yang pinyin shang yang d 338 bce) was an important statesman and social political philosopher whose successful reorganization of the state of ch'in or qin, during the warring states period of ancient china, paved the way for the eventual unification of. Ming dynasty chapter 12 one of the great dynasties others are the ton the ming the song were invaded many times by steppe people shang dynasty 1523-1028 bc. It is recorded that yuanmou man is the oldest hominoid in china and the oldest dynasty is xia dynasty from the long history shang: 17th century bc (today's. A bronze ritual wine vessel, jue shang dynasty (1600-1100 bc) the body is cast with an intricate band comprising two stylised taotie masks, one divided to the centre with a vertical flange, the other with a pictogram cast beneath the curved handle surmounted by a buffalo head.
Western scholars are hesitant to designate such settlements as belonging to the shang dynasty also unlike the shang c 1500 bc, the early shang dynasty. World history book shang and more the qin dynasty (221-206 bce) one of the primary reasons for the tri- umph of the qin was probably the charac- ter of the. The shang dynasty marked the middle of china’s bronze m e a ning that it had many levels of rank and many s p e c i a lized functions and jobs.
Home essays spice for the shang spice for the shang dynasty topics: people's republic of china spice for the shang dynasty. The shang high dynasty in the shang dynasty the shang dynasty was the first dynasty in china going from 1800 bce to 1600 bce this dynasty's.
S p i c e for the shang dynasty
The shang dynasty was founded by a rebel king: tang of shang capital: the site of yin, the capital (1350–1046 bc) of the shang dynasty, also called yin dynasty.
• Start studying chapter 3: asia's first civilizations: india and china learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.
• Shang dynasty c 1600 – c 1046 bc: zhou dynasty c 1046 – 256 bc.
• [box type=”note”]fig1, bronze ceremonial axe (yue / 钺) from middle to late shang period, c 1400 bce ~ 1000 bce, symbol of state power excavated from tomb m1 at the sufutun site, currently part of the shandong museum collection.
• Shang dynasty: shang dynasty, the first recorded chinese dynasty for which there is both documentary and archaeological evidence the shang dynasty was the reputed successor to the quasi-legendary first dynasty, the xia (c 2070–c 1600 bce.
• Shang dynasty yellow valley river china civilizations ancient geography location remains dynasty: some of the puzzles that people list for the public get indexed by.
Yinxu, literally yin ruins, is the ruins of yin, the last capital of china's shang dynasty shang dynasty bronze jun (wine vessel. The shang dynasty is thought to have lasted from c 1600 to c1100 bce it is also called the yin dynasty (or shang-yin) tang the great founded the dynasty king zhou was its final ruler the shang kings were linked to the rulers of the areas around who paid tribute and provided soldiers for. Study this fascinating topic and learn all about the shang dynasty of ancient china discover key information about the formation of the shang dynasty and the kings who ruled it learn all about everyday life, the music, cities and settlements, and the process of worship in this early civilisation. The shang dynasty was china's first recorded history and it lasted from 1600 bce to 907 ce,it was created bt a virtuous man named cheng tang, who overthrew the evil king of the legendary xia the people of the shang dynasty lived in china but scholars don't have a record of their population, but.
S p i c e for the shang dynasty
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The Mind Games of Diving
By Dr. David Sawatzky
Diving is an activity with some degree of real risk. You can get hurt while diving and you can die. You should have some degree of anxiety and apprehension when you are diving. This ‘appropriate’ level of arousal is reasonable, normal, healthy and actually reduces your risk of getting hurt, injured or dying.
Arousal or stress levels is an interesting topic. As your level of arousal increases, your performance can increase. When you first wake up, your performance is relatively poor (turning off the alarm can be challenging!) Once you have showered and had breakfast your performance is better. As you are driving to work someone almost crashes into you. Suddenly your level of arousal is elevated and you are far more aware of the cars around you. Your performance climbs another notch.
Then the kids start fighting, the dog in the car starts barking and you realize you have forgotten a very important presentation at home. Your level of stress now rises to the point where your performance declines. If your level of stress continues to increase you will reach a point where you are unable to function. The key is to find the level of arousal/stress that results in maximum performance.
In diving, we face the same problem. If we are so ‘cool, relaxed and at peace’ that we are not paying attention to our depth, time, orientation, location, gas supply, partner, etc. we are at high risk of having an accident. However, if we are so anxious or stressed that we cannot keep track of these critical tasks, we are also at high risk of having an accident. When I was doing a lot of very challenging diving I had a rule: If I ever thought of anything during the dive, other than the dive, I aborted the dive. You have to focus on the dive to remain safe.
Unfounded Stress: Phobias
When our level of stress and anxiety/fear is more than is appropriate for the situation, it is called a phobia. A phobia can be defined as “any objectively unfounded or morbid dread or fear”. For example, if I came face to face with a large great white shark while diving, I might experience a great deal of fear. This fear would be completely reasonable and not a phobia. However, if I refused to go swimming in a swimming pool because I was terrified of being eaten by a great white shark, it would be unreasonable and a phobia (assuming that there was not a great white shark in the pool!)
Phobias are so common that we have special words to describe various kinds. For example, everyone knows that ‘claustrophobia’ is fear of enclosed spaces and ‘arachnophobia’ is fear of spiders (fear of snakes is called ‘ophidiophobia’). There are over 200 different words in English to describe specific phobias. Virtually all of us have at least one unreasonable fear so there must be some reason that they are so common.
Psychologists have several explanations. Psychoanalytic theory believes that every problem is a result of your relationship with your mother or the way that you were toilet trained. Behaviour or learning theory believes that a person learns the phobic reaction and the mechanism is most likely ‘generalization’.
Generalization is an absolutely necessary process, whereby we take things we have learned in one situation and apply them to a different condition. For example, you were initially taught how to dive in one specific type of gear setup in one fashion. As you gain experience you apply this knowledge to diving different gear configured in different ways.
When the changes in gear configuration are large (going from back mounted to side mounted tanks) it is a good idea to take another course as you are quite likely to make mistakes trying to apply your previous knowledge and experience to a very different situation. In the same way, moving into a new kind of gear (closed circuit rebreather) or new kind of diving (cave or wreck penetration) requires enough new knowledge and skills that you need additional training to be safe.
But let’s return to anxiety/fear and see how generalization can cause them to become inappropriate. If on the dive after I came face to face with a large great white shark, I encounter a large barracuda, I may have the same fear response. The next dive I may have the same response to a large fish and on the next dive the same response to a minnow. Having the same fear upon coming face to face with a minnow as to a large great white shark is ‘objectively unfounded’ and therefore a phobia. The perfectly reasonable fear when meeting a large shark had generalized to a completely unreasonable fear upon seeing a minnow. The fear may even generalize to the possibility of meeting a fish in a swimming pool.
Every scary experience has the possibility to generalize to inappropriate situations but usually it does not. There are three common ways in which phobias develop. One is avoidance. Not diving in places where great white sharks are commonly encountered would be reasonable avoidance behaviour. Avoiding situations similar to where the fear was experienced would reduce the anxiety. Not diving anyplace in the ocean because you might encounter a shark would be unreasonable. Giving up diving totally as a result of the fear would be completely unreasonable. The phobia is growing and developing as we make these transitions due to avoidant behaviour.
Another way phobias can develop is due to ‘modeling’. A speaker may give a presentation at a meeting about a terrifying experience that they had while diving. If they do a realistic enough presentation some of the people in the audience will experience significant fear and anxiety to the situation being described, even though they did not experience the event! If that fear and anxiety is allowed to grow and generalize the person can develop a phobia.
At the same time, it is very important that we have the ability to learn to fear things that we have never experienced. Anyone who has raised a child will know this. You want to be able to teach your children to be afraid of heights/falling, you want to teach them to be afraid of fire, hydro wires, etc. without them ever being hurt or injured due to these things. The important point is that the fear/anxiety/caution has to be appropriate to the danger.
The third way phobias can develop is ‘operant conditioning’. In this situation the person’s initial fear response is supported and reinforced by others. For example, if you take up diving but your parents/spouse are very unhappy about this, they will reinforce any decision you make to reduce or to eliminate your diving. Therefore, when you ‘give in’ to your fear and stop diving, they will provide lots of support for this decision and course of action. This can easily result in a phobia.
I have spent most of my life working for the military and as I write this it has become clear to me that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has many similarities to phobias. So how do we prevent and/or treat phobias?
Falling off the horse
Everyone has heard the phrase, “If you fall off a horse, get right back on”. In general, this is good advice. If you have a scary experience, as soon as possible return to the same situation and control the anxiety. You will have ‘mastered’ your fear and prevented the fear from growing and generalizing. In combat stress, it is critical to return the person to active combat as quickly as possible to allow them to deal with their fear and reduce the risk of PTSD. If you have a scary dive, as soon as possible try to repeat the dive under controlled conditions so that you can overlay the scary memory with a completely normal memory in the same situation. Obviously, you have to be able to control the anxiety and fear on the repeat dive or the stress/anxiety will get worse.
Treating a phobia (or PTSD) involves gradual, progressive exposure to situations similar to the initial event while learning to control the anxiety/fear response. Several techniques work: breathing control, relaxation, biofeedback, etc. What you are really doing is achieving systematic desensitization. This approach is highly successful, as long as the person controls their anxiety/fear. Sometimes you can do this on your own, sometimes with the assistance of friends and sometimes professional help will be required. If you are willing to persevere virtually any unreasonable fear can be controlled and eliminated. However, a lot of time and effort are sometimes required, the process is not fun, and many people chose to live with their phobias, avoiding the situation, rather than learning to control them. Many people quit diving because of fear.
When you meet someone with a phobia, your response will have a significant impact on what they do. If you tease, ridicule or express any negative reaction to their phobia, they will almost certainly avoid you and the phobic situation in the future. Conversely, if you grab them and say, “You can beat this!” and force them into a situation where they are unable to control the fear and anxiety, you will have made the phobia even worse.
The best response would be to acknowledge their anxiety and fear (it is real). Let them know that you understand (we all have some unreasonable fears). At the same time, let them know that if they want to invest the time and effort required they will be able to control and get over their anxiety and fear.
Phobias are encountered in a very large number of situations that have nothing to do with diving. Two very common examples would be fear of heights and fear of public speaking. As with diving phobias, these other phobias can be overcome with graduated desensitization.
In the next column I will continue looking at mind games and diving.
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An office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet.
An office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet.
A Toilet Seat For Two?
When someone goes on a health kick and starts talking about germs, and stopping the spread of things like colds, the first item they focus on is the doorknob. At home, in public, or at work, it is the single most common surface that multiple people would touch, thus increasing the chances of bacteria being left behind. But surprisingly, it's not the most bacteria-infested surface you face all day. That would be your office desk.
A research project at the University of Arizona, carried out in 2002, discovered that you would face less bacteria eating off a toilet seat, than you would on your desk or personal workspace, where the level is up to 400 times greater.
The study, which tested telephones, desks, water coolers, doorknobs, and toilet seats, compiled 7,000 samples from major centers across the country. What they found, was that while phones ranked highest in bacteria levels, the office desk was a close second.
Food or spilled liquids and decomposable solids that don't get cleaned off, provide the ideal start for a colony of bacteria. Add to that, items that have been in contact with bacteria elsewhere, that are set on the desk, or even unwashed hands touching the surface, and the count soars, sometimes doubling during the course of a work day.
To confirm their findings, researchers divided workers into two groups: one that wiped down their phones and office spaces each day with a disinfectant, and one that didn't.
Within two days, those with the cleaning habit saw bacteria levels drop to almost nil.
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What does straddled mean
what does straddled mean
Straddle definition: If you straddle something, you put or have one leg on either side of it. | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples. sit or stand with one leg on either side of Meaning, pronunciation, example sentences, and more from Oxford Dictionaries. One side has the word, one side has the definition. Microwave and Guy1: OMG, my girlfriend was totally straddling that prick, Josh! Guy2: Did. Holen Sie sich unsere kostenlosen Widgets Fügen Sie http://aswexler.com/2017/02/18/famous-athletes-which-suffer-from-gambling-addiction-by-making-bets-on-own-matches/ Leistungsfähigkeit von Cambridge Dictionary Ihrer Website raumschiff game — mit unseren kostenlosen G to play Widgets. Lucky hot of 2 votes: Casino club handy does the South African term schlenter mean? Round Games with Cards W. Please log in or register to use bookmarks. The Times Literary Supplement Like play mad of his https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfRaIH19xT0it also straddles more than one world. Manual of Military Training James A. Angola,Congo Peoples Republic of: The Urban Dictionary Mug One side has the word, one side has the definition. FOLLOW US facebook twitter youtube instagram. You don't even need an evening gown!
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What does straddled mean Video
What does straddle mean?
What does straddled mean - Hill benutzt
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The A2 Mach 5 Airliner Can Revolutionize Air Travel
The ways in which we travel haven’t drastically changed in the last 50 years. The majority of people on the planet travel by walking, bicycle or by car. If we want to travel a very far distance in a short period of time we have only one option which is a standard airline. With this comes high price tags, long lines and for the longest trips, a wait time still of dozens of hours to actually get there once you’re in the air. A new design of aircraft however is seeking to change this decades old tale of travel. The A2 Mach 5 Airliner is trying to revolutionize the way we all travel. The A2 is attempting to incorporate the following aspects to become a viable transportation source:
• Liquid Hydrogen Fuel
• High Altitude Travel
• Super Sonic Speed
One of the reasons it’s so expensive to fly is because it takes a ton of high quality jet fuel to operate a modern day plane. This cost is passed onto the customer and their fees rise as well. The A2 however runs on liquid hydrogen which is a much cheaper alternative fuel compared to standard jet fuel. Also, so as to not affect the flight patterns of the current airliners in operation today, the A2 is designed to have a much higher cruising altitude than current airliner designs. This allows the aircraft to only have to avoid current jets during takeoff and landing which can be mediated by current air traffic control workers. Lastly, super sonic speed allows for the travel times between major cities across the globe to be diminished. By some estimates, the A2 could travel up to five times faster than the fastest commercially available airliner to date. The world of air transportation is changing and the A2 Airliner may be the way of its future.
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Lower back pain kidney problems
Home » Lower back pain kidney problems » Alternative Medicine » Lower back pain kidney problems
Up to 80% of U. If back pain is severe or persists for more than a week, see your health care provider for a more targeted approach. Muscle spasms are the most common reason for low back pain. But by not stretching lower back pain kidney problems or exercising, you weaken the muscles in the lower back, leaving what can cause high blood sugar them more susceptible to pain and less supportive of the weight they are designed to hold. Bed rest alone can actually make back pain worse. The sciatic nerve extends from the spine to each leg. After the first flare-up, you might take a short rest period -- 1-2 days -- applying ice for the first couple of days and then a heating pad to loosen tight muscles. Try giving your back adequate rest to heal, grow, or resolve the issue. One study showed that people who continued their normal activities after a bout of low back pain had more flexibility than those who rested in bed for a week. Other conditions, such as a narrowing of the spinal canal, also may cause it. Take an over-the-counter pain medication if you need it. On your own, you can try doing some basic back stretches before and when you first wake up out of bed. Low back pain is more common as we get older, with people often having their first episode between ages 30 and 50. Muscles and ligaments heal rapidly, while a torn disc may or may not. Your chances of muscle spasms go up if you have weak stomach muscles, tight hamstrings, any back weakness, or a pelvis that tilts forward more than normal. If you do choose a day of bed rest, try to walk around every couple of hours. Stop if any constant ringing of the ears of these exercises causes pain. It can also lead lower back pain kidney problems to other conditions, like weakened muscles and blood clots in the legs. Thousands of people worldwide suffer from discomfort in the lower back, but that doesn't mean that you have to welcome it into your life without a fight. Try stretching for lower back pain. If this happens often, you should seek medical advice from a doctor. But it also can be the result of a sedentary lifestyle -- with too little (and what is considered high glucose occasionally too much) exercise. Light activity which doesn't cause pain can actually be helpful. Muscles in the low back are responsible for flexing and rotating the hips while walking, as well as supporting the spinal column. The pain occasionally reaches the foot. That's why some treatments include muscle relaxers. There are many additional sources of pain, including claudication pain (from stenosis) myelopathic pain, neuropathic pain, deformity, tumors, infections, pain from inflammatory conditions (such as rheumatoid arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis), and pain that originates from best skin care for psoriasis another part of the body and presents in the lower back (such as kidney stones, or ulcerative colitis). In general, your child should rest and avoid doing any strenuous physical activities that make it worse. You can strain a muscle with an lower back pain kidney problems unexpected pull or twist. Most lower back pain goes away after a few weeks. A warm bath may also help, but no longer than 20 minutes. Adults get low back pain at some point. Try some of these exercises for lower back pain relief. Staying in the same position for too long can also make your joints stiff. Your back hurts, so you don't want to make it worse by stretching or exercising. You can also try placing an ice or heat pack on the sore area before bed to relax the muscle. For example, a degenerated or torn lumbar disc can feel the same as a pulled muscle – both creating inflammation and painful muscle spasm in the symptoms of gastric ulcer disease same area. Español: eliminar el dolor de espalda baja, Italiano: Liberarsi del Dolore alla lower back pain kidney problems Parte Bassa della Schiena, Português: se Livrar de Dor Lombar, Deutsch: Sich von Kreuzschmerzen befreien, Français: faire passer un mal de reins, Русский: избавиться от боли в пояснице, Nederlands: Van lage rugpijn afkomen, 中文: 摆脱后腰疼痛, Bahasa Indonesia: Menghilangkan Nyeri Punggung Bawah, Čeština: Jak se zbavit bolesti beder, العربية: التخلص من ألم أسفل الظهر Sciatica is leg pain caused by pressure on the sciatic nerve. Nerves in the low back supply sensation and power the muscles in the pelvis, legs, and feet. S. The low back supports the weight of lower back pain kidney problems the upper body and provides mobility for everyday motions such as bending and twisting. You're still growing, so you will have these types of pains, especially if you are very active. Whether it's from an injury, illness, or old age, lower back pain can be mitigated with the right knowledge and care. There is a significant overlap of nerve supply to many of the discs, muscles, ligaments, and other spinal structures, and it can be difficult for the brain to accurately sense which is the cause of the pain. Pressure on it causes shock-like or burning pain in the lower back and buttocks and typically down one leg. Dealing with pain in your lower back? See a doctor for severe or sudden pain. Lower back pain, as commonly referred to, is pain in the lower back, widely diffused. Tell an adult, and see your doctor. Lower back pain can be a vicious cycle. Men and women are equally affected. The time course of pain helps determine the cause. You should try to stay as active as you can. Finally, some light exercises will strengthen your back muscles and help to reduce pain over time. You should see your doctor if the pain doesn't get better within 7-10 days or if pics of tapeworms in humans it gets any worse. lower back pain kidney problems Find out what is causing the pain. If your back pain, however, persists for more than two weeks, see an internist and get a referral to specialist to diagnose the pain. The most common cause is a slipped disk. Lower back pain is usually not obesity hypoventilation syndrome natural treatments spinal pain or pain lower back pain kidney problems in the spinal muscles. If, however, you're experiencing fever, nausea and sensitivity in the area, you may have a kidney infection. Movement can help speed up healing. You can also what causes sciatic nerve pain give your child some gentle back massages, or help him or her do some strengthening exercises. A lot depends on how severe the pain is, how long it has lasted, and how it started.
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Redux the MAST
In lecture 22 at about 28:00, Dr. Sadoway of MIT covers the law of mass action and states the relationship that matter is neither created or destroyed in a chemical reaction and to the greatest extent that is true in cosmic origins and the σ of matter as it exists and as we can perceive in the light cone as it extends in time must represent many different dependencies such as the association of emission and absorption spectra, the number of black holes, neutron flux, and all the secondary effects. In a chemical reaction it could be stated that as reactants become products, the absorption and emission of the material in test must exhibit a concurrent change in the properties with the change in configuration of the matter. I haven't created an AI to examine the data from the various astronomical sources as it involves numerous para-metrics and it doesn't make sense to do them individually and then combine the results. It is easier to create a complete analysis and let the computer cross correlate the results on an ongoing basis as it digs deeper and refines the relationships based on new sources of data and suggestions of directions from the data itself. It is just that I am lazy and if I can neutralize 2 Avialae with one small amorphous solid then it makes me happy.
It would seem that if an optical rotary element were expressed by an organism, that it could be used in real time to identify the specific rotation in response while installed in a device such as an polarimeter. Which adds another element to my analysis, which is the specific rotation through space, and thus time, due to materials with chiral properties.
Automated Intelligence
Automated Intelligence
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Kimberly Garcia
English 162W
March 9, 2011
Professor Zino
In the short story “The Lottery” by author Shirley Jackson, we can see the relation between her work and Tuan’s chapter “Mythical Space and Place” when it comes to traditions kept by people. Focusing on Tuan’s principles, we can identify what kind of values the town that Jackson illustrates for her audience.
“Two principles kinds of mythical space can be distinguished. In the one, mythical space is a fuzzy area of defective knowledge surrounding the empirically known…In the other it is the spatial component of a world view, a conception of localized values within which people carry on their practical activities” (Tuan 86). The first principle mentioned, can relate to the town’s tradition of sacrifice for a good harvest. However, the fading of this ritual poses an unfair advantage to the stoners for the unfortunate. In this case, it was Tessie Hutchinson that was to be stoned to death. Nobody really remembered the ritual but remember the violence involved as said by the narrator, “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (Jackson 232). This illustrates the inhuman values that the town holds for something that cannot be proven.
Following the second principle Tuan states, if brought to other perspectives outside that town, it would be seen as barbaric and unjust. The village that resides close to them are discussing about abandoning the lottery and already getting grief from the village that keeps the tradition alive. A character by the name of Old Man Warner gives his opinions once told of the news, “Pack of crazy fools…Listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work anymore, live that way for a while”(Jackson 250) In a way, Old Man Warner contradicts his own opinion, because how is it that if the village was to abandon this tradition, they’d be heading back to the stone age where it was considered barbaric? Whereas this tradition has been kept for a very long time within the town and this form of capital punishment can be timed back to the ancient times as a way to keep a society more structured. He is criticizing the ancient times whereas this tradition is “ancient”.
Coming back to Tuan’s theory in relation to this story, what makes something mythical is the unknown. What goes beyond our knowledge is what we make up in order to fill that void of the unknown. To the village that keeps this tradition, how can they associate the fact that if they don’t get a good harvest, it is because everyone remaining in the village is at fault some way or another. Therefore they must weed out the bad omen. It doesn’t make sense to the world but it does to them. Jackson definitely executed Tuan’s theory by mentioning herself for the purpose of writing this short story “to shock the story’s readers with a graphic demonstration of the pointless violence and general inhumanity in their own lives” (Introduction of the Author 247)
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Alzheimer’s: Is it a disease of the Western diet?
15 November 2007
Alzheimers and dementia may be a result of the Western diet, new research suggests. People who eat a diet thats rich in fish, omega-3 oils, fruits and vegetables are up to 60 per cent less likely to develop Alzheimers whereas people who consume large amounts of omega-6 oils, such as sunflower and grape seed, double their chances of suffering dementia.
Diet has been highlighted as the main factor in determining whether we enjoy our ful mental capabilities until the end. A French study tracked the diet and progress of 8,085 men and women over the age of 65 who did not have dementia at the beginning of the trial. In the four years follow-up, 183 of the participants developed Alzheimers and a further 98 had dementia.
The researchers found that people who regularly consumed omega-3 oils, such as canola oil, flaxseed and walnut, reduced their risk of dementia by 60 per cent compared to those who do not regularly consume the oils. People who ate fruits and vegetables every day reduced their risk of dementia by 30 per cent.
(Source: Neurology, 2007; 69: 1921-30).
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The impact of globalization and the
As much as has been achieved in connection with globalization, there is much more to be done on the precise impact of financial globalization. International journal of humanities and social science vol 2 no 15 august 2012 193 the negative impact of. Globalization and its effect on an example of the negative impact of globalization on phptitle=globalization_and_its_effect_on_cultural_diversity&oldid.
The impact of globalisation: individuals, local, national and global, globalisation, globalisation and changing environments, sose: geography, year 9, wa introduction. Globalization what is globalization global impacts history technology culture business perspective effect on canada the evolution of globalization american. Globalization: globalization refers to the trend towards a more integrated global economic system a common modern definition of „globalization‟ may be “the. The new engl and journal of medicine n engl j med 36814 nejmorg april 4, 2013 1335 review article global health globalization, climate change, and human health.
Does globalization negatively or positively impact poverty alleviation according to economist pranab bardhan, antiglobalizers’ central claim is that globalization. Positive and negative effect of globalization on china globalization has made many possitve impact of the negative effect of globalization is more as compare. The following is a classic story, often used by socialists to highlight the evils of a capitalist society - the small town grocer gets mercilessly taken out. Globalisation and its impact on indian society article shared by: advertisements: globalisation has emerged as one of the most frequently used term of which there is. Impact of globalization on japanese language and culture norio ota york university preamble globalization 世界化leaves no stone unturned as current globalization.
A broad brush assessment of the social effects of globalization to appreciate the impact of globalization on social relationships, we adopt as a framework. The impact of globalization on the arab world culture is not a matter of simple statistics and reports it is, in essence, a diagnostic line of analysis to consider. Globalization’s impact on gender equality: what’s happened and what’s needed 255 these changes have taken place against (and possibly contributed to) the. Essay takes a close look on what impact of globalisation will have on the industrial relations two countries which are classically represented by different. I have traveled to more than 22 countries and have had the opportunity to transact business in various parts of asia, the middle east, canada, central and latin.
Economic impact of globalization in india multilateral agreements in trade, taking on such new agendas as environmental and social conditions. Economic globalization is one of the three main dimensions of globalization commonly found in academic literature, with the two other being political globalization. Effects of financial globalization effects of financial globalization on developing countries: what is the impact of financial globalization on macroeconomic.
Inclusion of a dynamic social protection system and redistributive measures as an integral part of a set of policies to enhance the employment impact of globalization. The spread of the american political and economic model in addition to cataloging the influences of globalization on culture, students of this phenomenon should ask. Globalization is a contemporary buzzword for a theory that is frequently debated in the media, and in political and academic circles one definition of the term is. Britain’s vote to leave the eu may not bring recession to the us, but it could mark the end of a period of economic integration and open markets.
• The economist and author of globalisation and its discontents talks to the guardian's larry elliott about why he considers donald trump unfit to be us president.
• The term globalization likely originated in the 1960s and became a buzzword in the 1990s it has had a stronger impact on richer countries than on poorer ones,.
• An analytic exploration of whether trade hurts or helps the environment the relationship between trade and the environment has become an increasingly.
Globalization has greatly impacted the united states and american citizens first and foremost, globalization has spread american influence throughout the world. Globalization and education how much impact does the educational quality of a nation's schools have on economic prosperity this is a key question. How globalization promotes obesity: a macro-level view at an individual level, obesity results from energy imbalance—too many calories in, too few calories burned.
the impact of globalization and the This shows that microsoft globalization has caused more problems because factories are most concerned with making more money no matter what the cost,. the impact of globalization and the This shows that microsoft globalization has caused more problems because factories are most concerned with making more money no matter what the cost,. Download
The impact of globalization and the
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Distinguish, differentiate, compare and explain what is the difference between Correlation and Regression. Comparison and Differences.
Difference between Correlation and Regression
1. Correlation is Symmetric whereas Regression is Directional.
2. In Correlation, it doesn’t matter which is on Y, which on X axis. We can chose n ‘objects’; measure (X,Y) on each. In Regression, it matters which is on Y, which on X axis. (We have to first choose n objects on basis of their X values; measure their Y; or choose objects, (as with correlation); measure (X,Y). Regard X value as ‘fixed’. Can be extended to non-straight line relationships. Can relate Y to multiple X variables.
3. Correlation is dimensionless i.e. it has no units and range between – 1 to + 1. Regression is DY/DX units e.g., Kg/cm.
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What is an Autism Spectrum Disorder?
An Autism Spectrum Disorders is a life-long developmental disability affecting social and communication skills. People with the disability can also have accompanying learning disabilities; but, whatever their general level of intelligence, everyone with the condition shares a difficulty in making sense of the world.
"Classic" autism affects four times as many boys as girls; Asperger syndrome affects nine times as many boys as girls. It is found among all races, nationalities, and social classes.
Can people with autism spectrum disorders be helped?
An autism spectrum disorder is a life-long disability, but there are ways of helping, especially if a child is diagnosed early and receives appropriate intervention early in life.
Special education programmes and structured support can really make a difference to a child's life, helping to maximise skills and achieve full potential in adulthood. An early diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder is essential in order to ensure appropriate support is given.
Recognising the disorder
Features of the disorder can vary widely from one person to another; there is no single feature that defines either autism or Asperger syndrome.
For example, a child with an autism spectrum disorder may make eye contact, speak with perfect grammar or put an arm around another child who is crying. Occasional behaviour such as this doesn't exclude an autism spectrum disorder; it's the overall pattern that's relevant, not the intermittent flashes of "normality".
The degree to which people with an autism spectrum disorder are affected varies, but all those affected have impairments in social interaction, social communication and imagination. This is known as the "triad of impairments".
Social interaction
People with autism spectrum disorders have difficulties with social relationships. They may, for example, appear aloof and indifferent to other people or passively accept social contact, even showing some signs of pleasure in this, but rarely making spontaneous approaches.
Social communication
People with an autism spectrum disorder also have difficulties with verbal and non-verbal communication, for example not fully understanding the meaning of gestures, facialexpressions or tones of voice.
They also find it hard to appreciate the social cues and pleasure of communication. They do not understand language is a tool for conveying information to others. When they do use language it is generally used very literally with an idiosyncratic, sometimes pompous, choice of words and phrases and limited speech.
There are difficulties in the development of play and imagination, for example children do not develop creative "let's pretend" play in the way other children do. They have a limited range of imaginative activities, possibly copied and pursued rigidly and repetitively.
Children and adults tend to focus on minor or trivial things around them - an earring rather than the person wearing it, the wheel of a toy rather than the car itself. They also tend to miss the point of pursuits involving words, such as social conversation, literature, especially fiction, and subtle verbal humour.
Repetitive behaviours
In addition to this triad, repetitive behaviour patterns are a notable feature, as is a resistance to changes in routine. People with autism spectrum disorders often become obsessed with particular objects or behaviours, focussing on them to the exclusion of everything else.
Sensory Issues
People with an Autism Spectrum Disorder may have "sensory issues" or a difference in sensory integration, where they can be either hyposensitive or hypersensitive to outside stimuli.
This means that a person can be very sensitive to particular sounds, light, smells and touch etc. Particular sensations may be very absorbing and pleasurable, others may be perceived as unbearably intense, stressful and even painful. The anticipation of such an experience can lead to extreme anxiety or panic. There may also be a lack of sensitivity and therefore response to pain. These type of experiences can often be very bewildering to parents, teachers and other ‘neurotypicals’
Special abilities
Some people with autism spectrum disorders, who may be severely disabled in most ways, will sometimes display talent for say, music, mathematics or technology. Some have a remarkable memory for dates and things that particularly interest them.
uploaded from: (2010)
ASD Guidelines Website
ASK (Autism Spectrum Kiwis)
Asperger Management
Asperger's Syndrome New Zealand
ASNZ is a small advocacy/self-advocacy group established specifically by and for adults with Asperger's Syndrome which is currently involved in representation, advocacy, information, listening, advice, referral, publicity and education from a consumer lived-experience perspective.
do 2 Learn website - supporting special needs
Games, songs, communication cards, print resources, and information for special needs - including Toolbox for teachers, Autism awareness cards and strategies, colouring and print activities, free visual pictures, Math Mahjong and emotions games, Daily organisers and calender, Learn reading order and shapes.
Fun 4 younger kids!
colourful, safe games for younger kids to enjoy a computer experience
New Zealand Society for Music Therapy
Music therapy is the planned use of music to assist the healing and personal growth of people with identified emotional, intellectual, physical or social needs.
Sue Larkey - Special Needs Teacher, Australia
Tony Attwood
Tony Attwood is well known for sharing his knowledge of Autism and Apsergers Syndrome. He has an Honours degree in Psychology from the University of Hull, Masters degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Surrey and a PhD from the University of London. He is currently adjunct Associate Professor at Griffith University in Queensland Tony operates a clinic and supports children and adults by visiting them at school and home. He also lectures nationally and internationally presenting workshops and papers.
He has written several publications including the latest: The Complete guide to Asperger Syndrome - for more details go to: Books and Library.
Tools for Coping with Life's Stressors
Resources for coping with grief and developing self-esteem. Includes specifically for parents of children with a developmental disability. |
The Library Basement
Reading under ground
Tag scripture
How do you solve a problem like Eve?
If you listen to NPR or read Christian-themed blogs at all, you've probably heard about the Morning Edition story about Evangelicals questioning the existence of Adam and Eve. Personally I think the implications of the article are a bit overblown. Citing two examples of academic Evangelicals questioning the historical reality of the Adam and Eve story should not be extrapolated into a trend within Evangelicalism in general. Still this article has got some useful discussions started on the themes of science and Bible interpretation.
The tension between science and Adam and Eve is generally solved by interpreting the creation story allegorically. This is in line with early Christian interpreters like Origen. I also think a valid argument for this interpretation can be made from the text itself. However, I see a problem with an allegorical approach where New Testament authors argue from the Adam and Eve story. For example, Paul in 1 Timothy 2:
[][]Obviously this passage is already difficult to interpret. But it seems to me that Paul's argument does not make sense if we assume that he understood the Adam and Eve story metaphorically. If Adam and Eve are symbolic, then neither men nor women were formed first. Likewise it cannot be said that woman was deceived but not man if there were no particular first woman and man. This line of reasoning only makes sense when arguing from a historical understanding of the story, and I believe that is how Paul understood the text of Genesis.
Please respond if you see a way that Paul's argument makes sense under the assumption of an allegorical Adam and Eve. If I am right, there is an important implication: by trying to argue literally from an allegorical text, Paul's argument becomes invalid (since in an allegorical reading his premises are no longer true). This in turn calls into question the inerrancy of Paul's writing.
Accommodating science with an allegorical interpretation of Adam and Eve can put pressure on other Evangelical values. I could be making a mountain out of a mole hill, but I am now curious if anyone has researched the topic of the interpretation of Genesis 2-3 in the New Testament. I wonder if there are any clear examples where the NT author employs a metaphorical understanding of Adam and Eve. Let me know what you find.
Open letter to Southern Baptists
Dear Southern Baptists,
Your representatives at the Southern Baptist Convention in 2011 made some rather hasty resolutions regarding the 2011 revision of the NIV. However I fear that these leaders are somewhat confused about language and semantics and have muddled the situation for the larger Southern Baptist movement.
