text
stringlengths 144
682k
|
|---|
In English
Amylasers enzymatiska aktivitet i saltvattensmiljö
Enzymatic activity of amylases in saltwater environment
Silvana Vimpari
Göteborg : Chalmers tekniska högskola, 2011. 27 s.
[Examensarbete för kandidatexamen]
Amylases are enzymes that digest starch by cleavage of glycosidic bonds, therby releasing glucose, maltose and/or malto-oligosaccharides. Amylase is used for biotechnological purposes such as the production of biofuels, in the food industry where starch is found naturally in cereals, but also in the paper industry and in the manufacture of detergents. The difference between α-amylase, β-amylase and glucoamylase is how they cleave starch into smaller glucose-containing units. α-amylase breaks down starch into oligosaccharides and dextrins, while β-amylase breaks down starch into maltose and amyloglucosidase to glucose.
The aim of the project was to investigate how the enzyme activity of industrial purified amylases, that are commercially available, are affected by saline environments compared to freshwater conditions. Another part of the project was to isolate marine bacteria that use starch as a carbon source and thus produce amylases. This was performed by isolation and purification of the bacteria in starch medium, characterization in shake flask cultures and measurement of enzyme activity. Two strains were found that had better cell growth, released larger amounts of glucose from the starch, and showed a higher enzymatic activity than the other in seawater.
The industrially produced amylases were tested for dependence on various parameters such as pH, temperature and enzyme activity. α-amylase Aspergillus oryzae, β-amylase and amyloglucosidases from Aspergillus niger were activated at pH 4.8. α-amylases Bacillus subtilis and porcine were activated at pH 6.9. Enzyme activity measurments for the industrially isolated amylases showed that a number of those tested had a higher amylase activity in seawater than in freshwater whereas the α-amylases from Bacillus licheniformis and Aspergillus oryzae did not exhibit any activity in seawater. This may be due to the substances found in seawater helps to facilitate the binding of and reaction with substrates and/or stabilizes the protein structure of a beneficial form. A possible reason for the differences observed between similar amylases may be that different types of treatment processes at the manufacturing companies can provide a finished product that has a different sensitivity to ions.
To use algae as a future fuel source and cultivate them in saltwater you need to have a salt-tolerant amylase that can break down large amounts of starch. More analyses of existing purified amylases is recommended as these show that there is potential to find amylases that acutally are activated better in saltwater than freshwater.
Nyckelord: Amylase, starch, enzyme activity, marine bacteria
Publikationen registrerades 2011-03-10.
CPL ID: 137765
Detta är en tjänst från Chalmers bibliotek
Industriell bioteknik
|
Important: As noted in the General Information handout, we will not be accepting any late submissions for this assignment, even if you have late days remaining.
Your sixth assignment is a baby name graphing program that will give you practice with data structures, classes and interactors.
Getting Started
There is a starter project including all of these problems that you can access using the link below. Once you have the starter code set up, edit the program files so that the assignment actually does what it’s supposed to do (see the assignment handout), which will involve a cycle of coding, testing, and debugging until everything works. The final step is to submit your assignment.
This assignment may (optionally) be done in pairs. As a reminder, you may only pair up with others with the same section time and location.
Assignment Files
To run the demo, download the zip file below and unzip, and double-click the enclosed JAR file to run. If you are unable to run it by double-clicking, right-click on the demo JAR file and click "Open".
Output Files
If you would like to view them separately, the output image files, which are already included in the starter code in the output folder, are listed below as well. For more example output, please see the demo program, linked above. In the demo, you can go to File->Save and save images of the graph to compare to.
Other Resources
Note: the "Debugging with Karel" handout still provides valuable debugging tips for Java programs! In particular, the debugger functions identically for Karel and Java programs. You can also mouse over variables while the program is paused in the debugger to view their current value (super useful for arrays!)
Q: I am trying to use println to debug my program, but it's not working. Why not?
A: You can certainly debug using print statements in this assignment (or the debugger!), and we encourage it. But not all files in this assignment are programs (some just define new variable types!), so you cannot call println. To get around this, instead of writing just println, you need to write System.out.println, and the output will appear in the "Console" tab at the bottom of your Eclipse window.
Q: Why is it that all of my calculations in NameSurferGraph come out with a result of 0?
A: This could be because you are using integer division, or you are calling getWidth() or getHeight() before the canvas has been added to the screen.
Q: I'm having trouble getting Eclipse to work! Help!
A: Please make sure you followed the instructions in our Eclipse Guide above. If you are still having trouble, please come to Nick or Rishi's office hours, or stop by the LaIR.
Q: Eclipse is giving me a strange message about a file being "out of sync" with the file system. It says I can press F5 to refresh the file. What does this mean?
A: This happens if you edit/change your file outside of Eclipse. Just press F5 and Eclipse will show you the newest version of the file.
Q: I didn't like the program name, such as NameSurfer, so I renamed it to my own name such as DaveIsGreat. That is okay, right?
A: No. For grading purposes, we need you to leave the program names the way we named them.
Q: How do I turn in the assignment? How do I know if my submission was successful?
A: Please see the Eclipse Guide link above for more information about submitting.
Q: Why doesn't my Java program say "[completed]" in the top status bar when it is done?
A: This is often because your program contains an infinite loop. Make sure all of your loops are terminating properly when your program is finished! Also see the debugging handout above for how to use the Eclipse debugger to track down and squash bugs.
Q: Will my solution get full credit? Is it written in the style you want? Will I get marked off for this code?
A: In general we cannot answer these kinds of questions. We call this "pre-grading." The section leader/TA/instructor can't look over your entire program for mistakes or tell you exactly what things you will get marked off for; we don't have the resources to provide such a service, and even if we did, we want you to learn how to gain these intuitions on your own. We'll grade you on the guidelines in the homework document and style guide, and we can help you with specific issues and questions about your code, but we cannot pre-evaluate your entire program for you or give you advance warning about every possible mistake or violation.
|
School Uniforms
Only available on StudyMode
• Download(s) : 459
• Published : October 7, 2012
Open Document
Text Preview
To Lakeview Hope Academy
Dear Administrator,
Students, parents, and school officials would all benefit from the introduction of mandatory school uniforms. Enforcing school uniforms for students offers great options for low income households, peer pressure, and classroom disruptions. The dress code has been an ongoing battle for school faculty and students for years. However, I believe that sufficient progress has not been made and uniforms are the answer. Uniforms allow the students to look professional, clean, and well maintained. Uniforms provide a sense of security and stability to the kids who wear them. Lakeview hope academy should enforce uniforms because it will be affordable to parents, protect kids from being bullied, and help remove inappropriate clothing from schools. As a parent it is very hard to provide name brand clothing for my children with a low income. Uniforms will lower the amount of money needed for clothing in many ways. Having uniforms means buying fewer outfits for the school year. School uniforms are less expensive than brand-name clothing. The school district or uniform manufacturers also have the option to provide financial support for low income households.
School uniforms promote social equality among students because they diminish socioeconomic differences. Some families have low income and only have hand me downs to wear which can cause teasing from other students. The teasing causes unwanted stress, lowers self-esteem, and creates an unhealthy atmosphere for both staff and students. With uniforms students can form friendships based on mutual interests and respect rather than what clothing one person is or is not wearing. This will reduce peer pressure, stress, promote a healthy environment, and let students focus on more important things like academics.
Inappropriate clothing is a distraction to students because of suggestions made on them or the amount of skin shown. Short skirts, tube tops,...
tracking img
|
Shield your kids from monsoon woes
Print Friendly
To instill healthy habits in children and keep them healthy and strong is a part of parents’ job. Children need nutrition from food to stay healthy and be active.
Kids, who are physically fit, are better able to handle physical and emotional challenges.
Children’s health is inimitably affected by climate change and some diseases happen only during rainy season of the year. The monsoons bring some very unwelcome.l guests which must be avoided at all costs. This is the vulnerable season where body of children is most prone to infections. Take extra special care of them and protect them from monsoon ailments.
Don’t allow them to walk in rain and get wet. Rain water is a host of viral diseases and fungal infections. So, keep them away from drenching in rain. If their clothes get wet, don’t allow them to sit in AC environment. Change their clothes immediately after wiping their body.
Make them bath twice a day. A warm shower when they come back home from outside is a must to insulate them against infections caused by the build-up of sweat and dirt due to humidity.
Refrain them from touching their eyes especially with dirty hands to protect them from eye infections like conjunctivitis, red or dry eyes etc.
If your child suffers from asthma or any other respiratory problem, keep a check on damp walls as they’re home to fungus.
Apply mosquito repellent on their uncovered body parts whenever they go outside home. This season is a party time for malaria.
Make them drink plenty of filtered or boiled water irrespective of their physical activity level. Diseases in rainy weather are mostly water borne. So, keep a check on purity of water. A proper body hydration is essential to keep them going throughout the day.
Plan monsoon food ingredients for them:
To boost their immune system add garlic and ginger to their food stuffs.
Make them eat pulses once daily in any form as protein is always essential for the body that helps in repairing cells.
Include spices like turmeric, coriander, cloves and cinnamon to their food to help them combat rain borne illnesses.
Give them herbal tea once daily to help them fight germs and diseases.
Soak almonds overnight. Peel them off and make them eat in the morning to build up strong immunity and fight back diseases.
Make them eat plenty of fresh fruits and ward off ailments related to rainy season. Don’t allow them to eat fruits and raw vegetables until they’re properly washed and cleaned.
Incorporate protein-rich diet like eggs every day in your child’s meal. With one egg daily, your child is bound to get a good dose of all required vitamins, minerals and proteins along with the power to fight cold and cough.
Give them plenty of vitamin C enriched foods to boost their immunity.
Healthy soup is a complete meal. It is considered as one of the best foods for children during rains.
These healthcare tips can help you combat diseases and keep your kids fit during this monsoon.
|
Line by Line Analysis of The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost
Essay by MooDizzLeHigh School, 11th grade April 2004
download word file, 2 pages 5.0
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
The key word here is "two". Throughout our lives we constantly face decisions where we have two choices. Even when it seems there is only one choice, we can decide either to DO it, or NOT do it; so there are STILL two alternatives.
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
Then there are times we wish we could do BOTH; HAVE our cake and eat it too! We know we can't, so we must agonize over the choices; weigh the possibilities.
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
Decisions, decisions! So, what we do is come up with some justification for the choice we have made, even though we are already questioning our decision, even as we make it.
When the choices are so close to being equal, does it really make any difference? Is the fact that fewer people have done it THIS way going to give us any "edge" over the competition? Or have we just leveled the playing field?
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Is it frightening to us that few people have taken EITHER path? What unknowns lurk beyond the next bend?
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
Well, if this one doesn't work out, I'll try the other one; or maybe I'll try it one day anyway, just to...
|
SlaughterHouse Hooks
A slaughterhouse or abattoir i/ˈæbətwɑr/ is a facility where animals are killed for consumption as food products. Slaughterhouses which process meat not intended for human consumption are sometimes referred to as Knacker’s yards or Knackeries.
In the United States, around nine billion animals are slaughtered every year[citation needed] (this includes about 150.4 million cattle, bison, sheep, hogs, and goats and 8.9 billion chickens, turkeys, and ducks) in 5,700 slaughterhouses and processing plants employing 527,000 workers;[citation needed] in 2009, 13,450,000 long tons (13,670,000 t) of beef were consumed in the U.S. alone.[1] In Canada, 650 million animals are killed annually.[2] In the European Union, the annual figure is 300 million cattle, sheep, and pigs, and four billion chickens.[citation needed]
Slaughtering animals on a large scale poses significant logistical problems and public health requirements.[citation needed] Public aversion to meat packing in many cultures influences the location of slaughterhouses. In addition, some religions stipulate certain conditions for the slaughter of animals.
There has been criticism of the methods of transport, preparation, herding, and killing within some slaughterhouses, and in particular of the speed with which the slaughter is sometimes conducted. Investigations by animal welfare and animal rights groups have indicated that in some cases animals are skinned or gutted while alive and conscious. In some cases animals are driven for hundreds of miles to slaughterhouses in conditions that often result in injuries and death en route.[3] Slaughtering animals is opposed by animal rights groups on ethical grounds.
Photo Stefan Lengyel
Leave a Reply
WordPress.com Logo
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s
|
Frankenstein Was Not The Monster (and other literary misconceptions)
Christina: People make mistakes all the time. This is never going to change, but when it comes to literature, it can lead to a lot of confusion. Sometimes misinterpretations are passed down and eventually accepted as facts, and this is when things get tricky.
Chris: Let’s start with a pair of famous titles that are often, shall we say, misremembered. When someone says “Frankenstein” what comes to mind?
Frankenstein's Monster
But in the book itself the monster is never given a name. It is his creator who is Frankenstein, one Victor Frankenstein, often mistakenly called Dr. Frankenstein (or “Fronk-en-steen” in one memorable version.)
A monster whose name is well remembered is Dracula. And we all know the weaknesses of vampires, right? Perhaps the most notable one is a vulnerability to sunlight. We have all seen plenty of movies where vampires burst into flames when merely brushed by a stray sunbeam. But this doesn’t happen in Bram Stoker’s book. Indeed, Dracula merrily prances about London in full daylight. It is even noted that he gets stronger at noontime. The fear of sunlight in vampires didn’t come about until the wonderful (and blatant Dracula rip-off) film Nosferatu.
Christina: Sometimes books get saddled with an incorrect interpretation of theme. This happened to The Wizard of Oz, which has been linked to Populism, a philosophical and political movement which emphasizes the need for “the people” to work against the elite. The connection between the philosophy and the beloved children’s book began in 1964 and has been taken as gospel ever since.
Wizard of Oz illustration
Anarchist rebels!
In fact, there is no evidence that Baum intended his story to be a parable about Populism, but those who see allegories in the Tinman, the Scarecrow, and the Cowardly Lion remain convinced.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a different story, as the movie changed a key element in the book. The movie depicts a corrupt power system preying on the weak, whereas in the book, the memorable character Chief is, in fact, suffering from mental illness. This doesn’t diminish the villainous nature of Nurse Ratched, but it does put a spin on the whole “I’m not crazy, the world’s crazy” message of the film.
The book that is most popularly misinterpreted, however, is most likely Fahrenheit 451. It is seen as a book describing the horrors of censorship, but Ray Bradbury actually wrote it as a comment on how poisonous television can be.
Book burning
Not a library approved activity.
Chris: Most of us understand that Romeo & Juliet is a tragedy. When you first think of it romance comes to mind, and then you remember that everyone dies at the end. Fair enough. But what some of us don’t realize is that some of the most famous lines from the play don’t mean what we think they mean.
“O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?” Here Juliet wonders where her love is at, right? Wrong. She is actually asking why are you Romeo, as in why out of all the boys in Verona did you have to be Romeo Montague?
Romeo and Juliet.
This doesn’t end well.
“Star-crossed lovers” is another line from R&J, one that is often misunderstood as “being so in love” when it really means being doomed, that the stars are working against them. Literature is filled with many examples of “star-crossed lovers”, ranging from classics such as Catherine and Heathcliff and Guinevere and Lancelot to modern ones like Jack and Rose and Ennis and Jack.
And lastly I’ll mention the great sleuth Sherlock Holmes, and his famous line “Elementary, my dear Watson”. Everyone knows that one, right? Baker Street signYou do if you have watched many of the Holmes movies and TV adaptations. You won’t know it if you’ve only read Arthur Conan Doyle’s works, because Sherlock never says that phrase in the books. He does say some similar things, but not that exact phrasing.
Christina: It can be daunting to know that there are misconceptions out there of some of our favorite books, but part of the fun of reading is to consider all sorts of interpretations. The best thing to do is to keep an open mind, and keep reading.
Here is a list of titles associated with this blog:
(Edited 10/31/14 to fix/replace broken links and to correct typos.)
2 thoughts on “Frankenstein Was Not The Monster (and other literary misconceptions)
1. This may be one of my favorite blog posts to date. It raises far more questions than it answers, meaning I’ll have to do some work. Even though Frankenstein was not THE name of the monster, some may still consider Frankenstein to be a monster. I wonder, did Dracula sparkle in the sun? Oh wait… the answer is probably in another blog post.
Leave a Reply
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s
|
Read p.88-105 and take notes. Here are some “guiding” questions:
1. a. Why did Franco and the Nationalists win? b. Why did the Republicans lose?
2. Consider the role and impact of foreign intervention in the Civil War. In other words, who helped who, how and what was the consequence of that intervention?
We will cover this area with group projects/presentations that I will introduce Friday and that will be due upon return.
REMINDER: Final drafts of IAs are due when we return….I only received Ben’s, Oliver’s and Dominik’s for a second read!?!
If I don’t get a draft by Friday 16:30 then the draft that you hand in on the 23rd will be your final one.
|
Romans 13 in American History
Romans-13I wrote a little bit about Romans 13 and the American Revolution in Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?: A Historical Introduction. Over at The Anxious Bench, Chris Gehrz notes that this New Testament passage was also used frequently in the 1840s and 1850s during the debates over slavery.
Here is a taste:
Even at its peak of popularity in the early 1840s, Romans 13:2 still appears only half as often as the single most popular verse for that time period (Luke 18:16, which generally is 5-20 times as common in the corpus as the two verses from Romans 13).
Not surprisingly, when Romans 13 did enter American public discourse at this time, it was usually as part of the national debate over slavery. In 1839, for example, a Congregationalist minister named William Mitchell quoted that passage in support of his argument that “Civil government, however corrupt, is an institution of God.” Orson S. Murray, the abolitionist editor of The Vermont Telegraph, was appalled:
“No matter then how corrupt the government—from the corrupt, hypocritical republic that establishes by law and holds in existence a most abhorrent and diabolical system of robbery, and lust, and murder, down through all the grades of aristocracy and monarchy, originating in, or originating—as a large proportion of them do—popery, Mahomedanism, and idolatry, in all their degrading, dehumanizing, man-destroying, God-dishonoring forms—all, all these corrupt and corrupting institutions are the workmanship of an all-wise, and holy, and just God!!! The consummate absurdity—not to say the involved shocking impiety and blasphemy—of deliberately and intelligently holding to such sentiments, lies out on the face of the declaration. To expose them, it needs no argument or comment. I would not be understood as denouncing, outright, friend Mitchell, as a blasphemer. I am altogether willing to attribute the monstrous heresy to ‘blindness of mind’—the habit of taking upon trust long received opinions—rather than to perverseness of heart.”
Read the rest here.
|
Dismiss Notice
Dismiss Notice
Join Physics Forums Today!
Another Newton's Law Question.
1. Dec 7, 2004 #1
Question: A force of 50N acting at 37degrees above the horizontal pulss a block along the floor with constant velocity. If the coefficient of friction between the blocck and the floor is 0.2, what is the mass of the block?
the answer in the book is 23.4kg
but when I did it I got 20.3kg.
my friend did it and he got 23.4kg but when I use his calcutions and calculated out I get 23.5kg.
He says you have to take the Normal force and substract 50sin37 because its being pulled along that direction. I say do you don't.
2. jcsd
3. Dec 7, 2004 #2
Doc Al
User Avatar
Staff: Mentor
That is correct.
The fact that the 50N force is applied at angle will definitely affect the normal force. Write down the equilibrium equations for both horizontal and vertical components. Combine the two equations and you can solve for the mass.
4. Dec 7, 2004 #3
oh ok. that makes sense now. its just the textbook is so bad that it doesnt' say that the normal force can be affected.
Similar Discussions: Another Newton's Law Question.
|
Hypersonics Before the Shuttle
0% of Hypersonics Before the Shuttle completed
From the Publisher
This official NASA history document - converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction - provides a comprehensive, readable history of the famous X-15 program. The introduction states: "Although it is usually heralded as the most productive flight research program ever undertaken, no serious history has been assembled to capture its design, development, operations, and lessons. This monograph is the first step towards that history. Not that a great deal has not previously been written about the X-15, because it has. But most of it has been limited to specific aspects of the program; pilot's stories, experiments, lessons-learned, etc. But with the exception of Robert S. Houston's history published by the Wright Air Development Center in 1958, and later included in the Air Force History Office's Hypersonic Revolution, no one has attempted to tell the entire story. And the WADC history is taken entirely from the Air Force perspective, with small mention of the other contributors. In 1954 the X-1 series had just broken Mach 2.5. The aircraft that would become the X-15 was being designed to attain Mach 6, and to fly at the edges of space. It would be accomplished without the use of digital computers, video teleconferencing, the internet, or email. It would, however, come at a terrible financial cost—over 30 times the original estimate. The X-15 would ultimately exceed all of its original performance goals. Instead of Mach 6 and 250,000 feet, the program would record Mach 6.7 and 354,200 feet. And compared against other research (and even operational) aircraft of the era, the X-15 was remarkably safe. Several pilots would get banged up; Jack McKay seriously so, although he would return from his injuries to fly 22 more X-15 flights. Tragically, Major Michael J. Adams would be killed on Flight 191, the only fatality of the program. Unfortunately due to the absence of a subsequent hypersonic mission, aeronautical applications of X-15 technology have been few. Given the major advances in materials and computer technology in the 30 years since the end of the flight research program, it is unlikely that many of the actual hardware lessons are still applicable. That being said, the lessons learned from hypersonic modeling, simulation, and the insight gained by being able to evaluate actual X-15 flight research against wind tunnel and predicted results, greatly expanded the confidence of researchers. This allowed the development of Space Shuttle to proceed much smoother than would otherwise have been possible.
In space, however, the X-15 contributed to both Apollo and Space Shuttle. It is interesting to note that when the X-15 was conceived, there were many that believed its space-oriented aspects should be removed from the program since human space travel was postulated to be many decades in the future. Perhaps the major contribution was the final elimination of a spray-on ablator as a possible thermal protection system for Space Shuttle. This would likely have happened in any case as the ceramic tiles and metal shingles were further developed, but the operational problems encountered with the (admittedly brief) experience on X-15A-2 hastened the departure of the ablators."
Contents: CHAPTER 1 - The Genesis of a Research Airplane * CHAPTER 2 - X-15 Design and Development * CHAPTER 3 - The Flight Research Program * CHAPTER 4 - The Legacy of the X-15
Published: Progressive Management on
ISBN: 9781465949349
List price: $9.99
Read on Scribd mobile: iPhone, iPad and Android.
Availability for Hypersonics Before the Shuttle: A Concise History of the ...
With a 30 day free trial you can read online for free
|
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Dear Student VII
Dear Student,
Good morning! How are you? Can you believe we only have about five weeks left to this semester? That's right, only five weeks left, and if you pass, you'll be done with the Anatomy and Physiology series. You might even be ready for the nursing or dental school track in the fall. Where did the time go?
I can tell you where it didn't go. It didn't go into studying. How do I know? Well, let me tell you a little story that will serve to explain everything.
Way back in the fall of last year, when we immersed ourselves in the first course of the Anatomy and Physiology series, we stumbled upon Chapter 4: Tissues. Now Chapter 4 is full of facts and interesting information on all of the tissues in the body, and it requires you, the student, to look at different histological slides.
I know what you're going to say. You hate slides. I know this because you said it every day I saw you and asked you to study the slides (thanks for the bad attitude, by the way). But there was a reason I asked you to study those slides: they held information you needed to know. So, we went over all the differences (and similarities) we could find in the four main types of tissues as seen on the histological slides. We talked about the cells, and how many layers a tissue might have, and we named all the tissues and cells as well.
For example, when we spoke about epithelial tissue, we talked about how the tissue can be named according to the shape of the epithelial cells (squamous, cuboidal, or columnar) and how many layers existed (single=simple and many=stratified).
We went on to look at different slides of epithelial tissue, including simple columnar epithelial, which is found in the respiratory and digestive tracts. In fact, I remember pointing out the picture to you, last fall, of the jejunum (part of the small intestine--an organ of the digestive tract). It looked a little bit like this:
I didn't have a picture on hand, so I went here to find one.
That's a great picture, by the way, because you can really see the simple columnar epithelial cells standing next to one another as well as the little white ovals (called goblet cells--we're getting to them) that are interspersed throughout.
And because structure and function go hand in hand (it is Anatomy AND Physiology after all), we also discussed the role of the different cell types found in those tissues. So we chatted about the simple columnar cells and the goblet cells and discussed what function they perform.
Do you remember what the goblet cell does? Do you? Think long and hard before you answer that question: it might be a trick one. Because I know that you don't know the function of the goblet cell considering I asked you yesterday what the goblet cell made and you couldn't remember.
I'm sure you're ready to defend yourself by saying that technically we introduced goblet cells last semester and you're not sure why you have to remember anything from last semester.
Cry me a river, student! This subject, like many, builds as we progress through the course. So yes, what you learned from last semester is quite important to understanding what you'll learn on the last day of this class. Furthermore, may I remind you that we saw goblet cells in the not-so-distant (i.e. a month ago) past? As in, back in Chapter 22, the respiratory system.
Why yes we did! (You're supposed to say that, by the way.) We studied a cross section of the trachea and I remember distinctly pointing out (among other structures and details) the goblet cells to you. So just for kicks, let's look at a picture of the trachea, too, and see if we can find those suckers.
Check here for this picture.
Oh look! There they are again! And this time, we have a nice arrow to point them out to us. And what did I say goblet cells do? Yeah, maybe I haven't said in this letter, but I will now: they secrete mucus.
Okay, so back to yesterday, when we're swimming through the digestive tract and we've stopped at the jejunum (remember, part of the small intestine). We take a look at the microscopic anatomy of the mucosa and I say, "Blah, blah, blah, goblet cells. What are those for?"
You looked at me like I'd uttered a string of expletives in the face of your grandma or something, and nothing but silence ensued. I tried again. "Goblet cells? Anyone?" But the veil of quietude remained intact.
And that's when I let the truth fly: "This is why I want to get out of teaching. This moment when you cannot tell me any of the information I try so hard to help you learn."
Despite the non-use of any expletives or derogatory statements, jaws dropped and a few people twittered. I heard an "aww..." from the back of the class, and everyone straightened their spines against the chairs. It took a pity statement from me to get you to pay a wee bit of attention, which of course, I'm glad for, because at that point, I once again stated what the goblet cell does. Say it with me now: the goblet cell secretes mucus.
(For those of you who don't know, mucus secretion in the respiratory and digestive tracts is crucial for proper functioning of both the systems. And I don't mean the mucus produced from the mucosal lining of the nose.)
At this point, you might be asking why on this earth I'm writing this letter in the first place. I'm asking myself that as I key these words in and I think I'm writing to tell you this: you've won.
You've taken so much out of me over the last 13 or so years, most notably time and energy I can never get back. You've shown up to class but haven't really shown up. You've pretended to listen and to study and made me think that maybe, just maybe you actually care about what I'm teaching you. But yesterday, I realized that you just don't care and I don't think you even realize that your apathy is a problem.
And so it's time for me to move on to a place where I'll find different, maybe greener, pastures. I'll freshen up my CV and plaster my friends' inboxes with it and hope that someone can help me find a job that proves to be a bit more rewarding or at least less depressing. Because I cannot show up to class everyday knowing that everything I've tried to do is for naught.
Let me leave you with one last thought though. When the Final Jeopardy category is Anatomy and Physiology and the answer reads: "These cells are scattered among other cells in the epithelium of many organs, especially in the intestinal and respiratory tracts," I want you to shout out to the masses, "WHAT ARE GOBLET CELLS?" and think of me fondly.
All the best,
Your teacher
T said...
Um, it would be, "What are goblet cells?" Oh who are we kidding, they wouldn't know the answer to ask the correct question.
Christina said...
You are so right!
|
Military Links
Plans for this page may include the opportunity to add your military ancestors for all of the US military wars and conflicts using several pull down menus.Please send the webmaster your favorite military link(s) using the email link found in “Contact”.
Military Links
Revolutionary War
Revolutionary War – Defending the Colonies against attack by the French and others had cost the British a great deal of money. As a result, the British had very high taxes in their country. They thus decided to shift some of their financial burden to the colonists. The Stamp Act of 1765, which taxed all legal documents, newspapers and other documents, was met with a great uproar in the Colonies.
In 1766, this tax was repealed, but it was just the beginning of the problems between the colonists and the British. The Boston Tea Party in 1773 was an act of revolt against the British and their tax on tea in the Colonies.
• July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence. The Colonies become the United States of America
• August 27, 1776 Battle of Long Island. Many Patriot prisoners taken by the British.
• December 25 to January 3, 1776-77 Crossing of the Delaware and Battles of Trenton and Princeton. Brilliant American Victories.
• October 19, 1781 General Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown, VA
Dillmans seem to have a strong German Heritage. For this reason we should not overlook the Hessian Soldier. German Soldiers were hired by the King of England to fight on the
side of the English in the Revolutionary War from 1776-1784. He paid a rental fee for them to fight and paid a price for each one wounded or killed. Many Hessian Soldiers deserted the British Army and began to fight with the Patriots, remaining in America after the war.
War of 1812
From the end of the American Revolution in 1783, the United States had been irritated by the failure of the British to withdraw from American territory along the Great Lakes; their backing of the Indians on America’s frontiers; and their unwillingness to sign commercial agreements favorable to the United States.
American resentment grew during the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802) and the Napoleonic Wars (1803-15), in which Britain and France were the main combatants.
Civil War
In 1861 we became a country divided. States fought against states, brother fought against brother.
Comments are closed.
|
Sunday, December 29, 2013
New Year's Time Capsule Family Activity
Are you having people over for the holidays or for a New Year's Eve celebration? Or are you going somewhere to celebrate either of those occasions? If so, this Time Capsule activity is for you! Bring a bit of "Awwwww, cute!" to the party along with an appetizer or dessert and you'll be the hit of the night!!
Each year we have everyone over to our house for Christmas Eve. We do a silly Dollar Store gift exchange, have a goofy ornament making contest, and order pizza. Nothing fancy, just fun! We also make a Family Time Capsule. The best part is reading the sheets from the previous year and seeing how much we've changed!! Fun, fun, fun!
Even though we create this on Christmas Eve, this activity could really be done at any time of the year (first day of school, 4th of July, birthday, etc.). Just keep the envelops in a secret place and remember to open it on the same date the following year. You could also save it for a certain day of the school year-invite family members in, serve light snacks and have them complete the time capsule together.
To get started...
Setting Up the Time Capsule Area
Gather some winter or holiday themed items and designate a table in your house for families to go to and complete their time capsule sheets. Provide the sheets, fancy pencils, envelopes, glue sticks, a scale, and measuring tape and let the memory making go from there!
Includes a directions page and:
Happy Memory Making!!
Friday, December 6, 2013
Holiday Compliment Box
One year I was thinking about how much my students always *LOVE* passing out their Valentine's Day cards to their friends. The excitement on their faces as they sit there and go through each and every sweet little note is priceless. This got me thinking of a way to bring that joy to them at another time of the year. That's when I started the Holiday Compliment Box activity in my class.
Here's how it goes...
Give each student a class list, a collection of compliment sheets (1 for every student besides themselves), and a take home letter explaining the project. First, students are to decorate a small box (a shoe box, Kleenex box, etc.) at home. Most students wrap it in wrapping paper. Be sure they wrap it so it can be opened (be sure they don't wrap it shut).
Then, have them write why each classroom is a special gift to their class on the blank compliment sheets. I usually do a couple in class first {secretly so the other students don't see who they're writing to!!}. Then, the rest should be done at home. I encourage students to do a few each night so they are not overwhelmed with cards to do the night before. I tell the students that each compliment has to be specific, not just, "You are nice." Going with the nice theme, one compliment could be, "It was so nice of you to help me when I fell and scraped my knee on the playground."
Next, it's time to pass them out! This is by far the best part!! The students place their decorated box on their desk and pass the notes out "Valentine's Day style".
Finally, it's time to sit down and read them.! The looks on their faces are priceless. They feel SOOOO special and feel really good about themselves! It is so beautiful to see. I hear comments such as, "I didn't know Johnny thought I was great at solving math problems!!" Or, "I'm so happy that Emma thinks I'm a good friend to everyone around."
If you're interested in this file, you can find it on Teachers Pay Teachers by clicking here. The file includes a parent letter, 2 options for the compliment cards, directions with pictures, and a reflection sheet for $2.
Who would you compliment this holiday season? What would you say to them? The first 2 people
who comment will receive the file for free. Be sure to leave your email in your comment!!
|
Friday, March 18, 2011
The Trade Unions in Britain (September 1933)
The Trade Unions in Britain (September 1933) by Leon Trotsky
The trade union question remains the most important question of working class policy in Great Britain, as well as in the majority of old capitalist countries. The mistakes of the Comintern in this field are innumerable. No wonder: a party’s inability to establish correct relations with the class reveals itself most glaringly in the area of the trade union movement. That is why I consider it necessary to dwell on this question.
The trade unions were formed during the period of the growth and rise of capitalism. They had as their task the raising of the material and cultural level of the proletariat and the extension of its political rights. This work, which in England lasted over a century, gave the trade unions tremendous authority among the workers. The decay of British capitalism, under the conditions of decline of the world capitalist system, undermined the basis for the reformist work of the trade unions. Capitalism can continue to maintain itself only by lowering the standard of living of the working class. Under these conditions trade unions can either transform themselves into revolutionary organisations or become lieutenants of capital in the intensified exploitation. of the workers. The trade union bureaucracy, which has satisfactorily solved its own social problem, took the second path. It turned all the accumulated authority of the trade unions against the socialist revolution and even against any attempts of the workers to resist the attacks of capital and reaction.
From that point on, the most important task of the revolutionary party became the liberation of the workers from the reactionary influence of the trade union bureaucracy. In this decisive field the Comintern revealed complete inadequacy. In 1926-27, especially in the period of the miners’ strike and the General Strike, that is, at the time of the greatest crimes and betrayals of the General Council of the trade unions, the Comintern obsequiously toadied to the highly placed strikebreakers, cloaked them with its authority in the eyes of the masses, and helped them remain in the saddle. That is how the Minority Movement was struck a mortal blow. Frightened by the results of its own work, the Comintern bureaucracy went to the extreme of ultra-radicalism. The fatal excesses of the “third period” were due to the desire of the small Communist minority to act as though it had a majority behind it. Isolating itself more and more from the working class, the Communist Party counterposed to the trade unions, which embraced millions of workers, its own trade union organisations, highly obedient to the leadership of the Comintern but separated by an abyss from the working class. No better favour could be done for the trade union bureaucracy. Had it been with its power to award the Order of the Garter, it should have so decorated all the leaders of the Comintern and Profintern.
As was said, the trade unions now play not a progressive but a reactionary role. Nevertheless they still embrace millions of workers. One must not think that the workers are blind and do not see the change in the historic role of the trade unions. But what is to be done? The revolutionary road is seriously compromised in the eyes of the left wing of the workers by the zigzags and adventures of official communism. The workers say to themselves: The trade unions are bad, but without them it might be even worse. This is the psychology of being in a blind alley. Meanwhile, the trade union bureaucracy persecutes the revolutionary workers ever more boldly, ever more impudently replacing internal democracy by the arbitrary action of a clique, in essence transforming the trade unions into some sort of concentration camp for the workers during the decline of capitalism.
Impatient leftists sometimes say that it is absolutely impossible to win over the trade unions because the bureaucracy uses the organisations’ internal regimes for preserving its own interests, resorting to the basest machinations, repression and plain crookedness, in the spirit of the parliamentary oligarchy of the era of “rotten boroughs!’ Why then waste time and energy? This argument reduces itself in reality to giving up the actual struggle to win the masses, using the corrupt character of the trade union bureaucracy as a pretext. This argument can be developed further: Why not abandon revolutionary work altogether, considering the repression and provocations on the part of the government bureaucracy? There exists no principled difference here, since the trade union bureaucracy has definitely become a part of the capitalist apparatus, economic and governmental. It is absurd to think that it would be possible to work against the trade union bureaucracy with its own help, or only with its consent. Insofar as it defends itself by persecutions, violence, expulsions, frequently resorting to the assistance of government authorities, we must learn to work in the trade unions discreetly, finding a common language with the masses but not revealing ourselves prematurely to the bureaucracy. It is precisely in the present epoch, when the reformist bureaucracy of the proletariat has transformed itself into the economic police of capital, that revolutionary work in the trade unions, performed intelligently and systematically, may yield decisive results in a comparatively short time.
We do not at all mean by this that the revolutionary party has any guarantee that the trade unions. will be completely won over to the socialist revolution. The problem is not so simple. The trade union apparatus has attained for itself great independence from the masses. The bureaucracy is capable of retaining its positions a long time after the masses have turned against it. But it is precisely such a situation, where the masses are already hostile to the trade union bureaucracy but where the bureaucracy is still capable of misrepresenting the opinion of the organisation and of sabotaging new elections, that is most favourable for the creation of shop committees, workers’ councils, and other organisations for the immediate needs of any given moment. Even in Russia, where the trade unions did not have anything like the powerful traditions of the British trade unions, the October Revolution occurred with Mensheviks predominant in the administration of the trade unions. Having lost the masses, these administrations were still capable of sabotaging elections in the apparatus, although already powerless to sabotage the proletarian revolution.
It is absolutely necessary right now to prepare the minds of the advanced workers for the idea of creating shop committees and workers’ councils at the moment of a sharp change. But it would be the greatest mistake to “play around” in practice with the slogan of shop councils, consoling oneself, with this “Idea,” for the lack of real work and real influence in the trade unions. To counterpose to the existing trade unions the abstract idea of workers’ councils would mean setting against oneself not only the bureaucracy but also the masses, thus depriving oneself of the possibility of preparing the ground for the creation of workers’ councils.
In this the Comintern has gained not a little experience: having created obedient that is, purely Communist trade unions, it counterposed its sections to the working masses in a hostile manner and thereby doomed itself to complete impotence. This is one of the most important causes of the collapse of the German Communist Party. It is true that the British Communist Party, insofar as I am informed, opposes the slogan of workers’ councils under the present conditions. Superficially, this may seem like a realistic appraisal of the situation. In reality, the British Communist Party rejects only one form of political adventurism for another, more hysterical form. The theory and practice of social-fascism and the rejection of the policy of the united front creates insurmountable obstacles to working in the trade unions, since each trade union is, by its very nature, the arena of an ongoing united front of revolutionary parties with reformist and non-party masses. To the extent that the British Communist Party proved incapable, even after the German tragedy, of learning anything and arming itself anew, to that extent can an alliance with it pull to the bottom even the ILP, which only recently has entered a period of revolutionary apprenticeship.
Pseudo-Communists will, no doubt, refer to the last congress of trade unions, which declared that there could be no united front with Communists against fascism. It would he the greatest folly to accept this piece of wisdom as the final verdict of history. The trade union bureaucrats can permit themselves such boastful formulas only because they are not immediately threatened by fascism, or by Communism. When the hammer of fascism is raised over the head of the trade unions, then, with a correct policy of the revolutionary party, the trade union masses will show an irresistible urge for an alliance with the revolutionary wing and will carry with them onto this path even a certain portion of the apparatus. Contrariwise, if Communism should become a decisive force, threatening the General Councils with the loss of positions, honours, and income, Messrs. Citrine and Company would undoubtedly enter into a bloc with Mosley and Company against the Communists. Thus, in August 1917, the Russian Mensheviks and Social-Revolutionaries together with the Bolsheviks repulsed General Kornilov. Two months later, in October, they were fighting hand in hand with the Kornilovists against the Bolsheviks. And in the first months of 1917, when the reformists were still strong, they spouted, just like Citrine and Company, about the impossibility of them making an alliance with a dictatorship either of the right or left.
The revolutionary proletarian party must be welded together by a clear understanding of its historic tasks. This presupposes a scientifically based program. At the same time, the revolutionary party must know how to establish correct relations with the class. This presupposes a policy of revolutionary realism, equally removed from opportunistic vagueness and sectarian aloofness. From the point of view of both these closely connected criteria, the ILP should review its relation to the Comintern as well as to all other organisations and tendencies within the working class. This concerns first of all the fate of the ILP itself.
September 4, 1933
Thomas Cain said...
You may be interested in reading Joseph Kishore's recent article, "The crisis of revolutionary leadership in 2011". I find that it's fairly typical in its limitations for a WSWS article. What stuck out to me is how the Kishore ritualistically invokes the "working class" by name yet does not at all give any insight to what they are actually saying. The reader is entirely limited to a brief summary of the machinations of American and global capital.
And then there's this "Fight for Socialism Today" conference that is advertised at the end. I don't expect that it would offer any way forward, given the ICFI's degeneration. Do you have any idea of what these conferences are about? In other words, since you were a former member, can you outline what the SEP would say to its audience?
Mark said...
The conferences are exactly the same as the web site in terms of content.
I suppose the party sees these conferences as a recruitment tool, but what interest a working class person would have in attending, I'm not sure. It should be clear to anyone in a short amount of time the SEP is only interested in giving lectures and writing articles.
This is a sectarian organization in its purest form, sectarianism as Trotsky himself described it. This article I posted here, could be applied daily as a critique of SEP's anti-unionism which seems to have taken on an even more rabid form in recent months.
Thomas Cain said...
I agree with your assessment of Trotsky's position; this one article could run infinite circles around the party's practice. The SEP's omission of the history of the Russian trade unions makes Jerry White's recent "exchange" with a trade union official come to mind. To put it bluntly, it's a farce:
"...the unions have been transformed into little more than business operations, led by corporate managers who share in the exploitation of the working class. They do everything they can to subordinate the working class to the Democratic Party, which is working with the Republican Party to impoverish workers and tear up education and social programs. In no sense can these organizations be referred to as workers organizations."
White throws out the baby with the bathwater here. He equates Trumka and his ilk with the union itself, which is consistent with's criticism of the SEP.
Have you had any personal experience with any trade union?
Mark said...
As for myself, while I've had many jobs, no, I have never belonged to a union. Maybe because I work now in software, and we are generally better payed than the average worker, it has not been as important for me personally.
But in terms of attitudes, I know that there are still workers that believe: "The trade unions are bad, but without them it might be even worse." And there is some basis for this thinking, as union employees have been generally payed more than non-union workers. So the SEP argument about the unions really falls flat here, in spite of the betrayals by the union leadership.
And there is a bigger problem here, that is uniting the union workers and the non-union workers. By the way, non-union workers represent the overwhelming majority of workers today and there is some degree of hostility among non-union workers to union workers because of the generally lower pay of non-union work. How do we unite both union and non-union workers? I think this question needs to be addressed directly in terms of transitional demands.
The SEP says to union workers, "abandon the unions", and says virtually nothing to the unorganized non-union workers, this is perfectly consistent with their sectarian position on the unions.
Thomas Cain said...
I took some time to reflect upon my studies for the past two weeks, and realized that I have no basis for opposing US imperialism in the Middle East. This is not to say that I support the capitalists in the least, but that I do not know how to mount a coherent argument against supporters of the Iraq war. In my opinion, a lot of what will spew out of my mouth is mostly left-wing tautology. "It's illegal; It's for oil, etc." My fear is that where the Middle East and 9/11 is concerned, I'm terribly uneducated. Here are my questions:
1.) Where would you first turn to find a Marxist interpretation of imperialism that still can apply to current events? My first thought went toward Lenin's book on Imperialism, but I wanted to check to see if I'm on the right track; perhaps there's other volumes on the subject?
2.)I've gotten a lot of flak for even referring to politics at all lately in (somewhat) polite company. I'm dismissed on the basis that I'm "biased," therefore my arguments can be dismissed in full because they orient toward an ideological basis. Have you ever been confronted in this way in regard to your politics? If so, how would you answer such criticism? I get the most trouble from skeptics. They think that "neutrality" is the answer towards any objective viewpoint.
3.)How did you first come upon Marxism? I imagine it's a long story, so summarize it however you wish. Or save it for another entry, whatever works for you.
I'm sorry for all these questions. They have been annoying me for quite some time. Some days I feel as though I've gone politically blind and have lost my ideological bearings, and this is one of the few places I can turn to for help. I appreciate all the time that you've given me over this long period.
Mark said...
To be honest, I don't talk politics a lot these days. If subject does come up I will offer my honest point of view and I am open about being a socialist, but I don't broach the question because I don't belong to any political political party, and there is none that I support, so what would be the point exactly? My blog is the only place I really go into any depth on theorectical issues and politics, and I feel like I have some responsibility to answer questions here given my knowledge of Marxism and socialist politics.
I think you should ask yourself when discussing politcs, what is the purpose of the discussion? What is the social class of people with whom you are speaking? When a person middle class identifies with imperialism, most often there is a class basis for this support even if they themselves are not conscious of this fact. Of course the middle class will play a signifigant role if a revolution takes place, and I think it is important to have support from the middle class, but they are not main force of the revolution, this will be the working class. If a worker identifies with imperialism, it is most often because they unconsciously accept bourgeois ideology. Bourgeois ideology is pervasive, and socialist ideology is virtually non-existent. It has been my experience that workers are far more receptive socialist ideas if they are explained intelligently.
My advice to you is to study the history of the middle east, study its relations with the US, build time lines of major events and interpret them within the framework of historical materialism. I think there is no substitute for really knowing the facts and knowing how to interpret those facts if you want to go beyond catechisms. I think Lenin's Imperialism is good to read as well as the basics of Marxism.
Thomas Cain said...
This question may be rather odd, but it's been at the back of my mind for a while. If I am to call myself a Trotskyist, I think it's necessary to find a historical perspective that critical of his weaknesses as well as his strengths. I don't mean in the sense that Robert Service did it (distortions and lying).
Lately, everything I read about Trotsky's struggle with Stalin is rather one-sided. Trotsky is made into a saint while the Stalinists "cheat". The WSWS, as you have said before, have transformed his contribution to Marxism into an an empty fetishism.
Do you know of a Marxist history that is as harsh on Trotsky as the man himself was on his opponents?
Mark said...
I don't remember if I wrote about this before here or not, but indeed the SEP's reverence for Trotsky is empty and largely ceremonial. Witness David North's multiple lecture tours on the subject of fact checking various biographies of Trotsky. Marxists and Trotskyists are not simply biographers, historians, or fact-checkers, there is world of difference between the practice of North and the practice of Trotsky. David North seems to be posturing himself more and more as an academic and historian.
The emptiness of the SEP practice and their purely ceremonial reverence for Trotsky turned me against Trotsky for a time, indeed I was looking a critique of Trotsky while I was in the SEP. It wasn't until I came in contact with Steiner and Brenner that I really understood what Trotskyism meant. I think it is still possible to critique Trotsky, but I think the purpose of such a critique would be refine his ideas. I think he was right on the whole about the Soviet Union, Stalin, and many other problems during his time in the 20th century.
When I read Trotsky now, not through others but just his own text, I see a human being there, but one deserving of respect and admiration for the consitentecy of his revolutionary work throughout his lifetime.
Thomas Cain said...
I was wondering if you had any thoughts of this "Marxist" website:
The reason I ask is because the first thing of theirs I have read--or tried to read without getting irritated-- was this exchange between a reader and the editor:
The editor's reply in general comes off as an elitist diatribe that reminded me solely of the WSWS's methods of addressing utopianism. As a reader of put it (sarcastically), "We go to workers to try and win them over to the fight for socialism but never are we given permission inside this movement to discuss our ideals and what our world could look like. The blind leads the blind!!!!!! Hey worker, come and join our movement, we fight for socialism but are not allowed to discuss what it looks like so don't ask!!!!!!"
What did Gegenstandtpunkt actually say? Here's a flavor: "In other words: those who inquire about the attractiveness of what communists have to “offer” confuse the critique of capitalism with election slogans of an alternative elite who promise to run things better for their valued citizens than those currently holding power."
They treat Marxism as if it is nothing more than a tool of criticism. Any attempt to actually inquire as to what a socialist society would look like is stamped into the mud. It would be funny if it weren't so pathetic.
Mark said...
My impression is that they treat Marxism as if it were a purely academic activity.
They evade question of the need for an alternative vision with very tortured circular logic, whereas Marx and Engels would have no problem explaining their vision of a socialist future, see for example "The Principles of Communism" by Engels.
By an initial glance I would say this is a strain of academic Marxism, which is to say they separate the critique of capitalist society from the practical work of organization and politics and focus solely on the former. It is not to say they don't have insights, perhaps they do, but as their style of writing is very dense and seemingly lacking in content, its difficult to gather what they might actually have to contribute.
As for the SEP/WSWS, they are increasing going in the direction of being a purely academic outfit, but I don't think the comparison is quite right. It unclear what the origins of this publication are, whereas the SEP came from Trotskyism, even if today they stand opposed to Trotskism in everything but the name there is still some pretense of being a Trotskyist organization.
Stephen R. Diamond said...
In its tone and outlook, SEP most resembles the left-Stalinist "Economic and Philosophical Review." ( ) Take a look at it. I think you'll be surprised by the similarity in outlook and philosophical stance.
The ESPR is also a split from Healy, earlier than North's. But while ESPR is widely regarding as kook, SEP has some serious unpleasant history behind it, from its libels of Hanson and Novack to lawsuits against other opportunist leftists to (apparently) building a party on top of an multi-million dollar capitalist enterprise, employing numerous workers without the aid of a union.
I'm surprised that you and the Permanent Revolution group are so easy on them, as though they're just harmless sectarians when they're actually rather vicious. Alex and Frank even appear reluctant to discuss "Security and the Fourth International" to the point of suppressing comments on the subject.
Mark said...
As far as Alex and Frank on "Security and the Fourth International", that's their own decision, I wouldn't restrict discussion on the subject. If I appear easy on the SEP than I apologize because you are right they do represent something more vicious (or at least harmful), indeed they end up supporting reactionary regimes when it suits their politics, something that the permanent-revolution web site has not shied away from.
|
The rings
Mental categories do not exist independently, our ‘thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviour tend to organize themselves in meaningful and sensible ways' (Zajonc, 1960, p.261). In other words, the constructs are connected in a system, an ‘inner structure' that can be loosely defined as a network of prior knowledge, or a set of memory schemas that support each other. Processing new information means fitting it into this overall structure that is created through interaction between the person and the world. Everybody starts building shis inner structure from the beginning, and continues to do so throughout shis life. Some parts are adopted and some are the result of personal experience. As sociologist Peter Marris points out, ‘in part, these mature structures of meaning can be represented as the common knowledge into which the members of a society are inducted by the language they learn, the principles of classification and causality they are taught - its science, cosmology, ideology, and cultural assumptions. But they also interpret the unique experience of each personal history' (1982, p.192). So, the structure is not only physically and socially determined, but also depends on the individual.
There are indications that the inner structure is organised into several layers or rings. Although the content of the rings can be extrapolated through introspection, verbal reports or behavioural clues, perception of the rings is prevented by our own rings[2]. Thus, while the body can be perceived indirectly (through the senses) and some processes in the soul directly, the rings cannot be. Their existence and organisation is postulated here on the basis of two revelatory experiences and deductive inferences. Considering that it is difficult to validate revelatory insights, the rings do not need to be accepted literally. They can be taken as a conceptual device that is conducive to providing a fuller account of mental operations. Such tools have been used in other disciplines. Science, for example, has created several models of the atom, of which some appeared later not to be entirely accurate, but nevertheless have served a purpose at a certain stage of understanding.
It is suggested that human beings can have up to four rings (while animals have only one). Any mental event can, of course, cut across the rings as brain modules cut across several layers of neuro cells. Each ring has two aspects: one forms the self-concept (personality, or ‘I'), while the other forms the world concept. Every further ring is less conditioned and rigid, and therefore more susceptible to the influence of intent.
The first ring is primarily constructed through images (and other perceptions). The reference point is physical reality. As all the other rings, it has two faces: one consists of the perception of the material world, and the other of the perception of one's own body (as a primary identifier). Virtually everybody agrees that our perception of the physical world is a part of consciousness consisting of constructs that correspond (to some degree) to reality. This applies to our own bodies too. The image of the body is also a construct reinforced by physical sensations from moment to moment. Searle writes:
Common sense tells us that our pains are located in physical space within our bodies, that for example, a pain in the foot is literally in the physical space of the foot. But we now know that is false. The brain forms a body image, and pains like all bodily sensations, are part of the body image. (1992, p.63)
But the brain constructs a ‘wrong' image, very different from our perception of our bodies (e.g. the neck is not next to the head). We, however perceive the body correctly. It is proposed that this is due to the first ring. A so created image is, of course, a dynamic structure - as the body changes, the structure changes too (often in a subtle way).
The two sides, the perception of one's body and of the physical world, are closely related and integrated. Their de-fragmentation can have a devastating effect (as it is well documented in psychiatric literature). Although a largely spontaneous process, sustaining the ring requires some effort. As early as the 1920s, neurologist Paul Schilder wrote that ‘The body-image is the result of an effort and cannot be completely maintained when the effort ceases' (1935, p.287). This effort consists of the attention to sensations received through the body from physical reality and the body itself, and of intentional control over some parts of one's body (as already mentioned, if one's limb, for example, is paralysed or cannot be controlled, it is almost immediately perceived as alien).
The second ring consists of socially determined constructs and is primarily structured through language. The reference point is social products (e.g. text-books, religious texts, instructions, rituals). These conceptual schemas create a net of information that becomes, beside the body-world image, another frame of the soul. It is more permeable and broader because it has elements that cannot be physically perceived (e.g. abstractions such as ‘happiness') and because it has more flexible rules.
This ring also has two complementary sides: the one that relates to oneself (one's name, social identifications, roles and functions, etc.) and another relating to one's social world, the particular ideological framework within which a society operates - in other words, the cultural embodiment (e.g. one's religion).
The third ring also has two aspects: one relates to personal views, opinions and values about the world and others (e.g. friends). The other incorporates personality constructs (the self-image or ego). The reference point is not the physical or social world but one's own private world, which is why a sense of personal importance is one of its main characteristics. Self-creation is also an imperative. Ego, therefore, is not permanent - it is an evolving projection, a construct, an image that we have about ourselves (which does not need to correspond fully to the real person). It is largely based on impressions that we leave on ourselves, self-assessments. For example, although judgements such as ‘I am old, fat, beautiful...' refer largely to the body, they belong to the third, not the first ring. This construct is another embodiment of the soul, another identity besides the body and social roles. As the other rings , self-image has a protective role - we create an ego-shell as a psychological shield to protect us when we go beyond the conventional and start developing individuality. This ring not only enables further separation of the soul from other non-material energy, but also its intentional shaping based on self-reflection (rather than just through instincts and responses to the environment) and a better control over mental processes. It is, therefore, more modifiable and permeable than the previous rings and can accelerate development.
The fourth ring has two sides as well. One consists of global ideas about oneself as a human being (e.g. perceiving oneself as an electro-chemical process, an emergent brain process, or an interaction process). The other consists of the constructs related to wider reality beyond an individual's immediate experience. In other words, a ‘cosmology' that defines one's view of reality (which may involve, but does not need to, the non-material aspect). So, the reference point is the universal. All the major ways of acquiring knowledge, at their best, contribute to this ring. For example, the laws or thermodynamics in science, the dialectic principle in philosophy, common sense realism, and the notion of the purpose, meaningfulness of life in spirituality. Not all of them, of course, need to be correct, but it is notoriously difficult to prove or refute them (even the laws of thermodynamics are in fact not laws but theorems). Thus, an element of belief and choice (that is sometimes based on unadulterated intuition) may be involved. This does not mean that they are relative and subjective, only that their validation (or refutation) requires a complex or multidisciplinary process, often difficult to achieve using existing language and linear logic. For this reason, they are frequently expressed in highly symbolic ways (e.g. geometrical and mathematical representations, archetypal images, metaphors etc.). This ring has the most permeable boundaries.
The following diagram is suggested as a schematised representation of the rings:
This diagram, of course, is only an abstraction. As already mentioned, the rings cannot be observed, and the part of the soul associated with physical life is perceived as a whole (like a ‘person' in a dream that appears as a whole, although only the part of the one who is actually sleeping and dreaming is involved)[3]. The figure is also an idealised representation, the rings are not so clearly demarcated in reality, they may cross or overlap with each other.
In any case, this representation shows that both, the brain field (that consists of waves produced by neurons) and the soul field, go beyond rings. On the other hand, the field of awareness (marked out by the two lines coming from the self) is normally restricted to the rings. To use the above analogy again, it is like a dreamer who is usually limited by the boundaries of the dream and does not remember anything else. Moreover, at any particular moment, we are aware of only a small part of the rings (and, of course, not all four need to be included). However, awareness can move, in which case we become aware of different constructs.
