Split (1)

train · ~97.7M rows (showing the first 849k)

text stringlengths 144 682k
To arrive at this station, one should return to the main road and walk a few meters to the curve, where a small, humble minaret can be seen, preceded by a few ascending steps. Al-Su’wud referred to the ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven, which was mentioned in three books of the New Testament, without specifying a spot where the act took place. The Ascension was also mentioned in the Holy Qur’an: ‘Nay, Allah raised him up unto Himself, and Allah is exalted in power and wisdom.’ (al-Nisa’ 158). Christian sects celebrate this event on a Thursday in May, referred to as "(Ascension Thursday). The Ascension Dome is a monumental site in Jerusalem, commemorating Christ’s ascension to heaven after rising from the dead, according to Christian belief. During the days of persecution prior to the spread of Christianity, Christians celebrated the ascension secretly inside a cave on the Mount of Olives. The first church commemorating the Ascension was built during the Byzantine era, in 374 AD. However, nothing remains of this church at present. During the Franks era, the old round plan was replaced with an octagonal plan, surrounded by a fortified convent. During this period, religious celebrations of this occasion deepened. Converting the Dome into a Mosque After Salah al-Din (Saladin) liberated Jerusalem in 1187 AD (583 H), what remained of this dome was converted to a mosque, and remained an Islamic endowment (Waqf) until this day. The site is currently managed by the Islamic Awqaf Department and is treated like any other holy site, facilitating visits for Christian sects during religious holidays and normal days. The Department has recently restored the dome and the surrounding courtyard, and continues to maintain it. Many Crusader architectural and ornamental elements were preserved by the restortions carried out during the Salah al-Din era, including column capitales and marble columns. A mihrab (prayer niche) was added in the southern side of the octagon. Walls that were open between columns were closed, and the pavements seem to have been maintained as well. Dome’s Plan The current dome plan is octagonal. Marble columns with capitals ornamented with flora and fauna motifs are located in each corner of the octagon. The dome is semi spherical, resting on a circular drum which rests directly on the octagon’s sides. The interior is accessed through a door facing west. The interior floor is covered with small stone tiles. The location known as ‘Christ’s Foot’ is surrounded by a long stone frame. Al-Suwud (Ascension) Dome Mosque
Big Traffic Guide is ONLY 5 Dollars ! Awsome value. Comodo SSL Expand Collapse Studio Studio Overview Studio Map Current 8/23/2017 Conceptual model (computer science) 3/7/2016 A mental model captures ideas in a problem domain, while a conceptual model represents 'concepts' (entities) and relationships between them. A Conceptual model in the field of computer science is also known as a domain model. Conceptual modeling should not be confused with other modeling disciplines such as data modelling, logical modelling and physical modelling. The conceptual model is explicitly chosen to be independent of design or implementation concerns, for example, concurrency or data storage. The aim of a conceptual model is to express the meaning of terms and concepts used by domain experts to discuss the problem, and to find the correct relationships between different concepts. The conceptual model attempts to clarify the meaning of various, usually ambiguous terms, and ensure that problems with different interpretations of the terms and concepts cannot occur. Such differing interpretations could easily cause confusion amongst stakeholders, especially those responsible for designing and implementing a solution, where the conceptual model provides a key artifact of business understanding and clarity. Once the domain concepts have been modeled, the model becomes a stable basis for subsequent development of applications in the domain. The concepts of the conceptual model can be mapped into physical design or implementation constructs using either manual or automated code generation approaches. The realization of conceptual models of many domains can be combined to a coherent platform. A conceptual model can be described using various notations, such as UML, ORM or OMT for object modelling, or IE or IDEF1X for Entity Relationship Modelling. In UML notation, the conceptual model is often described with a class diagram in which classes represent concepts, associations represent relationships between concepts and role types of an association represent role types taken by instances of the modelled concepts in various situations. In ER notation, the conceptual model is described with an ER Diagram in which entities represent concepts, cardinality and optionality represent relationships between concepts. Regardless of the notation used, it is important not to compromise the richness and clarity of the business meaning depicted in the conceptual model by expressing it directly in a form influenced by design or implementation concerns. This is often used for defining different processes in a particular company or institute. Ontology Engineering 3/7/2016 Wikipedia Ontology Engineering with Diagrams Ontology engineering in computer science and information science is a field which studies the methods and methodologies for building ontologies: formal representations of a set of concepts within a domain and the relationships between those concepts. A large-scale representation of abstract concepts such as actions, time, physical objects and beliefs would be an example of ontological engineering. Ontology engineering is one of the areas of applied ontology, and can be seen as an application of philosophical ontology. Core ideas and objectives of ontology engineering are also central in conceptual modeling. Process Philosophy 3/6/2016 Wikipedia Process philosophy (or ontology of becoming or processism) identifies metaphysical reality with change and development. Since the time of Plato and Aristotle, philosophers have posited true reality as "timeless", based on permanent substances, while processes are denied or subordinated to timeless substances. Therefore, classic ontology denies any full reality to change, which is conceived as only accidental and not essential. This classical ontology is what made knowledge and a theory of knowledge possible, as it was thought that a science of something in becoming was an impossible feat to achieve. In opposition to the classical model of change as accidental (as argued by Aristotle) or illusory, process philosophy regards change as the cornerstone of reality — the cornerstone of Being thought of as Becoming. Modern philosophers who appeal to process rather than substance include Nietzsche, Heidegger, Charles Peirce, Alfred North Whitehead, Alan Watts, Robert M. Pirsig, Charles Hartshorne, Arran Gare, Nicholas Rescher, Colin Wilson, and Gilles Deleuze. In physics Ilya Prigogine distinguishes between the "physics of being" and the "physics of becoming". Alexa.png dmoz.png is hosted on a re-seller Virtual Private Server This page was last updated August 23rd, 2017 by kim Where wealth like fruit on precipices grew. SEO Links . Traffic . Traffup YouTube.png google+.png Twitter
Do you have any questions? Auditory Processing Disorder Buy custom Auditory Processing Disorder essay Symptoms of Auditory Processing Disorder. People or children with this disorder usually experience trouble with remembering information which was delivered to them orally and besides that they have issues with paying attention therefore, information which is presented visually is well processed than oral information. They fail to receive information that is presented simultaneously in a number of ways. Such people are not able to remember multiple directions that were given orally because they can only remember one thing at a given time. They generally have underdeveloped listening skills therefore if the information has to be grasped well the personal passing the information needs to speak slowly. Persons with Auditory Processing Disorders take a long period to process verbal information. Such people are not fond of places or locations that usually have background noises like bars or other social places. They often prefer written information over verbal or oral information. At times their behavior may not be what is expected by many for instance when they try to fill the missing gaps through guessing. Manifestation of this disorder is manly in relation to sound for instance the direction of a specific sound, difficulties in telling the difference between the perceived sounds as well as aligning the various sounds to meaningful information. Confusion of sounds is common amongst people of this condition. Most of the times they may perceive some words but fail to say them this occurs as a result of poor connectivity in the said words making it difficult in getting the intended meaning. For these reason such a person may fail to see the sense in the words that people speak to them because of the missing links as a result of procession problems. Children with such complication often fail to get the meaning of the perceived information. They only realize that a word was spoken and though one may try to repeat the exact word they may not get the meaning (Katz, Stecker and Henderson, 1992). Backgrounds noise from the television or social places making it impossible for them to perceive and understand the spoken words. They often experience problems with telephone communication because of the low quality of the sound. Therefore telephones are not the best way of passing information to such people. Problems in receiving information that is passed over the telephone is associated with poor signal as well as intermittent sounds which may be chopping the words that the other person is speaking. Most of the people with auditory procession problems have perfect or sensitive vision which is perceived by many as a cooping strategy. They are particularly good at reading lips, getting the meaning through eye contact as well as body language. Such mechanisms usually help them to compensate their processor issues. The challenge is that this ability is only limited to face to face communication and is not of any importance to communication that is done over the phone. Some of the other characteristics that are not very specific include general shyness and quietness. At times they tend to withdraw from the main society because of the communication problem. Children who have such problems may experience humiliation at school because of lack of understanding by their classmates. Auditory processing disorder has negative implications to ones academics as well as social life because acquisition on knowledge will be difficult when one is not in apposition to process the necessary information and same applys to social interaction. Such people tend to isolate themselves because of fear of intermediation; they may fail to socialize because of their communication problem. Children’s education is tempered with when early diagnosis and treatment is not done. Adults are prone to interpersonal relationship issues that might be persistent because of the barrier to effective communication (Bellis, 2003). Buy custom Auditory Processing Disorder essay Related essays Get 15% off your first custom essay order. Order now from $12.99/PAGE Tell a friend
How to Grow and Use Heirloom Ground Cherries \| 9/17/2014 8:35:00 AM Tags: ground cherries, heirloom vegetables, native plants, Virginia, Brenda Lynn, How To Grow Ground Cherries Aunt Molly’s ground cherry preserves may have occupied a privileged spot in your great-aunt’s pantry, but you’ll be hard pressed to find them nowadays. Ground cherries (Physalis pruinosa) are an endangered heirloom. Their recorded heritage traces back to 1837, when they first appeared in Pennsylvania horticultural literature. Once commonly grown in backyard gardens, ground cherries somehow lost their way. Though they are ridiculously easy to grow and store, ground cherries are difficult to transport. Urbanization and the movement away from growing one’s own food led to the demise of this golden gem. The good news is that they can be grown in containers or raised beds, they’re relative pest-free, and they produce abundant fruit from mid-summer through frost. Ground cherries are really not cherries at all. They are members of the Solanaceae family, which includes tomatoes and tomatillos. Like the tomatillo, ground cherries grow inside a papery husk. When ripe, ground cherries turn bright yellow and fall to the ground. Though several varieties are native throughout the Americas and Eastern Europe (‘Aunt Molly’ is a Polish variety), ground cherries taste like tropical treats. Their pineapple — vanilla flavor brightens pies, jams, and chutneys. They are equally delicious eaten raw, dried, or cooked. Squirrels and small children are keen to ground cherries’ charms, so gardeners should keep a close look-out for ripe, fallen fruit. How to Grow Ground CherriesHeirloom Ground Cherries Ground cherries are frost tender and should be started indoors 6-8 weeks before spring planting in cooler climates. They’ll produce prolifically beginning 70 days from transplant, through the first fall frost. Good drainage and humus-rich soil ensure an abundant crop. Two to three plants grown in raised-beds or large pots will provide enough ground cherries for a season of tasty jams and pies, with a few left over for wildlife. Staking helps keep branches and fruit off the ground. Though they are sometimes susceptible to flee-beetles, ground cherries’ weed-like nature makes them fairly disease resistant. In addition to ‘Aunt Molly’s,’ tasty varieties to try include: Physalis pubescens ‘Cossack,’ Physalis pubescens ‘Goldie,’ and Physalis peruviana ‘Cape Gooseberry.’ Once harvested, ground cherries will continue to ripen, if placed in a well-ventilated container on the countertop. They will store for up to three months in a cool (50 degree) environment. They also store well when dried like raisins, either in a dehydrator, or by placing them in the oven on its lowest setting for several hours. 5/18/2016 8:35:07 PM these are grown all over the place on the big island of Hawaii. I have a plant myself but we don't call them ground cherries, they are poha berries and don't taste a lot like cherries, closer to a grape, ripe ones are awesome, green are pretty tart. I eat what I pick before I make it in the house! Our plant is growing fast, watch for spider mites. 9/19/2014 2:36:27 AM This recipce makes me drool! mother earth news fair Oct. 21-22, 2017 Topeka, KS.
What is Database and MY SQL Injections In this i’ll give you intro to the SQL Injections. Next post will give you detailed information about the SQL injections. What is the Database? Datbase is an application that stores a collection of Data.Database offers various APIs for creating, accessing and managing the data it holds. And database(DB) servers can be integrated with our web development so that we can pick up the things we want from the database without much difficulties. Database is a place that stores username,passwords and more details. Database should be secured. But providing high level security is not possible for all sites(much costlier or poor programming ). So Database of many websites is insecure or vulnerable(easily hackable). Some List of Database are: • DB servers, • MySQL(Open source), • MSSQL, • Oracle, • Postgre SQL(open source), • SQLite, What is SQL injection? SQL injection is Common and famous method of hacking at present . Using this method an unauthorized person can access the database of the website. Attacker can get all details from the Database. What an attacker can do? • ByPassing Logins • Accessing secret data • Modifying contents of website • Shutting down the My SQL server
The Balloon Block Jul 6, 2017 By Steven R. Peck, Publisher It's not just a treasure-hunt object, it's an homage to old-style printing Newspapers are still the product of printing ink on paper, but the technology for doing it has changed considerably through the centuries. Part of that history is kept alive each summer through our annual Riverton Rendezvous "Balloon Block" treasure hunt. Many readers have followed the daily clues in the newspaper every July for more than 20 years now, but relatively few people have ever seen the balloon block itself. We run photographs of it with the clues, and we always include a picture of the lucky finder of the object. That person wins a Riverton Rendezvous balloon ride, cash and other prizes. This year, they include two jet-plane tickets to Denver and a couple of third-row seats in the infield for a Colorado Rockies baseball game. The block itself is made of wooden letters which used to be an important part of printing the newspaper. Former Ranger pressman Paul Hugus devised a way to attach the letters to each other to form the word "balloon." People who see the object now note that the letters are backward in the balloon block. That reflects the way newspapers used to be printed. If you have ever had a rubber stamp for your own return address on envelopes, or if you remember the stamps that used to be used in your school library, you might have noticed that those letters are backward as well. The stamp was pressed into a pad of ink, then pressed again on a sheet of paper. In that fashion, the letters that were backward on the stamp were printed the right way on the paper. That's exactly how the Balloon Block lettering would have worked. The photograph appearing with the daily clues shows the printed image made by the blue lock when it is inked and applied to paper. From the earliest newspapers in colonial times through the mid-1970s, virtually every newspaper was printed in this general way. Today, newer technology called office at lithography has replaced raised-letter printing in most applications, although there are still some hobbyists and other special-use printers who continue to practice the form. Each year when we hide the Balloon Block, we pay homage to both our own past and the past of the countless newspapers and print shops around the world who made use of hand-set type to create printed products for the masses. Check out the first clue on page 5 of today's Ranger. And don't forget to notice the picture of the balloon block. Print Story Read The Ranger...
20 Web Design Terms You Need to Understand In any industry, you will come across certain words and phrases that are used a lot and it becomes absolutely imperative for you to learn about them. Design and development is no different. There are several different words that keep popping up and therefore, this entire dictionary of words is the first thing you should learn especially if you are looking to take up design and development as a permanent profession. Of course you can choose not to, but then it will become a headache for you to keep track of things because others will use these terms and you will have no idea what is going on. Web Design Terms Even in the early days of web design and development, the entire field had just too many acronyms and technical words being used. These words and terms represented pretty straightforward concepts, but it was still a lot to keep track of. For many people, it would even get annoying but that does not matter. If you are passionate about something, you may as well go the extra length and make yourself known to a few terminologies hopping around here and there. This list talks about 20 web design terms you need to understand. That is all there is to it. Learn these and they will come in handy. Let us know what you think and as always, your comments are always welcome. 20. HTML HTML is an acronym for HyperText Markup Language. This happens to be the language of the web. In simpler words, this particular language would tell your web browser how to treat different elements. There are several different tags you can use in order to give properties to these elements. Basically, whatever you code these days during web development, chances are you are using HTML. The latest version for this particular language is HTML5 and it is being used on major webpages around the world. 19. CSS CSS goes hand-in-hand with HTML. HTML, on its own, is usually not enough in order to come up with a great looking webpage. It is not entirely convenient at least. CSS is an acronym for Cascading Style Sheets. Designers can use CSS in order to create visual set of rules that eventually determine how all the different elements on a webpage actually behave and are rendered. The latest version for CSS is the CSS3 and we are sure you are quite familiar with it by now. 18. JavaScript It is implied by the name that JavaScript is a scripting language. It will allow the web developers to create interactions on a particular web page. It was originally used for form validation and stuff like that but these days, the use of JavaScript has expanded exponentially. You can use it to create special visual effects. The best part about it is its ability to load an entirely new piece of content without having to load the entire page altogether. You should know however that even though it is called JavaScript, it has nothing to do with the programming language that also goes by the name of Java. 17. Responsive Design A responsive design is basically that will adapt to the device user is using while loading a certain webpage. A website built on a responsive design will adapt to the properties of your device irrespective of the resolution and the amount of content. Everything is bound to fit in perfectly and originally into the smaller or larger screen you have at your disposal. 16. Semantic Markup This is basically an approach in order to code HTML. Markup tags are used to describe content and they are also responsible for providing the relevant metadata regarding the content as well. A very basic example of a semantic markup would be the <p> tag. It is used to mark a paragraph. There are several such examples and we are certain you are familiar with them. 15. SaaS SaaS is an acronym for Software as a Service. In layman’s terms, it is any service which provides a software platform. This platform is delivered from or otherwise via a cloud. The latest version of Microsoft Office online, Google Docs and Photoshop Express are primary examples that have SaaS running in full action. 14. A/B Testing A/B Testing refers to the process of trying several different ways but to achieve the same end-result. You can call it efficiency or whatever. The point is to figure out what way will be more effective in the short and long-term. Usually, this methodology is reserved for trying out different layouts of web pages etc. 13. ARIA ARIA is an acronym for Accessible Rich Internet Application. It basically regards the technologies that can be used to assist in making the web more accessible. More simply, it defines the technologies that fill out the gap between what a user needs and a website or otherwise a web application. 12. Information Architecture (IA) All the layout of content and information on a particular website has a very general term to refer to it by. That term is called Information Architecture or otherwise IA. It primarily refers to the organization or information on a webpage, what content is on what page, and how these many pages interact with each other within a particular website. It is supposed to ease out the entire process of locating information. The aim can be increasing revenue and user satisfaction etc. 11. Server-side Scripting In order to provide application functionality on a particular website, there are two different ways. Client-Side and Server-Side. Client-side is where all the data is handled by the browser using JavaScript, and Server-Side is where the data manipulation occurs. Server-side scripting is a term used to describe the languages that are used in order to manipulate the data on the server-side. These language could include ASP.NET and PHP etc. These languages are referred to as scripting languages. 10. Vectors These are basically graphics which comprise geometrical shapes as opposed to pixels. These graphics can be scaled to a larger size without any damage. 9. Bitmap Bitmaps are graphics made out of pixels unlike the Vector graphics. Bitmaps always depend on the resolution and they don’t scale to a larger size all that easily. In fact, if you zoom in on a bitmap, you will be able to see the pixels. This is an acronym for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (Black). It is a very common color scheme that is used in print graphics. 7. RGB Everybody is familiar with this particular color scheme. These are the primary colors, Red, Green, and Blue. It is the color scheme for digital graphics. 6. Flat Design This is a design philosophy that is gaining quite a lot of popularity. Flat basically refers to no dimensional depth. The concept literally holds to flat. These are basic graphics, but they look quite amazing these days. 5. Skeuomorphism This particular word refers to something that is the exact opposite of a flat design. This concept is dying slowly since the flat design is gaining popularity. If you are looking for examples, just think of the previous versions of iOS; the icons. 4. Metro Design This is the Microsoft Design Language. It was developed by Microsoft and it is used by various products from the company. The inspiration for this design came from public transportation signs. It looks pretty amazing and simple. 3. Masonry Grid This is layout style and it became really famous after the huge success of Pinterest. The design is based on a column structure. The content is fit in columns parallel to each other but the pieces are not symmetrical. 2. Above the Fold If you are working with online platforms, this term should be very important to you. It refers to the section of the screen which can be seen without having to scroll downwards. In an ideal situation, this area is where all the important content should go. 1. White Space This space is also referred to as negative space. It is the space between all the different elements on a webpage. This particular space is not meant to be used. It appeals to the aesthetics which is why it should remain empty, white or negative; whichever you prefer. Leave a Reply
Back to School Going back to college after a long break takes a lot of will. It’s not easy to settle into our study or projects when memories of warm sandy beach or cool mountain breeze still lingers in our minds. If you need some motivation boost to improve focus, try out some of the following ways 1. Do light stretching Stretching is not only good for the body when you just wake up, but also when it’s hard for you to concentrate on certain tasks. Doing simple stretches can promote good blood circulation and refresh your mind. 2. Listen to classical music Classical music is known as an effective stimulant for a more focused mind. When your mind starts to wander off in the middle of an assignment, set your playlist to some classical tunes. 3. Consume healthy snacks As a source of antioxidants and vitamin E, consuming peanuts as in Dua Kelicinci Lofet and roasted peanuts can help increase your brain functions. On top of that, peanuts also contains essential amino acids that stimulate serotonin production in brain. This high level of serotonin will maintain your good mood for an effective study session.
Thursday, 4 May 2017 Barbados: Home of the Sea Turtles Do you want to see Barbados from another perspective? Maybe you can view the tropical paradise the same way a turtle would... Barbados: Home of the Sea Turtles Barbados is where the hawksbill and the leatherback sea turtles call home and the healthy population is now protected and monitored closely to maintain their livelihood and importance to the eco-system. The island provides a range of tours and cruises focusing on these delightful creatures. Most tours take place on catamarans that provide guests with lunch, masks and snorkels. Enjoy the incredible scenery as you sail down the coastline, sipping delicious rum punches and indulging in a delicious lunch before snorkeling with the turtles. Turtles are very sociable creatures and tend to stay in the same area to ensure they follow a routine. They can be seen playing and feeding along the inshore reefs and certain monitored areas have meant that the animals have become accustomed to humans. Moonlight cruises are also available where you can see turtles nesting depending on the time of the year. Pregnant turtles come up from the water and lay their eggs in the soft sand on the shore. The eggs hatch into tiny newborns who make their way back to the sea. The Barbados Sea Turtle Project (BSTP) Established in 1987, this project promotes the conservation of sea turtles in Barbados and aims to maintain and educate the public about the importance of the sea turtles' survival. Made up of a joint activity between the Department of Biological & Chemical Sciences at the University of the West Indies, the Cave Hill Campus and the Fisheries Division in the government of Barbados, the group strives to enlighten people about the conservation efforts. They rely heavily upon the generosity of the public, the hotel staff and their guests to monitor the nesting and hatching activity happening on the beach during the season. Some local fishermen also feed and care for them as well as scraping barnacles of the shells and protecting nesting areas. The main season is normally between April and December with the main hatching happening during the winter. The project personnel assist with nightly surveillance of any beaches known to be nesting sites to protect potential babies being accidentally killed or the pregnant females being poached. They also tag and monitor turtles in near shore waters as well as satellite tracking post nesting turtles. The team include a 24hour response and monitor any signs of disease that can afflict the animals. Would you like to see these amazing creatures for yourself? Speak to our luxury Barbados villa and apartment specialists today +44 (0)1244 62 99 63 1 comment:
• The use of primates in brain research Primate research Research on primates allows us to draw conclusions about cognitive processes in humans • Animal care Animal care A look at the animal facilities at our institute • Experimental design How our experiments are designed and carried out • Myth and reality Myth and reality The power of pictures, and how they can be made to lie Print page What Happens during an Animal Experiment? The design and execution of an experiment depends very much on the question being asked. If we want to find out which stimuli the neurons in a certain brain region react to, it is often enough to anesthesize the animal and study single neurons with microelectrodes. Sometimes the experiment can be designed in such a way that the animal does not even need to wake up from anesthesia, so the animal is subjected to as little stress as possible. If, however, we want to find out which brain regions react especially well to certain stimuli, an anesthetized animal can be studied for a few hours in the MRI scanner and then brought out of anesthesia. If we are studying cognitive functions, on the other hand, the animal must be alert in order to be able to solve a certain task. The method used to measure brain activity depends on whether we want to examine the spatial extent of neural networks or the temporal coordination of a great many neurons. The first step is to accustom the animal to the laboratory environment. Training itself cannot begin until the animal is sufficiently at ease with the experimental set-up. Using positive reinforcement with water or juice the monkey is taught to carry out a cognitive task. Depending on the level of difficulty, this can take several months to as much as a year. As soon training is successfully completed, we can carry out the experiment itself and measure brain activity while the monkey is performing the behavioral task. Both during the training phase and during the measurements, the animal must be given enough breaks during which it does not work. A well-trained animal can be used in a number of different experiments over a period of several years. This not only allows us to track complex cognitive functions over different processing stages in the brain, but also helps reduce the total number of animals needed. Although the animals must work on a regular basis, they are given plenty of time to relax between experiments so that they don’t lose their motivation. It is impossible to force a monkey to perform a cognitive task, and it will only cooperate and concentrate if it feels at ease and not stressed. As mentioned above, the monkey receives a water or juice reward if it solves a task correctly. This does not mean that it is forced to go thirsty for an extended period of time if it does not cooperate. The monkey physiology is well adapted to not having constant access to water, for in the wild the animals must go without water for long periods of time when they move from one water hold to the next. The brief water deprivation used in our experiments is carefully monitored by our veterinarians and animal caretakers. In addition to water and juice, our animals receive enough fluids in their daily ration of fresh fruit and vegetables. To view the movie you will need the latest version of flash player available from e.g. here: Get Adobe Flash Player. Video from the laboratory
Sabtu, 20 Disember 2008 ~GeNdEr TaLk~ Gender Differences in Communication All of us have different styles of communicating with other people. Our style depends on a lot of things: where we're from, how and where we were brought up, our educational background, our age, and it also can depend on our gender. Generally speaking, men and women talk differently although there are varying degrees of masculine and feminine speech characteristics in each of us. But men and women speak in particular ways mostly because those ways are associated with their gender. The styles that men and women use to communicate have been described as "debate vs. relate", "report vs. rapport, or "competitive vs. cooperative". Men often seek straightforward solutions to problems and useful advice whereas women tend to try and establish intimacy by discussing problems and showing concern and empathy in order to reinforce relationships. Jennifer Coates, in her book Women, Men and Language (New York: Longman Inc., 1986) studied men-only and women-only discussion groups and found that when women talk to each other they reveal a lot about their private lives. They also stick to one topic for a long time, let all speakers finish their sentences and try to have everyone participate. Men, on the other hand, rarely talked about their personal relationships and feelings but "competed to prove themselves better informed about current affairs, travel, sport, etc.". The topics changed often and the men tried to "over time, establish a reasonably stable hierarchy, with some men dominating conversation and others talking very little". Dr. Lillian Glass' book He Says, She Says: Closing the Communication Gap Between the Sexes (The Putnam Berkeley Group) details her findings on the many differences in the way men and women communicate, both verbally and non-verbally. You can have a look at what she thinks are the differences in: Sabtu, 8 November 2008 Prolog Trilogi Hidup ni memang seronok , tapi tak selamanya kita akan gembira jika kita lupa kepada Sang Pencipta yang maha Agung... Cinta memang indah bagi sang pencinta , tapi sering kecewa dek perpisahan dan perbalahan antara pasangan , cinta yang berkekalan indahnya hanyalah cinta kepada Sang Pencipta... Teman gembira sering menghampiri kita tika kuntuman kegembiraan mengembang mekar , namun teman berduka belum puas kita temui dimana menghilangnya dia saat diperlukan disisi... Andai ada sebuah pertemuan pasti telah tersurat sebuah perpisahan & pengakhiran... Seperti sesuatu yang tak disangka sering kali mendatangi kita , adakah ianya satu suratan atau cuma sekadar satu kebetulan?
When selecting ebooks for use in the classroom, teachers need to pay close attention to the scaffolds and tutors provided for learning to read, such as decoding helpers, animations and audio. During their evaluation, teachers should make sure that common ebook design mistakes are avoided, such as confusing taps, swipes, and page turns or lack of easy access to the menu and controls. Additionally when selecting an ebook, teachers need to consider what type of devices (desktop computers, laptops or tablets) to use to maximize children’s participation throughout the ebook reading experience. Using ebooks to support learning in the early elementary classroom is much like teaching with traditional books, a practice that is familiar to all early elementary teachers. 1. Select a quality ebook. 2. Gather a small group of children around a touch screen computer or a tablet. 3. Explore the ebook together. Teachers can use a number of familiar shared book reading activities with ebooks—the application of the Before-During-After framework, for example—and the introduction to the title, author, and illustrator on the initial screen page of the ebook. Evidence-based instructional techniques are retained, such as making predictions, asking/answering questions, learning new words, linking to prior experience, and discussing print and picture. After reading, make sure you take the additional step of modeling the proper use of devices for independent book browsing and re-reading, and helping children to engage in responsible ebook reading on their own or with a friend. As you are getting started with ebooks in your classroom, remain open to new procedures that expand the ebook reading experience, such as modeling the digital features of the ebook first! Be thoughtful and patient as you begin to incorporate ebooks into your early literacy curriculum. Choose ebooks wisely and start to build up a library. Use the electronic capabilities of ebooks, like hotspots & virtual assistants, to help you teach early literacy skills. Show your students how to navigate apps and ebooks effectively and encourage lots of ebook browsing and sharing. As you follow these tips to select and incorporate high-quality digital texts in your classroom, you will begin to see the potential of ebooks for increasing the resources and opportunities for early reading experience.
Study your flashcards anywhere! Download the official Cram app for free > • Shuffle Toggle On Toggle Off • Alphabetize Toggle On Toggle Off • Front First Toggle On Toggle Off • Both Sides Toggle On Toggle Off • Read Toggle On Toggle Off How to study your flashcards. H key: Show hint (3rd side).h key A key: Read text to speech.a key Play button Play button Click to flip 60 Cards in this Set • Front • Back What are the main approaches to neuropsychological testing? 1. Halstead-Reitan 2. Luria Nebraska 3. Process Advantages and Disadvantages of the Halstead Reitan? 1. tests specific parts of the brain 2. tests higher cognitive functioning 3. straight forward- tells you where the damage is 4. for higher functioning adults 1. doesn't look at hierarchy, prob could be in other places 2. all items at same difficulty level 3. very long 4. many of the tests are complex, requiring multiple skill sets Advantages and Disadvantages of the Luria Nebraska? 1. Good for stroke victims 2. much shorter 3. items increase in difficulty, which allows you to identify the extent of the problem 4. allows for functional recommendations 1. doesn't test higher cog. functioning skills 2. not as integrated Advantages and Disadvantages of the Process Approach? (Most common approach) 1. Pick and choose your own battery 2. tailor it to what is most useful to your client 1. You might miss something 2. You need experience, this approach depends ont he skill level of the examiner What are 5 specific Halstead Tests? 1. Finger tapping - motor strip 2. category - frontal lobes 3. Tactual Performance Test (TPT)- R. hemi 4. Aphasia Screen - L. hemi 5. Trails A & B - Frontal lobes Name 6 discrete areas assessed by neuropsych tests? 1. attention/concentration 2. motor 3. sensory perception 4. language 5. memory 6. higher lvl functioning- executive functioning and IQ Name 3 types of scans used by neurologists to diagnose brain dysfunction? 1. Catscan 2. EEG 3. MRI 3 ways to estimate premorbid functioning level? 1. occupation 2. educational level/grades in school client having difficulty at work with things they used to do well? Name 2 situations when a MSE is preferable to a full battery? When a person is changing rapidly, out of a coma, etc. When a person needs to be tested multiple times? (???) 4 areas to be discussed with a patient in a preparatory interview? 1. purpose of testing 2. how the info. will be used 3. feedback to pt. 4. brief explanation of process A neuropsychologist can test hypotheses by varying what 3 areas? 1. length of stimuli (one letter, then two, then three) 2. modality (auditory, or visual, which is the pt. better at?) 3. format (how the info was presented, list, paired association, etc) What 3 types of impairment would significantly affect all types of cognitive testing? 1. vision 2. motor abilities 3. hearing What is an extremely important history question to be asked prior to neuropsych interpretation? Developmental history/milestones What area of cognition must be intact prior to neuropsych testing? What are the 3 areas assesseed by the Glasgow Coma Scale? 1. eye open 2. verbal 3. motor response What are 2 tests of concentration? 1. WAIS- arithmetic 2. Serial 7s What are the 5 stages of coma? 1. alertness 2. lethargy/somnolescence 3. obtundation/obtunded 4. semi-coma/stupor 5. coma 1. not fully alert 2. go to sleep if not stimulated 3. spontaneous movements down 4. awareness limited 5. can't play close attention 6. thoughts wander from topic to topic 1. very difficult to arouse 2. confused when aroused 3. need constant stimulation in order to provide marginal cooperation 4. acute confusional state, or quiet delirium 1. respond only to delirium 2. persistent and vigorous stimulation 3. when stimulated groan and mumble and move restlessly 1. completely unarousable 2. don't respond to internal or external stimuli 3. no evidence of response or stimulation name and describe briefly 3 types of attention and how you would assess each? 1. immediate attention: digit span, say numbers and they are repeated back immediately 2. sustained/vigilance: focused on a specific task, TOVA 3. length/overtime: how long are you able to maintain attention over a time period, (behavioral observation) Name 3 different drawing tests that would assess constructional difficulties? 1. bender-gestalt 2. Rey O (or complex figure) 3. free drawing task How would you assess motor perseveration? (3 ways) 1. M & N test 2. square/triangle test 3. bender gestalt over or undershooting the distance to an object lack of voluntary movmement coordination (lack smooth cordination in eating and walking) movements of your mouth uncoordinated The motor effects of Parkinsons's 1. increased muscle tone 2. person's face loses it's expression 3. slow, shuffling gait 4. a resting tremor The motor effects of Huntington's Chorea 1. rapid jerking non-rhythmic momement of extremities, trunk and/or face 2. dementia slow, bizarre twisting movement of the arms and fingers a violent swinging motion of the arms or legs 3 ways to assess visual neglect? 1. reading 2. line by section 3. cookie theft story 4 types of aphasia? 1. broca's 2. wernicke's 3. conduction/repetition 4. global Broca's aphasia? 1. Nonfluent- little output (think: closer to mouth) 2. effort to verbalize 3. use lots of substantiative words & less connecting words Wernicke's aphasia? 1. Fluent- difficulty with comprehension (think: closer to ear) 2. plentiful output of words 3. tendency to omit meaningful words 4. very difficult to understand and excessive paraphasias Repetition (conduction) aphasia? 1. Problem with the fibers connecting Broca's and Wernicke's (arcuate fasciculus) 2. unable to repeat things Global aphasia the whole left hemisphere is affected and they have all these different kind of aphasias. Phrase of curse words they repeat a lot. inability to name common items had ability to read and loses it. difficulty w/ writing loss of math ability an inability to recognise something by one sensory modality, but you can recognie it by the other sensory modality persons closes eyes and can tell what an object is by feeling it in their hands Finger nosis fingers are number, when fingers are touched they tell you what number it is. Word substition (2 types) 1. semantic: substitute word different in meaning (pen/pencil) 2. phonemic: substitute word close in sound but not in meaning (pen/pin) What 4 functional activities are affected when a person has an aphasia? 1. spontaneous speech 2. comprehension 3. reading 4. spelling 2 types of dyslexia? 1. phoneme-grapheme 2. ideographic repesentation phoneme-grapheme dyslexia? (aka sound-letter) difficulty knowing sounds that go with the letter ideographic representation? specific letter groups go w/ specific sounds (ph) (tion) (sound symbols) unable to sound out words. Spells phonetically. immediate memory something beyond attention but less than 3 minutes delayed memory 1/2 hour remote memory (sometimes called long term) personal facts, stuff on info. subtest 4 processes involved in memory? 1. registration 2. encoding 3. storage 4. retrieval What are 3 common error made by individuals with neurological problems that are seen very infrequently in a normal population during a memory assessment? 1. repetition: a repetition of a word they've already given 2. intrusion: come up w/ an item not on the original list 3. confabulation: ome up w/ own story instead of actual facts 2 measure of incidental nonverbal memory? 1. bender-gestalt 2. Rey O The conceptual functions of the frontal lobes 1. looks at acquired knowledge, such as subjects 2. prob. solving on old knowledge 3. abstract thinking (similarities) 4. social judgement 5. comprehension 6. forming a concept 7. categorizing 8. generalization 9. distinguishing relevant from irrelevant 10. where do you focus your attention What are the executive functions of the frontal lobes? 1. organize your perceptions 2. integrates cortical and subcortical functions 3. heps retrieve stored material 4. helps you process 2 or more types of events simultaneously 5. helps you to tranform experience into behavior 6. helps to know when you should generalize or not 7. provides a feedback system for monitoring your behavior How would you distinguish between someone with schizophrenia from someone with frontal lobe impairment? 1. hallucinations 2. paranoid ideation 3. history 4. bizarre behavior 5. flat affect What types of unusual behaviors would you expect to see in someone with a frontal lobe injury? 1. impulse prolems 2. disinhibition 3. planning 4. organization 5. tangential What are some tests specifically designed to measure frontal lobe injury, not intelligence? 1. WISC card sort 2. trails a & b 3. CAT test
Study your flashcards anywhere! Download the official Cram app for free > • Shuffle Toggle On Toggle Off • Alphabetize Toggle On Toggle Off • Front First Toggle On Toggle Off • Both Sides Toggle On Toggle Off • Read Toggle On Toggle Off How to study your flashcards. H key: Show hint (3rd side).h key A key: Read text to speech.a key Play button Play button Click to flip 14 Cards in this Set • Front • Back How many copies do you need to have of a dominant allele to see the dominant phenotype? How many copies do you need to have of a recessive allele to see the recessive phenotype? What do we call the "factors" that Mendel said all organisms have 2 copies of and that passes from one generation to the next? Principle of Dominance One factor (allele) in a pair can mask the other allele present. The allele that shows up is called the dominant allele. The allele that is hidden when the dominant allele is present is called the recessive allele. Principla of Segregation When gametes form, the 2 alleles responsible for each trait segregate (separate) from each other into different gametes. A gamete will only have one allele for each trait. Sutton's Chromosome Theory Genes are carried from parent to offspring on chromosomes. How many chromosomes do humans have? 46 chromosomes How many chromosomes in human somatic cells and human zygote? 46 chromosomes each How many chromosomes in sperm and ova? 23 chromosomes each Kind of cell division that produces gametes. Male gametes Female gametes ova or egg Number of gametes They have half the normal number of chromosomes that body cells have. Males and females have 22 pairs of chromosomes in common. Sex chromosomes 23rd pair of chromosomes. Males are XY. Females are XX.
Marbles Games Marbles games are fun indoor and outside games for kids. Before You Start 2 or more players Ages 6 and up Need: marbles, chalk or string to make circle for playing area Decide before the play begins whether any "captured" marbles will belong to the player who "captured" it or not. Begin by making a circle from the string or chalk, approximately 4 or 5 feet across. Give each player 5 marbles plus a "shooter" marble. If there are larger marbles, these can be used as shooters since they can be identified by each player. Smaller marbles are okay but make sure each player remembers what his shooter marble looks like! Then each player puts his 5 marbles somewhere in the circle. The starting player kneels outside the circle and puts his shooter marble down. He "shoots" his marble at the other marbles in the circle. He can roll his marble or flick it with a finger. If his marble hits a marble in the circle, he takes another turn. He "shoots" his marble from where it is at in the circle. He continues playing until he does not hit another marble or until his marble rolls out of the circle. If he knocks another marble out of the circle, he "keeps" it, and the marble is not put back in play. The next player takes his turn and play continues with each player taking her turn. When round 2 starts, the player will "shoot" his marble from inside the circle if it is in there, or outside the circle if his marble is not in the circle. If a "shooter" marble is knocked out by another player, the player whose marble was knocked out hands over her stack of marbles to the player who knocked her marble out. She gets to keep her "shooter" marble so she can continue to play. It's Over When all marbles have been knocked out of the circle, the winner is the player with the most marbles. Boss Out This begins with player # 1 tossing his marble in front of him. Player # 2 kneels down and shoots his marble, trying to hit the first marble or landing within a distance equal to the width of the player's thumb and his pinkie tip when his hand is spread out. If player # 2 is successful, she wins both marbles. If she isn't, player # 1 gets his marble and shoots it towards player # 2's marble, trying to hit it or land within the "hand" distance. The losing player, who gets his marble taken, begins the next round. Play continues until a specific time is up or until one player wins all the marbles. Enjoy the fun marbles games! Marbles games main / Home New! Comments Copyright © 2008 - 2017 by Kim Ryan Privacy Policy/Disclaimer/Disclosure Policy
Kempton - meaning , origin - England, popularity \| What does Kempton last name mean Kempton meaning \| Last name Kempton origin Following is the meaning of Kempton surname. Family name Kempton is generally added after the name or middle name so also called last name. Family Name / Last Name: Kempton No. of characters: 7 Origin: England Meaning: Currently, no meaning found for Kempton Kempton is used as a family name or surname in England languages. Kempton has 7 characters long in length. Kempton is common in England country(ies). Kempton is ranked 64460 in our list. There are about 3130 people in US who wears Kempton as surname and ranked 9526 in US Census Bureau. In 2000 census, the last name was found in around 11.6 per 1 million , used in more than 1 hispanic race. Count Region Rank Kempton is quite popular family name mostly used in United States while Northern Ireland is ahead in terms of density. Around 7079 people have been found who wears Kempton as their family name. Kempton is used widely across the globe. More detailed information can be found below: Countries with very very low frequency i.e., 1 - 10: 8 Russia 541,660 6 Ukraine 318,252 3 China 14,054 3 Turkey 35,789 3 Germany 90,215 3 Czech Republic 127,708 2 South Korea 4,104 2 Singapore 21,529 1 India 1,704,541 1 Costa Rica 15,162 1 Cayman Islands 2,037 1 Rwanda 4,171 1 Cyprus 10,683 1 Italy 153,416 1 Japan 29,046 1 Iceland 9,498 1 Nepal 3,275 1 Bermuda 2,374 1 Saudi Arabia 50,307 Full Last Name Distribution ⇳ . Celebrities having Kempton surname Greta Kempton Artist Garfield Kempton Film producer Greta Kempton Artist Murray Kempton Journalist Tim Kempton Basketball Player Rez Kempton Actor David Kempton Politician Greta Kempton Artist James Kempton Politician Gloria Kempton Author Related Family Names: Kem (Cambodia) Kemala (Indonesia) Kemaloglu (Turkey) KemalovKemalovaKemanciKemba (Uganda) KemballKembelKemberKembermanKemble (United States) KemecheKemejukKemenes (Hungary) Kement (Turkey) KementsetsidouKemeny (Hungary) KeményKemer (Turkey) How to choose a name for your baby Surname is added at the end of the first name also known as given name. Most of the time, a family name is used as a surname. You might not know the meaning og Kempton surname. Nameslist.org has collected informaton regarding the meaning and origin of Kempton and displayed for better understanding of surnames. Discover how Kempton is originated? Share your opinion on Kempton Enter Code:
To the Editor: ''A movement led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson to call blacks African-Americans has met with both rousing approval and deep-seated skepticism in a debate that is coming to symbolize the role and history of blacks in this country'' (front page, Jan. 31). The social and economic evolution of African-Americans has been and continues to be difficult and painful. Much of African America's problem stems from a secular identity crisis, one of the many symptoms of more than 400 years of systematic oppression. This identity crisis involved a virtual erasing of the African-American's history, culture and name. Use of the term ''African-American,'' as opposed to ''black,'' constitutes a positive and important step in regaining some of our African heritage. Most of the debate over the appropriateness of the term African-American centers on a deeply ingrained misconception that Caucasians are the standard of humanity: a man is considered a priori to be a ''white man.'' A non-Caucasian is not a man but a ''black man,'' a ''Hispanic'' or an ''Asian.'' This semantic egocentricity correlates to the way Caucasians perceive other ethnic groups. Conversely, non-Caucasians, especially blacks, have entangled themselves in a web of ego-marginality -i.e., they see themselves as black people, as opposed to just people, namely white people. This attitude leads to the false conclusion that if one is not white, one is something less. The term African-American is not only less offensive than black, but it is also the correct term to use, because it is geopolitically accurate. It denotes a person of United States citizenship and upbringing, but of African heritage and origin. More important, it connotes a person with a sense of history and culture, who is clear on his or her background. On the other hand, black denotes nothing but a color and connotes a person who is not white, thus who is not a normal person, thus who is less than a person. At best, black is the term branded on us by colonialists who fooled African-Americans into thinking they should have been born something else. The initiative by the Rev. Jesse Jackson to have the term African-American adopted by all Americans is a step toward resolving the identity crisis that has impeded the progress of African-Americans - and indirectly, the progress of America. It is not a redefinition of who we are, but a reaffirmation of who we always were. Thus, if ''many who are black favor 'African-American' '' (as you state), it is our prerogative to do so, and it is the rest of America's respectful duty to call us what we wish to be called. AHPALY J. G. CORADIN Brooklyn, Feb. 2, 1989
Social Responsibility and Ethics Social responsibility is an ethical theory, in which individuals are accountable for fulfilling their civic duty; the actions of an individual must benefit the whole of society. In this way, there must be a balance between economic growth and the welfare of society and the environment. If this equilibrium is maintained, then social responsibility is accomplished. What it Means to be Socially Responsible and Ethical? The theory of social responsibility is built on a system of ethics, in which decisions and actions must be ethically validated before proceeding. If the action or decision causes harm to society or the environment then it would be considered to be socially irresponsible. Moral values that are inherent in society create a distinction between right and wrong. In this way, social fairness is believed (by most) to be in the “right”, but more frequently than not this “fairness” is absent. Every individual has a responsibility to act in manner that is beneficial to society and not solely to the individual. When Do Social Responsibility and Ethics Apply? The theory of social responsibility and ethics applies in both individual and group capacities. It should be incorporated into daily actions/decisions, particularly ones that will have an effect on other persons and/or the environment. In the larger, group capacity, a code of social responsibility and ethics is applied within said group as well as during interactions with another group or an individual. Businesses have developed a system of social responsibility that is tailored to their company environment. If social responsibility is maintained within a company than the employees and the environment are held equal to the company’s economics. Maintaining social responsibility within a company ensures the integrity of society and the environment are protected. Often, the ethical implications of a decision/action are overlooked for personal gain and the benefits are usually material. This frequently manifests itself in companies that attempt to cheat environmental regulations. When this happens, government interference is necessary. Unfortunately, social responsibility and ethics are often not practiced by American companies outside of U.S. borders, which makes regulation difficult. The Pachamama Alliance Pachamama Alliance is an organization that seeks to instill social responsibility in the industrialized or “modern” world. Our partnership between the indigenous Ecuadorian tribe, the Achuar, began when they recognized the imminent threat of oil drilling in their home. This tribe, hidden deep in the Amazon forest, has inhabited this area for thousands of years and is at risk of total destruction. The goal of The Pachamama Alliance is to restore a sense of active decision making to the people and companies of the modern world. Currently, the Achuar and their home are in danger because of our addiction to crude oil. This addiction is the result of a faulty system of belifs that disregards the environment, its inhabitants, and the consequences of our actions. A change in this universal mentality is imperative if the Achuar are to survive this threat; in order to do so pandemic social responsibility is essential. Join the 1000’s and Participate in Our Awakening the Dreamer Symposium The Pachamama Alliance plans to inspire a new, universal worldview by encouraging the re-discovery of the interconnectedness between the earth and every individual. The respect and spiritual connection that the Achuar have with the earth are necessities that the modern world lacks. The Awakening the Dreamer Symposium provides a judgment-free space to re-gain this connection. Participants critically evaluate the current environmental and societal state of the world, how we got to this point, and what actions and decisions can be made to improve our fate. Become your own agent of change and experience one of are international symposiums. Learn More About the Symposium
Kennedy announcing moon projectJohn F. Kennedy not only should have been alive during my lifetime, but he should have had the opportunity to be the first sitting president in my lifetime. Instead, the gunshots from his assassination were still echoing throughout the world on the day of my birth in 1966. Kennedy had a lot in common with two other twentieth century presidents, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt. The Roosevelts came from a wealthy northeastern family and saw public service as an obligation, as did Kennedy. Like the Roosevelts, Kennedy also went against the dogma of his class, including his father, Joseph P. Kennedy. But if you had to compare Kennedy to either of the Roosevelts, it would have to be Franklin. Theodore worked most of his life, even though he did not really need to. He was a rancher, legislator, civil servant, and soldier before becoming vice president. Franklin was more the idle rich youth shepherded early on by his mother before coming into his own during his thirties. Likewise, Jack Kennedy was an aimless student at Harvard, having to endure comparisons to his brother, Joseph Kennedy, Jr., whom Joe Kennedy originally wanted to become president. In this respect, Jack (and brother Joe) had a lot in common with another Ivy League son of a man with dynastic ambitions, George H. W. Bush, whose father Prescott also had dynastic ambitions. When Joe went off to war, Jack emerged from his shadow and majored in government at Harvard, turning a thesis into a best-selling book, Why England Slept. It would be the beginning of a life-long obsession with foreign policy. He followed his brother Joe into the service, joining the Navy at the start of America’s involvement in World War II. It was here Kennedy’s sexual compulsions would get him into trouble. While working for Naval Intelligence, he began an affair with a reporter named Inga Arvad. Unfortunately, the FBI suspected Arvad of being a Nazi spy. Kennedy transferred to another post, then to the Great Lakes, and finally became a PT boat commander in the South Pacific. During his time in the South Pacific, Kennedy endured a harrowing two days at sea after his boat, the PT 109, was destroyed by a Japanese destroyer. Kennedy was decorated for his bravery, though the loss of two of his crew would forever haunt him. Kennedy moved to Boston after the war, where he ran for Congress in 1946. Interestingly enough, this was also the year Richard Nixon won his first election to the House. Kennedy’s congressional election was largely a project for Joe Kennedy, Sr. It was also the point where Jack Kennedy decided he wanted to win the White House. Jack took to the plan with gusto. He had more reasons than just personal ambition and his father’s plans that drove him, however. During his Navy years, he suffered from severe back problems and poor health. Shortly after he began his career in Washington, he was also diagnosed with Addison’s disease, a progressive degeneration of the adrenal glands. Kennedy knew he would die young. So he invested his energy into his career. He often needed crutches to get around, but he gave the impression of being a vital, active young man. Kennedy was not a spectacular senator or congressman, serving as he did in Republican-dominated congresses. Where he rose to national prominence came in 1956, when he campaigned actively to be Adlai Stevenson’s running mate. He lost to Estes Kefauver, but it was the beginning of the 1960 presidential campaign. And Kennedy knew he would face Vice President Richard Nixon. Oddly enough, Nixon and Kennedy had a good working relationship when they served together in Congress. They had done a public debate on a major bill in the early 1950’s, spending the train ride back to Washington hammering out some committee business to be handled on their return. Once, when Kennedy was hospitalized for back surgery, the junior senator from Massachusetts found a fruit basket waiting for him when he returned to the office. The card read, “Welcome back! Dick Nixon.” The 1960 campaign would permanently split the two men. Nixon was already noted for being a sore loser with a self-destructive streak. Kennedy would lose his temper just as badly, but was a skilled enough politician to keep it private, always showing the charm and the energy when he appeared in public. Kennedy started his administration at a disadvantage. Winning the White House on a plurality, he had no real mandate from voters. He also faced a Republican Congress. From Eisenhower, he inherited a communist Cuba, as well as a jobless recovery. He didn’t help matters by authorizing the Bay of Pigs Invasion. Misinterpreting a briefing by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he and Bobby, his Attorney General, decided the plan to seize Cuba and oust Castro would work. When it did not, Kennedy was devastated and shook up his group of foreign policy advisers. Unfortunately, he also emboldened Nikita Krushchev, leader of the Soviet Union. Krushchev used the debacle to press East Germany for a peace treaty that would effectively oust the Allies from West Berlin. He also decided that, since the US had missiles in Turkey aimed directly across the Black Sea at the USSR (“directly at my dacha!” the Soviet leader frequently shouted to guests), why not stick a few in Cuba? JFK wasn’t having it and blockaded Cuba. This became the Cuban Missile Crisis that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in 1961. Kennedy gave Krushchev one thing he wanted – quietly removing the missiles in Turkey – but only if the Soviets publicly removed the missiles from Cuba and allowed West Berlin to remain part of allied West Germany. Krushchev “blinked,” said Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara put it. This emboldened Kennedy. He pushed for anti-poverty measures, many of which his successor, Lyndon Johnson, would get, leaned on Congress to pass civil rights legislation, and set a goal to put a man on the moon by 1970. One issue that would not go away was Vietnam. In an effort to stave off the threat of communist expansion, the US supported South Vietnam’s brutal and repressive regime, composed largely of French-educated Catholics. When the regime violently attacked Buddhists, Kennedy decided to withdraw support from the regime and promised support to a new regime after a military coup. He was not happy about it, and by then, Kennedy had an inkling that the US needed to write off Vietnam. Unlike Laos, where US involvement ended with a compromise between Kennedy and Krushchev, he saw only a repeat of the French debacle of the 1950’s. So how did Kennedy turn his administration around despite an intransigent Congress and persistent high unemployment? (6.8%, which would be considered wonderful today.) Kennedy took his case directly to the people. Eisenhower held televised press conferences, but Kennedy took the unprecedented step of doing them live. He carefully managed how they were presented, but these days, we take it for granted that a president is going to speak live to the nation. He crafted his own image, making sure people saw the youthful playboy, not the Addison’s-riddled man with a deteriorating back. He also recruited rivals. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara was a Republican business executive while dark horse candidate for the Democratic nomination Adlai Stevenson served as UN ambassador during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Once, after a particularly brutal battle with Congress, Kennedy reached out to Barry Goldwater, the most likely GOP opponent in 1964 and then a leader in the Senate. Over lunch, Kennedy said, “So, you think you really want this f***ing job?” FDR had had similar conversations with Wendell Wilkie after the 1940 election, telling his new adviser, “Someday, you may have to sit in this office” when explaining why and how he made decisions. What would Kennedy have achieved if he had not been cut down that November day in Dallas? Kennedy had started to gain traction with the American people when he decided to run again, and he had finally made in-roads with Congressional Republican leaders. Although many of his civil rights initiatives passed largely from support stemming from his death, it’s very likely these acts would have passed, though with more modest support. It’s also likely America’s involvement in Vietnam would have ended much sooner, and without the smaller country enduring war with China as happened in the 1970’s. Kennedy, while anti-communist, was willing to talk with communists, something that drove Krushchev to madness. But the Kennedy we elected in 1960 would not have been the Kennedy welcoming his successor to office in 1969. His back was deteriorating so rapidly that, by the midterm of his second administration, he would have been wheelchair-bound. Also, eventually, the effects of his Addison’s disease and the use of drugs to counteract his poor health would have taken their toll. We will never know for sure, however. When those shots rang out in Dallas in 1963, it began one of the greatest periods of unrest in recent history.