The SBC messengers claim that the updated version "alters the meaning of hundreds of verses, most significantly by erasing gender-specific details which appear in the original language." However, it was the policy of the NIV translators to make changes only where there were no gender-specific details - that is when the source text was using generic third-person pronouns.
By convention both the Hebrew and Greek languages defaulted to masculine pronouns when such a generic (non-gender-specific) pronoun was needed. This was also the case with English, so our translations of the Bible followed this convention: using "he" when the pronoun could represent a man or a woman. For example, Romans 8:9b:
However, the substitution of "they" for "he" as a generic pronoun is now part of common spoken English. The new form has the exact same meaning as the traditional masculine generic singular, and therefore its use in modern English translation is not inaccurate but instead is up-to-date vernacular. You will likely notice yourself using this construction in your own speech if you pay attention. You may even hear your pastor use "they" as a singular generic pronoun in a sermon.
This is a change in form, not a change in meaning. The NIV 2011 translation committee has not produced an inaccurate translation nor made mock of the inspired nature of the scriptures. They merely endeavored to update the NIV to keep abreast of changes in the English language. Therefore the NIV 2011 is not to be shunned because of the use of these so-called "gender-neutral" idioms.
The good news for you Southern Baptists is that you are a rather free-wheeling bunch of protestants. Therefore you can reject this resolution of your Convention on the grounds that it is based on false information. You are free to buy and read and memorize the NIV 2011 whether or not LifeWay carries it. And you can write your pastor a letter of protest when he bashes this new revision from the pulpit. I commend all these actions (and more) to you, as I also commend to your use the 2011 revision of the NIV.
Kind Regards,
Nathan Smith
Natural Language Processing with Python
I was browsing through a local bookshop's computer section recently and saw a title which instantly grabbed my attention: Natural Language Processing with Python. It was a bit more expensive than I wanted to pay at that moment, but I thought I may save up.
As it happily turns out, the entire book is available online under a Creative Commons license (BY-NC-ND). This is the sort of thing which makes me really happy. I am going to be checking it out, and if it is useful enough, I may buy to paper copy to thank the authors and O'Reilly for publishing such a great book.
The book is focused mostly on the Natural Language Tool Kit (nltk) Python module, which is available under an Apache license. I had never used it before, but it looks fairly capable. I must admit I was somewhat surprised that Google finds relatively few pertinent results when searching for "nltk new testament greek" or "nltk biblical studies." The library seems quite suited to the field, so I am surprised it is not more popular among Bible scholars. If nltk is any good, I intend to change that.
Is ignorance an excuse?
Jonah has got to be among the worst Bible stories for children, but it is one of the most ubiquitous, right up there with Noah's ark. One of my son's Bible story books concludes the story with an outright lie: "The people of Nineveh worshiped God and Jonah was happy." Jonah was actually very angry and bitter at the conclusion of the story. But the story is so compelling for children's publishers that they whitewash or simply omit the final chapter.
The final chapter does end on a somewhat uplifting note, because God gets the last word. Jonah is sulking about Nineveh not being destroyed (and the loss of his shade plant), but God replies:
“You were upset about this little plant . . . Should I not be even more concerned about Nineveh, this enormous city? There are more than one hundred twenty thousand people in it who do not know right from wrong, as well as many animals!” \~ NET
The phrase "who do not know right from wrong" is a translation of a Hebrew idiom which is "who do not know their left hand from their right." The implication of interpreting the idiom in this way is that the people of the city were morally ignorant (lacking any special revelation) and therefore not subject to punishment.
However in Romans Paul presents an indictment for those who do not know their left hands from their right:
If I understand these passages correctly, my question for the systematic theologian is as follows: does ignorance of special revelation qualify as an excuse from divine judgement? Perhaps I am misinterpreting one of these passages or have presented a false comparison. Suggestions are welcome.
Biblical violence in the mirror
John Hobbins writes one of my favorite blogs, Ancient Hebrew Poetry. He has a recent post entitled "War and Peace in the Bible" which serves as an anchor to his thoughts and writings on the subject of violence in the Hebrew Bible. I'll quote a rather thought-provoking segment:
In place of the vision of a millennium and a new heavens and a new earth found in texts like Isaiah 65-66 and Revelation 20-22, our age has been dominated by visions of secular philosophers. As a result no period of history has been darker and more blood-soaked than ours. . . . If that is the reality, if our own governments act and fail to act on the flimsiest of grounds, it is at least the case that the blood-soaked pages of the Bible may turn out to be a mirror of our own contradictions.
Perhaps a mirror is not the best description. It could be that the violence of the modern era outstrips that of the Bible. John continues with ten theses on violence in the Bible, four of which are backed by other posts. I commend them to your reading. |
John Wilkes Booth
Historical Figure
Nationality: United States
Date of Birth: 1838
Date of Death: 1865
Cause of Death: Gunshot wound while resisting arrest (American Civil War)
Religion: Episcopalian Church, possible convert to
Parents: Junius Brutus Booth,
Mary Ann Holmes
Relatives: Edwin and Junius Jr. (brothers)
Turtledove Appearances:
"Before the Beginning"
Set in the Future
Type of Appearance: Posthumous reference (indirect)
Southern Victory
POD: September 10, 1862
Appearance(s): How Few Remain;
Type of Appearance: Contemporary reference (HFR);
Posthumous reference (B)
Date of Death: Unknown, after 1882, before 1914
John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was a popular American stage actor, a member of the famous Booth family. He was also Confederate sympathizer and a proponent of slavery. He led a conspiracy to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, Secretary of State William Seward, and General Ulysses S. Grant in 1865 after the South lost the American Civil War. Booth personally fatally wounded Lincoln at the Ford Theater in Washington, DC on April 14 (Lincoln did not die until April 15), but his accomplices failed to kill any of the other targets. Intending to flee to Mexico, Booth bungled his escape path, and was tracked down and killed by soldiers of the United States Army on April 26 in Maryland. Three men and one woman were hanged as Booth's coconspirators on July 7, 1865, and some others were jailed, although three of them were pardoned in early 1869 after outgoing President Johnson reviewed the evidence against them and found it lacking. Historians still debate how many of the accused were really guilty as charged, and a number of conspiracy theories that widen the net beyond Booth's known associates have been posited.
John Wilkes Booth in "Before the Beginning"Edit
Recordings of John Wilkes Booth murdering Abraham Lincoln became quite popular with the invention of the time-viewer.
John Wilkes Booth in Southern VictoryEdit
John Wilkes Booth (1838-after 1882) was a popular actor during the 19th century. After the War of Secession, Booth toured the United States and Confederate States with his elder brothers, Edwin and Junius. They became very popular in both countries.
On April 22, 1882, the day that the Second Mexican War ended, Samuel Clemens began to prepare an editorial for The San Francisco Morning Call, and discovered he had a case of writer's block. He likened it to an instance of veteran actors like the Booth brothers suddenly struck with stage fright.
By the early 20th century, Booth and his brothers were still remembered as the greatest actors of all time.[1]
See alsoEdit
1. Breakthroughs, pg. 247 Paperback. |
Flying Colours Test | Final Test - Hard
Buy the Flying Colours Lesson Plans
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________
Short Answer Questions
1. Why do the men have to stay inside?
2. What happens as weeks pass?
3. Why must the men exhibit extreme caution now?
4. How does Hornblower gather a crew?
5. What happens every few days?
Short Essay Questions
1. How might their escape from the French be viewed and what additional bonus did they bring with their escape?
2. Why was the disguise as Dutch customs officials so suitable for where the men were going?
3. What are Chapters 16 and 17 used for in this story?
4. What does Hornblower realize about his status should he be caught and how does he view himself in his present situation?
5. What is a humorous aspect of the river trip having to do with being on fresh water?
6. What would you say is the purpose of Chapters 11 and 12?
7. What does the Count suggest will be good disguises for the men and how does he help them with the disguise?
8. How might Hornblower's reaction to the events with Marie be viewed in terms of characterization?
9. What do Bush and Brown do to prepare for a spring escape and how does Hornblower feel about it?
10. What is ideal about traveling on a river for escaped prisoners and how might that change?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Hornblower throughout much of novel is emotionally involved with three different women. Discuss one following:
1. Compare/contrast Hornblower's feelings about Marie versus Maria.
2. Compare/contrast Hornblower's feelings about Marie versus Lady Leighton.
3. Compare/contrast Hornblower's feelings about Maria versus Lady Leighton.
Essay Topic 2
Most of the entire series of novels concerning Captain Horatio Hornblower takes place during the Napoleonic Wars; therefore understanding the political and social situation during that time helps to a greater understanding and appreciation of this book and others in the series. Discuss one of the following:
1. Research and write an expository essay about how the Napoleonic Wars begin and end.
2. Research and write an expository essay about the naval aspect of the Napoleonic Wars between Britain and France.
3. Compare/Contrast the importance of the British navy during the Napoleonic Wars to the importance of the British navy during either WWI or WWII.
4. Write an expository essay on how the Napoleonic War affects the social culture of one of the following countries: Britian, France, or Spain.
Essay Topic 3
Forester has tried as much as possible to use historical events and facts around which to weave his work of fiction. Discuss the following:
1. Do you think this book qualifies as an historical fiction? Why or why not?
2. If much of the events in the book are historical, what surprises you about the way the events play out?
3. Do you think the culture of that era is more or less advanced than you imagined? Explain.
(see the answer keys)
This section contains 1,039 words
(approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page)
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This Earth of Mankind Test | Mid-Book Test - Easy
Buy the This Earth of Mankind Lesson Plans
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Why was Nyai kept in the house at age 13?
(a) She was ugly.
(b) Her beauty.
(c) She had to work.
(d) She lied to her parents.
2. In what century does "This Earth of Mankind" take place?
(a) 19th.
(b) 21st.
(c) 17th.
(d) 18th.
3. How long after the actual events did Minke write the book?
(a) 13 years.
(b) 30 years.
(c) 8 months.
(d) 5 years.
4. What ethnicity is Minke?
(a) Javanese.
(b) Japanese.
(c) Dutch.
(d) French.
5. What racial groups does Minke compare in Chapter 6?
(a) Americans and Indies.
(b) Whites and natives.
(c) Europeans and Middle Easterns.
(d) Asians and Americans.
6. Why does Annelies leave her conversation with Minke in Chapter 4?
(a) To wash her hair.
(b) To go to work.
(c) To visit friends.
(d) To go to school.
7. What does Minke wonder if Nyai did to him ?
(a) Lied.
(b) Threatened.
(c) Poisoned.
(d) Bewitched.
8. What issue does this book explore?
(a) Colonialism.
(b) WWII.
(c) The Great Depression.
(d) Marxism.
9. What does Minke say he would rather do than read the letters?
(a) Go to school.
(b) Eat.
(c) Poke out his eyes.
(d) Spend time with Annelies.
10. How does Annelies feel when Minke sees her In Chapter 4?
(a) Happy.
(b) Sad.
(c) Frightened.
(d) Angry.
11. What do Minke and May do together in Chapter 3?
(a) Study together.
(b) Go for a walk.
(c) Jog.
(d) Eat dinner.
12. Why is Minke confused about concubines?
(a) How they can have children.
(b) Why they are low class.
(c) Why they go to church.
(d) Why they live on the island.
13. What is this story about?
(a) War.
(b) Understanding roots.
(c) Folktales.
(d) First love.
14. What does Minke boast about at the start of Chapter 2?
(a) His wife.
(b) His money.
(c) His education.
(d) His car.
15. Where, in Chapter 3, do Minke and May go together?
(a) The movies.
(b) A restaurant.
(c) The beach.
(d) The park.
Short Answer Questions
1. Why did Nyai's father sell her to work as a concubine?
2. Where does Queen Welhelmina reign?
3. Where does Minke go at the start of Chapter 4?
4. How did Minke write his story?
5. Who comes into the room while Minke and Jean Marais speak in Chapter 3?
(see the answer keys)
This section contains 358 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
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Features Of Helpful Education Teachers
To the contrary, you may quite readily use the passive voice in the 1st individual The important idea would be to understand when your instructor would like you to utilize the passive words. Passive voice is essential occasionally, when there isn’t any subject doingthe verb. There is not anything grammatically or otherwise incorrect about utilizing the passive words. That’s not passive voice as it does not possess the subject to be-participle development. The 1st phrase, that’s in the active voice, is much more fun and interesting in terms of the second sentence that’s in the passive voice. So passive voice is beneficial if you are attempting to become upon the point the matter is being passive. The principle against utilizing the passive words is actually a suitable principle lots of the time. To the e-mail, I Will remark further after this many important body of text. The goal of the essay will be to bring in that crystal clear and also to allow you to comprehend when the passive voice might be great choice.
When the pastor begins to pitch you, hassle at you to be also crucial or gets furious…
With the preceding section in your mind, you also have to know that a couple instructors say that the inactive voice indicates sloppy, lazy considering. It discusses just the way to recognize the passive words, after you should avoid this, as soon as it is okay. Composition writing is an complex ability to be attained by every person to handle everyday life matters. Therefore, it is critical to resolve this dilemma how to write synopsis on paper. I made many rookie errors once I wrote the first drafts of my very first book. Actually writing this it’s near difficult plus a difficult job. They are able to be typically used verbs generally article articles.
Returning following a disability to the office can be stressful.
The application of words and terminology is completely different in distinct varieties of documents. Several occasions, the very best sentences utilize all 3 techniques. The previous two phrases illustrate a connection the initial one lacks. Adapting to some plain English writing design fosters the chance the common readers will understand your articles initially he/she reads it. In comparison, non – academic writing or as it’s called the Private creating will express the authors own opinion on individual topics, including childhood, household, or person expertises. Who is the author, what’s their background, how can the writers background change his or her authorship. Writing design is among the most crucial facets on paper. Terror writing is about a sort of danger, so when no one is truly in definite danger, there wont be a horror.
Acquire everything worked out perhaps weeks before you are slated to maneuver.
They’re the type that keep people reading. Choosing first or third person for a storytelling technique is the selection. A imaginary creating as well as a non-fictional writing present variations inside their language factors. This complete sentence is actually in present tense. The viewers approach might be to get more details in significantly less moment, and hence repetition is among the best essay spoilers. It will help contain the subheadings of every section, and the section games. Put quotations round the trial Present Tense section and it simply sounds like someone’s voice. It really is easier to assess appropriate use in a simplified sentence. Within this instance the subject pronoun is utilized to indicate who’s offering.
Her spouse, bill (harry hadden paton) is declined over in his fur and cap sitting on the link.
Use of average verbs never influences the entire attractiveness of your own essay. Because of this special reason, too much usage of idioms that aren’t very common and important level terminology may also degrade the absolute quality of the essay. |
Can Sleep Loss Affect a Child’s Health?
It was your childhood routine: five days a week, from Monday through Friday, you groggily woke up to prepare for another day of school. It was considered normal then, but now concern has been mounting since the release of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ (AAP) new policy statement, which sites chronic adolescent sleep loss as a public health issue. Read more
In a report, the AAP recorded an increase of chronic sleepiness in children and recommends that middle and high schools initiate a 30 minute to one hour delay in school start times so students can catch some more zzz’s. In fact, the AAP states that “doing so will align school schedules to the biological sleep rhythms of adolescents, whose sleep-wake cycles begin to shift up to two hours later at the start of puberty.”
Dr. Carin Lamm, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at CUMC and Director of the Pediatric Sleep Disorders Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, agrees with the report, saying, “The National Sleep Foundation Sleep in America Poll, taken during 2014, found that 29 percent of 12-14 year olds and 56 percent of 15-17 year old students were regularly getting less than seven hours of sleep per night. The recommended sleep duration for this age group is 8.5-9 hours, leaving them significantly sleep deprived.”
The AAP’s findings show that “adolescents who don’t get enough sleep often suffer from physical and mental health problems, an increased risk of automobile accidents, and a decline in academic performance.” The report states that, typically, 87 percent of high school students in the U.S. are getting less than the recommended 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep, and high school seniors get less than 7 hours of sleep a night. As a direct result, 28 percent of high school students attest to falling asleep in class at least once a week, while one in five say they fall asleep while doing homework daily.
As a parent, the report can be alarming. But if chronic sleep loss is a public health issue, why not send teens to bed at an earlier time? “The biological rhythms after puberty are shifted so that an adolescent is generally not sleepy before 11:00 p.m.,” says Dr. Lamm. “This late bedtime makes it impossible to get the recommended 8.5-9.5 hours of sleep if the teen must get up early for school. Over time, this leads to chronic sleep deprivation, which is associated with hypertension, being overweight, depression, inattentiveness, poor academic performance, and increased car accidents.”
That’s a biological issue. Add that problem to other outside factors like video games, the Internet, and cellphones, which have the potential to keep children awake well into the night, and it’s a wonder how they get any sleep at all.
But beyond lobbying to delay school start times, there are things you can do to ensure your child gets enough rest. “Chronic sleep deprivation can be avoided by establishing regular bedtimes, regulating caffeine intake, avoiding afternoon naps (which make it harder to go to sleep early enough to get sufficient sleep), and limiting screen time close to bedtime which can be alerting and make it difficult to fall asleep,” says Dr. Lamm. “Studies show that parent involvement in enforcing these strategies can help assure success.”
To learn more about sleep issues or disorders, visit the Pediatric Sleep Disorders Center’s website. |
Taiji Chuan (Taiji Quan) is an internal Chinese
martial art often practiced for health reasons.
Taiji Chuan is typically practiced for a variety
of other personal reasons: its hard and soft
martial techniques, demonstration competitions,
health and longevity. Consequently, a multitude
of training forms exist, both traditional and
modern, which correspond to those aims.
Yang Style Taji Chuan
Today, Taiji Chuan has spread worldwide.
Most modern styles of Taiji Chuan trace their
development to at least one of the five traditional
and creation of Taiji Chuan are a subject of much
argument and speculation. However, the oldest
documented tradition is that of the Chen family
from the 1820s.
Li Jing started to practice Taiji Chuan at the age
of 14. She was one of the Beijing Wushu team athletes.
Li Jing has learned Chen style Taiji Chuan from Master
Feng Zhi-Qiang and Gao Fu. Zhu Tian-Cai is her master,
he taught her Chen style Taiji sowrd. Jing learned Yang
style Taiji Chuan and sword from Master Liu Gao-Ming,
Ye Shu-Xiun and Professor Li De-Yin. Master Li Bing-Ci
taught her Wu style. Professor Zhang Ji-Xiu taught
her Sun style Taiji Chuan.
Master Zhu teaches Li Jing
Cheng Style Taiji Sword |
ten Mutant and Genetically Modified Organisms
1. GloFish
2. Vacanti Mouse
3. Sudden-Death Mosquito
Oxitec which is a British bio-tech company, has created genetically modified mosquitoes, which are programmed for sudden, early death. Oxitec’;s technology is a variation of a proven process called “;sterile insect technique”; It involves irradiating male insects, causing mutations that make them sterile. When released into the wild, they mate with females passing on lethal genes which either kills the female or at least kills the youngs in her so then she fails to reproduce . Scientists at this British bio tech company said they have evidence that their genetically modified mosquitoes can by this way for sure control the spread of dengue fever.
4. Dolly the Sheep
Not so cool or disturbing enough but dolly would hit this list for sure since she was the first ever cloned animal which means that she was produced from a single microscopic cell from a single parent (who hadn’;t mated of-course). Cloning techniques might be used widely now in some part of worlds for food but dolly remains remarkable in being the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer. Normally off-springs are a result of interaction of sex cells but in case of dolly’;s birth, sex cells weren’;t involved. She was cloned by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and colleagues at the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh in Scotland. She was born on 5 July 1996 and she lived until the age of six. She has been called “;the world’;s most famous sheep”; by sources including BBC News and Scientific American. To good, dolly was fertile and produced 6 lambs in total. She died in 2003, living about half as long as a typical sheep. She developed a lung disease common in older sheep.
5. See-Through Frog
Dissecting animals for science has sparked controversies worldwide, even prompting some companies to create computer simulations as cruelty-free alternatives. For high school students everywhere, this revealing amphibian may be a cut above regular frogs. That’;s because the see-through frog does not require dissection to see its organs, blood vessels, and eggs. You can see through the skin how organs grow, how cancer starts and develops. It’;s a miracle of genetic engineering and surely a cool mutant gift to students.
6. Jake the Alligator Man
Jake the Alligator Man is a half-man, half-alligator on display in apparently mummified condition at Marsh’;s Free Museum, a tourist trap in Long Beach, Washington. He was discovered in Florida swamp in 1993. He was reported for his escape from captivity, killing of a Miami man, and giving birth. Residents fled the region’;s beaches in fear of terrifying monsters lurking the sand dunes. Scientists are controversial about this creature. Some say its a missing link and some say it might be a distant ancestor of man. However some later theories claimed that it was an early secret genetically engineering project gone wrong and wild. Whatever Jake’;s true origin be but he surely is a mutant.
7. Ruppy
Ruppy (short for Ruby Puppy) is a cloned beagle from South Korea who glows red under ultraviolet light. Ruppy was created in 2009 by a group of scientists in South Korea, led by Byeong-Chun Lee. The dog was cloned using viral transfection of fibroblasts cells with a protein that expresses the red fluorescent gene.
8. Land Mines Detecting Plants
Developed by Copenhagen firm Aresa Biodetection, these genetically modified plants can be handy when it comes to saving the world. Whenever flowers hit nitrogen dioxide (which leaches into the soil from buried land mines), the plant changes color to red.
9. Fuel Excreting Genetically Modified Bugs
This isn’;t made up nor it’;s sci-fi, a researcher at silicon valley has found genetically modified bugs which eat agricultural waste and excrete diesel fuel. [via TimesOnline]
10. Enviropig
A genetically engineered pig approved for limited production which produces 65 percent less phosphorous in animal waste thus very environmental friendly
© Smashing Lists
Related posts:
1. 10 Traits We’d Want to Have in a Superhuman Mutant
2. 10 Really Cool and Weird Computer Mice
3. Top 10 Strange Uses of Placenta
genetically mutated animals, genetically modified mouse, genetically modified mice, genetic modification animals, genetically modified organisms,
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Thomas Aquinas, Italian theologian
Thomas Aquinas, Italian theologian
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Caption: Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Italian Dominican Priest. He is considered to be amongst the most important Medieval theologians and philosophers. His work on Scholasticism, the attempt to reconcile Christianity with Aristotelian philosophy, greatly influenced Catholic thinking and thus Western thought, particulary in ethics, natural law and political theory. His doctrinal system is known as Thomism. Major works are the Summa Theologiae and the Summa Contra Gentiles.
Keywords: 13th century, adult, aristotelian philosophy, aristotle, artwork, caucasian, coloured, dominican priest, historical, history, human, illustration, italian, male, man, medieval, people, person, philosopher, philosophy, portrait, saint thomas aquinas, scholasticism, summa contra gentiles, summa theologiae, theologian, theology, thomism, white
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Deployment of a Special Earthworm to Improve Our Global Economy and Terminate Global Warming
In 1832 Charles Darwin returned from a 5 year worldwide tour and informed the London Royal Society of Geology that soil was not present on Earth until some time after the earthworms had evolved. Over the next 40 years Darwin ran experiments that led him to publish his last book, "Formation of Vegetable Mould, (soil) through the Action of Worms". In this book he made a profound statement, "It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a role in human history as have these lowly organized creatures."
There are over 4,500 species of worms but no worm is more important for Vermistabilization than the Redworm. Commonly employed for vermicomposting, the redworm has a voracious appetitie and the ability to produce offspring resulting in one worm creating up to 8,000 worms over a 6 month period. Redworms are also the most adaptable to changes in their surroundings. Worms eat the microbial matter from any kind of decaying organic (carbon-containing) substances and convert them into soil. This includes microbes produced from decaying kitchen and yard waste, manures derived from horses, cows, pigs, poultry and yes, even human waste that is sent to the 23,000 Wastewater Treatment Facilities throughout America.
Worms ingest three classes of microbial matter: 1.) Microorganisms, their mainstay of nutrients, which includes bacteria, protozoa, mircrofungi, yeast, nematodes, eggs from flies and other invertebrates; 2.) Crystalline Mineral Matter consisting of sand, silt, clay—the bulk matter of soil. 3.) Detritus consisting of small fragments of dead animals and plants. All of these comprise compost. Once ingested, a complex number of actions take place including: digestive enzymes consisting of colemic fluids with anti-bacterial properties destroy all pathogens in the waste biomass; They also devour protozoa, bacteria, and fungi as food and then separate and process these, yielding both absorbable materials used by the earthworm-- carbohydrates, fatty acids and amino acids and un-absorbable active ingredients--fulvic acids, humic acids, and humins which makes up Humus (soil). The worms have a microscopically thin sac that lines the entire surface of the intestine and protects them from the toxins of microbes like salmonella, fecal coliform, enteric viruses, and other harmful pathogens. The earthworms’ digestive process is an incubator for microorganisms. Research by Edward & Fletcher (1988) showed that the number of bacteria and Actinomycetes contained in the ingested material increased up to 1000-fold while passing through the earthworms gut. The resulting aerobic bacteria found in worm's vermicasts (soil) is responsible for crowding out more harmful anaerobic bacteria that would otherwise cause diseases and kill newly forming roots.
Dried @77% reduction Moist Vermisoil
Garden in Vermisoil (Frasier enjoys his yard)
The worm castings have many beneficial properties not normally associated with existing soil present on Earth. It is these properties that can reduce or eradicate the World's most pressing problems in the future including: Global Warming, Lost Agricultural Productivity, Soil Erosion, Unsustainable Landfill Capacity, Duststorms, Third World Diseases caused by improper Waste Disposal, and Flooding and Chemical Fertilizer runoff into groundwater and streams. |
So what’s the learning from these research studies? The lesson here is clear. It’s very important for cross-functional team members to receive training in communication and interpersonal skills.
Here are some recommendations for project leaders and project team members:
1. Hold more frequent meetings and status review sessions to increase communication between functions and reduce misperceptions of project goals and priorities.
2. Give team members soft skills training in human relations and facilitate more active team-building efforts.
3. Foster an environment of mutual respect. No method of managing conflict will work without mutual respect and a willingness to disagree and resolve disagreements.
If conflict erupts in your team, try taking the following four steps to calm things down: Listen, Acknowledge, Respond and Resolve Remaining Differences
Listen: Clear your mind from distractions and really try to concentrate on what the person is trying to communicate-listen to both the words and non-verbal cues from gestures and body language. Gestures are often more important than words. After all, when resolving disagreements, you often have to deal with feelings first.
Acknowledge: Acknowledgement does not mean agreement. You can acknowledge what someone is saying without necessarily agreeing with them. Everyone’s opinion and feelings are valid, even if different from yours. For example, statements like, “I understand you’re angry,” “Let’s explore your suggestion further” or “If I understand you, you’re saying that you disagree?” These are all ways of acknowledging their communication and their point of view. While you may not agree with what they are saying, it shows that they are being heard.
Respond: Now that you’ve acknowledged to them that you have heard what they have to say, it’s your turn to respond. If you don’t agree with what the person is saying, be sure that your feedback is constructive and offer an alternative suggestion. A good way to pose your response is to speak from personal experience. For example, “In my experience I have found that approach is ineffective because.” Be prepared to explain your position and remain open to being challenged or questioned about it.
Resolve Remaining Differences: If you’ve listened carefully to people around you, you’ve probably figured out what’s causing the disagreement. Once you’ve defined the real problem you should be able to break it down into manageable parts. This will help you to generate alternative solutions and then select the alternative in which everyone can agree.
Remember: for individuals to work effectively in a team there has to be a certain level of trust among the group. Each team member needs to feel “safe” about sharing their ideas. While others may not be in full agreement with another person’s ideas, it’s important for the team leader to foster an appreciation for the different views presented and explore the best alternative in a respectful manner with honest intent.
Most importantly, when conflict does occur in a team, leaders can gain ground by not avoiding it. By managing it well, acknowledging it and tolerating it, a team leader can actually use conflict as a tool to generate revitalized team engagement and innovation.
If the conflict is too great and the project leader is unable to get the team past it, then hiring a team coach is a good idea.
Michael Stanleigh
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Trends in Fatalities From Distracted Driving in the United S
For this assignment, you are asked to write a summary of a research article.
Procedure: Sometimes the procedure is referred to as the â??methodâ? and includes a description of control techniques, measuring devices, materials used and ways of proceeding, in attempting to achieve the purpose or purposes of the study.
Critique: Briefly describe your reaction to the article. For example, was it well-organized? Easy or difficult to understand (please explain why)? Did it present diverse perspectives about the topic? Don't limit yourself to just these questions -- be reflective about what you read.
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Solution Preview
Good day and welcome to BM! Please rate 5/5 for my ideas. I offer 500 words of my notes.
First, as you determine the purpose of the study, the authors, Wilson and Stimpson, aim to thoroughly explore how cell phone and texting usage trends strongly impacts the number of distracted driving fatalities.
Next, as you examine and describe participants, please note that age, race and gender issues were specific. For example, the study specifies how "Drivers in distracted fatal crashes were more likely to be male, White, non-Hispanic, and younger, but were less likely to have previous driving violations."
In terms of racial demographics, the study reveals how white drivers experienced a "72.9% in 2006 to 76.4% in 2008."
In terms of age demographics, the article also reveals that the percentage of distracted drivers ages 29 years and younger were targeted. As a result, "After 2003, this percentage increased, reaching 39% of distracted drivers in 2008."
The study also targets age by comparing drivers involved in nondistracted fatal crashes as "less likely to be younger than 30 years (32.8% vs 39.0% for distracted drivers), with an average age in ...
Solution Summary
"Trends in Fatalities From Distracted Driving in the United States" article is examined in terms of summary notes. |
Wrap it Up
Charlie explains why, when looking to create a low-energy, sustainable building, it pays to take the time to research and get the insulation right.
When people are approached on the subject of insulation, it’s rarely met with enthusiasm. It’s seen as dull and unsexy, and I am often gently mocked for my nerdish interest in the stuff. But (and it’s a big but), insulation is the single most crucial thing in sustainable architecture in the UK. For many self-builders it is the low-carbon technology that beeps and sparkles with flashing dials that gets them excited. Heat pumps, rainwater harvesting and the like often command a disproportionate amount of their interest, design time and budget. However, in our climate, it is predominantly high levels of insulation that make low-energy buildings really work — the other stuff is just the cherry on the cake.
I have seen projects where the solar panels are on the roof, the rainwater harvester is in the ground, and the mechanical ventilation heat recovery system is threaded lovingly through the structure, but the walls are about as insulated as a northern lass on a Saturday night out! The sad fact is that, despite what the homeowners believe, this kind of set-up will never be a truly sustainable home – let alone comfortable – and while you can replace and update all those glitzy technologies in the future, the insulation is there for good.
If you are building a house and want to do it properly, then you need to get interested in insulation. The types available vary greatly and the choice you make will have a huge impact on your home. If you consider that we spend around 90 per cent of our lives inside buildings, then the quality of the internal air becomes a priority. Many types of insulation are made from petrochemicals and exotic gasses, and the long-term impact these have on human health is not clear.
Performance is another area to consider, as the effectiveness of one insulation compared to another varies enormously. High-performance insulation is often higher in price than the simple, lower-performance stuff, but going the cheaper, thicker route can provide the same level of insulation at no extra cost. The level of insulation (U value) quoted for a given construction is a theoretical measure and is always a best-case scenario. So if you are relying on a thin layer of super-duper foam to achieve your super-warm house, then any gaps or issues with degradation of the insulation will, over time, have a significant effect. Any house built now will, at the current rate of house renewal, stand for over 2,000 years, and there are concerns about the long-term performance of some types of insulation as they slump, settle, degrade, off-gas and get eaten by insects or even vermin.
And what about installation? Rigid insulation in solid sheet form can be hard to work with and needs to be carefully cut and fitted to the gaps in the structure of your house. If this is done badly you can end up with thermal bridging — heat going straight through the open joints. If you look at many houses with a thermal imaging camera, you will see multiple spots with little or no insulation where heat is being lost, leading to higher bills as well as the potential for mould, which will bring with it significant health impacts. Try and use multiple layers of rigid insulation and stagger the joists to reduce the chance of this occurring. In many cases, using flexible or blown insulation is better as it is more likely to fill all the little gaps and spaces — I am increasingly using blown insulation on my projects for its gap-filling properties.
Another issue around installation is keeping it dry during construction. This is critical, as getting it wet will significantly reduce the performance, and even when it dries out the effectiveness will be decreased.
My final point may seem esoteric, but I believe it reaches the very heart of sustainable building: the construction of a house produces a huge amount of CO2 even before someone has moved in and turned on the lights and heating. This is called embodied energy and is the energy used to manufacture, transport and erect a building. It needs to be considered in any project, as most types of insulation use a lot of chemicals and energy in their manufacture. Wood and cellulose fibre insulations, however, do not, and using them actually locks in the carbon from which they are made. Burning wood in a stove or boiler puts the carbon recently sequestered from the atmosphere back into the air (bad for global warming), so making it into useful insulation and sticking it in a house for hundreds of years is infinitely more preferable. The result is carbon-positive buildings that actually reduce the CO2 in the atmosphere as a result of their construction. With this way of thinking, thick walls of wood or cellulose fibre make the most sense in terms of lower bills, healthier homes and a healthier planet.
The world of insulation is very complicated and you need to do your own research, but if you are tackling a building project then you need to engage in this seemingly uninspiring area. Looks can be deceiving.
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Model of computation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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In computer science, and more specifically in computability theory and computational complexity theory, a model of computation is a model which describes how a set of outputs are computed given a set of inputs. This model describes how units of computations, memories, and communications are organized. The computational complexity of an algorithm can be measured given a model of computation. Using a model allows studying the performance of algorithms independently of the variations that are specific to particular implementations and specific technology.
Models of computation can be classified in three categories: sequential models, functional models, and concurrent models.
Sequential models include:
Functional models include:
Concurrent models include:
See also[edit]
1. ^ Examples of the price of abstraction?,
Further reading[edit] |
Egg Cell
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia.
Egg Cell
(also ovicell), in plants, the female sex cell; the relatively large nonmotile cell that is the parent cell of a new organism. The egg cell occurs in all higher plants and in certain algae and fungi (in oogamous species it is formed in the oogonia). In bryophytes, Lycopodiales, and gymnosperms the egg cell originates in the archegonia; in angiosperms it is a component of the egg apparatus of the embryo sac.