It is important to clarify that although the rings are constructed with the help of images and words, they do not consist of them, but of ideas extracted from personal information and organised into schemas. They capture abstract, ideational content (similar to propositional representations in psychology but more fluid and fuzzy). Their constitutive elements are representations of conceptual objects and relations in a form that is not particular to any language or to any modality (e.g. vision, audition)[4]. So, although they may contribute to especially long term memory recall or restoration, they are likely to have a negligible role regarding specific memories. This is evident from mistakes that those who have suffered brain damage typically make (e.g. misplacing time, locations or persons). Therefore, there is no straightforward correlation between the rings and either episodic memories (experience related) or semantic memories (information related).
Some possible questions
Is walking, for example, also a construct?
Constructs do not need to be associated with symbolic representations. Walking is a type of knowledge that is based on a selection of movements, affirmed by repetition and habituated. Walking is, therefore, an action based on physical constructs.
Are animals more aware because they have only one ring to limit their awareness?
The further rings, in fact, enable an expansion of awareness (because it is possible to encompass more). For example, animals are not aware of what they know (they can use their knowledge, but cannot reflect on it). On the other hand, although the first ring may have a narrow scope and is the least permeable, it is still more so than all four rings together. This is why animals may be sensitive to some information to which humans are normally not (besides the point that their sensory apparatus may also be superior).
Does information arrive first in awareness or in the rings?
Information is not information if somebody is not aware of it. However, any new information is perceived through the ‘glasses' of the existing constructs. In other words awareness is filtered, and therefore, when a sensation becomes information, awareness and the rings operate simultaneously.
• [2]. If an attempt is made to bracket our own rings, the rings of others get bracketed too, so again we cannot perceive them.
• [3]. Recalling that the basic shape of the soul is a torus, can explain how it is possible that a part of the soul that identifies with a physical body can be separated from the rest of the soul and at the same time feed the experiences into it.
• [4]. Barry Stein's laboratory at Wake Forest University found that the shape of a right angle drawn on the hand of a chimpanzee starts the visual part of the brain working, even when the shape has not been seen.
|
The term Canon is generally used to refer to content, material, or information which is generally agreed to be authoritative and accurate. In fiction, Canon is often used to refer to the stories and elements of fictional worlds viewed as 'official' or 'approved.' In other words, Canon is the recognized, accepted and binding stories, backstory, plots, and elements that are seen as being 'accurate' or 'real' in the context of the fictional setting. Canon is most often seen as that content or information which is by and large seen as factual, established and set. It is also thus the content and information upon which all future development must hinge and respect.
This is in contrast to less authoritative or unsubstantiated content, which is often referred to as apocryphal. Apocryphal content may be content unverified or substantiated within actual, canonical stories, or may be content not officially 'approved' by those who oversee the setting or world.
In different fictional settings material which is canon often varies in definition. For the purposes of the Visionary Universe canon is any material which has:
• Been developed, produced and distributed under the auspices of Visionary Comics Studio
• Been developed and/or created under the guidelines of the Visionary Universe Wiki and approved
Story-Based CanonEdit
Any story produced under the guidance of Visionary Comics Studio as set in the Visionary Universe will, obviously, be considered canon and thus authoritative and binding on continuity. It should be noted that what is canon from such stories are those directly related, observable and revealed facts of events. Content related in backstory from characters, or indirectly or not observed at all are only as factual and canonical as the source of that information.
Reference-Based CanonEdit
Canon material in the Visionary Universe Wiki falls under different types, each of which is considered canon to varying levels. The following are the major divisions, listed in order of most canonical to least.
Actual Story Related ReferenceEdit
Any reference content which is created and based directly and solely on actual Visionary Universe stories, relating only facts of various stories and annotating sources of content when not directly related, will be considered as canonical as the stories themselves, thus binding.
Supplementary Related ReferenceEdit
Any reference content which is created under the spirit and guidelines of the wiki, and which is focused on creating supplementary material, or non-story based content focused on existing characters and concepts will be considered canon unless or until directly contradicted in an actual Visionary Universe story.
The primary intent of the wiki is to provide anyone who wishes to do so, the opportunity to contribute to the richness and depth of the Visionary Universe by adding to its history, legends and lore. Thus when contributors add original content and do so in the spirit intended, that content is respected and upheld whenever possible.
Additional Resources Edit
• Canon Policy: An article detailing rules and guidelines regarding canon material and its use and incorporation
• Apocrypha and Apocryphal Policy: For detailed articles on the flip-side of Canon
• Wikipedia Article on Canon, for a more detailed discussion of the concept itself and its use
Ad blocker interference detected!
|
Con Dao Island, Vietnam | WWF
Con Dao Island, Vietnam
Dugong Swimming in open sea.
© WWF / Jürgen FREUND
The Con Dao island is part of an archipelago comprised of 14 islets. It is famous for a brutal prison, which over the years incarcerated over 22,000 people opposed to French colonialism and, later, the Saigon regime.
Situated in the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, it is 230 kilometres from Ho Chi Minh city and 180 kilometres off the south east coast of Vietnam. Con Dao was awarded protected status in 1984 and made a national park in 1993.
The total protected area of the park is 20,000 hectares including 14,000 hectares of sea and 6,000 hectares of forests on the 14 islets. There is also a buffer zone that is 20,500 hectares wide.
The area is home to various rare and enchanting species, including the dugong, sea turtle and the dolphin. In addition, the islands have large and diverse coral reefs, and rare varieties of orchids found nowhere else in Vietnam.
The islands remain largely undisturbed and encompass beauties of striking contrast: dense tropical forests, luminous green paddies, prominent mountain peaks and deep valleys.
Subscribe to our mailing list
* indicates required
Donate to WWF
Enter Yes if you accept the terms and conditions
Enter Yes if you accept the terms and conditions
|
For millions of Christians at this time of year, Jesus of Nazareth is as tangible as the figure of a baby in a manger, His message as distinct as the notes of a carol, His presence as close as the prayers whispered during Christmas services.
But for many scholars looking not with the eyes of faith but the lenses of historical research, Jesus of Nazareth is an elusive and puzzling figure, one who was probably not born in a stable or even in Bethlehem, whose personal life was a mystery and whose essential message remains subject to vastly different interpretations.
Two new books, major attempts to re-examine the "historical Jesus," illustrate the state of this scholarship and pinpoint critical differences over methods and sources that still produce radically different portraits of Jesus.
In "The Historical Jesus" (HarperCollins), John Dominic Crossan, who teaches biblical studies at DePaul University in Chicago, concludes that Jesus was a preacher of peasant egalitarianism. (The subtitle is "The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant.")
Professor Crossan argues that the Gospel accounts of the Last Supper and the appearances of the risen Jesus to His disciples are not records of actual events but dramatic visualizations created by the early Christians to make concrete their experiences of the continued presence of Jesus after His death.
The other book, "A Marginal Jew," by the Rev. John P. Meier (Doubleday), is more traditional in its conclusions. But because it is only the first of two volumes, its title gives no more than a tantalizing hint of the portrait of Jesus yet to come.
Father Meier, a professor of New Testament at Catholic University of America in Washington, does say that Jesus was probably born in 4-6 B.C. in Nazareth, not Bethlehem.
He had four brothers and at least two sisters, Father Meier concludes, citing mentions of them in the Gospels of Mark and John and the writings of Paul. Later teachings about the virginity of Mary held that these references were really to cousins, but Father Meier rejects that view.
Jesus was possibly married but, in Father Meier's estimation, He almost certainly chose to be celibate for religious reasons.
Such conclusions are based on painstaking deductions from the New Testament, other knowledge about the Jewish and Greco-Roman cultures in which Jesus and his followers moved and, increasingly, insights borrowed from modern studies of social and religious movements.
Christians have often rejected these scholarly exertions as unnecessary, content in the knowledge that the four Gospels provide far more documentation of Jesus's words and life than exist for most figures in the ancient world.
But the Gospels are not "works of history in the modern sense," Father Meier points out. It is generally conceded that more than three decades passed after Jesus's death before the earliest of them was written. The others date from 10 to 40 years later.
More important, both the Gospels and the written or oral traditions on which they were based were formed "from start to finish," Father Meier says, by religious faith and by the special concerns and theological interpretations of the different groups of Jesus's followers who had preserved, edited and shaped these memories. An Evolving Scripture
For two centuries, therefore, scholars have been trying to sort out what they felt could be factually established about Jesus from what they felt were the religiously inspired elaborations or interpretations owed to His followers.
Along with evolution, the issue of modern biblical scholarship has divided American Protestantism into fundamentalist and liberal camps. With some caveats, Roman Catholicism now welcomes Scripture studies, recognizing, for instance, that the Gospel accounts of Jesus evolved over the decades after His death.
Polls show that today about a third of American adults believe everything in the Bible to be literally true. Though gaps and discrepancies in the Gospel accounts have been noted since the second century, many Christians, tutored from childhood by church teachings reconciling these disagreements, pay them little heed.
For example, the genealogies of Jesus and the stories surrounding his birth are significantly different in the Gospel of Matthew, with its wise men and flight into Egypt, and the Gospel of Luke, with its Roman census, manger scene, shepherds and peaceful return to Nazareth.
Popular Christian piety has welded the two accounts together into a single familiar story. But most scholars consider these stories to be forms of literary invention accepted in the ancient world, symbolic creations echoing older Scripture and underlining different theological points.
In recent years, different scholars have sketched the historical Jesus as a political rebel, an ancient magician, a maverick Pharisee, a thoroughly Jewish prophet announcing that God was about to restore Israel, and a Hellenistic gadfly with no mission beyond questioning the world's conventions.
Professor Crossan's book reflects a shift away from the depiction of Jesus as proclaiming an imminent end of the world and coming of God's kingdom. The professor argues that although Jesus was originally a follower of the apocalyptic prophet, John the Baptist, he became a wisdom teacher using Zen-like aphorisms and puzzling parables to challenge social conventions.
By His parables, miraculous healings performed without reward, itinerant lifestyle and insistence that meals be shared with all and sundry, Jesus challenged the Mediterranean codes of honor and patronage, the professor says, as well as all the hierarchical and patriarchal assumptions of Jewish religion and Roman imperial power. Standards of Evidence
Despite conflicting conclusions on points like these, scholars have actually grown more confident over the last several decades about reconstructing a portrait of Jesus that does not rest on religious tradition or belief but meets the same standards of historical evidence used in other contemporary historical investigations.
Father Meier, a Roman Catholic priest, describes his approach by imagining an "unpapal conclave":
"Suppose that a Catholic, a Protestant, a Jew and an agnostic -- all honest historians cognizant of first century religions -- were locked up in the bowels of the Harvard Divinity School library," he writes, "and not allowed to emerge until they had hammered out a consensus document on who Jesus of Nazareth was and what He intended in His own time and place."
Professor Crossan, like Father Meier a Roman Catholic, is equally concerned with questions of methods. He calls the variety of Jesuses produced by scholars "an academic embarrassment." His solution is to group passages from the New Testament and other early texts about Jesus into over 500 units of similar sayings or deeds, then to probe for the original events by concentrating on the material that came earliest and is found in more than one independent source.
While both authors adhere to similar scholarly ideals, their major disagreements highlight the crucial choices that result in one version of the "historical Jesus" rather than another.
Among the sources that Professor Crossan considers to give very early and independent evidence about Jesus and his followers are two of the many documents that the early church did not include in its canon of authentic Scriptures. These noncanonical writings have been the stimulus for much new research about Jesus.
Professor Crossan considers the Gospel of Thomas, a collection of sayings found in an early Coptic translation among papyruses unearthed in 1945 near Nag Hammadi, Egypt, a reliable source of clues about the original form of Jesus's teachings. He also believes that the Gospel of Peter, although not composed until the second century, contains within it an older text that was the first narrative version of Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection.
Father Meier calls this theory a convoluted "baroque construct." He also concludes that the Gospel of Thomas is not independent but stems from the same material as Matthew, Mark, Luke and possibly John.
Another difference between their approaches is Professor Crossan's extensive use of modern sociological and anthropological findings about Mediterranean societies, peasant life, eating and healing. Employing social science for models about the past has been another mark of recent research on the historical Jesus.
Professor Crossan conceded that social science "is shifting sand." But it forced him to put himself in the frame of mind of "people who are not like me sitting in front of a computer, a peasant or a subject of colonial rule," he said in an interview last week. Jesus as a Jew
Father Meier and Professor Crossan are closer together on another major theme of recent Jesus research, the Jewishness of Jesus. Portraits of Jesus in stark confrontation with Judaism, frequently the seedbed of anti-Semitism, have been found to spring from later conflicts as a distinct Christian church and rabbinical Judaism defined themselves and went separate ways.
Both new books identify Jesus as Jewish in their titles. Both present Him as a reformer at odds with important elements of His Jewish world but one whose reforms were rooted in the diverse and fluid world of Judaism in Jesus's time.
Neither book tries to deal directly with the central claim of Christians, that Jesus is God as well as man. Neither author believes that Jesus ever explicitly applied the title "Son of God" to Himself, but neither author rules it out as a legitimate conclusion by Jesus's followers.
"I find," Professor Crossan writes, "no contradiction between the historical Jesus and the defined Christ, no betrayal in the move from Jesus to Christ."
Photos: Some images of Jesus: Philippe de Champaigne's painting "Christ and the Woman of Samaria"; the cover of the 1949 book "The Greatest Story Ever Told," and an African Nativity scene. (pg. A1); In "The Historical Jesus" (HarperCollins), John Dominic Crossan, who teaches Biblical Studies at DePaul University in Chicago, concludes that Jesus was a preacher of peasant egalitarianism. His subtitle is "The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant." (Steve Kagan for The New York Times); "A Marginal Jew," by the Rev. John P. Meier (Doubleday), is fairly traditional in its conclusions. But because it is only the first of two volumes, its title gives no more than a hint of the portrait yet to come. (Andrea Mohin for The New York Times) (pg. A13)
|
RAID Performance
In order to size your disk drives properly, you must also keep in mind the overhead incurred by RAID striping. Most systems use some sort of RAID striping in order to avoid the loss of data in the event of the loss of a disk drive. RAID overhead usually does not come into play during read operations, but the write overhead for RAID 1, and RAID 0+1 is 2x and for RAID 5 is 4x. Thus, if you are calculating the required number of IOPS for RAID subsystems, you must take into account the RAID overhead.
RAID Level Overhead Notes
RAID 0 None No fault tolerance, one fault and you’re out.
RAID 1 or RAID 0+1 2 x (1 logical I/O = 2 physical I/Os Good fault tolerance.
RAID 5 4 x (1 logical write = 2 physical reads and 2 physical writes) OK fault tolerance. Poor write performance. Most economical.
Note: No RAID levels incur any read performance. The overhead that you incur by using RAID is only reflected in writes.
Tuning the I/O Subsystem
To tune the I/O subsystem you must make good choices. These choices are: how many disk drives do you need and how are they to be configured. Choosing the correct RAID level and the number of disk drives is the most important thing that you can do when designing your system. In addition, I/Os must be monitored in order to determine if there are problems, and if there are problems, the I/O subsystem should be modified.
Of course there are other factors, such as RAID stripe size, RAID controller CPU utilization, controller caches, data file placement, etc., but they are beyond the scope of this article.
SAN and NAS Systems
SAN and NAS systems provide different types of storage from traditional internal or direct attached storage. A SAN (Storage Area Network) is designed to provide access to storage over a private fibre channel network. A NAS (Network Attached Storage) is used to provide storage over a standard network.
A SAN system is an external storage system that allows multiple computer systems to access the same storage. The RAID controller inside the external storage system is able to take requests for different logical volumes within the storage system from different HBAs (Host Bus Adapters). This allows for several different features. One of the most common uses of a SAN is for storage consolidation. This is where multiple systems share the disks in the external storage subsystem. This allows for consolidation of storage resources and management. An example of this is shown in the figure below.
With storage consolidation, even though the storage in the external disk subsystem is shared among the different systems, it is not entirely accessible to all systems. Logical disks are carved out of the physical disk drives and allocated to each of the computer systems. Only one system can access a particular disk volume.
Another use for a SAN system is for clustering. Failover clusters use a shared disk subsystem that allows one of two systems to access the same storage. Even though the storage is accessible by both systems to access the storage, only one will be used at the same time. In a failover cluster, if one server were to fail, the second server could resume operation by taking control of the storage and the SQL Server database that resides on that shared storage.
SAN Performance Considerations When putting together a SAN system you must not only look at the I/O traffic that is being generated by one system, but the I/O traffic being generated by all systems in the SAN. So in addition to sizing the I/O subsystem disk drives and RAID levels, you must look at the traffic on the SAN itself, as well as keeping in mind that other systems might be accessing the same RAID controllers. It is also possible to run into bandwidth limitations on the SAN itself, since fibre channel has a limited bandwidth.
Pages: 1 2 3
|
Study Crusader Syria as a feudal military frontier. Identify the principle weaknesses of the Crusader states. How were these weaknesses overcome?
Essay by Axis_of_EvilUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, February 2003
download word file, 4 pages 3.5
Downloaded 49 times
This lack of manpower altered the course of army building and eventually the type of warfare conducted in the Christian Latin states (referring to the influx of siege warfare because "knights were precious commodities not lightly exposed to damage....[and
their being killed or captured] must always have been prominent in the thoughts of commanders" (Beeler 130). The armored cavalry was still the main effort and strong point of the European commanders; however, lack of emigration meant lack of nobility, and in essence, a reduction of the amount of knights available on the battlefield. As Beeler pointed out, "it has been estimated that the short-lived county of Edessa never attracted more than 100 European noble and knightly families" (123), and further estimation reveals that had the entire army in Jerusalem been assembled, only about 1,800 knights would be present--supported by a mere 10,000 infantry.
Unfortunately for the Christians, this lack of manpower did not decrease, and in fact, because of persistent attacks by Islamic armies, it continued to increase. After...
|
Posted on
How do businessmen make use of the consumer needs?
In order to attract consumers to buy the products, it is important to understand the needs of consumers. Accordingly, people needs can be divided into five categories, including physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization, and this is referred to the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Consumer behaviour: a needs perspective, no date). This theory states that individuals have to satisfy each of the needs stage by stage, with physiological need is the lowest level and self-actualization is the highest level. Let’s have a look of the examples of advertisement that used the principle of this theory.
This is the advertisement which made use of the safety needs from the hierarchy:
Clothing can be referred to the belongingness needs:
Is it true that people needs are directly proportional to the people consumption? Oleson, M. (2004) showed that there is an obvious relationship between money attitude and needs. According to this study, it is found that money attitudes were most related to safety and esteem needs and least related to physiological, love, and actualization needs. Moreover, it also indicated that there is a sex difference in this correlation. In terms of men, money attitude was most related to safety needs, while money attitude of women was most related to esteem needs. Thus, we can predict that men are more likely to spend money to buy safety-related products, whereas women are more likely to buy esteem-related items.
Besides decorating different advertisements in terms of hierarchy needs, Nelson, J. (2011) also highlighted that businessmen would make advertisements in Facebook to promote their brand. As described above, belongingness is one of the needs that people trying to satisfied. Therefore, Facebook can provide a suitable platform for people to keep contact with friends, family, and mates and this can enhance the relationship between them (needs of belongingness). Thus, merchants make use of this thing and make advertisements in Facebook in order to gain more customers.
Consumer behaviour: a needs perspective (no date). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved 4th March 2014, from
Nelson, J. (2011). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Purchasing. Retrieved 4th March 2014, from
Oleson, M. (2004). Exploring the relationship between money attitudes and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. International Journal of Consumer Studies28(1), 83-92.
Leave a Reply
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s
|
Fruit and vegetables
Here is a list of 10 foods to eat every day in order to feel good naturally. Energy in, energy out. These foods provide the nutrients your body needs to fight off inflammation in your brain, which can lead to moody thoughts and depression.
1. Dark Leafy Greens
If you were to choose the healthiest food of all, the most nutrient-dense item available to us to eat, it would be dark, leafy greens, no contest. Spinach. Kale. Swiss chard. Greens are the first of the G-BOMBS (Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries, Seeds) that Dr. Fuhrman describes in his book, The End of Dieting, the foods with the most powerful immune-boosting and anticancer effect.
“These foods help to prevent the cancerous transformation of normal cells and keep the body armed and ready to attack any precancerous or cancerous cells that may arise,” he writes. They fight against all kinds of inflammation, and according to a new study published in JAMA Psychiatry, severe depression has been linked with brain inflammation. Leafy greens are especially important because they contain oodles of vitamins A, C, E, and K, minerals and phytochemicals.
2. Walnuts and Brazil Nuts
3. Avocado
I eat a whole one every day in my salad for lunch. Avocados are power foods because, again, they contain healthy fat that your brain needs in order to run smoothly. Three quarters of the calories of an avocado are from fat, mostly monosaturated fat, in the form of oleic acid. An average avocado also contains 4 grams of protein, higher than other fruits, and is filled with vitamin K, different kinds of vitamin B (B-9, B-6, and B-5), vitamin C, and vitamin E-12. Finally, they are low in sugar and high in dietary fibre, containing about 11 grams each.
4. Berries and grapes
Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and grapes are some of the highest antioxidant foods available to us. Try to have a variety for breakfast in the morning.
5. Mushrooms
6. Onions
“Eating onions and garlic frequently is associated with a reduced risk of cancers of the digestive tract,” explains Fuhrman. “These vegetables also contain high concentrations of anti-inflammatory flavonoid antioxidants that contribute to their anti-cancer properties.” Again, if you consider the relationship between your digestive tract and your brain, it is understandable why a food that can prevent cancers of the gut would also benefit your mood.
7. Tomatoes
Try to eat at least six baby tomatoes in my salad each day for lunch because tomatoes contain lots of folic acid and alpha-lipoic acid, both of which are good for fighting depression. According to research published in the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, many studies show an elevated incidence of folate deficiency in patients with depression. In most of the studies, about one-third of depression patients were deficient in folate.
Folic acid can prevent an excess of homocysteine — which restricts the production of important neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine — from forming in the body. Alpha-lipoic acid keeps coming up alongside nutrition and the brain, so maybe take it as a supplement as well. It helps the body convert glucose into energy, and therefore stabilises mood.
8. Beans
“Beans, beans, good for the heart. The more you eat, the more you … smile.” They make the G-BOMB list because they can act as anti-diabetes and weight-loss foods. They are good for your mood because your body digests them slowly, which stabilises blood sugar levels. Any food that assists you to even out blood sugar levels is your friend. They are the one starch you should allow yourself, so on top of a salad, they’ll help mitigate cravings for bread and other processed grains.
9. Seeds
When you get close to reaching for potato chips — or anything else that is yelling “I will take away your pain!” — allow yourself a few handfuls of sunflower seeds or any other kind of seed you can find in your kitchen. Seeds are the last food on Fuhrman’s G-BOMBS list.
Flaxseeds, hemp seeds, and chia seeds are especially good for your mood because they are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Fuhrman writes, “Not only do seeds add their own spectrum of unique disease-fighting substances to the dietary landscape, but the fat in seeds increases the absorption of protective nutrients in vegetables eaten at the same meal.”
10. Apples
An apple a day could — if eaten with the rest of these foods — keep the psychiatrist away, at least for stretches of time. Like berries, apples are high in antioxidants, which can help to prevent and repair oxidation damage and inflammation on the cellular level. They are also full of soluble fiber, which balances blood sugar swings. A snack you will grow to love is almond butter on apple slices. You get omega-3 fatty acid along with some fibre. Lemon and lime juice is also a wonderful option in the morning, squeezed into hot water, rather than caffeine. A stimulant which will end up making you feel lousy.
Print Friendly
|
Sign Up for Training |
Jet Express Support |
Jet Reports Company Site
Jet 365 Financials
Jet Professional
Jet Enterprise
Submit a Request
Named Ranges
Any range in Excel can be associated with a name that can be used to reference that range anywhere in the workbook. Naming ranges is particularly useful if you are referencing a particular cell, such as a Start Date on the Options sheet, in several worksheets. Entering a name like "StartDate" in the Name Box in the upper left corner of the Excel screen makes referencing the date cell much easier as you design the rest of the report. You must press Enter after typing in the name, or Excel will not save it. There is one caveat to using Named Ranges which occurs when you are nesting formulas as parameters for other formulas. An example of this is the If statement below that outputs "More" if the sum of B5:B10 is greater than 10 and "Less" otherwise:
The cell references in the above formula cannot be named ranges, they have to be cell references like they are now since the Sum formula is nested in the If formula. However, you could still use a named range if you used another cell for the Sum formula and had the if statement reference that cell.
Was this article helpful?
0 out of 0 found this helpful
Have more questions? Submit a request
|
Salary for Recycling and Reclamation Workers helps agriculture and food professionals find better paying jobs across all specialties and locations.
Recycling and reclamation workers prepare and sort materials for recycling by removing hazardous materials and dismantling large appliances. This job can be dangerous as it requires workers to handle hazardous substances by description of the job. A high school degree or GED or above is needed to apply for this position. After being hired, employers usually require a few months to a year of formal on-site job training before official work can begin.
A Recycling or Reclamation Worker can get a pay level that can range from 24000 - 36000 based on seniority. Recycling and Reclamation Workers can earn an average salary of Thirty One Thousand One Hundred dollars on an annual basis.
Recycling and Reclamation Workers receive the highest compensation in Alaska, which has an average job salary of near $63190.
Are you an aspiring recycling or reclamation worker? Want a new opportunity where you can earn a higher salary? Create your free recycling or reclamation worker job alert today and take control of your future.
The national wage distribution is shown below. To overlay local salaries for a Recycling or Reclamation Worker, please select your state.
Recruiter makes it easy to find out about new jobs for recycling and reclamation workers. Create your job alert and learn about new openings in your area.
The annual compensation for this career has gone up since 2004. Salaries have increased by an average of 10.75 percent nationwide in that time.
There is a better job out there!
|
Keeping Kids Hydrated
The importance of hydration for the health of our kids
My kids know that if they come to me complaining about a headache, stomachache, itchy dry skin or general grumpiness, my first question is always going to be, “how much water have you had today?”.
In my experience as a health practitioner, if I ask any group of people if they know how important water is for their health, they say yes. If I ask, ‘do you drink enough water in the day?’ almost everyone replies “no,” usually accompanied by downward cast eyes and a guilty expression.
It can be particularly hard to get enough water into kids; partly because they are often on the go and partly because so many beverages are aggressively marketed towards them making plain old water seem, well, boring. As parents, it is easy for us to fall into this trap too. We hear that kids are supposed to have their milk every day, so that counts for a glass or two when they are thirsty and then they want juice and hey, it’s fortified with calcium and they need that right? The number of children that I see in my practice who drink literally no pure water in the average day is just shocking. If they are getting fruit, minerals and hydration in other forms, why is water so important?
The human body is composed of about 70 percent water. Dehydration is one of the most common causes of health problems for Canadians, including everyday complaints such as fatigue, headaches, constipation, lower back pain, weight gain, irritability and depression. Water acts as a delivery system within the body, carrying oxygen and nutrients to each cell while removing wastes. When dehydration occurs, these wastes build up in the cells, weakening the muscles and the immune system. In time, this can result in a disease condition. Since moodiness, digestive disorders and skin conditions are some of the most common concerns parents have about their children; an inexpensive, easy to administer remedy should be considered first!
Getting enough water is also very important for proper brain function. The brain is made up of about 85 percent water. A drop of 1 percent in body water levels is associated with fatigue and the inability to think clearly. Low levels of water in the cells can also trigger depression and mood swings. Keep in mind that beverages containing caffeine, carbonation, or sugar are diuretics. Your body uses more water to process and get rid of these liquids then they provide. While I would argue that pop has no place in anyone’s diet whatsoever, I know that is just not going to fly with some people. The numbers are astounding though – one can of pop per day equals roughly 18 kilograms of added sugar by the end of the year! The next-best alternative to eliminating it would be to make sure that you (and your children) are drinking enough water to process it adequately.
There is no substitute for pure water (I know I’m getting preachy here, but bear with me!). One way to help get water into kids is to let them pick out a bottle that they like, or decorate one with stickers or drawings. They then have the goal of emptying the bottle throughout the day. The sweet fruit juices and vitamin waters are best saved as occasional treats. It’s an easy way to help everyone feel a little better.
Natural Health Practitioner Alexis Costello is proud mommy to eleven-year-old twins and a brand new baby. She wants to help other holistic mamas and kids to be their best in this wild world. To learn more or to make an appointment email or call 250-491-7559
Children’s nutrition; importance of hydration; symptoms of dehydration; kids and pop; how to get kids to drink water
Kid’s health/ family/ nutrition/ water/ brain functioning/ digestive health
|
Fitness in a Bottle: 10 Unexpected Reasons Why You Should Drink More Water
April 18, 2017
Water is the primary component of the human body. As a matter of fact, our body is composed of 55 to 75 percent of water, depending on the body mass index. Regular and adequate consumption of water has a broad range of health benefits. As a bonus, water contains no sugar, carbohydrates, and other additives commonly found in fruit juices and other beverages.
The quantity of water that you consume every day plays a paramount role in maintaining a healthy body. Experts recommend drinking eight to ten glasses of water a day to stay hydrated and maintain good health.
Proper hydration is essential because every cell in the body needs water to function properly. Now, here are the top ten reasons why you should drink more water:
Improves Mood
Researches conclude that mild dehydration (happens when you’ve lost too much water in your body without replacing it) can negatively affect your mood and ability to think.
A study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that dehydration can take a toll on your cognitive function and mood. A good indicator of the level of your hydration is the color of your urine. Lighter color means good hydration and vice versa.
Treats Migraines and Headaches
If you have migraine or headache, the first thing that you should do to get some relief is to drink lots of water. Dehydration often causes, unbeknownst to many, migraines and headaches.
A study published in the European Journal of Neurology concludes that increasing water intake reduces the intensity of a headache and total numbers of hours of headache duration. Before you prepare you mattresses and your bed bases for a nap or a good night’s sleep, make sure to drink lots of water first.
Helps in Constipation and Digestion
Increasing water intake improves the gastrointestinal tract functions. This prevents constipation and helps digestion. Insufficient amount of water in the body often leads to constipation because the colon pulls water from the stool to maintain hydration, thus making them harder and difficult to excrete.
Sufficient amount of water also boosts your metabolism and helps the body break down food. This promotes regular bowel movement and helps the digestive system work well.In particular, warm water is good for your digestive health.
Aids Weight Loss
Contrary to the popular belief that water increases your weight, it helps you lose weight. Clinical trials found out that drinking eight ounces of water before meals suppress appetite which helps you lose weight easier.
Another exciting fact is that water also helps in increasing the rate at which body burns fat and promotes the elimination and breakdown of fat cells. But don’t forget other diet tricks and proper exercise in addition to drinking more water.
Relieves Fatigue
If you always feel tired even though you’re not doing anything, there is a high chance that your consumption of water is inadequate which makes the body function less productive. In fact, the first sign of dehydration is fatigue.
When there’s insufficiency of water in the body, the volume of blood drops which causes the heart to work harder to pump the oxygenated blood out of the bloodstream. Major organs will not effectively function too.
It Protects Our Joints and Cartilage
Enough supply of water keeps the cartilage around your joints supple and hydrated, which ensures that our joints stay lubricated.
Water also protects our tissues and spinal cord, keeping us healthy from inside out. Cartilage, a rubbery material that coats our bones, is made up of 85 percent of water. To keep your cartilage healthy, you need to keep hydrated by drinking enough water.
It Helps Us To Stay Focus and Sharp
Be warned that dehydration causes brain tissue shrinkage! So if you are not drinking enough water, your brain tends to work harder to perform at the same level.
One study even found that students who brought water on their exams did better. While it’s still not clear if drinking water had anything to do with the higher score, it does not hurt to try it.
It Might Protect Us Against Cancer
A research found that higher water intake lowers the incidence of bladder cancer. One possible reason is that frequent urinating prevents the build up of bladder carcinogens. Good hydration may also reduce the risk of breast and colon cancer.
It Takes The Edge of Hangover
Dehydration is also caused by drinking alcohol which leads to hangovers. Drinking a glass of water with each alcohol that you sip is a good way to offset dehydration and the miserable headache the next day.
Sickness Fighter
Sufficient water intake aids not only dehydration but also decongestion. This helps the body bounce back when you are feeling under the weather.
The benefits that we can get from drinking enough water are countless. There’s a big reason why our parents always nudge us to drink water every day, and by now you should know better. Water is indeed, the real fountain of life.
Author Bio:
Rachel Minahan is a bubbly interior designer who is also a self-confessed health aficionado. She loves traveling to different cities and countries whenever she has time. She is also fond of scouting the latest trend in health and beauty, fashion, and design. Rachel admits that she is a writer by heart and loves sharing her thoughts about fashion and design, traveling and health and beauty and shares it with her readers.
Leave a Reply
|
Clean Energy Council
Hydroelectric EnergyRepresentatives of much more than 170 countries reached consensus at the Leading Globe Conference on Sustainable Improvement, in Johannesburg (2002), and at the 3rd Planet Forum on Water, in Kyoto (2003): all hydroelectric generation is renewable and merits international support. Hydroelectric power can be generated on a tiny scale with a ‘run-of-river’ installation, which utilizes naturally flowing river water to turn 1 or far more turbines, or on a large scale with a hydroelectric dam. Numerous nations about the planet have decided to commit really big monetary sources to the building of dams for the production of hydroelectric power. In this post, we’re going to explore both the pros and the cons so you can have a much better idea of what is getting discussed in regards to hydroelectric power. Timeline of hydropower – This timeline shows the major events in hydroelectric energy history from ancient civilizations up to the early 2000s. The procedure utilised to handle this flow of water is named the intake method When a lot of power is required, most of the tunnels to the turbines are open, and millions of gallons of water flow by way of them.
The water rushes past the turbine, hitting its blades and causing it to spin, converting some of the water’s kinetic power into mechanical energy. Worldwide, about 435 nuclear plants are in operation in 30 distinct nations , and they generate about 16 percent of the all round energy consumed in created components of the globe. Micro hydro is a term employed for hydroelectric power installations that usually create up to one hundred kW of energy.
Storing solar energy is achieved with big battery banks which have a restricted storage capacity. The simplest possible hydroelectric plant is 1 that uses the energy of operating water to turn a turbine and operate a generator. You will also identify some rewards and drawbacks of utilizing this sort of renewable resource for power production.
In the early element of the century hydroelectric plants supplied a bit significantly less than one particular-half of the nation’s power, but the number is down to about 10 percent today. The generator uses an electromagnetic field to convert this mechanical energy into electrical power. Personally, I consider that tidal and wave energy has a lengthy way to go, but wind and solar can be completed now.Hydroelectric Energy
From an economic point of view, hydroelectric plants tend to have high begin-up but low maintenance charges. Sometimes climate patterns can outcome in low wind for days or weeks at a time, a hydroelectric reservoir capable of storing weeks of output is helpful to balance generation on the grid. Electrical energy cost graph – A graph displaying the typical fees of all existing types of energy production. Even so, hydroelectricity still plays a substantial role in the nation’s energy production, accounting for 7 percent of the country’s total power consumption. In France alone, EDF Group operates 436 hydroelectric plants, with a total capacity of about 20GW. When the water is permitted to flow, the potential power gets converted to kinetic energy.
|
09 November 2010
Nov 9
Reference links:
Old Testament
I find it odd how Ezekiel refers to Israel rather than Judah. Maybe since the kingdom of Israel had fallen, the author feel Judah can lay claim to the name? Or maybe the distinction between the two is not important to the author?
In any case, men of Israel have come to Ezekiel for a message of God. God's answer contains what seems like an odd (or at least oddly translated) turn of phrase coming from God,
a land I had discovered and explored for them
"Discovery" and "exploration" don't really seem like the right words for a supposedly omniscient God to choose.
God then goes on to recount (once again) how the terrible lack of fidelity shown by the people of Israel. We also learn that the only reason he did not crush the Israelites sooner is that he didn't want it to seem like he had made a mistake bringing them out of Egypt.
Throughout this we read repeated statements that obeying God's regulations would have given the Israelites life. This is interesting since Paul goes on and on about the insufficiency of the law on its own. Now, Paul's take was generally along the lines that the law could not be kept rather than a claim that it was insufficient (although, if I remember correctly, he sometimes veered near that territory). However, in today's reading, God implies that it was perfectly reasonably for him to expect the Israelites to keep his regulations (that or God's implying that he's a major jerk for trying to hold people to regulations they could never follow).
God finishes his review of how terrible the Israelites were by emphasizing that they are still terrible. However, he strikes a hopeful cord by stating that when he brings them back from exile, they will worship him properly. This is the thread of optimism that runs through Ezekiel. There is always the hope that Israel will be restored, exile ended, and then people will worship God correctly and prosper. How different reality has been from that dream (although I suppose there is some minuscule possibility that it could still happen; however, I am guessing that sacrifices will no longer be so popular as the Ezekiel supposes).
Also, the brushlands of the Negev will burn.
New Testament
Today we read what I have always consider a particularly repugnant explanation of the necessity of Jesus' death: As the blood from animal sacrifices was purifying, Jesus' blood was even more purifying. It provided the ultimate purification and thus no more sacrifices were needed. The idea that God considered animal blood to be magically purifying always seemed like a primitive holdover. Thus, a God who demands human blood (from a very specific and special human, but human blood none the less) seems even more primitive.
Psalms and Proverbs
Nothing of particular note.
|
The Commonwealth is made up of 53 independent countries with a combined population of 2.2 billion. The association includes countries in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Caribbean and Americas. Over half of its 53 member states are least-developed countries, small island developing states or both, Xinhua news agency reported.
"We are deeply concerned about the threat posed by climate change, which continues to grow and to put at risk the economic, social, environmental, and cultural well-being of our member states and citizens. "Many of our most vulnerable states and communities are already facing the adverse impacts of climate change, which can roll back decades of development gains," the statement said.
Commonwealth countries agreed to abide by the target to hold the increase in global average temperature below 2 degrees Celsius or 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The statement said that Commonwealth countries expected the outcome at the Paris summit will stimulate sustainable economic growth, give a clear signal of the need for deep cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions and support vulnerable states.
Meanwhile, developed Commonwealth countries reaffirmed their commitment to play their part in mobilising the USD 100 billion every year by 2020 to address the adaptation and mitigation needs of developing countries.
"Forty seven of the 53 Commonwealth nations have already declared their intended nationally determined contributions, in other words the concrete actions they will take to address climate change," outgoing Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said at a press conference held in the city St Julians, Malta.
He said the statement shows a real commitment in the Commonwealth to address climate change challenges. "We are very proud of this achievement and the fact that diverse nations with different perspectives were able to come together and speak with one voice on this issue which is so critical to our survival," he added.
Latest News from World News Desk
|
Mars' Milestone: Most Advanced Planetary Robot Ever Designed Now Fully Operational
The Visible Universe: "Seven Trillion Dwarfs and Billions of Undetected Galaxies" (Weekend Feature)
Superclusters in the visible universe = 10 million
Galaxy groups in the visible universe = 25 billion
Large galaxies in the visible universe = 350 billion
Dwarf galaxies in the visible universe = 7 trillion
The Daily Galaxy via ESA and
p=hk sub 1,2,3,4,5,6....
Once again I have to ask what this does to the total mass of the Universe!
So this mysterious cosmic fog just turned out to be distant, blurry galaxies. This is not surprising. Perhaps next we will find that the microwave background radiation is just more blurred and distant galaxies. It either goes on forever and ever, or there is eventually a Truman Show-wall at some point.
This seems to be an eye opener. We know so little , but increasingly the universe is seen to be much more vast than our knowledge from previous years.
Does this perhaps indicate that the statistical chances of intelligent *out there* are also greater ?
How to contact ** THEM** should be challenge for our technology.
I am stunned! On the one side we learn that most of the universe consist of Dark Matter because the mass could not otherwise be accounted for. Now we learn that the universe seems to be 90% larger than thought at first. Is the dark matter mow still required in order to keep things together?
Now I really need to know where all of the matter came from.
The birth of stars keeps going on until today. The galaxies actions & performances look the same between early Universe and current Universe. For that large number of galaxies, this is a strong indication that there is no early Universe at all. This situation gives sign that the Universe model is closer to "Cloud & rain model" rather than "The Big Bang theory."
I understand that there are other ways of detecting dark matter, like it's contribution to the outer stars in a galaxy traveling faster that the inner ones and other methods also. However does this reduce the amount of dark matter, being that there is so much more matter discovered?
This also makes me ponder the theory of the multiverse. The theory states that if there are an infinite number of universes then statistically speaking there would have to be a world out there identical to ours with another me and another you. If we can now indirectly see 90% more of the universe than we could before, what if it doesn't stop there, which it most likely won't. Could the statistics be brought to encompass only this universe? Just in our own galaxy, we have found many worlds close to ours and we are so much still in the infancy of our search. There becomes a growing possibility that just in our own universe, we may yet discover ourselves. (Sorry, I just couldn't hold back from using an ironic metaphor.) I mean finding our doppelgangers. With the number of galaxies far exceeding trillions upon trillions, and even this number may be amazingly short, the question must remain open for debate.
And let's not forget about the universe beyond that is "visible".
How might this discovery affects measurements of cosmic age, I wonder? Does it mean the universe is older than believed?
The big bang theory is falling apart. The universe is not 13.7 billion years old. Certain types of individual stars are trillions of years old. The universe is eternal and infinite. There is no dark energy and dark matter. That is just bullshit made up to keep the dying big bang theory alive. The idea of a beginning of the universe is absurd. What happened before that? Was there just nothing? How was all matter compressed in a space the size of an atom? There's a violation of the laws of physics. The universe was supposed to expand at a rate faster than the speed of light. There's another violation of the laws of physics. The evidence is not so clear that the universe is expanding, and that is the whole foundation of the big bang theory. Even if there is expansion now, does that mean there always was? There are other explanations for the red shift of distant objects. The piece of shit theory is like religious dogma now, and it was created by a Belgian priest. Religious people love it because it jives with their idea of a beginning and that God started everything. The big bang theory is also loved by mathematicians who love beautiful equations, but if the theory doesn't match observation; it's garbage. It's like the old Ptolemaic system. Looks great on paper, but wrong.
Verify your Comment
Previewing your Comment
Your comment could not be posted. Error type:
Your comment has been posted. Post another comment
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.
Post a comment
Your Information
|
An initiative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
The Common Good Video
Made for the Common Good:
Marriage safeguards justice
En Español
How is marriage a social justice issue? The family is the bedrock of society. Children come to understand who they are and how they fit into this world through their family relationships. Marriage between a man and a woman, that gives stability and permanence to their bond, is good for all of society especially for children. It sets an example of love and faithfulness, and provides a mother and a father to any children who come from their union, or to whom they open their home through adoption.
The fourth and final installment of Marriage: Unique for a Reason explores the universal significance of the unique good of marriage in service to society and to the inviolable dignity of every human person. Contrary to what is often heard in media and pop-culture venues, and even in some courts and legislatures, protecting marriage as the union of one man and one woman is a matter of justice. Far from being discriminatory, the Church’s teaching on marriage upholds and enhances the dignity of men, women, and children.
There is nothing like marriage, the union of husband and wife. It serves a unique and irreplaceable social role, deserving the protection and privileges of the state. The rights of children to a mother and a father, the rights and responsibilities of husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, to each other and to the children they bring into the world – all of these are safeguarded by promoting and protecting the unique meaning of marriage. The video dealing with the topics of marriage, human dignity, and the common good is currently in production.
For more information on all these subject please explore the other areas of our site: FAQ’s Church Teachings and Resources.
|
Bamburgh Castle
bamburgh castle, northumberlandThe castle as we know it today was mainly built by the Normans. William II laid siege to the castle in 1095 AD but without success in spite of the revolt being supported by its owner, Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland. Robert's wife continued to defend the castle until forced to surrender it after the King threatened to gouge out the eyes of her husband who he had captured.
After this time, Bamburgh Castle came into the ownership of the English monarchy. During the Wars of the Roses, Bamburgh Castle became the first in England to be defeated by artillery attack, this being after a nine-month long siege by the 16th Earl of Warwick, Richard Neville.
The Northumbrian Forster family became governors of the castle successively for 400 years until ownership was granted to Sir John Forster by the Crown and then the Forster family kept ownership until in 1700 AD at his death, Sir William Forster was declared bankrupt. Because of this, his estates including the castle was sold to the Bishop of Durham.
The castle eventually fell into disrepair over many years but during the 18th and 19th centuries restoration was set about by various owners. Eventually, this wonderful striking mediaeval castle was bought by wealthy Victorian industrialist, William Armstrong who more or less restored it to the condition in which we find it today.
It goes without saying that with such a colourful history, the castle has more than enough reason to be haunted. Several visitors have felt a ghostly tap on the shoulder on the flight of stairs near the library.
There is also said to be a 'Pink Lady' who haunts the castle. She was apparently once a Northumbrian Princess who wanted to marry her true love who was clearly beneath her station. Apparently her father sent her lover overseas and after a period of time when the poor girl became depressed, he thought it would be a good idea to tell her that her lover had married someone else and that she should forget all about him. In an effort to cheer her up in her obvious melancholy, the King is said to have had a beautiful pink dress made for her but unfortunately when it was completed, she is said to have put on the garment then climbed on to the highest battlements and thrown herself to her death on the rocks below!
Legend has it that the princess returns to the Castle every seven years in her pink dress, wondering throughout until she makes her way down the rocky path to the beach only to stand watch waiting longingly for her lover to return.
|
26 September 1918
The Meuse-Argonne offensive begins. In which the American high command singularly fails to distinguish itself. Not apparently having learned much at all from the doings at Belleau Wood, the Army feeds men in, and feeds men in, and feeds men in, to assault carefully prepared positions, with inadequate fire support, poor communications, and scandalously poor staff work. The result is America’s bloodiest battle, in terms of total dead and wounded over the weeks that it lasted.
The French on the American right offered essentially no help. They’d been ground down by the four years’ fighting and were just content to let someone else do the dying for a while. In fact the whole offensive really didn’t accomplish much. The German lines were not irretrievably broken until very nearly the end of the war, and they fed next to no reinforcements into the battle. The troops on the ground just kept killing Americans, and dying in their turn, as long as they could. Those same troops would not have been sent elsewhere because that would have opened the German front at that location, so the offensive can’t even make that claim to relevance. No: What happened there was a helluva lot of American soldiers got killed for pretty much nothing at all.
We did get Alvin York’s story out of it, however, but that doesn’t seem like much to brag about. On the less-edifying end of the scale is the story of the Black troops who were fed, poorly armed and nearly untrained, into the fight on the American left. This was the segregated Army at its worst, and as usual it was the grunt on the ground who took the hit.
The story of the battle is extremely well-told here.
Leave a Reply
|
Electricity Consumers
Here, the most attractive factor is the price of the equipment. But if you carefully weigh all you realize that the cost of electricity consumed will be enormous. K example to heat fully one-bedroom apartment will need 3-4 kW per hour. Easy to calculate what it will result in heat during the month. And the electricity network flats just are not designed for this load. Infrared heaters, such as UFO, infrared wall panels, etc. The difference between the equipment and heaters only heat in the process of delivery. Heaters directly heats the air in the room infrared heater warms the light on means of objects in the room, which in turn warm the same air.
The cost of this equipment is somewhat higher than the heaters, but negative factors are the same. -Electric floor heating. Here, higher capital expenditure mainly due to the construction cost for installation, but also the degree of comfort at a higher level. Unfortunately, these systems do not can generate more heat than the electricity consumed. Therefore, are no less extravagant than the previous two, although it has the right to live as a local heating system of periodic action, such as warm sex in the bathroom. -Conditioners (split system). Virtually all modern systems, integrated function of the heat pump, which allows the system not only for cooling but also for space heating. Long deterrent to such intended use of air conditioners was the inability of systems to work on heating at low outdoor temperatures, as heaters can use them in the offseason, but nothing more.
Fortunately, technology is not standing still and appeared on the market today with the inverter model can be used as a full-conditioner heater when the outdoor temperature -15 … -25 C (in Depending on the model). But the main advantage of air conditioners is a tremendous cost. One kilowatt of electricity consumed by air conditioning produces 3.5 kW of heat. This is due to the fact that air conditioning is not directly converts electrical energy into heat, but with the help of electrical energy supplies the heat diffused in the outdoor air in the room. In fact it is possible to achieve energy efficiency in the 300-500% depending on the conditioner models and environments. The cost of a good air conditioner can be quite high in comparison with other heating appliances, but the operational efficiency of more than pay for it soon. Other advantages of using an inverter air conditioner as a heating device may include the following: – electricity consumption on average 30% lower than that of conventional split-system. -Time and costs installation of equipment is minimal (installation of a system by an average of 4 hours). See more detailed opinions by reading what Pete Cashmore offers on the topic.. -Installation of the systems, does not require any permits and approvals from the authorities and the technical supervision of public utilities. -Smooth control and accurately maintaining the desired temperature in the room. System with an inverter have low starting currents. Vyshibanie congestion and failure of other electrical appliances during power-split systems are excluded. -You can not forget that the inverter split system is also a full-conditioner in summer, which, in essence, making it a means of maintaining year-round comfort parameters of microclimate in the house.
Office Equipment Cartridges
Anyone at home or in the workplace have a printer or fax machine, surely, faced with the acquisition of supplies to them. There are several ways to address this issue. Easier and safer to buy a new cartridge printer. In this case, the warranty on the device is lost and you can be sure that the print quality is excellent. But the issue of acquisition of original cartridges there is a caveat. Many users of the price of new cartridges seems incredibly high.
Indeed, some cartridges can cost almost as much as a new printer. For example, the cartridge Xerox 106R01159 Xerox 3117 printer costs only 100-200 rubles cheaper than a new machine. But it should be remembered that with the printer is always the so-called 'trial' cartridge, which is not completely filled. So buy a new device is not yet effective:) The second option to address the issue – buy a compatible cartridge. Compatible called consumables, which are not made by the manufacturer of the device, and a third party. Some plants make cartridges of the new buildings that are identical to the original, others simply restore the waste cartridges and sell them in new packaging. Such cartridges are typically two to three times cheaper than the original. But using them is worth remembering that the printer will not take on warranty.
Therefore, use compatible ink cartridges for the new device is impractical. The third solution – this refueling. Fill the can as a laser or inkjet cartridge. It costs even less than purchase of compatible supplies. But the risk of getting a broken and filled with ink or toner unit is also increasing. When charging the cartridges are also worth remembering that the device manufacturer does not assume obligations under the warranty repair technique, which used non-original ink cartridges. If the ink cartridges for printers and MFPs we figured out that there are paper, film for fax machines and many other consumables. Nothing critical is that when documents are to be used a third-party paper, no. Quality prints are generally not different. But when it comes to printing photos, the manufacturers recommend, along with original ink cartridges and photo paper to use the same production company. For example, inserting an Epson printer cartridge and Epson photo printing on paper, Epson, you will achieve the best possible image quality. For Faxes are also a range of compatible consumables. There are aftermarket roll of thermal paper and non-original ink film. Here again it is worth remembering the warranty on the machine when choosing supplies. Each person decides whether to risk his working capacity and quality of printing technology or spend a little more money and be confident in your printer or fax machine.
|
Did Thomas Jefferson Out-Federalize the Federalist?
Only available on StudyMode
• Download(s) : 1220
• Published : January 13, 2011
Open Document
Text Preview
Did Thomas Jefferson Outfederalize The Federalist?
Ms. Jerome
January, 14, 2011
Period H
U.S. History
Thomas Jefferson who was the 3rd president of United States of America is the one of the most important people in American history. He joined 1st and 2nd Continental Congress and he wrote the Declaration of Independence with John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. After Alexader Hamilton made and became the Federalist party which believed in strong center government, he made Democratic-Republican party which believed in individual states power and became the leader of Democratic-Republican. On 1800, he won the election against John Adams, which is known as peaceful transferring of power. Everybody knows that he is a Democratic-Republican, but he did many things that Federalist would’ve done and even “outfederalized” them.
When Thomas Jefferson became the 3rd president of USA, people thought he is going to fire all the federalists from the government. However, he didn’t fire anybody just because they are the Federalists. He actually tried to adopt a lot of Federalist’s opinion to reduce the differences between Democratic-Republican and Federalist. Eventually, he out-federalize the federalists by taking Federalist’s argument that was strong enough to be supported by public citizen and were best fir the common good.
Next, without any opposition, he allowed to have national bank. The Democratic-Republican didn’t agree with the national bank because the constitutional says that do not specifically grant power to Congress to create one. However,
tracking img
|
What is it, this negotiation?
What is at stake some may ask. Basically everything, we negotiate every day, knowingly or not. Be it about the added sugar in your coffee, whether you can borrow a bucks from your friends, or if someone can lend you a pen. Negotiation encompasses all of that.
Negotiation can also act as a form of conflict resolution; it can involve striking deals, working things out with one or more parties. Negotiation is an integral part of everyday life. Negotiation occurs in business, non-profit organizations, and government branches, legal proceedings, among nations and in personal situations such as marriage, divorce and parenting.
In its basic form negotiation has two distinct strategies, these being the advocate’s approach and the win-win negotiators approach. From these then we have additional strategies. One One strategy is interest-based (or integrative, or cooperative) bargaining, while the other is positional (or distributive or competitive) bargaining.
The advocate’s approach, the win — lose.
The win — win approach.
Suggests that agreement often can be reached if parties look not at their stated positions but rather at their underlying interests and requirements.
Part 1: Positional Bargaining
A strong commitment to defending a position usually leads to a lack of attention to both parties’ underlying interests. Therefore, any agreement that is reached will probably reflect a mechanical splitting of the difference between final positions rather than a solution carefully crafted to meet the legitimate interests of the parties.
Therefore, positional bargaining is often considered a less constructive and less efficient strategy for negotiation than integrative negotiation. Positional bargaining is less likely to result in a win-win outcome and may also result in bad feelings between the parties, possibly arising out of the adversarial, “you vs. me” approach or simply a result of one side not being truly satisfied with their end of the outcome. Positional bargaining is inefficient in terms of the number of decisions that must be made. The example above demonstrates the back-and-forth nature of positional bargaining. The more extreme the opening positions are, the longer it will take to reach a compromise.
Can Positional Bargaining Be Good? Despite criticism of positional bargaining, supporters of this negotiation strategy do exist.
Part 2: Interest based bargaining
The win/win negotiator’s approach or Interest Based Bargaining Integrative bargaining (also called “interest-based bargaining,” “win-win bargaining”) is a negotiation strategy in which parties collaborate to find a “win-win” solution to their dispute. This strategy focuses on developing mutually beneficial agreements based on the interests of the disputants. Interests include the needs, desires, concerns, and fears important to each side. They are the underlying reasons why people become involved in a conflict.
Integrative refers to the potential for the parties’ interests to be [combined] in ways that create joint value or enlarge the pie. Potential for integration only exists when there are multiple issues involved in the negotiation. This is because the parties must be able to make trade-offs across issues in order for both sides to be satisfied with the outcome.
The first step in integrative bargaining is identifying each side’s interests. This will take some work by the negotiating parties, as interests are often less tangible than positions and are often not publicly revealed. A key approach to determining interests is asking “Why?” Why do you want that? Why do you need that? What are your concerns? Fears? Hopes? If you cannot ask these questions directly, get an intermediary to ask them.
There are a few other points to remember about identifying interests. First, you must realize that each side will probably have multiple interests it is trying to satisfy. Not only will a single person have multiple interests, but if you are negotiating with a group, you must remember that each individual in the group may have differing interests. Also important is the fact that the most powerful interests are basic human needs — security, economic well being, a sense of belonging, recognition, and control over one’s life. If you can take care of the basic needs of both sides, then agreement will be easier. You should make a list of each side’s interests as they become apparent. This way you will be able to remember them and also to evaluate their relative importance.
Positional vs’ Interest Based Negotiation Styles
Let’s start up by looking at both types of negotiation techniques and the process that each method passes through.
So what about the psychology of negotiation, where does that come into play. Well from the above we can identify that the mentality of a negotiator is based on the style of negotiation he will utilize to attain his goal.
However, to strictly put this as a mentality from the side of the goal seeker is wrong. Mentality changes throughout the negotiations process, and is adversely affected by where the individual sees himself at any given moment.
For example an individual will always be more affected with what he will lose over what he will gain in any situation, people are afraid of losses, and these losses affect their psyche much more adversely than winnings. Therefore, it is necessary when negotiating to convince the opposite party that they are getting a better deal than they really are, a person with low self-esteem will trend to push negotiations too far and to allow his own ego to dictate the course of negotiations. In negotiations with such an individual there are basically two alternatives (other than giving in and getting a raw deal), firstly try and get rid of that individual, and the best method is to stand up to him (and his bullying) in such a way that he (and its not always a he) loses face in front of his colleagues, and the second way is to convince the individual that he has been given a much better deal than may strictly be the case, he can present this as a major victory. The weakness of such a person is that his colleagues probably do not like him and will not always give him the full support in negotiations that he needs.