Cultural variations in relationships HideShow resource information Brief introduction ... Within psychology, there has been much research into the formation, dissolution and benefits of relationships. However, the majority of research has been done in western societies, such as Europe and the USA, where the focus has been on voluntary romantic relationships. However, globally, such relationships are by no means the dominant type. Data and theories from western studies may not necessarily be applied cross culturally. Therefore, it is important to investigate other cultures, to seek both similarities and differences in romantic relationships. Hofstede (1984) drew a distinction between individualistic cultures, where the emphasis is on self-interest and independence, and collectivist cultures where the importance of interdependence and doing what is best for the group is stressed. Typically, Western nations are individualistic, whereas Eastern cultures tend to be more collectivist. 1 of 8 Important differences (a02) Evidence suggests that there may be important differences between individualistic and collectivist cultures in terms of the importance of romantic love. Shaver, Wu and Schwartz (1991) studied the differences in attitudes towards romantic love in different cultures. Whereas in individualistic cultures, romantic love is seen as vital ingredient for a happy relationship, in China, romantic love is associated with pain, sorrow and unfulfilled affection. The western notion that marriage should be based on romantic love is seen as unrealistically optimistic by Chinese people. This link between individualism and the importance of romantic love is supported by Levine (1995) who found a correlation of +0.56 between a culture’s individualism and the perceived necessity of love for the establishment of marriage. In other words, the more individualistic the country, the more important love was perceived. These results may be due to the fact that arranged marriages are more common in collectivist cultures and so love is seen as less important than social status or family compatibility. 2 of 8 No universal view of love (A02) Both Shaver et al (1991) and Levine (1995) seem to suggest that there is no universal view of love, and your perception of love can be shaped to an extent by your culture. This is an important factor for relationship psychologists to take into account when carrying out research. It suggests that research which takes place in an individualistic culture may not necessarily be generalisable to collectivist cultures and vice versa, particularly if the dominant type of relationship in a culture is non-voluntary. (Synoptic) However, it should be taken into account that this research is about 20 years old. Increased globalisation and the advent of the internet might mean that western/individualistic notions of love become more common in eastern/collectivist cultures. 3 of 8 No difference in happiness levels... It would be easy to take an ethnocentric standpoint, and argue that the individualistic concept of romantic love is better, and that marriages based on free choice are happier and longer lasting than arranged/involuntary marriages. However, the research does not support this. Yelsma and Athappily (1988) found that there was no discernible difference in happiness levels between arranged and non-arranged Indian and American marriages. Gupta and Singh (1982) similarly found that while levels of love in arranged marriages started off significantly lower than levels of love in non-arranged marriages, by 10 years of marriage, levels of love were about the same; love had dropped in the non-arranged marriages, and climbed in the arranged marriages. Anecdotally, it has often been stated that arranged marriages are happier, because the divorce rates for these types of relationship are much lower. 4 of 8 Synoptic evidence continued .. Both of these studies suggest that there are more similarities than differences in arranged and non-arranged marriages. However, there are some methodological issues with both pieces of research. Firstly, the research depends upon the quantitative measuring of both love and happiness. Such measures may lack validity, as these concepts may elude measurement, and the terms love and happiness may mean different things to different people. Another issue is with social desirability. There may be social pressure to over-emphasise the happiness and love in a marriage, particularly in arranged marriages. This could also explain why arranged marriages have a low divorce rate, as social exclusion may act as a large barrier to leaving (Levinger 1976). Thirdly, both studies depend upon self-report measures. An individual may not necessarily have sufficient insight into how happy or in love they are. Similarly, love and happiness may not be static, and may fluctuate over time. 5 of 8 Much of the research into cross cultural variations into relationships is hampered by a number of issues. Much of cross cultural research is time-sensitive. Social changes such as the internet mentioned above may be having a great effect on people, allowing individuals to be exposed to other ways of life, leading to cross cultural “contamination”. Research carried out 20 years ago may already be out of date. Even within our own western culture, attitudes towards sex, sexuality and relationships have altered drastically within the last few decades. 6 of 8 You can't be certain your sample is representative It is easy to accept that there are great differences between cultures, but it is often overlooked that there are many more variations within a culture. This is an issue when choosing a sample for a cross cultural study, as you cannot be certain that your sample is representative of the whole culture. For example, Buss (1989) carried out a famous piece of cross cultural research which suggested that there are universal standards of attractiveness, and that mate selection is determined not by culture, but by evolutionary pressures. While Buss’s research took place in dozens of different cultures, the sample sizes were often small, and unlikely to be representative of the entire culture. This raises the question of the use of carrying out any sort of cross cultural research into relationships. 7 of 8 Conclusion .... However, while cross cultural research may be hampered by methodological issues, it is important to investigate the similarities and differences between how relationships are carried out in other cultures. Doing so not only allows us to look for universals of human behaviour, which may point to an evolutionary or biological cause, but also allow us to look for differences which allow us to gain more of an insight into the role our own culture has on shaping our romantic relationships. 8 of 8 Great A02 points and synoptic ideas, thanks Similar Psychology resources: See all Psychology resources »See all Relationships resources »
Lesson Plan Identify what a writing prompt is asking using key words teaches Common Core State Standards CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.10 http://corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/4/10 Quick assign You have saved this lesson! Here's where you can access your saved items. Content placeholder Card of or to view additional materials In this lesson, you will learn how to identify what a writing prompt is asking and what kind of writing you'll need to do by using key words in the prompt. Provide feedback
Explain the issues surrounding Industrial Food Animal Production? Issue group number one, the amount of animal waste. Because in an industrial setting we are making more food then we need, because of things like that we have increase in animal waste. So much that there is nothing and nowhere to put it, so it just sits there in lagoons and contained in silos that are already stuffed. This causes serious sanitation problems for not only the farmers but also their neighbors, who can’t afford to move so they’re stuck there breathing in literal animal shit. And it’s not just in their lungs, it’s in their water. The IFAP farmers use the lagoon water that is filled with animal waste and using it to water their crops. The water that is used to water crops now can make its way back to once safe river water into contaminated water that all the farmer’s neighbors use to drink. Also think about the IFAP farmers who poke these animals with bad hormones and other unsafe things, do you think that could be in the animal waste if it was in the animal? Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Statistics Chapter 1,2,3,4 Home > Preview The flashcards below were created by user trulyfe89 on FreezingBlue Flashcards. 1. The two major types of statistics are ______ statistics and _____ statistics. Inferential, Descriptive 2. What is the difference in the conclusion drawn from a designed experiment an observational study? Oberservational can only reveal association, where designed experiments can show causation 3. Describe advantages and disadvantages of cluster sampling. • Advantages: Easier, faster, less expensive • Disadvantage: cluster sampling is not that accurate, each cluster will probably not be the same as the other clusters 4. Age Percentage not covered 18-24 28.2 25-39 24.9 40-54 19.1 55-65 16.5 Classify the study as either descriptive or inferential 5. Define Observational Study researchers observe characteristics and take measurements 6. Define Designed experiment researchers impose treatments and controls 7. Descriptive Statistics consists of methods for organizing and summarizing information 8. inferential statistics consists of methods for drawing and measuring the reliability of conclusions about a population based on info obtained from a sample of the population 9. Contingency table represent what specific kind of discrete data bivariate data 10. what is the equation for Chebyshev's Rule 100(1-(1/k2) % 11. How many data points are you trimming off for 20 data points with a 10% trimmed mean? 4 in total...2 on top and 2 on the bottom 12. Qualitative variable nonnumerical variable 13. Quantitative variable numerical variable 14. variable characteristic that varies from one person or thing to another 15. data values of a variable 16. qualitative data values of a qualitative variable 17. quantitative data values of a quantitative variable 18. discrete variable quantitative variable whose possible values can be listed 19. continuous variable quantitative variable whose possible values form some interval of numbers 20. a table that provides the classes, frequencies, relative frequencies, and midpoints of a data is called a _______ grouped-data table 21. A positive Z score indicates that the observation is ______ the mean, whereas a negative Z score indicates that the observation is _____ the mean. above, below 22. A standardized variable always has mean ____ and standard deviation ____ 0, 1 23. interpret this z score. Z = 10.16 - 3.00 = 2.24 the data 10.16 is 2.24 standard deviation above the mean of 3.00 24. difference between a parameter and a statistic a parameter is a measure of the population and a statistic is a measure of a sample 25. mutually exclusive events no two of them have outcomes in common Card Set Information Statistics Chapter 1,2,3,4 2010-09-21 19:16:47 Math exam 1 Show Answers: What would you like to do? Home > Flashcards > Print Preview
Rhetorical Terms - Trope Home > Preview The flashcards below were created by user omarp120 on FreezingBlue Flashcards. 1. allegory - An extended metaphor. • Ex 1: "During the time I have voyaged on this ship, I have avoided the cabin; rather, I have remained on deck, battered by wind and rain, but able to see moonlight�" • Ex 2: "This is a valley of ashes--a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens, where ashes take forms of houses and...of men..." (Fitzgerald 27). 2. allusion - A reference in a written or spoken text to another text or to some particular body of knowledge. • Ex 1: "I doubt if Phaethon feared more -- that time/ he dropped the sun-reins of his father's chariot/ and burned the streak of sky we see today" (Dante's Inferno). • Ex 2: "Have you read 'The rise of the Coloured Empires' by this man Goddard?" (Fitzgerald 17). 3. anastrophe - Inversion or reversal of the usual order of words. Ex: Echoed the hills. 4. anthimeria - The substitution of one part of speech for another. Ex: The thunder would not peace at my bidding. 5. antithesis - The juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas, often in parallel structure. • Ex 1: "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." (Barry Goldwater) • Ex 2: "�found her lying on her bed as lovely as the June night in her flowered dress--and as drunk as a monkey" (Fitzgerald 81). 6. flat character - A figure readily identifiable by memorable traits but not fully developed. Ex: Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. 7. format - The structural elements that constitute the presentation of a written text. Ex: The Modern Language Association (MLA) has created a format for research papers. 8. freewriting - Intuitive writing strategy for generation of ideas by writing without stopping. Ex: In English 1, I performed freewriting for two short pieces. 9. functional part - A part of a text classified according to its function. Ex: The introduction. 10. hyperbole - An exaggeration for effect. • Ex 1: "I told you a billion times not to exaggerate." • Ex 2: "�we scattered light through half Astoria�" (Fitzgerald 72). 11. invention - The art of generating material for a text; the first of the five traditional canons of rhetoric. Ex: I use brainstorming before an essay as invention. 12. journal - A text in which writers produce informal compositions that help them "think on paper" about topics and writing projects. Ex: I had a journal last year for Honors English in which I recorded my thoughts on various novels I read. 13. journaling - The process of writing in a journal. Ex: I wrote a journal last year for Honors English on the books I read. 14. loose sentence - A sentence that adds modifying elements after the subject, verb, and complement. Ex: "Bells rang, filling the air with their clangor, startling pigeons into flight from every belfry, bringing people into the streets to hear the news." 15. meiosis - Representation of a thing as less than it really is to compel greater esteem for it. Ex: Calling an act of arson a prank. 16. metaphor - An implied comparison that does not use the word like or as. Ex: "No man is an island" (Donne). 17. oxymoron - Juxtaposed words with seemingly contradictory meanings. Ex: "O miserable abundance! O beggarly riches!" (Donne). 18. paralipsis - Irony in which one proposes to pass over a matter, but subtly reveals it. Ex: "She is talented, not to mention rich." 19. peroration - In ancient Roman oratory, the part of a speech in which the speaker would draw together the entire argument and include material designed to compel the audience to think or act in a way consonant with the central argument. Ex: In Julius Caesar's speech, the peroration came at the end. 20. protagonist - The major character in a piece of literature; the figure in the narrative whose interests the reader is most concerned about and sympathetic toward. Ex: Tom Joad in The Grapes of Wrath. 21. repretoire - A set of assumptions, skills, facts, and experience that a reader brings to a text to make meaning. 22. setting - The context--including time and place--of a narrative. Ex: The area surround New York City in the 1920s is the setting of The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 23. sharing - A system calling for writers to read or listen to one another's work and suggest ways to improve it. Ex: In AP US History, we peer reviewed each other's take-home DBQs. 24. simile - A type of comparison that uses the word like or as. Ex: "There was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away" (Fitzgerald 2). 25. syllogism - Logical reasoning from inarguable premises. Ex: All mortals die. All humans are mortal. All humans die. 26. synecdoche - A part of something used to refer to the whole. Ex: "The hired hands are not doing their jobs." 27. syntax - The order of words in a sentence. Ex: "The dog ran" not "The ran dog." 28. theme - The message conveyed by a literary work. Ex: The decline of the American dream in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 29. tone - The writer's or speaker's attitude toward the subject matter. Ex: Light-hearted in the Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. 30. understatement - Deliberate playing down of a situation in order to make a point. Ex: "I think there's a problem between Shias and Sunnis." 31. unity - The sense that a text is, appropriately, about only one subject and achieves one major purpose or effect. Ex: Pride by Dagoberto Gilb 32. unreliable narrator - An untrustworthy or na�ve commentator on events and characters in a story. Ex: The people at Gatsby's parties like Jordan who spread rumors about Gatsby's past in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. 33. verisimilitude - The quality of a text that reflects the truth of actual experience. Ex: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon has medium verisimilitude. 34. zeugma - A trope in which one word, usually a noun or the main verb, governs two other words not related in meaning. Ex: He governs his will and his kingdom. Card Set Information Rhetorical Terms - Trope 2011-01-26 17:27:18 Rhetorical Terms - Trope Show Answers: What would you like to do? Home > Flashcards > Print Preview
This article is from the archive of our partner . As budget negotiations heat up, you're probably going to hear a lot of talk about "correcting the measure of inflation" or "chaining the CPI." Don't let your eyes glaze over, though, because this might be one of the most important proposals in the whole budget. It's also one of the most complicated for non-wonks to understand, and it just might become the most controversial. The budget that President Obama introduced today calls for "$230 billion in savings from using a chained measure of inflation for cost-of-living adjustments throughout the Budget." Because the measure of inflation is so important when it comes paying Social Security benefits and setting tax rates, a minor technical change could have a huge ripple effect on the economy. But what does it actually mean? First, let's look at what Chained CPI is and then you'll see why switching from the old method will have such a profound impact on Americans. Early in the last decade, economists began to argue that CPI is not the most accurate measure of inflation, because it merely aggregates prices and doesn't take into account how people spend their money in the real world. Specifically, it doesn't account for consumers' ability to substitute one product for another when prices change. (For example, if the price of butter goes up, people can switch to margarine and save money. Click here for more discussion of the "substitution effect.") So in 2002, the BLS created the Chained CPI, which many experts say is a better measure of the actual "cost of living." (For some people, anyway. We'll get back to that in a bit.) That's why it's also known as Superlative CPI. So why would progressives be upset? Because that spending comes mostly out of the pockets of poor people and retirees. Social Security mandates that benefits to seniors increase each year based on the CPI. A lower CPI number means lower benefits increases, which means smaller checks than under the old method. The other problem is that the people who benefit the most from Social Security—old and unhealthy people—are the ones that Chained CPI does the worst job of measuring. It may be more accurate for average folks, but senior citizens spend most of their income on health care and housing, two areas where the substitution effect has the least impact. But that's not only thing the government uses CPI for. It's used to adjust income thresholds for government assistance programs, phase-out levels for certain tax credits, the standard deduction you can take on your tax return each year, even the size of the tax brackets themselves. If the amount of money needed to move you into the next highest tax bracket doesn't rise as fast as your income does, you could get bumped into the higher rate faster than you would have under the old CPI. Studies have shown the cost of the switch will be borne almost exclusively by seniors and those making under $100,000 a year. (i.e., the people who can least afford it.) In a way, switching to Chained CPI is both a spending cut and a tax increase at the same time, with an added benefit for politicians that you don't have to actually get caught voting for either. This original argument for switching said it "should not be regarded as a benefit cut or a tax increase." Supporters of the move prefer to call it a "correction." But if you're the one receiving the checks, it definitely feels like a punishment. This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.
How To Manage and Do Good Sports Health lifeHuman basically consists of the body, blood, and the all the organs inside the body. All those things work properly when the body is healthy and the blood pressure is good. But, to make it work normally, people need to maintain it well. So How to maintain it? Here will be discussed deeply, and there are also some tips for you. Maintaining Your Body Some humans there are fond of exercise, but there are still some people who are still lazy with this one activity. Though the sport is a part that plays an important role in maintaining health, fitness and body quality better. As for the following tips is how to exercise well in accordance with the stages: 1. Heating Before doing a sport with a tight or heavy movement, start the exercise with a warm-up. Warming aims to make our muscles more relaxed when going to exercise more intense. Heating will also avoid cramps, whether hand or foot. 1. Equipment and Supplies When we are ready to exercise, whether it is a light or heavy sport, prepare equipment and equipment in accordance with the procedure. Not only equipment that is well prepared, from equipment and equipment there must be re-examined the components, in order to avoid malfunctions when used. The impact will be caused if the heavy equipment components are damaged and not researched like lifting weights, then existing tools will harm you. Then that is not forgotten is to prepare gloves if you want to lift heavy loads, so as not slippery and loose when lifted. Or other protective types such as foot protector, to play ball. Or a protective gear when going to sports boxing and other equipment. 3. Make sure Fit body conditionIndeed, the sport’s goal is to create a healthy body, but when the body is sick is not necessary to exercise, let alone a heavy sport. Instead of wanting to get a healthy body there is a body will become even weaker. This is because the cells in our body are not ready to exercise, not ready to lift the burden or the other.4. Diligently and regularlyGood exercise and the good effect is when the exercise is done regularly. Therefore, do it regularly and regularly to keep the body healthy and fit. Related posts:
What are violin strings made of? Well, way back when… The very first violin strings were made from the natural fibers found in sheep or goat intestines, and here’s how they did it. As soon as the animals were killed, the intestines were removed, cleaned of all fecal matter, freed of fat, and put into cold running water. The fat had to be removed quickly or the fibers wouldn’t bond properly while they were drying, while the feces had to be washed off or it would stain the strings. The cold water helped preserve the color and strength of the intestinal casing. Once the submucosa membrane had been softened (for a few hours to several days, depending on the dresser’s preference), the external membranes were scraped off and crushed with a metal-bladed scraper on wooden boards. The goal was to strip off the outside layer and crush the inside membrane of mucosa at the same time. If it was done properly, the inside layer would liquefy and could be squeezed down the casing tube and out. The remaining casing was now a clean tube of muscle. Casings were sorted into piles according to their thickness, and the lower sections of the casings were preferred for strings—because of their width of 18-20mm, but also because longer fibers were present in the casing of that section of the intestine. Longer fibers made for stronger strings. The selected casings were still uneven, because different sections of the casing had shorter or longer muscles, so they had to be stretched to make them all even. The string maker used a splitting horn to split the gut string into ribbons that could then be stretched more evenly. Once even, the strings were twisted on a twisting rack before sitting in in an alkaline solution to break down all oils and fat and leave only the fibers. The solution was monitored and changed frequently, and the gut was scraped at least once a day for four days. Then the gut was whitened by putting the twisting racks of strings in a small, tightly sealed room before setting some sulphur powder on fire in it. This changes the compounds in the air to whiten the strings. Thin strings only needed 3-4 guts twisted together, like the violin E string, while the D string needs 15. Once the twisted strings had dried — a long process— the strings were polished down with horse hair pads that were treated with oil and pumice powder, to the diameter that was needed. These days These days, specialty string makers still make catgut strings, but they usually use a centerless grinder to grind and polish the strings down to the right diameter. The strings are then bleached, disinfected, and sometimes dyed. They are now the most expensive strings one can buy, but many violin players of classical and baroque music will not use anything else because of the unique, rich tone the strings produce. Leave a Comment
Electoral Reservation: Is it right for democracy? In Indian elections to the Lok Sabha, certain constituencies are reserved for members of either the Scheduled Castes (SC) or Scheduled Tribes (ST) in an aim to rectify injustices imposed by the Caste system. The idea is that, by ensuring these ST/SC people seats, their voices are given a chance to direct policy through ensured representation. The Indian elections to the Lok Sabha work on a First Past the Post single member plurality system, apart from the two nominees from the Anglo-Indian community. In India the SC population is, as of the 2001 census, around 16.2 per cent [1] while the number of reserved seats in the Lok Sabha for the SCs is 15.4 per cent. [2] This means that 84 seats in the Lok Sabha of a total of 545 are exclusively held for an SC. One main issue with this reservation in terms of representation is not that the SCs are under-represented (the two percentages are actually close), but that the SC population is not concentrated in specific areas [3] and this spread means that they have reservation in constituencies with many people who are not of the SC lists. It is for this reason that scholars such as Barry and Sowell write that electoral reservation actually ingrains the Caste system. This is because SC reservation focuses on inequalities such as ‘untouchability’, thus reminding the population that is not on the SC/ST list of any perceived differences that led to the unequal treatment in the first place. In other words by focussing on the fact that there is a need to protect the ‘lower’ castes, inequality becomes part of an everyday consciousness and so becomes ingrained. [4] This is a view that holds that, within democracy, rights of minorities should be protected in law rather than through concessions. However, alongside the arguments of Barry and Sowell there is evidence suggesting that the electoral reservation system is not beneficial for Indian Democracy. It is first of all clear that electoral reservation in recent years has led to an increase in coalition governments. This is because of the guarantee that 84 seats in the Lok Sabha must go to a member of the SC population. As a result there has been an increase in the number of political parties that cater for the SC population, for instance the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Utter Pradesh. For this reason it is likely that in India there will ever be a single party government again. [5] This creates instability for the government who have to deal with internal tensions while trying to run the country. For instance the Government at the moment has a majority of 16, which leaves the Indian National Congress reliant on the BSP, a regional caste based party, who have 21 seats. This gives crucial power to a minority group of just one state and has created fears that they could call an early election. This is an issue as the cost of an election is prohibitive and many parties will be unable to compete effectively, [6] while the power given to a regional party over national interests creates obvious issues as well. The final point to be made relates to the growth of power at the centre of the Indian state. Due to the anti-defection legislation of 2003 it is not possible for individual members of the Lok Sabha to vote against their party without fear of being disqualified from the legislature. [7] For this reason it does not matter how many SC members of Parliament there are as they ultimately have to rubber stamp what the government wants. This is less of an issue in the caste-based parties in government who will be driving through an agenda of their own but it does create an issue for SC members of the national parties, such as Congress, who will have to vote in the way that the party leadership wants them to vote, theoretically even if this is against their own Caste interests. Thus, the system of electoral reservation in this case is redundant. As a result of this there is no reason for the electoral reservation system. There is a convincing argument that it actually ingrains the caste system while at the same time it creates instability through the need to form coalition governments with regional parties, who will have little electoral incentive for politics on the national stage as it will not bring benefits to their constituencies. Finally, the existence of the anti-defection legislation and its theoretical implications creates a situation whereby the system becomes redundant, especially in the national parties whose leaderships tend to belong to the ‘higher’ castes. There must be a better way for the Indian state to deal with the inequality created through the caste system as it has been shown that the system of electoral reservation is inadequate. Article by Sam Seager. Edited by George Richards. Further reading: [1] Government of India Census data, ‘http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/India_at_Glance/scst.aspx’, (27th September 2012). [2] K. Adeney and A. Wyatt, Contemporary India (Basingstoke, 2010), p. 85. [3] A. McMillan, Standing at the Margins: Representation and Electoral Reservation in India, (New Delhi, 2005), p. 8. [4] A. McMillan, Standing at the Margins: Representation and Electoral Reservation in India, (New Delhi, 2005), pp. 5 – 6. [5] K. Adeney and A. Wyatt, Contemporary India (Basingstoke, 2010), p. 140. [6] Dean Nelson, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/9551239/Indian-government-dealt-blow-by-partner-resignation.html (19th September 2012). [7] K. Adeney and A. Wyatt, Contemporary India (Basingstoke, 2010), p. 132.
Paco had had a dream about this journey before: Paco would have landed in Washington before if the weather hadn't been so terrible Topic 3 is about the third type of conditional sentences and the differences between American and British pronunciation. In this topic you will find lots of videos that will help you gain an idea and identify the American accent. It may seem a bit difficult at the beginning but it is not. Here we go, then. Icono IDevice Reading activity Georgetown Univ. U.S. Capitol. Washington monument. Civil War Memorial. National Shrine. By Epicadanm. Creative Commons. Paco had had a great time in New York. His stay there had been enjoyable. If Paco had known that New York was such an amazing city, he would have gone there before. The weather was still rainy and freezing, so Paco had a lot of trouble getting a ticket for Washington D.C., his next stop in the United States. Paco would have touched down in Washington sooner if the weather conditions hadn't been so disastrous. Paco's intention was to visit Florida and Chicago too. He might have changed his mind if he had known that the bad weather conditions could cause the delay of his flight to Washington. He could have flown first to Chicago if he had foreseen this delay, although, finally, Paco could fly to Washington and everything was O.K. Identify all the type 3 conditional sentences you can find in the text. Then, find synonyms in the text for these words: (1) surprising, incredible (2) landed (a plane) (3) terrible, awful, harmful 4) anticipated. Icono de iDevice Reflexión Before studying type 3 conditional sentences in detail, watch this video to get an idea of its form and uses. Icono IDevice Curiosity The United States Capitol The west face of the United States Capitol. By Noclip Public domain. The United States Congress was established upon ratification of the United States Constitution in 1789. New York City remained home to Congress until 1790, when the Residence Act was passed to pave the way for a permanent capital. The decision to locate the capital was contentious, but Alexander Hamilton helped to reach a compromise in which the federal government would take on war debt incurred during the American Revolutionary War, in exchange for support from northern states for locating the capital along the Potomac River. As part of the legislation, Philadelphia was chosen as a temporary capital for ten years, until the nation's capital in Washington, D.C. would be ready. Taken from Wikipedia. Icono IDevice Important Reductions are common in natural American speech. Written reduced forms in advertisements, songs, personal writing, reflect natural spoken language, although they are not standard written English. would have should have could have Icono IDevice Further Knowledge If you are interested in getting to know more about Washington D.C., then have a look at this video. Here you can find an interesting way to learn some differences between Britain and the United States. The White House Government official website offers you a great deal of information. If you have any doubt about the pronunciation of any word, you can check it here with the help of our interactive teacher Mike. Click here to use Mike Now it's time to study the third type of conditional sentences in detail.
Goddess of wisdom and strategy in war, she is usually shown helmeted, with spear and shield. Less often she holds an owl, or is depicted with other accouterments. She had an added significance in Egypt, as the chief deity of Sais, some inhabitants of which were believed by many Greeks to have founded Athens. Curtis (1990) p. 35 Milne 2634 Commodus Milne (1982) plate I coin 2634 Milne 3230 Maximinus Milne 3438 Tranquillina Milne 4409 Aurelian Milne 4488 Tacitus Curtis (1990) p. 327 coin 664 Milne 4699 Numerian Curtis (1990) p. 329 coin 712 Milne 4851 Diocletian Curtis (1990) p. 330 coin 720
The Influence of Our Perceptions on Our Lives How We Interpret Life Alters Our Life Excerpted from Transform Your Life Instantly: Mental Erasers Make Your Mind Work for You Instead of Against You The beliefs behind your perceptions, your interpretations on life, self, and others influence everything in your life. Mental and emotions filters cloud our judgments with untested prejudices, precepts, fears, and assumptions based on previous experiences. Your perceptions include your beliefs about the world around you, your own life, other people and yourself as a person. They are based on memory and filters stored in the data base of your subconscious mind and used to interpret sensory stimuli, events, people, and bodily conditions. Your assumptions influence the way you think about, act on, and speak regarding the major areas of your existence. Your perceptual reality includes your filters through which every real time event is filtered depending on what the bias set is of your filter. Emotional operating systems based in negativity such as anger, hostility, resentment, or egoism result in one kind of frame on life versus an emotional operating system based on positive beliefs such as understanding, acceptance, compassion or love, results in the opposite frame on life. The filters or mechanisms through which we run stimuli create our external and internal responses and triggering. Further, your understanding of “reality” even conditions and limits your ability to be aware of what is taking place around you. The NIH study on molecules of emotion confirms that it is memory and emotions that create the episodes of our lives and explains how the native Americans did not actually see or fully integrate the Pilgrims landing on their shore. There was nothing in their memory or experience to use as a reference point to assign meaning to what they saw. Therefore they were incapable of discerning, interpreting or analyzing these large vessels heading toward them. Obviously this was a tremendous handicap to them since not recognizing the imminent danger, they took no immediate action to protect themselves. What is incomprehensible to us because of our conditioning, we don’t defend against, prepare for, or even realize the import of until it is often too late. A sheltered child has no frame of reference for attacks against them by the criminal element of society since they were conditioned to believe such things don’t happen in real life. Even after the acts are committed and they are suffering the consequences, they are still stymied to take action because their minds remain incredulous that the event even took place. It’s always why did this happen to me? We know that on some level of consciousness, protected as they were, there is another level of beliefs that set them up for abused or attacked. Without some people take advantage of you, people lie, steal and cheat, people can’t be trusted, program in their subconscious mind, their mind would not have attracted the event. You can’t experience what you don’t believe in some part of the mind since it is your beliefs and the emotions attached to them stored in memory that are the attracting element of consciousness. You can see how mixed messages render a person confused, naive, and gullible. We transfer beliefs and frames depending on how we experience mother and project them onto other women in our life. Forming biases and emotional triggers about women in general that we are unaware of continue to color or filter our interactions with the female gender. The same is true for our perceptions about men based on our relationship beliefs about father and even, about our bosses based on our perceptions about whoever was the authority figure in our childhood. Much of couples counseling stems from fears and assumptions about their mate based on this transference from our mothers and fathers that we are projecting onto our spouses. Once cleaned up in the mind of the person experiencing difficulties, understanding, relating, or communication issues with their partners, they begin to see them quite differently and more in alignment with who they actually are. We also have huge multi-layered belief systems, perceptions, and preconceived notions about bodies in general and our body specifically. They are associated with additional programs about worthiness, physical competency, health, and prognostications about our future well being. If we have done well physically as a child and received praise and admiration for our performance, we will assume for the rest of our lives that we are physically competent. The same is true for the opposite. If we are not physically adept for instance, we form perceptions about ourself that include I am clumsy, not athletic, etc. If we are told we are fat, overweight, unattractive, or ugly, those labels remain our self definition until we remove them. This accepted belief about ourself continues to control how we perceive not only ourselves as unworthy and unlovable but also limits our relationship possibilities and potential for being treated with respect and kindness. It is an ideal set up for acceptance of abusive partners later in life since the premise is we’re lucky to have anyone at all. We know there is a subliminal consensus agreed upon reality in mass consciousnesses such as the one that sustains the co-creation that the body is solid instead of filled with empty space. However, no matter how objective a person is, not including the superconscious objective self, no one sees any event or circumstance without biases and prejudices. There is no one reality that everyone shares that is completely aligned because of each person’s personal depiction of what happened, what is currently taking place, and the predictions of what may happen in the future. This is why witness testimony, hear say evidence, and gossiping are always unreliable. By the time a story gets passed around a room or repeated in court, it is never the same story as it was when it started out. Every person repeating it instantly adds their own interpretation based on how their mind has processed the story without even realizing they have tweaked it in their minds before they passed it on. Perceptual filters as well as perceptual beliefs, biases, and dispositions can be intergenerationally handed down thru modeling and DNA or ones you created and installed yourself in response to real life experiences. Many family arguments arise out of just this fact. One person sees the situation or behavior from their own slant and acts or speaks on their perception and another person in the family unit does the same. Since no one, not even children with the same parents ever experienced their childhood, their parents or siblings the same, everyone argues for their viewpoint sure that their impression of the situation or person is entirely accurate. The child who was treated with respect and/or love believes more positive things about their experiences, themselves, and their parents than does the child with the same parents who was rejected and undermined believe about his experiences, himself, and his parents. The same is true for partners who are filled with biases and beliefs they bring to the table of relationship. The fact is there is my viewpoint about an incident, there is your viewpoint about the incident and there is the truth of what happened somewhere in between our two biased viewpoints. Our perspective on events, self and others is influenced greatly by who we think we are, how threatening we perceive the event to be to us personally, and the programs in our own mind. These reference points differ from person to person causing each person to perceive and experience the same event differently. What makes one person stronger breaks another person. Changing our perceptions, filters and perceptual reality can be handled by restructuring the perceptions and the beliefs sustaining those perceptions, and restructuring our perceptual filters which automatically reformats our perceptual reality of moment to moment events. Restructuring includes cognitive, emotional and behavioral restructuring protocols such as examining and experiencing in theta consciousness, deleting detrimental perceptions and misperceptions and installing new mindsets based on rewarding interpretations of reality. Transform Your Life Instantly: Mental Erasers Make Your Mind Work for You Instead of Against You © 2005, 2nd Edition 2010, Adele Tartaglia Leave a reply You must be logged in to post a comment. error: Content is protected !!
Enter your text below and click here to check the spelling Spell Check of grater Correct spelling: grater Definition of grater: 1. A utensil with a rough surface for rubbing down a body. Common misspellings for grater: gratered, gerater, grather, grator, grest, greator, gratter. Google Ngram Viewer results for grater: This graph shows how "grater" have occurred between 1800 and 2008 in a corpus of English books. Examples of usage for grater: 1. In the earlier days of snuff- taking, people generally ground their own snuff by rubbing roll tobacco across a small grater, usually fixed inside the snuff- box. "England in the Days of Old" , William Andrews. 2. Grate rapidly on a coarse grater. "The Myrtle Reed Cook Book" , Myrtle Reed. 3. In half a year's time he went through measles in the house- of- study, and then small- pox, and got a face as pitted as a grater. "Stories and Pictures" , Isaac Loeb Peretz. • How to spell grater? • Correct spelling of grater. • Spell check grater. • How do u spell grater?
刘毅词汇10000(台湾原版) Lesson 8 - 听力课堂 > 英语词汇 > 刘毅词汇10000(台湾原版) > 第8课 Lesson 8 The stranger’s derogatory remarks about the town and its people made him unpopular. The motorist was acquitted of reckless driving ,he was thereupon absolved from any claim for damages. One’s childhood life seems happier in restropect than in reality. A man may utter an insolent ramark,he may be comtemptuous of his associates. The acme of the development of space ships probably lies in the future. The weather in early December was bleak and unpleasant. The electric inspector was castigated for having failed to check the wire as he was supposed to. We should overcome the worst that the tyrant’s enmity can do. In any case, parents should be impartial to their every child. The teacher asked me to give a lucid explanation of my being late for class. The old man is confused most of the time but he does have lucid moments (同义词obscure) A square has four 90-degree angles made by its four perpendicular. In retrospect, many good opportunities were neglected in my life. The politician showed a good sagacity avoiding the mistakes he’d made in the previous campaign. Urbane speech is educated speech, as distinguished from the speech of the ignorant. The enmity between Arabs and Israelis threatened to break into open war at any time. The tree was leaning against the house and no longer perpendicular. A meutral observer,not a participant,asked for a impartial account of how the fight started. Lonely and ill,the old woman having no children faced a bleak future. Impartiality as well a sagasity. After Redding about the lives of several great Americans, John became an ardent student of American history. I can’t bear his derogatory remarks about my brother’s character. I won’t tell you what time to leave; you’re old enough to use your own discretion. The house of the meetings will be fixed at the chairman’s discretion. The party got quite hilarious after they brought more wine. It is a paramount responsibility of every officer to take care of his men before caring for himself. Houses and trees seem to recede as we ride past in a train. The whole city was rife with rumors of political corruption and bribery. Both sides burst into spontaneous cheers at the magician’s skillful tricks. The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous. You must show more discretion in choosing your friends. We consider lack of morale as the paramount cause for our defeat. We thought his mistake was the most hilarious joke we’d ever heard. A pile of oily rags will sometimes break into a spontaneous flame. Superstition is still rife in some underdeveloped countries. A baseball player usually reaches the acme of his skill before he is thirty. (同义词bottom ) He spared no one’s feelings and expressed his views with great candor. The father finally dissuaded his son from leaving school. Her advice was quite gratuitous, I can think for myself. The house of representatives has the sole power to impeach an officer of the United States Government. Her ostensible purpose was to borrow some sugar, but she really wanted to see her neighbor’s new furniture. The poor painter sold his paintings for a paltry sum of money. The poor family lived in a sordid log cabin in the valley. She makes it a rule to keep her room neat and tidy after coming back from school. When he became prime minister,he reached the acme of his hopes. The father diassuaded the boy from being a doctor,but persuaded him to be a politician. The team felt cheated and challenged the umpire to prove his candor. Were it not for your gratuitous interference,the children would have quickly settled their dispute. My daughter is very tidy and never goes out without combing her hair. One tall boy stood aloof from all the small children. Regular meals and exercise are of cardinal importance to our health. There are many drab houses in the Smokey mining town. The life of a person who never does anything is dull and drab. The two families had been at feud with each other for three generations. His insolent speech and behavior upset everyone in the room. The judge said that nothing could mitigate the cruelty with which the man had treated the child. A summary of the events leading up to this situation would be pertinent information. His predecessor quit because he was not in the least interested in this kind of job. Let me apologize for my being tardy in answering your letter. You’d think she would never climb again, after falling down the mountain, but it just whetted her appetite. They did not speak when they met,for they were at deadly fuel with each other last week. The teacher scolded the boy several times for being tardy for school. Aspirin mitigated the pain of his headache in about half an hour. She held herself aloof from society,preferring to spend her days and nights dwelling on her memories. Rumors of secret information on the actress’suicide whetted the curiosity of the public. The man accused of stealing the money was acquitted for lack of witnesses. Be careful not to break the box of glass, that thin glass is hard but brittle. The ugly frame detracts from the beauty of the famous picture. To extirpate weeds is not only to destroy their visible parts but also to pull them out by the roots. The indulent mother bought her children everything they wanted. The indulgent teacher praised every poem we wrote. The mendacious beggar told a different tale of woe at every house. For my own sake, I’ve told a plausible lie at the club meeting, but the members did not believe me at all. We have the sanction of the recreation department to play ball in this park. Youngsters usually rush into marriage with only the shallow notions of what love and responsibility mean. We parked the car on the grass verge at the side of the highway. The scandal published in newspaper detracted much from he mayor’s reputation. A plausible explanation is the one that appears to be believable on the surface. It is illegal to translate a book without the sanction of the author and the pbulisher. She tried to hide her grief,but she was on the verge of tears. We look forward to the day when disease and poverty will be extirpated. 内容来自听力课堂网：http://www.tingclass.net/show-8142-228309-1.html • 频道推荐 • \| • 全站推荐 • 广播听力 • \| • 推荐下载 • 网站推荐
Segment 1 Olen Grant was born in Benton, Arkansas on 5 April 1923. After his father returned from World War I, he moved to Benton and began surface mining bauxite ore. During the Depression years they were not able to pay their taxes, so they lost their property. At some point, the Grant family lost the farm and other property. During the Depression, Grantâ€™s father moved to El Dorado where he worked in the oil fields digging ditches to lay six inch pipeline. The work was not permanent. He only worked when he was needed. Because of that, the Grant family moved around a lot. When Grant was in grade school, oil was discovered around Longview and Kilgore in Texas. Grantâ€™s father moved the family there, but when he was unable to secure employment he moved the family back to El Dorado. Finally Grantâ€™s father broke down mentally. He was shell shocked [Annotatorâ€™s Note: now referred to as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD] from the fighting in the Meuse Argonne. He went to the VA Hospital near Little Rock. After that his uncle took the family back to Arkansas. Back in Arkansas, the two older boys in Grantâ€™s family got jobs. Grant went to high school, and his two sisters went to grade school. Grant was a senior in high school when he joined the National Guard. He did so in order to have spending money, which he had never had before. Grantâ€™s two older brothers had joined the National Guard before he did. They all drilled together once a week on a Thursday night, so drill did not interfere with their jobs. None of them dreamed that they would ever have to go to war. It was just income. In the summer of 1941 their battery got orders to go to New Falls, Minnesota for maneuvers. They drove up in GI trucks and carried out war games. Grant had the duty of guarding a bridge over the Mississippi River. After being relieved from his post he went below the bridge where they kept their gear. As soon as he lay down he heard a very loud aircraft engine. The aircraft flew over and dropped flour sack on the bridge simulating bomb hits. It was at that point that Grant decided that he did not want to go to war on the ground. He wanted to go in the air. So he decided to get out of the National Guard. Grant does not exactly recall what he was doing when he learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He had graduated [Annotatorâ€™s Note: from high school] at mid term because he was short on credits. Instead of graduating with the class of 1941 he graduated with the class of 1942. After graduating in December he took his cousinâ€™s job delivering and selling products after his cousin enlisted in the Coast Guard. By now Grant had already been discharged from the National Guard. Grant worked this job for three months then decided to go into the service in April [Annotatorâ€™s Note: April 1942]. By this time Grant was already out of the National Guard. His mother had gone to see Captain Bryant [Annotatorâ€™s Note: unsure of spelling] and told him that she was not going to give him her third son. They were all friends. Captain Bryant was the Grant family dentist. The captain agreed. He wrote Grant an Honorable Discharge and handed it to his mother.