The shape and size of the egg cell vary in different plants. The egg cell is considerably larger than the sperm. There is a vacuole in the upper part. An external cellulose membrane is absent. There is, however, a thin plasma membrane, which promotes the exchange of matter between the egg cell and the cytoplasm of the embryo sac surrounding it. The plasma membrane also facilitates penetration by the sperm during fertilization, after which the zygote develops a typical external egg membrane.
The egg cell has marked morphological and physiological polarity, which is manifested in the varied activity of metabolism. Physiological activity is higher in the upper part of the cell than in the lower. The fertilized egg cell forms the zygote, from which the embryo develops. The cytoplasm of the egg cell contains organelles and inclusions characteristic also of other cells (mitochondria, leucoplasts, chloroplasts, chromoplasts).
Gerasimova-Havashina, E. N. “Pyl’tsevoe zerno, gamety i polovoi protsess u pokrytosemennykh.” Trudy Botanicheskogo instituia. Morfologiia i anatomiia rastenii, 1951, issue 2.
Iakovlev, M. S. “Gametogenez, zarodyshevyi meshok i pyl’tsevoe zerno.” Botanicheskii zhurnal, 1974, vol. 59, no. 12.
References in periodicals archive ?
Scientists have already seen the same mark close to the start of active genes in many cells, but the team discovered that its role in egg cells is different.
So when sperm and egg cells meet, they form a full genetic quota, with half a baby's DNA coming from its mum and half from its dad.
For statistical purposes incubation and egg cell establishment of the queens with stuffed cocoons (n = 10) queens with used stuffed cocoons (n = 7) and queens with live cocoons (n = 8) were compared regardless of the type of variant (such as the presence of live cocoons).
Through meiosis, the oocyte becomes an egg cell that can be fertilized.
Current methods mean only a small number of human egg cells are generated directly from the ovaries of women who have had hormonal stimulation.
There are few phenomenon in cell biology as remarkable as the ability of the egg cell to reprogram a cell from the human body back to its original embryonic state," said Dr.
Researchers will take a skin cell, invisible to the naked eye, and put it into an ovum ( an egg cell ( which has not been fertilised and therefore would never form a human being.
Blastocyst: After the nucleus of a somatic cell is inserted into the place of the evacuated egg cell nucleus, the resulting cell begins to grow and divide.
The process of human cloning begins with removal of the nucleus from a human cell, such as a skin cell and transferring it to a woman's egg cell from which the nucleus has been removed.
Dayuan, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, integrated a somatic cell from a dead female panda with a rabbit egg cell and then placed the resultant panda embryo in the uterus of a surrogate cat mother.
For dais to happen, these cells must first join their genetic material together to form a fertilized egg cell with a totally new and unique version of the human genome. |
Understanding Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic Cancer in the Limelight
Pancreatic cancer has gained attention from the diagnoses of several prominent figures, including Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who was diagnosed in 2003 and died Oct. 5, 2011. Jobs had an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor, a rare form of the disease. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and actor Patrick Swayze have also faced pancreatic cancer. Swayze died in 2009. The lifetime risk of pancreatic cancer is about 1 in 65.
What is the Pancreas?
The pancreas is a 6-inch-long spongy, tube-shaped organ located in the back of the abdomen, behind the stomach. It has two major jobs in the body: to make digestive juices (enzymes) that help the intestines break down food, and to produce hormones — including insulin — that regulate the body’s use of sugars and starches. Pancreatic cancer occurs when malignant (cancerous) cells grow, divide, and spread in the tissues of the pancreas.
Symptoms of Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is called a “silent” disease because symptoms typically do not show up in the early stages. But as the cancer grows and spreads, pain often develops in the upper abdomen and sometimes spreads to the back. The pain may become worse after the person eats or lies down. Other symptoms may include jaundice, nausea, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue, weakness, and depression.
Causes of Pancreatic Cancer
Although the exact cause of pancreatic cancer is not known, smoking is the main risk factor, with smokers at least 2 times more likely to have the disease than nonsmokers. Age is also related, with the disease usually striking after age 45. Diabetes is also linked to pancreatic cancer since it’s a risk factor and as a symptom of the disease. Other risks include chronic pancreatitis and cirrhosis of the liver. And family history of pancreatic cancer, high fat diet, obesity, and lack of exercise may also play a part.
Diagnosing Pancreatic Cancer
The challenge of this disease is finding it early. A doctor cannot see or feel a tumor during a routine exam. To help make the diagnosis (and determine the most appropriate treatment), imaging tests are performed (such as an ultrasound or CT scan) to view pictures of the abdomen and determine the extent of the problem. The green region shown in this colorized CT scan appears to be cancer in the pancreas and liver. The diagnosis comes from a biopsy — taking a tissue sample from the tumor — performed either with a needle through the skin or during an operation.
Treatment: Surgery
Surgery can cure the cancer if it has not spread past the pancreas. Since side effects depend on the extent of the surgery, the tumor is removed leaving as much of the normal pancreas intact as possible. Unfortunately, with pancreatic cancer, the malignant cells usually have spread past the pancreas at the point of diagnosis. Surgery still may be performed, even if the tumor is too large to remove. The surgery would involve procedures to help lessen some of the symptoms and prevent certain problems related to the size of the cancerous mass.
Treatment: Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-powered radiation to kill cancer cells. Radiation is usually given five days a week for several weeks or months. This schedule helps to protect normal tissue by spreading out the total dose of radiation. Radiation is also being studied as a way to kill cancer cells that remain in the area after surgery. Radiation therapy can help relieve pain or digestive problems caused by large cancerous masses.
Chemotherapy uses drugs to destroy cancer cells and stop them from growing or multiplying. Treatment may consist of just one drug or a combination of drugs. It may be given by mouth or by injection. The drugs enter the bloodstream and travel through the body, making chemotherapy a good choice for cancer that has spread. It is also useful after surgery to kill any cancer cells left behind.
Treatment: Targeted Therapy
Newer drugs on the market have the ability to attack specific parts of the cancer cells. Targeted therapies appear to have fewer side effects than chemotherapy and are less harmful to normal cells. Targeted therapy is currently being studied for treatment of pancreatic cancer. Shown here is a color enhanced, magnified view of a pancreatic cancer cell.
New Anticancer Treatment: Immunotherapy
Also called biological therapy, immunotherapy aims to boost a person’s immune system to fight disease. Immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer is being actively researched, along with the investigation into vaccines that arm the immune system to attack cancer.
Treatment: Palliative Therapy
Palliative therapy is used to ease symptoms and manage pain regardless of the stage of the disease or the need for other therapies. The goal of palliative care is to improve quality of life not just in the body, but in the mind and spirit. While palliative therapies are clearly appropriate at the very advanced stages of the disease, they are also helpful when given in tandem with other cancer treatments still working to fight the disease.
Getting Support
Living with pancreatic cancer isn’t easy; a support system is critical to help cope with the emotional and practical aspects of this aggressive disease. Many avenues for support exist within the local community and beyond, both for the patient and their family and friends. These organizations exist to help navigate the day-to-day treatment issues and the “big picture” worries about the future.
Prevention Possible?
Although there’s no one definite action you can take to prevent pancreatic cancer, start by avoiding the risk factors you can control.
If you smoke, quit now.
If your diet is high in fat, work to eat more healthfully.
Adopt a regular exercise routine, since exercise can help prevent diabetes and obesity — two risk factors for the disease.
Courtesy: WebMD
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Outer ear anatomy
The ear, has outer, middle, and inner parts. The ear also functions in the sense of equilibrium.
Outer (External) Ear
The outer ear consists of three parts. The first is an outer, funnel-like structure called the auricle or pinna. The second is an S-shaped tube called the external acoustic meatus or external auditory canal, that leads inward through the temporal bone for about 2.5 centimeters (Figure 1). The meatus terminates with the third part, the eardrum or tympanic membrane.
The transmission of vibrations through matter produces sound. These vibrations travel in waves, much like ripples on the surface of a pond. The higher the wave, the louder the sound. The more waves per second, the higher the frequency, or pitch, of the sound. Vibrating strings on a guitar or reeds on an oboe produce the sounds of these musical instruments, and vibrating vocal folds (vocal cords) in the larynx produce the voice. The auricle of the ear helps collect sound waves traveling through the air and directs them into the external acoustic meatus. At the end of the meatus, the sound waves reach the eardrum.
The eardrum is a semitransparent membrane covered by a thin layer of skin on its outer surface and by mucous membrane on the inside. It has an oval margin and is coneshaped, with the apex of the cone directed inward. The attachment of one of the auditory ossicles (the malleus) maintains the eardrum’s cone shape. Sound waves that enter the external acoustic meatus change the pressure on the eardrum, which vibrates back and forth in response and thus reproduces the vibrations of the sound-wave source.
Middle Ear
The middle ear, or tympanic cavity, is an air-filled space in the temporal bone. It contains three small bones called auditory ossicles: the malleus, the incus, and the stapes (Figure 1). Tiny ligaments attach them to the wall of the tympanic cavity, and they are covered by mucous membrane. These bones bridge the eardrum and the inner ear, transferring vibrations between these parts. Specifically, the malleus attaches to the eardrum, and when the eardrum vibrates, the malleus vibrates in unison. The malleus causes the incus to vibrate, and the incus passes the movement on to the stapes. An oval ligament holds the stapes to an opening in the wall of the tympanic cavity called the oval window, which leads into the inner ear. Vibration of the stapes at the oval window moves a fluid in the inner ear, which stimulates the hearing receptors.
The auditory ossicles help increase (amplify) the force of vibrations as they pass from the eardrum to the oval window, in addition to transferring vibrations. The vibrational force concentrates as it moves from the outer to the inner ear because the ossicles transmit vibrations from the relatively large surface of the eardrum to a much smaller area at the oval window. As a result, the pressure (per square millimeter) that the stapes applies on the oval window is many times greater than the pressure that sound waves exert on the eardrum.
Auditory Tube
An auditory tube or eustachian tube, connects each middle ear to the back of the nasal cavity (nasopharynx). This tube conducts air between the tympanic cavity and the outside of the body by way of the nose and mouth. The auditory tube helps maintain equal air pressure on both sides of the eardrum, which is necessary for normal hearing.
The function of the auditory tube is noticeable during rapid changes in altitude. As a person moves from a higher altitude to a lower one, air pressure on the outside of the eardrum increases. This may push the eardrum inward, impairing hearing. When the air pressure difference is great enough, air movement through the auditory tube equalizes the pressure on both sides of the eardrum, and the membrane moves back into its regular position. This restores normal hearing and is associated with a popping sound.
Inner (Internal) Ear
Next to the middle ear in the bone of the skull is a small compartment which contains the hearing and balance apparatus known as the inner ear. The inner ear is a complex system of communicating chambers and tubes called a labyrinth. Each ear has two parts to the labyrinth—the bony (osseus) labyrinth and the membranous labyrinth. The bony labyrinth is a cavity within the temporal bone. The membranous labyrinth is a tube of similar shape that lies within the bony labyrinth. Between the bony and membranous labyrinths is a fluid called perilymph, which is secreted by cells in the wall of the bony labyrinth. The membranous labyrinth contains another fluid, called endolymph.
The parts of the labyrinths include three membranous semicircular ducts within three bony semicircular canals, and a cochlea. The semicircular canals and associated structures provide a sense of equilibrium or balance. The cochlea functions in hearing.
The cochlea is shaped like a snail and is divided into two chambers by a membrane. The chambers are full of fluid which vibrates when sound comes in and causes the small hairs which line the membrane to vibrate and send electrical impulses to the brain.
The semi-circular canals are also known as the labyrinthine. These little canals are lined up at right angles (90°) to each other. This allows the brain to know in which direction the head is moving. These semi-circular canals are filled with fluid and have some small calcium crystals embedded in the lining.
Coming from the inner ear and running to the brain is the eighth cranial nerve, the auditory nerve. This nerve carries both balance and hearing information to the brain. Along with the eighth cranial nerve runs the seventh cranial nerve. The seventh cranial nerve is also known as the facial nerve because it supplies nerve impulses to the muscles of the face.
How does the hearing system work ?
The outer ear captures sound waves. The sound travels down the ear canal and hits the ear drum. The ear drum vibrates which causes the ossicles (middle ear bones) to vibrate. A piston action of the ossicles creates a wave in the fluid in the inner ear. The fluid wave stimulates the hair cells in the cochlea and an electrical impulse is sent through the eighth cranial nerve to the brain.
The balance system works by sending continuous electrical impulses to the brain. Moving the head causes the fluid in the semi-circular canals to shift. This in turn changes the electrical impulses to the brain. The brain uses this information to make any adjustments the body needs for balance.
Figure 1. Outer ear (pinna or auricle)
outer ear anatomy
Figure 2. Outer ear anatomy
ear anatomy
Figure 3. The Ear showing outer (auricle), middle and inner parts
the ear
Outer ear infection (Acute otitis externa)
Otitis externa, also called swimmer’s ear, involves diffuse inflammation of the external ear canal that may extend distally to the pinna and proximally to the tympanic membrane 1). The acute form has an annual incidence of approximately 1 percent 2) and a lifetime prevalence of 10 percent 3). On rare occasions, the infection invades the surrounding soft tissue and bone; this is known as malignant (necrotizing) otitis externa, and is a medical emergency that occurs primarily in older patients with diabetes mellitus 4). Otitis externa lasting three months or longer, known as chronic otitis externa, is often the result of allergies, chronic dermatologic conditions, or inadequately treated acute otitis externa.
In North America, 98 percent of cases of acute otitis externa are caused by bacteria 5). The two most common isolates are Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. However, a wide variety of other aerobic and anaerobic bacteria have been isolated 6), 7). Approximately one-third of cases are polymicrobial 8). Fungal pathogens, primarily those of the Aspergillus and Candida species, occur more often in tropical or subtropical environments and in patients previously treated with antibiotics 9), 10), 11). Otomycosis is classically associated with itching, thick material in the ear canal, and failure to improve with use of topical antibacterials. Otomycosis can sometimes be identified during otoscopy, although nonpathogenic saprophytic fungi may also be found. Inflammatory skin disorders and allergic reactions may cause noninfectious otitis externa, which can be chronic.
Malignant otitis externa may be suspected in older patients with diabetes mellitus or immunocompromise who have refractory purulent otorrhea and severe otalgia that may worsen at night. Clinical findings include granulation tissue in the external auditory canal, especially at the bone-cartilage junction. Extension of the infection beyond the auditory canal can cause lymphadenopathy, trismus, and facial nerve and other cranial nerve palsies.
Risk Factors for outer ear infection
Several factors may predispose patients to the development of acute outer ear infection (Table 1) 12), 13). One of the most common predisposing factors is swimming, especially in fresh water. Other factors include skin conditions such as eczema and seborrhea, trauma from cerumen removal, use of external devices such as hearing aids and cerumen buildup 14). These factors appear to work primarily through loss of the protective cerumen barrier, disruption of the epithelium (including maceration from water retention), inoculation with bacteria, and increase in the pH of the ear canal 15), 16), 17).
Table 1. Predisposing Factors for Outer Ear Infection
Anatomic abnormalities
Canal stenosis
Hairy ear canals
Canal obstruction
Cerumen obstruction
Foreign body
Sebaceous cyst
Cerumen/epithelial integrity
Cerumen removal
Hearing aids
Dermatologic conditions
Other inflammatory dermatoses
Water in ear canal
Swimming or other prolonged water exposure
Purulent otorrhea from otitis media
Type A blood
[Source 18)]
Prevention of Outer Ear Infection
A number of preventive measures have been recommended, including use of earplugs while swimming, use of hair dryers on the lowest settings and head tilting to remove water from the ear canal, and avoidance of self-cleaning or scratching the ear canal. Acetic acid 2% (Vosol) otic solutions are also used, either two drops twice daily or two to five drops after water exposure. However, no randomized trials have examined the effectiveness of any of these measures.
Diagnosis of Outer Ear Infection
Acute outer ear infection is diagnosed clinically based on signs and symptoms of canal inflammation. Presentation can range from mild discomfort, itching, and minimal edema to severe pain, complete canal obstruction, and involvement of the pinna and surrounding skin. Pain is the symptom that best correlates with the severity of disease 19). Mild fever may be present, but a temperature greater than 101°F (38.3°C) suggests extension beyond the auditory canal.
• Onset of symptoms within 48 hours in the past three weeks and
Symptoms of ear canal inflammation 20):
Signs of ear canal inflammation 21):
• Tenderness of tragus/pinna or ear canal edema/erythema
• With or without otorrhea, tympanic membrane erythema, cellulitis of the pinna, or local lymphadenitis
Table 2. Conditions That May Be Confused with Acute Outer Ear Infection
ConditionDistinguishing characteristicsComment
Acute middle ear infection (acute otitis media)
Presence of middle ear effusion, no tragal/pinnal tenderness
Use pneumatic otoscopy or tympanometry, treat with systemic antibiotics
Chronic outer ear infection (chronic otitis externa)
Itching is often predominant symptom, erythematous canal, lasts more than three months
Treat underlying causes/conditions
Chronic suppurative middle ear infection (suppurative otitis media)
Chronic otorrhea, nonintact tympanic membrane
Control otitis externa symptoms, then treat otitis media
Contact dermatitis
Allergic reaction to materials (e.g., metals, soaps, plastics) in contact with the skin/epithelium; itching is predominant symptom
Check for piercings, hearing aids, or earplug use; discontinue exposure when possible
Itching is predominant symptom; often chronic; history of atopy, outbreaks in other locations
Consider treatment with topical corticosteroids
Focal infection, may be pustule or nodule, often in distal canal
Consider treatment with heat, incision and drainage, or systemic antibiotics; can progress to diffuse otitis externa
Malignant outer ear infection (malignant otitis externa)
High fever, granulation tissue or necrotic tissue in ear canal, may have cranial nerve involvement; patient with diabetes mellitus or immunocompromise, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, findings on computed tomography
Medical emergency with high morbidity rate and possible mortality; warrants emergent consultation with otolaryngologist, hospitalization, intravenous antibiotics, debridement
Tympanic membrane inflammation, may have vesicles; pain is often severe, no canal edema
Usually results from acute otitis media or viral infection
Otomycosis (fungal ear infection of the outer ear canal)
Itching is predominant symptom, thick material in canal, less edema; may see fungal elements on otoscopy
Can coexist with bacterial infections; treat with acetic acid (Vosol), half acetic acid/half alcohol, or topical antifungals; meticulous cleaning of ear canal
Ramsay Hunt syndrome
Herpetic ulcers in canal; may have facial numbness/paralysis, severe pain, loss of taste
Treatment includes antivirals, systemic corticosteroids
Referred pain
Normal ear examination
Look for other causes based on patterns of referred pain
Itching and rash on hairline, face, scalp
Treatment includes lubricating or moisturizing the external auditory canal
Sensitization to otics
Severe itching, maculopapular or erythematous rash in conchal bowl and canal; may have streak on pinna where preparation contacted skin; vesicles may be present
Type IV delayed hypersensitivity reaction to neomycin or other components of otic solutions; discontinue offending agent; treat with topical corticosteroids
[Source 22)]
Chronic Outer Ear Infection
In chronic outer ear infection (chronic otitis externa), the symptoms and signs occur for more than three months. Classic symptoms include itching and mild discomfort; there may also be lichenification on otoscopy.
Treatment of outer ear infection
Topical antimicrobials, with or without topical corticosteroids, are the mainstay of treatment for uncomplicated acute outer ear infection. Topical antimicrobials are highly effective compared with placebo, demonstrating an absolute increase in clinical cure rate of 46 percent or a number needed to treat of slightly more than two 23). Topical agents come in a variety of preparations and combinations; a recent systematic review included 26 different topical interventions 24). In some studies, ophthalmic preparations have been used off-label to treat outer ear infection 25), 26). Ophthalmic preparations may be better tolerated than otic preparations, possibly due to differences in pH between the preparations, and may help facilitate compliance with treatment recommendations. Commonly studied antimicrobial agents include aminoglycosides, polymyxin B, quinolones, and acetic acid. No consistent evidence has shown that any one agent or preparation is more effective than another 27), 28), 29), 30). There is limited evidence that use of acetic acid alone may require two additional days for resolution of symptoms compared with other agents, and that it is less effective if treatment is required for more than seven days 31).
Current guidelines recommend factoring in the risk of adverse effects, adherence issues, cost, patient preference, and physician experience. Some components found in otic preparations may cause contact dermatitis 32). Hypersensitivity to aminoglycosides, particularly neomycin, may develop in up to 15 percent of the population, and has been identified in approximately 30 percent of patients who also have chronic or eczematous outer ear infection 33), 34). Adherence to topical therapy increases with ease of administration, such as less frequent dosing 35). The addition of a topical corticosteroid yields more rapid improvement in symptoms such as pain, canal edema, and erythema. Cost varies considerably for the different preparations.
Outer Ear Infection Pain Relief
Pain is a common symptom of acute outer ear infection and can be debilitating 36). Oral analgesics are the preferred treatment. First-line analgesics include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and acetaminophen. When ongoing frequent dosing is required to control pain, medications should be administered on a scheduled rather than as-needed basis. Opioid combination pills may be used when symptom severity warrants. Benzocaine otic preparations may compromise the effectiveness of otic antibiotic drops by limiting contact between the drop and the ear canal. The lack of published data supporting the effectiveness of topical benzocaine preparations in outer ear infection limits the role of such treatments 37).
Acute outer ear infection can be associated with copious material in the ear canal. Consensus guidelines published by the American Academy of Otolaryngology recommend that such material be removed to achieve optimal effectiveness of the topical antibiotics 38), 39). However, no randomized controlled trials have examined the effectiveness of aural toilet, and this is not typically done in most primary care settings 40). Topical medications rely on direct contact with the infected skin of the ear canal; hence, aural toilet takes on greater importance when the volume or thickness of the debris in the ear canal is great. Guidelines recommend aural toilet by gentle lavage suctioning or dry mopping under otoscopic or microscopic visualization to remove obstructing material and to verify tympanic membrane integrity 41). Lavage should be used only if the tympanic membrane is known to be intact, and should not be performed on patients with diabetes because of the potential risk of causing malignant outer ear infection 42). Pain medications may be required during the procedure.
Treatment of chronic outer ear infection
The treatment of chronic outer ear infection depends on the underlying causes. Because most cases are caused by allergies or inflammatory dermatologic conditions, treatment includes the removal of offending agents and the use of topical or systemic corticosteroids. Chronic or intermittent otorrhea over weeks to months, particularly with an open tympanic membrane, suggests the presence of chronic suppurative otitis media (suppurative middle ear infection). Initial treatment efforts are similar to those for acute otitis media. With control of the symptoms of outer ear infection, attention can shift to the management of chronic suppurative otitis media.
Follow-up and Referral
Most patients will experience considerable improvement in symptoms after one day of treatment. If there is no improvement within 48 to 72 hours, physicians should reevaluate for treatment adherence, misdiagnosis, sensitivity to ear drops, or continued canal patency. The physician should consider culturing material from the canal to identify fungal and antibiotic-resistant pathogens if the patient does not improve after initial treatment efforts or has one or more predisposing risk factors, or if there is suspicion that the infection has extended beyond the external auditory canal. There is a lack of data regarding optimal length of treatment; as a general rule, antimicrobial otics should be administered for seven to 10 days, although in some cases complete resolution of symptoms may take up to four weeks 43), 44).
Consultation with an otolaryngologist or infectious disease subspecialist may be warranted if malignant outer ear infection is suspected; in cases of severe disease, lack of improvement or worsening of symptoms despite treatment, and unsuccessful lavage; or if the primary care physician determines that aural toilet or ear wick insertion is warranted, but is unfamiliar with or concerned about performing the procedure.
References [ + ]
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What Planets are Visible Tonight? The Indispensable Astronomer’s Guide to Finding and Seeing the Planets in 2018
Some of the best telescope views of the night sky come from the planets, particularly the five planets visible to the naked eye.
But, you wonder, which planets are out tonight and where should I look to see them?
Well, showing you which planets are visible tonight and where to look for them is what this guide is all about.
Use the 'Quick Navigation' box to get details on the planet of your choice.
Okay, let's jump in and discover which planets we can see tonight.
Introducing... The Planets
There are eight official planets in our solar system (if you thought there were nine, read this). We live on one of them, which leaves seven for us to look at in the night sky.
From the sun outwards, they are Mercury, Venus, [Earth], Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
The Five Visible Planets
The five planets closest to us are bright enough to be easily seen in the night sky with the naked eye.
For that reason, these are collectively known as the five visible planets. From closest to the sun, outwards, the five visible planets are:
• Mercury
• Venus
• [Earth]
• Mars
• Jupiter
• Saturn
All of the planets look wonderful through a telescope, with many different and dynamic features to try and observe.
If you've never seen the awesome sight of Jupiter's cloud belts, Saturn's rings and Mars's ice caps, then it's time you checked out our review of the best telescopes to see the planets (opens in a new tab).
The Outer Planets
Technically these can be naked-eye visible but, unless you know where to look, they are not bright enough to be distinguishable from the background of brighter stars.
There are two outer planets: Neptune and Uranus.
We show you if you can see Neptune and Uranus tonight, but you will need at least binoculars and ideally a telescope to see their disc and any color.
Seeing The Five Visible Planets in 2018
All 5 visible planets have great seeing at some point during this year, which you can see at a glance by scrolling down to the table below.
Before reading it though, it helps to understand why there are times when the planets are well placed for observing and others when they are not visible.
Imagine the five planets split across two groups, the inferior and superior planets:
• Inferior Planets: Mercury and Venus lie inside Earth's orbit, closer to the sun
• Superior Planets: Mars, Jupiter and Saturn lie outside Earth's orbit, further from the sun
When to See the Inferior Planets
Alignment of Mercury and Venus
Moon, Venus and Mercury (credit below)
Mercury and Venus orbit the sun inside of the path of Earth, which means a number of significant things:
• They orbit faster than Earth, so they change position in the sky quickly
• They present crescent phases to us, like the moon, because we can see them ‘from behind’
• The best time to see them is at ‘greatest elongation’, which is when they appear to be at their farthest from the sun as we see them.
The worst time to see the inferior planets is when they are in conjunction. This is the name given to the moment when Earth, the sun and the planet are all in a straight line.
There are two types of planetary conjunction:
1. Superior conjunctions happen when the planet is on the opposite side of the sun from us, and
2. Inferior conjunctions are when the planet sits between us and the sun
See both of these highlighted with the red rings on the diagram below.
Planets are invisible to us at and near conjunctions because they are lost in the glare of the sun.
The rare exception to this is when an inferior conjunction happens and the planet is on the same plane as us and the sun. When that happens we see a spectacular transit of Venus or Mercury across the face of the sun.
Sadly, they are quite rare. To see Venus pass in front of the sun you need to be a young person, and ideally not even born yet because there are 99 years to go before the next one.
Fortunately, we all stand a good chance of seeing little Mercury cross the sun’s disc in November next year.
The best time to see Venus and Mercury is when they are at greatest elongation, shown as pink rings on the diagram below. At greatest elongation, they are as far from the sun as they get from our perspective on Earth.
For Mercury that still normally means challenging viewing. It orbits so close to the sun that it is rarely visible for more than an hour before sunrise or after sunset, so we are finding the planet in the glow of dusk or dawn.
Venus orbits further out, so we do get to see it against the inky blackness of night, but it too sets or rises within a few hours of the sun.
Which brings us to the final point you need to be aware of, planet hunter: at greatest eastern elongation, the planet is visible after sunset. At its greatest western elongation, we'll see the planet in the morning, before sunrise.
The Best Time to See ANY Planet
The diagram below shows an idealised position of inferior planets (inner ring) and superior planets (outer ring) hitting conjunction, greatest elongation and opposition with Earth (blue circle, middle ring).
A guide to the conjunctions, oppositions and elongations of the inferior and superior planets.
A guide to conjunctions, oppositions and elongations. (Original source)
You can see that at conjunctions the planet is in the same line of sight as the sun, so it's not possible for us to see it in the sky; the sun's glare is too bright.
When to See The Superior Planets
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune all orbit further away from the sun that our own planet does. For this reason, these planets are called superior and they have a different character in the sky from the inferior Mercury and Venus:
• They take longer to complete an orbit of the sun than Earth, which makes them appear to move only slowly across the night sky
• Being inside their orbit, we can only see the side facing the sun, so they are always a complete disc. i.e. we never see them in crescent form
• The best time to see the superior planets is at inferior conjunction
Just like Mercury and Venus, the superior planets also form conjunctions with Earth and the sun. And, unsurprisingly, they too are invisible at this time because they are close to the sun in our sky.
The best time to see the outer planets of the solar system is opposition. If you refer to the diagram above, it's easy to see why (green circle).
Unlike the inferior planets, the outer planets never pass between Earth and the sun. At opposition, we sit directly between them and the sun, which we find easiest to think of as the sun being 'behind' us with the planet 'facing' us.
This is an awesome time for planet-watching. A planet at opposition is visible all night long!
Right, that's more than enough understanding of why we can or can't see the planets tonight. Let's turn now to the most important part of this article: which planets can we see tonight?
What Planets are Visible Tonight?
If you want to know "what planets can I see tonight?" then the table below is the perfect solution for you.
It shows which of the five visible planets can be seen tonight for each month in 2018. It includes opposition dates for Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, and greatest elongation dates for Mercury and Venus.
For each of the five visible planets, we show you whether it is visible in the evening, morning or all night. If there is just a '-' in the table then the planet is not visible during this month.
mGE 01st
eGE 15th
mGE 29th
Opp 08th
Opp 27th
eGE 12th
Opp 26th
mGE 26th
eGE 17th
eGE 12th
mGE 15th
mGE = Greatest Elongation, visible morning / eGE = Greatest Elongation, visible evening
Opp = Opposition / Morn = Rises after midnight / Eve = Rises before midnight / --- = Not Visible
Planets Visible Today - The Details
Now you know which planets are visible in the sky tonight, let's look at them individually for more detail on where to see them throughout 2018.
Is Mercury Visible Tonight?
You may have wondered 'can we see Mercury from Earth' and the answer is a resounding yes! However, of the five brightest planets, Mercury is definitely the trickiest one to see.
It is absolutely possible though, and you can see Mercury without a telescope if you know when and where to look.
For the best chance of success, find an elevated position, e.g. a hill, that overlooks an open horizon. Mercury skirts so close to the ground - even at its best - that trees and buildings will prevent you from seeing it.
Where Can You Find Mercury?
The challenge to seeing Mercury comes from the short distance between it and the Sun, and the rapid orbit the planet has. Mercury orbits the sun in only 88 days, so it completes well over four laps of the sun for every one of ours.
Mercury is so close to the sun that we can never see it in true darkness. It's proximity to the sun also means that the little planet is never very high above the horizon. As an example, at its greatest elongation of December 15th this year, Mercury will only be 12° above the horizon half an hour before sunrise.
To put that in context, 12° is about the width of your fist at the end of your outstretched arm, i.e. not very much.
Even at its best seeing, Mercury is only visible for up to an hour before sunrise in the morning or after sunset in the evening.
It should come as no surprise that we always find Mercury near the sun. So, when it's visible in the evening after sunset, you'll find it low above the western horizon. Conversely, when the planet is visible before sunrise, look to spot it in the brightening dawn in the east.
When Can We See Mercury from Earth?
Being so speedy in its orbit means Mercury does not hang around long and we have to grab opportunities to see it. Thankfully, Mercury has 7 greatest elongation events this year, three in the evening and four in the morning.
The best time to see Mercury is at greatest elongation. This year, Mercury's greatest elongations occur on:
• January 01st, best viewed before sunrise
• March 15th, after sunset
• April 29th, before sunrise
• July 12th, after sunset
• August 15th, before sunrise
• November 12th, after sunset
• December 26th, before sunrise
Seeing stays favorable only for a few days. The planet is invariably lost in the glare of the sun within a couple of weeks of its greatest opposition.
Always be careful when searching for and viewing Mercury, especially if using binoculars or a telescope. The sun is never far away and will severely damage your eyes if you look at it - even a glimpse of it with binoculars or a telescope can blind.
Mercury Seeing Challenges:
• Mercury. Yes, your first challenge is to see the planet itself. Whilst it is bright, it's always in the glare of the dawn or dusk low towards the horizon. Seeing the planet Mercury is a great first achievement!
• Mercury's phases. What is worth looking out for is the crescent of Mercury. Sky & Telescope Magazine always carries an almanack of how much of the surface is illuminated. (Read our Sky & Telescope review here)
Planet Mercury - Fact Box
Where is planet mercury tonight?
Planet Mercury (credit below)
Orbital period: 88 days
Synodic period: 116 days
Best Magnitude: -1.9
Moons: 0
What to look for in 2018: When Mercury is at greatest elongation, look for the moon-like phases of the solar system's smallest planet.
Is Venus Visible Tonight?
One planet out from Mercury we find Venus. After the moon, Venus is the brightest object in our night sky.
Like Mercury, Venus orbits relatively close to the sun is known as either a morning or evening ‘star’, rising in the morning before the sun or setting after it in the evening. Unlike Mercury though, it is far enough from the sun that we can see it in the darkness of nighttime and not just in the glare of dawn or dusk.
Venus also has crescent phases, like our own moon, which can be seen through a small telescope. This is the only feature to observe on Venus because has no moons or visible surface features.
Where Can You Find Venus?
Like all planets, Venus is found on the ecliptic but never strays too far from the western horizon when it's an evening star or the eastern horizon in the morning.
The planet is unmistakably bright, shining much brighter than any other object in the night sky which makes it easy to find, even with a pair of binoculars.
At its furthest from the sun, Venus can spend a few nights 'up' all night. From central latitudes of the US, it can climb about 30° above the horizon, as it will in December this year.
When Can We See Venus from Earth?
For the first two months of 2018, Venus is too close to the sun to be seen.
After that, it appears as a hard-to-spot evening object low on the western horizon about half an hour after sunset. The planet itself sets soon after that.
Visibility improves as 2018 progresses. By mid-May, the bright planet is more than 20° above the western horizon after the sun has set. The views don't get much better - or worse - for several months, and the only Venusian greatest elongation of the year is reached on August 17th.
Viewing of Venus worsens rapidly after that and, by the end of September, the bright planet is outshone by the glare of the sun and becomes invisible in our sky.
Thankfully, her absence from our skies is short-lived. Venus reappears as a morning star in early November and by mid-December is rising in the east more than 3 hours before the sun.
Venus Seeing Challenges:
• Crescent Venus. Looking at the planet through a telescope, you'll be able to see the phase of this planet, from crescent to gibbous.
• See Venus in the day! Yes, it is bright enough to be seen when the sun is in the sky, but you need to know where to look and have keen eyes
• See a shadow cast by Venus's light. On a moonless night, it is the brightest object in the sky and, at a dark site, it is possible to see shadows cast by the planet
Planet Venus - Fact Box
Where is planet Venus tonight?