Anyways, in any complex negotiation it is a necessity to understand the other party, their personality, their wants and needs, knowing these attributes one can use psychological knowledge to affect the course of the negotiation. One other thing that can be used in negotiations is neuro-linguistic programming, which allows the person skilled in it, to read the body language of the other and adjust his strategy based on the reactions of the other party.
This also coincides with the politics of negotiation where each party is looking for.
Post Negotiations Strategies After the negotiation is completed it is important to sit back and reflect on what occurred during the negotiation phase. Some questions that a negotiator should ask himself are. What did I come into the deal wanting? What did I wind up at? What was my offer, and target? How close to the walk away was I? Did I bundle things correctly, use what I had intended to as leverage factors? All these questions are necessary to assess the negotiation between the two parties, and this is one of the most important steps in the negotiations process, reflection. It identifies where the negotiation went wrong, or positively, and what was it that made it turn in that direction.
But the above questions only reference the material outcome of the negotiation, it is also important to consider such attributes of the negotiation as psychology. Did I involve my feelings in the process? Is the outcome of the negotiation really what I wanted, or was I simply made to believe so? And, as a disputant were there occurrences where I would have been able to utilize the opposing party’s emotions to achieve a more favorable outcome. All these questions are pivotal to understanding the post negations outcome, and should be utilized as strategies for learning, for future use when negotiating.
Recommended Posts
VP's of Digital Need to Start Embracing Machine Learning
Machine learning isn’t just for billion dollars companies like Google or Amazon or fun projects like developing an...
Read More >
Electric car highways 🇦🇺, full-body VR, and 3D-printed... Earables? 👂
This week we're talking about full-body VR wearables, human organ factories in New Hampshire, the largest electric vehic...
Read More >
If you care about the environment, we've got some wins for you 👍
This week we're talking about robotic eels tracking water pollution, building DNA from scratch👨🔬, the first float...
Read More >
Let's solve digital.
|
Ashford HWE 200 HWE/200 HWE200 Week 5 Assignment Cardiovascular Disease Case Study
Category: Tags: ,
Cardiovascular Disease Case Study. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one killer of both men and women in the United States (American Heart Association, 2013). Many risk factors are associated with CVD. A risk factor is a variable which can increase a person’s risk of developing a disease such as family history, obesity, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. Chronic diseases, such as heart disease, can have a direct impact on a person’s wellness. Making healthy lifestyle changes can decrease a person’s risk of heart disease and other chronic diseases.
Examine the relationship between cardiovascular health status and wellness by completing the Assessment Activity 2-2: A Case Study of Bill M. on page 73 in your course textbook. For this assignment, the following questions from the end of the case study should be rewritten and then answered in a Word document:
• What are Bill’s risk factors for coronary heart disease?
• Which factors can he control?
• What suggestions can you give him regarding his current diet?
• What effect may a change in diet have on his coronary risk profile?
• What suggestions can you make regarding Bill’s need for exercise, and how might a change in his activity
level affect his coronary risk profile?
• What are the risks associated with obesity?
Use the Week Five Assessment Activity 2-2 Template to answer the questions for this assignment. Rewrite each question and answer it. Answers must be in paragraph form. This assignment should not be organized as a paper.
However, academic writing is still expected. This assignment should be a minimum of two pages (excluding the title page and reference page). Include a minimum of two scholarly sources that are cited in APA format as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Submit this assignment to your instructor by Day 5.
|
Home » Uncategorized » A (rather long) note about ozone layer and its depletion!
In this post I shall be explaining:
1. Why absorbing too much ultraviolet radiation is harmful
2. How the ozone layer protects us from absorbing too much ultraviolet radiation
3. How the ozone layer is depleted by CFCs
Why absorbing too much ultraviolet radiation is harmful
When ultraviolet rays from the sun hits the skin, its energy is absorbed by the molecules in the skin causing the molecules in the skin to vibrate more vigorously. Sometimes, the UV ray is powerful enough such that it causes electrons to be detached from the molecules causing them to become ions.
This results in damage to the cells in the body. When the DNA in the cell is damaged, it may lead to abnormal pattern of cell division thus causing cancer.
However, UV rays do not carry the same amount of energy. Generally speaking, ultraviolet radiation from the sun can be divided into 3 bands, UVA, UVB, and UVC.
UVC has the highest energy as it has the highest frequency [thus UVC is the most harmful] while UVA has the lowest energy as it has the lowest frequency.
Fortunately, most of the UVB and UVC do not reach the Earth due to the ozone layer.
How does the ozone layer protect us from UVB and UVC?
Many students have the misconception that the ozone layer acts as some kind of giant shield that reflects the UV radiation back into outer space. This is not true. The ozone layer absorbs the UVC and UVB radiation as seen in the reaction sequence below.
Step 1:
UVC which has the highest amount of energy is able to break the strong double covalent bond between the oxygen atoms in an oxygen molecule. (Remember, energy is absorbed during bond breaking!) This forms 2 oxygen atoms (The fancy JC term for this is called “free radical” – but this term just refers to any atom/molecule/ion with unpaired valence electrons.) The dot that you see beside the oxygen atom in the equation above is just to signify that the oxygen atom is a free radical, i.e. it has unpaired valence electrons. See below for electronic structure of oxygen atom.
Step 2:
The oxygen atom is obviously unstable since it does not have a stable electronic structure, so it will react with another oxygen molecule to form ozone O3. The full equation with the various electronic structures is shown below
Step 3:
Ozone molecule is less stable as compared to oxygen molecule due to the dative covalent bond. Hence, the ozone molecule can be decomposed by the less energetic UVB radiation to form oxygen molecule and an oxygen atom (free radical).
Step 4:
The oxygen atom, in its quest for stability then reacts with another ozone molecule to form 2 oxygen molecules. And the cycle would repeat itself again from step 1.
There are 2 key points to note:
1. Concentration of ozone in the atmosphere remains relatively stable. This is because, the 2 ozone molecules formed in step 2 are broken down in steps 3 and 4 respectively
2. The continuous formation and destruction of ozone molecules helps absorb the harmful UVC and UVB radiation from the sun before it reaches the earth (Step 1 and 3).
How is the ozone layer depleted by CFCs?
Step 1:
At low altitudes, CFCs are stable, because the UVA rays that reach the earth’s surface do not have enough energy to break the C – Cl or the C – F bonds in CFCs. Therefore, the CFCs will diffuse to the higher altitudes. However, at high altitudes, the higher energy UVB/UVC rays are able to break the C – Cl bond to produce a chlorine atom. (Now, to be more precise there is a 2 stage reaction but I’m skipping one step to keep things short, since that step will not significantly alter the story anyway)
Step 2:
The chlorine atom is unstable and hence reacts with the ozone molecule to form oxygen gas and chlorine oxide which is free radical. See below for equation with electronic structures drawn in.
Step 3:
The chlorine oxide free radical reacts with another ozone molecule to form oxygen gas and a chlorine atom. Hence steps 2 and 3 will keep repeating resulting in a vicious cycle which destroys thousands of ozone molecules.
So, you may ask me, what is the problem? The problem is that steps 2 and 3 here result in the destruction of ozone molecules but without absorbing any harmful UVB unlike the previous mechanism! Hence, UVB radiation is are able to reach the earth and give sunbathers skin cancer.
This vicious cycle is only broken when the chlorine atom reacts with water vapour in the air to form hydrogen chloride which has a stronger bond and cannot be broken down by UVB or UVC radiation. (Note: There are other reactions that also remove the chlorine atom but let’s keep it simple)
Phew, we have finally reached the end of this long and convoluted story.. Thank you for taking the time and effort to read it! If you didn’t understand a thing, it’s alright; this story will not be tested in the exam! But it is an interesting story nonetheless, no? Hasta La Vista Baby!
Leave a Reply
WordPress.com Logo
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s
%d bloggers like this:
|
Spatial and Spatiotemporal Databases–Part 1
by krishnamoorthyb
A traditional database stores information about objects of interest in the application world. A data model provides a framework to describe entities of interest. Each entity would have attributes that uniquely define an instance of the entity. The role of a data model is to provide storage and access mechanisms for efficient storage and retrieval mechanisms for the end user. The relational model proposed by E.F. Codd [2] has gained widespread acceptance. The initial adoption of this model was to represent static real world objects and processes. Examples of these are Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Systems. The adoption of the relational model was accentuated by the SQL standard and its ease of use.
A standard relational database has four broad functional components. They are the Storage and Access manager, the query processing engine, the transaction manager and the user access manager. One of the important roles of the query processing engine is to find an evaluation plan for a given query that would incur the minimum cost. The dominating factor affecting query cost is the number of disk reads that would be needed to fetch all the records satisfying a given query. The other factors include the size of the database buffer in memory, the load (number of concurrent queries) on the database at the given point in time, the distribution of data on disk etc. The traditional approach to improve query performance is to build database indexes that provide predictable access times in the event that an index can be used to execute a query. The B+ tree which is a variant of the B tree proposed by Rudolph Bayer [1] has been the index structure of choice in relational databases. The other index structure that is used is the hash index that uses a hash table to index and retrieve records. The B+ tree is a height balanced tree which is designed in a manner such that each node is at least half full and a node size corresponds to the size of data returned by one disk read (database blocks). The B+ tree is suitable for answering range as well as point queries on one dimensional data.
Many traditional applications of database systems need to model only one dimensional data. There are, however, an increasing number of applications that need to model and query multi dimensional data. Consider the following three successively interesting queries: (assuming we have information about the names and address of all book stores in Bangalore)
1. List all book stores in Bangalore
2. List all book stores in Bangalore that are within a 2 square kilometers radius of my current location.
3. I am currently travelling by bus route number 500. List all book stores in Bangalore that will be within a 2 square kilometer radius of my location when I get down 10 minutes from now.
The first query can be answered by a traditional relational database. The second query, however, requires information about the user’s current location. Given the user’s current location, the query translates into a search for points in a circular geographical area marked by the 2 km radius. Databases that support such queries are called spatial databases. These databases support operations on geometrical shapes. The geometrical shapes are n-dimensional hyper rectangles. The third query not only requires information about the user’s current location but also a prediction of the user’s location at a future point in time (10 minutes from the current time). To answer the third query, we not only need spatial information about the user and the book stores, but also information that depends on time. In this case, the location of the user changes with time and is hence a function of time. Databases that support queries of the third kind are called spatiotemporal databases.
The next post will explore querying on Spatial and Spatiotemporal databases.
1. Bayer, R. and McCreight, E. 1970. Organization and maintenance of large ordered indices. In Proceedings of the 1970 ACM SIGFIDET (Now Sigmod) Workshop on Data Description, Access and Control (Houston, Texas, November 15 – 16, 1970). SIGFIDET ’70. ACM, New York, NY, 107-141. DOI=
2. Codd, E. F. 1983. A relational model of data for large shared data banks. Commun. ACM 26, 1 (Jan. 1983), 64-69. DOI=
|
Energy Storage: The Necessary Link between Renewable Energy and the Grid
As global warming coupled with resource depletion becomes a greater concern, renewable energies, especially solar and wind, are gaining the spotlight as the ultimate energy source of the future. Currently, as most people are aware, there are limitations to renewable energies that make them less desirable – limitations such as high cost, quantity of generation, and unreliable energy output. The reason that the quantity and reliability of renewable energy generation is important is because the renewables must generate this electricity to be sent to the grid in real time, meaning that the renewables must meet the current demand at any time while the production itself from these is highly variable, as seen in the form of wind power generation in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Wind Power Generation
All in all, this sheds some light on the inherent issues behind renewable energies. Fortunately, there is the possibility of closing these gaps in energy production through energy storage, mostly electrochemically. The NREL created a report that essentially presented what impacts energy storage would have in regards to renewable electricity generation. The NREL categorizes energy storage into three different classes: power quality, bridging power, and energy management. These three only differ in the amount of time it takes to discharge the energy stored in the devices. Figure 2 shows most of the batteries and storage technologies used for larger energy storage along with their discharge times.
Figure 2. Devices used for large energy storage
Typically, batteries are very expensive for use in any industrial process. The two energy storage techniques with the largest storage capacity, compressed air and pumped hydro, use similar techniques in that they both force air or water to a higher energy level and then run a turbine to get the energy back out of the substance. Both, however, require specific geological scenarios to be effectively economical without having to recreate ideal settings. Notice that neither of these are electrochemical storage devices. Because of the need for energy storage for renewables, NREL has seen a dramatic increase in energy storage research since the 1970s.
One emerging electrochemical storage device that came out of research is something called the liquid battery, created in Dr. Donald Sadoway’s lab at MIT. Sadoway and a post-doc created a company, now known as Ambri, to further research with the hopes of commercialization. As seen in Sadoway’s TED talk, the liquid battery would be made out of common metals, making it economical, and has proven to be scalable to meet energy capacity needs.
Figure 3. The simplified liquid battery
If they can pull this off, it would essentially revolutionize the argument for renewables.
What is your experience with energy storage techniques? Would better energy storage make us turn to renewable energy faster? Could energy storage benefit other industries? Have you ever heard of the Liquid Battery? What do you think the consequences would be if Ambri succeeds in creating an affordable, scalable energy storage device?
9 thoughts on “Energy Storage: The Necessary Link between Renewable Energy and the Grid
1. klschwartz says:
I have very little experience with energy storage techniques, but it sounds amazing! I think that if we had a way to store energy there would be a lot more sources for renewable energy around the world. I also think that there would more interest from other industries and maybe even personal homes if there was a way to store the energy. The liquid battery seems to have many positives and negatives surrounding it. I believe the key positives surrounding the liquid battery are that it is cheap and has a high rate for storing energy (Ambri). These will be important in our future when companies are trying to provide energy for the increased number of people in the world. The main problem I have with it is that the “three liquid layers make battery operation sensitive to motion and potentially hazardous should the liquid electrodes touch, leading to a short-circuited cell and rapid heat generation” (Ambri). While I do not believe that the batteries would be moving much after installation it is still concerning that if it was mismanaged there could be a potential problem. All that comes to mind when I think of this is Chernobyl, how it was mismanaged and how it cost some people their lives. I am not saying that this or anything to the Chernobyl extent could happen with the liquid batteries, but I do think it is important that people are well informed of the hazards associated with liquid batteries. That being said, I think that if Ambri succeeds it will be an amazing feat and great for power storage worldwide.
2. I have never really heard of the idea of storing renewable energy in an attempt to send the energy back to the grid in real time. It wasn’t until just last week that I first heard about ORES, a type of renewable energy storage system. I was completely unaware of this type of system. I think that better energy storage would make renewable energy more attractive and feasible; however, I don’t think oil companies would allow for a smooth transition from nonrenewable fuels to renewable ones even though there are numerous industries that this concept could benefit. These could range from small scale industries to massive ones. I’m not completely sold on the idea, though. After a chemical review of liquid batteries, quite a few disadvantages were presented. Given these drawbacks, I’m unsure that liquid batteries are completely viable. I think if more experiments are conducted and promising results are produced, liquid batteries could curb our dependency on nonrenewable energies.
3. aliepse says:
I have not heard about any way to store renewable energy, but I think this new way could be revolutionary! Being able to store this power will definitely give renewable energy another chance to change how we think we need to get out energy. If this storage holds, then cities and states could potentially create a “back up” of storage to use in emergencies, or possibly as a smoother transition to using the renewable energy. According to Ambri the battery “operates silently, is emissions-free and has no moving parts” and uses “higher voltage and lower cost chemistries,” making this more affordable, and easy on the consumer. I know as of now, these battery “Cells are stacked into refrigerator-sized modules which are placed into a 40-foot shipping container.” I’m not sure how large these batteries need to be, but if these could eventually be made for residential areas, homeowners could potentially create their own electricity system (have another solar panels or other renewable source in combination with the battery).
As far as other industries, I think that if we find a way to effectively store renewables, it might change people’s mind about the new generation of electric and other “green” cars. This is going to cause a major change for our oil companies, which causes some concern. Just as we saw with the EV cars back in the 90’s, there was suspicion that the oil companies had essentially killed the technology, and I fear that might happen again.
4. wavant says:
I have always been in favor for renewable energy sources, but my argument has always centered around one main aspect: reliability. With wind and solar power, there is obviously a significant amount of variability associated even today with all the advancements we have. A major component of this variability revolves around the lack of viable energy storage technologies. However, if there was indeed a way to combat its lack of reliability, renewables could be a closer solution. Liquid batteries appear to be a legitimate possibility for a solution to energy storage. I am not very knowledgeable about the steps/processes involved with energy storage techniques so I am not able to comment as much as I would like to over this area.
Like with any new technology, there is always the unknown factor that needs to be addressed. I know that batteries can be hazardous to the environment if not managed correctly. I am assuming that with these batteries that the same scenario would be considered as well. I tried my best to research any negatives that may come about with this new technology but could not find any prospective ones. Thus, I am not sure if the technology/research has not reached that point, or if in fact, there simply are not that many negatives that may come about from the new battery. I hope it is the latter for the sake of renewables and our future energy needs.
5. dnlo10 says:
The liquid battery sounds like it could potentially revolutionize the renewable industry. This is similar to my blog post last week with the problems of storing renewable energy that is generated. I believe that energy storage is the limiting factor that is keeping renewables from be more widely used. The fact is, most renewables are not able to be captured 24 hours a day. If the wind doesn’t blow, you cant get wind energy. That is why storage is necessary. Like I said earlier, the liquid battery sounds like an interesting idea. But the fact is that it is still a battery. Batteries are never good for the environment. The chemicals that are used in these batteries, even if they are common metals, can still harm the environment. Like others have said already, even if the battery is completely safe and a viable energy storage option, I believe that the oil companies will not be in support of this. And as we all know, the oil companies have a lot of power in the US.
I think that until the liquid battery is proven as an environmentally safe product that can economically store energy, it will probably be written off as another failed attempt to solve the renewable energy problem. I hope that this is not the case, and I hope that we can eventually switch to all renewables as our source of energy. Unfortunately, we have a long road until this happens.
6. pfc1344 says:
I do not know much about energy storage technology, but I do think it holds extreme potential in regards to greener and renewable energy. The ability to store power and basically save it for a later use could ultimately change the way the world creates and uses energy. It could be beneficial when shortages occur or as an alternative during low demand hours of the day. If we could harness and store wind energy, hydroelectric power, or other renewables and save them for use later, we could ultimately start phasing out “dirtier” energies like coal and oil.
Like most others, one of my biggest concerns with this new technology the reliability of the technology. Another huge concern would be its impact on the environment. Batteries are notorious for being hazardous and detrimental to the environment as well as the impact on humans. Several other individuals have already commented on how important it is for the liquids within the battery remain separated. With so many things unanswered, the most important thing that needs to happen in regards to this new technology is research to get these questions answered. Once that happens and the technology proves to be a “good”, reliable, and safe alternative, it could start changing the way energy is produced around the world.
7. I do not have much experience with these new energy storage devices. I had not heard about hydro and compressed air energy storage until Daniels post last week. I think these new ways to store energy could potentially have major effects on how we look at energy. This battery along with the ORES could possibly speed up our research and shift to renewable energies. Everyday new innovative ways of storing energy are coming to light. One example of these new storage devices is a design by researchers at MIT. This new design harnesses the sun energy, but stores it in chemical form before converting to electricity for use. This means that the energy can be stored for long periods of time without any degradation of the energy. These new innovative ways will potentially change the way we look at harnessing energy. I think that if the Ambri battery makes it to the market, our society will have a drastic change in the way it consumes and stores energy. If this battery can store energy in an effective way, we could possibly change all batteries to be affordable and safe for the environment. These new designs are just one new innovative way in which we can harness and store energy, but further research and innovative ideas must be explored before our society can make positive change in the way we use energy.
8. kvsims says:
I don’t have any experience with energy storage beyond the lack of technology in relation to renewable energy. I believe that having the capability to storage energy would be helpful in bridging the gap between nonrenewables and renewables. However, as the post states, energy storage has been researched for over 40 years with little progress. The energy storage technique needs to be reliable as well as economically feasible, which it has yet to be.
Energy storage could change may industries in the way it impacts renewable energies. However, renewables such as wind and solar are only efficient in certain areas, not all places. Therefore, impacts could be varied. I do not have a comprehensive understanding of the liquid battery. The concept seems ideal but it needs to be effective and reliable. I do not have much faith that Ambri will succeed in both reliability and affordability, if they succeed at all.
9. kevin1254 says:
I know that we have not been very good at storing energy thus far. I do believe that advancements in energy storage would result in more interest and use or intermittent resources. I have not heard of the liquid battery, but I do find it fascinating. One problem I see, as there are always problems, is the solid waste side aspect. We would be dealing with even more battery waste. This could be a positive aspect really. We already deal with battery disposal issues, and better batteries could result in further advancements in battery reuse and disposal. These advancements may lead to a growth in the electric car industry. I really hope to see, or even be involved in, the development of newer energy storage technologies such as the liquid battery. Maybe something like this could eventually lead to us being able to capture some energy stored in lightning….maybe. I feel that using compressed air, pumped storage, and flywheels are also viable storage methods where we may see more widespread use at the distribution level.
Leave a Reply
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s
|
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Omosudidae)
Jump to: navigation, search
Omosudis noaa.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Aulopiformes
Family: Omosudidae
Genus: Omosudis
Günther, 1887
Species: O. lowii
Binomial name
Omosudis lowii
Günther, 1887
The hammerjaw, Omosudis lowii, is a small deep-sea aulopiform fish, found worldwide in tropical and temperate waters to 4,000 m (13,000 ft) depth. It is the only representative of its family, Omosudidae (from the Greek omo, "shoulder", and Latin sudis, either "esox, fish of the Rhine" or "stake").
Illustration of a hammerjaw
The large head is dominated by a massive, truncated lower jaw and large, high-set eyes. The lower jaw has a dark, almost black distal end, "chin". The lower jaw possesses at least one pair of oversized, transparent, and dagger-like teeth; the palatines possess 1–4 pairs of slightly smaller teeth. The body itself is scaleless and laterally compressed; it is covered in iridescent, silvery-gray guanine with the dark peritoneum peeking through in places. Dark smoky gray dorsally, the body tapers strongly towards a thin caudal peduncle (which has a dermal keel) and deeply forked caudal fin. The caudal peduncle is a smoky black color, darker than the body and tail. All fins are spineless; both the low-slung pectoral fins (with 11–16 soft rays) and abdominal pelvic fins (with eight soft rays) are fairly small.
The single dorsal fin (with 9–12 soft rays) and anal fin (14–16 soft rays) are roughly equal in size; the anal fin's origin lies immediately posterior to the dorsal. The lateral line is uninterrupted and the gill rakers number 20–25. Like other members of their order, hammerjaws also possess a small adipose fin. The largest recorded hammerjaw measured 23 cm (9 inches) standard length (excluding the caudal fin).
Life history[edit]
Very little is known of the hammerjaw's life history. It inhabits the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones down to 4,000 m and is never caught in large numbers. It is inferred from their sporadic capture and sleek morphology that hammerjaws are swift swimmers—capable of avoiding sampling nets. Hammerjaws appear to spawn year-round; like many other deep-sea aulopiform fish, they are hermaphrodites. They are carnivorous and feed on squid and other pelagic fish; in turn, hammerjaws are known prey of lancetfish and tuna.
|
Type IV hypersensitivity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Type IV hypersensitivity
Video explanation
Classification and external resources
Specialty oncology
MeSH D006968
Type 4 hypersensitivity is often called delayed type hypersensitivity as the reaction takes several days to develop. Unlike the other types, it is not antibody-mediated but rather is a type of cell-mediated response.
CD4+ Th1 helper T cells recognize antigen in a complex with the MHC class II major histocompatibility complex on the surface of antigen-presenting cells. These can be macrophages that secrete IL-12, which stimulates the proliferation of further CD4+ Th1 cells. CD4+ T cells secrete IL-2 and interferon gamma, inducing the further release of other Th1 cytokines, thus mediating the immune response. Activated CD8+ T cells destroy target cells on contact, whereas activated macrophages produce hydrolytic enzymes and, on presentation with certain intracellular pathogens, transform into multinucleated giant cells.
Disease Target antigen Effects
Allergic contact dermatitis[1] Environmental chemicals (e.g., urushiol from poison ivy and poison oak, nickel) epidermal necrosis, inflammation, skin rash, and blisters
autoimmune myocarditis[1] Myosin heavy chain protein Cardiomyopathy
Diabetes mellitus type 1[1] Pancreatic beta cell proteins (possibly insulin, glutamate decarboxylase) Insulitis, beta cell destruction
Granulomas[2] Various, depending on underlying disease Walled off lesion containing macrophages and other cells
Some peripheral neuropathies Schwann cell antigen Neuritis, paralysis
Hashimoto's thyroiditis[1] Thyroglobulin antigen Hypothyroidism, hard goiter, follicular thymitis
Inflammatory bowel disease[1] Enteric microbiota and/or self antigens Hyperactivation of T-cells, cytokine release, recruitment of macrophages and other immune cells, inflammation
Multiple sclerosis[1] Myelin antigens (e.g., myelin basic protein) Myelin destruction, inflammation
Rheumatoid arthritis[1] Possibly collagen and/or citrullinated self proteins Chronic arthritis, inflammation, destruction of articular cartilage and bone
Tuberculin reaction (Mantoux test)[3] Tuberculin Induration and erythema around injection site indicates previous exposure
An example of a tuberculosis (TB) infection that comes under control: M. tuberculosis cells are engulfed by macrophages after being identified as foreign, but due to an immuno-escape mechanism peculiar to mycobacteria,[4] TB bacteria are able to block the fusion of their enclosing phagosome with lysosomes which would destroy the bacteria. Thereby TB can continue to replicate within macrophages. After several weeks, the immune system somehow [mechanism as yet unexplained] ramps up and, on stimulation with IFN-gamma, the macrophages become capable of killing M. tuberculosis by forming phagolysosomes and nitric oxide radicals. The hyper-activated macrophages secrete TNF-α which recruits multiple monocytes to the site of infection. These cells differentiate into epithelioid cells which wall off the infected cells, but results in significant inflammation and local damage.
Some other clinical examples:
See also[edit]
1. ^ a b c d e f g Kumar, Vinay; Abbas, Abul K.; Aster, Jon C. (2012-05-01). Robbins Basic Pathology. Elsevier Health Sciences. ISBN 1455737879.
2. ^ "Hypersensitivity reactions". www.microbiologybook.org. University of South Carolina School of Medicine - Microbiology and Immunology On-line. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
3. ^ "Hypersensitivity reactions". www.microbiologybook.org. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
4. ^ McDonough, K.; Kress, Y.; Bloom, B. R. (July 1993). "Pathogenesis of tuberculosis: interaction of Mycobacterium tuberculosis with macrophages". Infect. Immun. 61 (7): 2763–2773. ISSN 0019-9567. eISSN 1098-5522. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
|
umptious umptious at gmail.com
Sat Apr 28 17:38:54 CEST 2012
On 27 April 2012 21:16, Nicholas Kormanik <nkormanik at gmail.com> wrote:
> So, my question is: Does it make practical sense to spend time learning
> Haskell for the purpose of adding it to my assortment of 'tools' -- to
> quickly do this or that, as the need arises?
> Is there any better general practical 'tool' (or, if you want, 'programming
> language') to add to my arsenal.
No one can give you advice on what tool to use without knowing what the
task or who you are in more detail than you provided. And you're often
better with several tools than "general" one - trying to saw with a hammer
isn't easy.
Unless you're unusually smart in the IQ sense and/or have a maths or formal
logic background, then I'd say that Haskell would be a miserable choice for
a first programming language.
As for tools you might look at for tasks that I ***guess*** that a trader
is likely to want to do:
- For web scraping and text mining, Groovy, Clojure, Ruby, Python and
(maybe) Perl are reasonable choices
- For both number crunching and symbolic maths, look at sagemaths (which is
scripted in Python) - it's a reasonable free alternative to both Matlab
(number crunching) and Mathematic (symbolics)
..Which I suppose makes Python the no-brainer choice. Python is easy to
learn, the community is supportive, there are lots of reasonable books and
tutorials. I think it also has stuff around for working with Excel
spreadsheets, which I'd imagine you might want to do.
Haskell is actually a better language than any of the above (leaving aside
learnability and without defining "better") but for real world use
libraries count more than language features. It would take you years to
write the equivalent of sagemaths in Haskell, which rather negates
Haskell's advantages if you need that functionality.
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.haskell.org/pipermail/beginners/attachments/20120428/9607a4d2/attachment.htm>
More information about the Beginners mailing list
|
Last modified 23:13, 19 Jul 2011
Benefits of Ozone Laundry from Laundry Consultants web site
Reduce Carbon Footprint
Eliminating the need for hot water in most commercial laundry operations will greatly reduce the amount of Carbon released into the atmosphere. With the ever-increasing threat of Global Warming all around us today, it is becoming virtually impossible to do anything without first considering its environmental impact. How much water will this use? How much energy will this consume? How much pollution will it all generate? These are all good questions among the growing list of concerns.
One of the biggest contributors to Global Warming is the release of GHG’s or Green-House Gases into the atmosphere as a result of our activities. Carbon Dioxide is the big one. Everything we do that uses energy made with fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, releases Carbon Dioxide into the atmosphere. This is a result of the combination of Oxygen and Hydrocarbons in the burning process which produces Carbon Dioxide. The more energy we use, the more Carbon Dioxide we release (or cause to be released) into the atmosphere.
Traditional laundering methods on average consume 3 gallons of water with each pound of linen processed. In a typical laundry, 70% of that water is heated. For every 1,000 pounds of linen, you will use 3,000 gallons of water of which 2,100 gallons will be heated. Assuming the incoming water temperature is 60-degrees and your target temperature is 160-degrees, you will heat 2,100 gallons of water by 100 degrees. 8.33 Btu’s will heat one gallon of water by one degree. 2,100 gallons x 8.33 x 100 = 1,749,300 Btu’s used to heat the water for every 1,000 pounds of linen processed.
In a typical laundry, the amount of energy required to dry the linen is roughly equivalent to the amount of energy required to heat the water. Most dryers and ironers also use Natural Gas with the same problems of creating GHG’s and contributing to Global Warming just like heating the water. If it takes roughly 1,749,300 Btu’s (1.75 million Btu’s) to heat the water to wash 1,000 pounds of linens, on average it will take 1.75 million Btu’s to dry the linens. That means processing just 1,000 pounds of linen with traditional laundering methods will consume over 3.5 million Btu’s to complete the job. That is an absolutely enormous amount of energy required to wash only 1,000 pounds of linens. A 1,000 room luxury hotel can create 30,000 pounds of linen or more per day to be washed. This includes linens from pool areas, exercise rooms and kitchen/dining and room service operations. Imagine how many pounds of linen are washed in Las Vegas or at Disney World each day! In Las Vegas alone there are more than 140,000 hotel rooms. It’s almost more than you want to consider.
Natural Gas is used to supply heat for most laundry operations and the volume of gas consumed is usually expressed as cubic feet (cf) or thousand cubic feet (1,000ft3 or MCF) of Natural Gas. It is relatively easy to determine just how much carbon you release into the atmosphere using fossil fuels like Natural Gas. The Department of Energy of the United States has created a chart of Carbon Equivalencies that shows just how much Carbon on average is released into the atmosphere from burning a given volume of various fossil fuels.
Burning Natural Gas releases approximately 120.593 pounds of Carbon into the atmosphere for every 1,000 cubic feet (1,000 ft3) of Natural Gas consumed. Or, Natural Gas releases 117.080 pounds of Carbon per million Btu’s of heat created. The above example of 1,000 pounds of linen processed will release approximately 409.62 pounds of Carbon into the atmosphere! That’s for every 1,000 pounds of linen processed. Imagine how much Carbon is released into the atmosphere in Las Vegas each day just from washing all the sheets, towels, rags, robes, napkins, table cloths, mats, mops and other linen items. Easily more than one million pounds of Carbon are released into the atmosphere in Las Vegas from textile care operations alone each day. Now add that to the amount of Carbon released supplying electricity for all the lights, TV’s, Air Conditioners and computers and Carbon released from all the motor vehicles and you can start to imagine the scope of the problem.
Global Warming is being caused in part by all of the Carbon being released into the atmosphere in the form of Carbon Dioxide Gas (CO2). Carbon acts like a heat reservoir by reducing the amount of heat the Earth can radiate back into space at night. Our Planet and all life enjoy the perfect balance that has been created over millions of years where just enough heat is retained and just enough heat is radiated back out into space each day. Our addition to the volume of Carbon suspended in the atmosphere as a component of Carbon Dioxide Gas is disturbing this balance and contributing to a rise in the overall average temperature of the Planet. A rise in Global temperatures will have many far-reaching effects, some of which we won’t even be aware of until it is too late to stop them.
We can do something about this dooms-day scenario by simply turning off the lights and TV when we leave a room, keeping doors and windows closed, adding or improving insulation, reducing the amount of energy we waste on non-essential uses and converting to an ozone standard in the commercial laundry industry. Truly an opportunity exists with ozone laundry technology to turn the tide of this impending Global catastrophe and because of the availability of Water Energy Green Laundry Systems, the time to do it is now!
Eliminate Hot Water
Proper use of ozone to wash linens requires that you completely eliminate hot water in wash cycles where ozone is used. Ozone is a gas and it must be dissolved into water at high enough concentrations to be an effective cleaning agent for linens. For ozone to be dissolved into water efficiently and effectively, a sophisticated set of requirements must be met including eliminating heat. It is a natural physical property of ozone to require low temperatures to be dissolved effectively into water. The colder the water, the more efficiently ozone can be dissolved into it. Ozone’s affinity for cold water is a fact of physical science and cannot be changed by any mortal.
Ozone laundry systems become very effective at cleaning linens once dissolved ozone concentrations reach 1.5 to 3.0ppm (parts per million). This effectiveness is directly related to the ability of ozone to create OH molecules (Hydroxyl Radicals) with small amounts of alkali instead of the normally high levels of alkali used to create an extremely high pH level in your wash wheel. A high level of dissolved ozone cannot be achieved when you use any hot water at all because ozone is an unstable molecule and heat only serves to accelerate the disintegration of ozone back to Diatomic Oxygen and Molecular Oxygen. You absolutely must have measurable levels of dissolved ozone in your wash wheel to accomplish the level of cleaning you desire – the level of cleaning traditionally achieved by using very hot water and a lot of chemicals.
Ozone is so effective that even a tiny amount of dissolved ozone or dissolved Oxygen left when it breaks down can possibly give your chemicals a little boost similar to what is observed when using Oxy-Clean® in your washer at home. Maybe this explains reports of limited effectiveness achieved with some of the run-of-the-mill ozone laundry systems on the market.
With the emphasis today on addressing climate change and Global Warming, the objective has become to eliminate all unnecessary uses of energy. Turn off the lights, turn off the TV, close the door, adjust the thermostat, carpool, combine trips, ride a bike, etc. have become the mantra of informed and responsible citizens. Our daily lives are full of opportunities to reduce the amount of energy we consume and therefore reduce the impact on our Planet as a whole. What many don’t realize is that there are also ways for certain people to reduce the drain on Earth’s resources and impact on our climate thousands of times more than the simple measures we all know about. Commercial laundry managers can drastically reduce or even eliminate the need for energy to heat the enormous volumes of water used in their facilities each day. Heating the water in a typical laundry for a hotel with 100 or more rooms will use an enormous amount of energy and cause the release of tens of thousands of pounds of Carbon into the atmosphere year after year. By converting to a Water Energy Green Laundry system, a laundry manager can continue to meet strict quality standards without consuming exorbitant amounts of energy heating water.
By switching to an ozone laundry standard, you can cut your hot water usage by 90% and your dryer energy usage by 50% (explained below). This reduction in resource consumption will be a dramatic indicator of just how green your laundry facility has become. Guests, Mother Nature and your bottom line will thank you.
Shorter Wash Cycles
By eliminating some of the steps in a wash program, you eliminate the time required to complete those steps. Our ozone laundry systems allow you to shorten wash programs by a minimum of 30% which accelerates your production by the same amount. This translates into a sizable water and labor savings.
All newer commercial washers have electronic controls that allow you to create the type of washing cycles you need. When you switch to the ozone standard, you create a new program specifically designed to take advantage of the benefits of ozone. Typical wash programs fill the washer up to 10 times and more to process a load of linens. That’s why it takes an average of 3 gallons of water to clean each pound of line. Some washers can hold over 100 gallons per fill and a 300 to 400 pound load of linen can take up to 1,000 gallons or more of water to wash. Each fill has a very specific purpose. Usually, the first fill or two is used to flush out the solid material and send it down the drain. The next fill is used to add ‘Builder’ which raises the pH of the wash liquor up to above 11 on the 0 to 14 scale, with 7 being neutral. A pH of 11 is very high on the scale. The mixture in the wash water becomes very caustic. Most chemical suppliers will tell you this is done to help swell the fibers of the cloth to release the dirt, etc. The fibers do swell but only as a result of the extremely damaging effects such a high pH has on the fabric. The truth about what is going on is that extremely high pH is required to bring about the creation of OH molecules from water or H2O molecules. One of the Hydrogen atoms gets ripped-off the water molecule and voila, you’ve got a Hydroxyl radical to do your ‘dirty’ work. You add the detergent or surfactant to help dislodge soil, oils and greases from the fabric and encapsulate it. When the water goes down the drain, so does the dirt.
Our ozone laundry systems have a built-in booster pump to rapidly fill the washers each time they need water. A washer must be filled 5 to 10 times for each load of linen. Say you do 10 loads in each washer in the laundry, each day. If it takes 45-seconds to fill the washer for each cycle and the washer fills 6 times for each load, at the end of the day, you’ve waited about 45 minutes on that washer to fill. If you have low water pressure and don’t have a booster pump, it might take 3 or more minutes to fill the washer each time. If your washer takes 3 minutes to fill each time, at the end of the day you’ll have waited a full 3 hours on your washer to fill.
Shorter Drying Times
Ozone laundry boosts extract efficiency and lowers water retention. Less water in the linens going to the dryers means it takes less time to dry them. This adds up to a huge savings in labor and energy.
Water hardness is most often caused by Calcium and Magnesium being dissolved in the water. These dissolved minerals along with Chlorine and other chemicals present in tap water and chemicals used on linens to increase their sheen and to repel soil all cause fabrics to be Hydrophobic. This means they repel water. That’s not a good thing when you need to wash them using water. Chemical companies have developed detergents using powerful wetting agents that work well in water having these natural disadvantages. These chemicals cause fabric to act like a water magnet. Although these chemicals have worked well to improve the quality of textile care, they cause more water to be retained in the linen after extraction. More water in the linen means more time and energy are required to dry them.
Dissolved ozone in your wash will eliminate the need for wetting agents and greatly reduce the amount of chemicals you must use. Dissolved ozone acts like a water softener because it breaks surface tension on water. This neutralizes the tendency for water to bead instead of penetrating cloth. This softening effect boosts chemical performance and reduces chemical demand. Ozone also oxidizes or hydrolyzes Calcium and Magnesium which greatly reduces their hardening effect on the water. This greatly boosts chemical performance and reduces chemical demand. (This also greatly reduces the accumulation of minerals in linen which causes them to look dull and dingy over time) Ozone also neutralizes Chlorine and its water-hardening effects. This boosts chemical performance and reduces chemical demand. Fewer chemicals, softer water and no wetting agents mean better rinsing and more efficient extraction. More efficient extraction means less water remaining in the linens. All together this means measurably shorter drying times for your linens and a big savings on labor and energy when you switch to an ozone standard.
Commercial washing machines for years have offered a spin or extract cycle with about a 110 g’s of force to extract the water in the linen before sending them to the dryer. As we are so used to in Today’s World, things get better over time. Modern washers can provide 350 g’s of extraction force and more. This is such an incredible amount of force that it can get your remaining water weight down below 40%. With ozone, the same force can get your water weight down below 20%. Below 20% is better because it gives you the least amount of water to evaporate in the dryers. Your sheets can go directly to the ironer without pre-conditioning first in the dryer – saving more energy. Usually sheets need to go into the dryer for a few minutes to remove enough of the remaining water so they dry thoroughly in an ironer. Water Energy Ozone Laundry Systems deliver all of these drying advantages saving you substantially on labor and energy.
It takes 2,000 Btu’s to evaporate one pound of water from linens. Most linens coming out of a slow speed extract washer using traditional chemicals will retain at least 80% or more water weight. That means 100 pounds of linens will have at least 80 pounds of water in them. That means your dryer will need to consume a minimum of 160,000 Btu’s of energy to get them dry. With a high-speed extract machine using the proper chemicals and ozone you can get out a lot more water. Your remaining water weight would be down around30% which would mean that you would need only 60,000 Btu’s or a little more than 1/3 of the energy required in the typical scenario to get your linens dry. Even using ozone with slow-speed extract machines will allow you to reduce your remaining moisture content.
A dryer cycle that is typically 45-55 minutes can be reduced to 27-33 minutes simply by reducing the remaining water weight (water retention) by 1/3. A reduction of 2/3 in water retention would shorten this cycle to below 20 minutes. You can clearly see how a reduction in water weight in linens coming from a washer/extractor will greatly reduce the amount of time and energy required to dry them.
A Water Energy Green Laundry System will cut your moisture retention by as much as 75% depending on your laundry’s current level of modernization. That’s what building a green laundry is all about.
Reduced Water Footprint
Water Energy Ozone Laundry Systems will allow you to reduce the amount of water you use each day to process your linens. A 1,000 room hotel with traditional laundering methods will use close to 100,000 gallons of water per day to clean its linens (3gal/lb, 30lb/room). For comparison, an 18-wheeler tanker truck on the highway holds a maximum of 9,000 gallons of liquid. That means a 1,000 room hotel will use enough water to fill more than 9 of these 18-wheelers each day just to wash the linens. By switching to ozone, you will reduce your water consumption by a minimum of 30% over traditional methods. That translates into saving a full gallon of water on each pound of linen processed.
This savings is achieved by the elimination of steps in each wash cycle. When you replace chemicals with ozone, you don’t need to have a program step to add that chemical and you don’t need a program step to rinse it out. Each chemical you eliminate allows you to also eliminate 2 fills of the washer. If you normally used 100,000 gallons of water to process your linens each day, by switching to ozone, you can reduce that by at least 30,000 gallons. That’s enough water saved every day to fill up a typical residential swimming pool!
With the World’s fresh water supply comprising only 3% of the water on the Planet and 1⁄2 of that being locked up in the ice on Antarctica, we see just how important it is to save every last drop possible.
Water Energy Green Laundry Systems with Green Water Reuse allow you to cut your net water use by 50% or more depending on the type and amount of soil loading you have. If you wash only light to medium-soiled linen, you’ll receive the biggest water savings. Environmentally Friendly and Sustainable laundry. These big water savings will allow you to earn coveted points toward US Green Building Council LEED certification.
Huge Labor Savings
Labor is arguably one of if not the most expensive component of any operation including commercial laundry. Many advances have been made over the years in automation technology to speed up a laundry’s production rate and reduce the amount of labor required. A Water Energy Ozone Laundry System when integrated properly can drastically reduce the amount of labor required to process linens as compared to traditional methods.
Ozone laundry wash cycles are measurably shorter than traditional wash cycles due to the fact that some of the old, necessary steps in the wash process have been eliminated. This advantage is more thoroughly detailed in the ‘Shorter Wash Cycles’ and ‘Reduced Water Footprint’ sections. This reduction in wash cycle times accelerates the work flow and production rate which translates to a savings on labor. The faster you can complete the day’s production requirements, the less hours of labor you will need to do it.
Production in the dryers is also accelerated due to there being less water remaining in the linens coming out of the washers. This is explained more thoroughly in the ‘Shorter Drying Times’ section. Shorter drying cycles also translates into a savings on labor. Some drying times can be reduced by more than 50% which accelerates the production by the same amount. It’s not hard to see how labor savings can add up fast using an ozone laundry system.
Water Energy Laundry Consulting and Design relies on its vast experience to specify exactly how to build a laundry facility. Many things must be considered to design a plant that will deliver peak efficiency. One of the most important factors to consider is the orientation and placement of every piece of equipment relative to the rest of the equipment in the laundry. A properly arranged laundry plant will always deliver the highest and most efficient throughput. High efficiency in a laundry will serve to increase PPOH or Pounds per operator hour. PPOH is one of the most important statistics you can calculate for your laundry facility. This value represents just how much linen each operator can do each hour. You take the volume of linen processed, divided by the number of hours needed to process it divided by the number of employees you have doing the work. The higher the number, the higher efficiency you have in your laundry. The higher the number, the lower your labor cost is. PPOH is absolutely a function of how well your laundry is designed. You want employees to be able to accomplish the work with the least amount of movement to do it. This is achieved by strategic placement of the laundry equipment within the laundry and this is achieved by having many years of experience with how to design a laundry for optimum efficiency.
No matter how efficient your equipment is and how much energy you eliminate from the process, your biggest savings by far will always come from reducing the number of hours or amount of labor needed to process your linens. That is a very hard fact. We all know how modern advances help to reduce the amount of labor required to deliver a product. Better equipment and computer controls have enabled companies to provide higher quality products and services with less and less labor. Your laundry is not any different. Labor is your most expensive component.
Non-Invasive installation
Water Energy Ozone Laundry Systems only connect to the existing water lines going to your washers. Our equipment can be installed next to the washers or in the next room if need be. We will never drill a hole into one of your washers or connect to any other piece of equipment in your laundry with one of our ozone laundry systems. There will be no recirculating pumps, lint screens or shock-hazard contraptions sitting behind your washers because we don’t need them. Our systems deliver active, dissolved ozone to the wash wheel in concentrations of 1.5 to 3ppm and higher where it begins to work immediately.
Water treatment is the backbone of the ozone laundry process. The objective is to get the proper dose of dissolved ozone to the wash wheel when needed – at the beginning of the wash cycle. Our ozone laundry systems’ primary role is to produce water with a high level of dissolved ozone and have enough of it available at all times to satisfy washer demands. A washer properly outfitted for use with a Water Energy Green Laundry System will have 3 water inlets. One of them specifically for the water with dissolved ozone. When the washer needs more ozone, it opens the valve connected to the ozone laundry system. You teach the washer how to do this when you create the wash programs. This separation of equipment and the laundry room can save floor space in tight laundries and it can give you added security if your laundry is run by people you want to keep away from the ozone equipment.
Attractive Benefits Without Big Changes
An ozone laundry system can deliver an array of attractive benefits with virtually no noticeable changes in standard procedures. The laundry employees will simply enter a different code into the electronic control panel on the washer to start a wash with ozone – that’s it. The big change in operations will be the accelerated rate of production. Linens will complete their wash cycle more quickly so they will need to be transferred to the dryers/ironers sooner. Then the linens will come out of the dryers much sooner so they can progress to folding, ironing, bundling, wrapping, weighing, etc. much sooner. When all is said and done and your operation has adapted to the accelerated workflow, you will find that your biggest savings is on labor. You will be able to do the same volume of production in much less time overall.
Green Chemicals
Ozone is truly a green laundry chemical. Ozone is a clean gas made entirely of pure oxygen which is available all around us. You won’t have to store large amounts of hazardous chemicals on site at your facility any more. Big reservoirs of Chlorine, Alkali and Acid are no longer needed because ozone will be doing most of the dirty work. The detergent you use should be a biodegradable surfactant that will easily break down in the environment or can be easily removed by our water reuse system. The use of our ozone laundry system will cause your wastewater quality to go up a million-fold and every living creature on the Planet will be better off for it.
High concentrations of dissolved ozone will lead to the creation of Hydroxyl Radicals or OH molecules at a pH as low as 8 instead of the astronomically high 11 normally seen in traditional laundering methods. This fact is the Holy Grail of laundry wastewater treatment. You get an equal or greater amount of cleaning power as with the traditional soup of caustic chemicals without all the chemicals! You only need a tiny bit of alkali to increase the pH enough to create an OH molecule and get your linen clean.
Oxidizing Agent vs. Oxidizing Potential Oxidizing Agent Oxidizing Potential
Fluorine 3.06
Hydroxyl Free Radicals 2.80
Atomic Oxygen 2.42
Ozone 2.07
Permanagenate 1.67
Hypochlorous Acid 1.59
Chlorine 1.36
Molecular Oxygen 1.23
Bromine 1.09
Hypochlorite 0.94
An OH Radical is #2 on the scale of most powerful oxidizers in the Universe. The only compound more powerful is Fluorine gas and it is highly toxic. You could never use it for anything relating to laundry. Therefore, Hydroxyl Radicals are the safest and most effective things to use at removing stains and odors and for killing bacteria and viruses. When a high dose of dissolved ozone is delivered to your wash wheel, you will actually have 4 of the top oxidizers on the list working for you. Hydroxyl Free Radicals, Atomic Oxygen, Ozone and Molecular Oxygen will all be present and active.
Ozone is a triple Oxygen (O3) molecule and is highly reactive on its own. As ozone breaks down, it releases a single Oxygen atom (O1) and Molecular Oxygen (O2). These single oxygen atoms instantly bond with the first thing they come into contact with. This means they instantly neutralize stains, odors and biological contaminants. These free Oxygen atoms also bond with Hydrogen Ions provided by the alkali and form Hydroxyl Free Radicals (OH). When you have ozone applied in the proper concentration, you get a quartet of powerful and environmentally friendly agents working together to clean your linens.
Chlorine Bleach oxidizes Carbon molecules much more slowly than and not as completely as Hydroxyl Radicals and ozone. In the process it also creates a dizzying array of toxic chemicals called Disinfection By-Products (DBP’s) including Formaldehyde and Chloroform. These DBP’s are part of a family of nasty chemicals called THM’s or Trihalomethanes (halogenated compounds) that you want absolutely no part of if at all possible. There is no question that these compounds are carcinogenic. Chlorine is also the single most damaging element to the Earth’s ozone layer and our use of it should be curtailed wherever possible.
The old staple Chlorine is located at #16 down the list of most powerful oxidizers and that’s what we’ve always depended on to get our whites white and our germs killed. The reason people haven’t used ozone much before is because it is much harder to generate, dissolve in water and make use of as opposed to Chlorine. You just pour some Chlorine in very hot water and that’s it. With ozone, there are many issues to address when using it in your laundry. Our 20+ years of experience working with ozone at NASA and 10+ years working with ozone in the laundry industry has given us the expertise to do it very effectively, efficiently and dependably.
Adopting a Water Energy ozone laundry standard in your laundry will allow you to reduce your total chemical costs by 50% or more. You will eliminate most of your alkali, only use a fraction of the detergent you were using before and do away with Chlorine and acid all together. You don’t need the acid because you have eliminated most of the alkali. Normally after you’ve raised your pH above 11 with plenty of alkali (as described earlier), you would use acid to bring the pH back down to a more hospitable level – one that the public sewer utility will allow you to send down the drain. A wastewater plant operator will not allow you to discharge water with such an extremely high pH without buffering it first with acid. This process is similar to adding acid to a pool to bring the pH down closer to neutral. If laundry plant operators do happen to send these ‘spikes’ of caustic water down the sewer, certain impact fees or fines could be levied against their laundry. Wastewater from a laundry with a Water Energy Ozone Laundry System is of vastly higher quality than wastewater from a traditional laundry operation and will NEVER incur any impact fees. Elimination of those fees (or the possibility thereof) could pay for your ozone system many times over.
Green Wastewater
A typical laundry produces wastewater that is high in BOD (biological oxygen demand – food for bacteria) high in COD (chemical oxygen demand) and low in DO (dissolved oxygen). This is to be expected with the nature of the soil and chemical contaminants found on dirty linen. The soil consists of body oils and other secretions, food and other organic waste, organic stains like blood and grass stains, etc. Chemicals found in a laundry’s wastewater include the strong alkali described above, hefty amount of chlorine bleach, lots of detergent, acid, fragrances, softeners, and more. All of this adds up to mean the wastewater coming from a typical laundry is not very nice. The high BOD, COD and low DO are all counter-productive to what they are trying to accomplish down at the local wastewater treatment plant. They are trying to lower the BOD and COD and raise the DO so when they discharge the water, it won’t damage the receiving stream’s water habitat. Or put more simply, it won’t kill the fish! The negative factors of a laundry’s wastewater (BOD and COD) support the growth of algae in rivers which consumes all of the dissolved oxygen (DO) and thereby suffocates the fish. Who would have known! So, laundries must go to expensive measures to ‘buffer’ their wastewater and reduce its negative aspects before releasing it to the sewer. If they don’t, in some cases the laundry owner can be charged additional fees by the sewer provider or fined for unacceptable wastewater discharge. Some companies pay a lot of money in fines or impact fees because of their poor quality wastewater.
With a Water Energy ozone standard in your laundry, the ozone replaces most of the chemicals needed to provide a superior finished product. Ozone, being made purely of oxygen, first oxidizes and destroys odors, stains, bacteria, viruses, parasites, cysts, oils and greases and reduces them to carbon dioxide, inert material and water. Think about it, all organic substances are made of long-chain carbon molecules. Stains, odors, living organisms, oils etc. are all made of these molecules. Water with high concentrations of dissolved ozone is full of Hydroxyl Radicals and on contact, they clip the molecules and instantly attach to the Carbon to form something else, the most of which is CO2 or Carbon Dioxide gas. This Carbon Dioxide gas floats harmlessly into the air – the same gas that comes out of a newly-opened soda or out of your mouth when you breathe. What is left is certainly not a stain or odor or living organism.
These Hydroxyl Radicals are OH molecules that have an insatiable desire to bond with something else. Each time they do, they are delivering oxygen to the material that creates the BOD (biological oxygen demand) and neutralizing the oxygen demand. What a win-win situation. The OH is happy and now the wastewater people are happy. Also, any remaining ozone, oxygen or OH molecules after all the work is done simply raise the DO (dissolved oxygen) content in the water. Wow, that’s a win-win-win situation there and the fact that this is all superlatively green in nature (adding oxygen to the environment instead of who knows what chemicals) you’ve got a win-win-win-win situation!!! There aren’t too many of those in this Old World these days.
Now that you’ve eliminated the BOD & COD and raised the DO, your laundry wastewater will actually benefit the process down at the local wastewater treatment plant.
Green Air
Eliminating Chlorine and other harmful chemicals and reducing the amount of detergent used to process your linens will greatly improve the air quality in and around your laundry facility. Eliminating the use of Chlorine means the elimination of huge amounts of VOC’s coming from your laundry! No more acid and greatly reduced alkali means your linens will last much longer and not shed as much lint in the dryers. This will greatly reduce the amount of airborne particles coming from your dryer vents which will greatly reduce the volume of particulates in the air. Particulates are a major source of pollution that pervades our environment today. You won’t be able to see the improvement to your air quality but knowing you aren’t discharging the typical load of environmentally hazardous chemicals to the air will give you peace of mind and much cleaner air.
Greatly Extend the Life of Valuable Linens
Reap huge savings by extending the life of your valuable linens from 2 to 7 times. A Water Energy Ozone Laundry Standard will greatly extend the life of your valuable linens by eliminating the harsh chemical treatments found in traditional wash chemistry. Ozone very effectively oxidizes soil, oils & greases, bacteria, viruses and other contaminants in your linens without the need to subject them to the typical hellish mixture of chemicals in the washer. A pH of 11+ is enough to cause permanent injury to your eyes, skin, hair, etc. so you can imagine what it is doing to your fabric. Huge swings in pH cause untold wear and tear on your expensive linens. Very high pH causes fibers to swell unnaturally which leads to cracks in the fibers themselves. These cracked fibers shatter and are carried away by your dryer. Your expensive linens are being reduced to fuzz every time you wash them.
With ozone, your pH stays near neutral and that’s exactly what your body is and your linens are – neutral. By eliminating all of the harsh chemicals in the wash, you eliminate the harsh residue in the finished product. In laundry, you never actually get everything out in the rinse. A rinse simply serves to dilute the contaminants. When you add a lot of alkali and then acid to neutralize it, that doesn’t mean it just disappears, actually it creates a mineral salt that remains in the fabric. The rinse cycle only reduces the concentration of this residue, it does not eliminate it. These residual salts are made up of crystals deposited in the fabric and their sharp edges accelerate the destruction of your valuable fabrics during the drying process. This mineral salt also remains in the towels and sheets after drying and ends up on your body when you use them. Most of us don’t stay in bed long enough for the mineral salts to cause any real damage to our skin but bed-ridden patients in Nursing Homes and Hospitals are subject to skin eruptions, boils and other skin ailments that lead to bed sores and have a negative impact on their overall health. When you adopt a Water Energy Ozone Laundry Standard, you truly eliminate the chemical residues in the finished product because you’ve eliminated the chemicals altogether.