Contact: to feature here Thread Rating: • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average • 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 Vaccines Are The Simplest Application Of Genetic Engineering A vaccine is a special preparation of biological elements that enhances immune system in the body of the host against a particular disease. Usually a vaccine contains a disease causing agent which induces immune system of the body by producing antibodies against those agents in the body. Those disease causing agents remain in the killed or nonfunctional attenuated form in the vaccine. So they do not create any disease in the host but are very much effective to create specific immune system in the host cell. At first the term vaccine was used by Edward Jenner in 1796 from the Latin name of cowpox causing agent variolæ vaccine. Vaccines can be of two types, some vaccines are developed to prevent the further infection by the causal agent who is called prophylactic and some vaccines are therapeutic such as vaccines to prevent cancer which still remains under investigation. Gene’s expression of microbial cells is from pathogens which encode surface antigens. Neutralizing antibodies are induced in the host of the pathogen by those antigens. This technique is the most elementary application of genetic engineering in vaccine development. This technique is developed in the preparation of hepatitis B vaccine successfully. HBV vaccine is now used widely all around the world. Preparation of vaccine is not so easy now. It needs to know some fundamental matters such as virulence determination, antigenic variation, response against viral antigens etc. In the primitive stage of vaccine application, antigen from the causing agents are directly injected into the host body. It was very harmful for human body. Now we are living in the time of genetic engineering where safe and secured life is ensured to everybody as much as possible. So vaccines are now prepared in the simplest and safe way by genetic engineering. Like all the products of biotechnology and genetic engineering, vaccines have created a wide business environment all around the world. Vaccine preparation and manufacturing are now a leading areas for the young scientists and scientific companies. They are not only committed to give us the vaccines of seasonal influenza but also promised to give us vaccines of crucial diseases such as cancer or AIDS as early as possible. This worldwide leading area has also involved to create bioterrorism. So vaccination is a confusing matter for the people of third world countries. Till now vaccines business is a high risk business considering their low price and short lifetime. Competition amongst the vaccines exported companies, low efficiency of the vaccine manufacturers and commercial thinking greater than humanity are responsible for the bad affects on this sensitive business. Businessmen are now trying to improve and manipulate vaccines in a better way so they introduce new innovation in the field of vaccines. Vaccines are now developed in combination with dendrite cell to work efficiently in the white blood cells for stimulating immune system. Recombinant vectors are used as vaccine in the host body’s cell receptor peptide vaccines are now under research. Bacterial proteins are developed in bacterial virulence mechanism by complement inhibition reaction. So vaccines manipulated by the genetic engineering can be the most essential tools for human body in the upcoming times. The simplest application of the modern genetic manipulation methods to vaccine development is the expression in microbial cells of genes from pathogens that encode surface antigens capable of inducing neutralizing antibodies in the host of the pathogen involved. This procedure has been exploited successfully for development of a vaccine against hepatitis B virus (HBV) that is now widely used. Additionally, BCG vaccine used to protect against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Vaccines are effective in preventing disease not only in individuals, but also in communities often known as "herd immunity." We all know that “Prevention is better than cure” and this meaning is all abbreviated in term vaccine itself! Humans are top animal when it comes to the course of evolution. This is only because it has advantage over other animals with respect to memory, brain capacity. With the use of brain, today human being is ruling the world leaving behind all other animals. This memory is not only what we remember consciously but also what we remember sub-consciously somewhere beneath our biological system. This is the biological system which takes care of our life while defending with deadly pathogens. The unique system of immunity! When pathogens are encountered, they are remembered by our immune system which is known as memory of immunity or plasma cells. This concept is being employed to protect possible future diseases by knowingly introducing attenuated pathogens i.e. Vaccines! Today tolerogenic vaccine could be the new era in the field of vaccination which stops the inflammation component of heart disease. It is being observed by research that memory cells get developed against inflammation in any location of circulatory (heart) system. The second encounter increase the attack intensity and cause heart disease or plague formation in arteries. With the development of tolerogenic vaccines, it is greatly possible to reduce the autoimmunity attack and thus helps in prevention of plague in arteries. This concept had developed curiosity in scientists to develop vaccines for heart diseases as well as other diseases related to auto-immune responses like inflammation! Yes prevention is better than cure but it is also being said that man is as old as his arteries and if we take care of it well in advance with tool like tolerogenic vaccine, it will be better than prevention ! Possibly Related Threads... Last Post Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s) Vaccines Are The Simplest Application Of Genetic Engineering00
Thread: Constructors and Destructors 1. #1 Registered User Join Date Dec 2006 Constructors and Destructors Can anybody tell me what Constructors and Destructors really are for? I've written some code for my class without them and it worked really fine. When should I use them and why? 2. #2 Registered User Join Date Jan 2005 Constructors are for initializing the data in your class. Even for beginning level classes they are usually important because otherwise your data will not be initialized to a good value. For example, if you have an int or double member variable in your class and don't initialize it to some good value, if somebody tries to call a function that uses that value they will get strange results. The destructor cleans up anything that you want cleaned up when an instance of your class is destroyed. Beginner classes don't usually need to clean up anything in the destructor because the type of resources that need to be cleaned up are generally from more advanced concepts. If and when you start using new/delete in your classes, you will probably be calling delete in the destructor to free the memory and destroy the object you allocated. >> it worked really fine. Be careful about using this as a test. Often, incorrect code works fine in one situation when you are testing it, but later fails (like when your customer or teacher tries it). 3. #3 Registered User zouyu1983's Avatar Join Date Nov 2006 Fuzhou University, Fujian, China >> I've written some code for my class without them and it worked really fine The compiler will create a default constructor for you if you don't creat any,but the constructor that the compiler created usually works beyond your intention. Hello, guys, i come from china, so i am not good at english. If you find the sentence i wrote full of mistakes, please tell me. I confirm that my english and programming skills will be improved with your help in this forum. thanks^_^ Popular pages Recent additions subscribe to a feed Similar Threads 1. Can a class have multiple destructors? By meili100 in forum C++ Programming Replies: 1 2. Destructors and Constructors on classes By Da-Nuka in forum C++ Programming Replies: 14 Last Post: 06-14-2005, 02:08 PM 3. Constructors and Destructors By GravtyKlz in forum C++ Programming Replies: 7 Last Post: 03-09-2003, 10:44 AM 4. Constructors And Destructors... What's The Point? By DeanDemon in forum C++ Programming Replies: 7 Last Post: 12-15-2002, 12:47 PM 5. Classes: constructors, destructors ??? By mbeisser21 in forum C++ Programming Replies: 18 Last Post: 07-21-2002, 09:33 PM
The spiral bacteria are spirilla (singular form is spirillus) and the rod-shaped bacteria are bacilli (singular form is bacillus). The coccus bacteria-bacilli-spirilla-cocci(plural form is cocci) bacteria are spherical and are usually found in clusters or chains. Bacilli have a large surface area that helps them take in nutrients, but they may dry out easily. Cocci do not dry out as quickly and retain water, but they absorb nutrients slowly. Spirilla have flagella at both ends, allowing them to move like a corkscrew, and they are capable of moving faster than other bacteria. Their rigid cell wall gives them their shape. An example of cocci is Staphylococcus hominis, and it occurs commonly on human and animal skin harmlessly, but it may occasionally cause infection in patients with weak immune systems. An example of bacilli is Escherichia coli, and these live in the intestines of animals and decompose undigested food. They are usually helpful or harmless, but some may cause food poisoning in their hosts. An example of spirilla is Leptospira interrogans, and these bacteria can cause leptospirosis, a disease which may lead to liver damage, but humans are accidental hosts and animals are most commonly infected. Leave a Reply 3 Comments on "Bacteria: Bacilli, Spirilla and Cocci" Sort by: newest \| oldest \| most voted I want to know can we take it in a pill or liquid to help clean are liver from toxins
, , Farmers have the potential to play an important role in helping to reduce hunger and poverty across the globe. A majority of people in the developing world provide for their families and communities through small-scale agriculture. One Acre Fund is a nonprofit that helps farmers better their farms’ productivity by increasing harvest per acre, sales, and income. The nonprofit provides farmers with start up capital, seeds and fertilizer, agricultural training, and helps them market their produce to maximize profit. One Acre Fund also provides up-to-date agricultural training to improve harvests and helps farmers safely store their crops and build relationships with local traders. “One Acre Fund currently serves farmers based in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi. By the end of 2015, One Acre Farm will have served 305,000 farm families throughout East Africa. By 2016, that number is projected to grow to 420,000 families.” (One Acre Fund) Farming remains a major source of income among the global poor, but many small-scale farmers lack the resources, training, or funds to increase their farm’s productivity. Family farmers often lack start up capital to buy basics such as seeds and fertilizer and many of them live in regions of the world from where it is difficult to get these much-needed supplies. Without training farmers often do not know how to optimize agricultural output. Lack of pest control, proper storage facilities and difficulties navigating local trade networks are some of the issues that prevent farmers from getting the most from their harvests. When farmers increase their farm’s output, they produce more food for their families and communities. TUF Quote— TUF Quote The Ultimate Fundraiser Your BEST Fundraising Option!!! We Take The Headache Out Of Fundraising!!! (808)888-5692 (800)203-9409 Facebook: The Ultimate Fundraiser Twitter: TheUltimateFR The Ultimate Fundraiser The Ultimate Fundraiser
Glutathione is a powerful anti-oxidant found predominately in the brain and liver and is a major detoxifier and anti-oxidant for the brain. As an antioxidant it will remove those nasty free radicals from the brain and body and the damage that they inflict on tissues. Free radicals are small particles that have a free electron in their outer layer. When electron particles are in this situation, they wildly fly around, scrambling to find another particle to bind with. This is where tissues can be damaged at the cellular, microscopic level, beginning the process of disease, years before it is ever manifested as a physical problem. Hence, this is why holistic practitioners are always educating their patients to eat foods, take supplements and use IV nutritional treatments with anti-oxidants. Glutathione is normally produced by the liver and used to naturally help the body detoxify chemicals and heavy metals. It is not a “chelator” in that it does not completely wrap around heavy metals and hang onto them before they are excreted through the kidneys, but it does bind both heavy metals and chemicals strongly and is able to cross the blood-brain-barrier and help to pull these items out of the brain as an adjunct to chelation therapies. But, as you will see below, glutathione is also often recommended because of its well-known benefits to the brain, memory, liver health and function as well as its benefits as support during chelation therapies. Most patients are also recommended to take a daily supplement of either Alpha Lipoic Acid and/or N-Acetyl-Cysteine orally, as these are helpful precursors to the body’s manufacture of glutathione. When given intravenously to improve liver and brain function, this IV push takes 10-15 minutes. Patients often get this push immediately after a Gaby-Wright IV push or chelation. Intravenously it is often used for: • Memory enhancement • Dementia • Multiple Sclerosis • Parkinson’s disease • Neuropathy • Liver disease, including Fatty Liver and Cirrhosis • As an adjunct to Heavy Metal Detoxification (Chelation Therapy)
Technical Support 1 What is the definition of "cycle use" and "standby use"? 2 Why is the charging voltage for "cycle use" higher that the voltage used for "standby use"? 3 What is the effect of different charging currents on batteries? 4 What does "100% discharge" and "50% discharge" mean? 5 Thermal runaway will happen if a battery is operated under 40-50°C for a long period. How will thermal runaway effect a battery? 6 How can you check to see if a battery has been fully charged? 7 What are the concerns when using CSB batteries in a parallel or a serial series? 8 How can you check a battery's performance? 9 If a battery is stored for 6 months at 30°C (86°F) since its manufacturing date, how can you bring the battery's performance back to 90% in 1 hour's time? Will that procedure cause any quality problems? 10 How can the conversion be made between "watts (W)" and "amp hours (Ah)"? 01 02 03 2016 © Hitachi Chemical Energy Technology Co. Ltd. Designed by Creatop
Dr Ajesh Maharaj Westville - Durban FCP(SA) Cert in Rheumatology(SA) Back to Top Sjögren’s Syndrome What is Sjögren’s Syndrome? Sjögren’s Syndrome is named after Henrik Sjögren (pronounced ‘Showgren’), the Swedish Ophthalmologist who first described it in 1933. It is an autoimmune disorder of the exocrine glands in which the body’s immune system does not work properly. The most common symptoms are dry eyes or a dry mouth (sometimes both together), and feeling very tired and aching. Although there is no cure for this Syndrome, most people can be treated quite easily. A few do have other more serious symptoms. These can also be treated and are described later in this article. There are two types of Sjögren’s Syndrome. Secondary Sjögren’s Syndrome is caused by another rheumatic illness like rheumatoid arthritis. Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome is not caused by any underlying rheumatic illness. This article is mainly concerned with primary Sjögren’s Syndrome. However, the section on diagnosis and treatment will be useful to people with dry eyes or a dry mouth which have been caused by other illnesses. Is Sjögren’s Syndrome the same as sicca Syndrome? No. ‘Sicca’ simply means dryness. Sicca Syndrome describes problems of dry eyes and a dry mouth which are not caused by an autoimmune disorder. Sicca Syndrome occurs when the tear glands in the mouth which produce saliva are damaged. This damage can be caused by several illnesses, including sarcoidosis, excessive x-ray irradiation and overload disease (haemochromatosis). How common is primary Sjögren’s Syndrome? Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome is probably the second most common autoimmune rheumatic disorder. It is almost as common as rheumatoid arthritis. It is difficult to work out exact numbers as many people do not seek medical help and simply put up with their symptoms as a bit of a nuisance. Who gets Sjögren’s Syndrome? It occurs mostly in women between the ages of 40 and 60. It is much less common in men (1 in 10 of those with Sjögren’s Syndrome are men), and occurs only rarely in childhood. It affects all races. What are the main symptoms? swollen salivary glands The most common complaints are: Many people do not have any other symptoms. How does Sjögren’s Syndrome develop? As mentioned, Sjögren’s Syndrome is an autoimmune disorder, so the body’s immune system attacks the body’s own tissues. In Sjögren’s Syndrome, the immune system mainly attacks the tear glands in the eye and the salivary glands in the mouth. The immune system sends cells into these glands which cause the glands to swell (to become inflamed)- see Fig. 1. The body also produces antibodies which react with and damage the tissues in the glands. The nerve signals to the glands are also affected and this reduces the amount of saliva produced. Usually, once the tear and saliva glands have been damaged, the antibodies do not cause any further harm. However, in a few patients, other parts of the body can be affected such as the liver and kidneys. Some joints can become inflamed but the joints are not damaged as they are in rheumatoid arthritis. What causes Sjögren’s Syndrome? We are not yet sure how Sjögren’s Syndrome is caused but it has been linked to several viruses (for example, the Epstein Barr virus, the retroviruses and the HTLV Virus). It is thought that a virus infects the body. When the virus settles within the body tissues, the immune system reacts and this triggers the start of the inflammation. Are there any hereditary influences? There may be some genetic (hereditary) factors which mean that some people find it more difficult to eliminate the infection from their bodies than others. However, it is uncommon for children to inherit the condition from their mother or father. Does pregnancy affect the Syndrome? There are generally no increased problems during or following pregnancy. However, when mothers have primary Sjögren’s Syndrome, a few newborn babies may have disturbed heart rhythms. This is because certain antibodies can be passed from mother to baby, but this is very rare. Are there any allergic reactions? Sjögren’s patients are slightly more likely to develop side-effects to common drugs, eg. antibiotics. We recommend that patients do not take any medications unless they are really necessary. How is Sjögren’s Syndrome diagnosed? Sjögren’s Syndrome can produce a variety of complaints. As a result, patients may need to see various specialists such as their doctor, hematologist, eye specialist,dentist or oral surgeon. After a detailed clinical history and full clinical examination, the main test for Sjögren’s Syndrome are: Schirmer’s test A small piece of blotting paper is used to measure tear production. Slit lamp examination An eye specialist (ophthalmologist) will place eye-drop dye in the eye (Rose Bengal dye) before examining the eye with an instrument called a slit lamp. This is a lamp which shines through a very narrow slot, allowing the eye to be examined more effectively. Measurement of saliva production This may be measured by spitting into a paper cup over a specific time. More sophisticated investigations include isotope scanning of the salivary glands or injecting contrast dyes into the salivary glands. Blood test These are done because two antibodies are found more frequently in primary Sjögren’s Syndrome than in any other disorder. Lip Biopsy One of the tiny salivary glands can be removed very simply from the lower lip without the need for a general anaesthetic. The gland is examined under a microscope to check the diagnosis. This is usually done only if the diagnosis is uncertain based on all the other tests. Ultrasound Scans and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Ultrasound scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are sometimes used to help diagnose Sjögren’s Syndrome. What is the long-term outlook if you have Sjögren’s Syndrome? Unlike some other rheumatic disorder, people with Sjögren’s Syndrome are not likely to be disabled. The symptoms are annoying and long-lasting but do not usually cause serious problems. How are the main symptoms of Sjögren’s Syndrome treated? Table 1 summarises the main symptoms and explains how they can be treated. For all these symptoms, patients should also make sure that they follow guidelines for oral hygiene and reducing dental decay. For example, it is important to follow dental advice and use fluoride gels and remineralisation solution. TABLE 1. The main symptoms of Sjögren’s Syndrome and how they can be treated. Symptom(s) How they can be treated Eyes are dry, irritable, and may be sore If strong light are uncomfortable Use lubricant eye drops eg natural tears, tear gel, celluvisc sachets (either a few times a day or up to hourly if necessary). Wear dark or tinted spectacles if they help. Do not use contact lenses. Mucous and debris in the eyes cause stickiness Use mucolytic agents such as acetyl cysteine eye drops Eyes are very dry, (if there are corneal ulcers or infections these should be referred to an eye specialist at once). Use preservative-free eye drops, ointments, pseudoplastic drops (Celluvisc). Minor surgery by an eye specialist (Lacriserts punctal occlusion) is advised. Wear special spectacles. Mouth ulcers cause ‘sticky’ mouth or throat. Use diluted chlorhexidine mouthwash. Rinse and gargle with mouthwash (mix 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon baking powder with 1 litre of water). Mouth is very dry. Tastes are altered. Voice is hoarse or weak. Swallowing is difficult (sometimes because the mouth and throat are so dry). use artificial saliva. Saliva Orthana / Luborant is recommended for patients with their own teeth because they contain fluoride. Glandosane mouth spray can be used by patients with their own teeth but, because it contains no fluoride, care should be taken with dental hygiene and a separate fluoride mouthwash should be used. Chew non-sugar chewing gum. Take proper care of dentures. Mouth is very severely dry causing other problems such as fungal infection, and dry cough*. Use antifungal treatment such as nystatin. Your doctor may occasionally try bromhexine or pilocarpine. Dry Cough Humidifiers and plants with large leaves in rooms may help. Avoid drugs which may aggravate symptoms, eg antihistamines, travel sickness pills and antidepressants. How are the less common symptoms treated? TABLE 2. The less common symptoms of Sjögren’s Syndrome and how they can be treated. Symptom (s) How they can be treated Pain in the joints Take Pain-killers such as (arthralgia). Sometimes there is anti inflammatory drugs general aching over the such as ibuprofen. body but also with tender spots (fibromyalgia). Salivary glands are painful. Take Pain-killers such as paracetamol and / or nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen. Have an injection of steroid and anaesthetic at isolated tender spots or joints. Ask your doctor for further assessment and advice. Skin is dry and itchy. Skin is very sensitive to strong sunlight Avoid strong soaps. Use aqueous creams and emollients, and barrier creams in summer. Vagina is dry. Intercourse is painful. (dyspareunia). Use lubricants eg K-Y Jelly. Use oestrogen creams. Treat any infection eg thrush. Feeling extremely tired all the time (lethargy). Joints are inflamed. Your doctor may prescribe chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine. (These problems are only found in more severe cases). Corticosteroids such as prednisolone are often prescribed. Migraine-like headaches. Take painkillers or specific anti-migraine medications. Fingers feel cold and turn blue (Raynaud’s phenomenon). Avoid situations which bring on these symptoms. For example, avoid exposure to the cold, do not smoke. Use gloves. Take vasodilators, as prescribed. Lower abdominal pain and disordered bowel habits (irritable bowel Syndrome). Increase the amount of fibre in the diet. Take antispasmodic drugs eg mebeverine (Colofac) Liver problems. These are not very common - mild liver test abnormalities do not require treatment but must be checked regularly be your doctor. Occasionally a specific liver disorder develops called primary billiary cirrhosis. This should be investigated by a specialist. Lungs can be affected by fibrosis. This causes breathlessness on exertion, dry cough and occasionally pleurisy causing chest pain. The lung function must be tested. Fibrosis needs specilaist advise. Corticosteroids can be prescribed. Lymph glands in the neck, armpits or groin are swollen. Report this to your doctor. Menopausal symptoms may be aggravated. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can be used. There are no added risks because of Sjögren’s Syndrome but you should talk to your doctor about the general risks of HRT, which include increased risk of breast cancer and heart disease. Neuropathy (problems with the peripheral nervous system such as weakness or numbness), vasculitis, or a severe condition overall which is not helped by other treatments Newer (still experimental) drugs include oral interferon alfa, anti-TNF drugs (etanercept, infliximab and adalimumab), intravenous gammaglobulins and zidovudine. << Back
virtual currency Also found in: Dictionary. virtual currency, a means of payment that is electronically created and stored, more specifically an unregulated electronic medium of exchange that operates like a currency but is created and controlled by computer software; also called digital currency. Virtual currencies generally are not backed by a national government and are not considered legal tender (Ecuador introduced a government-controlled electronic currency in 2015). They range from those used by gamers in online multiplayer games to Bitcoin and other digital currencies that seek to replace or supplement existing legal tender as a medium of exchange. Bitcoin, launched in 2009, is an electronic currency that uses cryptographic software and a peer-to-peer computer network to generate the currency and record transactions in it; because of this it is classed as a cryptocurrency. The best-known and most widely circulated virtual currency, Bitcoin allows its users to make online payments that are not subject to government or bank scrutiny, which has led law enforcement officials to express concerns over its potential or actual use in bypassing currency controls, in money laundering, and in financing terrorist or criminal activities. Unlike money stored in bank accounts or credit cards used to transactions, Bitcoin is subject to limited protections and regulations; it is not governed or supervised by any central authority. Bitcoin has seen a slowly increasing acceptance by merchants as a means of payment, and in 2015 the establishment of a debit card that could be linked to a Bitcoin account allowed the virtual currency to be used to pay merchants who do not accept Bitcoin. Bitcoin also has been subject to speculation on exchanges where it is traded, which has led to significant fluctuations in its value at times, including an enormous spike in its value in late 2013 and a largely similar if more gradual increase beginning in 2015. Such volatility has led critics to question Bitcoin's utility and viability as a currency and regard it primarily as a speculative investment. Critics have also questioned its ability to act as a currency because there is a cap on the number of currency units that can be created using the software. Governments have generally not treated Bitcoin as a form of money but as property or a commodity; some governments have sought to ban the use of it because of its potential for evading currency controls and government scrutiny. In 2014 Bitcoin software was revealed to have a computer bug that subjected it to attack by computer hackers and theft; the bug led to the bankruptcy of the largest Bitcoin exchange at the time. Another exchange had a security breach and suffered a large loss in 2016. Bitcoin can also be stolen through the theft of the private cryptographic keys used to identify ownership of the currency and through other means. virtual currency Electronic money. The term is often applied to Bitcoin; however, it may also refer to simulated money used in games or any currency stored in a computer. See Bitcoin and digital wallet. References in periodicals archive ? Officials in Cyprus are undecided whether the virtual currency bitcoin is a hazard or a blessing, with government and central bank officials now changing their tune and saying they expect guidance from their European Union peers. The website of MtGox suddenly went dark on Tuesday with no explanation, and the company's Tokyo office was empty -- the only activity was outside, where a handful of protesters said they had lost money investing in the virtual currency. How fitting then to accompany it with a virtual currency. Bitcoin, the popular virtual currency, is facing regulatory hurdles in India. The clampdown in China may have taken the wind out of bitcoin's rise in value, but demand for the virtual currency is still rising, particularly in markets where consumers are increasingly turning to mobile devices and computers for online purchases. BitPesa, a Kenyan start-up, will use the Bitcoin virtual currency to cut transaction costs for Kenyans working abroad who send home $1. 1 AMAZON launching a virtual currency called Amazon Coins. Through this affiliation Tylted's enormous user base will benefit from the rewards and virtual currency offered by Beintoo's unique platform. We are heading towards a world where millions of corporate and individualised currencies will be part of a single market, and once their relative exchange value is fixed in real time, the days for individual currency will be over," predicts boss of virtual currency company Jonathon Fisher, head of global consumer finance research at Euromonitor International, said in a report that "Facebook Credits have the potential to become the official currency for the internet in a way that no other virtual currency before it could ever do. The campaign includes branded missions, virtual item giveaways and new State Farm-branded promotions that let players earn bonuses of virtual currency. Nobody will actually see a sucre--at least not for awhile--because it's a virtual currency. Full browser ?
How Important Is To Choose A Right Toy For Your Child Toys are an integral part of kids growing up and encourage proper mental and physical development. Parents, caregivers and pediatricians are very much aware of this and all give importance to good quality toys. However, what most parents do not know is that good toys do not give answers, but instead ‘demand’ questions and at the same time, provide possible solutions, thus stimulate learning, imagination, and creativity. Usually, these are the toys children play the most with and use in different ways. However, regardless of how good a toy is, it is important that it is appropriate for child’s age. Ages: Birth To One Year – Toys for kids in this age bracket must above all be safe because in this period a child learns about the outside world visually and by touching and biting. To be more specific, babies first look at a toy, then touch it all around and at the end put it in a mouth. This is why toys mustn’t be made of more than one piece, must have rounded edges and without lengthy cords that can easily be wrapped around baby’s body. Also, the material a toy is made out of, is important and must be washable. Make sure the toy emits gentle soothing sounds since all babies fear loud, sudden noise. Choose light-weighted and colorful toys since they sooth the child because they resemble mother’s skin. The best options are stuffed animals. They are also known as transitional toys, as they provide security especially at bedtime. Ages: 1 to 3-4 Years – It is time for more complex toys since a child is up on his/her feet walking and exploring world around trying to understand cause and effect, while at the same time develops logical and verbal skills. Best toys for this age group are push and pull toys, colorful building blocks, various build-it-yourself sets and play centre equipment for kids. These building sets encourage learning of colors and shapes and relationships between different toy parts (large/small, above/under etc.). Since kids at this age love to experiment, interesting puzzles and colorful educational toys are perfect toys which will not only keep your child entertained, but will also stimulate the development of motor skills and logical reasoning. Good memory games that can be played together, toy cars, balls, dolls and phones are just few types of toys that children prefer. Also, of particular importance are pretend play toys for kids, that mimic the adult world, such as kitchen, tool, makeup, doctor, fireman sets and many more. But why are these toys so important? The way a child plays with these pretend toys can indicate child’s emotional and mental state. Ages: 4-5 to 7 Years – At this age, children already have developed good social network and are full of energy and imagination. Therefore, good toys are the ones that require action such as tricycles, bicycles, skates, colorful hoops, and various play balls. Also, drawing sets, clay and collage paper are perfect for kids in this age bracket as they encourages creativity and imagination. Games witch imply rule following such as monopoly, dominoes, chess for kids and various pretend toys play an important part in strategy learning, improve concentration and ability to predict and improve learning and behavior. Therefore, it is essential to choose toys which are age-appropriate for your children, to encourage physical and mental development, boost imagination and creativity and improve reasoning skills. Always choose a toy that will satisfy child’s needs rather than your own wishes and pay attention to the warning signs written on the package and follow user manual.
GUI Development:A Portable GUI As said before choose a language that exists on plenty of platforms. Also use an object oriented language, this naturally lends itself to GUIs. GUIs are made up of objects, which in turn own children and so on, exactly like an OO language. The obvious choice is C++ or Java, but there are plenty or others and new languages coming out. C++ strengths lie in its availability, but being an advance language it has some dangerous pit falls in what it allows a developer to do. Java on the other hand is just as available as C++ and has eliminated most of the C/C++ pitfalls, however its downside is its speed. Java is a byte-code interpreter, so it does not run native like a compiled language such as C++. Think carefully and use the language you are most comfortable with. See how many different processors your choice can run on. C++ & Java runs on all of the most common processors around giving you a chance to use anything from a PC, a smart-phone or even an TV. 3rd Party Libraries For some capabilities you are going to need to use a 3rd party library or two, such as JPEGs & PNGS. These are large and complicated libraries so there is no point in spending time writing you own code when open source libraries are available. Libpng is a good example, it is an open source library which displays PNGS to a pixel surface of your choice. Some platforms will come with the library available, but failing that the source is also available so you can compile it directly into your code or as a separate library. However, if you do use any of these libraries, remember to make it easy to drop in an alternative. Libpng requires you to fill in some stubs as it only knows how to expand a PNG into a bitmap. You have to display it correctly on the screen. Therefore it is best to have these rendering functions as part of your graphics device class, keeping all of your changeable code together for an easy change when porting to a different platform. Secondly the lib PNG has its own API, which will differ to the JPEG API.Create your own simplified API which creates a common interface between the two. For instance have a simple load function Load(filename, buffer) or a call which displays the image Display(buffer, x, y). Create a base class to define this interface then override it for each type of image renderer you require. This way when you drop in another renderer you just need to override the base class with a new one which calls the new library API. With this in place, the final build only needs to add which renderers it requires to its makefile without too much, if any, source code changes. When you are creating your GUI, think of how another developer might use your GUI. Imagine how they can add resources and create layouts and design screens. What is the easiest way to enter this information? Expect the developer to have to build more than one GUI release. How can they decide which resources to use for each build? Also think about where the developers additional source might go and how can they easily add it into a build. Since they might be adapting or even replacing your base objects, it needs to be done easily. Also make it as simple and straight forward as possible to move your GUI onto a new platform. Keep all the platform specific code in one place, away from the portable code. Anything common should be in a base class, with the developer only having to override the functions which require changes. Finally, always think in layers. Create a diagram and layout where you think the module fits and with which other modules it talks to. For instance the GUI controls never calls into the device drivers directly, they always go via the graphics context. Never call directly to a 3rd party library, always create a shim, as mentioned before. Then if you swap out the library, you only have change that one layer instead of going through all of your code, and any developers code, in order to change single function name. Believe me 3rd party libraries do change their APIs from time to time, and a thousand lines of compile errors are not fun.
Golf Tips The Pitch Shot The definition of a pitch shot is when the ball spends more time in the air and less time on the ground. The way you set up will create the right angle into the ball at impact. Center the ball in your stance with your hands and weight forward—that sets up a downward tilt. Swing your arms back and let your wrists hinge naturally. No need to add hinge. Coming down, feel like your hands stay right in front of your body as your shoulders and hips turn through. You want to brush the bottom of the club along the ground and leave a little bruise in the grass. Brush the grass and pick the ball off the turf without taking a divot. Let your wrist hinge naturally on the follow through. Don't try to help the ball up. It's more of a sweeping action. Give the ball room to hop twice and check up.
The Ploughshares Movement What is Ploughshares? Ploughshares actions are made by people committed to peace and disarmament and who nonviolently, safely, openly and accountably disable a war machine or system so that it can no longer harm people. Ploughshares activists are given training in safety and nonviolence and form groups for long-term support. Ploughshares is an enactment of the Biblical prophecies to ’beat swords into ploughshares’ but is now no longer a Christian movement but one which embraces people from many different faiths or from none at all. The underlying appeal is the universal call to peace, to abolish all war and to find peaceful ways to resolve our conflicts. It recognises the abuse of power that war always is, and the deep immorality of threats to kill. Ploughshares actions started in 1980 in the USA and have taken place in many different countries with weapons as diverse as rifles, warships, missiles, submarines and aircraft being dismantled or damaged. In Britain a successful ’Seeds of Hope’ Ploughshares action was one carried out by 4 women who did £1.5 million worth of damage to a British Aerospace Hawk jet. The plane was prevented from being exported to Indonesia where it may have been used to continue the genocide being committed in East Timor. The women were acquitted in a landmark case at Liverpool Crown Court in July 1996 having argued that their act was justified in law as they were preventing British complicity in genocide. Trident Ploughshares Trident Ploughshares (initially called Trident Ploughshares 2000 or TP2000) was publicly launched in Hiroshima, Gothenburg, Gent, Edinburgh and London on May 2nd 1998. Trident Ploughshares aims to train and enable hundreds of international global citizens to dismantle the British Trident nuclear weapon system. Our justification and mandates for our disarmament actions are:- • The Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of 8th July 1996 that confirmed the general illegality of nuclear weapons and concluded that States are under an obligation to bring to a conclusion negotiations on nuclear disarmament in all its aspects. • The very clear mandate the British population have given in recent polls showing a majority of people in favour of nuclear disarmament. • The British Labour Party’s own election promises to achieve global nuclear disarmament. • The failure of the British Government to implement Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty which promised nuclear disarmament by the nuclear powers. • The long-term opposition of the vast majority of the world’s Peoples and States who have called for global nuclear disarmament ever since the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. Words are not enough. With the ending of the Cold War and into a new millennium, the time is ready for a concerted attempt to disarm these terrible weapons of mass destruction. People’s Disarmament Trident Ploughshares are engaging in direct communication with the British Government and asking for dialogue. They wrote an Open Letter to the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair on 18th March 1998 that outlined their project and their nine requests for the controlled disarmament of British nuclear forces. These requests are: • British Trident submarine system must immediately be taken off 24-hour patrols. • No new Trident missiles are to be purchased from the United States. • All British nuclear warheads must be removed from their delivery systems and stored separately. • No further deployment of US nuclear weapons in Britain. Britain should work with its NATO allies for withdrawal of all tactical nuclear weapons from Europe and for establishment of a policy not to use nuclear weapons first or against non-nuclear-armed adversaries in any circumstances. • Trident missiles are to be returned to the United States and the warheads to be returned to AWE Aldermaston/Burghfield by an agreed date. • Pledge not to replace Trident or seek to acquire nuclear weapons again. • Conversion of Britain’s nuclear weapon facilities from research and development in the maintenance and production of the nuclear arsenal, towards the decommissioning of nuclear weapons and facilities. • To providing safe management and disposal of nuclear materials under strict and effective national and international safeguards and controls, and the enhanced verification of international agreements on weapons of mass destruction. • Active and constructive British involvement in the determined pursuit by the nuclear-weapon states of systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally, with the goal of negotiating interim agreements leading to a nuclear weapons convention as early as possible. The genuineness and constructiveness of this commitment will be gauged from the positions taken by Britain in United Nations General Assembly resolutions, the Non-Proliferation Treaty review process, the Conference on Disarmament, five-power talks, NATO, and other related forums. If a substantial portion of the requests are met then Trident Ploughshares will stop its disarmament actions. Track-record of Ploughshares Ploughshares point out that their capacity to carry out disarmament actions is a proven one. On many occassions protesters have entered, undetected, into nuclear submarines, into naval bases and damaged Trident-related equipment. In April 1998 security at the Trident bases, near Glasgow, was tightened after protesters ’borrowed’ a police boat from inside the high security area by the Explosives Handling Jetty at Coulport and drove it 40 minutes round the Lochs into another High Security Area in Faslane, where they landed a woman only yards away from two Trident submarines. “We were putting it to its right and proper use – taxpayers expect police equipment to be used to uphold the law”, said Angie Zelter, “That is what we did, we used the boat to investigate the ongoing British conspiracy to commit war crimes and grave breaches of international humanitarian law with weapons of mass destruction.”
Effects of Ear Gauging Some people take ear gauging to extreme measures in order to make a statement. Ear gauging is the process of stretching out your ear piercings so that they can accommodate thicker posts. Most people's ears are pierced with thin posts, such as 18 or 20 gauge. However, by using various tools to gradually stretch out the ears, one can dramatically stretch the original holes so that they can hold gauges as thick as 4 or 6. However, there are some serious ramifications to gauging, and you need to understand exactly what you are doing before you begin the process. Ear gauging stretches out the holes in your ears. Basically, ear gauging involves forcing larger and larger posts or rings through your piercings over time. As your piercing adapt to the new size, you then insert a larger gauge. It must be done gradually or you will tear your earlobe. Ear gauging is uncomfortable, but seldom seriously painful unless you try to hurry the process. It requires multiple posts of incrementally larger gauges and takes time and patience. Ear gauging symptoms include temporary swelling and tenderness in the earlobe area. Time Frame Your time frame for ear gauging will depend partly on your ear lobes' receptiveness to stretching and partly on how big you want to stretch your holes. You should expect to wait at least two weeks in between sizes to allow your earlobes to fully heal. If you try to stretch your lobes by too much at once, for example, going from an 18 gauge post to an 8, then if you do not tear your earlobes doing so you can still expect at least 4 weeks of soreness and a prolonged healing time that will depend largely on how much damage you do while you are engaged in this traumatic ear gauging. Before you gauge your ears, have your current piercings evaluated by a professional. Their location in your ear lobe will impact how large you can go before tearing your lobe or stretching it so thin that it simply gives way. Also, you need to consider whether or not you may need to return to a smaller hole at some point in the future. While moderately gauged ears often will shrink back over time and become unnoticeable once the large plugs are removed, really large gauges are not likely to return to their original state ever. Many people think that they can just have their ears pierced with a large gauge post in order to be able to wear ear plugs and large gauge rings. However, piercing with high gauges actually seriously increases your risk of infection because it removes a large plug of skin with the piercing. Most piercers will not pierce with anything thicker than 14 gauge, and many refuse to even go this thick. Whenever you alter your body, you expose yourself to the risk of infection. As a result, when gauging your ears you need to watch for redness, heat and bleeding. These are all fairly common symptoms, but if they do not fade quickly, then you should consult a piercing professional and you may need to see a medical doctor in order to prevent issues like gangrene. Related Searches Promoted By Zergnet You May Also Like Related Searches Check It Out This Is the Beauty Routine of an Ex-Pat in China Submit Your Work!
In the early days of NASCAR the pit crew would put very soft rubber tires on the car for better grip around the corners. These tires were known as “gumball” tires, and not because they helped the drivers chew up the road. Ingredients in Plastic and Rubber Have Been Found in Chewing Gum! Try These 5 Alternatives Instead Styrene-butadiene is the base for both chewing gum and race car tires. Rubber is essentially the thickened sap of a tropical latex tree. Chicle is the thickened sap from another tropical tree and the original source of chewing gum. Now gum is made with more synthetic sources, but you’re still chewing on the same thing. Stick This Behind Your Ear “Traditionally, the (gum) base came from tree resin. Today, it’s synthetic, made of plastics and rubbers.” This comes from an episode of “How It’s Made” and it reveals what our chewing gum is really made of. Historically the natural tree resins and flavorful, healing herbs were combined and used medically. Now, gum is made in a lab and shouldn’t be considered medical at all. When you chew gum your saliva production increases and the chemical makeup of the gum makes its way into your system. Synthetic rubbers. Plastics derived from petroleum. There are natural gum manufacturers, but most of the big names in gum use these materials to make their gum. Something To Chew On An investigation conducted by The Health Wyze Report found out what the “trade secrets” are in the gum world. The William Wrigley Jr. Company, one of the largest chewing gum manufacturers in the world admits to using “synthetic gum base materials” in its gum, but never explains exactly what those materials are. The investigation discovered elastomers, synthetic resins, plasticizers, and other fillers, like polyvinyl acetates, which goes by another name: Carpenter’s glue. Glycerol ester of rosin also shows up in gum, as well as in varnishes. “Chewing gum is easily one of the most toxic products available, and it is difficult to ever know exactly what it contains due to vague terms such as ‘gum base’ and ‘artificial flavors,” says The Health Wyze Report. “These reflect trade secrets, and the ingredients probably are made of hundreds of other ingredients that they are unwilling to disclose. Manufacturers maintain that customers have no right to know.” Enough For The Whole Class So what can you do if you love to chew? There are non-GMO gums that still use natural chicle and non-synthetic sweeteners. You can also ween yourself off the chewy stuff by reaching for one of these safe alternatives. 1.Licorice Root: When peeled and dried, licorice root gives the same chewing action that gum gives. Chewing licorice root can also help with acid reflux, canker sores, and peptic ulcers. 2.Sunflower seeds: If you chew gum to keep your mouth busy, sunflower seeds are a great alternative. There are a number of healthy seeds and nuts for you to chew on instead of gum. 3.Parsley: If you thought minty gum was the only way to freshen your breath, you thought wrong. Chewing on a fresh sprig of parsley gives the same feeling as chewing gum, but gives you a healthier feeling. 4.Chopped Veggies: Celery is a good chewing veggie, same with carrots and peppers. As an added bonus, you get vitamins and nutrients from veggies. Pomegranate is another great idea. 5.Water: Can quiet the cravings and keeps your mouth hydrated. 6.Non-GMO brands: Simply, Spry and Glee all use natural ingredients. Di Justo, P. (2015). Orbit White Gum. In This Is What You Just Put In Your Mouth? (First ed., pp. 88-92). New York, New York: Random House. A quick note from our founder- –> Get The Free Cookbook Andrew Jonasson Andrew Jonasson Andrew is a creative copywriter who writes as much as he reads. A graduate from Algonquin College's Advertising & Marketing program in Ottawa, Ontario, he now calls Toronto home. A type-1 diabetic, he knows the importance of living and eating healthily. A life-long student, Andrew will never graduate the school of life. Andrew Jonasson
Anyone who works in IT or has any interest in data security at all can tell you that the number of hacking attacks is on the rise. Worse than that, though, is the fact that the hackers themselves are getting increasingly organized, and that organization is allowing them to share code and develop entirely new attack vectors at an alarming pace. Business owners know the cost of successful data breaches as well, but generally only as it relates to them and their companies, which begs the following question: just how big a problem is internet crime, anyway? It turns out that the FBI has the answer to that question, and it’s a dismaying one. Internet crime, as of last year, officially became a billion-dollar business. It is a $1.3 billion business, to be precise. That number is based on 298,728 complaints registered last year, but cyber-crime is far too broad a category to be meaningful. Fortunately, the FBI statistics do a good job of breaking it down further, and the top three types of cyber-crime reported in 2016 were as follows: • Business e-mail compromise • Confidence fraud • Non-payment, non-delivery scams The news gets worse, because the Justice Department estimates that only about 15 percent of cyber-crimes actually get reported to the authorities. For example, many companies that have been impacted by ransomware pay the ransom and never report the incident to the authorities. It should also be noted that internet-enabled crime doesn’t occur exclusively online. The internet is just one component of the crime, and it plays an important role in its execution, either by providing a foot in the door or gathering intelligence that makes the crime possible. The United States leads the world in the number of cyber-crimes reported, but the phenomenon is a global one. The other four of the top five nations where it is most prevalent are Canada, India, the UK and Australia. The lesson here is simple. No matter where in the world you are, no one is safe, and if your IT staff is not prepared to fend off a determined attack, you could very well be next. Used with permission from Article Aggregator
Bad food habits can start very early in a child’s life. The first few months of a child's life are a glorious - and healthful - time for eating. There are the tentative swallows of soupy cereal grains. The sweet bites of neon-green pureed peas. The smears of earthy carrots. How and when do things go so horribly wrong for so many people? Why is it that by the time millions of us are adults, we are subsisting on diets full of saturated fats and processed sugars? To pinpoint exactly when our diet starts to go awry, researcher Victor Fulgoni analysed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 2001-2012 for 4406 children under the age of 2. That information is collected by government researchers based on surveys of caregivers. The participants, who are selected based on a complex statistical process, were asked during in-person interviews to list what their child ate over a 24-hour period. Fulgoni tallied the top 10 food sources for fruits, vegetables, whole grains and added sugars in three-month increments and then calculated an estimate for the amount of sodium and added sugars they were consuming. The findings show that bad habits start much, much earlier than you might think - as early as in the toddler years, a situation that places at least part of the blame for your poor eating squarely on your parents. "When breast feeding begins to stop, and they transition to regular foods, that's when we see the American diet creeping in," Fulgoni said. "We're not talking about super-sized fries or soft drinks, but there's enough that it's concerning." Now Fulgoni is a consultant for Beech-Nut Nutrition, which makes baby foods, and his job is to help companies make nutritional claims about their products. He has previously done the same for Kellogg. But this latest analysis - based on publicly available data gathered by the the National Centre for Health Statistics, a part of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, so it is easily reproducible by others - isn't associated with a particular product. The work is being presented this week at an academic conference in San Diego that focuses on things, such as nutrition, pharmacology and physiology. There's not much to tell about the analysis of the earliest months - from zero to eight months. Babies are generally consuming what they should, which is breast milk or formula with baby cereal and mushed-up vegetables and fruit. It's at around nine months when things start to get a little weird. While a child's diet at that time is mostly full of good stuff - string beans, oatmeal, rice, peaches, yogurt and crackers are at the top of the lists - you can already see small amounts of the bad stuff - brownies and cakes - showing up. At the beginning of the toddler period, 12 to 14 months, you see potato chips and soft drinks. By their first birthdays, American kids' diets are already completely unbalanced, according to Fulgoni's analysis. The good news, if you can call it that, is that more than 60 per cent are eating fruit on any given day. But half of that comes from juice, which can be overloaded with sugars. Bananas and apples are the next most popular. But on any given day only 30 per cent of 1-year-olds are eating vegetables, with the main source being whole or mashed potatoes. So what are they eating? About 40 per cent of them are filling their diets with things like brownies, cookies, crackers and other salty snacks. The result, Fulgoni said, is that children at this age are consuming more than 5 teaspoons of added sugar and more than 1500mg of sodium a day which is similar to what many nutritionists recommend as a limit for adults. Junk foods at such an early stage may be experimentation. After all, which new parent isn't tickled to hear the squeals of delight when they give their child his first bite of mint chocolate chip ice cream or birthday cake? But the data shows that once introduced, these types of foods stick around. Another striking aspect of the findings has to do with added sugars, which are found in baked goods, packaged juice and soda, and which, in large quantities, are believed to raise your risk for obesity and chronic conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. According to the data, added sugar intake increases almost linearly. At zero-to-two months, it's virtually nothing, but by nine-to-12 months, it is the equivalent of 2.4 teaspoons, and by 21-to-23 months the equivalent of 9.2 teaspoons. The most recent update of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend less than 10 per cent of calories from added sugars. Many nutritionists recommend it to be closer to 5 per cent. Let's take the average or 7.5 per cent. Based on a 2000 calorie diet that amounts to 150 calories or 9 teaspoons a day for a full-grown man. The 2014 Farm Bill called for the dietary guidelines to include recommendations for birth to age 2 based on the idea that if we can modify children's eating early in life we can sustain those changes for life. Fulgoni emphasised that his goal was not to "shame parents with this information". One limitation of the study is that it's based on a caregiver's memory of what a child ate, and there could be gaps or information that's fuzzy. But he was surprised at how much not-so-good-for-you food they admitted to giving their charges. "I think they are doing the best they can," he said. "It is a stressful period to get children to eat what you want them to eat. And sometimes you just want them to eat, period."