Planet Venus without Clouds (credit below)
Orbital period: 224 days
Synodic period: 583 days (approx 1.5yrs)
Brightest Magnitude: -4.6
Moons: 0
What to look for in 2018: With Venus shining brightly in our skies for most of the yeat, there are plenty of opportunities for you to see its lovely phases.
Is Mars Visible Tonight?
Passing past our home planet, we begin the journey through the superior planets with Mars.
Famous to everyone, astronomer or not, the ease with which it can be picked out in the night sky varies. But, if you've ever wondered 'can you see Mars without a telescope?' the answer is a definite Yes!
When it makes its closest approach to us, which it will do with some style in July this year, it’s a bright planet offering lots of observational challenges for the backyard astronomer.
However, it does move closer and further away from the Earth over a period of 26 months and when it is far away, like in January 2018, Mars is small, faint and uninspiring. Even a decent telescope will struggle to show any detail when Mars is at its most distant.
Where Can You Find Mars?
This summer is one of the best times to see Mars in a long time. In fact, this year Mars will be brighter and appear larger in our sky than at any time since 2003.
In 2018 Mars passes through the following constellations:
• Libra - Jan
• Scorpius - Jan / Feb
• Ophiuchus - Feb / Mar
• Sagittarius - Mar to May
• Capricornus - May to Nov
• Aquarius - Nov / Dec
• Pisces - Dec
You can see what this looks like in the image below, which is a screenshot from SkySafari
Path of Mars across the night sky in 2018
You can enlarge the image by clicking on it, but you can see that Mars spends the largest proportion of 2018, including its opposition, in Capricorn.
When Can We See Mars from Earth?
Mars is visible all year this year, climaxing - as mentioned earlier, with opposition on the 31st of July.
For the first half of the year Mars is a morning object, i.e. it doesn't rise until after midnight. Following opposition, it becomes an evening object and presents itself for viewing at a more sociable time for most of us backyard astronomers.
For Mars, in particular, a four-inch scope will show the disc and possibly some shading/polar caps, but you'll need a six-inch scope to see any level of detail, and even then you’ll need decent seeing conditions… and Mars being nearer helps!
July 2018 Mars Opposition
It's such a big event in the world of backyard astronomy that the opposition of Mars at the end of July this year is worth a special mention.
This picture from NASA's website shows just how much larger Mars will appear this year than at its last closest approach in 2016.
Visual representation of Mars' size at opposition in 2016 and 2018
You can see that the planet will be almost 25% closer to us than two years' ago, presenting much better seeing opportunities than we had then.
It's also the closest approach we're going to have from Mars for the next decade, so set your alarm now for the end of July to make the most of it.
On the day of Mars' closest approach, you'll get the best views of it around 1 a.m., when it will be 25° above the southern horizon. At this point the orange/red glow of the 'star' will be unmistakable, shining at an incredibly bright magnitude -2.8.
Find it located between Capricorn and Sagittarius, as per this screen grab from SkySafari, courtesy of Simulation Curriculum. Stars are shown to magnitude 4.5 and you can click the picture for a larger version.
Where to see Mars at opposition on 31 July 2018
Mars Seeing Challenges:
There are lots of features we backyard astronomers can look for on the Martian surface and this summer gives us a better opportunity to see them than we've had in a very long time.
• Redness of the disc. It is apparent in any size of telescope
• Gibbous Shape. Mars does not show phases like the inner planets, but it is close enough that Earth casts a shadow on it at various times on its journey around the sun. This has the effect of giving Mars a gibbous shape which you'll see in a 'scope.
• Polar Ice Caps. Easier to see at Martian winter. Mars' northern hemisphere winter solstice is Oct 16th, 2018, so the northern ice cap is most pronounced around that period. Winter solstice at the southern ice cap is almost a year later, on Oct 8th, 2019.
• Shades of Color. Unless you have a truly enormous telescope you're unfortunately not going to see detail in Mars' surface features. However, you should be able to make out smudges of colour, where darker and lighter areas of the Martian surface rub against each other.
• Phobos and Deimos. Meaning fear and panic, these are the two small moons of Mars. They are very dim (magnitude 11.3 and 12.4 respectively) putting them beyond the reach of smaller scopes. You’ll need at least an 8” aperture with decent seeing conditions to find them.
• Dust Clouds. Mars experiences dust storms and you may be fortunate enough to see one of those through your scope. They don't run to a schedule, so it's all in the luck of your timing. They're most likely to happen during Martian summer, which is not until March 2019 in the northern hemisphere.
Planet Mars - Fact Box
Where is planet Mars tonight?
Hubble picture of Planet Mars (credit below)
Orbital period: 687 days
Synodic period: 780 days (approx 2yrs)
Brightest Magnitude: -2.9
Moons: 2
What to look for in 2018: The July 26th opposition provides the best seeing we've had of the red planet for more than a decade. You'll see more surface detail than ever before.
Is Jupiter Visible Tonight?
The fourth of our five planets is the solar system’s giant: Jupiter.
Even though it is much further from us than Mars is, the fact it's well over a thousand times larger than the red planet means Jupiter shines more brightly in our skies. You may not have realized that Jupiter's is the third brightest object in the night sky, beaten only by Venus and the moon.
So, if you're wondering can you see Jupiter without a telescope, you absolutely can. It's a bright planet and can be found shining in the constellation of Libra practically all year long (see below for more detail).
Whilst you can see Jupiter without a telescope, it is a great planet to look at with one. There is so much to see on its surface or with its moons. If you don't own one yet, take a look at our recommendations for the best telescopes to see planets.
Even binoculars will show you the famous Galilean moons of Jupiter and a small scope will bring out the different brightnesses of the bands on the planet's surface, if not the colors themselves.
Where Can You Find Jupiter?
Is Jupiter in the sky tonight? Well, happily, for most of 2018 the answer to that question is... Yes!
Jupiter is visible from January to October and then again in December.
For all but the very end of the year, Jupiter can be found spinning its wheels in Libra. See the screengrab from SkySafari below for the details (click to enlarge).
Jupiter's path across the night sky in 2018
Only in December does she begin to move meaningfully, briefly crossing into Scorpius before moving to spend the first months of 2019 in Ophiuchus.
If you want to know where to find Jupiter's moons tonight, then we recommend this simple tool from Sky & Telescope (link opens a new tab). Put in the date and time of your observing and discover where the Galilean moons will be.
When Can We See Jupiter from Earth?
Jupiter reaches opposition on the 08th May 2018, when she will be visible in the sky all night.
From January to March Jupiter is a morning object, rising after midnight. By mid-April, this massive planet is rising around 10 pm and reaches the highest part of her journey across the sky (transits) at 3 am.
At opposition itself, Jupiter rises at 8 pm, transits more than 30° above the southern horizon before setting at sunrise. Jupiter presents the best seeing of the year right now with a 45-arcsecond disc shining at magnitude -2.5.
After opposition, Jupiter moves to become a more sociable evening object. In mid-July transit is at 9 pm and from there on it becomes more challenging to see the best of Jupiter. This is because the planet is lower on the horizon as the sun sets.
For example, by mid-September this year, Jupiter will only be 14° above the southwest horizon as dusk comes to an end. By mid-October, Jupiter sets 90 minutes after the sun.
Seeing becomes impossible during the first week of November 2018 as Jupiter gets too close to the sun.
In mid-December Jupiter once more moves to being a morning object and will be spotted in dawn's glow, rising towards southeast about an hour before the sun.
On the last day of 2018, that gap has increased to 2 hours, although the planet is much smaller, at 32 arcseconds and, consequently, much dimmer than at its peak, shining at magnitude -1.8.
Jupiter Seeing Challenges:
• Galilean moons. The four moons closest to Jupiter (from a total of 67 known moons) were discovered by Galileo Galilei over 400 years ago 1610. Outwards from the planet, they are Io, Europa, Ganymede (itself bigger than planet Mercury) and Callisto.
They are easily visible as pinpricks of light either side of Jupiter when they're not behind it. They move quickly and this almanack from Sky & Telescope will tell you which ones can be seen on any given day.
• Bands of Color. Jupiter is famous for its gas bands and even a relatively small telescope will show you the main bands as faint shades of grey. Larger scopes will reveal more detail and some color.
• Great Red Spot. This is perhaps Jupiter's most famous feature. You’ll need a decent magnification (250x) to see it, and this almanack to make sure you’re looking for it at the right time.
• Moon Transits. Seeing the moons themselves is simple, but can you see them and their shadows cross in front of the front of the planet? With good seeing, optics and this almanack, you’ll be proud of managing to see one of these events.
Planet Jupiter - Fact Box
Where is planet Jupiter tonight?
Planet Jupiter from Hubble (credit below)
Orbital period: 4330 days (12 yrs)
Synodic period: 398 days (13 months)
Brightest Magnitude: -2.7
Moons: 67, but the four Galilean moons are the ones to look at
What to look for in 2018: Jupiter reaches opposition in May this year which presents a great opportunity to see the bands and great red spot which mark out the planet. If you're feeling particularly up for a challenge, try and see a Galilean moon transit across Jupiter's face.
Is Saturn Visible Tonight?
Next, we come to the last of the five planets visible from Earth with the naked eye. And, for many, the most spectacular to look at with a telescope.
If you're wondering "can I see Saturn without a telescope?" you absolutely can! At its brightest Saturn's light outshines every star - only the moon and four closer planets beat it, so it's easy to pick out.
For many astronomers, nothing beats their first view of Saturn and its awe-inspiring rings through the eyepiece of a telescope. It's a pleasing and surreal sight that keeps many of us coming back to the ringed planet time and again.
Where Can You Find Saturn?
Like Jupiter, Saturn is a gas giant and even with its truly enormous distance from us it shines brightly in the sky and is easy to pick out with the naked eye.
Saturn's distance from the sun means it takes a leisurely 30 years to orbit the sun, so over the course of 2018, it doesn't move much against the background of stars.
As you can see from the SkySafari 5 screengrab below, the planet stays very close to the Teapot asterism in Sagittarius throughout 2018. So, whenever Sagittarius is visible then so too is Saturn.
Showing the path of Saturn across the night sky in 2018
You can click the image above to enlarge it.
Now you know where to look to see Saturn this year, let's discover when is the best time to see it.
When Can We See Saturn from Earth?
Off all the brighter planets, Saturn has the most opportunities to be seen because it is visible all year long!
Admittedly, it is a hard find in the glare of sunrise at the start of the year but, by the middle of February, it is rising in the southeast almost three hours before the sun.
Our Saturn viewing only improves from there.
Saturn's rise time moves earlier and earlier with each passing month so that by mid-April it is clearing the horizon at 1:30 a.m. and transiting the southern horizon at 6:30 a.m.
Saturn's opposition is on the 27th June this year. On that day it will transit around 1 a.m. around 30° above the southern horizon. Unfortunately, the moon is close-by and full.
For the best views of Saturn's opposition, when it will be shining at magnitude zero, aim for midnight star-gazing in the middle of July.
Already Saturn-rise is early evening in July, about 7 p.m. As is the nature of the planets, the rise time gets a little earlier each day, but so does transit time, when it is highest in the sky and better to see in detail.
In August, Saturn's transit time is between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. September sees the last of the transits happening in darkness at around 8pm. For, in October, the ringed planet is rising at lunchtime and setting before 11pm.
This pattern of earlier setting continues into the winter. On the first of December 2018, Saturn sets just 2 hours after the sun and will be harder to see. As dusk gives way to night, Saturn will be less than 10° above the southwest horizon.
Quickly over those first few days of December, we'll lose Saturn in the sun's glare. The second half of December is the only time in 2018 when Saturn can't be seen in the night sky.
But, worry not, she reappears as a morning 'star' once more in January 2019.
Saturn Seeing Challenges:
• Saturn's rings. Of course, this is where we start! Last year the rings will appear wider (more angled towards Earth) that since 2003. In 2018 things won't be much different than they were then, so they are there for the enjoying! Binoculars won't show them, but even the most modest telescope will reveal their glory.
• Individual rings. With a larger telescope and more magnification, it's a good challenge break the rings down into their component parts: rings A, B, C and D and the Cassini Division.
• Titan. Saturn’s largest moon (which, like Ganymede, is also larger than Mercury) shines at magnitude 8.3 and is visible with a 4” scope.
It orbits quite a distance from the planet but is a relatively easy find if you look at the right time.
There are another 61 moons around Saturn, but none even close to the size of Titan. However, if you’re fortunate enough to have an 8” scope, you could try spotting the next four largest moons, which are Enceladus, Dione, Tethys and Rhea. Use this almanack to help you find them.
Planet Saturn - Fact Box
Where is planet Jupiter tonight?
Saturn and her glorious rings (credit below)
Orbital period: 10,759 days (29.5 yrs)
Synodic period: 378 days (54 weeks)
Brightest Magnitude: 0.7
Moons: 62, but Titan biggest by far (click this link to see Saturn's moons through your telescope)
What to look for in 2018: Saturn's rings aren't quite as spectacular as they were last year, but in a small scope, it will be hard to notice the difference. Take this rare opportunity to see if you can 'split' them into separate bands either side of the Cassini division.
Can I See Uranus and Neptune Tonight?
We touched on them briefly in the introduction. Uranus and Neptune are the last two planets in the solar system.
We’ve not covered them in detail as they are a much harder spot than the other five, but they may be a challenge you want to take on as you become more proficient at looking around the sky with your telescope.
You’ll need a magnification of at least 100x to see the disc of Uranus and more for Neptune. You’ll also need a detailed finder chart for Uranus and Neptune so you know where to look.
It can be hard to know if you’ve found what you’re looking for, but they both shine with a blue/green light and, of course, they move over successive nights with respect to the background stars.
The five visible planets all put on a spectacular show at various points in 2018.
Each offers its own unique challenges from the simple to the moderately difficult.
Make a reminder to look for Mercury and Venus when they are at greatest elongation. For Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, you'll see the most detail when they are at opposition.
2018 Opposition Dates for the Planets
• Mars - Thursday, July 26, 2018, at 21:15
• Jupiter - Tuesday, May 08, 2018, at 19:26
• Saturn - Wednesday, June 27, 2018, at 08:13
• Uranus - Tuesday, October 23, 2018, at 19:31
• Neptune - Friday, September 07, 2018, at 13:10
All times are UT.
Planet-Finding Resources
These are some useful resources to help you further with your planet observing.
Image Credits
Color picture of Mercury Credit: By NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington - NASA/JPL.Edited version of Mercury in color - Prockter07.jpg by jjron (cropped to square)., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24301424
Planet Venus without clouds Credit: By NASA - http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA00104, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11826
Hubble picture of planet Mars Credit: By NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) - http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2005/34/image/j/ (image link), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3193645
Hubble picture of planet Jupiter Credit: By NASA, ESA, and A. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center) - http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic1410a/ or http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2014/24/image/b/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32799232
Cassini picture of planet Jupiter Credit: By NASA / JPL / Space Science Institute - http://www.ciclops.org/view/5155/Saturn-Four-Years-On https://www.nasa.gov/images/content/365640main_PIA11141_full.jpg http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11141, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7228953
Moon, Venus and Mercury Credit: By ESO/Y. Beletsky - http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1025a/, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10726475
Featured image of Sun and Planets Credit: By WP - Planets2008.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=24756373
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A geophysical planet definition
February 22, 2017 by Matt Williams, Universe Today
Montage of every round object in the solar system under 10,000 kilometers in diameter, to scale. Credit: Emily Lakdawalla/data from NASA /JPL/JHUAPL/SwRI/SSI/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/Gordan Ugarkovic/Ted Stryk, Bjorn Jonsson/Roman Tkachenko.
In 2006, during their 26th General Assembly, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) adopted a formal definition of the term "planet". This was done in the hopes of dispelling ambiguity over which bodies should be designated as "planets", an issue that had plagued astronomers ever since they discovered objects beyond the orbit of Neptune that were comparable in size to Pluto.
Needless to say, the they adopted resulted in fair degree of controversy from the astronomical community. For this reason, a team of planetary scientists – which includes famed "Pluto defender" Alan Stern – have come together to propose a new meaning for the term "planet". Based on their geophysical definition, the term would apply to over 100 bodies in the solar system, including the moon itself.
(3) All other objects , except satellites, orbiting the sun shall be referred to collectively as "small solar-system bodies"
Because of these qualifiers, Pluto was no longer considered a planet, and became known alternately as a "dwarf planet", Plutiod, Plutino, Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO), or Kuiper Belt Object (KBO). In addition, bodies like Ceres, and newly discovered TNOs like Eris, Haumea, Makemake and the like, were also designated as "dwarf planets". Naturally, this definition did not sit right with some, not the least of which are planetary geologists.
Their study – titled "A Geophysical Planet Definition", which was recently made available on the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) website – addresses what the team sees as a need for a new definition that takes into account a planet's geophysical properties. In other words, they believe a planet should be so-designated based on its intrinsic properties, rather than its orbital or extrinsic properties.
As Runyon told Universe Today in a phone interview, this definition is an attempt to establish something that is useful for all those involved in the study of planetary science, which has always included geologists:
"The IAU definition is useful to planetary astronomers concerned with the orbital properties of bodies in the solar system, and may capture the essence of what a 'planet' is to them. The definition is not useful to planetary geologists. I study landscapes and how landscapes evolve. It also kind of irked me that the IAU took upon itself to define something that geologists use too.
And then there's the troublesome issue of "neighborhood clearance". As has been emphasized by many who reject the IAU's definition, planets like Earth do not satisfy this qualification since new small bodies are constantly injected into planet-crossing orbits – i..e near-Earth objects (NEOs). On top of that, this proposed definition seeks to resolve what is arguably one of the most regrettable aspects of the IAU's 2006 resolution.
"The largest motivation for me personally is: every time I talk about this to the general public, the very next thing people talk about is 'Pluto is not a planet anymore'," said Runyon. "People's interest in a body seems tied to whether or not it has the name 'planet' labelled on it. I want to set straight in the mind of the public what a planet is. The IAU definition doesn't jive with my intuition and I find it doesn't jive with other people's intuition."
Here, Runyon and his colleagues hope to present it as part of the Education and Public Engagement Event. It is his hope that through an oversized poster, which is a common education tool at Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, they can show how this new definition will facilitate the study of the solar system's many bodies in a way that is more intuitive and inclusive.
"We have chosen to post this in a section of the conference dedicated to education," he said. "Specifically, I want to influence elementary school teachers, grades K-6, on the definitions that they can teach their students. This is not the first time someone has proposed a definition other than the one proposed by the IAU. But few people have talked about education. They talk among their peers and little progress is made. I wanted to post this in a section to reach teachers."
Naturally, there are those who would raise concerns about how this definition could lead to too many planets. If intrinsic property of hydrostatic equilibrium is the only real qualifier, then large bodies like Ganymede, Europa, and the moon would also be considered planets. Given that this definition would result in a solar system with 110 "planets", one has to wonder if perhaps it is too inclusive. However, Runyon is not concerned by these numbers.
"Fifty states is a lot to memorize, 88 constellations is a lot to memorize," he said. "How many stars are in the sky? Why do we need a memorable number? How does that play into the definition? If you understand the periodic table to be organized based on the number of protons, you don't need to memorize all the atomic elements. There's no logic to the IAU definition when they throw around the argument that there are too many planets in the solar system."
"No. Because the assumption there is that the IAU has a corner on the market on what a definition is. We in the field don't need the IAU definition. The definition of words is based partly on how they are used. If [the geophysical definition] is the definition that people use and what teachers teach, it will become the de facto definition, regardless of how the IAU votes in Prague."
Explore further: UCLA professor proposes simpler way to define what makes a planet
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not rated yet Feb 22, 2017
Sooooo...exoplanets aren't planets?
But seriously - who cares whether Pluto is a planet or not? It doesn't matter to scientists one bit. it doesn't change reality one bit. All it does is make it easier for kids to memorize the planet's names (a pointless excercise akin to learning states and capitals...as it serves no understanding or knowledge-purpose whatsoever. Teachers who waste children's time with such idiocy should be chastized).
A person is not one bit smarter or dumber whether he knows if Pluto has the label 'planet' or not.
Tony Lance
not rated yet Feb 23, 2017
What is the difference between planets, asteroids and comets?
One to sit on, one to sit in and the other is an ejection seat.
Tony Lance 6th February 2015 FB
5 / 5 (1) Feb 23, 2017
"It's not a planet if it orbits another, larger planet. It's a moon."
....or a battle station
(couldn't resist)
Tony Lance
not rated yet Feb 23, 2017
110 planets proposed would include 8 planets and following,
which alas are two short of the 110. Best I could do.
Mike Brown's Dwarf Planet database 1 to 75 (500km or more)
remaining 25 to total 108 as follows:-
Moon, Charon, Ganymede, Titan, Callisto, Triton,
Europa, Io, Titania, Rhea, Oberon, Iapetus, Umbriel,
Ariel, Dione, Tethys, Ceres, Vesta, Miranda, Proteus,
Enceladus, Hygeia, Mimas, Huya, Pallas.
not rated yet Mar 19, 2017
I disagree. Runyon admits that the meaning of any word depends greatly on its common use: Accordingly, "planet" cannot refer to any mere "substellar body", as this would reduce it to the same absurdity as agreeing that a star were no different than a "ball of hot gas".
In common parlance, a planet is defined by the path of its origin: at a minimum, a substellar body which orbits or once orbited a star. This surely follows from current science as to planetary development and, so, includes all known planets, exoplanets and rogue planets. And planets must be large and massive sufficiently to attain a spheroidal shape; hence, neither comets nor asteroids, nor even smaller grained interstellar dust. Such discrete celestial bodies which orbit planets are not themselves planets, but moons, however sized or massive. A planet must "substantially clear" its own orbit of competing objects, lest it be indistinguishable from any large asteroid, TNO or KBO.
The IAU has my vote!
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Toastmaster speech 3: Get to the point
A common experience we all have faced with poor teachers; they will speak for an entire class of sixty minutes leaving the students clueless about what they were really trying to say even by the end of the class. What was lacking in their speech was a purpose or a clear objective.
The tile itself states, get to the point rather than beating around the bush. Speech three is all about defining a clear objective of the speech and focusing on targeting it.
a) Determine the general purpose of the speech
Every speech must have a general purpose. A general purpose is the bigger picture. Your general purpose may be informative or persuasive. You may want to entertain the audience or inspire them. You do not really have to state it but you should be aware of it. For instance, if you want to talk about cars, the purpose of your speech should be to inform people about cars.
b) Determine the specific purpose of the speech
Specific topic is what you are going to talk about within your topic. For instance, you wish to inform the audience about cars. However that as a topic itself is very broad. Hence you boil it down to the main points you want to talk about. It could be about the most expensive cars in the world or about fixing cars or about an accident that you witnessed or were a victim of.
Once you have clearly defined the general and specific purposes, developing an introduction, body and conclusion will be effortless.
Evaluation Criteria
a) Clear general and specific purpose of the speech
The audience should be able to clearly understand the purpose of your speech. An ambiguous purpose will make the speech boring. The clearer the objective of your speech, the better you will be appreciated for it.
b) Supporting materials used
Try to incorporate appropriate content to support the purpose of your speech. For instance, if you are talking about expensive cars use facts and figures as evidences of their worth.
c) Speech organization
Your speech should be organized to meet your purpose well. Develop an attractive introduction. Draft the body to get to the point. Use the conclusion to summarized or emphasize the purpose. Flow effortlessly from one subject to another with the use of appropriate transitions.
d) Level of confidence
Try and completely avoid the use of notes if you can. This will portray an increase in the level of your confidence. Practice your speech and deliver it with confidence.
Tips and Techniques
a) Keep your focus on the objective
Your entire attention should be to target the objective. Omit every content that will deviate the speech from its path. Use only those materials that will get you to the point.
b) impactful supporting materials
Instead of merely stating your personal idea and views, bring in facts, stories quotations or other such material that will increase the effectiveness of your speech. You need to get to the point. But at the same time you need the audience to pay attention as well. Supporting material will keep the speech interesting.
c) Avoid the use of notes
You are already in the third speech. Do not underestimate yourself. Believe that you can and you will. Try and not use notes. Memorize your speech or at least the major points. Practice it in front of the mirror or your peers.
What will you benefit?
After the completion of the third speech you will have better skills to develop an effective speech. You will be more confident and interesting to listen to.
Sample Speeches
Toastmaster Speech 2: Organize your speech
As a speaker you need to deliver an idea to the audience. The purpose of your speech is to persuade them to do some action. The secret behind gaining an audience reaction is a well-organized speech.
A well-organized speech is easy to understand and remember. It also ensures undivided attention of the audience and their appreciation.
a) Outline your speech
There is no best way to outline your speech. Although, there are many ways to do it. Depending upon the topic you have selected outline your speech in a manner that will best suit its objective. You need to develop an impactful opening and closing that will fuel the purpose of the speech.
b) Draw clear transitions
You should move smoothly from one topic to another. There should not be a sense of disconnectivity between your introduction, body and conclusion. Use transitions to meet your purpose. Transitions can be words, phrases, statements or questions.
c) Get a control over your nervousness
This speech demands you to get control over your nervousness. You will have to learn to deliver the speech with confidence and conviction. You need to learn to attract the audience’s attention and influence their actions.
d) Reduce note dependency
Now that you are a step closer to the speaker you aspire to be, you need to focus on going further. Excessive use of note will make your speech less effective. In this speech, you are expected to reduce the use of note as much as possible.
Evaluation Criteria
a) An effective opening, closing and transition.
Your opening should be strong enough to grab people’s attention. Your conclusion should explain the entire purpose of the speech. You should flow smoothly from one topic to another. The better the introduction, conclusion and the use of transition, the more positively you will be graded for your speech.
b) Organization of the speech
The level of the organization of the speech can be measured by the level of influence you had on the audience. If your audience clearly understands your speech and loses track of time while you talk, then you will have aced this speech my friend!
c) Preparation
Your control over your nervousness will help judge the degree of your preparation. The more confidently you are able to deliver your speech, the more you will be appreciated for it.
d) Speech value
Your speech needs to be interesting and meaningful to the audience. An absurd topic will not be appreciated.
Tips and Techniques
a) Select a topic of your interest
It may be possible to count the number of stars in an evening sky, but choosing a topic from the numerous available is merely impossible. Select a topic you know of or is of your interest. If it is hard to figure out, jot down the things that interest you, your hobby or your skill. You will find it much easier to speak on topics that interest you than the ones that don’t.
b) Select a narrow topic
Once you have selected a topic, narrow it down. Don’t go for a broad topic. Remember that you have only six minutes to deliver the speech. Example, if you like reading, talk about a book that inspired you or of your favorite book.
c) To develop an opening
Avoid weak openings. You can start by a famous quote or a challenging question. You can also use objects, pictures, sound or mimic a character to get the people’s attention. Ensure that the chosen opening is completely relevant to the topic you will be speaking on.
d) To design the body
Jot down important and relevant points. Filter or merge points if you happen to have too many. Then elaborate the points in brief. Use more of examples or stories to make your speech interesting. A visual aid or fact also would be helpful.
e) To develop the conclusion
The conclusion is your last opportunity to convey the message to the audience. You can summarized or review you speech if you were informing your audience. You can also conclude with a rhetoric question or a challenging statement. In case of persuasion, suggest actions to be taken.
What will you benefit?
a) Selection of Interesting topics
From this project, you will learn the art of selecting appropriate topics. You will get a better understand of the topics. You will clearly be able to recognize the topics that will attract and retain audience’s attention.
b) Organization of your speech
You will learn the skill of organizing your speech. You will also realize the importance of a well-organized speech. You will learn how to smoothly flow from one subject to another. You will get a clearer understanding of the use of transitions.
c) Dependency on notes
This project expects you to reduce the use of note. This will reduce your note dependency. You will learn to memorize your speech.
d) Practice to control nervousness
You will have to put in quite a lot of effort to reduce the frequency of using notes. This effort will give you confidence. Absence of nervousness is a natural human response and will not cease to exist. However, practicing to be calmer and to talking with conviction will eventually masks the nervousness you feel.
Sample Speech
1. Toastmasters Project #2: Organization & Efficiency
Toastmaster Speech 1: Ice Breaker
I want you to take a moment and visualize yourself talking to a crowd of strangers. And now, visualize yourself talking to people you are familiar with; could be your friends or relatives. Was there a difference between the emotions that arouse in the two visualizations?
Even in imagination, it feels more comfortable to be communicating with people we are familiar with. To generate this familiarity between you and your club-mates, the first speech of Toast Masters manual is the ice breaker. Ice breaker literally means anything that helps to warm up conversation among people and reduce the tension between them.
Increasing the familiarity between you and your club mates isn’t the only thing that Ice breaker does. For most of you, ice breaker is probably your first attempt of speaking in front of a crowd. This helps you to familiarize yourself to public speaking itself.
a) Self-Introduction
Introduce yourself to the audience. Talk about your birthplace, family, education, work. Share your likes and dislikes or any interesting or life changing experiences. Let people know you.
b) Familiarize you with the platform
Ice breaker will be your first speech in front of a new audience. For most of you, it will probably be the first speech you have ever delivered to a crowd. Talking about yourself is one of the easiest topic since no one will know the subject better than yourself. You can focus less on memorizing the content and more on strategies to deliver the speech.
Evaluation Criteria
a) Your success in introducing yourself
By the end of your speech, the audience should have an unambiguous idea about you. The clearer the picture they are able to draw of you, the more positively you will be evaluated for your speech.
b) Your Preparation
An audience will easily be able to tell the time and effort you put into your speech. A well prepared speech will have a flow. Prepare your speech well. Do not over stress yourself and over-do it either.
c) Clarity and Audibility
Were you loud enough? Did your voice reach the audience? Were you painfully loud? Did the audience understand what you were trying to say? Did they get a clear picture of you?
These are the factors the evaluator will consider will rating your speech.
d) The flow of your speech
The flow of your speech will have a major impact on its clarity. Your speech should have an attractive opening, a body and an impactful closing. There should be a clear connection between the subjects you are talking about. An abrupt speech will be negatively marked.
Tips and Technique
a) Seek for help
Since this will be your first speech, don’t hesitate to ask for help. You mentors have already cleared this stage and hence will have a better idea about the contents that would be relevant to talk about.
c) Design a well prepared speech
Collect all the things you want to talk about. Then design and integrate it into an attractive opening, a body and an impactful closing. It is advisable to memorize the opening and closing. This will help you grab better attention from the audience.
c) Avoid giving too much information
A topic like talking about yourself is immensely vast. It is merely impossible to summarize it into a six minutes speech. But don’t get carried away. Filter the content and wisely select only what’s relevant. Do not stretch too much on one point or try to fit too many stories. Keep it simple and interesting.
d) Practice
Practice your speech for practice makes a man perfect. Practicing will help you understand the lines and words that need to be spoken with stress. Your body gestures will tune with the speech. Ask a friend or a relative to listen to you and take feedbacks from them.
d) Note
It is okay to be nervous. Since this is your first speech prepare and carry notes if you must. It is advisable not to look into the notes for the opening and closing. Also, frequently refereeing to your notes will reduce the audience’s interest in your speech.
e) Don’t expect to be awesome
Nobody is expecting you to talk like Martin Luther. Take down the pressure of having to be amazing. Walk up to the stage and give it your best shot. Once it’s over, pat yourself on the back for having completed it.
f) Relax and speak slowly
First speech can always be intimidating. Compose yourself. Take long breaths by inhaling deeply and exhaling completely before you walk up to the stage. Speak slowly. There is no rush. Everyone in the crowd is eager to hear you and will support you.
What will you benefit from “Ice Breaker”?
a) Confront, and hence begin to conquer your fear
Delivering speech to a crowd is always frightening. But the more you do it, you will begin to feel less frightened and more confident. Ice breaker our first step to overcoming the fear of stage and audience.
b) Discover your strengths and weaknesses
Ice breaker will help you discover the areas of your strengths. You can use this understanding to polish it for your next speech and make it shine. You will also know your areas of weaknesses. Focus on how to overcome them in your next speech. Build a staircase to excellence.
c) Create a baseline
Ice breaker is the foundation of your stairways to excellence. Make the best use of it. Analyze the feedback you get from your evaluator. Evaluate yourself. Incorporate everything you have learnt in your next speech.
Sample Speech
Toastmasters: Speech #1 – The Ice Breaker
My Ice Breaker speech
This article is a part of Competent Communicator Series.
100 Easy Persuasive Speech Topics and Guide
To jump to persuasive speech topic section, click here.
Also Read:
Art of Persuasion
Persuasive speech is an art form.
ethos pathos logos in persuation
Presentation- Monroe’s motivated sequence
Monroe’s motivated sequence in Persuation
Writing Introduction for Persuasive Speech
Persuasive Speech Videos
Below is 6 sample videos of persuasive speeches.
Persuasive Speech Topics
1. Homework should be banned. (School)
1. Laws should not be based on religion.
1. Honking unnecessarily should be punishable.
1. Legalization of prostitution has more positive effects than negative.
1. Partial Birth Abortion is a sin.
1. Sexual relationship before marriage is not a crime.
1. Euthanasia, is it ethical?
1. Cigarettes should be illegal.
1. Smoking in public places should be fined.
1. Are uniforms necessary?
1. ‘Living together’ relationships, good or bad?
1. Every property should compulsorily have trees. (Environment)
1. Fast foods are overpriced.
1. Marriage is not about procreation. (Gay rights)
1. Electronics are stealing childhood.
1. Exotic pets are not pets. (Animal rights)
1. Age 16 is not juvenile. (School?)
1. Read before agreeing to sites and applications.
1. Is death penalty ethical?
1. Send drug dealers to prison but addicts for rehabilitation.
1. Know the woes of genetically modified Chickens.
1. Benefits of donating blood.
1. Why become an organ donor?
1. Original organic fruits taste better than the hybrids.
1. Why people who have should give.
1. Recycle e-waste. (Environment)
1. Should plastic surgery be so commercial?
1. Online piracy should be monitored more strictly.
1. Aliens exist. (Paranormal)
1. Cats or dogs?
1. Internet promotes communication, not kill it.
1. Does pressure build or break a person?
1. Hiring volunteers on zero pay is cruel.
1. Learning multiple language widens our perception of the world.
1. Oceans are not trash bins. (Environment)
1. Music heals.
1. Everyone should learn swimming.
1. Good thoughts lead to good actions.
1. Benefits of meditation. (Health)
The Naysayer: Toastmasters Project 3 by TM Saheel Baral
Let me ask you – how many of us know who what the term NAYSAYER means? A NAYSAYER is a person who is pessimist and sees the dark side of every action.
