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Blog 2.9 - Poetry
The Emptied Self - Synthesis Question
American Literature moves from the Ghost to the Nobody fairly quick. Why?
This may feel like a bit of a stretch, but read this article (The Nike Myth) and ask yourself, "Who determines truth?" In this day and age, we are bombarded with images and sayings (Just Do It, LiveStrong, Is It In You?), and we adopt them as our own -- as mottos, as creeds.
What happens when all we believe in falls apart, and how does the world set up the false expectations? These poems are the end result of such a process. It may not have been Nike that told them what to think, but they looked out their window, saw a world they did not understand, and asked, "Who am I, after all?"
Where does the Nobody come from?
Respond using Climax (Device 16) and Parenthesis (Device 20) - In Caps!
© Jeff Thomas 2011 -
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United States And Mexican Relations | Researchomatic
United States And Mexican Relations
Read Complete Research Material
United States and Mexican relations
United States and Mexican relations
After 300 years of Spanish rule, Mexico began its struggle for political independence in 1810. The country was embroiled in internal wars and foreign invasions that had repercussions in all spheres of Mexicans life. Basically, Mexico and the United States fought war over land. The interest of U.S. is in the expansion and, Texas is simply wanted their fine agricultural production, especially cotton, which was the main commodity (Arbelaez, 2007).
According to Mexican's, these lands were not of great value, but it belonged to Mexico. The lands were theirs and had a potential value in the future. At that time the land was not worth it or has any economic value, but Mexicans were well aware that Texas was a great place for agriculture. Reports coming into the center suggested that Texas and California were potentially very rich provinces. Mexico recognized its demand and tried to protect its northern border, for no other reason than just to prevent the United States not to reach Mexico (Estevadeordal, 2004).
According to the novel 'The Old Gringo' written by Carlos Fuentes, Spain was under Roman rule and he explains Christian's interest of paganism, localism, and theology that leads into a simplistic study of the Reconquest. According to Fuentes, the Reconquest creates the Christians unity, first to be good and kind, then bad. In its first phase, it was guided by humanist champions like Ferdinand III, who tried to protect the culture of his defeated enemies; and his son, Alfonso the Wise, who sought to precede his father's vision of a multicultural Spain (Fuentes, 1985).
But in fact, the holy battles of the Reconquest were continued by fragile treaties between Christians and Moors, Christians and Christians, Moors and Moors. El Cid, the legendary slayer of infidels, was a fighter of fortune who also fought for the Moors against the Christians, and for the Moors against other Moors. Reconquered Spain, too, was part of every step, though in more delicate and profound ways, which Fuentes does not communicate. Perhaps he forgets that under the control of Alfonso the Wise, Jews and Christians could not inhabit the same house; Jews could not hold the position of control over Christians; and the "disrespect" of a Jew bedding a Christian woman could cost him his life. Alfonso also took away from the Jews one of their vital trades: the decontamination of spirits (Fuentes, 1985).
On the one hand, the end of the Reconquest led to a transoceanic adventure driven by curiosity, insatiability, and faith. On the other, it led to the removal of the Jews. In between heroic investigation and weak hermeticism grew the obsession or "cleanliness of blood." Spaniards in large number was the issue for Jews, Moors, and Christians starts to prove that the content of their character was pure because pure was the content of their veins (Fuentes, 1985).
This fantasy was to be perfected by Spanish Americans, even at the height of uprising against the mother ...
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Considerations For Bandwidth and Storage Space
The network bandwidth and storage space required are important factors in the design of a video surveillance system. Factors include the number of cameras, the image resolution used, the type and proportion of compression, frame rates, and scene complexity. This chapter presents some design guidelines for a system as well as information about storage solutions and various system configurations.
Bandwidth and storage space calculations
Network video products use network bandwidth and storage space according to your configuration.As already mentioned, this depends on the following factors:
• Number of cameras
• Recording method (continuous or by event)
• Number of hours per day the camera will record
• Frames per second
• Image Resolution
• Video compression type: Motion JPEG, MPEG-4, H.264
• Scene: image complexity (eg white wall or a forest), lighting conditions and amount of movement (office environment or crowded train stations)
• Expected time of data storage
Required bandwidth
In a small surveillance system with 8 to 10 cameras, a basic 100 megabit (Mbit) network switch can be used without the need to think about bandwidth limitations. Most companies can implement such a surveillance system using the network they already have.
When implementing 10 or more cameras, the network load can be calculated by some general rules:
• A camera configured to generate high quality images at high frame rate will use approximately 2 to 3 Mbit / s of the available network bandwidth.
• Between 12 and 15 cameras, consider using a high-speed backbone (gigabit) switch.If a high-speed switch is used, the server where the video management software is installed must have a gigabit network adapter installed.
Among the technologies that allow managing bandwidth consumption are VLANs in a switched network, Quality of Service, and event-driven recordings.
Calculation of required storage space
As already mentioned, the type of video compression used is one of the factors that affect the storage space required.The H.264 compression format is by far the most efficient video compression technique available today.Without compromising image quality, an H.264 encoder can reduce the size of a digital video file by more than 80% compared to the Motion JPEG format, and up to 50% more than the MPEG-4 standard (Part 2 ).This means that you will need much less network bandwidth and storage space for an H.264 video file.
The tables below show examples of storage space calculations for all three compression formats.Because several variables affect average bitrate levels, calculations are not so straightforward for H.264 and MPEG-4 formats.With Motion JPEG, the formula is clear because this format consists of a single file for each image.The storage space required for Motion JPEG files varies depending on the frame rate, resolution, and compression level.
Calculation for H.264 format
Approximate speed / 8 (bits in one byte) x 3600s = KB per hour / 1000 = MB per hour
MB per hour x hours of daily operation / 1000 = GB per day
GB per day x expected storage period = required storage space
Calculation for MPEG-4 format
GB per day x expected storage period = required storage space
Note: The formula does not take into account the amount of movement, which is an important factor that can influence the storage space required.
Calculation for Motion JPEG format
Image size x frames per second x 3600s = Kilobyte (KB) per hour / 1000 = Megabyte (MB) per hour
MB per hour x hours of daily operation / 1000 = Gigabyte (GB) per day
GB per day x expected storage period = required storage space
A useful tool for calculating the required bandwidth and storage space is the AXIS Design Tool .
Server Storage
Depending on the central processing unit (CPU), the network card, and the internal RAM (Random Access Memory) of a server PC, it can handle a certain number of cameras, frames per second, and image size.Most PCs can contain between two and four hard drives, and each disk can hold up to approximately 300 gigabytes (GB).In a small or medium-sized installation, the PC on which the video management software is installed is also used for video recording.This storage method is called “direct connection.”
With AXIS Camera Station video management software, for example, a single hard drive is enough to store six- to eight-camera recordings.With more than 12 or 15 cameras, at least two hard drives must be used to divide the load.For 50 cameras or more, it is recommended to use a second server.
When the amount of data stored and the need for management exceeds the limits of a direct-attached storage, a network-attached storage (NAS) or a storage area network (SAN) will increase storage space, flexibility, and capacity recovery.
The NAS is a single storage device directly connected to a LAN, offering shared storage to all network clients. A NAS device is simple to install and easy to administer, providing an economical storage solution. However, it offers limited speed for receiving data because it has only one network connection, and this can become a problem in high-speed systems. SANs are dedicated high-speed networks for storage, typically connected to one or more servers through fiber. Users can access any of the SAN storage devices through the servers, and the storage space can reach hundreds of terabytes. Centralized storage reduces administration and provides a flexible and speed storage system for use in multi-server environments. Fiber Channel technology is typically used to transfer data at 4 gigabits per second and allow the storage of large amounts of data with a high level of redundancy.
Redundant storage
SAN systems incorporate redundancy into the storage device.Redundancy in a storage system allows videos, or any other type of data, to be recorded simultaneously in more than one location.This creates a backup to recover videos if a part of the storage system is unreadable.There are several options for delivering this layer of additional storage on an IP Surveillance system, including a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), data replication, clustering of servers, and multiple video recipients.
RAID.RAID is a standard, commercially available hard disk array method so that the operating system refers to it as a single large hard disk.A RAID configuration spreads the data across multiple hard drives with sufficient redundancy so that data can be recovered in the event of a disk failure.There are different levels of RAID, from virtually no redundancy to an entirely mirrored solution in which there is no interruption or loss of data in the event of a hard disk failure.
Duplication of data.This is a common feature of many network operating systems.File servers on a network are configured to replicate data to each other, creating a backup if a server fails.
Clustering of servers.A common method of server collation is to have two servers work with the same storage device, such as a RAID system.When one server fails, the other server configured identically will assume its function.These servers may even have the same IP address, each failover completely imperceptibly for users.
Multiple video recipients.A common method for securing disaster recovery and remote network video storage is to simultaneously send the video to two different servers in separate locations.These servers can be RAID-equipped, operate in clusters, or duplicate your data with even further servers.This is an especially useful approach when surveillance systems are in hazardous or hard-to-reach areas, such as in mass transit facilities or industrial facilities.
System Settings
Small system (1 to 30 cameras)
A small system typically consists of a server with a surveillance application installed to record the video images on a local hard drive.The video is viewed and managed through the same server.Although most of the visualization and management is performed on the server, a client (local or remote) can be connected for the same purpose.
Medium-sized system (25 to 100 cameras)
A typical midrange installation has a server with additional storage attached to it.Typically, storage is configured with a RAID to increase speed and reliability.Normally, the video is displayed and managed through a client, not the recording server itself.
Large centralized system (50 to more than 1000 cameras)
A large installation requires high speed and reliability to manage the large amount of data and the large bandwidth.This requires multiple servers with dedicated tasks.A master server controls the system and decides what type of video will be stored on that storage server.Because there are dedicated storage servers, you can perform load balancing.In this configuration, you can also extend the system by adding more storage servers when needed, and perform maintenance tasks without disabling the entire system.
Large distributed system (25 to more than 1000 cameras)
When multiple locations require monitoring with centralized management, distributed recording systems can be used.Each location records and stores video from local cameras.The master controller can view and manage the recordings of each location.
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Word Focus
focusing on words and literature
Definitions and Synonyms of alarum | Another word for alarum | What is alarum?
Definition 1: an automatic signal (usually a sound) warning of danger - [noun denoting communication]
Synonyms for alarum in the sense of this definition
(alarum is a kind of ...) any nonverbal action or gesture that encodes a message
"signals from the boat suddenly stopped"
(... is a kind of alarum ) a small explosive device that is placed on a railroad track and fires when a train runs over it; the sound of the explosion warns the engineer of danger ahead
(... is a kind of alarum ) a warning signal that is a loud wailing sound
(... is a kind of alarum ) a flag that serves as a warning signal
"we didn't swim at the beach because the red flag was up"
(... is a kind of alarum ) a noise made by the driver of an automobile to give warning
(... is a kind of alarum ) a loud low warning signal that can be heard by fogbound ships
(... is a kind of alarum ) a shout or bell to warn that fire has broken out
(... is a kind of alarum ) a loud warning signal produced by a burglar alarm
"they could hear the burglar alarm a mile away"
(... is a kind of alarum ) the warning signal that begins a period of preparation for an enemy air attack
(... is a kind of alarum ) the sound of an alarm (usually a bell)
More words
Another word for alarmist
Another word for alarmism
Another word for alarmingly
Another word for alarming
Another word for alarmed
Another word for alary
Another word for alas
Another word for alaska
Another word for alaska cedar
Another word for alaska cod
Other word for alaska cod
alaska cod meaning and synonyms
How to pronounce alaska cod
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Top 10 Biggest Animals in The World
Animals are one of the nature’s presents to humans. The big ones in their respective categories seem to fascinate us. The entire world is occupied by different small and big creatures. However, the largest animals in the world are classified using different categories, such as amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles. Although most lists of the biggest creature in the world are based on these categories, size is the best factor in containing the greatest animals in the world. Here is a list of top 10 largest and particular animals in the world, based on their great sizes.
List of Top 10 Biggest Animals in The World 2017.
10. The Capybara
the capybara, Top 10 Biggest Animals in The World 2017
Capybara is the biggest rodent living in the world. The animal originates tropical and temperate region of South America. Besides, the animal lives near water. An adult Capybara has a height of 1.5 M and a weight of 105.4 kg. The rodents are herbivorous and very social, living in groups of six to twenty. Also, the animals congregate in aggregates of up to a hundred individuals.
9. The Giant golden-crowned flying fox
The animal is also known as the golden-capped fruit bat. The giant golden-crowned flying box is the biggest bat species in the world. However, the bat species is very rare and can only be found in the Philippines rain forest. The giant Golden –crowned flying box belongs to the megabat family. The total length of the animal is 55 cm, while the highest weight of the giant bat is 1.5 kg.
8. Flemish giant
The Flemish Giant is a rabbit breed considered to be the biggest in the world. However, the breed is considered to be old among domesticated rabbits, but the largest mammal in the world from Flemish species. The giant rabbit weighs 12.7 kgs and grows to a maximum length of 2.5 feet. Additionally, the Flemish giant came in seven colours and was initially bred for meat and fur, but currently, the rabbits are kept as pets. You can differentiate between female and male by the head, as they have different head shapes.
7. Chinese giant salamander
Apart from being the largest reptile, it is the biggest amphibian in the world. The Chinese giant salamander grows to a length of six feet or 180 cm. The species is rare, and only be found in China. The species is endemic to lakes, streams, and mountains all over China. The maximum weight of an adult salamander is 55-66 lbs. Nevertheless, the giant lizard is endangered, due to over-harvesting for use in traditional Chinese medicine.
6. Saltwater Crocodile
The crocodile is informally known as saltie. Also, the crocodile is known as sea-going crocodile, estuarine crocodile, marine crocodile or indo-pacific crocodile. Apart from being the largest reptile living in the world, it is the largest riparian and terrestrial predator in the world. The maximum weight of an adult saltwater crocodile is between 1,000- 1,200 kg. The length of an adult saltwater crocodile is 5m. However, the largest recording ever is 6.3m long and a weight of 1,900 kg. The female is shorter than the male.
5. Brown and polar bears
Both brown and polar bear have a height of 3m and a maximum weight of 1000 kg. The two bears are known as the biggest and largest living land carnivores. The two bears have the same body sizes, making it difficult to determine which bear is bigger. The total length of these bear is 3.05m, while their shoulder height is slightly above 1.6m. As per research, Kodiak and polar bear are subspaces of brown bear. Nevertheless, the polar bear is more endangered than the brown bear.
4. Southern Elephant Seal
Currently, southern elephant seal is considered the biggest carnivore in the world. This is one amongst the Top 10 Biggest Animals in The World 2017. The average weight of the female is between 400-900 kgs, while their length is between 2.6-3m. The males weigh five to six times the females. However, of importance to note is the detailed sexual dimorphism in their sizes. Despite their sizes, the animals dive repeatedly, and within twenty minutes, they move at a depth of between 400- 1,000 meters to hunt their food.
3. Giraffe
Giraffe is both the tallest and longest living thing the world. The height of a giraffe is 5.8m, while the weight is more than 2,000 kg. The tallest giraffe is regarded to be 5-6M tall when standing. The average weight of male giraffe is 1,600 kg, while that of the female is 830 kg. Giraffes are considered to be the longest living animals due to their vast elongated necks, which are more than 2m.
2. African Elephant
African elephants are regarded to be the biggest animals living on land. The elephants weigh more than 6,350 kg. Also, the length of the animal from the trunk to the tail is 10.6m Due to their enormous sizes; African bush elephant that is mature and entirely developed has no natural predators. It’s a site you simply can’t resist.
1. Blue whale
The blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the baleen whales. The whale is 30m long and weighs more than 180 metric tonnes. Apart from being the largest marine mammal, the whale is the greatest mammal in the world. One of the strangest thing about this creature is that the weight of the tongue of this whale is approximately 2.7 metric tonnes. The whale is the largest animal known to be existence in the world and has a gestation period of 11 months.
So, these are the Top 10 Biggest Animals in The World 2017. Whether you measure the size of biggest animals in the world regarding how heavy, tall or long the animal are, you right but you cannot deny the fact that some animals are entirely huge than others. The animals listed above are the largest in the world based on their size. However, the list can be edited or changed based on different factors.
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Nerthus (1905) by Emil Doepler depicts Nerthus, a Proto-Germanic goddess whose name developed into Njörðr among the North Germanic peoples
Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples. Commonly featuring narratives focused on Germanic deities and a large variety of other entities, Germanic mythology dates from the Proto-Germanic period and reaches beyond the Christianization of the Germanic peoples and into modern Germanic folklore. Germanic mythology includes Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology.
As the Germanic languages developed from Proto-Indo-European language, Germanic mythology is ultimately a development of Proto-Indo-European religion. The study of Germanic mythology has remained an important element of Germanic philology since the development of the field and the topic is an integral component of Heathenry, the modern revival of Germanic paganism.
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In General Knowledge
The Mass Suicide Cult Throughout History
mass suicide cult
As human beings we love to refer to ourselves as the most intelligent of all the world’s species — and from the stand point of ingenuity — we are. There are no other creatures in nature that can create anything that rivals an airplane or even a wrist watch. However, there are things about human beings that make us seem less intelligent than other species such as rats and mice. For instance, we’re the only species that will fight and kill each other over something as trivial as skin color. Meanwhile a grey, black, white and brown rat will accept each other as members of the same species. Human beings are also the only creatures that hold so little value for the amazing gift of life. Read on to know more about the phenomenon of the ‘mass suicide cult’.
Humans and Suicide
Even lower life forms like roaches and grasshoppers will attempt to evade a squashing foot. In fact, the only species that seems to hold no regard for life is humanity. There are a lot of reasons why people choose to commit suicide, and depression is one of the most prominent. This disturbing disease leaves people feeling as though they would rather die then continue with the pain. The people who are most likely to commit suicide are teenagers. This is especially true for bullied teens, because they usually have no friends to whom they can turn. Teenagers are also far less likely to realize the depression they feel is only temporary. Suicide is usually a last resort for people who feel like they can’t continue. However, there are times when people choose to end their lives as a ritual or a sacrifice to their deity.
Masada Mass Suicide
One of the first instances of a mass suicide was the tragedy at Masada. This is an ancient city in modern day Israel. there were nearly 1,000 people living in the city after a bloody war between the Romans and the Jews. Masada was considered to be a particularly safe because the entire town is located a top a plateau with very step sides. However, the determined Roman soldiers who attacked the village in 74 A.D. were able to build a ramp to access the village. When the troops laid siege to the city, all they found was the corpses of the citizens. There was a sole surviving adult woman and her five children. The woman informed the soldiers that everyone else chose to commit suicide rather than be captured. This is one of the most disturbing stories in Jewish history and more than 960 people committed suicide on that very tragic day. However, this story isn’t as disturbing as some of the more recent mass suicide stories.
Modern Mass Suicide
When the people of Masada committed suicide, it was to avoid capture by an occupying force. In the minds of many people, there are some fates that are worse than death, and being enslaved by the Roman empire was worse than dying to the citizens of Masada. They would have been subject to the most strenuous physical labor and inhumane treatment imaginable, so they chose to terminate their own life forces. However, some of the more modern cult suicides are associated with cults that think they’re killing themselves to appease a higher power. Cult mass suicide is one of the most disturbing events that can happen, because it’s so difficult to understand what was going through the minds of the people who took their own lives. Cults in general regarded in low regard by most people, and this is especially true of a suicide cult. One of the most infamous leaders of this type of cult was the infamous Jim Jones the man who convinced nearly 1,000 followers to kill themselves.
Who is Jim Jones
Jim Jones was born into a modest lifestyle and raised in a shack in Randolph county, Indiana. His father James was a soldier and a veteran of the first world war. However, it may have been his mother Lynetta who instilled the religious fanaticism into Jim. The woman reportedly thought that Jim was the messiah and apparently she instilled this delusional thinking into her son. Jim was obsessed with religion as a child and he would actually hold funerals for small animals that he killed. Jim was an outcast as a child and he had few friends. Instead of shooting marbles on a playground, Jones spent his time studying Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin, two of the greatest orators to ever live. Perhaps it was his studying of these two great but misguided leaders gave Jones the ability to convince others to follow him.
Like many cult leaders, Jones was extremely intelligent and in 1948, he graduated from high school with honors. Jones began to attend communist party meetings while he was still in college at Indiana University Bloomington. It was his frustration with the systematic oppression of communists in the US that first led him to the church. He figured the pulpit would serve as a good platform to demonstrate his Marxist beliefs. Jones became a student pastor in in 1952 when he joined the Somerset Southside Methodist Church. However, he left the church, because the leaders were not willing to accept black members. Jones eventually started his own organization, the Peoples Temple Christian Church.
Jonestown Cult Suicide
This remains the most infamous mass suicide cult to ever exist. After founding his church in the United States, Jim Jones decided to escape the negative attitude expressed towards communists. Jones and most of his congregation relocated to the South American country of Guyana. The term “Jonestown” simply referred to the People’s Temple Agricultural Project which was established in the Caribbean nation because of it doesn’t extradite to the United States. Jones and other members of his organization were under investigation for their involvement in local elections in California.
In 1974, Jones began leasing 3,800 acres of land in Guyana where Jonestown was established. Once the madman was free from intervention from a strong government, he began to establish his church as the cult it was. The children within the town were surrendered to communal care and kept from their biological parents. They were made to refer to Jones as “father” which is a common practice in cults. Members who wanted to leave Jonestown were drugged as the town began to unravel at the seams. The Guyana government also became suspicious of the cult and sanctions began to threaten its existence. Rather than admit defeat, Jones chose to execute the members of his “church” by getting them to drink potassium cyanide. It was obvious that US intervention and a lack of effective leadership had effectively ended the church’s ability to exist in Guyana, and Jones refused to let his followers live without him. In all, more than 900 people committed suicide on November 18 1978. More than 200 children were also forced to drink the poisonous cocktail.
Cults in general are reason for serious concern, because they require all members to worship a single individual. Since the members regard the cult leader as a deity, they will do whatever is asked of them. For instance, the members of the Jonestown community took part in a suicide rehearsal to see if they would indeed kill themselves when the time came. Jonestown is the best known mass suicide in recent memories, but there have been others.
Heavens Gate was another cult where members killed themselves, but for a very different reason members of this cult believed suicide would give them access to a UFO that was attached to a comet. This logic may seem ridiculous to every one else, but the members of Heaven’s Gate believed it so adamantly that they actually ended their own lives. A mass suicide cult can exist for many different reasons, but the one common thread is usually an insane leader with an alluring personality.
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What Rick Perry Doesn’t Know
Yes, vetoes have long been the subject of heated debate and partisan persecution. While Rick Perry is currently facing indictment, John Tyler was almost impeached by Congress after vetoing a tariff bill in 1842. In the same way Rick Perry wasn’t afraid to veto the funding for a Public Integrity Unit that was led by a woman who demonstrated everything but public integrity (in light of her arrest for DWI), John Tyler unabashedly vetoed Congress’s legislation for the Independent Treasury System not once, but twice—even though his own Whig party supported the bill. When President Tyler then vetoed Congress’s tariff bill, he turned his own party against him and, in their fury, the Whigs moved to impeach him. Rick Perry got the short end of the stick—he only got to veto the bill once before receiving his official chastisement.
Looking back through history and seeing the treatment of President John Tyler, it becomes easier to realize how quickly partisan politics can come into effect. In 1842, Congress and the Whigs had no grounds to try to impeach John Tyler—he had simply issued a veto on a piece of legislation with which he did not agree. The Whigs in Congress moved to impeach Tyler because he had abandoned his party in light of standing up for what he believed—and simply overturning the veto would have been too boring and drab. The same goes for Governor Rick Perry. Since when was a governor not allowed to veto a piece of legislation with which he disagreed, no matter the reason? And to those who say that Perry’s situation is different because he “threatened” to veto the funding before he actually did so, as if we haven’t heard a president warn Congress that he would veto a piece of legislation even if it passed both chambers, just look back to July 30 when President Obama “threatened… to veto the House’s border-spending bill.”
Where there is government, there will be partisan politics and there will be threats as politicians vie for power to get their way. We don’t have to watch House of Cards to discover that.
In the same way Congress was unable to impeach John Tyler (the motion failed 98 to 90), Rick Perry’s indictment charges will soon fall flat. In short, Rick Perry’s indictment is nothing new—rather this may serve as a precursor to a successful 2016 bid.
Modern-day John Tyler anyone?
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I am writing an essay on the price of revenge - based off of Hamlet. What are some specific ideas I may write about ? Or certain paragraph topics?I am writing about the cost HAMLET had to pay,...
I am writing about the cost HAMLET had to pay, not anyone else.
Please help me!
Expert Answers
mstultz72 eNotes educator| Certified Educator
In Hamlet, Hamlet must decide if his taking personal revenge against Claudius is worth his not only sending his father's soul to heaven (which is trapped in Purgatory) but also sending his and Claudius' soul to hell.
Hamlet's father, the revenge ghost, has placed Hamlet in a precarious moral quandary. As a Christian, Hamlet knows that revenge is a antiquated, if not pagan form of retribution which certainly compromises him spiritually. After all, Christians believe in forgiveness, "turning the other cheek," and "loving your enemies." To carry out a personal vendetta (murder) against a king (regicide) would certainly cost Hamlet not only his life (by death or imprisonment) but also his soul (condemned to hell). As such, Hamlet is spiritually conflicted: does he trust the ghost, who could be tricking him as an agent of hell?
In the end, Hamlet achieves a way to get to heaven: he is a victim of murder BEFORE he takes his revenge. In other words, Hamlet only kills Claudius after Claudius has poisoned him. This way, Hamlet is achieving not so much revenge but a kind of justice (immediate capital punishment) against the king.
amarang9 eNotes educator| Certified Educator
In many revenge plays, and in real life, violence begets violence. One death often leads to another. Call it “an eye for an eye,” if you want, but violence tends to feed on itself exponentially and this is clear in many of Shakespeare’s plays where it has become almost cliché or a parody to note how so many characters die in some of the tragedies. So, the price is simply put: the potential for more death.
There is also the length Hamlet goes to get this revenge. Claudius initiates the violence in the play and Hamlet is aware that this causes disorder and ‘something rotten’ in the state of Denmark. But Hamlet eventually accepts the disorder as a prison and focuses all his energy on his own revenge, so it becomes as much about his need for revenge as it is for his father or to restore order to Denmark. In this sense, Hamlet acts selfishly, which leads to another price: the total alienation of all his friends, family and Ophelia, whose suicide is a direct result of Hamlet’s fundamentalist attitude about this revenge, which is ‘the end justifies the means.’ So, people will suffer as Hamlet makes his methodical but unwavering march to revenge.
mitchrich4199 eNotes educator| Certified Educator
To start, Hamlet pays with his life, as do many other characters in the play. With that in mind, you could certainly talk about how his actions of revenge cause these deaths. For instance, Ophelia's death comes at his hands in a way. Whether she committed suicide or not, he still blames himself for it. Additionally, he kills Polonius thinking he was Claudius. While he doesn't blame himself for this one, it has a heavy price tag. What's interesting is that you have to consider that there's a necessity for revenge as well. Does Hamlet consider all of this before he starts? Not really, BUT, when he kills Polonius, you can tell that he sees it as Polonius's own fault. He calls him a tedious old fool.
Lori Steinbach eNotes educator| Certified Educator
Hamlet loses everything.
People: his father, his mother, his friends, his girl
Trust: in love, in appearances, in title, in integrity, in truth
Life: his position, his hopes and aspirations, his life.
His one gain, killing the man who killed his father, costs him everything else.
ij24 | Student
You can try focusing on how the people in search of revenge and up becoming miserable for living with so much bitterness in their hearts.
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Name two modern tycoons in industries such as computer technology and entertainment. In what ways are they similar to "tycoons" in American history such as Carnegie, Morgan, or Rockefeller?
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kapokkid eNotes educator| Certified Educator
One modern tycoon in the computer technology arena would be Bill Gates. By coming up with a widely-adopted operating system, Gates helped build Microsoft into a massive and incredibly powerful company that maintains a huge market-share to this day. Just like Carnegie and other tycoons, he has used every possible advantage to build the company and strengthen the bottom line. This is not just limited to pushing research and development but also includes lobbying efforts to gain advantages through legislation and protection or to fight off competitors.
Like those tycoons, Gates has also tried to find positive ways to use his wealth to benefit society, the largest effort being the Gates foundation into which he has poured billions of dollars to benefit education and other public-welfare causes.
A "tycoon" from the modern entertainment industry could be Jay-Z. He's been an innovator and massively successful and used one success to lead to the next by branching out and strengthening his brand. He too has tried to find ways to be charitable, and sometimes seems to match his charitable efforts to perceived arrogance or other public relations problems.
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Part 2 of norovirus and shellfish
The oyster is a shellfish that can be absorbed by the virus, such as found in the seawater, the bad ones, filtered and accumulate in the bodies of their own.
So, it is said that if oyster grow in a place where the sea has been polluted, and the water is clean.
Oysters, have been told to hosts like norovirus, in places where environmental pollution have proceeded, these bivalves such as oysters existence is actually very important.
Oyster is swallowed along with the large amount of sea water plankton, then, since the discharge of seawater, but should I also be discharged virus in that case, the structure of the shell, squid does not seem so.
I think I have seen a live clams and clam everyone, and have seen the moment you put a lot of water.
I will be hoarding the virus in the body because it already, that minute, when that is, water that has been cleaned.
Why, shellfish or it become the source of infection has been described and for the flow of the river earlier, the sewage, of course, a good place for shellfish grow is where there are a lot of plankton which is food.
If so, that downstream near the river that are suitable, these places are often has become a place of shellfish farming.
Based on a lot of things seem also, why norovirus, or have entered the shell, if you know why, oysters instead of bad, bad man.
So, is a non-oyster shell, Why is not there that you have accumulated in the virus as oyster?
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Friday, June 26, 2009
Gold Standard
In most countries central banks control the supply of money. In the United States the Fed increases the supply of money by buying treasury bills on the open market or by buying bonds issued directly by the U.S. Treasury. The Treasury Secretary (currently Geithner) is a cabinet member in the presidential administration and can thus be pressured to sell bonds to allow the federal government to increase spending. If the Fed submits to the will of the Treasury by buying bonds whenever the federal government wants to spend money, there is a significant danger of inflation. Marriner S. Eccles was important in American history because he was a strong advocate of Fed independence. There is an inverse correlation between central bank independence and inflation.
Many people have argued that a gold standard is one way to ensure that federal government lives within its means. A gold standard, in theory, could prevent central banks from printing too much money and thereby causing rampant inflation.
One problem with a gold-backed currency (or a silver-backed currency, or any other –backed currency) is that the government determines the value of the currency. It mandates that, say, $20 is equal to an ounce of gold. If the government sets the gold/dollar exchange rate (as it did throughout the 1800s), the government can modify the exchange rate to reduce debt through inflation. The U.S. federal government did exactly this prior to World War II.
According Milton Friedman: “I think those people who say they believe in a gold standard are fundamentally being very anti-libertarian because what they mean by a gold standard is a governmentally fixed price for gold.” Of course, a gold standard where the dollar/gold exchange rate is determined by the market would not have the same “immoral” problem, but that’s not what most people argue for when they say we should return to the gold standard.
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Thursday, February 14, 2013
The Judgement of Paris (Happy Valentine's Day)
(mobile readers please scroll down to read the post)
The Judgement of Paris is a well-known ancient myth, in which three goddesses -- Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite -- contend for a golden apple and the title of most beautiful, to be judged by Paris. To sway the judge of the contest, each offers a gift should she be chosen: Hera offering rulership and power, Athena fame and heroism, and Aphrodite offering the most beautiful woman in the world as a lover. Paris' choice leads to the Trojan War, as the most beautiful woman in the world (his choice, of course) is already married.
Surviving accounts from many ancient authors depict the Judgement of Paris, stretching back at least to the sixth or seventh century BC. A version of the Judgment of Paris takes place near the climactic point of the Golden Ass (or the Metamorphoses) of Apuleius, near the end of Book X. In this case, the famous judgement is enacted in the arena, and Apuleius has his protagonist Lucius (still trapped in the form of a donkey) relate the deciding moment, along with commentary on the decision:
Presently the flutes began sweetly to harmonize in the honeyed Lydian modulations, which thrilled and relaxed the audience. But that was nothing to the thrill when Venus began to dance quietly in tune with the music, making slow delaying steps, sinuously bending her body, and moving her gracious arms. Every delicate movement that she made was answered by the warbling flute -- one moment her eyes were gently drowsy; the next moment they flashed passionately; and sometimes she seemed to dance with her eyes alone. As soon as she had come near the umpire, she was perceived to promise by her tokening arms that if he selected her as winner she would grant him as wife the most beautiful woman in the world -- a woman like Venus. Gladly then did the Phrygian youth hand her the golden apple, the symbol of her unconquerable beauty.
O why do you wonder if those dregs of humanity, those forensic cattle, those gowned vultures, the judges now sell their decisions for cash? Even at the world's infancy a bribe could corrupt judgement in a question agitated between gods and men; and a young fellow (a rustic and a shepherd) appointed judge by the counsels of great Jove sold the first judicial decision for the lucre of lust, thereby entailing damnation on mankind. 232, translation by Jack Lindsay.
The concluding comment by Apuleius (through Lucius) is very interesting -- it seems that he is blaming the "damnation" of mankind on the Judgement of Paris, or more specifically on the choice of Paris to be captured by lust for beauty.
In an essay entitled "Prudentia and Providentia, Book XI in Context" (beginning on page 86 here) Luca Graverini of the University of Siena at Arezzo argues that The Golden Ass is in many ways a study in judgement, and more often than not, a study in bad judgement (most often the bad judgement of Lucius), saying "Lucius is like an Odysseus without his traditional prudentia, an Odysseus who gave in to the enchantments of the Sirens" (93).
If so, and if (as is fairly apparent from the entirety of the Golden Ass) the tale is an exploration of the human condition, trapped in the form of a brute and struggling to transcend the ridiculous and often violent conditions he finds all around him, then it is quite likely that Apuleius, who brings the Judgement of Paris into his tale at this climactic moment, saw it as something more than just a tale of the choice between three different goddesses.
Given the mystical aspects of the tale, particularly at the end immediately following this arena scene, it is not too much of a stretch to say that the Golden Ass is probing the nature of the psyche itself (given that the tale of Psyche and Eros also occupies a very prominent and central point in the narrative) -- in other words, examining the question of how our psyche or animating and spiritual aspect came to be enmeshed or enfleshed in a physical existence, and what our purpose is while we are in this material world.
That this judgement concerns every human being and not just some individual named Paris who lived centuries ago is also intimated by the fact that the Judgement of Paris is usually depicted as taking place upon a mountain, or even within a mountain -- which is often a mythological way of saying within the dome-shaped "mountain" which every person possesses; in other words, the head. Most often, the Judgement of Paris is said to take place on or within Mt. Ida, and indeed in Apuleius' version a wooden mock-up of Mt. Ida is present in the arena to make this clear.
Santos Bonacci would point out that the human body has a corresponding Ida, along with the Pingala, which are the intertwined channels which convey consciousness within the microcosm of the human body. In fact, the Ida (appropriately enough for the Judgement of Paris) is considered to be the feminine of the intertwined Ida and Pingala, while the Pingala is considered to be solar and masculine.
All of this is worth deeply considering and meditating upon.
It is interesting to conclude by noting that while Lucius seems to condemn the decision of Paris, it is the goddess Isis who rescues him in the resolution of the conflict of the tale in the next chapter, in which he is finally granted the ability to shed his beastly hide and proceed along a path of successively greater understanding.
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Date of Award
Document Type
Degree Name
Master of Arts
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Germany launched a devastating submarine campaign against the merchant marine traffic along the eastern seaboard of America. The antisubmarine defenses mounted by the United States were insufficient in the first months of 1942. This thesis examines how the United States Navy, in cooperation with the Army and the Coast Guard, began antisubmarine operations to protect the Chesapeake Bay and the surrounding area from the menace of Germany's U-boats during the first year of America's participation in World War II.
This thesis complements the other histories of antisubmarine warfare during World War II, seeking to cover new ground by examining the defenses of Chesapeake Bay region in the antisubmarine campaign. Given the circumstances the nation faced at the start of the conflict, it was impossible to prevent the initial slaughter suffered by the merchant vessels off the Virginia shores.
The thesis relies primarily upon the records held at the Naval Historical Center in Washington, D.C. Other sources include museums and archives throughout the Tidewater area, official histories, local historians, chronicles kept in private collections, and newspaper accounts.
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Discover the most talked about and latest scientific content & concepts.
Concept: Telomere
Disadvantaged social environments are associated with adverse health outcomes. This has been attributed, in part, to chronic stress. Telomere length (TL) has been used as a biomarker of chronic stress: TL is shorter in adults in a variety of contexts, including disadvantaged social standing and depression. We use data from 40, 9-y-old boys participating in the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to extend this observation to African American children. We report that exposure to disadvantaged environments is associated with reduced TL by age 9 y. We document significant associations between low income, low maternal education, unstable family structure, and harsh parenting and TL. These effects were moderated by genetic variants in serotonergic and dopaminergic pathways. Consistent with the differential susceptibility hypothesis, subjects with the highest genetic sensitivity scores had the shortest TL when exposed to disadvantaged social environments and the longest TL when exposed to advantaged environments.
Concepts: Family, Scientific method, Sociology, Child, Telomere, Magnetic susceptibility, The Fragile, Highly sensitive person
Life history theory (LHT) predicts a trade-off between reproductive effort and the pace of biological aging. Energy invested in reproduction is not available for tissue maintenance, thus having more offspring is expected to lead to accelerated senescence. Studies conducted in a variety of non-human species are consistent with this LHT prediction. Here we investigate the relationship between the number of surviving children born to a woman and telomere length (TL, a marker of cellular aging) over 13 years in a group of 75 Kaqchikel Mayan women. Contrary to LHT’s prediction, women who had fewer children exhibited shorter TLs than those who had more children (p = 0.045) after controlling for TL at the onset of the 13-year study period. An “ultimate” explanation for this apparently protective effect of having more children may lay with human’s cooperative-breeding strategy. In a number of socio-economic and cultural contexts, having more chilren appears to be linked to an increase in social support for mothers (e.g., allomaternal care). Higher social support, has been argued to reduce the costs of further reproduction. Lower reproductive costs may make more metabolic energy available for tissue maintenance, resulting in a slower pace of cellular aging. At a “proximate” level, mechanisms involved may include the actions of the gonadal steroid estradiol, which increases dramatically during pregnancy. Estradiol is known to protect TL from the effects of oxidative stress as well as increase telomerase activity, an enzyme that maintains TL. Future research should explore the potential role of social support as well as that of estradiol and other potential biological pathways in the trade-offs between reproductive effort and the pace of cellular aging within and among human as well as in non-human populations.
Concepts: Human, Reproduction, Metabolism, Senescence, Organism, Reproductive system, Telomerase, Telomere
There is increasing interest in discovering mechanisms that mediate the effects of childhood stress on late-life disease morbidity and mortality. Previous studies have suggested one potential mechanism linking stress to cellular aging, disease and mortality in humans: telomere erosion. We examined telomere erosion in relation to children’s exposure to violence, a salient early-life stressor, which has known long-term consequences for well-being and is a major public-health and social-welfare problem. In the first prospective-longitudinal study with repeated telomere measurements in children while they experienced stress, we tested the hypothesis that childhood violence exposure would accelerate telomere erosion from age 5 to age 10 years. Violence was assessed as exposure to maternal domestic violence, frequent bullying victimization and physical maltreatment by an adult. Participants were 236 children (49% females; 42% with one or more violence exposures) recruited from the Environmental-Risk Longitudinal Twin Study, a nationally representative 1994-1995 birth cohort. Each child’s mean relative telomere length was measured simultaneously in baseline and follow-up DNA samples, using the quantitative PCR method for T/S ratio (the ratio of telomere repeat copy numbers to single-copy gene numbers). Compared with their counterparts, the children who experienced two or more kinds of violence exposure showed significantly more telomere erosion between age-5 baseline and age-10 follow-up measurements, even after adjusting for sex, socioeconomic status and body mass index (B=-0.052, s.e.=0.021, P=0.015). This finding provides support for a mechanism linking cumulative childhood stress to telomere maintenance, observed already at a young age, with potential impact for life-long health.
Concepts: Cohort study, Epidemiology, Senescence, Sociology, Body mass index, Ratio, Telomere, Abuse
Concepts: Death, Senescence, Biology, Cell division, Telomerase, Telomere, Immortality
Leucocyte telomere length (LTL) shortening is associated with cardiovascular ischemic events and mortality in humans, but data on its association with subclinical atherosclerosis are scarce. Whether the incidence and severity of subclinical atherosclerosis are associated with the abundance of critically short telomeres, a major trigger of cellular senescence, remains unknown.
Concepts: Death, Senescence, Cell division, Radical, Telomerase, Telomere, Maximum life span, Immortality
A major interest has recently emerged in understanding how telomere shortening, mechanism triggering cell senescence, is linked to organism ageing and life history traits in wild species. However, the links between telomere length and key history traits such as reproductive performances have received little attention and remain unclear to date. The leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea is a long-lived species showing rapid growth at early stages of life, one of the highest reproductive outputs observed in vertebrates and a dichotomised reproductive pattern related to migrations lasting 2 or 3 years, supposedly associated with different environmental conditions. Here we tested the prediction of blood telomere shortening with age in this species and investigated the relationship between blood telomere length and reproductive performances in leatherback turtles nesting in French Guiana. We found that blood telomere length did not differ between hatchlings and adults. The absence of blood telomere shortening with age may be related to an early high telomerase activity. This telomere-restoring enzyme was formerly suggested to be involved in preventing early telomere attrition in early fast-growing and long-lived species, including squamate reptiles. We found that within one nesting cycle, adult females having performed shorter migrations prior to the considered nesting season had shorter blood telomeres and lower reproductive output. We propose that shorter blood telomeres may result from higher oxidative stress in individuals breeding more frequently (i.e., higher costs of reproduction) and/or restoring more quickly their body reserves in cooler feeding areas during preceding migration (i.e., higher foraging costs). This first study on telomeres in the giant leatherback turtle suggests that blood telomere length predicts not only survival chances, but also reproductive performances. Telomeres may therefore be a promising new tool to evaluate individual reproductive quality which could be useful in such species of conservation concern.