The USA Patriot Act of 2001 poses a new and frightening threat to the civil liberties of all Americans. With bipartisan support in both houses of Congress following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the bill passed easily and without much debate. Only after the smoke had cleared over New York City and the rest of the nation did Americans realize the full gravity of the situation. Federal agencies, including the FBI and CIA, received broad authority to obtain physical evidence in any cases of suspected terrorism, as well as the ability to suspend habeas corpus based on any small suspicion of terrorist activity. First and foremost, the American people should be outraged that the government has effectively impinged upon basic liberties as provided in the Bill of Rights. One can easily make a long list of the transgressions allowed under the Patriot Act. The First Amendment to the Constitution provides all with the freedom of speech. While the Patriot Act does not prevent citizens from voicing their beliefs, it does effectively allow the government to obtain warrants for information based on those specific attitudes. Political speech that may be critical of the U.S. government and its policies now justifies a search under the Patriot Act. This Viewpoint alone is enough to validate a search or wiretap, and considering that law enforcement may conduct said actions in secret, I may never know if the government is monitoring me as a suspected terrorist. The First Amendment and its implications on searches logically lead one to the Fourth Amendment. One should certainly deem investigations based on an individual’s speech as “unreasonable.” Furthermore, an agency seeking a warrant no longer has the burden of showing probable cause. Probable cause implies that if a search occurs, there is a high probability that the results will be fruitful. When searches are allowed under any suspicion of terrorist activity there is a very low probability that most searches will uncover a terrorist plot. The original intent of one of the founding fathers’ basic freedoms completely disappears, as does the “right to privacy” that numerous Supreme Courts have inferred from this amendment (Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade most notably). In addition to violating basic civil liberties, the Patriot Act also ignores basic human rights and Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution, which states, “The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public safety may require it.” While Sept. 11, 2001 indeed marked a horrendous attack, one can hardly classify a dozen men participating in terrorist activity as a rebellion or an invasion, especially in comparison to the extent of global terrorism. The United States is, nonetheless, imprisoning foreign nationals and now requires frequent checks by immigration authorities. Additionally, the government is now detaining numerous immigrants without charges, without providing legal counsel and even without the ability to contact their families. The detainees are primarily Arab-American males; this racial profiling contradicts the 14th Amendment that guarantees “equal protection under the law.” Supporters of the Patriot Act often defend it on the premise that the courts will not provide search warrants when the suspicion seems frivolous. This argument is hardly applicable because the Patriot Act permits the federal judiciary to issue warrants without substantial evidence. A grand jury does not need to intervene and a single judge (likely appointed by the Bush administration) can make the decision by herself or himself. Finally, the actual implementation of the Patriot Act will merely suffocate the federal bureaucracy with information. Considering that intelligence wholly overlooked key indicators prior to Sept. 11, 2001, how can one not feel that all agencies will completely drown in the exponentially larger amounts of information they receive under the act? There is no conceivable way that any agency could wade through all the “threats” and “warnings” that appear in completely innocent places. The Patriot Act is an embarrassment to the world’s most powerful democracy. Turning the United States of America into the Police State of America accomplishes nothing beyond alienating its own citizens and the people of other countries. For a nation founded on ideas of liberty and freedom, to completely ignore 250 years of tradition is appalling. Political leaders must repeal the Patriot Act to preserve the highest form of representative democracy the world has ever known. Brett Clements is a freshman in the College. He is a publicity assistant for Georgetown College Democrats. Comments are closed.
Cut and Paste in the Command Prompt Updated: June 09, 2001 Janwillem Borleffs Leiden, Netherlands August 18, 1999 Using cut-and-paste in the Command Prompt is easy. In a text-editing application like Notepad, select and copy the phrase as you would normally. Next, move your mouse to the Command Prompt screen. Right-click on the desired location in this screen and the copied text will appear. Naturally, you can also cut and paste in the Command Prompt screen itself. Select a phrase by moving the mouse over it while you hold down the left mouse button. Then right-click twice to paste the selection at the cursor's position. This tip works with Windows 2000 Server and Professional.
Print Your Own Medications [Science!] The 3D printing innovations continue to pour in, the latest being from Professor Lee Cronin, involving a do-it-at-home medication printing machine. It’s not quite the same 3D printing technology that we have now become used to seeing, since those create relatively large objects compared to the scale of organic chemistry. There are also a whole host of variables to consider that can drastically affect the viability and toxicity of a pharmaceutical during production, including temperature, pressure, contamination, light and chirality. However, the basic idea is to create a series of chambers that will accept “chemical inks” (which contain basic reactants) and then use programming from an app to synthesize the desired med. Currently, an app to generate the production of Ibuprofen is being worked on. While the dream is to create machines that can be commercialized and as common as a microwave in homes, it doesn’t seem likely to me. The machine would require quite specific maintenance and the medication would need to be tested after production since if something is slightly wrong, the chemical result could be literally deadly. That would require a certain level of expertise that I don’t think the general population will be able to obtain in a manual. However, it does seem like an interesting concept for pharmacies – especially those in remote areas, which find it difficult to ship quite specific meds for such small clientele. I would imagine it would also be useful in developing countries, as I would imagine getting reactants that can be used to create medications would be easier to order and send than the each pharmaceuticals individually. It would also be great for hospitals, as it could mean that they could have more efficient medication storage, since they wouldn’t have to make sure that they stock all the different medications – only make sure that they have the chemical inks and the apps ready at hand. The whole idea is so very science fiction and I for one find it incredibly exciting to live in a time when this sort of concept is not only conceivable, but actually being executed! The only problem I see is the potential for increased illegal drug manufacturing – something that I’m sure the creators would try their best to prevent, but still likely to happen. However, I think the benefit of such technology outweighs the potential risk. What do you think? [Via \| Molecular model of ibuprofen picture from] One Response to Print Your Own Medications [Science!] 1. if you thought torrent sites got peoples copyright panties in a knot, wait until 3d printers are available to the masses.
January 22, 2010 The World's Longest Palindrome Somebody told me today that Malayalam -- the official language of Kerala, India, and a language spoken by 35 million people world-wide -- is the world's longest palindrome. It isn't quite; it's one of a few that are the same length in English, and a Finnish word for soapstone dealer is officially the longest. But never mind. Malayalam is spoken by over 773,000 people in the UAE, a country of only 5 million residents. And I'm thinking about this because I learned the Malayalam word for saunf, a Hindi and Urdu word for fennel . In Malayalam it is called peruncheeragam. In Tamil it is shombu. In English, it's called: sugar-coated-fennel-seeds-they-give-you-after-dinner-at-an-Indian-restaurant-that-taste-like-Good-n-Plenty. This is all part of my quest to have some of the delicacies of Indian food in my home so I don't have to wait to go out to eat. I learned all these words so that I can go to the grocery store and, if I can't find what I want, I now know three different words in four languages that someone at the supermarket might understand. Dumdad said... Malayalam might be the world's longest SINGLE word palindrome but there are much longer palindromes than that. For example: A favourite of mine is: A man, a plan, a canal - panama! Leah Oberjuerge said... Yes, I meant to say that. Thank you Dumdad! The world's longest SINGLE word palindrome. And my favorite is Able were I, ere I saw Elba.
The nature of interstellar dust as revealed by light scattering D. A. Williams Interstellar dust was first identified through the extinction that it causes of optical starlight. Initially, observational and theoretical studies of extinction were made to identify simple ways of removing the effect of extinction. Over the last few decades it has become clear that dust has a number of very important roles in interstellar physics and chemistry, and that through these roles dust affects quite fundamentally the evolution of the Milky Way and other galaxies. However, our detailed knowledge of the actual material of dust remains relatively poor. The use of accurate models for the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with particles of arbitrary shape and composition remains vital, if our description of dust is to improve. Full Text:
Wednesday, April 7, 2010 An ever evolving struggle In Coyne’s harrowing tale of the Asian giant hornet he describes a specific prey adaptation of the Japanese bee in order to combat the hornet upon an invasion of their hive (112). He also gives one other example of a predator/parasite-prey evolutionary relationship with the example of a roundworm infecting an ant in Central America but this point for evolution is rather scarcely covered with examples. What other examples are there of complex and specific predator (or parasite) to prey relationships where the predator is well adapted to hunt its prey and the prey has evolved specific defenses as a reaction to these recurrent attacks? Also is it not also true that, in time, predators would begin to adapt to the strategies used by their prey to fight them off? Provide another example for this case where the predator is adapting alongside its prey. 1. There are many examples of prey antipredator adaptations, with their purposes usually falling under one of three categories: avoiding detection, avoiding attack, and avoiding capture. Adaptations like camoulflage and nocturnal behavior fall into the first category. By changing the distribution of pigment in an organism's skin or changing an organism's sleeping patterns, they become harder to spot by predators and thus are not targeted as frequently for predation. An example of a relationship in which prey have adapted a certain trait to avoid detection by a predator highly attuned to its surroundings is that of the snowshoe hare and its predator the gray fox. During changing seasons, the snowshoe hare's coat actually changes color to meet the specific time of year. During winter, for example, the coat becomes snow-white. In addition to this chromatic change to suit the surroundings based on season, the hare has also developed a defensive behavior in which it stops in its tracks at the first sight of a predator. As explained on the website Animal Diversity “Presumably, they are attempting to escape notice by being cryptic. Given the hare's background-matching coloration, this strategy is quite effective.” ( ) Thus, the snowshoe hare becomes even harder to spot with this 'freezing' behavior, and increase their chances of survival and reproduction. ( ) The second method of anti-predator adaptation does not attempt to avoid detection by predators but rather warns them to think twice about attacking. Natural poisons or bright colors to warn predators as well as mimicry of other organisms using those defenses (Mullerian if the organism also has those traits or Batesian if it is harmless and merely mimicking) fall under this category. Another example of this is behavior that indicates fitness to a predator that prefers weaker or unfit prey less likely to resist, such as the stot of the gazelle when faced with the threat of a predatory lion. Lions prefer to target individuals less able to resist their attacks as this allows them to conserve more energy in the acquisition of food, and as Richard Dawkins explains in The Selfish Gene, the stot “is an attempt at advertising an animal's health”. Even though such behavior may seem maladaptive at first glance (wasting energy and potentially singling the individual out for predation), it is actually a form of boasting or taunting to predators, encouraging them to call off the chase in favor of a less resistent meal. ( ) The third method of anti-predator adaptation involves avoiding capture by predators. This kicks into action after a predator has decided to single out a prey for consumption, taking the form of increased speed and sensitivity in predator detection to maximize the potential distance between the predator and prey during the chase, eating and moving collectively as a herd to avoid singling out by a predator, and adaptations like claws and horns to fight back. An example of this third form is the mobbing “divebomb” behavior of crows upon eagles seeking easy prey. The sharp talons and beaks of eagles have made them highly attuned to targeting and killing individuals, but this mobbing behavior (similar to that of the bees mentioned by Coyne) prevents these predators from gaining a lock on a single attacker. By repeatedly attacking the eagle on all sides, the crows minimize the potential damage caused by eagles 'picking off' many crows one by one. ( ) 2. Of course, if predators did not adapt to meet the needs of such defensive mechanisms, they would not survive and reproduce to be alive today. As Coyne notes on page 115, “everywhere we look in nature, we see animals that seem beautifully designed to fit their environment, whether that environment be the physical circumstances of life, like temperature and humidity, or other organisms [like] competitors, predators, and prey”. As the evolutionary pressures to obtain food alter, so too must the predator to continue survival and reproduction, leading to a sort of evolutionary arms race between predator and prey. An example of a specific predator-prey 'arms race' is that of the kestral and the vole. The vole, a type of small rodent, faces many predatory threats, such as owls, foxes, and kestrals. To increase their chances of survival and reproduction, they make their home underground with less of a chance of predatory detection. At the first sight of a predator, they immediately leap into their burrows and wait for the threat to leave. However, the kestral has developed an interesting response to this defense mechanism: the ability to 'see' “vole scent marks visible in ultraviolet light” ( ). While with normal vision the predator would be hard pressed to spot the homes of the vole, the ability to see vole scent marks in their urine and feces allows the kestral to zero in on these burrows, thus somewhat negating the vole's defensive mechanism. 3. There are many other types of predator prey relationships. For instance, the plant milkweed, which is the food source for the monarch butterfly, is constantly under attack from hungry caterpillars. "Milkweeds use three primary defenses to limit damage caused by caterpillars: hairs on the leaves, cardenolid toxins, and latex fluids". The most interesting adaptation is the toxicity that the plant has built up over the course of evolution. This toxicity threatens animals such as caterpillars away from eating its leaves, its site of food production: photosynthesis. However, due to this increase in toxicity, the monarch butterfly (the caterpillar from before) has coevolved with its meal, and developed an immunity to the toxin. This explains the monarch's orange color, which is a clue to many other predators that it is toxic and dangerous to eat. To combat this development, scientists have discovered that "recently evolved milkweed species utilize less of these preventative strategies, but grow faster than older species; potentially regrowing faster than caterpillars can consume them". This is a very long battle of side by side evolution that has no foreseeable end in the future. Another sweet defense adaptation is some lizard's ability to: "When attacked, many lizards jettison the wriggling appendage and flee. The predator often feasts on the tail while the lucky lizard scurries to safety. Later, the lizard simply grows a new tail." This is an evolutionary dead end, it seems, though, because both predator and prey benefit from this defense maneuver. The lizard lives to see another day, and the predator has a tasty snack. 4. One of more interesting predator-prey relationships is found between the poison arrow frog (Phyllobates terribilis), and the liophis snake (Leimadophis). The poison arrow frog (as the name implies), developed a toxin so powerful, that it is deadly to an adult if held in the hand. This is obviously very beneficial to the organism, because the toxin deters many creatures from trying to eat it. However, there is one known predator of the poison arrow frog, the liophis, and it has evolved its own resistance to the frog's poison. The poison arrow frog's toxin is so powerful that the snake is not entirely immune to the toxin, but only partially resistant.(1) Predators MUST evolve to adapt to the strategies used by the prey to fight them off because otherwise, the predator would be unable to consume the prey. For example, if a zebra evolves to run faster, the group of lions that hunts that zebra must either chase it down faster, or they will lose this specific ecological niche. Natural selection will proliferate the genes that will increase the lions speed, lest the lion lose a food source. (2) More broadly, selective pressures drive all evolutionary change. If a prey changes to better avoid the predator, he must in effect change to better catch his prey. Like an arms race, if you are stuck with last-generation weapons, you are much more vulnerable to attack. Thus, natural selection will drive beneficial change (Coyne, P.120) in all organisms, to better their chances for survival and reproduction. 5. When we think of a predator prey relationship, we tend to automatically think of a relationship between two animals or organisms. For example, between a lion and a zebra or an anteater and an ant. What we do not always realize is that this predator prey relationship also applies to plants. This is why I was intrigued when I found this juicy little tidbit- yes I did say juicy little tidbit- on The Galapagos islands are teeming with life, and one predator-prey relationship on the islands is between Geochelone nigra (Galapagos tortoise) and the Opuntia cactus, which is more commonly known as the Paddle Cactus due to its ball-and-paddle toy shape. The Galapagos tortoise depends upon the sap from the cactus as a source of moisture.* In order to avoid the tortoise’s predation, the Paddle Cacti have evolved to have branches higher from the ground so that the tortoise’s can not reach them. Consequently, the Galapagos tortoises have co-evolved with the cacti to have longer necks to reach the higher branches. This is why the islands with cacti that have branches lower to the ground also have tortoises with shorter necks and islands with branches higher from the ground have tortoises with longer necks. Therefore, the predator and the prey co-evolve to adapt to their changing environments. In order to defend themselves, prey become faster and stronger, used camouflage and produces toxins Another example where the predator adapts alongside its prey is between Taricha granulosa, a rough-skinned newt, and its only known predator garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis). For defense, the newt’s skin produces the toxin tetrodotoxin. Tetrodotoxin binds to the sodium channels in nerve cells which can result in paralysis or death. Garter snakes have a protein which prevents the toxin from binding to the ion channels allowing them to consume the newts without being harmed. This is an example of coevolution because as the potency of the newt’s toxin increases, the garter snakes resistance increases as well. *Tortoises have th ability to survive for over a year without taking in liquids. They have evolved to break down their body fat which creates water as a by product.
Skip to main content Welcome, the Hub connects all projects Validity Evidence for Learning Progression-Based Assessment Items That Fuse Core Disciplinary Ideas and Science Practices "This article evaluates a validity argument for the degree to which assessment tasks are able to provide evidence about knowledge that fuses information from a progression of core disciplinary ideas in ecology and a progression for the scientific practice of developing evidence-based explanations. The article describes the interpretive framework for the argument, including evidence for how well the assessment tasks are matched to the learning progressions and the methods for interpreting students' responses to the tasks. Findings from a dual-pronged validity study that includes a think-aloud analysis and an item difficulty analysis are presented as evidence. The findings suggest that the tasks provide opportunities for students at multiple ability levels to show evidence of both successes and struggles with the development of knowledge that fuses core disciplinary ideas with the scientific practice of developing evidence-based explanations. In addition, these tasks are generally able to distinguish between different ability-level students. However, some of the assumptions in the interpretive argument are not supported, such as the inability of the data to provide evidence that might neatly place students at a given level on our progressions. Implications for the assessment system, specifically, how responses are elicited from students, are discussed. In addition, we discuss the implications of our findings for defining and redesigning learning progressions." NOTE:The link above will take you to an abstract page. The full article is available for purchase. Comments are visible to site members only.
Define Staffing Contingency Plans in Projects by Joe Kelly According to Workforce Management, contingent staff are temporary and contract workers who don't get the same benefits as full-time and permanent employees, but often work alongside these employees. The use of contingent labor has increased since 2009. Staffing contingency plans involve considering many different issues to create a suitable contingency plan for projects. Staff Experience Staffing contingency plans involve researching each project team members' experience and how that affects the project. By knowing who has specific educational and work experience, you can make better decisions about the contingency plans and suitable staff replacements. If there's enough time, potential replacements can be trained so that they have the same or similar knowledge as the person who is no longer on the project. Staff Location Some contingency plans are affected by the location of project members. For example, in order for staff to run voting stations during an election, contingent staff should be located all over the geographic area. Having a leader travel from place to place to manage staff is also another prudent practice for staffs that are in widely spread out location. Some projects can benefit by keeping staff on-call to work as needed. Staffing contingency plans should consider maintenance throughout a project. Project managers create maintenance plans to handle further changes in staffing during the project, according to toolbox. Maintenance plans dictate how to recruit more staff, training and redefining skills needed on a project. Staff maintenance helps a project stay on schedule and on budget despite changes to staff. Contingency staffing is commonly used in special situations like completing a project during a strike by union employees. This allows the company to function during the strike and provide more time to develop an agreement with its permanent employees. Contingency staffing can reduce project costs since these workers don't require as much as permanent employees. About the Author Photo Credits • BananaStock/BananaStock/Getty Images Suggest an Article Correction
Monday, June 22, 2015 What really happened at Mount Kailash? Mount Kailash is a legendary place in Tibet. With an impressive height of 6718 meters, Mount Kailash represents the axis of the world or the stairway to heaven for the people in the region. Both Buddhists and Hindus, as well as older religions, recognize Mount Kailash as an ancient holy place. It is advised not to climb the mountain, since that would be sacrilege and bring misfortune. Mount Kailash is indeed an axis, if only because it is the source of major Asian rivers like the Indus River. Its shape it remarkable and has led to speculations over the centuries. Russian researchers have even proposed that the top of Mount Kailash is actually a giant man-made pyramid from ancient times. If this is true, then human history has to be re-written. It is larger than any pyramid known today. Please compare the remains of Puma Punku, in an equally high place but on another continent. The ancient ‘gods’ favored high places and built installations there. Ezekiel was brought to see one of these places. Zeus lived on one. So what about Mount Kailash? Is it another node in a global grid, built with some alien technology that we cannot actually see and do not yet understand?
Pilot Self-Assessment in Aeronautical Decision Making The PIC of an aircraft is directly responsible for and is the final authority for the operation of that aircraft. The list of PIC responsibilities is long, and nothing should be overlooked. To exercise those responsibilities effectively and make effective decisions regarding the outcome of a flight, a pilot must have an understanding of personal limitations. Pilot performance from planning the flight to execution of the flight is affected by many factors, such as health, experience, knowledge, skill level, and attitude. Exercising good judgment begins prior to taking the controls of an aircraft. Often, pilots thoroughly check their aircraft to determine airworthiness, yet do not evaluate their own fitness for flight. Just as a checklist is used when preflighting an aircraft, a personal checklist based on such factors as experience, currency, and comfort level can help determine if a pilot is prepared for a particular flight. Specifying when refresher training should be accomplished and designating weather minimums, which may be higher than those listed in Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 91, are elements that may be included on a personal checklist. Over confidence can kill just as fast as inexperience. In addition to a review of personal limitations, a pilot should use the I’M SAFE checklist to further evaluate fitness for flight. [Figure 14-3] Figure 14-3. I’M SAFE checklist. Figure 14-3. I’M SAFE checklist. Curiosity: Healthy or Harmful? The roots of aviation are firmly based on curiosity. Where would we be today had it not been for the dreams of Leonardo da Vinci, the Wright Brothers, and Igor Sikorsky? They all were infatuated with flight, a curiosity that led to the origins of aviation. The tale of aviation is full of firsts: first flight, first helicopter, first trans-Atlantic flight, and so on. But, along the way there were many setbacks, fatalities, and lessons learned. Today, we continue to learn and investigate the limits of aviation. We’ve been to the moon, and soon beyond. Our curiosity will continue to drive us to search for the next challenge. However, curiosity can also have catastrophic consequences. Despite over 100 years of aviation practice, we still see accidents that are caused by impaired judgment formed from curious behavior. Pilots commonly seek to determine the limits of their ability as well as the limits of the aircraft. Unfortunately, too often this leads to mishaps with deadly results. Inquisitive behavior must be harnessed and displayed within personal and material limits. Deadly curiosity may not seem as obvious to some as it is to others. Simple thoughts such as, “Is visibility really as bad as what the ATIS is reporting?” or “Will the 20 minute fuel light really indicate only 20 minutes worth of fuel?” can lead to poor decisions and disastrous outcomes. Some aviators blatantly violate rules and aircraft limitations without thinking through the consequences. “What indications and change in flight characteristics will I see if I fly this helicopter above its maximum gross weight?” or “I’ve heard this helicopter can do aerobatic flight. Why is it prohibited?” are examples of extremely harmful curiosity. Even more astounding is their ignoring to the fact that the damage potentially done to the aircraft will probably manifest later in the aircraft’s life, affecting other crews. Spontaneous excursions in aviation can be deadly. Curiosity is natural, and promotes learning. Airmen should abide by established procedures until proper and complete hazard assessment and risk management can be completed. The PAVE Checklist As found in the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, the FAA has designed a personal minimums checklist. To help pilots with self-assessment, which in turn helps mitigate risk, the acronym PAVE divides the risks of flight into four categories. For each category, think of the applicability specific to helicopter operations: • Pilot (pilot in command) • Physical, emotional readiness. • Flight experience, recency, currency, total time in type. • Aircraft • Is the helicopter capable of performing the task? • Can it carry the necessary fuel? • Does it provide adequate power margins for the task to be accomplished? • Can it carry the weight and remain within CG? • Will there be external loads? • EnVironment • Helicopters are susceptible to the impact of changing weather conditions. • How will the change in moderating temperatures and DA affect performance? • Will controllability be jeopardized by winds, terrain, and turbulence? • External pressures • Do not let the notion to accomplish “the mission” override good judgment and safety. • Many jobs include time lines. How often do we hear “time is money” or “time is wasting”? Don’t sacrifice safety for an implied or actual need to meet the deadline! • Do not allow yourself to feel pressured by coworkers, family events, or friends. Incorporated into preflight planning, the PAVE checklist provides the pilot with a simple way to remember each category to examine for risk prior to each flight. Once the pilot identifies the risks of a flight, he or she needs to decide whether the risk or combination of risks can be managed safely and successfully. Remember, the PIC is responsible for deciding about canceling the flight. If the pilot decides to continue with the flight, he or she should develop strategies to mitigate the risks. One way to control risk is by setting personal minimums for items in each risk category. Remember, these are limits unique to an individual pilot’s current level of experience and proficiency. They should be reevaluated periodically based upon experience and proficiency. Previous post: Next post:
1. Inhalt 2. Navigation 3. Weitere Inhalte 4. Metanavigation 5. Suche 6. Choose from 30 Languages Georgian Students Living in Germany Express Outrage at Russia In Germany, a group of Georgian students have found themselves far from the conflict tearing through their homeland. And though they're too young to remember the Cold War, they still feel the old grievances. A closeup of a Georgian woman's face with tears on her cheeks. Georgians living in Germany are angry with Russia for their actions Mariam sits in the main garden outside the university in Bonn, Germany. It's a warm August evening and the sun has just set. Mariam doesn't notice. She is too caught up in the thoughts running through her mind. Mariam, a university student, says she is afraid every day. Afraid for her family and her country. "Each day I call my mother in Tbilisi and if she doesn't answer I am totally overcome by fear. I'm convinced that a Russian bomb landed on our house," she says. Rage towards Russia Mariam Akiashili sitting at the Hofgarten in Bonn. Mariam fears for her family's safety For the past four years Mariam has lived in Germany, studying economics. She would like to return to her homeland, but at the moment she doesn't dare. She and her Georgian friends follow the unrest in her native country on the television and the internet. Mariam and her sister, Mtvarisa, are furious with Russia and the Russian president. Mtvarisa says that Russia just cannot deal with the fact that Georgia is developing in a Western fashion. Georgia has a very strategic position. Gas and oil pipelines pass through our country, and of course the Russians want to control them, she adds. "We have to defend ourselves" Georgian peace keeping forces on patrol. Georgian soldiers are out in full force against the Russians Nino also firmly believes in her country and the Georgian president. She finds Saakashvili's actions commendable. "We have to defend ourselves," she says. It sounds like something memorized at a young age. Nino has been in Germany for a year, and is waiting for a spot to open up for her to study medicine. She has just turned 20. She never experienced the Cold War. Nevertheless, even she feels some of the old hatred when she sees the former frontlines re-outlined: East against West, Russia against America -- and Georgia in the middle, sitting on the fence. Georgia is like a buffer state with an overpowering adversary standing at the door. Enemies at the disco Closeup of Nino Kargishvili, sitting in the Hofgarten in Bonn. Nino completely supports her government For the young Georgians, a Russian is someone to hate, not to have as a friend. That's how it's always been. Because of that, Nino could never imagine herself falling in love with a Russian boy, not even here in Germany. "After everything that has happened between our countries, it isn't possible anymore," she says defensively, shaking her head. The young Georgian has brought this hate, anger and fear with her to Germany. Luckily there aren't any Russians living in her dormitory, she says. Though she came across a few in the street one evening recently. A couple of Russian students who were looking for a disco asked Nino and Mariam if they knew where one was. Mariam recognized the accent immediately. When she and Nino told the Russians where they were from, the mood darkened, she explains. "And when they asked where we were from, and we told them that we're Georgians, they became aggressive. One boy screamed: 'Russia will kill Georgia'. I said, you are our enemies, but we will gladly help you find a disco," she says. "There is no peace" Russian soldiers jumping out of a tank. Russian soldiers have still not withdrawn from the country The only solution is for the Russians to leave, agree the two students. They are afraid that Russia will simply annex Georgia and remove the government. "I could never live under a Russian government," says Mariam. "I am Georgian and proud of it." "There is no peace," says Nino, "The war is over, but the people are still afraid of the Russians. They are still in Georgia and refuse to leave. They’re aiming their rockets at Tbilisi." Georgian students Mtvarisa, Nino, Tamta und Mariam sitting together in the Hofgarten. Mtvarisa, Nino, Tamta und Mariam Occasionally the students have doubts about their hatred for Russia, though it's rare. Sometimes they meet Russians who are actually very nice. Like the woman at the language course at the community college. Mariam quickly became friends with this potential enemy. It didn’t last. "The politics destroyed our friendship," she says, sadly. Because despite all the anger, the Georgian students only want one thing: "M-shvi-do-ba," they say. It's Georgian, and it means peace. DW recommends
Locating Fire Protection Services the Location Set Covering Model Only available on StudyMode • Download(s) : 21 • Published : July 16, 2011 Open Document Text Preview 1. Locating fire protection services: the location set covering model One problem faced by many communities is where to locate fire stations. Even though most people do not want to live next to a station, they do want fire protection services nearby. The value of fire services is time critical. If a crew at a station takes more than 10 minutes to reach a house fire, there are significant chances that the fire will consume major portions of the house and threaten occupants. Most fires can be easily put out with a timely response with the right equipment and crew. The trick is to make a quick response before a fire gets out of control. Sometimes the occupant can contain the fire with water or an extinguisher, but fires can get out of hand very quickly. After a fire has been detected and it can’t be put out with a simple maneuver, then the person is best to notify the fire department, help evacuate others and fight the fire only when they do not place themselves at risk. To protect people and structures, it is necessary to establish a network of stations with appropriate equipment so that all areas of a city can be reached from the nearest station within a short distance, say one and a half miles, or a maximal response time of say 8 minutes. If a station is within a maximum response distance or time of a neighborhood, then we say that the station “covers” that neighborhood. Many cities in the United States have fire station networks that “cover” all areas of the city within easy reach. Typically a city is divided into small zones, called fire demand zones. Each zone is a small geographically contiguous area, or neighborhood. There may be hundreds of such zones. Each zone is represented by a geographically centered point. The center point of the zone is used to represent the zone and is often defined at a central intersection within the zone. Since the zone is usually quite small, travel times across the zone are quite small. It is assumed that if the center point of a zone can be reached by fire apparatus within a maximal service distance or time, then for all intents and purposes the entire zone can be reached within that defined maximum response standard. Although one might argue that it may take slightly longer to get from the center of a zone to the far edge, the zone is defined to be small enough that this difference in time is not very significant. Thus, area demand for fire service protection is represented as a set of discrete points, each representing the center of a small zone, and where the set of points and their zones represents the entire area of the city. This is depicted in Figure 1. Since the zones are quite small geographically, any feasible site within a zone will be relatively close to the center point. So, just as the center point of a zone is used to represent the demand of a zone, it is also used to represent feasible sites within a zone. It is important to recognize that some zones may not contain any feasible sites for a fire station, and if that is the case, they can be eliminated from consideration as a place for a station. Consequently, each zone is represented by a point of demand, but only a subset of such zones are represented as possible sites for stations. In general, we can establish an entire list of zone center points to represent areas of demand and a subset of the zone center points for consideration as possible station locations. Location Theory & Modeling R.L. Church Figure 1a: Depiction of Fire Demand zones. Figure 1b: Nodes representing centers of Fire Demand zones and neighboring zonal coverage At this point, it is convenient to introduce a little notation. We will use j as an index to refer to a zone in terms of its use as a site for a fire station and i as an index to refer to a fire demand zone and the point that represents the zone. We will assume that there are n demand zones and they are numbered from 1, 2, 3, …..n. It is necessary to identify the... tracking img
[meeshuh-ley] /miʃəˈleɪ/ [zhyl] /ʒül/ (Show IPA), 1798–1874, French historian. /French miʃəle/ Jules (ʒyl). 1798–1874, French historian, noted esp for his Histoire de France (17 vols, 1833–67) Read Also: • Michelin /French miʃəlɛ̃/ noun 1. André (ɑ̃dre). 1853–1931, French industrialist; founder, with his brother Édouard Michelin (1859–1940), of the Michelin Tyre Company (1888): the first to use demountable pneumatic tyres on motor vehicles type of tires, 1902, from French motor vehicle manufacturers André (1853-1931) and Édouard (1859-1940) Michelin, who first made the tires. • Michelle [mi-shel] /mɪˈʃɛl/ noun 1. a female given name. • Michelozzo /Italian mikeˈlɔttso/ noun 1. full name Michelozzo di Bartolommeo. 1396–1472, Italian architect and sculptor. His most important design was the Palazzo Riccardo for the Medici family in Florence (1444–59) • Michelson-morley experiment /ˌmaɪkəlsənˈmɔːlɪ/ noun 1. an experiment first performed in 1887 by A. A. Michelson and E. W. Morley, in which an interferometer was used to attempt to detect a difference in the velocities of light in directions parallel and perpendicular to the earth’s motion. The negative result was explained by the special theory of relativity
Electronics. See under shot effect. noun, Electronics. the inherent electronic noise arising in an electric current because of the discontinuous nature of conduction by electrons Also called Schottky noise (ˈʃɒtkɪ) Read Also: • Shot-on-goal noun, plural shots on goal. Hockey and Soccer. 1. a shot that enters the goal or would have entered the goal if it had not been blocked by the goalkeeper or another defensive player. • Shot-put noun 1. a field event in which a heavy ball or shot is thrown or put for distance. 2. a single throw or put of the shot. noun 1. an athletic event in which contestants hurl or put a heavy metal ball or shot as far as possible 2. a single put of the shot • Shot-silk retina shot-silk retina n. The appearance in the retina of numerous, wavelike, opalescent reflexes similar to the light reflections appearing on certain types of silk; most commonly seen in children under the age of 10 and sometimes in teenagers. • Shotten adjective 1. (of fish, especially herring) having recently ejected the spawn. 2. Obsolete. (of a bone) dislocated. adjective 1. (of fish, esp herring) having recently spawned 2. (archaic) worthless or undesirable
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 What Was Martha Doing? Diakonia in Luke 10:38-42 Paper for SBL March 29, 2014 at Denver Universitz Mary A. Hanson Diakonia in Luke 10:38-42: What Was Martha Doing? Mary and Martha have drawn strong reactions in countless sermons and devotions over the years. Since the seventh century, this passage was the lectionary text for the feast of the Assumption of Mary. This is but one indication of the importance of Luke 10:38-42 because Mary, the mother of Jesus, is not a character in the text that was read on one of her feast days. Homilies from as early as Jerome, Origen, Cassian, and Augustine are still available to us. From the medieval period, Meister Eckhart, Teresa of Avila, and Bernard of Clairvaux produced several sermons on the text. The Reformers entered into the fray; they reinforced the work ethic, but not at the expense of the spiritual.Today best-selling authors have popularized the traditional story of Mary and Martha. Quoting G.B. Caird, “Few stories in the Gospels have been as consistently mishandled as this one.” The text, as usually applied, leaves the reader in a quandary. Each reading raises new questions. According to Jesus himself, Mary is the example to follow, while Martha appears to be reprimanded. Yet, most women have sympathy for Martha. Or, is Martha’s activity good, but she should do less of it? Why does Mary not say anything in her defense? Is a “silent” woman the preferred example to one that “complains?” Is one sister necessarily an example of “good” and one an example of “not so good?” Must the sisters be set against each other? Why would the “service” that Martha performed on this occasion of Jesus’ visit be considered unsatisfactory. Jesus himself offered extravagant practical service in his everyday ministry. He provided multitudes with abundant food and gathered the leftovers, he changed water to fine wine, and provided a bounteous harvest of fish. Likewise, in the parable immediately preceding our passage, the Good Samaritan provides generous resources to care for the left-for-dead traveler. Why is Martha then criticized for doing what Jesus himself demonstrated as exemplary care for one’s neighbor? What was Martha really doing in Luke 10:38-42? II Difficulties Interpretation is difficult for many reasons. The earliest manuscripts contain many textual variants which indicate scribal uncertainty. The location of the event is unspecified despite the traditional understanding that Mary and Martha were located in Bethany near Jerusalem. At this point in Luke’s travel narrative, starting at 9:51, Jesus was not likely to be near Jerusalem, but still north in Galilee. There is also no consensus concerning the context of these four verses, with no obvious connection to the text previous and following. This paper will concern yet another key issue in Luke 10:38-42, and that is the meaning of the Greek vocabulary. In particular, I will look carefully the family of diakon-words, which occur twice in verse 40, both as a verb and as a noun. Reconsider the possible “service” that Martha is offering. In verse 40, Luke uses the noun diakonia in the accusative and the verb diakoneō as an infinitive. Altogether, Luke uses the verb eight times, which is more than any other NT author, and these are confined mostly to his Gospel. The semantic range of the meaning of the diakon-words in Luke includes “wait on, helping to support, do the work, serves, and preparations.” It can mean many different kinds of service on the behalf of another, including but not necessarily restricted to serving a meal.[1] Of the thirty-four uses in the NT, fourteen times it is translated as “ministry” in the NIV.[2] III. Discussion of Diakoneō I will first discuss the eight uses of the verb in Luke’s Gospel. In Luke 4:39 he describes the activity of Peter’s mother-in-law where upon being healed by Jesus, she illustrated complete recovery by serving those in attendance. Luke 8:3 describes the activity of the women who “serve” Jesus, or Jesus and the disciples, while traveling, with their own resources. The third occurrence of the verb is in the verse under study: “Do you not care that my sister has left me alone to serve?” Further, in chapter 12, Luke records a parable of Jesus using diakoneō when the master serves his servants who are properly prepared for his return home. In verse 17:8, Jesus tells of the master who demands to be served by his servant after a day of work. The last three occurrences are in the discourse of Jesus in chapter 22:27-28 on “Who is greatest?” Jesus says of himself, “I am among you as one that serves,” where the verb occurs as a participle. The noun diakonia is used only once in all of Luke, and not in any other of the Gospels, and this one occurance is in (10:40), which in the age-old understanding, concerns Martha’s service as a hostess. However, and this is the crux of my thesis, it is not as clear, as many commentators and popular authors claim, that the Mary and Martha event was a scene in a dining room and kitchen. Briefly, I will review Luke’s use of diakon-words in his second work. In Acts 1:17, a successor to Judas is chosen to continue the ministry of the twelve, where diakonia refers to the work of the disciples. Acts 6:1-6 has a concentration of diakon-words, one use of the verb and two of the noun. I include this passage because it is a good illustration of the range of meaning of diakon- words in Luke’s writings. Seven Hellenists were appointed to devote themselves to diakonia “service at the table” so the apostles could be free to do diakonia “service of the word.” Seven of those chosen are never mentioned again. At least two in this group, Phillip and Stephen, practiced word-service and became preachers of the early Christian church.[3] From Acts 6 alone, there certainly seems to be diverse meaning to diakonia. Continuing in Acts, Luke also refers to the famine relief collection for Judea in 11:29 as diakonia. This same diakonia was carried out by Barnabas and Saul in 12:25, translated in the NIV “when they had finished their mission.” In Acts 19:22, Paul uses the participle to describe the work of Timothy and Erastus. Paul calls his overall ministry diakonia in 20:24 and 21:19. A similar passage is Rom 12:7. It would not be out of the question to entertain the possibility that Martha was engaged in this kind of work and therefore a deacon prototype.[4] IV Overview of Interpretations With this background to the use of diakon-words I will review a sampling of commentators. As an illustration of traditional thinking, Tannehill maintains that diakonia in Luke 10:40 refers to hospitality, especially through providing a meal. He does not broaden to the possibility of an established ministry of preaching and leadership.[5] A sample of well-known commentators who claim the conventional understanding of Mary and Martha in a household dining scene is long and impressive including Green, Bock, Nolland, Fitmyer, Marshall, LT Johnson, Hendriksen, Craddock, Tiede. Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza in 1992 noted that the text does not explicitly refer to a meal and does not place Martha in the kitchen, and that the more general expression diakonia, leaves open various possibilities. Also, Jesus’ climactic word does not mention diakonia but that Martha was troubled and anxious. Schüssler Fiorenza maintains that the word Luke used to describe Martha’s activity had already become a technical term for ecclesial leadership at the time he was writing when house-churches provided both preaching of the word and the eucharistic meal celebration.[6] She claims that Luke was writing anachcronistically several decades after the event described. According to her hermeneutic of suspicion, Luke was now restricting women’s activities to traditional serving, and passive listening by repressing Martha’s serving as a deacon, and approving Mary’s listening. Barbara Reid in 1996 acknowledges that Mary and Martha raise more questions than any other Lukan pericope that involves women. She maintains that diakonia can mean many different kinds of service on the behalf of another, including but not necessarily restricted to serving a meal.[7] She realizes that most women identify with Martha but warns against the temptation to rescue Jesus or blunt the absolute approval of Mary and reprimand of Martha. I agree with her statement, “Our instincts are correct when they tell us that something is wrong with this picture; but to try to make it into something that it is not is equally problematic.”[8] J.N. Collins in 1990 defends the idea that diakonia did not describe domestic tasks, but service or ministry on behalf of Jesus and other disciples. He wrote an entire book on the meaning of diakonia working from classical Greek texts to expand the semantic field from lowly house service, to a “go-between or emissary,” such as an ambassador or courier.[9] The Jewish understanding of “service” being mundane household work, has always been assumed, but Collins raised the possibility that NT writers may have also understood diakonia in the classic Greek sense of one who is a messenger, spokesperson or agent.[10] This included, “mediation, intercession, agency, and mission in the name of a principle.” The noun was used for more formal activities and included religious contexts. More recently in 2007, Anni Hentschel continues the work on diakonia and notes that the subject can be a man or woman, and indicates ministry in hospitality or in the broader sense, Phoebe being an example in Romans 16:1.[11] She concludes that the understanding of diakonia in Luke 10:38-42 is determined by context.[12] She does not find such a strong contrast as Collins, that is, one meaning does not necessarily preempt the other. Bringing food to the table, or serving in the community in a more official capacity, do not actually contrast so much.[13] Warren Carter indicates that Martha must be held as an example of the positive manner in which Jesus is to be received as a traveling rabbi as described throughout chapter 10. He notes that the six uses of dechomai (receive) in Luke prior to chapter 10 (2:28, 8:13, and four times in 9:48) connect Martha’s reception of Jesus to those who embrace his escahatological mission and openness to his message.[14] In 9:52-53 and 10:10 the same word is used to show a negative reception. For Carter, Martha is an illustration of the model disciple. “In receiving Jesus, Martha is a child of peace (10:6) who has encountered God’s reign (Luke 10:9).”[15] Therefore, it is unlikely that Martha is intended by Luke as a negative example. He makes a convincing argument that Martha is distracted by her responsibilities of leadership and house ministry.[16] In summary so far, Luke is probably intending both sisters as examples of exemplary discipleship. “Listening” akouō is always a favorable activity in Luke. Mary’s akouō “listening” is the opposite of the example of the person in 10:16 who rejects atheteō. “To hear” is the antithesis of “to reject.” Likewise Martha “receives” Jesus in contrast to the Samaritans who did not receive him. To “hear” and to “act” describes the ideal response to the gospel in 8:21. Both women are the positive examples as opposed to the earlier negative examples. V. Conclusion Turid Karlsen Seim adds insights to the conclusions of the previous commentators. Seim notes that the first three uses of the verb in Luke have a woman or women as the subject. Furthermore, Seim adds that diakoneō in two of these three verses seem to indicate women supporting Jesus by use of their own resources. I would say that could also be true in the case of Peter’s mother-in-law, who may have been the owner of her house, serving Jesus from her own wealth. She was not a common servant in her own house. The use of a daikon-word seems to indicate a higher level of service to the kingdom, as a householder taking care of her guests. akouō describes service by someone who is serving voluntarily from their own resources. Another verb, hetoimazō is commonly used by Luke to describe common preparations, but which he did not use in this text. Seim makes a unique observation: the early use of diakon-words by Jesus describes the behavior of women, but as his mission progresses, men are seen practicing diakonia, and finally Jesus himself. In other words, as women were habitually accustomed to serving, so should all people willingly serve self-sacrificially.