Safe for Organic Linens
Keep your expensive ‘Organic Linens’ organic. Traditional laundering methods used on certified organic linens will render them un-certifiable. The chemicals used in traditional laundry chemistry will leave inorganic residues in the fabrics and will cause your organic linens to no longer be considered organic. A Water Energy Ozone Laundry Standard will assure that your organic linens remain organic and healthful with no chemical residues.
Use Less Chemicals
Ozone enhances the power of detergents by breaking water surface tension and nullifying the water-hardening effects of Calcium and Magnesium. Ozone makes water soft without the use of traditional water softening equipment. Your laundry detergent will go a lot farther. When you first switch to a Water Energy Ozone Standard, unless you have brand new linens, you will have suds whether or not you add any soap for the next 4 or 5 times you wash them. There is so much residual soap and chemicals that you will be amazed at how many suds you get without adding any soap! This should clearly illustrate just how much soap remains in your linens with traditional laundering methods. Switch to ozone and greatly reduce the amount of chemicals needed to provide superior results. Stop all those chemicals from getting on your guests or patients. The linens smell and feel like new instead of having that ‘odd’ smell and scratchy feel characteristic of towels in a hotel or hospital.
Superior Finished Product, No Chemical Residues
Your linens will feel and smell fantastic! With all the focus on comfy bedding in hotel rooms these days, why wouldn’t you want the outdoor-fresh smell of linens processed in a laundry with a Water Energy Ozone Standard? Stop producing flat, crusty-feeling towels with chemical-smelling residues in your laundry. Ozone is 100% natural and it’s Nature’s way of cleaning the Earth. Why not insist on it in YOUR laundry? Towels laundered with ozone will be 30 to 50% fluffier. This is because all of the chemical residues that tend to make fibers stick together are eliminated Of course that means you will need more space to store and distribute linens but the bottom line is that your guests will have much fluffier towels to wipe their faces and other body parts with and that will be a better experience for them. Soon, customers are going to demand linens of this quality and greenness. Converting to a Water Energy Ozone Laundry Standard now will put you ahead of the curve and the competition when your guests realize your high-quality linens are the product of an extremely ‘green’ laundry practice you have adopted in your laundry.
Safer, More Sterile Linens
The use of ozone in your wash process will assure the elimination of biological pathogens and countless other chemical contaminants from your finished product. Ozone and its related companions are at the top of the list of most powerful oxidizers. Organisms have no chance of ever developing a resistance to destruction by ozone. Ozone blasts a hole in the cell wall or other containment mechanism of a pathogen and destroys it instantly. Older methods of sanitation using less effective sanitizing agents paved the way for the development of hard-to-kill microbes like MRSA/drug-resistant staph and other Hospital-acquired infections now spreading through the general public. Chemical disinfection agents must first be absorbed by a pathogen to kill it and incomplete sterilization is expected. You never get 100% and sometimes you don’t even come close. The bacteria that do survive and their offspring are more resistant the next time we attempt to kill them.
US EPA recognizes ozone as the safest disinfectant that provides highly effective disinfection to achieve high log inactivation not achievable with chlorine, UV or chlorine dioxide. Reference the following chart:
Ozone Level Contact Time Bacteria Species Percent Removal
0.009 ppm < 1 min E. coli 99.99%
0.099 ppm < 1 min Staphylococcus sp. 99.99%
0.099 ppm < 1 min Pseudomonas Fluorescens 99.99%
0.21 ppm 5 min Legionella pneumophila 99%
Ozone Level Contact Time Virus Species Percent Removal
< 0.8 ppm 5 min Poliovirus 2 99.9%
1.7 ppm 5 min Coxsackie Virus B3 99.999%
US EPA also recognizes Ozone as being able to achieve high levels of Cryptosporidium and Giardia inactivation as well as virtual elimination of Clostridium difficile or ‘C. diff’ or ‘C. difficile’ spores.
Water Energy Ozone Laundry Systems are optimized at a dissolved ozone concentration of 1.5 to 3ppm. Every system is originally set to this range but the ultimate choice is yours. You have direct control over the amount of ozone you want in your washers with a digital readout that shows the dissolved ozone concentration going into your washers down to .001ppm accuracy. Our systems are capable of delivering 5ppm dissolved ozone and more if your application requires it or if the Infection Protocol Department demands it.
A dissolved ozone concentration of 1.5 to 3ppm virtually assures complete inactivation of all potentially harmful pathogens from all of your linens. We have 5 years experience with a Hospital in Northern Louisiana that had a perfect record of absolutely no biological activity on swabs taken on newly-washed linen by the Infection Protocol Department in the Hospital – 2002-2007!
Page statistics
329 view(s) and 1 edit(s)
Social share
Share this page?
This page has no custom tags.
This page has no classifications.
You must to post a comment.
|
Sentence Examples with the word Gratian
Gumpoltsberger, Kaiser Gratian (Vienna, 1879); T.
They made Milan their home; and the empire was nominally divided between them, Gratian taking the trans-Alpine provinces, whilst Italy, Illyricum in part, and Africa were to be under the rule of Valentinian, or rather of his mother, Justina.
View more
His most important extant works are: in prose, Gratiarum Actio, an address of thanks to Gratian for his elevation to the consulship; Periochae, summaries of the books of the Iliad and Odyssey; and one or two epistolae; in verse, Epigrammata, including several free translations from the Greek Anthology; Ephemeris, the occupations of a day; Parentalia and Commemoratio Professorum Burdigalensium, on deceased relatives and literary friends; Epitaphia, chiefly on the Trojan heroes; Caesares, memorial verses on the Roman emperors from Julius Caesar to Elagabalus; Ordo Nobilium Urbium, short poems on famous cities; Ludus Septem Sapientum, speeches delivered by the Seven Sages of Greece; Idyllia, of which the best-known are the Mosella, a descriptive poem on the Moselle, and the infamous Cento Nuptialis.
After his death, his son, Valentinian Ii., an infant of four years of age, with his half-brother Gratian a lad of about seventeen, became the emperors of the West.
Moreover, it could not have become an official code; it would be impossible to transform into so many laws either the discordant texts which Gratian endeavoured to reconcile or his own Dicta; a treatise on canon law is not a code.
The chief of the glossatores of the Decretum of Gratian were Paucapalea, the first disciple of the master, Rufinus (1160-1170), John of Faenza (about 1170), Joannes Teutonicus (about 1210), whose glossary, revised and completed by Bartholomeus Brixensis (of Brescia) became the glossa ordinaria decreti.
One of these, Summa de assumpto homine, is of a theological character, dealing with the humanity of Christ; the other, Summa de matrimonio, is a legal argument, to the effect that the essential fact in marriage is neither, as Gratian maintains, the copula, nor, as Peter Lombard, consent by verba de praesenti, but mutual traditio.
And Gratian as a quadrilateral hall with four huge granite columns (now removed) in the centre, it was converted into a church about the close of the 4th century, and restored by Bishop Nicetius about 550.
This is made even more noticeable by the fact that, in a good number of the works extant, the author is not content merely to set forth and classify the texts; but he proceeds to discuss the point, drawing conclusions and sometimes outlining some controversy on the subject, just as Gratian was to do more fully later on.
|
Hydraulic System Basics
SKU: C-528Duration: 13 Minutes Certificate Included
Need help deciding? Compare delivery formats.
Course Details
Training Time: 13 minutes
Compatibility: Desktop, Tablet, Phone
Based on: Industry Standards and Best Practices
Languages: English
In a hydraulic system, pressure applied anywhere to a contained, incompressible fluid is transmitted undiminished throughout the fluid. This course is an introduction to hydraulic systems and their uses. It covers hydraulic theory, common components, what mechanical advantage is, and how hydraulic fluid is contaminated.
• Describe hydraulic theory
• Identify and describe common hydraulic system applications
• Identify and describe basic hydraulic system components
• Describe mechanical advantage
• Describe the purpose of hydraulic fluid
• Explain the causes and effects of fluid contamination
The following key questions are answered in this module:
What are the primary components of a basic hydraulic system?
Basic hydraulic systems combine hydraulic fluid, a reservoir, a pump, fluid lines, valves, an actuator, and a filter.
What's the primary purpose of a hydraulic system?
Hydraulics provide a compact and reliable means of creating great force with very little energy.
What is an accumulator used for?
An accumulator stores and returns excess hydraulic fluid pressure to help minimize pressure changes in the system.
What is a 'Mechanical Advantage'?
Mechanical advantage is the result of 'force manipulation'. In a hydraulic system, that means that any pressure applied to a volume of fluid is transmitted with an equal amount of force throughout the entire system.
What are some common causes of hydraulic fluid contamination?
Hydraulic fluid can beome contaminated from system wear, poor or ineffective filtration, moisture buildup, or other types of environmental exposure.
A common hydraulic bottle jack is a perfect example of mechanical advantage from force multiplication. A single pump compresses fluid with a small piston and requires little force. But that small force is transmitted and multiplied by the much larger surface area of the jack’s lifting cylinder. In this way, a hydraulic system can easily produce output forces that are 10 to 20 or more times that of the input force.
Customer Q&A
Ask a Question
Sorry, we're missing some information
Do I get a certificate when I complete a course?
Do you have courses in different languages?
Added to Cart! Click here to view your cart.
|
Issue 4-29, July 21, 1999
Be Engineering Insights: BeOS Kernel Programming Part V: Interfacing With ISA and PCI
By Dmitriy Budko
The goal of this article is to describe how BeOS device drivers communicate with devices on the most common busses—ISA and PCI.
There are many types of hardware busses in the current PCs and Macs: ISA, ADB, SCSI, PCI USB, AGP, VLB, IEEE 1394, I2C, etc., but the majority of devices are located on ISA and PCI busses, so this article will focus on them. The question I'll answer is how a BeOS device driver can access a hardware device on ISA and PCI busses. But before going into the BeOS details I'll briefly describe the software-visible characteristics of ISA and PCI.
ISA appeared on the first IBM PC (8088), and was slightly refined in the later IMB PC AT (80286). Since then there have been no changes and ISA has become old and difficult to use. Fortunately, it's begun to be replaced. The latest Intel chipset i810 doesn't directly support ISA.
There are two address spaces on ISA: one is a 64kB I/O space and another is a 16 MB memory space. An ISA device may occupy portions of both address spaces and respond to I/O and memory read/write cycles initiated by another device on the bus, usually a CPU. In this case the device is passive and the CPU has to read/write data from/to the device to/from system RAM.
An ISA device can be more active and can transfer data without constant attention from a CPU by using an 8237-style DMA controller (as the majority of ISA sound cards do) or by being an ISA bus master (a few SCSI and LAN adapters do this). ISA DMA is obsolete and convoluted; this article does not discuss it.
The PCI bus is a modern, sane replacement for ISA and has multiple advantages over it. A system can have multiple PCI busses, PCI has *good* PnP, it's faster (132 MB/s theoretical bandwidth, 100 MB/s throughput with the real hardware: Matrox Millennium II and Intel 440LX chipset), etc.
In general PCI is a 32-bit bus. There are 64-bit data transfer and 64-bit addressing versions of PCI but they are currently used only in high-end servers.
PCI (32-bit version) has three address spaces:
1. A 4 GB I/O space (all real devices use only the first 64 kB because x86 CPUs can *directly* address only 64 kB of I/O address space, PPC doesn't have *special* I/O instructions.) Normally, devices use this space for I/O control and status registers. The system has to be very conservative in reordering/combining/caching all accesses to this space.
2. 4 GB of memory space. Usually devices use this space for high-performance I/O registers, data FIFOs, access to internal RAM (like frame buffers), etc. Depending on the purpose these registers may be cacheable or uncacheable.
3. PCI specifications recommend using the memory space. Some devices include both versions (I/O and memory) of the same registers for compatibility with old 16-bit software.
PCI configuration address space. This supports 256 busses; each bus can have 32 devices; each device can have eight functions; and each function can have 256 bytes of registers. The configuration address of a device is fixed by the PCI slot it's plugged into or by the motherboard if it is a fixed motherboard device.
This address space is used to provide information about devices, to configure PCI devices before they can appear in I/O or memory space, and to set up device specific options.
Many PCI devices, especially high-performance ones, can be PCI bus masters, which lets them transfer data from/to RAM or another PCI device without direct intervention from the CPU. How then, does a BeOS kernel device driver interact with ISA and PCI? By way of BeOS ISA and PCI kernel modules, defined in ISA.h and PCI.h. The relevant portion of these modules is as follows:
typedef struct isa_module_info isa_module_info;
struct_isa_module_info {
uint8 (*read_io_8) (int mapped_io_addr);
void (*write io 8) (int mapped_io_addr,
uint8 value);
uint16 (*read_io_16) (int mapped_io_addr);
void (*write io 16) (int mapped_io_addr,
uint16 value);
uint32 (*read io 32) (int mapped_io_addr);
void (*write io 32) (int mapped_io_addr,
uint32 value);
void * (*ram address) (const void *
struct pci_module_info {
bus_manager_info binfo;
uint8 (*read_io_8) (int mapped_io_addr);
void (*write_io_8) (int mapped_io_addr, uint8 value);
uint16 (*read_io_16) (int mapped_io_addr);
void (*write_io_16) (int mapped_io_addr, uint16 value);
uint32 (*read_io_32) (int mapped_io_addr);
void (*write_io_32) (int mapped_io_addr, uint32 value);
long (*get_nth_pci_info) (
long index, /* index into pci device table */
pci_info *info /*caller-supplied buffer for info*/
uint32 (*read_pci_config) (
uchar bus, /* bus number */
uchar device, /* device # on bus*/
uchar function, /* function # in device */
uchar offset, /* offset in configuration space */
uchar size /* # bytes to read (1, 2 or 4) */
void (*write_pci_config) (
uchar bus, /* bus number */
uchar device, /* device # on bus */
uchar function, /* function # in device */
uchar offset, /* offset in configuration space */
uchar size, /* # bytes to write (1, 2 or 4) */
uint32 value /* value to write */
void* (*ram_address) (
const void *physical_address_in_system_memory);
The general API of BeOS modules has already been described in a previous newsletter article, "Be Engineering Insights: BeOS Kernel Programming Part IV: Bus Managers," by Brian Swetland
So I'll focus on ISA and PCI specifics.
1. First, how do find your device? Usually this is done in init_hardware() and/or init_driver() hooks. For ISA, however, there is no easy way to find or detect a device, so an ISA driver has to:
• Just assume that its hardware is here, or
• Try to detect the device by poking into the appropriate places, or
• Use the Configuration Manager, which is a theme for another article.
Finding a PCI device is easy. Use get_nth_pci_info() to iterate through the list of all PCI devices in the system to find your device. For example, the following code shows how to find a PCI USB UHCI controller and check what specific version it is:
bool uhci_present(void)
pci_info info;
int i;
for (i = 0; ; i++)
if (pcim->get_nth_pci_info (i, &info) != B_OK)
return FALSE; /* Error or end of device list
/* do not support PIIX3 - too many HW bugs */
if (info.vendor_id == 0x8086 && info.device_id ==
if (info.class_base == PCI_serial_bus &&
info.class_sub == PCI_usb &&
info.class_api == PCI_usb_uhci )
return TRUE; /* Device was found */
2. Next, how do you find the resources the device uses (I/O and/or memory addresses, IRQs, etc). This is done in init_driver() hook. For ISA you have to use the same methods as you would for finding the device. For PCI use the pci info structure that you use to find the device. Remember that init_hardware() is called only once and the driver can be unloaded afterwards, so the driver can't easily remember the information from init_hardware(). For example:
/* find PCI bus, device, function, IO, IRQ */
for (i = 0; ; i++)
return B_ERROR; /* Error or end of device
if (info.class_base == PCI_serial_bus &&
info.class_sub == PCI_usb &&
info.class_api == PCI_usb_uhci )
/* Handle broken devices that violate PCI_spec and
don't use base register 0. */
for( base_reg_num=0; (base_reg_num < 6) &&
(info.u.h0.base_registers[base_reg_num] == 0);
/* refuse to find the controller and don't load the
driver if the controller is disabled in BIOS. */
if( (base_reg_num == 6) ||
(info.u.h0.interrupt_line == 0) ||
(info.u.h0.interrupt_line == 0xFF) )
dprintf("USB HC is disabled by BIOS\n");
return B_ERROR;
/* remember the resources */
access_range.range_start =
access_range.range_length =
access_range.range_in_memory_space =
!(info.u.h0.base_register_flags[base_reg_num] &
irq = info.u.h0.interrupt_line;
3. Now you enable and map registers. To do this, set the appropriate bits in the control registers of the PCI device, including I/O access enable, memory access enable, and bus master enable. For example:
command_reg = pcim->read_pci_config(
bus, device, function, PCI_command, 2);
command_reg |= PCI_command_io | PCI_command_memory |
bus, device, function, PCI_command, 2,
4. If the device registers are located in memory space, the device driver has to map this memory by map_physical_memory() with the appropriate flags, then use the returned virtual address of the area as a pointer to the registers. For example, (without error handling) from the generic graphics driver, frame buffer in [0], control registers in [1] (complete source code is on BeOS CD):
sprintf(buffer, "%04X %04X %02X%02X%02X regs",
di->pcii.vendor_id, di->pcii.device_id,
di->pcii.bus, di->pcii.device,
si->regs_area = map_physical_memory(
(void *) di->pcii.u.h0.base_registers[1],
0, /* B_READ_AREA + B_WRITE_AREA, */ /* neither
read nor write, to hide it from user space apps */
(void **)&(di->regs));
sprintf(buffer, "%04X %04X %02X%02X%02X framebuffer",
di->pcii.vendor_id, di->pcii.device_id,
di->pcii.bus, di->pcii.device,
si->fb_area = map_physical_memory(
(void *) di->pcii.u.h0.base_registers[0],
B_ANY_KERNEL_BLOCK_ADDRESS | /* BLOCK - try to use
special features of the CPU like BAT or large pages */
B_MTR_WC, /* use write combining */
5. Now use read/write_io_xx() functions to read/write 1/2/4 bytes from/to a device register if the register is in the I/O space of ISA or PCI.
Example from the USB HC driver:
uint16 frame_number = pcim->read_io_16(
access_range.range_start + 6);
Use pointers to read/write data if the registers are located in memory space.
Writing four bytes to the beginning of the frame buffer:
*(uint32*)(si->framebuffer) = 0x44332211;
6. The purpose, arguments, and use of all the functions above should be clear to anyone who is familiar with ISA and PCI. But what does void* ram address( const void *physical address in system memory); do? If the device is using bus mastering, the driver has to lock_memory() and get_memory_map() for all data buffers and tell the device to use returned physical RAM addresses. However, this is not enough. On some systems, like the BeBox, the RAM address ! = PCI address, so the driver has to convert the RAM address to a PCI address for each physical entry by calling ram_address(). Here's an example, with no error handling:
status_t foo_write(void *cookie, off_t position,
const void *data, size_t *numBytes)
int i;
physical_entry sg_list[MAX_FOO_SG_ENTRIES];
lock_memory(data, *numBytes,
B_DMA_IO | B_READ_DEVICE);
/* flags for cache coherency on some systems */
data, *numBytes, &sg_list, MAX_FOO_SG_ENTRIES);
for(i=0; sg_list.size != 0; i++)
sg_list[i].address = pcim->
return check_status(numBytes);
Be Engineering Insights: Farewell BSound and BSoundFile (All Hail BGameSound and BMediaFile)
By Jon Watte
Among other important improvements in BeOS Release 4.5 is the BMediaFile, which gives access to various kinds of media file formats, and BGameSound (with subclasses), which allows simple but efficient playback of sound effects and background sounds. The BSoundFile class has been with us for a long time, and was starting to show its age. Many older programs that still run on PowerPC depend on idiosyncrasies of this class, so rather than make it use the same mechanism as BMediaFile to access data, which would break the previous semantic of the file (we tried this), we decided to stay compatible, and suggest that all newer applications use BMediaFile for all their media reading/writing needs.
However, if you have an application which uses BSoundFile, you may need some features that BMediaFile and BMediaTrack don't provide. Most notably, BMediaTrack reads audio frames in blocks of a predetermined size, whereas BSoundFile lets you read any number of frames at any time. BMediaTrack also may not be precise in seeking to a specified frame location (because of compression algorithm constraints). I present here a simple wrapper for BMediaTrack, known as ATrackReader. It lets you treat a generic media file, accessed internally through a BMediaFile object, much like a BSoundFile. It's also a good introduction to using BMediaFile/BMediaTrack to read data in general.
If you use a BSoundPlayer with a number of BSounds to play sound effects, you'll probably want to change over to the new BGameSound system the next time you overhaul your code. BGameSound is designed to allow for hardware acceleration in a future version of BeOS (when this will happen is TBD), and it's also designed to be really simple to use! If you used BSound with a chunk of data in memory as your data, you now create a BSimpleGameSound object. If you use BSound with a large-ish sound file on disk for background music or other something similar, you now create a BFileGameSound.
BSimpleGameSound can be created either with a pointer to data and a description of the data pointed to (it should be uncompressed PCM sample data), or with an entry ref, in which case it will load the sound file from disk (uncompressing, if necessary) into memory so it's always readily available to be played. The BGameSound system makes a copy of the data you provide it, so you can free that memory as soon as the object is created. If you need more than one copy of the same sound running, you can call Clone() to get a second BSimpleGameSound which references the same data as the first. When you make a Clone(), that clone references the same internal copy with a reference count, so no extra memory is wasted. The Be Book accidentally documents an earlier behaviour where data was copied inside Clone().
To play the sound, just call StartPlaying() on it.
BFileGameSound is created with an entry_ref as argument, and can optionally be set to looping or non-looping mode. When you call StartPlaying(), it will start playing, and keep going until you stop it with StopPlaying(), or, if it's not looping, until it reaches the end of the file.
It's important to note that the first BGameSound instance you create determines the format of the connection between BGameSound and the Audio Mixer. In our sample program, we create a dummy 44 kHz stereo sound and immediately delete it to establish the connection in a known format, since otherwise the first file the user drags into the program will determine the format that all files will be played back as.
All BGameSound instances that are playing are mixed into one connection to the Audio Mixer; this connection is currently named after your application with no way of changing it. In some future version of the API, we may let you create more than one connection, and name these connections. That's what the BGameSoundDevice argument is for in the constructors for these classes; however, we currently only support the default (NULL) device, so you can leave it to the default value without worrying about it.
If you want to set the pan position or gain (volume) of a BGameSound, you do that by calling SetPan() and SetGain(). The "duration" parameter (which is optional) allows you to specify that the change should take place over some amount of time, if the sound is currently playing. Thus, if a file was playing, and you wanted to fade it out over the course of two seconds for a soft ending, you could call SetGain(0.0, 2000000LL).
You can also change the effective sampling rate of a BGameSound. This changes both the pitch and duration of the sound. The BGameSound system contains a built-in software resampler which uses a fast, reasonable quality 0-th order resampler. There is no additional overhead of playing a sound at some other sampling frequency than the one you initially specify. However, there is no SetSamplingRate() function; instead, you have to use the low-level SetAttributes() function to change the B_GS_SAMPLING_RATE attribute. Again, you can specify a duration during which the change ramps in. Thus, if you're playing a sound at a 22000 Hz sampling rate, and ramp it to 12000 Hz with a duration of 500000, it will take approximately half a second for the full change to take effect. The resulting sound effect is similar to a tape deck or record slowing down. Specific details are found in the gameplay.cpp file in the source code that goes with this article:
Developers' Workshop: The Magic of Messages Part 1: The Sending
By Owen Smith
In the next couple of installments, we'll delve into the gory details of what happens when you send a BMessage in the BeOS. I won't be discussing archival or other ancillary uses of BMessages here. We'll just look at pure, simple messaging—BeOS-style.
The Whole Enchilada
Let's start with an overview of the messaging process. To begin, let's say I have a message that I want to deliver to a particular messaging target (called a "handler" in BeOS). That messaging target lives in a process, called a "looper," somewhere in my system. The looper's job is to receive incoming messages and reroute them to the appropriate messaging target.
To send a message to a handler, I create an object which acts as the delivery mechanism for the message, called a messenger. I set this messenger up to point at my handler, and tell it to send my message, also specifying a place where replies to this message can go. The messenger, in turn, turns my message into a flattened stream of data and writes it to a low-level data queue called a port. Once the writing is done, the message has been delivered.
On the destination end, the port serves as the mailbox of the looper with whom my target resides. The looper reads the data from the port and reconstructs a message from the data. It then passes the message through a series of steps that determine who the final handler of the message should be. Finally, once the handler has been determined, the looper tells the handler to handle the message. The handler does whatever is necessary to respond to the message, including the option to send back a reply to the message, or to claim ownership of the message for later processing. Once the handler is done with the message, the looper gets rid of the message (unless it's been detached), and goes back to look for any other incoming messages.
Now that you've seen what the whole enchilada looks like, let's get down to business.
Step 1: Create
The first step to sending a message, of course, is creating it. As you probably know, a BMessage contains a what field that briefly identifies the contents of the BMessage, and a number of labeled fields that contain the data.
Generally, when you're creating BMessages to send to somebody, it works extremely well to allocate them on the stack. You retain ownership of the message when you send it, and the message is automatically cleaned up for you when you're done.
BMessage myMsg;
myMsg.what = 'RUSH';
myMsg.AddInt32("shrug", 2112);
One exception to this is if you're creating a "model message" for some other object to use for sending messages, such as BInvoker-derived classes. In these cases, you'll be handing the messages off to somebody else, so you'll need to allocate them on the free store:
BMessage* myMsg = new BMessage(B_QUIT_REQUESTED);
BMenuItem* item = new BMenuItem("Quit", myMsg, 'Q');
// item now owns myMsg, and will delete myMsg when it's
// done with it
There are a host of functions that let you throw all kinds of data into a BMessage, including raw data if you need to. There is a similar set of functions for retrieving stuff from a BMessage. One stumbling point that I regularly see has to do with ownership of the data that gets stashed in the BMessage. When you use the BMessage::Add... functions, the data is always copied into the message for you, so you're responsible for cleaning up anything that you add to the message. For example, let's say you had an array of data you wanted to stuff into a BMessage. You can't just add the data into a BMessage and forget about it; you have to clean it up afterwards:
BMessage myMsg('BARF');
float* buf = new float[256];
myMsg.AddData("stuff", MY_STUFF_TYPE, &buf, 256*sizeof(float));
// buf still belongs to us, so we have to clean it up!
delete [] buf;
The ownership rules for retrieving data are trickier, and are a common source of errors. Most of the time when you retrieve data, the data is copied into whatever you pass into the BMessage::Find.... functions, so there are no complications. However, in the special cases of FindData() and FindString(), the pointer you get back actually points to data inside the BMessage, and you have to copy it out yourself!
For example, let's say you're going to retrieve a string from a message. Be careful that you're doing the right thing...
// the wrong way
BMessage* msg = ...
const char* msgstr = msg->FindString("my string");
delete msg;
// msg has been deleted, so msgstr is now invalid!
// the right way
BMessage* msg = ...
// copy the data out of the message, so that
// it'll be valid when msg goes away!
// BString does this for us . . .
BString str(msgstr);
delete msg;
A BMessage can technically store as much data as you have memory for, though you'll see that it's probably not a good idea to stash megabytes of data into a BMessage for purposes of messaging.
Step 2: Target
Handlers and Loopers
Once we've created the BMessage, we need to know where to send it. All potential targets of a message derive from a class called BHandler. Many Application and Interface Kit classes derive from BHandler: applications, windows, views, controls, and so forth.
One interesting fact about the BeOS is that you cannot send messages directly to a BHandler. The only objects capable of actually receiving a BMessage are objects called BLoopers. Applications and windows are both examples of BLoopers.
A BLooper is an object whose job is to receive messages and dispatch them as they arrive. This behavior makes BLoopers the "Grand Central Stations" of the messaging world.
BLoopers maintain a list of targets (i.e., BHandlers). When you send a message to a target, it actually makes its way to the BLooper that owns the target. The BLooper finds the target among its list of BHandlers and dispatches the message to the target. Because of this, your target must belong to some BLooper; you cannot just send a message to a BHandler floating in free space. (BLooper also derives from BHandler, so you can also send messages to the BLooper itself.)
The fundamental delivery mechanism of the BeOS messaging system is BMessenger. BMessengers are lightweight objects that identify a message target in your system. Let's examine how to use BMessengers to specify various kinds of targets:
• Local Targets
The easiest case is sending a message to a target in our own application (what I call "app-local targets"). In this case, we can create the BMessenger and target the recipient directly.
If you look at the BMessenger constructor, you'll see that there are three useful ways you can construct the messenger for delivery to app-local targets:
1. To specify the "preferred handler" of a looper (i.e., the handler that you get with BLooper::PreferredHandler()):
BMessenger msgr(NULL, window);
If there is no preferred handler, this will target the looper itself.
Note that BWindows have a special interpretation for the preferred handler. In a BWindow, the preferred handler is the view that currently has the focus.
2. To specify a particular handler:
BMessenger msgr(view, NULL);
The looper in this case is assumed to be the handler's owner, but you can redundantly specify the looper if you want; the BMessenger will perform a sanity check for you.
3. To specify the looper itself as the target:
BMessenger msgr(window, NULL);
Although this looks similar to (1), there's a big difference in behavior! Be sure that you recognize this distinction.
For app-local targets, there are also ways to send a message that don't require us to create a BMessenger; I'll talk about those a little later.
• Remote Targets
Now, what if we want to send a message to a target in some other application? In this case, the BHandler lives in a different address space, so we unfortunately can't create a BMessenger to target that BHandler directly. What we *can* do, however, is target the remote application itself, and ask the application to create the messenger for us. Here's what you do:
1. Create a messenger to the application, either by team ID or signature.
2. Using this messenger, send a message that requests a new messenger for the target that you desire.
3. Retrieve the new messenger from the reply, and use that to send a message to your target.
This technique requires you to work out a messaging protocol between yourself and the remote application for identifying the target. Scripting is a great way to do this if the application supports it (as many Be apps do). For example, using Attila Mezei's "hey" command line tool (available on BeWare), I can do the following:
hey Tracker get Window 0
This sends a message off to the Tracker application, and receives in return a messenger that targets the first window in the Tracker's window list. If you want to learn more about scripting, take a gander at:
• Extremely Remote Targets
Finally, let's entertain the possibility that we want to send a message to a target on some other machine. Interestingly, there are a few third-party developers that have created solutions for this, providing BMessenger-derived classes that allow you to specify targets on machines across a network. See BeWare ( for more details.
Step 3: Send
Now that you have a BMessage and a target BHandler, how do you send the message? There are two approved ways of doing this, and one sneaky shortcut. I'll discuss the approved ways first; the sneaky shortcut will have to wait until next week.
• BMessenger::SendMessage() can send a message to either app-local or remote targets. It can either take a BMessage or just a what code (which it quickly wraps a BMessage around). It can also deliver messages in one of two ways:
1. In an "asynchronous send," you specify an optional target to send the reply to. Any reply to this message will be sent to that target. If no target is specified, the reply is sent to your application object.
2. In a "synchronous send," you can receive the reply directly. In this case, the BMessenger sets up a temporary reply mechanism and waits until the recipient sends a reply back to it before returning. If you choose to use a synchronous send, make sure you're not sending the message to your own looper, or a deadlock is almost sure to result! There's also an optional "reply timeout" value if you're only willing to wait a certain amount of time for a reply to get back to you.
• BLooper::PostMessage() is a method you can use to send messages to app-local targets. It effectively does the work of creating a BMessenger and calling SendMessage() for you. You call it on the BLooper that owns your target. Here are three ways you can identify targets with PostMessage():
1. To specify a particular handler: window->PostMessage(msg, view);
2. To specify the looper's preferred handler: window->PostMessage(msg, NULL);
3. There are two ways to specify the looper itself: window->PostMessage(msg); window->PostMessage(msg, window);
As you can see from the above, there is an important, and often confusing, distinction to make between passing a NULL handler and passing no handler at all!
Like SendMessage(), PostMessage() allows you to pass a what code instead of a full-fledged BMessage. Unlike SendMessage(), PostMessage() does NOT allow you to do a synchronous send: replies go to your application object, or to a reply handler if you've specified one.
Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain
Some of you may be wondering how messages actually travel from one application to another. I'll break the magician's creed of secrecy and tell you that no voodoo is involved. In fact, the underlying mechanism for passing messages in the BeOS is the port. If you've ever run 'listport' from a Terminal, this will probably come as little surprise to you.
For those of you who think the Kernel Kit is a package of frozen corn, a little orientation here may be in order. A port is a kernel primitive that implements a "message queue." At this low level, a "message" is little more than a buffer of raw data. There are two basic operations you can do with a port:
• Write to the port. You provide a buffer of data. This data is copied into the port's queue as a brand-new message—in other words, each time you write to the port, the data is treated as a new entity. When you create the port, you tell it the maximum number of items that it can contain. If you try to write a new item when the port is full, you generally wait until items are removed before placing your item in the queue (with the option to just give up if a specified amount of time has elapsed, and the queue is still full).
• Read from the port. Again, you provide a buffer of data. If there are any items in the queue, the oldest item's data is copied into your buffer, and the item is removed from the queue. If you try to read from an empty port, you generally wait until an item arrives before reading it (again, with the option to bail out if you feel that you've spent too long waiting).
One nice thing about ports is that they work extremely well in multithreaded situations. Generally, you use ports by having one thread read from the port, and many threads write data to the port. By using ports to send data between threads, you can avoid the Evil Deadlocks that direct data access can cause. Even better, ports can be accessed from any address space, so inter-application communication is a snap with them as well.
How are ports used in the messaging system? Well, each BLooper maintains its own port, which serves as the delivery repository for incoming messages. The looper's thread then repeatedly reads items from this port and handles them as it sees fit.
So, here's what happens behind the scenes when you send the message:
1. The message is flattened into a raw data buffer. Flattening turns the BMessage into a stream of raw data, which can be reconstituted elsewhere. Information about the message's intended target is also saved into this buffer as well.
2. This raw data is written to the target looper's port.
Because of this delivery mechanism, the message you hand off to SendMessage() is NOT the same message that the target receives! Instead, a copy of the data is sent to the destination. Because the flattening and copying of data takes a certain amount of time, it's definitely a good idea to keep the size of your BMessage contents down. If you must throw around large amounts of data between applications, consider using shared memory areas to store the bulk of your data instead.
Another important detail is that the looper's port has a limited size. Most of the time, the port is more than big enough for your messaging needs, but under heavy load, that port can fill up—and if you're not ready to handle this case, there's a subtle bug just waiting to bite you when you need it least!
If a looper's port is chock full of messages when you try to send a message, you'll have to wait until the port has emptied a bit before you can write the message data to the port. This will affect you in different ways, depending on whether you're using PostMessage() or SendMessage(). If you're using PostMessage(), the function will immediately return with an error (B_WOULD_BLOCK) if it can't write the message data, and the message won't be sent. If you're using SendMessage(), you specify a "send timeout" value to indicate how long you're willing to wait for the message to be delivered. If you don't specify a timeout, the BMessenger will patiently wait forever for the write to succeed.
The very important corollary to this behavior is that, if you use PostMessage() or specify a send timeout in SendMessage(), there's a possibility that your message won't be delivered because the function has timed out. Many people don't take this detail into account in their code, and during crunch time, they'll sometimes get bit by this subtle problem. So, if your message absolutely has to get delivered, make sure you check the return value from PostMessage() and SendMessage(), and do something appropriate if the function times out!
That's it for this week. Next week, we'll examine what happens on the other side of the connection...
Be Quiet...
By Jean-Louis Gassée
Concerned readers have written to ask why I stopped writing my weekly column. The cheeky answer is that I've been suspended by the SEC, but the truth is quite the contrary, as you'll read in a moment.
For the past four weeks, we've been involved in what is ritually called an IPO Road Show, touring the U.S. and Europe to meet with institutional investors. During that time, and for 25 days following today's IPO, we're in what is called a "quiet period." This means that we cannot make any comments that could be construed as "promoting" our public offering. The company's only allowable public statement on this matter is contained in the prospectus, a document filed under SEC supervision.
Under such conditions, given my occasional recourse to poetic license, I decided that temporary silence was the safest choice of words. Also, the Road Show process undeniably consumed a great deal of time and psychic energy.
But to return to the SEC—I come from a different culture. Not so long ago in France and other European countries, insider trading wasn't a crime. In any case, Europe's clubby, opaque business culture makes enforcement of prohibitions on such things difficult. Publicly traded companies publish their numbers months, not days after the close, and shareholders are subjects, not bosses.
Consequently, I like the climate of greater trust the SEC fosters in its watchdog and, I might add, guide dog role here in the U.S. I've read many complaints about the "Plain English" rule. From my perspective, however, purging prospectuses and other filings of "whereases" and "foregoings" can only benefit normal humans who want to trust the investment process. In our case, the SEC was extremely punctual, helpful, civil, and service oriented, right through the very last nervous moments of the process.
I'll be back soon with road stories and other anecdotes—stand by.
Creative Commons License
Legal Notice
|
Crop Productivity and Diversification
ICBA is intensively pursuing identifying sustainable solutions for agricultural production in marginal environments characterized by deteriorating quality of soil and water resources.
Global agricultural food production needs to increase between 50 and 70% by 2050 to match the projected population growth. Due to the scarcity of new arable agricultural land, increasing food production will require finding sustainable means to increase the productivity of existing agricultural lands as well as development means to produce food in marginal lands.
Abiotic stresses such as water scarcity, temperature extremes and salinity, and increasing marginality of production systems are emerging as major constraints to improved agricultural productivity resulting in food and nutrition security challenges in many arid and semi-arid regions.
At the same time, in many countries, scarce freshwater resources are increasingly being diverted to growing urban areas leaving agriculture with low-quality brackish and salty waters that adversely effect agricultural productivity as most of the commonly cultivated crops are salt-sensitive. Furthermore, in many agricultural areas, uncontrolled extraction has depleted the groundwater reserves and has, in some places, caused seawater intrusion.
A main focus of the ICBA's applied research program is screening, evaluating and assessing different crop varieties with the objective of introducing new genotypes of nutritious and stress-tolerant crops appropriate for the marginal environments we target. As ICBA considers diversification of production systems based on salt-tolerant alternative crops as a promising opportunity to increase agricultural production in marginal lands.
Since its establishment in 1999, ICBA has been instrumental in conserving genetic resources from around the world, and will continue to enrich its gene bank with plant species from marginal environments. So far, ICBA's Gene Bank boasts a collection of more than 12,600 accessions of some 230 species with proven or potential salt tolerance. This collection provides a unique source of genetic diversity to scientists working on problems of salinity in agricultural production systems.
In 2014, ICBA launched its Plant Biotechnology Laboratory with the objective of combining genetics and genomic approaches to develop new crops through genetic engineering. The new lab will facilitate work to develop biotechnology methods to create crop varieties that are productive and resilient in marginal conditions, it will also work on strengthening the capacity of national partners in multiplying seed of salt-tolerant crops.
1. Salt-tolerant Crops
2. Molecular Biology and Biotechnology to Improve Plant Tolerance to Salinity Stress
3. Plant Genetic Resources
4. Crop Modelling
|
Business in Ecuador
EENI- School of International Business
Subject: Doing Business in Ecuador. Quito. Syllabus:
1. Introduction to the Republic of Ecuador (Andean Community)
2. Doing Business in Guayaquil and Quito
3. The Ecuadorian Economy
4. The International Trade of Ecuador
5. Customs of Ecuador
6. Import and export formalities
7. The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Ecuador
8. Case Study: Business Opportunities in
1. The industrial sector
2. Fashion and accessories
3. Services
9. The Agribusiness sector. Case Study:
1. UBESA
2. Holding Favourite Fruit Company
10. Case Study: The Manta-Manaus Multimodal Transport Infrastructure in Ecuador
11. Introduction to Spanish
12. Access to the Ecuadorian Market
13. Business Plan for Ecuador
The objectives of the subject “Foreign Trade and Doing Business in the Republic of Ecuador” are the following:
1. To analyse the Ecuadorian economy and foreign trade
2. To evaluate the business opportunities in Ecuador
3. To explore Ecuador's trade relations with the country of the student
4. To know Ecuador's Free Trade Agreements
5. To examine the profile of Ecuadorian Companies
6. To develop a business plan for the Ecuadorian Market
The subject “Doing Business in Ecuador” is studied...
1. Masters (e-learning): International Business, America, Pacific, and Emerging Markets
2. Doctorate in Business in America
3. Course: The Andean Markets
Course learning materials in English or Spanish Ecuador French Equateur
1. Credits of the subject “Foreign Trade and Doing Business in Ecuador”: 1 ECTS Credits
2. Duration: one week
Sample of the subject - Doing Business in Ecuador:
Doing Business in Ecuador
Description of the Subject: Doing Business in Ecuador
The Republic of Ecuador.
1. Borders of Ecuador: The Republic of Colombia and Peru
2. The Ecuadorian Capital: Quito. Guayaquil is the second-largest city
3. The official language of Ecuador is Spanish
4. Ecuador's population is 15.7 millions of people
5. Area: 283,561 square kilometres
6. The Ecuadorian currency: Dollar USD
7. The main religion in Ecuador: Christianity (Catholicism: 13 million)
8. Ecuador belongs to the Latin American Economic Area of the Western Christian Civilisation
9. Abolition of the slavery in Ecuador: 1851
10. African Diaspora in Ecuador: 1.1 millions of people (7,2% of the Ecuadorian population)
11. Independence from Spain: 1809, recognised in 1830
The Ecuadorian Economy.
Ecuadorian Economy
7. The Ecuadorian GDP growth: 3.8% (economic slowdown)
8. Inflation: 3.7%
10. The Union of the South American Nations (UNASUR) is in Quito
11. Ecuador is a leader in production of bananas, shrimp, fresh tilapia, tuna, fine cocoa, passion fruit concentrate, palm, pond, leaf snuff, and broccoli
The Foreign Trade of Ecuador.
5. Export growth: 6.7%
6. Import growth: 2.2%
7. Ecuador is the largest exporter of bananas, palm of hearts, balsa wood, passion fruit juice, and roses in the World
Ecuador is:
1. The World's leading exporter of bananas
2. The first exporter of hearts of palm
3. The first exporter of roses
4. The third largest exporter of flowers
Ecuador's Free Trade Agreements (FTA)
1. Andean Community
2. The Andean Community Free Trade Agreements (FTA): The MERCOSUR, Chile, Mexico, Panama, and the European Union
3. Union of the South American Nations (UNASUR)
4. Latin American Integration Association (ALADI)
5. Bolivarian Alternative (ALBA)
6. Latin American and the Caribbean Economic System (SELA)
Samples - Business in Ecuador
Ecuador Manaus
Ecuador Business Opportunities
Andean Community
Chile-Ecuador Economic Agreement
Hubs in Latin America
Colombia, Peru-European Union Free Trade Agreement
Andean Community-MERCOSUR Free Trade Agreement
Mexico-Andean Community Free Trade Agreement
U-EENI UniversityPeace, Not Terrorism
|
Parenting is always an experiment so why not collect the data?
Fussy Eating
Fussy eating Q&A with Claire Farrow
Claire Farrow is Director of the Applied Health Research Group at Aston University. She is interested in the factors that influence eating behaviour and weight gain or loss in children, and one major factor is fussy eating.
She joined us to answer our questions on fussy eating and her research.
Claire: Hi I’m Claire Farrow. I am a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Aston University where I conduct research about the factors that influence eating behaviour and weight gain or weight loss in children.
Q: Thanks Claire for joining us. Could you tell us a little about the highlights for you of your research?
Claire: Most of my research is focussed on exploring the factors that affect eating behaviour and weight in children. I have conducted a lot of research exploring the impact of different “feeding practices” to try to explore further how we can help families who are struggling with feeding issues. Recently we have developed resources to help support families with feeding issues and that has been really exciting!
We have developed something called the Child Feeding Guide which is a website which has resources to help parents who are worried about feeding problems. There is also an associated app that parents can download.
Q: Most of us have had a chance to read a bit about your research. We read about the three Rs – repetition, role modelling and rewards. But some of us were a bit uncomfortable about the rewards bit. Could you tell us more about what your research tells us about the role of rewards?”
Claire: Yes, rewards are a really interesting area as most of the research that has been conducted suggests that rewarding children for eating a food with another food is a not a good thing. This is because it tends to increase children’s desire for the reward food and lower their desire for the food that you want them to eat. However newer research suggests that if you use non-food rewards (e.g. praise, stickers) for tasting a new food than this can be very effective with children at getting them to try a new food. The most important thing is not to pressure or force children to eat a new food as this will usually always backfire.
Lucy Cooke wrote an excellent piece on the impact of rewards.
PSG B: Ah – so the rewards aspect might be most appropriate for trying new foods rather than more general situations? That makes more sense.
Claire: Yes that’s right, rewards can be effective at getting children to taste novel foods if they really will not taste them.
PSG A: So am I right in thinking it’s important to encourage and reward trying, rather than forcing a child to eat something or rewarding them for eating it?
Claire: Yes, that’s right, the reason for this is that when children are going through very fussy stages (neophobia) they will usually refuse to taste new foods. Most research shows that children need to taste new foods lots of times before they will like and want them so small rewards (stickers praise) can help to motivate that trying and make it into a fun game rather than the dreaded mealtime.
I should add that forcing a child to eat a food is NEVER a good idea. It might work in that moment but you are setting the child up for a lifetime of hating the food you want them to eat.
Q: Should incentives be kept for new foods only because the desire for a reward might over shadow their realisation that they’re full, which obviously isn’t good?
Claire: Yes, rewards shouldn’t be used for cleaning your plate. You are very right, getting children to eat more than they want is over-riding their own internal signals of fullness which is teaching them to overeat and not a lesson that we want to teach
Also I should add that there is evidence that if a child already likes something and you reward them for doing it that it them lessens their internal motivation to do that thing again… i.e. if a child likes a food there is no need to reward
Q: What age can you expect a child to like a sticker as a reward, my lo is 18 months and not interested in them yet. But I am interested in that aspect of rewarding good food behaviours.
Claire: Yes, it is very age dependent but it doesn’t have to be a sticker, a child of 18 months might find praise really rewarding (e.g. “what a great taster!”). 18mo is often the period when fussy eating begins so I know that this can be a difficult time as we tend to see the onset of neophobia around then.
Factors affecting eating behaviour
Q: If it’s not too big a question, what have you found are the factors that affect eating behaviour? And how much is down to the individual child, and how much is down to what parents do?
Claire: Wow that is a big question – I think the important thing to remember is that feeding problems aren’t anyone’s fault. Most children will go through a phase of fussy eating in early childhood. Indeed this is a very natural response known as neophobia (literally fear of new foods). It is how we respond to this normal period of fussiness that can effect whether it is a transient stage or one that becomes embedded. And of course children all have their own unique temperaments have a big impact on feeding and eating too. In most families issues with food get bound up into all of this interacting together. Social influences play a huge role as well.
Maintaining a healthy relationship with food
Q: I’m interested to know how to maintain a healthy relationship with food with a child who doesn’t show any fussiness but is from a family most of whom are overweight.
Claire: It is great that the child does not appear to be fussy – sometimes you can have the opposite and you may have a very “responsive to food child” who enjoys eating. The main things that spring to mind are
a) watch portion sizes, if you offer sizes that are too big children past the age of 5 are quite likely to eat more than they need to;
b) avoid using food as a comfort or a tool (this can set the child up to emotionally overeat in later life); try to model healthy eating behaviour and have healthy foods around rather than unhealthy ones (as these are what the child will be eating)
The other thing is to try to not use food as a tool or a reward, and to try to teach the child to listen to signals of hunger and fullness. So sometimes children think they are hungry when they are bored etc. it can be difficult to learn to recognise and respond to these cues but helping them to learn these is really important (and trusting them when they say they are full!)
Fussy eating in toddlers
Q: Why does fussiness begin around 18mo? My little boy is 16m and I have noticed fussiness starting. He’s my first child so it has taken me a bit by surprise!
Claire: Around this time children start to go through a stage called neophobia (literally means fear of new foods). So, whilst you might find that an infant will happily try new foods this often isn’t the case in toddler years. Research suggests that it can take up to 20 exposures/ tastes of a new food for children to develop a liking for then. This is particularly the case for more bitter foods (many vegetables are bitter). Some people believe that neophobia is an evolutionary response that humans developed to help protect young children from consuming new and potentially dangerous foods. Unfortunately, it means that many children go through a very fussy period with food from around 18months which can continue until around 3-4 years.
Q: What frustrates me with my child, she eats everything at nursery no problem (including inedible stuff!) but not at home. I think she’s just playing me!
Claire: This is very common, do not underestimate the power of peer influence.
Q: My daughter used to be great with foods, she’d eat anything. But now old favourites she won’t touch. As soon as we offer it she shakes her head and says no, so we just put it on the plate, often she will then purposefully drop it on the floor 🙁
Claire: How old is she?
PSG I: she’s nearly 19 months and classed as a high needs baby. She is very stubborn and if she doesn’t want to do something, or in this case eat something she won’t. It’s at the point where she chucks the food off the plate, then we’re trying to find something she’ll eat so she’s not hungry.
Claire: That’s challenging, it might be worth trying to do some games with foods to expose her to foods in a fun way. I would also think about trying to introduce new things gradually, perhaps outside of meals. I assume that she is hungry (not past hunger)?
Extreme fussy eating
Q: How does the advice differ for kids who are abnormally fussy or selective eaters? My toddler became extremely selective in terms of what she would eat and at one point was down to four different foods. Over the course of a year, I managed to improve the variety by modelling eating a variety of foods and always having “safe foods” on the table. Any suggestion to try something leads to total food refusal. Any advice?
Claire: That is very selective eating and must be really challenging. It might be an idea to try some messy play with foods to help to try to desensitise the child to new foods. No pressure to taste them at all- I would avoid this with a very neophobic child and instead focus on trying to make food fun. So for example taking some crisps and getting them to crack them and listen to the sound.
PSG J: She’s also really weird about touching a lot of stuff or getting messy. We saw a dietician because she has CMPA who advised that being nervous of food is normal if she’s learnt it hurts. She literally ate anything until about 13/14 months though
Claire: If she is fussy about touching things (sand, dirt??) then she may be a child who has what we call sensory sensitivity. Many children who are very fussy eaters are hyper sensitive. Responding to feeding difficulties can be a real challenge and it is probably best to try some desensitisation / messy play if they will try it.
PSG J: It is getting a lot better but do you think I should be pushing for a referral specifically for that? I thought it seemed pretty extreme but various health professionals haven’t seemed that concerned.
Claire: I would speak to your health visitor and try to not get too anxious about it. The key thing is whether they are a healthy weight or losing weight. If they are managing to keep a good weight on a restricted diet then they are probably OK but you will obviously want to try to broaden out the number of foods from 4 where you can as time passes. Look at the Child Feeding Guide website for some more tips on introducing new foods.
Trying new foods
Q: Can you tell us more about this research that shows children need to taste food lots of times before they like it? What do you actually do?
Claire: Yes, so there is evidence that children need to exposed to a new food lots of times before they will actually develop a liking for it (people disagree on the number of times). My own experience suggests that this is not the case for pudding type food but for new meal vegetables and less sweet foods this can be the case. The challenge of course is getting children to re-taste a food that they don’t want to and this is where rewards can come in.
Q: How do you reward a child for “trying” without making into pressure?
Claire: It’s a fine line, the key is to make the trying fun! In fact I would suggest that you start by taking the trying away from mealtimes and do it at a time when the child is a little hungry but not starving (perhaps snack time). As them if they want to play a new game which is about a new food. Show them the food and talk about it, perhaps ask them to help you prepare it and then say that if they taste it they can have a sticker. They don’t have to swallow it and it only needs to be a tiny amount and they can even spit it out if they want. Lucy Cooke talks about the tiny tastes methods here.
PSG H: Useful, thanks! Any suggested alternatives to stickers? Presumably not money, and definitely not sweets! What is it about stickers?
Claire: Yes, never reward with another food. And money is quite a high reward to give. the reward should be in proportion to what you asking.
PSG H: Thanks, Claire – I will be looking at Tiny Tastes!
Kids’ Foods
Q: Is there a scientific reason for a child’s preference for “kids” foods? Even the pickiest eaters I know will eat fish fingers/waffles etc
Claire: They are often bland foods in colour (most fussy eaters like bland foods), and often high in salt! and often presented as a fun food…
Baby Led Weaning
Q: Is there any research on whether weaning style (i.e. BLW vs purees) affects eating fussiness?
Claire: I think Amy Brown may have looked at this, she recently published a review on BLW
Conducting Research
Q: Which research questions do you think a citizen science group could realistically research?
Claire: you could look in more detail at things like peer influences, impact of grandparents feeding and sibling influences on eating..
Q: If we wanted to research whether we can have an effect on children’s fussy eating, how could we measure a child’s fussiness? Is there an objective method that has been used before?
Yes there are lots of measures of food fussiness. There is the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (Wardle et al) which has a subscale that measures food fussiness.
PSG G: That’s a very difficult thing to measure as a toddler will refuse to eat something because its tuesday and the next day eat it just fine.
Claire: Yes, that is true – but the child eating behaviour questionnaire asks the parent or caregiver about their perceptions of how fussy the child is overall. Not on one specific day. There will of course be individual differences if people’s perception of what fussy is but if you look at a large enough group of people you should have power to detect differences.
Q: Do you have any practical tips about working with families to collect data about their children? Or anything you might do differently that we could learn from?
Claire: Yes, ethics is a really important thing to consider and consent- especially where the children are involved. Making experiments fun and engaging for children where appropriate and going with the flow. I once got smacked in the face with a toy car half way through an experiment (by accident). Be prepared when working with children…
PSG F: Claire ouch! Good advice, thank you 🙂
One last thing…
Claire: I can’t believe how quickly that went. I feel like there is so much more to say for the people who are worried about their fussy eater…
I think one final thing to say is to try to not get anxious at mealtimes (I know how hard this can be) and to keep persevering with offering new foods but in a non-pressuring way- try to make it fun and food fun, and eventually hopefully they will be interested in trying to taste new foods. I think as a society we get very hung up with what children are eating and forget that what we are also wanting them to learn is to enjoy food and have a healthy relationship with their appetite (i.e. know when they are full). If you can help them to remember that then hopefully with time you will be able to help them try new tastes as well.
Good night everyone (fingers crossed all of your babies sleep through).
Want to know more?
Child Feeding Guide website
Leave a Reply
|
Psychological Operations and the Verbiage of War
Rachel Koresh with Cyrus and Star Koresh. In the words of the PsyOps technicians, her two children living in their home under her care were "hostages." Photo published in Newsweek, May 3, 1993, pg. 22.
Modern warfare strategy uses public relations (now called "psychological operations" or "PsyOps") as a tool in the pacification of an occupied territory. Thus it was during Operation Trojan Horse. Integrated in the military plan was a public relations strategy designed to neutralize national opposition to the military action about to unfold.
The strategy called for the language of war and law enforcement to be collapsed, and then reversed. The language of war was ascribed to civilian activity, and the language of civilian law enforcement ascribed to military activity.
Redefinition of Words
Thus, the simply made plywood home of the Branch Davidians was redefined as a "fortress," "compound," or a "fortified compound;" a fourth-floor residential tower became a "watchtower" or "lookout tower;" tornado shelters became "bunkers," and shooting back in self defense became an "ambush," etc. (See Newsweek, May 3, 1993.)
And the Branch Davidians' children were no longer their children. The Branch Davidians' children became their "hostages."
Meanwhile, the US soldiers who strafed a building full of mothers and children with machine guns one Sunday morning were called "law enforcement officers" engaged in the execution of a "search warrant" (extended usage of term "law officer" also seen in Dallas Morning News, March 2, 1993). The black helicopters, surely belonging to the Special Operations covert 160th Task Force, were described as "National Guard" helicopters, even though, when used in federal service, the "National Guard" operates on federal (Pentagon) command lines. Even states' rights issues were used to divert attention from the military nature of the attack.
The military occupation of the US, achieved through the redefinition of words at Waco, can no longer be doubted. Witness the armored personnel carriers deployed to Jordan, Montana during the Freeman siege in June, 1996. The war vehicles have been painted over with the letters "FBI" (Washington Times, June 1, 1996). It seems as though someone forgot to take the masking tape from the hasty stenciling of the letters--it is visible in the photograph.