Concepts: Senescence, Organism, Turtle, Telomere, Costa Rica, Hawksbill turtle, Leatherback turtle, Sea turtle
Single-molecule techniques facilitate analysis of mechanical transitions within nucleic acids and proteins. Here, we describe an integrated fluorescence and magnetic tweezers instrument that permits detection of nanometer-scale DNA structural rearrangements together with the application of a wide range of stretching forces to individual DNA molecules. We have analyzed the force-dependent equilibrium and rate constants for telomere DNA G-quadruplex (GQ) folding and unfolding, and have determined the location of the transition state barrier along the well-defined DNA-stretching reaction coordinate. Our results reveal the mechanical unfolding pathway of the telomere DNA GQ is characterized by a short distance (<1 nm) to the transition state for the unfolding reaction. This mechanical unfolding response reflects a critical contribution of long-range interactions to the global stability of the GQ fold, and suggests that telomere-associated proteins need only disrupt a few base pairs to destabilize GQ structures. Comparison of the GQ unfolded state with a single-stranded polyT DNA revealed the unfolded GQ exhibits a compacted non-native conformation reminiscent of the protein molten globule. We expect the capacity to interrogate macromolecular structural transitions with high spatial resolution under conditions of low forces will have broad application in analyses of nucleic acid and protein folding.
Concepts: DNA, Protein, Protein structure, Base pair, Protein folding, Hydrogen bond, Telomere, Nucleotide
The establishment of a specific nucleoprotein structure, the telomere, is required to ensure the protection of chromosome ends from being recognized as DNA damage sites. Telomere shortening below a critical length triggers a DNA damage response that leads to replicative senescence. In normal human somatic cells, characterized by telomere shortening with each cell division, telomere uncapping is a regulated process associated with cell turnover. Nevertheless, telomere dysfunction has also been associated with genomic instability, cell transformation, and cancer. Despite the essential role telomeres play in chromosome protection and in tumorigenesis, our knowledge of the chromatin structure involved in telomere maintenance is still limited. Here we review the recent findings on chromatin modifications associated with the dynamic changes of telomeres from protected to deprotected state and their role in telomere functions.
Concepts: DNA, Cell nucleus, Senescence, Histone, Cell division, Chromosome, Telomere, Chromatin
The G-quadruplex ligands database (G4LDB, provides a unique collection of reported G-quadruplex ligands to streamline ligand/drug discovery targeting G-quadruplexes. G-quadruplexes are guanine-rich nucleic acid sequences in human telomeres and gene promoter regions. There is a growing recognition for their profound roles in a wide spectrum of diseases, such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Ligands that affect the structure and activity of G-quadruplexes can shed light on the search for G-quadruplex-targeting drugs. Therefore, we built the G4LDB to (i) compile a data set covering various physical properties and 3D structure of G-quadruplex ligands; (ii) provide Web-based tools for G-quadruplex ligand design; and (iii) to facilitate the discovery of novel therapeutic and diagnostic agents targeting G-quadruplexes. G4LDB currently contains >800 G-quadruplex ligands with ∼4000 activity records, which, to our knowledge, is the most extensive collection of its kind. It offers a user friendly interface that can meet a variety of data inquiries from researchers. For example, ligands can be searched for by name, molecular properties, structures, ligand activities and so on. Building on the reported data, the database also provides an online ligand design module that can predict ligand binding affinity in real time.
Concepts: DNA, Gene, Cancer, Promoter, Ligand, RNA polymerase, G-quadruplex, Telomere
Stress over the lifespan is thought to promote accelerated aging and early disease. Telomere length is a marker of cell aging that appears to be one mediator of this relationship. Telomere length is associated with early adversity and with chronic stressors in adulthood in many studies. Although cumulative lifespan adversity should have bigger impacts than single events, it is also possible that adversity in childhood has larger effects on later life health than adult stressors, as suggested by models of biological embedding in early life. No studies have examined the individual vs. cumulative effects of childhood and adulthood adversities on adult telomere length. Here, we examined the relationship between cumulative childhood and adulthood adversity, adding up a range of severe financial, traumatic, and social exposures, as well as comparing them to each other, in relation to salivary telomere length. We examined 4,598 men and women from the US Health and Retirement Study. Single adversities tended to have nonsignificant relations with telomere length. In adjusted models, lifetime cumulative adversity predicted 6% greater odds of shorter telomere length. This result was mainly due to childhood adversity. In adjusted models for cumulative childhood adversity, the occurrence of each additional childhood event predicted 11% increased odds of having short telomeres. This result appeared mainly because of social/traumatic exposures rather than financial exposures. This study suggests that the shadow of childhood adversity may reach far into later adulthood in part through cellular aging.
Concepts: DNA, Senescence, Biology, Telomere, Adult, Coming of age
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International Shinkendo Federation
The International Shinkendo Federation is an organization dedicated to teaching authentic Japanese swordsmanship. Shinkendo emphasizes traditional and effective swordsmanship, which, with serious training, leads to both practical ability as well as an understanding of classical martial arts. It is steeped in the traditions of the Samurai, such as Heiho (strategy), physical training, and proper Bushido etiquette and philosophy (Scott, 1998).
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Cervical cancer screening (Pap test) is a test that can find abnormal cells in the cervix before they become cancer. This is done by looking at your cervix through a speculum, brushing or gently scratching a few cells from the cervix, putting them on a slide, and sending them for analysis at the BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver. Results usually take about 4-6 weeks. If any abnormal cells are found, then we refer you to the Colposcopy Clinic. Having regular Pap tests can prevent 7 out of 10 cases of cervical cancer. years.
Most cervical cancer is caused by HPV, the Human Papilloma Virus- specifically strains 16 and 18. There 2 vaccines that are approved to prevent HPV; Gardisil® and Cervarix®. To get the vaccine, call the clinic. To learn more, click here.
Women age 25-69 should be screened every 3 years. You still should get a Pap test if you have had the vaccine, have only 1 sexual partner, are in a same sex relationship or are not having sex. You can stop at age 69 if your results have always been normal.
Cervical Cancer Screening (Pap test)
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red meat on grill Millions of people will grill meat this fourth of July. Flickr/sheilaz413
Humidity is rising and thermometers are creeping into the triple digits — all signs that summer is here.
Between pool parties and delicious cold brews, millions of people are firing up their grills and throwing on tenderloins, flank steaks, pork shoulder and many more combinations of savory meats to celebrate summer.
But what actually happens to the meat when it hits high heat that makes it so mouthwatering?
The video below, from our friends at the American Chemical Society, explains the delicious chemical reactions that transform a bloody chunk of meat into a tasty browned steak.
Before it touches the grill
A common misconception is that the red color of meat comes from blood, but the muscle's ruby red hue actually stems from the animal's behavior. Cows spend a ton of time standing, so their muscles must be able to withstand their weight for long stretches of time without fatiguing.
This creates lots of slow-twitch muscle fibers, which are more efficient at consuming oxygen and transforming it into energy because they contain more of a special protein called myoglobin, which turns red when it's bound to oxygen. The more myoglobin a piece of meat has, the redder it will be.
The same thing happens in the muscles of people who engage in endurance sports, like marathons and long-distance swimming.
YouTube/Reactions Slow-twitch muscles take a long time to fatigue; which is perfect for cows who are on their feet all day.
If a package of meat appears grayish, the video explains, it just means that the meat's myoglobin isn't attached to oxygen. When you open the package and re-expose the meat to air, the surface of the meat will regain its ruby tint.
Eventually, however, oxygen-exposed meat will turn back to gray — a sign that it's gone bad.
To side-step this, many grocery stores package their meat under carbon monoxide — the carbon monoxide stops the oxygen from reacting with the muscle over time, keeping it red.
Get that charcoal out
To perfect that barbecue flavor, you need some charcoal. While gas is convenient, it totally misses the mark in terms of good barbecue.
Many people don't realize that charcoal is actually wood that's been heated in the absence of oxygen. Wood chips contain a chemical compound called lignin which, when fired up, gets broken down and produces another compound called guaiacol. The guaiacol in the charcoal is what then produces that deep, smokey wood fired flavor.
lignin and guaiacol red meat
And if that isn't enough, when juices from the meat drip onto the charcoal, they produce even more delicious-tasting compounds that float upwards and saturate the meat with even more flavor.
Fire it up
The heat of the grill also changes that myoglobin — above 140 Fahrenheit, the molecule unfolds to the point where it can't hold onto oxygen and turns a tan color due to a compound called hemichrome. At about 170 Fahrenheit, myoglobin unfolds again into a new structure called metmyoglobin, which looks a darker grayish brown.
But the "holy grail of all culinary chemical reactions," according to the video, is when the Maillard reaction rearranges the amino acids and sugars in the muscle meat to produce the quintessential browned color and mouthwatering taste of barbecue.
This rearrangement occurs at around 285 Fahrenheit giving browned meat its distinctive color and flavor.
Overzealous grillers beware
It may be tempting to go overboard with that char to get more grilly flavor, but searing your meat into oblivion has some pretty nasty consequences. Not only does the meat lose its mouth-watering flavor and texture, but it also produces potentially cancer-causing compounds.
This can all be avoided by cooking your meat at lower temperatures and flipping it often. Insider tip: Invest in a meat thermometer to make sure your meat isn't overdone.
charred meat is bad That deep black char is generally not good for you. YouTube/Reactions
Happy barbecuing!
Watch the full video, from the American Chemical Society's Reactions channel, on YouTube:
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Secchi, (Pietro) Angelo
(b. Reggio nell’ Emilia, Italy, 18 June 1818: d. Rome, Italy, 26 February 1878)
astronomy, astrophysics.
Secchi’s father was a cabinetmaker, and the family was of modest circumstances. Secchi himself attended the Jesuit school in Reggio nell’Emilia, then, toward the end of 1833, when he was fifteen, entered the Jesuit novitiate in Rome. Two years later he entered the Collegio Romano, where he distinguished himself in a course that included physics and mathematics. In 1841 he was appointed instructor in these subjects at the Jesuit college in Loreto and soon became known for the originatily of his lectures. Between 1844 and 1848 Secchi was obliged to return to his theological studies, but was able simultaneously to continue his astronomical work under Francesco de Vico, director of the observatory of the Collegio Romano and professor of astronomy at the Gregorian University in Rome.
When the Jesuits were expelled from Rome in 1848. Secchi went first to the flourishing Jesuit college at Stonyhurst, Lancashire, England. He then established himself at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he acted as assistant to the director of the observatory, Father P. Curley and made further studies in both theoretical and practical astronomy. He met the hydrographer M. F. Maury, and became acquainted with Maury’s important meteorological works. In 1849 the ban against the Jesuits was lifted, and Secchi was able to return to Rome, where he took up an appointment as director of the observatory of the Collegio Romano.
Secchi recognized immediately that the observatory and its equipment were inadequate. He determined both to build a new observatory and to reshape the course of the research to be performed there, placing a new emphasis on astrophysics. His predecessor de Vico had already conducted important observations on comets, the rotation of Venus, and the satellites of Saturn, and Secchi, using the outmoded instruments of the old installation, began to examine the physical aspect of the ring of Saturn. In 1851 he began to study the sun, measuring the intensity of solar radiation with a thermoelectric pile, a technique previously employed by Joseph Henry to determine the temperature of a sunspot. Secchi first measured the radiation of the sun during the eclipse of 1851, then applied this method to the full solar disk in an attempt to establish the relationship between the temperature of the disk at its center and that at its edges. In the course of his work during the eclipse he made several daguerreotypes that must be reckoned among the earliest applications of photography in the study of the celestial bodies. His results indicated that the center of the solar disk emits almost twice as much radiation as does its borders.
The following year Secchi collated the two fragments into which Biela’s comet had split during its appearance in 1846. He was able to observe a weak star through one of the segments, and was thereby able to demonstrate the thinness of the matter of which the comet was constituted. In 1853 Secchi discovered a comet with a multiple nucleus. He was, during this period in which astronomers were first beginning to understand the true nature of comets, more interested in determining their physical composition than in observing their position, and his interest extended to falling stars, which he introduced as a subject for study by his students at the Collegio Romano. His own observations led him to the conclusion that falling stars were of cosmic origin and thus paved the way for the work of Schiaparelli. At about the same time he made his first investigations of nebulae, by which he sought to confirm the results obtained by William Herschel, James Clark Ross, William Huggins, and Hermann Vogel.
Secchi was further engaged in preparing the new observatory that was being constructed over the church of St. Ignatius, part of the Collegio Romano. He installed a Merz equatorial telescope with an aperture of 24.5 centimeters and a focal distance of 4.3 meters, and with it resumed his observations of Saturn. With the new instrument, Secchi was able to determine the physical characteristics of the planet, including its polar flattening and the eccentricity of its ring. Having made further observations of Mars, during its opposition of 1859, Secchi announced that he had seen two permanent “canals” between the two reddish equatorial continents of that planet: he thus introduced a term which was widely taken up by his successors. In the same year he made studies of the moon, during which he measured and and made a detailed drawing of the crater of Copernicus for the purpose of noting seasonal variations, should such occur. He attempted to apply photography to the study of that body, but determined that his refractor was not suitable for photographic use, since its visual objective was corrected for the human eye, rather than for the special qualities of photographic emulsions.
About 1860 Secchi began to make observations and drawings of Jupiter. He noted that disturbances similar to terrestrial storms occurred in its atmosphere and, with the Merz objective, studied its satellites in some detail. In particular, he observed the spots on the Jovian moons, their periods of rotation about their axes, and the characteristics of their reflected light. He made spectroscopic studies of both Jupiter and Saturn and discovered the presence of special absorption bands in their spectra, which led him to conclude that the atmospheres of these planets contained elements different from terrestrial ones. He also made note of the almost permanent transparency of the atmosphere of Mars and proved that Uranus and Neptune do not have discontinuous spectra, but rather demonstrate bands that have the same qualities (although of much greater intensity) as those that he had found in the spectra of Jupiter and Saturn.
Secchi soon turned his attention to the sun. From the beginning he was convinced of the applicability of his research to a wide variety of celestial and terrestrial phenomena, a belief that he later summed up (in the introduction to his Le soleil), when he wrote that
Whatever our researches and [whatever] the knowledge that we acquire from them, it will not be in our power to regulate the influence of the sun. Nevertheless, the action of this star is too intimately related to the phenomena of life, heat, and light to render useless the studies that may enable us to investigate its nature. And, on the other hand, who knows whether or not an intimate relationship may exist between certain solar phenomena and some terrestrial ones that it would be important for us to predict with some degree of certainty?
Secchi made use of a good helioscopic eyepiece and projections to observe, on the photosphere, a great number of small luminous granules. These granules were of a variety of sizes and shapes, although the commonest were oval: they stood out upon a darker (although not entirely black) ground. This granulation was broken, most notably at the edges of the disk, by luminous tongues, which Secchi named “facole,” and by the small black holes (which he called “pori”) that are the points from which sunspots originate. Secchi noted that the luminous granules represented the extremities of columns of the warmer gases that arise from the cooler and less luminous solar surfaces. Having observed that the formation of sunspots, which generally appeared after a period of surface agitation, was usually accompanied by the appearance of less brilliant luminous tongues (now called “flares”), Secchi determined to investigate them. He concluded that these flares were, in fact, complex groups of gases with several nuclei (or dark central shadows), surrounded by halfshadows.
Secchi also observed the chromospheric eruptions that cross the nuclei of sunspots and split them into segments. It was clear to him that such wide, rapid, and complex surface movements could not occur in a solid substance, and he therefore suggested that the entire photosphere must be composed of an elastic fluid, similar to a gas, through which the sunspots move in a manner similar to terrestrial cyclones. He noticed that these vortices are more frequent during a period in which sunspots are being formed, when the surface movements that create the spots create currents that converge toward the nuclei. This represented further evidence of the gaseous nature of the sunspots and of the photosphere. Secchi lastly applied the law of diminution of angular velocity to the movement of sunspots from the equator to the poles of the solar surface to ascertain that the sun, or at least the photosphere, moves in accordance or at least the photosphere, moves in accordance with the laws that govern a fluid mass.
Secchi wished to study the sun spectroscopically, and to that end commissioned Hofmann and Merz to construct spectroscopes incorporating a series of prisms, while G. B. Amici constructed instruments for direct viewing. Taking up Kirchhoff’s researches. Secchi demonstrated that the absorbing stratum of the sun, later identified as an inversion layer, must be very thin. With a large dispersion spectroscope, which he attached to the Merz equatorial. Secchi was able to observe the inversion of the hydrogen line on the chromosphere, which occurred an instant before the appearance of the dark D lines of Fraunhofer. Since the continuous spectra, with the exception of a few lines of sodium and magnesia, were also inverted, Secchi concluded that the stratum that in that instant partially inverts the dark lines of certain metals (such as the rose stratum of the chromosphere) also inverts the dark lines of hydrogen. This spectral analysis provided further confirmation of a solar atmosphere similar to the terrestrial one, although containing many lines of unknown origin, possibly those of elements that did not exist on earth. Secchi’s spectroscopic examination of sunspots led him to recognize that the lines they exhibit are those of the solar atmosphere, although more or less widened, intensified, or weakened.
Secchi also realized the importance of observing the chromosphere and the corona during total eclipses of the sun. His first opportunity to do so occurred in 1860, when the totality of a solar eclipse was visible in Spain. Secchi traveled to Desierto de las Palmas, near Castellön de la Plana, where he made observations with a Cauchoix refractor; he then compared his results with those De la Rue had made with a Kew photoheliograph at Rivabellosa. Secchi thus concluded that the prominences seen during the eclipse were real, rather than a play of light as some had suggested; that they were solar in origin; and that the corona was also real and thicker at the equator than at the poles, and thickest at forty-five degrees. After the 1868 eclipse Secchi used the technique, simultaneously developed by Janssen and Lockyer, of enlarging the aperture of the spectroscope directed toward the solar border to observe the prominences and chromosphere in full sunlight. He applied this method further in 1869, when he began, with Respighi, the series of observations of the “spectroscopic images of the solar border” that he published in Memorie della Societä degli spettroscopisti italiani in the following year.
Secchi also published a number of observations on solar prominences in his treatise Le soleil, issued in French in 1875–1877. This work was illustrated with magnificent color plates of the chromosphere and of the vaious types of prominences. Among those shown were the small flames (now called “spiculae”) that he observed in the region of sunspots, converging toward the center of the eruption. These, he noted, became higher, more slender, and extremely luminous at the solar poles, where considerable activity manifested itself even during periods of relative calm on the solar surface. He classified the prominences as “quiescent” and “eruptive”—terminology that is still current.
Secchi made an especially careful study of the forces to which solar prominences are subjected, measuring the velocity of the masses expelled by the sun and their movement in the solar atmosphere. He used the spectroscope to observe the shifts, caused by the Doppler effect, of the lines present in the spectra of the prominences and observed that the expelled matter is not only launched upward but also frequently animated by vortical movements that give a spiral appearance to the luminous spouts. He speculated that the variations in velocity now attributed to the presence of magnetic fields must be caused by an as yet unrecognized periodic force. He observed that secular variations, of very short duration, also occurred at the diameter of the sun, and pointed out that irregularities in the shape of the sun were most apparent during periods of (and in the regions of) maximum photospheric agitation.
While conducting his solar studies, Secchi was further concerned with the study of the physical constitution of comets. During the appearance of the comet of 1861 he observed that the head of the comet of 1861 he observed that the head of the comet emitted jets of discontinuous gases, which formed parabolic envelopes about it and, by a backward movement, produced the tail. In observing the comet in 1862, he was able to see that the jets of gases altered from night to night in correspondence to the comet’s distance from the sun. He established the presence of carbon in the spectrum of the comet of 1866 and noted, in addition to the lines of emission, the continuous spectrum that indicated the existence of direct or reflected light. He found carbon associated with hydrogen or oxygen in the bands exhibited by comets of later years.
In 1862 Secchi, in furtherance of the early work on falling stars that had been performed at the Collegio Romano, carried out simultaneous observations at Rome and at Civitavecchia in order to determine the altitude of falling stars, which he calculated as being between seventy-five and 250 kilometers, with a falling velocity of ninety kilometers per second. From these and later observations he also established the similarity of falling stars, asteroids, and aerolites. Using the spectroscope he demonstrated that all these phenomena contained such metals as iron, magnesium, and sodium; he was particularly active during the rain of fire of 27 November 1872, “in which,” he wrote, “the layers of distant light resemble the surge of snowflakes.”
Secchi’s spectroscopic research on luminous stars began in 1863, when he was visited in Rome by Janssen, who had a small spectroscope with him. Together they attached the spectroscope to a Merz equatorial and observed the stars, communicating their joint findings to the Paris Academy. Secchi and Jannsen found Fraunhofer lines in the stellar spectra they examined, and identified some of these with terrestrial elements: Secchi then began to work with more sophisticated equipment to define the differences in solar spectra already noted by Donati and Huggins. He determined to investigate the spectra of a large number of stars, and set out his plan in a communication to the Pontifica Accademia Tiberinia on 27 January 1868. He prefaced his report with the statement that: “In substance I wanted to see whether, just as the stars are countless, their composition is also proportionately varied. This was my query, and having been fortunate enough to perfect the observation instrument, the harvest was abundant, even more than I had hoped.” The instrument to which he referred was a spectroscope equipped with a luminous aperture with which he could analyze even the weakest stars: with it Secchi was able to recognize a specific spectral type in a number of principal stars.
Secchi then determined to examine other stars by means of simple differential methods. Toward the end of 1869 he decided to adopt the apparatus that Fraunhofer had used, which consisted of a flint prism, fifteen centimeters in diameter, with a refracting angle of twelve degrees. He mounted this prism directly in front of the twenty-three-centimeter objective of the Merz equatorial telescope; he thus obtained greater luminosity and a larger dispersion than had been possible with the direct-vision prism, inserted between the objective and the ocular piece, that had been possible with the direct-vision prism, inserted between the objective and the ocular piece, that he had used previously. He next experimented with a circular prism, constructed by Merz, which he attached to the Cauchoix equatorial, the objective having an aperture equal to that of the prism. With this new combination he discovered that “whereas the stars are very numerous, their spectra are reduced to a few well-defined and distinct forms, which for the sake of brevity we may call types.” He went on to note that he had examined at least 4,000 stars, and was able to divide them into five types, with the high-temperature white stars at one end of the scale This classification still bears Secchi’s name: it was soon adopted almost universally.
Secchi also classified nebulae according to his spectroscopic examination, into planetary, elliptical, and irregular forms. He examined examples of each type and found spectral lines of emission produced both by hydrogen and by elements then unknown on earth. The presence of these unknown elements led him to deduce that some nebulae are masses of pure gas—that is, that not all of them are resolvable into stars—a confirmation of theory put forth by Herschel and accepted by Secchi himself. Of the elliptical nebulae of the external galaxies he was particularly interested in Andromeda, of which he studied the continuous spectrum.
In his observations of Andromeda Secchi noticed two black canals transversing the nebula. It seemed to him that these must be zones of non-luminous matter, projected on the nebula proper and intercepting the light of the stars, a phenomenon that he discovered in other parts of the Milky Way. He noted that it was improbable that these canals should, in fact, represent apertures, particularly given the gaseous nature of nebulae: many years later observations confirmed the presence of dark masses dispersed in space, which are seen projected on the background of a sky made luminous by light-emitting cosmic matter.
Secchi had almost ceased to make observations by 1873, when the Jesuits were again expelled from the Collegio Romano. He was nonetheless allowed to remain at his observatory through the intervention of the government, and he spent his last years preparing his scholarly writings for their final editions. He also continued to publish notes in the Memorie della Società degli spettroscoopisti italiani, of which he had been, with Tacchini, a founder in 1870.
I. Original Works Secchi’s works include Le soleil (Paris, 1875–1877); Le stella (Milan, 1877); and L’astronomia in Roma nel pontificato di Pio IX (Rome, 1877), A complete list of his writings is given by Bricarelli, cited below.
II. Secondary Literature. On Secchi and his works, see G. Abetti. Padre Angelo Secchi (Milan, 1928): and Storia dell’ astronomia (Florence, 1963), 159, 187–203, 205–206, 228–229, 255, 259, 266, 270, 278, 299, 301, 304, 364, 377, 389–391. 395, 401; and Bricarelli, “Della vita e delle opere del P. Angelo Secchi,” in Memorie dell’ Accademia pontificia dei Nuovi Lincei. 4 (1888).
Giorgio Abetti
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Secchi, Pietro Angelo
Pietro Angelo Secchi (pyĕ´trō än´jālō sĕk´kē), 1818–78, Italian astronomer, a Jesuit priest. He was director of the observatory of the Gregorian Univ., Rome, from 1849. He is known especially for his work in spectroscopy and was a pioneer in classifying stars by their spectra. In 1860 he made some notable solar-eclipse photographs. His works include a star catalog (1867).
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Simple Present Tense for The Pronoun HE
Grammar Index : 2
Simple Present Tense for The Pronoun HE :
1. He gets up at 6’O clock every morning.
2. He starts at 8.30am.
3. He brings a letter.
4. He catches a ball.
5. He comes with his friends.
6. He goes to College.
7. He writes stories.
8. He creates websites for many companies.
9. He lives in Mumbai.
10. He likes only rural areas.
11. He does what his father commands him.
12. He wears duel faces.
13. He flies Air India.
14. He waits for his son.
15. He donates $30,000 to this university.
16. He faces criminal charges.
17. He reads only Hindi News Papers.
18. He speaks only Hindi and Tamil.
19. He comes forward to work with his brother.
20. He gives away 30% of his property to a charitable trust.
Grammar Index : 2
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USA Bases in Italy: History of an Understood Submission
From a country defeated by the Second World War and with a significant geopolitical importance, Italy has been subjected to a massive presence of military bases all over the country. By joining the NATO Military Defense Treaty of 4 April 1949, Italy entered and stood officially within the Western bloc as opposed to the Soviet War and the Warsaw Pact, becoming an important logistical-military base for the allied troops, especially for American ones.
Suffice it to think that since the post-war period, the US military presence has guaranteed Washington’s capillary control in the Mediterranean, which was to be defended, according to the Pentagon, by the Soviet threat. The Americans have deposited a considerable number of nuclear warheads in Italy , which still remain active today.
But it is above all in the last thirty years that these foundations, marine, aerial and land have proved to be of great importance: for example, the military intervention against Serbia in the Yugoslav conflict, the peace keeping mission in the newly-born republics ‘area or Libya and the naval logistics supply in the two conflict in Iraq.
The US presence in our country has never been lightened, not even after the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Indeed, it has remained well-founded for three major reasons: for logistical support to the ” export of democracy ” wars in the Mediterranean and the Gulf to maintain a heavy military occupation in Europe and finally to pursue a policy of encircling Russia.
The American bases are disseminated from Friuli to Sicily, and the relationship of the Italian government with their presence has always been totally subjugated . For example, the base of Vicenza, Camp Ederle: former barracks of the Italian army, hosted the first American military in 1955, displaced by Austria, gaining more and more importance over time and implementing the presence of troops to reach 12,000 today’s units, more than 2000 of the Cold War period.
The impact with the Veneto community of the presence of the 12,000 American military in Vicenza is not the best. From 2016 to 2016 there were 113 cases of crimes committed by US military personnel; from rape and tempted sexual violence to raids and assaults. The brilliant fact, however, is in the attitude of the Italian authorities to the crimes: in 93 cases Italy has given up jurisdiction and left the accused, under Article 7 of the 1951 London Convention, to be judged in their country of origin.
The criterion of this attitude is even more shocking as renunciation is made for a simple ” political coexistence ,” according to Vicenza’s chief prosecutor. As in the case of Cermis , where an American warplane crashed the ropes of a cable car causing the deaths of 20 people, these soldiers in the vast majority of cases left to US justice do not pay for the crimes committed.
It seems clear, therefore, that this phantom criterion of “political coexistence” is nothing else but a submission to a military occupation hiding behind the NATO treaties and the flagship “friendship” between Europe and the United States. In a Machiavellian political relationship between the two countries, these Italian favors for the benefit of US citizens, should be rewarded with gestures that are in the national interest of Italy, on the other hand it is clear that to make money is always the North American giant against Italy.
Obviously, in addition to military ones, there are also economic interests behind these attitudes of submission. Italy has to follow precise directions from Brussels and Washington, and the interests of some Italian companies in North America are also lacking.
So realistic in this regard is the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin when he speaks of relations between the US and the allies as well as vassal states living in the centralist viewpoint and waiting for instructions from the Empire.
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Next: The Display Dialog Box Up: Displays Previous: Displays
Drawing Display Rectangles
Use the following steps to draw a display rectangle.
1. Move the mouse cursor to the location at which you want to place the upper left corner of the display rectangle. Press and hold the left mouse button. 2. Holding the left mouse button down, move the cursor to the position at which you want to place the lower right corner of the rectangle. Note that the rectangle appears on the screen as you move the mouse. When you have the cursor in the proper place, release the left mouse button. 3. The display dialog box will appear, prompting you for details concerning the appearance of the display. 4. When you are satisfied with the parameters for the display, press the 'OK' button.
If you later need to change the settings for the display, you may double-click using the left mouse button anywhere in the display to bring up the display dialog box.
Kevin Cooper
Wed Sep 30 15:21:52 PDT 1998
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Polycystic ovaries is an increasingly common condition where numerous fluid filled cysts grow around the ovary. It is currently estimated that polycystic ovaries can be seen on ultrasound in 25% of women. This can prevent ovulation and make the menstrual cycle irregular (generally tending to be longer). Associated symptoms include excessive hair growth, weight gain and acne as there is imbalance in the male/female hormones in the body. It is also a common cause of infertility.
In Chinese medicine, this condition is often seen as the accumulation of dampness (unresolved fluids in the body) which can be caused by the motive force of the uterus (the kidney yang) being insufficient to resolve this dampness. As the dampness grows, it further weakens the yang, allowing more dampness to form and a vicious circle occurs. By tackling both the symptom (the dampness which shows in the cysts themselves) and the underlying cause, the weakness of kidney yang, effective treatment can be made.
A combination of acupuncture and herbal medicine is often the most effective method of treatment. Severe polycystic ovaries is a difficult and stubborn condition to treat. It may take up to six months of treatment before good progress is made. Dietary and lifestyle factors also play an important role in the treatment of this condition.
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May 2016
“I cant, im done, I give up,” are the words 15-year-old Felicia Garcia wrote on her twitter on October 22nd, 2012. Two days later, October 24th, she took her own life by jumping in front of a train. Amanda Cummings, also 15, jumped in front of a bus in December 2011. She didn’t survive. In 2006, 13-year-old Megan Meier hung herself in her closet just a mere three weeks before her 14th birthday. In 2010, Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi committed suicide by jumping from the George Washington Bridge after his roommate secretly recorded him having an intimate encounter with another male student. Deandre Bloomfield, 13, received second and third degree burns after his “friend” threw a flaming bottle of perfume at him back in December 2015.
Felicia, Amanda, Megan, Tyler, Deandre, and for each of these names, there are dozens more who are being bullied every day. But wait a minute, weren’t we always taught that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me”? Hasn’t bullying always existed? Aren’t we being a little too over sensitive about the whole thing? After all, kids will be kids, right?
Wrong. It’s not hyperbole at all. Bullying is not a problem; it’s an epidemic. According to, 30 percent of students are either bullies themselves or victims of bullying. Statistics obtained via National Voices For Equality Education and Enlightenment (NVEEE) show that an estimated 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of being attacked or intimidated by other students. In a 2015 study comparing the best and worst states at controlling bullying, WalletHub declared, “In the next 7 minutes, a child in the U.S. will be bullied…only four out of 100 adults will step in to stop it. And only 11 percent of the child’s peers might do the same. The rest — 85 percent — will do nothing.”
In addition to the long-lasting emotional and psychological effects that bullying can have on an individual, such as growing up to be socially anxious, lacking self-esteem, and requiring more mental health services throughout their life, bullying also takes a financial toll on schools. WalleHub’s report finds that “The average public school can incur more than $2.3 million in lost funding and expenses as a result of suspensions, expulsions, vandalism, alternative placement and lower attendance.”
Out of the 42 states from which data was compiled, WalletHub found these results: Missouri, Michigan, Idaho, North Dakota, and Montana had the highest percentage of high school students bullied on school property, while the states with the highest percentage of high school students bullied online were Montana, New Hampshire, Idaho, Michigan, and Maine. Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, Nevada, and Louisiana had the highest percentage of high school students who missed school due to feeling unsafe, and North Dakota, Illinois, Louisiana, District of Columbia, and Rhode Island ranked highest in percentage of high school students who have attempted suicide. Finally, while a majority of states across the U.S. have anti-bullying laws and anti-bullying policies, states such as Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Arizona, Texas, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, and Tennessee have only anti-bullying laws or anti-bullying policies. Not both.
But clearly anti-bullying laws and policies are not enough as even those states who have both laws and policies in place – District of Columbia and Rhode Island for example – still are among those with the highest percentage of students attempting suicide. Even with all the research – and there is a plethora on the web – dedicated to studying bullying, we still haven’t found a way to solve the problem. Perhaps we should start with asking ourselves why and how bullying has evolved from the days of simply being teased on the playground to the vicious and repetitive nature of cyberbullying that is plaguing today’s youths.
Clearly, technology has played an integral role. The more advanced we become, the easier it is for kids and teens to retreat into the anonymous and superficial world of social media. Think about it. How can we expect children and teenagers, whose cognitive skills are not even fully developed, to really understand the consequences of their actions when what is being drilled into their brains is the more likes they get and the more followers they have, the more popular they are? At least when we were their age, we could get a reprieve. There was no way for the bullies to get to us once the school day was over, unless they knew where we resided. That isn’t the case today. Being connected all the time means there is no way to escape the harassment. It could come in the form of a text, an e-mail, a Facebook post, a message on Facebook, a tweet, etc. It almost makes you wonder if pre-teens and teens know how to make a real connection without the inclusion of cellphones and laptops. How can they really get to know someone if they’re so focused on the barrage of incoming messages they’re getting? How can they gauge someone else’s emotions if they’re not looking at them face-to-face?
That is what Rock ‘Em Not Sock ‘Em would like to change, the way kids relate to each other. Now, it would feel a little too sensational to classify all bullies as inherently bad people. In fact, many bullies have been victims of bullying themselves, either by fellow classmates or in their own homes. Bullies are not inherently bad people. But they are people who feel that they need to put others down in order to get ahead in life. And that won’t change unless or until we as a society work together to change it. So, how do we do that?
Well, what about rock climbing? Admittedly, bullying and rock climbing probably seem like they are two separate threads. What does one have to do with the other, right? How can we stitch the two threads together to create a beautiful fabric? Consider the wall to be a metaphor for life. There’s many climbers all trying to reach the top, and here’s the thing: we can all reach the top. It’s a wide enough space for everyone. We don’t have to climb over anyone to get to our destination. We can climb the wall together and encourage each other. We can feel pride not only when we make it to the top, but when our friends do as well. We can learn to be present in the moment without needing to take a selfie or put it on Instagram or Snapchat to memorialize it. We can follow others up the wall without being called a copycat. Or we can forge our own paths
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Freedom in the World
Freedom in the World 2006
2006 Scores
Partly Free
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The July 2005 parliamentary elections brought opposition leader Sali Berisha to power as prime minister of Albania. While the election did not fully meet international standards, it marked the first peaceful change of power in the country's post "Communist history".
From World War II until 1990, former dictator Enver Hoxha's xenophobic Communist regime turned Albania into the most isolated country in Europe. The Communist government collapsed in 1990, and in March 1992, multiparty elections brought the Democratic Party (DP), led by Sali Berisha, to power. Continuing poverty and corruption weakened Berisha's government, and in 1997, the collapse of several popular pyramid investment schemes resulted in widespread arms looting and violence.
Between 1997 and 2005, Albania was ruled by the Socialist Party (SP), led by Prime Minister Fatos Nano. After the 2001 parliamentary (People's Assembly) elections, Berisha's DP announced a boycott of the Assembly to protest alleged electoral irregularities. The party returned to parliament, and political life resumed in January 2002 after the consensual election of President Alfred Moisiu and Chief Prosecutor Theodhori Sollaku. However, the truce between Berisha and Nano proved fragile, and by the beginning of 2003, Albania's short-lived national political unity again broke down. More signs of the continued turmoil within Albanian politics came with the resignation of Foreign Minister (and former prime minister) Ilir Meta, a bitter Nano rival, in July 2003. Disagreements within ruling factions in the government prevented the nomination of a replacement for the rest of the year.
Because of such political infighting, little serious progress was made in combating organized crime and promoting economic reform. Although, in February 2003, the European Union (EU) opened negotiations with Albania for a Stabilization and Association Agreement-generally seen as the first step toward full EU member-ship-realistic analyses of the country's situation suggest that it has far to go before joining the EU.
The July 3, 2005, legislative elections, in which more than 20 parties fielded candidates, were considered the most unpredictable since 1991. Although the opposition DP won a clear victory, the ruling SP contested the results in many constituencies. The consequence was a lengthy delay in obtaining final results until September, when Prime Minister Berisha formed a government. The DP will have 56 seats, with a further 24 controlled by its allies. Former prime minister Ilir Meta formed his own Socialist Movement for Integration, which won seats away from the SP. The two major parties urged their voters to support smaller allies in hopes that those parties would clear the 2.5 percent threshold to enter parliament and thus supplement their own representation. The SP was perceived to have lost support owing to the country's corruption, internal party disputes, and voters' desire for change. While the election was not free from fraud, it was praised for bringing Albania's first change of power without significant violence in the post-Communist era.
Political Rights and Civil Liberties:
Albanians can change their government democratically. However, elections held in July 2005 for the 140-seat Kuvendi Popullor (People's Assembly) were judged to have complied only partially with international standards. Observers noted flawed procedures, including multiple voting and violations of secrecy. Although there was one death due to election violence, this was minimal compared to the past. Single-mem-ber districts comprise 100 of the parliamentary seats; the remaining are filled by proportional representation. Assembly members are elected for four-year terms. The prime minister is designated by the parties that form a majority coalition. The president holds a largely symbolic post and is chosen by the Assembly for a five-year term.
With the involvement of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Albania began reforming its election process before the 2005 elections. Votes are now counted in a limited number of designated locations under the authority of local electoral commissions. Procedures for administrative and judicial review of postelection disputes were improved, and new campaign finance laws were put in place. A late agreement between the major parties on the boundaries of electoral zones cleared the way for approval of the new electoral code in January 2005, with a new law on the zones passed in March. The OSCE did not judge the reforms to solve all potential problems, although they mark a major step forward.
A number of political parties operate throughout the country. The most important political organizations are the DP and the SP; the differences between the parties are more a matter of the personalities leading them than of serious programmatic or ideological approaches. While, traditionally, Prime Minister Sali Berisha's DP found its support in the north of the country and Nano's SP in the south, these divisions are diminishing. The Greek minority is mostly represented through the Human Rights Union Party, which has three seats in parliament. Other minorities are poorly represented and participate minimally in public life.
Corruption pervades all areas of life in Albania, and up to the elections it appeared to be increasing. Tackling corruption is a stated aim of the new government, and Berisha sold his stake in a hotel to avoid a conflict of interest. However, he and many of his associates remain tainted by past scandal. Although considerable anticorruption legislation is in place, tangible results are lacking. Government regulations are not excessive, but implementation is unpredictable. The state does not pursue accusations of official corruption, except in the case of low-level officials. Albania was ranked 126 out of 159 countries surveyed in Transparency International's 2005 Corruption Perceptions Index.
The constitution guarantees freedom of expression. Although freedom of the press has improved since the fall of Communism, problems remain. The intermingling of powerful business, political, and media interests inhibits the development of independent and objective media. The government controls crucial subsidies that are doled out to those outlets providing sympathetic coverage. A print media bill meant to address media unreliability and financial dependence was submitted to the parliament in March 2005, but it was not approved as of November. A controversial draft law on digital broadcasting was rejected by the parliament in May. Suits against journalists for legitimate criticism are common. Police used excessive force against a television correspondent filming their activities in May. The government does not limit internet access, although widespread poverty means that most people cannot afford it.
The constitution provides for freedom of religion and religious practice, and Albania has not seen the inter-religious turmoil typical of its neighbors. However, Albania's small Greek Orthodox minority has intermittently made claims of being subjected to various forms of discrimination. The restitution of church properties confiscated during the Communist period remains unresolved.
The government does not significantly limit academic freedom, although it has interfered in appointments at educational institutions. Corruption is rife in universities, especially in the form of bribes for entering school and passing exams. Just before leaving office, the Nanos government ended the requirement that high school students pass an admission exam in order to enter university, but the Berisha government reversed the decision due to lack of capacity in the universities.
Freedom of association is generally respected, although police have been known to use excessive force against protesters. Independent nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are active, and their impact on the government is slowly growing. In contrast, trade unions tend to be weak.
The constitution provides for an independent judiciary, but the structure of the judiciary leaves room for government pressure. Both the judiciary and law enforcement agencies are inefficient and prone to corruption, and judicial proceedings can be unduly long as well as unjustifiably delayed. The government has undertaken measures to combat corruption, develop judicial infrastructure, and institute a case-management system, but problems continue. Enforcement of judicial decisions is weak, especially when rulings are against government interests. Police undergo human rights training and monitoring but often use excessive force and torture; punishment for these abuses, if carried out at all, is generally less than that warranted by the offense. For example, a police officer accused of torturing a 17-year-old in custody was convicted in December 2004 only of leaving the cell where he was on guard; the court concluded there was insufficient evidence to determine whether the detainee might have injured himself. Prison conditions are poor.
Widespread lawlessness plagues large parts of Albania. Weak state institutions have augmented the power of crime syndicates, and international law enforcement officials claim that Albania has become an increasingly important transshipment point for drug smugglers. The weakness of state institutions in northern Albania has also resulted in the resurgence of traditional tribal law in these areas, most importantly blood feuds involving revenge killings among different families and clans.
Roma and so-called Egyptians (a small group whose origins are unclear) in particular face discrimination and marginalization in Albania. A special state committee on minorities is to make recommendations to promote the rights of groups including Roma. However, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance considers funding to be inadequate, and Egyptians are excluded because they are not officially recognized. The government has developed a national strategy to combat racism against Roma.
Implementation of the 2004 law on property restitution and compensation for pre-Communist property owners has been slow; compensation is not likely to begin until 2007.
The constitution places no legal impediments on women's role in politics and society, but women are vastly underrepresented in most governmental institutions. Berisha promised to increase women's representation in government, and a woman is Speaker of the Assembly for the first time. Traditional patriarchal social mores pose significant problems for the position of women in society. Many groups, particularly in northern Albania, abide by a medieval moral code according to which women are considered chattel property and may be treated as such. A gender equality law was passed in 2004, but the situation for women has only improved slightly. Domestic violence is common and is not a criminal offense. Albania is a source country for trafficking in women and children. Roma and Egyptian children are disproportionately affected, and internal trafficking is increasing. A national strategy to combat trafficking has helped the situation, although implementation could be improved.
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Using Hashes in Bash Scripts
This codebit was donated by Phil Howard on 1998Dec03. Hash data structures are very convenient. They let you use strings as indexes instead of numbers. The value script, shown below, demonstrates how to use Bash's eval command to simulate a hash structure. The command, value david prints "The email address for david is".
eval 'email=${email_'"${1}"'}'
echo "The email address for ${1} is ${email}"
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3 Myths about Genetically Modified Crops
Genetically modified oilseed rape, one of the four main commercial GM crops. Photograph: David Levene
The debate about GM crops has reached a new level with many countries deciding on its fate. Among all this shrill and cacophony about it, we indeed have been fed many myths about it. Scientific American published a nice article on it some days ago, tiled – 3 Myths about Genetically Modified Crops . It looked into some detail about the 3 most important myths.