Everyone in this hall have at least once been broken, demotivated, distraught, torn, teased, and tossed. We at least once questioned our life and existence to the higher force. You would be lying if you say no.
Read More
Toastmasters Advance Manual: The Entertaining Speaker – To err/make Mistakes is Human by Sadiksha Thapa
Advance Manual: The Entertaining Speaker
Assignment #3 : Make Them Laugh
• To prepare a humorous speech drawn from personal experience
• To strengthen the speech by adapting and personalizing humorous material from outside sources
• To deliver the speech in a way that makes the humor effective
5 – 7 Minutes
Read More
Toastmasters Project #3: My Best Friend by Shraddha Kunwar
I have asked him several times, “What if I didn’t have you by my side as my best friend?” And the answer that I get always is a lick on my face and a wagging tail. How beautiful it is, that certainly melts my heart away. I am talking about my dog, a friend in disguise. Let me ask ,”How many of you are blessed to have one?” You might be one of them and if not then you’ll surely be the next in the line.
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Toastmasters Project #4: Accept The Unexpected by Kreeti Shakya
Acres of grey sand and a riveting river flowing by
Surrounded by giant green hills and clouds clattering in the sky
I was there standing stunned in a solitary beach
But I was not all alone, my friends. With me there were 26 students that I teach.
Good Evening. Presiding Officer, Toast Master of the Evening, Fellow Toastmasters and Guests.
This is the scene of a sunny summer evening on the 3rd Friday of May of 2013. After a long bus ride through not so smooth and not so straight road we reached our destination in the banks of Trishuli. The only problem – what we encountered was not what we had expected.
Read More |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A two-dimensional perspective projection of a sphere
r – a radius of the sphere, the radii meeting at the center
Like a circle in a two-dimensional space, a sphere is defined mathematically as the set of points that are all at the same distance r from a given point, but in a three-dimensional space,[2] this distance r is the radius of the ball, which is made up from all points with a distance less than r from the given point, which is the center of the mathematical ball. These are also referred to as the radius and center of the sphere, respectively, the longest straight line through the ball, connecting two points of the sphere, passes through the center and its length is thus twice the radius; it is a diameter of both the sphere and its ball.
While outside mathematics the terms "sphere" and "ball" are sometimes used interchangeably, in mathematics the above distinction is made between a sphere, which is a two-dimensional closed surface, embedded in a three-dimensional Euclidean space, and a ball, which is a three-dimensional shape that includes the sphere and everything inside the sphere (a closed ball), or, more often, just the points inside, but not on the sphere (an open ball). This distinction has not always been maintained and especially older mathematical references talk about a sphere as a solid, this is analogous to the situation in the plane, where the terms "circle" and "disk" can also be confounded.
Equations in three-dimensional space[edit]
Then the equation
has no real points as solutions if and is called the equation of an imaginary sphere. If the only solution of is the point and the equation is said to be the equation of a point sphere. Finally, in the case , is an equation of a sphere whose center is and whose radius is .[2]
The points on the sphere with radius and center can be parameterized via
This equation reflects that position and velocity vectors of a point, (x, y, z) and (dx, dy, dz), traveling on the sphere are always orthogonal to each other.
A sphere can also be constructed as the surface formed by rotating a circle about any of its diameters, since a circle is a special type of ellipse, a sphere is a special type of ellipsoid of revolution. Replacing the circle with an ellipse rotated about its major axis, the shape becomes a prolate spheroid; rotated about the minor axis, an oblate spheroid.[5]
Enclosed volume[edit]
Circumscribed cylinder to a sphere
In three dimensions, the volume inside a sphere (that is the volume of a ball) is
where r is the radius of the sphere. Archimedes first derived this formula, by showing that the volume inside a sphere is twice the difference in the volumes between the inside of a sphere and the inside of a circumscribed cylinder (having the height and diameter equal to the diameter of the sphere).[6] This assertion can be obtained from Cavalieri's principle, this formula can also be derived using integral calculus, i.e. disk integration to sum the volumes of an infinite number of circular disks of infinitesimally small thickness stacked side by side and centered along the x-axis from x = −r to x = r, assuming the sphere of radius r is centered at the origin.
The total volume is the summation of all incremental volumes:
In the limit as δx approaches zero[7] this equation becomes:
Using this substitution gives
that can be evaluated to give the result
Alternatively, this formula is found using spherical coordinates, with volume element
For most practical purposes, the volume inside a sphere inscribed in a cube can be approximated as 52.4% of the volume of the cube, since V = π/6 d3, where d is the diameter of the sphere and also the length of a side of the cube and π/6 ≈ 0.5236. For example, a sphere with diameter 1 meter has 52.4% the volume of a cube with edge length 1 meter, or about 0.524 m3.
Surface area[edit]
The surface area of a sphere of radius r is:
At any given radius r,[10] the incremental volume (δV) equals the product of the surface area at radius r (A(r)) and the thickness of a shell (δr):
The total volume is the summation of all shell volumes:
In the limit as δr approaches zero[7] this equation becomes:
Substitute V:
This is generally abbreviated as:
For more generality, see area element.
The total area can thus be obtained by integration:
The sphere has the smallest surface area of all surfaces that enclose a given volume, and it encloses the largest volume among all closed surfaces with a given surface area, the sphere therefore appears in nature: for example, bubbles and small water drops are roughly spherical because the surface tension locally minimizes surface area.
Geometric properties[edit]
A sphere is uniquely determined by four points that are not coplanar. More generally, a sphere is uniquely determined by four conditions such as passing through a point, being tangent to a plane, etc,[12] this property is analogous to the property that three non-collinear points determine a unique circle in a plane.
By examining the common solutions of the equations of two spheres, it can be seen that two spheres intersect in a circle and the plane containing that circle is called the radical plane of the intersecting spheres.[13] Although the radical plane is a real plane, the circle may be imaginary (the spheres have no real point in common) or consist of a single point (the spheres are tangent at that point).[14]
The angle between two spheres at a real point of intersection is the dihedral angle determined by the tangent planes to the spheres at that point. Two spheres intersect at the same angle at all points of their circle of intersection,[15] they intersect at right angles (are orthogonal) if and only if the squares of the distance between their centers is equal to the sum of the squares of their radii.[3]
Pencil of spheres[edit]
If the pencil of spheres does not consist of all planes, then there are three types of pencils:[14]
• If the spheres intersect in a real circle C, then the pencil consists of all the spheres containing C, including the radical plane. The centers of all the ordinary spheres in the pencil lie on a line passing through the center of C and perpendicular to the radical plane.
• If the spheres intersect in an imaginary circle, all the spheres of the pencil also pass through this imaginary circle but as ordinary spheres they are disjoint (have no real points in common). The line of centers is perpendicular to the radical plane, which is a real plane in the pencil containing the imaginary circle.
• If the spheres intersect in a point A, all the spheres in the pencil are tangent at A and the radical plane is the common tangent plane of all these spheres. The line of centers is perpendicular to the radical plane at A.
All the tangent lines from a fixed point of the radical plane to the spheres of a pencil have the same length.[14]
The radical plane is the locus of the centers of all the spheres that are orthogonal to all the spheres in a pencil. Moreover, a sphere orthogonal to any two spheres of a pencil of spheres is orthogonal to all of them and its center lies in the radical plane of the pencil.[14]
Pairs of points on a sphere that lie on a straight line through the sphere's center are called antipodal points. A great circle is a circle on the sphere that has the same center and radius as the sphere and, consequently, divides it into two equal parts, the plane sections of a sphere are called spheric sections. They are all circles and those that are not great circles are called small circles.[16]
The shortest distance along the surface between two distinct non-antipodal points on the sphere is the length of the smaller of the two arcs on the unique great circle that includes the two points. Equipped with this "great-circle distance", a great circle becomes the Riemannian circle.
If a particular point on a sphere is (arbitrarily) designated as its north pole, then the corresponding antipodal point is called the south pole, and the equator is the great circle that is equidistant to them. Great circles through the two poles are called lines (or meridians) of longitude, and the line connecting the two poles is called the axis of rotation. Circles on the sphere that are parallel to the equator are lines of latitude, this terminology is also used for such approximately spheroidal astronomical bodies as the planet Earth (see geoid).
The hemisphere is conjectured to be the optimal (least area) isometric filling of the Riemannian circle.
Spheres can be generalized to spaces of any number of dimensions, for any natural number n, an "n-sphere," often written as Sn, is the set of points in (n + 1)-dimensional Euclidean space that are at a fixed distance r from a central point of that space, where r is, as before, a positive real number. In particular:
• S2: a 2-sphere is an ordinary sphere
Spheres for n > 2 are sometimes called hyperspheres.
where Γ(z) is Euler's gamma function.
Another expression for the surface area is
and the volume is the surface area times r/n or
General recursive formulas also exist for the volume of an n-ball.
Metric spaces[edit]
If the center is a distinguished point that is considered to be the origin of E, as in a normed space, it is not mentioned in the definition and notation, the same applies for the radius if it is taken to equal one, as in the case of a unit sphere.
Unlike a ball, even a large sphere may be an empty set, for example, in Zn with Euclidean metric, a sphere of radius r is nonempty only if r2 can be written as sum of n squares of integers.
The Heine–Borel theorem implies that a Euclidean n-sphere is compact, the sphere is the inverse image of a one-point set under the continuous function ||x||. Therefore, the sphere is closed. Sn is also bounded; therefore it is compact.
Spherical geometry[edit]
Great circle on a sphere
Eleven properties of the sphere[edit]
A normal vector to a sphere, a normal plane and its normal section. The curvature of the curve of intersection is the sectional curvature, for the sphere each normal section through a given point will be a circle of the same radius: the radius of the sphere. This means that every point on the sphere will be an umbilical point.
In their book Geometry and the Imagination[17] David Hilbert and Stephan Cohn-Vossen describe eleven properties of the sphere and discuss whether these properties uniquely determine the sphere. Several properties hold for the plane, which can be thought of as a sphere with infinite radius, these properties are:
The first part is the usual definition of the sphere and determines it uniquely. The second part can be easily deduced and follows a similar result of Apollonius of Perga for the circle, this second part also holds for the plane.
This property defines the sphere uniquely.
3. The sphere has constant width and constant girth.
The width of a surface is the distance between pairs of parallel tangent planes. Numerous other closed convex surfaces have constant width, for example the Meissner body, the girth of a surface is the circumference of the boundary of its orthogonal projection on to a plane. Each of these properties implies the other.
4. All points of a sphere are umbilics.
At any point on a surface a normal direction is at right angles to the surface because the sphere these are the lines radiating out from the center of the sphere. The intersection of a plane that contains the normal with the surface will form a curve that is called a normal section, and the curvature of this curve is the normal curvature, for most points on most surfaces, different sections will have different curvatures; the maximum and minimum values of these are called the principal curvatures. Any closed surface will have at least four points called umbilical points, at an umbilic all the sectional curvatures are equal; in particular the principal curvatures are equal. Umbilical points can be thought of as the points where the surface is closely approximated by a sphere.
5. The sphere does not have a surface of centers.
6. All geodesics of the sphere are closed curves.
Geodesics are curves on a surface that give the shortest distance between two points. They are a generalization of the concept of a straight line in the plane, for the sphere the geodesics are great circles. Many other surfaces share this property.
9. The sphere has constant mean curvature.
10. The sphere has constant positive Gaussian curvature.
See also[edit]
Deck of playing cards illustrating engineering instruments, England, 1702. King of spades: Spheres
2. ^ a b Albert 2016, p. 54
3. ^ a b c Woods 1961, p. 266
4. ^ Kreyszig (1972, p. 342)
5. ^ Albert 2016, p. 60
6. ^ Steinhaus 1969, p. 223
8. ^ Weisstein, Eric W. "Sphere". MathWorld.
9. ^ Steinhaus 1969, p. 221
10. ^ r is being considered as a variable in this computation
11. ^ New Scientist | Technology | Roundest objects in the world created
12. ^ Albert 2016, p. 55
13. ^ Albert 2016, p. 57
14. ^ a b c d Woods 1961, p. 267
15. ^ Albert 2016, p. 58
16. ^ Weisstein, Eric W. "Spheric section". MathWorld.
• Dunham, William. The Mathematical Universe: An Alphabetical Journey Through the Great Proofs, Problems and Personalities. pp. 28, 226. ISBN 0-471-17661-3.
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Sweating FAQs
Learn more about perspiration
No one’s immune to the odd wet patch, especially when the temperatures start to rise. So let’s talk about sweating: the ways it can support our health, and what to do if you do it too much.
What can I do about ‘nervous sweating’?
When we sweat, it’s usually a physical response from our bodies trying to cool down and regulate our temperature. But strong emotions such as excitement, anger or fear can also trigger the sympathetic nervous system, causing us to sweat. If you find that you get ‘nervous sweat’ before a big meeting, try an anti-perspirant that’s long-lasting, such as the Dove Maximum Protection range. The key is applying it the night before - as we usually perspire less when we’re sleeping, sweat glands can absorb the compound more easily, helping block perspiration. Sounds weird, but it works!
Why do my feet smell?
Each foot has 250,000 sweat glands, which can produce up to half a pint of sweat a day! And after being inside a shoe, with natural foot bacteria and fungi, feet are likely to get a bit smelly. Odor-Eaters Sport Foot & Shoe Spray can help tackle it.
What is extreme sweating?
Also known as hyperhidrosis, this is when people sweat excessively even when their body doesn’t need to cool down. There’s not always a clear reason as to why it happens and standard deodorants won’t deliver, so speak to a member of our pharmacy team who can advise on suitable options for you. You can also speak to a pharmacist about your excessive sweating if you have concerns. It can be helpful to try wearing loose-fitting clothes and socks that absorb moisture. If you’ve tried these options and are still experiencing excessive sweating, speak to your GP.
Why do we sweat during exercise?
Exercise causes your body temperature to rise, so sweating is a way of regulating it and cooling you down. And if you’re working out when it’s hot, you can lose one to six pints of perspiration per hour! To help prevent dehydration, pack a BRITA Fill & Go Active Water Bottle in your gym bag, so you can hydrate on the move.
How else does sweat help?
Aside from cooling you down and regulating body temperature, it can also do these three things:
• It fights germs. Sweat glands secrete an antibacterial and antifungal peptide called dermcidin, which can help fend off harmful bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus (which can lead to abscesses)
• It heals wounds. Not technically sweat, but your sweat glands store a supply of clever stem cells that help heal wounds
• It makes you happier. OK, wet patches won’t exactly have you laughing out loud, but there’s good evidence that getting a sweat on during exercise can help improve your mood |
DEFINITION of 'The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA)'
The Higher Education Act of 1965 is a law designed to strengthen the educational resources of the colleges and universities of the United States and to provide financial assistance to post-secondary students. The HEA, as it is known, increased federal money given to post-secondary institutions, developed scholarship programs, provided low-interest loans to students, and founded a National Teachers Corps. Part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society domestic agenda, the Act was signed into law on November 8, 1965.
BREAKING DOWN 'The Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA)'
The Higher Education Act of 1965 included six titles:
Title I: Provides funding for extension and continuing education programs.
Title II: Allocates money to enhance library collections.
Title III: Provisions for strengthening developing institutions.
Title IV: Provides student assistance through scholarships, low-interest loans, and work-study programs.
Title V: Provisions for improving the quality of teaching.
Title VI: Provisions for improving undergraduate instruction.
The Higher Education Act of 1965 has undergone multiple reauthorizations and amendments, including the addition of new title initiatives.
What the HEA Provides
The HEA led to the establishment of a variety of financial aid options made available for students attending secondary schools in the U.S. Financial assistance programs such as Pell Grants and Stafford loans were created as a direct result of this legislation being put into effect.
Pell Grants, which do not need to be repaid, come from federal funding and are available to undergraduate students only. The amount offered under the grants is based on financial need, the cost of attending the school, and the students’ standing for full-time or part-time attendance. There is also a maximum amount of funding per recipient, which is set by the legislation that reauthorizes the grant program.
The Stafford loans, which can be direct subsidized or direct unsubsidized loans, are offered to students in need of assistance. For direct subsidized loans, available to undergraduate students who demonstrate a financial need, the amount of financing is determined by the school they are attending. The interest on such loans is paid by the U.S. Department of Education as long as the student remains enrolled at least halftime in college. The interest is also covered for six months after they leave school. Direct unsubsidized loans do not require a financial need to be presented and are available to graduate students in addition to undergrads. The college or university will determine the size of the loan in relation to other financial assistance that was received. The borrower is responsible for repaying all of the interest on this type of loan.
1. Stafford Loan
A Stafford loan is a type of federal, fixed-rate student loan ...
2. PLUS Loan
A PLUS loan is a federal student loan where the parent borrows ...
3. Pell Grant
A pell grant is a program that provides money to eligible undergraduate ...
4. Award Letter
Award letter is the documentation sent from a college or university ...
5. IRS Publication 970
IRS Publication 970 is an explanation of the tax benefits associated ...
6. Education Credit
An education credit type of tax credit available to students ...
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Advanced Mobile Phone Service.
The analog wireless transmission standard (technology) deployed in the 1980s in the United States. AMPS operated only in the Cellular frequency band (800 / 850 MHz).
AMPS used more battery power and emitted more radiation than newer digital technology. Digital technologies also have generally better sound quality, and provide many more features, from messaging to high-speed data.
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Water – The Neglected Nutrient
By Elizabeth McMillan, MS, CNS
The only New Year’s Revolution I have ever stuck with faithfully is to drink half of my body weight in ounces daily. That year I was given a largeWater The Health Nutrient Fairfax Virginia Nalgene (32 oz) bottle for Christmas and I decided to make use of it. From then on I drank at least two of those daily. I started noticing that my skin was clearer, my energy was up but most astonishingly was that my daily headaches were decreasing not only in severity but also the amount. From there my water bottle has become my safety blanket, I go everywhere with it. I’ve had several bottles since then, but I always have it with me.
Drinking our daily recommended amount of water per day is the easiest way to support our health. I always ask my clients how their daily water intake is, and their usual reply is “not enough.” My usual response is okay, that is our first order of business. Drinking about half of your body weight in ounces of pure water will do wonders for your health. When our body is dehydrated we cannot function properly. It is like the major highway system of our body went from four lanes to two. Our transportation comes to a screeching halt.
The facts:
• blood is 82% water
• muscles are 75% water
• lungs are 90% water
• bones are 25% water,
• and the brain is 76% water
Our Body Is Made Up Of Water!
About 60% of your body is made of water and getting the recommended daily amounts allows our body to maintain the body’s fluid balance. Maintaining proper fluid helps with digestion, absorption, circulation, production of saliva, transportation of nutrients and maintains body temperature. Here are some of the top reasons to make sure you get in your daily recommended water intake.
• Calorie Control
• When your bodily fluids are low, your brain triggers a thirst sensation. Often times this is misunderstood for hunger. Drinking water can control your calorie consumption, by fulfilling that “hunger” sensation. When you feel that urge to snack in between meals, first try sipping on water.
• Water also replaces high calorie drinks like soda, juice, and sugar rich coffee pick-me-ups.
• Muscle fuel
• Hydration maintains our electrolytes also known as minerals with an electric charge. These are important for muscle contraction. When our electrolytes are low our muscles become fatigued and you feel tired.
• Clearer skin
• Dehydration makes your skin appear to have more wrinkles and look dry. Your skin is your first barrier for both things coming in and going out. This means that as our body is detoxifying, sometimes it will exit through the skin. This appears as blemishes and acne. By maintaining proper hydration, the skin can expel toxins easily.
• Digestion
• Poor hydration leads to constipation. This happens because the colon will pull water from the stools in order to maintain fluid balance throughout the body. When this happens we become constipated and our stools become dry and hard.
• Kidney function
• Lack of water causes the kidneys to work harder in order to filter out blood.
• Focus and attention
• Dehydration causes a decrease in blood flow and this leads to brain shrinkage therefore we cannot think or focus. Because of the impact on circulation and brain health, staying hydrated has been shown to decrease severity and number of headaches and migraines.
• Pain prevention
• Our joints and muscles need to be able to move freely. When we get stiff or sore, a lot of times it is due to a decrease in fluidity.
But Water Does Not Taste Good
This one I’ll never quite understand but I hear it a lot in my practice. I can only guess this happens when your taste buds are too strong for the other sugary drinks that you consume daily. You can place lemon or diffuse fruit in your water. You can also place essential oils in your water, just make sure they are food grade. Some essential oils are difficult to digest internally. Oils from companies like doTERRA or Young Living can usually be digested internally. Some other companies are making flavor additives to water but I do not suggest those because they most likely add sugar to your diet.
Ways to Increase or Track your Daily Water Consumption
Sometimes remembering to drink is the hardest part, for this I suggest getting a bottle of your own. Glass is the best choice because some of the chemicals in a plastic bottle can leach out especially if left in direct sunlight. Once you have your bottle, calculate how many times you have to fill it in order to get half of your body weight in ounces. For example, if you weigh 180 lbs. you would need to drink about 90 ounces of water per day and that is 3 and ¾ of a 24oz. bottle.
Another idea is to take bracelets like those jelly bracelets we all had in the 90s or even Alex and Ani or basic hair ties and place 4-8 on your right wrist and throughout the day as you drink your water move them to the other wrist.
There are also apps for water consumption like plantnanny, fitbit, daily water, etc.
Links for you leisure
Plant Nanny- https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/plant-nanny-water-reminder/id590216134?mt=8
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Milk for the Healthy
By Andihaer Hop's , Posted in:
Benefits of milk had no doubt. Almost all the nutrients contained in milk is good quality. Protein and fat soluble properties of milk has a high digestibility. Vitamins and minerals, milk is relatively complete.
Milk can be consumed in various forms. There's nothing fresh or processed form, such as powdered milk or condensed milk. Humans are also consuming milk from milk-containing food products, such as cheese, ice cream, and yogurt.
However, there are still differences of opinion about the consumption of this milk. No group has claimed that the consumption of milk every day is not good for health, especially vascular diseases such as narrowing of blood vessels. The argument is, milk increase blood cholesterol levels become a risk factor for heart disease. Secondly, there is a positive relationship between average milk production per-capita with deaths from heart disease in some countries.
Other groups supporting the role of milk at a reduced risk of various degenerative diseases, like heart disease, hypertension, and cancer. Recent studies in Norway to support it.
Hjartäker with colleagues from the Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tromso, Norway, through its publication in the International Journal of Cancer, showed that the diet of three or more glasses of milk each day may reduce breast cancer risk in women pramenopause.
Through the study cohort the Norwegian Women and Cancer Study, they examined 48 844 women for six years and two months. Milk consumption was measured with a history of food consumption submitting to the respondents. During this period, the team found 317 cases Hjartäker breast cancer patients.
It turned out that the consumption of milk since childhood negatively associated with the incidence of breast cancer when they were aged 34-39 years (pramenopause). That means that the consumption of milk since childhood can reduce the risk of developing breast cancer.
Milk consumption in adulthood also reduces the risk of breast cancer after corrected by hormonal factors, body mass index, physical activity, and alcohol consumption. Women who do not consume milk run the risk of breast cancer two times greater than women who consumed milk 3 cups milk or more each day.
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Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
Winston Churchill once defined a pessimist as one who sees the difficulty in every opportunity, but an optimist as one who sees the opportunity in every difficulty. New research shows that optimists, who already enjoy better goal attainment, more resilience, and better overall well-being compared to pessimists, also enjoy a healthier immune system. The new study, published in Psychological Science, reports that a positive outlook actually boosts immunity.
The authors examined 124 first-year law students to explore the connection between optimism and cell-mediated immunity. The students completed questionnaires and immune-system checks at 5 points over the course of the year. As the students endured classes, exams and interviews, their optimism rose and fell, along with their immune system function. When optimism increased, so did immunity; when optimism decreased, the immune system weakened.
Optimism has long been related to better subjective well-being throughout life. Optimists fare better during times of stress and adversity than their pessimistic peers, and optimists engage in healthier coping mechanisms and lower levels of avoidance than pessimists. Optimists also achieve success and attain their goals more often than their glass-is-half-empty counterparts. Optimists generally have an energetic, task-oriented approach to life, which promotes academic, economic and social success. Optimists also take pro-active steps to improve their health, versus pessimists who are more likely to engage in destructive health behaviors.
Previous research has connected stress and immune function, and even optimism and immunity, but usually by comparing optimists with pessimists, leaving unanswered the questions of how genetics or individual differences play a role. This new study is among the first to examine optimism and immunity in a single person. While once thought to be a stand-alone system of the human body, the immune system is now known to be highly integrated with the nervous system, responding to changes in the biological, social or psychological environment. Stressors predict a negative immune response.
Since the immune system is a priority for the human body, it requires the optimal functioning of all the integrated and related body systems. If energy is pulled away from the immune system to cope with an outside stressor, less energy is available for the immune system. A negative outlook on life is such a stressor. Cultivating a rosy outlook decreases stressors and allows for the optimal functioning of the body’s systems.
The new research could have implications for mental health treatment. While most therapy now focuses on decreasing negative emotions, increasing positive emotions may be a healthier approach. So, put on those rose-colored glasses and drink from the glass that is half-full. Your immune system will thank you.
Avitsur, R., Powell, N., Padgett, D., & Sheridan, J. (2009). Social Interactions, Stress, and Immunity Immunology and Allergy Clinics of North America, 29 (2), 285-293 DOI: 10.1016/j.iac.2009.02.006
Segerstrom, S. (2007). Stress, Energy, and Immunity: An Ecological View Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16 (6), 326-330 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00522.x
Segerstrom, S. (2007). Optimism and resources: Effects on each other and on health over 10 years? Journal of Research in Personality, 41 (4), 772-786 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2006.09.004
Segerstrom, S., & Sephton, S. (2010). Optimistic Expectancies and Cell-Mediated Immunity: The Role of Positive Affect Psychological Science, 21 (3), 448-455 DOI: 10.1177/0956797610362061
Jennifer Gibson, PharmD
Jennifer Gibson, PharmD, is a practicing clinical pharmacist and medical writer/editor with experience in researching and preparing scientific publications, developing public relations materials, creating educational resources and presentations, and editing technical manuscripts. She is the owner of Excalibur Scientific, LLC.
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The Surprising Trait Fourth Edition Shared With Original Dungeons & Dragons
The first Arduin Grimoire starts by explaining how to play Dungeons & Dragons. Sure it claims to be an explanation of how to play “a fantasy game,” but in 1976, when Dave Hargrave penned the tutorial, the range of fantasy games included D&D, D&D set in a world called Tékumel, and a game designed under the generic name of D&D until it reached stores as T&T.
Gamers needed the how-to. The original D&D rules read as a summary for people who already knew how to play. D&D arrived as a companion to a miniature battle game called Chainmail, and the rules built on a foundation of turns and moves. Gary Gygax’s peers felt comfortable with rules for inches of movement and for how many 10-foot squares a character could search in a 10-minute turn. To Gary’s audience, D&D made sense. But the rule books confused folks accustomed to rolling dice to see how many squares a wheelbarrow could move.
Hargrave’s how-to amounts to this: move, roll for monsters, repeat. If monsters appear, roll for distance, surprise, reaction, and then initiative.
As hard as D&D proved to grasp, this “sequence of play” isn’t too different from Risk. Aside from the referee, the game seems nearly as constrained as Clue—except D&D features a hidden board like Battleship.
Ken St. Andre wrote T&T—Tunnels & Trolls—because he found the D&D rules “nearly incomprehensible.” He describes T&T as having the same relationship to D&D as “Chevrolet does to Ford.” His explanation of how to play T&T worked for D&D too. “The game is played something like Battleship. The individual players cannot see the board. Only the DM knows what is in the dungeon.” In 1975, games needed boards. (See 4 popular beliefs Dungeons & Dragons defied in the 70s.)
There exist numerous enchanted tunnel complexes (call them dungeons or underworlds if you wish) that are liberally loaded with many types of treasure, and abundantly guarded by every imaginable form of monster, magic, and trap. Generally speaking, the greatest treasures and most powerful monster are found further below the surface. Brave men and women arm themselves and venture within the tunnels at risk of body and soul to seek treasure and experience.
In 1975, games also needed a way to win. St. Andre explained how. “Every time your character escapes from a tunnel alive, you may consider yourself a winner. The higher the level and the more wealth your character attains, the better you are doing in comparison to all the other players.” (See But how do you win?)
Neither D&D’s original rules nor interpreters of those rules describe the loose play of D&D today. They describe a tightly-focused game where treasure hunters enter dungeons, spend turns moving and fighting, and keep score in gold.
From 1974 through the 80s, the evolution of role-playing games marks a move from D&D’s medieval fantasy to universal systems like GURPS, the HERO System, and Basic Roleplaying. In the early 90s, universal systems peaked, and the hobby started moving toward games optimized for one genre or even a narrow range of activities. You could play Kung-fu or vampire campaigns in GURPS, but for many players, optimized systems like Feng Shui and Vampire the Masquerade offered a more compelling experience.
D&D followed the same evolution. Original D&D didn’t aim for the same scope of a modern D&D campaign. The 1974 game arrived laser-focused on dungeon expeditions—and not even on naturalistic lairs, strongholds, and tombs. Original D&D assumed multi-level undergrounds with wandering monsters and rooms stocked randomly from monster and treasure assortments. (See When megadungeons ruled Dungeons & Dragons.) The only rules for non-player characters treated NPCs as monsters to kill or as hirelings to die in dungeon crawls.
Almost everything in the little, brown books supports dungeon expeditions. Sure, the books included rules for wilderness adventures, but as a way for characters to find castle sites. The rules for castles and followers only build a bridge to another game—Chainmail. Few players crossed that bridge. Even subsequent editions of D&D largely ignored it.
As a focus, the dungeon crawl proved a massive success. Dungeons provided an evocative environment with built-in threats and rewards. Plus, dungeons kept characters on that secret board behind the DM’s screen. The walls made the game manageable for new DMs, and all but two DMs were new. (See How the dungeon crawl’s advantages propelled Dungeons & Dragons to success.)
Even though the D&D’s turns and hidden boards felt familiar to gamers in 1974, the game’s wide-open possibilities captured the imagination. In D&D, players could attempt anything. Hardly anyone held to the rigid structure or stayed in the dungeon. A city, The City State of the Invincible Overlord, became the first setting for D&D. (See A butcher, a baker, and naughty nannies in the City State of the Invincible Overlord.) By 1977, Chivalry & Sorcery offered rules for everything in a medieval fantasy world, from kings to peasants, and from jousting to courtly love. That game stemmed from a D&D campaign where players had tired of dungeons and embraced the larger world. (See Chivalry & Sorcery: What if Gary and Dave had not found the fun? Newer games with more realistic combat systems even made dungeon crawls too lethal to be a campaign’s focus. (See The Brilliance of Unrealistic Hit Points.)
As the role-playing hobby broadened, D&D’s scope grew too. By 2000, third edition arrived late to the universal system party. D&D became a branch of the d20 system, which extended to modern settings and Star Wars role playing.
By 2007, the trend toward systems optimized for a narrow range of activities reached D&D and its fourth edition. This version returned to the narrow focus of the original game, but with a completely different choice of optimal activities. Now the game focused on designing characters capable of dynamic battlefield stunts, and then showing them off in combat encounters. Dungeon expeditions became an interchangeable backdrop for combat encounters and skill challenges. This new focus drew criticism from players who felt that a miniature skirmish game, or perhaps a video game, had replaced the original role-playing game. Sure, most players knew you could run fourth edition in the same wide-open style as the prior editions, but plenty saw the new focus as a sign that D&D no longer invited role playing.
Today, D&D returns to a comfortable balance between the sharp focus of the original game and the sprawl of d20. Rather than optimize a system for a narrow focus, the game seeks to embrace three pillars of exploration, combat, and interaction. The game is bigger, but you can still dungeon crawl in the original style—as long as you can live without 10-minute turns.
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2 Responses to The Surprising Trait Fourth Edition Shared With Original Dungeons & Dragons
1. Kyle Maxwell says:
I once ran a 5e game using a “mini-megadungeon” from Dyson Logos that used 10 minute turns when doing things like searching rooms, etc. It was old-school in most ways, and that made it easier to track time (insert Gygaxian maxim about meaningful campaign here).
That’s not the playstyle I pursue now, but I loved the fact that you could do it in 5e.
2. Pingback: Gary Gygax Versus the False Deity (of Realism) | DMDavid
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Deepak Veeregowda
Since the advent of tribology, conflicting fundamental laws regarding the relationship that exists between friction and contact area in dry sliding condition have existed. For example, during the late 1400’s, Leonardo da Vinci found that the friction that exists between ...
High-temperature tribology is of particular importance in industries where operational efficiency is affected by the exposure of materials and tribological interfaces to elevated temperatures. Various factors like elastic modulus, thermal conductivity, hardness, thermo-mechanical fatigue, diffusion, grain structure and oxidation can ...
Solid particles in dusty environments can damage materials and affect dimensional tolerances in variety of industries ranging from gas turbines, helicopter rotor system (aerospace applications), boiler tubes (coal power plants) and wind turbines (renewable energy). Erosion of certain components can ... |
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
War of the Worlds (1898) - By HG Wells
The world outside our planet has always fascinated us, even when we could not see what is out there. In addition to a quest with trying to finding out more of the mysteries of the Universe, there was always a few of the unknown. Suppose there is an alien race on other worlds, there is no reason to believe that they would be friendly towards humanity (in fact, given the ferocity with which humanity fights each other, it is very easy to assume that another race would find it easy to be hostile to us). And of course, if it is a race older than us, they would have a more advanced technology, more advanced weapons, and may be easily able to overcome us (and destroy humanity).
There has been a lot of movie and books coverage of the prospects of an alien invasion of earth, with movies such as Independence Day, Mars Attacks being the most recent. However, this book (by the futuristic science fiction writer HG Wells) is probable the earliest book that deals with this subject (leaving aside the tales of the pyramids and other such structures having been built by aliens), and also details a believable reason for why the attacks by a more technologically superior race would have stopped. In addition, Mars had already been believed to be the center of an advanced race when the Italian astronomer, Giovanni Virginio Schiaparelli (1835-1910), described some of the natural phenomenon existing on Mars, and these were wrongly translated into English as 'there are canals on Mars'.
The War of the Worlds by H G Wells
This novel had remained popular, but what made this novel extraordinarily popular, and at the same scared a large section of the population, was a radio broadcast on Halloween (October 30, 1938) by Orson Wells, where he made listeners panic, believing that the news stories of an actual invasion were true.