Everybody's Satan: How Political Opposition Was Neutralized
Every one of us has areas of strong beliefs or strong dislikes which move us to action or make us turn our faces away. For most, there is a class of activity that is abhorrent. In the language of the propagandist, these areas are called "buttons." Propagandists associate the buttons with persons or subjects or images--we have all seen the macho Marlboro man riding his stallion: "Smoke Marlboros, and you, too, will be manly," is the message.
This marketing technology was used to neutralize political opposition to the annihilation of the Branch Davidians. David Koresh was marketed as everybody's Satan. To the atheist, he was presented as the religious fanatic; for law-and-order types, he was presented as the killer of four law enforcement officers. And to the fundamentalist, demonization was effected by juxtaposing two allegations anathema to their ears: Koresh claimed to be Jesus Christ, and he kept a harem of other men's wives. Koresh was also variously presented as a gun nut, a New Age adherent, and involved in the drug trade. Finally, the coup de grace: David Koresh was a child molester. Was there anyone in the US not offended by this picture?
Of course the Branch Davidians had been cut off from all contact with the outside world during the siege, and they could not respond to any of the charges. The news services conducted no critical investigation of the charges made by the government or disaffected Branch Davidians--they just repeated the allegations as fact. The media became full partners with US government officials in creating an orgy of hatred and contempt. See, for example, the Dallas Morning News, April 10, 1993, which describes a press conference at which reporters and FBI staff roared with laughter as each tried to outdo the other in ridiculing the Branch Davidians.
After the government/media hate campaign, the public was so taken up with derision that the words "due process" and "tolerance" was not even whispered by civil libertarians, civil rights leaders, or churchmen. As a result, the US was able to torture, gas, shoot, and burn to death 80 peaceful men, women, and children on daytime TV, to the virtual roar of public approval.
Rachel Koresh and her two babies were among them.
Next: Trojan Horses and Branch Davidians
Back: Directory of Exhibits
Back: War Gallery Entrance
Home: Museum Entrance
Search: Museum Text
This page last updated February 28, 2001.
|
According to the UN, around 595 million people, or nearly half of India's population, defecates in the open.
In his first Independence Day address on August 15, 2014, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the building of toilets in rural India, one of his government's major priorities.
A year later the Indian government claims that their "Clean India" campaign has since achieved the target of ensuring separate toilets for boys and girls in all schools across the country. They also claimed to have constructed around 800,000 toilets in rural India.
But according to some reports in local media, while the toilets may be getting built, many villagers have refused to change thir habits, and toilets are lying empty.
Al Jazeera spoke to Dr Bindeshwar Pathak - founder of Sulabh International - who has made it his mission since Sulabh's founding in 1970, to raise awareness of better hygiene through the building of toilets across the country.
Al Jazeera: Why are there so many millions of Indians living without toilets?
Pathak: In India in [the] Puranic period [Vedic period] it was suggested that Indians don't defecate near human habitation. It was also suggested that one should go at a distance, dig a small pit, put some grass and leaves in it and then defecate. This practice of defecation in the open is still prevalent in India, especially in the rural areas, in urban slums and at places of religious gatherings.
In earlier days, the villages had trees, bushes and raised mounds where one could take cover while defecating. This and the tropical climate only helped people to observe this practice freely. Therefore, it has cultural legacy; besides while many people do not have adequate money to build the toilets, in some cases no place is available to build the toilets.
AJ: Has the approach to toilets changed in India?
Pathak: When I used to meet people in [the India state of] Bihar in 1968, they used to discourage me to talk about toilets. Now talking about toilets has become common in this country and even the Prime Minister of India mentions about it; and we have been able to provide toilet related-solutions not only to India but also to 2.5 billion people across the globe who have no access to safe and hygienic toilets. The toilets are now being built by the NGOs, government bodies and others. The goal now is not only to build toilets but to also get people to use them.
AJ: How do you convince people and why are villagers refusing? How did you get involved in this field?
Pathak: During childhood and formative years of my life, belonging to an orthodox Brahmin family and living in a village, I saw the elders and specially women of the family, including my mother and aunts being constrained to rise early in the morning and go out to the fields to ease themselves, and undergo the pain and discomfort of holding back the urge to evacuate during the day and wait till dark to go out to answer call of nature. I did not feel happy about all this.
Secondly as a child I saw the person who used to come to clean the house being shunned and all of us being told not to touch because he was an untouchable. But out of curiosity I touched him, which was not taken favorably by my family members. My grandmother forced me to undergo a purification ritual of swallowing urine, sand and Ganges water. These experiences and incidents firmed my resolve to make it my mission to see that untouchability is mitigated and the obnoxious practice of defecating in the open is eliminated.
More than 53 percent of Indian homes — about 70 percent in the villages — lack toilets [EPA]
AJ: But how did you get involved in building toilets? What prompted you to build more than a million toilets in peoples' homes?
Pathak: My aim was to make people aware about importance of toilets and to let people know there are some 50 types of diseases that one can get from not having a toilet. Lack of toilets can cause diahorrea and dehydration, and mortality rate increases among children. My target was to provide safe and hygienic toilets to women so that they could use toilets in safety and with dignity, and girls go to schools. My aim was to rescue the untouchables from this sub-human occupation and to bring them in the mainstream of society which was the dream of Mahatma Gandhi.
My endeavor was also to demonstrate how toilets can be built and maintained for the use of people in the public places like bus stands, markets, railway stations etc. Since 1970, our NGO Sulabh, has converted and constructed 1.3 million household toilets and constructed and are maintaining more than 8,000 public toilets on "pay and use" basis all over the country, of which 200 of them are attached with biogas plants.
I invented the two pit pour flush ecologically compatible compost toilet … but all this required a great deal of effort moving from house to house motivating people overcoming their reluctance to install toilets in their houses.
AJ: You mentioned safety and security for women.
Pathak: Yes. There have been many instances where women and the girls were raped when they went outside for defecation. You must have read many times about this in newspapers. For example, how in Badaun two girls were raped and then hanged. We have built 108 individual household toilets to save the girls from harassment. If the toilets are built inside the houses, I think the incidence of rapes will decline.
AJ: Since Narendra Modi became prime minister, he has spoken up about the need for improving sanitation, even launching a toilet campaign. But is it working? And is there any real success of the campaign on the ground?
Pathak: Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign has ignited the minds of Indians and talking about toilets has become commonplace now. The whole nation has woken up and everywhere there is talk and attempt being made to provide toilets in both the places i.e. individual and public places. It is working well. The prime minister is the first person who has taken up this cause wholeheartedly. He is the first prime minister to talk about toilets, even with the President of America, Barack Obama. He has also talked about toilets in Australia and China. So the outcome of the campaign is gaining ground and the nation is on the march and the whole nation is agog with talk about toilets which is creating public opinion to see that by 2019 no one goes out to defecate in open.
AJ: Do you think one day every Indian house will have its own toilet?
Pathak: As the target set out by the prime minister to build toilet in all the houses by 2019, to pay tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary, I hope by that year every house will have a toilet.
Indian government claims to have constructed around 800,000 toilets in rural India. [EPA]
Follow Showkat Shafi on twitter: @ShowkatShafi
Source: Aljazeera
|
25 may. 2011
Tatanua mask
Name: Tatanua mask
Origin: Oceania
Materials: wood, paint, opercula, shell, and cloth
Reference code: 1975.8
Age: early 20th century
These men's dance masks, and the line dance in which they appear, are called tatanua, which may derive from the word tanua (spirit or soul). They are associated with the malagan festival in Papua New Guinea. So great is the power of each mask that the dancer must remain absolutely quiet once it is lowered over his head. A supporting male chorus provides a voice for the masks. As part of the malagan celebration, the tatanua dance represents the renewed vitality of the living and their capabilities to survive and prosper. The masked dancers announce a return to order following the chaos in the village associated with death.
Though the masks are superficially similar in appearance, there are many variations reflecting the wide range of associations and meanings which they have.
The upper part consists of a cane framework held together with string and covered with barkcloth, or in later examples, European textiles. It is decorated to represent the hairstyle worn by young men as a mark of bereavement, in which the hair was partially shaved and coated with lime. Tatanua masks are decorated differently on each side of the crest, using feathers, wool, shells, short wooden sticks or seeds. One side is often
coated with lime. The crest is of yellow or reddish brown fibre. The face, normally carved from lime wood (Alstonia), is decorated with black, white and reddish brown pigment in an asymmetric design. Sometimes blue pigment is used to enhance the whiteness of washing. The straight mouth is usually open, showing teeth.
The tatanua mask is worn by men in ceremonies to honour the dead. In 1907 Richard Parkinson published a description of a ceremony that he witnessed on a visit to New Ireland. The masked dancers performed, accompanied by drumming, wearing garlands of leaves and a leaf garment covering the lower body. Brenda Clay describes her observations of a performance by tatanua dancers in 1979. Men prepared the masks and the performance away from women. The masks are preserved between performances, to be rented out by one of the few remaining skilled carvers.
There are several categories of masks used in the malagan. The tatanua mask represents the spirits of the dead who are believed to attend the ceremonies and participate in the dances. Villagers clearly associated the different tatanua masks with specific deceased relatives and believed the mask wearers to be the reappearance of the spirit of that individual. In the past the tatanua ceremony was an exclusive male ritual complex and took place in the men's enclosure.
Some of the tatanuas are displays of the “ideal male”, that is, male power and capabilities; others are “portraits” of specific deceased. The placement of the shell eyes is an occasion for ceremony and it is at this moment that the spirit is believed to enter the mask. Tatanua dancers performed line dances rather than the individual dances that were typical for other kinds of masked dancers. Their movements imitated birds and/or snakes. The dancer, who wore a short grass costume, re-enacted the activities of an ancestor, sometimes in a comic manner. The crest represents the style of hair once worn by male ancestors. The tatanuas were not destroyed after the malagan festival, unlike most of the other art objects created for this ceremonial display.
While the individual elements that make up a particular piece can be identified, the meaning of the piece as a whole changes when the various elements are combined. The interpretation of the person who commissioned the piece may vary from that of other viewers and, indeed, there can be as many interpretations of the piece as there
are viewers. The elements used in each piece were chosen by the person who commissioned the piece and were dictated by his knowledge of the relative to be commemorated.
© Photos and text: Dallas Museum of Art and British Museum, Utah Museum of Fine Arts
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
|
Many people believe that the longer you wear spectacles the worse your eyesight becomes. But are they right? Claudia Hammond takes a clear look at the evidence.
There are lots of reasons why people don’t always wear their glasses. They might dislike the way they look, get teased or simply feel more comfortable without them. Beyond comfort and aesthetics, though, some fear that wearing glasses too often will weaken their eyesight, and that they will increasingly rely on them more often than when first worn.
What’s surprising is how few trials have been conducted on the prolonged effect of wearing glasses. And from what we know there’s no persuasive evidence that wearing reading glasses affects your eyesight. Why then do so many people become convinced, anecdotally, that glasses have made their eyesight worse? People may gradually find themselves more and more dependent on their specs, but it’s because their lenses have continued to deteriorate with age. So people find themselves needing their glasses more often, leading them to conclude that the glasses must have made their sight worse, where in fact, there’s no causal relationship. Whether or not you choose to wear your reading glasses will make no difference to your eyesight in the long run (although if you have to strain your eyes to read, you might get headaches or find that your eyes feel sore).
Corrected vision
However, the situation is not the same with children. Not wearing the right glasses, or any glasses at all if they are needed, can have a long-term impact. For decades it was thought that deliberately under-correcting for short-sightedness – by giving children weaker glasses than they really needed – might slow down the elongation of the eyeball over time and thus slow down the progression of myopia. The idea was that if you wear glasses to allow you to see clearly in the distance, your eyeball tries to elongate itself when you focus on a close object in order to see it properly.
But a trial conducted in Malaysia in 2002 proved this hypothesis was so wrong it had to be halted a year early. A group of 94 children with myopia were randomised at the toss of coin either to wear the correct glasses for their prescription, or to wear glasses that left them slightly short-sighted. When the study began the children were between the ages of nine and 14, and for the next two years the length of their eyeballs were measured at regular intervals. Contrary to an earlier, smaller study from the 1960s, the children who wore the weaker glasses showed a greater elongation of the eyeball over time. In other words their eyesight was gradually getting worse.
Some argue that there’s still not enough evidence to come to any firm conclusions. But a Cochrane review from 2011 of studies of interventions in children with myopia concluded that the limited evidence available suggests it is better to give children the correct glasses, rather than deliberately trying to under-prescribe. There’s no suggestion that wearing the correct glasses will make their eyesight worse than not wearing them at all. In fact the longest-ever study of the progression of myopia, which has just published its 23-year findings suggests the contrary. Back in 1983 a group of children in Finland with myopia were randomised to various conditions, including reading without spectacles. Their myopia progressed a little faster than those who wore their glasses continuously. After the initial three years of the study, they were all advised to wear glasses all the time. Twenty years on, there was no difference between the groups.
But, returning to adults, what I find curious is the lack of studies that have been carried out in this area. We might expect science to have all the answers, but sometimes the studies that seem the most obvious to conduct haven’t been done. Studies requiring children with myopia not to wear glasses would be unethical because of the effects it’s known to have on educational attainment and on the developing eye. But, in principle, this kind of study could be carried out on long-sighted or short-sighted adults. So we’re left with the question of why no one wants to do it. Professor Ananth Viswanathan, Consultant Surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, believes the lack of research is probably down to the absence of any physiological reason why glasses might damage eyesight. Research needs not only to look for associations, but for plausible mechanisms.
So it sounds as though this type of study won’t be done any time soon. In the meantime we’ll have to go on the anatomical evidence. And while there are plenty of reasons to choose not to wear glasses, the fear that you might be damaging your eyesight isn’t one of them.
|
When Your Child Needs In-Patient Rehabilitation
Each brain injury is different and so is each child's recovery. As you look ahead to when your child will leave the hospital, the question becomes "What's next?" Some children will need rehabilitation. This can be arranged several ways. Some children will stay in the hospital and be moved to a special unit for rehabilitation. Others may be moved to a rehabilitation hospital. Others may go home and get rehabilitation at out-patient clinics, at home, or at school. This chapter is written for parents who are considering in-patient rehabilitation as the next stage of care for their child's brain injury.
Choosing a rehabilitation program for your child can be confusing and stressful. It is more than simply deciding between in-patient or out-patient care. It means finding a program with experience and resources that your child needs, knowing what it will cost and what medical programs and insurance cover, involving your family in the decision, and deciding how far to travel for visits.
Questions that parents often ask are:
1. What does rehabilitation mean?
2. Why can't my child come home now?
3. How long will rehabilitation take?
4. How do I choose a rehabilitation program?
5. Will my insurance pay for this?
6. Who will help us with this process?
This chapter provides information on rehabilitation programs. However, the main focus of the chapter is in-patient rehabilitation programs, because parents may find it difficult to decide which in-patient program to use. If your child will be using out-patient or school-based rehabilitation, the information in this chapter is still valuable as it explains what rehabilitation can do for your child. For additional information about home-based rehabilitation, see "Preparing for Your Child's Homecoming". For information about school-based rehabilitation, see "Meeting Your Child's Educational Needs".
This chapter will help you:
You may have mixed emotions about rehabilitation, especially if the hospital staff recommends in-patient rehabilitation for your child. Many parents get through the long days of hospital care by holding on to the hope that when their child comes home, "Life will finally get back to normal". The news that your child needs more care in a rehabilitation program may feel like "good news and bad news". On one hand, it is a sign that your child is getting better. Your child is getting stronger and more alert. But the fact that your child needs more care may lead you to ask, "Does this mean my child will be disabled? Will my child ever be the same again?" and "What difference will rehabilitation make?"
|
History of CPoCUS / CEUS
Throughout the history of medicine, new techniques have continually been introduced. Many of these new techniques were largely unproven when they began to be used. In a great number of cases, the new technique failed to benefit patients, thus ultimately proving to be a to be a waste of time and resources. A minority turned out to be frankly harmful.
Even those few that have stood the test of time had what can only be described as a difficult birth. All too often, physicians using the new technique practiced on live patients, with predictable results. The Canadian Emergency Ultrasound Society (CEUS) was born out of a desire to try to do things in a better, especially safer, way. Possibly for the first time in history, a technique has been introduced into a field of medicine with high standards from the outset.
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is far from being a new concept. It originated in Europe and Japan in the 70s and migrated to the United States in the early 90s. But Canadians, for better or for worse, approach things at a more measured pace. At the turn of the new millennium, there were exactly two hospitals in all of Canada where an ultrasound machine could be found outside of the radiology department. That is not a typo. Two. One less than three.
This began to change in 2001 with the arrival of EDE – the Emergency Department Echo course. By bringing ultrasound teaching directly to interested emergency departments, the EDE course dramatically altered the penetration of ultrasound into Canadian emergency medicine. Rather than being trained individually, Canadian Emergency Physicians were now being trained as groups. Every member of a group would “catch fire” about POCUS at the same time. As a result, they went forward together, having a much easier time overcoming the administrative, financial, and especially political resistance that lay before them as they brought POCUS into their practice.
Despite the enthusiasm generated by the EDE course, the early instructors felt strongly that an introductory course, no matter how good it might be, was not enough to ensure that physicians would use ultrasound in a safe and efficient manner. The CEUS was created specifically to promote the highest possible standards for the use of this modality. To this end, the standards in place in other national jurisdictions were reviewed. CEUS then set standards that exceeded all of these. To this day, CEUS standards remain the most exacting in the world for the use of POCUS. As for the CEUS Independent Practitioner training program, it is the most highly-recognized traineeship in Canada. The Independent Practitioner certificate is the only nationally recognized proof of competence in POCUS.
This remarkable achievement was arrived at only after significant opposition was overcome. Interestingly, this resistance came from both sides. Radiologists were appalled at what they saw as an incursion onto their “turf”, and they bitterly opposed the very notion of non-radiologists using ultrasound. The irony was that, in opposing CEUS, they were opposing the very people who were arguing for high standards for POCUS.
There was also resistance to the idea of such standards being imposed on the specialty within the emergency medicine community itself. Many Emergency Physicians, even some in leadership positions, felt that individuals could decide for themselves what training they needed, if any, before using ultrasound in their practice. Some emergency physicians even argued that the current program of morbidity and mortality rounds would be sufficient to correct any errors that might be made.
Through dogged persistence, the early adherents of CEUS continued to promulgate their point of view. Slowly, the idea that solid image generation and image interpretation skills are required for independent use of POCUS began to gain credence. It no doubt helped that those who had CEUS certification very rarely, if ever, made any errors in image interpretation. This went a long way towards reducing the opposition of the radiological community to POCUS. Simultaneously, the growing numbers of Independent Practitioners (now numbering in the thousands) have made CEUS certification the gold standard of POCUS training.
CEUS owes a large debt of gratitude to its founding Board, who laboured for over a decade to guide the society as it grew and developed. The contributions of Dr. Peter Ross (President), Dr. Andrew Kirkpatrick (VP), Dr. Ray Wiss (Secretary), Dr. Chuck Wurster (Atlantic rep), Dr. Sylvain Croteau (Québec rep), Dr. Robert Chen (Ontario rep) and Dr. Ben Ho (Western Canada rep) cannot be underestimated.
As our society now sits to expands our certification tracks into the advanced applications and into other medical and non-medical disciplines, our name has now changed to the Canadian Point of Care Ultrasound Society.
In Memoriam
CEUS could not have evolved without the remarkable contribution of Dr. Claude Gervais, also a founding Board member. She was the first person to be certified as an Independent Practitioner after training done exclusively in Canada. She made invaluable contributions to the development both of the early teaching materials of the EDE course as well as to the content and processes of CEUS training. For years after that, she was the primary instructor for the EDE course in Québec. Later, when her focus on motherhood precluded travelling all over the country to teach POCUS, she became the best CEUS examiner in the country. Countless trainees benefited from her patience and remarkable insight.
Tragically, Dr. Gervais died in a boating accident in the Caribbean in December 2012. She was an outstanding pediatrician, a superlative teacher, an extraordinary parent and an incredible life partner. She is terribly missed by her family, friends and by everybody who ever wore the EDE shirt.
Dr. Claude Gervais
Dr. Claude Gervais (1960-2012)
|
Brain abnormality in patients with coeliac disease
Patients with coeliac disease who have been referred for neurological opinion have been found to have significant brain abnormality as seen on magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Thirty-three people with biopsy-confirmed coeliac disease, aged 19–64, were divided into subgroups based on their primary neurological complaint: balance disturbance, headache and sensory loss. MR was used to evaluate the density of the grey matter in the brain, white matter abnormalities (WMAs) and the neurochemistry and volume of the cerebellum.
Cerebellar volume was significantly less in the three patient groups than in the non-coeliac control group. Less grey matter density was also found in the patient groups, and 36% of patients displayed WMAs abnormal for the patient's age especially in the headache patient subgroup. MR images may provide information of specific physical traits of the progress or effects of coeliac disease.
Source: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry
Click here for more research on coeliac disease
Top of page
|
The Clink Prison Museum
The Clink Prison Museum is located on the lower floors of a former warehouse on the original site of the Clink Prison, which gives its name to the slang term for all prisons, ‘the clink’. The prison dates back to 12th century making it one of the oldest men’s prisons and the oldest women’s prison in Great Britain. It housed no famous prisoners, the majority of inmates being debtors, unlicensed prostitutes, and religious heretics.
The Bishop of Winchester was the head of what is now the South Bank of London, then known as ‘The Liberty of the Clink’. The area was formerly in Surrey, but fell outside the jurisdiction of the High Sheriff and under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester, who was traditionally the Chancellor or the Treasurer of the monarch. Such areas (outside of county administration) were called ‘liberties’ and exercised more freedoms. The Clink Prison was used to police the liberty itself, but in the 16th century was used for any religious prisoners, the term Liberty of the Clink is first recorded in 1530.
Due to the relaxed judicial system within the liberty, and its proximity to the city of London itself, the area now known as Southwark became a hub of criminal activity: in 1161 the Bishop of Winchester received the power to license prostitutes and brothels within the liberty (provided the prostitutes were ‘clean’), he also maintained an unconsecrated cemetery called the Cross Bones for the prostitutes. The ‘single ladies’ – a common euphemism for prostitutes – who were licensed in Winchester were known as the Winchester Geese, ‘goose bumps’ were slang for certain symptoms of venereal disease, and ‘to be bitten by a Winchester goose’ was synonymous to contracting a venereal disease; the bishop’s best efforts to keep his ‘geese’ clean were in vain. Other unsavoury activities included bear-baiting, boar-baiting, gambling, and four theatres – in the 16th century a type of uncivilized, crude entertainment. The theatres were: The Rose, The Swan, The Hope, and of course, The Globe. (to see artifacts from The Globe which will help you understand life in The Liberty of the Clink go to the Shakespeare exhibition in the British Museum)
I will let you be the explorer and find the part that remains yourself!
The bishop’s palace stands adjacent to The Clink, it was more than just a bishop’s residence, but the administrative centre of The Liberty of the Clink; part of the foundation and the famous Rose Arch Window (a marvel of medieval architecture) can still be seen behind The Clink Museum.
By 1780 The Clink had 2 registered prisoners, and was burned down as part of the Gordon Riots never to be rebuilt again. The bishop’s marvelous palace was destroyed in 1814.
The museum itself tells the scandalous story of The Liberty of the Clink and the prison itself, artifacts from nearby excavations illustrate the unsanitary living conditions in the prison, replica torture devices demonstrate that religious crime and debt were serious offences in the Middle Ages, and wax models tell the stories of known prisoners in The Clink. Rumour has it the museum is haunted: a woman rattles her chains in the corner, poor abandoned souls wander the corridors, dogs run through walls.
To complete the haunting trip to Southwark drop by the Cross Bones, to visit the prostitute’s cemetery where bodies were piled in unmarked graves, and excavations have revealed most bodies to be either women around age 30, and children under one year old. Who knew South London could be so creepy!
The Clink Prison Museum
Adults £7.00
1. Great write-up! We live right across the street from a now closed penitentiary here in Philadelphia, which has a fascinating tour. It has raised my interest in historical prisons around the world making your piece here very interesting.
1. Thanks! I’m a big fan of the historically creepy and weird. Unfortunately with The Clink the museum experience feels a bit artificial because it isn’t the original building. The Tower of London on the other hand is great!
Leave a Reply
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s
%d bloggers like this:
|
Proxima Centauri: Earth like planet found
(Image from the Public Domain.)
I wouldn’t get too excited, Red Dwarf stars cook off atmospheres, if the orbiting planets are tidal locked such as this new exoplanet discovery (‘close by’ to our Solar System) which is most likely tidal locked to it’s host star. The chances for advanced life are very slim. The distance at 2o% the speed of light (Breakthrough Starshot small interstellar probes) would equate to 20 years + to reach the star and it’s planet. For conventional spaceflight, depending on an almost unlimited amount of combustion fuel it would take 80,000 yrs to reach the binary stars. All the while Space is an inhospitable and deadly environment for life (high frequency electromagnetic radiation), so apart from the constant gamma ray bombard – any object moving at a higher percentage within the speed of light will be decimated by cosmic dust and micro meteorites.
Please refer to my Story Novus Stella from the book Paradox of the Locus in relation to Space and it’s indifference to biological life.
Leave a Reply
You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s
|
[verb mis-hit; noun, adjective, mis-hit] /verb mɪsˈhɪt; noun, adjective, ˈmɪsˌhɪt/
verb (used with object), mishit, mishitting.
to (a ball) badly or incorrectly, as in tennis or cricket.
a bad or faulty , as in tennis or cricket.
(of a ball) badly.
noun (ˈmɪsˌhɪt)
a faulty shot or stroke
verb (ˌmɪsˈhɪt) -hits, -hitting, -hit
to hit (a ball) with a faulty stroke
Read Also:
• Mishma
hearing. (1.) One of the sons of Ishmael (Gen. 25:14), and founder of an Arab tribe. (2.) A Simeonite (1 Chr. 4:25, 26).
• Mishmannah
fatness, one of the Gadite heroes who gathered to David at Ziklag (1 Chr. 12:10).
• Mishmash
[mish-mahsh, -mash] /ˈmɪʃˌmɑʃ, -ˌmæʃ/ noun 1. a confused mess; hodgepodge; jumble. /ˈmɪʃˌmæʃ/ noun 1. a confused collection or mixture; hotchpotch n. also mish-mash, mid-15c., mysse-masche, probably an imitative reduplication of mash (n.).
• Mishmi
/ˈmɪʃmɪ/ noun 1. (pl) -mi, -mis. a member of a Mongoloid hill people of the Brahmaputra area of NE India 2. the language of this people, belonging to the Tibeto-Burman branch of the Sino-Tibetan family adjective 3. of or relating to this people or their language
|
Aesop's Fables: The lion, Prometheus and the elephant
Aesop's Fables
and classic Fables
Aesop's Fables with lessons and morals
He wouldn't let a lion to complain to Prometheus.
-You made me very strong and beautiful, with JAWS with good teeth and powerful claws on the legs, and I am the more dominant animal. However I have a great fear to the rooster.
-What you accuse me as to the light? Are you not satisfied with all the physical advantages which you have given? That decline is your spirit.
Prometheus replied.
Followed the lion deploring the situation, judging from coward. She then put an end to his life.
It was in this situation when came the elephant, they welcomed and they began to chat. He noted the lion elephant constantly moving his ears, so it asked the cause.
-You see that tiny insect that hums to my around?
He said the elephant, because if it does enter into my ear, I'm lost.
Then said the Lion: it would be foolish to let me die, being me much stronger and powerful than the elephant, as well as much more strong and powerful is the Rooster with the mosquito?
Many times, very small discomfort make us forget the great things we possess.
Translated for educational purposes
|
Open main menu
Wikipedia β
The Roggeveld Mountains (Afrikaans: Roggeveldberge) is a mountain range situated mainly in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The range forms the western escarpment of the eponymous Roggeveld plateau, and separates it from the lower lying Tankwa Karoo to the west. Its highest peak is Sneeukrans (1,739 m), situated northwest of Sutherland.
Unmarked on many regional maps, it occupies an extensive but remote part of the Northern Cape, seldom visited by tourists. It extends from the vicinity of Calvinia in the northwest, past Sutherland in the south, where it terminates in the Klein-Roggeveld range. Several road passes ascend the plateau from the south and west. From the south they are the Komsberg Pass, Verlatenkloof, Ouberg Pass[1] at an altitude of 1,404 metres, Gannaga Pass[2] and the Bloukrans Pass which ascends its northern promontory, the Bloukrans Mountain.
The range receives about 200 mm of rainfall in an average year, its higher elevations are amongst the coldest places in South Africa, as attested by temperature statistics kept for Sutherland, which is perched on the Roggeveld plateau at 1,500 m.
|
Ocean Plastic Pollution
English / Español
Plastic is in every part of the ocean, threatening marine wildlife and our own health.
Scientists estimate up to 90% of seabirds, like this Laysan albatross, have plastic in their stomachs.
The Plastic Pollution Cycle
Plastic is one of the most common materials in our daily lives. We eat and drink from it, buy stuff packaged in it, and even wear clothes made of it. But what happens when it’s no longer useful to us?
If current practices continue, plastic input into the ocean is expected to double by 2025
Since plastic doesn't break down naturally, things that had a useful life of just a few minutes can pollute our ocean for hundreds of years. Some plastic starts out tiny; others begin large, but slowly become smaller and smaller pieces. Plastic bags, cosmetic microbeads and other types of plastic trash have spread throughout the ocean—from the surface to the deepest submarine canyons. Plastic debris is also washing back onto our shores, leaving a mess for our children to clean up.
This makes plastic pollution a major threat to marine wildlife like fish, turtles, seabirds and whales. Not only do animals get tangled in plastic trash like six-pack rings, plastic bags and abandoned fishing nets; they also mistakenly fill their stomachs with plastic instead of food.
Plastic or food? The contents of this tube—which includes a lighter, disposable pencil, cigar tip, plastic bottle cap and fishing lure—came from the stomach of an albatross.
Plastic is made with toxic chemicals such as bisphenol-A, styrene and phthalates. Worse, plastic trash in the ocean acts like a sponge, soaking up pollutants and pesticides from the surrounding seawater. When marine animals eat plastic, they ingest these poisonous cocktails, too. The toxins can concentrate up the food chain and can even end up in the seafood on our plates.
Luckily, we can take action. By changing policies and our own habits, we can slow the flow of plastic pollution.
What You Can Do
With your help, we can make progress toward a plastic-free ocean.
Raise your voice
Urge decision-makers to help stem the flow.
Ask your elected representatives to reduce the sources of plastic pollution. Speak up for bans on single-use plastics.
Drive the market.
Buy products with non-plastic packaging. Support restaurants that offer biodegradable take-out containers and utensils. Request your drink without a plastic straw. Tell your friends about ocean-healthy businesses.
Pick up the habit of toting your own to-go container, coffee cup, reusable straw and shopping bag.
Encourage waste reduction in your community.
Start a "blue team" to reduce single-use plastic at work. Spark a conversation about zero-waste living on social media. Organize a beach or park clean-up. Think creatively—the possibilities are endless!
Join Monterey Bay Aquarium
When you visit, become a member or donate, you support our work to reduce the sources of ocean plastic pollution. Together, we can make positive changes for the ocean and the animals that call it home—not just today, but for generations to come.
Donate today
Consider the 5 R's
Plastic may seem convenient in the short term, but we can make more thoughtful choices for our planet's future. Here's how:
Rethink your consumption habits and their effects on the ocean.
Refuse single-use plastic you can do without.
Reuse bags, bottles and other products.
Repair things before you replace them.
Recycle what you can, and buy recycled products.
Join Monterey Bay Aquarium
Donate today
What We're Doing
Here at Monterey Bay Aquarium, we're walking the talk.
• We're working with 19 leading aquariums nationwide for collective action to reduce the sources of ocean plastic pollution.
• In 2016, the Aquarium urged California voters to vote yes on Proposition 67, which passed with public support—making California the first state in the nation to ban single-use carryout bags.
• Our #MyBag #MiBolsa campaign encourages people to carry reusable shopping bags and share their pledge with friends and family.
• We're reducing the use of plastic in Aquarium operations, including our cafe and retail shops, and stepping up our recycling efforts.
• We communicate with our visitors through exhibits, programs and volunteer guides about the impacts of ocean plastic pollution, and what each of us can do to help solve the problem.
• We spark conversations about plastic pollution among our 3 million followers on Twitter, Wordpress, Tumblr, Facebook and other social media channels.
• We engage with elected officials, advocating for science-based policy action to address the problem of ocean plastic pollution.
• Our annual Ocean Plastic Pollution Summit prepares teachers to dive into the issue of plastic pollution, and its solutions, with their students, schools, and surrounding communities.
Learn more about Monterey Bay Aquarium's work to curb ocean plastic pollution
Podcast Series
Breaking Down: The Problem with Plastic Pollution
This six-part series covers the impacts of plastic pollution—from its threat to humans and wildlife to how the issue has energized young people and policymakers.
Plastic bag
Plastics, part 1: Get the scoop on why plastic is a problem, and plastic bags in particular.
Plastics, part 2: Learn about plastic pollution's lasting impact on the ocean and wildlife.
Sushi bar
Plastics, part 3: We know plastic is abundant in the ocean—but is it in our seafood?
Market bag
Plastics, part 4: Hear how plastic pollution affects Latino communities.
Market bag
Plastics, parte 4 en español: Escucha como la contaminación por plásticos está afectando las comunidades Latinas.
Melati and Isabel
Plastics, part 5: Find out how young people are taking on plastic pollution—and winning.
Prop 67
Plastics, part 6: Learn how California can lead the nation on the issue of plastic bags.
|
Ovarian Cancer Tumor Markers
Epithelial Ovarian Cancer, Germ Cell, and Sex-Cord Stromal Tumor Markers
Young woman scientist viewing blood tube during clinical testing of medical samples in a laboratory
Andrew Brookes/Cultura/Getty Images
As an ovarian cancer patient, you've probably run across the term "tumor markers." But what does that mean?
Ovarian cancer is so named because it arises from the ovary (or the fallopian tubes next to the ovary.) But there are a lot of different types of cells in the ovaries, and each of these cell types can become cancerous. These cells all have different functions and produce different biochemical substances.
These substances can be measured in the bloodstream and are called tumor markers.
Why Your Doctor Runs Tumor Marker Blood Tests
In some cases, the tumor marker is a substance that is produced exclusively by abnormal cells. However, in most cases, these markers are simply produced in abnormally high levels as the cancerous cells rev up various parts of their biochemical machinery. Doctors refer to tumors that produce greater amounts of these substances as tumors that express these markers. For example, instead of saying that ovarian cancer produces abnormally high amounts of CA-125, they may say that the cancer expresses CA-125.
Types of Ovarian Cancers
In either case, this means that your doctor can check your blood to test for tumor markers, indicating what type of cancer is present, or later on, how well your treatment is working. Generally, tumor markers decrease whenever treatment is effective.
The most common cancer of the ovary is called epithelial ovarian cancer. There are three subtypes: mucinous, serous and endometrioid. The more rare types of ovarian cancers are called germ cell and sex cord stromal cancers. Each of these has a number of subtypes, but the markers are the same for each of these larger groupings.
Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Tumor Markers
The CA-125 tumor marker blood test is the most common marker used for this group of cancers. CA stands for "cancer antigen." CA-125 can be made by normal cells but is made in higher concentration in some ovarian cancer cells than normal ovarian cells.
CA-125 may be used as part of an ovarian risk index to diagnose ovarian cancer, or it may be used to monitor the response to ovarian cancer treatments. Not all ovarian cancers express CA-125, and levels are normal in around 20% of these type of ovarian cancers. In contrast, some benign ovarian tumors, as well as other conditions, may result in an elevated CA-125 level.
Of the 3 subtypes of epithelial ovarian cancer, mucinous cancers are less likely to express CA-125 than either serous or endometrioid tumors.
HE4 - human epididymis protein 4 is a newer tumor marker that may also be expressed in ovarian cancer, and like CA-125 is more likely to be found with serous and endometrioid tumors. Some researchers have found that using a combination of CA-125 and HE4 is more helpful in diagnosing ovarian cancer than either test used alone.
Since women under the age of 40 are more likely to have the mucinous subtype of epithelial ovarian cancer, these 2 tumor markers may be less helpful in the diagnostic process for younger women.
Other tumor markers that can sometimes be useful for monitoring mucinous ovarian cancers are CA-72-4, CA-19-9 and CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen). There are others which may be elevated but are far less commonly used. CA 19-9 is commonly found in women with the mucinous subtype and may be helpful in the diagnostic process when combined with CA-125.
Germ-Cell Tumor Markers
The two main markers used for this group of cancers are: alpha-feto protein (AFP) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). The latter is also used to monitor normal pregnancy. Levels of AFP and hCG which are significantly elevated are a highly specific way in diagnosing these tumors.
Sex-cord Stromal Tumor Markers
The only markers in this category that are useful are produced by the granulosa cell subtype. These include estradiol (a type of estrogen) and inhibin. Since these tumors are often found in young women, these tests may be done as part of a workup for an abdominal mass (and other symptoms such as precocious puberty) in girls and young women.
Carlson, K. Screening for Ovarian Cancer. UpToDate. Updated 03/01/16.
Hu, M., Guan, H., Lau, C. et al. An update on the clinical diagnostic value of β-hCG and αFP for intracranial germ cell tumors. European Journal of Medical Research. 2016. 21(1):10.
Santororibio, J. What are the tumor markers that best identify the epithelial ovarian cancer? American Association of Clinical Chemistry. 01/20/16.
Soletormos, G., Duffy, M., Hassan, S. et al. Clinical Use of Cancer Biomarkers in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Updated Guidelines From the European Group on Tumor Markers. International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer. 2016. 26(1):43-51.
Uma, D., Purushotham, N., Jayashree. Management of Ovarian Cancer in Younger Women. Reviews on Recent Clinical Trials. 2015. 10(4):263-9.
Continue Reading
|
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Journey into complete horror
Louis Fedinand' story Journey To The End Of The Night, is a French soldiers experience in the trench's of WWI. Ferdinand paints the picture for the reader by describing the worst horrors anyone could imagine. The young French man in this story, is thinking to himself "why am I here" and other thoughts about the war. At one point the man actually wishes he was in prison than in the war, his logic for this was, a man can walk away from prison with his life, but he cannot walk away from war with his life.
While reading this you really get a feel for the atmosphere of this war, from the horrors of combat all the way to the poor quality of food given to the soldiers. The Germans firing rounds upon rounds, the men's bones are shaking from the machine guns. The stench of sulfur, the smoke burning soldiers eyes for days, and the sheer terror that was felt by these brave young men. The Colonel barking orders at the men, while experiencing heavy fire, swearing at his men calling them "jerks" or "lugs". Also, you sense the total disregard for the fallen, when men died even high ranking officers were killed, it wasn't thought twice about, there was no room for sentiment. This story paints a very vivid picture of the horrors of war.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Conscription of Thought
John Dewey (1859-1952) was an American born philosopher, as well as, a psychologist and education reformer. His school of thought fell under the title of pragmatism which is a naturalistic approach to learning where knowledge is acquired from the environment in which the human lives. Dewey’s work was extensive and covered areas from philosophical concerns of the day to the social and political issues of the time.
After the beginning of World War One, a “substantial part of his published output consisted of commentary on current domestic and international politics, and public statements on behalf of many causes.” He was a believer in progressive social change and a supporter of American intervention in the war. Dewey saw the war as a necessary evil. He felt it was something that had to be dealt with and why not use it as an outlet for social reform if the opportunity arose. To quote him directly, “the future of our civilization depends upon the widening spread and deepening hold of the scientific cast of mind.”
“Conscription of Thought” can best be defined as a mandatory uptake of thought not just feeling and acting. The article discusses the argument that social cohesion “is best attained along with intellectual and emotional unity.” However, the effectiveness of the American intervention is “likely to be hampered by lack of those ideas.” Ultimately for Americans to be successful in their intervention, “participation should consist not in money nor in men, but in the final determination of peace policies which is made possible by the contribution of men and money.”
369th Infantry "Harlem Hellfighters"
"Harlem Hellfighters" the 369Th Infantry Regiment an all black military unit that fought with bravery and valor during World War I. The unit was first established in 1913 as the 15Th New York (colored) Infantry Regiment a unit of the National Guard. They were among the first 100,00 troops of the American expeditionary Force to arrive in France in 1918. This regiment was an important piece of the 4Th French Army and fought until Armistice during the Meuse - Argonne Offensive. They were the first American Unit to be awarded the French military highest honor the Croix de Guerre. The "Hellfighters" served 6 months at the front lines and suffered more then 1400 casualties. Germans gave the 369Th the nickname "Hellfighter" because in 190 days of duty at the front they never had any men captured or ground taken. Sergeant Henry Lincoln Johnson is one of the most famous soldiers of the regiment. Johnson while on sentry duty engaged a raiding group of 20 Germans in an intense skirmish that included hand to hand combat that included the use of Sergeant Lincolns bolo knife. He was severely wounded but also managed to rescue a fellow soldier who was being captured by the Germans. His actions were not recognised until he received posthumously the Purple Heart in 1996 and the military second highest honor in 2003 the Distinguished Service Cross.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
John Dewey "Conscience and Compulsion"
When World War I began in 1914, there were many mixed emotions about the war.
John Dewey, an American philosopher and educational theorist, supported the war. In the article "Conscience and Compulsion", Dewey explains that many people, mostly the youth of America, have felt moral strain since war was declared by the United States.
Dewey thought that the reason for the conflict of emotion in America's youth stemmed from religious sources, schools, and parent's values. America's youth were being taught morals (ie-not to kill) that could not be reconciled with President Wilson's decision to go to war.
While many people felt that peace was unattainable through conflict, Dewey states that in order to have peace for all, armed conflict is sometimes necessary. Dewey felt that the means should not justify the end, but the end should justify the means. In other words, the attaining of peace should not be as important as peace itself.
|
Automated safety systems are preventing car crashes
Automated safety systems are preventing car crashes
Also Read: Self-drive road trips abroad on your Indian driving licence
Because there were only 40 fatal crashes in the data, researchers used a simpler analysis that didn't control for differences in drivers' ages, genders, insurance risk and other factors for those crashes. They found the technology cut the fatal crash rate by 86 percent.
Automated safety systems are preventing car crashesThat's probably high, said Jessica Cicchino, the institute's vice president for research, but even if lane-keeping systems cut such crashes by half it would be significant, she said. Cicchino said about a quarter of traffic fatalities involve a vehicle drifting into another lane.
"Now we have evidence that this technology really can save lives and has the potential to prevent thousands of deaths once it's on every vehicle," Cicchino said.
A second institute study of blind-spot detection systems - usually warning lights in side mirrors - found the systems lower the rate of all lane-change crashes by 14 percent and the rate of such crashes with injuries by 23 percent.
Greg Brannon, the Automobile Association of America's director of automotive engineering, called the institute's studies "encouraging."
Also Read: Nagpur boy builds eco-friendly electric car using scrap
But he cautioned that is "critical that drivers understand the capabilities and, more importantly, the limitations of the safety technology in their vehicle before getting behind the wheel."
A separate study by the insurance industry-funded institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's AgeLab found that drivers using automated systems that scan for parking spots and then park the car spend a lot more time looking at dashboard displays than at the parking spot, the road in front or the road behind.
Automated safety systems are preventing car crashes
Drivers of vehicles equipped with blind-spot monitoring have also told researchers that they don't look behind them as often when changing lanes because they rely on the safety systems.
While the safety systems are reducing crashes, "it's still possible that there are some crashes that are happening that wouldn't have happened before because people are now behaving in different ways," Cicchino said.
Also Read: Germany draws up rules of the road for driverless cars
Automakers, taking note of the problem, appear to be switching to systems that vibrate the steering wheel or driver's seat, Cicchino said.
"The vibrating is often more subtle than the beeping," she said. "When a system beeps, it's telling everybody in the car you did something wrong."
Sponsored Stories
Supported by:
|
Brain facts – 135 Interesting Facts About the Brain
Facts about brain
For one year of education, brain age decreases by 0.95 years and for every flight of stairs climbed per day it decreases by 0.58 years.
20,000 years ago the human brains are 10% larger than now.
12% of the people dream in black and white, while others dream in color.
The human brain weighs 3 Lbs.
The gray matter of the brain contains neurons, which collects and transmits signals.
The white matter of the brain contains dendrites and axons, which connects gray matter areas and carries nerve impulses between neurons.
The brain contains 60% of white matter and 40% of grey matter.
At 18 years the brain stops growing.
Anger triggers the region of the brain associated with honesty, that’s when the truth comes out.
There are more synapses or never connections in the brains than there are stars in the galaxy.
|
Share this article on:
Thomke, Hellmut PhD*; Boser, Katharina PhD
Cognitive & Behavioral Neurology: September 2011 - Volume 24 - Issue 3 - p 156–167
doi: 10.1097/WNN.0b013e3182351276
Historical Update
*Professor Emeritus of German Literature and Language, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
Individual Differences in Learning and Boser Educational Technology, Ellicott City, MD
HT is the author of the original paper, updates, and some commentary. KB is the translator of the original paper and updates, and author of some commentary.
This research was supported by the Cognitive Neurology Gift Fund and by the Therapeutic Cognitive Neuroscience endowment and gift funds.
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Reprints: Katharina Boser, PhD, Individual Differences in Learning and Boser Educational Technology, 4120 Sears House Ct, Ellicott City, MD 21043 (e-mail:
Received August 18, 2011
Accepted August 18, 2011
Back to Top | Article Outline
Katharina Boser (KB)
The core of this paper is KB's translation of a 1977 article by Thomke,1 then a professor of German Literature and Language at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Dr Thomke was reporting on his use of operant conditioning to teach language to his son, Heiner, who had nonverbal autism. Both father and son are identified by name here because they were named in the original publication.
At the time that Heiner was diagnosed, many contemporary accounts of improved speech production in autism were claiming that if affected children could not speak by age 5, they would never be able to learn to speak.2–4 The perception of a “critical period” for language development has continued despite evidence of older children acquiring speech. In fact, a 2009 literature review by Pickett et al5 documents 14 studies in which 15 children aged 5 or older, including Heiner Thomke, were trained to speak spontaneous multiword or phrasal utterances.3,6–17 The reviewed studies used many methods to aid speech/language development, among them sign language and special prompting techniques. Higher pretraining intelligence quotient scores, ability to imitate, and other individual characteristics may have given some of the children a potential advantage over Heiner. Pickett et al5 confirmed that longer therapy generally correlates with a higher level of language attainment, and specifically that children need at least 3 years of therapy to reach the highest level, which is spontaneous phrases. (Heiner had 2 years and 3 months of intense therapy.) The study also showed that longer treatment did not always correlate with better outcome. What stands out in the article is that of all the children studied, only 9 whose diagnosis and treatment were well documented were aged 6 or older when instruction began and learned to produce phrases. Heiner Thomke was one of those 9.
Dr Thomke writes in remarkable detail about his son's therapy, progression, and results. The author's background as a language philosopher has given him special insight into not only his child's language abilities but his own theoretical arguments for the techniques that he used to train Heiner. Because a father is writing about his own son, the reflections must be somewhat subjective. Further, the lack of a research design precludes scientific proof that the behavioral conditioning was responsible for the improvements in Heiner's speech. But the paper gives us a snapshot of therapies for children with autism in Switzerland in the late 1960s and 1970s.
The therapies outlined are not intended to be prescriptive or even replicable, but rather descriptive. Several resemble techniques used today. For example, Dr Thomke's redirecting therapy in response to Heiner's interests is a part of Pivotal Response Therapy.9 The father's use of pictures and objects to help Heiner learn to communicate presages the Picture Exchange Communication System.18 And his technique of training and reinforcing one small skill until it was firmly learned, and then building on it in the next skill taught, is known as “shaping and chaining.”19
Dr Thomke opens his paper by describing the confusion and hope that he and his wife felt when they were confronted with the need to teach their 6-year-old mute son to speak. They are frustrated not just by the difficulty of the task but by the lack of human and written resources available to guide them. Dr Thomke develops his operant training system through trial and error, studying the psycholinguistic and developmental psychology literature, and recognizing the reasoning behind things that he does instinctively. He chastises himself for not starting Heiner's therapy earlier and not being able to give as much time to it as he would wish. Not surprisingly, he also has mixed feelings about the success of his effort. But through his work, Heiner gained functional language and kept learning after his formal training ended. Although Heiner's expressive and receptive language skills have remained limited and he never learned to read or write, his ability to speak has enabled him to be more independent than he could have been otherwise, and his receptive language developed to the point that he has long been able to enjoy listening to recorded stories. Even this partial success has greatly improved his quality of life.
Thanks to Dr Thomke's generous willingness to share and revisit his paper, we have been able to augment Heiner's early history, therapy, and results, and add updates about him and his abilities over the 37 years since his intensive language training ended at age 8. [New material added within the translated paper is shown in brackets.] Dr Thomke also approved the addition of several section headers to mark natural transitions in the text, and the deletion of 3 footnotes not considered crucial.
In 2011, we still seek best practices to help autistic children learn language. In the United States, some school districts have failed to implement evidence-based treatments for students with autism spectrum disorder,20–23 many because of a lack of training.24 The use of applied behavioral analysis for autism in Switzerland has grown only since about 2001, largely because 2 mothers advocated for it. Dr Thomke's 1977 psycholinguistic approach serves the whole child, using sound, form, and meaning, based on a profound knowledge of language structure and philosophy. If his intense training succeeded in enabling a mute older child to speak in sentences, we may be able to apply his methods to younger children and to children with milder autism spectrum disorders.
Back to Top | Article Outline
Language Construction in an Autistic Child: Thoughts Regarding Language Acquisition and Language Therapy1
(Originally published as: Sprachaufbau bei einem autistischen Kind: Überlegungen zum Spracherwerb und zur Sprachtherapie. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Psychologie und ihre Anwendungen. 1977;36:1–18.1)
Back to Top | Article Outline
Hellmut Thomke
Back to Top | Article Outline
Translation from the original German by KB
Language acquisition is in many ways still such a great puzzle that the person who stands before the task of teaching language to a child who has not learned to speak on its own, hardly knows how he might bring this about and where he might begin. Professionals and academic texts on language therapy also leave him for the most part “in the lurch.”
Similarly, parents of a nonverbal autistic child are left with feelings of confusion combined with an intuitive sense that if they dare an attempt, perhaps a way will open itself to them; however, without strong methodological experience or scientifically supported ideas about the best approach, this is not something achievable for the long run, something my experience with Heiner, my own child, taught me.
How intuition and reflection can play a role, and how I came to draw conclusions about language acquisition by examining a single case of pathology—my own son—may be illustrated by the following example: when in Heiner's presence, our family decided quite spontaneously to more clearly stress (intone) the most meaningful words, increasing the importance of sentence melody. It was only after quite a period of time that we began to realize that Heiner might perceive our speech more easily through this change of sentence stress. This thought was based on ideas in the newer medical literature about early autism, in which such children were found also to have a higher probability of perceptual impairments, which make the normal development of symbolic abilities (including language) impossible. With this notion arose the idea that perceptual abilities might actually be a prerequisite for language acquisition. Later, I became convinced of the importance of auditory stress and sentence melody by studying the psycholinguistic literature, in which the stress of the tonal gestalt of sentences and the intonation of utterances are hallmarks of the preverbal phase of language acquisition (references 25 and 26, among others). In addition, I determined that by overemphasizing intonation, we created in Heiner a preference for so-called “content” words over “function” words. [“Content” words are words with a real-world referent: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs. “Function” words have no real-world referent; they have meaning only within syntax, eg, “if,” “and,” “but,” and “that.”] “Content” words not only stood out most prominently throughout Heiner's language instruction, but they also take priority in the early language acquisition phases of nonlanguage-impaired children. Thus, it seemed an important thought that the sound patterns of language provided particular direction for Heiner as he learned specific types of speech acts.
[Heiner is the youngest of my 3 children. His sister, Elke, was born in 1959. She was healthy until age 22 months, when she suffered a serious fall, with a great loss of blood. This led to excessive growth of her tongue, which made it difficult for her to speak. At age 4, probably also related to the fall, she developed temporal lobe epilepsy. A seizure at age 15 caused her to drown. My second child, Roland, born in 1962, grew up normal and healthy.]
[Born in 1966,] Heiner appeared in his first year to develop normally, both physically and cognitively. Although his babbling phase was not very productive, at 10 months he was able to produce the sound sequences “mama,” “papa,” “tatata,” and “nan.” In his second year, however, his development halted [and, by 18 months, he could not produce a single sound]. At the time, there did not seem to be a specific reason for Heiner's muteness. Soon early signs of autism appeared. He hardly reacted to speech, he avoided eye contact, and he did not want to be touched. He preferred to watch things that spun and twirled, like wheels. Only somewhat later did he show a fear of change. Strangers thought he might be deaf, although his hearing was tested many times and was always normal. He often reacted to very faint sounds, but generally tried to escape from loud noises. Yet, from an early age, he was engaged by music.
He received the diagnosis of “autistic tendencies, mute” at about 2 years of age. Not long thereafter, the diagnosis was revised to “childhood autism.” Later he was described as a “schwer” (severe) case. [The initial diagnosis was made in 1968 by Dr Hanspeter Matthys, then the only privately practicing child psychiatrist in the State of Bern. In 1970, the diagnosis was confirmed at the pediatric clinic at the University Hospital of Bern.] It was a typical case of Kanner's syndrome. Heiner also had digestive difficulties resulting from unexplained food allergies and perhaps a difficulty in tolerating sucrose. (This made it extraordinarily difficult to find an appropriately motivating reinforcer during the conditioning training.) Multiple attempts to modify his behavior through medication failed. However, thioridazine (Mellaril) and pyritinol (Encephabol) seemed to bring about some improvement at first.
[More on medicines and medical care: Starting shortly before Heiner turned 2 years old, and continuing until about his third birthday, we tried many medicines to treat his autistic behaviors and severe insomnia. There were so many medicines that I can no longer name them all, but I do remember these: the antipsychotic drug thioridazine (Mellaril) and the antihistamine hydroxyzine (Atarax) did not help. The anticonvulsant carbamazepine (Tegretol) did nothing but give Heiner gum infections. Among the benzodiazepines tried, diazepam (Valium) 15 mg did not calm him or make him sleepy; neither did nitrazepam (Mogadon), which in higher doses led to vomiting. Among the neuroleptic drugs, thioridazine was only mildly calming; haloperidol (Haldol) and levomepromazine (methotrimeprazine) were stopped after 2 weeks because they not only made him more restless but he looked morose and seemed to be suffering. Sedatives such as barbiturates, and a combination of methaqualone plus diphenhydramine, did not help his insomnia.
The 1 medicine that really seemed to help Heiner was centrophenoxine (Lucidril). His cheeks turned rosy, he became happy and calmer, and he made eye contact for the first time. However, after only 3 days the doctor stopped the drug, saying that it was too dangerous. I did not mention Lucidril in the original article because I was not knowledgeable about the drug and could not find research on it.
None of the medicines we tried improved the severe problems that Heiner had falling asleep. I would have to lie in bed with him, holding him totally still for about 50 to 60 minutes, until he finally relaxed and fell asleep. Often he was back up at about 3 AM, coming into my bed. There he quickly fell back to sleep so that I could carry him back to his own bed. After a few years of this, his sleeping problems disappeared.
After the fruitlessness of our initial attempts at giving Heiner medicines, we gave up on all of them for a while. Some years later, the doctor prescribed the psychostimulant pyritinol (Encephabol), which Heiner took for many years. At first this drug appeared to have some benefit, but after a time it seemed to wear off. The broad failure of medicines led the psychiatrist to conclude that only pedagogical intervention would help. His advice led to the beginning of the behavior therapy described in this paper.
Initially, I wondered whether Heiner's autism could have resulted from his early digestive problems. In 1970, specialists at the pediatric clinic in Bern thought this possible but did not have any specific evidence. They diagnosed Heiner with a mild chronic intestinal infection, probably caused by a wheat allergy, but they did not find celiac disease. Biopsy showed a secondary sucrose intolerance. Later that year, Heiner's pediatrician put him on a special diet similar to one used for patients with celiac disease: no glutens, very little fat, and avoidance of vegetables known to cause digestive problems. Further, Heiner was not allowed any disaccharide sugars like sucrose or lactose; glucose was used instead. He was also given pancreatin (a combination of lipase, amylase, and protease). Used together for about 10 years (ages 4 to 13), these measures normalized Heiner's digestion. When he was 19, he starting living from Monday to Friday at a group home for adults with autism. The home served such poor and unbalanced meals that Heiner's digestive problems recurred and he had to be restarted on pancreatin. I finally stopped the drug in 2006 when it caused Heiner an outbreak of eczema. Since then he has not taken any medications or had digestive problems.