Lets have a look, shall we ?
Myth 1: GM crops have bred superweeds
Verdict: FALSE
This issue has been quite a contentious issue for more than a decade now.
US farmers had widely adopted GM cotton engineered to tolerate the herbicide glyphosate, which is marketed as Roundup by Monsanto in St Louis, Missouri. The herbicide–crop combination worked spectacularly well — until it didn’t. In 2004, herbicide-resistant amaranth was found in one county in Georgia; by 2011, it had spread to 76.
Many scientists, and even some of my colleagues have argued that use of GM crops which are herbicide resistant are responsible for the evolution of herbicide resistance in many weeds.
Twenty-four glyphosate-resistant weed species have been identified since Roundup-tolerant crops were introduced in 1996.
However, herbicide resistance has been a problem for farmers regardless of whether they plant GM crops or not. For more see this chart on the rise of super-weeds:
‘The rise of superweeds’ Source: Scientific American
‘The rise of superweeds’
Source: Scientific American
So, blaming just the increased use of GM crops wont solve the problem of these super-weeds.
Myth 2. GM cotton has driven farmers to suicide
Verdict: FALSE
Now this has been a big news item in India recently when a leading rights activist and environmental campaigner Vandana Shiva alleged that some 270,000 farmers have committed suicide ever since GM crops have been used. Bt cotton which has a gene from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis has been planted in India and has been the major bone of contention in India.
Seeds initially cost five times more than local hybrid varieties, spurring local traders to sell packets containing a mix of Bt and conventional cotton at lower prices. The sham seeds and misinformation about how to use the product resulted in crop and financial losses. This no doubt added strain to rural farmers, who had long been under the pressures of a tight credit system that forced them to borrow from local lenders.
This claim was however refuted by researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington DC, who scoured government data, academic articles and media reports about Bt cotton and suicide in India. Their findings, published in 2008 and updated in 2011, show that the total number of suicides per year in the Indian population rose from just under 100,000 in 1997 to more than 120,000 in 2007. But the number of suicides among farmers hovered at around 20,000 per year over the same period.
Suicide Rates and GM crops Source: Scientific American
Suicide Rates and GM crops
Source: Scientific American
The important thing to note here, is that the focus of argument in India has shifted from a balanced discussion on the various ways technology can benefit us to calls for outright bans on using it. This would never solve the issue but aggravate it.
Myth 3: Transgenes spread to wild crops in Mexico
Verdict: UNKNOWN
We finally come to another issue about how transgenes have spread to far-off maize fields in Mexico. What started all of it was:
In 2000, some rural farmers in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico, wanted to gain organic certification for the maize (corn) they grew and sold in the hope of generating extra income. David Quist, then a microbial ecologist at the University of California, Berkeley, agreed to help in exchange for access to their lands for a research project. But Quist’s genetic analyses uncovered a surprise: the locally produced maize contained a segment of the DNA used to spur expression of transgenes in Monsanto’s glyphosate-tolerant and insect-resistant maize.
Now, as GM crops are not approved in Mexico, the only possible source of such transgenes could only have come from GM crops imported from the United States for consumption and planted by local farmers who probably didn’t know that the seeds were transgenic. When the results were published it brought a furore in Mexico with people arguing for and against the issue. Ever since, few detailed studies have been done on the spread of transgenes via GM crops.
In 2003–04, Allison Snow, a plant ecologist at Ohio State University in Columbus, sampled 870 plants taken from 125 fields in Oaxaca and found no transgenic sequences in maize seeds.
But in 2009, a study led by Elena Alvarez-Buylla, a molecular ecologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, and Alma Piñeyro-Nelson, a plant molecular geneticist now at the University of California, Berkeley, found the same transgenes as Quist in three samples taken from 23 sites in Oaxaca in 2001, and in two samples taken from those sites in 2004.
In another study, Alvarez-Buylla and her co-authors found evidence of transgenes in a small percentage of seeds from 1,765 households across Mexico.
However, some scientists argue that transgene spread could in effect have a neutral or even a positive effect on local crops.
In 2003, Snow and her colleagues showed that when Btsunflowers (Helianthus annuus) were bred with their wild counterparts, transgenic offspring still required the same kind of close care as its cultivated parent but were less vulnerable to insects and produced more seeds than non-transgenic plants.
In the end, i would quote something from the article here:
Tidy stories, in favor of or against GM crops, will always miss the bigger picture, which is nuanced, equivocal and undeniably messy. Transgenic crops will not solve all the agricultural challenges facing the developing or developed world, says Qaim: “It is not a silver bullet.” But vilification is not appropriate either. The truth is somewhere in the middle.
What in fact, would be beneficial for ending the food insufficiency problems would be develop GM crops which would have more protein content, or even essential animal proteins or could produce various other required molecules in our body. These would benefit us in more ways than by simply developing GM crops for resistance to insecticides/ herbicides. The industry needs to look at developing a holistic view of GM crops and instead of creating shrill noise, detractors should sit together with the scientists from academia/industry,policy makers and industry honchos to use technology for our benefit.
For further reading:
1). Bt Cotton and Farmer Suicides in India: An Evidence-based Assessment, Guillaume Gruèrea & Debdatta Senguptaa,The Journal of Development Studies,Volume 47, Issue 2, 2011.
2). Field versus Farm in Warangal: Bt Cotton, Higher Yields, and Larger Questions, Glenn Davis Stone, World Development,Volume 39, Issue 3, March 2011.
3). Economic impacts and impact dynamics of Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) cotton in India, Jonas Kathage and Matin Qaim, PNAS, 2012.
4). Are GM Seeds to Blame for Indian Farmer Suicides?, Adam Pugen, Feb 2013, The International.
Beer Lovers Rejoice: A new study says a mere sip of beer triggers chemical pleasure in the brain !!
English: Taken in an Irish Pub located in Madr...
English: Taken in an Irish Pub located in Madrid, Spain on January 3rd, 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
To start off, let me begin by saying that i love drinking beer especially an Irish stout. Now, whenever i take a couple of sips, moments later there is always a distinct sensation of pleasure. Now urban legend would have it that the beer exudes a blend of aromas due to a blend of malt, hops and yeast which produces that sensation in us. Just take a look at the Beer Flavour Wheel below from Mark Dredge‘s upcoming book – Craft Beer World
Now scientists have known for a long time that the pleasurable sensation which alcohol produces in us is because of the release of a particular class of neurotransmitter called dopamineThis molecule is known is to act as reward for the brain and is associated with other tasks like sleeping, sex etc. So, now you might reasonably ask if we already know that then what’s new?? Well, what’s new here is a paper published in Neuropsychopharmacology titled – Beer Flavor Provokes Striatal Dopamine Release in Male Drinkers: Mediation by Family History of Alcoholism.
This paper published by David Kareken and other researchers of Indiana University tries to answer this question – As intoxication via alcohol leads to the release of dopamine, does the same thing happens when you take a sip of alcohol? Or the release of such reward molecules subject to intoxication alone? Now, answering this question would lead us towards a more complete explanation of the process of addiction towards alcohol and lead us to develop deterrents in the process.
So, what they did was to strap 49 men to a Positron emission tomography (PET) scanner after giving them a sip of beer to drink. The key idea here was to track the levels of various molecules in the brain which are released in response to the alcohol intake. To make the study more scientifically more sound and interesting, they chose the participants in varying levels of alcohol tolerance from, almost teetotalers to heavy drinkers. The delivery mechanism for the beer was completely automated to spray 15 millimeters only which ensured that any difference in levels of molecules observed wouldn’t be a by-product of intoxication.
Surprisingly, what they observed was when men tasted beer there was a significant release of dopamine when compared to tasting a mixture of gatorade + water. Incidentally the researchers also asked the participants whether they had any cravings for the drink they had been given and they were generally much higher after tasting beer than Gatorade or water. However, the amount of dopamine release was not random but was seen in higher levels in people with a history of alcoholism. The researchers believe that this could be a clue as to why some people are predisposed towards alcoholism—and why it’s more difficult for them to quit. The immediate release of dopamine from just a taste of beer would likely serve as a powerful mechanism that would drive their cravings, and this tendency towards experiencing a burst of pleasure might also be genetically inheritable. This could be part of the reason that people with a family history of alcoholism are twice as likely to experience alcoholism themselves.
This experiment shows that for a few unlucky people all it takes for alcoholism to develop is a sip of beer !!
For the rest, i say PROST !!
Additional Readings-
1). Neural response to alcohol stimuli in adolescents with alcohol use disorder, Tapert SF, Arch Gen Psychiatry, 2003.
2). Influence of cue exposure on inhibitory control and brain activation in patients with alcohol dependence, Mainz V, Front Hum Neurosci, 2012.
Genomic Evidence for Adaptation to Global Warming??
The "burning embers" diagram above w...
Global Warming – The ultimate quibble of this century !! Or should i say the “haute” of this century. Why? Now, common ask yourselves, which single topic apart from the religion/atheism debate, you always hear in any gathering or book reading circles or conferences or on social platforms which is ready to divide people into two opposing camps. Books are being written, movies made, debates fought and what for – “The legitimacy of Global warming”. Despite numerous evidences detractors still love to question it. However, a new paper published this month in PNAS provides genomic evidence for phenotypic responses to climatic warming.
What’s it all about?
Ongoing changes in regional climates, especially the trend of warming winters and blazing summers are pushing many species (both plants and animals) to shift their distribution toward higher latitudes and altitudes. Such a change in the species distribution, with an expansion in previously hostile areas and contraction in their own habitats which are becoming less favorable, can occur rapidly both in plants and animals. However, not all species can migrate to lesser hostile areas, and there are many reasons proposed for it. Primarily among them is the increasing trend of Habitat Fragmentation. Habitat fragmentation can result from human expansion into wilder areas resulting in few phenomena:
• Reduction in the total area of the habitat
• Isolation of one habitat fragment from other areas of habitat
• Breaking up of one patch of habitat into several smaller patches
• Decrease in the average size of each patch of habitat
As, a result of such human activity many species especially plants can’t migrate into other areas resulting into their dwindling numbers. But some species do survive in such increasingly fragmented habitats and hence have adapted to the climatic warming. Though some previous studies in Drosophila melanogaster have shown adaptive trait variation in relation to climate change in both natural and experimental population, however in some cases, the evolutionary response to climate change may be slow due to genetic constraints causing a time lag between the environmental change and an observed evolutionary response. Hence,understanding how various species track climate warming by genetically based adaptive trait variation and which traits facilitate the evolution of such adaption is important.
What is the new evidence?
Thymus vulgaris
The authors decided to look at Mediterranean wild thyme (Thymus vulgaris), a low growing herbaceous plant which is native to Southern Europe and is often used as a culinary herb. The plant contains many oils and the chemical composition(phenolic or non-phenolic) of it varies in different regions based on the temperature. These oils make a plant adaptable to freezing and hence different climatic areas have plants with varying composition of oils (chemotypes). So it would be worthwhile to see if the recent trend of gradual warming of extreme winter freezing events, has brought about an evolutionary response in plants i.e, has their chemical composition changed over time? Interestingly, any such change in the respective oil compositions in different climactic areas with different temperatures would have a genetic basis. And this is what the authors looked about.
The study area had a Mediterranean climate with summer drought but also severe winter freezing temperatures within the basin as a result of a dramatic temperature inversion In this area, there are six different chemotypes that are the expression of a genetically controlled polymorphism in T. vulgaris. Two phenolic chemotypes (carvacrol and thymol) are largely dominant on the slopes above 250-m elevation and four nonphenolic chemotypes (linalool, thuyanol-4, α-terpineol, and geraniol) below 200m elevation, where they experience the winter temperature inversion. Hence, phenolic chemotypes are predominantly winter non-tolerant whereas non-phenolic types are winter tolerant.
There is thus a sharp gradient in the chemotype frequency over only 3–5 km that goes from 100%of either phenolic or nonphenolic chemotypes to 100% of the other form, with a narrow transitional zone. In short, nonphenolic chemotypes show adaptation to habitats, which in the past have experienced extreme freezing temperatures in early winter, whereas phenolic chemotypes are sensitive to intense early-winter freezing and occur in habitats where extreme summer drought can exclude nonphenolic chemotypes.
Coldest annual temperature from 1955 to 2010 at the weather station of SaintMartin-de-Londres (filled squares), which occurs in the zone dominated by freezing-tolerant nonphenolic chemotypes, and from1970 to 2010 at the Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive–Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique experimental gardens on the northern periphery of Montpellier (open circles), where natural thyme populations are dominated by freezing-sensitive phenolic chemotypes.
Hypothesis: Phenolic chemotypes (thymol and carvacrol) now occur in sites where they were previously absent or have increased their frequency in the transitional sites due to a relaxation of selection pressure normally associated with extreme early winter freezing temperatures due to climatic warming.
To do so, they compared the chemotype composition of populations observed in the early 1970s to that in 2009–2010 for 36 populations sampled along six transects. Each transect was <10 km long, each containing six populations, with two “phenolic,” “mixed,” and “nonphenolic” populations.
They found that the mean percentage of phenolic chemotypes in a population was significantly (df = 35, S = 68.5, P < 0.01) higher in the contemporary samples (overall value of 53.1%) than in those of the initial study (47.7%) of 1970’s. The changes in composition of the initial nonphenolic populations were associated with the appearance of the thymol chemotype in all eight of the populations whose composition changed and the carvacrol chemotype in three of them.
The changes reported involved a reduced intensity of freezing events and changes in frequency of freezing tolerant and nontolerant phenotypes in natural populations of the Mediterranean aromatic plant, Thymus vulgaris. A significant appearance of freezing-sensitive phenolic chemotypes in sites where they were historically absent and an increase in their frequency in previously mixed populations was observed. Such changes have occurred in 17 of the 24 populations where they could potentially occur.
Such studies, illustrate that a rapid evolutionary response to temperature modifications can occur where genetic variation is combined with a change in a previously strong selection pressure, even for a perennial woody plant. Hence, this provides quite a neat example of genetic changes brought about by climatic warming. I guess, the detractors of global warming would be feeling quite uneasy now !!
More on this:
1. Genetic consequences of climate change for northern plants, Alson, Proceedings of Royal Society B, 2012.
2. Climate extremes: Observations, modeling, and impacts, Easterling DR, Science, 2000.
3. Ecological and evolutionary responses to recent climate change, Parmesan C, Annu Rev Ecol Syst Evol, 2006.
4. Ecological responses to recent climate change, Walther GR, Nature, 2002.
5. Rapid shifts in plant distribution with recent climate change, Kelly AE, Goulden ML, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, 2008.
6. The distributions of a wide range of taxonomic groups are expanding polewards, Hickling R,Global Change Biology, 2006.
7. A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change impacts across natural systems, Parmesan C, Nature, 2003.
8. Running to stand still: Adaptation and the response of plants to rapid climate change, Jump AS, Ecology Letters, 2005.
9. Genetic response to rapid climate change: It’s seasonal timing that matters, Bradshaw WE, Molecular Ecology, 2008.
10. Climate change and evolutionary adaptation, Hoffmann AA, Nature, 2011.
The human brain simulation project (Blue Brain) wins a billion euros!!
In one of the biggest funding exercises ever, European Commission has selected Prof. Henry Markrams (pictured above) dream project – The Human Brain Simulation Project for a mammoth grant of € 1 billion over a period of ten years.
The Human Brain Simulation Project or the Blue Brain project has been a center of quite a controversy ever since it started in 2005 at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland). It aims to create a synthetic brain by reverse engineering a human brain down to its molecular details. It uses the famed Blue GENE supercomputer and uses Michael Hine’s NEURON software to recreate neural connections not just by using Artificial Neural Networks but by a closer approximate model of neurons.
What is it all about?
Neuroscientists have been trying to understand the inner workings of our human brain for some centuries now. First came, the detailed anatomical drawings by Rufus of Ephesus, Galen and Leonardo da VinciThen English physician Thomas Willis published his Anatomy of the Brain which assimilated all its inner structures. The goal of understanding what brain is and how it does work started from these anatomical drawings and has continued on to constructing detailed mathematical models of how each of the cells within it work. Of course, i am talking about the famous Hodgkin-Huxley model which for the first time describes how action potentials in neurons are initiated and propagated.
The quest for understanding how billions of neurons come together in a complex network with millions of feedback loops and yet function so harmoniously without any hint of chaos is considered to be one of the Holy Grails of Science. In this picture comes Prof Markram’s Human Brain Simulation project. With advanced supercomputer at one side, and brilliant electrophysiologists at the other the aim has been to model not just the neural circuits involved in, say, the sense of smell, but to model everything,
Progress until now?
Obviously to even start off this mammoth task, one has to first demonstrate this so-called unified approach on a smaller scale. And that was indeed what he started off with. From 1995 to 2006 he collected data on the simulation of a rat neocortical column, which can be considered the smallest functional unit of the neocortex (the part of the brain thought to be responsible for higher functions such as conscious thought). Such a column is about 2 mm tall, has a diameter of 0.5 mm and contains about 60,000 neurons in humans; rat neocortical columns are very similar in structure but contain only 10,000 neurons (and 108 synapses). By December 2006, Markram was able to map all the types of neurons and their connections in that column.
By 2008, the researchers had linked about 10,000 such models into a simulation of a tube-shaped piece of cortex known as a cortical column. Now, using a more advanced version of Blue Gene, they have simulated 100 interconnected columns.This has indeed proven that such unifying models can, as promised, serve as repositories for data on cortical structure and function.
Source: Human Brain Project
All of this has only been possible due to the large-scale advances in supercomputing technology and data storage facilities. The computer power required to run such a grand unified theory of the brain would be roughly an exaflop, or 1018 operations per second, which were quite hopeless in the 1990’s when Markram started off the project. But as available computer power doubles roughly every 18 months, so exascale computers might be available by the 2020’s.
Source: Human Brain Project
There has been some criticisms to this project, and that has to do with the media hype generated by Markram. His critics argue that he has been making his case through talks, media interviews, well-placed ads, and through the traditional means of publishing articles, reviews etc. The detractors also argue that the Markram’s bottom-up approach might yield such a model which could be so detailed that it is no easier to understand than the real brain. Also, the progress till now has not been daunting either, as the rat neocortex has no inputs from sensory organs or outputs to other parts of the brain, and produces almost no interesting behaviour.
But despite all the criticism, one hopes that this gargantuan project with its lofty aim would yield interesting results, even if not a complete replica of human brain but at least a shadow simulacrum would be enough. For all the critics, who are too afraid of Markram’s bold new ideas I would reiterate James Russell Lowell:
More on this:
1. Turing at 100: Legacy of a universal mind, Nature News, 2012.
2. European researchers chase billion-euro technology prize, Nature News, 2011.
3. Bioinformatics: Industrializing neuroscience, Markram, Nature, 2007.
4. The Blue Brain Project, Markram H, Nature, 2006.
5. Human Brain Project, EU Initiative.
6. The Blue Brain Project @ EPFL
Researchers find a hidden genetic code
Source: Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer
Source: Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer
A recent paper published by Arvind Subramaniam (pictured above) and co-authors in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences have attempted to provide a solution to a decades old problem in genetics.
Though the genetic code, the rules by which DNA gets transcribed to RNA and then translated to proteins, is quite well understood, but what has remained puzzling is the degeneracy of the genetic code underlying protein synthesis. Now before understanding more about what they did, let me give you a brief primer on the problem itself.
What is it all about ?
Decoding of DNA is accomplished by the ribosome, which links amino acids in an order specified by mRNA (messenger RNA), using transfer RNA (tRNA) molecules to carry amino acids and to read the mRNA three nucleotides at a time. So mathematically we can calculate that, with four different nucleotides (in RNA), a three nucleotide code could code for a maximum of 43 or 64 amino acids. However, in the process of translation (RNA to proteins) only 20 kinds of standard amino acids are produced. So, many of these groups of nucleotides, called codons produce same amino acids i.e, code synonymously. For example, the amino acid can be produced in six different ways. A cool figure below shows all the 64 codons and the different amino acids they code for.
This apparent degeneracy has been a core problem in genetics, i.e, whether those seemingly synonymous codons truly produced the same amino acids, or whether they represented a second, hidden genetic code. Now Harvard researchers have published a possible solution to this problem, and they hope the solution would lead to developing new methods to fight resistant bacteria.
How did they solve it?
To try and decipher this synonymous coding problem, they decide to use a simple bacterium Escherichia coli. First they considered the synonymous codons for seven amino acids: Leucine, Arginine, Serine, Proline, Isoleucine, Glutamine, and Phenylalanine. This set of seven amino acids is representative of the degeneracy of the genetic code,as it includes six-, four-, three-, and twofold degenerate codon families. Then they constructed a library of 29 yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) gene variants, in such a way that each version of the gene could code for a specific amino acid. Then all these genes were inserted into E.coli. To test whether the codons function similarly or not, they applied environmental perturbations on E.coli. This perturbation was in the form of amino acid availability. They monitored growth and YFP synthesis in these strains during amino acid-rich growth as well as during limitation for each of the seven amino acids.
What they found, was quite startling that under different environmental conditions (amino acid availability) the codons produced proteins at a different rate. If the bacteria are in an environment where they can grow and thrive (amino acid rich), each synonymous codon produces the same amount of protein, but if they are starved of an amino acid, some codons produce a hundredfold more proteins than others.
The reason for such differences in protein production lie in the nature of tRNA, the Transport RNA which ferries the amino acids to the cellular machinery that manufactures proteins. The authors managed to rule out the usual rules associated with tRNA abundance and codon usage. Rather,it was the competition among tRNA isoacceptors for aminoacylation which was the underlying reason for the robustness of protein synthesis. In plain-speak, what this means that different tRNA molecules have different levels of amino acid carrying efficiency. So, if some tRNA molecules are not able to deliver the amino acid to where it needs to be, the cell would not be able to manufacture the proteins it needs. In an environment where amino acids are in short supply, that ability to hold onto them becomes very important.While the system helps cells to make certain proteins efficiently under stressful conditions, it also acts as a biological fail-safe allowing the near-complete shutdown in the production of other proteins as a way to preserve limited resources.
What now?
Given the universality of the genetic code, it would very interesting to explore what role (if any) differences in the seemingly synonymous portions of the genetic code may have in other organisms. Also, in diseases like cancer, the cancerous cells deplete amino acids faster than normal cells, so given that environmental perturbations lead to different protein production efficiencies, would it be possible to devise any interventions or treatments to combat them!!
More on this:
1. Degeneracy and complexity in biological systems, Edelman GM, Gally JA, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, 2001
2. Cooperation between translating ribosomes and RNA polymerase in transcription elongationProshkin S, Rahmouni AR, Mironov A, Nudler E, Science, 2010
3. The GCN2-ATF4 pathway is critical for tumour cell survival and proliferation in response to nutrient deprivation, Ye J, et al., EMBO J, 2010
4. High levels of tRNA abundance and alteration of tRNA charging by bortezomib in multiple myeloma, Zhou Y, Goodenbour JM, Godley LA, Wickrema A, Pan T, Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 2009
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Budapest 1956 I
In 1956, Communist Hungary seemed the very model of a modern Leninist dictatorship. It had a ferocious political police; a carefully recruited and heavily indoctrinated army; a large and disciplined party (10 percent of the total population); and complete regimentation of the economy, the media, the schools, and the labor unions. But in just a few days in October 1956, this apparently all-powerful regime rapidly and utterly collapsed. This Hungarian cataclysm might have alerted the world to the fact that the Soviet empire was perhaps not the omnipotent, inevitable monolith that it seemed-and that in politics, much is illusion, nothing is certain, and anything is possible.
The Spark
One of the most reprobate and lupine organizations in the entire Communist empire was the Hungarian State Security Service, known as the AVH. The members of this remarkable force loomed above both the party and the state. According to the chief of the regular Budapest police (an organization totally separate from the AVH), even cabinet ministers were afraid of it. The AVH ran its own prisons, at least one of which had an acid bath wherein prisoners’ bodies, dead or sometimes alive, were disposed of; they also had their own crematoria. AVH men received higher pay, wore snappier uniforms, and carried deadlier weapons than other police units. The regime carefully segregated them from society. Many of them had been recruited from the notorious Arrow Cross movement, a pro-Nazi party/militia that had flourished in the 1940s. To this AVH belongs the distinction of being the group that actually ignited the uprising of 1956.
On October 23, 1956, a large and peaceful demonstration of students assembled in front of Budapest’s magnificent Parliament building to show support for the reform movement in Poland. Considerable numbers of factory workers and off-duty soldiers joined the students, and the whole demonstration moved to the State Radio Building. (Both places are on the eastern-or Pest-side of the Danube.) It was here that the AVH provoked the uprising. A United Nations report later stated that the first casualty in the uprising was a major in the Hungarian army who wanted to present a list of student grievances to the head of the State Radio. At 9:00 P. M., AVH men in the upper stories of the radio building began firing on the unarmed and still peaceful demonstrators. Possibly as many as six hundred men and women were killed in this massacre
Reinforcements in the form of regular army units were rushed to the State Radio Building. But when these troops reached the scene of carnage, soldiers and officers in the crowd cried out to them not to shoot. Accounts of what happened next vary, but instead of opening fire on the demonstrators, the soldiers actually began handing over their weapons to them. The refusal of army units to protect the security police from the wrath of the people meant that, for all practical purposes, the Hungarian Communist regime was finished. All through that night and into the following days, the demonstrators and the thousands who now joined them received more arms, from soldiers, from army depots, from factory workers’ militia centers. The regular Budapest city police (who also feared and hated the AVH) provided additional guns and ammunition to the demonstrators. Many students knew how to handle weapons because of the compulsory military training in the universities.
In contrast to nearly all other similar upheavals, “the almost unique characteristic of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 may be considered its complete lack of a revolutionary body” to organize and direct it. But perhaps the most shocking aspect of the uprising, from the Communist viewpoint, was the attitude of the Hungarian military cadets. These young men had been carefully selected by the regime according to class background, heavily indoctrinated with Marxist-Leninist teaching, and thoroughly infiltrated by the AVH. Nevertheless, great numbers of these cadets-the favored children and future protection of the regime-openly sided with the revolution.
During those same days, AVH units continued to fire into peaceful civilian crowds. They killed over a hundred civilians in Parliament Square, and yet another eighty in the city of Magyarovar. The responsibility of the special security police for the great effusion of blood that would soon take place in Hungary is undeniable and staggering. “We can see now,” wrote George Mikes, “how much of the bloodshed in this revolution was due to the AVO [AVH] opening fire at peaceful demonstrators.” Peter Fryer, a reporter for the British Communist Daily Worker, wrote on October 26: “After eleven years of `people’s democracy’ it had come to this, that the security police was so remote from the people, so alien to them, so vicious and so brutal that it turned its weapons on a defenceless crowd and murdered the people who were supposed to be the masters of their own country.”
The years of silent hatred and fear, ignited by the senseless massacres of innocent civilians, now had their condign consequence. It became common in Budapest and other cities and towns to see the bodies of AVH men hanging from lampposts and other hastily selected instruments of popular justice. Fearless when the arrest and torture of single suspects, or even an entire family, was involved, the AVH tended to be much more discreet when confronted by crowds of armed civilians. Its members soon disappeared into their various holes and waited.
Events moved very rapidly. Budapest crowds pulled down the larger-than-life statue of Stalin. The slogan Ruszkik Haza! (“Russians out!”) appeared everywhere. So did the Hungarian flag, with the Communist red star cut out of it. On October 24 the regime announced over the radio, “Fascist and reactionary elements have launched an armed attack against our public buildings and against the forces of law and order.” By smearing the uprising as Fascist, the party was saying that any use of force against it would be justified. Yet on that very day Imre Nagy, an advocate of “reformed” Communism, was installed as prime minister, and Janos Kadar, boss of the Hungarian Communist Party, declared that organization dissolved.
In the wake of World War II, Communist regimes were imposed on several Catholic countries besides Hungary, including Poland, Czechoslovakia, Croatia, and Slovenia. In all of them, Church leaders were imprisoned after grotesque show trials. In the West, the best-known of these churchmen was Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty of Hungary. Imprisoned during the war by the pro-German regime, Mindszenty suffered similar treatment under the Communists. Freedom fighters released him, and the Nagy cabinet declared the charges against him “unjustified.” During the second Soviet invasion, the cardinal took refuge in the U. S. embassy, remaining there for many years.
The First Soviet Intervention
As one noted historian of these events wrote, “Had the Soviet Army not been called upon to help, the entire Communist regime would have collapsed within twenty-four hours.” But of course the Soviet army was called upon, by the outgoing puppet Prime Minister Hegedus, on orders from Soviet ambassador Yuri Andropov (no less). On October 24, two mechanized Soviet divisions crossed into Hungary from Romania. (The Budapest police chief later wrote that Soviet tanks were already moving on October 23.) This first Soviet intervention inflamed opinion, especially in Budapest: “It was the calling in of the Russians which . . . quickly and unequivocally gave the movement its true character-that of a national uprising.”
The freedom fighters had obtained a substantial amount of weapons from various sources, including the army and the city police, but the number of persons who wanted to join the fight far exceeded the number of guns available. Soon to call themselves the National Guard, these freedom fighters were students, workers, and soldiers; many of them had, of course, been Communist Party members: “This was the alliance of the workers and intellectuals that Lenin said was indispensable to a revolution.” The knowledge gained from courses about Russian guerrillas and partisans, required of all university students, would now be turned by them against their oppressors.
Although organized units of the Hungarian army fought the AVH from the start, the army as such did not resist the invading Soviets at first. For one thing, Hungarian troops did not possess the equipment to withstand the Russians. Nevertheless, many soldiers fought as individuals alongside the freedom fighters. Even more importantly, Hungarian troops refused to protect Soviet tanks in Budapest; this was a most serious situation, because the Soviet T-34 tanks used in the first invasion had clearly marked petrol caps on one side, hence were very vulnerable to Molotov cocktails. Infantry could have offered a good deal of protection to the tanks, but few infantrymen accompanied the invading Soviet armored columns, and those few were reluctant to stay on the streets at night. Another consequence of sending tanks unsupported by infantry was this: since the soldiers in their tanks had very poor visibility, the insurgents could stop a tank column by laying on the streets overturned soup plates, which looked liked mines to the men inside the vehicles. One student of the revolution speculates that the Kremlin sent tanks into Budapest unaccompanied by infantry so that Russian soldiers would not become aware that the Hungarian standard of living, such as it was, clearly outclassed that of the Soviet Union, and also to prevent them from learning that they were fighting to suppress a true national movement. (Forty years later the Soviets would send unaccompanied tanks into Grozny, with the same results.) Soviet tanks in Budapest would shoot at any building that had lights on at night, including even the main city police station.
All sorts of signs indicated that, as they became aware they were fighting workers and students, the morale of many of the Soviet troops sank very low. And there were reports that Russian soldiers sold their personal weapons-and even their tanks-for food.
During these dramatic days, there was no looting in Budapest by Hungarians, only by Russian soldiers. The Russians broke into stores and then forced Hungarians to carry out goods while they were being photographed. These faked pictures then appeared in the Soviet party newspaper Pravda to prove that the revolutionaries were nothing but mobs of hooligans and fascists. Hastily assembled insurgent units guarded jewelry stores whose windows had been broken. “Witnesses of all nationalities have testified that there was no looting in Budapest during these ten days, despite the temptation offered by smashed-up windows.” Farmers were giving away ducks, chickens, eggs, and potatoes in the streets of Budapest in the days just before the second Soviet invasion, to show their gratitude to the freedom fighters for ending the forced collectivization of agriculture. All sides agreed to an armistice on October 28. By the next day, when Soviet forces had ceased fighting, two hundred of their tanks had been destroyed or damaged.
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Archive | February, 2019
Ravens and Bones in Lisbon
View from Lisbon’s Miradouro Portas do Sol (Photo by Don Knebel)
Visitors to Lisbon find plenty of evidence that Saint Vincent of Saragossa and ravens are important to the city, but even locals can be hard pressed to explain why.
Saint Vincent, born near Saragossa in northeast Spain, was a Christian deacon executed under Roman Emperor Diocletian in 304 A.D. What happened next is the stuff of numerous legends, usually involving ravens. According to one story, Vincent’s body washed up on the southwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula and was buried in a grave guarded by ravens. In 1139, Afonso Henriques became the first king of Portugal, newly independent of Spanish León, and soon recaptured Lisbon from the Muslims. Christian relics were the rage among European kings and Afonso wanted an important relic to commemorate his victory, so he sent agents to southern Portugal to find the remains of Vincent said to be buried there. They found what they concluded were the saint’s bones and took them to Lisbon by ship, reportedly accompanied by ravens. A grateful Afonso made Vincent Lisbon’s patron saint, built the Monastery of São Vicente de Fora (Saint Vincent Outside the Walls) on a hill overlooking the city, and incorporated a ship with two ravens bringing Vincent’s bones to Lisbon into the city’s coat of arms. He deposited the bones in the Cathedral of Lisbon being built over a destroyed mosque.
Today, many Lisbon streetlamps feature metal representations of the ship with two ravens that became the symbol of the city. In 1970, a large statue of Saint Vincent holding the iconic ship was dedicated on Miradouro Portas do Sol, a Lisbon overlook providing a magnificent view of the Monastery of St. Vincent, reconstructed beginning in the sixteenth century to include twin towers. The bones claimed to be those of Saint Vincent remain in a silver coffin in Lisbon’s Cathedral.
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爱思英语编者按：世界各国都有“三大姓”的说法，中国有张王李；英国是Smith, Jones, Williams; 美国是Smith, Johnson, Carson; 法国是Martin, Bernard, Dupont; 德国是Schultz, Mueller, Shmidt; 苏联是Ivanov, Vasiliev, Deternov
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Daft meant "mild" or "meek" in Old English, whereas it means "foolish" today. "That's why there are names which people think aren't really very pleasant names and you wonder why they persisted as long as they did."
Webber also discovered that the most popular names in Britain have not changed over the past 127 years. Last year, Smith, Jones, Williams, Brown and Taylor held the top five spots, in exactly the same order as they did a century ago
Webber also found that between 1996 and 2008, the names Zhang, Wang, and Yang experienced the fastest growth. Zhang rose by 4719 percent, while Wang grew by 2225 percent
逐渐消失的英国搞笑姓氏: http://insuns.com/article/18819-1.html
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Advantages of hybrid cars over typical cars
3 Advantages Of Hybrid Cars Over Typical Cars
Because of the rising price of fuel as well as the environmental damage it causes to our planet, a lot of automobile owners or buyers are looking for an alternative way to save money. Let’s face it, fuel supply is finite and the prices of gas is only going to rise higher and higher. Which is where a hybrid car has its advantages.
Hybrid cars have been gaining in popularity in recent years. With lower price of production and new hybrid car technology becoming developed, owning a hybrid car is becoming reasonably priced to everyone.
Hybrid Cars Saves Gas
The obvious advantage of utilizing hybrid cars is that it saves gas. Combining the cleaner energy of an electric motor with the long range capacity of a gasoline engine allows a hybrid car to save as a lot as 30 miles a gallon. One feature of hybrid cars is that the gasoline engine is shut off automatically when the auto stops. This also helps in saving fuel. That is also the reason why hybrid cars are so quiet why it’s stationary. The gasoline engine is automatically turned on when you step on the accelerator pedal.
Hybrid Cars Are Environment Friendly
Hybrid cars emit lower toxic emissions in contrast to regular gasoline-powered motors due to very much less gasoline becoming burned. It really is environmentally friendly, causes a smaller amount pollution and releases much less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. If you do not know, carbon dioxide is one of the primary reasons for rising global warming. For example, the Toyota Prius can cut down tailpipe emissions by up to ninety percent along with the greenhouse gas emissions by as very much as fifty percent.
Tax Incentives For Hybrid Cars
1. How fuel efficient the hybrid car is in contrast to a standard auto in 2002 utilizing the same weight class.
2. How very much gasoline the hybrid car can save in its lifetime compared with an equivalent conventional automobile
For instance, a Honda Accord hybrid car have reduced tax credits of $600 while a Toyota Prius has a tax credit of $3150. Do note that the tax credits do expire after 2010 for most hybrid cars.
Hybrid car manufacturers are continually researching for a lot more methods to decrease fuel consumption and better fuel efficiency. Also as a lot more hybrid cars are being adopted, the expense of hybrid cars will reduce making it more affordable for everyone.
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Definitions for "observed"
perceived with the eyes and sometimes with other senses; as, no explanation for the observed phenomena.
Detected by systematic scientific observation; as, variation in the observed flux may depend on a number of factors.
Perceived directly with the eyes; observed at first hand.
Keywords: onlooker, amused
an amused onlooker
a result of the binding of gyrase molecules, presumably as multi-subunit oligomers, during the ligation step
a daily must-read for an elite audience of Los Angeles journalists, politicians, authors and bloggers
a perfect blog, it is a fly on the wall that speaks English instead of buzzing self-consciously like most blogflies do
Keywords: hope, noticed, you
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• Writing the Nation (Mme de Staël)
• Suzannne Guerlac
"On dirait qu'on traverse un pays dont la nation vient de s'en aller," Mme de Staël writes of the Russian landscape she crosses, racing the conquering armies of Napoleon in an attempt to flee the empire and regain her independence in England. "L'étendue fait tout disparaître," she continues, "excepté l'étendue même, qui poursuit l'imagination, comme de certaines idées métaphysiques dont la pensée ne peut plus se débarrasser, quand elle en est une fois saisie."1 The nation, "cette découverte du 18e siècle"2 is just such an idea for her.
There are two major traditions for thinking the nation in the nineteenth century. One, launched by the early writings of Ernest Renan and subsequently appropriated by Charles Maurras for his concept of integral nationalism, defines the nation in relation to the institution of the monarchy. According to this view, the origin of the French nation dates back to the rule of Charlemagne. The other tradition, the one pertinent to Mme de Staël, derives the idea of the nation from the concept of national sovereignty as it emerged during the French Revolution precisely in opposition to the rule of the king. "Le roi a séparé ses intérêts de ceux de la nation. Sa conduite est un acte formel et perpétuel de désobéissance à la Constitution," writes one revolutionary commentator.3 In the social and institutional reconfiguration inaugurated by the Revolution, power and national identity are both displaced from the sovereign king to the sovereignty of the people—la Nation—which speaks through the national assembly and is protected by the law of the Constitution. "La loi suprême," we read in a revolutionary petition to the legislative body, "lie et subordonne les différentes parties de l'Etat au Tout et le Tout c'est la Nation en corps."4 [End Page 43]
Mme de Staël explores this new cultural construction of the nation in almost all her major works. In De l'Allemagne she presents a critique of French intellectual and cultural styles while introducing important features of German intellectual life to French awareness. In De la Littérature, the notion of literature is relativized not merely with respect to geographic or historical differences, but also, and most specifically, in relation to the political and institutional character of nations. Corinne ou l'Italie attaches cultural identities to the principal characters of the novel where we find an Englishman, an Italian and, in a secondary role, a Frenchman. And then there is the early treatise on the passions, a work projected to include two parallel parts, an ethical examination of the role of the passions in relation to human happiness, and, in a second part (never completed), an examination of the role of the passions in relation to the happiness, or well being, of the nation.
In this work de Staël analyzes individual character in relation to what Valéry would call a "politique intérieure," a kind of power struggle between the inner faculties of reason and the passions.5 In a parallel manner, the well-being of the nation would depend upon the form of its constitution, whose task is to regulate the opposing forces of order and liberty.6 "Le seul problème des constitutions," she writes, "est de connaître jusqu'à quel degré on peut exciter ou comprimer les passions, sans compromettre le bonheur public."7 The character of the nation, then, is like a human person, whose individual character depends in part upon the disposition of the passions. What implicitly operates the analogy between the individual and the nation, and would link the two projected parts of the study on the passions, is the dual register of the term "constitution." It refers both to the make up of individual character and to the institution of the charte, the fundamental text that determines a country's form of government.
De Staël produces her treatise on the passions during the Terror. She is specifically concerned with the passions as they pertain to the fanaticism of revolutionary...
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Time to reduce dollar's hold
Updated: 2013-10-14 06:32
By Giles Chance (China Daily)
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An irreconcilable divide lies at the heart of the breakdown between the two political parties. The US Constitution gives the Senate and House of Representatives considerable power over lawmaking. As Republicans control the lower house in Washington, they can force the government to shut down because they can deny it the authority to borrow more.
There have been many government shutdowns before in the US, as the parties have struggled with each other to agree on spending priorities and government borrowing. None has lasted more than a few days. This time, though, the shutdown could last much longer. The Republicans want to force Obama to give in to their demands - and they could go to extreme lengths to do that. They even welcome the idea that the US could default on its debts, if it helps them achieve their goals.
The US is still the country of the immigrant, a person who rejects established values and leaves his country to find a new home where he can enjoy freedom and independence. The balances inside the Constitution, whereby Congress can hold the president to account while the president can veto laws passed by Congress, were designed to prevent any one element of government from becoming over-powerful. The founding fathers succeeded in that aim, but they also created a foundation for constant struggle between the president and the two houses of Congress. At a time of economic weakness and decline, when firm leadership is needed both for the US and the world, political struggle may signal the end of the US' position as the dominant global financial power.
The issue for the major lenders who have a stake in the US' financial position, such as China, is whether the US is a trustworthy borrower and, beyond that, whether the US should occupy the dominant position in global finance that it does today. The made-in-America financial crash of 2008 was a direct result of the dollar's role as the global currency. This role forces the Federal Reserve to print dollars for export to other countries for use as a store of value and for business transactions. The creation of dollars far beyond its own needs encourages the US to over-borrow and overspend.
In 1945, the US was the only large country left standing with enough strength to support a world recovery after World War II. The principal architect of the post-war financial system, the British economist John Maynard Keynes, foresaw the dangers of having one country's currency used by the whole world. Instead, he wanted a world currency and imagined the International Monetary Fund to be the organization that could issue and manage it. But the US, then in the driving seat, wanted the dollar to reign supreme. Now, 70 years later, the dollar's supreme role is out of date. The guardian of the system has become too weak economically and financially to support the system.
China should gradually reduce its current dollar holdings as a matter of financial prudence and steadily work with others toward a new global financial architecture. Progress will be gradual and slow, because the US will not give up its dominant financial role without a struggle. But the government shutdown in Washington demonstrates that now is the time to start that process.