The book is about the proposed landing of a Martian ship (cylinder) in the town of Woking, England near the end of the 19th century. This is preceded by the observations of a series of explosions on Mars and the launching of a meteor towards Earth. This meteor lands on Earth, and strange looking Martians start emerging from the cylinder and start building up machinery. Approaching humans are killed by a death ray (a heat ray). The machine that the Martians have been building is a 3-legged fighting machine that uses the heat ray and also uses poison gas in the form of a black smoke.
Attacks on these army of attacking Martians are easily repelled, and they are soon taking control of vast sections of South England, with the populations of those areas evacuating. The narrator, the one who is explaining what is happening (and having been separated from his wife in one of the confusing moments during the attack) is able to watch the Martians from close quarters, including their use of human blood as food. And then suddenly the Martians vanish - they have been felled by the pathogens (bacteria / virus) found on Earth, and to which they are not immune.
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The gypsy moth
The gypsy moth is a moth of the Tussock family whose larvae are very destructive to the foliage of fruit and shade trees. The male is brownish-yellow varying to a greenish-brown color. The wings are darker than the body and have black spots. Its zigzag flight is a distinguishing feature of the insect. The body of the female ís buff and the wings are nearly white, with black spots. They have an expanse of about two inches, but owing to the size of her body the female is seldom on the wing.
In July and August the eggs are deposited on the branches and trunks of trees, fences and sides of buildings, where the yellowish tan-covered clusters are readily seen. They hatch about the first of May and the caterpillars reach maturity in mid-summer, when they are from two and one-half to three inches long. They are of a sooty color with rows of blue and red spots on the back. They frequently drop on carriages and trains and are carried long distances. They can be destroyed by the usual spraying solutions. Bands of burlap around the trunks of infested trees will trap many which can be easily disposed of. |
2. Adolf Loos
“The work of art shows people new directions and thinks of the future. The house thinks of the present.”
Quotes by Adolf Loos
1. Architecture arouses sentiments in man. The architect’s task therefore, is to make those sentiments more precise.
2. At the beginning of the nineteenth century we abandoned tradition, it’s at that point that I intend to renew it because the present is built on the past just as the past was built on the times that went before it.
3. Be not afraid of being called un-fashionable.
4. Be truthful, nature only sides with truth.
5. Changes in the traditional way of building are only permitted if they are an improvement. Otherwise stay with what is traditional, for truth, even if it be hundreds of years old has a stronger inner bond with us than the lie that walks by our side.
6. Does it follow that the house has nothing in common with art and is architecture not to be included in the arts? Only a very small part of architecture belongs to art: the tomb and the monument. Everything else that fulfils a function is to be excluded from the domain of art.
7. It does not do to use it with forms whose origin is intimately bound up with a specific material simply because no technical difficulties stand in the way.
8. Man loves everything that satisfies his comfort. He hates everything that wants to draw him out of his acquired and secured position and that disturbs him. Thus he loves the house and hates art.
9. Supply and demand regulate architectural form.
10. The Potemkin city of which I wish to speak here is none other than our dear Vienna herself.
11. The house has to please everyone, contrary to the work of art which does not. The work is a private matter for the artist. The house is not.
12. The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.
13. The law courts must appear as a threatening gesture toward secret vice. The bank must declare: here your money is secure and well looked after by honest people.
14. The room has to be comfortable; the house has to look habitable.
15. The work of art is brought into the world without there being a need for it. The house satisfies a requirement. The work of art is responsible to none; the house is responsible to everyone. The work of art wants to draw people out of their state of comfort. |
Paul Ericson
Dec., 1979*
Boulder, Colorado, USA
Email: barkingpo @ earthlink.net
*This was a term paper originally written for an undergraduate/graduate biology class, EPOB 407- “Tropical and Insular Biology”, taught at the University of Colorado by Prof. Alexander Cruz, and continued and finished the next term (Dec., 1979) as an independent study project for Prof. Cruz. It has been reorganized and hopefully made more readable but no additional research has been done since then. It is placed here in case it might be of interest to those working in related fields, or to students looking for a project. Please excuse the lack of proper accenting for varzea, igapo, etc.
Seed dispersal by fish, or ichthyochory, is an overlooked seed dispersal mechanism that may have played a significant part in the evolution of seed plants. In an important paper on ichthyochory Gottsberger (1978) correlates this form of seed dispersal with relatively primitive flowering plant groups and concludes that “Migrating fish might be responsible in a decisive way for dispersal of many diaspores throughout the whole of the Amazon and its tributaries.” In certain environments ichthyochory has been a very efficient and reliable seed dispersal mechanism that may have played a significant role in the development and maintenance of dispersal strategies of the early angiosperms in the Cretaceous and possibly even the early seed plants as far back as the Carboniferous and Devonian.
In this paper I will describe a seasonally flooded environment in which ichthyochory still exists. Also, I will try to isolate some selective variables and develop a model for efficient seed dispersal that will help evaluate the importance of fish in primitive seed dispersal, the development of angiosperms, and competition between angiosperms and gymnosperms.
Varzea is is a term used generally for the Amazonian floodplains and covers approximately 64,000 km or 1 to 2 percent of Amazonia (Sternberg, 1975). This includes forests and savannas that are seasonally flooded, forming lakes and ponds that may dry up in the dry season. The number of months of flooding varies with the height above river level.
Gottsberger (1978), describes a backwater igarape (stream or creek) that drains local savannas in the varzea system of the Madeira River, a major tributary of the Amazon, most of which lies in tropical lowland areas of Brazil and Bolivia. He describes these brown waters as unproductive due to a lack of minerals and other nutrients but nevertheless supporting a large diversity of fish due to the abundance of allochthonous material, especially during flooding. The water level varies by 10 to 12 meters and most tree crowns emerged 5 to 20 meters above high water level while the width of the igarape varied between just wide enough for one canoe to 100 meters.
Lowe-McConnell (1975) describes varzea waters as being generally deoxygenated and very acidic due to decomposing debris and a lack of wind mixing. In open flooded savannas and varzea lakes, sunlight and wind mixing can increase productivity considerably (Lowe-McConnell, 1975). Varzea forests generally support important fisheries in many parts of the tropics (Lowe-McConnell, 1975). She writes that the often violent increase in water velocity may be accompanied by a drop in water temperature as well as changes in water chemistry and water turbidity.
Varzea forest shows less species diversity than terra firme forest and there is considerable difference in species composition between the two (Goodland 1975). Richards (1964) doesn’t know of any tendency toward single species dominance. It differs much in character in different places with an average height from 15 to 30 meters. Conspicuous trees include Ceiba pentandra, Carapa giuanensis, Hevea brasiliensis and Hevea guyanensis, Symphonia globulifera, Virola surinamensis, and many Leguminosae. Palms are frequent. Richards (1964) writes that the varzea forest may be regarded as an edaphic climax.
Two varzea forests in the white water areas of the Amazon valley were described by Irmler (1979) as nutrient sinks. Nearly 14% of the litter fall is presumed to be exported to rivers and lakes during the inundation phase but it is replaced through input of nutrients from inflowing white waters. Irmler (1979) observed that a 1 cm layer of sediments, mainly clay minerals, had been left after inundation of one varzea forest.
The majority of South American and 85% of the Amazonian fishes are of the order Ostariophysi (Lowe-McConnell, 1969; Roberts, 1973). Almost all South American groups are represented in the Amazon basin. The Charachoidei and the Siluroidei (catfishes) suborders of the Cypriniformes dominate the South American ostariophysins.
In Brazil there are over 1380 species of about 46 families of fish, with the largest groups present in approximately these proportions (from Lowe-McConnell, 1969):
Species % of total fish fauna
Siluroidei: 494 -43%
Charachoidei: 553 -40%
Cichlidae: 81 -06% (mostly lakes)
According to Lowe-McConnell (1969) there are two main types of breeding habits in the riverine fishes of South America:
1. The fecund ‘piracema’ fishes.
2. The small brood fishes showing parental care and few young at a time.
There is a close relationship between the hatch size, amount of movement, and food resources in seasonally fluctuating environments in these fish (Lowe-McConnell, 1969). Strong selection pressures favor rapid growth, early maturity, and short life cycles where seasonal fluctuations may drastically effect spawning success (Lowe-McConnell, 1969).
At the start of, or early in the rainy season, piracema fishes migrate up rivers and streams, either spawning in the rivers or running out in the savanna or forest to spawn. These fish usually produce large numbers of eggs and lay most or all of them at one time. ‘Piracema’ fishes include most of the South American characoids and many large siluroids (Lowe-McConnell). The eggs usually hatch quickly, within two or three days in the warm shallows and the young are soon free swimming. This strategy decreases the chance of being stranded by fluctuating water levels.
‘Small brood’ fishes exhibit parental care and produce few young at a time. They often start to spawn in the dry season, before the rains, and usually remain in one area (Lowe-McConnell, 1969).
The young fishes grow quickly in the streams and pools during the rainy season and the community is in a continual state of flux, some species moving upstream, or downstream, and others may be territorial, although all are influenced by the water level fluctuations (Lowe-McConnell 1969). Larger young leave the inundated regions at the same time as adults, when the waters begin to fall. Many juveniles are left behind and either live in ponds or creeks until the next floods or die when the waters dry up (Lowe-McConnell, 1975).
Morphology/ Family Characteristics
Characoids are mostly laterally compressed open water fishes, active during the daytime. They usually have well developed jaw teeth, often of a highly complex nature which seem to have undergone evolutionary changes in relation to foods consumed (Roberts, 1967; Lowe-McConnell, 1969). The larger characoids are basically predators, fruigivores, insectivores, or mud suckers and often generalize (Lowe McConnell, 1969). There is much overlap, especially in the dry season when few food resources are available except allochthonous forest products such as fruits, flowers, and flying insects (Lowe-McConnell, 1969). Lowe-McConnell (1975) also writes that this apparent lack of specialization in foods eaten is surprising in view of the extensive adaptive radiations of the characoids.
Siluroids, or catfishes, typically are bottom-dwelling fishes with nocturnal habits and have numerous small, simple, conical teeth (Roberts, 1973).
Knoppel (1970- not available) examined the stomach contents of 11,000 of 32,00 fishes collected from a clear water rivulet-varzea lake (Lago Calado) during the rainy season. The total of 53 species included 22 characoids, 6 gymnotoids, 7 siluroids, 17 percoids, and 1 cypronodont. The results showed little temporal or spatial separation within the species. Most species ingested many different items and the lists of stomach contents for the main families were relatively uniform. Despite the specialized teeth of many characoids, there was very little specialization for food items. The most widely consumed food items were immature stages of aquatic insects, found in 27 species, and plant material (including fruit), found in 26 species (taken from Lowe-McConnell, 1975).
Marlier (1967, 1968) studied the fishes of the varzea Lake Redondo. He found that littoral floating meadows provide the main source of food at the base of the food chain and commented that before the banks were cleared of forest, floating meadows were probably less extensive, and the allochthonous fruits and leaves from trees would have been a main food.
Ridley (1930) and Van der Pijl (1969) consider ichthyochory in several fish/plant associations but Gottsberger (1978) gives the subject a more serious examination. Fish frugivory is well known to the fishermen in the environments in question.
Marlier (1967) credits the shore forest with supporting the rich Amazonian fish faunas that live in those relatively unproductive waters. “Many species feed directly on leaves, seeds, fruits, or on terrestrial insects or other invertebrates which take their subsistence in the riparian vegetation. It is thus the forest which maintains the fish fauna at its present high level.” And Gottsberger (1978) states “The allochthonous productivity of the varzea and igapo vegetation determines the life of the fish and other organisms in the waters. There must therefore be a very strong interdependence of the vegetation and the fish, especially at the moment of seed dispersal.” In these flooded forests he says, “ichthyochory is a common and obligatory phenomenon.”
Gottsberger (1978) cites numerous observations of fish eating fruits and seeds and suggests in some cases a coevolution between fruiting time and fish frugivory on those fruits. He writes that fruiting time seems to be correlated with fish activity. Gottsberger notes that some of the seeds he considered are known to be dispersed by other animal vectors as well as passively by freshwater, and a few have been known to be dispersed by sea. Two species observed by Gottsberger, Virola surinamensis and Havea brasiliensis, are also named by Richards (1950) as conspicuous trees of the varzea forest.
Of the twelve seed-eating fish groups discussed by Gottsberger, 8 are characoids, 3 are siluroids, and 1 is a clupeid. The most notorious seed eaters belong to the genera Brycon and Colossoma.
Gottsberger found that of 33 plant species studied, 16 had seeds that were not regularly broken by fish and 17 had seeds that were. The former seeds belong mainly to very primitive groups whereas the latter belonged mainly to more recent groups.
From Gottsberger (1978): Names of plants whose diaspores seem to be
dispersed by fish (seeds intact) or which are triturated when swallowed
(seeds broken)
Annona Hypoglauca
Duguetia marcgraviana
Unonopsis aff. matthewsii
cf. Unonopsis
Virola cf.surinamensis
Ficus sp.
Cecropia membranacea
cf. Elaeocarpaceae
Neolabatia cuprea
Lucuma cf. dissepala
Licania sp. apetala
Licania sp.
Protium sp.
Simaba cf. guianensis
Astrocaryum jauary
Joarizeiro (not ident.)
Nectandra amazonum
Sorocea duckei
Anacardium cf. microsepalum
Carapa cf. guianensis
Byrsonima cf. amazonica
Byrsonima sp.
Mabea nitida
Hevea brasiliensis
H. cf. spruceana
Piranhea trifoliolata
Symeria paniculata
Genipa americana
cf. Randia armata
Tabebuia barbata
Sipia (not ident.)
He writes that this “confirms that ichthyochory is an archaic form of dispersal within primitive angiosperms that has been maintained in inundated tropical regions. The high frequency of ichthyochory is associated with nutrient-poor Amazonian waters, where fish depend substantially on allochthonous materials such as seeds and fruits which fall into the water. The homogeneity of the inundated vegetation in Amazonia may be the result of migratory fish dispersing diaspores.”
He concludes that ichthyochory may be partly responsible for the high percentage of plant species that are common to all varzeas of the Amazon, especially in light of the refugia theory concerning Pleistocene and post Pleistocene retreats of lowland rainforest during periods of dryness. Gottsberger quotes Prance (1973), “Today, many of the species of the varzea forests are the most widely distributed in Amazonia, partially because of the persistence of gallery forests in dry times and partly because of the ease of diaspore dispersal by water.”
Speculation as to the evolutionary importance of ichthyocory requires 1) an evaluation of its efficiency relative to other seed dispersal mechanisms as well as 2) a search of the fossil record with ichthyochory in mind.
1) Selection for Ichthyochory
Using the previously described ecological setting I will try to categorize some of the selective forces acting between fish and plant and limited by the environment- correlating possible biotic and abiotic selective forces with relevant characteristics of the biotic units involved (ie. seeds, fruit, fish, community structure). Important questions must be answered as to the fate of the seeds that are swallowed whole by the fish.
It should be noted that seeds may be a regular incidental intake in the varzea environment. Many herbivorous and omnivorous fish are known to eat seeds with other vegetable matter but ichthyochory has not usually been considered.
Seed Treatment and Specificity
Although various enzymes that digest specific carbohydrates have been found in the intestines in the pancreatic juice of fish, there is no evidence that fish have endocommensal bacterial fauna to break down cellulose plant materials (Lager et al, 1962). Herbivorous fish apparently have to rely on mechanical break down of plant cell walls. Therefore seeds swallowed whole are probably not damaged.
Some fish in the habitats in question are known to be attracted to certain fruits that may be used by fishermen as bait to catch particular fish (Ridley, 1930; Van der Pijl, 1969; Gottsberger, 1978; Sternberg, 1975). Sternberg (1975) writes that indigenous peoples of the Amazon may name a fruit by their associated fishes’ name, eg. “tambaqui fruits”, in reference to those fruits eaten by Colossoma bidens.
Some tropical fishes are known to have sensitive well-developed olfactory senses and imprinting has been shown to be possible at an early age in cichlids. In well mixed waters rich in secondary compounds one might expect a certain degree of general desensitization but in slow moving waters scent trails left by ripe fruit might allow some specificity. The acidity of the medium may aid in locating ripe fruit that was leaving a scent trail and perhaps accentuate its attractiveness. It may also be that fruit eaten by fish that live in acidic waters don’t have to be as sweet as fruit growing in less acidic environments in order to be attractive. Sternberg (1975) writes that Ducke (1949, not available) has suggested the reason that flood plain fruit are frequently tart as compared to the more sweet upland fruit is that they may have been selected for by the riverine fauna that eats them and passes the seeds unharmed.
Seed size would not seem to be much of a criteria for such a wide range of sizes of fishes, especially since the elastic intestine intestine and mouth parts of most fishes allow even small fishes to swallow foods of considerable size whole (Lagler et al, 1962). However, Gottsberger (1978) writes “Most of the fish that eat fruits and seeds are among the larger species.”
It has generally been accepted that having fewer larger seeds is an advantageous strategy in unproductive, slow growing, tropical forests (Janzen,1974; Harper et al, (1970); Stebbins, 1971; Smythe, 1970; and Snow, 1970). Smaller seed size and hence probably greater numbers of dispersal units would not be advantageous where there is a possibility of good selection of favorable sites for seedling establishment, and where water relations during initial germination in a damp environment (after waters subside) may select against it (see below).
Shape and color may have little value as criteria for specificity as competition for these resources (the fruit) would be very high here and sight may be difficult anyway in these often muddy waters.
Reliability of Visitation
Reliability of visitation to habitats suitable for seedling establishment is increased by the reliability of changes caused by seasonal flooding and the corresponding seasonal fish behavior.
The important factors here are the timing of release of fruit, the distance and direction traveled while the seed is being carried by the fish, the location of release of the seed, and the fate of the seed after release as compared to the fate of seeds that are dropped in the water and are not eaten by fish.
Regarding seeds dispersed by fresh water Stebbins (1971) says “since fresh water does not damage living tissues, mechanisms for aquatic dispersal of fresh water species can be relatively simple. In many instances, seeds or small fruits fall onto the surface of the water, are transported some distances and finally sink.” And, “A number of freshwater species have bladdery-inflated seeds or fruits that can float on the water for considerable periods of time.”
Timing of Release of Fruit: Timing of release of fruit can be very important for optimum dispersal and in seasonally flooded forests, as mentioned before, often corresponds with either the rising or lowering of the flood waters. Such phenological behavior is not uncommon and flooding or rising water and its attendant physical effects would satisfy the requirements to be a “suitable external environmental cue that is not dramatically damaging but is drastic enough to be sensed equally by all individuals of variable age, health, competitive status, past history and genetic programming.” (Janzen, 1974).
In this case the timing according to physical factors has accompanying biological implications, most importantly being an invasion of possible aquatic dispersal agents. Fruiting while the water is high generally limits the variety a of non-fish dispersal agents. Once the fruit drops into the water fish would have a decided advantage over other animals as effective vectors.
Predator satiation would not appear to be important here except in cases meant for passive water dispersal.
Distance and Direction Traveled: The distance and direction traveled by the dispersal agent is dependent on foraging and reproductive movements and water currents.
Fish migrations upstream may allow dispersal of considerable distances depending on the length of time of retention of seed and the speed of travel. For upstream colonization ichthyochory offers a considerable advantage over passive water dispersal. Non migrating fish may be restricted to relatively short lateral movements and others may remain very local, especially in territorial behavior. Specificity may be selected for in short distance dispersal for greater chance of meeting similar growing conditions.
Location and Release of Seed: The location and release of seed would have an influence on species composition and succession in the vegetation. Ichthyochory in this sense could probably not be distinguished from other dispersal mechanisms, except in lateral range, which would be limited by the extent of flooding. However, seedling establishment, via any dispersal vector, may be highly edaphic.
Floods often overturn trees, leaving depressions which may then be expanded or deepened by erosion. Such clearings are essential to the establishment of seedlings in mature rain forest. Air breathers and surface swimmers, common to Amazonian waters (Roberts, 1973) are likely to travel further laterally and stay longer after the waters begin to drop but most of the spawning fish are likely to spawn in depressions, holes, and ponds to ensure longer lasting water sources after they start to recede. Those fish that provide parental care and/or are territorial may possibly carry several or many seeds to the same nesting site, either by eating single seeds or fruit with multiple seeds.
After Release of Seed by Fish: After release, a seed would preferably sink either by absorbing fluid or being denser than the medium, perhaps so as not to void selection pressures that may have brought it to a suitable habitat. The seed could then ‘wait’ for waters to recede and ‘hide’ it from predators with a layer of mud and organic material, or it could float, like water dispersed seeds and immediately get caught on something as one extreme or eventually end up at sea as the other extreme. Receding waters depositing organic matter and sediments on top of the seed would provide valuable protection from predators, as well as providing a suitable moist, soft medium in which to germinate when conditions are favorable. An abundance of stored food in large seeds enables rapid root growth so it can be well established before producing large leaf surfaces (an obvious advantage in a location that is likely to have considerable runoff at any time). There would seem to be selection for large ichthyochorous seeds in this kind of situation. According to Harper et al (1970) “Large seeds may have difficulty in obtaining sufficient water for germination from temporarily available water supplies because of their low ratio of surface to volume” and “even when fully buried, large seeds may not extract sufficient water for germination because the volume of soil from which the water must be extracted becomes appreciable, hence the common garden practice of soaking large seeds.”
2) Evolution and Ichthyochory
Water is well recognized as a dispersal agent (Ridley, 1930; Van der Pijl, 1969) in both the present and in the early evolution of seed plants but its significance may have been overestimated. Stebbins (1971) states, presumably without consideration for ichthyochory, that adaptation for transportation by water cannot be regarded as a major factor for controlling the distribution or evolutionary trends in the great majority of flowering plants since water bodies of fresh water are usually limited in extent and need additional mechanisms for wide dispersal. Perhaps cases of passive water dispersal should be reevaluated with past ichthyochory in mind.
With the radiation of birds and mammals it is likely that ichthyochory has been unable to compete except in seasonally flooded habitats such as varzea. It is possible that ichthyochory may only be an efficient mechanism for certain plants whose adaptive capability has not allowed them to compete with other plants for limited numbers of more efficient vectors (such as birds or mammals) that only recently radiated to an extent that allows them to out-compete fish in those and other riparian habitats. However, I think it would be advantageous for highly edaphic varzea plants to use vectors that were restricted to the flood plain and its related soils.
It would be difficult to speculate on the degree of fish/plant coevolutionary specificity in a situation where seeds may be a regular incidental intake but long term plant strategies and evolutionary trends may have been strongly affected by a stable water-dependent relationship lasting many millions of years.
Transitions to other vectors may have been easy under suitable conditions but large river basin environments could have provided long term stability for the development and maintenance of ichthyochory regardless of global environmental variations that effected the evolution of other flora and fauna more dramatically.
According to Valentine (1978) “The details of the diversity and abundance of plant species through the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras are largely unknown. The major transitions in the dominant floral elements resemble what was happening to land animals, but as far as one can tell they do not correspond to the events that were affecting the animals.”
Stebbins (1971) writes that changes in character syndromes of plants are more likely to occur than in individual characters and that interrelationships between characters are so complex that successful adaptive shifts usually demand simultaneous and harmonious changes in many parts of the plant. This suggests that a highly successful adaptation is likely to be retained in large part even after the selection pressure is removed. Traces of ichthyochorous adaptations might become obvious in other (dryer) habitats if plants and fishes were examined in that light. Previous adaptations for ichthyochory may show compromise adaptations to other forms of dispersal or may be more obvious than one might expect.
For example, Kramer (1978) proposes, as a possible explanation for unexplainable reproductive seasonality in fishes studied in Panama, that it may be a reflection of earlier evolution for spawning under particular conditions. Three of the six species studied ate fruits and seeds. One genus was Brycon. One of the other three was mentioned as being a fruit and seed eater by Zaret and Rand (1971).
Fossil evidence suggests periods of close correlation between the evolution of seed plants and fish.
The first seed plants developed in the Devonian and underwent considerable diversification in the Carboniferous (Valentine, 1978). These included the Pteridosperms, the first plants to have developed true ovules (Janzen, 1966) with seed coats and the ability to become detached (Delevoryas, 1966). These megaspores developed floating forms according to Potonie (1955). Van der Pijl (1969) mentions secondary characteristics in Pteridosperms which may have been attractive. This diversification mostly died out in the beginning of the Permian, and was followed by the expansion of conifers, associated with the appearance of dryer climates (Valentine, 1978). Pteridosperms were major contributors to the coal deposits of the Carboniferous.
During the Devonian there was a divergence in one evolutionary line radiating from the early lungfishes, according to Romer (1959), which may be of particular importance with respect to ichthyochory. Both adapted to shallow margins of lakes and streams (supposedly) in different ways with respect to their diet. One line, the lobefinned fishes, retained predatious habits and dentition, gave rise to amphibians, and became extinct. The other line evolved crushing dentition for feeding on shellfish and vegetation. This second line of evolution supposedly developed rapidly at first and then stabilized and remained relatively constant, giving rise to the modern lungfishes. One group can be found in South America, one in central Africa, and one in South Australia.
Radiation of the early seed plants corresponds temporally to the development of jaws (in fish), which greatly expanded the choice of food items, causing a “spectacular diversification” (Valentine, 1978). These fishes diversified into ray-fined fishes which are the ancestors of most modern fish, and the lobe-finned fishes which took several forms, most of which declined at the end of the Carboniferous.
Van der Pijl (1969) gives major credit to reptiles for dispersal of Pteridosperms in the Carboniferous but ichthyochory may have developed long before then. Regal (1978) suggests that the reptiles of the Mesozoic were not reliable visitors and sufficiently diverse to provide “quality dispersal”. Harsh chemical digestion suggests many reptiles could not have been good dispersal agents. Long distance dispersal by reptiles and early mammals (later) in wet, lowland environments might also be questioned.
Carter (1967) writes that vertebrates may have lived in freshwater environments from a very early stage in their evolution. The Rhipidistia (which were ancestral to the Amphibians), and other early osteichthyans lived in the shallow waters of fresh water swamps and pools rather than in large and deep lakes, under the warm and even tropical climates of Devonian times. Also, he writes that all the living osteichthyans (with the exception of Latimeria), and many amphibians, live in shallow tropical freshwaters.
As mentioned earlier, the characoids, with their extensive radiation and dental specificity that can’t be adequately explained, seem most closely associated with seed dispersal. The characoids are believed to be the most primitive (Greenwood et al, 1966) of the ostariophysins, with the siluroid offshoot appearing very soon after the characoids, in Gondwanaland and fresh waters probably in the Jurassic and the Triassic and prior to the Cretaceous when the continents split. The characoids provide strong evidence for the former connection of Africa to South America; the genus Brycon, the notorious Amazonian seed eater mentioned by Gottsberger (1978), and the generalized African genus Alestes appear to be the most closely related (Eigenmann, 1917; Myers, 1957; Weitzman, 1962).
The close parallel in behavior of Brycon and Alestes may be significant. According to Daget (1952), Alestes change their food habits seasonally, feeding heavily on west African flood plains on seeds, other plant matter, and insects, but subsisting on zooplankton in dry season pools. Alestes is known, at least in some species, to be potamodromous, as is Brycon, relying heavily on flood plains as feeding areas during the rainy season. They may have adapted similarly to similar conditions or perhaps they maintained previous behavior and adaptations since the Triassic or Jurassic with similar plant/fish coevolution. More information on Alestes is needed though, in relation to ichthyochory. Study and comparison of the two geographically isolated systems might be revealing.
In the Cretaceous the major speciation of the modern angiosperms occurred to spread throughout terrestrial environments, with gymnosperms declining. This period also corresponds closely with the major speciation of modern fishes and insects. By the end of the Cretaceous the reptiles and many of the large land mammals (largely undiversified) were suffering major waves of extinctions (Valentine, 1978) and the first modern birds begin to show. Most modern mammals begin to appear later, in the Paleocene and Eocene of the Tertiary period.
More notes and questions:
How close is the correlation between seed size and fish size in modern cases of ichthyochory? How important was passive water dispersal and the more efficient ichthyochory in selection for larger seed size and its implications for angiosperm evolution?
Why don’t most herbivorous fish have the endocommensal organisms for digesting cellulose? Perhaps there is a correlation between the chemistry of the water and the number of fish with or without endocommensal organisms. In an environment with many secondary compounds in the water and in the diet, especially with the periodic changes in concentrations during the year, the change in chemistry of the water or diet of the fish may be too harsh for such bacteria to adapt to.
It is also interesting that most fishes, if not all, apparently lack the ability to synthesize vitamin C (Chatterjee, 1973). Although it is not clear what requirements the fish have for the vitamin, salmon and trout are dependent on dietary vitamin C.
Can fossil seeds be found in physical proximity to fossil fish in any frequency?
What kind of seed bank exists in a varzea forest after a seasonal inundation?
Ichthyochory may have been a dominant seed dispersal mechanism effecting the evolution of seed plants for many millions of years. In light of the importance of water relations to both fish and plant and the importance of plants as a food source for fish, fish living in shallow water environments could have provided a very reliable and stable long-term influence in the evolution of seed plants. In tropical lowland forests during the Cretaceous gradually changing water courses and flood plains and occasional extensive flooding that would extend over savannas to connect river tributaries and spill into lakes could provide extensive lateral colonization and isolation of populations of plants from a genetic base being efficiently maintained and distributed by ichthyochory. This model would allow efficient competition of angiosperms with gymnosperms, especially in an environment where seasonal flooding would exclude many forms of low, dense gymnosperms and provide a means of genetic exchange between widely spaced individuals or populations along water courses. Further and more detailed investigation of the history and development of early seed plants and angiosperms in relation to corresponding changes in faunal and floral compositions, and floral vectors, and in correlation to geographical and climatic changes in the tropics where early seed plants are considered to have first appeared, may provide a range of correlations far back into the Mesozoic and Paleozoic.
Thanks to Libby Ericson (Mom) for last minute all-hours typing and emergency editing help on the original paper. Thanks to Eric Ericson (Dad) for the story about catching fish with pieces of banana while he was supposed to be doing geology field work in the Bolivian Amazon in the 1950s. Thanks to Prof. Alex Cruz for his encouragement and suggestions and allowing me to continue working on this very interesting topic for two semesters. Thanks also to G.T. Prance and W.M. Lewis Jr. for managing to read this in its original form, and for their encouragement.
1. Carter, G.S. 1967. Structure and Habit and Vertebrate Evolution. Wash. U. Press.
2. Chatterjee, I.B. 1973. Evolution and the biosynthesis of ascorbic acid. Science. Vol. 182: 1271-1272.
3. Daget, J. 1952. ‘Memoire sur la biologie des poissons du Niger Moyen. I. Biologie et croissance des especes du genre Alestes.’, Bull. Inst. fr. Afric. noire, 14: 192-225. (From Lowe-McConnell, 1975. Not available.)
4. Ducke, A. 1949. Arvores Amazonicas e sua Propagacas. Bol. Mus. para. E. Goeldi. Hist.nat. Ethnogr. 10: 81-92. (From Lowe-McConnell, 1975. Not available).
5. Eigenmann, C.H. 1917. The American Characidae, Mem. Mus. comp. Zool. Harvard, 43: 1-558.
6. Goodland, R.J.A. and Irwin, H.S. 1975. Amazon Jungle: Green Hell to Red Desert. An ecological discussion of the environmental impact of the highway construction program in the Amazon Basin. Developments in landscape management and urban planning. 1. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company. Oxford, N.Y.
7. Gottsberger, G. 1978. Seed dispersal by fish in the inundated regions of Humaita, Amazonia. Biotropica 10(3): 170-183.
8. Greenwood, et al. 1966. Phyletic studies of Teleostean fishes with provisional classification of living forms. Bull. Am. Nat. Hist., 131: 339-455.
9. Harper, J.L., et al. 1970. The shapes and sizes of seeds.
10. Irmler, U. 1979. Considerations on structure and function of the Central Amazonian inundation forest ecosystem with particular emphasis on selected soil animals. Oikos.
11. Janzen, D. H. 1966. Coevolution of mutualism between ants and acacias in Central America. Evolution 20:249-75.
12. Janzen, D.H., 1974 Tropical backwater rivers, animals, and mast fruiting by the Dipterocarpacea. Biotropica 6(2): 69-103.
13. Knoppel, H-A. 1970. Food of the Central Amazonian fishes. Amazoniana,2: 257-352. (From Lowe-McConnell. Not available).
14. Kramer, D.L., 1978. Reproductive seasonality in the fishes of a tropical stream. Ecology, 59(5): 976-985.
15. Lagler, et al. 1962. “Ichthyology.” John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York and London.
16. Lowe-McConnell, R.H. 1975. “Fish Communities in Tropical Freshwaters.” Longman, London and New York.
17. Marlier, G. 1967. Ecological studies of some lakes of the Amazon valley. Amazoniana, I: 91-115.
18. Marlier, G. 1968. Les poissonsdu lac Redondo et leur regine alimentaire; les chaines trophiques du lac Redondo; les poissons du Rio Preto da Amazonia, Manaus, Brazil. (From Lowe-McConnell. 1975. Not available).
19. Myers, G.S. 1958. Trends in the evolution of Teleostean fishes. Stanford Ichthyol. Bull. 7: 27-30.
20. Nikolsky, G. 1963. “The Ecology of Fishes.” London, New York, Academic Press.
21. Pijl, L. van der. 1969. “Principles of Dispersal in Higher Plants.”
22. Potonie, R. 1955. Zur biologie der karbonischen sporen. Palaont. Zs. Bd. 29, no. 1-2, p.27-32, illus. (ABSTRACT). Discusses the morphologic specializations developed in the Carboniferous spores as adaptations to wet and flooded terrain. Megaspores developed floating forms, while microspores specialized in equipment for anchoring to the ground or coupling with megaspores. (From: “Bibliography and Index of Geology Exclusive of North America.” Vol. 20. 1955. The Geological Society of America).
23. Prance, G.T. 1973. Phytogeographic support for the theory of Pleistocene forest refuges in the Amazon basin, based on evidence from distribution patterns Caryocaracae, Chrysobalanacae, Dichapetalacea, and Lecythidacae. Acta Amazonica 3: 5-28. (Not available).
24. Regal, P.J. 197x. Ecology and evolution of flowering plant dominance.
25. Richards, P.W. 1964. The Tropical Rain Forest. Cambridge U. Press, Cambridge.
26. Ridley, H.N. 1930. “The Dispersal of Plants Throughout the World.” Reeve, Ashford.
27. Roberts, T.R. 1973. Ecology of fishes in the Amazon and Congo basin. IN, B.J. Meggers et al. (Eds). Tropical Forest Ecosystems in Africa and South America: A Comparative Review. Smthsonian Inst. Press, Wash: 239-254.