At age 3, Heiner began to have recurring tonsillitis. At age 3 years 6 months, he underwent a tonsillectomy and the infections stopped.]
[Once Heiner stopped speaking (at around 18 mo)], he remained mute except for an occasional “mama” and “papa” that seemed to have no real meaning. The dental sounds “t” and “n” that he had earlier were gone. [He did not hum or exhibit echolalia. He did not repeat syllables until these were trained, and he did not repeat phrases from songs unless these were specifically requested much later on.] At age 2 he tried to make himself understood by taking either my wife's hand or mine, and using it to point to the location where he wanted something. If the object or item was something he could get himself, he would do this instead. At about 4 years, we realized that his language comprehension was also very constrained. Only through systematic training, which occurred somewhat later, would this improve. Even before a systematic behavioral treatment plan was begun, when we tried to engage him Heiner would occasionally try to imitate the articulation locations of vowels, but he could not produce a sound. It seemed very unlikely that he would speak without some kind of training. His case showed us that engaging autistic children in any systematic way requires a strong, methodologically grounded therapy. The lack of this recognition among local speech professionals, together with most therapists' practices of bestowing gentleness, love, patience, and “trust in the healthy soul that has lost its way in a sick body,” really angered us, especially because we received absolutely no useful advice for years.
When Heiner was 5 years old, we took him to a Bern University speech disorders clinic in the hope that they would begin some kind of language therapy with him. However, they claimed that unless he could learn to concentrate and imitate, he could not be helped. Working with experienced teachers at a good kindergarten, he had made only small steps in this direction. My disappointment was that much greater because I knew from previous experience that there was only the smallest hope that he would learn language at this late age. The literature of the time claimed that a child who did not speak by age 6 years would never speak and would remain extremely mentally retarded. The fact that Heiner appeared to be an attentive and intelligent child was weak consolation, but it motivated us not to give up attempts at speech just yet. His intelligence per se could not be reliably tested. For example, his Vineland score at 5 years and 3 months gave him an intelligence quotient of 56, which put him at a social age of 2;11, an overly favorable estimation of his abilities.
Back to Top | Article Outline
Speech Sound (Phonemic) Training
The systematic speech training began when Heiner was 6 years and 5 months old. My wife and I began with a Hungarian “behavioral therapist” (Heilpädagogin) who had trained in Budapest and had her own clinic for many years. She had worked with mute and deaf subjects, but had little experience with autism. She did have experience with the Pavlovian method of behavioral conditioning, and taught us, as parents, a number of its principles. We had avoided speaking to Heiner in “motherese”—shortened, simplified words. We decided to train him in “high” German [rather than Swiss dialect German], for several reasons: Heiner's mother spoke high German, Heiner had few relationships with children who spoke the dialect, and articulation in high German is much more precise and can therefore be more easily practiced. Finally, early attempts at teaching Heiner to read and write high German had shown that this was not an impossibility [although, unfortunately, no further progress was made].
[Each week the Hungarian therapist gave Heiner at most 2 training sessions, each lasting 1 hour. Because she worked in her home, my wife or I had to take Heiner to her and we sat in on the sessions. In addition to her therapy, I worked with Heiner for about 6 hours a week, in 12 half-hour sessions. My wife and I became concerned about the therapist's rigor and, at times, well-meant fanaticism. Heiner would become aggressive when she held him tight and would not let him go, and because she did not give him a sense of “affectionate engagement” (“Zuwendung.” There is no equivalent word in English. Zuwendung is any behavior, verbal or nonverbal, that engenders affection in another.) Therefore, I increasingly took her place as the primary therapist. After about 18 months, we stopped seeing the therapist entirely, and I conducted Heiner's intensive training alone.]
The training [with me] seemed to be fun for Heiner, but only when he was in a good mood. [Early on, he would squeal when he did not want to work anymore and did not want to sit still. When he was upset, he could not even cry; he could only manage to pant.] The training time was gradually lengthened. It was accompanied by rhythm exercises and exercises involving body imitation. During the course of the work, I attempted to familiarize myself with behavioral therapy through readings (unfortunately, the possibility of undertaking speech training like that described by Lovaas et al3 was as yet unknown to me). At the same time, however, I maintained a critical distance from methods of operant language conditioning because of my language research knowledge and education in modern psycholinguistics and the theory of speech acts. [A speech act is a spoken or nonspoken communication, such as a greeting, request, invitation, compliment, apology, complaint, or refusal.]
There was a certain ethical mistrust of behavioral therapy among speech-language professionals in Switzerland at the time, yet I made myself familiar with what were then considered “authoritarian” training methods, realizing that these would be indispensable for a developmentally challenged child. I also had some practical experience in this method and with speech therapy, since I had tried it with my daughter to reduce her articulation impairments.
First, I determined that eye contact needed to be established (although I admit that the necessity of this came to me only later). I used operant conditioning with continuous reinforcement. At the table where the training was conducted, Heiner would receive a primary reinforcer for every eye contact made. In this case, it was a piece of salad, his favorite food. We could not give him sweets because of his special diet. Later he received glucose. He would also get praise and a fond rub on his back; these would later become his main reinforcers. The result was almost instantaneous. Soon, I reinforced eye contact only if it lasted at least 3 seconds, then 5 seconds, and later 10 seconds. I used the same conditioning method to teach him quiet sitting and imitating physical exercises. [At first, he was unable to sit quietly without some force, such as an adult's hands bearing down on his shoulders.]
The initial language therapy goals were to help Heiner perceive sounds auditorily in a meaningful way and to be able to distinguish individual sounds from one another. Upon presentation of a given sound, he was asked to imitate a given behavior associated with the sound. The first exercise was for him to knock on the table and be able to distinguish fast from slow knocking. At first his hands were led to do this, but this support was removed in a stepwise manner until he independently imitated the therapist's motions across from him. He was intermittently rewarded. The next step was for Heiner to learn to hit a xylophone, a tin drum, and a water glass as well as ring a bell. Again, we first used a hand-over-hand method. Then each of these objects was ordered according to its sound, which was then associated with the sound of 1 of the basic speech vowels, xylophone [a:], bell [e:], tin drum [o:], and water glass [i:]. First, Heiner learned to hit the appropriate object when he heard the correctly associated vowel. After a while, he was asked to say the vowels while he hit the objects. Soon he was able to hit the xylophone upon hearing the associated vowel, and then the tin drum and bell. The [i:] (water glass) took him longest to learn. Finally, the attempt to introduce a fifth sound [u:] failed. Heiner learned this last [u:] vowel only much later, once it was used together with the consonants [g] and [k] to distinguish it more clearly from [o:].
After he consistently responded to 3 vowels, Heiner had to learn not only to imitate the sound but also the articulation position of the vowel after observing the therapist's mouth. We worked together for a long time using a mirror. In this way, Heiner was able to combine auditory and visual impressions to produce consonants that were coupled with the vowels (ie, to produce syllables). Before training, he occasionally produced [p] and [m] by chance. These consonants were combined to form “pe-pe” and “me-me,” as well as “ap-ap” and “am-am.” After “pa-pa” he was required to distinguish “ba-ba.” After the bilabials, the dentals [t, d, n, l] were introduced. The back consonants were very difficult for him. Heiner produced the velars [g] and [k] as well as the glottal [h] successfully only by using a speech therapy technique. For example, we initially used a tongue depressor to ensure proper tongue placement for the [g]. Later, Heiner used his own finger in its place. Finally, it was enough for him to hold his index finger near his open mouth, at which point his tongue would retract automatically. New consonants were used and practiced in the context of syllables. At the same time, we introduced the difference between short and long, open and closed vowels, as well as umlauts and diphthongs. In addition to [i:] and [u:], the [y:] was difficult, as were [r] and the fricatives. When Heiner tried to vocalize an [r], it often made the vowels surrounding it sound wrong. Later he used [l] for [r]. The [j] was easier to learn, but the [v] was somewhat more difficult. He could produce [f] only weakly and when combined with other sounds, but was aided by blowing out a candle. The “ich” sound was weak at first, but surprisingly strong after exactly 2 years. Heiner did not learn the “ach” sound; this seemed to be replaced by the glottal stop [[Latin Letter Glottal Stop]]. At the same time, he was taught voiced and voiceless [z] and [s]. After 4 weeks of daily practice, using the same method as described for eye contact, he learned a clean voiceless [s] that was rewarded stepwise with the salad. We taught him the affricate “z” [ts] using a “trick,” by first training a strongly aspirated [t]. He could produce consonant clusters like [pl] and [gl] only once these sounds were made more distinguishable from one another by putting a [schwa] between the 2 consonant sounds and then blending the sound out again. The [ŋ] was trained by allowing Heiner to bind an alveolar [n] with a [g].
Back to Top | Article Outline
Training Short Phrases and Word Comprehension
The sound system or “babble training” was not much fun for Heiner. For this reason, we combined words with their meanings long before the whole sound training was finished. The training of individual phonemes was concurrent with learning the production of sentence-like requests such as “Bitte Salat” (please salad) and “Ich esse” (I am eating). It seemed reasonable to introduce 2- and 3-word phrases once Heiner could produce single words with reasonable, understandable articulation. The training of meaning began by our passively showing him objects and pictures in which these objects were found, while we spoke the objects' names. We asked him to point to either the object or picture when he heard the word (eg,“Where is the apple?”… “There!”). Pictures were easier to use at the table. Within the pictures, he was most likely to recognize objects that he knew from his environment. Specifically, his comprehension was most accurate for pictures that depicted the object in its most natural or realistic form (eg, in color and 3-dimensional). After some time, Heiner became much better at recognizing more abstract forms of objects, and he was able to recognize objects in reality that he had learned only from pictures.
[At first, Heiner confused such words as “tomato” with “banana,” and “donkey” with “horse.” I corrected such errors through clearly demonstrated speech in front of the mirror, and later while seated across from Heiner. I helped him by forming his mouth and tongue for correct articulation, first with his fingers and later also with a tongue depressor, as described above. When Heiner confused object names, I would set the objects or pictures in front of him and point to each one, saying the correct word. Then Heiner had to pick out the correct picture and was rewarded.]
After Heiner learned to imitate words on his own during the initial training, the type of question used in comprehension training was changed from “where” questions to “what” or “who” questions. Even if he could not quite articulate it accurately, he was asked to produce the correct word in response. At first he was asked to produce only 1-syllable words; soon thereafter, we expanded to 2-syllable to 4-syllable words. For combined word forms such as “teakettle” and “bathtub,” it was difficult for Heiner to deal with the doubled and hierarchical word stress. After some time, he was required to produce the associated article (eg, “der,” “die,” “das”). It was difficult at this point to determine accurately the degree to which what Heiner produced was merely imitation of syllable structures rather than speech production that referred to something substantive and meaningful. As Heiner's vocabulary increased, so did the incorrect agreement of the gender of the specific article and noun combination necessary in the German language. Heiner generalized and used a universal article sounding something like “de.”
At first we practiced only concrete nouns, because they often constitute the majority of productions in normal child language. Heiner learned only very few adjectives. We tried color terms first, but it was very difficult for Heiner to differentiate colors. In contrast, he learned the adjectives “warm,” “cold,” “broken,” “quiet,” and “good” (“good” in describing the taste of his food). Because he had broken many flowerpots while twirling them, the concept of “broken” was the clearest of all to him.
After presenting pictures of things to Heiner, we showed him pictures of actions. Now we asked him questions like, “What is the man doing?”…bathing, eating, etc., or “Who is that?” “What” questions were easier for him than “Who.” I practiced these with Heiner in concrete situations. I speculated, however, that he was more interested in the fact that someone was running or bathing than who the person was. For this reason, I decided to focus more on the naming of verbs and actions than objects and features. I purposefully attempted to set up most concepts with a focus on the verb, and from the verb to work on the building of the sentence. The fact that verbs tend to be less frequent in normal early child language was not a consideration at this point, but was probably also not an error since verbs may just not appear in the surface structure.
Another experience influenced the focus of the training and the nature of the practice in these dramatized situations. My wife and I had tried to force Heiner to speak by refusing to react to his attempts to point or take our hands to indicate what he wanted. Now Heiner began to grab our mouths and open them to show him what he should say when he could not. After about a year of teaching, Heiner produced his first 1-word sentence: an imperative speech act: “Geige!” (“violin,” meaning “Papa, get the violin!”). After a few months, he began to use other words as requests: “baden” (“bath,” meaning “I want a bath”) or “auto” (“car,” meaning “I want to ride in the car”), “brot” (“bread,” meaning “I want bread”), and “platte” (“record,” meaning “I want to hear the record”). [By this time, his squeals to indicate that he was finished with a training session were gradually being replaced by “aufstehen” (“stand up”).] The next step was that he had to say “please bath” or “please car.” In this way he learned to make his first syntactic connections. We arrived at this by modeling and speaking along with Heiner, followed by saying only the first syllable, then only the first sound, and then silently forming the first sound. In the end, we were able to eliminate these instructional aids entirely.
Back to Top | Article Outline
Training 2-Word and 3-Word Sentences
After 18 months of training, Heiner began to use 2-word sentences as they might appear in the adult language. Three months later, we instituted a systematic exercise of such sentences. I came up with a list of verbs that Heiner understood and that he could produce clearly. The verbs referred to actions that he knew from daily life and that interested him: eat, drink, sit, stand, lie, bathe, build, paint, come, cry, laugh, iron, sew, hop, clap, swing, drive, run, ride, whistle. These were all intransitive verbs (eg, “build” would be intransitive if there were no building built). These verbs could be part of fully grammatical 2-word sentences created from only a subject and a predicate. At the same time, I also constructed a list of nouns that could be combined with these verbs; mama, papa, Elke (Heiner's sister), Roland (Heiner's brother), the man, the woman, the boy, the girl, the doll, the car, the train. Some of the nouns required an article, so that now we could practice a 3-word sentence with a specific article. I presented 3-word sentences in analogical succession, working with pictures and photographs of the events. For example: “The man bathes, the woman bathes, etc.” “The man paints, the boy paints, etc.” “The man laughs, the woman laughs, the boy laughs, etc.”
Soon Heiner also learned to substitute “Bitte” (please) with “Ich will” (I want). Then, in place of “please,” he was asked to use “I want” (eg, “I want bread” or “I want stand up”—this phrase always followed working at the table). If he were asked to imitate a sentence like, “I want to have a record,” then he would shorten it to “I want record.” In this way he produced a 3-word sentence with a subsequent sentence part in which he treated the infinitive (to have) and the concrete noun (an accusative object, eg, record) in the same way. Next, the third-person singular and first person were used as subjects in 2-word sentences: “I bathe,” “I draw.” In this way, Heiner learned 3 inflected forms of the verb: “baden” (infinitive), “bade” (first person), and “badet” (third person). The usual difficulty with personal pronouns demonstrated in autistic children could be avoided through behavioral conditioning therapy. Heiner began to use the personal pronoun (first person) on his own. The second person was purposefully omitted until later in the therapy. The reversal of personal pronouns by autistic children is usually explained by echolalia or a disturbed sense of self. At the point of teaching pronouns to Heiner, he already seemed to have a clearly developed sense of Ich (“I”), potentially strengthened through the training. Amongst other evidence was his response of “ich” (“I”), and later “mir” (“to me”), when he was asked, “To whom does the bed (or “do the toys”) belong?,” although this response had never been explicitly trained. To the question of what he had done one afternoon, he answered several times, “Ich will badet” (“I want bathed”). This was a good sign to us that we could now introduce Heiner to the perfect verb form.
Back to Top | Article Outline
Whatever we may have achieved during the 2 years and 3 months of training Heiner, the fact remains that almost all of his production required many prompts (including questions and requests that specifically elicited speech acts). Many productions were still poorly articulated and Heiner did not reach a normal speech rate or intonation, that is, “sentence melody.” Judged against the accomplishments of a normal child's language, I could be tempted to conclude that we had achieved very little, but given Heiner's entirely mute state before training, the accomplishment was great. However, the question of whether Heiner's language development would accelerate beyond that point would not be answerable. At 8 years and 8 months, he entered a special boarding school that stressed perception abilities and cognitive, affective, and social development in the belief that these would improve communication. His success at this school was minimal. At the same time, I tried to continue training him at home on the weekends. We focused on improving articulation and sound vocabulary, introducing the perfect verb form, expanding syntax, and building his productive and receptive word knowledge. Altogether, semantic training was more important than syntactic instruction.
As the description of the instructional practice has shown, we refocused the original instruction with Heiner on operant conditioning, using basic principles developed by behavioral learning psychologists. From the beginning, we also included imitation in the learning process, to strengthen his imitative behaviors. It was only in this way that we were able to get Heiner to speak. To my knowledge, up to this point [1977] there are no other scientifically supported methods of language therapy with mute autistic children. Our instruction proceeded schematically from sounds to syllables, to words, to simple sentences. Conditioning and imitation are exactly what an exemplary representative of modern developmental psycholinguistics deems as not necessary for the natural acquisition of language.27 With Heiner, however, we found the behavioral conditioning method effective in the phonological, syntactic, and semantic domains. It would nevertheless be not only presumptuous but also totally in error to conclude, based on my experiences with Heiner, that the psycholinguistic controversies about language acquisition could be decided in favor of a stimulus-response model, and the critique by Chomsky, the founder of generative transformational grammar, against Skinner, invalidated.28,29 More important to me was my discovery that independent language acquisition by nonlanguage-impaired children must proceed quite differently in certain crucial ways. Heiner uses almost exclusively over-practiced speech patterns with a particular vocabulary, something that obviously does not happen in normal language communication. (It must be said, however, that this result was quite a victory for Heiner, even if he never veered from the learned pattern, since it was through the help of the ingrained patterns that a previously unknown method of making himself understood now became available.) Doubtless, Chomsky's current psycholinguistic theory of generative transformational grammar has invigorated language acquisition research with new and fruitful principles. The fact that conditioning methods lead to language acquisition in mute autistic children puts us in a better position to accept the possible influence of stimulus-response mechanisms in language acquisition by healthy children. Skinner's theory of verbal behavior, however, may be too simple to account for language acquisition. Instead, one might better adopt a model of representational mediation, such as that developed by Osgood.30,31
Although the benefits of behavioral conditioning in language acquisition were demonstrated clearly for me, I could not ignore the existence of language universals that result from inborn, biologically grounded human abilities. This was true also for the universals of language acquisition. For Heiner, the universal, inborn component was demonstrated most clearly in the phonological domain. As we worked on sounds, we probed many different routes of training, depending on which features Heiner could discriminate and which sounds he could produce. In doing so, I found that even in this case of language pathology, Jakobson's rules were upheld to a certain degree.32 In the beginning of the training, for example, Heiner already had [a], [p], and [m], those sounds that Jakobson mentions as being the minimal vowel and consonants found in normal speech. The consonants that Heiner learned could be learned only in the order that Jakobson claimed was “universal.” In contrast, Heiner deviated from normal acquisition of the production of vowel forms (something that had previously been shown in other children with autism). These had to be explicitly taught using behavioral methods. In Hamblin's language development program, as described by Wendeler,33 first the [a:], [e:], and [o:] are practiced. Before I was aware of this, I found that, before training, Heiner would produce only these vowels; the rounded [o:] was more difficult for him than the nonrounded vowels [e:] and [a:]. Production of the narrow-high vowels was also difficult, requiring a higher tongue position in the mouth ([i:], [ü:], [y:], [u:]). Most difficult was the combination of the phonological characteristics closed, round, and dark (the vowel [u:]). This difficulty was probably associated with the fact that Heiner had problems discriminating [i:] from [e:], and [u:] from [o:]. All of these difficulties, however, were surmountable through behavioral conditioning.
Certainly, one needs to be cautious in drawing general conclusions from 1 pathologic case. Yet after the experience with Heiner, I believe that neither the theories developed by the behavioral learning psychologists nor the psycholinguistic theories stemming from Chomsky's transformational grammar model are sufficient to explain language acquisition. Both attempts at explanation need to be part of a larger, overarching theory that would explain the relationships among the forms of sensorimotor, cognitive, affective, and social development that accompany language acquisition, and that would, in particular, explain the relationship between language and thought. Hypotheses regarding these relationships exist in the so-called area of “cognitive linguistics,” with the goal of a mental grammar,34 and even more in the psychology of language acquisition that developed out of the Genevan school of Jean Piaget. In the overarching theory it would be important, above all, to build on the notion of speech acts,35 whereby language acquisition could be understood in the clearest way by means of functional action relationships.
The most important result of our language training with Heiner was that he began to produce 1-word sentences on his own, he began to use the practiced set of more complex syntactic patterns as illocutionary and perlocutionary speech acts, and he thus began to use language functionally.
We tried to force Heiner to acquire functional language by denying him the things he wanted until he was moved from silence toward active speech. [For example, we asked him to say, “Ich will baden“ (“I want to bathe”) before allowing him to step into the bathtub.] Most probably, our experience points to the facts that language is acquired primarily in connection with actions and that psycholinguistic research and speech therapy must take better notice of the importance of the pragmatic side of language. I am referring to the very obvious observation that words or symbols referring to actions and events were more interesting to Heiner and easier to teach him than were words or symbols referring to people or objects. It was also clear that Heiner learned words for objects and people more quickly when these words were taught in combination with words for actions, than when the words were just presented repeatedly. In spite of these findings, I must also stress that it would have led to nothing if we had begun with the conviction that language consists always and from the start of speech acts and is acquired in normal language interactions (through the use of speech acts) or through language immersion. It would not have been possible to achieve Heiner's language independence had he been forced to speak in normal language contexts. Interaction had to be reduced to the simplest, extremely asymmetrical, and “artificial” form of training context. Heiner had to learn the phonological, syntactic, and semantic domains through conditioning before he could even partake in the interactive nature of speech. In the same way, we need to clarify and incorporate the notion of “affectionate engagement” [“Zuwendung”], a term that is used in the behavioral therapy and psychoanalytic literatures, so often with ambiguous or misunderstood meaning. With Heiner, we had to work on affectionate engagement through the conditioning of specific behaviors (mostly eye contact) and through my own behavior that helped to reinforce them (stroking his back, praise, etc.)
In the transition from single-word learning to the building of a simple syntax, I was left with the question of whether it was proper to use as the model for Heiner's 2-word subject-predicate sentences the developed child language and standard language of an adult, or perhaps instead to imitate early child-like constructions of 2-word sentences. Only a decision in favor of the fully developed syntax seemed logical to me—in the first place because, in spite of numerous studies, the syntax of young children has still not been investigated enough; second, because the observed forms can be explained in different ways; third, because there are obvious individual and mother-tongue-related differences; and, fourth, because for all these reasons it would not have been possible to determine the psychologically “simplest” 2-word constructions to use. Strengthening my decision was the fact that early child 2-word sentences always include a subject and predicate, with the possibility of later systematically adding further sentence constituents to these constructions. According to Bever,36 “subject-predicate” is one of the underlying relationships that children discover between the elements of language when the cognitive basis of language structures develops. This development mirrors itself again in the mental grammar of adults. According to Bever,36 most significant is the discovery of the differences between the subject-predicate and the predicate-object relationship. For this reason, my next step in training sentence patterns with Heiner had to lead to the construction of objects inside the verb phrase. (It happened first with the verb “wollen” {want}.) In other words, we trained sentences with verbs that take either an obligatory or an optional accusative object. McNeill27 describes the number of possible patterns in 2-word sentences, and their corresponding grammatical relationships. The most frequent patterns have verbs and nouns that stand in an object relationship to one another. Subject-predicate patterns occur much less frequently. Perhaps one can draw the conclusion from this that not only actions but goal-directed events are of particular importance for young children, so the speech act of “demand” stands in the foreground. For the language therapy with Heiner, I concluded that besides 2-word sentences with subject and predicate (with verbs that take one type of object), we should practice constructions with the word “bitte” (as in “bitte Brot”—“please bread”). This was also important because the implicit object relationship was very clearly the most salient in Heiner's spontaneous 1-word sentences. I also needed to consider whether we should be training so-called “pivot constructions.”37 The later version of pivot theory, which distinguishes between a central (closed) and an open class of words (Z-O constructions), would have to have been established first.38,39 But Z-O constructions make sense only if children produce them on their own, and many children hardly use them.39 In addition, these constructions appear to be incomplete surface reflections of deep underlying syntactic differences.27,40 Among Heiner's 2-word constructions, we could consider only those with “bitte” as being similar to Z-O constructions.
Since it is quite controversial whether language acquisition is affected more by the deep or the surface structure of the adult language (if the research into mental grammar doesn't make the belief in a deep structure superfluous!), there was luckily no other choice for me than to use the surface structure of the language for Heiner's instruction and just intuitively choose psychologically simple examples. In doing so, it was very helpful to refer to the classic research by Stern and Stern.41 The importance of the surface structure of the adult language is supported by the finding that autistic children with echolalia have a better chance of developing real language than do children who only comprehend language. The decision to use the adult forms of the language was also harder to abandon as Heiner started to be able to identify variants of utterances in the surface structure, and at times used these variants himself. The supported notion that language acquisition depends on a mental grammar slowly awoke in me the notion that the child's cognitive development must take priority in the teaching sequence; thus, it was senseless to keep conditioning syntactic patterns given Heiner's current level of cognitive abilities. In contrast, I did not want to abandon entirely the idea of fostering his cognitive development by conditioning specific sentence patterns through instructions regarding their functional use. Arguing in favor of continued syntactic training, one can consider the well-known phenomenon that children actually use certain language forms (eg, temporal or causal sentences) before they are truly able to understand the corresponding logical relationships. If language and thought depend on one another, as Vygotsky42 claimed, then improvement from usage to understanding should not be excluded. The Piagetian school, however, stresses that the foundation of cognitive operations lies not in the language but rather in preverbal sensorimotor actions. Cognitive development would therefore only be limited by language training.43 Because this problem remains unsolved, the dogmatic adoption of a particular model of language and cognitive development would be a mistake. Both methods should therefore continue to be tested, that is, through thinking to foster language and through speech practice to further drive forward the development of thinking.
Since I have already spoken in considerable detail about syntactic considerations, I must prevent a possible misunderstanding. My decision to use the developed adult language as the foundation for Heiner's practice did not by any means arise from a hypothesis about the priority or independence of syntax. Instead, the whole instructional practice became oriented toward semantic goals from the moment that Heiner began to produce sound combinations; that is, the child should be able to understand and produce meanings. The practice of syntax was the means to this goal, because I had been able to arouse little interest in Heiner by showing him and naming single items, and had so far not accomplished much in doing so.
Of the most commonly occurring constructions of young children's 2-word sentences,38 the 2 that I have emphasized with Heiner are the demand-wish and the describing of a simple event or situation. Heiner has not learned to ask questions. It will be a very important step to get him to do so. First, he must be conditioned for question sentences. It will not be crucial that he use the form of the question sentence. It is more about the ability, in addition to the “demand-wish” and the “description,” to produce a third important speech act: questions in the context of situations and event correlations. Heiner understands and answers questions, but he has not been motivated to ask them. [He often answers a stereotyped “yes” to questions, even when he means “no.” We take his “yes” to mean that he understands that he has been asked a question that requires an answer, but he still cannot respond appropriately.] Because of the importance of demands, I conclude that we should practice “where” questions first. He learned the demand speech act by himself, after he learned the corresponding sentence type through conditioning; thereby, the nonverbal could be converted into a speech-dependent interaction. It is still difficult to be sure whether each of his utterances about things and actions is a speech act of description, since these types of utterances occur exclusively in response to prompted questions. During instruction, at least, I could see the certain necessity that language develops not only through semiotic means as a symbol system, but also for understanding in an event-based corelational manner.
It follows from this report that by means of behavioral therapy methods, it is possible to build language, even in a child with severe autism, and even when the instruction begins relatively late in development. The severity of Heiner's impairment was apparent in all clarity when, at the age of 9¾, he could at last be tested (using Kaplan26), and his developmental level was shown equivalent to a child of 2.5 years. Through imitation lessons combined with language therapy, Heiner definitely learned to observe, and thereby achieved a better and more structured relationship with his surroundings. Through the learning of word meanings, a whole new world opened to him—or perhaps it was the other way around! In forming sentences, he was able to set up relationships between himself and his environment, and between things and people. Even if his language remains now and forever rudimentary, there is much that has been “won” in terms of interhuman understanding. One must caution that conditioning therapy may have achieved nothing more than a sort of language “dressage.” Yet in this artificial way, Heiner finally has a way of making himself understood. It is also difficult to unlock a language's sound system and sound relationships and to produce the syntactic relationships between those sound patterns; but this is a less fundamental aspect of the lesson. Only once a child actually produces its own speech acts can the language fulfill its task of facilitating an understanding with the surrounding world and thereby fulfill its social role.
[The most important factor in Heiner's acquiring language appeared to be our refusal to accommodate any of his nonverbal requests. Heiner learned to consider language less as a conditioned, reflexive production of sounds, words, and sentences, like a parrot, and more as a symbolic action, a specific act that could bring about a specific result.] The importance of this factor has been partially overlooked in previous reports of language initiation in autistic children, or the difficulty of the task has been underestimated. Many medical clinicians lack a basic understanding of the science of language. For example, Kehrer and Körber44 do not clearly describe the transition from conditioned speech forms to meaningful use of language. In a later overview article, Kehrer45 also leaves this most important problem open. It is not enough to conclude in a few words that trained echolalic speech must gradually be turned into a communication language through behavioral therapy. Language therapy is a highly complex task that must be conducted in a highly methodological but nondogmatic manner through a collaboration among psychologists, doctors, speech pathologists, behavioral therapists, and parents. The ongoing puzzle of language acquisition must be tied to the therapy. This work has the potential to achieve as significant findings as in aphasia research, findings that could further improve therapy.
Back to Top | Article Outline
Back to Top | Article Outline
Hellmut Thomke, translated by KB
Back to Top | Article Outline
1972 to 1974
Heiner's intense home treatment lasted for 2 years and 3 months, from age 6 to 8. Each week for the first 18 months, he had two 1-hour sessions with the behavioral therapist, with my wife and me looking on, and another 12 half-hour sessions just with me. For the final 9 months, I trained him alone, gradually lengthening the sessions and expanding their scope. My own job and other family obligations limited my available training time.
Back to Top | Article Outline
At age 8, Heiner went to a special weekday boarding school for cognitive development and language training. The school asked me to stop my home instruction because it would not be good to subject Heiner to 2 simultaneous training methods. I soon realized, however, that Heiner's language was regressing. So when he came home on weekends, I restarted my own method, sometimes sitting with Heiner as I had done before, but, more often, taking him on long walks. The length of time we spent walking would be hard to reconstruct. However, these walks gave us a natural setting for using language. Heiner learned to throw stones, run, sit on a bench, climb a tree, watch the trains go by, see a plane or a bird fly, pick berries. He also learned to differentiate large from small—stones, trees, etc. He was always required to describe the thing or action with words. Primarily because we could work together only on weekends, Heiner improved much less during this period than he had during the earlier, more concentrated training years.
Back to Top | Article Outline
At age 38, Heiner was doing quite well. He looked young for his age, almost child-like. He showed fewer and less bothersome overt signs of autism, such as hand flapping and whirling. Well socialized and calm, he behaved himself without problem on the street, in restaurants, and elsewhere in public. He had no sleep problems.
He still could not live alone. During the week, he lived and worked in a home for low-functioning adults with autism. He was at home with us every weekend and for about 4 week-long holidays a year.
Although Heiner could not live alone, his early training had given him some language independence. His active expressive vocabulary included about 470 words. His passive vocabulary, though much bigger, did not lend itself readily to tallying. Even though he had been trained only in high German, he understood words in Swiss dialect. He seemed to understand most things that happened day to day, like cooking, gardening, and shopping. He still liked music. He had also grown to enjoy listening to compact discs of dramatized fairy tales and children's stories with added music and sound effects. He could answer simple questions about the stories, like, “Which animals appear?” He spoke mostly in 1-word sentences when no one required more of him. We still had to prompt him even for some of his 1-word sentences. He used words spontaneously only when particularly fascinated by something, when the context absolutely required it, or when someone insisted on it. He still did not initiate much speech, and he tended only to whisper. Because his articulation remained poor, I continued to train him in pronunciation. He seemed to feel very disappointed when he tried to say something but could not articulate it properly.
At his weekday group home, Heiner liked using pictures to communicate. In 2004, the staff there had just begun trying to improve his communication with an electronic device similar to a DynaVox (DynaVox Mayer-Johnson, Pittsburgh, PA). The machine displayed icons depicting things and situations. Pressing on an icon made the machine speak the wish, for example, “I want to drink.”
That year we took Heiner back to the Bern University clinic and had him tested for nutritional allergies and for fragile X syndrome. All the tests were negative.
To summarize my thoughts about Heiner in 2004: I believe that his early training was responsible for his continued understanding and use of language. Our most important accomplishment had been improving his language comprehension. I found behavioral operant conditioning useful not only for language but also for decreasing Heiner's fears about things like going to the dentist. I wish that his intensive therapy could have started earlier and continued longer. Finally, I still felt disappointed by the lack of early support for conditioning methods when he was very young. Because of the “political milieu” among speech-language professionals in Switzerland, for several years they had emphasized facilitated communication almost exclusively.
Back to Top | Article Outline
At age 45, Heiner still lives in a group home. There he helps in the kitchen, with house chores, and in the garden. He can use tools like a saw, hammer, screwdriver, and drill. He is clean and orderly. He can take a bath once a week, ride, draw very simple pictures, and play simple music, as on a xylophone or drum. He behaves himself without fail. He has good rapport with the people who look after him, but less so with his housemates, most of whom have more intense disabilities than he and who speak not at all or very little. He still spends weekends at home with us, and is at home for longer vacations 4 times a year. He joins my wife and me when we go to a restaurant or attend a classical concert. At home he is very helpful, but needs rest breaks during which he pulls back to his room.
He can say roughly 500 words, although his “canned” utterances still require prompting. He continues to prefer to use pictures or gestures rather than words. I believe that as he ages, his understanding of language continues to improve.
Back to Top | Article Outline
The authors thank Hans Huber Verlag (Bern, Magazines) for permission to translate and republish Dr Thomke's paper.
HT: I thank Dr Boser for giving such great attention to the case of my son Heiner and for taking my 1977 paper, and carefully and most informedly translating it.
KB: My deep appreciation to Dr Thomke for allowing his son's story to be retold and for updating Heiner's progress. Thanks to my colleagues who inspired this project through their interest in learning how nonverbal autistic children have been helped to learn phrasal language after age 6: Erin Pickett, Olivia Pullara, Jessica O'Grady, and especially Barry Gordon, without whose perseverance this paper would not have been seen in print. Thanks to Sarah Wayland for advising on International Phonetic Alphabet notation. Thanks to Juane Heflin for reviewing the manuscript. Thanks to Edie Stern for her detailed and tireless efforts to prepare the paper for publication.
Back to Top | Article Outline
1. Thomke H. Sprachaufbau bei einem autistischen Kind: Überlegungen zum Spracherwerb und zur Sprachtherapie. [Language-construction in an autistic child: thoughts on language acquisition and speech therapy.] Schweiz Z Psychol Anwend. [Swiss Journal of Psychology and Its Applications.]. 1977;36:1–18
2. Brown JL. Prognosis from presenting symptoms of preschool children with atypical development. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 1960;30:382–390
3. Lovaas OI, Berberich JP, Perloff BF, et al. Acquisition of imitative speech by schizophrenic children. Science. 1966;151:705–707
4. Rimland B Infantile Autism: The Syndrome and its Implications for a Neural Theory of Behavior. 1964 New York Appleton-Century-Crofts
5. Pickett E, Pullara O, O'Grady J, et al. Speech acquisition in older nonverbal individuals with autism: a review of features, methods, and prognosis. Cogn Behav Neurol. 2009;22:1–21
6. Bourret J, Vollmer TR, Rapp JT. Evaluation of a vocal mand assessment and vocal mand training procedures. J Appl Behav Anal. 2004;37:129–143 quiz 143–144
7. Hingtgen JN, Coulter SK, Churchill DW. Intensive reinforcement of imitative behavior in mute autistic children. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1967;17:36–43
8. Koegel RL, O'Dell M, Dunlap G. Producing speech use in nonverbal autistic children by reinforcing attempts. J Autism Dev Disord. 1988;18:525–538
9. Koegel RL, O'Dell MC, Koegel LK. A natural language teaching paradigm for nonverbal autistic children. J Autism Dev Disord. 1987;17:187–200
10. Martin R Out of Silence: A Journey into Language. 1994 New York H. Holt
11. Marshall NR, Hegrenes JR. Programmed communication therapy for autistic mentally retarded children. J Speech Hear Disord. 1970;35:70–83
12. Miller A, Miller EE. Cognitive-developmental training with elevated boards and sign language. J Autism Child Schizophr. 1973;3:65–85
13. Miranda-Linnè F. Individuals with autism spectrum disorders: teaching, language, and screening. Comprehensive summaries of Uppsala dissertations from the faculty of social sciences. Acta Univ Ups. 2001;103:1–96
14. Rutter M, Greenfeld D, Lockyer L. A five to fifteen year follow-up study of infantile psychosis. II: social and behavioural outcome. Br J Psychiatry. 1967;113:1183–1199
15. Rutter M, Rodefeld W Teaching Language to Autistic Children. 1974 Springfield, IL Department for Exceptional Children, Illinois Office of Education
16. Windsor J, Doyle SS, Siegel GM. Language acquisition after mutism: a longitudinal case study of autism. J Speech Hear Res. 1994;37:96–105
17. Welch MGTinbergen N, Tinbergen EA. Appendix I: retrieval from autism through mother child holding therapy. Autistic Children: New Hope for a Cure. 1983 London Allen & Unwin:322–326
18. Bondy AS, Frost LA. The PECS. Behavior. 2001;25:725–744
19. Newsom C, Rincover AMash EJ, Barkley RA. Autism. Treatment of Childhood Disorders. 1989 New York Guilford:286–346
20. Eldevik S, Hastings RP, Hughes JC, et al. Meta-analysis of early intensive behavioral intervention for children with autism. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2009;38:439–450
21. Heflin LJ, Simpson RL. Interventions for children and youth with autism: prudent choices in a world of exaggerated claims and empty promises. Focus Autism Other Dev Disabl. 1998;13:194–211
22. Stahmer A, Collings N, Palinkas L. Early intervention practices for children with autism: descriptions from community providers. Focus Autism Other Dev Disabl. 2005;20:66–79
23. Odom SL, Brown WH, Frey T, et al. Evidence-based practices for young children with autism: evidence from single-subject research design. Focus Autism Other Dev Disabl. 2003;18:176–181
24. Hess K, Morrier M, Heflin J, et al. Autism treatment survey: services received by children with autism spectrum disorders in public school classrooms. J Autism Dev Disord. 2008;38:961–971
25. Lenneberg EH Biological Foundations of Language. 1967 New York Wiley
26. Kaplan ELBühler H, Mühle G. Intonation und Spracherwerb. [Intonation and language acquisition]. Sprachentwicklungspsychologie. [Language acquisition psychology.]. 1974 Weinheim Beltz Verlag:152–174
27. McNeill D The Acquisition of Language. 1970 New York Harper & Row
28. Skinner BF Verbal Behavior. 1957 New York Appleton-Century-Crofts
29. Chomsky N. A review of B.F. Skinner's verbal behavior. Language. 1959;35:26–58
30. Osgood CHE, Sebeok TA Psycholinguistics: A Survey of Theory and Research Problems. 1954 Baltimore: Waverly Press
31. Hörmann H Psychologie der Sprache. [The psychology of language.]. 1970 2 Auflage Berlin Springer Verlag
32. Jakobson R Child Language: Aphasia and Phonological Universals. 1968 Paris Mouton
33. Wendeler JWing JK. Neuere Forschungsergebnisse. [New research findings.] Frühkindlicher Autismus: Klinische, pädagogische und soziale Aspekte. 1973 [Early child autism: clinical, pedagogic and social aspects.] Weinheim Beltz Verlag:283–308
34. Leuninger H, Miller MH, Müller F Linguistik und Psychologie. Ein Reader. Bd.I: Psycholinguistische Untersuchungen sprachlicher Performanz. Bd 2: Zur Psychologie der Sprachentwicklung. [Linguistics and psychology. A reader. Vol 1: Psycholinguistic investigations of language performance. Vol 2: On the psychology of language acquisition.]. 1974 Frankfurt a. M. Athenäum Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag
35. Searle JR Speech Acts. 1969 Cambridge Cambridge University Press
36. Bever TGHayes JR. The cognitive basis of linguistic structures. Cognition and the Development of Language. 1970 New York:270–362
37. Braine MDS. The ontogeny of English phrase structure: the first phase. Language. 1963;39:1–14
38. Slobin DFerguson C, Slobin D. Cognitive prerequisites for the development of grammar. Studies of Child Language Development. 1973 New York Holt, Rinehart & Winston
39. Leuninger H, Miller MH, Müller F Psycholinguistik: Ein Forschungsbericht. [Psycholinguistics: A research report.]. 1972 Frankfurt a. M. Athenäum Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag
40. Bloom L Language Development: Form and Function in Emerging Grammars. 1970 Cambridge, Mass MIT Press
41. Stern C, Stern W Die Kindersprache: Eine psychologische und sprachtheoretische Untersuchung. [Child language: A psychological and language theory-based investigation.]. 1907 Leipzig J.A. Barth Verlag (most recent reprint by Scientific Book Co., 1987)
42. Vygotsky L Thought and Language. 1962 Cambridge, MA MIT Press
43. Sinclair HHinde R, Stevenson-Hinde J. Some remarks on the Genevan point of view on learning with special reference to language learning. Constraints on Learning. 1973 New York Academic Press
44. Kehrer HE, Körber HP. Sprachbehandlung durch Verhaltenstherapie bei autistisch-mutistischen Kindern. [Language treatment through behavioral therapy with autistic-mute children.] Acta Paedopsychiatr. 1971;38:2–17
45. Kehrer HE. Verhaltenstherapie bei kindlichem Autismus. [Behavioral therapy in child autism.] Z Kinder Jugendpsychiatr. [Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.]. 1974;2:233–247
autism; conditioning; language acquisition; speech therapy; nonverbal
© 2011 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.
|
Difference between Floating IP and private IP
Are you wondering about the difference between a private IP address and a floating IP address in OpenStack? Here is a short explanation that should make it clearer.
(See also: Setting a floating IP range)
Private IP Address
A private IP address is assigned to an instance's network-interface by the DHCP server. The address is visible from within the instance by using a command like “ip a”. The address is typically part of a private network and is used for communication between instances in the same broadcast domain via virtual switch (L2 agent on each compute node). It can also be accessible from instances in other private networks via virtual router (L3 agent).
Floating IP Address
A floating IP address is a service provided by Neutron. It's not using any DHCP service or being set statically within the guest. As a matter of fact the guest's operating system has no idea that it was assigned a floating IP address. The delivery of packets to the interface with the assigned floating address is the responsibility of Neutron's L3 agent. Instances with an assigned floating IP address can be accessed from the public network by the floating IP.
A floating IP address and a private IP address can be used at the same time on a single network-interface. The private IP address is likely to be used for accessing the instance by other instances in private networks while the floating IP address would be used for accessing the instance from public networks. How to configure floating IP range describes Floating IP range document.
A setup with 2 compute nodes, one Neutron controller (where the Neutron service, dhcp agent and l3 agent run), a physical router and a user. Let the physical subnet be On the compute nodes instances are running using the private IP range One of the instances is a webserver that should be reachable from a public network. Network outline:
As shown in the picture above, the webserver is running on an instance with private IP A User from network wants to access the webserver but he's not part of private network Using floating IP address enables the user to fetch webpages from the webserver. The destination address is translated by the NAT table (iptables) within the virtual router deployed on the controller.
|
Tag Archives: dengue
Dengue and Malaria
Serious Tropical Blood Diseases Dengue and Malaria Nearly 1/2 of the world’s population are at risk of contracting tropical blood diseases, specifically malaria, and dengue. Dengue is endemic in 110 countries around the world. How does one contract the disease? How can we prevent ourselves from these diseases? Are there any natural cures? First, let’s […]
Learn more »
|
Cellular Workmate
Wolfram's Cellular Automaton number 30 Wolfram's Cellular Automaton number 60
Wolfram's Cellular Automaton number 90 Wolfram's Cellular Automaton number 110
Cellular automata
A cellular automaton is a simple parallel machine. Its current state is defined by a field of cells. These cells can be in a number of states, as indicated by their colour. Every time-step, the cells in the simulation change their state simultaneously. They regard their own state, and the state of their neighbours to determine their new state.
Rule 110
Rule 110
The preceding figure defines an automaton. Each cell looks at a 3 cell wide context to compute its successor state. For example, when a cell is white and its two neighbours are black, it becomes black in the next step. (As shown by the third pattern from the right) All cells change their state at exactly the same time.
The next figure demonstrates the rule shown above. The first row gives the configuration of the cell field at a given time-step. Each cell applies the rules as given above, in parallel. This yields the second row. The cells at the border of the field consider their neighbours white. The title figures show four different automata applied at a field containing initially just one black cell. The figure below is an excerpt from the right-bottom title figure.
Rule 110, Line 150
Step 150 and 151, using rule 110
Note that in the introduction we use only two colours, and a three cell context, for reasons of simplicity. In general, cellular automata can use any number of states and context lengths. They even can be higher-dimensional, as in John Conway's 2D Game of Life.
Cellular automata are very simple machines that can expose highly complex behaviour. There exist Turing Complete and Universal cellular automata. This means that cellular automata are (among others) in fact the most powerful machines we currently know to exist.
On the other hand, the majority of cellular automata are not interesting. They generate constant or simple periodic images.
Project Overview
This product automates the search for the interesting cellular automata. It approximates the complexity of the generated pattern using off-the-shelf compression technology. It subsequently uses a simple generate and test approach to find interesting cellular automata.
Detailed Description
The program proposes the following parameters:
states Number of states in the simulation
context Context extent of the rules. The context length is given by 2*context+1
initial Number of randomly generated initial cells
generations Number of generations to simulate
complexity Minimum complexity to search for
The program executes in three stages:
1. Randomly generate a rule set, using a number of states given by states and context context length
2. Generate a random initial configuration of length initial, and apply the rules generations steps.
3. Compute the complexity of the result by minimising the applied output length over a set of compressors.
The program repeats these three steps until it finds a resulting complexity higher than complexity.
There are states states. A context is per definition a list of 2*context+1 states. To specify an automaton, one needs to give the successor state for every possible context. This leads to the following formulae and numbers:
General formulae
Number of contexts states(2*context+1)
Size of an automaton log2(states)*states(2*context+1) bits
Number of automata statesstates(2*context+1)
Instances of the formulae for small values of states and context
states context size of automaton number of automata
2 1 23 =8 223 = 256
2 2 25 =32 225 = 4.3 109
3 1 log2(3) 33 =43 333 = 7.6 1012
2 3 27 =128 227 = 3.4 1038
3 2 log2(3) 35 =386 335 = 8.7 10115
The case states=2, context=1 has been studied in depth by Stephen Wolfram. He found that in this case the automata with Wolfram Number 30 GIF (155 KB), 60 GIF (25 KB), 90 GIF (30 KB) and 110 GIF (46 KB) were particularly interesting. These automata (and their symmetric counterparts) and a couple of other interesting automata are easily found with complexity=10000. The automata given by these numbers serve as the title pictures of this page.
In every other case, the combinatorial explosion prevents us from systematically enumerating and testing all automata. Luckily, the size of a single automaton remains small. We can therefore simply generate automata, and test them. My program does exactly this, and their results are promising: See for example: automaton 4462648359618 GIF (418 KB)
The program Cellular Workmate
The program is written in Java. For building it uses ant (an open-source, platform independent, xml-based, dependency tracking, fast build tool for java projects from the Apache community).
The program is copyright 2004 by Wouter Koolen-Wijkstra. It is released under the GNU GPL
executable jar (35 KB)
full source gzipped tar archive (18 KB)
The program needs a Java Runtime Environment (For example Sun's J2SE JRE) to execute. Execution with java -jar Cellular.jar or double-click under Windows.
Java comes with a built in gzip compressor, which is used by the program. Furthermore, the program interfaces with the external programs gzip, bzip2 and PPMd when they are available. The modular structure of the program makes it very easy to add other (java or external) compressors.
Currently the program runs all compressors to completion, even when a compressor already outputted a size below the demanded minimum complexity. This is really unnecessary, but it is difficult to do proper cleanup when the executing compressors are killed.
|
Gregory Miligan
Most people think of electric cars as a new thing. Modern, futuristic, cutting edge.
What they don’t realise is that EVs have a long history. Scale model electric vehicles were built by experimenters in the 1830s, an electric tricycle was shown at the International Exhibition of Electricity in Paris in 1881, and Thomas Parker in England put an electric car into production in 1884!
In 1897 both London and New York had fleets of electric taxis operating.
In 1899 the Baker company was founded, and although he didn’t drive, Thomas Edison
Thomas Parker's Electric Car
Thomas Parker’s Electric Car
bought one. In 1902 they built a car called the Torpedo, which was rumoured to have a top speed of 120 mph (approx. 200 kmh) but on its first public high speed run it lost control and crashed, killing spectators.
At the turn of the century in 1900 almost a quarter of new cars sold in the USA were electric, and over a third of the cars on the road were powered by electricity.
In 1900 Ferdinand Porsche, designer of the VW Beetle and founder of the Porsche sports car company, built an EV using hub motors in the wheels. He later went on to build a four wheel drive version which also had a petrol engine and generator, making it one of the first hybrids!
The big appeal of the EV in the early days? well, for a start they were quiet, they didn’t smell of motor spirit and oil, and there was no need to crank start them like a petrol car of the day nor a long wait to warm up like the steam cars. Many companies marketed them to women, and in fact the first woman in America to own a car had an electric…
In 1907 the Detroit Electric entered production, and Henry Ford bought one for his wife.
The cost of petrol cars fell rapidly after the Ford Model T came out in 1908, and the starter motor was invented in 1912 making petrol cars easier to live with, both of which affected EV popularity. By the beginning of the First World War electric cars were a small player in the industry…
Only a few manufacturers survived the war, and EV production had effectively ceased by the mid 1920s.
Very little happened until the 1950s, apart from the odd experimenter or tinkerer.
In 1959 a company purchased a number of Renault Dauphines and converted them to electric, selling them as the Henney Kilowatt. Less than 50 were made before production ceased in 1961.
In 1963 a man called Bill Doring converted a 1959 Ford Prefect to electric, which is now in the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.
The oil crisis of the 1970s reawakened interest in electric cars in a big way, and it has never gone away. Several car makers built prototypes, a few companies offered conversions, and people began converting their own cars. In the early days the VW Beetle was one of the most popular cars to convert, as they were mechanically simple, common, and easy to set up as an EV. Beetles remain popular today, with several companies offering complete conversion kits to turn your Beetle into an electric car. EV West in California make bolt in kits that can be fitted in a weekend….
By the late 1980s interest was growing, but the sticking point was battery technology. Lead acid batteries are heavy and offer low range, nickel cadmium was being tried with some success, and others were being explored. Nickel Metal Hydride emerged as a front runner in the 1990s in the EV1 and Toyota used them in the Rav4 EV as well as the Prius hybrid, but it was the lithium ion battery revolution that brought EVs into the realm of practicality that they now enjoy.
California passed laws in 1990 mandating a portion of all cars sold to be zero emissions. The same year General Motors unveiled the Impact concept car, which emerged in 1996 as the production EV1 which was leased only and not sold to customers. In 2002 production stopped and in 2003 they were recalled and crushed by GM apart from a few deactivated examples donated to museums. In 2006 a documentary film “Who Killed The Electric Car” was made about the process.
Other vehicles were built for the Californian mandate, including the Toyota Rav4 EV, but legal action by car makers watered down the laws and they were all withdrawn from sale.
The EV seemed to be doomed to spend many years in a sort of suspended animation…enthusiasts converting cars and small specialist firms building low volumes, but then along came Elon Musk!
Musk’s Tesla corporation stunned the world in 2008 with the Tesla Roadster. This was the first production vehicle to use lithium ion batteries, and had unheard of range and acceleration. The Roadster was made from 2008 until 2012 when Tesla stopped production to concentrate on development of its next vehicle, which again redefined what was possible with an EV…the Model S.
The combination of lithium batteries and three phase AC motor with regenerative braking meant that the Tesla was fast, efficient, and had awesome range. This combination of technologies is basically the blueprint for all factory EVs today.
2009 saw the Mitsubishi i MiEV released in Japan. It came to Australia in 2010 for lease customers and a facelifted and revised model in 2012 for regular customer sales.
Nissan had launched its Leaf (unlike the i MiEV the Leaf was designed from day one to be an EV, not converted from a petrol model) in 2010 in the US market, and it launched in Australia in 2013.
These two cars brought electric vehicles down to a price that many could afford (although the Leaf was released at nearly $60,000 it soon came down to $40,000) as well as providing range between 120-160 km per charge.
In 2012 the much awaited Tesla Model S arrived…a full size luxury sedan with a range of up to 500 km and performance to rival Ferrari. It isn’t cheap…on its launch in Australia in late 2014 a base model cost almost $100,000 and a top of the range fully loaded performance model almost $200,000…but it competes with luxury sports sedans on their own terms and holds its own.
Tesla are working on the Model X SUV and on a mid size sedan for release later. This will be followed by a midsize sedan to be called the Tesla 3, coming in at half the price of the Model S.
BMW also released a range of electric cars and plug in hybrids, beginning with the i3 compact car and the i8 hybrid sports car.
The i3 is distinctive for its carbon fibre body, and for the optional small petrol powered generator (using the engine from a motor scooter) which can act as a range extender or a “get home” device.
The other current trend is for plug in hybrids…the first hybrid on the market, the Toyota Prius (and the range of Toyota and Lexus hybrids which followed) have small battery packs and cannot be plugged in to charge. They get all the electricity from a generator attached to the petrol engine and are merely a way of increasing the efficiency of a petrol powered car.
Plug in hybrids on the other hand, have a large battery pack and can be charged at home then driven for significant distances on stored electricity.
The first of these to hit the market was the Chevy Volt, sold in Australia as the Holden Volt (and in Europe as the Opel Ampera) which was driven by an electric motor, but had a four cylinder petrol motor and generator to give it range equal to a conventional petrol car. When the battery gets low, the petrol engine kicks in and recharges them.
Mitsubishi released the Outlander PHEV in 2014 and are planning a series of plug in hybrid models, and other manufacturers will follow suit.
The future for EVs is bright…very bright!
|
What Is An Empath? Are There Empath Traits?
On this blogsite we’ve described what an Empath is numerous times using different methods. We’ve also found numerous ways to define Empathy, as well. But while we’ve used definitions, trait lists, examples, and so on to help elucidate what an Empath is, we’ve never really sat down and talked about what kind of people Empaths really are. (Forgive me if I’m mistaken on this, because there is so much information on this website even I forget some of the things I’ve written about…lmao).
What is an Empath? Let’s talk about it. It feel like a HUGE question, particularly for this blogsite and its overall purpose.
What Is An Empath?
• Cognitive Empathy: we recognize what another person is feeling
• Emotional Empathy: we actually feel what the person is feeling
I had a friend recently tell me about how she described what an Empath is to a psychology friend. And she said basically it was empathy x 10. And while I agree the hypersensitivity an Empath experiences to emotional undercurrent around them is excessive sometimes, I don’t believe the actual Empathy an Empath experiences is any more or less than anyone else at the Compassionate Empathy level. That is….unless they choose to make it so.
Traits Of An Empath
16 Common Traits Of An Empath
1. Empaths are quiet achievers but expressive in area’s of emotional connection. They find that talking about emotional issues is a great outlet that aids in understanding themselves and others.
2. Some empaths can be the opposite of what an empath ‘should’ be because they are overwhelmed or unable to handle emotion and what they feel in the world around them so they block their feelings.
5. Empaths are emotionally sensitive to violence and general chaos.
15. Empaths are daydreamers that have difficulty keeping focused. This is common with people who deal more IN emotion and neglect other area’s of their mind.
16. Like many people on a spiritual path Empaths frequently experience déjà vu and synchronicities. This is something that occurs to everyone however empaths are often more aware and therefore ‘look out’ for it.