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CDEWorld > Courses > Oral Rinses for a Proactive Intervention Approach to Periodontal Health
CE Information & Quiz
Oral Rinses for a Proactive Intervention Approach to Periodontal Health
Fay Goldstep, DDS
October 2018 RN - Expires October 31st, 2021
Compendium of Continuing Education in Dentistry
Practitioners can help their patients protect their periodontal health with interventions based on an understanding of the bacterial etiology and inflammatory progression of periodontal disease. The process stages include bacterial colonization, biofilm formation, attachment, inflammation, and host response. Available therapies—both mechanical and chemotherapeutic—attempt to break the microbiologic and inflammatory cascade that often progresses to periodontal disease. Among such therapies, oral rinses are the least invasive and can be an effective and patient-friendly method of proactive intervention.
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Helping patients achieve optimal periodontal health is an essential goal of oral healthcare providers. Periodontal disease is a complex multifactorial process with a bacterial etiology and an inflammatory progression. Much of periodontal disease is the result of the breakdown of surrounding structures caused by the host response; pathogenic bacteria initiate the inflammatory response, while chronic inflammation supports these bacteria through the production of tissue breakdown products that they use as a food source. Effective elimination of periodontal pathogens can resolve inflammation. Concurrently curtailing the host inflammatory response can eliminate periodontal pathogens from the pocket due to a decreased pathogen-friendly food supply. Because this is a cyclical process, once it has begun, the host response must be stopped or the conditions will continue to deteriorate.
The cyclic timeline of periodontal disease begins with bacterial colonization, followed by biofilm formation, then attachment, inflammation, and host response. Therapies to stop the cascade are effective at different stages of the process. They can be anti-adhesive, antiseptic, and/or anti-inflammatory. Oral rinses, which are the least invasive of these therapies, are an effective proactive intervention to help break the microbiologic and inflammatory cascade that often progresses to periodontal disease.
Oral Rinses
Oral rinses provide chemotherapeutic agents that compensate for the difficulty in accessing hard-to-reach-areas, poor manual dexterity, and lack of regular mechanical plaque removal.1 Furthermore, only 20% of the oral environment is tooth structure. The saliva, tongue, and mucosa can serve as reservoirs of periopathogenic bacteria that are routinely missed by mechanical oral hygiene tools.2 The public prefers mouth rinsing because of its ease of use and breath-freshening effect.3 Oral rinses are effective on the three mechanisms of controlling periodontal inflammation: anti-adhesive, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory agents (Table 1).
The original concept regarding the etiology of periodontal disease was the “non-specific” plaque hypothesis—ie, all plaque is harmful to periodontal health, and the amount of plaque must be curtailed. The currently held view is the “specific plaque” hypothesis—ie, specific microbial species create a toxic periodontal environment among otherwise harmless bacteria.4
Essentially, dental plaque formation progresses as follows: When a clean tooth contacts saliva, it is quickly covered by pellicle (glycoproteins and polysaccharides), a surface that enhances the attachment of microorganisms to the tooth, and if left undisturbed, allows for the formation of mature dental plaque. Initial colonizers are mostly non-periopathogenic, gram-positive, sugar-metabolizing bacteria. The late colonizers are protein-metabolizing anaerobes (Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythensis, Treponema denticola), which have been implicated in periodontal disease and breath malodor.5 Disrupting the biofilm frequently through various oral hygiene approaches keeps the biofilm in its early stage with non-periopathogenic bacteria, as the colonizers tend to appear in the same sequence.6 If not adequately controlled, dental plaque formation that begins supragingivally progresses into the sulcus.
Anti-adhesive and antiseptic oral rinses stop the attachment and maturation of pathogenic biofilm that can progress to periodontal disease.
Anti-Adhesive Agents
Delmopinol Hydrochloride—A recent chemotherapeutic approach for controlling plaque employs an agent that inhibits the formation of plaque while having little effect on bacteria or the balance of commensal bacteria in the oral cavity. Delmopinol hydrochloride is a surface-active agent with low antimicrobial potency.7 It interferes with biofilm matrix formation by preventing synthesis of glucan polysaccharide, the substance that keeps biofilm together and attached to oral surfaces. The adherence of primary plaque-forming bacteria is reduced, and the emerging biofilm mass is loosely adherent (Figure 1).8 The plaque can then be easily removed by the patient (Figure 2).
Delmopinol hydrochloride (0.2%) mouth rinse has shown statistically significant efficacy for reducing plaque and gingivitis.9 There is some staining, but to a lesser degree than with chlorhexidine, and it is easier to remove. Delmopinol hydrochloride is indicated for long-term daily use because it has few side effects and maintains the equilibrium of the oral ecosystem.
Antiseptic Rinses
Oral antiseptics work by causing cell death, inhibiting reproduction, or inhibiting the metabolism of microorganisms.10 They are formulated to penetrate the plaque matrix to gain access to the pathogens. (Efficacy with respect to the individual antiseptic agents is discussed below.) Effective antiseptic mouthrinse must have11: non-toxicity to oral tissues and minimal side effects; efficacy against specific pathogens; adequate bioavailability of active ingredients; stability; substantivity, ie, the ability to bind to tissue surfaces, be released slowly for continued therapeutic effect, and be resistant to dilution by saliva; and the ability to maintain ecological balance, with neither overgrowth of microorganisms nor bacterial resistance.
Three categories of antiseptic ingredients dominate the oral rinse market: essential oils, chlorhexidine, and cetyl pyridinium chloride (CPC).
Fixed Combination of Essential Oils
Essential oils (EOs) are obtained by the steam distillation of the odiferous oily portions of plant matter. They can be derived from flowers, leaves, bark, woods, roots, rhizomes, fruits, and seeds. Due to the bactericidal properties of essential oils, they are increasingly popular alternatives to synthetic chemical products.
A fixed combination of four EOs—thymol, menthol, eucalyptol, and methyl salicylate—has been in clinical use since the late 19th century. It has the longest clinical history of the antiseptic agents and minimal reported adverse effects.12 A 30-second rinse penetrates biofilm13 and provides a significant antimicrobial effect on the embedded bacteria, including periopathogens.13
The mechanism of action of use of EOs is described as follows: It causes morphological alteration of the cell surface after a 30-second exposure, which leads to cell death for specific periopathogens such as Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans.14 It denatures protein and alters bacterial enzyme activity. It extracts bacterial endotoxins from gram-negative pathogens, and it affects the growth rate of early plaque-forming bacteria and disrupts the formation of biofilm.15
EO also has anti-inflammatory effects,16 including inhibiting prostaglandin formation and scavenging free radicals generated by neutrophils in inflammation.
Unlike chlorhexidine and cetyl pyridinium chloride, EO has a neutral electrical change, which decreases undesirable side effects so that it does not interact with charged ions found in dentifrices and mouthrinses to decrease efficacy,17 it is not inhibited by proteins in blood serum that may inactivate antimicrobial agents,18 and it does not precipitate dietary chromogens that lead to tooth staining.19 However, EO has no substantivity—ie, its effect stops when the rinse is removed. But because its action is rapid, this may not be clinically significant. EO has been shown to effectively penetrate biofilm to kill bacteria, which is comparable to the action of chlorhexidine.20 Systematic review studies on EO with or without alcohol showed no significant difference in efficacy. Alcohol contributed no added therapeutic value.21
Chlorhexidine (CHX)
Chlorhexidine gluconate has been both a medical and surgical disinfectant since the 1950s, and has been used in the oral cavity since the 1970s. CHX binds via adsorption to surfaces in the mouth as well as the pellicle and saliva, achieving high substantivity. It is both bacteriostatic and bactericidal, depending on concentration (Figure 3).
The positively charged (cationic) CHX molecule binds strongly to the negatively charged (anionic) bacterial cell surface, altering the integrity of the cell wall. CHX then binds to the inner cell membrane, leading to increased permeability and cell damage, rupture of the cell membrane, leakage of cell contents, and eventual bacterial cell death.22
CHX has a double positive charge and is, therefore, extremely interactive with anions. This helps efficacy but produces unfavorable side effects, such as the following:
• It precipitates negatively charged dietary chromogens from food and drinks (such as tea), often causing staining.23
• Its efficacy may be compromised by cationic detergents (like sodium lauryl sulfate) and anionic fluoride ions found in toothpaste,17 so there must be a 30-minute window between using toothpaste and rinsing with CHX.
• It can cause taste alterations and nausea.
• It can enhance supragingival calculus formation.24
For these reasons, CHX rinses are prescribed for short-duration therapy only, to control acute or severe bouts of periodontal disease. CHX has a broad-spectrum effect against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria (including many periopathogens), some fungi and yeasts (including Candida), and some viruses (including HIV). No bacterial resistance with long-term use has been reported.
By binding directly to the tooth surface, CHX occupies sites that could be used by pellicle and bacteria, thereby inhibiting early biofilm formation.25 CHX has been shown to penetrate the biofilm and kill embedded pathogens.13 Tight binding to oral structures allows it to be released slowly into the mouth and sustained for up to 12 hours, leading to high substantivity.26 Widely considered the “gold-standard” in oral rinses,22 CHX rinses are often used as a benchmark control against which new products are measured. Other chemotherapeutic agents may show either a purely immediate effect or limited persistence. CHX’s persistence is the basis of its efficacy.
CHX is especially appropriate for specific populations whose oral hygiene is compromised, such as the elderly, physically limited, and mentally handicapped. Long-term use may be appropriate in these instances.22 Formulation without alcohol has been shown to be as clinically effective in controlling plaque and gingival inflammation as the alcohol-based product.27
Cetyl Pyridinium Chloride
Cetyl pyridinium chloride (CPC) is a cationic, surface-active agent with bactericidal and bacteriostatic activity against bacterial pathogens and yeast. While it is bactericidal to both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, it is more effective against the former. CPC has a significant inhibitory effect on plaque and gingival inflammation (Figure 4 through Figure 7).28
The cationic CPC molecule binds to teeth and bacterial cell walls. Binding interferes with bacterial colonization on the tooth surface. CPC is effective against early colonizers in immature dental plaque, reducing the formation of mature biofilm. Binding to the bacterial surface causes disruption of bacterial cell membrane function, leakage of cytoplasmic material, and collapse of the intracellular equilibrium, leading to death of the microorganism.29
The formulation of vehicle ingredients, preservatives, stabilizers, colors, etc, may impact the bioavailability of CPC. Rinses with 0.07% CPC in a high bioavailable, alcohol-free formulation showed significant antiplaque and antigingivitis benefits.30-32
Side effects of CPC are due to its cationic structure. They include staining that has a similar dietary etiology to CHX but is less severe,33 and CPC can adversely interact with other charged ions in dentifrices and rinses (like CHX).
CPC binds strongly to tooth structure and biofilm, giving it good substantivity, although to a lesser degree than CHX.17
Efficacy of Antiseptic Rinses
In a systematic literature review,34 CHX, CPC, and EO were all determined to have beneficial antiplaque and antigingivitis effects when used long-term in conjunction with mechanical oral hygiene tools. CHX had the most consistent results. CHX has been shown to be more effective than EO in plaque reduction, but is comparable in antigingivitis properties.35
Anti-Inflammatory Pro-Healing Rinses
In the healthy periodontium, the innate response attempts to eliminate foreign bodies and is protective against injury or infection.36 Periodontal disease results from the body’s failure to turn off its inflammatory response to infection. The result is chronic maladaptive inflammation.37 This produces an environment that exudes a rich source of nutrients such as degraded host proteins, which are specifically what pathogenic bacteria need for survival and growth. Bacterial pathogens continue to exploit this environmental change, leading to more bacteria, more inflammation, bone resorption, and a perfect niche space (deeper periodontal pockets) where the entire process can continue undisturbed.38
As shown in Figure 8 and Figure 9, in chronic unresolved inflammation, cellular and molecular responses to bacterial challenges involve constant adjustment and regulatory feedback.39 Neutrophils and other cells secrete cytokines, which promote the release of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs)—proteolytic enzymes, including collagenases, implicated in normal bone remodeling.40 Tissue destruction is not unidirectional, so it is constantly being adjusted by host-bacterial interactions.39 Alveolar bone destruction is the result of the uncoupling of the normally tightly coupled processes of bone resorption and formation.39 Prostaglandin production plays a role in alveolar bone resorption.
The inappropriate host response is the major contributing factor for chronic maladaptive periodontal disease: A deficient host response initiates the chronic condition, and a too-vigorous response leads to further tissue breakdown.41
Emerging data suggest that periodontal pathogens that are present in low numbers use inflammation to provide an environment to foster their growth. Control of inflammation may actually return the composition of a pathologic biofilm to a healthy one. The implication is that the pathologic biofilm is a result of periodontal inflammation, as well as being the cause of periodontal inflammation.
Anti-inflammatory rinses, which are newer products in the oral rinse category, attempt to break this pathologic cycle. They are marketed under two major classifications of ingredients: antioxidants and botanicals (essential oils). There is some overlap, but they are discussed separately for clarity.
A free radical is an atom or group of highly reactive atoms that have one or more unpaired electrons. They are formed as intermediates during normal biochemical reactions. When they are generated in excess or not controlled, radicals can damage cells. Radicals of most concern in biological systems are derived from oxygen and are known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS are generated by neutrophils in host defense to kill invading pathogens, thus raising the level of ROS during inflammation. Antioxidants neutralize damaging free radicals that produce disease states.
There is promising new research on topical application of anti-oxidants on oral tissue to promote gingival healing.42 Dental manufacturers have incorporated antioxidants into toothpastes, mouthrinses/mouthwashes, lozenges, gels, oral sprays, breath fresheners, and other dental products for the control of gingival and periodontal diseases. There are potential beneficial clinical effects,43 but due to the inherently unstable nature of antioxidants, simply adding an antioxidant to an oral preparation may not produce an effective agent.42
Patients with periodontal disease have a reduced level of gingival and serum antioxidants.44 It is not yet clear whether the lower level of antioxidants contributes to the cause of periodontitis or whether the antioxidant level is reduced as a result of increased action in neutralizing free radicals.45
In vitro studies have shown antioxidants to have a beneficial effect on fibroblast migration and proliferation during gingival healing or periodontal repair.46 Fibroblasts are critical in the healing process. Their collagen deposition restores tissue strength, integrity, and structure.47
Botanicals (Essential Oils)
While harnessing the antimicrobial properties of plant matter is not new, the concept of using the anti-inflammatory and healing (not only the antimicrobial) properties of botanicals is now being explored in new oral rinses. The ideal anti-inflammatory rinse is one that targets pro-inflammatory cytokines and enzymes involved in oral inflammation and tissue destruction.48
A botanical rinse has been formulated with three botanical extracts at specific ratios that are antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory and promote tissue repair. The concept is to help modulate the host inflammatory response and break the inflammation cycle. The anti-inflammatory and tissue repair properties of the botanical extracts have been demonstrated in multiple bioassays during product development. The bioassays showed inhibition of inflammatory cytokines and their tissue-destructive products (prostaglandin, MMPs); tissue-healing products (collagen, growth factors) produced by fibroblasts were increased.
The three herbs are: centella asiatica (gotu kola), which has been shown to increase effective collagen and is used in wound healing49; sambucus nigra, which inhibits the pro-inflammatory properties of two periodontal pathogens (P. gingivalis and A. actinomycetemcomitans)50; and echinichia purpurea, which has antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-cytotoxic effects.51
The botanical rinse has demonstrated an ability to reduce gingival inflammation.52 A study on managing post-surgical inflammation around implants found the rinse clinically equivalent to 0.12% CHX in controlling plaque, but more effective than CHX in reducing inflammation at implant sites and areas of surgical incision.53
The ideal rinse would have no side effects and be cost effective and readily available. Water is such an agent. When used as a rinse it has no clinical effect; when it is delivered via a pulsating device and controlled pressure such as a water flosser, it demonstrates significant efficacy.
Extensive research on one water flosser demonstrates consistent benefits on gingival and periodontal health.54-65 The effects are broad-based, impacting the inflammatory cycle from plaque formation and adhesion to the host inflammatory response. One of the significant advantages of water flossing versus rinsing is the ability to reach subgingivally and interdentally. Agents delivered via rinsing can penetrate the sulcus approximately 2 mm, whereas water or an antimicrobial agent delivered via a water flosser can remove bacteria in deeper pockets (up to 6 mm).54 Recently, water flossing was compared to using string floss in five separate studies and consistently demonstrated superior reductions in bleeding, gingivitis, and plaque removal.60-64
Daily oral irrigation with the water flosser showed efficacy comparable to the administration of minocycline in patients with moderate to severe periodontitis. Both maintenance programs were effective in reducing clinical signs of periodontitis and in preventing the recolonization of periopathogenic bacteria after scaling and root planing.65
The mechanical action of the water jet disrupts biofilm and prevents bacterial recolonization. The hydrodynamic action has no side effects and does not potentiate the development of resistant strains, as can occur with antimicrobial drugs such as minocycline.65 Pulsating oral irrigation produces a qualitative change in subgingival plaque.
The water flosser has an impact on the host inflammatory response, as evidenced by decreased proinflammatory cytokines in the gingival crevicular fluid.55 Studies have shown decreased reactive oxygen species generation in diabetic patients, signifying decreased inflammatory activity.66
A water flosser has also demonstrated the ability to deliver an antimicrobial agent into the periodontal pocket. When compared to rinsing with the agent, the water flosser showed better effects on the reduction of bleeding, gingivitis, and pathogenic bacteria.67 Studies have shown significant periodontal improvements in patients with orthodontic appliances,62 implants,64 gingivitis,60 diabetes,66 crown and bridge,68 and those in periodontal maintenance programs.58,59
There are many tools available, both mechanical and chemotherapeutic, to maintain periodontal health. Oral rinsing and water flossing are patient-friendly, minimally invasive ways to proactively control the complex inflammatory cycle. Oral healthcare providers must understand the pathogenic cycle, the needs of the patient, and the specifics of the oral rinses. With this knowledge, clinicians are able to counsel their patients on maintaining good periodontal health for life.
Fay Goldstep, DDS
Private Practice, Toronto, Canada
Queries to the author regarding this course may be submitted to
1. Almerich JM, Cabedo B, Ortola JC, Poblet J. Influence of alcohol in mouthwashes containing triclosan and zinc: an experimental gingivitis study. J Clin Periodontol. 2005;32(6):539-544.
2. Leonardi Darby M. Changing perspectives on the use of antimicrobial mouthrinses. J Dent Hyg. 2007;81(5):3.
3. DeVore L. The rinse cycle. Registered Dental Hygienist. 2002;22(9):82-83,93.
4. Loesche WJ. Clinical and microbiological aspects of chemotherapeutic agents used according to the specific plaque hypothesis. J Dent Res. 1979;58(12):2404-2412.
6. Nagelberg RH. Understanding advances in oral rinse technologies. Compend Contin Educ Dent. 2011;32(spec iss 3):3-7.
7. Simonsson T, Hvid EB, Rundegren J, Edwardsson S. Effect of delmopinol on in vitro dental plaque formation, bacterial acid production and the number of microorganisms in human saliva. Oral Microbiol Immunol. 1991;6(5):305-309.
8. Elworthy AJ, Edgar R, Moran J, et al. A 6 month home-usage trial of 0.1% and 0.2 % delmopinol mouthwashes (II). Effects on the plaque microflora. J Clin Periodontol. 1995;22(7):527-532.
9. Addy M, Moran J, Newcombe RG. Meta-analyses of studies of 0.2% delmopinol mouth rinse as an adjunct to gingival health and plaque control measures. J Clin Periodontol. 2007;34(1)58-65.
10. DePaola L, Eshenaur Spolarich A. Safety and efficacy of antimicrobial mouthrinses in clinical practice. J Dent Hyg. 2007:81(5):13-25.
11. Charles C, Santos S, Morris A. Role of daily use mouthrinses in maintaining oral health. In: Hovliaras C, ed. Savvy Succcess: Achieving Professional Excellence and Career Satisfaction in the Dental Hygiene Profession. Vol 2. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse™; 2012:chap 29:245-257.
12. Mandel ID. Chemotherapeutic agents for controlling plaque and gingivitis. J Clin Periodontol. 1988;15(8):488-498.
13. Foster JS, Pan PC, Kolenbrander PE. Effects of antimicrobial agents on oral biofilms in a saliva-conditioned flowcell. Biofilms. 2004;1(1):5-12.
14. Kubert D, Rubin M, Barnett ML, Vincent JW. Antiseptic mouthrinse-induced microbial cell surface alterations. Am J Dent. 1993;6(6):277-279.
15. Ouhayoun JP. Penetrating the plaque biofilm: impact of essential oil mouthwash. J Clin Periodontol. 2003;30(suppl 5):10-12.
16. JETPack Educational Course. Myth Busting - All antimicrobial mouthrinses are the same. Instructional text. McNeil-PPC, Inc. 2011. All rights reserved.
17. Ciancio SG. Chemical agents: plaque control, calculus reduction and treatment of dentinal hypersensitivity. Periodontol 2000. 1995;8:75-86.
18. Ross NM, Charles CH, Dills SS. Long-term effects of Listerine antiseptic on dental plaque and gingivitis. J Clin Dent. 1989:1(4):92-95.
19. DePaola LG, Overholser CD, Meiller TF, et al. Chemotherapeutic inhibition of supragingival dental plaque and gingivitis development. J Clin Periodontol. 1989;16(5):311-315.
20. Pan PC, Harper S, Ricci-Nittel D, et al. In vitro evidence for efficacy of antimicrobial mouthrinses. J Dent. 2010:38(suppl 1):S16-S20.
21. Van Leeuwen M, Slot D, Van der Weijden G. The effect of an essential-oils mouthrinse as compared to a vehicle solution on plaque and gingival inflammation: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Dent Hyg. 2014;doi:10.1111/idh.12069.
22. Jones CG. Chlorhexidine: is it still the gold standard? Periodontol 2000. 1997;15:55-62.
23. Sheen S, Owens J, Addy M. The effect of toothpaste on the propensity of chorhexidine and cetyl pyridinium chloride to produce staining in vitro: a possible predictor of inactivation. J Clin Periodontal. 2001;28(1):46-51.
24. Santos A. Evidence-based control of plaque and gingivitis. J Clin Periodontol. 2000;30(suppl 5):13-16.
25. Jenkins S, Addy M, Wade W. The mechanism of action of chlorhexidine. A study of plaque growth on enamel inserts in vivo. J Clin Periodontol. 1988:15(7):415-424.
26. Wolff LF. Chemotherapeutic agents in the prevention and treatment of periodontal disease. Northwest Dent. 1985;64(6):15-24.
27. Leyes Borrajio JL, Garcia VL, Lopez CG, et al. Efficacy of chlorhexidine mouthrinses with and without alcohol: A clinical study. J Periodontol. 2002;73(3):317-321.
28. Haps S, Slot DE, Berchier CE, Van der Weijden GA. The effect of cetylpyridinium chloride- containing mouth rinses as adjuncts to tooth brushing on plaque and parameters of gingival inflammation: a systematic review. Int J Dent Hyg. 2008;6(4):290-303.
29. Therapeutic mouthrinses: Reaching beyond mechanical plaque control for reduction in dental plaque and gingivitis. Inside Dentistry. 2011;7(suppl 6):1-10.
30. Witt J, Ramji N, Gibb R, et al. Antibacterial and antiplaque effects of a novel, alcohol-free oral rinse with cetylpyridinium chloride. J Contemp Dent Pract. 2005;6(1):1-9.
31. Singh ML, Papas A, Sundaralingam S, et al. 2-month plaque prevention clinical trial with 0.1% cetylpryidinium chloride rinse [abstract]. J Dent Res. 2012:91(spec iss A). Abstract 119.
32. Mankodi S, Bauroth K, Witt JJ, et al. A 6-month clinical trial to study the effects of a cetylpyridinium chloride mouthrinse on gingivitis and plaque. Am J Dent. 2005;18 spec no:9A-14A.
33. Roberts WR, Addy M. Comparison of the in vivo and in vitro antibacterial properties of antiseptic mouthrinses containing chlorhexidine, alexidine, cetyl pyridinium chloride and hexetidine. Relevance to mode of action. J Clin Periodontol. 1981;8(4);295-310.
34. Gunsolley JC. A meta-analysis of six-month studies of antiplaque and gingivitis agents. J Am Dent Assoc. 2006;137(12):1649-1657.
35. Charles CH, Mostler KM, Bartels LL, Mankodi SM. Comparative antiplaque and antigingivitis effectiveness of a chlorhexidine and an essential oil mouthrinse: 6-month clinical trial. J Clin Periodontol. 2004;31(10):878-884.
36. Shinohara M, Mirakaj V, Serhan C. Functional metabolomics reveals novel active products in the DHA metabolome, Front Immunol. 2012;3:81.
37. Van Dyke TE, Serhan CN. A Novel Approach to Resolving Inflammation. Oral and Whole Body Health. 2006:42-45.
38. Hajishengallis G, Liang S, Payne MA, et al. Low-abundance biofilm species orchestrates inflammatory periodontal disease through the commensal microbiota and complement. Cell Host Microbe. 2011;10(5):497-506.
39. Page RC, Offenbacher S, Schroeder HE, et al. Advances in the pathogenesis of periodontitis: summary of developments, clinical implications and future directions. Periodontol 2000. 1997;14:216-248.
40. Giannobile WV. Host-response therapeutics for periodontal diseases. J Periodontol. 2008;79(8 suppl):1592-1600.
41. Graves D. Cytokines that promote periodontal tissue destruction. J Periodontol. 2008;79(8 suppl):1585-1591.
42. San Miguel SM, Opperman LA, Allen EP, Svoboda KK. Use of antioxidants in oral healthcare. Compend Contin Educ Dent. 2011;32(9):E156-E159.
44. Chapple IL, Matthews JB. The role of reactive oxygen and antioxidant species in periodontal tissue distruction. Periodontol 2000. 2007;43:160-232.
45. D’Aiuto F, Nibali L, Parkar M, et al. Oxidative stress, systemic inflammation, and severe periodontitis. J Dent Res. 2010;89(11):1241-1246.
46. San Miguel SM, Opperman LA, Allen EP, et al. Bioactive antioxidant mixtures promote proliferation and migration on human oral fibroblasts. Arch Oral Biol. 2011;56(8):812-822.
47. Diegelmann RF, Evans MC. Wound healing: an overview of acute, fibrotic and delayed healing. Front Biosci. 2004;9:283-289.
53. Rosen P, Levine W. A pilot study comparing a botanical rinse to chlorhexidine rinse in managing postsurgical inflammation around dental implants. Compend Contin Educ Dent. Accepted for publication.
54. Cobb CM, Rodgers RL, Killoy WJ. Ultrastructual examination of human periodontal pockets following the use of an oral irrigator device in vivo. J Periodontol. 1988;59(3):155-163.
56. Brady JM, Gray WA, Bhaskar SN. Electron microscopic study of the effect of water jet lavage device on dental plaque. J Dent Res. 1973;52(6):1310-1313.
59. Flemming TF, Epp B, Funkenhauser Z, et al. Adjunctive supragingival irrigation with acetylsalicylic acid in periodontal supportive therapy. J Clin Periodontal. 1995;22(6):427-433.
63. Goyal CR, Lyle DM, Qaqish, et al. Evaluation of the plaque removal efficacy of a water flosser compared to string floss in adults after a single use. J Clin Dent. 2013;24(2);37-42.
64. Magnuson B, Harsono M, Stark PC, et al. Comparison of the effect of two interdental cleaning devices around implants on the reduction of bleeding: a 30-day randomized clinical trial. Comp Contin Ed Dent. 2013;34(spec iss 8):2-7.
65. Genovesi AM, Lorenzi C, Lyle DM, et al. Periodontal maintenance following scaling and root planing. A randomized single-center study comparing minocycline treatment and daily oral irrigation with water. Minerva Stomatol. 2014:Jan 14. [Epub ahead of print]
68. Krajewski JJ, Giblin J, Gargiulo AW. Evaluation of a water pressure cleansing device as an adjunct to periodontal treatment. Periodontics 1964;2(2):76-78.
Fig 1 Delmopinol hydrochloride interferes with biofilm matrix formation (Fig 1). The biofilm mass becomes loosely adherent and can be easily removed by the patient Fig 2. (Images courtesy of Sunstar Americas, Inc. Used with permission.)
Figure 1
Figure 2
Fig 3. The positively charged chlorhexidine molecule binds first to the negatively charged bacterial cell surface and then to the inner cell membrane, leading to rupture, leakage of cell contents, and bacterial cell death.
Figure 3
Fig 4 The positively charged cetyl pyridinium chloride (CPC) binds to the bacterial surface (Fig 4) to cause disruption of bacterial cell membrane function (Fig 5), leakage of cytoplasmic material (Fig 6), and bacterial cell death (Fig 7). (Images courtesy of Procter & Gamble. Reprinted from the Journal of Contemporary Dental Practice, 2005;6(1), with permission.)
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Fig 8. The chronic maladaptive inflammatory response is depicted. Periodontal tissues: mature plaque, breakdown of the periodontal ligament, ulcerations of the epithelial lining, apical migration of pathogenic bacteria such as P. gingivalis, and bone resorption. Cellular level: an increased number of neutrophils, macrophages, etc. Biochemical level: increased proinflammatory cytokines regulate release of MMPs (involved in bone resorption and collagen degradation); collagen fragments provide nutrition for pathogenic bacteria; production of prostaglandin occurs (involved in bone resorption).
Figure 8
Figure 9
Table 1
Table 1
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SOURCE: Compendium of Continuing Education in Dentistry | September 2014
Learning Objectives:
• discuss the etiology of periodontal disease
• understand available proactive interventions to help prevent periodontal disease
• describe the mechanisms of action in different types of mouthrinses
The author reports no conflicts of interest associated with this work.
Queries for the author may be directed to
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Memory disambiguation
Memory disambiguation is a set of techniques used by high-performance out-of-order executing microprocessors that execute memory access instructions (loads and stores) out of program order. The mechanisms for performing memory disambiguation, implemented using digital logic within the microprocessor core, detect true dependencies between memory operations and the ability to recover. They also eliminate spurious memory dependencies and allow for greater level of readability.
When attempting to execute instructions out of order, a microprocessor must respect true dependencies between instructions . For example, consider a simple true dependence:
1: add $ 1, $ 2, $ 3 # R1 <= R2 + R3
2: add $ 5, $ 1, $ 4 # R5 <= R1 + R4 (dependent on 1)
In this example, the addinstruction on line 2 is dependent on the addinstruction on line 1 Because The register R1 is a source operand of the addition operation on line 2. The addon line 2 can not execute up to the addon line 1 completes. In this case, the dependence is static and easily determined by a microprocessor, because the sources and destinations are registers. The destination register of the addinstruction on line 1 ( R1) is part of the instruction encoding, and can be determined by the microprocessor early on, during the decode stage of the pipeline. Similarly, the source registers of the addinstruction on line 2 ( R1andR4) are also encoded into the statement itself and are determined in decode. To respect this dependence, the microprocessor’s scheduler logic will issue these instructions in the correct order (instruction 1 first, followed by instruction 2) so that the results of 1 are available when instruction 2 needs them.
Complications arise when the dependence is not statically determinable. Such non-static dependencies arise with memory instructions (loads and stores) because the location of the operand can be determined by the encoding itself.
1: store $ 1, 2 ($ 2) # Mem [R2 + 2] <= R1
2: load $ 3, 4 ($ 4) # R3 <= Mem [R4 + 4] (possibly depending on 1, possible same address as above)
Here, the store instruction writes a value to the memory location specified by the value in the address (R2 + 2), and the load statement reads the value at the memory location specified by the value in address (R4 + 4). The microprocessor may not be statically determined, but it is different from the same location, because the locations depend on the values in R2 and R4. If the locations are different, the instructions are independent and can be successfully executed out of order. However, if the locations are the same, then the load is dependent on the store to produce its value. This is known as an ambiguous dependence .
Out-of-order execution and memory access operations
Executing loads and stores out of order can produce incorrect results if a dependent load / store has been executed out of order. Consider the following code snippet, given in MIPS assembly :
1: div $ 27, $ 20
2: sw $ 27, 0 ($ 30)
3: lw $ 08, 0 ($ 31)
4: sw $ 26, 0 ($ 30)
5: lw $ 09, 0 ($ 31)
Assume that the scheduling logic will be an instruction to the execution unit when all of its register operands are ready. Further That assumes registers $30and $31are ready: the gains in $30and $31Were computed long time ago and have-nots changed. However, assume $27is not ready: its value is still in the process of being computed by the div(integer divide) statement. Finally, assume that you have the same value $30and $31the same value and access to the same memory word.
In this situation, the sw $27, 0($30)instruction on line 2 is not ready to execute, but the lw $08, 0($31)instruction on line 3 is ready. If the processor allows the lwinstruction to be executed before sw, the load will read an old value from the memory system; however, it should have read the value that was just written there by the sw. The load and the store is out of order, but there was a memory dependence between them that was violated.
Similarly, assume that register $26 is ready. The sw $26, 0($30)instruction on line 4 lw $08, 0($31)If it occurs, the lw $08, 0($31)instruction would have read the wrong value from the memory system Executed.
Characterization of memory dependencies
Memory dependencies come in three flavors:
• Read-After-Write (RAW) dependencies: RAW dependencies arise when a load operation reads a value from memory that is produced by the latter.
• Write-After-Read (WAR) dependencies: WAR dependencies arise when a store operation writes a value to memory that has preceding load reads.
• Write-After-Write (WAW) dependencies: WAW dependencies arise when two store operations write values to the same memory address.
The three dependencies are shown in the preceding code segment (reproduced for clarity):
1: div $ 27, $ 20
2: sw $ 27, 0 ($ 30)
3: lw $ 08, 0 ($ 31)
4: sw $ 26, 0 ($ 30)
5: lw $ 09, 0 ($ 31)
• The lw $08, ($31)instruction on line 3 has a RAW dependence on the sw $27, 0($30)instruction on line 2, and the lw $09, 0($31)instruction on line 5 has a RAW dependence on the sw $26, 0($30)instruction on line. The stores are the most recent producers to that memory address, and the loads are reading that memory address’s value.
• The sw $26, 0($30)instruction on line 4 has a WAR dependence on the lw $08, 0($31)instruction on line 3 since it writes the memory address that the preceding load reads from.
• The sw $26, 0($30)instruction on line 4 has a WAW dependence on the sw $27, 0($30)instruction on line 2 since both stores write to the same memory address.
Memory disambiguation mechanisms
Modern microprocessors use the following mechanisms, implemented in hardware , to resolve ambiguous dependencies and recover when a dependence was violated.
Avoiding WAR and WAW dependencies
Values from store instructions are not committed to the memory system (in modern microprocessors, CPU cache ) when they execute. Instead, the store instructions, Including the memory address and store data, are buffered in a store queue up to They reach the point of retirement. When a store withdraws, it then writes its value to the memory system. This avoids the WAR and WAW dependence problems shown in the code snippet above where an earlier load receives an incorrect value from the memory system because
Addition, buffering stores may be necessary to provide instructions to follow instructions that may result in an exception (such as a load of a bad address, divide by zero, etc.) or a conditional branchwhich direction (taken or not taken) is not yet known. If the exception -providing instruction has not been issued or the branch has been predicted incorrectly, the processor will have fetched and executed instructions on a “wrong path.” These instructions should not have been executed at all; Exceptional conditions should be taken into account in the case of speculative instructions. The processor must “throw away” any results from the bad-path, speculatively-executed instructions when it comes to the exception or branch misprediction. The complication for the blind is misplaced.
Thus, without store buffering, may not have been executed. Forcing blinds to wait until branch and outlets are known to reduce aggressiveness and limits ILP ( Instruction level parallelism ) and performance. With store buffering, sales can be made by the seller or the customer. This product is not available at all, but it does not offer the best price. ILP and performance from full out-of-order execution of stores.
Store to load forwarding
Buffering stores until retirement. WAW and WAR dependencies. Consider the following scenario: a store executes and buffers its address and data in the store queue. A few instructions later, a load executes that reads from the same memory address to which the store just wrote. If the load reads its data from the memory system, it would read an old value that would have been overwritten by the previous store. The data obtained by the load will be incorrect.
To solve this problem, processors employ a technique called store-to-load forwarding using the store queue. In addition to buffering stores until retirement, the store has a second purpose: forwarding data from completed but not yet-retired (“in-flight”) stores to later loads. Rather than a simple FIFO queue, the store is really a Content-Addressable Memory (CAM)searched using the memory address. When a load executes, it searches the store for in-flight stores to the same address that are logically earlier in program order. If a matching store exists, the load obtains its data value from that store instead of the memory system. If there is no matching store, the load accesses the memory system as usual; any preceding, matching stores must have already retired and committed to their values. This technique enables you to obtain the data you need.
Multiple stores can be present in the store queue. To handle this case, the store queue is priority encoded to select the latest store Logically That Is Earlier than the load in program order. The determination of qui store is “latest” Can Be Achieved by Attaching Some sort of timestamp to the instructions As They are fetched and decoded, or alternatively by Knowing the relative position (slot) of the load with respect to the oldest and newest Within blinds the store tail.
RAW dependence violations
Detecting RAW dependence violations
Modern out-of-order CPUs can be used to detect RAW dependence violation, but all techniques require tracking in-flight. When a load executes, it accesses the memory system and / or store to obtain its data value, and then its address and data are buffered in a load queue . The load is similar in structure and function to the store, and can be combined with the store in a single structure called a load-store queue , or LSQ . The following techniques are used to detect RAW dependence violations:
Load queue CAM search
With this technique, the load queue, like the store tail, is a CAM searched using the memory access address, and keeps track of all in-flight loads. When a store executes, it searches for the load of the customer. If such a matching load exists, it must be executed before the store and thus read an incorrect, old value from the memory system / store queue. Any instructions that used the load’s value also used bad data. To recover if this violation is detected, the load is marked as “violated” in the retirement buffer. The store stays in the store and retires normally, committing its value to the memory when it retires. However, when the violated load reaches the retirement point, the processor flushes the pipeline and restarts execution from the load instruction. At this point, all the previous stores have committed their values to the memory system. The load instruction will now read the correct value from the memory system, and any dependent instructions will be re-executed using the correct value.
This requires technical associative year search of the load queue is every store execution, qui consumes system power and can Prove to be a difficulty for large load path timing cues. However, it does not require any additional memory (cache) or ports that are executing.
Disambiguation at retirement
With this technique, load instructions that have been executed out-of-order are re-executed when they reach the retirement point. Since the load is now the withdrawal instruction, it has no dependencies on any instruction still in-flight; all stores ahead of it, they are committed to the value of their memory, and they are guaranteed to be correct. The value read from memory at re-execution time is compared to the value obtained when the load first executed. If the values are the same, the original value was correct and no violation has occurred. If the re-execution value is different from the original value, a violation has occurred and the pipeline must be used.
This technique is conceptually simpler than the second one, and it eliminates a second CAM and its power-hungry search. Since the load must re-access the memory system just before retirement, the access must be very fast, so this scheme links on a fast cache. No matter how fast the cache is, however, the second memory system access for every out-of-order load instruction does increase instruction retirement latencyand increases the number of cache accesses that must be performed by the processor. The additional remove-time cache access can be satisfied by re-using an existing cache port; However, this effect creates a problem with performance and reduces the cost of performance. Alternatively, an additional cache may be added for the sake of disambiguation, but this increases the complexity, power, and area of the cache. Some recent work (Roth 2005) has shown that it can not be used in many ways. such a technique would help or reduce such latency and resource contention.
A minor benefit of this scheme (compared to a load-queue search) is that it would not be a problem if it would have caused RAW dependency violation. load’s address) has a data value that matches the data value already in the cache. In the load-tail search scheme, an additional data comparison would need to be added to the load-queue search hardware to prevent such a pipeline flush.
Avoiding RAW dependence violations
CPUs that fully support RAW dependence violations when they occur. However, many CPUs do not support this problem, but they do not support this. This approach offers a lower performance compared to supporting full out-of-order load / store execution, but it can significantly reduce the complexity of the execution core and cache.
The first option, made in the first instance, avoids the possibility of losing business. Another possibility is to effectively break into two operations: address generation and cache access. With these two separate operations, the CPU can only be used to access the memory system. After address generation, there is no longer any ambiguous dependencies since they are known This scheme still allows for some “out-of-orderness”
Additional Issues
Memory dependence prediction
Processors That fully supporting out-of-order load / store execution can use an additional, related technology, called Expired memory dependence prediction , to attempt to predict true loads and outbuildings entre blinds before Their addresses are known. Using this technique, the processor is able to prevent a complete loss of performance, which is avoided, and avoids dependence and avoidance of the pipeline flush and the penalty penalty that is incurred. See the memory dependence prediction article for more details.
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Narrative essay and thesis statement
In addition, an argumentative essay may include a refutation section where conflicting ideas are acknowledged, described, and criticized. Put everything in order and try to find some mistakes occurred. For example, someone could simply tell the story of when he or she played baseball one summer and enjoyed the experience.
Often, it is written in chronological order or numerical order to show step-by-step processes. Take, by way of example, Thomas Edison. The academic essay tests the student's ability to present their thoughts in an organized way and is designed to test their intellectual capabilities.
Here is an example of a body paragraph to continue the essay begun above: Thesis Statement Example for a Research Paper This is a thesis statement example for a research paper where you have to argue your point by providing evidence from reliable resources journal articles, newspapers etc.
However, it is capable to find and reveal more difficult mistakes, for instance, run-on sentences. Taken together, then, the overall structure of a five paragraph essay should look something like this: In English essay first meant "a trial" or "an attempt", and this is still an alternative meaning.
The focus of a description is the scene.
Free Grammar Checker Online for Everyone
If you get a writing task, your teacher expects your paper to be free of mistakes. The Office of Personnel Management has established five executive core qualifications that all applicants seeking to enter the Senior Executive Service must demonstrate.
Conclusion Though it may seem formulaic — and, well, it is - the idea behind this structure is to make it easier for the reader to navigate the ideas put forth in an essay. Scene Setting Set the scene for readers by letting them know relevant details of the the who, what, where and and where of your essay.
How will I continue the discussion of something that cannot be disputed? Definitely will order again! Maybe I think that playing sports helps children develop better cooperation skills, better coordination, and better overall health. Most effective thesis statements often answer these three questions: A narrative thesis may be connected to the thesis of a larger work, in which the narrative is merely one element, or may be the thesis statement for the entire essay or speech.The Body Paragraphs.
A narrative’s thesis statement is not exactly like the thesis statements used in argumentative or analytical essays.
Writing Persuasive Essays
The thesis statement for a narrative essay does not necessarily need to outline the whole essay. Instead, it should be a sentence including one of two things: the.
How Should I Start My Thesis for My Personal Narrative? Unlike a conventional academic essay, a personal narrative is about your own experiences or feelings. Still, a personal narrative contains a "thesis," the main point you are trying to communicate.