28. Romer, A.S. 1959. The Vertebrate Story. Chicago U. Press.
29. Simpson, B.B. and Haffer, J. (1978). Speciation patterns in the Amazonian forest biota. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 9: 497-518.
30. Smythe, N. 1970. Relationships between fruiting seasons and seed dispersal methods in a neotropical forest. The Amer. Nat. Vol. 104: 25-35.
31. Snow, D.W. 1970. Evolutionary aspects of fruit eating by birds.
32. Stebbins, G.L. 1971. Adaptive radiation of reproductive characteristics in angiosperms, II: seeds and seedlings.
33. Sternberg, H.O. 1975. The Amazon River of Brazil. Franz Steiner Verlag G.M.B.H. Weisbaden.
34. Valentine, J.W. 1978. The evolution of multicellular plants and animals. Scientific American 239, no. 3.
35. Weitzman, S.H. 1962. The osteology of Brycon meeki, a generalized characoid fish, with an osteological definition of the family. Stanford Ichthyol. Bull. 8: 1-77.
36. Zaret, T.M. and Rand, A.S. 1971. Competition in tropical stream fishes; support for the competitive exclusion principle. Ecology 52: 336-342.
Copyright. All rights reserved. |
Friday, May 30, 2014
Weekly 4: History of Fibonacci
For this post, let's explore the history of Fibonacci. Leonardo Pisano (Fibonacci) was born on 1170 to Guglielmo Bonacci, a merchant of some kind. Fibonacci was educated in Bejaia, Algeria in North Africa (where his father worked). Fibonacci actually was enrolled in Bejaia's school of accounting. From all of Fibonacci and his fathers travels, Fibonacci learned the Hindu-Arabic number system, the system we use today. He was one of the first people to introduce the number system to Europe. His book on how to do operations in the new number system was called the Liber abbaci. This book convinced many mathematicians, and others, in Europe to start using the new number system. Actually, much of the book had to do with accounting mathematics: price of goods, how to calculate profit, currency conversion, etc... This number system seems very natural to us. In class it was very difficult to perform operations using roman numerals. I tried to do it and I pretty much was fed up after the first problem. I couldn't imagine doing every day operations in those cruel roman numerals. It's amazing that Fibonacci could even understand more than one number system. But, for me the truly astonishing thing Fibonacci did was to actually recognize that the Hindu-Arabic number system was easier to use. As we have seen, any new number system is hard to get used to, but to recognize one is easier than another seems so difficult. Who knows, maybe our grand children will be learning a different number system than the one we learned (hope not).
Fibonacci presented many problems in his Liber abbaci, including the one about bunnies we studied in class. Out of this problem came the Fibonacci sequence:
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, etc...
As we have seen in our math 495 class, the Fibonacci sequence has a lot to do with the golden ratio. For instance, if you take any two successive numbers in the Fibonacci sequence, the ratio gets closer and closer to the golden ratio. The golden ration also has ties to finance, biology, architecture, and many other areas. There are so many interesting things in nature that deal with the golden ratio, but this post is about Fibonacci. If you wan't to learn more about nature and the golden ration, you should read this article
Fibonacci's book also discussed perfect numbers, rational approximations of square roots of numbers, and sums of arithmetic and geometric series. This may be his most famous book, but another one of his works was Liber quadratorum. Here he discussed number theory including Pythagorean triples, square numbers, and interesting number theory results such as
there is no x, y such that x^2 + y^2 and x^2 - y^2 are both squares.
Since Fibonacci lived before printing, it was difficult to keep some of his original works. Some of his papers were actually lost, including his book on commercial arithmetic Di minor guisa.
Frederick II (the holy roman emperor at the time) actually was aware of Fibonacci because the Emperor's scholars corresponded with him after his return to Pisa in 1200 A.D. One of those scholars, Johannes of Palermo, gave some problems as challenges to Fibonacci. Fibonacci solved three of these problems and gave the solutions in his book Flos which he sent to Frederick II. I never knew mathematicians were so competitive back in the day. I imagine there was trash talking going on all over the intellectual community back then. Actually, when I think about it, we do have math competitions today in colleges and high schools; though I have yet to hear trash talk going on in my math classes. We'll save the trash talk for Richard Sherman
Fibonacci was a very important figure in mathematics and history in general. The Hindu-Arabic number system he brought to Europe was so important in the study of mathematics, science, business, and pretty much any discipline that used numbers (which was like all of them). The Fibonacci sequence is probably the most popular of all sequences because of how much of it is related to science and nature. I hope you enjoyed this non-rigorous post on Fibonacci. I usually like to post proofs and other interesting math theorems, but I'm so thankful for Fibonacci that I thought a brief biography would be nice.
Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci (JOC/EFR, October 1998 School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St. Andrews, Scotland)
Nature, The Golden Ration, and Fibonacci too (Copyright © 2011
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Weekly 3: Al Kharaji's formulas
One of my favorite things about mathematics are series. That's why when we started talking about Al Kharaji and his series formulas I couldn't help but explore and prove them. The first one we talked about was an interesting closed form for the sum of squares: (note: I'm using sum( ) instead of the summation symbol)
sum(k^2) = sum(k) + sum(k(k-1)).
To see why this is true, observe that k^2 can be manipulated in the following way:
k^2 = kk = k(k+1-1) = k(1+(k-1)) = k+k(k-1),
which means
sum(k^2) = sum( k+k(k-1)).
Now the question is, can you distribute the sum ( )? Yes of course; observe that
sum(k+k(k-1)) = (1 + 1(1-1)) + (2 + 2(2-1)) + (3 + 3(3-1)) + ...
and from each expression in the parenthesis, we can group all the first terms together and then all the second terms together to get
sum(k+k(k-1)) = (1 + 2 + 3 + ...) + (1(1-1) + 2(2-1) + 3(3-1) + ...)
where we can see that
sum(k+k(k-1)) = sum(k) + sum(k(k-1)).
Then since sum(k^2) = sum(k+k(k-1)), we have
Note that I merely explained why this is true, I didn't really prove it for the most part. Now another one of Al Kharaji's claims was
sum(k^3) = (sum(k))^2.
This one I will prove using mathematical induction (one of my favorite proof methods). To make the proof easier to read, I typed it up and put it on a pdf file. You can't really put pdf files on so I inserted them as pictures. To see them, just hold the "control" key and push the "+" key a few times to zoom in. Then to zoom out, hold the "control" key and push the "-" key, sorry about that.
I probably missed on some minor subtitles, but the main part of the proof should be fine. Now proving this wasn't so bad, it was fun. Make sure to observe the "note" at the end of the proof. I had to actually use the sum of integers formula (lemma 1) to prove sum(k^3) = (sum(k))^2 (lemma 1 actually serves as my daily 5 assignment). I imagine that to prove the sum of squares or sum of cubes formulas, you could use mathematical induction and the proofs would be straightforward; but, let's save those for a different post. I hope we explore more series in the future. If we do, expect more proofs in my blogs. :)
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Weekly 2: Wallpaper groups (Revised)
One interesting connection between geometry and algebra is the idea of wallpaper groups. To explain what it is, let's first discuss symmetry groups. Remember in MTH 410 (Modern Algebra II) where we first started discussing groups. A group is a set combined with one operation that satisfy the four group axioms; let me explain.
A group is a set G on which we define one binary operation "*" that satisfy the following axioms:
1. For all a,b in G, a*b is also in G (G is closed under its operation).
2. For all a,b,c in G, (a*b)*c = a*(b*c), (* is associative in G).
3. There exists an element i in G such that for all a in G, a*i = a = i*a (G has an identity element).
4. For all a in G, there exists b in G such that a*b = i = b*a (each element in G has an inverse).
Some examples of a group are: the set of integers over addition, the set of non-zero rational numbers under multiplication, and the set of all n by n matrices with real entries under standard addition. For a symmetry group, the set is a collection of symmetries (rotations, translations, reflections, and glide-reflections) and the operation is function composition. For example, to perform a horizontal reflection composed with a 180 degree rotation on a rectangle, you would first rotate the rectangle 180 degrees and then reflect it about a horizontal line through its center. Some other examples are the group of symmetries of a square, triangle, or hexagon. So then a wallpaper group is a 2 dimensional symmetric group that is a repetitive pattern (like a wallpaper) that is categorized and classified by its symmetries. There are only 17 different types of wallpaper groups. A reason for this is because though many patterns and tessellations may look completely different, they would still fall into the same wallpaper group (essentially they have the same symmetries). The first proof that there are only 17 was actually written pretty recently by Evgraf Fedorov in 1891. Though, knowledge of some of these different groups were already known throughout history. Some of the works by M.C. Escher actually belong in one of the 17 groups. Now let's explore some of the 17 wallpaper groups. An example of the wallpaper group "p1" is
This group has 2 translational symmetries. For this particular tessellation, it can be translated in two ways (up/down and left/right). An example of the wallpaper group "p2" is
This group has translations and rotations only. The tessellation above can be translated to the left or right and rotated 180 degrees. An example of the wallpaper group "pm" is
This group has a reflection symmetry and a translational symmetry. This tessellation can be reflected about a vertical line through the center and be shifted to the left/right and still keep its design. An example of the wallpaper group "p4" is
This group has translations and 90 degree rotations. This particular tessellation can translated at about a 150 degree angle and be rotated 90 degrees and still keep its shape. Things get difficult when certain groups start having glide reflections (combination of a reflection and translation). The groups I mentioned above are the more simpler ones. Wallpaper groups are a great way to connect geometry to algebra (or more generally, symmetry groups). Take MTH 410 if you would like to learn more about symmetry groups as a whole. In the future, I would like to explore why there are only 17 wallpaper groups and the proof behind it. I tried to look online and I couldn't find a real good proof. So the best option would probably be to get a book about symmetry groups on amazon.
A. Nelson, H. Newman, M. Shipley: 17 PLANE SYMMETRY GROUPS.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Daily 2: Propositions 5-11
The wording on Euclid's book VII, propoitions 5 through 11 seemed very murky. There were no translations for those propositions on our class google.doc. So for my post, I wanted to "decode" propositions 5 through 11, without looking it up on google or something. That proved to take more than a few hours. So for this post I will be translating proposition 5. Though the rest of the 6 through 11 have very similar wording; so translating 5 can help build on those. Here it is,
(Caution: this is just an attempt, I'm not 100% sure on the translation.)
Proposition 5: If a number is part of a number, and another is the same part of another, then the sum is also the same part of the sum that the one is of the one.
Translation: Let x,y,z,x1,y1,z1 be non-zero real numbers. If xy = z, x1y1 = z1, and x/z = x1/z1, then
(x + x1)/(z + z1) = x/z.
Now let's break down some of Euclid's terms. It seems like if we have a number (x) being a part of another number (z), then the term "part" means z/x. For instance, 2 is a part of 8 because 2 is 8/2 = 4 parts of 8. Also, the phrase "the one is of the one" is referring to (x) of (z), where (x) is z/x parts of (z)
Now using the notation above, I will restate the proposition, adding in notes as necessary.
New Proposition 5: If a number (x) is part of a number (z, where xy = z), and another (x1) is the same part of another (y1, where x1y1 = z1 and z/x = z1/x1), then the sum (x + x1) is also the same part of the sum (z + z1) that the one is of the one ((z + z1)/(x + x1) = z/x).
I had to read the proposition like 10 times to get it in my mind. When Euclid says "the one is of the one," it's very confusing and it's not so clear what he is referring to. I actually found the translation by ignoring the one to one part. The propositions 6-11 follow similar wording make similar algebraic claims. So after translating 5, they don't seem so bad. As part of the main daily 2 work, I wrote a proof for this proposition.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
What is math?
Mathematics is the study of how our universe operates. Math is a way to interpret nature using ideas like calculus, rings, topology, or lie Algebras. Math is based on logic; any mathematical proof is a series of logical steps that arrive at a certain conclusion. But, this "definition" of math is probably lacking in some way. Math encompasses so much, it's hard to describe all of what it is. So how about I describe parts of it, from my experience.
For most of the math classes I've taken, I was given a set of elements, a couple of operations, and some basic definitions (for instance a ring). Then the rest of the class was just exploring that set of elements by understanding different properties (if the ring was a field or commutative) and theorems (the isomorphism theorems of rings). That was honestly modern algebra I and II, linear algebra I and II, and topology. But, then you have your calculus and advanced calculus classes. There, you would study limits, sequences, series, continuity, derivatives, integrals, etc... Then of course you have probability and statistics. I could go on and on. But, to better understand what math is, study it! Learn about the different areas of mathematical research (algebra, geometry, differential algebra, algebraic topology, etc...). Learn about the countless properties of the real and complex numbers. The study of math is so vast. One thing that got me more interested in mathematics was its history.
Here are some of my favorite moments/discoveries in the history of mathematics. One of the most important mathematical works is Euclid's Elements. Euclid essentially took all of Greek geometry at his time and made it into a book. He had his axioms/postulates from where he started and then came up with many geometrical theorems and properties. Then of course we have the discovery of calculus by Newton AND Liebniz in the 1700s (or 1600s I think). After the discovery of calculus, the study of physics progressed rapidly. And then we have the mathematical discovery machine in the great Leonhard Euler. He was born a genius and had John Bernoulli as a mentor growing up. Euler made contributions in all areas of mathematics: complex analysis, calculus, geometry, number theory. Even after his death he had some of his works still being published. Euler is my favorite mathematician. I also would like to mention Rene Descartes. From what I've read, much of our algebraic notation we use today is from him. One last mathematician I would like to mention is Evariste Galios. I will not spoil everything for those who have not heard of him. Look him up, his story is astounding. |
A Center for Internet Volunteerism,
Instruction and Collaboration
Humanity continues to be faced with myriad problems of a global nature. Old problem-solving methods are either not working at all or not working quickly enough. We need to make profound changes in human practices to prevent further escalation of wars and environmental destruction. Fortunately, new problem-solving methods are emerging.
Our current global economic system is predicated on competition and endless growth, virtually ignoring cooperation and steady-state as possible survival strategies. When the prevailing "game" dictates there have to be winners and losers, conflict in inevitable. Where there is conflict, there is desperation and destruction. When people have no other ways to live, they "eat the seed grain"-destroying all possible futures for present survival. A new "game" is needed.
We should seek to "play well with others" in a new "game" that reduces desperation and destruction, as a matter of survival as a species, even of survival as a living planet.
Therefore, we must begin cooperating on a global scale to achieve a steady-state sustainable society, but how? Many traditional cultures are called "gift cultures" because most of their exchanges of goods and services occur as gifts instead of trade. Some have compared the open source software movement to traditional gift cultures.
Consider this: If thousands of volunteer programmers world-wide can cooperate to produce a free operating system like Linux that rivals its best commercial equivalents, then maybe, just maybe, anything is still possible. Consider the magnitude of that achievement for a moment. On the one hand you have Microsoft with billions of dollars of resources and thousands of employees. On the other hand you have a chaotic, self-organizing, globally distributed team of engineers working without pay simply because they want to enjoy the fruit of their collective labor. Think of it.
Eric S. Raymond wrote a book about open source development methodology entitled, "The Cathedral and the Bazaar". Raymond outlined 19 points that contribute to the success of the open source methodology. I have studied all his points in detail and I see no reason why the Bazaar methodology can't be applied to real-world problems in addition to software development.
It's a question of different tools for different communities of interest. The global community of software developers only needed the internet, a text editor (vi or emacs, take your pick) and a C compiler to really get things rolling. Communities of marine biologists, botanists, organic farmers, school teachers, environmental lawyers, activists, politicians, doctors, green architects, students, retired people and artists will all require different tools to support different patterns of communication and different information storage and retrieval requirements. But once they have the tools they need to collaborate on a global scale- just imagine the creative forces that could be unleashed!
We are already seeing some encouraging results when online citizens contact their representatives in Washington to demonstrate public support for campaign finance reform and for keeping the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge safe from oil drilling. We've already seen results from groups like E-LAW using the internet to facilitate global collaboration to protect endangered species from destruction of habitat. Much, much more is possible. What's still largely missing are internet-based global collaboration "environments" tailored to the various communities that need to cooperate to save our biosphere.
Linux, Apache, PHP and MySQL have already been written and are already free for non-commercial uses. These foundations are solid enough to build just about any collaborative environment on top of.
A new software package is currently being tested that will greatly facilitate the creation of on-line database-transacting forms. Essentially, the software takes any MySQL database table and produces HTML forms for entering, editing, querying and deleting rows in the given database table. The appearance of the forms can be easily modified using web forms also created using the new form creation tool.
Given these tools and some training in relational database analysis and design, a web designer of average skill can interview stakeholders in the various collaborative communities and easily produce diverse web sites. These web sites could be used, for example, to track air and water pollution data, timber sales, pesticide applications, toxicology data, social learning survey instruments, public opinion polls, legislative bills, initiative petitions, epidemiological studies, volunteer skill sets or any number of other types of information useful for solving real-world problems.
I envision a center that specializes in training and coaching webmaster volunteers to use both open source and commercial software tools to create collaborative web sites, each dedicated to a large-scale problem facing the world today. The web sites would be designed to help organize communication within each specific community of users to enhance "bazaar" methodology applied to specific real-world problems. I call the proposed center the Center for Internet Volunteerism, Instruction and Collaboration-CIVIC. The center could be an office within OPN, because it would use OPN classroom space, server rooms, and possibly other resources. It is my hope that the web sites created through CIVIC would help unleash the "bazaar"-style collaborative potential of hundreds or thousands of specialists worldwide for each web site developed.
Eric Raymond wrote "Given a large enough … co-developer [community], almost every problem will be characterized quickly and the fix obvious to someone." There are six billion people with a vested interest in solving the world's problems. All that's needed are new ways of coordinating their efforts.
-- Marc Baber (marc@opn.org)
Boardmember, Oregon Public Networking
President, The Bot Works, Inc.
Eugene, Oregon, USA
May 2, 2002 |
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
The "Midg" Falling Plate Camera
The "Midg." Falling Plate Camera
"It may be worth recalling that in those days hand cameras were called detective cameras, due to a popular belief that they were used by the police in the detection of crime. They used 1/4-plates (then thought small) held in sheathes and changed by a bag, or by a mechanism that could be relied on to jamb [sic] at critical moments. Serious workers and really nice people would have scorned to be seen with a hand camera."
Letter to Miniature Camera Magazine, September 1937
The introduction of the dry gelatin photographic plate was one of the most important factors in the mass popularisation of photography, soon to be followed by the innovation of film itself. The technology immediately preceding, the wet plate, had the distinct disadvantage of sheets of glass needing to be coated, shot and developed all within a very short time. The new dry plate could be coated with photographic emulsion and then stored until use - and stored again until development. Additionally, with time no longer a critical factor, both coating and development of the glass plates became two operations that a photographer could delegate to specialists. The convenience of the dry plate resulted in new forms of cameras being introduced to take advantage of this technology. In the quote above from Miniature Camera Magazine, the writer is recalling his experiences of photography in the 1890s, in contrast to the cameras of the 1930s: the magazine was dedicated the 'miniature' formats of 127 and 120 rollfilm, and 35mm. The 'detective cameras' referred to are a form of box camera: the nomenclature appears to have been used to contrast these against the typical whole- or half-plate 'stand' cameras of the time, wood and brass bellows cameras normally used on a tripod. Although by no means small, the detective camera, usually a leather covered box camera, would have appeared a relatively unobtrusive piece of equipment. As the letter describes, these were cameras which carried a magazine of plates, sometimes changed by a bag attached to the camera, or by a mechanism allowing a series of plates to be exposed and then stored inside the camera. A common version of this was the falling plate type: glass plates (or, in a few cameras, sheet film) either fell into place to be exposed, or, as was more common, fell out of place once exposed. Unlike stand cameras with separate single or double plate holders, the magazine camera had the convenience of holding (usually) a dozen plates at a time and could be used hand-held.
The Midg (sic) was one such camera, popular in Britain at the start of the 20th century. The small round badge between the viewfinder lenses has its name written as The "Midg." - complete with double inverted commas and full stop. It was sold by Butcher and Sons, which would later join with Hougtons and eventually become Ensign. The name suggests a small camera; its dimensions are 18.5 x 21 x 10.5cm, making it very large when compared to rollfilm box cameras of the same period or slightly later. There were a number of models of the Midg, some with focussing lenses, some with front movements. My camera has neither, so would appear to be a No. 0, likely a back-formed model number after new, more advanced, Midg cameras appeared; the f8 lens would place its date from 1905 onwards; earlier cameras had slower lenses.
Although badged by Butcher and Sons, the camera itself would have been made by another company, not an uncommon practice. The Living Camera Museum entry for the Midg states that it was "probably made in Germany"; Grace's Guide gives the following useful entry:
1915. Houghtons Ltd and W. Butcher and Sons Ltd formed a joint venture Houghton-Butcher Manufacturing Co Ltd to share manufacturing facilities. This agreement was essential for Butcher, which had no manufacturing plant and was mainly trading imported German cameras before the outbreak of World War 1. The two companies continued to trade separately, and the camera designs remained distinct. [my emphasis]
As many of these falling plate cameras were designed along very similar lines, it is by no means easy to discover the original manufacturer of the Midg purely by comparing images of cameras online (it is possible that the Midg was made exclusively for Butcher, but far more likely it would also have been sold under another name in Germany). However, according to Camera-Wiki, Butcher did sell cameras by Huttig, notably the Gnom and the Aviso as the Little Nipper, so it may just be possible that the Midg was another Huttig camera (it also mentions Ica, but not any specific models). The Midg first appeared in 1904 (Early Photography gives c.1903 as the date), and was still being advertised in the early 1920s. Generally, the magazine camera as a type was popular from the 1890s to around the time of the first world war; the Midg itself has a small role in popular culture thanks to the Cottingley Fairies hoax. For the first photographs in 1917, Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths used Elsie's father's Midg; once these images had become famous, the girls were given Cameo cameras in 1920 to take more photographs, moving from falling plate to folding cameras, and in doing so perhaps demonstrating the decline in use of the falling plate camera.
The Midg is a quarterplate magazine camera and takes twelve glass plates in metal holders. As photographic plates were usually sold in one-dozen packs, it would be possible to load a whole pack of plates at a time. The image below shows the back of the camera opened: the bolt mechanism on top of the camera releases each exposed plate to fall into the bottom of the camera. This also has a small round window which shows numbers 1 to 12 as the plates are advanced; this has to be manually set. Plates from the bottom of the camera can be removed (in the darkroom) while unexposed plates are still in position. Some falling plate cameras had split backs for this purpose, but as the Midg has a separate pressure plate this is not necessary (in some cameras, the spring was fixed directly to the inside of the camera back).
Back opening showing pressure plate and plateholders
Back opened to show spring mechanism
The metal holders are removed from the camera for loading and unloading. To load the camera, these are placed on two rails, just visible in the image above. The holders, below, have two pins at the bottom, which are positioned under the rails when loading, before the pressure plate and spring are then closed, along with the camera back. Along one side of the holders are holes, in groups of three, a marking which numbers the plates on exposure from one to twelve. My camera was missing two holders (numbers 3 and 11).
Midg plateholders showing edge markings
Inside the camera when I received it, the plateholders were loaded with glass plates: six of these were blank, unexposed, but four of these had negatives inside. Leaving aside the question as to why the negatives had been reloaded into the camera, it was clear - due to the markings on their edges - that these pictures had been shot with this same camera. The negatives all looked overexposed with uneven patches of fogging, probably from light leaks. I made contact prints from the negatives, three of which showed the same woman, one joined by a man, below, and the fourth with the some flowers - perhaps the same flowers seen in the photograph below.
Negative found inside the camera
The lens is an f8 Primus Rapid Symmetrical lens, essentially a Rapid Rectilinear design, stopping down to f32 (when cleaning the camera, I removed the plate around the lens and found the back of it with aperture markings engraved down to f44). The lens is fixed, but is provided with three supplementary close-up lenses. The pointer underneath the lens rotates these into place behind the front lens element for pictures at distances of 9, 6, and 3 feet (the position without these supplementary lenses is marked 'open' rather than infinity). This does mean that there is no intermediate focussing, and in use, I found these distances were not very accurate; other versions of the Midg have distances of 4, 8, 12, feet, which from my results when using the 6 and 3 feet settings, felt as though these distances might be more realistic.
Shutter adjustment instructions
The shutter appears to be an everset self-capping, sector type. An arrow beside the lens is switched to either T for 'Time' or I for 'Instant' settings. On I, shutter speeds are set on a dial, from 1 second, through 1/2, 1/4 1/10, 1/20, 1/50, 1/75, to 1/100. Inside the camera back is a pasted notice about adjusting the shutter tension, from which I inferred that possibly the shutter works with intermediate timings when set between speeds. The shutter release is a lever on the side of the body which has a simple lock position.
Midg finder showing laterally reversed image
Framing is achieved by two large (and surprisingly clear) viewfinders with laterally reversed images. Before using the camera, it needed a good deal of cleaning, having a smell about it of many decades in an attic. In cleaning, I removed most of the metalwork from the body, including the plate changing mechanism itself. This fits into a rather roughly cut section of the wooden top to the camera. The metal frames of the viewfinders were simply fixed by panel pins into the wood. Although there was a small amount of corrosion on the mirrors, once cleaned these provide the best images I've seen on viewfinders of this type. The hand strap had been replaced by a home made version at some point - the underside has an embossed line bearing no relation to its shape, obviously cut from a larger piece of leather. In renovating the camera, I didn't attempt to take apart the shutter. This fired, but stuck at slower speeds. I attempted to adjust it as described by the notice inside, but this made no difference; possibly at 1/100th it is accurate. I did shoot a couple of images at 1/100th 'wide' open at f8, but these were quite underexposed.
Having used old, previously unexposed photographic plates successfully in the past, obviously I wanted to use the Midg to shoot glass plates; I had seen a few examples online of these cameras being used contemporaneously with film or paper, but none shot with actual glass plates. For the first photographs with the Midg, I chose a box of Ilford Soft Gradation Panchromatic plates. I've shot a number of these plates in different sizes from the 1940s through to the 1960s with almost universally good results. This particular box had a 1930s-1940s style label but unlike many other boxes of Ilford glass plates, although it was sealed, there was neither a label under the wrapping with developer formula and a date code, nor a separate leaflet inside to date it more securely. I rated the plates at 25, and, except for one underexposed image, I used a tripod and the T setting for all the shots. As a result, I mostly used apertures of f16-f32 to provide exposures of 2-10 seconds, easier to achieve manually, than trying to get a 1/2 or 1/4 second. I also used a yellow filter for many of the shots: as well as providing definition to the skies, this also functioned as a neutral density filter, giving longer exposures, again, making it easier use the shutter on its T setting.
Ilford Soft Gradation Panchromatic plate
Ilford Soft Gradation Panchromatic plate
I shot some plates with the camera in a vertical position; using the camera horizontally, after exposing the plate above, I tried the plate advance mechanism, only to find that, although the spring pushed the plate forward and released it, while horizontal, the plate didn't drop in to base of the camera cleanly, and, even with some shaking about, it got stuck at an angle. This showed up in as a shadow across the corner of the next plate exposed (below), and I was not able to advance this plate to take any more photographs. This was very much what I expected might happen - and I could have confirmed this without potentially wasting a glass plate - however, given the dark area at the top of the affected plate below, the top left corner being occluded in this way is not especially distracting. After this, when shooting horizontal images, I turned the camera back to its vertical orientation before advancing to the next plate.
Ilford Soft Gradation Panchromatic plate
The camera is designed to hold the plates in place once these have dropped into its base by two sprung metal runners in the front, which have six pairs of protruding notches, made to secure two exposed plates at a time, as in the image below; the door of the camera has an angled profile that fits underneath the pressure plate, as can be seen in the photographs further up in this post, to ensure, once exposed, the plates are do not move around inside the body of the camera, even if the camera is turned upside down.
Camera interior showing notched metal springs
Having shot a whole box's worth of Ilford Soft Gradation Panchromatic plates, I wanted to try some different glass plates. Having three as-yet unopened boxes of Kodak P1200 Super Panchro-Press plates from the 1950s, I loaded a few holders with these, and shot them at the same time as some Ilford F.P.3 sheet film. However, when it came to developing the Kodak plates, opening the tank once these were in the fixer I could see the emulsion lifting off the glass. None of the plates had the emulsion detach completely, so this was an extreme example of what is known as 'frilling'; the plates also had patches which look like mould obscuring the images on the negatives, which are just discernible, but the difference from the Ilford plates is very marked.
Kodak P1200 Super Pancro-Press
As well as glass plates, I also wanted to shoot some film with the Midg. I already possessed a number of film sheaths in the quarterplate size, and some, but no means all, of these fitted into the Midg's plateholders. I have read about falling plate cameras needing the weight of glass to provide the impetus for the plate to fall once released, but in the Midg, the plateholders happily fall into the bottom of the camera while empty, so using film instead of glass plates did not cause any difficulties. I first shot some Ilford F.P.3 film from late 1940s. Ilford introduced F.P.3 in 1946; my box had a leaflet inside the box dated to May 1949. I had previously tested this box of film by shooting a sheet with my Ensign Klito camera; the FP3 film has some degradation due to its age, but by increasing the exposure and achieving a denser negative means this became less obvious - it shows more clearly in areas of flat tone. Despite being nearly 70 years old, the film was still quite responsive: I shot a first few exposures rated at 25; however, with some uneven marks that I suspected might be due to the interleaving black paper (possibly not acid free), I subsequently rated the films at 12 to reduce the appearance of these marks.
Ilford F.P.3 film, rated 25
Ilford F.P.3 film, rated 12
Finally, I also shot some process-type emulsions in both film and plates. I used some Kodak Ortho Type 3 film with a 'develop before' date of April 1970 and Ilford N.50 Thin Film Half Tone plates, dating to April 1957. As expected, both these emulsions were high in contrast, which was a little problematic with subjects containing bright sun and deep shadows, shot on sunny evenings. The Kodak film was stand developed in Ilfotec LC29 with a high dilution of 1:150, while the N.50 plates were tray developed in RO9 One Shot, also at 1:150, by inspection under a red safelight.
Kodak Kodalith Ortho Type 3 film
Ilford N.50 Thin Film Half Tone plate
Sources/further reading:
The Midg on Camera Wiki
The Midg on Living Image
The Cottingley Fairies photographs
Detective Cameras on Early Photography, including the Midg
1. Hi there! I just inherited one of these cameras from my grandad, and it looks to be in pretty good nick, and has 9 plate holders, so I'm very keen to give it a go. My biggest obstacle at the moment is the absence of a shutter-firing mechanism. Looking at it, it seems I need a cable release of some sort, but while I can see where that screws into the camera at the side, there's nothing inside to connect it to the actual lens. Can you send me a photo of your set up in from the front, with the front door open, please? That'd be most helpful!
1. My camera is the more basic version of the Midg - it does not have a door at the front that opens (I did attempt to get the front pant off but the screws are rusted fast) - so I can't really help here.
2. Hello! I am a photo researcher and am looking for photos of the plates for the Midg to include in a book about the Cottingley fairies. Please email my work address if interested in licensing your photo for the book. sweldon (at) dinardodesign (dot) com. The book is a primary school reading book produced for Heinemann publishers. Thanks, Sonja
3. Sorry,the midg I have has two different gauges by the lens.the little round name plate has gone but looks very similar to the one on here otherwise. |
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Thursday, October 9, 2008
What is Ampere?
An French Physicist had invented the findings on interaction of Electricity and magnetism; showed that electric current exerts forces on one another. It is a unit of electric current equal to a flow of one coulomb of electric charge every second. It is abbreviated to A or amp. |
How acidosis develops during exercise
January 10, 2012 - 07:16
Vigorous exercise causes lactic acid to accumulate in our muscles, making them acidotic. New research shows that several key organs play a surprising role in this process – even during moderate exercise.
It was previously thought that the kidneys were to blame for the muscles becoming acidotic during vigorous exercise like sprinting on a bicycle. But this has now been shown to be incorrect. (Photo: Colourbox)
If you have ever tried sprinting hard on a bicycle, you will know about the heavy sensation coming from your legs. It happens because the muscles accumulate lactic acid, and this makes them acidotic.
New research shows what happens when the lactic acid concentration in the blood reaches 4 millimoles per litre (4 mmol/l). The stamina of athletes is often tested at this lactic acid level, since it is known that 4 mmol/l is the most appropriate level for exercise.
The liver is to blame
Researchers from Aalborg University and Copenhagen University Hospital have discovered that when the lactic acid concentration in the blood is 4 mmol/l, it is the liver, not the kidneys as previously thought, which is unable to eliminate lactic acid quickly enough. The concentration of lactic acid is observed to increase exponentially with the muscle workload.
At the commencement of exercise, anaerobic metabolism takes place. This form of metabolism, which does not use oxygen, causes the formation of lactic acid. As the lungs begin to supply more oxygen to the body, aerobic metabolism also comes into play. (Photo: Colourbox)
The study itself was carried out by a team led by Associate Professor Stefanos Volianitis of the Department of Health Science and Technology at Aalborg University. He believes the new results could have significance for the way we view the role of various body organs during exercise.
"The study has shown that the ability of the kidneys to eliminate lactic acid is as good during moderate exercise as when the body is at rest,” he says. “One can imagine that our performance under more intensive training can be improved if the kidneys are kept in good condition by drinking plenty of fluids and avoiding too much alcohol intake."
Undeterred muscles
Hitherto, the 4 mmol/l lactic acid concentration in the blood was viewed as the anaerobic threshold – in other words, it was thought that muscles suddenly started producing a lot more lactic acid under exertion.
A mole of a chemical substance is its molecular weight in grams. Lactic acid has a molecular weight of 90, so one mole of lactic acid weighs 90 grams.
A millimole (mmol) is a thousandth of a mole. A millimole of lactic acid weighs 0.09 grams.
During moderate exercise the pulse rate is 140, which equates to 4 mmol/l lactic acid in the blood.
Anaerobic metabolism is metabolism that does not use oxygen, and typically occurs when the body first starts doing physical work. It is this form of metabolism that produces lactic acid. When the lungs get going and pump oxygen round the body in the blood, aerobic metabolism – which uses oxygen – comes into play along with the anaerobic metabolism.
The new research has revealed that there is an 'elimination limit' that occurs sooner than the anaerobic threshold, a finding that turns the previous held view of lactic acid upside down. Professor Niels Secher of Copenhagen University Hospital, who was involved in the study, explains:
"From the muscles' perspective, nothing special happens at the exercise intensity which generates a lactic acid concentration of 4 mm/l. The muscles simply produce lactic acid in proportion to the workload," he says. "So instead of it being seen as a sudden increase in the amount of lactic acid that the muscles produce, it should be seen as a reduction in the body organs' capacity to remove it."