[17] In Luke’s history of Jesus’ ministry, diakonia is first found in the description of women’s activities, then used in parables as teaching material, and finally the ideal behavior for leaders. All people are to undertake leadership as “service.” My goal in this presentation is to move this well-worn passage away from the traditional understanding that Luke is describing Martha as being over-worked in a dining situation. I intended to remove the sisters from opposition to each other, especially as an example of a contemplative life as preferable to the active life. I propose, that the source of Martha’s distress is not too much kitchen work, but distress over too much “service” of another unspecified sort and she is not getting the help from Mary that she thinks she needs. Putting aside whatever reason there may be for Mary’s lack of availability to help Martha, there is enough evidence that Martha’s activity does not have to be restricted to a narrow definition of service such as preparing food. Martha was probably active in her first- century community in ministry to new believers. I am not ruling out the possibility that she served Jesus food on that day, and he may have stayed at her house, but that was not the source of her being pulled apart by much worry. She may very well have been a leader of an assembly place and teacher of early followers of Jesus, instead of, or in addition to, providing as hostess the comforts of a temporary home for Jesus. There are very good grounds for imagining that Martha’s activity is closer in line with the work of what we would now call that of a deacon. If Martha’s work is described as a wide range of diverse activities, the story attains more depth and resonates with men and well as women. Further, to expand into my further research, I do not think that there is even evidence that Mary is in the house that day of Jesus’ visit. Martha does not speak to Mary herself, because Mary is not there. She is gone! Therefore, Martha’s stress is due to worry about her sister being away—perhaps on the road with Jesus in ministry—and therefore unable to give Martha a hand with her “much service.” But, that is another paper. Now, I would like to see an end to the popular impression of Luke 10:38-42 as a scene of Martha being over-worked in serving many disciples and prevailing upon Jesus to get Mary to help her with kitchen work. [1] Reid, Choosing the Better Part? 147. [2] Kohlenberger III, The Greek English Concordance, 154. [3] Schüssler Fiorenza, But She Said, 65. [4] Christopher R. Hutson, “Martha’s Choice: A Pastorally Sensitive Reading of Luke 10:38-42,” 139. [5] Tannehill, Luke, 185. [6] Schüssler Fiorenza, But She Said, 64. [7] Barbara E. Reid, Choosing the Better Part? Women in the Gospel of Luke (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1996), 147. [8] Reid,160. [9] Collins, Diakonia: Re-interpreting the Ancient Sources (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990). [10] Ismo Dunderberg, “Vermittlung statt karitativer Tätigkeit? Überlegungen zu John N. Collins’ Interpretation von Diakonia,” in Diakonische Konturen: Theologie im Kontext sozialer Arbeit, ed., Volker Herrmann, Rainer Merz, Heinz Schmidt (Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag, 20003), 175-176. [11] Anni Hentschel, Diakonia im Neuen Testament: Studien zur Semantik unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Rolle von Frauen (Tübingen: Morhr Siebeck, 2007), 436. [12] Hentschel, Diakonia, 257. [13] Hentschel, Diakonia, 239. [14] Warren Carter, “Getting Martha out of the Kitchen: Luke 10:38-42 Again,” in A Feminist Companion to Luke, ed., Amy-Jill Levine (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2001), 217. [15] Warren Carter, “Getting Martha,” 217. [16] Warren Carter, “Getting Martha,” 223. [17] Turid Karlsen Seim, The Double Message: Patterns of Gender in Luke-Acts (New York: T&T Clark, 1990), 252. Thursday, November 13, 2014 A New Perspective on Mary and Martha: The Greek Basis A New Perspective on Mary and Martha Luke 10:38-42 Mary A. Hanson Luke 10:38-42 is typically cited to illustrate the prioritizing of activities and making time for study. Traditional interpretations, which have been repeated for generations without serious re-evaluation, result in many unsolved quandaries. Mary is commended by Jesus for making study most important and Martha is mildly rebuked for being “too busy.” Yet Jesus in 10:5-7 extolls hospitality, especially to traveling disciples, and sets himself as the example of being a servant (Lk 22:27). It seems incongruous that Jesus would not welcome Martha’s service as exemplary. In no other text of Luke-Acts is diakonia assessed critically. Luke describes discipleship as both hearing and doing the word in 6:47, 8:15, 8:21, and 11:28. Origen wrote the first recorded homily on Luke 10:38-42, which sat the pace for centuries: Martha symbolized action, and Mary, contemplation. He also suggested that Martha represented the Jews in the synagogue who were observers of the law, and Mary the Christian Church and the new spiritual law. Gregory the Great used Mary as an example to promote monasticism, which set the precedence throughout the Middle Ages. Calvin represents a shift of balance during the Reformation by noting: “Christ was far from intending that his disciples should devote themselves to idle and frigid speculations.” More recently, Caird in 1963 noted: “Few stories in the Gospels have been as consistently mishandled as this one.” Craddock summarizes the conundrum: “If we censure Martha too harshly, she may abandon serving altogether, and if we commend Mary too profusely, she may sit there forever.” The writers of many commentaries, sermons, and devotions have creatively found numerous ways to tame the dissonance of the Mary and Martha story. Witherington is frequently quoted to point out that Jesus affirms Mary’s listening at his feet against the Jewish rabbi tradition of not teaching women. Thereby the story is rescued to empower women’s study at the feet of Jesus, but at the expense of alienating Martha’s activity. Many interpretations of the text suggest ways to lessen Jesus’ scolding of Martha and leave room for conditional approval of her activity. Frequently, attempts are made to portray Jesus as “lending a hand” and showing more sympathy to the hard-working Martha. Rehabilitations of the text that attempt to portray the sisters more equally fall flat, as well as making the story into something that it is not. Instincts correctly determine that something is wrong with the inescapable conclusion that Mary’s activity of learning at-the-feet is “worth more,” and Martha’s activity of serving is “worth-less.” Recent commentaries continue the tradition that a balance must be maintained between active and contemplative service, even if stated in ever more creative ways. Jeffery sees Luke 10:38-42 as purposefully following the Good Samaritan: “Active service of the Lord cannot be long practiced without sitting at the feet of the Lord.” Gonzales also sees significance in the juxtaposition of the two passages. He asks, “What would have been Martha’s reaction if she had heard the Good Samaritan parable?” The emphasis on Martha’s attitude instead of her activity is pointed out by Garland who says “She (Martha) is scolded not for hustling and bustling but for fretting and fussing.” Considering the long list of esteemed commentaries on this text, it seems to be bucking an overwhelming trend to get Mary out of the house and Martha out of the kitchen. This paper concludes that drawing a positive and negative dichotomy between the two women is unnecessary. The whole discussion of whether one reads with or against the text of Luke 10:38-42 can be also laid to rest. With accurate exegetical and hermeneutical study, a much broader horizon can be opened with new applications of this text for both men and women. At the beginning of Luke 10:38, Jesus is traveling with an unidentified plural group that is grammatically masculine, but could be intended inclusively to include females. By 10:38b, the subject pronoun with the verb is suddenly singular autos eiselthev. A certain woman named Martha receives auton, which is again singular. The rest of the traveling group has literarily, if not literally, disappeared. As Luke writes the scene some forty years later, if Jesus has traveling companions upon meeting Martha, Luke does not consider them essential to the story. This leaves Martha and Jesus alone in the spotlight. The location is only indicated by “a certain village,” and does not necessarily need to be Bethany near Jerusalem. Luke also does not describe the exact setting where Martha greets Jesus, whether it is her house, on a road, public or private. The words “into her house” are included in the TNIV, KJV, and NASB translations. Textual evidence for auton eis ten oikian, “him into the house,” in the manuscripts is mixed. Another variant adds a possessive genitive “her,” “him into her house.” The UBS stops with “she received him.” This reading is supported in the p45, p75 and B, where auton “him,” stands alone. Several commentaries note the omission auton eis ten oikian, but still go on to include it in the translation. Nolland includes the phrase and notes, “The full phrase could be a scribal completion, but is probably original as part of the terms that evoke the mission materials of Luke 9:1-6.” Green also includes the phrase in his translation and admits it is omitted in the early parchments; he says, “Even if, as seems probable, variant forms were introduced to draw out the meaning of hypodechesthai auton, this phrase is already implicit in the Lukan use of “to welcome” or “to extend hospitality.” Bock does not include it in his translation, but he sees a domestic scene in a house “vividly.” He notes: “that many manuscripts include the longer phrase in different forms speaks against either of the longer options being original. The reading chosen does not affect the general meaning, only its specificity.” Bock goes on to say he prefers the shorter reading. The conclusion from this discussion is that the earliest parchment, p75, from the early third century, omits mention of a house, and it is the shortest reading. Therefore, for purposes of this paper, the “house” is omitted. The location could be Martha’s house, but does not have to be. The physical location of this scene will eventually be proven unimportant; a domestic scene is not essential and was apparently not mentioned in the earliest parchment. The nature of Martha’s reception of Jesus warrants exploration. Luke starts the action between Martha and Jesus with hypodechato auton, which generally means to offer hospitality as a guest, but can also mean to simply “to receive someone. Other Lukan uses of the verb include the same phrase in Luke 19:6 where Jesus looks up in the tree to see Zacchaeus and says, “I must stay in your house today.” Zacchaeus hypodechato auton In this case, Jesus clearly invites himself to Zacchaeus’s house. The use in Acts 17:7 also clearly involves Jason’s house. The root verb dechomai can indicate approval or conviction by accepting, and is used positively six times prior to chapter ten as in 8:13: “Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it . . .” This sense also occurs in 9:53, and 10:10 in instances where Jesus is not accepted. Jesus poses two possible scenarios to “the seventy” upon entering a town (10:7): they may or may not be welcomed. In 9:53, Jesus was not “welcomed” by the Samaritans because he was headed to Jerusalem. Therefore, by 10:38 Luke has used dechomai-related verbs to indicate (non) acceptance of Jesus and his mission. Martha’s greeting is an illustration of a favorable reception as opposed to those who do not receive Jesus in Luke 10:10. Beyond food and housing, the most vital aspect of “receiving” is the acceptance of the mission and call of Jesus, which Martha and Mary both exemplify. When Jesus sent out “the seventy,” he advised, “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you” (Lk 10:7). Martha’s “receiving” of Jesus in faith was more likely in line with Jesus’ modest expectations rather than elaborate preparations often imagined in recreations of this scene. He would be a gracious guest by accepting modest accommodations, and was much less concerned about elaborate hospitality than being received as “the Christ, the Son of God, the one coming into the world” (John 11:27). Martha must have been aware of his first preference of being received in faith, followed by simple hospitality. The conclusion is that if “house” is not included, then hypodechomai can be a more general “welcome” or better, “received” as Martha received Jesus and his message thereby becoming a disciple. Luke 10:39 continues, “And this one (fem.) has a sister called Mary.” The conjunction to the next phrase, kai is often not translated, as in the NIV: “She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet . . .” Kai can be translated “and, but” or “also.” If it is translated as “also,” then both Mary and Martha are equally identified as disciples. The KJV reads, “And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.” In this case, the KJV accurately translates the kai. as “also,” which is clearly retained in the UBS text, but has been dropped in most modern English translations. “Who” is inserted in a widely dispersed set of manuscripts and is included by the UBS in brackets. By translating the kai and using this important variant, the transition is completed as: “And this woman has a sister called Mary, who also. . .” In addition, with this relative pronoun as the subject, the participle parakathestheisa can be read substantively, “a person who sat herself.” Nolland notes that if the "who" is accepted then it should be linked to the following kai with the result that whatever Mary is doing, Martha has also done. This results in two possible ways of understanding the phrase. The more familiar describes Mary as presently sitting at the feet of Jesus. The option proposed for this paper is that the participle could also name her as one who is “a sitter.” “Sitting at the feet” is an idiomatic way of saying that a person is a disciple. In Luke 8:35, the Gerasene man, after being exorcised of many demons, sat at Jesus’ feet. In Acts 22:3, Paul trained “at the feet of Gamaliel.” This passage could be describing Mary as also being “a sitter” at the feet of Jesus, in the same manner as Martha has sat at the feet of the Lord. An additional grammatical point is that Luke chose the imperfect, ekouen, which indicates that the sisters have been hearing the words of Jesus over a period of time. D’Angelo agrees with this interpretation and notes, “Once it is recognized that sitting at Jesus’ feet and hearing his word indicates discipleship, the meaning should be clear: Martha who received Jesus, has a sister who like Martha herself, was a disciple.” The translation of 10:39 now stands: “She had a sister called Mary, who also was one who regularly sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he said.” Both, over a period of time, have enjoyed learning from Jesus as his disciples. One cannot generalize from this finding that Mary is the “studied” sister and Martha the “practical” sister. “But Martha was distracted” (10:40). What is distracting Martha? The imperfect phrase periespato peri pollen literally means, “was constantly being pulled concerning much.” Periespato is a NT hapax legomenon and indicates “being pulled away” by something and can refer not only to distraction and busyness, but also to being overburdened. The Greek imperfect tense indicates that this was not a one-time event, but was ongoing. The narrator uses the verb to state an objective fact: Martha was worried and it was not neurotic obsessiveness on her part. The reader is given no visual cues; the narrator does not inform how he knows of her distress, and does not describe how her distress could be observed. Luke is not following the writer’s dictum: “Show, do not tell.” The text does not contain a koine Greek word for “kitchen” nor does it describe any frantic activity on her part that would indicate distress. An observer would not easily know that Martha is worried and would certainly not know the cause of her worry. What was the cause of Martha’s distraction? Before we smell wonderful cooking fragrances wafting through Martha’s house, reconsider the possible “service” Martha was practicing. Extensive study has been done on the meaning of diakonia starting with J.N. Collins in 1990, who worked from classical Greek texts to expand the semantic field from lowly house service to “a go-between or emissary,” such as an ambassador or curior. The Jewish understanding of “service” has always been assumed, but Collins raised the possibility that NT writers may have also taken diakonia in the classic Greek sense of one who is a messenger, spokesperson, or agent. Of the thirty-four uses in the NT, fourteen times it is translated as “ministry.” It can mean many different kinds of service on the behalf of another, including but not necessarily restricted to serving a meal. Warren Carter makes a convincing argument that Martha is distracted by her responsibilities of leadership and house ministry. In contrast, Tannehill maintains that diakonia in this setting refers to hospitality, especially through providing a meal. More recently in 2007, Anni Hentschel continues the work on diakonia and notes that the subject can be a man or woman, and indicates ministry in hospitality or in the broader sense, Phoebe being an example in Romans 16:1. She concludes that the understanding of diakonia in Luke 10:38-42 is determined by context. She does not find such a strong contrast as Collins; one meaning does not necessarily preempt the other. Bringing food to the table or serving in the community in a more official capacity, are not so different. Important for this paper is the realization that the main point of this pericope is not Martha’s duties as hostess, although modest food service when Jesus and Martha meet is not necessarily ruled out. Acts 6:1-6 illustrates the range of meanings for diakonia in Luke-Acts. Seven Hellenists are appointed to devote themselves to “service at the table” so the apostles could be free to do “service of the word.” It is revealing that no further record exists that anyone from the seven ever actually practiced service at the table. At least some in this group, Phillip and Stephen, practiced word-service and were preachers of the early Christian church. Overall, there is enough evidence that Martha’s activity does not have to be restricted to a narrow definition of service. For purposes of this paper, a broader understanding of Martha’s diakonia is helpful, as will be demonstrated below, but as the situation is developed, she likely is involved with some combination of ministries. She “appears” epistasa to Jesus and asks him to prevail upon Mary to give her a hand with her. The use of epistasa may indicate a lapse of time and change of location from Martha’s initial receiving of Jesus between 40a and 40b. In other occurrences of the verb in Luke-Acts, it often describes an encounter with a divine presence. In 2:9 the angel appeared in Bethlehem to the shepherds, as just one of eighteen examples. Martha could be seen as “pulled in many directions” by whatever obligations and concerns she had as a leader of an early community of Christ-followers. She may very well be a leader of an assembly place for early followers of Christ, instead of, or in addition to, providing as hostess the comforts of a temporary home for Jesus. Later, several women will open their houses and lead churches as Tabitha (Acts 9:36-42), Mary, mother of John Mark (Acts 12:12), and Lydia (Acts 16:15-40). In addition, Martha could also have substantial family responsibilities. Her (younger?) sister Mary does not seem to either stay on the premises, or be willing to take responsibility for household management, or Martha could already be caring for the sick brother introduced in John 11:1. Since no parents are mentioned, the responsibility of caring for elderly parents until their death could have recently fallen on Martha, or perhaps she was widowed with the associated mourning and cares. Whatever her life history, she appears to carry multiple responsibilities. Overriding all of the earthly responsibilities, Martha no doubt sensed that opposition to Jesus was coming to a head and her friend was in danger. They would have known about the beheading of John the Baptist, and now Herod is asking about Jesus in 9:9. Jesus himself in 9:22 says that “The son of Man must suffer many things . . . and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” By this point in Luke, Jesus has already resolutely set himself toward Jerusalem (9:51). These scenarios are admittedly conjecture, but so too is the speculation that she was overwhelmed by preparing food for unexpected guests. The next item is Martha’s question, “Do you not care that my sister (regularly) leaves me to serve alone?” On another occasion Jesus was confronted with the rhetorical question, “Do you not care?” In Mark 4:38 the disciples wake Jesus in the boat on the Sea of Galilee and ask him, “Do you not care that we drown?” Of course Jesus is aware of a problem, but he wants the disciples to bring it up. Perhaps that is the case here. The word katelipen means “to leave without help,” but another meaning is “to depart from a place with implication of finality.” Several variants replace the aorist for the imperfect kateleipen. If the imperfect verb is considered, then Mary has regularly deserted Martha over a period of time. katelipen is also used in Acts 6 where the apostles do not wish to “leave” the “ministry of the word” in order to wait on tables.The addition of the word monen also adds to the sense that the distance between the sisters is more than a few steps between the kitchen and the dining room. Instead, Jesus shows deep emotion and concern when he answers with the double vocative, “Martha, Martha.” Jesus knows Martha better than Martha knows herself and identifies her real problem. It was not that her sister has left her alone to do all the housework; it is her worry. In other passages of Luke, Jesus has similarly repeated a name twice as in “Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” (13:34), and “Simon, Simon,” (22:31). Similar to these examples, Jesus is not reprimanding Martha harshly but he intervenes to calm her and turn the situation around. Jesus acknowledges Martha’s distress by affirming her feelings, “You are worried and upset about many things.” The vocabulary used by Luke indicates that Martha has obligations that reach beyond her duties as hostess on that day. The term for “worried,” merimnas, “to be apprehensive, be anxious, be unduly concerned,” is used in other NT passages to refer to worldly entanglements as in Jesus’ words, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink,” (Matt 6:25-34). Jesus says in Luke 12:25-26, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?” Paul uses the word positively in I Corinthians 7:32-34 where an unmarried woman is “anxious” about the things of the Lord. In addition, the second adjective for being “upset,” thorybaze, is a hapax legomenon in the NT. Cognates are used eleven times and refer to the disturbance of a crowd of people. The first meaning is “disorder of a city close to riot”; the second meaning is “to cause emotional disturbance, disturb, or agitate.” These two words indicate that Martha is enduring a considerable and long-term state of emotional stress, which is stronger than being temporarily overwhelmed with duties as a hostess. At this point, it is interesting to note who is getting the most attention grammatically. Traditionally, the story is understood to concern two equal sisters, one who will be eventually vindicated and the other censored. Yet grammatically the sisters are not equal: Martha is the subject of three verbs and one participle, which is even more grammatical attention than Jesus receives. The two verbs that Mary receives in verse 39 are subordinate to “she had a sister.” Here is the place to pause with recognition of several new pieces of information. Martha receives the most grammatical attention, imperfect verbs are used indicating ongoing action, the vocabulary that describes Martha’s inner turmoil is strong, and no hint of the source of this turmoil is given. The description of Martha’s worry is stated in language more appropriate to greater distress than being left alone. An ongoing question is the reason for Mary’s silence. Why is she not given any speech? The conclusion for this paper is that Mary does not speak because there is no conclusive evidence that she is even on the scene. Mary has physically left Martha and perhaps frequently leaves to pursue her own diakonia. She is involved in some discipleship that does not involve Martha, who is obliged for an undisclosed reason, to stay in the village for her own unspecified service. Martha assumes that Jesus knows where Mary is, because she asks Jesus, “Tell her therefore, that she may help me” (10:40b). This would account for Martha’s ongoing and acute sense of distress, which in Greek seems greater than if her sister had just left her alone in the kitchen. She pleads with Jesus to speak to her sister that she will come back to “help her” sunantilabetai. The only other occurrence of this verb is in Romans 8:26, “The Spirit helps us in our weakness.” Martha wants Jesus to ask Mary to come back to their home or village to take on some of the burden for which Martha is responsible, or at least that is her pretense. Maybe Martha just wants Mary home. What exactly is Jesus’ intervention and what is “the good portion” ten agathen merida that meets Jesus’ approval? Jesus’ reply to Martha is essentially the climatic teaching, yet his answer is puzzling and has been interpreted many ways. The text is filled with textual variants, it is a clue that tampering has taken place over the centuries by scribes who found the verses difficult to understand. The translations include: “but only one thing is needed” (RSV, KJV) or “but only a few things are necessary, really only one” (NIV, NASB, JB). The former version requires a spiritualized sense as in 18:22: “You lack one thing. Sell everything . . .Then come, follow me.” The latter variant is advocated by proponents of the scenario that Jesus is recommending that Martha simplify her meal preparations by saying one dish or maybe a few is all that is necessary. As we have already established, it is not at all clear that the conversation is about meal preparation. A viable translation advocated for this paper is: “But one thing is necessary. For Mary has chosen good, and it will not be taken away from her.” ten agathen merida does not have to taken comparatively to mean that Mary chose the “best portion,” but can also mean she chose “a good thing.” It is notable that Luke uses agathas rather than kalos which indicates a moral dimension to her choice. Agathos in Luke-Acts can refer to many different kinds of “good” as gifts, a person’s character, and good works (11:13, 23:50, and Acts 9:39). Caring for physical needs is pronounced as “good” by Luke as well as “hearing the word.” Jesus says, to whomever is present, and to all of Luke’s readers in the generations since, that Mary has made a good choice. This is not to imply that Martha is not doing good, and Jesus also does not say that Martha should be doing the same as Mary. Jesus approves and supports Mary’s decision for her; he is not necessarily defending her against Martha’s mode of service. The summary of immediate topics preceding the Luke 10:38-42 pericope, hints at the reason that Mary had “left Martha alone.” Maybe Mary is following Jesus as a traveling disciple and this pericope is an illustration of how followers of Jesus must leave their family behind (9:57-62). In Luke 8:1-3, Jesus is noted to be traveling with the twelve as well as “some women.” This scene is followed closely by the sending of “the seventy” in Luke 10:1. Martha’s question does not become so rhetorical if she is asking Jesus if he does not care that she is left alone to manage affairs by herself while her sister is away, perhaps even facing danger. Pulling this all together, it is not Martha’s diakonia with which Jesus has concern, but her being “worried and upset about much.” In addition, with the knowledge Jesus’ life is under increasing threat by those opposed to his message, Martha is possibly worried about Jesus’ safety. Similar to Mark 14:7 and John 12:8, Jesus is saying: “Support my ministry while I am here. Let the future take care of itself.” One way of practicing his word is manifested by how disciples handle stress and worry. The next chapter in Luke begins with prayer; there may be a connection. Many new applications result from this new perspective on Luke 10:38-42. Mary and Martha are both known to be “sitters at the feet of Jesus, listening to his words.” No longer is one sister setting an example to be emulated and the other stands to be corrected. Most remarkable is the realization that Mary is away, gone from Martha. She is not on the premises at the time of this conversation; she does not speak, and is only spoken of in the third person. Mary’s absence is the reason for Martha’s overwhelming worry; she wants her sister back with her to help, which is much less silly than if she is just prevailing upon Jesus to help her get Mary back into the kitchen. That would be a small matter which the sisters could presumably settle on their own. Martha assumes that Jesus knows where Mary is, and he probably does, because apparently it is in his power to convince her to return home. At Luke 10:1, Jesus sent out “the seventy,” and at 8:2 women were following Jesus; Mary could have been included in that number. With the multitudes of people following Jesus in his ministry, there were many families faced with the absence of loved ones leaving home to evangelize. What has changed in the application of this passage as a result of these findings? The sisters are not pitted against each in such a way that one has correct priorities and the other is misdirected. A choice does not have to be made between contemplative and active discipleship. Both woman have permission to study and with evidence they indeed both have a history of study at the feet of Jesus. Jesus does not appear to be contradicting himself by advocating selfless service in earlier passages, but then in the presence of Martha undermining her service. Martha’s exact service is unspecified and could be a variety of activities. The final dictum of Jesus can follow the oldest and most valid reading of verse 42; the conundrum of using a later variant to spare Martha invalidation is avoided. What hasn’t changed is that the story is still about Martha and she still is the one that comes to a new realization. Now the learning is at a much deeper level; Martha is no longer fretting over serving duties, but is worried about the absence of her sister which is much more understandable. Jesus is still mediating a message between the sisters, but the message and urgency has increased. Instead of a message, “Don’t you care that my sister has left me alone in another area of the house?” Martha asks Jesus, “Don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to go to an unknown location in your service, leaving me to cope with many responsibilities alone?” Martha shows much more depth of character if her great weakness is wanting her family member nearby, instead of getting over- involved with hostess duties. Considering the close proximity of a previous passage, Luke 9:57-62, where Jesus describes the personal cost to be a disciple, leave family and to follow him, it is possible 10:38-42 is an illustration of this cost from the point of view of the family members left behind. Luke 8:19-21 is about forming a new family, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.” It is a lesson of discipleship and the many forms it takes and following at whatever the cost (Luke 18:29). Sometimes disciples minister within their familiar surroundings and this is a valid and demanding call, not all are called to leave, but others are called to serve in new locations. A familiar theme is repeated, frequently taught by Jesus, that worry is never helpful and prayer is, whether or not the connection to the next chapter is intended or not. Mary and Martha have new lessons to teach and it is no longer about getting priorities right and the danger of getting caught up in superfluous housework. Suddenly, the old familiar Martha and Mary story has a whole new look, and doesn’t seem like a silly spat between sisters. BIBLIOGRAPHY Alexander, Loveday C. "Sisters in Adversity: Retelling Martha's Story." In A Feminist Companion to Luke, edited by Amy-Jill Levine, 197-213. Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2004. Bauer, E., W.F. Arndt, F. W. Gingrich and W. D. Danker, eds. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2001. Bock, Darrell L. Luke 9:51-24:53, BECNT. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994. Caird, G.B. The Gospel of St. Luke. Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1963. Carter, Warren. “Getting Martha Out of the Kitchen: Luke 10:38-42 Again.” In A Feminist Companion to Luke, edited by Amy-Jill Levine, 214-231. Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 2001. Collins, John N. Diakonia: Re-interpreting the Ancient Sources. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. Craddock, Fred B. Luke: Interpretation. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1990. D'Angelo, Mary Rose. "Women in Luke-Acts: A Redactional View." JBL 109 (1990): 441-461. Fee, Gordon D. "One Thing is Needful? Luke 10:42." In Essays in Honour of Bruce M. Metzger, edited by E. J. Epp and G. D. Fee, 61-75. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981. Gonzalez, Justo L. Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible Luke. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010. Green, Joel B. The Gospel of Luke, NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997. Hentschel, Anni. Diakonia im Neuen Testament: Studien zur Semantik unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Rolle von Frauen. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2007. Hutson, Christopher Roy. "Martha's Choice: A Pastorally Sensitive Reading of Luke 10:38-42." Restoration Quarterly 45 (2003): 139-150. Jeffrey, David Lyle. Luke: Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2012. Johnson, L.T. Luke, SPS. Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1991. King, Rosemary. “Martha and Mary,” The Expository Times 121 (2010): 459-461. Kohlenberger, John R. III., Edward W. Goodrick and James A. Swanson. The Greek English Concordance to the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997. Marshall, I. Howard. The Gospel of Luke, NIGTC. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978. Nolland, John. Luke 9:21-18:34, WBC. Dallas: Word Books, 1999. Peters, Diane E. "The Life of Martha of Bethany by Pseudo-Marcilia." Theological Studies 58 (1997): 441-460. Pixner, Bargil O.S.B. Paths and Sites of the Early Church from Galilee to Jerusalem. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010. Reid, Barbara E. Women in the Gospel of Luke: Choosing the Better Part? Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1996. Tannehill, Robert C. Luke, ANTC. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1996. Schüssler Fiorenza, Elisabeth. But She Said: Feminist Practices of Biblical Interpretation. Beacon Press: Boston, 1992. Witherington III, Ben. Women in the Ministry of Jesus. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984.
Saturday, October 31, 2009 The Disclosure Project The Myth of the Supremacy of the Individual The industrial Revolution spawned the organized production of things that provided material improvement to the state of human existence and the possibility of making profit and generating wealth within a monetary-based system of human commerce. This new reality ultimately transformed the very nature of human relationship and, therefore, human society. It was around these industries that large urban centers became the hubs of commerce. Once the infrastructure was created to efficiently enhance production, mass production soon became a reality. Those early entrepreneurs who were able to finance nascent industries amassed huge fortunes. It was this kind of wealth that translated into enormous power and influence. The mass production of commodities that substantially improved individual lives required the expenditure of massive amounts of energy and natural resources, generally at the expense of the natural environment. Since these industries were so lucrative for the few, it necessarily helped create a tiered class system in which wealth accumulated in the hands of a very few, and initiated the creation of laws specifically designed to protect this wealth and insure the codification of rules to facilitate further production. Pre-industrial societies were generally structured around agrarian communities where the commons was the center of human interaction. Within such communities, the necessity for cooperative effort was clearly understood. Without this elemental acceptance of shared existence, community life would cease and human civilization fracture. The industrial revolution changed all of this; because, the focus was shifted from the community to the individual. The nature of work itself was transformed. Where labor was once understood to be a means to achieve obvious communal goals such as providing the essential ingredients for sustaining life, it soon became a commodity to be exploited by the corporate class as the primary means of production of things. Once labor saving devices became available to the many through mass production, communal activity for the common good seemed less necessary and the attention moved away from community and towards the individual. In the present era the individual has become supreme and the primary concern of each person is now one of achieving personal happiness and fulfillment even at the expense of the greater good. Achieving personal happiness is generally understood as being synonymous with the accumulation of material goods. Competition for these goods has created a social environment that is often described as “dog eat dog.” We have seen what this transformation has wrought. In modern industrial societies, making profit is the essential motivation for human activity. This conception has worked its way into every aspect of human life including, care of the sick, the elderly and the dying, education, recreation, entertainment, food production, etc. Maximizing profits has become the mantra of daily living. For this reason, the natural environment is currently in a perilous condition. For this reason hunger and starvation is running rampant where the problem is not one of producing enough food for everyone but the accessibility of sufficient nutrition. For this reason, the war industries and their desire for profit has spread the use of weapons of mass destruction around the globe. For this reason, modern life for the many has become exceedingly stressful and filled with anxiety and dread regarding not only the present but the future. The concept of the supremacy of the individual is essentially a bankrupt idea, for it necessarily leads to a serious imbalance in the distribution of wealth, an excessive and mindless exploitation of both human and natural resources at the expense of the common good and promotes the fallacy of infinite possibility within the confines of a finite world. The full realization of such an ideology would, by necessity, lead to a disastrous end for human civilization. The Power of Fear I think it would be safe to make the generalization that within the vast majority of sovereign nations in the world, it is the powerful that rule. This holds true regardless of the political philosophy that is espoused and practiced i.e. whether it be democratic, socialist, communist etc. The source of this power is essentially economic in nature. Furthermore, the ruling class is represented by a small minority of any given population by virtue of the wealth that it holds and maintains. In order for the powerful minority, usually operating within and through government, to exert control of the lives of everyone else, it has a number of tools at its disposal. The most obvious of these is provided by access to sheer and brutish military might and the security bureaucracy and apparatus through which sophisticated methods can be deployed. Another means is through the so-called rule of law, where the laws are often crafted by those most likely to gain by their enforcement. During times of social harmony, the population at large may not be aware of this kind of power. Whenever social stability is at risk from within the State, however, the full force of coercive power is usually put into play, usually in the name of law and order and preserving the peace. There are numerous examples of this reality from around the world. Within the United States, an excellent representation of this is the state of martial law, deployment of the National Guard and citizen curfews imposed during the massive rioting and looting that occurred following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. That rioting represented the frustration and despair felt by the essentially powerless black minority in the United States. The chaos it engendered was seen as a substantial threat to the established order and, therefore, could not be tolerated. At such times the real nature of power becomes evident. The crass use of power in this way may be effective in the short term but can have long term consequences. A far more desirable method for the control of the general population is through the use of fear. This fear can take many forms and have many guises. The most widely used method is to play upon the fear of being physically threatened from forces within or external to a society. Another is to exploit the fear of losing one’s livelihood or social standing, of becoming homeless or destitute. In order for the ruling class to continue to impose its will, it must create the impression that it always acts with the public interest as its primary motivation and that any concerns the people may have do not come as a direct result of its own policies. Within an atmosphere of fear, the cohesion within the society breaks down and individuals are distracted from recognizing the real nature of their problems and the solutions available to them. The distrust that is the inevitable by-product of fear is an impediment to the social harmony that is a prerequisite to effective community action. Fear essentially undermines rational thought and, as a result, thwarts real human progress. One Dead Singh The Star Trek World had its Hitler and its Caesar. Twenty-five years ago, almost to the day, my husband, my 13 year old son, two of my seven brothers and two cousins, as well as my preborn twin girls, were murdered in the anti-Sikh Delhi Pogrom of 1984. This post is about another man from another family. On 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, was shot and killed by her Sikh bodyguards reacting to her ordering the Army to storm the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) in Amritsar, killing an unknown number of pilgrims gathered there in honour of the martyrdom day of Guru Arjan Dev Ji. There followed several days of mayhem directed against the Sikhs of India, especially in the city of Delhi. Many Sikhs were doused with fire and burned alive. these are my thoughts on one of the dead. (What follows is reprinted from The Road To Khalistan.) Who is he? Who is this Singh? I have spend countless hours staring at this photograph asking myself questions. Whose son is he? Whose husband, whose dad, whose brother, whose uncle, cousin, friend? Is someone waiting anxiously at home for him, waiting for a footfall that will never come? Where is he from? Does he live in Delhi or is he just visiting? Where was he born? What is his pind? When was he born? How old is he? What is his occupation? Is he an engineer, a doctor, a professor? Or is he a taxi driver or a trucker? What are his politics? Is he an Akali or a member of Congress? Is he a Khalistani or a Bharata Mata lover? Or is he political at all? Is he just trying to live his life and not really concerned about the niceties of the larger world. Why is he keshdhari? Is it just habit, following family custom? Or is it deeply meaningful to him? Does he pray each day, do naam jap, love Vaheguru? Or are those just incidentals that have fallen by the wayside of his life? Where is his turban? How does he feel as it is ripped from his head and his kesh is exposed? How does he feel as he realises the mob is coming for him, chasing him down the street or dragging him from his home or his car or from the bus? What goes on in his brain as the petrol is poured on him and set alight? What is he thinking as his body burns? Or is he beyond thought? Is he aware of the laughing jeering mob around him, enjoying watching his final agonising moments of life on this earth? What is his last awareness as he dies alone, surrounded by merciless thugs? Questions without answers. Whoever he is, he deserves to be remembered. I doubt he had even a death certificate, so I have made him one. (Click to enlarge) There is something so very final about the certificate. And, of course, I realise that all I have written is wrong and must be rewritten to reflect the truth of 25 years later... Who was he? Who was this Singh? I have spent countless hours staring at this photograph asking myself questions. Whose son was he? Whose husband, whose dad, whose brother, whose uncle, cousin, friend? Was someone waiting anxiously at home for him, waiting for a footfall that never came? Where was he from? Did he live in Delhi or was he just visiting? Where was he born? What was his pind? When was he born? How old was he? What was his occupation? Was he an engineer, a doctor, a professor? Or was he a taxi driver or a trucker? What were his politics? Was he an Akali or a member of Congress? Was he a Khalistani or a Bharata Mata lover? Or was he political at all? Was he just trying to live his life and not really concerned about the niceties of the larger world. Why was he keshdhari? Was it just habit, following family custom? Or was it deeply meaningful to him? Did he pray each day, do naam jap, love Vaheguru? Or were those just incidentals that had fallen by the wayside of his life? Where was his turban? How did he feel as it was ripped from his head and his kesh was exposed? How did he feel as he realised the mob was coming for him, chasing him down the street or dragging him from his home or his car or from the bus? What went on in his brain as the petrol was poured on him and set alight? What was he thinking as his body burned? Or was he beyond thought? Was he aware of the laughing jeering mob around him, enjoying watching his final agonising moments of life on this earth? What was his last awareness as he died alone, surrounded by merciless thugs? He was our brother and he was one single human being, one Sikh among the thousands murdered during the madness of those days in 1984. He is our brother and he deserves justice. One final, unanswered question: When? Thursday, October 29, 2009 The Science of Waiting Within the long meandering queue for services provided by the state, reluctantly we wait. Life put aside like an old dilapidated pair of shoes, ennui elevated to a high art, silence secured within the din of worried and desperate thoughts. There is a science to waiting that has eluded me for these many years. Wednesday, October 28, 2009 The Fifth Element This is a photograph taken by Apollo 8 at the moon Enlarge the image and experience that feeling when they saw their precious We are destroying the Earth We are poisoning our planet and ourselves! Tuesday, October 27, 2009 The Pledge of Allegiance In its original form it read: Here's my version from a post I did a year ago: "I pledge allegiance, to the Family of Man and to the Freedoms for which it stands, One World, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all." Peace is a Word Peace is a word Of the sea and the wind. Peace is a bird who sings As you smile. Peace is the love Of a foe as a friend; Peace is the love you bring To a child Searching for me You look everywhere, Except beside you. Searching for you You look everywhere, But not inside you. Peace is a stream From the heart of a man; Peace is a man, whose breadth Is the dawn. Peace is a dawn On a day without end; Peace is the end, like death Of the war. Words by Peter Sinfield from a song by King Crimson Missing Link Flamboyant bouquet thrills In color bursts and sunshine Leaning into the sky Dancing in tune with the breeze Petal shedding with cool moon change In unison, bouquet sighs Rain splish-splash drip-drops Swirls, twirls, and slides down from the sky Pools in puddles and slimes into mud Rivets of rivers run down the hillside A mountain of droplets unleashed all at once Together they depart; together they shone A flock of birds flies in overhead Bunches of ants all scrounging for food Lions, gazelles, and antelope herd And sparrows each year convene all at once Learning and hunting, storytelling for all Community structured love orientation Human boy sits alone in his yard Plucks grass blades in batches of fives Interprets clouds as they each pass him by Sighs ever so sadly, and all to himself Pours concrete resolve into heartfelt foundation Depending on no one for fun’s exaltation He grew older while he stood there all alone Surrounded by ones all arranged into twos Boy built a big house on foundation he started Filled it with things and then called it a home Interprets himself in shiny glass mirror Feels saddened, alone, and afraid of the dark At some point, we lost it: This lesson of life - the reason for life Broken hearted and blinded and dying from pain Outreaching is hollow, a hug is the same Unlike all the flowers and creatures and stars We’ve forgotten how to let “ours” simply be ours. My Fish Book A long time ago, someone remarked to me that "A seeker who has not yet found What she is looking for Is like A fish gasping for water in the air." I have always felt that there is a story there, although I wasn't sure what it might be. Finally, I know. I have long wanted to write something to make sense of the events of June and October/November 1984 to us Sikhs, most especially to children. (For those who do not know, the Army of India attacked our holiest shrine Harimandir Sahib (Golden Temple) in June, killing a disputed number of pilgrims and several thousands of us were murdered in Delhi following the death of Indira Gandhi in October. For my personal story, you may go to Our Stories From 1984 ). After many years, I finally feel that I have the experience and - I hope - skill to write this story. My book is not dark and gloomy. It is a short novel, a fantasy for children, very loosely based on events in my own life above a very strange little goldfish who is given the name Brave. OK, there are some dark parts to it; what is a good story without some dark spots? It is currently on line. Perhaps you will take a read and let me know what you think. I hope it is as much fun to read as it was to write. On second thought, if you are one of those adults busy with important matters and if talking fish annoy you, perhaps you had better skip this one. Brave and her adventures can currently be found a t The Brave Little Fish. Sunday, October 25, 2009 Saturday, October 24, 2009 Kill Myself I'm getting bored Being part of mankind There's not a lot to do no more This race is a waste of time People rushing everywhere Swarming around like flies Think I'll buy a forty four Give them all a surprise Think I'm gonna kill myself Cause a little suicide Stick around for a couple of days What a scandal if I died Yeah I'm gonna kill myself Get a little headline news I'd like to see what the papers say On the state of teenage blues A rift in my family I can't use the car I gotta be in by ten o'clock Who do they think they are I'd make an exception If you want to save my life Brigitte Bardot gotta come And see me every night [repeat chorus] Friday, October 23, 2009 Careful what you say... Big Brother is watching you... Thursday, October 22, 2009 Look At Your-Self Be the change you want to see in the world ...Mahatma Gandhi... (video clip) Wednesday, October 21, 2009 The Chemical Edge This little piggy went to market, This little piggy stayed at home, This little piggy had roast beef, This little piggy had none... And this little piggy is an example of what chemical and toxic pollution is doing to biological life forms, meaning us, the cause of it all, we are the little guinea piggies, and we will be the ones that go... "Wee wee wee" all the way home. (read more) Tuesday, October 20, 2009 Prison Planet The United States has 4.6% of the worlds population and nearly 25% of the worlds prisoners......what's wrong with this picture? In 1983 Corrections Corporation of America founded the private corrections industry. Despite having been outlawed nationally for over a century, private prisons have been turned into a money making proposition. Traded daily on the stock exchange, the profit for prisoners business is growing by leaps and bounds, incarceration rates have soared. Should this be a for-profit business? The continued prohibition of legalized marijuana provides a convenient source of fodder for the prison-industrial complex. An American is arrested for pot every 38 seconds. Since 1965, more than 20 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana offenses, 90 percent of them for simple possession. Keith Stroup, Executive Director of NORML said "In fact, the war on drugs is largely a war on pot smokers. This effort is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources that should be dedicated toward combating serious and violent crime, including the war on terrorism." And despite baby boomers being in charge in recent years, annual pot busts have tripled since the non-inhaling Bill Clinton took office. The total number of marijuana arrests far exceeds the total number of arrests for all violent crimes combined, including murder, manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault. It isn’t only marijuana consumers who want to see weed legalized. (None other than William F. Buckley was for it.) Ending prohibition is also a popular cause for at least 10,000 cops, narcs, judges, and others who make up the membership of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. From LEAP’s down-and-dirty perspective, prohibition exacerbates rather than ameliorates America’s drug problem. Prohibition not only diverts resources from the pursuit of more-serious crimes, it empowers criminals and enhances black-market incentives. Money spent fighting what adults seem to want could be better allocated toward education and rehab. It is well known that alcohol and tobacco related health effects and deaths by far eclipse any detrimental effects of occasional recreational marijuana use by adults. Common sense would tell you that, if anything, alcohol and tobacco should be prohibited and marijuana should be legalized. The benifits of legalizing pot would be a double-triple-whammy in that it could create a substantial amount of wealth for farmers and industry, increase revenue through the regulation and taxation of hemp and marijuana sales, it would free up much needed police and judicial resources, put a significant dent in the income of criminal black-market forces, it would keep non-violent consumers out of jail, and create a sustainable resource that could replace many of the items now made of plastic. The Marijuana Policy Project advocates taxing and regulating the possession and sale of cannabis, arguing that a regulated industry would separate purchasers from the street market for cocaine, heroin, and other hard drugs. You can't legislate morality, adults should be allowed the freedom to pursue their ideal of happiness as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. Legalizing marijuana would be a fabulous way to "Go Green!" There's no reason we shouldn't legalize pot, it's just a plant. (excerpts from Kathleen Parker and Monday, October 19, 2009 Abandon All Hope There is a supermassive black hole at the center of nearly every galaxy... haven't got a chance Whale story Notes from Big Sur, October 14, 2007 I’m sitting in the hot springs, having another late night discussion with Gregg, a psychiatrist from Ann Arbor (U of M). He’s doing research for a book he’s writing that claims that we humans are not the most intelligent species on earth. At best, we come in a distant third .. whales and dolphins are much smarter. In fact, he says jokingly, whales evolved wireless Internet millions of years before Al Gore .. they communicate with each other by sending ‘sonar messages’ that can be heard by other whales in any ocean on the planet. Back at the cabin, he shows me 8 by 10 glossy photos of a whale’s brain. Pretty impressive I say (once he explains what I’m looking at). They have a much larger, and more convoluted, cerebral cortex than we do. I ask him if that’s because they have much more body area to control. He says no, very little of it is ‘motor cortex’ .. those functions were distributed to areas outside the whale’s brain a long long time ago. Now humans, he believes, operate from a much lower part of the brain .. what’s known as the ‘reptilian brain’ .. and that’s what drives our’ rational brain’ .. not the other way around .. as we would like to think. He goes on to tell me that these lower brain areas assign ‘addresses’ that link ‘powerful emotions’ to information entering memory. That’s why we remember what other people tell us much better than what we read in books. I sit fascinated by all of this. Afterwards, he gives me a book called ‘Up from Dragons’ by Dorion Sagan, the son of the late Carl Sagan. I remember reading ‘Dragons of Eden’ in college and was fascinated then too. Gregg has been one of the most interesting parts of this trip. I tell him so the next morning, and we hug before he disappears down highway one. I must remember to send him a copy of “Defending the Cavewoman” when I get home. Seasonal Vertigo Hemispheric change would be gentle An opposition of what used to be Winter is summer and fall is spring Sounds perfectly logical to me! Nightmare Before Christmas style Mixed up jumble of holiday cheer Halloween is Easter, Christmas for St. Pat’s Still keeping the imagery clear! Much harder to process, in my mind The seasonal vertigo of paradise Rainforest greenery and sunshiney days No turning leaves, nor snow, nor one shred of ice! We live in Never Never Land What day is this? What time of year? How old am I? Has time gone by? Total eradication of doomsday fear. Sunday, October 18, 2009 Earth Creatures We were here before you were To the moon Overhead, crows are shouting ..and drowning out the music on my deck. I look up and see them clustered in the trees and scenes from the Hitchcock movie ‘The Birds’ flash by and I feel a twinge of ‘can that happen here’. Something tells me no so I howl back at them. There’s a momentary pause as they lift off .. cluster in another group of trees ..and crank up the volume. Crows are not my bird of choice to take with me if I ever had to live on a deserted island. I start reading an article in the news about future space colonies on the moon ..and mistake the term ‘reconnaissance orbiter’ for ‘renaissance orbiter’. For some reason, I think the word renaissance is more fitting. Then a movie scene from early-childhood comes to mind (from before we walked on the moon) .. where one of the astronauts goes crazy ..breaks away from the pack ..crosses over to the ‘sunny side’ and immediately disintegrates and turns into a skeleton. I cringe when I think about packing the kids and the dog and moving there. Now I'm worried that everything I know comes from either the movies or television shows. Saturday, October 17, 2009 V for Vendetta Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici By the power of truth I while living have conquered the universe God Is In The Rain Stellar dialogue Have you seen the stars tonight ..they remind me that we live on a lunar colony ..and not the oppressed state of some god forsaken planet. The colonies are not safe from tyranny either, I remind her .. the ones on Saturn were once free-states. I know, she says ..that’s why I like it here ..hydroponic gardens and you can practice revelry without persecution know, I don’t even miss home that much. Where’s home ? In the Euripides. Oh yeah, I see what you mean ..I remember the witch hunts of November, 2023 .. are you ever afraid of something like that happening here ? All the time, she says. If it does ..I think I’ll stowaway on a starship to Europa ..I hear they’re much more civilized there’s an incubator of free ideas ..and the mother of all creatures ..they live in the lapis lazuli realm, you know ..not just the temporary worlds of hungry ghosts and empire builders ..the waters of life have been flowing freely on Europa ..since the beginning ..and I think they will keep on flowing free thru eternity. Thursday, October 15, 2009 Boys Town Lest we forget the pedophiles that inhabit Washington D.C. Tuesday, October 13, 2009 Monday, October 12, 2009 Join The Crowd Your world is confusing and imploding around you you want to do something but you don't know what I know you feel lost join the crowd Wall Street Mafia (excerpt from The New York Times) Published: October 4, 2009 "For most of the 133 years since its founding in a small city in Wisconsin, the Simmons Bedding Company enjoyed an illustrious history. Its recent history has been notable, too, but for a different reason. Now you see? The Mafia didn't go extinct, they just went "legit" and moved to Wall Street where robbery and greed have been made legal. The Obama Manipulation Posted: Oct 11, 2009 Sun 07:34 pm "The Obama manipulation: the rebelling masses, rebelling against the US system were pacified using symbolism of inclusion and real change in the person of Obama in the 2008 presidential elections. Obama's preplanned failure given the enormity of the crisis faced is supposed to deflect that rebelliousness against the system towards the direction of racial failure on the part of African Americans, fermenting the racial divide while at the same time preserving the status quo of the US permanent war economy. A very ingenious way of solving this systemic crisis by the U.S. elite, using the U.S. public as cattle prodded through the "vote" and slogans of "change" back towards their slaughter line-up where their personalities and identities are slaughtered by the corporations on a regular basis. Read my article, The Barack Conspiracy, written before the Nov 2008 Presidential Elections, and see how each of its predictions are coming to pass." Sunday, October 11, 2009 Alone in the darkness we languish in our fear, it is only in the light that we can see the truth Society of Love Call me crazy. but I believe that no person should have to suffer. And if any person shall suffer, let it be regarding his own choice. Ignorance turns this world into a miserable place, but we can resolve to love. We should come together, divisions kill and alienate. No matter what the world says, The Society of Love will take you in, and show you the way to live. No matter the general consensus, those with the arcane knowledge of a life lived in love, will be the ones to change the world for the better. The Society of Love is one to be reached for For the Sake of Humanity philosopher king Saturday, October 10, 2009 All You Need To Know "Beauty is truth, truth beauty," that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. ...John Keats... Friday, October 9, 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Winner President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize today to the surprise of many. The award was a first in that Barack Obama is the first American president to win the award in his first year in office. Some noted that it was not so much because of his accomplishments up to date, but that it reflected an important change in the willingness to dialogue, a virtual slap in the face to "W", his predecessor. Any way you look at it, heartfelt congratulations Mr. President! Hope for Peace International perspective allows that just the removal of Military-Industrial cheerleaders from office, a huge step to recognizing what President Eisenhower warned about appearing to look criminal by bullying. When Senator Obama demonstrated how well Senator Clinton could dialog when debate was expected, he was much more subtle a peacemaker than many will ever appreciate. Thursday, October 8, 2009 The End Of Childhood The childhood of mankind has come to an end it is time to tell the truth They have always been here Shortly after midday on 16 January 1958, a series of photographs were taken from a ship anchored off Trindade Island, about 650 miles from the coast of Brazil. The photographer, a Brazilian named Almiro Barauna, claimed to have seen a dark grey object approach the island, fly behind a mountain peak and then turn around and head back the way it came, disappearing at high speed over the horizon. The object glittered and was surrounded by a green mist, and it displayed an undulating motion, changing to a tilted position as it passed over the island. On board the ship with Barauna were some 300 other crew, and around 50 of them are claimed to have seen the object. April 11, 2008 Wednesday, October 7, 2009 Harvest Of Fear (excerpts from Vanity Fair - read more) Tuesday, October 6, 2009 I've been wondering lately about what exactly, or generally, to consider the definition of "ART". I am leaving the question open and collecting opinions, including my own, in an effort to coagulate thought and suggestion into a workable definition. Oddly enough,since I have begun thinking about this, I have noticed references to this question in the media that I am usually exposed to. Pops up in newspaper, magazine, and even cartoon jottings. It's uncanny but probably just that I am noticing these coincidences when I normally wouldn't see them. But to consider presentations of painting, metalwork, photography, mixed media,sculpture,printmaking, wood, ceramics, fiber, digital renderings, and glass; not to mention music, theater, dance, and building construction -- we must consider the possibility for each to be an exhibit of artistic value either to us alone or to us all in general. The above art by Camille Rose Garcia from Subterranean Death Clash series ,2006 Let it roll around in your head for awhile and please let me know anything that collects in the corners, Theocratic Myopia "This was a portrait of the Republican Party fully in the grip of its right wing: almost exclusively white, overwhelmingly evangelical, fixated on abortion, homosexuality, and abstinence education; resentful and angry; and unable to discuss how and why it had become this way. Noticeably absent from the convention were moderate Republicans. Senator Lincoln Chafee, legatee of the moderate Republican tradition in Rhode Island, was defeated in the 2006 midterms, and he was endorsing Obama. The last Republican House member from New England, Representative Chris Shays of Connecticut, would lose his seat in two months. None of the great Republican families of the past, from the Rockefellers to the Eisenhowers, were there either. Both of Ronald Reagan's natural children, Ron and Patti, endorsed Obama. President Dwight Eisenhower's granddaughter, Susan, addressed the Democratic National Convention in Denver just moments before Barack Obama appeared to accept his party's nomination. How did a party once known for its "big tent" philosophy become a one-ring circus? How did a Republican Party that had dominated American politics for over twenty-five years become so marginalized?" (read more)
Just two weeks after a ground squirrel (whistle pig) found south of Boise has tested positive for Yersinia pestis, the bacterial agent of plague, Idaho health officials report that an Ada County dogs may be infected with the serious infection based on preliminary laboratory testing. Confirmation is expected in about one week. The dog, which had contact with ground squirrels within the area of impact (see map), south of Boise to the Snake River, and from Kuna to Mountain Home, became ill at the end of May. The owner took the dog to a veterinarian where a sample was taken and submitted to the State Public Health Laboratory for testing. The dog has since been treated and is recovering. Those who handled the dog while it was ill are being monitored and provided preventive medication if needed. “This is a reminder that people who live and recreate in the area of impact need to take precautions to avoid contact with ground squirrels and their potentially infected fleas. Do not let your dog touch ground squirrels in the affected area. People can be exposed to plague when pets bring infected fleas back into the home, by caring for a sick pet without proper precautions, or by contact with rodents carrying fleas,” said Sarah Correll, epidemiologist for Central District Health Department. Plague is a disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. The bacterium lives in several rodent species. When fleas feed on infected animals, the fleas become infected and spread the bacterium when they bite other animals and humans. When infected animals die, fleas will seek live animals, including humans, to feed on. With the current die-off of ground squirrels in the area, fleas from these animals will be hungry. Fleas can jump off of dead ground squirrels or from around abandoned burrows, and bite and potentially infect pets or people that get too close. Avoiding dead ground squirrels and their abandoned burrows is a good way to avoid exposure. Plague can also be transmitted when someone is exposed to tissue or body fluids of an infected animal. It also can be spread by droplets when an animal or person who has plague pneumonia coughs. What are the symptoms of plague in people? Plague is a life-threatening illness. It can cause three types of illness in people: 1. Bubonic plague usually results from the bite of an infected flea. People ill with bubonic plague have sudden onset of fever, headache, chills, and weakness and one or more swollen, tender and painful lymph nodes (called buboes). 2. Septicemic plague may result after handling an infected animal, the bite of an infected flea, or it may result from untreated bubonic plague. Infected people have fever, chills, extreme weakness, abdominal pain, shock, and possibly bleeding into the skin and other organs. Skin and other tissues may turn black and die, especially on fingers, toes, and the nose. 3. Pneumonic plague occurs from septicemic plague or from inhaling infectious droplets from an animal or another person with pneumonic plague. Sick people have fever, headache, weakness, and a rapidly developing pneumonia with shortness of breath, chest pain, cough, and sometimes bloody or watery mucous. What are the signs of plague in cats and dogs? Plague can be life-threatening in pets. Cats generally get much sicker than dogs and are likely to die if they do not get veterinary care soon after they become ill. Cats can develop bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic forms of plague, just like people. Cats can spread plague to people if they have the pneumonic form, by coughing. Dogs usually have a mild illness, but they, too, can get seriously ill. If your dog or cat has been to an area with dead ground squirrels and is not as active as usual, not eating, or has a fever, seek veterinary care for them immediately and tell the veterinarian that your pet was potentially exposed to plague.