Persuasive Essay
Narrative essay and thesis statement
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Hyrcanis (Lydia)
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Hyrcanis among the cities of Lydia (ca. 50 AD)
Asia Minor 400AD
Hyrcanis or Hyrkaneis, also known as Hyrcania (Ancient Greek: Ὑρκανία), was a Roman and Byzantine-era city[1] and bishopric in ancient Lydia, now in western Turkey. It was situated in the Hyrcanian plain (τὸ Ὑρκάνιον πεδίον), which is said to have derived its name from a colony of Hyrcanians being settled here by the Persians.[2][3] They were afterwards mingled with some Macedonians, who also settled in this district, whence they are called by Pliny the Elder and Tacitus "Macedones Hyrcani."[4][5][6][7] The city minted its own coins.[8][9]
Its site is located west of Halit Paşa in Asiatic Turkey.[10][11]
The city was also the seat of an ancient bishopric. Known bishops include:
1. ^ Ruth Lindner, Mythos und Identität: Studien zur Selbstdarstellung kleinasiatischer Städte in der römischen Kaiserzeit (Franz Steiner Verlag, 1994) p128.
2. ^ Strabo. Geographica. xiii. p.629. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
3. ^ Stephanus of Byzantium. Ethnica. s.v. Ὑρκανία.
4. ^ Pliny. Naturalis Historia. 5.29.31.
5. ^ Tacitus. Annales. 2.47.
6. ^ http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/former/t0935.htm
7. ^ http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2h55.html
8. ^ Ancient Coinage of Lydia, Hyrkanis.
9. ^ Hyrkaneis at Asia Minor Coins .
11. ^ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
12. ^ Michel Le Quien, Oriens christianus p887.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainSmith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Hyrcania". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
Coordinates: 38°40′03″N 27°40′02″E / 38.667539°N 27.667099°E / 38.667539; 27.667099
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There are nine known Civil War era photographs of black men in Confederate uniforms and we only know the stories behind four of them. All were servants of their owners, serving on the front lines, not soldiers themselves. This was also the case of Robert Webster, whose owner was serving in Virginia at the time this photograph was taken.
Webster’s story, however, doesn’t begin or end there.
Born into slavery in Washington D.C. in 1820, he always believed himself to be the son of Senator Daniel Webster. Later stories emerged that would corroborate this and a reporter for the Chicago Times wrote in 1879 that he saw a “striking resemblance” between Robert and the Senator, and that “his broad forehead and widely separated eyes are noticed as circumstantial proof as soon as you hear the story of his birth.”
Robert Webster, his mother, and siblings were owned by John Gadsby, the owner of the famed National Hotel. Gadsby gave Robert Webster to his son, who promptly lost him in a poker game. Webster was then auctioned off and found himself at Rosemont Plantation outside of Greenville, SC. It was there that he first met Benjamin Yancey, Jr. Yancey often did legal work for the owners of Rosemont and quickly noticed Webster and his talents. He found him to be intelligent and capable, and an excellent barber.
Webster eventually convinced Yancey to purchase him and his wife from Rosemont, even though Yancey, a wealthy land and slave owner himself, did not need them. It was agreed that Yancey would buy the couple on the condition that Webster give up card playing and gambling.
Benjamin Yancey, Jr (left) and Senator Daniel Webster
Benjamin Yancey, Jr (left) and Senator Daniel Webster
Yancey later described Webster as “truthful, sober, affectionate, honest…he was a faithful servant, much attached to me, my wife and children” and said he “would trust him with anything.”
Not long after, Yancey was sent on a mission to Argentina and left Webster in Atlanta in “practical freedom.” He managed two barber shops, seven barbers, but began making his real money running card tables and loaning money.
Webster’s fortune grew steadily and he was able to purchase a house, although because he was still technically a slave, the deed was left in Yancey’s name. When wartime came, Yancey returned and served in the Confederate Army somewhere in Northern Virginia. He took Webster with him, which is when the photograph was taken. Concerned for his plantations in Alabama and Georgia, he sent his wife and children home to Georgia with Webster, who was to run the plantations in his stead.
As the war dragged on, Webster was able to use his fortune and connections. He speculated in gold, currency, and goods. While his white neighbors grew poorer, he grew richer.
Despite his loyalty to the Yancey family, his true ties and allegiance was to the Union. He took every opportunity to support the Union cause in Atlanta, even hiding two escaped Union soldiers in his attic. After the battles raged around Atlanta and the wounded soldiers were left in the city center, Webster defied his neighbors and began to assistance to the dying men. He offered them water, bandaged wounds, and organized dozens of volunteers to help carry men to open hospital beds. He is credited with saving hundreds of lives with his actions.
When it came time for the city to surrender to Sherman and his 100,000 troops, Webster was one of the nine men chosen to represent the city under the white flag.
At the end of the war, Webster had managed to hold onto a large part of his fortune, while Yancey was left with four horses and acres of burned-out land. Yancey wrote to his former slave, requesting a loan of $150. Webster responded with $100 in gold, $100 in silver and an offer of more. In the post-war years, Webster continued to be wealthy and successful, became active in politics and was a well-known figure state-wide. Yancey was able to rebuild and recover and settled in Athens, GA.
Eventually, Webster’s empire began to crumble, a result of increasingly restrictive Jim Crow laws and his own destructive drinking habits. Yancey provided a home for Webster and his family until the end.
In 1879, Webster wrote to the Atlanta Daily Constitution to correct his name, Robert Webster, not Yancey. He stated, “my name is and has always been Robert Webster, though I love the noble name of Yancey.”
The photograph of Robert Webster has been carefully passed down through five generations of Yancey’s and his is fondly thought of as part of the family.
For more, see the Marc Wortman’s article on the Smithsonian site.
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How to Prevent Sleep Deprivation in Babies
Sleep deprivation can be unpleasant for a baby, leading to increased crankiness.
With a baby in the house, the entire family may be experiencing a taste of sleep deprivation. Some babies fail to adopt regular or adequate sleep schedules, resulting in too little sleep each day. Because sleep deprivation can cause assorted issues, including fussiness and a general feeling of malaise, it’s wise to ensure a baby gets adequate sleep each night.
Track your baby’s awake time so you know when the time approaches that she’ll need to sleep, advises Angela Braden, wellness and lifestyle author, with the Baby Sleep Site. A newborn may only have about 40 minutes of awake time between sleeps. For every month of life, a baby may add between 20 and 40 minutes of awake time. By 6 to 8 months of age, a baby may be able to stay awake 2 to 2.5 hours between sleep.
Watch your baby for signs of tiredness so you can put him to bed before he becomes drowsy, advises the Oregon State University Family Care Connection. A baby may rub his eyes, refuse to establish eye contact, fuss and yawn.
Prepare your baby for sleep when you determine she needs it. Change her diaper, put her in comfortable clothing and place her in her crib to enable her to go to sleep.
Establish an evening routine that encourages an early bedtime for your baby. By keeping activity levels low and maintaining a calm environment, a baby should feel more ready for sleep. Approximately one hour before you want to place your child in bed, begin a routine that your child will learn and recognize as a sign that bedtime is coming. Your routine may include a bath, a final feed and a short snuggle before tucking your baby into his crib.
Maintain consistency every day to ensure your baby gets the sleep she needs, advises professor of psychology Jodi Mindell, with the National Sleep Foundation. By monitoring how your baby acts and looks, you can avoid overtiredness and ensure that your baby naps on schedule.
Avoid allowing your baby to skip a nap, even when distractions or disruptions make it difficult to maintain a nap schedule, warns WebMD. The combination of sleep deprivation and over stimulation can make the baby extremely irritable. An overtired baby may not sleep well during the night either.
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The science behind rooting for the home team
Young children often observe society dividing its members–by ethnicity, religion, gender, or even favorite sports team. But a review by a Yale psychologist published August 14 in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences concludes that favoritism toward members of one's own social groups may not be a learned behavior but an instinct triggered by belonging to that group. Although this favoritism can manifest as discrimination and stereotyping, it may have originally facilitated human evolution by boosting group living and social learning.
"Researchers have found that you can randomly assign someone to a group, and even if they theoretically have no vested interest in that group, they will have persistent favoritism for it, an ingroup bias, across a range of different measures," says the review's author Yarrow Dunham (@yarrowdunham,, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Yale University. "Many theories attempt to explain inter-group dynamics by capturing the complexity of each group, but I argue that they can be explained with the simpler concept of mere membership, of us-and-them."
<p>To understand the impact of mere membership on ingroup bias, Dunham analyzed studies detailing the neural basis for distinguishing ingroup from outgroup, the ways social groupings affect pre-schoolers' friend preferences, and methods for social and self-categorization. He saw ingroup bias in terms of members liking other members of their own group, giving more to their own group, more easily forgiving members of their own group, and more easily cooperating with their own group.</p> <p>Conflicts about social hierarchy, tension around religious differences, and even betting on Super Bowl winners share the dynamics of us and them. Rather than approaching each example separately, Dunham argues that the us-and-them phenomenon can explain most of the observations we have about inter-group dynamics, and the things it fails to explain should then constitute the primary focus of social psychology research.</p> <p>"Our strong adaptations for group living have made humans so successful as a species over thousands of years; groups give us other people to cooperate with, trust, and learn from. On one hand, this ingroup bias has made us a deeply cultural, quick-to-learn species of flexible learners," says Dunham. "But as soon as more than one group interacts, we see tendencies toward bias in the form of prejudice, discrimination, and stereotypes, and this is particularly true in more modern societies in which we're just interacting with all kinds of different people all the time."</p> <p>While Dunham's research examines the roots of these prejudices to find strategies for combatting them in an increasingly global society, this favoritism may still be helping humans develop as a species. "From an evolutionary perspective, I'm not sure ingroup bias is something we would actually want to overcome because it constitutes so much of how we learn as a cultural, social species," he says.</p> <p>###</p> <p>This research was funded by the John Templeton Foundation.</p> <p><em>Trends in Cognitive Sciences</em>, Dunham: "Mere membership"</p> <p><em>Trends in Cognitive Sciences</em> (@TrendsCognSci), published by Cell Press, is a monthly review journal that brings together research in psychology, artificial intelligence, linguistics, philosophy, computer science, and neuroscience. It provides a platform for the interaction of these disciplines and the evolution of cognitive science as an independent field of study. Visit: To receive Cell Press media alerts, please contact </p> <p><strong>Media Contact</strong></p> <p>Christina Monnen<br /><br />617-335-6270<br /> @CellPressNews
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What does a Crawler look like?!
Search Engine Basics: Crawling, Indexing & Ranking - Totally Communications
Having watched the recent episode of Halt and Catch Fire, I may now have a slight fascination with Web Spiders. What would they graphically look like?
Crawling is the process by which search engines discover updated content on the web, such as new sites or pages, changes to existing sites, and dead links.
To do this, a search engine uses a program that can be referred to as a 'crawler', ‘bot’ or ‘spider’ (each search engine has its own type) which follows an algorithmic process to determine which sites to crawl and how often.
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There Is No Box - [Yet (Not) Another Guide To Creativity]
No Box (1).png
[ Table of contents ]
Introduction — Tattoos & the Ensuing of Creativity
1. Your Reference Points Are Showing
1. What are reference points?
2. Why we rebel against change.
3. Can the loss of reference points be good? (A nod to comedy)
4. London Subways
5. The Playground
2. Get Your Head Out of Your Box
1. The phrase to stop using.
2. Where boxes come from (and why they might be helpful).
3. Why are boxes limiting?
4. The danger of boxes via ancient walls and dependence.
5. Bounded set versus centered set.
6. Telos (part 1).
7. The difference between creativity and change.
8. What is creativity?
9. Why are kids more creative than adults?
10. Why does suffering produce creativity?
11. The wave & asking “What now?”
The Creative Process & Two Types of Thinking
1. Self Maximizing Systems, Rivers, & Edward de Bono
1. Rivers
2. Brain Physiology
3. The Path of Dependence
4. How Self Maximizing Systems can be good.
5. The goal of independence from boxes and rivers.
2. Linear Thinking
1. The metaphor of holes.
2. The metaphor of horses and buggies.
3. Lateral Thinking
1. The benefits of Lateral Thinking.
2. Creativity is not rebellion.
3. Creativity is seeing.
4. Telos (part 2).
5. A cultural critique of Linear Thinking.
Avoiding Linear & Practicing Lateral
1. 6 Guides From Which Creativity Will Ensue
1. Name the Boxes — see them for what they are.
2. Challenge Assumptions — ask why and question everything.
3. Generate Alternatives — see what else is possible and break the rules.
4. Suspend Judgment — brainstorming.
5. Random Stimulation — curiosity & cultivating imagination.
6. Start From Somewhere Else — perpetual set, subverting defaults, arbitrary constraints, & The Koln Concert
7. Creativity as automatic imagination (and a warning on why you might not want to).
2. A Note On Roots & Rules
1. Arnold Schoenberg & Atonality
2. Understanding a box in order to break it.
3. How is this different from “thinking outside the box?”
3. Containers Versus Contents
1. Development of an essence into a container.
2. Apple Pickers — practicing Lateral Thinking
3. Confusing a container with its contents.
Conclusion — A Final Image For Having No Box
Introduction — Tattoos & The Ensuing of Creativity
Let’s begin with the longstanding, culturally hip & significant question that everyone seems to have an answer to:
What is creativity?
In a society defined by and determined to capture creation, production, & success, we have turned towards loosening the strings on the abstract force of creativity as our silver bullet to achievement. If we could just figure out how creativity works and how to be people of creativity, we would have a much easier go at the successful version of life. Interesting note, most people we consider as embodying the genius of creativity don’t consider themselves to be creative. Another note, those of history who were possibly the most creative certainly weren’t the most successful. Also, just a disclaimer, nothing about creativity resembles a silver bullet — it is a perspective and a process and a posture that accumulates over time.
But seriously, what is creativity and how do I harness its benefits as a creative person? It is a destination that has been explored and vetted in philosophy, psychology, science, and art to extremes that have left us with a plethora of answers often at odds with each other and occasionally disconcerting. From the mentally-ill genius stereotype to the well clarified charts based on neurological activity, there are lots of answers. I do not intend to give any of them. My intention in this amicable escapade of an essay is more ill defined than that and is more interested in a posture of how you live rather than an easy answer to an abstract mystery. I consider a life lived in a particular way that naturally produces what we call ‘creativity’ to be of more value than a defined pronouncement on how to use this tool to garner whatever success you might be looking for. Save yourself some time and just google or look up in Webster’s the definition of ‘creativity’ if that is what you are seeking. Because it might just be that creativity is not the cause — creativity is the effect. Creativity can’t be pursued, it can only ensue. That’s my perspective and, therefore, that’s what I hope to offer in this writing.
While the question, “How do I be creative?” is on my mind, other questions ought to be coercing their way into this conversation:
What is in the way of progress and innovation?
What makes something creative and other things un-creative?
Why is comedy funny?
What is not creativity?
Why do children seem to be the most creative?
And who wasted money on that terrible tattoo?
The answer to that question is quite easy — that would be me. Because tattoos, at least according to my opinion, are ways to offer a tangible mark of someone’s identity. When an idea or a moment or an image becomes so powerful that it begins to define the reality of your existence, when an internal movement develops with such vigor and significance, sometimes you just need to mark its expression on your flesh. Or sometimes you don’t. The tattoo artist who provided this tattoo even thought it was a bit weird.
My trip to the tattoo parlor on a hot summer day in 2017, then, was not random — it was a moment that felt as if it had been poised to occur for centuries. The evolution of my soul through the culmination of my history led to me owning this part of my identity externally. That is why I put this overly simplified conglomeration of lines and shapes on my arm. Even if folks often ask if it is a blueprint for an upcoming surgery or if I let my children draw it (the two most cited reactions by people who see it for the first time), it captures the depth of my soul. However, it often requires explanation. Though I know intrinsically what it means, it is a bit ambiguous to anyone else. That’s why, when folks see this strange pattern of lines on my arm, they typically inquire, “That’s…uh…interesting. So what does it mean?”
Sometimes they are genuinely trying to be nice. Often it is mixed with a derogatory jab, a degrading comment, or a pure look of disdain (usually by overtly religious folks). Either way, I offer my meaning behind the tattoo to all who dare care; which is the explanation of a process that has been embedded in my life and a process that could alter the way others approach their own lives. It might even have something to do with creativity.
That’s why I decided to waste money on such a terrible tattoo — because this tattoo is the central definition of my life that I felt would be helpful to put on my flesh.
The answers to these other questions have a bit more depth, full of rich offerings that need to be explored.
We have to be honest that the question raised in creativity or innovation & how to do it is also the question of how to live with an unfiltered and unconstrained movement towards untraveled and uncharted territory. “What is creativity?” is a much bigger question than we might realize that deals with suffering and waves and change and your brain and rivers and seeing and questions and…oh, so much more.
Hopefully, dear reader, you will not end this with simply an answer to that question, but will end with tools capable of living a life that resembles that tattoo.
A life where there is no box.
Which just might produce the so-sought-after ensuing reality of creativity.
Outside Box (1).png
[ boxes ]
Part One — Your Reference Points Are Showing
Why do we find things funny?
Humor is an interesting facet of life, but in order to understand humor, we have to understand reference points; because humor involves the loss of reference points.
Reference points are the parameters that govern and determine what is normal — they are the familiar territory of what you have come to expect from the world, the script that we assume the laws of life should function by.
That moment where you are caught off guard because something unexpected happens, then, is the loss of a reference point. If you were to come to my house for dinner and I handed you a plate and some utensils while you sat at a table, on a chair, in a room with lights on while you were basking in the smells permeating from the kitchen — this would be reality aligning with your reference points. However, if you sat down and I opened up a pot and you peered in and saw a…pile of legos? That would be against your reference points.
If reference points are how we make sense of the world, anything that doesn’t align with your expected paradigm will create a tension of uncertainty. The incongruence of your expectations and reality leave you in uncharted territory. In these moments, which are often not as pronounced as being served legos for dinner, we find ourselves on a part of the map of life that is not in our existential database.
Which raises a question: Why do people often rebel against change? Why do we encourage, and even crave, the familiar? Because our reference points make the navigation of our world easier. If you are a human being, anything unexpected or unfamiliar is the enemy (we won’t bring up how your reference points were, at one time, new and unfamiliar and only became something to cling to once they became normal). Our brains still function a bit like a primitive creature. You have your neo-cortex, associated with humans and complex thoughts, you have your limbic system which is commonly mammalian and correlates with care and connection and action. But you also have what might be called a ‘reptilian’ component to your brain. The innermost piece that quite like, you guessed it, reptiles hosts your amygdala. Your fight or flight, your desire to survive, & your very natural and involuntary actions that make life possible, like adrenaline, resides within you just as a lizard. In our innate desire to survive and continue our species, we set up systems and methods and procedures that are known and make this survival easier. We hate uncertainty. Because, in our triune brain, we aren’t too different from lizards.
Do you see why, when a reference point or a norm is established, people don’t want you to mess with it?
These are our reference points. Sociologists call this ‘culture’. In our determination to survive, we long for predictability and stability so we develop norms and values that will fill out our map of the world as we have come to know it. We have “traditions” for how things work — from what you expect when you sit down to eat to the scripts that determine our well-functioning society (I won’t mention, at least not yet, that these traditions are quite simply constructs and that when people use the words “tradition” or “heritage” or “history” they don’t actually mean the complete span of tradition, they simply use those words as a synonym for “what I am familiar with”). Therefore, we work hard to access these reference points and live accordingly; anything outside of them will be seen as a threat to retreat from because that isn’t how the world is supposed to work.
Your triune brain is not hardwired for a world without reference points. Let’s just name that whatever is happening with creativity isn’t going to be popular with everyone — it won’t even make sense to some people — and it will be in rebellion to our natural, predisposition as human beings.
However, in our awareness of what reference points are in terms of our triune brain and our compulsion towards predictability and stability, can the loss of reference points actually be a good thing?
Well, have you ever laughed at a joke?
Because comedy is what happens when someone takes you to a place that juxtaposes itself with the world you know. Humor is when your reference points are taken away — you will laugh at said humor if you still feel safe in the process. This might be a good indicator for how to incorporate creativity and change when it deals with others. You are, after all, messing with the basic biology of humans.
So can the loss of reference points be good?
I would say that, for the most part, developments in science and philosophy and art have been good. Actually, humans being have been nurturing the creation of the world since the dawn of time. The human journey has been one of introducing uncharted territory — that’s how you get reference points in the first place. The familiar rug gets pulled out and the world gets pulled into its future by experiencing or adding something new to our existence. The great movements of art have been people transcending the norms to unexplored possibilities. The great achievements in our world have come from folks who saw the world as it was and then decided to see it differently.
The loss of reference points leads to previously unharnessed possibility. Whether through humor or science or art or any development in your life, culture, or world — you have now explored new terrain. Which, keep in mind, will eventually lead to a new set of reference points that will one day be transcended. The result of creativity is not an end of itself, but rather, the next part of the story. You could even say that the loss of reference points leads to new reference points that will, one day, need to go through the process again.
But the process of creativity, well, requires the loss — which makes possible the exploration.
The loss can also be good in another way — it can force exploration.
Consider what happened recently to London when it closed down certain subway lines for construction. The people who depended on those lines to get to work were furious. Not having their normal routes was going to cause immense elongation of their commute. If we took away your normal processes of life, or reference points, I imagine you would feel just as estranged and anxious.
But what really happened was that a large majority of the people realized that the route they normally took to work was not actually the fastest or even easiest route — it was just their normal route.
You took a route every single day and it became engrained as the only route worth considering. That particular route became normal and its normalcy is what made the subway users value their route as “the best” one.
But what happened was that a large selection of the individuals, in adjusting their route for construction, actually realized that their commute was now faster in the new route they were taking. Most of them actually changed their daily route as a result even when the construction was finished.
Had they held onto their previous route, no new possibilities would have been exposed. The absence of their reference points made exploration possible.
See, we can lean into an ever evolving landscape that calls out to us to manifest our imaginations to the infinite paths yet to be traveled.
But if we don’t, your reference points will be showing.
It was a January afternoon when my family and I were preparing to embark on a return trip to our home in the wintery landscapes of Ohio. We were in Florida with a couple hours until our plane was set to depart. To buy time, we sought out a park and we stumbled on something peculiar. As we approached an oasis-like playground set against the ocean in the distance, there was a feeling of accomplishment. But uncertainty grasped our consciousness as we approached this playground and realized that it had none of the common equipment we had come to expect — no slide, no swings — none of the familiar trappings that are assumed from a playground. For a brief moment, we wondered if these strange shapes and contraptions were a testament to the abstract art of modernism. As our children ran forward to explore, we entered a state of skepticism. Our children, too, were a bit perplexed by what to do with these uncanny pieces of equipment.
Our reference points were showing.
In my disorientation, I remember thinking, “What is this? Where is the slide? Can’t they just accommodate a basic swing set?" Then I realized that my hesitation was simply a confrontation to the lack of reference points that I had come to expect. I approached this austere playground as if there was only one type of playground possible — as if there was only one manifestation of what playful equipment could look like. But as my children began climbing around on various objects that made no sense to me, I found myself following their imagination.
And we all found ourselves realizing that this type of playground, though unexpected and unfamiliar, was intrinsically better than what we had been clinging so tightly to.
Our reference points were showing.
But we were willing to leave their familiarity behind and embrace the possibility that lay ahead.
And it was a pretty good time.
Part Two — Get Your Head Out of Your Box
Another explanation of this all too common human pattern would be “boxes.”
The clinging to reference points and their stifling stagnation is what happens when your life is dictated by the familiar reference points that you have based your existence on. In respect to the human condition, we can pronounce that there are certainly boxes everywhere we look. To which you say, “Yeah! Think outside of the box!”
Do not say that.
Our culture has lauded this phrase that has been propped up as the epitome of innovation:
“Think outside the box.”
I do not like this phrase.
I do not use this phrase.
I hope you will consider not liking or using this phrase, either.
Because, while the concept is not necessarily bad, it can be potentially dangerous — because with any progress, innovation, creativity, etc, there is a built in assumption that it is still defined by, dependent on, and attached to the box (or the reference point) that you are outside of.
Now, I want to be clear, boxes can still be helpful. These expressions of our reference points make the world more clean, easier to navigate, and give the two innate goals us humans crave for survival — predictability and stability. Boxes make sense out of an otherwise confusing, chaotic, and dangerous existence. As a result, boxes are completely natural in the development of our lives and in the unfolding of society. Often, when we find ourselves in difficulty, it is the boxes that give our feet ground to stand on when nothing is left.
Boxes are natural. Often, they are necessary. Occasionally, they are helpful.
But the problem, even the danger, is that boxes can be limiting.
Part of this depends on recognizing that a box or a reference point is something we created. Whether from the sociological perspective of culture or the societal script that we almost sub-consciously adopt, the boxes of our lives are ways and ideas and processes that we made. In philosophical language, they are constructs and are only naturally occurring in the sense that we naturally built them. This ought to be good news — because whatever limitations we encounter within them are as easily deconstructed as the creation of the box in the first place. If they are just manifestations in a current moment of space and time, they can go away by the same intentionality that brought them into existence.
But here’s where the limitations of boxes gets interesting.
If you have ever encountered the common phrase of, “But this is how we’ve always done it,” then you, my friend, have come face to face with the limitedness of boxes. In a space of comfort, we submit to captivity. When we conquer an existential reality, we feel at peace with ceasing any further discovery. Our boxes allow us to turn off any imagination because our work is complete, our status is secure, and no further traversing of uncharted territory is necessary.
There is a common tale about ancient cities — that to offer protection, safety, and assurance to the community, they would enclose the city in walls. The walls would keep out opposing armies, wild beasts, and even the threat of disease. To be surrounded by walls and reference points and boxes was to feel as if your world was, finally, taken care of. But there was a common problem in many ancient cities — what happened when you had a fire? You see, the walls kept the uncertainty and the danger out…but it also kept you in.
Our boxes may offer norms that feel they can sustain indefinitely.
But our boxes also keep us from moving towards anything that could be better. In fact, our boxes may even keep us from moving towards the very thing that will keep us alive.
This is why creativity might be best understood as not having boxes rather than thinking outside the box — because if the box still defines your reference points, you are held to the parameters of the box. Thinking outside the box might be best compared to being able to develop agriculture around the city walls. You are now outside of the box, but you are still held to the walls to determine every move you make. If the box still exists, then so does your dependence on them. You may go further than the box, but you are still endeared to its trappings.
Consider the concept of bounded set versus centered set. Drawn from the comparison of herding animals, bounded set is the equivalent to keeping the animals contained by using a fence. You bound them in. This provides a solution to keeping said animals where you want them, but it also implies that there is a type of permanence involved that constrains the animals. Movement will not occur. Centered set approaches the desire to maintain a healthy herd differently — by having no limits, but by keeping the animals in control via the use of desire. By having some sort of providence — food or water — in the center, they are drawn to a common proximity while still being able to traverse the world as they wish. One has a box, one doesn’t. One is built on limitations, one isn’t. Two very different experiences of the world are, therefore, made possible.
This is what we have to confront in our traversing of our existence. Will we function by a bounded set or a centered set? Will we function by our boxed up reference points or will we have a more free movement?
In any pursuit of creativity, we must acknowledge that the limit of a box will constrain how you move in the world. The hope would be that you might just live in a way that pursuing the best pasture, the best land, the best method, the best manifestation of our context will be possible aside from any limitations. If the world is not all it could be then why would we constrain ourselves and making any further movement impossible? Why would we limit what we could see if it could be what shows us where we need to go next in order to thrive? Our question should be, “If this is where we are, how much more are we capable of? If this is the peace and life and flourishing we have found, how much more is available if we would keep exploring? Fullness and health and the best version of our lives and the world are only possible if we do.
Which leads us to our first note of importance — there is a difference between creativity and change.
Depending on where you look or who you listen to you, there will be a myriad of definitions and explanations of creativity. A consistent theme, however, is that creativity involves something new that brings value. This means creativity isn’t just something “original” as lots of new or original ideas or objects aren’t all that great. Let it be said, as imparted by the entrepreneurial scholar Teresa Amabile, that ‘value’ is dependent on the context. Unfortunately, there is no absolute definition of what is valuable to everybody, everywhere.
So, what is creativity?
Creativity isn’t just changing things and it isn’t just creating something new.
Creativity is freedom from reference points — it is the posture of unfiltered and unconstrained movement towards uncharted and untraveled territory.
Which means creativity is, in other words, not having boxes.
Compare this to the often commended idea of making changes or being unique as “creative.” The difference between creativity and just being original or changing things is similar to what many food establishments do with burgers. There is an attempt, in a state of descent, to make a change that appears new and is still beholden to the box rather than doing something actually new and, therefore, valuable. Many businesses like food establishments, but also cultural institutions and societal norms are in the unenviable position of having to reimagine their existence to adapt to a changing landscape. The scripts that defined us in small ways, but even in societal ways, are no longer accessible or valuable. In these reference points being challenged, something different is necessary.
But the equivalent of what so many answers to this situation seem to be is like a food establishment that realizes they serve burgers and culture has stopped eating burgers. In their anxiety, they prop up the creative solution of moving the cheese to the bottom or adding a special ingredient or rebranding the restaurant and present the same old burger as if it is something new. If you have been offering burgers and you need something other than a burger — you can’t just give us the same burger disguised differently.
While it may be thinking outside of the box, it isn’t creative — it is an addition to the box that allows any real change or potential new territory undiscovered in the distance. Unfortunately, as many once flourishing businesses and systems have realized, using the same materials or processes or thinking, using the same reference points that brought forth the current problem in the first place, isn’t going to solve the problem. Thinking outside the box leaves us with the same box that we were attempting to transcend. You can’t solve problems with the same consciousness that created the problem in the first place.
A lot of creativity is disguised behind doing the same thing with minor differences — of maintaining the box as your reference point. Your outcome, though maybe a bit new, are still shaped by the box itself.
Real creativity, I believe, involves the removal of the limitations of the box.
The invitation of creativity is to have an imagination; an independence to actually reimagine the world as we know it. Just like the great art and science of our past, we are invited to see the world, but then to see it differently.
Which, do you see why kids are always more creative than adults? They don’t carry the engrained assumptions we have. There is no “but this is the way we’ve always done it” baggage. Their imagination unfolds the infinite ways for the world to move. We should be learning from our children.
This is also why suffering often forces creativity.
Because it takes away the references points for you. It pulls the rug out, leaving you with no familiar ground to stand on and no boxes to hold onto. Suffering eliminates the boxes…which is why it is painful.
For example, do you know who this is? Let me briefly introduce you to Karol Wojtyla.
Karol Wojtyla grew up during the origins of the Nazi ascent and lost every single member of his family while still a teenager in Nazi-invaded Poland — which catapulted him to a future of impacting the world the way he did. Losing everything forced imagination. His suffering left no other option but to become the person Karol Wojtyla is known for being today.
Wait, you don’t know who Karol Wojtyla is?
Of course you do…he’s also known as Pope John Paul II.
And in the midst of some of the worst a human being could find themselves in, he decided to ask, “What now?”
Getting rid of boxes will always be difficult. In some cases, the destruction of boxes will be forced on us by outside effects that would be even worse. It might be even worth considering that trying to stay in our walls will invite the forceable removal of them by the ever changing world that does not care for what structures we have firmly entrenched in the ground. Like a wave that is riveting up its monumental crash — we can either stay ahead of the wave and ride it to the next destination or we can allow it to disrupt our world and force us into what is next. We can either wait and continually adapt or we can start asking, “What now?” well, now.
Our invitation then, is to get your head out of your box.
Because you are limiting the possibility of everything our lives and the world could be.
Let’s start asking, with fierce imagination, “What now?” in every conceivable way.
Let’s realize that the question of creativity is not how to think outside of the box, but how not to have boxes in the first place.
Which means we need to talk about Self-Maximizing Systems, Linear versus Lateral Thinking, and Containers versus Contents.
First up, Edward de Bono and his practical explanation of this creative process.
[ The creative process & Two Types of Thinking ]
Part Three — Self-Maximizing Systems, Rivers, & Edward de bono
Reference points.
The creativity scholar, Edward de Bono, has another, more official name for this — Self-Maximizing Systems.
Consider the geological reality of a river — a river begins with an accumulation of water that then seeks out the fastest, most efficient, & easiest path towards sea-level. Gravity demands that the water go from Point A to Point B in the most direct way possible. As the water falls along its navigation of the terrain, it picks up sediment (called weathering), moves the sediment (called erosion), and eventually creates a crevice that future water will naturally follow. The unfolding of a river is the natural unfolding of water following the most effective way to travel to its geologic destination.
The result? A permanently engrained feature in the earth’s surface.
The path of the river becomes the natural contour that everything flows by.
Self Maximizing Systems function in the same way. Our being & moving in the world are the surface that, through pursuit of predictability and stability, becomes weathered and eroded to create a norm that streamlines our lives into a seemingly normal route. As we gravitate towards the familiar, it is like water traversing towards the ocean, creating the same indentation in our daily rhythms, practices, & perspectives that a river does to the earth.
And this isn’t just a cultural manifestation or a societal reality — we even experience Self-Maximizing Systems in the biological effects of our behavior and thinking. For example, consider the myelin sheath that functions in your neurological system. Every time you do something, a stronger and stronger coating is formed that makes that action easier to do the next time around. Your brain quite literally functions the same as a river. Ever notice how continued habits become harder to break? We may refer to it as muscle memory, but the repeated weathering and eroding of a pattern ebbs its way into the very identity of who we are and how we do whatever it is that we are doing.
Self-Maximizing Systems are true of rivers, true of your brain, and even true of the larger macro system of culture & society.
These habits and practices and norms, then, become the patterns we live by — whether daily routines or societal scripts, our reference points and boxes condition us to continue like a river in whatever we are doing. The options you have are usually just a following of what has been laid out by our familiarity over time. A system, a pattern, a norm, a value, an action, or a way of doing something becomes maximized by us to the point that it becomes natural and ingrained. Hence, Self-Maximizing Systems.
We should take note, therefore, that the most efficient, easiest, common ways of doing things might eventually be referenced as ‘the only way’ just as a river might consider its trajectory through a landscape as the only way. Self-Maximizing Systems enforce a sort of permanence that supplements our desire for ease — in our gravitation towards making survival easier, the repetitive motion encloses our innate actions and our possible imagination through what has become normal.
Edward de Bono calls this development of narrow singularity a “Path of Dependency” — the continuous process becomes normal, the normal option becomes natural, the natural option becomes the only option, and, at that point, you become as dependent on that way of seeing or moving through the world as a river following its prescribed course to the ocean.
Whether it is your daily routine or your assumptions on how an organization should work or your view of government or religion or philosophy, you now have a constraint that probably seems a bit like a box.
“This is the food we eat.”
“This is how we act.”
“Art or music or our community is defined by this.”
“This is how this is supposed to work.”
Fill in your own specifics for the “this” referenced in those common phrases because we witness the manifestation of our Self-Maximizing Systems all the time.
Now, let’s have a moment of honesty. If there is a way your family works best or a way that eating has become normal or a way that society has streamlined existence to become more efficient, predictable, and stable — this is not, inherently, a bad thing. We need ourselves some boxes sometimes. Having a Path of Dependency, having a river to ease our flow through the universe, having reference points is not necessarily negative. There is a reason the river has constrained its path — because it was the most effective way to sea-level. The development of a script, of parameters that define what is normal and how certain things ought to function, is unavoidable. In fact, any act of creativity will eventually lead to new Self-Maximizing Systems. The point is not to be without these norms, the point is to not be dependent on them. The point is to live with an awareness of what is ingrained and what might be limited in the process.
Our goal, then, might be to develop a way of thinking that can recognize the parameters and constraints of our rivers and find ways to function independently of them.
Our goal might be, not just to be able to impede the river or make a slight change (which rivers naturally do through their continued movement of sediment called erosion), but to be independent of the path that has been maximized, to explore untraveled trails across the landscape, and not just follow the prescribed norm of the river because, “That’s just what we do.”
Because the river won’t just pick itself out of the bedrock and change into something else, there has to be an intentionality that makes that ensuing result possible.
This would be the practice of lateral thinking — that which opens the possibility of independence from our boxes and leads to creativity.
But first, let’s discuss the kind of thinking that is in the way.
Part Four — Linear Thinking
Back to the creativity scholar Edward de Bono and his description of the futile attempts to be creative that fail to deal with the ingrained patterns of the river.
As the age of Enlightenment and modernism and the scientific and industrial revolutions came to fruition, we capitalized on the hard work of many people to create survival at its easiest. Humanity seemed to have captured the world, reduce it down to its simplest form, and established efficiency, predictability, and stability at its finest. Our current epoch has been defined by pursuing the best way — which, as you know by now, becomes the only way. The conveyor belt scripts of existence have ensued from a way of thinking where we carefully place our box-like-rivers and entrench them in the ground — leaving us only the self-maximized path to determine any further navigation. We have been taught to simply analyze what is available and make decisions based upon the already proven norms.
While I am grateful for the ease of life this has made possible, it is a way of thinking that also makes many possibilities impossible. Where modernity has succeeded, we become the recipients of many benefits that satisfy our basic human drives. Where modernity has failed us, however, is in the imagination to utilize the vast amount of land not encompassed by the singularity of the river. A way of thinking that has become normal has produced an easier life. But it is a way of thinking that, the longer it goes, nullifies the possibilities of creativity.
This way of thinking, in Edward de Bono’s words, is called “Linear Thinking.”
Consider the metaphor of digging a hole. You begin with a shovel and make a change in the earth. Our prescribed method for continuation, then, is to continue the hole. We take another shovel-full of dirt and the hole gets a little deeper. Maybe we move the shovel to take out a little dirt in the horizontal direction, but we keep digging the same hole deeper and, eventually, are left with one hole — a magnificently explored hole with lots of room and development, but a hole limited by its singular exploration.
We are left to function by the bounded set of where the hole is. Though infinitely deep, we’ve left much unexplored for the maximization of what we are decidedly dependent on.
To compare this further, any developments will be based on your current hole in its current location. There is still a box that determines how to think or act or live. The hole is normal. Any creativity is limited to what you already have and will only build further in the same direction.
Creativity is then limited to how you can interact with the current hole — which usually only involves digging the same hole deeper, maybe with a few minor differences or flairs of uniqueness, but continuing the path in the same, limited direction. We are left with the organization that wants to be innovative by adding a new product to its brand or improving its current system of advertising to a larger market. Worst case scenario, you try fixing problems by doing the same thing with a deeper hole and expecting different results.
You think outside of the box, but you are still defined by the box; you still are forced to work within the parameters set by your hole.
With linear thinking, the answer to the problem of a food establishment selling burgers to a clientele that does not eat burgers is to move the cheese to the bottom the burger patty instead of the top — proclaiming to the research and development team at the meeting, with fist bumps and celebratory gestures, “How’s that for creativity!?”
Which brings up another point on creativity — there is a difference between creativity and “cool”. Something can be neat and still be creative if it is meaningful. Something that is just cool, while it may be lauded by the masses and shared on social media, does not necessarily equate to creativity.
To what can this be compared? Linear thinking would take on the task of solving the transportation issue in the early 20th century by reconfiguring the horse and buggy. How would we improve transportation? Well, if we are only thinking linearly and digging the same hole deeper, we would be working with the horse and buggy as the dominant pattern. We would then take what is normal, what currently would have defined transportation, and follow that river to create a better horse and buggy. Maybe a better technique for steering the horse? What about adding chrome wheels?
You get the point.
We would be left with only minor differences.
We would have simply added to the hole, but continued within the same Self-Maximizing System.
We would still be dependent on the box, though we thought outside of it.
We would still be left the same horse and buggy — possibly the best horse and buggy ever!
But it is still a horse and buggy.
And what we need is a car.
Part Five — Lateral Thinking
What if you got out of your current hole, set your eyes on another piece of terrain, and dug somewhere else?
What if, instead of flowing down the river, you began traversing another path, possibly to a different destination?
What if you ignored the the parameters and constraints and reference points within the bounded set and allowed the manifestation of something independent of the box?
Then you would be practicing the other way of thinking that Edward de Bono calls, “Lateral Thinking.”
Instead of digging the same hole deeper, you pick up the shovel and move to a different piece of ground and dig a different hole.
Instead of moving linearly, you move laterally.
What is the benefit? Well, one straight line will be strong, but where linear thinking is inherently limited by its current trajectory, lateral thinking offers breadth and variety. Multiple lines in different directions might lack the strength of a norm in its infancy, but it is capable of searching and exploring the ground for other solutions — lateral thinking is capable of culminating in something inherently different, something creative. Instead of creating another component of the same river, you create multiple trails that all search out that which might have been left behind if we only followed the same pattern every single time.
A third note on creativity is worth mentioning here — there is a difference between creativity and rebellion.
If the only goal of creativity is to not do the previous thing, your focus is on the lack as opposed to the possibility. An attempt to move away from something might be a good starting point for creativity, you get out of the hole, but the goal ought to be markedly different — the goal should be focus on what you are pursuing, not what you are against. There is a possibility that your pursuit of creativity is more driven by your ego than meaningful innovation. Always check the ego of trying to be successful, cool, and even rebellious at the door.
This is why, in reference to Lateral Thinking, Edward de Bono points out that the point is in the process. Lateral Thinking is not solely concerned with a solution, especially if that solution is just to get away from what you perceive as a negative. Lateral Thinking is about harnessing a posture that is able to be independent from a current context. You may start with the goal of leaving the house, but it ought to lead to a hope of creating a better life. You may start with a desire to stop a negative, but it ought to lead to a desire to fulfill what would be positive. You might even say that moving in a new direction just to avoid the current direction is still functioning by the parameters of the box. We need to move past rebellion and towards exploration. Even if rebellion is the catalyst for taking on the posture, that is okay, but we can’t let it end there.
Lateral Thinking, to say it a different way, is about seeing.
Because once you take on this posture of not being constrained by the current hole in the ground, you are able to see the landscape for what it is. You can see new territory and your options are now enhanced. You are able to expose better alternatives that didn’t fit the script. However, and this is why the point isn’t rebellion towards the hole or river and why the point isn’t necessarily a solution, you may simply see the norm in a more valuable way. Lateral Thinking frees you to go about exploring, but there is always the chance that you will end up back at the original hole with an affirmation of its practicality as opposed to mindless obedience to the script. That option is lost with pure rebellion — the option that way the river flows actually is the best way to go.
When the goal is exploration, you are not looking for a solution, you are looking to see — and are willing to accept the best possibility based on what you have explored.
You can be assured, though, that whatever is explored, whatever is created, is independently produced from the box itself. You might keep the box. Great. But you are no longer entrenched in its trappings.
What Lateral Thinking does is subverts the Path of Dependency and offers a more full awareness of the Self-Maximizing System. Digging lateral holes allows us to pursue what is most valuable and see options that were previously disguised.
Essentially, without Lateral Thinking, you never invent the car. This is why Henry Ford claimed that, “If I would have listened to my customers, I would have invented a better horse.” To stay linear, to stay within the Self-Maximizing System, you miss the potential hidden by your dependency, your boxes, and the constrained absolutes of your reference points. If you only dig the same hole deeper, you never see the possibility of uncharted territory.