What are the real traits of an Empath?
Empaths aren’t just hypersensitive to the emotional undercurrents around them. They can also be highly emotional people themselves. And when in this state its easy to lose ability to discern where the Empath’s emotions end and another person’s emotions begin. Often times Empath’s are highly prone to something called Emotional Contagion. Emotional Contagion is the tendency to catch and feel emotions that are similar to and influenced by those of others.
Empaths can have a very deep seeded fear of intimacy of any kind. And this can even translate into the bedroom. Intensity of feeling, due to hypersensitivity plus past issues of possible abuse, can cause them to push away from this desperately. But understand, it’s not that they don’t want to be loved, cherished, or to experience passion.
Does this mean these things do not exist? No, it doesn’t. I’m not here to judge the reality of such things and people’s particular belief in them. I’m simply pointing out that sometimes these things can be used as a crutch to keep from dealing with their real issues.
The main point I’m attempting to make here is that Empaths are human beings with human experiences, human emotions, human prejudices, and human issues. They suffer and they hurt. They can suffer from low self esteem. They can be as hateful as they can loving. And being an Empath doesn’t mean that they will show empathic concern for others.
And while the first list of traits are indeed traits of an Empath, they aren’t the only ones. They simply shine a light on the more positive aspects of being an Empath to entice you to adopt that title as your own. But being an Empath doesn’t take away your real world problems. It doesn’t set you apart from people. It doesn’t make you different or special. It doesn’t give you a greater or holier purpose than others. Only you can set yourself apart from or above others. And if you are honest with yourself, how does that offer others empathy when you do that?
Think about it.
~ by Misuchi Sakurai on June 19, 2010.
3 Responses to “What Is An Empath? Are There Empath Traits?”
1. This article definitely applies to me and my sister. I told a minister that i was an empath and he told me no that i had another gift that i cant think of the word. I am on a spiritual journey right now. I will find out my purpose in life!!!!!!
2. Thank you for writing this article. I am a Reiki Master/Teacher and find myself feeling every symptom that my client has. I didn’t know what it was or what it was called, until today. A very talented medium told me that I was an Empath-I love the feeling being connected to my patients, but sometimes it is a bit overwhelming.
Again, thank you for the information :=)
Holistic Health Practitioner
Mind, Body and Spirit
3. You spoke out what’s within my heart and mind…
Leave a Reply
WordPress.com Logo
Twitter picture
Facebook photo
Google+ photo
Connecting to %s
%d bloggers like this:
|
This documentation is archived and is not being maintained.
NAT Traversal using IPv6 and Teredo
Enhancements were made that provide support for Network Address Translation (NAT) traversal. These changes are designed for use with IPv6 and Teredo, but they are also applicable to other IP tunneling technologies. These enhancements affect classes in the System.Net and related namespaces.
These changes can affect client and server applications that plan to use IP tunneling technologies.
The changes to support NAT traversal are available only for applications using .NET Framework version 4. These features are not available on earlier versions of the .NET Framework.
The Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) defined an IPv4 address as 32 bits long. As a result, IPv4 supports approximately 4 billion unique IP addresses (2^32). As the number of computers and network devices on the Internet expanded in the 1990s, the limits of the IPv4 address space became apparent.
One of several techniques used to extend the lifetime of IPv4 has been to deploy NAT to allow a single unique public IP address to represent a large number of private IP addresses (private Intranet). The private IP addresses behind the NAT device share the single public IPv4 address. The NAT device may be a dedicated hardware device (an inexpensive Wireless Access Point and router, for example) or a computer running a service to provide NAT. A device or service for this public IP address translates IP network packets between the public Internet and the private Intranet.
This scheme works well for client applications running on the private Intranet that send requests to other IP addresses (usually servers) on the Internet. The NAT device or server can keep a mapping of client requests so when a response is returned it knows where to send the response. But this scheme poses problems for applications running in the private Intranet behind the NAT device that want to provide services, listen for packets, and respond. This is particularly the case for peer-to-peer applications.
The IPv6 protocol defined an IPv4 address as 128 bits long. As a result, IPv6 supports very a large IP address space of 3.2 x 10^38 unique addresses (2^128). With an address space of this size, it is possible for every device connected to the Internet to be given a unique address. But there are problems. Much of the world is still using only IPv4. In particular, many of the existing routers and wireless access points used by small companies, organizations, and households do not support IPv6. Also some Internet service providers that serve these customers either do not support or have not configured support for IPv6.
Several IPv6 transition technologies have been developed to tunnel IPv6 addresses in an IPv4 packet. These technologies include 6to4, ISATAP, and Teredo tunnels that provide address assignment and host-to-host automatic tunneling for unicast IPv6 traffic when IPv6 hosts must traverse IP4 networks to reach other IPv6 networks. IPv6 packets are sent tunneled as IPv4 packets. Several tunneling techniques are being used that allow NAT traversal for IPv6 addresses through a NAT device.
Teredo is one of the IPv6 transition technologies which brings IPv6 connectivity to IPv4 networks. Teredo is documented in RFC 4380 published by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Windows XP SP2 and later provide support for a virtual Teredo adapter which can provide a public IPv6 address in the range 2001:0::/32. This IPv6 address can be used to listen for incoming connections from the Internet and can be provided to IPv6 enabled clients that wish to connect to the listening service. This frees an application from worrying about how to address a computer behind a NAT device, since the application can just connect to it using its IPv6 Teredo address.
Enhancements are added to the System.Net, System.Net.NetworkInformation, and System.Net.Sockets namespaces for supporting NAT traversal using IPv6 and Teredo.
Several methods are added to the System.Net.NetworkInformation.IPGlobalProperties class to get the list of unicast IP addresses on the host. The BeginGetUnicastAddresses method begins an asynchronous request to retrieve the stable unicast IP address table on the local computer. The EndGetUnicastAddresses method ends a pending asynchronous request to retrieve the stable unicast IP address table on the local computer. The GetUnicastAddresses method is a synchronous request to retrieve the stable unicast IP address table on the local computer, waiting until the address table stabilizes if necessary.
The IPAddress.IsIPv6Teredo property can be used to determine if an IPAddress is an IPv6 Teredo address.
Using these new IPGlobalProperties class methods in combination with the IsIPv6Teredo property allows an application to easily find the Teredo address. An application normally only needs to know the local Teredo address if it is communicating this information to remote applications. For example, a peer-to-peer application might send all of its IPv6 addresses to a matchmaking server which can then forward them to others peers to enable direct communication.
An application should normally set its listening service to listen on IPAddress.IPv6Any rather than on the local Teredo address. So if a remote client or peer has a direct IPv6 route to the host of the listening service, the client or peer can connect directly using IPv6 and not have to use Teredo to tunnel packets.
For TCP applications, the System.Net.Sockets.TcpListener class has an AllowNatTraversal method to enable NAT traversal. For UDP applications, the System.Net.Sockets.UdpClient class has an AllowNatTraversal method to enable NAT traversal.
For applications that use the System.Net.Sockets.Socket and related classes, the GetSocketOption and SetSocketOption methods can be used with the SocketOptionName.IPProtectionLevel socket option to query, enable, or disable NAT traversal.
|
Why Canada’s E-Library Is Barren
Slow going national digitization plan leaves virtual shelves empty.
By Michael Geist 26 Jul 2016 |
Yet it stops strangely short of trying to do just that.
Falling behind
Financial and legal constraints are typically identified as two of the biggest barriers to ensuring universal digital access to Canadian heritage. Major digitization initiatives are certainly costly, but experience elsewhere shows that a government-led initiative that brings together public and private resources is possible with the right champion.
Digitization initiatives in other countries also demonstrate that the legal challenges are frequently overstated. For example, U.S. courts have ruled that massive digitization programs such as those undertaken by Google qualify as fair use. This means that millions of books can be freely digitized without fear of copyright infringement, though full access is limited to public domain works (where the copyright has expired) and licensed materials where the copyright owner has granted permission. Partial access may be granted consistent with fair use.
The perfect national birthday gift
Canadian law features fair dealing rather than fair use, but a similar approach could be adopted. While the new Canadian strategy is largely limited to public domain works that can be digitized and made available without the need for permission or licences, the Supreme Court of Canada’s interpretation of the law lends itself to a more ambitious digitization program in which all Canadian works are converted into digital format for research, study and education purposes.
All public domain works – which could reasonably be estimated to include anything published before 1940 – could be made immediately accessible in full text. Moreover, the government could launch a crowdsourcing initiative where Canadians identify additional public domain works of authors who died more than 50 years ago. This would include many books published in the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s.
For the remaining works, fair dealing would permit a portion of the work be made available without the need for further permission. For full text, authors could be given the opportunity to specify how, if at all, their works should be accessible.
With Canada set to celebrate its 150th birthday next year, now is the ideal time to give ourselves a birthday gift that will keep giving for years to come. A national digitization strategy is long overdue and starts with a government committed to a bold vision of making Canada’s heritage digitally accessible to all. [Tyee]
Read more: Science + Tech
Share this article
The Tyee is supported by readers like you
Join us and grow independent media in Canada
Get The Tyee in your inbox
The Barometer
Take this week's poll
|
Current time:0:00Total duration:6:30
0 energy points
Studying for a test? Prepare with these 2 lessons on The Renaissance in Venice.
See 2 lessons
Video transcript
(lighthearted music) Female Voiceover: Let's talk about this frescoed room by Andrea Mantegna. Male Voiceover: First a little background information. Mantenga was active in Northern Italy, first in Padua, also Ferrara, and around the Veneto in the middle of the 1400s. Then, in 1460, he's appointed by the Marquis of Mantua, Ludovico Gonzaga, to be the court artist of the Court of Mantua, so he moves there in the 1460s. Female Voiceover: It's really important to recognize that what's happening in Mantua is going to be really different than what's happening in Florence. Male Voiceover: Yeah, in other kinds of cities, Mantua, at this time, is a court; it's ruled by a marquis, which is a step below a duke, the Gonzaga family who'd been in control for quite a while are the single dominant rulers of the city. It's very different from a situation, as you pointed out, Florence, or Venice, which are republics. So, Mantegna comes and he begins working on this project, which is called the Camera Picta, or the Camera degli Sposi, which- Female Voiceover: Camera just means Male Voiceover: Room. Male Voiceover: Camera Picta means the 'painted room'. One thing to point out is that besides the door frame, and the mantle piece and some architectural features like these brackets at the bottom of the vault, everything that we're looking at is paint. Female Voiceover: It's just amazing to me that it's all paint. Male Voiceover: It's completely frescoed. All of the things that look like architectural decoration, and ornaments, and moldings, Female Voiceover: And molding. all of this is fresco. Female Voiceover: He made it look as though the walls are actually open. Male Voiceover: We have the ceiling that's decorated with these architectural and sculptural forms, and then it has an oculus, or this open hole at the center of the ceiling that we'll take a look at, all painted, and painted very, very naturalisticly and with the careful attention to perspective, as if you are seeing 3-dimensional objects from below or on the walls and that makes it illusionistic, as if it's really there. Female Voiceover: And we're, what, about 40 or 50 years after the death of Masaccio, so it really in that full swing of the early Renaissance, and humanism, the [unintelligible] discovery of classical antiquity. Male Voiceover: That's right, and Mantegna was a big part of that. Speaking of classical antiquity, and we can start on the ceiling, and what we see is this oculus, and then surrounding it is this architectural and sculptural ornamentation that's extremely classisizing in terms of the molding and the details in the ribbons and the garlands, and the putti, Female Voiceover: And the putti. and what they're holding are fictive reliefs of the first eight ancient Roman emperors; and so, also [within] the subject matter, the ceiling is extremely classical. What's important to point out is that, we talk a lot about classical antiquity in the Renaissance, and the revival of antiquity, but it's important to remember that different types of cities drew from different types of classical antiquity, and what we're looking at here with these portraits of the emperors, is an imperial classical antiquity, which is entirely appropriate for a court city like Mantua that's ruled by a marquis or any other city ruled by a duke. But this kind of imagery would have been completely inappropriate in a place like Florence. Private citizens in a republic would not have been allowed to decorate, Female Voiceover: (laughs) or ruin their house with Roman emperors. Female Voiceover: No, Florence looked back to the period of ancient Rome when it was a republic. Male Voiceover: So, it's important to remember that for the people in the Renaissance, they were able to distinguish between different types of classical antiquity, and pick what was most relevant to them. Below that, again, we see this open space, and on the walls are frescoes of the Marquis Ludovico and his everyday life scenes in what supposedly Mantuan territory scenes from his activities. Here we see Ludovico meeting with his son, the cardinal. In the landscape there's some putti that are standing up on top of the door holding an inscription, and then on this wall we see Ludovico and his wife and his family and his favorite dog and the court little person all sitting around while he receives a message from an adviser on the far left. Then, coming up the stairs on the right are some visitors who are coming to greet him, and that might be related to the function of this room, which might have been a kind of ceremonial greeting space. You see this extremely naturalistic, illusionistic painting that creates the fiction of architectural spaces. Look at how the curtain seems to be pulled forward and in front of the column, so sometimes it's really hard to distinguish between what's real and what's not. Female Voiceover: There's a lot of fun clearly in playing with those boundaries and using perspective to fool the eye. Male Voiceover: Right, because you are looking slightly up at these figures, they're standing on top of the fireplace, and notice that you actually do look up at them. You can see slightly up into the bottom of their tunics, so you don't see the top surfaces of the stairs or the floor that they're standing on; so, Mantegna's painting it as if you're really seeing them elevated in that position. This is a part that's intentionally fun and humorous. This is the oculus, this opening. Oculus means eye in Latin. Female Voiceover: That's not a real opening. Male Voiceover: Not a real opening; it's just painted from this Di sotto in su, from below, radical perspective. So, we see everything very foreshortened, the balustade, this railing that circles the oculus. The putti that are standing here, you seem them very foreshortened from below. Here's a peacock that we see from below. You see several servants, including an African one, standing around and they're looking down and they're laughing. If you look very carefully, you'll notice that one of these women has her hand on this pole that's supporting this pot with a plant in it; and the suggestion, I think, is that she's about to pull that pole away and that potted plant is going to fall right on your head. So, that's the joke; you're standing there looking up with your mouth hanging open, and suddenly you realize that there's the joke, the illusion, of these objects that are going to fall on you. Female Voiceover: In fact, there are other figures who look like they could drop things on us Male Voiceover: Out of their hands, or- other parts of their body. Male Voiceover: Right, because look at these putti, not wearing diapers with their little rear ends sticking out, or the front of them facing us, and so there may be other things falling on you, too. On the one hand, this room gives us a serious subject matter of the marquis as a ruler of his domain, with this serious, imperial, classisizing imagery of the ancient Roman emperors on the ceiling, but at the same time, in a kind of marginal location, above your head, what you might not see right away, there's this puerile, humorous joking quality that lightens the atmosphere a little bit. (lighthearted music)
|
One of Zimbabwe’s largest wildlife reserves, the Bubye Valley Conservancy, recently announced that it was considering culling up to 200 lions as the cats have become increasingly overpopulated. The wildlife reserve said its current population of around 500 lions is unsustainable due to the dramatic decline in hunters, possibly caused by the controversy over Cecil, a lion killed near Hwange National Park last year. Bubye officials say that without hunters to help manage the lion population, they are considering either hiring marksmen to shoot some of the animals, or capturing them and donating the cats to other reserves. Bubye has historically held one of the largest lion populations in Zimbabwe.
“I wish we could give about 200 of our lions away to ease the overpopulation,” Blondie Leathem, the conservancy’s general manager, told the National Post. “If anyone knows of a suitable habitat for them where they will not land up in human conflict, or in wildlife areas where they will not be beaten up because of existing prides, please let us know and help us raise the money to move them.”
Leathem explained that the lions are a big threat to the park’s other denizens, which included antelope, giraffes, leopards, and a number of other native species. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the conservancy is trying to recover from one of the driest summers on record.
Mickey and his brothers
Posted by Bubye Valley Conservation Research on Friday, August 21, 2015
Hunters traditionally helped to keep lion numbers in check, as well as bringing a much needed financial boost to the park. However, officials are now blaming something they call the “Cecil effect” for the lack of hunters. In 2015, the hunting of a black-maned lion named Cecil by an American dentist, Walter Palmer, drew international outrage after the Zimbabwe government accused Palmer of poaching. The charges were later dropped, but activist groups continued to target big game hunters in Africa and urged many governments, including Zimbabwe, to close their borders to hunters. This is despite the fact that many conservationists have long agreed that hunters are needed to not only manage wildlife populations, but also provide the funds to protect the same species they hunt.
Game species are not the only wildlife that hunters benefit. According to the Bubye Valley Conservancy, it is funds from sportsmen and women that allowed it to create its rhino conservation project, which manages the third largest population of black rhinos in Africa.
“Today, the hunters’ legends live again in the Bubye Valley, where populations of animals have had the time and the space to grow to maturity,” Bubye stated on its website. “Thriving herds live in balance on the open savannah, the mopani woodlands and in the dense riverine forests. The diverse habitats found in the Bubye Valley Conservancy now support an astonishing 35 species of wild, free-ranging game animals including the classic Big Five.”
The conservancy spans roughly 850,000 acres.
Image from Facebook
What's Your Reaction?
Like Love Haha Wow Sad Angry
• Mike Dunger
Typical. The bleeding heart progressives achieve the exact opposite of what they want by relying on emotion instead of logic.
• Chris
Yep the only losers will be the lions
and other animals millions of years of our ecosystem adapted around hunting swept aside by the arrogance of hypocritical, arrogant and ignorant people with no experience or clue of hunting other than some muppet on Facebook
• bigspecks
the EXACT thing that occurred with the Syrian boy washed up on shore and the flood gates opened for the cell phone-well dressed refugees. Lucky for the families that the sacrifice of a child gives the living family martyrdom status. Bleeding heart Liberals with their PC tree hugging cumbiah camp fire songs are killing this country.
• Snug
If I wanted to hunt an African Lion , or any other big game in Africa , Zimbabwe would NOT be destination . The government of Zimbabwe lied about the whole incident , then rather than admit any failure on their part ,pretend it never happened . Meanwhile a man had his life turned into a truckload of manure by schadenfreud antihunting terrorists . Only a fool ( the U.S. State Department !) would trust the Zimbabwe government .
• Landon Faulkner
Hunters are necessary for conservation people! Get used to it!
• Kj
Keep on telling yourself that idiot. You and your ilk are the ones that hold self entitled positions in life and tend to breed like a virus regardless of the human population stance. Conservation will start when people like you are prevented from multiplying. You brainless prics bring nothing positive to this planet.
• Schroederville
KILLING IS NOT CONSERVATION! That is the big LIE that hunters love to tell to justify their ugly bloodlust. NO. Killing is NOT conservation.
• Landon Faulkner
Oh shut up you bleeding heart idiot. YOu have no idea what you’re talking about. It is indisputable FACT that hunters are the worlds LEADING conservationists. Look it up Organizations like RMEF have done more for conservation than any other group in existence. And by FAR more than you’ve ever done. Moron. Grow a backbone. Get over it you’re just WRONG
• Schroederville
And, here it is. You are showing your TRUE COLORS, Landon. Calling people names like “bleeding heart idiot” and telling me to shut up. I have lots of knowledge of what I speak of. I am a conservationist and you have NO IDEA what I have done… seems as if you are the out of touch one here, and with vile rude lack of civility as well. It is NOT an indisputable “fact” that hunters lead in conservation. That’s a crock. Lots to dispute here. And I’ve got one HELL of a backbone. You have nothing about me at all. Seems as though I have touched a nerve with you. Lol.
• Landon Faulkner
No one is reading your ignorant foofoo posts you moronic unicorn rider. You have lost. You LOSE! You get NOTHING! lol
• cavalryman
A similar tragedy will occur with the Elephant over-population in Botswana,the savanh denuded of foliage,water points dominated by elephants to the detriment of other animals.Conservation..uh?
• disqus_tmvkwX9LhA
Yeh, we know where the elephant ivory goes and we are letting them drain our economy dry .
• m73
If you read the larger article this land is owned by Charles Davy, a wealthy land owner. He has these lions and land specifically to sell to hunters. So he is threatening to kill them to get to the hearts of conservationists so he can profit. He needs to take down his fences and let the animals roam free rather then being fenced into his enclosure. This is no more representative of the wild population than a deer farm in texas is representative of wild deer.
• Jordonaso Ny All
let the lions roam free onto other peoples land to decimate their livestock and possibly kill people. very people know but africa doesnt have as much wild land as the world thinks, its fairly industrialized. i would love to let every animal live but they don’t know how to control their numbers or stay away from people.
• disqus_tmvkwX9LhA
Control their own poachers and they preserve the animals. Animals left to their own wits will survive.There are many animals now surviving because hunting inside city limits has been forbidden. Special hunting season was allowed by a city at a local airport because of deer.They had to be thinned out.Look in your cities in the suburbs and you will find more road kill that in many country locations.
• Kj
So what. Human population need to be controlled.
• Brian C Laverenz
Or Whoever you are hiding behind that stupid name….
Your LACK of common sense is astounding……
“let the animals roam free””…. Right into private land so they can be killed by home oweners….
Seriously….. You M73 need to put your head between your legs and Scream… POP….?????
That will be You pulling your head out of your ASS….!!!!
• m73
Brian Laverenz your lack of intellect to have an intelligent response without name calling shows exactly what a pile of crap you are. Have you ever been there? Yes I have, and I am going back again for the entire month of Sept. Do you have a degree in wildlife biology? I doubt it. you probably are a uneducated laborer with a gun that thinks you know everything. How much do you know about and have worked with lions, wolves etc in the US? Or are you one of those SSS type guys. This report is totally unrepresentative of the wild population period. Its someone that bought land, to sell to hunters but now his income is reduced. So he is making irrational threats to kill 200 lions cause of a population boom? So that park had permits to take 4 lions in 2007, 4 lions in 2008, 3 lions in 2009, 4 lions in 2010, 5 lions, 3 lioness in 2011, 7 lions, 8 lioness in 2012, and so forth. So now all of a sudden a few weeks after the us puts lions on the ESA they need to cull 200. Get the F out of here. It is all marketing. Get your head out of your ass when you have ZERO facts.
• Gary
While I’ve never been to Africa and don’t pretend to understand the issues involved….but anyone that really believes that 200 lions need to be culled is flat out dumb. 200? How could any captive animal population grow that quickly (since the Cecil incident) and need to be destroyed in those numbers? Something smells here and it’s not the lion droppings…and I support hunting in most of it’s forms. What they do out there isn’t hunting…it’s killing. Going to a Preserve and being driven to a long known watering hole or food source and shooting from a roll cage of a Jeep is not hunting. There is ZERO skill involved in doing that. It’s the tracking & the chase that makes hunting what it is…the final shot is just the culmination of the hunt.
• m73
Gary, I agree. I am not against hunting. But most of what goes on out there is not hunting. It is exactly as you described. I have lived in the bush for upwards of a month at a time studying these animals. This is just a ploy to get americans to think what happened is bad and get money flowing into a few select peoples pockets. If they came out with this news in say …. 3 years I would buy into it… But 6 months after cecil, a few weeks after the largest lion hunting year ever (due to trophy hunters fearing lion hunting being shut down) and a few weeks after the us shut down a lot of the lion hunting in Africa is exactly like you said… something smells here.
• Mojocrat
You crybaby motherfucker. Go suck your own dick and beat on your wife you racist piece of shit.
• Rick Carter
You obviously have never been to Zimbabwe. I lived there for three years and the second those fences go down, you’ve signed a death warrant for most of those animals, but especially the predators. The government would have to immediately hunt them and kill them to prevent attacks on farmers and livestock in the area. There are no open lands for free-roaming wildlife in most of Africa anymore, only private and government refuges that are in desperate need of funding. Hunting fees are one major source of that funding, as well as photographic safaris, birding tours, etc. But one hunter taking a single lion, provides $50,000 US plus, which is a fortune in that economy. 200 culled lions are a waste, in more ways than one.
• m73
When I was at Hwange or Victoria falls i don’t recall seeing any fences. As a matter of fact the only thing that separates Hwange is railroad tracks thus how they were able to lure Cecil from the park. So your statement isn’t always true
• Bud Frawley
Boy, who saw THAT coming!
• Brian
Mike Dunger, do you blame progressives for everything? What do they have to do with this? Don’t put all progressives in the same group as animal lovers with no common sense.
• NorthernMichiganBoy
I a a long time hunter, but not a trophy hunter. Why does the Zimbabwe gov’t need hunters to cull out the excess lions. Their wardens and bio’s can do that. Ever hear of a Dept of Wildlife Services here in states..You can keep the politic’s and money out of it that way.
• Eric J. McGhee
Hey PETA members!: Have you hugged your friendly local sharpshooter today? Time to view life from more than just one perspective.
• Michael Creaghan
I love it when my posts don’t get published. Just shows your colors. Censorship is so damned American afterall.
• Michael Creaghan
Article is completely inaccurate and false. Do you REALLY think lions
have “overpopulated” in the short 8 month time since the Cecil incident?
It’s impossible in such a short span of time. What IS happening is Zim
is in the middle of a severe drought. During times of drought, lions
have an easy life, and hunting is easy. The carrying capacity of this
park in ideal conditions is approx. 500 lions which is where they are at
now. Except conditions of course are not ideal and they want to lower
the pop. to 300. Right now, NO CULL is planned and some lions may be
moved to other areas. Trophy hunters or lack thereof, have absolutely
nothing to do with what is happening in this park.
• Xavier
I’ve hunted Lemco, which is now Bubye Valley, and they had a huge lion population then. The gentleman who related the limited quota on lion hunting in the conservancy is absolutely right, it has been limited to anywhere from 2 to 4 for several years with strict rules around how old a lion must be before it can be taken and hunters are not allowed to take a pride male. These permits are hellishly expensive and one can wait years for an opening to for a permit. I’ve tried. I’m not aware that lionesses can be hunted at all and I suspect these management practices have indeed contributed to a high population of the cats in Bubye. The conservancy is over 750,000 acres. The only animals impacted by the fence are elephants and they can pretty much breach that fence anytime they want. Otherwise, there has been little need for animals to move off the place. if the fence was taken down, the wildlife populations, especially elephants would be poached out of existence. Every game animal is viewed as “bushmeat” or personal income by the Zimbabwean population and they would be snaring and shooting them until few remained. This is the case almost all over Zim except where government game scouts, anti-poaching units and landowners protect them. I do suspect there are probably too many lions in the conservancy, but it’s more likely females, cubs and immature males. It would be very easy to control the big males with a few more permits. And, an overpopulation of lions other than mature males is absolutely not a result of a “Cecil” reaction. Hunters generally don’t want to shoot females or immature males.
• Simple Math
impossible? So 500 lions in their reservation, lets say half had one cub this year. This would be 250 new lions right? Gestation period is 3 months and most have 1-6 cubs a year. So simple math shows this could get out of hand quickly.
• Michael Creaghan
You are a little late to the party, lol. The Bubye Valley Conservancy is a hunting conservancy and they have already stated quite clearly that NO lions were culled so the point is moot. However, your post is slightly inaccurate….the gestation period is 110 days, not three months. Avg litter is 2-4 and less than half survive to adulthood. Now do your simple math. Also, you might want to add the fact that as a hunting conservancy, the overwhelming majority of male lions will be slaughtered at age six.
• D
• C’mawnow
First off, i do not trophy hunt and am not thrilled about it. That being said, i do see he value and necessity of it. ive looked at both sides and dont let emotions get in the way to come to this conclusion.
Saying nature balances itself is naive. Before farming and the rapid spread of man taking over natural habitat, this would be true.
Moving the lions would be fantastic. However, its tough to move 200 lions without the roughly $6,000,000 (200 x $35k per lion hunt- $1mil to be conservative) in conservation funds lost by lack of hunting. Now Zimbabwe goverment has to PAY for these agressive, dominant, past breeding age lions (who murder cubs) to be removed. The 200 lions could be higher since goverment doesnt have the same funds to protect them from poachers. If all the people who have scared these wealthy trophy hunters into submission, raised a couple million dollars then kudos. But they don’t. Unfortunately the only group of people that are interested enough in lions to raise that kind of money, are hunters
• Schroederville
There is absolutely NO value in trophy hunting. Just the value of a sick individual that feels he needs to kill something to prove his manhood. Vile.
• Taz
Please donate a bucket load of money to make this happen….don’t just expect others to do it for you
• RustyBertrand
The article seems to be heavily balanced towards lion breeders. In the wild lions have one or two cubs a year, not 200 in 9 months.
• disqus_tmvkwX9LhA
The whole world is full of do gooders who know little of what hunters have saved. I grew up within 1/2 mile of where I live now, 78 years ago, and there were no deer here until about 15 years ago.When I grew up and started hunting we had to drive over 70 miles to get even close to any deer. Now we are over run with them.
• disqus_tmvkwX9LhA
Africa may need to open a season on their local poachers who are stupid enough to believe animal parts will cure disease in other countries who have stupid people with plenty of money.
• al smith
the secret here is to send out poisoned horn, livers etc and see who dies..
• CAWNLU
Let’s do that with illegal drugs as well.
• disqus_tmvkwX9LhA
The squeaky wheel gets all the grease as we have noticed here in our country.
• disqus_tmvkwX9LhA
I do think we need to give wide berth to someone who gets a thrill out of killing an elephant and probably no one ever eats.I feel sure a trophy was not considered when elephants were put on the ark.
• Wallie
Buddie if you are not well informed rather don’t say stupid stuff like “thrill out of killing an elephant” that is the first animal that gets shot because of overpopulation they have the biggest impact on other grass eaters (let me guess you don’t stay in Africa but comment like you well informed )
• Margaret Woodall
Buddie, if overpopulation is the biggest problem, let us try and shoot a few two legged ones, if it was not for human overpopulation we would not need to shoot the animals. I believe it takes 2 years for an elephant to give birth and they have more human traits than is known.
• Schroederville
Hear! Hear! Margaret! People are the problem.
• Jd Creager
Everything killed in Africa is eaten. Elephants included. even the marrow from the bones is eaten. Same for lions.
• al smith
I have even see road kill picked up for eating
• Schroederville
NO! No it is NOT. It is sent straight to the taxidermist. There is even a price list on the SCI page that describes what happens to the animal when it is killed. It is loaded onto transport and sent to the taxidermist. Lions are killed for trophies and the BONE TRADE, NOT for meat. Stupid Asians believe that tiger and lion bone wine will help them get it up. This needs to END. And what a colonialist view of “meat” in Africa. Sick of hearing this argument when I know for a fact it is not true.
• BadAss
Its liberals who hate white people that post all these pics and caption them with some kinda hate speech.
Its odd they don’t post the real problem of the black people in Africa killing elephants and Rhinos and leaving the body only to take the Ivory.
But just like in the USA, Only BLM
• Schroederville
Oh, were YOU at Charlottesville with the rest of the KKK?
• al smith
I think Wayne Pacelle of the HSUS who vilifies all sport hunting said he has room for about 100 lions in his condo.. I will help pay to ship them over
• Schroederville
Wayne Pacelle is a HERO. A true hero.
• First Vette
The stupidity and ignorance of the ‘Save-the’Whale’ crowd has gone from the odd random comment to terrorist threats against law-abiding Conservationists (licensed hunters) responsible for preserving these herds. ‘Animal Rights Activists’ don’t pay to create the vast majority of the wildlife habitat, monitor their numbers, and take the necessary steps to keep them strong & healthy, it’s ALWAYS been the licensed hunters who have done (and STILL DO) that.
• Schroederville
KILLING IS NOT CONSERVATION, and NO, it has NOT always been hunters who conserve. I can show you a list of depraved sickening psycho in the head trophy killers who revel in the blood lust and post photos about it. It’s a mindset… it’s a dark hole in the soul… it’s a real sickness. I have saved photographic PROOF of their deep depravity and vile ugly stunts. It is shocking. — It has always been the TRUE CONSERVATIONISTS who have worked to save wildlife habitat and wildlife without killing. Jane Goodall, Dereck and Beverly Joubert, Steve, Terry and Bindi Irwin, Jeff Corwin, Farley Mowat, Captain Paul Weston, Claudine Andre, Willie Smits, Virginia McCracken, Lion Aid…. I can go on.
• Schroederville
You have no clue! The majority of my money goes straight to conservation, this is what I do. This is what matters to me, and I personally know tons of other individuals and groups who do the same, with NO killing involved.
• Charles Barrus
capture and relocate
• Andre
Wow! It is so sad to see so many people o this tiny earth that was created by GOD and that people have the lack of knowledge of the word of GOD as it is written in Genesis 1:26-31 that man will have dominion over all the living fowl and the fish of the sea and animals on earth. The live of an animal is considered more valuable than human lives today because of money making green peace organisations that say they are conservation aware but meantime they are making millions behind closed doors. Ask these people to stand up for human abortion then they have thousands of excuses for not doing it. Yes I am a hunter and a conservations and proud of it we do more to conserve for the animal Kingdom that all other green organisation on this planet and we have the prove of it, there are more wild game on farms in Africa than ever before and that is because of hunters who have knowledge and experience. Yes there is
poaching and animals get slaughtered for money and it will continue because of cities and green peace who no that there is 1000 of tons of ivory and rhino horn in wearhouses that can be sold to the illegal buyers paying a tip to a poacher that will continue to poach to survive. But that is not how they want it they want to rule everything and always use the bad of poaching and hunting to make their point and stuff the people. If there is hunting allowed there will be food on the table for that community and schools which the so called bad hunters provided and water and boreholes for water ask any green peace organisation if they have done it and the answer is and will be NO!!! They do not care for a human live. So if that lions get shot don’t look at the farmer look at the one’s ruling ,the so called green organisations.
• Michael Gmirkin
Just ’cause a [less than] 2000 y/o book says something, doesn’t mean you should simply accept it at face value, uncritically. Damn people are dumb…
Done with your bizarre tin foil hat rant yet?
• Michael Gmirkin
Sounds like the animals need to be moved to other parks / areas where populations are low or in decline. Wish other populations could be allowed to “bounce back.” Rhinos, etc. Hate seeing things get pushed to the brink of extinction. Can’t we find something better to do with our time and money than hunting other sentient creatures for sport, nonsensical voodoo medicine, etc.?
• LeaderOfTheBanned
That’s where that money from hunting comes in handy.
• Margaret Woodall
What am I hearing here, lions have been bred especially to be killed by a hunter, we should not interfere with nature. In Zimbabwe we all know where the money goes, and it is not to conserve the animals, they say the good die young, just shows how evil Mugabe is.
• Campbell King
You are stupid beyond belief..Lions in this are were never bred for hunting..Only in South Africa was this done….These are wild and u need to go to Africa and see what it’s like instead of visiting through the internet.
• Margaret Woodall
And you, whoever you are, are rude beyond belief. You do not know whether I have been to Africa or not, so you are the stupid one in this case by making wrong assumptions. I am quite aware of what goes on in Africa.
• Schroederville
Campbell King, you are beyond rude. STFU. Margaret knows a hell of a lot more than you do, clearly.
• Del
If they “live in balance” then there is no over crowding of one species as they are only expanding in relation to the prey!
• ken
Dudes be practical, if you want to cull the herd, which we do here in Alaska, have paying hunters do it under supervision, and use the proceeds to keep the park financially stable. I am sure there are many Guides who would love to jump at this chance, and to help donate more to the park.
• Mike G
Zimbabwe has lost at least 80% of all wildlife that thrived on private property since 2000. Wild lions are on the decline across Africa so if their are this many in the Bubye conservancy, I’m sure that buyers are available from surrounding countries?
• Misty
Hunting is not the answer, especially for an endangered species. Human population expansion is the problem. If this is a conservation park, then that’s what should be practiced! Conservation! Humans don’t NEED that much space, unlike wild animals that rely on their territories as resources for food. Humans just want more space for their own selfish purposes!
I understand that there are tribes living off of the land too, but for centuries both humans and animals have lived with very little competition for space up until the past 20 years or so. Imagine your home, when one day someone comes in and shoots you and your entire family, and everyone you know just for the sake of the little peice of land you’re living on. It’s the same with them.
Practice the art conservation and show the world there are better ways than violence.
• Big game hunter
Sorry to rain on your parade lions are not endangered lmao
Unbelievable the way you people think
• Margaret Woodall
Sorry big game hunter, but animals do not have to be on the endangered list for people not wanting to see them shot, when others pay £’000s to watch them in their natural environment.
• Campbell King
Ignorant pig
• Margaret Woodall
As are you…… such a rude person, you do not know me, you do not know if I have been to Africa or not. So get your facts right also, if you can.
• Margaret Woodall
Of course, the penny has dropped. You are a hunter, well, well, well, no wonder you do not like people criticising the hunting of wild animals. And don’t give me that old chestnut that you are a conservationist.
• Schroederville
Lions are ABSOLUTELY endangered! Less than 20,000 in the wild. You are whacked, big game hunter. WOW.
• Margaret Woodall
What an evil country this is, its leaders have brought this country into disrepute and to its knees. All they know is to kill. Can anyone help to save at least some of these lions, surely this cannot be allowed.
• Bill Tobias
Margaret unless you can take them i suggest you consider letting these people do their job. population of people has taken away the habitats of many animals and the land can no longer sustain such large numbers. would you rather they killed 200 humans and let them spread to those areas.
• Margaret Woodall
Well that’s a thought………. what will will do when all the animals have been hunted to extinction, we will still have trillions of humans on the planet fighting each other. I was thinking more of Birth Control we cannot sustain such numbers on our planet indefinitely.
• Brian
margaret if you are so concerned kick up some money to help them. they are asking for donations…
• Margaret Woodall
Brian, I put my money where my mouth is, I donate to most of the Animal Charities all over the world if you don’t donate to these charities you have no right to criticise.
• Schroederville
I do too, Margaret. I donate every single extra dollar I have to lion conservation causes, and I have for years. Lions are my specialty and I am knowlegable in this. Traveling to Africa in June to volunteer at an ethical sanctuary and work for conservation. Putting my money where my mouth is always.
• Brian
I don’t donate to these charities but I do donate threw my hunting licenses every year.
• Fedup
Margaret, these lions will NOT be “hunted.” They will be killed by government game park employees. IF they were hunted, they would bring income to the local area of $40000 to $80000 per lion – money that would benefit the park, the animals in it and local inhabitants – the BENEFIT of legal hunting.
• ThaBusDriver
A cull, is a controlled measure of re-establishing balance to the cycle.
Logic states that if there are too many predators in an ecosystem, where resources (ie prey) can’t sustain them, they’ll die of starvation.
So by your logic. Better to let lions starve to death, in agony than die by a relatively more humane bullet.
Check your virtue signalling.
|
Skip to main content
Saskatoon Public Schools
Inspiring Learning
Ensuring Expected Practice: Participating in Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment
As leaders, we ensure improved student learning by:
1. knowing and understanding the key elements of the Ministry of Education’s curriculum and priorities;
2. knowing the research-based learning and assessment models and practices that constitute the Division’s Expected Practice, and modeling them in our own practice;
3. participating with teachers in decision-making and follow-up regarding curriculum, assessment, and instruction;
4. implementing the details of the Division’s and school’s strategic plans and monitoring the extent to which they have been implemented; and
5. leading supervisory processes so that the competency and professionalism of all staff is ensured and continuous professional growth is pursued.
|
© Christopher Earls Brennen
Sun. Mar.23
Fly to ???
From Abrolhos Nightmare:
Replica of the Batavia Replica of longboat that sailed to Batavia
Despite the fact that the dangerous reefs of the Houtman Abrolhos islands were a documented hazard, in the small, dark hours of Jun.4, 1629, the "Batavia" with 322 people on board smashed into one of those reefs. She was the newly-built pride of the Dutch East India Company, 650 tons and 186 ft long. The Abrolhos are a collection of tiny coral reef islands at 28deg. 29' 25" S, 113deg. 47' 36" E, some 50 miles out in the Indian Ocean west of where the present town of Geraldton, Western Australia, is located. The Batavia was doomed though she stayed in tact on the reef (now known as Morning Reef) for some days allowing most of the 322 passengers and crew and large quantities of food and water to be transferred to a small nearby island in the ship's longboat and yawl. However, some 40 crew members were drowned as the ship broke up. The "Batavia" represented a huge investment for the Dutch East India Company and was loaded with treasure to be used to make an even greater profit from the spices it would carry back to Amsterdam. She had left that port at the head of a small fleet, with the expedition commander, Francisco Pelsaert, in charge while Ariaen Jacobsz served as captain of the "Batavia". Even before the wreck, Jacobsz and the expedition second-in-command, Jeronimus Cornelisz, had planned a mutiny which they hoped would make them very rich from the treasure in the hold. They recruited a number of fellow mutineers and had deliberately and surreptiously separated the "Batavia" from the rest of the fleet. Moreover, they persuaded several of their fellow mutineers, including Jan Evertsz, to carry out a vicious gang-rape of one of the female passengers, Lucretia Jans. They hoped that this would produce an over-reaction from Pelsaert which, in turn, would allow them to entice the rest of the crew to rise up in mutiny. Pelsaert, however, shrewdly decided to wait until they reached their destination in the Dutch East Indies before resolving the matter. This intention was interrupted by the shipwreck.
Batavia graveyard with Morning Reef behind Site of Batavia wreck (light blue spot)
At that time the mainland was an unknown, nearly-barren and waterless desert with only a sprinkling of aboriginal inhabitants; so there was no hope of rescue or succour there. Despite the huge distance, Pelsaert and Jacobsz with a number of passengers and sailors (including Evertsz) set off in the small 30ft longboat for the Dutch port of Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia), some 2000 miles to the north. In a remarkable feat of seamanship, they reached Batavia some 33 days later. The captain, Jacobsz, who was deemed responsible for the wreck was promptly jailed by the Governor of Batavia for his part in the planned mutiny while Evertsz was hung for his part in the rape.
Meanwhile, back in the Abrolhos, panic and chaos set in when it became clear that the water and food from the "Batavia" would only last a short time and there appeared to be very few resources on the tiny island (now known as Batavia Graveyard or Beacon Island) where they had been landed. The mutineer, Cornelisz, took advantage of this chaos to establish his own murderous dictatorship, aided and abetted by the other mutineers. Once he had marshalled all the food, weapons and rescued treasure under his control, he began a systematic program of murder and rape, designed to allow the food and other resources to last as long as possible. First, he had to deal with the threat to his plans posed by a small group of soldiers who had been on board the "Batavia". On the pretext of seeking their help to search for water on a nearby island, he had them transported there in the only remaining boat, namely the small yawl. Cornelisz promised he would come and get them when they lit a fire signalling the end of their search. However, his real plan was to let them die of thirst and hunger on that nearby island so he did not respond as promised when the signal fire was lit. However, under the leadership of one of the soldiers, a man called Wiebbe Hays, the soldiers did not panic. Though they found no water on the original island to which they had been transported (known today as East Wallabi Island) they were able to wade to a nearby island (West Wallabi) where they found not only a natural well of fresh water but also a plentiful supply of food from seals, shellfish and even small wallabies that lived on the island. A natural leader, Hays organized his small band of abandoned men so that they not only survived but prospered.
Wiebbe Hays' Island & assault bay Wiebbe Hays' fort
Back on Beacon Island, Cornelisz and his henchman began their program of murder and rape. All those who were not useful for their work in fishing and providing other services (including sexual services) were gradually eliminated and buried in shallow graves. This included many women and children. A few managed to escape to Wiebbe Hays' island. In this way the soldiers became aware of Cornelisz's horrendous pogram and began to fashion crude weapons with which to defend themselves against the muskets and sabres of the mutineers. Cornelisz soon realized that he must make an effort to eliminate the soldiers in case any rescue vessel might turn up and reveal their horrific deeds. Hays and his men built small forts on top of the cliffs surrounding their island and fashioned catapults and pikes from driftwood material, some of which came from the wreck. When the first attack by Cornelizs's men was launched, the soldiers were ready. They bombarded the mutineers with catapulted rocks fired from behind the fort walls so that the mutineers fled before they even reached the shore. The second assault several days later was similarly repulsed. Then Cornelisz changed tactics and sought a parley with Hays and his men. With his fully armed henchmen Cornelisz landed on the shore of West Wallabi and attempted to gain military advantage by duplicity. But as soon as Cornelisz made the first move, Hays and his men overcame the mutineers, killed some and took Cornelizs prisoner. Just at that very moment, Pelseart and his new crew appeared on the horizon in a rescue vessel; they had not only sailed south from Batavia but also managed to locate the tiny Abrolhos in the vast Indian Ocean. Both soldiers and mutineers raced from the islands attempting to be the first to reach Pelseart. The mutineers had planned to overwhelm the rescuers and take over their vessel. However, Hays and his men got there first and, thus forwarned, the rescuers overwhelmed the mutineers and took them prisoner. The horrendous pogram of murder and rape was finally over but there had to be some consequences.
Before leaving the Abrolhos, Pelsaert carried out a rigorous investigation of what had happened in his absence. The evil of Cornelizs was soon uncovered and Pelsaert felt he was empowered to mete out just punishment rather than try to transport a large number of dangerous men back to Batavia. Gallows were erected on a nearby island for the day of reckoning. There Cornelisz was hung after having his hands cut off. Some of his henchmen were similarly butchered before being hung. Two of the younger mutineers were set free on the mainland with a few provisions but were never seen again. Other, lesser mutineers were transported back to Batavia to await trial though most were ultimately hung. Of the original 341 people on board the "Batavia", only 68 made it to their original destination.
The only real heroes of the whole terrible affair were Wiebbe Hays and his assistants; they were rewarded by the Dutch East India Company but then faded from history. The forts they built are the oldest European structures in Australia and can still be seen today on West Wallabi Island. A statue of the revered Wiebbe Hays, a man from very humble beginnings, stands proudly in the city of Geraldton, a symbol of his strength of character, military ability, natural leadership, and courage.
Knowledge of the wreck site was rapidly lost though the story of the "Batavia", the mutiny and the aftermath was preserved in the meticulous records of Pelsaert and some of the passengers. The remains of the "Batavia" (including many cannons and some unrecovered treasure) lay undisturbed in shallow water for over 300 years. Eventually, in the 1960s and 70s many of these artifacts were recovered and a surviving section of the hull was raised and reassembled in the Maritime Museum in Fremantle, Western Australia. Also reconstructed in the museum was a stone archway which had been destined for the Dutch East India Company headquarters in Batavia. Excavations on Beacon Island also uncovered many human graves and confirmed their violent deaths. The exhibit in the Maritime Museum also includes many other artifacts. My visit there first brought the story to my attention. I bought a book that detailed the story and became fascinated by the saga; I simply had to see the Abrolhos for myself.
Archway intended for Batavia The recovered remains of Batavia
On Mar.6, 2013, I drove 300 miles north from Perth to the town of Geraldton where Geraldton Air Charters run day trips by small plane out to the Abrolhos. A total of five of us had signed up for the "Shipwreck Special" the next day. I arrived at the Geraldton Air Charters office about half an hour early and chatted with others in the office/waiting room. Many of the Abrolhos Islands have leased properties where fishermen have built shacks and jetties for their boats. The fishermen and tradesmen who serve them use the air charter service for quick trips back and forth to the mainland. Moreover, there is a black pearl farm and a lively rock lobster fishing business on the islands. These are also served by the air charter company. One of the waiting passengers was a carpenter on his way to repair a shack; another was a fisherman off to his shack for the long weekend.
After a pre-flight briefing by the pilot and guide, Ben Joseph, the five of us, along with a co-pilot in training by the name of Jeff Lawrie, squeezed ourselves into the little plane and prepared for an exciting trip. It was a beautiful, West Australian day, with blue skies and just enough wind to freshen the air. We flew over Geraldton at an elevation of about 3500ft and out over the Indian Ocean. Within 30 minutes we arrived at the most-southerly group of islands (the Pelsaert group) that make up the Abrolhos and the pilot took the plane down to about 500ft so that we could get a good view. After circling over several of the Pelsaert Group of islands (Post Office Island, Pelsaert Island) as well as two wreck sites (Zeewijk in 1727 and Windsor in 1908) we headed north for the middle island group, the Easter Group that includes Rat Island, almost overrun by fisherman's shacks. Then north again to the northernmost group, the Wallabi Group where the "Batavia" was wrecked and the ensuing drama played itself out. At low altitude we passed over West Wallabi Island where Wiebbe Hays and his men survived; we even spotted one of the simple rock-walled forts that they constructed and the bay where they repelled the mutineers invasion. Then, circling to the north, we landed on the dirt landing-strip on East Wallabi Island and parked the plane among low brush.
Rat Island Turtle Bay
Landed on East Wallabi Map of the Wallabi Group, Abrolhos Islands
It was a beautiful day so it was a delight to disembark on this remote and pristine island. Just a short hike took us to Turtle Bay on the north side of the island, a magnificent bay and beach, where we took refuge from the sun under a small shelter. Only about 40 yards off-shore was a coral reef and we swam out with our snorkelling gear for a spectacular visit to the reef with its marvellous variety of life. This included the rockfish that are harvested on many of the other islands and shipped to mainland markets. After lunch, a short walking tour of northern point of East Wallabi Island found us a fish eagle, ospreys, and various seabirds as well as skinks, lizards, and, best of all, a collection of small wallabies, the descendants of those that sustained Wiebbe Hays and his men. Then back to the plane for another low altitude tour, this time of the islands that make up the Wallabi Group and that featured so dramatically in the "Batavia" saga. First over West Wallabi Island, Wiebbe Hays' stronghold, and then over to the Batavia Graveyard (or Beacon Island) itself, now the site of a number of fishermen's shacks. In the one view, we could see the relationship between the Graveyard, the nearby Morning Reef and Long Island, upon which the chief mutineers were hung in full view of the survivors of the massacre. As we circled over Morning Reef itself we could discern the precise location of the wreck since it has left a bare sandy spot (light blue in color) amid the dark sea grass just a short way behind the wave-break. It seemed an appropriate final view of the Abrolhos Islands as we turned for home after a spectacular day in a truly beautiful place. Strange to think of such horror in such a magnificent location.
Back to table of contents
Last updated 7/30/99.
Christopher E. Brennen
|
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Hear, O heavens ...
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the Lord has spoken.
(Isaiah 1:2)
From time to time, the heavens are invoked to listen to someone's testimony: against a sinner (Isaiah 1:2 and Psalm 50:4; compare Job 20:27, Jer. 2:11-12, and 51:48) or, on one occasion, in praise of YHWH (Psalm 32:1-3).
Let's take a closer look at Isaiah 1:2-3 —
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the Lord has spoken:
"Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me.
The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master's crib,
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand."1
The part about the ox and the donkey is clear enough — I get the point of that! But what's this "Hear, O heavens" business? Walter Brueggemann comments:
The call to heaven and earth is a rhetorical assertion of indignation on Yahweh's part. Yahweh summons cosmic witnesses to observe the mess that has become of the relationship with "my people." Because Yahwism is monotheistic, Yahweh cannot summon other gods to observe, and so instead summons the most formidable of creatures, heaven and earth. Israel's failure in its response to Yahweh is a matter of cosmic concern, now made evident to the whole known world.2
Note Brueggemann's use of the word "rhetorical". Clearly we're in the realm of metaphor here. Indeed, the prophets often express their message in poetry: hence modern translations break Isaiah 1:2-3 into eight short lines, instead of a single paragraph. And note the parallelism (so characteristic of Hebrew poetry) between lines 5 and 6, and again between lines 7 and 8.
If I'm not mistaken, the text is a rudimentary depiction of a courtroom scene. The heavens and the earth are called in to hear YHWH's testimony against "my people", that they might testify to the rightness of YHWH's verdict against Israel. This appeal to a "court" is a recurrent rhetorical device in the prophets, and I expect we will encounter it again.
Brueggemann says, "Israel's failure in its response to Yahweh is a matter of cosmic concern, now made evident to the whole known world." Indeed! That last phrase, "the whole known world," interprets the heavens and the earth in its standard sense, "the entirety of the cosmos".
In my opinion, the opening chapter of Isaiah is one of the most powerful, and terrible, texts in all of scripture. It reduces me alternately to terror and to tears.
God have mercy on the Church when inevitably we follow Israel down her backsliding path!
2Walter Brueggemann, Isaiah 1-39, Westminster John Knox Press, 1998, ad loc.
Jamie said...
Why does the appeal to the heavens have to be rhetorical? Why should it not be referring to the inhabitants of the heavens, given that there are other inhabitants besides God described in the Bible?
Actually, now that I read it again, maybe that's what you were saying. I couldn't tell exactly what you meant with the reference to the "heavens" being rhetorical.
Stephen (aka Q) said...
That's what I get for tossing a post out there without exercising my usual rigor!
You're right; the reference to the heavens could be understood as an appeal to angelic beings. (No, that's not what I meant in the post.)
Here's the broader "history of religions" background. Pagan nations often used the image of a heavenly council. That is, the deity at the head of the pantheon was surrounded by lesser gods, who functioned as his advisers. Those advisers constituted the "host" of heaven.
We find the same language in the Hebrew scriptures: YHWH of hosts. Genesis 1 provides a well-known instance of the heavenly council imagery: God says "Let us make man in our image".
What does that mean? Human beings are created in the image of angels? Is it a hint at the much-later Christian doctrine of the Trinity? Is it a plural of majesty? Or maybe it's a holdover from an ancient era when the patriarchs were not strictly monotheistic, but saw YHWH as the head of a pantheon.
There's at least one Old Testament passage where "the host of heaven" means "stars" — again, an attempt to avoid a reference to polytheism.
I suppose we could take the text literally, in which case "heavens" would refer to angels and "earth" would refer to human beings. But I suspect the language would still be rhetorical, unless we imagine every person on earth stopping whatever they were doing at the time to listen to YHWH's indictment of Israel.
The structure of the verse is poetical; the language is borrowed from polytheists, but presumably isn't meant in that sense here; and Brueggemann's rhetorical interpretation makes perfect sense to me.
You would rather see it as signifying an audience of angels, listening raptly to YHWH while he brings his charges against Israel?
|
Brief description
Lakshadweep, formerly known as the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Aminidivi Islands , is a group of islands in the Laccadive Sea, 200 to 440 kilometres (120 to 270 mi) off the south western coast of India. The archipelago is a Union Territory and is governed by the Union Government of India. They were also known as Laccadive Islands, although geographically this is only the name of the central subgroup of the group. Lakshadweep comes from “Lakshadweepa”, which means “one hundred thousand islands” in Sanskrit as well as many Indian languages like Telugu, Malayalam, Tulu, Kannada, Hindi, Tamil and others. The islands form the smallest Union Territory of India: their total surface area is just 32 square kilometres (12 sq mi). The lagoon area covers about 4,200 square kilometres (1,600 sq mi), the territorial waters area 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi) and the exclusive economic zone area 400,000 square kilometres (150,000 sq mi). The region forms a single Indian district with ten sub divisions. Kavaratti serves as the capital of the Union Territory and the region comes under the jurisdiction of Kerala High Court. The islands are the northernmost of the Lakshadweep-Maldives-Chagos group of islands, which are the tops of a vast undersea mountain range, the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge.
Current weather
Related Literature
The Beautiful India - Lakshadweep
by Syed Amanur Rahman [Reference Press]
Price: £18.50 $17.36 EUR 14,53 EUR 20,58
Floating Pearls In The Arabian Sea Lakshadweep
by Sasmita S Akhtar and Shamim Akhtar [Nishcam Publication]
Price: - $71.43 - EUR 364,99
Close Comments
|
Kefir is a traditional fermented food made from milk, full of beneficial probiotic bacteria and yeast. It’s similar to yogurt, but usually more tangy, and sometimes slightly effervescent. Unlike yogurt, kefir can actually colonize your gut with the beneficial micro-organisms you need to have a healthy immune system and well-functioning digestive system. While high-quality yogurt contains a few of the beneficial gut bacteria, kefir contains a much larger number of beneficial bacteria, as well as beneficial yeasts.
Kefir’s health benefits
Digestion – Kefir is naturally very low in lactose and so easier for some people to digest. The probiotic bacteria also help to break down the ‘bad stuff’ in our bodies and support the digestive tract, which is good for those that suffer with digestive issues such as IBS.
Nutrients — Kefir has high levels of calcium, phosphorus, vitamins and minerals.
The skin – “your skin is a map of your gut”: if your gut is in good working order, it should show in your skin. It has been suggested that kefir can help autoimmune diseases such as roseca, acne and eczema.
If you want to make your own kefir, you will need to find kefir grains that are necessary for growing this culture.