Examples of Electromyograms Three EMG recordings An electromyogram (EMG) is a common clinical test used to assess function of muscles and the nerves that control them. EMG studies are used to help in the diagnosis and management of disorders such as the muscular dystrophies and neuropathies. Nerve conduction studies that measure how well and how fast the nerves conduct impulses are often performed in conjunction with EMG studies. Examples of EMG studies (courtesy of Seward Rutkove, MD, Department of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School) are given here. Data were collected with a Medelec Synergy N2 EMG Monitoring System (Oxford Instruments Medical, Old Woking, United Kingdom). A 25mm concentric needle electrode was placed into the tibialis anterior muscle of each subject. The patient was then asked to dorsiflex the foot gently against resistance. The needle electrode was repositioned until motor unit potentials with a rapid rise time were identified. Data were then collected for several seconds, at which point the patient was asked to relax and the needle removed. The figure shows three examples of EMG data from: 1) a 44 year old man without history of neuromuscular disease; 2) a 62 year old man with chronic low back pain and neuropathy due to a right L5 radiculopathy; and 3) a 57 year old man with myopathy due to longstanding history of polymyositis, treated effectively with steroids and low-dose methotrexate. The data were recorded at 50 KHz and then downsampled to 4 KHz. During the recording process two analog filters were used: a 20 Hz high-pass filter and a 5K Hz low-pass filter. Suggested readings about EMG: 1. Kimura J. Electrodiagnosis in Diseases of Nerve and Muscle: Principles and Practice, 3rd Edition. New York, Oxford University Press, 2001. 2. Reaz MBI, Hussain MS and Mohd-Yasin F. Techniques of EMG signal analysis: detection, processing, classification and applications. Biol. Proced. Online 2006; 8(1): 11-35.
"This was the Keeper… and its task was to rebuild and ready the war-torn world for the day its people would come back." ―The Keeper's history lesson[src] The Keeper was a machine with an artificial intelligence located on Keeper's World. It was accompanied by four android children. Built by a non-violent civilization to preserve their homeworld in a time of war, the Keeper drew its power from its home planet's core, which allowed it to survive long after the people had fled. The Keeper was installed to restore the world to its former status for its makers, so that when they would return years later, the planet would be suitable for them to live on. Shortly after the Battle of Yavin, Rebel Alliance agents Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa landed on the Keeper's planet seeking shelter from an Imperial fleet. Battling their way through the wilderness with the aid of their two droids, R2-D2 and C-3PO, they stumbled upon the Keeper's Temple, and in turn met the Keeper's four android children. The Keeper was convinced that the Rebels were of good faith, and decided to help them by forcing the Imperial troops that had landed to flee offworld. Skywalker and Organa then left the Keeper in peace to continue her task of building a civilization. At some stage prior to the Imperial era, the people of Keeper's World fled from their homes to escape impending destruction in a galaxy-wide war. However, the people were fond of their homeworld, and wished to restore it to its former state. They thus built the Keeper; a gargantuan machine which drew its power from the planet's core. They tasked the Keeper with reshaping its creators' world so that the planet would be as it was by the time of their return.[1] The ChildrenEdit The Keeper creates her Children. The Keeper had been programmed with a mother's instinct, and since its work lasted many centuries, it naturally grew lonely. To counter this, it created four android "Children" to provide company. These Children resembled the youths of the Keeper's civilization, save for different eyes, and they were imbued with abilities that would allow each one of the four to control a separate element of nature: fire, earth, wind, and water. The children were tasked with aiding the Keeper in reshaping the world—by using each of their powers to their full extent, the Keeper hoped they would be able to recreate a fully functioning ecosystem.[1] When the Keeper and her children recreated the jungles of their world, they also created gargantuan monsters that towered over the trees. The Keeper and the Children used this to their advantage, and employed the creatures as security for their temple. The Keeper maintained the hostile appearance of the planet to ward off any would be intruders, invaders, or any new settlers.[1] Galactic Civil WarEdit Sometime in 0 ABY, Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, C-3PO and R2-D2—agents of the Rebel Alliance—set out from a rebel base on Yavin 4 to make contact with the second major Rebel base, located in the Akuria system. Due to a poor repair job performed on R2-D2 following the Battle of Yavin, the astromech droid caused their starship to prematurely exit hyperspace, and, by coincidence, in the middle of an Imperial fleet.[2] However, due to Skywalker's Force-enhanced piloting skills, the Rebels were able to temporarily escape capture. His evasive maneuvers caused the Rebel transport to become caught in the gravitational pull of Keeper's World, where it was forced to land.[3] The Keeper causes an explosion, which stops a stormtrooper in his tracks. In the planet's jungles, the rebels encountered a large humanoid monster, part of the hostile environment which served as a defense system for the Keeper and her "Children".[4] Eventually pursued by an Imperial search party, the rebels entered the Keeper's temple, where C-3PO accidentally triggered one of the Keeper's teleportals. The Rebels were transported to the deeper levels of the Temple.[5] The rebels eventually came across the Keeper's "Children" who had assessed that they were of good intent. After the Children had finished demonstrating their powers, they brought the rebels into the core of the temple to meet the Keeper directly.[6][7] When the Rebels were presented to the Keeper, she was outraged. She had been displeased with the fact that they had learned of the Children, let alone the mainframe itself. Attempting to remedy the situation, the Keeper instructed the intruders by subconsciously beaming content to their minds. The content was a history lesson which outlined the Keeper's existence to the foreigners. The situation clarified, the Keeper instigated a groundquake to ward off the Imperial troops, and then allowed the Rebels to leave by repairing their ship.[1][8] Personality and traitsEdit The Keeper was programmed with a mother's sensibilities. Despite all the effort she put into the task, there was no reward for her—at least not one that she could perceive. She felt that her motherly output needed sufficient return, and, at the same time, she decided that assistance was required in her task. She had no time for outsiders and feared that they might damage or even destroy her precious work. Even her homeworld's non-violent attitude was imbued in her programming, as she did not directly seek to enter into confrontation with foreigners; instead, she used nature to ward them off.[1] Behind the scenesEdit The Keeper was created by Archie Goodwin and first appeared in Caverns of Mystery!, the seventh installment of the comic serial The Keeper's World. In that story, the Keeper is the key manipulator behind all of the events that take place on the Keeper's world. The Keeper's first appearance was provided by Tony DeZuniga. To date, The Keeper's World is the Keeper's only appearance.[7] Notes and referencesEdit Ad blocker interference detected!
CyLab seeks to map poisonous plants for better treatment Marios Savvides, left, and Cynthia Morton, center, are working on an app that will be able to recognize poisonous plants. (credit: Kate Groschner/Photo Editor) Marios Savvides, left, and Cynthia Morton, center, are working on an app that will be able to recognize poisonous plants. (credit: Kate Groschner/Photo Editor) “If you call the Poison Control Center and say: ‘I’ve eaten a poisonous plant, help me,’ they basically go through five volumes of books to figure out what you’ve eaten.” These are the words of Marios Savvides, an associate research professor of electrical and computer engineering and the director of the CyLab Biometrics Center. Savvides and Cynthia Morton, the head of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s botany department, are developing a single digital database for identifying all poisonous plants. This database will aid in the treatment of hikers or passers-by who suffer from symptoms after coming in contact with poisonous plants. The two researchers had known of each other before this project: Morton knew that Savvides had worked with facial recognition, so she wanted to apply that capability to a project involving plants. The result will be a smartphone app that that can identify a plant based on its appearance and provide the plant’s toxicity, symptoms that appear after contact, and remedies for treatment. From just a snapshot, the app will be able to detect anything from a weed on the side of a hiking trail to potted houseplants bought from Home Depot. The benefits of the app are far-reaching. “It is beneficial for kids because there are common plants at home that can pose as health hazards for any kids or animals that swallow it,” Morton said. Additionally, the benefits of the app can be extended to the medical community. The two scientists have collaborated with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and the Poison Control Center, which currently use a medical toxicology book and the Micromedics database, UPMC’s medical database for poisonous plants. The current system is missing 60 percent of its database, including symptoms and images. Therefore, doctors are only able to recall information about each plant, but cannot immediately recognize a plant from a victim’s symptoms. This inefficient process of scrutinizing plant references delays the time required for optimal treatment. From the medical toxicology books’ and Micromedic’s combined database, Morton and Savvides are able to mine out the 32 most commonly reported plants. As of right now, the app is only able to detect 10 of those plants, but the two are expanding the app database to allow it to recognize dangers beyond the 32. “For many plants — some massive, some poisonous, or both — this is a good tracking mechanism to see what’s going on because a lot of these are not native to here. So, it’s giving us a wealth of information on a variety of different levels,” Morton said. Soon the app will be able to detect the location of a poisonous plant and update the information on an online social networking system. Before advancement to the next step, the two scientists need to wait for UPMC’s approval on the proposal to fund the rest of the project. In addition, patients have also requested for the app to include certain poisonous mushrooms and hallucinogens. So far, Morton concluded that the toughest part of the project involved hand collecting live specimens of the plants, organizing them by different colors and features, and taking 50 to 100 pictures of the same plant from different angles to help the app to recognize it. Funding for the project came from the UPMC Healthcare Innovation Technology Grant program, which is a collaboration between Carnegie Mellon and UPMC. During the project, the two scientists also enjoyed learning more about the other’s specialization. Above all, they are proud to come up with a product that helps people.
< Back Exercise Induced Nausea: Causes & Corrections Robb Beams Nutrition and how the human body absorbs and responds is unique from individual to individual, influenced by outside variables (i.e. heat, humidity and intensity) and has to be validated by trial and error. Let’s review some basic elements that may cause nausea and some suggestions on how to reduce or eliminate associated symptoms. Cause #1: Pre Race Anxiety & Race Intensity Everyone experiences anticipation and stress on race day. Pre race stress can lead to feelings of nausea and may have a negative effect on your race day nutritional plans. This is caused by the fact that body has to “decide” which is more important: digestion for fuel or maintaining core body temperature. Digestion: blood & water are needed in the digestion process to convert your food to stored sugar Performance: your racing efforts require blood (for oxygen to be carried to the working muscles) along with water (to be diverted to your skin to rid yourself of internal heat). You can see how this creates a “stress” on your entire body as it attempt to prioritize what to do: break down food for fuel or sweat to maintain your core body temperature. Solution: consume easily digestible food that maintain blood sugar levels within the blood. Cause #2: Food Timing & Types Low blood sugar levels are frequently associated with dizziness and nausea. Maintaining a consistent blood sugar level has a significant impact on your energy and performance. Because the body stores carbohydrates in limited quantities, 60-90 minutes of stored energy in the muscles and liver, it is important to eat throughout the day. To keep your blood sugar level stable and energy stores high, aim to eat 4 to 6 small meals throughout your race day. Solution: eat at the correct time with the correct types of food. Timing Give yourself 2 hours between your prerace meal and start time. This will allow enough time for your body to break down, absorb and purge completely. On race day, choose food items that are easy to digest (see below). Types The following sources of carbohydrates (stored in the muscles as glycogen) should be consumed throughout the day: whole wheat grains, rye, stone ground bread, oatmeal, lentils, beans, peas, asparagus, broccoli, fresh ripe fruit (specifically apples, pears, apricots & bananas) high quality cereals, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, couscous and quinoa. The following sources of carbohydrates should be consumed immediately after your race: white potatoes, watermelon, white rice, noodles, cereal, waffles and pancakes. Don't forget the protein For controlling appetite and speeding up recovery after your race, immediately consume a carbohydrate-protein beverage to replace depleted sugar & repair torn down muscle tissue. The ideal recovery nutrition source is 150 to 200 calories at a mixture of 3:1 of carbohydrates & protein. By consuming this carb-protein drink within 30 minutes of your race; your body takes advantage of a highly active enzyme (glycogen synthase) responsible for replenishing depleted sugar within the muscle and liver. This will result in a higher level of replenishment, setting you up for higher levels of output in your next race. The following foods are great sources of protein: salmon, tuna, lean deli meat, mixed nuts (avoid peanuts), beans, lentils, tofu, whey, eggs, milk, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, ice cream (if you are not lactose intolerant). Avoid Excessive fiber & fat Meals in the day leading up to the race need to be easy to digest. As mentioned above, stick to carbohydrate-based meals with lean protein and a small amount of fat. The low fiber residue will lessen the severity of G.I. (gastro-intestinal) disturbances on race day. Cause #3: Fluid Timing, Types and Amounts The key to proper hydration is not the act of drinking water and sports drinks that contain sugar and electrolytes, but rather the absorption of what you drink. Solution: drink at the right time with the correct concentration of carbohydrates & electrolytes specific to your sweat rate. Timing Throughout the day, sip consistently on a sports drink that has a 4-6% carbohydrate concentration and a solid electrolyte profile (Energy Fuel) to ensure that you are maintaining your hydration levels. 1 Hour before your race: consume 8 to 10 ounces of ice cold sports drink (cold absorbs better than warm) 15 Minutes before your race: consume 4-6 ounces of your ice cold sports drink Immediately following your race: consume 8 to 10 ounces of your sports drink; when you have raced your last race of the day, consume your protein-carbohydrate beverage as mentioned previously. Drinking too much water can lead to a state of hyponatremia (low blood sodium) which can increase nausea related symptoms. Drinking too little water can lead to a state of de-hydration which can also cause nausea related symptoms. The key is to determine the optimum amount of fluids to consume – see below. Amounts You need to determine your sweat rate given your intensity level, duration, air temperature and humidity. If you haven’t picked up a copy of MotoE’s Sweat Rate Calculator, please email me directly and I will forward you a copy for free. By determining your sweat rate, you can determine how much fluid you need to consume on race day. Choosing the right sports drink Research science has shown that the key to maintaining high levels of energy from a sports drink is determined by how quickly the body can convert the sugar to energy. Complex carbohydrates have to be broken down over a long period of time which results in a slower delivery of energy. During high intensity racing (and in high temperatures), the digestive process is slowed down, as mentioned earlier because the body is working hard to deliver oxygen and rid itself of heat. When you compound a slowed digestive system with complex carbohydrates, you have delayed delivery of energy for racing. The solution is to use sports drinks that have a 4-6% concentration rate, which are made from simple sugars and have electrolytes added for better absorption. A product that I helped develop, Energy Fuel, has this exact profile and has been tested for over a year with great results on the track. The sugar in Energy Fuel (cane sugar) is absorbed passively (without the need of your digestive system to break it down) and will not only sustain your energy, but also help prevent any backing up in the stomach (and associated discomforts). Cause #4: Cold & Hot Environments Both hot and cold weather places stress on your body by elevating your heart rate. This places a demand on your stored sugar levels and begins to shut down your digestive process (refer to Causes 1-3). Solution: choose your racing gear accordingly. Hot weather: as your body strives to rid itself of heat, you will notice that your heart rate will be elevated and sweating will start immediately. Wear gear that is light in color, has wick away characteristics and vented. Cold-weather: your body is constantly trying to conserve heat & stay warm (hence the shivering). Wear throw away clothing to the start line & discard as you pull into the gate. Other possible irritants Alcohol, caffeine, spices, artificial sweeteners & ibuprofen can create irritation in some people. The body’s various systems (circulatory, respiratory, etc.) become more sensitive to any irritants when under physical emotional or mental stress. Racing tends to present all three of these types of stress. Identifying anything that might create symptoms before you get to the races will result in better race day results. What else can you do? As always, speak with your physician about anti-nausea medication that may offer some relief when raing or training hard. Probiotics may assist with G.I. disturbances as well as being of assistance to general immune health. Coach Robb has been working with riders & racers for the last 25 years and is the founder of the Complete Racing Solutions Performance Program & Nutritionally Green Supplements based in Orlando Florida. He has contributed to publications such as Racer X, FLMX and is a regular contributor to RacerX online, RacerXVT, Vurbmoto and various racing websites. Robb can also be heard on the monthly radio show DMXS answering listener’s questions about nutrition & fitness. coachrobb.com is a premium resource center for motocross, supercross and GNCC riders of all abilities and ages. The website outlines the training solutions used with great success by Factory Kawasaki/Pro-Circuit’s Adam Cianciarulo, Broc Tickle, Darryn Durham; Factory, Factory Honda’s Ashley Fiolek, Suzuki’s Jordan Bailey, Factory KTM Off Road Charlie Mullins & Yamaha’s Roman Brown & Morgan Moss. Instructional videos with Coach Robb can be found on the Coach Robb’s Youtube Channel addressing rider’s questions about speed, endurance, strength nutrition, biomechanics, and stretching and soft tissue maintenance. Please visit coachrobb.com to subscribe to his newsletter and learn more about various resources for riders. You can follow him on Twitter: @MotoCoachRobb and on Facebook: Coach Robb. Required * Mailing list 2 Week Challenge Adrenal Fatigue Aqua Jogging Body Analysis Body Measurements Max Heart Rate Meals, Snacks, and Smoothies Mental Development Plyometric Assessments Shopping Guide Stretching and Soft Tissue Sweat Rate Time Management Warm Up Weight Loss
Immersive Workshops KHY’s immersive experiences offer children the opportunity to become a focal part of the action by taking on characters within a theme chosen by the school. They join our actors who role play throughout the day to bring an experience to life. For example, students can explore the lives of children in ancient Rome and Greece; what is was like to grow up in the poor houses in Dickensian London; or the challenges of being a child refugees or evacuee during World War Two. Our immersive experiences are inspired heavily by the literature the students are studying in class. We draw from the arts to provide a tactile, creative and unique experience. Our aim is to complement curriculum subjects create a vibrant alternative experience for children who learn creatively and through ‘doing’.
SDG5: End to discrimination against women and girls by 2030 27 October 2016 The Women and Equalities Committee launches a new inquiry into the Government's plans for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 (#SDG5). Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls - SDG5 SDG 5 requires UN Member States to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by 2030. This came into force in January 2016, as one of the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development agreed in September 2015 to end extreme poverty, inequality and climate change through a partnership between the state, private sector and civil society. Unlike the Millenium Development Goals which they build on, these are universal and not just aimed at developing countries. The underlying principle is "leave no-one behind", to ensure that the most marginalised are reached. SDG5 Targets The targets under SDG 5 require a transformative approach. They are: • End all forms of discrimination against women and girls everywhere • Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls • Eliminate all harmful practices • Recognise and value unpaid care and domestic work • Ensure women's full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership • Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights • Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources • Enhance the use of enabling technology to promote the empowerment of women • Adopt and strengthen sound policies and legislation for the promotion of gender equality How can SDG5 be achieved in the UK? Committee Chair Maria Miller said: "The UK Government has signed up to end all discrimination and violence against women and girls by 2030, under the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development. We welcome this ambitious goal and our inquiry will scrutinise plans to achieve it. We're calling for evidence from individuals and organisations on how these goals can be most effectively met in the UK." Call for written submissions The Committee has set out eleven questions on which it would welcome views: • How well understood are the Goals in the UK and what more can be done to promote them? • Is there consensus across Government about what the terms used in Goal 5 mean in the UK context? • What action is the UK Government taking to implement Goal 5 to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls in the UK by 2030? What more can the UK Government do to achieve this? • What more do individual government departments need to do to prioritise Goal 5 targets? What practical steps need to be taken? • What resourcing is in place for the implementation of Goal 5? Is further resourcing required? • How effective is coordination and leadership across UK government departments on implementing Goal 5? Is a single point of responsibility preferable to delegated responsibility across departments, and who should lead? • What monitoring mechanisms are in place to measure progress in the UK against Goal 5 and how can these be improved? • Which targets under Goal 5 are the most difficult to measure progress against? How can the Government ensure that the hard to measure targets are not neglected? • Which targets/issues under Goal 5 have been hardest to make progress on and why? Which require a greater emphasis? • What role do the private and third sector have to play in achieving Goal 5 in the UK and how effectively are these roles supported by the Government? • What examples of good practice are there in the UK or abroad, for implementing and monitoring progress against these and other global targets? How effectively does the UK Government learn from such practice? Send a written submission to the inquiry on the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 5 in the UK. Further information Image: iStockphoto Share this page
Putting The Wrong Gas In Your Vehicle: It Happens, No Big Deal gasThere is no need to panic if you put the wrong gas in you car. Let us explain. There are usually 3 types of gasoline: regular (87 press), mid-grade (89 press), and premium (91 or 93 press). If you put two high of an octane (89+) in your vehicle, you’re simply wasting money. Gasoline companies often try to argue the additives in mid-grade and premium gas is better for your car. In reality, all gas contains detergents to keep a fuel system clean. Healthy engines that take regular gas do not benefit from higher octane gas. If you chose too low of an octane for your vehicle (such as 87 instead of 91), your vehicle will get lower gas mileage and your engine will produce less power. It’s possible your engine will be damaged, but this is unlikely. What’s the point of having different octane ratings anyway? Octane ratings indicate the gasoline’s resistance to pre-ignition. According to merriam-webster.com, it is ignition in an internal combustion engine while the inlet valve is open, or before compression is completed. Aaron Gold from cars.about.com in “What kind of gasoline should you put in your car?” wrote: Here’s the deal with pre-ignition: Engines work by compressing a mixture of fuel and air and igniting it with a spark. One way to get more power out of an engine is to increase the compression of the fuel-air mixture before burning it, but these higher compression ratios can cause the fuel to ignite prematurely — that’s pre-ignition, also known as knock (it makes a soft knocking sound, not unlike the gurgling of a coffeemaker). Higher octane gasoline is more resistant to pre-ignition, which is why high-compression engines (often found in luxury or sports cars) require premium gasoline. Decades ago, pre-ignition could cause serious (and expensive) internal engine damage. Modern engines have knock sensors that detect pre-ignition and recalibrate the engine on the fly to avoid it. Pre-ignition is still bad for your engine, but it’s less likely to occur. What should you do? Check out your car’s owner manual if you’re unsure of what gasoline to put in your vehicle. If premium gas is required, use it. If premium gas is recommended, still use it for better performance. Like we stated before, if your car takes regular gas, don’t use a higher octane rated gas because it’s a waste of money. To learn more useful information, check out some of our other blogs here.
Salem witch hunt summary and desciption. For social studies. Essay by SixsdHigh School, 12th gradeA+, October 2004 download word file, 2 pages 4.8 1 reviews Downloaded 51 times The Salem witch-hunt was a tragic event in our history. The people did not keep church and state separate. Instead they mixed them. They put religion in with government. People would blame other people about their own superstitions in life about witches, Satan, and anything abnormal. If anything went wrong in life, even if somebody had a sore throat they would point fingers at people and suspect superstitious things such as witchcraft. There is a link between the witch hysteria and how society tells people what is wrong, an example of that are people telling other people that being gay is wrong. I know that it is wrong because the Bible tells us Christians that but non-Christians don't agree and don't have to agree with us about these things because they don't believe the same things. We can't just tell gay people that they are wrong in what they do and have a reason they will believe. With the Salem witch-hunt the government told the people what their religion could be. Now people would go to extremes like killing people for being gay. In The Malice of Hell: Satan Comes to Salem, there was a slave who had taught young girls about witchcraft; soon this group began to grow. The girls started having things happen to them as if there were demons in them. The whole thing ended up getting out of control. They started charging everybody with being involved with witchcraft and selling their soul to Satan. "The witch hysteria was symptomatic of the age, a time when people were plagued with superstitions and monstrous fears-fears of the unknown, of demons, and of the devil-which spawned religious persecutions and witch hunts on both sides of the Atlantic." The Malice of Hell: Satan Comes to Salem can...
York and Leeds scientists in breakthrough on ‘unlocking’ common cold virus • New cold treatment possible ‘within ten years’ • It would be medical equivalent of ‘pouring sand into a Swiss watch’ Have your say SCIENTISTS in Yorkshire believe they have come a step closer to unlocking the “enigma code” that causes the common cold. Researchers at the Universities of York and Leeds today published the workings of a ‘hidden code’ within the gene family that includes the cold, polio, and hand foot and mouth disease. Scientists believe they are closer to unlocking the common cold virus. Scientists believe they are closer to unlocking the common cold virus. The genetic code, said to “work like the cog wheels in a Swiss watch”, could be the key to finally creating a cure for a disease that continues to bring misery to millions. The scientists believe their findings could lead to the development of new drug treatments within a decade. Their work, in partnership with the University of Helsinki, builds on their 2015 discovery which identified a set of encrypted signals in a plant virus similar to the structure of Human Parechovirus, which infects humans and can cause sepsis-like illness and meningitis in children. They found that the details of the decoding mechanism appear identical in all strains of the virus, potentially allowing a single drug to treat them all, something that is not possible with a vaccine. The team is now working to screen for potential anti-viral drugs that target this decoding mechanism. Successful future partnerships with the pharmaceuticals industry and further funding support could potentially see drug development results within the next ten years. Professor Reidun Twarock, a mathematical biologist at the University of York’s Departments of Mathematics, Biology, and the York Centre for Complex Systems Analysis, said: “Previously scientists have assumed that the signals regulating the assembly of a virus were located in a unique area of the genome. “Using a combination of biological insight and mathematical modelling, our study suggests that, by contrast, the mechanism relies on multiple dispersed sites in the genome that act together in a cooperative way to enable efficient virus formation. Scientists had previously attempted to detect assembly signals by genetically recoding these viruses, but failed to find any. The latest results solve this mystery; they show that the additional ‘hidden’ code, responsible for virus formation, is robust against such genome changes, and is conserved across different viruses in the same family. Professor Peter Stockley, from the Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology at the University of Leeds, said: “The coding works like the cogwheels in a Swiss watch. We now need a drug that has the same effect as pouring sand into the watch; every part of the viral mechanism could be disabled. “We need to move away from a vaccine approach, which is what we have for flu and polio. Vaccines, although our best source of defence against polio at the moment, can result in the release of more virulent strains of the disease. Protecting against infection therefore relies on continued worldwide vaccination, which is both very expensive and logistically difficult.” The World Health Organisation has a goal of eliminating polio infections worldwide via vaccination but recognises that before vaccination can be terminated there is a need to develop anti-polio drugs to cure residual infections. Professor Sarah Butcher, from the University of Helsinki, said: “This new research means that treatment would be less likely to trigger drug resistance, which is currently one of the major problems in anti-viral therapy. This discovery could be a great leap forward in curing a host of conditions.”
Vertical farming: practical with fusion power September 17, 2017 Vertical farming has the potential to provide a number of advantages over conventional farming: • Cut down on supply chain costs • More efficient use of land • Rewilding of large amounts of wilderness outside of cities • Fresher produce more readily available However, there is a bit of a problem – the energy expenditure required to make it practical renders it more expensive to grow crops in skyscrapers, both economically and environmentally, than conventional farming. Wheat requires a large amount of energy to grow, as do legumes. However, if, with any luck, we have the ability to construct workable nuclear fusion power plants by 2030, the nature of the game changes, as we would have readily available much cheaper, cleaner energy than through other power sources (with the exception of the Sun, which is also, of course, providing energy emitted by nuclear fusion). If such does become practicable, large amounts of existing land given over to farming could be returned to the wild, and established as national parks and nature reserves. This would be greatly useful, as it would allow us to allow the lungs of the world to regenerate, as well as providing large areas for ecotourism for city dwellers to appreciate on a more primal level. Management of the cutover from large scale agricultural operations to vertical farming would be likely to take decades, but I could imagine that by 2070 or 2080 it should be possible to return a fair amount of land to the wild. The tale of Little Red Riding Hood’s Grandmother and the three wolves August 11, 2017 Once upon a time there was a little old lady that lived by herself in the woods. ‘I wonder when Little Red Riding Hood is going to call she thought’. There was a rat-a-tat at the door. ‘Let me in, let me in!’ came a gruff voice. ‘Alright, alright,’ said grandma. ‘Don’t get your socks off’. She opened the door and there was a wolf. ‘What can I do for you young man?’ ‘I’m here to eat you,’ said the wolf. ‘Yes, you do look ravenous,’ said the little old lady. ‘You should have some of my cookies first, they are straight from the oven.’ Confused, the wolf grabbed a handful of biscuits and scoffed them down. ‘Wait a minute, is that chocolate?’ ‘It is’, said the little old lady. A little bit later, the second wolf came along to the little old lady’s house. Rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat, he went at the door. ‘Coming!’ said a voice. ‘No patience, young kids these days…’ ‘What can I do for you, young man?’ she asked when she opened the door. ‘I’m here to eat you,’ said the second wolf. ‘Oh, that sounds marvelous. But first you must come inside and get warm. You’ll catch a chill out there.’ Confused, the second wolf allowed himself to be herded into the house, and into the kitchen. ‘You will be nice and comfortable here in this room. I think there is a thermostat somewhere,’ the lady said. Obediently, the second wolf climbed into the tiny room offered. Then the lady shut the door to the oven and put a pot of tea on the stove. A little bit later, the third wolf came to the door. Knock-knock, knock-knock. ‘Yes, yes. So many visitors. A lady can’t get any peace around here.’ The door opened, and the third wolf saw a lady warming her hands on a cup of tea. ‘Yes, so what can I do for you young man?’ Now the third wolf was a bit hard of thinking, and a bit daft. ‘You know, I really can’t remember,’ he said. ‘Perhaps you would like to fetch this stick for me?’ And they both lived happily ever after. Consider not what is lost, but what is GAN July 7, 2017 A generative adversarial network is a set of two neural networks competing against one another in a zero sum game (todo: consider game theoretic implications). Classically one is a generator, and one is a discriminator. The generator tries to fool the discriminator. However this situation can become unstable and the algorithm can fail to converge to interpret / generate digits, say. There is another recent paper http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fncom.2017.00048/full on cliques of neurons and their role in consciousness, a paper that draws links between algebraic topology and intelligence. In particular, it indicates that there are stratified layers of sets of neurons that can be up to 11 strata deep. So the question I pose is twofold: one, is there a way to avoid instability in a classical GAN and also extend it to broader classes of problems; and two, can we consider the latter paper’s analogue in AI to be stratified layers of sets of neurons in an underlying ‘space’ of potential usable neurons, that can be up to 11 strata deep, and which can be created, read, updated and destroyed, as time buckets continue? Maybe we could implement using dind (docker in docker). All sorts of possibilities. I think this broader idea of ‘GAN’ would be useful, as it would allow us to remove neuron sets that are underperforming / have become unstable, and also allow for new models to arise in a Conways Game of Life fashion out of the morass. But how do we measure, how do we update, what data are we measuring against? All excellent questions. Perhaps then we need to consider the set of possible usable neurons as living in a module that has an input (a set of performance measures at time step T) and an output (a set of the same performance measures at time step T+1). Based on this difference we can apply a feedback loop to the universe of inputs. Maybe we output the algebraic structure of the set of adversarial subnets in the universal net as a json object say (with the model parameters included eg matrix representations etc, so {json(T)} as input, and {json(T+1)} as output where some nodes from the json file might be removed, and others added. eg. { {{ [network including 2 sets of 4 nodes, 2 layers deep], A_ij }, { [network including 3 sets of 3 nodes, 3 layers deep], B_ij } }, { [network with 2 x 4 nodes ], D_ij } }(T) { { [ network including 2 sets of 4 nodes, 2 layers deep ], A_ij }, { [network including 3 sets of 2 nodes, 3 layers deep], C_ij } }(T+1). One could have any sort of network within the universal neural space, eg a CNN, an ordinary hidden markov model, etc. So we have a big box, with json objects and current training parameters of same being spat in and out of the box. The training parameters of the transient submodels could then be placed inside some form of distance measure relative to the problem we are optimising for (i.e., relative to one’s timeboxed dataset or evolving input). It strikes me that this sort of approach, although difficult to implement, could potentially lead to applications much more wideranging than image manipulation. A further generalisation would be to allow the model to create an output timeboxed dataset, and allow that to form an extrapolation of previous input or data. This sort of approach might be useful, for instance, for performing fairly demanding creative work. One would naturally of course need to seed the task with an appropriate starting point, say a collection of ‘thoughts’ (or rather their network representation) inhabiting a network of cliques in the universal neural lattice. The current state of open source AI July 2, 2017 I recently discovered the company OpenAI, which has a significant endowment, and has a couple of notable projects that enable work on training / testing AI algorithms. In particular, these projects are Gym (https://github.com/openai/gym) and Universe (https://github.com/openai/universe). Gym is based on this paper (https://arxiv.org/abs/1606.01540) which is essentially a toolkit for benchmarking the performance of various AI algorithms in reinforcement learning. From the project page: gym makes no assumptions about the structure of your agent, and is compatible with any numerical computation library, such as TensorFlow or Theano. Universe fits in with Gym, in that Gym provides the interface to Universe, which provides an AI algorithm with an environment within which to train. An example of this is given on the project page, which essentially demonstrates use of Universe and Gym to test an agent running the game DuskDrive in a Docker container: import gym import universe # register the universe environments env = gym.make('flashgames.DuskDrive-v0') observation_n = env.reset() while True: observation_n, reward_n, done_n, info = env.step(action_n) Evidently this is potentially quite powerful. Indeed, from the main promotional page for universe (https://universe.openai.com/), apparently there are already more than 1000 environments to test / train learning agents against, which apparently many many more in the works. To get started, one could use the openai code in the projects https://github.com/openai/improved-gan or https://github.com/openai/universe-starter-agent, however, those with a more sophisticated bent might instead be interested in investigating DeepMind’s project https://github.com/deepmind/learning-to-learn, which makes use of Google Tensorflow and DeepMind Sonnet (https://github.com/deepmind/sonnet). Sonnet is a Tensorflow neural network library. Towards increasingly unorthodox approaches, I think it would be fascinating to watch the space around the development of algorithms to take advantage of the architecture of IBM’s neuromorphic chips (based I believe on Field Programmable Gate Arrays), or looking a bit further out, towards the opportunities based in machine learning associated to Topological Quantum Computers (Majorana fermion based), and possibly same with a slight Qudit boost (hybrid/pseudo tetracomputer, maybe with switches consisting up to a 100 states). I will continue to follow developments in this area with some interest. Cryptography in the Quantum Computing Age June 16, 2017 There is a problem with much of modern internet communications at the moment. The problem is that the security of same relies on factoring being hard. And, this is the case for a conventional computing machine. However, for a quantum computer, such as may become available to corporations and governments within the next 5 to 10 years, it will be easy. So this necessitates the need for a ‘refresh’ of the algorithms maintaining internet security. So, how can we do this? How RSA works Well, recall the following about how RSA works (from the wikipedia entry): • Take two very large primes (100s of digits long) and multiply them together. (n = pq, p and q prime). • Compute h = lcm(p – 1, q – 1) (this is easy via the Euclidean algorithm, as lcm(a, b) = ab/gcd(a, b) ). • Choose e st e < h and gcd(e, h) = 1 (again, easy via the Euclidean algorithm). • Determine d st ed = 1 (mod h) [ so that d is the modular multiplicative inverse of e ] • e is then the public key. n is also released as public. • d is the private key. Encryption process: • Bob obtain’s Alice’s public key e. With a message M, he converts it into an integer m. Then he computes c = m^e (mod n) Decryption process: • Alice obtains Bob’s message c, and decrypts it as c^d = (m^e)^d = m (mod n) • Then m -> M is easy if the padding scheme is known. The Achilles heel exposed by a quantum computer The main point about the above that makes RSA hard to break is that factorisation is hard. But, if factorisation is easy, Jill can intercept Bob’s ciphertext c, and, given her knowledge of n and e (which are public), factor n to p and q, compute h, and then identify d as the multiplicative inverse of e mod h. Consequent to this, she can then decrypt Alice’s message as above. So, if factorisation is easy, RSA is in a bit of a pickle. But is there a better way to encrypt? RSA over an integer polynomial ring • Take two very large irreducible polynomials over the integer polynomial ring Z[x] (100s of tuples long) and multiply them together. nb. for extra security, you may want to ensure that the coefficients of these polynomials are each at least 100 digits long. (n[x] = p[x]q[x], p[x] and q[x] prime). • Compute h[x] = lcm(p – 1, q – 1) (this is easy via the Euclidean algorithm for integer valued polynomials, as lcm(a, b) = ab/gcd(a, b)). • Determine d[x] st e[x]d[x] = 1 (mod h[x]) [ so that d is the modular multiplicative inverse of e ] • Note: This is hard, unless factorisation is easy. • d is the private key. Encryption process: Decryption process: Is this vulnerable to attack by a Quantum Computer eavesdropping on a channel carrying an encrypted message? I claim not, as the size of the set of irreducible (prime) polynomials over the integer ring is much bigger than the set of primes. The cardinality might be the same, but the complexity just seems intuitively to be much greater to me. Factorising a semi-prime polynomial, which as factors has prime polynomials with possibly 100 or 200 terms, each with coefficients up to 150 digits in length, is, I suspect, much much more difficult than factorising a semi-prime integer. If one had a tetra-computer (“hyper-computer”), the story might be different, but I suspect we will not have sufficiently powerful variants of those until 2050. Towards zero latency – improved communications, coming soon to you June 16, 2017 This recent press release got me thinking about how a quantum internet might work. In particular, one question an observer might ask is, why do we need entanglement to transmit information? The answer is that the ‘speed of entanglement’ is fast. It is at least 10000 times faster than the speed of light. Possibly the square of the speed of light. It is quick. But, you say, can’t I communicate quite rapidly anyway from one side of the world to the other? Yes, but there is latency. The bane of latency Latency is a problem in internet communications today. This problem is felt most acutely when attempting high bandwidth communications that require near instantaneous feedback. And a key medium (and one of the first mediums to adopt the new technologies that consume all the bandwidth, like VR) is gaming. Gaming where the data centre is located in another country can be a very frustrating experience. That is where entangled communications excel. Additionally, entangled communications have the promise of increasing bandwidth drastically, from megabits per second, to gigabits, or even terabits per second. Entanglement is useful By entangling a medium of communication, such as photons, and then separating same, it is possible to transmit data very quickly, and very rapidly. However, there are a couple of obvious problems: • How does one ‘recharge’ one’s entanglement capacity at each network node to service the required / anticipated bandwidth?, and • How does one ensure one has enough bandwidth for these communications? These are interesting questions. Certainly, it seems intuitively reasonable that with a first pass quantum internet, at best the rate of recharge of entanglement would at best be limited by: • The speed of light for transportation of entangled pairs from a source; and • The amount of energy consumed in creating entangled pairs Resolution of the problems However, it does not seem unreasonable that the amount of energy required to create an entangled pair could be relatively low and fairly cheap, economically. Which leads the matter of transporting this ‘data energy’ to where it needs to be consumed. This is a problem that would necessitate not just distributing data energy to a single point, but rather a 2-tuple of points. But this should be possible eg with photons, as one could use optimal waveguides to transmit them to storage at particular centres, to administer 2 to 3 times the anticipated capacity in time bucket N say between nodes K1 and K2, with redundancy a function of the amount of funding the market between K1 and K2 is willing to pay, and reliability – that is, the duration of the entanglement – also a function of same. Ensuring duration of reservoir of entangled pairs between nodes K1 and K2 Assuming that one has transmitted entangled information between nodes K1 and K2 to said nodes respectively, it should be possible to have error correction operating at both ends to ensure the integrity of the entangled state of the ‘data energy’. This will require an input of first order energy in order to do this, at both nodes K1 and K2. As to details of implementation, I am not sure, but I do know that this is likely something that has likely been already subject to exhaustive study (integrity of entangled information, that is). Concluding thoughts This theorycraft sketch of a quantum internet still necessitates that ‘data energy’, the backbone of same, be limited in terms of transmission by the speed of light. But this is not such a bad thing, as long as one can anticipate demand in advance. For example, in the energy markets, one often has to plan in advance how much energy people in a particular location at a particular time will want to use. If there is not enough, there will be blackouts. The equivalent in the quantum internet could be fallback to the regular internet. But, hey. At least things would still work. Sort of. Experiments with APIs: a CFA fire alerts app March 13, 2017 Over the last couple of days I thought it might be interesting to investigate writing a prototype CFA fire alerts app. The key motivation of this was essentially the pursuit of simplicity. Emergency Victoria do happen to have an alerts app, but it contains a plethora of different calls to various different RSS feeds and other APIs, and is not just a way for people to be notified regarding CFA fire alerts. The CFA used to have an older app, in fact, but it was decommissioned in favour of the “improved” and more general app. So I decided to look into trying to build my own over the last couple of days, this Labour Day weekend. Ultimately, I was successful in my goal of building a prototype. Essentially I built an app in Unity that I was able to compile and deploy to my android phone. It displays a map centered on hard-coded latitude and longitude coordinates, and places a black pin anywhere on that map corresponding to a flammables related incident that the app considers to be interesting. Also it only does this once; there is no refresh option, no buttons to push. Very simple and utilitarian. But a good proof of concept. Getting the data So how did I go about building the app? Well, first I worked out how to get the xml file located here: https://data.emergency.vic.gov.au/Show?pageId=getIncidentRSS, by making a C# request using Unity libraries. Processing the data Secondly, I deserialised that xml object into a list of incidents. Next, I extracted all of the information from the description attribute: an additional 13 fields. Obtaining the interesting information within the data Consequent to this, I used my google and script-kiddie abilities to graft on some code to my project that could convert two pairs of (latitude, longitude) coordinates into a relative distance. After that, I wrote a filter to determine what constituted an “interesting” fire: that being sufficiently close to a particular pair of hard-coded coordinates, and also with the additional qualities that the fire was not small, and not under control. Debugging statements and breakpoints helped tremendously throughout this process. Displaying the information to the user So that allowed me to determine what was interesting. But that left one final thing, figuring out how to display that to the user. Fortunately, there was a plugin on the Unity App Store I was able to download for free, for the google static maps api. With additional code-kinder knowhow, I was able to adapt the out of date code therein. With further chicanery and trial and error, I was able to then graft my hard-coded lat,long coordinates to center the map about my location of interest, then push through the interesting incidents into a list of markers which would then be placed on the map as black pins. This relied entirely upon the features of the google static maps API. Deploying to Android Finally I investigated deploying and building the project to android. I found that I needed to do a number of things: • Install Android Studio 2.3.1. • Install the Android SDK for Android 6.0 • Install the JDK from the Oracle website for Java SE 8. • Alter the Unity settings to point to this new JDK rather than for Java SE 7. • Alter the player settings within the Unity build settings so that the 32 bit display buffer was unchecked. • Alter the player settings within the Unity build settings so that the project had an appropriate name (com.spinningcatstudios.ChrisCFAApp) • Create an android manifest at ProjectRoot/Assets/Plugins/Android/manifest.xml with an appropriate format, so that I could select the appropriate Android SDK • Finally, in Settings/Security, I needed to allow untrusted code to run in order to install my app. After this I was able to build the project, and debug it while connected to my development computer. However I found that Astro File Manager could not install apk files with Android OS 6, so I needed to switch to a more modern file manager. Future features Various additional features that come to mind are: • Configurability of what constitutes an interesting event. • Ability to alter the zoom and focused location of the map, to see more or less. • Add additional data feeds (eg traffic incidents etc) with other additional filters. • Move from the google static maps api to the google dynamic maps api 3.0 • Notifications for when alerts occur Bug fixes • Make the map look less stretched. Parting thoughts All in all, this was an interesting experience. The end result is that I have a working prototype, which I can certainly at least deploy to Android, and hopefully should be less painful to deploy to iOS. Anyway, here’s hoping! Mechanised farming in desert areas January 25, 2017 I’ve been thinking recently about an engineering problem that I started considering a number of years back. The challenge is fairly straightforward; in various parts of the world, such as Australia, there are large desert wildernesses that are essentially unlivable, but which contain vast amounts of sunlight, and land. This suggests that one should theoretically be able to set up a series of solar energy plants to power, say, one or several massive mechanised agricultural operations. There are certain small pilot examples where this model has already been demonstrated to work. For instance, Sundrop Farms at Port Augusta in South Australia. Their operation relies on solar power, proximity to the ocean, and is partly though not completely automated. Ultimately, however, it could well be a good goal to aim to pipe water from the sea to support intensive agriculture in greenhouses many miles from open water. This could be achieved through using solar power and batteries in many areas. Such operations could be monitored, maintained, and harvested by drones operated by artificial intelligence. The logistics of transporting goods to ports or highways could also be managed by autonomous machines, potentially with refrigerated interiors. Container vessels could then transport produce as trade to regions that required such. There are many small problems that need to be solved here though in order for something like this to be practicable at large scale. In particular it needs to be possible to build and maintain such infrastructure autonomously. This will require advances not only in renewable energy (which we largely already have in wind, solar, and lithium batteries), but also in robotics and artificial intelligence. I suspect that the latter two technological categories mentioned will largely be mature enough for this sort of operation by 2030. I think that it would be worthwhile to try to build small first and then expand, though – with potentially many, many ventures in different arid regions or locations – rather than waiting for things to become completely mature. Although I dare say that that is where the commercial reality is, regardless. Notes from a machine learning unconference December 5, 2016 Here are a few dot points I took from a machine learning unconference I went to recently. • The STAN programming language. You can declare variables without giving them values and then use them in calculations. Outcomes are determined probabilistically. • Andrew Gellman at NYU apparently knows things about multi level models (beyond Bayesianism). • GAN (generative adversarial networks/models) are powerful. Tension between minimising one thing and maximising another. Made me think about Akaike information for the ‘max’ of an algorithm and Fisher information for the ‘min’. Might be able to render these stable that way. • Kicad electronics CAD tool for microcircuits • Ionic transfer desalination • Super resolution is amazing (more GAN) • InfoGAN • LIME GAN super-resolution local to global (a model explaining a model). See https://github.com/marcotcr/lime . Might be the next step for this sort of thing (testing machine learning models) • Electronic frontiers Australia, citizen 4 • Simulation to generate data, unreal CV, unity3d to train machines • Parseymcparseface and inception Google pretrained models • Imagenet Udemy courses and a procedural generator SDK December 1, 2016 I’ve recently taken advantage of the latest ‘black Friday’ sale on Udemy, and consequently have been taking a few courses on client-server interaction with Unity (using digitalOcean for the server), as well as database manipulation (using the MAMP stack – MacOS, Apache, MySQL, PhP). I’ve found these courses edifying and useful. The same fellow who has authored these courses also authored a course on procedural generation, which I am taking currently. My hope is that I might be able to take ideas from the procedural generation course, combine these with ideas from the multiplatform runtime level editor plugin for Unity, and be able to thereby procedurally generate content from within a running game. But in terms of the absolute bare minimum for an MVP, I guess I would be after: • The ability to toggle between player and DM. • A single view for the client, containing just a flat featureless plane. • An asset to drag into the scene for the DM (say, a tree). • The ability to extract the metadata of the scene containing the scene with the one additional asset and send it via php to a server on digitalOcean. • The ability to transmit from the server on receipt of a message from a client flagged as a ‘DM’ to all clients. • All non DMs should see their scenes update to see the tree. This should not be too hard. I think I have all of the necessary pieces to do this now. After this, for MVP 2, I’d like to extend things in the following way: MVP2 (transmission of procedurally generated scene metadata): • In the DM view, the ability to procedurally generate a town. • It should then be no harder to extract the scene metadata and transmit that to the server. • The non-DM views should then see their scenes update to see the town. MVP3 (modifying assets procedurally): • The ability to procedurally generate terrain. This is modifying an asset (being the terrain). • Transmission of the modified asset over the wire. • The non-DMs views should eventually update to see the modified asset. MVP4 (limitation of privilege and additional view): • The DM should now have two views: the edit view, and the same view that the non-DMs see. • The non-DMs might also be able to see the edit view, but have limited privileges to change things therein. Consequent to this, I’d like to see if I could create some sort of ‘procedural generator SDK’ for allowing developers to easily generate procedural generators. The idea is that these would take several sets of assets, split into several tags (some perhaps having multiple tags per asset). It would also customise some sort of algorithm for how these tags should be manipulated relative to each other. Finally, I’d want to have within the SDK a way for the developer to expose a simple UI to a user. For this next stage of the project, an MVP would simply be an SDK that created a procedure for two tags, and a ‘Go’ button. • Multiple tags, with possibly multiple tags per asset, and a ‘Go’ button. • Now with a more complex and configurable UI for the procedural generator created by the script created using the SDK. • A procedural generator marketplace exposed within the game.