But with a centered set, open, exploratory posture, instead of moving the cheese to the bottom of the burger, you might discover the next part of your food establishment’s story, independent of how the dominant pattern said it was supposed to be.
The invitation of creativity is to begin by seeing the world independent of the current pattern and, therefore, see what might be left out. While this may lead to nothing, affirming that the initial pattern is the most useful, only this kind of thinking unleashes the potential of discovering what was hidden and uncaging the breadth of what is possible. That’s why Lateral Thinking should, in every context, hum within our bones. Whatever is mainstream, common, normal, and ingrained is either exposed or affirmed; it either leads to new territory and creativity and innovation that was not visible within the river or it allows you to see those dominant patterns in a new, valuable way.
You want to pursue the best possible world? You want to take us from where we are to where we could be? You want to discover the potential of what is possible and merge it with reality? Whatever fullness or end goal we want to manifest, it should begin by acknowledging that we aren’t there yet. We can celebrate where we are, how far we’ve come, and the goodness of what is, but we can also proclaim that if there is where we are now, how much more are we capable of? There is a Greek word, ‘telos’, that simply means “end” and has been used in philosophy and religion to paint a picture that there is a way this is supposed to be. If that is what we are after, then that means whatever is normal and dominant isn’t the telos because wherever we currently are isn’t the fullness of where we could be. Which means that our current scripts and boxes might not be the last word, they just might be a step to get us there. The imagination that will make telos possible is harnessed by thinking this way — laterally.
A lot of our culture’s promotion of creativity is just better horse and buggies that follow linear thinking. We think outside the box and we add to the box. We come up with a cool way to improve the river and end up doing the same thing with a different disguise. We miss the potential options that remain hidden outside of the self-maximizing system by adding to the current hole. This addition appears new, but it isn’t actually new and your lack of exploration never confirms if it is even valuable. We are left with the same systems, habits, and boxes that we had before because we tried to solve a problem or change something by using the same materials, processes, and ideas that brought forth that problem in the first place.
If you continue to use the box as your reference point, it will continue to produce outcomes shaped by the box.
If you want something new to adapt to a changing landscape or to take the world in a new direction, it won’t happen through linear thinking.
You have to remove the limitations of the box.
You have to think laterally.
So how do we do that?
[ Avoiding Linear & Practicing Lateral ]
Part Six — 6 Guides From Which Creativity Will Ensue
How do you move past the constraints and reimagine our movement in an ever changing world?
How do you get out of the hole and dig somewhere else that the Self-Maximizing Systems left unavailable?
How do you harness independence from the boxes that will emerge creativity?
How do we have the imagination of Lateral Thinking?
Here are six practices developed by Edward de Bono through the lens of one of the best lateral thinking discoveries of all time — cooking a steak:
1 — Name the Boxes (Dominating Ideas & Self-Maximizing Systems)
Let’s say you are going to cook a steak for a meal. You prepare your ingredients and your space (mise en place, anyone?) and you go to begin cooking and notice that it is your natural inclination to cook a steak by first putting it on a hot surface to sear the outside. You notice that you have a reinforced belief that doing so will lock in the juices of the steak.
Your first challenge in lateral thinking and ensuing creativity through imagination is to notice that this is a box. This is simply how you have always done it. The reference points, the rivers, the holes — you have to begin by noticing what they are.
What are the norms of culture, of your relationships, of your routines and habits that are the default mode?
What is the box?
Hopefully by taking on this posture you begin to recognize that there are lots of boxes that have blended in unnoticed like a tree in the woods or a fish in water because they are so ingrained in your normal rhythm of life.
Start by seeing them for what they are — if this is just “how it is,” then you have yourself a box!
And now you are able to start navigating the terrain independent of those boxes because you have seen them for what they are.
2 — Challenge Assumptions
Could something so strange as the Bible contain a declarative posture of lateral thinking and creativity? Well, generally, I notice that Lateral Thinking is embedded throughout the meta-narrative of this ancient text, but one of the striking commands given is to “Hold fast to what is good by testing & questioning everything.” I understand if you find Christianity’s complete opposite posture a little incongruent with this saying from the letter called 1 Thessalonians, but it sounds an awful lot like lateral thinking to me.
Whatever is normal, whatever sits so unassuming that it has simply become the way things work and how we have always done it — ask, “Why?” Where did this come from? What made it become normal? Who constructed this box and why was it constructed?
However something has been defined is the result of the process being reduced to one possibility — what else is possible that is being ignored will emerge by doing the opposite of saying, “But this is how we’ve always done it.”
Challenging assumption reveals the very real human component to our scripts that didn’t just absolutely fall from the sky.
And doing so gives a sense of permission to explore what might have been missed in the reduction.
Very often, challenging assumptions and asking why reveals that the prevailing norm was a response to a contextual need or was the result of people coming up with something based on what they had available at the time. A clarity emerges that the norm was one possibility for the desired outcome and a plethora of possibilities can now be explored per your imagination.
For example, you may ask why you assume that steak is the best option for your meal. More specifically, you may go to sear your steak and ask, “I wonder why we assume we need to sear a steak first to give it the best flavor?”
Challenging assumptions is how you begin climbing out of the hole to see the landscape more fully.
And if the norm is actually the best way, your challenge will pose no threat. You will hold to what is good. But only because you questioned it and put it to the test.
Nothing is so sacred that it can’t be explored. In fact, the best essentials will not only withstand your challenge, they will enhance your appreciation. But the best manifestations will also be found possible if you are willing to begin asking the questions.
Please note, challenging assumptions is not a means to figuring out the next solution, it is just a means to begin the process — so start with asking why.
3 — Generate Alternatives
Now that you are out of the hole, begin asking, “What else could be here? How else could this work?”
You look at the river and you visualize other ways the river could go. Or you take a process you typically do something by and you come up with a different way altogether. Pull the rug out, start from scratch, and see what else is possible. Whatever might have been forgotten or dismissed or unexplored, break the normal pattern and try something else. The goal here is not to have the ultimate solution figured it out, it is just to see what else is possible.
So with that steak that you usually sear first, apparently to lock in the juices, and then roast it in the oven to your desired doneness. Well, what if you roasted the steak in the oven and then seared it at the end? Or you could do another level of alternative and not cook steak, but rather, cook something even more unexpected.
Just try to do something that doesn’t come naturally. Once you have identified the common rules, break them.
An infinite number of alternatives begin to emerge that might be better than what you are working with currently.
4 — Suspend Judgment
This is more of a general posture than a practice, but it is incredibly important as you move into uncharted territory by generating alternatives.
Commonly understood as brainstorming, the goal of generating alternatives is not to come up with the most valid idea, but to formulate as many ideas as possible. Nothing is off the table. At some point, the lack of reasonable implementation will lead to certain ideas being thrown out, but suspending judgment on all of them now opens up for the possibility of an idea that might not come to mind at first or, that in coming to mind, you might immediately reject as implausible.
Just start throwing out all of the ways to cook the steak or all of the possible meal options there could be in existence. It will lead you somewhere that you wouldn’t have gone naturally if you only functioned by those thoughts that seemed “practical” — because those thoughts are based on your current perspective and that is what is limiting your possibilities in the first place.
To get out of the river, you have to open yourself up to even the craziest options…because one of those might actually be the best.
And it might have been the one you thought the least possible.
5 — Random Stimulation
Use other contexts that apparently have nothing to do with yours to help inform your process. What do you see happening in other places in the world? Steal those ideas and cross-pollinate them into what you are working on. Especially if there is a big idea that you can apply to a smaller, more refined process like taking Quantum Mechanics and applying it to parenting or using sociology to help inform the creative process — you just may be surprised by how connections you considered irrelevant may catalyze your imagination.
You might be cooking, but a theory in architecture could lead you to unforeseen possibilities when it comes to food.
You might be starting a business, but a food technique could inform possible innovation.
You might be engrained in a certain culture or institution or norm, so intake wisdom from the breadth of sources that have spoken to how the world works and stimulate different possibilities.
We need to get curious because it is amazing how the vast world of discovery can inform the world that you currently inhabit. The archetypal rules that lie within seemingly diverse worlds might not actually be that different if you look closely enough. If that is true, the only missing ingredient to bring apparently disconnected items together again is someone to do the hard work of application. When it comes to creativity, that person would be, of course, you.
Mine every field, study, topic, event, discovery, or piece of information — because it will cultivate imagination and will allow you to not be dependent on the sources of inspiration that you assume you must have. Even your imagination might be hindered by its own boxes.
6 — Start From Somewhere Else
Once we see something one way, we tend to always see it that way.
Psychologists call this Perpetual Set — trying to solve a problem by doing the same thing over and over. It is what happens when you lose your keys and you keep looking in the same three places again and again and again.
Instead, you should go to the last place you assume to look and start there — from somewhere that isn’t your default. It breaks you out of the pattern and exposes insights and perspectives that are usually ignored. Often this can be discovered by giving yourself arbitrary constraints that you don’t naturally function by. Artists and writers will often do this to create content or music. It might be saying, “If I could only write three sentences about this topic, what would they be?” or, “Every other word in the song has to start with the next letter in the alphabet.” There is even a book called “Gadsby” that the author Ernest Vincent Wright wrote with the constraint that he couldn’t use the letter “e”. Somehow you have to force yourself to approach the new landscape in a way that you wouldn’t on your own.
One of the most captivating examples of this is why the “Koln Concert” is so powerful.
The Koln Concert is perhaps one of the best live piano improvisations of all time because the esteemed pianist Keith Jarrett had requested a Bosendorfer 290 Imperial grand piano for his performance at the Koln Opera House. But when the 17 year old concert organizer, Vera Brandes, found herself in some confusion, a small baby grand piano was placed on the stage instead. It was in poor condition, meant for rehearsal only, but the error was discovered too late to make the correct change. The pedals didn’t even work and the upper and lower registers were incredibly weak for a skilled musician’s, such as Jarret’s, compositions.
Upon arrival from his trip from Switzerland where he had not slept well, Jarret refused to play. Brandes, knowing that the concert was already sold out and was the first ever jazz recital to take place in the famous Koln Opera House, had to convince Jarrett to play, even if it was going to flop. Eventually, as the show time drew near, he decided to perform— and the ensuing recording remains his most popular of all time. Why? Because he was forced to re-imagine the piano through constraints he would have never implicated on himself. He couldn’t play the same notes or do the same things, but his mastery of the art unleashed a completely new sound that only came because of what was taken away. The box was gone…and now creativity was possible. Because of the constraints, Jarrett had to think laterally — and he produced creativity at its finest.
Constraints force you to see what you are working with differently — you end up having something, even arbitrary, that will inform your path and take you to a new starting point.
So you start with your steak in the oven and you then realize that the norm of searing first doesn’t actually lock in juices and, by doing the reverse, you actually retain more water in the muscle of the meat making for a juicier steak.
The self-maximizing system was wrong, but you had to engage the process differently to actually figure that out.
Which, by the way, this whole searing a steak thing was an actual Lateral Thinking style experiment done by Harold McGee that challenged the traditional way of cooking.
To be more concise, creativity through lateral thinking is just the process of creating automatic imagination.
At first, this may need to be learned — or, rather, re-learned from how our imaginations were stifled as we became enlightened adults — but eventually it becomes a new normal; eventually it becomes your authentic approach to the world.
But a warning for harnessing this sort of imagination:
Because, is this why some people associate creative genius with mental health disparities? Possibly. Because living without boxes, always exploring and asking questions and discovering the world in a way to pull it more towards its future will not be normal. You have to see the world differently — which means you may be seeing the world in a way that others can’t quite relate to. Creativity can certainly be lonely. Not only may you be called a fool and be misunderstood, but you will take yourself to a place that others aren’t as willing to go to and that can wreak internal havoc, as well. The very thing we were taught to withhold, you are embodying in your flesh through lateral thinking.
Take this as a warning.
It won’t be romantic.
But it could change the world.
In fact, it always has.
part seven — A Note On Roots & Rules
Here’s another note on creativity that is helpful to produce a life of imagination, but that may also cause you to question the whole “thinking outside of the box” thing.
Consider again the great achievements in science or philosophy or art — they are all nurtured by these guides to lateral thinking. Which means these practices are not new. Every discovery or idea or mind-blowing cultural manifestation were built by these practices.
But there is an important detail that makes innovation and creativity like this possible — an important detail for tangibly carrying out these practices.
The eras of art are a very visible example — from ancient art to romanticism and impressionism, someone was trained in a certain form, mastered it, and then changed the rules to manifest a completely new way of creating art. Their imagination dug a new hole, but it first had to know the old hole. Only by fully seeing the reference points and boxes, only by rooting themselves in how things were, was the next iteration possible.
My favorite example is Arnold Schoenberg, a musician trained classically and who produced many valuable works of classical music. Yet he was also the musician to popularize atonality — a form of music that uses every key possible and sounds like something from a Halloween film. Now, many people raise issue that what he produced was new, but it wasn’t valuable — the question of whether or not it was creative, then, is up for debate. But it is important to pay attention to how he created an expressionism in music even if it was labeled as “degenerate” by folks of his era.
Did Schoenberg create something new?
Well, he was trained by the likes of Beethoven and Bach. He was handed dominant norms that led to his ability to create — norms that were previously reiterated by previous forms of music which were informed by the periods of music before that. So when he debuts a piece using his “new form of music” via atonality that, certainly, audience members would have been scratching their heads at, you could say that he didn’t create anything new.
The strand of musical development is long and is more like an evolution than random explosions of ideas that are disconnected. Even the new and, sometimes, strange forms of music we have today are indebted to the roots from which they, too, were informed.
When it comes to creativity, you break the rules — first by knowing what the rules are — and then transcending them into the unexplored possibilities that have been there the entire time. The great song or painting or poem or film or even food that makes you see the world differently came from someone who saw the world…
…and then decided to see it differently.
These practices of lateral thinking, this pursuit of imagination that leads to creativity, start with the ownership of the norms. Only then can you be independent of them. You have to fully enter and understand the box before you can destroy the box. A very naive approach to creativity, then, is to just want to be different and not look like all the other scripts. While this might lead to pleasant meandering, it most likely won’t lead to the transcendent value of changing the world’s narrative arc.
One of the best chefs in America, Grant Achatz, established an entire restaurant based on leaving the confines of the rules and not doing the same thing. Familiarity breeds unfamiliarity, you begin to lose touch with what you are handling — so he dove into subverting the familiarity. He worked to take the act of eating dinner at a quality restaurant and transformed it into becoming an experience — more like a magic show than a meal.
It wasn’t just about making good food, but making good food and taking it a step further that was unexplored. But this was only possible because he knew the rules and trained under some of the best chefs of his time. Once he knew that terrain, he could disembark from it; he could get rid of the rules. Achatz is noted for asking, “Is there another version here? Is there another way to plate food? Is there another way to feed guests? How can you make eating connect with the emotions of the diners?” and he ended up with “Alinea” — which means “the beginning of a new train of thought.”
But it all began with being able to understand what he was attempting to transcend. He had to, first, know the old train of thought.
Just like comedy or just like the Koln Concert, if creativity involves breaking the rules and boxes and norms, it begins by being rooted in what has led to this box in the first place. Keith Jarret could only improv with a sub-par piano because he had mastered the craft.
We want creativity without mastery. Yet, whatever innovation you are pursuing, you might want to know what got you here. Knowing the story that you are in allows you to write the next chapter.
A fair question becomes, “But isn’t this just ‘thinking outside of the box’? How is this different?”
The only clarifying way to differentiate the two, then, is if the next chapter, the next iteration, or the next evolution is inherently different from what came before. Creativity is new and valuable — which is something that can only be decided on by the people who inhabit the context of its manifestation. Atonality? I think so. Moving the cheese to the bottom of the burger? Not really. Rebranding a logo or adding a different style in organizational workflow seem to be changes — and creativity is not the same thing as change.
Maybe the question to be considered is, “Does this dependence on the rules lead to an independence from the norm?” There must be an intentional independence or departure from the constraints of the box or river or hole or reference points where you use them to lead to the next thing, but you are no longer captivated by them.
Grant Achatz’s food resembles some remains of a previous box, but he is fully able to function independently of them. His creativity is real because it not only transcends the box, it transcends the notion of being defined by one in the first place. There is a cognitive liberation where the rug gets pulled out and a decision is made not to function within the streamline of the river or the parameters of the reference point. The difference may sometimes be minute, but the posture is usually quite obvious. You do begin by going outside of the box because you are no longer functioning within it, but instead of adding to the box and keeping your previous reference points or digging that hole deeper, you inherently dig a different hole that makes the confines of the box inconceivable.
Chrome wheels on a horse and buggy is a failure of creativity — no rules are broken, no alternatives generated, and no new landscape discovered.
The invention of the car, while it is based on the previous set of rules, transcends the familiarity and takes the landscape in a new, previously unexplored direction.
We will never be able to fully escape the boxes we’ve been handed — they will always be a part of the longer strand of our human narrative — but we can escape their control and we can take on a posture that functions independently of them. Not having boxes is an ideal that, quite possibly, will never be attained. It can be pursued. Again, its the posture, necessary in the endless evolution of creativity that will never be finished, not the solution that is important.
Therefore, in response to this inescapable reality, we need to be intentionally rooted — for it will pave the way towards what is next — but we must also, within our boxed up world, be willing to break the rules and be willing to break the boxes along the way.
Part Eight — Containers Versus Contents
Rules and roots and lateral and linear and boxes and rivers and systems and reference points and imagination — and we are almost done.
But one more illustration to help pull together how we might practically navigate this conversation of creativity and the difference between thinking outside of the box and not having boxes in the first place.
In the human journey, there is the essence of something and there is the box we use to capture that essence.
At some point, someone came up with a way, out of a desire for ease and survival and predictability and stability, to take the essence of some thing and apply it in a practical way. We want to travel so we walk, but then we use horses and then we add a buggy. Traveling is the essence. Those modes of travel are the boxes. We want to create an organization or community or concept that helps people and then we name the organization or develop a product that embodies our vision or create rules or details.
We create a structure for the essence of something.
Then it becomes normal, maybe even idolized.
Then it becomes the only way.
Then you are left with, say it with me now — A Self-Maximizing System (or river or box or reference point or whatever other word you decided to blurt out).
There is the content and then there is the container — the structure that becomes the dominant way to manifest that content. Maybe the biggest problem with creativity is that we often take the essence we are handling and start with its container…and we fail to allow that essence to manifest in any other way but the box that currently enshrines it.
If we were to ask you to create an apple picker, for example, you would most likely already have an image of an apple picker you are familiar with in your head. This is good, for now you can name the dominant container, challenge the assumptions, generate alternatives, suspend judgment, have random stimulation inform your next iteration, and start from new places to determine how you could add further value to the previous styles of an apple picker. You would be able to break the rules because you know what they are.
But there is also a chance that you will just add a different style wood or add an extra mechanical piece to the previously designed apple picker. You will have thought outside the box, changed the container slightly, altered the course of the river, but we won’t be left with anything new. The lack of lateral thinking becomes a lack of imagination and we just dig the same hole, or in this case, the same apple picker, deeper.
Yet in the process of lateral thinking, once you understand the container, you can start asking different questions of the content — what is the essence of an apple picker? If we were to reduce it down to its basic purpose, what does it need to do? What else is like an apple picker that could inform a better version? What is the foundational, base definition of an apple picker and how else could that look? If the only requirement is to get an apple down from a tree, what is necessary and what is the best way to do that? Without any of the assumptions or baggage you have in mind, what else might an apple picker look like? While processing these questions might lead you back to the traditional mechanism of the modern apple picker, affirming its use, it could lead to something previously undiscovered or something that had been lost in the process of self-maximizing.
If you started from scratch without the container and just the bare, primal content — then you can reimagine it and end up with something inherently different from what our current container has given us.
When you allow the unconstrained essence to manifest without a box, that’s when you can reimagine it — that’s when creativity happens.
But remember:
• The exploratory process might not lead to anything useful and might just reaffirm the previous container you were rooted in.
• Whatever rules or references points or norms or scripts you break will lead to another container — and, one day, it might need to be broken, too.
• Your container might actually be an old version that had been lost over time. Sometimes what is seemingly radical is more rooted than we think (which is where the word “radical” comes from…like a radish…a root vegetable). Sometimes in imaginatively creating something, we are just recovering something old adapted to our contemporary environment.
What is important, however, is that we do not confuse the content with the container.
Getting out of the river is the ability to recognize the construct of the container and allows for the meaningful contextualization of the contents for a new day, in a new way. We need containers in order for the contents to manifest and be held and applied, but we ought to let the content define us, not the container. You can’t idolize the container as synonymous with the actual content.
When you can make this differentiation, you are on your way, liberated to pull the world into untraveled and uncharted territory.
Because the container no longer has you controlled by its grasp.
The essence of creativity is the stripping away of any said container and letting the content unfold in the infinite amount of ways possible. In starting from scratch, you unleash the creative potential just waiting to be discovered. It is the open set, having no restraints to your travels while still staying true to the essence, that allows you to function independent of an obligated or ingrained pattern.
Containers versus contents.
Knowing the difference is the key to imagination.
And the cause to creativity’s effect.
Conclusion — A Final Image For Having No Box
Maybe we could reframe the common liturgy of creativity as “Thinking outside the container.”
Just doesn’t sound as interesting anymore, does it.
What is interesting? Reimagining the contents.
We must realize that any container has no intrinsic value to the content — it is just a current manifestation that might be valuable to us as human beings. We made up the container, we made up the Self-Maximizing Systems — which means we can also detach ourselves from them and move the content to the next part of the story.
And if we are going to aid this story of our universal project to culminate to its fullness, we are going to want to have this kind of imagination. We are going to want to let the content unfold independent of the structures that might be limiting its essence.
Don’t think outside of the container — think free and disconnected from the container.
Don’t think outside of the box.
Think without boxes in the first place.
Creativity is the opportunity to embrace a posture towards life and the world where we know the boxes we are working with and we destroy them in order to emerge a more meaningful world. It is the posture of allowing ourselves to move uninhibited to the infinite possibilities that have been hidden on untraveled ground — always with the possibility that we will affirm the value of a container, if necessary.
Let’s blow up the boxes and allow the essence to unfold — that’s how creativity will ensue in every moment, every decision, every creation, and every dream:
With the posture of Lateral Thinking.
With the commitment to detaching from the limitations of our containers — even blowing them up and dismembering them into pieces if we have to.
With the internal manifestation of this reminder I have instilled on my flesh and, hopefully, in all of our lives:
That there is no box.
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Module 12, Punctuation: End Marks and Commas, Lesson 8:
Commas with Interruptions
Commas are used to set off elements that interrupt a sentence or that are not essential to a sentence.
Parenthetical and Transitional Expressions
Use commas around parenthetical and transitional expressions, including conjunctive adverbs and transitional phrases, that are in the middle or at the end of a sentence.
The contents of this chapter, from what I have seen, are a repetition of the last chapter.
I will, however, need to see your driver's license.
Celery, for example, contains fewer calories than what you burn eating and digesting it.
Certain transitional expressions do not always need a comma. If reading the sentence does not require a pause, no comma is used.
Perhaps we will visit the castle after all.
Direct Address
Use a comma to separate a noun of direct address from the rest of the sentence.
Rashad, are you feeling alright?
Are you, Nicholas, paying attention?
Interrogative Tags
Use a comma to separate ending interrogative tags from the rest of the sentence.
You did read the book, didn't you?
Sharp Contrasts
Use a comma or a pair of commas with elements expressing sharp contrast. These contrasts often begin with not, never, and unlike.
Make sure you buy whole milk, not fat-free milk, or the recipe will not work.
My father, unlike my mother, loves to watch scary movies.
Most skateboarders, but not all of them, like to take risks.
Practice What You've Learned
Exercises are reserved for account holders.
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One or more commas have been omitted from each of the following sentences. Insert a comma (or commas) by clicking the space(s) after the appropriate word(s).
Do, you, realize, Sally, that, summer, is, almost, here?
The, stormy, conditions, moreover, will, not, delay, our, trip.
You, did, remember, the, milk, didn't, you?
Mr., Jones, are, you, retiring, this, year?
However, it, is, better, to, be, safe, than, sorry.
The, grass, but, not, the, weeds, is, dying, in, this, drought.
The, decision, is, yours, John.
That, is, quite, possibly, the, most, amazing, invention, I've, ever, seen!
Your, grandmother, speaks, Russian, doesn't, she?
I, will, not, unfortunately, be, able, to, attend, your, party.
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Young Children & Imagination
Think left and think right and think low and think high.
Dr. Seuss
Imagination is the fertile ground for faith. It allows young children to embrace stories of a giant whale that swallowed a man named Jonah, how Lazarus came back from the dead, and how a giant Red Sea parted in two.
Imagination allows young children to think creatively in real life. Studies found that young children who were encouraged to be imaginative as young children, remained so as they got older and evolved into skilled problem solvers. Later in life, early “imaginators” were more resourceful in the face of challenge, struggle and difficult circumstances. These kids had a more developed sense of how to navigate challenges such as forgetting to bring homework to school, a forgotten book or lunch, or being placed in a group with challenging students. READ MORE
Read More
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A Crash Course in Comprehensive Planning
What is a Comprehensive plan?
A comprehensive plan focuses on supporting the long term vision of a community.
It is a document that outlines a positive design for the future growth of a community, through feedback from stakeholders and leaders within a community. It helps ensure that the community is able to remain competitive well into the future through sustainable, economically efficient, and socially supportive design. They are typically updated every five to ten years based the needs of a community.
Comprehensive Plans often include:
• Details on a community's demographics and survey results
• Background on community values and how these will be supported through the comprehensive plan process
• A summary of that past comprehensive plan and key changes that should occur
• Research on each topic of interest and strategies to implement.
• Key priorities and timelines for each task.
• Future Land Use map and section that outlines goals such as maintaining community character/aesthetic, expansion of housing opportunities, enhancing efficient transportation, and strengthening community participation and togetherness.
how does this help the community?
A comprehensive plan is a proactive approach that helps ensure that the design of a city and the resources offered are up to par with the current needs of a community. It helps prevent the city from falling behind in design and works to keep the city up to the high standards that Granville has set for itself. With the right plan for the future Granville can secure town character while making the changes necessary for a better quality of life that follows the evolution of what it means to be a community in Ohio.
It is essential to continued economic growth and helps to keep the community striving to improve itself. The comprehensive plan is necessary for any community that wants to be important and involved with the bright future of the community. This type of planning is also a way to share ideas and designs with other communities that could stimulate a sort of domino effect of positive/smart town growth.
how can i get involved?
• Visit town hall meetings
• Attend workshops
• Read the news and talk with community members
• Stay up to date on relevant topics
• Participate in local organizations
• Reach out and communicate with your local government to provide your own input!
Granville's 2012 Comprehensive Plan
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How Franz Schmidt became the composer that history forgot
The radiant music of Austrian composer Franz Schmidt, once feted by the Nazis, is haunted by its past. Ahead of the Proms premiere of his Symphony No 2, Gavin Plumley explains why it is time to listen afresh
Franz Schmidt, Oswald Kabasta
Franz Schmidt (left) with the conductor Oswald Kabasta before the premiere performance of The Book with Seven Seals in 1938. Photography: Getty
Franz Schmidt was a smiling, genial man. He was born in 1874 in Pressburg (now Bratislava) and died in Vienna in 1939. At the BBC Proms, on 10 September, there is the rare opportunity to hear his radiant Second Symphony, completed and premiered in 1913. Fittingly, the performance, the first ever at the Proms, will be given by the Vienna Philharmonic – the orchestra in which Schmidt once played the cello – under its regular guest conductor Semyon Bychkov.
The vagaries of the classical repertoire are such that very little of Schmidt’s output, which includes three further symphonies, two operas and various chamber and orchestral works, is still heard. Bar the continuing slew of performances and recordings of Mahler’s symphonies and the occasional foray into the even more complicated terrain of the Second Viennese School, 20th-century Austrian music is altogether poorly represented.
One reason the music of Schmidt and a number of his colleagues, such as Joseph Marx, Franz Schreker and Alexander Zemlinsky, has almost disappeared from the halls they dominated during the first 30 years of the 20th century, is that it is still haunted by the ghosts of the Nazi era. The performance of works by Jewish composers such as Schreker and Zemlinsky was effectively banned in Germany from 1933, and, from 1938, in the Austria that had once been their home. Ever since, those pieces have struggled to re‑enter the repertoire. Schmidt and Marx, on the other hand, had unfortunate links with the perpetrators of the Holocaust. As a Catholic, educated in Vienna, writing in a post-Romantic style, Schmidt dodged the Nazis’ “degenerate” tag. Instead, the annexing forces embraced his music, not least the 1937–8 Book with Seven Seals (heard at the Proms in 2000), a neo-Bachian oratorio based on the Book of Revelation and written following the death of Schmidt’s only child in 1932. The Hitlerite authorities appropriated its June 1938 premiere, arrogantly seeing the piece as a projection of their new regime.
The following February, Schmidt died at the age of 64, never living to see the worst effects of the Nazis, including the murder of his mentally ill wife as part of their forced euthanasia programme. The reportedly apolitical composer, who never once displayed anti-Jewish sentiment, was powerless to defend himself against claims of having supported Hitler. Detractors cited Schmidt’s (incomplete) German Resurrection cantata, which ends with a shout of “Sieg Heil!”, while emphasising his pan-German sensibilities, however distinct these were from nazism.
Such associations still prompt misgivings, though they need to be balanced with a sober appraisal of Schmidt’s character. He wrote music for Paul Wittgenstein, the Jewish one‑armed pianist and brother of the famous philosopher, and fellow musicians Hans Keller and Oskar Adler, both of them settling in the UK, exonerated him. “Schmidt was never a Nazi,” they insisted. “That the Nazis claimed him as one of them and feted him in this sense wasn’t his fault.”
Other musical figures who continued to work throughout the Third Reich era, such as Carl Orff, whose ubiquitous Carmina Burana will be heard again at the Proms on 6 September, or Richard Strauss, who led the Nazis’ Music Institute and wrote songs for Goebbels, before retreating from public life, have remained firmly in the repertoire. Why has Schmidt failed to prove as resilient?
The answer is that the composer does not belong to our conventional history of music in the 20th century. The works of figures such as Mahler, Strauss and Schoenberg are often wedded to a narrative of dissolution and tragedy. Like those composers, Schmidt came to prominence during the fin de siecle, writing on the same lavish scale, yet never embracing expressionism and atonality. Intensely melodic, unashamedly kind-hearted, the second of his four symphonies begins with energetic, sunny scurries and ends with resounding fanfares.
How different, then, from other works premiered during the turbulent years prior to the first world war. In 1911, when Schmidt left his post at the Vienna Philharmonic and began writing his Second Symphony, Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, Sibelius’s Fourth Symphony and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde were performed for the first time. Strauss’s opera may have a wry smile on its face, but it nonetheless ponders the same mortal questions that permeate Sibelius’s dark night of the soul and Mahler’s lingering farewell to the earth.
The premiere of Schmidt’s Symphony on 3 December 1913 capped a landmark year. A concert of music by his colleagues Berg, Schoenberg, Webern and Zemlinsky had been cut short in Vienna after it caused outrage among spectators. Only two months later, a demonstration had broken out at the premiere of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring in Paris. Provocatively radical, these works seem to prophesy the wartime destruction to come.
No riots greeted Schmidt’s music. Brassy, bold, even belligerently optimistic, his 1913 symphonic masterpiece remains true to the tradition he had inherited from Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Bruckner. While Mahler, under whom Schmidt frequently played, chose to provide a melancholy, shattered conclusion to that legacy in Das Lied von der Erde as well as his Ninth and Tenth symphonies, Schmidt vowed it would endure. And, as if his Second Symphony were not proof enough, he wrote a cheery, pastoral Third Symphony in 1927–8 and a Fourth in 1934, a requiem for his daughter, albeit concluding on a hopeful note.
Some have denounced Schmidt as outmoded for continuing to embrace the 19th-century form of the symphony and for adopting a tonal approach to music, at a time in the 1920s when others were exploring more fluid structures, Schoenberg’s 12‑tone technique, “new objectivity” and jazz. Seeing these concepts as progressive, commentators have overlooked Schmidt’s unique achievements. Yet the history of musical modernism is not as simple as this interpretation might suggest. When heard alongside the other composers of his generation, Schmidt can appear like a cheerful fish out of water. He was an affable soul, a great teacher and an obliging colleague.But he needs examining more sincerely, without immediately resorting to his equivocal ties to the Third Reich. For Schmidt’s output reminds us of the constant need to reappraise, rewrite and enrich our account of music during the first half of the 20th century.
Schmidt’s Symphony No 2 will be performed at the Proms on 10 September. Gavin Plumley will discuss his life and work, before the concert, at the Royal College of Music, London SW7.
• This article was amended on 31 August 2015. As a result of an editing errror, a previous version said that Hans Keller and Oskar Adler were exonerated. This has been amended. An incorrect picture, which was used in this article due to a captioning error, has also been removed.
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Marooned is a 1969 Eastmancolor American film directed by John Sturges and starring Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, David Janssen, James Franciscus, and Gene Hackman about three astronauts who are trapped and slowly suffocating in space. It was based on the 1964 novel Marooned by Martin Caidin. While the original novel was based on the single-pilot Mercury program, the film depicted an Apollo Command/Service Module with three astronauts and a space station resembling Skylab. Caidin acted as technical adviser and updated the novel, incorporating appropriate material from the original version. The film was released less than four months after the Apollo 11 moon landing and was tied to the public fascination with the event. It won an Academy Award for Visual Effects for Robbie Robertson.
John Sturges
Mayo Simon
You can see "Marooned" on the VOD website: amazon
"Marooned" is movie produced at 1969. See what information about this film we collected at our service. You can also check other movies in the same genres by click at genre name. If you are interests movies released at 1969 you can click at year. You can also check other movies with the same cas or with the same writer and director. This is very simple, just click at the name. You can also find posters, still photos and trailers connected whith this production.
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Anima: 1991–1993
With genes found to be 98.4% identical to Homo sapiens, chimpanzees are our link to the animal kingdom. Published in 1993, James Balog's Anima (a title derived from the thinking of C. G. Jung and James Hillman) challenges our ancient cultural assumptions about humanity's lofty perch in the world. Anima asks us to re-imagine and re-create a healthier, more integrated relationship between humans and nature.
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NASA Is Formally Interested In The SpaceX Starship
NASA Announces US Industry Partnerships to Advance Moon, Mars Technology
"SpaceX will work with Glenn and Marshall to advance technology needed to transfer propellant in orbit, an important step in the development of the company's Starship space vehicle."
Draft NASA Environmental Assessment for the SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy Launch Vehicle at Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
"Purpose and Need: NASA's purpose and need for the Proposed Action is to develop and implement formal agreements with SpaceX for use of NASA assets and to provide services and commodities to enable Starship/Super Heavy launches. Commercial use of KSC real property supports NASA's mandate to encourage the fullest commercial use of space, supports the goals of the National Aeronautics and Space Act, and advances the National Space Policy that federal agencies shall ensure that U.S. Government space technology and infrastructure is made available for commercial use on a reimbursable, noninterference, and equitable basis. The need for the Proposed Action also aligns with NASA's Space Act Agreement and the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation's mission, which is to support the U.S. goal of encouraging activities by the private sector to strengthen and expand U.S. space transportation infrastructure. Additionally, the Proposed Action will support NASA in its continued mission to expand commercial uses of space and the space industry by facilitating SpaceX efforts to strengthen United States (U.S.) space transportation and launch infrastructure. It would also provide greater mission capability to NASA and SpaceX by continuing the development of ever evolving next generation launch vehicles and spacecraft. Additionally, the Proposed Action may support NASA in meeting the U.S. goal of near-term lunar exploration."
"Operation - The SpaceX goal is to eventually launch Starship/Super Heavy approximately 24 times per year. As Starship/Super Heavy launches gradually increase to 24 launches per year, the number of launches of the Falcon would decrease. The Starship and Super Heavy would exceed the lift capabilities of the Falcon Heavy. Due to the higher lift capability, Starship/Super Heavy could launch more payloads and reduce the overall launch cadence when compared to Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. This would increase the cost effectiveness of the space industry. Starship/Super Heavy missions would include Lunar and Mars destinations, currently not supported by any other space vehicle, increased satellite payload missions, and human spaceflight. Missions could range from tests of the launch vehicle and ship, to cargo delivery. The manifest is incomplete at this time but would evolve as the rocket develops. There could be multiple launches in close succession required to support a single mission (i.e., Lunar Program sending multiple payloads to resupply)."
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Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium September 10 - 12, 2019
Monthly Archives
About this Entry
This page contains a single entry by Keith Cowing published on August 6, 2019 5:15 AM.
NASA's CIO Is Officially Angry About Her Commuter Bus Website (Update) was the previous entry in this blog.
Jack Kerrebrock is the next entry in this blog.
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Manage Flight Demand or Build Airport Capacity?
Megan S. Ryerson and Amber Woodburn
Airports can manage air traffic congestion in two ways: 1) add infrastructure or 2) manage flight demand. The environmental and economic implications of these options, however, often conflict. New runways have significant financial and environmental costs, but they can also stimulate economic development and increase a city’s appeal to businesses. Managing demand saves construction costs and encourages fuel efficiency but may limit opportunities for regional growth. Our research finds that airports in the US underestimate or ignore these tradeoffs and, as a result, frequently fail to consider managing demand as an alternative to building new runways.
Download the PDF.
Life-Cycle Environmental Assessment of California High Speed Rail
Mikhail Chester and Arpad Horvath
California is planning to spend $40 billion to build a high speed rail system from San Diego to Sacramento. Advocates argue that high speed rail will save money and improve the environment, while critics claim it will waste money and harm the environment. What accounts for these diametrically opposed views about a technology that has been operating in other countries for decades? And what can transportation analysts offer to inform the debate?
Download the PDF.
2018-02-14T21:40:54+00:00Categories: ACCESS 37, Fall 2010|Tags: , , |
Airport Congestion Management: Prices or Quantities?
Jan Brueckner
Air travel delays have hit new highs in the US since 2000, although passenger traffic and airport congestion have temporarily fallen during the current recession. Similar delays continue to plague European airlines. Although weather is a major source of delays, US Department of Transportation data show that the volume of traffic is also a major cause. What can be done about this airport congestion and the resulting delays?
Download the PDF.
Multimodal Transportation in California: Connecting Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
Adib Kanafani
The continued population growth expected for California will bring increasing demand for mobility and pressure to expand the capacity of the transportation system, including intercity transportation. If historic trends are any indication, we know that no single mode—rail, air, or highway—by itself can meet this increasing demand. Making the best use of each mode and creating interconnections among them are key to coping with rising demand for transportation.
Download the PDF.
2018-02-07T23:32:04+00:00Categories: ACCESS 33, Fall 2008|Tags: , |
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Сеанс работы 6
Listen to find out how to use an everyday English expression.
በዕለት ተዕለት ንግግር ውስጥ ግልጋሎት የሚሰጡ የእንግሊዝኛ አገላለፆችን እንድት መጠቀም እንደሚችሉ ይህንን ያዳምጡ።
Сеансы работы в этом уроке
0 / 3
• 0 / 3
Упражнение 1
Упражнение 1
A can of worms
• an earthworm / a worm
• a can
• to deal with
Listen to Finn and Feifei talking about worms. As you listen, think about these questions:
1. Is Finn interested in worms?
2. Who knows more information about worms - Finn or Feifei?
Listen to find out the answers. Then check them on the transcript below.
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ጤና ይስጥልን፤ እንኳን አዳዲስ የእንግሊዝኛ አገላለፆችን እንዲማሩ ወደምናግዝበት English Expressions በደህና መጡ።
ዛሬ ‘a can of worms’ ‘ብዙ መዘዝ/ ብዙ ጣጣ’ የተባለውን የእንግሊዝኛ አገላለጽ መጠቀምን እንማራለን። ምን ማለት ይመስልዎታል?. . . እርግጠኛ አይደሉም? እሽ፥ መስማትዎን ይቀጥሉ።
ፊን እና ፌይፌይ የሚያደርጉትን ውይይት እናዳምጥ። ስለትላትሎች ሁሉንም ነገር ሲያጠና የቆየው ፊን ስለግኝቱ ለፌይፌይ እያጫወታት ነው። ምን እንዳወቀ ለመገንዘብ መስማትዎን ይቀጥሉ።
Worms are great – don't you think they're really interesting?
Erm, yeah, kind of. But what's today's phrase?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll come to that in a minute. But, did you know earthworms, the kind you normally find in the soil, are both male and female in one body?
That is quite interesting.
And if you cut a worm in half – only one part of the worm will die!
Yes, the part with the fat little bump on it will survive. I knew that.
It’s fascinating, isn’t it? And earthworms can be really short – from only one millimetre – to a massive three metres!
ፊን የሚያወራው ስለመሬት ትል ‘earthworms’ ነው። በአንድ ሰውነት ውስጥ ወንድ ‘male’ እና ሴት ‘female’ ፆታዎች ሊገኙ እንደሚችሉ ተረድቷል። ለሁለት ቢሰነጥቋቸውም እንኳ በህይወት መቆየታቸውን ‘survive’ ይቀጥሉና እስከ ሶስት ሜትር ድረስ ‘three metres’ ሊያድጉ ይችላሉ። ለምን ስለትላትሎች ሊያወራ እንደቻለ ለመገንዘብ ማዳመጥዎን ይቀጥሉ።
Finn, hang on a second, why are we talking about worms so much?
Sorry, yes, I was doing some research for today's programme. The phrase, today, is: a can of worms!
Right. Well, 'a can of worms' is a phrase we use to describe a situation that causes a lot of problems when you start to deal with it.
Yes, sometimes you want to deal with a problem, but you realise that by dealing with that problem it will open up a whole set of new problems.
ፊን ስለትላትሎች ሁሉንም ነገር ሲያነብ ቆይቶ ብዙ አስገራሚ እውነታዎችን አግኝቷል። ነገር ግን ፌይፌይ ለምን ስለትላትል ሊያወራ እንደቻለ ሊገባት አልቻለም፤ የዛሬው ሐረግ ‘ጣሳ ሙሉ ትላትል’ ‘a can of worms’ መሆኑን እስኪነግራት ድረስ። ፌይፌይ ‘a can of worms’ የተባለውን ሐረግ ብዙ ችግርን ስለሚያስከትል ጉዳይ ለማውራት እንደምንጠቀምበት አብራርታለች። ጉዳዩ ‘ጣሳ’ ‘can’ ችግሮች ደግሞ ‘worms’ እንደሆኑ ያስቡ። ጣሳውን ከከፈትነው -ያ ማለት በጉዳዩ ላይ ከተሳተፍን- ትላትሎቹ ይወጡና መልሶ ማስገባቱ አዳጋች ይሆናል። ስለዚህም ለመቅረፍ አስቸጋሪ ወደሆኑ ችግሮች የሚያስገባ ጉዳይን አስመልክተን ለማውራት እንጠቀምበታለን።
When Frank asked why his brother arrived late to the party, his brother started telling Frank all about the problems in his life: his car, his health, problems with his friends… Frank realised he'd opened a can of worms.