Kefir is also known as Tibetan mushroom or kefir mushroom, but kefir seeds are not mushrooms. Kefir grains, which look like boiled cauliflower, are a mixture of proteins, amino acids, lipids and soluble polysaccharides, and contain a symbiosis between a large number of good, lactic acid bacteria, acetic bacteria and yeast strains.
Kefir grains feed and reproduce in the milk and do not have a shelf life, they can live forever. Numerous attempts of microbiologists to produce kefir grains in a laboratory always end in failure. There is no scientific answer to the questions where these grains came from and how they were created.
1. half a tablespoon of the grains
2. 3 dl of milk.
Cover the grains with cow or goat milk and leave them in a closed jar for 24 hours. When the milk thickens, the kefir is ready. Stir the mixture well, and strain it. Put the grains in new milk, and drink the strained milk kefir. You can add flax seeds in it.
To use for normal health maintenance, 1 cup daily is recommended.
|
Northern ireland mappostwar
N.Ireland 1920-1968
Derived from Northern Ireland, The Troubles were decades of civil fighting between the Unionists and the Loyalists. The kingdom of Ireland is split as two nations: Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The latter is a constituent country of the United Kingdom.
Unionists and LoyalistsEdit
Unionists believed in an ideology called Ulster Loyalism, which are for North Ireland as an independent state. The loyalists wants an independent "United Ireland" as a republic. United Ireland is supported by the republicans.
Background OverviewEdit
Since the 17th century, there has been a sectarian divide between Catholic community and the Protestant community. In the 1960s, the Protestants made up the majority of Northern Ireland and they monopolized their power within the local government. As the Catholics were the minority, they were discriminated.
More later.
MGW Works appearingEdit
United We Soar
Mentioned; the cause of Aiden Christie's move to America.
Ad blocker interference detected!
|
Solutions to SQA examination
1994 Higher Grade Physics
Paper I Solutions
Return to past paper index page.
1. D 11. D 21. D
2. B 12. C 22. A
3. C 13. C 23. B
4. C 14. B 24. E
5. C 15. D 25. B
6. A 16. C 26. C
7. D 17. A 27. A
8. D 18. B 28. D
9. D 19. A 29. D
10.E 20. A 30. E
The displacement(s) is equal to the total area(A1+A1) under
the graph.
s = A1+A1
s = ut +(v-u)t/2
Note that from the definition of acceleration :
a = (v-u)/t
=>(v-u)= at
Substitute this into the expression above.
s = ut + att/2
s = ut + at2/2 as required.
32. Density of air = Mass of air released/Volume of air released
r = Mair/Vair
Mair = (363.86-362.00)g = 1.86g = 1.86x10-3kg
Vair = 1687.00cm3 = 1687.00x10-6m3
r = 1.86x10-3kg/1687.00x10-6m3
r = 1.1025kg/m3
33.a. T(K) = T(oC) + 273
T(K) = -196 + 273
T(K) = 77K
b. The kelvin temperature is directly proportional to the kinetic
energy of particles. At 0K particles have no kinetic energy. A lower
energy state/temperature, is therefore, not possible.
34.a. Vinverting input = 0V
b. I = V/R
V = 0.5V
R = 10,000W
I = 0.5/10000
I = 50mA
35. l = v/f
l = 340/1000
l = 0.34m
Path difference = (1.37-1.20)m = 0.17m
This means that loudspeaker 2 is a distance of 0.17m further away
from the microphone than loudspeaker 1. This is a distance equivalent
to l/2. Therefore, the waves reach the microphone 180o out of phase
and interfere destructively, reducing the amplitude of the sound.
36.a. All metals and carbon are conductors.
Plastic and rubber are examples of insulators.
Group IV elements such as silicon are semiconductors.
b. By adding pentavalent (group V) atoms to group IV semiconductor, n-type
semiconductor material is made. This material has a lower resistance than
pure semiconductor, as a result of an excess of negative charge carriers
in the structure.
37.a. When two atoms join, or fuse together, to produce a single atom of greater mass
the reaction is called fusion.
b. The mass of the product of a fusion reaction is less than that of the
initial reactants. This "missing mass" is converted into energy.
E = mc2
Where: m = missing mass
c = speed of light
Return to past paper index page.
|
Maya zodiac signs and names you?
Symbols of the Mayan Zodiac is an astrological system created by the ancient Maya, which is based on astronomical calculations.
Signs of Mayan astronomy were superimposed on the traditional zodiac to show their correlation. But, ladies and gentlemen, before we move on to the symbols of Mayan astrology, we are going to go deeper into a brief description of the Mayan calendar system and some common misconceptions about it. This will help you get the most out of your Mayan astronomy sign.
Maya used three calendar systems: Long-term, Tzolkin and Haab. The Long Count calendar system calculated the time and dates according to astronomical events. Historians have narrowed the date of the beginning of the long county to about 5000 years ago, September 6, 3114 BC. The final date of the Mayan Long Count calendar is September 21, 2012.
The Mayans also used the Tsolkin calendar, which is 260 days, as long as the pregnancy lasts. Maya Tsolkin’s calendar has 20-day signs in combination with figures from 1 to 13. It is not equal to the full calendar year and, as such, is not available for astrological purposes. The modern calendar system Dreamspell Jose Arguelles is based on the Tzolkin calendar, but it is not known what purpose is the Tzolkin calendar for the ancient Maya, and his Dreamspell is a modern version for which he created his own values.
The Haab calendar is the only Mayan calendar that follows the standard (approximately) 365-day year. This is the one used for the astrology of the Maya zodiac, and the one that is listed below for each symbol of the zodiac of the Maya. Haab has 18 months, each with 20 days, and the last 19 months, which consists of five unnamed days at the end.
Signs of Mayan astrology are divided into 19 zodiac signs in the astrological system, which was developed by the ancient Maya. There are many mysteries surrounding Mayan astronomy, which is still preserved. The exact values of astrological signs are unclear. Many modern interpretations have been proposed, but not many of them are based on studies of Maya culture and the symbolism they use. It is known that the calendar of Haab used 19 astronomical signs of the Maya to represent the movement of days during the year. Many meanings and symbolism are based on aspects important to their culture; Weather, jaguar, four directions and astronomy. Modern Maya people did not attach additional meaning to the symbolism of signs, so there are many different interpretations. I included classical Mayan astronomical signs, dates and meanings, as well as a personal interpretation based on the symbolism known to each sign.
Chen: January 2 to January 21 Meaning: black storm, black sky, moon, one flower, west
Signs of Mayan astrology. Interpretation: those who were born in Chen’s sign are people of the night. The hours that passed after dusk, and before the first light – this is the time of strength for you. Click on this time of quiet energy to fully develop. You have a natural affinity for the energy of the moon. Think of wearing moonstone to increase your connection with the lunar energies. Your cardinal direction is the West and face to the East during meditation can be very useful for you.
Yax: from January 22 to February 10. Value: Green Storm, Venus, Two Flower, South
Interpretation of Mayan astronomy: those born in the sign of Yax have affinity for those born in the sign of Yaxkin. Venus is your ruling planet, and by nature you are gentle and love. Touch your abilities to maintain peace in order to harmonize others. It’s a wonderful gift to be the keeper of the world in these times, and you can do a lot of good in the world. Your cardinal direction is the South.
Sac: from February 11 to March 2. Value: white storm, frog, constellation of a frog, three flowers, north
Interpretation of signs of Mayan astronomy: those who were born on the Saki sign have an affinity for the daytime clock. The early morning is a time of strength for you. Make sure that you have time for reflection in the early hours of the day, because great wisdom can come to you at this time. Your cardinal direction is north. A frog is a powerful animal for you. The meaning of the frog is their adaptability and comfort with changes. Frogs can make a quick and easy jump from one stage of consciousness to the next. Accept the changes that come into your life. Your strength in change.
Ke: from March 3 to March 22 Meaning: Red Storm, Trees, Deer, East
Interpreting the signs of Mayan astronomy: those born in the sign of Keh have an affinity for nature and the natural balance. In your example, you can help restore the order of nature on our planet. You have the energy of fire, and the red color of power is for you. Accept this strong power, and let your fiery nature be known. Meditation in the forests will help you develop your natural strength. Your cardinal direction is east, and your totemic animal is gentle, noble people of forest deer.
Poppy: from March 23 to April 11 Meaning: Attached, Cover, God of number 3
Symbols of the Mayan Zodiac Interpretation: Those born on the sign of Mack are under one of the greatest mysteries of Mayan astronomical signs. The meaning of your sign is less clearly defined than for any other. Mac is a mystery, and this also makes you a mystery. You do best when you keep a part of yourself from others. The words describing your sign are covered and attached, once again referring to what is hidden or hidden. Like a bear, spend time meditating and meditating. If you allow yourself this private time away from others, you can discover the secrets of being. Your power number is 3, which has a lot of links in the symbolism throughout the time. 3 is considered the number of divinity, balance and completion.
Kankin: from April 12 to May 1. Meaning: Earth, Dog, Yellow, Underworld, Yellow Sun
Signs of Mayan astrology. Interpretation. Those who were born on the sign of Kankin are people of earth and sun. You have affinity both to the planet under your foot, and to the strong solar energies of the sun. Spend time under the sunlight, meditating, for you have wisdom. Spend time also on the ground. If possible, meditate in a cave or at least visit a cave and experience the tranquility of staying in the womb. Your animal-totem is a dog, in particular a yellow dog. Dogs are well known for their loyalty, but the lesser known meaning of this animal totem is their incredible inner strength.
Mouvan: from May 2 to May 21. Meaning: Owl, Bird Moan, God of rain and clouds, Fire
Astrology of Maya Interpretation: those who were born in the sign of Muwan, have a closeness to fire and water. Embrace these two elements. Especially during thunderstorms, when both fire and water are present in the forms of rain and lightning. Storms are times of power for you. Your totem of animals is the Owl, also known to the Maya as a moaning bird. Owls have the ability to see. They are seers who can discover the truth around them.
Pax: from May 22 to June 10. Meaning: planting time, cougar, steam, boom, drum
Maya Astrology Signs Interpretation: those who were born as a Pax sign have a Jaguar animal totem. Jaguars were very important for Maya culture. They are a guide. Your personal power is the leader of people. Embrace this power. You also have a straight arrow character and a steady strength of drum combat. Use the drum in your life. It will bring you stability and balance. Your element is steam, a mixture between earth, water and fire. Steam rises from the ground through heat. Combine these three elements together in your life.
Caiab: from June 11 to June 30. Meaning: Turtle, Moon-Goddess, One God
Symbols of the Mayan Zodiac Interpretation: those born in the Kayaba sign have a natural affinity for the moon and spiritual endeavors. You, most likely, will find yourself in a deeper sense in everyday events. Turtle is your totem of animals. Turtles have a deep sign, as carriers of ancient wisdom and carriers of the earth.
Kumku: from July 1 to July 20. Meaning: grain, crocodile, shell over corn, two lords, dark, iqamany gods of rain and plants
Astrology of Maya signs. Interpretation. Those who were born in the sign of Kumku, have a dualistic character. Most likely, you often see opposing views and honor the wisdom that both perspectives offer. Your animal totem is a crocodile. Crocodiles have the gift of survival, time and patience. Crocodiles are one of the few species of reptiles that survived the Mesozoic period, when most reptiles and dinosaurs died out. Click on the strength of durability and stability. You do not accept changes, and yet changes occur around you without affecting you. It’s a terrific gift.
Wayeb: from July 21 to July 25. Meaning: “Unsuccessful days”, “God of the Earth”, “Ghost”, “Missed days” (short 5-day month)
Symbols of the Mayan Zodiac Interpretation: those who were born in the sign of Weib, are an anomaly in the signs of Mayan astrology. The period of time Weiba is only 5 days a year, in contrast to the 20-day period, which have all the other signs of the Mayan zodiac. During the Weybayev days, the ancient Mayans felt that they were affected by the natural balance. It was a time when other forces joined the game, similar to Samkhain’s pagan concept, when ghosts walk on the ground. Birth in this sign does not mean that you are unlucky. This means that you probably have a strong connection with other worlds and other spheres. Hug it. You have a closeness to extrasensory perception, esp, and walk between this world and the other.
Pop: from July 26 to August 14. Value: Jaguar, Chief, Leader, Soft Earth
Mayan Astrology Signs Interpretation: Those born in the pop sign are leaders. Both the Jaguar and the Chief refer to the positions of power in the ancient Maya. You can give a clear vision and direction to those around you, while remaining sensitive to their needs. Your gift is at the forefront, guiding those around you. You have proximity to the earth, and grounded meditation will increase your gifts.
Wo: August 15 to September 3 Meaning: Black Sky, Black Jaguar, Black Storm, Night Night, Frog, Two soft earths
Symbols of the Mayan Zodiac Interpretation: those who were born as Wo sign have similarities to those who were born in the signs of Chen and Sak. Like Chen, you can get a lot of wisdom from the hours after dusk and before the first rays of the sun. As in the case of the Sac sign, you share the totem of the animal frog. Through the frog, you can easily move from one level of consciousness to another. You are most likely a mystical person who is looking for hidden wisdom and secrets.
Sip: September 4 to September 23 Symbol Meaning: Red Conjunction, Red Sky, Red Storm, Deer, Stag
Signs of Mayan astrology. Interpretation. Those born in the Sip sign have a strong affinity for the element of fire and air. Your powerful animal is a deer, more precisely a deer. The deer is a symbol of grace and connection with the forest. Staf is the noble leader of these forest people. Accept the energies of grace and nobility in your life. Red is your power color.
Sots: from September 24 to October 13 Meaning: Bat, fish, two moss, the beginning of winter
Symbols of the Mayan Zodiac. Interpretation: those who were born as Sots sign have two totems of animals, a bat and a fish. It is interesting that a person has the ability to freely move through the air, and the other – through water. Air and water are your elements. The bat is known for its association with the earthly mother. Its natural condition is to return to the mother’s womb every day for rest. Bats are very sensitive creatures, and your strengths from them are intuition, sensitivity and the ability to see through illusion. The fish represents the subconscious and depth. Your fish totem is combined with your totem baht to provide you with a deep intuition that is inaccessible to most people.
Section: from October 14 to November 2. Meanings: heaven and earth
Astrology of Maya signs. Interpretation. Those who were born in the sign of Sec, are very specifically associated with two elements: earth and sky (wind, air). You, most likely, are fascinated by the sky and are interested in all things from above. Air is an element of mental energies, and the earth is an element of practicality. Between these two you have the gift of studying any situation and discovering the most effective solution. This is an excellent gift, and you can help the world through your reasonable perception.
Xul: November 3 to November 22 Meaning: Dog with the Sun, Bird Days, Dog God
Symbols of the Mayan Zodiac Interpretation: those born in the sign of Xul are closely related to the dog of the totemic animal. The dog was an important animal for Maya, who believed that dogs direct people to the next life after they shifted from it. As a result, people born in this sign have traditional totemic features of the dog; Loyalty, strength, dedication. They also have a strong connection with the next life and can help those around them to release fears of death and death.
Yakskin: from November 23 to December 12 Meaning: New Sun, Sun, Red Clouds, Green
Astrology Signs of the Maya Interpretation: those who were born in the sign of Yakskin, have a connection with the Mayan sun God Akhom Kein. He provided protection from darkness, drought and disease. Those born in this sign are natural healers. You may find that you have an affinity for healing others, both with soothing words, and with the practice of healing. This sign also has one fall, which raises doubts. Ah Kin was known as the causative agent of doubt and indecision. Learn to trust your decisions and decisions of those around you.
Like: December 13 – January 1. Value: water, clouds, jaguar, collection
Signs of Mayan astrology. Interpretation. Those who were born as a sign of Mol are connected with the cardinal element of water. They say that they can make the rains come. Pay close attention to how you feel the weather, because your energy times are connected with water and precipitation. Your animal totem is a Jaguar. Jaguar was a mighty beast for Maya and represented the secrets of shamans and the power of leaders. You have a kinship for both of these roles, and your life can lead you on the path of a spiritual leader.
Leave a Reply
|
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Stuck in an arguing conversation? Trying to stress a point that is mere logical but still receive rebuttals? Trying to drag you down to their experience and bombard you to the point of humiliation and defeat? Well, if you are looking for an answer, well, this is a good topic to speak of, at least to guide us out of despair.
There are many types of debates of different formats, presumably the British Parliamentary form of debate or the Asian form of debate being the known forms of formal debates. Our topic for this article is somewhat related to the aforementioned types of debate, however, with additional connotations.
We will focus on the very basic, yet the most important point to support a person's stand on the issue. And that is, arguments. Basically, what is an argument?
According to the renowned dictionary Merriam-Webster (link here), an argument is:
: a statement or series of statements for or against something
: a discussion in which people express different opinions about something
: an angry disagreement
By those definition alone, an argument, in lay man's term, is simply stressing ideas of a person to a specific kind of issue or topic that arises from something at the same time, using such points as a rebuttal to the another person's stand or ideals.
The problem is, most persons argue something with a sentence structure, perceived as right and logical, has many loopholes that needs to be address and is a problem by those new in debating, or undertaking a court procedure, or even a simple argument between two parties.
Let us consider logic as an important role in every argument.
Arguing in a win-win situation. Source:
Logic in it's very nature, is the very reason why we Humans have this wide range of thinking that can do extraordinary things and can imagine a wide retrospect of all of those idea primarily due to the thing called rationality of the mind. Philosophy exist because of logic, and we all know that the best of those philosophers the history could offer - from Thales to the Modernist philosophers really use mental reasoning by stressing the points using the most sophisticated form of logic that an average person cannot simply cope up.
The good thing there is that we as a person, with the respect and guidance of those who care for us like our relatives and friends, plus the insurgence or the rise of the technological triumph that has gone mainstream all across the world, can tap the ability to use the information based on facts coming from highly legitimate forms of media as a form of a basis, a guidance in which it will serve as a foundation to our ideals and the points of view, in which it was logical in nature, use as an point of argument against the other's different view.
But there's more than that. Be aware on what the other side was speaking. If it goes out of the topic, then it will be advantage on the person who stick to the issue. However, throwing you ideals based on experience is another thing. Gone unnoticed, it was like the rationality has gone below subliminally to the point that there is no point to argue, wherein the basis is more on experience, although logical, but is already irrelevant at all type, at all costs.
So, in order to be on the right track, be guided by the following:
1. Know the point of the argument, from both sides.
2. Know the reasons as to the relevance to the given topic.
3. Be aware on the words thrown, so as there were many hidden loopholes on it.
4. Think before talking. That will help.
5. Read and research from different sources. It will firm the position.
6. Don't forget to use common sense in this matter.
7. Think of the whole picture of the topic with it's logical explanation that can be debatable.
Of course one cannot debate over facts. But some people just cannot admit it. Enlighten those people with evidence from highly trusted sources. But then again, don't just trust. Verify first.
It is clear and precise so as to be firm and to have an effective form of discussion so as to the validity and the logic behind such arguments. Doing so with guidance will surely make a person win a simple argument in a sense that it is as logical as it is, with the weights of reality and the perspective is much heavy over the other. So the next time you encounter a person arguing with you, be sure that the person as well as the argument he or she makes is as valid as it is, that is indeed make sense, with the intention to have a healthy discussion without any inappropriate kind of language and/or degradation between both sides.
--Lessons can be learned in a healthy way--
Post a Comment
This is A Pitz Blogsite.
Subscribe now on these links:
|
Millions of trucks take to the roads every year in America. You have seen them on your own local roads, the interstate, and just about everywhere else you drive. But how much do you really know about trucking? Better yet, how much do you know about flatbed trucking?
Flatbed trucking is often the orphan stepchild of the trucking industry for the simple reason that tankers and box vans tend to dominate. But without the trusty flatbed trailer and the drivers who haul it, getting certain kinds of loads moved would be nearly impossible.
Additionally, flatbed truckers are a unique breed of drivers who see what they do as a challenge. Suffice it to say there is more to this kind of trucking than simply hooking up a trailer and hitting the road. To illustrate the point, a list of five things you might not know about flatbed trucking is found below.
• 1. There Are More Than a Dozen Kinds of Trailers
Flatbed trucking does not involve just one kind of trailer. There are more than a dozen kinds. The most common are the straight flatbed, step deck, and double drop deck. Each one has its strong and weak points for various loads.
The straight flatbed is simply a platform on wheels. The entire platform is a single level supported by two axles at the rear of the trailer. Step decks and double drop decks have multiple levels rather than just one. They can be used to haul larger and taller loads.
• 2. Weather Is Always a Concern
Since flatbed loads are not contained inside a trailer, weather is always a concern. Certain loads, like cinder blocks and paver stones, do not require much more protection than the plastic they are wrapped in. Other loads are highly sensitive. According to Ohio-based Mytee Products, flatbed drivers rely on different kinds of tarps to protect different kinds of loads. There are lumber tarps, steel tarps, and more.
• 3. Cargo Control Is the Driver’s Responsibility
The nature of flatbed trucking dictates that cargo control is the responsibility of the driver. Therefore, drivers supervise both loading and unloading. They also tie down and cover their loads personally. Lastly, they check their loads at different intervals throughout their journeys to make sure everything is securely in place.
• 4. The FMCSA Takes Cargo Control Seriously
Trucking is one of the most regulated industries in the U.S. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration – the government entity that oversees trucking – takes cargo control so seriously that they have developed a full set of rules governing how flatbed truckers tie down and protect loads. Enforcement agencies routinely inspect vehicles to make sure regulations are being followed.
• 5. Just about Anything Can Be Carried
One of the primary benefits of flatbed trailers is that they can carry just about anything. Having no sides or roofs to deal with makes the flatbed trailer a lot more flexible. Flatbeds can be used to haul construction materials, heavy equipment, farm machinery, industrial machinery, and on and on. Even wide and tall loads are not a problem as long as the right precautions are taken.
Next time you see a flatbed trailer being pulled down the road, just take a moment to look over and observe. Pay attention to how the load is secured. You will notice things like chains and blocks on some loads while others are secured with winch or ratchet straps. Regardless of how it is tied down, take a minute to think about the effort expended by the truck driver to secure that cargo. It’s pretty impressive.
About The Author
Donn Schlosser
|
ULoft’s stance on environmental responsibility
At ULOFT, our dedication to the environment means that we do everything in our power to utilize resources responsibly, making sure the forest is never depleted as a result of our activities.
For starters, we use EFT (environmentally farmed timber) in all our furniture. EFT is a hardwood that comes from the Pará rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis, which we purchase from certified farms in Malaysia. The certification guarantees the farms meet quality, land management, and work practice standards set by the Forest Stewardship Council. Further, University Loft staff members verify these standards are being met by personally visiting the farms and saw mills.
In order to preserve the wellbeing of the forest as a whole, the Hevea brasiliensis trees are harvested on a 20-year plan. In the past, when rubber trees had no more latex to give, they were burned or left to rot. Our trees, however, are harvested and kiln-dried. As I shall detail in my next post, the surprising fact is that this environmentally responsible wood, from a quality standpoint alone, is one of the best possible choices for furniture available.
In the time it takes to grow one red oak tree, five Hevea brasiliensis trees can be grown and harvested. We recognize the importance of sustaining the environment for our current university students, and the many generations of students yet to come.
The ULoft Blog Team
|
1. Introduction
This page discusses cardinals and cardinal arithmetic, both with and without the Axiom of Choice. In general the subject is a very rich one with many results and still many difficult problems at the research level.
2. Cardinal arithmetic
Cardinal numbers are discussed at length in the beginning of Section 11.1 of The Mathematics of Logic. In particular two sets X , Y have the same cardinality or are equipolent (written X Y ) if there is a bijection f : X Y . This is an equivalence relation on sets. Informally you can think of the cardinality of a set as the equivalence class of the set by this equivalence relation, but this raises a problem: the cardinality of a set if defined this way is not itself a set but a class. To get round this problem one of two alternative definitions are usually provided.
In the absence of the Axiom of Choice, the following definition is usually preferred.
card ( X ) , the cardinality of X , is the set { u : u X v ( rank ( v ) < rank ( u ) ¬ v X ) } .
Thus the cardinality of a set is the set of sets equipolent to it of minimal rank. Since this is a subset of some V α it is a set.
If the Axiom of Choice holds then a simpler alternative is available.
By the well-ordering principle every set X is well-orderable, and hence in 1–1 correspondence with an ordinal. Thus there is a least ordinal α X . We define card ( X ) to be this ordinal.
This definition has the advantage that card ( X ) is a canonically chosen set with the same cardinality as X . Note that the two definitions, as just given, are not compatible. In practice, the definition (any definition) of card ( X ) is simply a convenience rather than essential, since results about a cardinal are usually proved by first taking a set that has that cardinality. Here we will implicitly assume AC holds and take the second definition of cardinal, but indicate which of the theorems we prove do not need choice.
An ordinal α is initial if there is no bijection f : α β for β < α .
For example, ω is initial but ω + 1 is not. (This is a consequence of the next proposition below.)
Given a set X , the least ordinal in 1–1 correspondence with it is an initial ordinal, since if not there would be a smaller ordinal in 1–1 correspondence with X , because 1–1 correspondences compose. Thus cardinals are initial ordinals. Conversely, all initial ordinals are their own cardinals.
An infinite initial ordinal is a limit ordinal.
If α = β + 1 is infinite there is a bijection β α defined by f ( 0 ) = β , f ( n +1 ) = n for n ω and f ( γ ) = γ for all other γ .
The theorems and proofs in Sections 11.1 and 11.3 should be studied carefully. All of the proofs there are valid in ZF or ZFC , and where Zorn's lemma was used it is known that some form of the Axiom of Choice is required for the result in question. In particular the definitions of cardinal arithmetic and the order relation on cardinals is important. We define
For sets A , B , card ( A ) card ( B ) if there is an injection f : A B . We define card ( A ) * card ( B ) if A = or there is a surjection g : B A .
However, the Zorn's lemma proof in the book that cardinal arithmetic has κ 2 = κ for all infinite κ is slightly long-winded. For those that know about ordinals (including everyone reading these web pages) there is a different proof.
First we define bijections f α : α × α F ( α ) recursively on ordinals α . Define F ( 0 ) = 0 , F ( α + 1 ) = F ( α ) + α + α + 1 , and F ( λ ) = α < λ F ( α ) for limits λ . Define f 0 : 0 × 0 0 to be the empty function, and f α + 1 ( β , γ ) = f α ( β , γ ) if β , γ < α , f α + 1 ( α , γ ) = F ( α ) + γ if γ < α , and f α + 1 ( β , α ) = F ( α ) + α + β if β α ; finally f λ ( β , γ ) = f α ( β , γ ) for any α with β , γ < α < λ . You can check that these define bijections f α : α × α F ( α ) as claimed and f α extends f β for α > β .
If κ is an infinite initial ordinal then there is a bijection κ × κ κ .
Suppose κ is initial and for every smaller initial ordinal μ there is a 1–1 correspondence μ × μ μ . Consider f κ : κ × κ F ( κ ) . If F ( κ ) κ we are finished, by Schröder–Bernstein. So κ < F ( κ ) . Also F ( μ ) < κ for all initial μ < κ since F ( μ ) , μ × μ and μ all have the same cardinality strictly less than κ . Let F κ ( α , β ) = κ and let δ = max ( α , β ) +1 so κ is in the range of f δ . Now δ < κ as κ is initial and hence is a limit ordinal. Therefore there is a bijection from δ to μ , some initial ordinal less than κ , and this induces an impossible bijection from F ( δ ) > κ to F ( μ ) < κ .
The previous result does not need the axiom of choice, but the conclusion that κ × κ = κ for all infinite cardinals κ does not follow from it without choice as (in the absence of choice) some sets are not well-orderable.
3. Alephs and Hartog's function
The axiom of choice is not required in this section either.
Given any set X , we define ( X ) = { α On : there is an injection α X } .
For all sets X , ( X ) is a set, and hence an ordinal. There is no injection ( X ) X and ( X ) is the least ordinal with this property.
W = { ( y , < ) : y X < is a well-order on X }
So W is a set by separation and power set axioms and there is for each ( y , < ) W a unique ordinal α y order-isomorphic to ( y , < ) . Define f : ( y , < ) α y and by replacement the image of f is a set, and note that this image is ( X ) . There is no injection ( X ) X for if there was we would have ( X ) ( X ) .
For all X , ( X ) is initial.
If not, f : ( X ) β < α and g : β y x are bijections then their composition maps ( X ) X injectively, so ( X ) ( X ) .
Initial ordinals are sometimes called Alephs because of the following.
0 = ω , the first infinite initial ordinal; α + 1 = ( α ) ; and λ = α < λ α for limit ordinals λ .
Each α is initial; every initial ordinal is α for some α .
If λ is a limit and f : λ β < λ is a bijection then a restriction of f is an injection α + 1 β α , contradicting Schröder–Bernstein. Thus every α is initial as the result is obvious for the zero and sucessor cases. The converse is proved by taking an initial ordinal α and considering the least ordinal β such that α < β . This β exists by the fact that α β β for all β , and must be a successor. For if β is a limit, by definition of α β there would be δ < β with α < δ . Thus β = γ + 1 and γ α < γ + 1 so there is an injection α γ as α ( γ ) , hence α = γ as α is initial.
Under the Axiom of Choice, every set is well-ordered so is in one-to-one correspondence with an ordinal. Thus the Axiom of Choice implies every cardinal is an aleph.
Hartog's function gives one way to make a larger cardinal from a smaller one. Another way is to use the power set function.
Let X be a set. Then there is no bijection between X and P ( X ) .
Suppose f : X P ( X ) is a bijection and let y = { u x : u f ( u ) } . We get a contradiction by taking u x such that y = f ( u ) and trying to decide if u f ( u ) or not.
For a set X , ( X ) is the cardinality of P ( X ) .
Thus we have two ways to make a cardinality just a bit bigger than ω : either ( ω ) or ( ω ) . Assuming the Axiom of Choice we have ( ω ) ( ω ) . Cantor's Continuum Hypothesis (CH) is the statement that ( ω ) = ( ω ) . Whether or not this is true remains a moot point, but it has been shown to be independent of the ZFC axioms (assuming ZFC to be consistent.
More generally, the Generalised Continuum Hypotheis (GCH) is the statement ( α ) = α + 1 for all α . Again, this is consistent with the axioms of ZFC but not provable in them. It can be shown that GCH implies the axiom of choice, so assuming GCH makes no sense without also assuming AC.
4. Trichotomy
The Trichotomy theorem (Proposition 11.18 in The Mathematics of Logic) is equivalent to the Axiom of Choice. To see this, let X be any set. Then it is not the case that ( X ) X , by the construction of Hartog's function, so by Trichotomy X ( X ) . In other words there is an injection X ( X ) and as ( X ) is an ordinal a well ordering on X may be defined via this injection and on ( X ) . Under a particular assumption on the arithmetic of certain cardinals, an interesting weakening of trichotomy can be obtained without Choice. In this section κ , λ are just names for infinite cardinals: the fact we call them this is not intended to mean that they are necessarily ordinals. (Sometimes they will be ordinals, sometimes not.)
If κ , λ are cardinals such that κ + λ = κ λ then κ λ or λ * κ .
Suppose K , L are disjoint sets with cardinalities κ , λ and f : K L K × L is a bijection and π : K × L L is the projection map. If the composite of K K × L L is onto then we know that λ * κ . Otherwise there is x L such that for each y K the unique z K L such that f ( z ) = ( y , x ) is in L . This defines an injection y z taking K into L . Thus κ λ .
This result has the consequence that our theorem on cardinal arithmetic is in fact equivalent to the axiom of choice.
If κ 2 = κ for all infinite cardinals κ then the Axiom of Choice holds.
Let X be an arbitrary set with cardinality λ and let κ = ( X ) . Then κ + λ = ( κ + λ ) 2 κ λ κ + λ so by Schröder–Berstein κ + λ = κ λ . Thus by the previous either κ λ or λ * κ . But κ λ is impossible by the definition of ( X ) and hence λ * κ so there is a surjection f : κ X and hence an injection g : X κ given by g ( x ) is the least β < κ with f ( β ) = x . This allows us to define a well-ordering on X as before.
On the other hand, the proposition κ + κ = κ for all infinite cardinals κ is known to be strictly weaker than the axiom of choice.
|
What Does All Shook Up Mean?
All Shook Up Meaning
Definition: Someone is upset, frightened, or overexcited.
The idiom all shook up has a couple of different meanings in English. It is most commonly used to express extreme disturbance or upset. Alternatively, it can be used to refer to a state of extreme happiness or excitement.
These meanings seem to contradict each other. However, the context surrounding the idiom usually makes its meaning clear.
Origin of All Shook Up
Shaken up idiom meaningThe etymology of this idiom is unclear, although it is believed that it originated in the late 19th century. However, there is little information on its first use in print. The idiom became popular once again during the latter half of the 20th century, shortly following the release of Elvis Presley’s hit song “All Shook Up.
It is worth noting that this idiom is grammatically incorrect; instead of using “shaken,” it uses shook. The idiom can also be shortened to shook up while still retaining its meaning.
Examples of All Shook Up
im all shook upThis idiom can be used in a couple of different ways. It typically expresses an extreme emotional state of either upset or happiness.
This conversation between two friends illustrates the use of this idiom in the former context.
Sheila: I heard you got robbed. Are you okay?
Rick: I’m all shook up. I can’t go to sleep anymore unless I have all the lights on.
This example conversation shows how this idiom is used to express extreme happiness.
Tim: How does it feel to finally be home?
Lee: It feels great! I’m all shook up!
More Examples
• Brown’s cousin, Terry Brown, 47, of Englewood, who was in a self-checkout line, said she heard a lot of commotion and saw people dropping to the ground. Her first instinct was to find her cousin, so she ran outside. “I’m all shook up, I’m still shook up,” Terry Brown said. – Chicago Tribune
• They looked whitened like zombies. They were all shook up. – Huffington Post
The English idiom all shook up is used to refer to extreme emotional states, most commonly extreme upset or excitement. Sometimes this idiom is shortened to shook up. Both the shortened and full versions have the same meaning.
|
Diabetes Body Odor–What is it?
This article shows that the three causes of body odor are associated with diabetes. These conditions and diseases are more likely to cause body odor to the patient with diabetes, at risk of diabetes, or has a family history of diabetes.
Diabetes could produce a body smell which is much more unusual than what you have been used to. It’s never been a good thing to get an unexpected change in body smell unless you have changed your diet or you have been taking foods like eggs, garlic, onions, liver, red meat, fish, processed foods, legumes, fried foods, curry, or spicy foods too much. If you have not changed your diet, but you suddenly developed body odor, consult your physician immediately.
Body odor is commonly described as the smell of perspiration; however, this is not true. In fact, sweat has no smell. Our body produces 2 types of sweat. First one is the eccrine. This is a clear, odorless sweat that is secreted by our body through the eccrine gland. It regulates the temperature of the body.
The second one is the apocrine described as a thicker sweat secreted in the armpit and groin parts by the apocrine gland. This sweat is odorless but when it reacts to bacteria on the surface of the skin, it produces unpleasant odor we all try get rid of.
People also develop bad odor due to poor hygiene or heredity. Diabetes could as well change how your body smells. Sometimes people with diabetes and urinary tract infections can have an unusual kind of body odor. It is like a fruity body smell.
Full blown and not treated diabetes may lead to a condition called ketoacidosis. When this happens, the patient’s skin will taste sweet and produce an instantly recognizable pungent odor. Diabetes may also cause the patient to smell like acetone. This is because of the insulin taken to cure the disease.
To manage your odor, you could practice the ABC’s of any type of body odor action. First, maintain a good hygiene and use soap with antibacterial when you wash. Apply body powder or any antiperspirant to keep your body dry. Keeping the body dry will reduce the amount of sweat produced and lessens production of bacteria on the skin, thereby alleviating body odor. You could as well use deodorants for excessive underarm sweating and rubbing alcohol to kill bacteria on your skin’s surface.
Once again, if you observe sudden sweet smell in urine, skin dryness, tingling feet, or feeling of being thirsty constantly, consult your physician immediately. These are signs and symptoms of diabetes condition. If your body smell changes quickly as well, as mentioned earlier, see your physician as soon as possible.
|
Filter Blockages
What Causes Your Fuel Filter to Get Blocked
There are a number of different causes of filter blockages. These can include suspended water, suspended particulate matter, fungal contamination, or additives. Suspended water appears as a haziness in the fuel and is normally an issue in colder seasons. When diesel fuel cools during storage, dissolved water will be released as small droplets. If the droplets do not drop to the bottom, they will form a haze. Suspended water is generally seen as a greasy emulsion on blocked filters, which disappears when the filter is dried. This problem can be resolved by ensuring that any settled water is drained from the tank.
Suspended particulate matter can occur in the form of dirt, rust, or oxidized fuel. This forms a fine suspension of red or brown particles, causing a greasy black deposit on the fuel filter. Wax can also form, and can be seen as a light yellow suspension in the fuel. When the fuel is cooled below the temperature at which the wax comes out of solution, this is called the cloud point. These particles can then block filters by forming a yellow waxy deposit. These deposits are the result of using the incorrect fuel for the season or region; e.g. using summer grade fuel in winter. This issue can be fixed by waiting for the fuel to warm up and changing the filter, or by lowering the cloud point. To prevent waxing problems, fuel should be changed over to the proper grade at the proper time. Timing can depend on the region, and there is generally a two month lead time in fuel distribution.
Fungal contamination can also block filters, and is a symptom of poor water drainage. It is normally associated with long standing free water, hazy fuel, suspended water, and dirt. Fungi normally occur as a black/brown sludge that will block filters. Lab analysis of the filter and fuel may be required to confirm that active fungal growth is present. Fixing this issue will require changing of filters, frequent and regular draining of water, slime, sediment, and hazy fuel from all storage tanks. Clean Fuels Associates can assist in this process.
Additives can sometimes block filters if they are not mixed correctly with the fuel. The appearance of the filters and contents of the filter bowl will depend on the additives used. Sometimes, the additive will discolor water in the filter bowl so that it looks like fuel. Other times, combustion improvers may impart a waxy appearance. Clean Fuels tests all additives, and will only use additives that will not compromise the integrity of your diesel fuel for mission critical facilities.
|
File Size
File size is a measure of how much data a computer file contains or, alternately, how much storage it consumes. Typically, file size is expressed in units of measurement based on the byte. By convention, file size units use either a binary prefix (as in megabyte and gigabyte) or a metric prefix (as in mebibyte and gibibyte).[1]
When a file is written to a file system, it may consume slightly more disk space than the file requires. This is because the file system rounds the size up to include any unused space left over in the last disk sector used by the file. A sector is the smallest amount of space addressable by the file system. The size of a disk sectors is several hundred or several thousands bytes. Although smaller sector sizes allow for denser use of disk space, they decrease the operational efficiency of the file system.
Conversion table
Traditional units Decimal for comparison
Name Symbol Binary Number of bytes Equal to Name IEC Decimal Number of bits Equal to
Kilobyte kB 210 1,024 1024 B Kilobit kbit 103 1,000 1000 bit
Megabyte MB 220 1,048,576 1024 kB Megabit Mbit 106 1,000,000 1000 kbit
Gigabyte GB 230 1,073,741,824 1024 MB Gigabit Gbit 109 1,000,000,000 1000 Mbit
Terabyte TB 240 1,099,511,627,776 1024 GB Terabit Tbit 1012 1,000,000,000,000 1000 Gbit
Petabyte [3] PB 250 1,125,899,906,842,624 1024 TB Petabit Pbit 1015 1,000,000,000,000,000 1000 Tbit
Exabyte [4] EB 260 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 1024 PB Exabit Ebit 1018 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 1000 Pbit
Zettabyte ZB 270 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 1024 EB Zettabit Zbit 1021 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 1000 Ebit
Yottabyte YB 280 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 1024 ZB Yottabit Ybit 1024 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 1000 Zbit
See also
3. ^ "the definition of petabyte". Dictionary.com. Retrieved .
4. ^ "the definition of exabyte". Dictionary.com. Retrieved .
Connect with defaultLogic
What We've Done
Led Digital Marketing Efforts of Top 500 e-Retailers.
Worked with Top Brands at Leading Agencies.
Successfully Managed Over $50 million in Digital Ad Spend.
Taught Advanced Internet Marketing Strategies at the graduate level.
Contact Us
|
Magnets For Health: How Are Magnets Used To Improve And Maintain Your Well Being?
Magnets for health are being revived in contemporary times as an effective alternative therapy or alternative medicine, but actually magnetic therapy have been in vogue right from the era of the pharaohs some 4 thousand years back! In fact, not only the ancient Egyptians, but also the ancient Greeks, ancient Israelites, Chinese and people of the Indus valley civilization swore by the healing powers of magnet.
In fact, mention of magnetic therapy and using magnets for health can be found in several ancient medical texts of the civilizations mentioned above! It is only now, in recent times, that Americans have accepted the validity of this type of alternative therapy, but in countries like Germany, Austria, India, Japan and China, magnetic therapy has been well entrenched for a long period.
Let me first explain what this magnetic therapy actually is. Only then will you be able to understand how magnets-for-health can be used. You may think of the human body as a type of dynamic organism and the latter is made up of countless electrical cells of the individual types. The outer membrane of each cell possesses a negative charge. And at the nucleus, there is a positive charge. Your body will be able to function normally and at the optimal level when there is equality between the two polarities.
magnets for healthWhen your body is constantly exposed to diverse types of environmental stimuli and household electrical devices as well as weather fluctuations, positive ions start inundating the body. This gives rise to an imbalance. And the latter results in nervous system ailments, lymphatic ailments, circulatory ailments, varicose veins, joint pain, muscle pain, insomnia, migraine headaches, fatigue, tiredness etc.
You can rectify this imbalance and create harmony in your body through magnetic therapy or by using magnets-for-health. You can choose between two kinds of magnets such as bipolar magnets and unipolar magnets. On the two ends of a unipolar magnet, there will be one negative charge and one positive charge. The two will be referred to as biomagnetic North Pole and biomagnetic south pole respectively.
In case of bipolar magnets, there will be on the same side, repeated south and north polarities and that means the magnetic fields of each polarity will be cancelled out or weakened to some degree by the influence of the opposite pole. It is a rather false perception that magnets for health can heal the body by themselves.
Bookmark and Share
Return To Previous Page
Return From Magnets For Health To Homepage
|
WASHINGTON, July 13 - If President Bush picks a Supreme Court nominee from outside the roster of sitting judges, he will be breaking with recent precedent and returning to tradition.
But until the recent past, it was common for Supreme Court justices to be drawn from the ranks of elected officials and distinguished lawyers who had never been judges. Another of President Nixon's choices, Lewis F. Powell Jr., was a prominent lawyer who had served as president of the American Bar Association and chairman of the Richmond, Va., school board.
Of the 108 people who have served on the Supreme Court, only 48 -- fewer than half -- were drawn from the ranks of sitting judges. And while judges do make up the biggest single biographical category, there have also been 25 practicing lawyers, 9 attorneys general or deputy attorneys general, 7 holders of other cabinet positions, 6 senators, 2 members of the House of Representatives, 3 governors, 2 solicitors general and 2 law professors.
Continue reading the main story
In short, Supreme Court justices throughout history have reflected a range of experience, not only in the legal profession but also in the public life of the country. And there has been a growing feeling in some quarters that that is a tradition worth reviving.
President Bill Clinton, taking to heart the advice he received along those lines from several law professors, offered his second Supreme Court vacancy to the Senate majority leader, George J. Mitchell, in 1994. Mr. Mitchell turned the president down, saying he wanted to devote himself to shepherding the administration's health care plan through the Senate.
Stephen G. Breyer, the federal appeals court judge who received that nomination, had worked on Capitol Hill as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee. He has drawn on that experience in his approach to interpreting statutes, and it is probably no coincidence that among the current justices, he is the least likely to vote to invalidate a federal law.
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is the only member of the current court to have held elective office. She was majority leader of the Arizona Senate before becoming a state court judge. Many students of the court have traced her noncategorical approach to judging to her grounding in practical politics.
The court under Chief Justice Earl Warren is often held up as a model of a different way of picking the court. It contained three former senators, two former attorneys general and Chief Justice Warren himself, who had never been a judge but had served three terms as governor of California and had run for vice president on the Republican ticket in 1948.
On Tuesday, Senator Arlen Specter, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, invoked the memory of the Warren Court and specifically, its unanimous decision in the school desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education, when he and other Senate leaders met with Mr. Bush.
Describing the conversation later in the day on the CNN program "Inside Politics," Mr. Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, said: "I ventured the suggestion, for example, that it would be good to move away from having all Supreme Court justices graduates from the courts of appeals. When we had Brown v. Board, a big case in the history of the country, there were three ex-United States senators and one ex-governor, Earl Warren, and you had a broader experience."
The quality that a politician can bring to the court is "judgment," said Lucas A. Powe Jr., a law professor at the University of Texas and author of "The Warren Court and American Politics" (2000).
"I'm not sure where people get judgment," Professor Powe said in an interview on Wednesday. "I'm quite sure it doesn't come from the law school context. But really good politicians have it. They know how far they can go, and when they have reached a good stopping point."
Along with Chief Justice Warren, Professor Powe cited Charles Evans Hughes, who had been a governor of New York before being named chief justice by President Herbert Hoover in 1930, as someone who successfully steered the Supreme Court through a particularly difficult period.
Why the selection process has changed so much in modern times is open to debate. Sitting judges have come to be seen as more predictable, and therefore safer, choices because they have a record of published opinions that can be held up to scrutiny. But as presidents have learned to their dismay, judges and non-judges alike retain the capacity to surprise once they reach the Supreme Court.
Continue reading the main story
|
Mac or PC… What Are the Main Differences?
A common question that we find we are asked regularly is “What is the different between a Mac and a PC – and which one is more suitable for a business?”. We have highlighted below some of the main differences to be taken into consideration.
1. Design
Apple is known for the sleek design of their product range. On the flip side, PCs are manufactured by many different suppliers so if you aren’t keen on one model, you can always look what other brands have on offer.
2. Price
Its not unknown that Apple products come with a high end price tag. PCs on the other hand have a broad price range depending upon which manufacturer you chose to go with. If a smaller budget is a main influence of the machine you chose to go with, PC may offer you a broader range of options.
3. Technical Specifications
The technical specifications offered by Macs and PCs can be very similar or very different, depending on which brand and line you’re comparing. Macs will generally outperform low-end PCs, because the Apple product lines typically boast more expensive and better-quality parts. Comparing Macs with higher-end PCs is a little more difficult. Generally, though, Macs have faster processors than their Windows counterparts but tend to skimp slightly when it comes to RAM, hard disk space and USB ports.
4. Choice
An obvious difference when it comes to Macs and PCs’ is choice. Apple currently only offer five different models whereas there is a much broader range of PCs’ available depending upon what brand you choose to go with.
5. Software
One of the most important reasons Mac hasn’t captured a larger share of the computer market is the lack of software written for its operating system. This insufficiency is most obvious in business computing, where most applications were standardized on Windows PCs years ago. Even if a business did determine that Mac offered a better product, it would take a tremendous amount of time and money to make the switch. Mac has made some inroads by collaborating with Microsoft on the popular Office Suite, but the shortage of specialized business software remains a concern for many companies.
6. Secuirity
Because PCs’ are more commonly used, there are more viruses out there to attack PC systems. This does not mean that Mac is totally safe from viruses, however they are less common than those out there which can harm a PC system.
7. Users
In a company which relies on their computers for general usage, a PC is more commonly used. However in marketing and design firms, a Mac is usually the preferred product.
At Omnicom, we can offer a variety of hardware at competitive prices. Contact us today to find out more.
|
Check out "Bad Habits of Mind"
Sherlock Holmes cartoon
from Dining with Sherlock Holmes by Rosenblatt and Sonnenschmidt
This diet is called The Sherlock Holmes Diet because Sherlock was famous for paying attention to what was right under his nose. As Holmes said to Watson in "A Case of Identity," "Upon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed everything of importance, but you have hit upon the method. Never trust to general impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details."
"I say, Watson, what have we here?"
"My goodness, Holmes. I do believe that it is a shepherd's pie."
"Looks good, Watson. Shall we try it?"
"Well! Yes, indeed! Here, Holmes, we will share."
We can assume that Holmes and Watson enjoyed their shepherd's pie. They set to with gusto, savoring each bite and remarking on the superb potatoes and the great gravy. "Oh, my, Watson. What crust! Delicious." "Yes, Holmes, and the beef is perfectly done."
People who enjoy their food are the perfect Sherlock Holmes dieters. They like company, they are willing to make remarks, but, by and large, they would rather eat than talk. They are sitting down at the table for the purpose of eating, not talking. What a fine salad! Such cold watermelon! The rolls and butter are delicious!
Eaters who pay attention to what people are saying more than to what is right under their noses would not make good detectives. Neither do they make good eaters. They eat absent-mindedly. They stuff food into their mouths and guzzle a drink while trying to keep up with the conversation. Eating this way, they don't fully enjoy what they are eating and consequently eat too much in order to feel satisfied.
There is a way of living that tries to match what one is doing with the pace of time. Instead of trying to squeeze more and more into a given amount of time, this kind of person recognizes that time has its own pace, and it's up to us to go along with it. There is a song in the Broadway show "One Touch of Venus" called "Forty Minutes for Lunch" in which, when it's time for lunch, the dancers hurry, hurry, hurry, walking briskly to lunch, eating fast, just barely making it to dessert, and hurrying back again to work. They hardly know what they have eaten. The Sherlock Holmes dieter knows that hurrying only leads to heartburn. This dieter matches what he or she is doing with the natural pace of time, allowing time to sit comfortably, to see what is on the plate, to chew well, and to talk little. For the Sherlock Holmes dieter, lunch is time for eating, not for talking.
Have you noticed people in restaurants who take out notebooks or even write on tablecloths? The Sherlock Holmes dieter would say that they are missing one of the great pleasure of life.
Is it possible for a driven person to become a Sherlock Holmes dieter? Yes, but a change in personality is necessary. The egotism that says, "I have to perform, I have to make a mark, I have to be noticed, I have to show that I'm important" - this egotism has to be replaced. In its stead must be, "I am in Nature, not apart from it; everything that I am is provided by Nature; I am a living organism functioning in the present; I choose life, not the having lived; the more significant one's present is, the less significant one's past becomes; I do what is called for by circumstances; my life is my own, not anyone else's; all I can take is what I get." This non-egotistical manner of being, wherein we give credit to Nature instead of to ourselves, is a philosophical orientation that affects the personality. Sherlock Holmes is more than just a good detective. He is also an admirable personality who can be emulated.
Home Page - The Sherlock Holmes Diet
|
SAR logo
The PineyWoods Chapter #51, TXSSAR
George Washington
George Washington
First President
of the
United States of America
Born 1732, Died 1799
In 1999 we observed the bicentennial year of George Washington's death. He was born 22 February 1732, at Wakefield, the Washington estate in Westmoreland County in what is now the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Augustine Washington, George's father, married twice; first to Jane Butler, with whom he had four children, and second to Mary Ball. George was the oldest of seven children from this marriage.
After his father's death, when George was eleven, he joined the household of his brother Lawrence at Mt. Vernon. It was this estate along the Potomac River that he considered his home for the rest of his life, succeeding to ownership after Lawrence's death in 1752.
Meanwhile, after completing his education at the age of sixteen, George Washington was employed as an assistant to George Fairfax. The assignment was to survey the vast western holdings of Lord Fairfax known as the Northern Neck of Virginia. More surveying jobs came his way and the income was used to purchase land. During this time he was also building a reputation of being thrifty and industrious with qualities of a good business man.
George Washington began his military career in 1753. He was commissioned a militia major and was appointed adjutant of the southern district of Virginia. His allegiance was to Great Britain and King George III. Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he led a force that sought to challenge French control of the Ohio River Valley, thus fighting in the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year he escaped injury, although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him, when they were defeated at Fort Necessity, PA.
In 1755, after resigning his commission and returning to Mount Vernon, Washington reentered the military serving as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, barely escaping death when the French defeated the general's forces in the Battle of the Monongahela, PA. Late 1758 to early 1759 he again resigned his commission and returned to Mount Vernon.
January 06, 1759, George Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis. After his marriage and until 1774, he managed his plantations and sat in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Supporting the initial protests against British policies and taking an active part in the non-importation movement in Virginia, Washington eventually became a Whig leader.
Washington represented Virginia at the first and second Centennial Congresses. Relations between the Colonies and Britain were very strained and by 1775 the battle at Lexington and Concord became the "shot heard around the world." It was at the second Centennial Congress that George Washington was appointed Commander-in-Chief. From that time until 1781 when the British surrendered at Yorktown, he was an example of true leadership to those fighting for America's independence.
It is no wonder that George Washington was unanimously chosen by the Electoral College to be the first President of the United States of America, a position which he held for two terms. Helping to guide and govern a fledging nation was not easy. Guidelines and laws had to be made that would have a positive effect on the future. Again Washington did an admirable job with the task set before him, keeping the division of power divided between executive, legislature and judicial as he perceived it in the constitution.
After his farewell address in 1796, Washington retired to Mount Vernon for the last time. It was there he died at the age of 67 on December14, 1799.
You can read more about George Washington and the events that took place prior to, during and following the American Revolution at: Archiving Early America
Kids can get lots of fun information about the American Revolution at the Liberty's Kids web site.
George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation:
G. Washington (his actual signature)
|
Sepsis (Blood Infection)
Blood Infection (Sepsis) (Execution Incident)
Blood Infection (Sepsis) Overview
Blood Infection (Sepsis) , or septicaemia, is a assumption in which the embody is fighting a wicked communication that has paste via the bloodstream. If a forbearing becomes “putrefactive,” they gift likely be in a suggest of low murder pushing termed “appal.” This information can get either as a resultant of the embody’s own demurrer grouping or from virulent substances prefab by the infecting bourgeois (such as a microorganism, virus, or flora).
Fill at probability for Blood Infection (Sepsis)
* People whose immune systems (the body’s protection against microbes) are not functioning advisable because of an unwellness (specified as human or AIDS) or because of examination treatments (specified as chemotherapy for human or steroids for a signal of scrutiny conditions) that lessen the unsusceptible scheme are statesman unerect to acquire Blood Infection (Sepsis) . It is important to remember that justified lusty group can endure from Blood Infection (Sepsis) .
* Because their vector systems are not completely formed, real saxist babies may get Blood Infection (Sepsis) if they transform septic and are not bandaged in a apropos kind. Ofttimes, if they alter signs of an incident much as pyrexia, infants bang to invite antibiotics and be admitted to the infirmary. Blood Infection (Sepsis) in the rattling preteen is ofttimes many vexed to study because the emblematic signs of Blood Infection (Sepsis) (febrility, modification in activeness) may not be omnipresent or may be many ticklish to ascertain.
* The senior collection, especially those with remaining examination illnesses much as diabetes, may be at exaggerated danger as recovered.
The classify of grouping last from Blood Infection (Sepsis) has nearly twofold in the other 20 geezerhood. This is most apt due to the multiplied limit of patients who get from Blood Infection (Sepsis) .
* There has been a monstrous growth in Blood Infection (Sepsis) because doctors feature started treating mortal patients and bureau operation patients, among others, with stiff medications that lessen the vector system.
* Also, because of our senescence universe, the confine of senior people with feeble vector systems has grown.
* Finally, because of the increased and oft incompatible use of antibiotics to cater illnesses caused by viruses and not microorganism, more strains of bacterium love embellish insusceptible to antibiotics, making the communication of Blood Infection (Sepsis) many rocky in whatsoever cases.
Blood Infection (Sepsis) Causes
More diverse microbes can entity Blood Infection (Sepsis) . Although bacterium are most commonly the grounds, viruses and kingdom can also movement Blood Infection (Sepsis) . Infections in the lungs (pneumonia), vesica and kidneys (urinary tract infections), injure (cellulitis), stomach (specified as appendicitis), and opposite organs (such as meningitis) can distribute and lead to Blood Infection (Sepsis) . Infections that develop after surgery can also boost to Blood Infection (Sepsis) .
Who is at chance for Blood Infection (Sepsis) ?
* Really teenaged group and senior group
* Anyone who is taking immunosuppressive medications (such as introduce recipients ).
* People who are being burnt with chemotherapy drugs or radioactivity
* Patients who bonk no spleen
* Patients winning steroids (especially over the long-term)
* Group with long-standing diabetes, AIDS, or cirrhosis
* Someone who has very huge comedian or wicked injuries
* Group with infections much as the tailing:
o Pneumonia
o Meningitis
o Cellulitis
o Urinary treatise infection
o Busted outgrowth
More İnformation Abaout Blood İnfection –>>
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.