Harry Coumnas Is Solving The Mystery Behind ‘Liber Linteus’ Book We are living in a modern world in the era of advanced technology and advanced techniques. But, undoubtedly we come across fascinating ancient mysteries in the corner of the world that generates a curiosity to learn more about mysteries past. There are innumerable mythological creatures and mysterious ancient places. Harry Coumnas, a great historian and archeologist has a great interest and passion in exploring mysteries and solving them. At present, he is tangled with The Linen Book of Zagreb with the longest text written in the Etruscan language. This book belongs to the third century B.C. The text is written in language heavily influenced Latin, which is lost in the present world. It is extremely uncommon for linen books to last that long- but Liber Linteus was no ordinary book. What Harry Coumnas has gathered from that book is that it appears to be a calendar detailing the funeral rituals. He also believes that this book was cut into pieces and used by ancient Egyptians to wrap a mummy. It was preserved in a good condition, but it was unstudied for a long period of time. When it was found, most people saw it simply assumed that the text was written in Egyptian. He confirms that he will soon solve this mystery book and the text written on it. Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Giving Girls a Voice Just how distant a dream going to school remains for girls in India is borne out in the new data on female literacy. According to this study, the proportion of girls who finished five years of primary school in India is 48%, which is far lower than Nepal (92%), Pakistan (74%) and Bangladesh (54%). The data also shows that only 15% of Indian women who studied till Class II can read a sentence. Gender, location and poverty remain such huge barriers for a majority of girls in India today. The bias against educating girls keeps them vulnerable to female infanticide, early marriage, gender violence, and sex trafficking. This can only change when education comes to be seen as a vital necessity for everyone, regardless of gender, rather than an advantage that only the privileged have. Investing in every girl’s education has to be seen as critical for social and economic development, for lifting households out of poverty. Educating girls is necessary to reduce the number of child marriages, which remain high in large parts of India even today despite being against the law. Studies show that women who get a secondary school education are 92% less likely to be forced into an early marriage. This in turn makes them vulnerable to early pregnancies, domestic violence, HIV and depression. Education also has a direct link to lower maternal and infant mortality rates. It helps build awareness about better hygiene, vaccinations and nutrition. It enables more informed choices on matters like family planning and employment. Studies show that women who have had the opportunities to go to school are two times more likely to send their own kids to school. All of which make compelling arguments to ensure we do more to send every girl in India to school.
Achilles Tendonitis The Facts Achilles TendonA tendon is a band of connective tissue that anchors muscle to bone. The Achilles tendon is the largest tendon in the body. It attaches the calf muscles to the heel bone (calcaneus) and is very important because it lets you lift your heel when you start to walk. It also helps you to walk, run or stand on tiptoe. Achilles tendonitis is inflammation of the Achilles tendon. In most cases, it is a type of overuse injury and is more common in younger people. Professional and weekend athletes can suffer from Achilles tendonitis, but it is also a common overuse injury in people not involved in sport. Treatment includes rest, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), physical therapy and avoiding activities that aggravate the condition. People with achilles tendinitis experience mild aching on the back of the leg close to the heel after increased activity. Stiffness in the back of the ankle when you first wake up in the morning, which subsides after mild activity. In some cases, the area may have swelling, thickening or be warm to the touch. Tenderness to touch along the tendon in the back of the ankle. Pain when the tendon is stretched (i.e. when you lift your foot/toes up). On examination, an inflamed or partially torn Achilles tendon is tender when squeezed between the fingers. Complete tears are differentiated by sudden, severe pain and inability to walk on the extremity. A palpable defect along the course of the tendon. A positive Thompson test (while the patient lies prone on the examination table, the examiner squeezes the calf muscle; this maneuver by the examiner does not cause the normally expected plantar flexion of the foot). Nonsurgical Treatment Many physical therapies exist to help with the pain. We have found the combination of modalities, stretching, acupuncture, footwear modification and myofascial release to be very effective. In resilient cases, a promising new treatment called Radial Shockwave may be indicated. The key to the treatment of this, and other foot problems, is an accurate diagnosis. With this, a treatment regimen tailored to you and your specific situation can be devised. We treat many acute and chronic achilles tendinitis in Edmonton and St. Albert, so remember ?it shouldn?t hurt.? Achilles Tendinitis Surgical Treatment
The Eisenhower Method For Taking Action (How to Distinguish Between Urgent and Important Tasks) Most people spend a lot of their time managing “situations” and “crisis”. They react to other’s priorities. And feel completely drained of energy every day wthout accomplishing anything of real significance to them. Time is distributed equally to everyone. But our choices separate the most productive people from everyone else. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States from 1953 until 1961. Before becoming President, he served as a general in the United States Army and as the Allied Forces Supreme Commander during World War II. He also later became NATO’s first supreme commander. Dwight made tough decisions continuously about which of the many tasks he should focus on each day. This finally led him to invent the world-famous Eisenhower Method, which today helps us prioritize by urgency and importance. The “Eisenhower Method” stems from a quote attributed to Dwight D. Eisenhower: It’s a useful time management tool for getting things done. It’s a prioritization framework. It focuses on radical or extreme prioritization. This simple model helps shift your thinking to long-term strategic planning and productivity. A lot of things that take up mental energy, waste time, and rarely move you toward your goals can easily be eliminated if you apply the Eisenhower Principle. It’s a simple decision-making tool you can use right now. It’s meant to help you question whether an action is really necessary. Excessive inability to manage your time effectively can result in trouble getting started, difficulty getting organised, and ultimately under achievement. How to use the Eisenhower Method You can only benefit from the Eisenhower Method if you can commit yourself to making radical categorization of your daily tasks. This Method requires that you group your tasks and activities into four priorities. 1. Priority 1 tasks are both urgent and important. 2. Priority 2 tasks are important but not urgent. 3. Priority 3 tasks are urgent but not important. 4. Priority 4 tasks are neither urgent nor important Image credit: Jamesclear.com Here is how you can handle your tasks based on the Principle above: 1. Important/Urgent quadrant are done immediately and personally e.g. crises, deadlines, problems. 2. Important/Not Urgent quadrant get an end date and are done personally e.g. relationships, planning, recreation. 3. Unimportant/Urgent quadrant are delegated e.g. interruptions, meetings, activities. 4. Unimportant/Not Urgent quadrant are dropped e.g. time wasters, pleasant activities, trivia. The end goal of the Eisenhower Method is to help you filter the noise from your decisions and concentrate on what really matters to you. The Art of Manliness described this as being “reactive” or “responsive: “Urgent means that a task requires immediate attention. These are the to-do’s that shout “Now!” Urgent tasks put us in a reactive mode, one marked by a defensive, negative, hurried, and narrowly-focused mindset. Important tasks are things that contribute to our long-term mission, values, and goals. Sometimes important tasks are also urgent, but typically they’re not. When we focus on important activities we operate in a responsive mode, which helps us remain calm, rational, and open to new opportunities.” Key takeaways If you are serious about improving your time management and productivity, take care of the most important and urgent tasks everyday first. Do them in the first 90 minutes of your work day if you can, using the first 90 minutes rule. Spend greater percentage of your time on tasks in the top two quadrants. But make sure you are not just reacting to tasks that need your attention but getting actual work done. Plan your work and actions ahead of time, before the next productive day. That way, when you are focusing on Priority I, you can get real work sorted. You should always have start date and a completion date on tasks in Priority 2. This will help you build your activity plan/calendar ahead of time. Ideally, most of your tasks should be priority 2 tasks. You will be tempted to spend a lot of your time sorting Priority 3 because sometimes the tasks will require your immediate attention, but you don’t necessarily have to do them yourself. Delegate more if you can. Otherwise don’t spend too much time on tasks that do not directly advance your goals. Do not let others define your priority. Move tasks to Priority 4 if you can’t delegate them. Most tasks in Priority 4 provide no real value. They are mostly a waste of time. Don’t hesitate to drop certain tasks in Priority 4 if they don’t move you closer to your vision or dream. Instead of aiming to completely rid yourself of Not Urgent and Not Important tasks, try to only spend a very limited amount of time on them. 5% or less of your waking hours is a good goal. I find that using this rather simple technique makes it easy to seperate my tasks and spend over 80% of my time doing actual work. It makes me question what is worth doing first every morning. Remember: It is not about collecting but finishing tasks. If you enjoyed this post, you will love Postanly Weekly. It’s my FREE weekly digest of the best science-based productivity, and self improvement posts from around the web. And my best posts of the week. Join 8000+ readers. Subscribe to the FREE Postanly Weekly digest here! Here is what you have missed!
5 Things You Should Know About Credit Cards Percent of Balance Owing Credit card companies will determine the minimum payment on your next credit card statement as $10 or a percentage of your outstanding balance, whichever is greater. Most financial institutions will use 2% and more conservative banks might use 3%. Your minimum payment would then be ‘$10 or 2% of your outstanding balance, whichever is greater’. So how does the way they calculate minimum payments affect how much you pay? Who cares if they use 1%, 2% or 3% of the balance owing? Let’s look at 2 examples, each with a $5,000 credit card balance @15% APR, but with different minimum payment requirements. Assuming you were only making minimum payments in both instances, this is how long it would take: credit card 1.GIF If the minimum payment is 2% of balance owing it would take you 32 years and 1 month to pay off and almost $8,000 in interest. Increase the percentage to 3% and you nearly cut your repayment period and interest expense by half to 16 years and 5 months and just over $3k in interest. To unsuspecting borrowers, reducing the percentage can cause more financial harm than increasing the interest rate in many cases. So what might be an alternative solution? Ideally you want to make fixed payments each month. A fixed payment is the best option because as the debt is paid off, more money goes towards the principle. Alternatively, you can determine your own ‘percentage of balance owing’ and use this amount for your monthly credit card payment each month. Let’s say you decided to go with 5%. Using the same example as above a $5,000 credit card debt at 15% interest rate. Monthly minimum payments is $10 or 5% of outstanding balance owing, whichever is greater. By increasing your minimum payments from 2% to 5% of the balance you would be able to pay off the loan quicker. If paying off your credit card debt is not a top priority, then setting your own ‘percentage of balance owing’ slightly higher than the banks might serve as a good middle ground between making the banks recommended minimum payments and a fixed payment amount each month. Below is a comparison between making payments of 5% of balance owing or a fixed amount of $250/month. The fixed amount wins out but the 5% option will still leave you better off than the previous comparison. credit card 2.GIF Daily interest rate Interest expense on a credit card balance is compounded daily. Every day that you have a balance owning on a credit card (outside of the grace period), your bank is calculating interest on interest and this can add up. Most credit card companies express the interest rate as annual percentage rate (APR). However, because interest expense is compounded daily, the actual interest owed is higher. If you convert how much interest you would actually pay into a percentage, this would be called the effective annual rate (EAR). I have talked about the difference between APR and EAR in a previous post. Below is a table of sample interest rates and what they truly cost. I used this calculator to do the conversion. Annual Percentage Rate (APR) Effective Annual Rate (EAR) true cost 29.99% 34.96% 19.99% 22.12% 15% 16.18% 12% 12.75% 5% 5.13% Knowing how interest rates are compounded will help provide a better picture of the true cost of borrowing. Convenience cheques I got my first credit card during my second year of university. When it arrived in the mail included in the package was a credit card holder agreement as well as five cheques for me to use. I was a bit confused because I always associated cheques with a bank account like a chequing or savings account. I never knew you could write cheques from your credit card. I proceeded to read the fine print document that accompanied the cheques. ‘Writing a cheque from your credit card is considered a cash advance’ (I’m paraphrasing). This was when I was first introduced to the concept of a cash advance. Cash advances typically charge a higher interest rate and the interest starts accruing right away. There is no grace period for a cash advance. Whether it is writing a cheque or getting cashback, anything outside of a point of sale purchase with your credit card is considered a cash advance. Callable debt Consumer debt like credit card debt and unsecured line of credit (LOC) are callable debt. Callable debt is debt that the lender can request to be paid back in full within 30-90 days, period. That is a little scary. Granted, because creditors prefers that you keep your debts outstanding for a long period of time so you can pay them more interest, they most likely will not exercise that right. Knowing this however has helped me gain perspective on who really holds the power in a business transaction between a borrower and a lender. The borrower has options when searching for credit and lenders may work to win their business. However, once they sign on the dotted line and indebtedness begins, the borrower is truly slave to the lender. Grace Period Grace period is the time period when interest is not charged on credit card purchases. This time period is usually 21 days. Grace period only applies to those that pay their balance in full each month. Those that keep a balance will not receive a grace period. Let’s say for example you received your first credit card in the mail and purchased $200 worth of merchandise. Later on you receive your first credit card statement online with the $200 balance owing. Your statement date is June 1st. Your payment due date is June 25th. If you pay the full $200 by June 21st, (your 21 days of grace period) you will not incur any interest on this debt. If you pay any amount less than $200 (the full balance owing) the interest expense will be calculated from the first day you made the purchases up until you pay the debt back in full. On a larger scale grace periods are similar to the buy now and pay later furniture and electronic store campaign. You may walk into a furniture store and pick out an entire living and dining room set, get 0% interest financing for the first year, make no payments towards your debt and start paying after year one. However, your first payment one year from now will include your principal balance plus a years’ worth of interest expense. Those that understand this utilize the 0% interest financing and pay off the entire debt before their promotional interest rate of 0% is over. Those that don’t pay a hefty price. Grace periods work the same way but in a much smaller scale with shorter time frames and lower interest rates. Categories: Debt Tags: , , , , , , 4 replies 1. When you look at the details in black and white, it really makes sense to pay it off as quickly as you can because that compounded interest is back breaking. Excellent information. 2. This was a very informative post. I always wondered how they calculated the minimum payments on a card. To be honest, I have never had any credit card debt so I haven’t really ever had to deal with minimum payments, but I was considering putting a very large expense on a card with a 0% offer to give myself some time to deal with it, and I wanted to get a better idea of what the card companies would charge me each month before getting my feet wet. So, thanks for this post! It really helps! Liked by 1 person • The frequency of compound interest (i.e. daily, monthly etc) can really affect the amount of interest you ultimately pay. When I learned that it changed my perspective on debt. My student loan debt compounded daily and the interest was killing me. That was why I was so determined on getting rid of it. Glad you enjoyed the post. Liked by 1 person Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Ludwig von Mises, Prof. Dr. 20.9.1881 – 10.10.1973 born in Lemberg died in New York City In 1900 Ludwig von Mises began to study law at the University of Vienna and was graduated 'Dr.iur.' in 1906. Subsequently, he began to work at the Vienna Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where he headed the finance department. In 1913 he was promoted lecturer ('Privatdozent') at the University of Vienna, in 1918 he became extraordinary Professor. His private seminars were attended by numerous prominent scientists, including Friedrich Engel Jánosi, Gottfried Haberler, Oskar MorgensternMartha Stephanie Braun and Friedrich von Hayek (later Nobel prize winner). Ludwig von Mises was a leading economic adviser to the Austrian Government, e.g. at the end hyperinflation in 1922 and the reorganization of the Austrian National Bank. and advocated a liberal economic policy. Ludwig von Mises taught at the Institut universitaire de hautes études internationales in Geneva/Switzerland since 1934. He was persecuted in times of Nazism as a Jew, lost his position and was thrown out of the university on April 8th, 1938. Ludwig von Mises initially remained in Switzerland. In 1940 he emigrated to the USA, received the US Citizenship in 1946 and taught at New York University from 1945 to 1969. Related content
external image the_Dionysus_rose.jpg Dionysus was the god of wine, agriculture, madness, and fertility; he is considered patron god of the arts. His demeanor is often accounted as two-sided: sometimes joyful, vivacious, festive, and bringing forth ecstasy; other times he is enraged, merciless, and bitter. These differences reflect the two sides that alcohol can bring out in a person.[1] The art of grape growing and wine making is said to be a reflection of Dionysus' movement and actions.[2] external image grape_vines.jpg His Origin Dionysus is the son of the god Zeus, and the mortal Semele. Hera, Zeus's wife, was incredibly jealous of her husband's mortal lover. Zeus always came to Semele in human form and had to take his word for it that he was in fact a god. Hera approached Semele in disguise to convince her to find out which god shared her bed, commanding that he come to her in full divine glory. Semele forced Zeus to promise that he would grant her one wish, because he was so in love with this mortal, he agreed. Semele's wish was to see Zeus, but when he granted her one wish, Semele was essentially burnt to a crisp by Zeus's lightning bolts; she was pregnant with Dionysus at the time. Zeus was able to save Dionysus and sowed him into his thigh for the remainder of the gestation period.[3] Dionysus was born immortal because he came from Zeus's body. Hera was still angered by Dionysus' existence and ordered the Titan's to destroy him. Luckily for Dionysus, Rhea saved him and he was raised in the mountains by nymphs following this incident.[4] Zeus and Semele Zeus and Semele Cult Rituals and Special Powers Dionysus engaged in cult like activities and encouraged followers with the help of maenads; wild women in a drunken frenzy. Dionysus was the only god who was able to restore life by rescuing people from the underworld. Against great odds, he was able to retrieve his long dead mother and bring her to Mount Olympus.[5] Dionysus was able to throw people into fits of ecstasy and self gratification. They often behaved like drunken fools and exhibited poor judgement and rash decision making. Maenad Cult Maenad Cult Sometimes portrayed as a bearded and masculine full grown man. Other portrayals show him as young, dainty, or feminine.[6] external image 220px-Bacchusbycaravaggio.jpeg external image dionysus4.jpg Grapes and Wine Goblets external image lycurgus-cup-white300.jpg Ariadne and Dionysus Ariadne and Dionysus Oenopion and Staphylos[7] Roman Equivalent 1. ^ http://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Dionysus/dionysus.html 2. ^ http://www.pantheon.org/articles/d/dionysus.html 3. ^ http://www.pantheon.org/articles/d/dionysus.html 4. ^ http://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Dionysus/dionysus.html 5. ^ http://www.greekmythology.com/Other_Gods/Dionysus/dionysus.html 6. ^ http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/p/Dionysus.htm 7. ^ http://gogreece.about.com/od/greekmythology/a/mythdionysus.htm
History of Peanut Butter First Comes the Peanut The peanut was first known to exist in South America, as far back as 950 B.C., most likely in Brazil. The Incas were known to have made peanuts into a paste during this time, as well as to have peanut crops. Peanuts were actually said to have been found in the tombs of mummies in Peru! Peanut Migration Peanuts with Shell Peanuts with Shell The peanut had to get to the United States somehow from Peru. So how did this happen? It is believed that the peanut made it to Africa from Peru by early explorers of South America. Then, the peanut was traded to Spain, and from Spain to the American colonies. Once in America, peanuts were grown commercially in North Carolina as early as 1818 and in Virginia as early as the 1840’s. In the 1890’s, George Washington Carver, who worked at the Alabama Tuskegee Institute, started to use the peanut as a replacement crop for the whipped out cotton crops destroyed by weevils. Peanut Uses Other Than Peanut Butter In the 1400’s, peanut crops were growing in Africa. Africans are said to have put peanuts into stew once they were ground up. In China, peanuts were actually made into creamy sauces. During the civil war, it is said that peanuts were made into a peanut porridge. In the early 1900’s, an Italian immigrant by the name of Amedo Obici started roasting peanuts in oil. He and Mario Peruzzi began selling these peanuts under the label of “Planters” peanuts! George Washington Carver in 1903 went on to find about 300 uses for the peanut with his research at Alabama Tuskegee Institute, such as in soups and desserts. He is said to be the father of the peanut industry, for his work with peanuts and their horticulture. Peanut Butter Development John Harvey Kellogg John Harvey Kellogg The beginnings of peanut butter began with a doctor in the city of St. Louis in the 1890’s. It is said that this doctor was looking for a protein solution for poor people with bad teeth who could not chew meat. This doctor originally used his own meat grinder to grind the peanuts into peanut paste. The doctor took his idea to George A. Bayle, Jr., who owned a food products company. The peanut paste began to be packaged and sold in barrels for about 6 cents per pound! Around this time, Dr. John Kellogg, the staff physician at Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, also began making peanut paste for his patients. He tried to get his patients to become vegetarian, so this was a way for them to get protein and avoid eating meat. He and his brother, W.K. Kellogg, actually patented a peanut butter process. The patent was granted in 1895, stating peanut butter to be “a pasty adhesive substance that is for convenience of distinction termed nut butter.” The peanut butter by the Kellogg brothers steamed the peanuts and then grinded them (which gave it a different taste from today’s roasted peanuts used for peanut butter.) The Kellogg brothers then focused on their cereal, which was sold as the Kellogg brand worldwide. One of the Kellogg’s employees, Joseph Lambert, made hand-operated peanut grinders to make peanut butter in 1896. He developed the idea and created the Lambert Food Company. His wife actually made a cookbook about nuts and how to cook them (including peanut butter recipes.) Commercialization of Peanut Butter As We Know It Australia made peanut butter available to the public in 1899. It was produced by Edward Halsey at the Sanitarium Health Food Company there. The United States saw its public introduction of peanut butter into mainstream society in 1904, at the St. Louis World Fair (then called the Louisiana Purchase Expedition.) C.H. Sumner sold the pneaut butter at a concession stand at the fair, making a total of over $700 in sales! In 1908, Krema Products Company, located in Columbus, Ohio, started to sell peanut butter. This company is the oldest of the peanut butter producers still in business today. At that time, the peanut butter was only sold in Ohio, since the company’s founder Benton Black wanted it this way. No matter, however, because barrels of peanut butter don’t keep too well anyway. The next state to produce peanut butter was California. Joseph Rosefield was selling different brands of peanut butter there, in a smooth variety that was churned like butter and unlike the previous gritty brands that had previously existed. Joseph also obtained a patent for a process that kept peanut butter fresh for up to a year, by preventing the oil from separating from the peanut butter. In 1928, Joseph Rosefield licensed his smooth peanut butter recipe to Pond Company. They sold the peanut butter as Peter Pan brand! Then, in 1932, Joseph and the Pond Company fell out, and Joseph went on to create his own business called Rosefield Packing Company. It began selling peanut butter under the brand name of Skippy in 1933. Two years later, Rosefield made a crunchy version of peanut butter that added chopped peanuts after the peanut butter was processed. In 1958, Proctor&Gamble started producing the most popular brand of peanut butter today, Jif. Proctor & Gamble made this possible by buying W. T. Young Foods in Kentucky. Actually, Jif has the largest plant for making peanut butter anywhere! The most popular brand of peanut butter in Canada is Kraft, who also sells its product to Australia. Peanut Butter Production Today Peanut Butter Mill Peanut butter straight out of a mill Today, many nuts are made into some type of butter. Nut butters, as you might call them, are made from different types of nuts including the almond and hazelnut. Nutella markets a hazelnut spread made with hazelnuts. Of course you know, however, that peanuts aren’t really nuts, they’re legumes. A legume is a dry fruit that has a seam on two sides. Legumes are also known as pods. With most legumes, the seam opens on two sides. The peanut’s pod, however, does not split open like other legumes (at least not by itself.) The United States happens to be the biggest supplier of peanut butter, and the biggest consumer! Argentina and Chile also export large amounts of peanut butter. Other countries harvest peanut crops, but the peanuts aren’t generally used for peanut butter. They’re used for animal feed and peanut oil for cooking. In the United States, law governs that peanut butter contain at least 90% peanuts. What this means is that if you make a lowfat version of peanut butter you have to call it something else, like a nut spread. Keep this in mind if you’re planning on developing a new peanut butter process and marketing it yourself as the next Peter Pan! Peanut butter is made with peanuts roasted in an oven. The peanuts used have to be inspected first. Most of the peanuts used come from Florida, Georgia, and good ol’ Alabama. Once a peanut is roasted, it then goes through a process to rapidly cool it with air so it doesn’t cook further. The outer skin is removed with belts or brushes. The peanuts are then split, cleaned and sorted. Peanuts now go to the grinder. A first stage includes pulverizing of the nut, with a second stage adding the other ingredients like salt and sugar. It is in this second stage that the peanut butter has a stabilizer added so the oil doesn’t separate.
How Addiction Affects Families Addiction affects more than just the addicted. In fact, addiction affects all of those who love and care about the person addicted to drugs or alcohol, especially the family. The family is the one closest to the addicted. Sometimes, it’s the family that suffers just as much as the one addicted to a substance. Addiction is about much more than just the substance you are addicted to. Addiction affects the way you think, act, and behave. Because of these things, those closest to you are affected. When the drug addict has a sudden mood outburst, the family is affected. Addiction can also make a person become violent. That kind of behavior obviously affects a family. When a family member knows their loved one has a problem with addiction, they become preoccupied with the addict’s behavior. They start looking at every time the addict has a drink or takes a drug. They start to wonder where they are when they aren’t home and worry about their safety. This becomes very dangerous for a family, because when one person is preoccupied with another, the rest of the family is neglected. Addiction also causes a lot of stress on family members. Stress leads people to have a compromised immune system, allowing more sickness to enter in. Stress may also cause others to be on edge, prompting more arguments in the home. The stress of worrying about the addict ends up changing the family dynamic. The old saying, “I’m only hurting myself” simply isn’t true when it comes to addiction. Families suffer as well as the addict.
A Little Help from our Friends English: An image of a zombie from the CDC's blog. English: An image of a zombie from the CDC’s blog. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Today we’d like to answer some reader questions as well as show the depth of knowledge available in the community. We’ve dug through the mailbag and found some questions we can only answer with a little help from our friends. How do zombies tell the difference between living people and other, perhaps freshly turned, zombies? The answer comes from our friends at the Necropology homepageZombies have infrared vision which allows them to identify the heat signature of humans. Since a zombie’s body temperature cools off to the temperature of their environment, it’s easy for the zombies to tell the difference between a human and their own kind. Newly dead (those in the process of being attacked) take a while to cool off, which explains why zombies will pile on a human who is being attacked, even after the person is dead. I haven’t purchased any weapons to prepare for the zombie apocalypse and can’t afford any. Are there any reliable, effective weapons I can make myself? The answer comes from Zombease – The Pummel Pipe Melee Weapon. Made of steel pipes, the directions are clear and the components are items one can easily find. The finished project looks like a croquet mallet of death. Intimidating. My fifth grader is scared that we might be separated in the event of a zombie apocalypse. How do I reassure him? Talk to his teacher about CDC resources for educators. Their Zombie Pandemic Preparedness Ideas includes an emergency checklist to ensure your child gathers the essentials to survive and a disease detectives scenario to help your child identify how the zombie virus is being spread. Knowledge is power. How do I talk to my children about a zombie apocalypse? Once again, leave it to the professionals at the CDC. Their graphic novel, Zombie Pandemic: Preparedness 101, is informative and worthwhile for all ages. How do you find a decent place to hole up, if necessary? Gracious Living in a Zombie World: A Ladie’s Handbook provide a short list of the necessities they look for when seeking a new home. Musts on their list include fertile soil, a water source, and nearby woodlands or water for hunting and/or fishing. Is is ethical to take my neighbor’s fortified house and weapons if I’m not prepared for the zombie apocalypse? Well, Zombie Spirituality provides pointers for some of the ethical decisions one might have to make. “Never feed a stray they won’t go away” sums up their recommendations. Can you recommend a good zombie movie? The Zombie Mistress Overlord‘s review of Juan of the Dead inspired us to watch the movie and we weren’t disappointed. You can’t help but love a movie where the phone is answered, “Juan of the Dead, we kill your beloved ones.” We hope you enjoy checking out the zombie blogs mentioned above. If you follow a blog we missed, let us know in the comments. Happy Wednesday from the Zombie Emergency Relief Organization. We feed zombies so you won’t have to. One comment on “A Little Help from our Friends 1. Thanks for the plug! We’re glad we could be of assistance to your gentle readers. -Miss E Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Loading presentation... Present Remotely Send the link below via email or IM Present to your audience Start remote presentation • Invited audience members will follow you as you navigate and present • People invited to a presentation do not need a Prezi account • This link expires 10 minutes after you close the presentation • A maximum of 30 users can follow your presentation • Learn more about this feature in our knowledge base article Do you really want to delete this prezi? Make your likes visible on Facebook? You can change this under Settings & Account at any time. No, thanks No description William Loyd on 6 January 2014 Comments (0) Please log in to add your comment. Report abuse Transcript of Polygons Introduction: What are Polygons? Polygons are closed plane figures with 3 or more sides. Polygons are shapes. They can be regular polygons like triangles or pentagons or they can be irregular polygons and have an odd or unusual form. Here are some examples of polygons: Polygons in Our Everyday Lives Although we may not realize it, polygons are everywhere in our everyday lives. You can see a polygon anywhere, anytime. For example, stop signs are shaped like octagons and your school notebooks have a rectangular shape. Those are just a couple of examples and if you look around right now, you will find at least ten polygons. See how much polygons appear in our lives. Polygons and Non Polygons Just your average polygons. Your not so normal polygons. Why are Polygons Important? As I have said, polygons appear everywhere. They make up many of the things we see. If we didn't have polygons, what would the world be like. Would everything be round or have just 1 or 2 sides. Hmmm... Polygons are cool! Polygons are important! Can you see the Polygons? Polygons Rock! Regular Polygons By: Will Loyd Irregular Polygons Polygon Practice 4. Which shape is NOT a polygon? 2. Why is a circle not a polygon? 3. Is this a polygon? Why or why not? 1. What is a polygon? 5. Which shape is an heptagon? (Hint: Look for a shape with 7 sides.) In conclusion, polygons are closed plane figures with three or more sides. There are two types of polygons, regular and irregular. Polygons are all around us, even if we don't notice them. I hope this presentation helped you learn a lot about polygons. Full transcript
Historiography Saturday: Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde In Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, a Victorian parable so integrated into popular culture that its adaptations alone have their own Wikipedia page, the titular Dr. Henry Jekyll devises a drug that allows him to become an alter ego not restricted by expectations of respectability. The two halves coexist until the Hyde personality begins to take over and commits murder; facing discovery, Hyde commits suicide, ending both their lives. Although the novella is clearly an allegory, Stevenson resisted applying a specific meaning to the Jekyll-Hyde duality. However, scholars have suggested that one possible interpretation might be that Jekyll creates Hyde as an outlet for his homosexuality, an attraction that would be unthinkable for a respectable physician to act upon.It is important to note that while many adaptations add a female love interested (or at least lust interest) for Jekyll, the original only contains two women, neither of which is even given a name. In 1885, the year before Strange Case was published, the Labouchere Amendment was passed, criminalizing sodomy and leaving homosexuals vulnerable to blackmail; the repeated references to a fear of blackmail could be read as references to the Amendment. One critic has gone so far as to suggest that the character is a stand-in for Stevenson’s own attraction to men, though her textual evidence is spotty. Regardless of authorial intent, the tale does take on a different spin when read as a tragedy of the repression of same-sex attraction. Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Hydro Power Essay Custom Student Mr. Teacher ENG 1001-04 19 November 2016 Hydro Power Worldwide, hydropower plants produce about 24 percent of the world’s electricity and supply more than 1 billion people with power. The world’s hydropower plants output a combined total of675,000 megawatts, the energy equivalent of 3.6 billion barrels of oil, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. There are more than 2,000 hydropower plants operating in the United States, making hydropower the country’s largest renewable energy source. In this article, we’ll take a look at how falling water creates energy and learn about the hydrologic cycle that creates the water flow essential for hydropower. You will also get a glimpse at one unique application of hydropower that may affect your daily life. The basic principle of hydropower is that if water can be piped from a certain level to a lower level, then the resulting water pressure can be used to do work. If the water pressure is allowed to move a mechanical component then that movement involves the conversion of the potential energy of the water into mechanical energy. Hydro turbines convert water pressure into mechanical shaft power, which can be used to drive an electricity generator, a grinding mill or some other useful device. 2.HistoryThe use of falling water as a source of energy is known for a long time. In the ancient times waterwheels were used already, but only at the beginning of the nineteenth century with the invention of the hydro turbine the use of hydropower got a new impulse.Small-scale hydropower was the most common way of electricity generating in the early 20th century. In 1924 for example in Switzerland nearly 7000 small scale hydropower stations were in use. The improvement of distribution possibilities of electricity by means of high voltage transmission lines caused fainted interest in small scale hydropower.Renewed interest in the technology of small scale hydropower started in China. Estimates say that between 1970 and 1985 nearly 76,000 small scale hydro stations have been built there! 3.Advantages and disadvantagesHydropower is a very clean source of energy. It does not consume but only uses the water, after use it is available for other purposes (although on a lower horizontal level). The conversion of the potential energy of water into mechanical energy is a technology with a high efficiency (in most cases double that of conventional thermal power stations).The use of hydropower can make a contribution to savings on exhaustible energy sources. Each 600 kWh of electricity generated with a hydro plant is equivalent to 1 barrel of oil (assuming an efficiency of 38 % for the conversion of oil into electricity). The main advantages of hydropower are: * power is usually continuously available on demand, * given a reasonable head, it is a concentrated energy source, * the energy available is predictable, * no fuel and limited maintenance are required, so running costs are low (compared with diesel power) and in many cases imports are displaced to the benefit of the local economy, * it is a long-lasting and robust technology; systems can last for 50 years or more without major new investments.Against these, the main shortcomings are: * it is a site specific technology and sites that are well suited to the harnessing of water power and are also close to a location where the power can be economically exploited are not very common, * there is always a maximum useful power output available from a given hydropower site, which limits the level of expansion of activities which make use of the power, * river flows often vary considerably with the seasons, especially where there are monsoon-type climates and this can limit the firm power output to quite a small fraction of the possible peak output, * lack of familiarity with the technology and how to apply it inhibits the exploitation of hydro resources in some areas. 4.From water to WattsTo know the power potential of water in a river it is necessary to know the flow in the river and the available head.The flow of the river is the amount of water (in m3 or litres) which passes in a certain amount of time a cross section of the river. Flows are normally given in cubic meters per second (m3/s) or in litres per second (l/s).Head is the vertical difference in level (in meters) the water falls down.The theoretical power (P) available from a given head of water is in exact proportion to the head H and the flow Q.P=Q × H × c c = constantThe constant c is the product of the density of water and the acceleration due to gravity (g).If P is measured in Watts, Q in m3/s and H in meters, the gross power of the flow of water is:P=1000 × 9.8 × Q × HThis available power will be converted by the hydro turbine in mechanical power. As a turbine has an efficiency lower than 1, the generated power will be a fraction of the available gross power. Hydro power is also utilised by large scale companies as a private use. Many large mining companies or aluminium manufacturers use vast amounts of electrical so rather than buying from the state they can generate their own power by using hydro power generation. Free Hydro Power Essay Sample • Subject: • University/College: University of Arkansas System • Type of paper: Thesis/Dissertation Chapter • Date: 19 November 2016 • Words: • Pages: Let us write you a custom essay sample on Hydro Power for only $16.38 $13.9/page your testimonials
Digital Currency: Positive and Negative Features Digital currency, Crypto currency, Bitcoin and Blockchain are certain terms that have often been appearing in the front pages of newspapers across the world. The recent ransomware attacks, WannaCry and Petya, have made these terms more familiar. What is a digital currency? Digital currency can be described as a digital representation of value of an imaginary asset , issued by private developers and denominated in their own unit of account. This currency can be obtained, stored, and transferred through electronic medium as long as both parties for a transaction agree to use the same. Digital currency, cryptocurrency and virtual currency are normally considered as different nomenclatures for a form digital asset. However, there are arguments that cryptocurrency and virtual currency are subsets of larger universe of digital currency. Digital currencies have been in existence for more than two decades now. It is estimated that more than 700 different forms of digital currency are in existence as of now. The total value of digital currencies estimated in 2015 by International Monitory Fund was to the tune of US $ 7 billion. The value of digital currency is miniscule even if we compare it to the US money supply of $12 trillion alone. But the fact is that it is growing as an alternate monitory medium at a much faster pace. What are the differences between digital currency and physical currency? Physical currency is a medium of exchange, representing the monitory value mentioned therein which is guaranteed by the central bank or the currency issuing nation. US dollar, Rupee, Pound and Euro are examples of physical currency. These are recognized medium of exchange within a country and also between nations. Physical currencies are issued in a highly regulated manner. The value of physical currency remains the same though the relative value in comparison with the physical currency of another nation may vary depending on factors like inflation, growth rate, political stability etc. of related countries It is a liability on the central government or the central bank of the country and is a legal tender Digital currency, bitcoin, cryptocurrency, physical currency, wallet, virtual currency, digital currencies Digital currency is not a liability on anyone. It is an unregulated, digital asset issued and controlled by the developers and accepted and transacted by agreeing parties. They derive their value based on demand-supply position. The value of a digital currency fluctuates based on the demand-supply mismatch. Digital currency is not accepted as a legal tender by any country as of now. They have a decentralized payment system and have no central repository. It may , however, be clearly understood that the electronic money that we use in our everyday life over internet or net banking represent the underlying physical currency only and is not digital currency. What are the main features of Digital currency? The main features of digital currencies are: • They are based on distributed ledger system • The value is determined supply-demand gap • They are not a liability on an individual, institution, government or central bank • New unit of currency is issued based on computer protocol. There is no identifiable issuer or intermediary for carrying out transactions • Each type of currency has its own predetermined rules and method of creation • Denomination of the currency is not related to any underlying commodity or asset • A person keeps the currency in a digital wallet with specific computer programme keys to identify the owner. • On initiation of transaction by him, the amount is transferred to the wallet of another person who is ready to transact in digital currency. The transaction undergoes a validation process. • The owner remains anonymous. • Transactions are faster and cost effective. What are the negative features of digital currencies? • There is no underlying asset and hence the vale is a matter of speculation. • Huge volatility may lead to huge losses • Storage in digital forms are prone to cyberattacks and hacking • The anonymous character of the owner encourages usage of digital currency in illegal and underworld transaction involving drug trafficking, terrorism financing, hijacking, smuggling and ransom payments. The settlement of ransomware attacks are often carried out in digital currency because of anonymous nature of the account holder. What is the legal status of digital currencies? So far no country has officially permitted usage of digital currencies as they are created in unregulated environment and are used for activities like terrorism financing and settling transactions of underworld dealings. Though it was rumored that US Securities Exchange Commission was in the process of approval of bitcoin based exchange traded funds, the same was not materialized. Japan and China are coming in terms with the usage of bitcoins. What is cryptocurrency? Cryptocurrency is the most well-known form of digital currency. It is an encrypted digital currency and applies a system of cryptography for creation of coins. Bitcoin is the most famous cryptocurrency and was created in 2005 for the first time. What is bitcoin? How much is the outstanding value? What is a microbe or microorganism? How is it classified? Why is Khadi important for Indians? Digital Currency: Positive and Negative Features Article Name Digital Currency: Positive and Negative Features Leave a Reply
Martin Heidegger called Socrates “the purest thinker” in the West, which, I gather, doesn’t necessarily mean the best thinker. The sign of Socrates’ purity is not writing down his thoughts, for fear they would become ossified, misunderstood, vulgarized. What you say always depends on the character of the person to whom you are speaking. Books speak to no one in particular, violating the common-sense principle that your teaching style ought to vary according to the learning style of your student. One trouble with taking the purely Socratic approach too seriously is really believing that a great teacher is one who leads his students to the truth dialectically, with no books or other “outside authorities” needed. We have no firm evidence that approach really worked that well for the “historical Socrates”--as opposed to the idealized character Socrates who shows up all the time in Plato’s dialogues (or really wordy plays). It is highly unlikely it really works for the teachers these days who pride themselves in using that teaching method. We even see in Socratic dialogues that his really smart interlocuters don’t have memories good enough not to be plain tricked by Socrates, who often reminds them about--by changing up--what he said before. Now I don’t try to trick my students that way, although I constantly remind them how easy it would be to do. When I say "remember we just said," they know it’s because I’m saying something different--either because I screwed up before or to provocatively change my position for instructional or entertainment reasons. When I say "I have to take a controversial stand," I follow with a stand that nobody would find controversial at all. “I do think women these days should be able to work.” Or: “Slavery is just wrong.” What passes for my pedagogical intention is to show that professors who preen about “being radical” or offensive are usually being quite conventional. It would be genuinely radical to say in class: “Religious liberty makes most people more unhappy than they should be.” I do regularly put that the latter, genuinely thought-provoking opinion in the mouth of Marx, when talking about “On the Jewish Question.” Another pedagogical point that I hope I make is that there are always limits to free speech. There are some things that Socrates dare not say straight out, like believing in the gods is stupid. But Plato does sometimes lead us to assume he must really think something like that. Once students make that assumption, it’s time to remind them that Socrates also taught that those who are proud of their atheism--the sophists--also stupidly thought they knew more than they really did. Socrates doesn’t make the mistake of feeding the sophists’ vanity and needlessly corrupting the already-arrogant youth by opening dissing the gods. He seems to use reason to make religion better. It’s impossible to say everything you really want to say. A teacher has to think some about what his audience wants to hear. Socrates has to watch he says to the strong and idealistic young men in the Republic. He says, for example, he knows he can’t walk away without giving them some positive account of justice, even though he actually believes such a confident account is above even his pay grade. It would be bad for them, given their reluctant but real openness to tyranny. It would be bad for Socrates, who might get the stuff beaten out of him or have charges brought against him for impiety and corrupting the young. It would even be unfair to the young men. Socrates had “dialectically” taken the religious and poetic defenses of being just off the table. Without saying more, he would have rendered them defenseless before clever sophists who believe that money and power are the bottom line. It was his responsibility to convince them it makes sense to be good, to be just, because tyranny and wisdom aren’t “on the same page.” No decent young person really wants to believe that money and power are the bottom line. And, you know, they aren’t. So it’s always important to remind students that justice always imposes limits on free speech. The reigning view of justice is always somewhat tyrannical. As Socrates shows in the Crito, “the Laws”--the dominant view of who we are and what we’re supposed to do--always demand more of people than is reasonable. In American democracy, as Tocqueville insistently reminds us, there’s sometimes “the tyranny of the majority.” A secular liberal would add here immediately, of course, that that tyranny explains why American political leaders can’t be openly atheistic, and why President Obama had to feign being opposed to same-sex marriage until recently. A libertarian would add, of course, that’s why no politician can tell the truth that entitlements on which an overwhelming majority of Americans depend are unsustainable. Socrates points out that the democratic prejudice is to exaggerate both the goodness and the real possibility of individual liberation. The “moral majority” is actually a popular prejudice against pure democracy; it’s the spirited and pious prejudice that produced the trial of Socrates. Pure democrats claim to be all about an easygoing acceptance of diverse lifestyles, including, of course, Socrates’. But radical democrats--meaning those who are extremists when it comes to “Doing your own thing” being the bottom line--readily get angry and vicious when it comes to those who say that freedom must be limited by virtue, by coming to terms with the responsibilities necessity--beginning with the necessities of birth and death--imposes upon us. The argument over same-sex marriage today should be a reasonable and friendly discussion of the relationship between freedom and virtue. But it’s not: Party because even the Supreme Court says that all the words coming out of the mouths of those on one side of the discussion are motivated by animosity toward homosexuals as a class. That’s a conversation stopper, if ever there was one. Faculty members these days in mainstream institutions can only say what they please about same-sex marriage in class if they agree with the dominant view of sophisticated Americans--our “cognitive elite”--today. That’s not to say that view is wrong, but that it’s become a dogma. It’s easy for me to be fair-and-balanced and acknowledge that most people on both sides of that issue and plenty of others are pretty dogmatic. Faculty members teaching at evangelical and seriously Catholic colleges have to watch what they say too, if they want to educate their students “from where they are,” not to mention avoid being fired. But my last word is that professors, like Socrates, can’t really educate without taking into account the reigning dogmas, including dogmas that exaggerate our personal freedom, as well as dogmas about who God is and what he requires of each of us. Free speech that moves minds and hearts is always fairly tricky.