A: Charles, have you finished writing that report about our fantastic sales figures this month?
B: No, because actually I realised our sales figures are all wrong. Someone has been giving us false information for months…
A: Oh no, what a can of worms.
Yes, well anyway – I hope everyone listening understands the phrase now. I think I'll get back to my reading. 34,000 different kinds of worm, wow… They can live for up to 10 years!
Fascinating… They eat their own weight every day…
OK, well I think we've lost Finn there. I think I've had enough of worms for one day.
ፊን ስለትላትል ተጨማሪ ነገሮችንም መርምሮ እንዲያውቅ እዚህ ላይ እንተወዋለን፤ ‘a can of worms’ አጋጥሞዎት ያውቃል? ምን ተከሰተ? ያልጠበቁት መጥፎ ነገር ገጠምዎት? ለተጨማሪ English Expressions በሚቀጥለው ዝግጅታችን ይጠብቁን።
1.Yes, very interested.
2.Finn knows more information about worms.
How do I use it?
When using the expression 'a can of worms' be sure to include 'a' before 'can', as 'can' is a countable noun and is usually singular here. Also, remember that 'worms' is always plural in this expression. ‘A can of worms’ is used with the verb ‘to open’, which is a regular verb, so we add 'ed' to make the the past simple and past participle forms. Look at these examples:
Careful! You'll open a whole can of worms if you try to make any suggestions about the way Peter works. He's done things the same way for years and making any changes will just cause more problems.
I opened a can of worms when I asked my boss a simple question about the company's finances. He discovered that somebody has been lying about our expenses for months!
Cindy only went to the dentist to have one of her teeth checked, but she's opened a can of worms. The dentist says she needs to fix two other teeth as well, and it will cost her a lot of money.
A can of worms
3 Questions
Choose the correct answer.
ትክክለኛውን መልስ ይምረጡ።
Excellent! Отлично! Bad luck! Вы набрали:
x / y
Over to you!
Have you ever opened ‘a can of worms’? What was the situation? What happened? Come and tell us on our Facebook group.
Join us for our next episode of English Expressions, when we will learn more useful language and practise your listening skills.
ተጨማሪ ጠቃሚ አገላለፆችን ለመማር እና የማዳመጥ ክህሎትዎን በመለማመድ ለማዳበር በቀጣዩ የእንግሊዝኛ አገላለፆች ዝግጅታችን ይጠብቁን።
Сеанс работы над лексикой
• an earthworm / a worm
የመሬት ትል
a can
አንድ ጣሳ
to survive
ተርፎ መዝለቅ/ በሕይወት መቆየት
to deal with
ማከናወን/ ማድረግ
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JSON as a configuration language
JSON as a configuration data file is already a given. I wrote about this before. Google has now made this even more powerful by open sourcing Jsonnet, a “mini-language”, domain specific language (DSL) on this data format. Jsonnet it supports inline comments. Nice!
If your scratching your head and wondering why, JSON is JavaScript, then you don’t understand what JSON is. JSON is a ‘data-interchange format’. It happens to be based on a subset of the JavaScript language, but it could have been in Python, Groovy, or any other scripting language. Undoubtedly, JavaScript’s ubiquitous use on the web is why JSON was optimal.
Understanding JSON
There seems to be a little bit of confusion among some developers as to what JSON is.
Some think some that JSON is a JavaScript serialization, or that it is just a way to pass JavaScript data around. Well, there are good reasons why this may be assumed. One is that JSON is usually used in HTML based client UIs, and it does have JavaScript in its acronym, JavaScript Object Notation. There are also many sites and YouTube videos that present JSON in a very JavaScript and browser client centric way.
It is not these things, though it is used like that (to some extent). The definition is plain enough:
JSON … is a lightweight data-interchange format. … It is based on a subset of … JavaScript …. JSON is a text format that is completely language independent but uses conventions that are familiar to programmers of the C-family of languages, including C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, Perl, Python, and many others. — http://json.org/
The important points are:
• data-interchange
• text based
• began as a subset of JavaScript’s collections
• language independent
Note that there is nothing about Objects in there. The Object, that comes later in the spec, is what would be called a Map or Table in other scenarios. Yes, “but, JavaScript has Object Literal Syntax”, no matter.
I expect that the JSON word will lose its acroynm-ity in time and just become the name for a format. A similar thing happened to the OSGi trademark, it no longer means what it used to mean, and XML, means pointy brackets everywhere.
Aug 2, 2014: There is one scenario where thinking that JSON is just JavaScript object serialization is correct. When your working with JavaScript object serialization. Thus, when you send JSON from a browser client to a backend Java middleware, a library, such as GSON, will be used to deserialize the JSON to Java objects. In this case, contextualizing that in JSON “{ }” is an object, makes it clear that your process will need a Java class at that point.
Archive files using Ant from Groovy
Load the JSON config, then use the Groovy AntBuilder to iterate a fileset, repeatably calling the zip Ant task.
In Ant The zip task takes a fileset but only creates one archive. How do you zip files into individual archives?
Use case
One use case for this is log files. Sooner rather then later, every system must deal with the growth of log files. One of the best utilities for handling this is logrotate. This is available on *nix systems. There are probably native versions that do similar tasks in Windows, but I did not locate any ‘free as in beer’ ones.
Since I’m working with Ant, on Windoze, and can’t install cygwin or other system, will use Groovy to get around Ant limitations. This will not be an attempt to recreate logrotate, of course.
As in a previous post, we can use the Groovy AntBuilder and iterate a fileset to repeatably call an Ant task. In this case we’ll be invoking the zip task. Note that the same approach could be used to create a scriptdef to do this directly in an Ant build script. This would be more usable since we could declaratively define the fileset, etc.
First the configuration. In listing 1, we use a JSON configuration file. No reason, I’m just tired of Property files.
Listing 1, JSON configuration file
{ "about":
In listing 2, the main entry point calls the config loader and then the ‘archiveLogs’ method.
The fileset created with the AntBuilder uses an Ant ‘date’ selector to find the files that are x amount of days old. Then the resulting fileset is scanned in a loop, invoking the zip task as we go and then deleting the just zipped file. It is assumed here that the target file name has descriptive information, like a date. And, we are not adding a “rotate” counter to the name for future logrotate like behavior.
Listing 2, Groovy archive source
package ant
import org.apache.tools.ant.*
import java.text.*
import groovy.json.JsonSlurper
* @author jbetancourt
class ArchiveLogs {
def format = "yyMMdd'T'kkmm"
def df = new SimpleDateFormat(format)
/** entry point */
static main(args) {
def als = new ArchiveLogs()
def p = (
(args) ?
args[0] : "test/conf/archivelogs.json")
def map = als.loadConfiguration(p)
/** */
def archiveLogs(conf) {
def base = conf.base
def targetDateString = df.format(
(new Date() - Integer.parseInt(conf.days))
def ant = new AntBuilder()
def ref = ant.project.getReference(
ref.each{ fileResource ->
File file = fileResource.getFile()
def name = file.getName()
/** load json file */
def loadConfiguration(String path){
def slurper = new JsonSlurper()
def obj = slurper.parse(
new File(path).newReader())
if(obj.config.debug == 'true'){
println it
return obj.config
This is, of course, a simplistic approach. For example, what if the file is being used when we attempt to delete it? Or we fail to zip the file, but continue to delete it? And, this source, being an example, does not have any error handling.
The ant-contribs project has looping support, foreach. Directly using the Java util packages for archiving, such as java.util.zip. Or, the libraries found in, for example, the Apache commons project.
Further Reading
“cafe”, egberto gismonti
JSON configuration file format
JSON is a data interchange format. Should it also be used as a configuration file format?
JSON is a data interchange format. Should it also be used as a configuration file format, a JSON-CF?
Had to write yet another properties file for configuration info. Started to think that maybe there are better alternatives. Wondered about JSON for this.
What are requirements of a configuration file format?
• Simple
• Human readable
• Cross platform
• Multi-language support
• Unicode support
Looks like JSON has all the right qualities.
— Norman Walsh, Deprecating XML
JSON-CF Limitations
• Instead of angle brackets as in XML, we have quotation marks everywhere.
What does it need?
• Inline comments, see for example, json-comments
• Interpolation (property expansion)
• Namespaces
• Inheritance
• Includes
• Date value
• Schema
• Cascading
"modified":"1 April 2001",
"dc:author": "John Doe"
"name":"John Doe",
"organization":"Acme Widgets Inc."
"_comment_server":"use IP address in case network name resolution is not working",
Programmatic Access using Groovy
Now we can easily read this file in Java. Using Groovy is much easier, of course. Groovy version 1.8 has built-in JSON support, great blog post on this here.
import groovy.json.*;
def result = new JsonSlurper().
parseText(new File("config.json").text)
result.each{ section ->
println "$sectionn"
>groovy readConfig.groovy
Resulting in Groovy style data structure, GRON, (look ma, no quotation marks):
logger_parser={qualname=compiler.parser, level=DEBUG, propagate=1, handlers=hand01}
owner={organization=Acme Widgets Inc., name=John Doe}
_HEADER={dc:author=John Doe, modified=1 April 2001}
database={port=143, file=payroll.dat, server=, _comment_server=use IP address in case network name resolution is not working}
logger_root={level=NOTSET, handlers=hand01}
In Groovy you can access the data with GPath expressions:
println “server: ” + result.database.server
You can also pretty print JSON, for example:
println JsonOutput.prettyPrint(new File(“config.json”).text)
Raised the question of the use of JSON as a configuration file format.
What I don’t like is the excess quotation marks. YAML is more attractive in this sense. But, the indentation as structure in YAML, similar to Python, may not be wise in configuration files.
Well, what is the answer, should there be a JSON-CF? I don’t know. A very perceptive caution is given by Dare Obasanjo commenting on use of new techniques in general:
So next time you’re evaluating a technology that is being much hyped by the web development blogosphere, take a look to see whether the fundamental assumptions that led to the creation of the technology actually generalize to your use case.
• After writing and posting this I searched the topic and, of course, this is not a new question. Search. I updated the reading list below with some useful links.
• JSON Activity Streams are an example of how JSON is used in new ways.
• schema.org types and properties as RDFS in the JSON format: schema.rdfs.org/all.json
• Just learned that node.js uses the NPM package manager which uses a JSON config file format.
• Jan 7, 2012: Java JSR 353: Java API for JSON Processing
Further Reading
Apache Avro 1.7.7 Specification Schemas
Analysis of JSON use cases compared to XML
JSON Validation Roundup
A very simple data file metaformat
HAL – Hypertext Application Language
NPM configuration file format
XML or YAML for configuration files
Using JSON for Language-independent Configuration Files
INI file
Comparison of data serialization formats
Data File Formats, in Art of Unix Programming, Eric Steven Raymond.
ConfigParser – Work with configuration files
Cascading Configuration Pattern
RFC 4627
XML-SW,a skunkworks project by Tim Bray. Brings a bunch of XML complex together into one spec.
ISO 8601
Learning from our Mistakes: The Failure of OpenID, AtomPub and XML on the Web
Groovy Object Notation (GrON) for Data Interchange
Groovy 1.8 Introduces Groovy to JSON
JSON-LD ‘JSON for Linking Data
JSON Schema
” Sacred Place ” , R.Towner / P. Fresu, live in Innsbruck , Part 4
Groovy Object Notation (GrON) for Data Interchange
Foregoing the use of JSON as a data interchange when Groovy language applications must interact internally or with other Groovy applications would be, well, groovy.
JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) is a language-independent data interchange format based on a subset of the JavaScript (ECMA-262 3rd Edition) language. Many languages and libraries now support marshal to and from JSON using external libraries or extensions. This complicates applications since they must rely on more subsystems and there may be a performance penalty to parse or generate an external object notation.
If an application must only interact within a specific language or environment, such as the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), perhaps using the host language’s data structures and syntax will be a simpler approach. Since Groovy (a compiled dynamic language) has built-in script evaluation capabilities, high-level builders (for Domain Specific Language (DSL) creation) , and meta-programming capabilities, it should be possible to parse, create, transmit, or store data structures using the native Groovy data interchange format (GDIF), i.e., based on the native Groovy data structures.
Syntax example
Below is an example JSON data payload.
JSON (JavaScript) syntax:
{"menu": {
"id": "file",
"value": "File",
"popup": {
"menuitem": [
Below is the same data payload; this time using Groovy syntax. Note that there are not too many differences, the most striking is that maps are created using brackets instead of braces. It looks simpler too.
Groovy syntax:
[menu: [
id: "file",
value: "File",
popup: [
menuitem : [
[ value: "New", onclick: "CreateNewDoc()" ],
[ value: "Open", onclick: "OpenDoc()" ],
[ value: "Close", onclick: "CloseDoc()" ]
Code Example
* File: GrON.groovy
* Example class to show use of Groovy data interchange format.
* This is just to show use of Groovy data structure.
* Actual use of "evaluate()" can introduce a security risk.
* @sample
* @author Josef Betancourt
* @run groovy GrON.groovy
* Code below is sample only and is on an "AS IS" BASIS,
* or implied.
class GrON {
static def message =
'''[menu:[id:"file", value:"File",
popup:[menuitem:[[value:"New", onclick:"CreateNewDoc()"],
[value:"Open", onclick:"OpenDoc()"], [value:"Close",
/** script entry point */
static main(args) {
def gron = new GrON()
// dynamically create object using a String.
def payload = gron.slurp(this, message)
// manually create the same POGO.
def obj = [menu:
[ id: "file",
value: "File",
popup: [
menuitem : [
// they should have the same String representation.
assert(gron.burp(payload) == obj.toString())
* @param object context
* @param data payload
* @return data object
def slurp(object, data){
def code = "{->${data}}" // a closure
def received = new GroovyShell().evaluate(code)
return received()
* @param data the payload
* @return data object
def slurp(data){
def received = new GroovyShell().evaluate(code)
return received()
* @param an object
* @return it's string rep
def burp(data){
return data ? data.toString() : ""
} // end class GrON
Possible IANA Considerations
MIME media type: application/gron.
Type name: application
Subtype name: gron
Additional information:
Magic number(s): n/a
File extension: gron.
Macintosh file type code(s): TEXT
To be determined.
Would GrON be a security hole? Yes if it is implemented using a simple evaluation of the payload as if it were a script. The example shown above used evaluate() as an example of ingestion of a data object. Incidently, this is the same naive approach used in some JavaScript applications and general not recommended.
For real world use, some kind of parser and generator for object graphs would be needed. The advantage would accrue if the underlying language parser could be reused for this.
Now this begs the question, if Groovy must now support a data parser, why not just use JSON with the existing libraries, like JSON-lib? [May 7, 2014: the built in JSON support].
Is using the Java security system an alternative as one commenter mentioned?
The idea for GrON was formulated about a year ago. Delayed posting it since I wanted to create direct support for it. However, the task required more time and expertise then I have available at this time.
I was debating what to call it, if anything. Another name I considered was Groovy Data Interchange Format (GDIF), but I decided to follow the JSON name format by just changing the “J” to “G” and the “S” to “r” (emphasizing that Groovy is more then a Scripting language, its an extension of Java).
10Sept2011: See also this post: “JSON Configuration file format“.
9Feb2011: Looks like Groovy will get built in support for JSON: GEP 7 – JSON Support
I found (May 18, 2010, 11:53 PM) that I’m not the first to suggest this approach. See Groovy Interchange Format? by DeniseH.
Recently (Oct 3, 2010) found this blog post:
Groovy Object Notation ? GrON?
Mar 22, 2011: Groovy 1.8 will have JSON support built in.
Further Reading
Creative Commons License
Groovy Object Notation (GrON) for Data Interchange
by Josef Betancourt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at wp.me.
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“Leaky gut syndrome” is the name given to a common health phenomenon that has yet to be declared an official illness or condition. Even though it isn’t considered to be a health condition in its own right, some health experts argue that sufferers of certain long-term conditions, including multiple sclerosis and chronic fatigue syndrome, are likely to experience its symptoms.
Do you want to learn more about leaky gut syndrome and what exactly its symptoms and possible cures are? If so, read on to find out more!
The Causes of Leaky Gut
Even though no one is 100% clear on the causes of leaky gut syndrome, it does seem to be more common amongst people who already suffer from certain chronic conditions. However, there are a lot of sufferers of this condition who do not have any prior condition or illness.
It is widely agreed that that people who do suffer from leaky gut syndrome do not have an effective layer of cells that make up the mucosal barrier in their bowel. These cells help with the absorption of nutrients from food and also stop germs and other larger particles passing into the bloodstream. Some health experts think that this layer of cells can deteriorate over time because of poor diet, excessive alcohol consumption, and the overuse of antibiotics.
Common Symptoms of Leaky Gut
There are various symptoms that can be caused by leaky gut syndrome, but these are some of the most common.
• Toilet issues, including chronic diarrhea, constipation, and bloating.
• Skin rashes and issues including eczema and rosacea.
• Nutritional deficiencies.
• A poor immune system.
• Mental health problems, including depression, ADHD, anxiety, and ADD.
• Chronic fatigue.
• Headaches and memory loss.
• Cravings for unhealthy foods, especially carbs and sugar.
Unfortunately, these symptoms are often caused by a number of different conditions, so it might take a while for a doctor to suggest that yours might be a result of leaky gut syndrome.
The Best Cures and Treatments
Everyone will have their own triggers that set off their leaky gut symptoms. If you think that you do in fact have this syndrome then it is really useful to figure out what your exact triggers are so that you can then stay well away from them.
For most sufferers of leaky gut syndrome, they find that they need to limit their consumption of alcohol, sugary, and fatty foods. Some also find that their symptoms improve when they reduce or completely cut out wheat and gluten from their diet as well. For some people, limiting the amount of processed meats and dairy can also really help to reduce their symptoms.
There are some foods that you should start eating as well. For instance, plenty of vegetables and fresh fruit can help to improve your gut health. Some people also swear by lean meats and cultured dairy products, such as kefir and buttermilk.
If you do think that you have leaky gut syndrome, it is highly advisable to see your doctor as they might be able to prescribe some medication and treatments that can also help you manage your symptoms.
Smith, K. N. (2019). What is leaky gut syndrome? “Gut health” is playing an increasingly important role in the overall health of the body. Environmental Nutrition42(7), 3.
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Thursday, 20 February 2014
Physical Design Flow – Practical Approach with IC Compiler (Synopsys)
Physical Design Flow – Practical Approach with IC Compiler (Synopsys)
The general ICC flow is as shown in figure 1. The first step in ICC Flow is Data Setup. In this step, we create “Container” which is known as “Design Library”. The inputs which are required for physical design are loaded into this Design Library. i.e., The Design Library contains Logical/Timing Library files, Physical Library Directories, Constraints, Gate-level Netlist, Technology File, RC (TLU+) Model Files. We provide these Design Library as input to the IC Compiler. The output of the IC Compiler will be Placed, Routed and Optimized layout with Clock Trees as shown in below figure 2.
Inputs for ICC Physical Design Flow:
As shown in figure 2 the inputs for ICC Physical Design flow are logical/Timing libraries, Physical libraries, Technology file, Design Constraints, Gate Level Netlist, RC (TLU+) Model Files. These are given to the ICC tool. Here I am going to discuss about these inputs.
Figure 2 Inputs and Outputs of ICC Flow
1. Logical/Timing Libraries (.db):
Logical Libraries are library files which provide timing and functionality information of each and every standard cells (AND, OR, Flipflops etc) used in the design. It also provides timing information of hard macros such as IP, ROM, RAM etc. Logical Libraries define and load the Logical DRC such as Maximum fanout, Maximum Transistion, Min/Max Capacitances. Logical libraries are also used at Synthesis step in DC. These are in .db form. Logical libraries are specified by the variables target_library and link_library.
2. Physical/Reference Libraries (Milkyway .db):
Physical/Reference libraries contain Physical Information of standard, macro and pad cells, which is necessary for placement and routing. These libraries define placement tile (Height of placement rows, minimum width resolution, preferred routing direction, Pitch of routing tracks etc). These libraries are specified with command create_mw_lib –mw_reference_library.
3. Technology file:
A Technology file is provided by the technology vendor. Technology file is unique for each technology. Technology file contains the information related to metal/via information such as
· Units and precision for electrical units (Voltage, Current, Power etc)
· Define colors and patterns of layers for display
· Number and Name designations for each metal/via
· Physical and Electrical characteristics of each metal/via
· Define Design rules such as minimum wire widths and minimum wire to wire spacing
· Contains ERC rules, Extraction Rules, LVS rules
· Provide parameterized cells (PCELLs) for MOS, caps etc
· Create menus and commands (Ex: create contact)
4. RC (TLU+) Model:
ICC calculates delay for every net and every cell. To calculate delay tool needs each net R’s and Capacitances. IC Compiler calculates interconnect R and C values using net geometry and TLU+ look up tables. It models UDSM process effects. TLU+ is a binary table which has R and C values for delay calculation.
5. Netlist:
It can be in the form of Verilog or VHDL(.v or,vhdl). This netlist is produced during logical synthesis, which takes place prior to the physical design stage.
6. Constraints:
Design constraints (like system clock definition and clock delays, Multiple cycle paths, Input and output delays, Minimum and maximum path delays, Input transition and output load capacitance, False paths) are identical to those which were used during the front-end logic synthesis stage prior to physical design. It is available in the form of SDC (Synopsys Design Constraints).
1 comment:
1. Could you please explain about filler cells utilization ? I was confused about power rail continuity and nwell/pwell continuity requirement. I think that power rails are located on Metal layer 1 and layer 2, thus it is is always continuous, isn't ?
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Antimatroid, The
thoughts on computer science, electronics, mathematics
Posts Tagged ‘OpenGL
Algorithms for Procedurally Generated Environments
with one comment
Fig. 1: Demonstration of different graphics techniques and features of the procedurally generated environment.
I recently completed a graduate course in Computer Graphics that required us to demonstrate a significant understanding of OpenGL and general graphics techniques. Given the short amount of time to work with, I chose to work on creating a procedurally generated environment consisting of land, water, trees, a cabin, smoke, and flying insects. The following write-up explains my approach and the established algorithms that were used to create the different visual effects showcased in the video above.
Fig. 2: First few iterations of the Midpoint Displacement algorithm.
There are a variety of different techniques for creating terrain. More complex ones rely on visualizing a three dimensional scalar field, while simpler ones visualize a two dimensional surface defined by a fixed image, or dynamically using a series of specially crafted functions or random behavior. I chose to take a fractal-based approach given by [FFC82]’s Midpoint Displacement algorithm. A two dimensional grid of size (2^n + 1)^2 (for n > 1) is allocated with each entry representing the height of the terrain at that row and column position. Beginning with the corners, the corresponding four midpoints, as well as singular center, are found and their height calculated by drawing from a uniform random variable whose support is given by the respective corners. The newly assigned values now form four separate squares which can be assigned values recursively as shown above. The Midpoint Displacement algorithm produces noisy surfaces that are jagged in appearance. To smooth out the results, a 3 \times 3 Gaussian Filter is applied to the surface twice in order to produce a more natural, smooth looking surface.
Face normals can be found by taking the cross product of the forward differences in both the row and column directions, however this leads to a faceted looking surface. For a more natural appearance, vertex normals are calculated using central differences in the row and column direction. The cross product of these approximations then gives the approximate surface normal at each vertex to ensure proper lighting.
Fig. 3: Example process of blending an elevation band texture with the base texture to create geographically correct looking terrain textures.
Texturing of the terrain is done by dynamically blending eight separate textures together based on terrain height as shown above. The process begins by loading in a base texture which is applied to all heights of the terrain. The next texture to apply is loaded, and an alpha mask is created and applied to the next texture based on random noise and a specific terrain height band. Blending of the masked texture and base texture is a function of the terrain’s height where the normalized height is passed through a logistic function to decide what portion of each texture should be used. The combined texture then serves as a new base texture and the process repeats until all textures have been blended together.
In order to generate realistic looking water, a number of different OpenGL abilities were employed to accurately capture a half dozen different water effects consisting of reflections, waves, ripples, lighting, and Fresnel effects. Compared to other elements of the project, water required the largest graphics effort to get right.
Fig. 4: The different rendering passes for creating realistic looking water with reflections and refraction.
To obtain reflections, a three-pass rendering process is used. In the first pass, the scene is clipped and rendered to a frame buffer (with color and depth attachments) from above the water revealing only what is below the surface for the refraction effects. The second pass clips and renders the scene to a frame buffer (with only a color attachment) from below the water surface revealing only what is above the water for the reflection effects. The third pass then combines these buffers on the water surface through vertex and fragment shaders to give the desired appearance. To map the frame buffer renderings to the water surface, the clipped coordinates calculated in the vertex shader are converted to normalized device coordinates through perspective division in the fragment shader which allows one to map the (u, v) coordinate of the texture as it should appear on the screen to coordinates of the water surface.
Fig. 5: Reflection, ripples normal map, water depth, refraction, specular normal map, and depth buffer textures used to achieve different visual effects.
To create the appearance of water ripples, a normal map is sampled and the resulting time varying displacement is used to sample the reflection texture for the fragment’s reflection color. Next, a similar sampling of the normal map is done at a coarser level to emulate the specular lighting that would appear on the subtle water waves created by the vertex shader. Refraction ripples and caustic lighting are achieved by sampling from the normal map just as the surface ripples and specular lighting were. To make the water appear cloudy, the depth buffer from the refraction rendering is used in conjunction with water depth so that terrain deeper under water is less visible as it would be in real life.
To combine the reflection and refraction components, the Fresnel Effect is used. This effect causes the surface of the water to vary in appearance based on viewing angle. When the viewer’s gaze is shallow to the water surface, the water is dominated by the reflection component, while when gazing downward, the water is more transparent giving way to the refraction component. The final combination effect is to adjust the transparency of the texture near the shore so that shallower water reveals more of the underlying terrain.
Fig. 6: Examples of plants generated by using the Stochastic Lindenmayer Systems framework.
The scene consists of single cottonwood trees, but the underlying algorithm based on Stochastic Lindermayer Systems [Lin68] which can produce a large variety of flora as shown above. The idea is that an n-ary tree is created with geometric annotations consisting of length and radius, and relative position, yaw, and pitch to its parent node. Internal nodes of the tree are rendered as branches or stems, while leaf nodes as groups of leaves, flowers, fruits and so on. Depending on the type of plant one wishes to generate, these parameters take on different values, and the construction of the n-ary tree varies. For a palm tree, a linked list is created, whereas a flower may have several linked lists sharing a common head, and a bush may be a factorial tree with a regular pitch.
Fig. 7: Examples of smoke plumes generated using random particles, Metaballs, and Marching Tetrahedra algorithms.
The primary algorithmic challenge of the project was to visualize smoke coming from the chimney of the cabin in the scene. To achieve this, a simple particle system was written in conjunction with [Bli82]’s Metaballs and [PT+90]’s Marching Tetrahedra algorithms. The tetrahedral variant was chosen since it easier to implement from scratch than [LC87]’s original Marching Cubes algorithm. The resulting smoke plumes produced from this chain of algorithms is shown above.
Fig. 8: Visual explanation of the smoke generation process in two dimensions.
Particles possess position and velocity three dimensional components, and are added at a fixed interval to the system in batches with random initial values on the xy-plane and zero velocity terms. A uniform random vector field is created with random x, y components and fixed, positive z component. Euler’s Forward Method is applied to the system to update each particle’s position and velocity. Any particles that escape from the unit bounding cube are removed from the system. This process produces the desired Brownian paths that are typical of smoke particles. To visualize each particle, the Metaballs algorithm is used to create a potential field about each particle. The three dimensional grid is populated in linear time with respect to the number of particles by iterating over a fixed volume about each particle since there is no need to go outside of the fixed volume where the point’s potential field is surely zero.
Fig. 9: Cube segmented into 6 tetrahedra, and the two primary cases of the Marching Tetrahedra algorithm.
The resulting scalar field from this process is passed along to the Marching Tetrahedra algorithm. The algorithm will inspect each volume of the grid in cubic time with respect to the grid edge size. The eight points of the volume are then assigned inside / outside labellings with those volumes completely inside or outside ignored. Those having mixed labellings contain a segment of the surface we wish to render. A single volume is segmented into 6 tetrahedra[1], with two tetrahedra facing each plane resulting in a common corner shared by all as shown above. Each tetrahedron then has sixteen cases to examine leading to different surfaces. Two of these cases are degenerate; all inside or all outside. The remaining fourteen cases can be reduced to two by symmetry as shown above. To ensure the surface is accurate, the surface vertices are found by linearly interpolating between inside / outside grid points.
Face normals can be computed directly from the resulting surface planes by taking the usual cross product. In order to calculate vertex normals, numerical differentiation is used to derive the gradient of the scalar field at the grid point using backward, central, and forward differences depending on availability. Taking the calculated normals at each grid point, the surface normals at the previously interpolated surface vertices are then the linear interpolation of the corresponding grid point normals. Given more time, I would have liked to put more time into surface tracking and related data structures to reduce the cubic surface generation process down to just those volumes that require a surface to be drawn.
Fig. 10: Example series of movements and completed pursuit curve of predator and prey.
For the final stretch goal, the proposed static options were eschewed in favor of adding in a dynamic element that would help bring the scene to life without being obtrusive. As a result, a kaleidoscope of butterflies that meander through the scene were introduced.
Each butterfly follows a pursuit curve as it chases after an invisible particle following a random walk. Both butterfly and target are assigned positions drawn from a uniform random variable with unit support. At the beginning of a time step, the direction to where the particle will be at the next time step from where the butterfly is at the current time step is calculated, and the butterfly’s position is then incremented in that direction. Once the particle escapes the unit cube, or the butterfly catches the particle, then the particle is assigned a new position, and the game of cat and mouse continues.
Each time step the butterfly’s wings and body are rotated a slight amount by a fixed value, and by the Euler angles defined by its direction to give the correct appearance of flying. To add variety to the butterflies, each takes on one of three different appearances (Monarch, and Blue and White Morpho varieties) based on a fair dice roll. One flaw with the butterflies is that they do not take into account the positions of other objects in the scene and can be often seen flying into the ground, or through the cabin.
This project discussed a large variety of topics related to introductory computer graphics, but did not cover other details that were developed including navigation, camera control, lighting, algorithms for constructing basic primitives, and the underlying design of the C++ program or implementation of the GLSL shaders. While most of the research applied to this project dates back nearly 35 years, the combination of techniques lends to a diverse and interesting virtual environment. Given more time, additional work could be done to expand the scene to include more procedurally generated plants, objects, and animals, as well as additional work done to make the existing elements look more photorealistic.
[Bli82] James F. Blinn. A generalization of algebraic surface drawing. ACM Trans. Graph., 1(3):235-256, 1982.
[FFC82] Alain Fournier, Donald S. Fussell, and Loren C. Carpenter. Computer render of stochastic models. Commun. ACM, 25(6):371-384, 1982.
[LC87] William E. Lorensen and Harvey E. Cline. Marching cubes: A high resolution 3d surface construction algorithm. In Proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques, SIGGRAPH 1987, pages 163-169, 1987.
[Lin68] Astrid Lindenmayer. Mathematical models for cellular interactions in development i. filaments with one-side inputs. Journal of theoretical biology, 18(3):280-299, 1968.
[PT+90] Bradley Payne, Arthur W Toga, et al. Surface mapping brain function on 3d models. Computer Graphics and Applications, IEEE, 10(5):33-41, 1990.
Menger Sponge in C++ using OpenGL
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This past summer I was going through some old projects and came across a Menger Sponge visualizer that I wrote back in college. A Menger Sponge is simple fractal that has infinite surface area and encloses zero volume. The sponge is constructed in successive iterations and the first four iterations are rendered in the video below.
The sponge starts as a single cube that is segmented into twenty-seven equally sized cubes. The center cubes of each face and that of the parent cube are then discarded and the process is applied again to each of the remaining cubes. Visually, the process looks like the following:
The geometry of the process is straight forward. Starting with a cube’s origin, \vec{o}, and edge length, e, each of the children’s attributes can be calculated. Each child’s edge length is given by e_{Child} = \frac{1}{3} e_{Parent}. Each child’s origin given by \vec{o}_{Child} = \vec{o}_{Parent} + e_{Child} \vec{c}_{Child}. The constant represents a child’s relative position (e.g., (1, -1, 0)) to its parent.
The following implementation isn’t particularly well written, but it accomplishes the desired end result. The point and Cube classes achieve the logic that I’ve outlined above. Cube can be thought of as a tree structure that is generated upon instantiation. The visualize() method pumps out the desired OpenGL commands to produce the faces of the cubes.
#include <GL\glut.h>
#include <math.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
class point
point(GLfloat x, GLfloat y, GLfloat z, point* ref = NULL);
void visualize();
GLfloat x,y,z;
point::point(GLfloat x, GLfloat y, GLfloat z, point* ref)
this->x = x;
this->y = y;
this->z = z;
if(ref != NULL)
this->x += ref->x;
this->y += ref->y;
this->z += ref->z;
class Cube
Cube(point* origin, GLfloat edgelength, GLfloat depth);
void visualize();
void MakeFace(int i, int j, int k, int l);
void ActAsContainer(point* o, GLfloat e, GLfloat d);
void ActAsCube(point* o, GLfloat e);
point** PointCloud;
Cube** SubCubes;
Cube::Cube(point* origin, GLfloat edgelength, GLfloat depth)
if(depth <= 1.0)
ActAsCube(origin, edgelength);
} else {
ActAsContainer(origin, edgelength, depth);
int i;
if(PointCloud != NULL)
delete PointCloud[i];
delete[] PointCloud;
if(SubCubes != NULL)
delete SubCubes[i];
delete[] SubCubes;
void Cube::ActAsCube(point* o, GLfloat e)
GLfloat ne = e / 2.0;
PointCloud = new point*[8]; // This is the actual physical cube coordinates;
SubCubes = NULL;
PointCloud[0] = new point( ne, ne, ne, o); // net
PointCloud[1] = new point( ne, -ne, ne, o); // set
PointCloud[2] = new point(-ne, ne, ne, o); // nwt
PointCloud[3] = new point(-ne, -ne, ne, o); // swt
PointCloud[4] = new point( ne, ne, -ne, o); // neb
PointCloud[5] = new point( ne, -ne, -ne, o); // seb
PointCloud[6] = new point(-ne, ne, -ne, o); // nwb
PointCloud[7] = new point(-ne, -ne, -ne, o); // swb
void Cube::ActAsContainer(point* o, GLfloat e, GLfloat d)
GLfloat ne = e / 3.0;
SubCubes = new Cube*[20]; // These are the centers of each sub cube structure
PointCloud = NULL;
SubCubes[0] = new Cube(new point(-ne, ne, ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[1] = new Cube(new point(0.0, ne, ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[2] = new Cube(new point( ne, ne, ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[3] = new Cube(new point( ne, 0.0, ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[4] = new Cube(new point( ne, -ne, ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[5] = new Cube(new point(0.0, -ne, ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[6] = new Cube(new point(-ne, -ne, ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[7] = new Cube(new point(-ne, 0.0, ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[8] = new Cube(new point( ne, ne, 0.0, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[9] = new Cube(new point( ne, -ne, 0.0, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[10] = new Cube(new point(-ne, ne, 0.0, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[11] = new Cube(new point(-ne, -ne, 0.0, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[12] = new Cube(new point(-ne, ne, -ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[13] = new Cube(new point(0.0, ne, -ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[14] = new Cube(new point( ne, ne, -ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[15] = new Cube(new point( ne, 0.0, -ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[16] = new Cube(new point( ne, -ne, -ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[17] = new Cube(new point(0.0, -ne, -ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[18] = new Cube(new point(-ne, -ne, -ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
SubCubes[19] = new Cube(new point(-ne, 0.0, -ne, o), ne, d-1.0);
void Cube::MakeFace(int i, int j, int k, int l)
glVertex3f(PointCloud[i]->x, PointCloud[i]->y, PointCloud[i]->z);
glVertex3f(PointCloud[j]->x, PointCloud[j]->y, PointCloud[j]->z);
glVertex3f(PointCloud[k]->x, PointCloud[k]->y, PointCloud[k]->z);
glVertex3f(PointCloud[l]->x, PointCloud[l]->y, PointCloud[l]->z);
void Cube::visualize()
int i;
if(PointCloud != NULL)
glColor3f(1.0,0.0,0.0);// top
glColor3f(0.0,1.0,0.0);// north
glColor3f(1.0,0.0,1.0);// south
glColor3f(1.0,1.0,0.0);// west
if(SubCubes != NULL)
The implementation of the program is your run-of-the-mill OpenGL boilerplate. The application takes in an argument dictating what order of sponge it should produce. It sets up the camera and positions the sponge at the origin. The sponge is left stationary, while the camera is made to orbit upon each display(). On idle(), a redisplay message is sent back to the OpenGL system in order to achieve the effect that the sponge is spinning.
Cube* MengerCube;
void idle()
void display()
static GLfloat rtri = 0.0;
gluLookAt(1.0,1.0,1.0, 0.0,0.0,0.0,0.0,1.0,0.0);
glRotatef((rtri+=0.932), 1.0, 0.5, -1.0);
void reshape(int w, int h)
glOrtho(-8.0, 8.0,-8.0, 8.0,-8.0, 8.0);
void init()
glClearColor(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0);
glColor3f(1.0, 1.0, 1.0);
GLfloat getDepth(char* depth)
int k = atoi(depth);
if(k <= 1) return 1.0;
else if (k>= 5) return 5.0;
else return (GLfloat) k;
int main(int argc, char* argv[])
GLfloat depth;
bool viewAsPointCloud = false;
point origin(0.0, 0.0, 0.0);
case 2:
depth = getDepth(argv[1]);
depth = 2.0;
MengerCube = new Cube(&origin, 8.0, depth);
glutInit(&argc, argv);
glutInitDisplayMode(GLUT_DOUBLE | GLUT_RGB | GLUT_DEPTH);
delete MengerCube;
Written by lewellen
2012-02-01 at 8:00 am
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Rock Street, San Francisco
The Great City of Calicut Located on the Malabar (southwestern) Coast of India was its port city of Calicut. Calicut, Kozhikode, was the capitol of a state which served as an important, if not the most important, state in the region in which it lay. Although Calicut lay on the coast, there was no place along its shore deep enough for ships to anchor. Still, as early as the fourteenth century, Calicut conducted a considerable amount of trade.
According to the primary sources of Ibn Battuta, Ma Huan, and an annonymous crew member of Vasco da Gama’ s, Calicut flourished as a center of trade because of their resources and trade systems, among other factors, making lasting impressions on these and other foreign visitors. In the account recorded in the Roteiro (Logbook), of Vasco da Gama’s anonymous crew member, various resources of Calicut were given. Calicut was a supplier and producer of several desired spices, including ginger, pepper, and the cinnamon-like spice, cassia.
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By the fifteenth century, Calicut had established a system for cultivating pepper. Among spices that were brought to Calicut and traded with other countries were cloves from the island of Melqua and true cinnamon from Cillion. In addition to their natural resources, the people of Calicut created and sold silk. Once the silk was acquired from the silkworm, it was boiled, dyed, then weaved into kerchiefs. Not only was Calicut admired for their resources, but Calicut established trade regulations among foreign countries that was both respected and appreciated.
For example, Moroccan traveler-ambassador Ibn Battuta chronicled in his ribla (around 1356), book of travels, that when a ship wrecked along the Malabar Coast, all items from the ship were taken to the treasury. However, in Calicut, the owner of the wreckage was permitted to recollect his items. Merchants appreciated this, thus attracting further business. This policy was strategic of Calicut in that although they did not gain an immediate profit from the wrecked ships, long-term, trade efficiency increased, ultimately benefitting Calicut even more.
In Chinese Muslim Ma Huan’s book, The Overall Survey of the Ocean’s Shores, published in 1451, he gives a detailed description of Calicut’s trading process. Once a vessel arrived in Calicut, two chiefs were appointed to it to oversee transactions. The king of Calicut sends a chief, an accountant, and a broker to inspect the accountant books. After a date is chosen to fix prices, the price of each good brought to trade to Calicut is fixed, a description, much like a receipt, is given to both parties.
Next, the chief, the accountant, and the commander of the visiting ship all shake hands and agree to never retract or change the price fixed for the goods. Then the accountant and wealthy men bring riches to be assessed and priced. This process takes between one and three days. This description shows that because Calicut had such a high volume of trade, a system was developed and practiced to a “T” in order to maintain trade efficiency. This also assured that no one was cheated out of goods/money.
According to the accounts of the above travelers, the development of Calicut was aided in part by their natural resources and trading systems and regulations. Chief among other factors as to why Calicut was so significant is that it served as a trading route, allowing duties to be paid to the Sultan. However, during these times, the state of Calicut was in religious divide. The king and the people were Hindu, while the chiefs were Muslim. Although the two religions respected each other, this divide may have been seen as weakness among foreigners, which may have ultimately contributed to the decline of Calicut.
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A Radical Legal Ideology Nurtured Our Era of Economic Inequality
Where does economic power come from? Does it exist independently of the law? It seems obvious, even undeniable, that the answer is no. Law creates, defines and enforces property rights. Law enforces private contracts. It charters corporations and shields investors from liability. Law declares illegal certain contracts of economic cooperation between separate individuals – which[…]
Get Thee to a Phalanstery: or, How Fourier Can Still Teach Us to Make Lemonade
Hot on the heels of the French revolution — by way of extravagant orgies, obscure taxonomies, and lemonade seas — Charles Fourier offered up his blueprint for a socialist utopia, and in the process also one of the most influential early critiques of capitalism. This explores Fourier’s radical, bizarre, and often astonishingly modern ideas, and[…]
Rich and Poor: Economic Thought from Thomas Aquinas to John Locke and Adam Smith
Starting with the medieval poor/rich-topics in the Aquinian tradition of the theological economy of charity, following a relatively unknown line of thought. Introduction In pre-classical economics, division of income was traditionally represented as an antithesis of rich and poor. Specific income classes were only defined in “classical” economics: landed property owners drew rents, capital investors[…]
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The Modern Diamond Industry: The Price Of Diamond Is Too High
1256 words - 6 pages
Lauren Ledger – LDGLAU001
ECO1010F Essay
“The price of diamonds is too high”
The international diamond cartel and more prominently De Beers, has used its dominant power and manipulation to create an illusion that has existed in the diamond market since the company was established in the 1880’s. The illusion of diamonds being rare and scarce led consumers to believe that their value would last forever and eliminated the option of resale in their eyes. This illusion is also what caused consumers to accept the prices of diamonds, a price that is inevitably too high.
The modern diamond industry was launched in 1867 by the accidental discovery of diamonds in South Africa. This was an ...view middle of the document...