Kidney function maintained
At rest, most people have a lactic acid concentration in the blood of approx. 1.5 mmol/l.
The lactic acid balance is the equilibrium between the formation and elimination of lactic acid in the body.
When the body is at rest, the liver and the kidneys do most of the work of eliminating lactic acid from the blood. The research team investigated what happens when the balance shifts and lactic acid accumulates under moderate exercise.
Nine volunteers were asked to exercise on fitness bikes until their pulse rate reached 140, which equates to 4 mmol/l lactic acid in the blood. Tests were then made to examine how the liver and kidneys coped with the workload.
"It was important to make the measurements while the volunteers were on the fitness bikes to obtain as accurate a picture as possible of the behaviour of the liver and kidneys under moderate exercise," says Volianitis.
Acidosis is caused by the accumulation of lactic acid in the muscles. Acidosis is also observed in the rest of the body, though not to the same extent and not as quickly.
The surprising finding was that the ability of the kidneys to eliminate lactic acid was not affected in any way by the workload. It was the liver – which normally does most of the elimination work – that was affected. This explains why it is that lactic acid starts to accumulate at this threshold level.
Magic threshold
"The most unexpected result was that the kidneys remained able to eliminate lactic acid at the same rate as when the body is at rest," says Secher. "When we exercise, extra blood is pumped to the muscles and less to the organs. During moderate exercise, the bloodflow through the kidneys drops by 30 percent, but it doesn't seem to affect their performance in the least."
Conversely, it is exactly the reduced bloodflow which stops the liver from being able to eliminate lactic acid from the blood above the 4 mmol/l threshold level.
"It is interesting to discover what happens at this level because there are countless sportspeople who measure their lactic acid concentration. Before now, it was not known why 4 mmol/l was the magic threshold," says Secher.
The results of the study have been published in the Journal of Sport Sciences.
Read the article in Danish at
Translated by
Nigel Mander
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The Truth About Slavery and Racism
It is strange but a constant how our history keeps evolving when ever the media or politicians get evolved. What is more astonishing is how our minorities in this country never research the history of civil rights but believe what ever the media and politicians say, the same ones who keep lying to us day in and out. If you are a minority, have you researched your history to see what is fact an what is fiction; I bet not. History doesn't evolve no matter what the politicians say and many of them who say they marched for equal rights never left the couch. It was and still is a worth while fight but the problem is most minorities do not see that they once again becoming slaves of a chosen group of elitist so lets take a look at history.
September 22, 1862: Republican President Abraham Lincoln issues preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.
January 1, 1863: Emancipation Proclamation, implementing the Republicans’ Confiscation Act of 1862, takes effect: The Democratic Party continues to Support Slavery.
February 9, 1864: Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton deliver over 100,000 signatures to U.S. Senate supporting Republicans’ plans for constitutional amendment to ban slavery.
June 15, 1864: Republican Congress votes equal pay for African-American troops serving in U.S. Army during Civil War.
January 31, 1865: 13th Amendment banning slavery passed by U.S. House with unanimous Republican support, intense Democrat opposition: Republican Party Support: 100% Democratic Party Support: 23%.
April 8, 1865: 13th Amendment banning slavery passed by U.S. Senate: Republican support 100% Democrat support 37%.
November 22, 1865: Republicans denounce Democrat legislature of Mississippi for enacting “black codes,” which institutionalized racial discrimination.
December 6, 1865: Republican Party’s 13th Amendment, banning slavery, is ratified.
*1865: The KKK launches as the “Terrorist Arm” of the Democratic Party.
May 10, 1866: U.S. House passes Republicans’ 14th Amendment guaranteeing due process and equal protection of the laws to all citizens; 100% of Democrats vote no.
July 16, 1866: Republican Congress overrides Democrat President Andrew Johnson’s veto of Freedman’s Bureau Act, which protected former slaves from “black codes” denying their rights. Black Codes- Enacted in 1865 and 1866, the laws were designed to replace the social controls of slavery that had been removed by the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
July 30, 1866: Democrat-controlled City of New Orleans orders police to storm racially-integrated Republican meeting; raid kills 40 and wounds more than 150.
March 30, 1868: Republicans begin impeachment trial of Democrat President Andrew Johnson, who declared: “This is a country for white men, and by God, as long as I am President, it shall be a government of white men”.
1868 (July 9): 14th Amendment passes and recognizes newly freed slaves as U.S. Citizens: Republican Party Support: 94% Democratic Party Support: 0%.
September 3, 1868: 25 African-Americans in Georgia legislature, all Republicans, expelled by Democrat majority; later reinstated by Republican Congress.
October 7, 1868: Republicans denounce Democratic Party’s national campaign theme: “This is a white man’s country: Let white men rule”.
November 3, 1868: Republican Ulysses Grant defeats Democrat Horatio Seymour in presidential election; Seymour had denounced Emancipation Proclamation.
December 10, 1869: Republican Gov. John Campbell of Wyoming Territory signs FIRST-in-nation law granting women right to vote and to hold public office.
February 3, 1870: The US House ratifies the 15th Amendment granting voting rights to all Americans regardless of race: Republican support: 97% Democrat support: 3%.
February 25, 1870: Hiram Rhodes Revels becomes the first Black seated in the US Senate, becoming the First Black in Congress and the first Black Senator. A Black Democrat Senator didn’t show up for 123 years later on Capitol Hill until 1993.
April 20, 1871: Republican Congress enacts the (anti) Ku Klux Klan Act, outlawing Democratic Party-affiliated terrorist groups which oppressed African-Americans.
The Congressional records don't lie, there was a strong push in the Democratic party against all civil rights legislation, look up the following:
Civil Rights Act 1866
Reconstruction Act of 1867
Freedman Bureau Extension Act of 1866
Enforcement Act of 1870
Force Act of 1871
Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871
Civil Rights Act of 1875
Civil Rights Act of 1957
Civil Rights Act of 1960
And during the 60's many Democrats fought hard to defeat the:
1964 Civil Rights Act
1965 Voting Rights Acts
1972 Equal Employment Opportunity Act, Congressional records show after signing the 1972 Equal Employment Opportunity Act and issuing Executive Order 11478, Richard Nixon, a Republican, that started what we know as Affirmative Action.
On December 15, 1994, federal Judge David V. Kenyon issued a court order to the Clinton Administration in the Case of Fairchild v Robert Reich Secretary of Labor (#CV92-5765 Kn). The order demanded that Secretary Reich and the Clinton Administration force 100 west coast shipping to develop an Affirmative Action plan to stop discrimination against, African Americans, Hispanics, Female and Disabled Workers. Female employees were being sexually harrassed, Hispanic were being denied promotions and training, Disable Workers were being laid off, and African Americans were being force to work in an environment where they had job classification called " Nigger Jobs." Clinton left office six years later and never complied with the court order.
I know, this is old news but I believe racism needs to be stomped out where ever it is, but it needs to be done on all sides. Why does the NAACP come out if someone attacks a Democrat but not a Republican; what about Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson calling Clarence Thomas an 'Uncle Tom'?
Donald Sterling is band for life for racist comments (rightfully so) but Democratic politicians and leaders are still making racist remark with no repercussions; the same should be done to them as was Donald Sterling. Below are some examples:
The president even said "White folks' greed runs a world in need", this is racism today which shows the Democratic party hasn't changed a bit. By indoctrinating youth that they are "owed and entitled" to other peoples money instead of making people stand on their own two feet and being responsible for their own destiny, the Democratic party has almost single handedly assured the next fifty years of race fighting. The redistributing of wealth does nothing to help a soul and will just bring our nation down. Look up our history; you can't trust the politicians or the media to tell you the truth about anything past or present.
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This article is about the United States as it appears in the Worldwar series. For other versions, see the United States of America.
The United States of America was a North American republic, officially founded in 1776, which gained its independence from Britain in 1783 after a lengthy revolutionary war.
In 1942, the United States was one of several countries involved in World War II when the Race's Conquest Fleet invaded Earth. In short order, it became one of the critical Big Five powers who were able to successfully fend off the Race, and by the Peace of Cairo in 1944, was one of the three powers to maintain diplomatic relations with the Race.
By the fourth decade of the 21st Century, thanks to a combination of cultural factors unique to the country and simple luck, the United States stood on the brink of surpassing the Race in terms of technological advancement.
US flag with 48 stars
1942-1945 Edit
On December 7, 1941, Japanese forces attacked the United States base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, drawing the US into World War II on the side of the Allies. Less than six months later, the Race's Conquest Fleet invaded Earth, and that war was abandoned as every human nation was thrown into a fight for its survival.
Mushroom Cloud
American physicists enabled the United States to obtain diplomatic recognition from the Race by building atomic bombs in the nick of time
The US military fared badly in the first year of the war, with Race forces taking pockets of territory throughout the Midwest and destroying Washington, DC with an explosive-metal bomb. In the winter of 1942-3, however, US generals George Patton and Omar Bradley, taking advantage of the Race's low tolerance for cold temperatures, launched a counterattack during a snowstorm that prevented the Race from taking the city of Chicago.
The US became a participant in the Big Five cobelligerency along with Germany, Japan, Britain and the Soviet Union. It benefited from technology exchanges among the group, and received a sample of radioactive plutonium from the Polish Jew Mordechai Anielewicz.
The US atomic bomb program completed a weapon in late 1943 and destroyed the city of Chicago, which the Race was on the verge of taking. It also destroyed the Race-held city of Miami. The Race retaliated by destroying Seattle and Pearl Harbor; Vice President Henry Wallace was killed in the former.
President Franklin D. Roosvelt died in 1944 and was succeeded by Secretary of State Cordell Hull. It was Hull who accepted the Race's invitation to be part of the Peace of Cairo and sent the new Secretary of State, General George Marshall, to represent US interests at the conference. Along with its Big Five cobelligerents, the US was among the first political entity to force an authority of the Ssumaz dynasty to treat with it on equal terms in more than fifty thousand years.
1945-1962 Edit
Peace prevailed on Earth, however unsteadily, and the US, like Germany and the Soviet Union (and Japan and Britain to a much lesser extent) took advantage of this peace to build up its technological arsenal. The US built nuclear missile, computers, created its own Internet, and became a space-faring government: It maintained a space station in Earth orbit, flew regular orbital flights, and visited the Moon and Mars.
1962-1966 Edit
President Earl Warren's attack on the Colonization Fleet and its aftermath would become the most controversial decision in American history.
In 1962 the Race's Colonization Fleet arrived in Earth orbit. It was attacked by the nuclear missiles of an unknown party, and twelve of its starships were destroyed. The attack had been ordered by none other than US President Earl Warren, but this would not come to light until 1966.
In 1963 the US completed the Lewis and Clark, a space vessel which it sent to the asteroid belt. This was the first spaceship of human build to use an atomic engine and was considered a forerunner of a starship with interstellar capability.
The US allowed the Race to set up shrines to the spirits of emperors past within its territory, making it unique among the human powers. The US believed it could not bar the shrines under the Free Exercise clause of its Constitution. The Race's cult of emperor-worship was adopted by some Americans, mainly Californians.
The US remained neutral in the Race-German War of 1965, but Warren took note of the destruction to which Germany was subjected. U.S. offers to broker a peace were rejected, and the resulting agreement was reached with the aid of the Soviets instead.
In 1965, Straha, an exiled Conquest Fleet shiplord who had defected to the US in 1944, brought incriminating evidence of US involvement in the Colonization Fleet episode provided to him by his friend, Sam Yeager, to the attention of Fleetlord Atvar. Atvar presented the US with three choices: allow the Race to destroy an American city; discontinue its space program; or go to war. Warren knew that, even with Soviet help, the US could not win a war, and also knew that the dismantling of the space program would be an unacceptable setback. Warren therefore allowed the Race to destroy Indianapolis, then committed suicide and was succeeded by his Vice President, Harold Stassen.
1966-2031 Edit
As ginger use became widespread among the Colonization Fleet's females, causing them to become sexually receptive all the time, many who frequently mated with male friends became interested in entering into exclusive mating arrangements, or marriages. As the Race considered monogamy the height of perversion, these couples were not welcome in their own government's territory. The United States accepted many monogamous Lizards as defectors, thus deepening their own talent pool and simultaneously depleting the Race's.
In the late 1970s the US began experimenting with cold sleep technology. A number of people it considered useful (and, not coincidentally, troublesome) such as Sam Yeager and Glen Johnson were put into suspended animation in preparation for an interstellar journey to Home at sublight speeds. The US launched its starship, the Admiral Peary, in 1997. It arrived in Home orbit in 2031, the first starship not of Race manufacture to visit Home in that planet's history.
The United States starship Admiral Peary was the first non-Race spacecraft to enter the Tau Ceti system in known history
The Admiral Peary was sent with the primary mission of establishing an embassy on Home. It had originally intended for Dr. Henry Kissinger to be diplomatic chief of mission, but he failed to awaken from cold sleep and Sam Yeager became ambassador.
Yeager and his team dealt primarily with Atvar, Race psychologist Ttomalss, and Tosevite citizen of the Empire Kassquit. Yeager was also granted an audience with the 37th Emperor Risson, making him the first ambassador to be received by a Ssumaz emperor since the unification of Home.
Despite a willingness to negotiate in good faith by both parties, the Race could not accept the threat presented to it by the US's presence in the Tau Ceti system. The tone of the negotiations steadily deteriorated over a period of several months, and war seemed increasingly likely. Then the FTL ship Commodore Perry arrived in Home orbit, a clear sign that the United States had surpassed the slow-moving Race technologically--thus giving the US the very real option of destroying the Race's entire empire if the Race attempted to destroy the United States and Earth. Under an unprecedented threat, the Race sought to reach a peaceful understanding with the US. |
Microsoft is crafting a quantum computing language
Microsoft is helping move us toward the future holy grail of quantum computing with the creation of a computing language that can run on a quantum computer. The company sees this as a fundamental step toward computers that are built on a "qubit," rather than a "bit," foundation.
Quantum computing has the potential to revolutionize almost all aspects of our digital society, reaching into every facet of life. But making a quantum computer is incredibly difficult and will take years of additional research before we can even approach the idea of building something that can operate outside of ideal lab conditions. Microsoft wants to be a major part of that developmental process.
A key component of that research and development is building a language that quantum computers can read and operate on, and that's exactly what Microsoft has done. Announced at its Ignite conference, the new quantum computing language will be released into the wild later this year, integrated with Microsoft's own Visual Studio (thanks MSPowerUser).
This edges us one step closer to what Microsoft describes as a "topological qubit," which should be much more stable than the qubits generated in the past. As described in Microsoft's colorfulvideo above, with a more robust structure, topological qubits have the potential to form the basis for what a quantum computer of the future could be.
More From Digital Trends
The new language that supports these topological qubits is designed to run on quantum simulators and real-world quantum computers, so it will not only help enable their creation in the first place, but will give them something to do once created.
But someone has to program the applications to perform such tasks, and that's what Microsoft's new quantum programming language will enable. Once released, developers will be able to write simulations and problems for the quantum simulators of today to run and for potential quantum computers of the future to tackle head-on.
Although it might seem intimidating, we're told that the language itself should be familiar to the current crop of programmers and when released toward the end of the year will come with libraries of resources and tutorials to help people get started. |
This document is from our archive and no action should be taken in reliance on it without specific legal advice.
Who makes the decisions? Parental Responsibility Issues for Schools
It has been said that the only freely available legal advice is “it depends”. Of course the world gets by on a day to day basis without giving much thought to legal intricacies. Few areas allow for greater detail in response to an apparently simple everyday question than that of who is responsible for a child. A leading legal text book covers the subject in 22 pages – and then moves on to lengthier consideration of what being responsible for a child means. The aim of this article is to show what some of the intricacies are and then to offer a few simple guidelines to identify parental responsibility.
What is the difficulty?
Some of the more theoretical questions arise from changing technology, such as IVF or surrogate motherhood – although technology has also simplified issues, at least in the case of paternity tests. Some of the more practical questions arise from loosening family structures, such as 1/3 of children being born to unmarried parents and up to 40% of marriages ending in divorce. Parents in second marriages may have a different legal relationship with different children who live in their household even if their day to day relationship is exactly the same.
Schools increasingly raise questions about these issues. Can a new partner give the school instructions or consent when needed? Can a non-resident parent do so when separated? When divorced? What happens when a parent with no contact asserts rights at the school? Does it matter which person is paying for the education?
Who are parents?
The first point is that parents and parental responsibility are not the same thing. This is a shame because identifying parents is relatively simple. The mother is the woman who gave birth to the child. The father is, put delicately, the biological father, subject to the caveat that there is a presumption that the husband of the mother is the biological father. This of course is not always true and the presumption can be rebutted by contrary evidence. The first difficulties with questions of identifying parents can be seen from the fact that this presumption does not apply to cohabitants, however long they have lived together.
What is parental responsibility?
In general parental responsibility (PR) is what matters for schools. Not all parents have PR and not all people with PR are parents.
The Directgov website tells us that “the law does not define in detail what parental responsibility is” but that PR includes: providing a home, choosing and providing for education, being responsible for the child’s property, providing discipline, choosing the child’s religious upbringing, giving consent to medical treatment and controlling confidential information. The Children Act 1989 defines PR as “all the rights, duties, powers, responsibilities and authority which by law a parent of a child has in relation to the child and his property”. In England PR continues until the child is 18.
In general, PR can be exercised by any person with PR rather than by them all acting together. This principle does not apply for all purposes, eg choosing a country of residence. However there are cases where the Courts have said that consultation is required, for example elective surgery and, in the particular circumstances of the MMR debate, vaccination. Importantly for schools the Court of Appeal held that a father should have consulted a mother with PR before arranging to place the child in a local authority boarding school. Clearly schools should seek involvement from all people with PR.
Who has parental responsibility?
Mothers have PR from birth. Fathers also get PR at birth if they are married to the mother - so long as the marriage is recognised in English law. Difficulties with this most often arise with marriages performed overseas and with some religious marriages. PR is not lost by divorce.
An unmarried father is in a more difficult position. He may have legal responsibilities, such as to maintain his child, but he does not automatically have PR. However it is now much easier for him to get PR. Since 1 December 2003 he will get PR if he is jointly registered with the mother on the birth certificate. This makes things simpler for those aged under 7. The biological father also gets PR if he subsequently marries the mother. Otherwise dad will need a parental responsibility agreement with the mother (in a set form, informal agreements do not count) or a parental responsibility order from a Court.
Step parents do not get PR simply by virtue of cohabiting with or marrying a parent who does have PR. If they are married or are civil partners with a parent who has PR they can get PR through a Court order or by a PR agreement (again in the set form) with all other people with PR.
Adoptive parents (including step parents) automatically get PR when the adoption is completed. Foster parents do not get PR simply be virtue of being foster parents. Local authorities and guardians can also have PR.
It should be noted that the law differs throughout the UK and this article deals with the position in England.
The position in practice
There are three guiding principles. First, the primacy of the interests of the child. Secondly, the need to follow any applicable Court Order, for example dealing with contact between parent and child or determining PR. Thirdly, a commonsense need to put issues into a hierarchy. Schools cannot carry out detailed investigations every time they need parental permission for something. Conversely where decisions may have long-term implications or raise sensitive issues a call to the school solicitors as early as possible is likely to help identify the way forward.
Questions about paternity and the nature of marriage ceremonies are not every day ice-breakers. It is extremely difficult for schools to come up with simple forms acceptable to all parents asking enough questions to determine PR. Anyway schools might quickly find themselves too involved in detailed legal issues which, if they have to be dealt with, need input from the school’s solicitors.
The following two sentences cover most cases. PR is generally held by mothers, by the child’s father if married to the mother and by adoptive parents. It is not held by step-parents (even if married to a parent with PR), grand-parents, or any other family members, unless specific arrangements have been made.
The other practical point to remember is that statute has extended the definition of "parent" for some purposes. For example, where the Education Act 1996 applies (largely, but not only on issues concerning local authorities rather than schools, such as school attendance and SEN) "parent" includes any person with parental responsibility and any person "who has care of" the child (s.576 Education Act 1996). In Fairpo v Humberside CC [1997] ELR 12 this was said to mean "someone involved in the full-time care of the child on a settled basis".
Asking parents about PR
PR cannot be given by a signed consent to the school. It is determined by specific statutory tests. However it does make sense to ask parents to confirm in writing who has PR and who has authority to give the school instructions. The law makes two relevant provisions. They are not pretend forms of PR but do offer some practical assistance in everyday issues that schools face.
First a person who does not have PR but “has care of the child” can “do what is reasonable in all the circumstances of the case for the purpose of safeguarding or promoting the child's welfare” (s.3 (5) Children Act 1989). What is “reasonable” will not include making significant decisions but could allow minor decision making. In one case a Judge noted without criticism that a school had refused to accept authority on this basis from a grandparent who was de facto carer for the child to go on a school trip.
Secondly a person with PR cannot transfer that PR but “may arrange for some or all of it to be met by one or more persons acting on his behalf” (s.2(9) Children Act 1989). These arrangements are informal and can be changed at will. They are one basis of the authority of schools.
The Data Protection Act 1998
Perhaps the most common purely administrative question from schools is about the Data Protection Act (DPA). In general this governs most issues about disclosure of data (although there are specific regulations about the disclosure of school records by maintained schools).
The DPA gives “data subjects” the ability to make “subject access requests” from “data controllers”. This offers a good example of what PR is really about. Data about a child is the child’s data and the right of access is the child’s. While this right is often exercised for young children by those with PR it is – like consent to medical treatment – a parental power being exercised for the child.
A help sheet on the Information Commissioner website explains that the DPA does not set an age limit for a subject access request, that this is to be assessed on a case by case basis but that children from age 12 are expected to be mature enough to understand a request for information. That website also states “If you are confident that the child can understand their rights, then you should respond to the child rather than a parent”. Thus, if a child has capacity the request should be made by them or with their consent.
Where relationships in the family have broken down schools may need advice to help them consider notifying the child and other people with PR that a request has been made and to consider whether the disclosure sought is for the benefit of the child, rather than the requesting parent.
One leading family law text suggests that data controllers (ie schools) should “give careful thought” to DPA requests. This can’t be taken to suggest that schools can reject apparently valid requests but it does show that, once you move outside day to day co-operation about school records and reports, the DPA raises complex issues. It is subject to numerous protections and exemptions beyond these statements of general principle and beyond questions about PR and advice will be needed in complex and sensitive cases.
Conclusion - children making their own decisions
One of the cases everyone who works with children knows about is Gillick v. West Norfolk Area Health Authority, a House of Lords case from 1986. The Lords concluded that doctors could prescribe contraceptives to girls under 16 “provided the girl had reached an age where she had a sufficient understanding and intelligence to enable her to understand fully what was proposed”. This reflected earlier cases, for example concluding that “the right of a parent … starts with a right of control and ends with little more than advice”.
However the position is not simple. The Courts have remained willing in exceptional cases to order compulsory medical treatment of “Gillick competent” children which would not be ordered of adults. Although Gillick competent children can give consent their refusal cannot veto their parents’ consent, albeit few doctors would treat an older child in the face of a direct refusal from the child without a Court order.
What are the implications for schools? There are medical, counselling and advisory aspects of the relationship with older children where the school might not need approval from those with PR. Indeed in some cases (such as problems with parents) it might be inappropriate for children of any age. The starting point is for a school to tell parents that it offers these services without specific parental approval. Thereafter staff who carry out these roles should be familiar with the detailed professional guidance available about confidentiality with children – including when and how to raise matters with statutory child protection services.
The difficulties of mediating the parent – child relationship may make working out who has PR seem to be the easy bit.
This article was written by David Lawson |
Lazy Eye In Children: Causes, Symptoms, And Treatment
Lazy Eye In Children
Image: iStock
Parents are often worried about the growth and development of their children, especially in their budding years. Concerns about eyesight and proper vision is one of the most prominent ones on their minds. Children may not complain about vision issues, especially in case of lazy eye or amblyopia, which could hamper their vision quality.
Parents have to be attentive and careful about it and look for signs and symptoms in their children if they are suffering from a lazy eye. The earlier the condition is treated, the higher the chances of success. A good vision is possible after treatment.
What Is A Lazy Eye In A Child?
Lazy eye, or amblyopia as it is called, is an eye condition in children when vision fails to develop properly, usually in one eye, which can hinder the capacity of the child to see properly. If it is not treated soon, the condition will permanently damage the vision. When left untreated for long, the brain of the maturing child will start to ignore the images coming from the defective eye leading to permanent vision defect. (1)
[ Read: Color Blindness In Children ]
What Causes Lazy Eye In Children?
Amblyopia develops when one of the eyes of the child has more focus than the other. The eye starts to ignore the blurry images if left untreated for a long time and the condition of the lazy eye and its vision deteriorates. Some of the immediate factors that give rise to such a situation are: (2)
1. Strabismus: When eyes are not aligned properly, which results in crossed or wandering eyes, can weaken the focus of one of the eyes. The brain suppresses the blurred images captured by the wandering eye and soon, the vision in that eye is almost lost.
1. Astigmatism: Extreme far-sightedness or near-sightedness can result in the misalignment of focus by both eyes. The image of the focused eye is given prominence and the hyperopic or myopic eye’s blurry vision is ignored by the brain leading to lazy eye in the child.
1. Droopy Eyelid: Apart from Strabismus and Astigmatism, issues such as anatomical and structural deformities can also result in a lazy eye. If the eyelid of one of the two eyes is a droopy eyelid, then it is sure to block vision in that eye, resulting in a lazy eye.
1. Cataract: Formation of cataract on the retina of any of the two eyes of the child also causes vision blockage. The brain refuses to acknowledge the blurred and out of focus images of the cataract-eye leading to the condition of lazy eye.
1. Anisometropia: The child may have different vision strengths in their eyes, which result in amblyopia in children.
1. Genetics: Family history and genes play an important role in the development of amblyopia in kids. As amblyopia tends to run in families, children who share a family history can be at a risk of developing it.
[ Read: Blindness In Kids ]
Lazy Eye Symptoms In Children:
In most cases, the child with lazy eye or amblyopia does not complain of having a poor vision as the brain adjusts in time to be accustomed to good vision in one eye and poor vision in another. Some of the prominent signs and symptoms one can notice in children with a lazy eye are:
1. The child struggles to see properly
2. Crossed eyes or wandering eyes
3. Squinting of eyes
4. Tilting head to see things
5. Poor depth perception in babies
6. Inability to recognize things 3D objects by baby
Lazy Eye Treatment For Kids:
To treat a lazy eye in children the procedure adopted is to force the brain to recognize the images produced by the lazy eye till the vision gets stronger and normalizes. The result is achieved through several means such as using glasses, eye patches, atropine eye drops and surgery.
1. Glasses To Treat Lazy Eye In Children
When the amblyopia or lazy eye occurs due to issues such as severe refractive errors or the problem of Anisometropia, glasses are prescribed to the children to correct the vision of the defective eye. The correct and clear vision is sent by the lazy eye with the help of glasses which forces the brain to accept the rectified images, thus treating the problem. Continued uses of glasses encourage the brain to utilize the images sent by both the eyes, use them together for a normal and healthy vision.
2. Eye Patch For Kids Lazy Eye
Kids with amblyopia are made to wear black eye patches over their properly functioning and unaffected eyes to correct the condition of the weak eye. Continued use of the eye patch will force the brain to use the lazy eye for vision and correct the condition. The child is required to wear the patch for more than two to three hours in a day for a period of months to years, depending on the severity of the condition.
Making your child wear an eye patch can be a challenging task. But once the child gets used to the patch it will not be a cumbersome task to wear it. In the initial days, you can distract your kid when he or she is wearing the eye patch by going to the park or engaging him or her in some activity such as playing a toy.
3. Atropine Drops To Treat Lazy Eye In Children
In case the child completely refuses to cooperate in wearing the eye patch for the necessary time period, the parents can use atropine eye as an alternative. The atropine drops blur the vision of the strong eye temporarily which results in the use of the images by the brain that is taken by the lazy eye. In time with the continued use of the drops, the child will be able to get a normal vision using both eyes.
[ Read: Tips To Improve Concentration In Kids ]
4. Lazy Eye Surgery In Children
If the lazy eye or amblyopia is caused by strabismus and treatment options such as eye patches, glasses, and atropine drops failed to improve the condition, the child may have to go for surgery to treat the condition. Surgery of the eye muscles, or to correct anatomical abnormalities like a droopy eyelid or even cataract requires surgery that will treat lazy eye in the child.
5. Lazy Eye Exercises For Kids
To treat the condition faster you can combine exercises along with eye patches and eye drops. Parents should encourage their children to do so as it helps in the recovery of the weak eye and increases vision. Some of the prominent eye exercises include color book painting, video games, maze and puzzles, etc, that can help the child in gaining vision in the lazy eye. To know the specific exercises that can be effective in treating the condition, consult your child’s eye specialist as soon as you can for effective treatment. (3)
A few exercises would be:
Cover the stronger eye with the palm of your hand and try to focus on objects around and describe them. Do this exercise every day for a period of six months to a year to see considerable improvement in the vision with the lazy eye.
Adjusting Focus
To enhance focus in the lazy eye, cover the strong eye with the palm of a hand and use the other hand’s index finger and bring it near the eye first, and then slowly take it away. Concentrate on the movement of the finger, coming near and going far, for a while. Take a break of five minutes and then do it again. Repeat the exercises thrice daily for improved results.
Vision Therapy
Vision therapy is a kind of physical therapy to increase the efficiency of the eyes as well as the brain. It is a highly effective treatment when patients are not willing to opt for surgery for corrective measures. Visual problems such as lazy eye (amblyopia) or crossed or wandering eyes, squinted vision, and weak eye muscle issues can be treated using this therapy.
[ Read: Tips To Manage Stress In Children ]
Lazy Eye In Children: What Parents Should Know?
1. It is important to treat lazy eye in kids as early as possible before it becomes a permanent vision problem.
1. Nowadays, opaque lenses are also available which can be worn by the children instead of eye patches that can help in the treating of the condition without embarrassing or discomforting for the child.
1. Children as young as three years old can also be diagnosed for lazy eye with the help of the latest scientific tools and test measure available in the medical health industry.
1. Attention should be given by the teachers in schools also to notice if the child is having difficulty in looking at the blackboard or reading. And parents need to talk to their teachers about the issue if there is any problem in the child’s eyesight, at the earliest.
1. If treatment options such as eye patches, glasses and atropine drops are not working, parents can go for surgery also to correct the vision in the lazy eye at the earliest. (4)
Frequently Asked Questions About Lazy Eye In Children:
• What is amblyopia in children?
When one of the two eyes have a weak focus and produce blurry images, the brain refuses to acknowledge those images, concentrating only in the stronger eye, thus, hampering the overall vision of the child.
• What is bilateral refractive amblyopia?
When a large amount of refractive error takes place between the child’s eyes, leading to unfocused vision in one eye, it is called as bilateral refractive amblyopia. Wearing glasses may help in the improvement of the vision.
• How is lazy eye corrected in children?
Lazy eye in children can be corrected with glasses, eye patches or atropine drops. The trick is to force the brain to adjust to the images taken by the weak eye, and in time, vision improves as the focus is clear. Surgery is also adopted to treat the condition in case of anatomical issues such droopy eyelid or other problems like cataract in the eye.
• Does the child get a lazy eye when tired?
Stressful situations and excessive fatigue can lead to lazy eye or intermittent exotropia in a child that is temporary. Symptoms are sudden occurrences of crossed or wandering eyes in stressed situations or when the child is tired from work or play.
Hope you found the article informative and interesting related to the topic of lazy eye in children. If you have any doubts on the issue, feel free to comment below and share your thoughts with us.
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Pisac & Ollanyatambo Inca Sites | Peru
At Pisac, our guide shared with us some history of the Incan empire. First off, he clarified that calling the indigenous people Incas was a misnomer because there was only one Inca and that was the king. It is more accurate to call the indigenous people, “the Andean people” in referencing the Andean mountains. He explained that while the Incan empire did not have any written documentation of their history, modern archeologists and anthropologists have made educated guesses as to what the purposes of each of the ruins were that have been rediscovered.
Like many other ruins, Pisac sports majestic terraces up an entire mountainside. There were three different uses for these terraces: 1) agriculture, 2) decoration, and 3) foundation for other structures. At Pisac you can see that the terraces were used for each of these purposes.
As their main food staple, the Andean people grew corn, potatoes, and grains. We were told that the Peruvian corns have much larger kernels than the ones in America because they are cultiavted at high altitudes. The Andeans did not need to build an elaborate irrigation system because the crops were watered naturally by the jungle rain and morning mist. And storehouses were built on the tops of the mountains because the wind and cold temperatures acted as natural refrigeration. Talk about being green and eco-friendly!
Another interesting feature at Pisac are the graves that were carved into the mountainside. The graves face the east so that when the sun rises each morning, the dead would be purified by the sun as they journey into the afterlife. Our guide explained that when someone died, they would be buried in these mountains adorned with gold and jewels. Unfortunately, when the Spaniards conquered Cusco in 1533, they pillaged these graves for the precious metals and jewels.
After taking in the majestic views, we ventured down the mountain to Parwa Restaurante, another Planeterra-supported project for lunch. Everything we ate was ridiculously tasty and it was nice to know that we were supporting the local women.
Next we headed to our last Inca ruin for the day at Ollantaytambo. Honestly by this time, I was so exhausted and grouchy from the jam-packed schedule, I wanted to lie and say I had altitude sickness and go back to the hotel to take a nap. But alas, I did not; and I’m really glad I didn’t because I learned so much more about the significance of yet another extraordinary site.
At the base of Ollantaytambo, there is a fountain in what appears to have been a temple. Our guide explained that the Incas were very keen on the changing seasons and movements of the sun. They created this place such that on every summer solstice, the entire room would be filled with the sun’s beams and at one specific time on that day, the sun would be reflected off the edge of the water.
Our guide pointed out that on the Pinkuylluna mountain, there are two faces. One was a man-made carving of Wiracochan, the creator of civilization and the other was a natural rock formation of an Inca’s profile. Can you see the faces?
We also learned the significance of the number 3. We had already discussed how the world was divided into three parts: the upper, middle, and underworlds; and discussed the three animals representing those worlds: the condor, puma, and serpent, respectively. Our guide explained that these two sets of threes represented the top two sides of the Andean cross, which has 3 steps on each of the four sides. He pointed out that on the 4th stone to the left on the Wall of the Six Monoliths, you can see the beginnings of the Andean cross being carved into the stone. As we discussed the significance of the number 3 and the remains of the Sun Temple, the sun began to set into the valley on the west, casting an ominous shadow on the town.
After an exhausting long day filled with Incan sites and history, we retired to our hotels for one last night of luxury before our 4 day trek on the Inca Trail.
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