Monday, December 22, 2008 (0) Comments Producing a logo and short publication with Corel Draw welcome to This tutorial was produced for Draw 7 but the advice contained is still useful for more recent versions. Corel Draw Corel Draw was the first of the Windows-based drawing programs and has built on this early start to become far-and-away the dominant drawing package on the PC. Its biggest strength - and its biggest potential limitation - is its all-encompassing approach. In the past this has led to accusations of unfocussed bloating, but with version 7.0 Corel have addressed the criticisms with a far tighter and better rationalized program. Even so, there's a huge range of functionality to cover. Real World Project Essentially this functionality falls into two main categories: the creation of design-intensive illustrations and the production of page-based publications. We're going to tackle both aspects by looking at a typical real world project, the creation of a logo and its incorporation into a brochure. Designing the logo will cover all the fundamental skills of adding elements and transforming, arranging and formatting them. Creating the layout will build on these skills and involve setting up the page grid, managing imported text and graphics and preparing final output. Our project is based on the launch of a new scheme called "Building The Future", an initiative by Volunteer Development Scotland designed to help organisations wanting to encourage the involvement of young people. Broadly then, our job is to create a logo and brochure with a young and progressive feel and with overtones of construction and bridge building. For the logo, we might only have three words to play with, but we need to attract the eye and also to get over these subliminal messages. Fortunately, the artistic handling of text through the text tool (F8) is one of the central features that sets Corel Draw apart from both DTP and bitmap editing rivals. Type Matters Typeface is absolutely crucial so it's essential to have a look at our text in a full range of different typefaces. One of Corel Draw's strengths is the huge range of over 1,000 fonts that it comes with, provided in both TrueType and Postscript Type 1 format. As our final publication is going to be typeset, it's preferable to stick to the latter, which will mean having to install Adobe Type Manager if it is not already set up on your system. Corel Draw's Format Text dialog (Ctrl + T) previews the first few words of any selected text so it allows the quick choice of likely contenders. In our case, elaborate or serif faces would obviously clash with the simple and youthful theme, but that still leaves all the sans serif faces. By combining the Font command with the Duplicate command (Ctrl + D) it's possible to quickly build up a page of possibilities to choose from. To ensure that the duplications are automatically positioned where we want them, their placement can be set with the General tab of the Options command (Ctrl + J) under the Tools menu. Alternatively, to quickly copy an object you can simply select it and press the + key on the numeric keypad. It will be easier to control the process if we first zoom out to the full page (F4) and then hone in on the most likely choices with the Zoom lasso (F2). In our case the strong suggestions of engineering and modernity in the phrase "Building The Future" help pick out two fonts. To stress the most important final word we can use the condensed and angular - and so bold and futuristic - Fujiyama, while for the others we can use the lighter and more geometrical - and so more open and inviting - Avalon. For any design to succeed it must simultaneously offer both variety and contrast and coherence and balance, and our choice of these complementary but very different fonts does just that. They are by no means the only fonts that could work, but they do offer the most important principle of successful design, an internal logic. In other words, they have a good reason for being the way they are. A lot can be done graphically using just text, but other elements can help to give the design a unity and to set it apart. The basic shapes are created with the rectangle (F6) and oval (F7) tools, which can be forced to produce regular squares and circles by holding down Corel's "constrain" key, the Ctrl key. The Shift key is used to draw the shape outwards from its centre. Newer tools that are particularly useful for logo work are the polygon, spiral and grid tools. Version 7's Property Bar is particularly useful for controlling these, for example, to change the number of points in a polygon to make it into a triangle. To make changes interactively, to change the indent of the star for example, the Shape tool (F10) is used. In the past all polygons, such as our triangle, had to be laboriously created on an individual basis using the line tool (F5). Nowadays the line tool is used far less, but still comes into its own on less structured work such as illustration. Regular straight lines are produced by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking end points. Curves can be drawn freehand by simply dragging on screen, or more accurately by controlling nodes with the Bezier tool. A new and excellent addition is the natural pen tool which works like a thick marker pen. Rather than producing vector-based lines, this tool actually produces shapes that can be given a fill. In practice, this means that it is possible to create much more natural, free flowing designs that escape from the overly computerised look. With such tools the number of shapes you can produce is literally unlimited, but there is no harm in having someone else do the work for you. Corel obviously comes with a huge selection of over 30,000 clipart images that theoretically could be used, but for professional work the phrase "barge pole" springs to mind. Of course amongst the dross there are still some areas, such as the design-neutral signs or maps, which can prove handy. Far more regularly useful though are the range of graphical devices accessed from the Symbols roll-up (Ctrl + F11). The different categories offered are actually the different symbol fonts that you have installed on your system. Corel allows any of the characters of each font to be dragged onto your design and manipulated like any other shape. With general bullet-style fonts, like Wing Dings or Zapf Dingbats, and dedicated symbol fonts, like Geographic or Sonata, these are an excellent source of pre-built and ready-to-use graphical elements. Now that we have the different basic components of our logo, we can get them exactly the way we want them with the different transformation commands. All elements can be sized with the handles of their bounding box so that our separate words, for example, can be sized to reflect their relative importance. Generally speaking, as there will be good aesthetic reasons why the typeface is the shape it is, the aspect ratio shouldn't be changed so only drag on the object's corner handles. Holding down the Shift key centres the scaling effect while the Ctrl key means that the selected object's size can only be doubled, tripled and so on. Holding down the Ctrl key and dragging a handle through the object is a quick way of mirroring it. Any object can be interactively rotated or skewed by first double clicking on it, which turns the bounding box handles into arrows. Dragging on the corner arrows rotates the object, while dragging on the centre arrows skews the object. Again holding down the Ctrl key constrains the transformation, limiting angles to multiples of 15 degrees. More control and precision is offered from the Transform roll-up and in particular from the proxy which allows the centre of rotation or skewing to be set to any of the bounding box handles. The Transform roll-up also has the major advantage that it offers quick access to all of the major options - positioning (Alt + F7), rotating (Alt + F8), scaling (Alt + F9), sizing (Alt + F10), and skewing (Alt + F11),. Such basic transformations are by far the most useful, but Corel Draw also offers a number of more advanced effects such as perspective, enveloping, extrusion and contouring. Adding perspective is an interactive process of dragging corner handles, but each of the other effects is accessed from a single Effects roll-up. In each case the power is impressive. When creating a 3D-style effect, for example, there are separate panels for controlling the level of extrusion, the object's rotation in 3D space, its formatting and lighting and even the bevel of its edges. Don't let the power go to your head, however. Star Wars-style effects can be striking, but more often than not they are inappropriate and they are always less legible than straight text. One of the basic principles of design is "less is more". One of the most impressive features of Corel Draw is that even after such advanced effects have been applied, the text remains editable either directly with the text tool or within the Edit Text dialog (Shift + Ctrl + T). Occasionally though it is desirable to edit the actual shapes of the letters. To be able to do this the text must first be converted to curves with the command under the Layout menu (Ctrl + Q) and then broken apart (Ctrl + K) so that each letter is separate. Using the shape tool (F10) it is then possible to select nodes to control individual letter shapes to produce one-off logos such as those for Coca Cola and Ferrari. Now that all our elements have been added and where necessary transformed, we are ready to arrange them as a composition. Moving objects is a simple case of dragging and dropping, with the Ctrl key used to force movement to either the vertical or horizontal. For fine tuning it is often easier to use the cursor keys to nudge the objects into place, with the Ctrl key's "super nudge" multiplying the effect to produce larger movements. The distances moved by nudging are again set with the General tab of the Tool menu's Options command (Ctrl J). Since Corel Draw's defaults are rather strange it is probably a good idea to change these to more sensible options such as 1mm and 5mm respectively. When arranging multiple objects you will often find that one object is concealing another. This is due to the stacking order whereby recently drawn objects obscure those created previously. This is easily sorted with the Bring Forward One / Send Back One or the more conclusive Bring to Front (Shift PgUp) / Send to Back (Shift PgDn) commands under the Arrange menu. The most common problem is that because an object is completely hidden it is difficult to select. This can often be overcome by careful lasso selecting or by temporarily switching to wireframe mode and clicking on the outline of the object you are after. As a last resort, tabbing will select each element in turn according to the stacking order. Alignment and Grouping For our logo it is best to optically position the various elements, perhaps to have certain letters lining up or to make sure that they don't. Often though you will want to use Corel Draw's Alignment command (Ctrl A). This allows multiple objects to be automatically aligned both vertically and horizontally, or to be evenly distributed. All elements align themselves on the last object selected or, if the objects have been lasso selected, on the bottom element in the stacking order. Alignment is such a common task that it is worth recognising the shortcuts available within the dialog. Selecting multiple objects and typing Ctrl A, Alt C, Alt E, Enter, for example, will automatically centre them vertically and horizontally. Once the logo elements have been positioned and aligned, they can be grouped together so that they are then treated as a single unit with the Group command (Ctrl G). In fact it is still possible to isolate individual objects within a group by holding down the trusty Ctrl key when selecting. To permanently separate the elements, use the Ungroup command (Ctrl + U). Groups can be nested so that complex illustrations and designs can be assembled with multiple grouped building blocks. As it is often difficult to tell whether you have selected an object or a group, it is always a good idea to keep your eye on the status bar's feedback. Combining is very different to grouping as it is used to create a single new object. To produce a square shape with a round hole in it, for example, you would draw the two shapes and then use the Combine command (Ctrl + L) to join them into one. Combining creates some very striking and important effects. For example, combining text with a shape will leave any overlapping text as black and text within the shape will be a "clipping path" showing any underlying objects. Corel Draw also now offers a number of variations on the combination theme for creating new shapes from overlapping objects. As you would expect these options - intersecting, trimming and welding - are all accessed from another of the ever-present roll-ups. So far, to add some variety, I've been applying colours to objects using the on-screen palette down the right hand side of the screen. Now it's time to get a bit more serious about formatting and look at the options offered by the fill tool. If our final output is going to be produced on a colour printer or through full colour process separations our choices are practically unlimited. Uniform fills can be chosen from the palette or mixed to order. There are nine main mixing models to choose from, but the most common are RGB (red, green, blue), HLS (hue, lightness, saturation) and CMYK (cyan, magenta, black). Since our work is going to be output on paper, if we stick to colours created with the CMYK model we will know that they can be reproduced. Corel Draw also offers a huge range of other fill types. The Fountain Fill dialog allows linear, radial, conical and square gradients to be set up between any number of colours with precise control over parameters such as edge padding and offset. As it's hard to imagine how the effect will look, it's much better to apply simple gradients with the new interactive fill tool. Similar but even more striking effects can be created where objects overlap by using the new interactive transparency tool. This is particularly useful for glass and shadow effects, but does take a lot longer to print and in any case would be over the top for our logo where simplicity is crucial. The same can probably be said for the other advanced fill options on offer, though for other tasks such as illustration, they can be invaluable. The Pattern dialog hides a wealth of choices. The default 2-colour bitmap patterns are very simple and useful primarily for hatching effects. The vector options supplied are universally garish, but your own patterns can be created by simply loading an existing Draw file. The third bitmap option enables any external paint file to be used as a fill, which enables amazingly realistic texture fills with scans of actual wood grain or marbling, for example. The only problem with such effects is that they are very memory and processor-intensive and so, by preference, Corel offers the Texture dialog which recreates the irregular fills of nature using fractals. Spot Colour Such variety and flexibility is impressive, but coming back to the real world, we have to recognise our budget limits. Our brochure is going out to commercial print, but we simply can't afford the costs of full colour separations and printing. Instead we must make do with spot colour, in other words black and one other colour. We want the colour to be striking, contrast well with black and add to our modern feel so an obvious choice is yellow. To select which yellow, it's back to the Uniform Fill dialog and this time to the palettes option. Clicking on the drop-down list box shows the different libraries on offer ranging from Focoltone to Userinks. Each refers to an external standard for recreating a set colour accurately. Your commercial printer might work with a number of these models, but the one standard they are certain to accept is Pantone. In fact there are a number of Pantone models, but the one we are after is the basic Pantone Matching System. Clicking on any of the colours in the palette will then show its Pantone number, which is all the printer will need to know to mix up the desired ink. In fact, because the screen representation will never be entirely accurate, the colour should actually be chosen from the Pantone paper reference which shows all the 2,000 or so available colours on coated and uncoated paper. If you are serious about design it's also a good idea to get the Pantone tints book which accurately shows how percentage tints of each of the most popular Pantone colours will turn out. We've been talking about colour with regard to fills, but exactly the same uniform colours are also available for outlines. Other options include dashes and line endings and line width - which should normally be measured in points rather than Corel's default of inches! To add a bit of movement and flow, so that the line is not the same width throughout, it is possible to produce calligraphic effects by stretching and then angling the nib. Two very important but often-overlooked options are those for scaling the line with the object and for hiding the outline behind the fill. The first option is crucial if you want the proportions of your line to change when an object is resized, the second is particularly useful for outlining text where you do not want the actual letter shape to be obscured. By default both options are set to off but, by ensuring that no object is selected when you call up the dialog, it is possible to change the settings for all new graphical and text objects respectively. So far we might only have come up with three words, a rotated triangle and a colour, but we've explored a huge range of Corel Draw's basic functionality. All of these skills will come in useful in the second half of the job, producing the brochure. The first stage in this is to set up the page with the Layout menu's Page Setup command. Our brochure is going to be a standard double-sided A5 leaflet and as such we could design it as four A5 portrait pages. However, as the reader is always aware of the double page spread, we will take this into account and design it as a two page, A4, landscape publication. Setting Up The Page This means we have to split the single onscreen A4 page into two. In a DTP program this would be a simple case of setting margins and columns, but in Corel Draw the process is considerably more laborious and involves individually adding guides. Horizontal and vertical guides can be dragged from the rulers onto the page where they are indicated as blue dashed lines. This is fine for optical alignment but we need more precision. Fortunately we can use the transformation skills learned earlier. First we need to draw a rectangle the exact size of our page. We could use the Size dialog (Alt + F10), but in fact this can be done automatically with the Add Page Frame command in the Page Setup dialog. Now we can select this frame and call up the Scale and Mirror roll-up (Alt + F9). Using the proxy (click on the dialog's down arrow if this is not visible) we can select a corner as the origin of the transformation and then set the horizontal scale to 50% and click Apply. Our page is automatically split into two and, after zooming in (F2), we can drag a dividing guideline into place. Now selecting our rectangle again, we can set the centre of the transformation to the centre of the proxy and set both the horizontal and vertical scale to 85% and again click Apply. Now we can drag in four new guidelines to the edges of the resized rectangle that will act as the A5 page's margins. In fact, as such regular and symmetrical layouts are hardly eye-catching, we're going to create a different grid with thin side columns next to the main body copy. Again the process involved is the same: adding rectangles, scaling them and dragging in guidelines. Making the most of our two colours we can set one side column to be yellow and the other to be black. That's a good start but still a bit regular for the young and active feel we are after. To break up the layout - again adding variety to the symmetry - we can bring in a design motif. The existing Volunteer Development Scotland logo is based on two simple, bridge-like arcs that are ideal for the job if stretched across the full double page spread. Applying Text Now that the basic layout is ready, it's time to bring in the text. Corel Draw supports a whole range of WP formats which can be used for importing longer sections of text, while shorter sections can be typed on-screen or in the Edit Text dialog (Ctrl + Shift + T). Blocks of "paragraph text" - as opposed to the single lines of "artistic text" we used for the logo - are created by simply dragging on screen with the text tool. Any text that is then added is automatically word wrapped within the boundaries of this text box. Resizing the box now affects the length of the line rather than the point size of the text. In fact Corel Draw 7 now offers the best of both worlds as, if the Alt key is held down when resizing, the actual size of the text can still be changed. This flexibility is excellent for standalone items like addresses, but for our main body copy the text formatting must obviously remain consistent. To format a whole block it is possible to select it with the pick tool and then change the point size or typeface, for example, from the Property Bar. It is also possible to interactively change spacing by selecting a text block and then the shape tool (F10). Dragging the vertical arrow that appears will change line spacing while dragging the horizontal arrow will change letter spacing. Holding down the Ctrl key and dragging will change paragraph and word spacing respectively. Formatting Text This is fine if all the text in a block is to be formatted identically, but most text will actually include a range of different formatting, in our case, to indicate subheadings and bullets. Remember that, if you do ever regret a change, you can always use Corel's multiple levels of undo (Ctrl Z) to revert to the way you were. To change the formatting for individual paragraphs then the text or paragraph must first be selected with the text tool and the Format Text dialog called (Ctrl T). A typical example would be to automatically add a graphical bullet. To ensure consistency, so that all bullets are exactly the same for example, Corel Draw's use of styles comes into play. The idea for these has been imported from word processors and DTP programs, but the implementation is slightly different and comparatively awkward as styles can be applied just as easily to objects as to text. Rather than defining a style from scratch it is easier to format a paragraph the way you want it and then to right-click to call up the shortcut menu. This has a Save Style Properties option which allows you to name the style and to choose exactly which attributes, from font and effects through to outline and fill, that you want to be saved in it. To then apply those attributes to any other paragraph you simply right-click again and this time choose the Apply Style option. Watch Out Such control is impressive, especially when you add in advanced word processing features such as background spell checking, a thesaurus and automatic correction of typing errors. Even so a strong warning has to be made. Corel Draw has taken a full seven versions to get anywhere near acceptable in its text handling and even now at times it seems unable to cope. Small bugs include obviously incorrect point sizes on the Property Bar and the insistence on changing defaults even when you only want to change the particular selected text. Such failures are irritating but can be worked around unlike the regular but mysterious GPFs. Essentially remember to save repeatedly when working with text and appreciate the program's limitations. For any job over a couple of pages I would always turn to a DTP program. With logo, layout and text now sorted we're on the home stretch, looking to make fine adjustments and perhaps to catch the eye a bit more. We could try and bring in some clipart, but after all this work we don't want to spoil things with a gratuitous American "celebrity" or Victorian woodcut. Instead we can build on the modern look and clean lines of our existing design by reusing the simple triangle from the logo and making it into a repeating device. On the outside pages this can be used in yellow to highlight the all-important address while on the inside it can be used in white against a yellow tint to give some variety and also to make the most out of our colour options. Photographs are another matter entirely and it would certainly be nice to incorporate one. Basically people like looking at people and, as it stands, our design is a little impersonal. Corel Draw 7's handling of imported bitmaps is excellent with all the DTP-style options such as resizing and cropping and text wrap. Even better though are the new photo-editing features such as the advanced colour correction and special effect filters that approach and, in many cases, outdo dedicated packages. Corel Draw comes with its own partner program Photo-Paint (see box-out) for pixel level control, but more and more power is now being built directly into the drawing module. Text on Curves Unfortunately for our design this is all rather academic. Since the brochure is for a scheme that is still being set up, there aren't any appropriate images to include. The best we can do is to try and find another way of adding a bit of life. Text on a curve is relatively unusual and striking and by crossing our double page spread will help tie the layout together. First the artistic text is added and its letter spacing stretched to give the effect room to work. Next the curve is created. To make sure it is accurate the existing arc is copied and then using the Knife tool the relevant section isolated. To combine the two they are selected and the Fit Text To Path command chosen. This calls up a roll-up for setting overall positioning, while the Shape tool can be used for interactive fine-tuning. Preparing for Output Our design is now ready for proofing. Corel Draw offers comprehensive control over the printing process with options for scaling and tiling, for example, that could be useful if we wanted to reproduce the centre pages for an exhibition board. For our brochure though the most relevant options - only available when printing to Postscript printers - are those for producing separations. For process output we would ensure that all colours were converted to CMYK, while for spot colour we can just select our two colours. Normally colours are set to "knock out" those beneath them to prevent a yellow object over a green background printing as blue for example. Although this solves one problem it leads to another because, unless the press registration is perfect, tiny areas of white will now appear around the coloured object. The way around this is to "trap" them, to imperceptibly expand the colour in areas of overlap. Corel Draw can do this automatically with its auto-spreading capability. While this works well in most cases, it is best to check exactly what is happening by setting a very high auto-spread width and printing proofs. If there are problem areas, these can normally be solved by judicious use of hairline outlines on the objects involved. Thankfully, for our design we can set black to automatically overprint which avoids these problems at a stroke and leaves our finished master work ready to go for final output and commercial print. That's not quite the end of the job as the typesetter/printer still has to output separations, check them against our proofs, and produce the final printing plates. With everything ready for final print though our job is finished. Tom Arah Graphic Design JournalGraphic Design Journal Soc of Graphic Des... New $17.60 Malaysia Journal of Comp...Malaysia Journal of Computer Science... Mlis/Fac Cmptr Sci... New $30.00 CD Export France - CD-Ro...CD Export France - CD-Rom - Microsof... Bourse De Commerce... New $228.88 Directory Of Computer An...Directory Of Computer And Software R... Lebhar Friedman In... New $600.00 Uist - Proceedings Of Th...Uist - Proceedings Of The Acm Sympos... Assn for Computing... New $42.00 Bourse De Commerce... New $686.62 Dd Access Software - Pro...Dd Access Software - Professional Ve... Uppsala Monitoring... New $1,099.59 Software EncyclopediaSoftware Encyclopedia R R Bowker % Ginny... New $460.00 Cti Directory of Psychol...Cti Directory of Psychology Software... Cti Centre for Psy... New $25.15 The Other Draw Tools For the publication we are producing, Corel Draw itself offers all the functionality we need, but the suite as a whole offers far more. In the past the number of extra applications supplied became ridiculous and the core power of the suite was in severe danger of becoming lost. Version 7 has halted the everything-including-the-kitchen-sink philosophy and has focussed on two complementary modules, Photo-Paint and Dream 3D. Photo-Paint is a comprehensive bitmap editor that is capable of giving Photoshop a run for its money. The latest version has worked hard on improving the feeling of integration with Draw with a similar streamlined interface, property bar and features such as click-and-drag object transparency. With functionality like its natural media brushes and Internet support, Photo-Paint has one of the most complete feature lists available. Overall, the program is more than capable for any photo-editing task, but its general lack of speed rules it out for professional work. The other main module is Dream 3D. This offers drag-and-drop creation of 3D scenes with a reasonable range of 3D objects, textures, backgrounds and lighting effects. New objects can be created and existing objects edited with advanced deformation tools such as bend, shatter and twist. It is even possible to paint interactively onto surfaces with a 3D paintbrush. Performance is comparatively fast so that objects do not necessarily have to be handled in wireframe, which is a huge advance in terms of usability. Against this though there are no options for animation, which is a huge limitation in terms of functionality. Even if Dream 3D did offer animation I'm not convinced that the average user is ready to tackle the complexities of professional 3D. For many, a better option would be to install the basic Corel Depth or to limit themselves to Draw's own extrusion effects. Other utilities on the Corel Draw CD-ROMs include Corel Trace that can be used to convert bitmaps to vector graphics and also offers basic OCR; Corel Texture that allows the creation of natural textures and Corel Script that allows the creation of macros and advanced add-ons for Draw and Photo-Paint. Perhaps most useful of all is Corel Multimedia Manager that gives access to the huge range of supplied vector and bitmap images. 0 Responses to "Producing a logo and short publication with Corel Draw" Post a Comment
John F Kennedy was born on May 29 1917. J.F.K. went to Harvard and injured his back during football practice. J.F.K. wanted to serve in the US army during WWII but was rejected by the army due to a back injury he had during college John F. Kennedy’s Assassination President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22. He was on a political trip to Texas and he was shot twice in the neck and the head. A while later Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested in a movie theater. He denied being the assassin but he was killed by Jack Ruby before he could be tried. More information can be found here. John F. Kennedy John F. Kennedy
Robey has an appointment with the dentist but is worried that his teeth aren't white enough. His Granny comes to baby-sit and he notices that her teeth are brilliant white! How can SHE have white teeth when she is SO old? Robey hatches a clever plan to fool the dentist. Will it work or will Granny's dog, Scruffy, ruin it? What will the dentist say when he looks in Robey's mouth? Robey and the Dentist was written by Ed when he was aged just 11. He was inspired by a teacher who asked all the class to write a bedtime story for his own little boy. Below are some of Edward's original drawings for 'Robey and the Dentist'. "An excellent book - Robey loved it! Fantastic illustrations! A+" Mr Harris, Edward's English Teacher
The risk of writing a lot about the verse form hokku is that people may begin to think it is complicated. It does not help when I begin to explain how hokku differs from the recent offshoot known as haiku. All of that can be a bit confusing at first. The difference, essentially, is this: modern haiku is most any kind of verse of about three lines or less. If someone calls it a haiku, it is a haiku. It can be about any subject. That notion is easy for people to grasp, and it is easy to write a verse that has no fixed standards. It is hard to make a mistake when there are really no lines to color outside of. Hokku, by contrast, does have standards and expectations. First, the subject must be Nature and the place of humans within, and as a part of, Nature. Second, the verse must be set in one of the four seasons — spring, summer, fall, and winter. Then there are the things that should be left out of hokku: Romance, sex, violence, things in general that tend to trouble or disturb the mind. There is also the format. A modern English-language hokku is written in three short lines, with the first letter of each line capitalized, and with appropriate internal and ending punctuation. And the hokku should consist of a longer (two lines) and a shorter (one line) part, separated by appropriate punctuation. As for aesthetics, in general hokku rely on the concrete, on things and on sensory experience. It abandons “thinking” — intellectualizing — and emphasizes the perceiving of things through the senses. Put that way, it does not really seem difficult, does it? All of that is easy for people to do. The most difficult part of hokku is to be able to achieve its sense of spareness and simplicity and the oneness of humans and Nature and the changing seasons. Without that aesthetic, hokku does not really attain what it should. And the way to get that into your hokku is to get the writer out of the way, to take the emphasis off the self, and to put it into experiencing. Let’s look at a hokku by the old Japanese writer Kikaku, translated into English: Summer rain; A woman sitting alone, Gazing outside. Eight words. That is all it takes in English. It is in three lines, appropriately capitalized and punctuated. It takes place in a given season (summer). It has two parts: 1. Summer rain; 2. A woman sitting alone / Gazing outside, separated by appropriate punctuation (the semicolon after “rain”). It is a sensory experience, primarily sight, but also the implied sound and feel of summer rain. The words are simple and direct. Though it is obvious that this is a summer hokku (given that it includes the word), I have added the season in parentheses at the beginning to show how modern hokku are shared. Not all hokku contain the season name, and it is important to know the season. In modern hokku that is done by putting it just before a single verse or a collection of verses of the same season. So you see, writing hokku is really not difficult at all. It just takes time to learn the aesthetic approach appropriate to hokku, because people are so accustomed to poetry that either tells a story, or expresses what we think about things, or comments on things, or is all about me, me, me, all things that must be dropped to write good hokku. As you see, there is no “me” in Kikaku’s hokku to get between the reader and the experience. There is only the experience itself, and that is hokku. We are not told why the woman is sitting there, or why she is staring so fixedly. That omission is important. The questions that poetry in general so often answers are left unanswered in hokku. Instead, we just want the experience, plain and unadorned by thought and comment. R. H. Blyth somewhere described that experience as the seed from which poetry grows. The poetry is the feeling the reader gets on reading an effective hokku. The hokku is the seed, and the poetry bursts from that seed in the mind of the reader when the hokku is read. For those who like to see Japanese originals, here is Kikaku’s verse in transliteration: Yūdachi ni hitori soto miru onna kana Shower at alone outside looking woman kana Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s
Scientific Research on Sedona Vortex Sites by Ben Lonetree & Iona Miller, (c)2010 Geographically, Sedona is the virtual center of Arizona and certainly its spiritual heart. Esoteric claims are made about the region, but no one has repeatedly demonstrated the SEDONA EFFECT to a scientific standard, until now. Long hailed by Native Americans as the place where “Mother Earth speaks”, and more recently as home of the “mystical vortex”, Sedona with its redrock temples proves much more than a place of intense beauty. Many books have been written on the special “Vortex” energy field phenomena found in Sedona. Some say it cannot be measured while others claim it is electromagnetic in origin. Perhaps, both are true, because its ethereal effects are more than imaginal. Electrical engineer Ben Lonetree began as a skeptic of Sedona’s metaphysical claims, so he decided to test Mother Nature’s heartbeat, take her pulse, and listen to what She had to say. After 10 years of research using fluxgate magnetometers and large induction coils, Lonetree can definitively state that intense electromagnetic activity abounds in Sedona. Proof of Sedona Vortex/Brainwave EEG synchronization can be demonstrated with portable equipment on site in the field, during “sudden magnetic events”. In 2005, Lonetree announced results of nearly a decade of measurements. He recorded inward, outward and circular magnetic anomalies in both known and unrecognized Vortex activity locations. Sedona is rich in Fe2o3, (Iron Oxide), the element responsible for the red rocks, soil, and even the red color of the inner bark of trees. In addition to iron oxide the mineral Magnetite may also exist in large quantities. Concentrations of iron oxide and other metal/minerals have the effect of focusing the earth’s natural geomagnetism which is produced by the Earth’s molten outer core. Lonetree also observed a correlation or amplification of vortex phenomena with Schumann Resonance (SR). A respected scientist, Lonetree’s method for monitoring Schumann Resonance is cited by NASA in the 2003 report, “Investigations of Relatively Easy to Construct Antennas with Efficiency in Receiving Schumann Resonances.” Possible applications of these antennas are global weather prediction, earthquake prediction, planetary exploration, communication, wireless transmission of power, or even a “free” energy source. Named for their discoverer, the Schumann Resonance (SR) provides an orchestrating pulse for life on our planet. Contrary to the New Age meme, SR is definitely not rising, according to Lonetree’s continuous monitoring. We all march to the cadence of this cosmic drummer — our planetary heartbeat, which sets the tempo for health and well-being. There is a harmonic relationship between the earth and our bioelectronic mind/bodies. Earth’s low frequency isoelectric field, the magnetic field of the earth, and the electrostatic field that emerges from our bodies are closely interwoven. Our internal rhythms interact with external rhythms, affecting our balance, REM patterns, health, and mental focus. Lonetree added the human element when he began monitoring volunteers with a brainwave interface headset that replaces cumbersome electrodes for EEG. The average of the main Schumann Resonance is 7.8Hz, closely matching the human alpha/theta range (Alpha is 7-8 Hz -12 Hz, with an average value of 10.5 Hz. Theta and beta rhythm signals also occur, and are identifiable by EEG below the 8 Hz and above the 12 Hz frequencies). Adding this third measure of brain wave activity demonstrates resonance and amplification among them. Brainwaves are not monitored for subject-induced meditative states, but for direct correlation in shifts with magnetic flux. No active effort is required. The subject remains neutral, relaxed and open but does not try to influence the readings in any way. Using magnetometers and EEG, he recorded the synchronous signals of geomagnetic anomalies with human brainwaves. Parameters include SR (amplifies effect), brainwave frequency and amplitude, and sudden magnetic events from multiple vortex spots. Evoked potentials include high well-being, healing, nature mystic experiences, ESP or anomalous cognition, and other psychophysical phenomena. We suggest tiny magnetic crystals, biogenic magnetite, makes the human being highly sensitive to ELF field fluctuations. Now that magnetite has been found in human tissues and brain, research has just begun to evaluate the role of magnetite in health and disease. Magnetic mineral crystal, aligned in chains, is embedded in biological membranes. Formation of the chain is under genetic control, but the process that produces magnetite in organisms is still unknown. Magnetite could act as a transducer of both low frequency magnetic fields and RF fields. Magnetite couples strongly to magnetic fields either through ferromagnetic resonance effects or mechanical effects on membrane ion channels. Paramagnetism is a weak magnetic condition of substances that have a positive but small susceptibility to magnetism. The question remains, “can it carry regenerative instructions?” Biological forms follow the energy patterns laid down by the waveforms of the environment. Electromagnetic vibration can rearrange molecules and macro-molecules into patterned forms (sound, RF, microwave, heat, light, etc.). Are EMF-induced changes in biological sensitivity and sensory transduction a model for biological detection of EM fields? Each of these compass-like magnetite crystals have been shown to have a mechanical coupling to a mechanoreceptor in the cellular membrane. Thus, they act as a sensor to magnetic fields and signal the inner “machinery” of the cell. Some theorize that these magnetic particles interact with magnetic and electromagnetic fields and transduce their response into their host cell. Thus, they provide a means of responding to, and sensing our environment. Trace levels of biogenic magnetite in virtually all human tissues examined suggests that similar biophysical processes may explain a variety of weak field ELF bioeffects. There may be more than a single electromagnetic coupling mechanism. For example, geomagnetic activity fluctuates most rapidly during upsurge of solar activity which alters brain rhythms and hormonal levels, or the downward part of the cycle, when sunspots are rapidly diminishing. In arguably, the first scientific verification of the SEDONA EFFECT, Lonetree demonstrated close correlation between Sedona vortex magnetic anomalies (sudden magnetic events) and spontaneous brainwave changes in frequency and amplitude, that is further modulated by Schumann Resonance and plausibly accounts for reported psychophysical and psychosensory phenomena. Geomagnetic brainwave synchronization occurs spontaneously at vortex points during sudden magnetic events. STAGE 1 of this SEDONA EFFECT Experiment centered on natural effects, how geomagnetism affects SR in a given local geographical area. Lonetree noticed the anomaly that atmospherics were noticeably stronger (louder) at certain locations along the trail. This was not always the case, though. He began to wonder if the increase in the strength of the atmospherics had anything to do with the infamous vortex energy. The VLF receiver attributed the increase in strength to amplification of the atmospherics. This theory could not be correct though, for if it were, atmospheric strength would be enhanced all the time when he recorded at this particular spot. Such was not the case. STAGE 2: Surveys conducted by the USGS (United States Geological Survey) indicated there were locations on this planet where there exist vortex-like acting inflows and outflows of non-polarized magnetic energy. Non-polarized means no North or South pole as in a regular magnet. The out- or inflow is simply pure magnetic energy in dynamic motion. In order to prove his theory, Lonetree used a fluxgate sensor. This particular instrument is used for monitoring the Earth’s magnetic field as well as any other source of magnetism. STAGE 3: The first Schumann Resonance (SR) occurs at average frequency of 7.83 Hz. This frequency also happens to fall between two of the human brainwaves, Alpha and Theta. There are four altogether: Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Theta. When our brain is functioning restfully in the predominantly alpha/theta zone, we become more relaxed or peaceful. The human brain acts like an electrical circuit called a phase-lock loop. A local external (outside the body) electromagnetic signal, as long as it is stronger than our brainwaves, initiates a resonance effect where the brain locks onto and resonates at that frequency. Lonetree conjectured that if the first Schumann Resonance were in some way enhanced in the area where a large geomagnetic outflow occurred, it should be possible for the first Schumann Resonance to affect a person’s brainwave activity. Since that first signal again lies in alpha and theta range, simultaneously observing and recording the first resonance along with local field geomagnetic activity using the fluxgate instrument in vortex sites proves this theory. What others have long conjectured, Lonetree was able to demonstrate synchrony, conclusively. He also recorded what he believed to be influencing magnetic energy. He saw the first Schumann Resonance increase in strength while the geomagnetic outflow of energy increased simultaneously. SR and ELF EM fields do have a provable influence on living organisms. SR changes over correlated circadian rhythms and other cycles of time. Physiological effects have been observed in a human subject in response to stimulation of the skin with weak electromagnetic fields that are pulsed with certain frequencies to excite a sensory resonance. Pulsed electromagnetic fields are capable of exciting sensory resonances in nearby subjects. In “Schumann Resonances, a plausible biophysical mechanism for the human health effects of Solar/Geomagnetic Activity” we find that König observed the close similarity of the SR signal with the EEG alpha rhythm, both of which dominate the daytime, and the local sferics 3 Hz signal with the EEG delta rhythm, that dominate the night. In 1974, he postulated that ELF brain waves evolved to use these natural signals. STAGE 4: There are some indications that a correlation exists between atmospheric oscillations, brain waves, and biological EM emissions. Understanding the nature of this correlation may enable us to characterize and further utilize various types of “healing energies”. Integral portions of biological systems have been shown to be semiconducting, ferromagnetic and piezoelectric. The biosemiconductor, together with the drift of charges, ions, and radicals, may be considered as a form of “bioplasma”. Bioplasma may be subject to magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) control (Roffey). The EM fields emitted by trained healers may be considered as coherent, resonant biomagnetic emissions by which a less coherent EM field of the patient is “tuned” to the specific frequency and phase, and through which homeostasis can be “aligned” to induce “healing” (Roffey). Vortex energy may exert a so-called “healing” energy in much the same way, via subtle resonance effects. Both Persinger and Ryan separately conducted research that shows apparent associations between extrasensory perception (ESP), geomagnetic activity (GMA) and local sidereal time (LST; a time system based on the rotation of the Earth with respect to star positions). Persinger also links certain ESP phenomena to tectonic strain. The analysis of geomagnetic pulsation activity in relation to ESP success was initially conceived as a first step in a process of elimination in the search for an explanation for the reported associations between GMA and LST with ESP. Rather than eliminating the possibility, this factor emerges as a leading candidate for a solution to the problem. Research suggests that some individuals experiencing extraordinary visionary activity in vortex spots may have a low threshold for kindling sub-clinical “temporal lobe transients,” (TLTs), micro-seizures which induce a host of psychosensory phenomena. Neural static and discharge are kindled by electrical instabilities in the brain. Typically, such experiences are assigned special personal meaning. According to neuropsychologist Michael Persinger, “God is a result of electro-magnetic stimulation of the temporal lobes …. the God Experience is synthesized during the temporal lobe transients.” Further studies in magnetoreception may reveal new mechanisms. Questions remain: 1). What is the nature of magnetic sensory cells? 2). By what physical mechanism is the external magnetic field coupled into the organism (reception)? 3). How sensitive is the mechanism to small changes in the magnetic field (detection threshold)? 4). What physical mechanisms or chemical pathways convert the received magnetic energy into a nervous signal (transduction)? But we have defined the SEDONA EFFECT as paramagnetism coupled with Earth Energies, Schumann Resonance & Brainwave Resonance. More: http://sedonanomalies.weebly.com Video: http://www.vimeo.com/17583647 ~ by ionamiller on December 15, 2010. Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Twitter picture Facebook photo Google+ photo Connecting to %s %d bloggers like this:
ha'-math (chamath; Hemath, Haimath; Swete also has Hemath): The word signifies a defense or citadel, and such designation was very suitable for this chief royal city of the Hittites, situated between their northern and southern capitals, Carchemish and Kadesh, on a gigantic mound beside the Orontes. In Amos 6:2 it is named Great Hamath, but not necessarily to distinguish it from other places of the same name. 1. Early History: The Hamathite is mentioned in Genesis 10:18 among the sons of Canaan, but in historic times the population, as the personal names testify, seems to have been for the most part Semitic. The ideal boundary of Israel reached the territory, but not the city of Hamath (Numbers 34:8; Joshua 13:5; Ezekiel 47:13-21). David entered into friendly relations with Toi, its king (2 Samuel 8:9), and Solomon erected store cities in the land of Hamath (2 Chronicles 8:4). In the days of Ahab we meet with it on the cuneiform inscriptions, under the name mat hamatti, and its king Irhuleni was a party to the alliance of the Hittites with Ben-hadad of Damascus and Ahab of Israel against Shalmaneser II; but this was broken up by the battle of Qarqar in 854 BC, and Hamath became subject to Assyria. Jeroboam II attacked, partially destroyed, and held it for a short time (2 Kings 14:28; Amos 6:2). In 730 BC, its king Eniilu paid tribute to Tiglath-pileser, but he divided its lands among his generals, and transported 1,223 of its inhabitants to Sura on the Tigris. In 720, Sargon "rooted out the land of Hamath and dyed the skin of Ilubi'idi (or Jau-bi'idi) its king, like wool" and colonized the country with 4,300 Assyrians, among whom was Deioces the Mede. A few years later Sennacherib also claims to have taken it (2 Kings 18:34; 19:13). In Isaiah 11:11, mention is made of Israelites in captivity at Hamath, and Hamathites were among the colonists settled in Samaria (2 Kings 17:24) by Esarhaddon in 675 BC. Their special object of worship was Ashima, which, notwithstanding various conjectures, has not been identified. 2. Later History: The Hamathite country is mentioned in 1 Macc 12:25 in connection with the movements of Demetrius and Jonathan. The Seleucids renamed it Epiphaneia (Josephus, Ant, I, vi, 2), and by this name it was known to the Greeks and the Romans, even appearing as Paphunya in Midrash Ber Rab chapter 37. Locally, however, the ancient name never disappeared, and since the Moslem conquest it has been known as Hama. Saladin's family ruled it for a century and a half, but after the death of Abul-fida in 1331 it sank into decay. 3. Modern Condition: The position of Hama in a fruitful plain to the East of the Nusairiyeh Mountains, on the most frequented highway between Mesopotamia and Egypt, and on the new railway, gives it again, as in ancient times, a singular significance, and it is once more rising in importance. The modern town is built in four quarters around the ancient citadel-mound, and it has a population of at least 80,000. It is now noted for its gigantic irrigating wheels. Here, too, the Hittite inscriptions were first found and designated Hamathite. 4. Entering in of Hamath: In connection with the northern boundary of Israel, "the entering in of Hamath" is frequently mentioned (Numbers 13:21; 1 Kings 8:65, etc., the American Standard Revised Version "entrance"). It has been sought in the Orontes valley, between Antioch and Seleucia, and also at Wady Nahr el-Barid, leading down from Homs to the Mediterranean to the North of Tripoli. But from the point of view of Palestine, it must mean some part of the great valley of Coele-Syria (Biqa'a). It seems that instead of translating, we should read here a place-name--"Libo of Hamath"--and the presence of the ancient site of Libo (modern Leboue) 14 miles North-Northeast of Baalbek, at the head-waters of the Orontes, commanding the strategical point where the plain broadens out to the North and to the South, confirms us in this conjecture. W. M. Christie Copyright Statement These files are public domain. Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'HAMATH'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.
Subscribe / Unsubscribe Enewsletters \| Login \| Register Pencil Banner Securing the 'Net -- at what price? Taylor Armerding \| July 3, 2015 There is unanimous agreement that 100 percent security is not possible. But at least one expert says it could come close to that, for US$4 billion. Others say it could cost less, but would require a lot more than money. His fellow experts agree that would help, but note that the problem is complicated, and made more so by enemies that, to continue his analogy, would be constantly coming up with new ways to knock down improved buildings. Stanislav said it is not the Internet itself that is always the problem. "In many cases, it's the systems connected to it. Sure, there could be better Internet data security, like updated protocols and more inherent encryption, but ultimately most breaches are not occurring because of an ISP or even a networking vendor, but due to weak passwords or buggy piece of code." Di Bello noted, as others have, that technology cannot always trump the human factor. "Phishing is a great example of an attack vector that would be undisturbed by a change in application security," he said. "However if a newly architected communication protocol could validate the source of an email, phishing could be cut down significantly." And Pirc, while he said he is, "a huge proponent of secure coding, I don't think that is going to fix the issues." While it might temporarily slow attackers down, "they will soon learn other ways to exploit the software. With standards and frameworks, until people stop treating them like checkboxes, they will be ineffective," he said. The reality, Stanislav said, is that, "the ecosystem is always changing and frameworks/standards alone cannot prevent bugs inherent to an accidental coding mistake by a software engineer writing a compiler or updating an interpreter. "One typo in a million lines of code can be the difference between a breach and data security." Previous Page 1 2 3 Sign up for CIO Asia eNewsletters.
The half life of a radioactive substance is 30 days. What is the time taken for 3/4th of the original mass to disintegrate? llltkl \| Student Radioactive disintegration follows first order reaction kinetics, such that, `t=1/lambdaln(a/(a-x))` where the terms have their usual significance. Half-life is the time required to disintegrate into half the original mass of a radioelement. So, `30=1/lambdaln(a/(a-a/2))` `rArr lambda=1/30ln(a/(a/2))` `=ln2/30 day^(-1)` Put this value of disintegration constant in the second condition: `=30/ln2* ln(a/(a/4))` `=60 ` days Therefore, it would require 60 days to disintegrate 3/4 th of the original mass of the radioelement. Access hundreds of thousands of answers with a free trial. Start Free Trial Ask a Question

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.