De Beers created these barriers by bringing in new producers when diamonds were discovered and making them agree not to sell outside of the Cartel. This was due to the fact that if diamond supply increased, the illusion that they were rare would disappear and the prices would rapidly decrease.
De Beers restricted supply by equating their quantities to the number of wedding engagements in Europe at the time, implying that diamonds equated to love. Prices were determined through ‘orderly marketing’ by the Central Selling Organization, the main intermediary between the diamonds mined and consumers. De Beers created their famous ‘A diamond is forever’ slogan in 1948, successfully killing the resale market by implying the stones were too valuable to ever be resold. The idea of diamonds equaling love, which is not something that should be measured in price, meant that consumers accepted the prices and the idea that diamonds should be worth several months worth of salary – De Beers essentially told customers what to buy and how.
In order for De Beers to maintain a steady price, they attempt to convince consumers to separate the value of diamonds from the price they pay, and due to the fact that they are viewed as a symbol of love, consumers inevitably agree to the rules of the Cartel. The end of Apartheid proved to be a minor threat for De Beers, as the removal of economic sanctions led to a rapid increase in interest from foreign investors. De Beers didn’t act like a normal firm, keeping massive stockpiles, cooperating with competitors and never focusing on maximizing share prices, however they still managed to control the diamond market by restricting supply, resisting excess profits and constantly getting rid of speculation surrounding the diamond industry.
One of the biggest threats to the diamond industry was the presence of ‘blood’ or ‘conflict’ diamonds. These were eventually handled through the introduction of the Kimberly Process, a certification system, which ensured that all diamonds were tagged and identifiable. This gave the consumers a sense of security that the diamonds they are purchasing were genuine and ‘clean’. The Kimberly Process also increased costs due to tagging and monitoring, which made it more difficult for new producers to enter the market.
Possible threats for De Beers lies in things such as synthetic diamonds and the potential of consumers sentiment and preferences changing, however the changes shouldn’t come too rapidly and De Beers should be able to shift it’s market back to orderly competition.
De Beers’ ability to manipulate consumers in order to create the idea of scarcity and sentiment through restricting supply and stockpiling is what has enabled them to set...
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Feng’s classification
Tse-yun Feng suggests the use of degree of parallelism to classify various computer architecture . It is based on sequential and parallel operations at a bit and word level. [1]
About degree of parallelism
Maximum degree of parallelism
The maximum number of binary digits is called the maximum parallelism degree. If a processor is processing P bits in unit time, then P is called the maximum degree of parallelism . [2]
Average degree of parallelism
Let i = 1, 2, 3, …, T be the different timing instants and P 1 , P 2 , …, P T be the corresponding bits processed. Then,
Average parallelism, P a = (P 1 + P 2 + ... P T ) / T
Processor utilization
Processor Utilization, μ = P a / P
The maximum degree of parallelism depends on the structure of the Arithmetic and Logic Unit. Higher degree of parallelism indicates a highly parallel ALU or processing element. Average parallelism depends on the hardware and the software. Higher average parallelism can be achieved through concurrent programs.
Types of classification
According to Feng’s classification, computer architecture can be classified into four. The classification is based on the content stored in memory are processed. The contents can be the data or instructions. [3]
1. Word Serial Bit Serial (WSBS)
2. Word Serial Parallel Bit (WSBP)
3. Word Parallel Bit Serial (WPBS)
4. Word Parallel Parallel Bit (WPBP)
Word Serial Bit Serial (WSBS)
One bit of one word is processed at a time. This represents the maximum processing time and processing time.
Word Serial Bit Parallel (WSBP)
found. found…………………. All bits of a word are processed at a time. Parallel bit all bits of a word.
Word Parallel Bit Serial (WPBS)
It has been called a bit slice processing because it is processes at a time. Word parallel signifies selection of all words. It can be considered as a bit of all words are processed at a time.
Word parallel bit parallel (WPBP)
It is known as fully parallel processing in which an array is nxm bits is processes at one time. Maximum parallelism is achieved here.
Limitations of Feng’s classification
It fails to project the concurrency in pipeline processors, as it does not account for concurrency handle by pipe-lined design.
See also
• Flynn’s taxonomy
1. Jump up^ http://www.ijcaonline.org/archives/volume148/number14/thakur-2016-ijca-911285.pdf
2. Jump up^ Salih, Mariam A. Salih. “Architectural Classification” (PDF) . Retrieved 5 October 2016 .
3. Jump up^ https://www.gehucsit.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/handlers-classsification1.pdf
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.reduce() is the Swiss army knife of array manipulation. We use this function to transform an array into anything we want, be it a single value, another array, or an object. Yet it can be really hard for folks new to JavaScript to get their heads around. I know that I really struggled with it until I saw some really simple examples, and from then onwards every kata I did ended up with me saying “stick a reduce on it, bosh”.
To reduce an array, you need two things: a reducer function, and an initial value for your end result. Rather than try to explain these, let’s just jump into an example.
let nums = [1,2,3,4,5];
let sum = nums.reduce(function(accumulator, num) {
return accumulator + num;
}, 0)
We’ve got an array, nums, and a function, sum, that runs .reduce on nums to add its contents into one value. You’ll see that .reduce() takes those two arguments I mentioned: the function that does the reducing, and the initial value for the end result – what we call the accumulator. The accumulator begins as 0, which tells us that our end result is going to be a number.
But wait! Did you spot the word accumulator in the function? It’s the first argument in the reducer function! This is necessary for every reduce function – the first argument in the reducer function must be the accumulator, even if you don’t name it that. I recommend that for your first few reduce functions, you call it acc – it’s easier to type, and you know exactly what it stands for.
How about that second argument in the reducer function? The second argument in the reducer function refers to each value in the array. What .reduce() will do is iterate through the array, and run each value through the reducer function. Our function here returns the sum of the accumulator, whatever state it’s in at this point in the .reduce() process, and the item currently being processed. Let’s break it down.
The accumulator starts at 0. Our first value 1 comes into the function and gets added to the accumulator. Now the accumulator is 1. Our next value 2 gets added to the accumulator, so now the accumulator is at 3. Once the reduce function is finished with 5, there are no more values in the array, so the accumulator’s final value, 15, is returned.
Let’s look at another reduce function that works on our nums array.
let doubles = nums.reduce(function (acc, num) {
acc.push(num * 2);
return acc;
}, [])
This time, our accumulator is an array. Each iteration of the reducer function will push a new value into that array, so our resulting array will be the same length as nums. The reducer function pushes the double of each num into the accumulator, so we expect this function to return [2,4,6,8,10].
Incidentally, there’s a very good reason why we can’t just use return acc.push(num * 2) in the reducer function. It’s because .push() would return the length of the nums array, which is absolutely not what we want.
One more example!
let evens = nums.reduce(function (acc, num) {
if (num % 2 === 0) {
acc.push(num * 2);
return acc;
}, []);
Our result will be an array again, but this time it will only contain even numbers – [2,4]. Reduces can and do get far more complicated than these examples, but this should give you an idea of what .reduce() can do to make your coding life easier. Now go stick a reduce on it. Bosh.
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Origin Of The Igbo Tribe: Igbo People In Nigeria, Their Traditions & Historical Facts
origin igbo tribes people nigeria
Origin of the Igbo Tribe: Igbo People in Nigeria, their Traditions & Historical Facts
How much do you know about the Igbo tribe: their tradition and history?
Follow us, as we take you through the origin, traditions and historical facts of the Igbo people in Nigeria.
The Igbo tribe is one of the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria (the other two being Hausa and Yoruba). They are indigenously sited in the south eastern region of the country; although, they can be found in virtually all habitable regions in the country and beyond.
In the subsequent sections, we’ll be clarifying some age long controversies surrounding the origin and traditional belief of the Igbo people.
Is the Igbo Tribe from Israel?
As believed by many Igbos, especially the ardent followers of IPOB – Indigenous People of Biafra – the Igbo tribe originates from the Jewish land of Israel. This subset of the Igbo tribe tags themselves Igbo Jews.
The Igbo Jewish movement came to fore in the late 18th century, when an Igbo man named Olaudoh Equiano (locally pronounced Orauda Ikwuano), in his autobiography, traced and described the migratory origin of the so-called “Igbo Jews” to Israel.
However, despite the passion and indigenous support for the Igbo Jewish movement in Nigeria, the movement still remains unrecognized by the global Jewish community, most notably the Israeli Supreme Court and other prominent Jewish bodies.
Furthermore, the claim that the Igbos originate from Israel has been dismissed as mere speculation, as there is no document, artifact or any form of proof to indicate such. In fact, the supposed “genetic proof”, which has been claimed to establish some sort of similarity between the Igbos and the ancient Jews still remains a fallacy to many.
In light of this, many have dismissed the Igbo Jewish movement as an underhand attempt by a certain group of Igbo migrants and tourists, in a bid to gain recognition and permanent residency status from the Israeli government.
In a nutshell, the question still remains unanswered: is the Igbo tribe from Israel? There is no tangible proof to affirm this. In fact, there are other, more credible, claims as to the actual origin of the Igbo tribe, and we’ll be looking at one these in the next section of this article.
Where Did Igbo Tribe Come From?
As the speculation rages on, in the midst of the global disapproval of the Igbo’s Jewish status, the question that comes to mind is: where did the Igbo tribe come from?
As emphasized above, the actual origin of the Igbo people is somewhat cloaked in mystery. While certain school of thoughts believe that the Igbos originate from the Middle East, a more credible claim indicates that the Igbo tribe takes its root from the ancient Niger-Congo (West African) people.
The history and origin of the Igbos cannot be discussed without mentioning the pioneer Igbo kingdom of Nri. The Kingdom, in ancient times, formed the core (central zone) of Igbo land, serving as the hub of religion and political activities of the ancient Igbo people.
In fact, all notable cultural/historical tales of the Igbo people emanated from the laws of the theocratic kingdom of Nri, which was then perceived as a divine kingdom.
Fast forward to the modern day, the Igbos are the original settlers and landlord of the south-eastern land of Nigeria, which is colloquially known as “Igbo land“. The region is divided into five geographical/political zones (states), including Imo, Anambra, Enugu, Abia and Ebonyi. Also, some parts of Delta and Rivers states have Igbo people in considerable numbers.
Round up; the Igbos do not have a concise historical path, as various subsets of the tribe hold different beliefs as to their actual origin. However. despite the obvious differences in their respective belief system, they still stand together as one and remain one of the largest and most influential tribal groups in Nigeria.
When Did the Igbo Tribe Began?
There are archeological artifacts that indicate that the tribe known as Igbo today might have been in existence since as far back as 2500 BC. However, the Igbos became known as a single tribal entity some time in the 15th century, in the mid 1430s.
Who is the Father of the Igbos?
The widely acclaimed father of Igbos, who is believed to be the ancestral father and originator of the Igbo tribe is known as Eri. He is reportedly of Jewish origin, and according to historical findings, he was the grandson of Jacob (the biblical Jacob).
Eri migrated from Egypt (before the exodus of the Israelites) alongside some of his kinsmen. He travelled by sea and later arrived at a settling point, in a place known as Aguleri today.
Eri settled down in this region and procreated. One of his descendents, who is known by the name of Menri, went on to settle in a big forest, which later developed into the ancestral Igbo kingdom of Nri.
Superstitions of the Igbo Tribe
During the time of the theocratic kingdom of Nri (Igbo tribe’s ancestral kingdom), certain laws and prohibitions (taboos) were allegedly put in place. Many of these laws have been dismissed by modern day Igbos as mere superstitions, and thus do not hold water.
Below is a summary of some superstitions of the Igbo tribe:
• Killing and/or eating of pythons is an invitation to badluck.
• Night time is synonymous with evil, as the evil spirits use the cover of darkness to perpetrate their demonic acts.
• Ogbanje; the belief that infant mortality is caused by evil spirits, who translocate between the world of man and the spirit world.
• Osu cast belief: segregation of a so-called inferior class of people, who must not mix with the normal people.
• Killing a green snake is a taboo; however, if done unintentionally, the snake should be given a befitting burial.
• A newly widowed woman who attends a burial ceremony is bound to suffer an impending fate.
• Successive death cases in a family is attributed to a curse or anger of the gods.
Igbo Tribe Facts
Below are some interesting facts about the Igbo people, their custom and traditional practices.
• The Igbos are mainly Christians, with over 80% of them being of the Catholic faith.
• The traditional money saving and loan system of Isusu is an indigenous development of the Igbo people.
• The Igbos are generally referred to as “travellers”.
• They are highly industrious.
• Igbos is the third largest tribe in Nigeria.
• Igbo communities generally lack centralized control and leadership structure.
• In Igboland, burial ceremonies are generally more elaborate than wedding and naming ceremonies.
• Adultery and infidelity is greatly frowned at by the Igbos.
• Iguafo Igbo, an indigenous term for “Igbo calendar”, is the traditional system for counting days, weeks, months, and years.
• Anambra Igbos see themselves as superior to others.
• Ebonyi Igbos are generally seen as low-class Igbos by their trans-state kinsmen.
• There are approximately 35 million Igbos in Nigeria today.
Facts About Igbo Men
Below are some interesting facts about Igbo men:
• Igbo men are generally hefty looking and hairy.
• They are widely perceived as being faithful in marriage.
• They are generally known for their entrepreneurial (hustle) spirit.
• In ancient times, Igbo men are widely regarded as great warriors and hunters.
• Igbo men are domineering and are versatile enough to survive in any environment.
Igbo Tribe Language
The Igbo tribe’s primary language is Igbo, which is one of the three internationally recognized indigenous languages of Nigeria. The language is spoken by 20% (est.) of the Nigerian population, most of whom are native speakers.
Igbo language is generally divided into 20 different dialects, with the central – standard – Igbo language is serving as the general language. The standard Igbo language is widely spoken in Anambra and other major urban centres in Igbo land.
Below is a list of prominent Igbo dialects:
• Waawa
• Orlu
• Ikwerre
• Ohuhu
• Ogba
• Ngwa
• Ekpeye
• Enuani
• And more
All Igbo dialects are collectively called “Igboloid” languages.
Igbo Tribe Religion
The Igbos, today, are predominantly Christians. However, the traditional belief system is still widespread. Basically, the traditional believers hold the belief that there is only one God, who is known as Chukwu or Chineke.
Igbo tribe’s traditional system of belief centres around the glorification and exaltation of “Amadioha” – the god of thunder – who is seen as one of the top ministers of Chukwu, the supreme creator of earth.
While the traditional belief practices are still in vogue, especially in the rural communities, majority of Igbos have adopted the Christian faith, with most subscribing to the Roman Catholic belief.
Furthermore, a tiny fraction of the Igbo tribe associates themselves with the Jewish community. This set of people, colloquially known as Igbo Jews, holds the Jewish belief and devoutly so.
Why are the Igbo People Light Skinned?
While most Igbos are generally dark-skinned, like other West Africans, it is an open secret that the Igbos have a larger percentage of light-skinned individuals than other tribes in Nigeria. The reason behind this remains shrewd in mystery, as there have been claims and counterclaims in this discourse.
As believed by many, during the precolonial era, during the time of the Portuguese dominance and slave trade in West Africa, the Portuguese slave masters had free sexual encounters with a significant number of Igbo women. Some of these women were slaves, while others were free women who sought the Portuguese masters’ affection.
Aptly put, the lighter skin of the Igbos have been attributed to the alleged “Caucasian-Igbo gene” carried by the descendants of those who had intimacy with the Portuguese slave masters.
The above is one of many tales and mysteries surrounding the origin of the Igbo tribe, most of which remain unsolved till date. While this might be actually be true, there is no credible proof or historical document to back it up. Hence, it remains a mere speculation.
Have any input or something to correct? Kindly share your opinion with us in the comments section below.
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7 thoughts on “Origin Of The Igbo Tribe: Igbo People In Nigeria, Their Traditions & Historical Facts
1. I really like this update about my people. I have been looking for facts about Igbo culture for kids. I will print this and share it with them this coming weekend. Thanks for the brave input
2. Very industrious people. That is why people call them names, that we love money more than anything. I love my tribe. God bless my people.
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Why Does My Cat Lick Me?
A cat’s tongue is one of the most amazing tools in the animal kingdom. Nowadays, even though domesticated cats have become more like family members, they still possess all the necessary tools that are needed to live in the wild. Their tongue is one of the most important. Let’s learn more about the cat tongue so you can better understand its uses and why your cat licks you.
The Anatomy Of The Cat Tongue And Its Uses
If you have ever been licked by a cat, then you may have noticed that it felt very rough, not soft and smooth like a lick from a dog. The cat tongue has backward facing barbs (papillae) and is one of the most important tools a cat possesses. These papillae cover the entire top surface of the cat’s tongue and are made of keratin. Keratin is the same substance found in human fingernails. Since around one quarter of a cat’s waking hours are spent grooming, it suffices to say that the barbs are used primarily as a brush. The barbs have a slightly curved shape to them so that they can hold saliva. The saliva helps to clean their the cat's fur as they lick, and it acts kind of like a lubricant for the papillae to slide through. The curved shape of the papillae also ensures that the saliva is delivered all the way down to the skin, so the entire hair follicle is cleaned. Scientists have studied this feature and speculate that the design of the papillae could be used in many other useful applications, such as applying liquid medicine to hairy areas or even carpet cleaning. Another keen observation was made looking through a thermal camera. The camera showed that when a cat licks itself, the saliva evaporates, therefore cooling the animal. Since felines are carnivores, their tongue does not contain as many taste buds as the human tongue does. This means they cannot taste sweets.
Brushing their fur isn’t the only way a cat uses its tongue. While drinking, a cat’s tongue curls downward, unlike a dog's tongue which tends to curl upward. This specific method used by cats slightly breaks the surface of the water with a very quick flicking motion that creates suction within the curl. When they draw their tongue back into their mouth, a stream of water is drawn upward so the cat can close its jaws and swallows. This flicking motion is so fast that the human eye can't even detect it. About four flicks per second! Another benefit to having barbs on their tongue is that they help strip meat from the bones of small prey. In the wild, every single calorie can be the difference between life or death, so the cat’s tongue is designed to take advantage of every morsel. You may also notice that cats groom immediately after eating. Even domesticated cats do this. Cats may be skillful predators in the wild, but they are also small enough to still be prey for larger predators (coyotes, bobcats, etc.). They must clean themselves thoroughly to avoid attracting larger predators.
Watch a cat's tongue in action.
Why Does My Cat Lick Me?
When a cat licks their human, there are a few things it could mean. The most obvious reason people assume they are being licked is because they believe their cat is showing them affection. That is true. Cats that have a relationship with one another, such as mother and child, siblings, or just friends, will groom each other as a sign of affection. The same can be said when your cat licks you. To a cat, it doesn’t matter if you are human. Once they come to care for you, cats will treat you the same way as any other member of their group by grooming you and teaching you how to groom yourself. In the wild, cats groom each other to help one another stay clean so they don’t attract larger predators. They will also teach younger kittens how to groom properly. So when your cat licks you, it may not just be a sign of affection. They are also trying to teach you how to groom yourself, just like a mother cat would her kittens. Everyone knows that a male cat will spray urine to mark its territory, but by licking you they are also marking you as their territory. This is your cat’s way of letting other cats know that they care about you, and you belong to them. If your cat senses that you are stressed or sick, they may also lick you. Your cat is trying to help you calm down or make you feel better, similar to what they would do to another cat in the wild. Ultimately, your cat is showing you how much they care about you.
Why Do Cats Lick Each Other?
Cats will lick each other to help with grooming. Some cats are a little on the chubby side and have a hard time reaching their back end, so another cat will help them keep that area clean. Grooming each other is great for socializing and sharing a bonding experience. A mother cat will lick her young to keep them clean and to mark her kittens as hers to be accepted by the group. If a cat has a wound, another cat may lick the wound to keep it clean. Cats are very good at sensing illness in other members of their group, so if your cat is sick, one of your other cats may lick them to comfort them.
How Do I Stop My Cat From Licking Me?
There are times when it is inconvenient to receive a grooming session from your cat, such as when you are working on your computer. If you do not want your cat to lick you, then try to engage them in physical or mental enrichment. Giving them a toy to bat around the house or a food puzzle to play with are both good options to try to distract them. Moreover, brushing your cat acts as if you are licking them. Most cats love to be brushed, and they will stop licking you to enjoy all the pampering they can get.
A cat’s tongue is a gateway to the evolution of their behavior that has been refined over thousands of years to help ensure their survival in the wild. All of the ways in which they use their tongues to groom, drink, and show affection combine to create and define the incredibly complex and somewhat mysterious creature we call, the cat.
Petozy is brand dedicated to pet and pet owner happiness. The about cats section contains everything from silly articles about cat memes to more serious articles about cat play behavior. Search our articles to see if we can help you with your cat related questions. Or sign up for our newsletter if you want to get updates when new articles or products are released.
Watch a grooming session in action.
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Toolkit // Photo credit: tim gouw unsplash
Industry 4.0 refers to connecting machines used in industrial production and supply chains to the internet and each other. This allows collecting data and automating some processes. Connected devices, also referred to as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are installed in many places, from farms to factories and used for activities from water treatment to transport logistics. The shift towards using connected devices in manufacturing is often referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), because better data transmission and processing have enabled existing technology to be rolled out more widely.
Why Industry 4.0 matters
1. Benefits for industry.
Connected machines allow operators to monitor, control and model industrial processes to increase efficiency and lower cost, as well as providing a degree of autonomy. This allows precise real time adjustments or long-term changes, such as installing new machines or programming different schedules. This can be achieved through a digital copy or Cyber Physical System, which visualises the entire factory digitally.
Machines can also signal early when they are about to break, allow planning time for repairs and can even order their own replacement parts automatically. This eliminates a big manufacturing cost.
2. Effect on workers.
Factory workers can benefit from the introduction of technology by handing over strenuous tasks such as heavy lifting to robots, or using equipment which will warn them of impending danger or risk. Data collection also allows operators to predict future demands, such as where new machines or parts need to be added to assembly lines.
3. Concerns.
Apart from making manufacturing “smarter”, more efficient and productive, IIoT also raises concerns. One of those is automation, replacing certain jobs or even making them unnecessary. Another concern is the collection of data, namely that the monitoring of production might be extended to the workers.
Key Debates
1. Security & Privacy.
As the technology becomes more prevalent, key infrastructure such as power, water treatment and food production facilities will be connected. And, as with all connected technology, security is increasingly an issue. More efficient and customised supply chains, will also have less room for error, such as inventory in spare parts, which increases their fragility when things go wrong. This is especially problematic, as successful attacks threaten important trade secrets and key infrastructure. Intellectual property which would have been hard to copy, might now be stored on systems closely connected to IoT devices. Across sectors this will demand organisations to take on huge responsibilities for technology they have little experience in dealing with. Policymakers need to ensure the economy and critical infrastructure are protected. As companies might view security primarily in terms of cost, extra incentives might be required for them to make adequate provisions.
Privacy is also a major concern connected to Industry 4.0 as wearable devices record location data and collaborative robots monitor human errors. There are ethical concerns about the privacy and ownership of data collected from factories including machines and humans. Ethically, companies have a responsibility to store, analyse and use data responsibly. However even then, rights to privacy and control over personal data need to be maintained.
2. Market concentration and competitiveness.
Policymakers have a further reason to care about the industrial internet of things: the competitiveness of national economies, especially where they rely on manufacturing, depends strongly on companies adopting it widely. Big incumbent firms are able to invest and collect large amounts of data, both from their production and customers. This will give them a head start, if not a dominant position. Policymakers who want to ensure that different sized companies can be part of Industry 4.0 should consider supporting an environment for startups. Important factors are the initial research creating new ideas or the availability of capital, networks linking founders to established corporates or regulation that balances consumer protection with business support.
3. Digital skills and jobs.
The above is amplified by the fact that leading companies are most likely to attract the best talent. As skilled programmers, data scientists and other experts are in high demand, large and innovative employers can cement their advantage, making it harder for new entrants. On the other hand, new manufacturing methods and the emphasis on code, can also help startups to relatively quickly develop prototypes in this field. Policymakers need to ensure that people have both the technical and social skills to support this industry.
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Antibiotics and a glass of water
Antibiotics are a miracle of modern medicine, contributing to the control of infectious diseases and saving countless lives.
But too much of a good thing has led to a global problem. The misuse of these drugs by health workers and patients has accelerated the pace of antibiotic resistance, one of the greatest threats to global health and development.
Patients and those working within the healthcare industry need to work together to contain this growing problem. For health professionals, this means being judicious when it comes to prescribing and dispensing antibiotics. For individuals, this means helping to prevent infection through a variety of measures (such as vaccinations and regular hand washing) while being responsible about the use of antibiotics. The repercussions of antibiotic resistance are wide-ranging— a decreased ability to treat infection and illnesses in people, animals and plants can lead to increased illness and death, increased cost and length of treatments, and increased side effects from the use of Read more
Medical Breakthrough: First gene-editing in human
Chromosomes on blue background, scientific concept 3d illustration
Brian Madeux, 44, from Arizona, USA has been dealing with Hunter syndrome his entire life. He never expected to live past his early 20s and although he has surpassed his life expectancy, he experiences pain every second of the day.
A team of pioneering doctors in California proposed that Brian partake in an experimental trial that could change medical history forever. Brian was recently infused with the first gene-editing therapy directly in his bloodstream at Oakland's UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. The Mayo Clinic classifies Hunter syndrome as “a very rare, inherited genetic disorder caused by a missing or malfunctioning enzyme. Because the body doesn't have enough of the enzyme to break down certain complex molecules, the molecules build up in harmful amounts. In Hunter syndrome, the buildup of massive amounts of these harmful substances eventually causes permanent, progressive damage affecting appearance, Read more
Movember 2017
Movember 2017
It’s that time of year again, when men around the world put their razors down for a good cause. Best Doctors looks at how the Movember initiative is promoting men’s health issues and making a difference.
Read more
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Technology as a Tool to Achieve Sustainability: Examples from Abu Dhabi
Technology plays a big role in our lives. The easiest way to promote sustainability on an environment is through education. By environmentally educating ourselves on what sustainable alternatives we have available in our daily lives, like building materials, food, clothes and common household items, we can make better choices for ourselves and for future generations to come. Teach your friends the sustainable habits like recycling, and really look at what is a “want” and what is a “need.”
Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs as well. The key goal of green technology is to replace practices and methods that damage or deplete natural resources with alternative practices that are sustainable and efficient.
Generate electricity by walking
Many government entities and companies in Abu Dhabi are using technology to maintain environment sustainability. And one such example is the interactive walkway at Abu Dhabi Airport. This converts the energy from travellers’ footsteps into electricity. The walkway connects two terminals within the airport and it is of 16 sq.m. which was put by Abu Dhabi’s Masdar and UK based company Pavegen. Masdar is an incubator of sustainable technologies. It is also keen to help UAE deliver on its sustainability targets, including more eco-friendly mobility solutions.
An approximate 8,000 travellers per day will be crossing the walkway between terminals 1 and 3 of the airport. The system has screens that highlights how much energy is being generated with a special game interface for children. It depicts the amount of energy generated with airplanes rising and descending.
As we walk on the walkway, electromagnetic generators produce electricity which is used to power local LED lighting and to provide a data feed. Airports are a key destination as millions of visitors may this walkway for energy and data generation using the latest technology.
Eco-Bus in Abu Dhabi
The first fully electric passenger bus is launched by Masdar in partnership with DoT (Department of Transport in Abu Dhabi). It was designed taking into account that the eco-bus must withstand the heat and humidity of the UAE climate which is one of the key performance challenge for electric vehicles. It has a seating capacity of 30 passengers and a range of 150 km per battery charge.
An eco-bus is powered using solar panels. Extensive tests were conducted by DoT to check the vehicle technical performance during the pilot phase. Many such smart initiatives are aimed at enhancing intelligent transportation system in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) System
Picture a driverless car that you summon with a button which then takes you to any destination you like within a city. That’s the idea behind this system of 4 passenger electric vehicles which glide around on magnetically guided routes beneath the fossil-fuel-free city in Abu Dhabi.
The driverless vehicles are controlled by an advanced navigation system that uses magnets embedded in the corridor to know their position while onboard sensors detect any obstacles in their path. They are powered by a battery that recharges while the pods are standing in the stations between trips. The Masdar City PRT system benefits from dynamic safety features, resulting in zero accidents or collisions since launch.
Since the inception in 2010, the PRT system has ferried more than two million passengers between the city’s North Car Park and the Masdar Institute, part of Khalifa University of Science and Technology.
To sum up, Masdar City is at the forefront of sustainable mobility innovation and such expansions will aid in the large scale sustainable transportation system using the latest technologies.
Sainath Maniknandan
Sainath Manikandan is a student of Grade 5 at GEMS United Indian School (Abu Dhabi). He is a dedicated environmentalist, innovator and campaigner, and strives for a clean and green Planet Earth
1 thought on “Technology as a Tool to Achieve Sustainability: Examples from Abu Dhabi
Your Thoughts
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Many people wash raw chicken whether it is a whole bird or chicken portions in a bid to reduce the risk of food poisoning - a move which is actually making things worse.
According to Drexel University food safety research Jennifer Quinlan people wash chicken in a bid to remove germs or slime, or because they think raw chickens will be dirty.
But food hygiene experts say you should never wash a chicken before cooking it. According to the NHS: "Washing raw chicken before cooking it can increase your risk of food poisoning from campylobacter bacteria.
"Splashing water from washing chicken under a tap can spread the bacteria onto hands, work surfaces, clothing, and cooking equipment.
"Water droplets can travel more than 50cm in every direction. Only a few campylobacter cells are needed to cause food poisoning."
Campylobacter is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK and most cases of campylobacter infection come from poultry. About 50% of the chicken sold in the UK carries the bacteria.
Campylobacter poisoning can cause stomach pain, severe diarrhoea, and sometimes vomiting for up to five days.
In sever cases it can even lead to irritable bowel syndrome, reactive arthritis and Guillain-Barré syndrome.
This is the latest advice from the NHS on safe chicken handling.
How to prevent campylobacter poisoning
1. Cover and chill raw chicken
Cover raw chicken and store it at the bottom of the fridge so juices can't drip onto other foods and contaminate them.
2. Don't wash raw chicken
3. Wash used utensils
Thoroughly wash and clean all utensils, chopping boards and surfaces used to prepare raw chicken. Wash hands thoroughly with soap and warm water after handling raw chicken. This helps stop the spread of campylobacter.
4. Cook chicken thoroughly
Make sure chicken is steaming hot all the way through before serving. Cut into the thickest part of the meat to check that it's steaming hot with no pink meat and the juices run clear.
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The Vision
HYPERION aims to leverage existing tools and services (e.g., climate/extreme events models, and their impacts, decay models of building materials, Copernicus services, etc.), novel technologies (terrestrial and satellite imaging for wide-area inspection, advanced machine learning, etc.) to deliver an integrated resilience assessment platform, addressing multi-hazard risk understanding, better preparedness, faster, adapted and efficient response, and sustainable reconstruction of historic areas.
Current Challenges
Recent studies highlight the potential impact of Climate Change (CC) and geo-hazards (such as landslides and earthquakes) on historic areas hosting Cultural Heritage sites and monuments, which in turn yield significant adverse impacts on economies, politics and societies.
The deterioration of Cultural Heritage (CH) sites is one of the biggest challenges in conservation; aspects such as building technologies/materials, structural responses, preventive measures and restoration strategies, resilience and adaptation methodologies must be considered.
Currently there is no specific process towards understanding and quantifying CC effects on historic areas; combined with the limited strategies on CC-related issues, it becomes difficult to assess quantitatively and qualitatively the impact of various climatic and other parameters on the CH sites.
These issues form an integral part of the necessary support that should be provided to governmental bodies and cultural authorities to properly adapt their policies, in the short and long term, towards deploying sustainable mitigation plans and providing efficient reconstruction of the CH parts that have been damaged. Finally, the absence of social and humanities, and communities’ participatory aspects to the overall resilience and reconstruction planning of the historic areas is a main challenge to tackle.
The Concept
In HYPERION resilience offers an overarching strategy that includes risk management, protection and preparedness as complementary strategies to prevent damages to Cultural Heritage (CH) sites, identify and ward off additional threats and promote adaptation, reconstruction and other post-disruption strategies to restore normal conditions to the historic area, as well as long-term strategic approaches to adapt to Climate Change (CC) and to wield policy tools for economic resilience.
To achieve that, HYPERION aims to introduce a research framework for downscaling the created climate and atmospheric composition as well as associated risk maps down to the 1x1 km (CH site) scale. Applying atmospheric modelling for specific CC scenarios at such refined spatial and time scales allows for an accurate quantitative and qualitative impact assessment of the estimated micro-climatic and atmospheric stressors.
HYPERION will perform combined HT and SG analysis of the CH sites (indoor climate, HVAC, moisture and air transfer through walls, roofs and foundations, and related strains and stresses) and damage assessment under normal (past) and changed (future) conditions (anthropogenic or/and natural disasters), based on the climatic zone, the micro-climate conditions, the petrographic and physical-mechanical features of building materials, historic data for the structures, the effect of previous restoration processes and the environmental/physical characteristics of the surrounding environment.
The data coming from the deployed sensors will be coupled with (and utilised also to update) simulated data over the wider CH area (under HRAP) and will be further analysed through our data management system and support communities’ participation and public awareness through the use of an already sucessful EU project: PLUGGY. The data from the sensors will feed the DSS to provide appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies, and support sustainable reconstruction plans for the CH damages to the vulnerable assets. The HYPERION system ends up to an enhanced visualization tool with improved 4D capabilities (3D plus time) that can provide a simple and easy way for all relevant stakeholders to assess damage and risk.
The produced vulnerability map (based on the produced climate risk regional models) will be used by the local authorities to assess the threats of CC (and other natural hazards), visualize the built heritage and cultural landscape under future climate scenarios, model the effects of different adaptation strategies, and ultimately prioritize any rehabilitation actions to best allocate funds in both pre- and post-event environments.
The overall results will inform the employment of appropriate physical, organizational and financial tools to support resilience, including (a) structural rehabilitation interventions and associated policies (b) load-balancing reciprocal agreements between local businesses of the same type and (c) financial risk transfer tools (community/municipality insurance plans, single/multi-hazard insurance-linked securities) that can offer low-cost financing within hours of any extreme event, to jumpstart an immediate reconstruction effort.
The components
This work is part of the HYPERION project. The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no 821052.
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Water pollution overview
Water pollution is the contamination of water by an excess amount of a substance that can cause harm to human beings and the ecosystem. The level of water pollution depends on the abundance of the pollutant, the ecological impact of the pollutant, and the use of the water. Pollutants are derived from biological, chemical, or physical processes. Although natural processes such as volcanic eruptions or evaporation sometimes can cause water pollution, most pollution is derived from human, land-based activities (see Figure Water Pollution ). Water pollutants can move through different water reservoirs, as the water carrying them progresses through stages of the water cycle (see Figure Sources of Water Contamination ). Water residence time (the average time that a water molecule spends in a water reservoir) is very important to pollution problems because it affects pollution potential. Water in rivers has a relatively short residence time, so pollution usually is there only briefly. Of course, pollution in rivers may simply move to another reservoir, such as the ocean, where it can cause further problems. Groundwater is typically characterized by slow flow and longer residence time, which can make groundwater pollution particularly problematic. Finally, pollution residence time can be much greater than the water residence time because a pollutant may be taken up for a long time within the ecosystem or absorbed onto sediment.
photograph of water pollution
Water Pollution Obvious water pollution in the form of floating debris; invisible water pollutants sometimes can be much more harmful than visible ones. Source: Stephen Codrington at Wikimedia Commons
Diagram showing contamination to water can come from many sources
Sources of Water Contamination Sources of some water pollutants and movement of pollutants into different water reservoirs of the water cycle. Source: U.S. Geological Survey
Pollutants enter water supplies from point sources , which are readily identifiable and relatively small locations, or nonpoint sources , which are large and more diffuse areas. Point sources of pollution include animal “factory” farms that raise a large number and high density of livestock such as cows, pigs, and chickens (see Figure A Commercial Meat Chicken Production House ) and discharge pipes from a factories or sewage treatment plants. Combined sewer systems that have a single set of underground pipes to collect both sewage and storm water runoff from streets for wastewater treatment can be major point sources of pollutants. During heavy rain, storm water runoff may exceed sewer capacity, causing it to back up and spilling untreated sewage into surface waters (see Figure Combined Sewer System ). Nonpoint sources of pollution include agricultural fields, cities, and abandoned mines. Rainfall runs over the land and through the ground, picking up pollutants such as herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizer from agricultural fields and lawns; oil, antifreeze, car detergent, animal waste, and road salt from urban areas; and acid and toxic elements from abandoned mines. Then, this pollution is carried into surface water bodies and groundwater. Nonpoint source pollution, which is the leading cause of water pollution in the U.S., is usually much more difficult and expensive to control than point source pollution because of its low concentration, multiple sources, and much greater volume of water.
Questions & Answers
Is there any normative that regulates the use of silver nanoparticles?
Damian Reply
what king of growth are you checking .?
Stoney Reply
why we need to study biomolecules, molecular biology in nanotechnology?
Adin Reply
what school?
biomolecules are e building blocks of every organics and inorganic materials.
anyone know any internet site where one can find nanotechnology papers?
Damian Reply
sciencedirect big data base
Introduction about quantum dots in nanotechnology
Praveena Reply
what does nano mean?
Anassong Reply
Damian Reply
absolutely yes
Akash Reply
characteristics of micro business
for teaching engĺish at school how nano technology help us
Do somebody tell me a best nano engineering book for beginners?
s. Reply
what is fullerene does it is used to make bukky balls
Devang Reply
are you nano engineer ?
what is the actual application of fullerenes nowadays?
Abhijith Reply
is Bucky paper clear?
s. Reply
Do you know which machine is used to that process?
how to fabricate graphene ink ?
for screen printed electrodes ?
What is lattice structure?
s. Reply
of graphene you mean?
or in general
in general
Graphene has a hexagonal structure
what is biological synthesis of nanoparticles
Sanket Reply
Smarajit Reply
Privacy Information Security Software Version 1.1a
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Source: OpenStax, Sustainability: a comprehensive foundation. OpenStax CNX. Nov 11, 2013 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11325/1.43
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Research sheds light on the unknown mechanism
Sumitomo Rubber Industries says it has cracked the myst […]
Sumitomo Rubber Industries says it has cracked the mystery surrounding rubber failure, in a joint study with the Dresden, Germany-based Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research.The Japanese tire and rubber company said the "ground-breaking" research sheds light on the unknown mechanism that causes microscopic voids within the rubber which lead to the formation and propagation of cracks.
According to previous research had failed to "fully explicate" the theory that the fracturing of rubber molecules and the formation of voids within rubber at the microscopic scale led to the formation and growth of cracks in the rubber and eventually rubber failure.In 2015, using its "advanced 4D Nano design," Sumitomo advanced rubber development technology by managing to suppress void formation.
With this latest joint research, the company says it has succeeded in "directly observing internal structural changes in combination with the mechanical behavior of molecules within actual synthetic rubber specimens.SRI claims that the findings of the research will give "greater control over viscoelastic properties of the rubber" and could help develop.
rubber materials with "extremely high durability.The company will continue to work on the results to translate them into "high-performance tires that resist wear to maintain their performance for longer lifetime.The company said the breakthrough was achieved through two different types of experiments.
Rubber pad
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Battery storage is here
Business customers are looking for ways to lower their cost of doing business every day. Battery storage allows you to have access to backup power, and if used correctly it can also lower demand and the energy charges on your utility bill.
Benefits of battery storage
Backup power
In the event of a power outage, battery storage systems can provide power and reliability. Unlike backup generators, battery storage systems can supply power to your critical equipment and loads in the event of a power outage.
Bill savings
A commercial battery storage system allows you to reduce demand charges ($/kW) and energy costs ($/kWh) to the typical commercial energy bill (without considering the cost of battery lease or purchase). Learn more about our commercial rates.
Environmental impacts
If your storage system is installed with solar generation on site, you can shift your excess solar generation to peak periods, thereby reducing your carbon emissions and lessening the demand on the community grid.
Frequently asked questions
How does a battery storage system operate?
Battery storage systems are a way of storing and releasing electrical energy in a chemical manner. Battery storage systems store the energy in the batteries and an inverter converts that DC energy to AC energy your business can use. The battery can be charged using energy from a solar PV system or the grid. The battery is discharged to reduce peak demand, shift energy consumption during low cost periods into more expensive (peak) time periods and for backup power in the event of an outage.
What is the lifespan of a battery storage system?
Typically, stationary battery systems last about 10 years for Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) varieties. The warranty period for batteries is set by your battery system manufacturer.
Do all battery storage systems provide backup power?
Many battery storage systems can provide backup power if they are configured to do so. A battery can be configured to reserve some energy to provide backup power for critical loads while still using the majority of the storage to lower your business demand charges. Be sure to communicate with your contractor how much, if any, of your battery capacity you want to dedicate to backup power.
Is battery storage safe?
Safe installation should follow National Electric Code (NEC), SMUD’s Electrical Service Requirements, and any additional requirements of your local building permitting agency. Follow manufacturer’s care, use and service criteria to ensure safest possible operation.
Can I add battery storage system on already existing solar installations?
Yes, you can add battery storage to existing solar installations. Your battery installation contractor will determine what is necessary to complete a retrofit installation.
Can I install battery storage systems without installing a solar system?
Yes. However, your battery storage will not qualify for Net Energy Metering (NEM) and therefore will not be compensated for exporting stored energy to the grid. It is possible to charge your battery during low cost periods of time and use that stored energy to serve your loads during higher cost time periods to avoid on peak grid costs. Most commercial storage installations are expected to be used to lower demand charges.
How long will a battery storage system power my business during an outage?
Backup power duration is determined by the size of the battery you install and the critical loads required to operate during an outage. The number of critical loads being powered from the battery storage system during an outage will significantly impact the backup power duration. It is expected most commercial storage projects will primarily be operated to lower demand charges and not as a backup power source.
Generally speaking, energy storage is not cost effective today. The total savings from an energy storage system is usually less than the cost of the energy battery system. Battery energy storage can save money on your bill by reducing your peak demand ($/kW) charges and by consuming low cost energy that can be used later during high cost time periods ($/kWh). You may have specific needs for backup power, but reserving energy for backup power does not reduce electricity costs.
What size battery system should I consider for my Business?
System size varies based on the size of your businesses energy usage profile. Your Strategic Account Advisor can help you determine the best size battery for your business.
How can I learn more about battery storage systems?
If you are interested in learning more about battery storage systems, please attend a SMUD class to get a better grasp of this new technology. Also, get multiple bids before you sign a contract.
Does SMUD have any requirements on how I install my battery?
SMUD requires that the battery storage system installation follows the National Electric Code (NEC), requirements of your local building permitting agency and SMUD’s Electrical Service Requirements for Distributed Generation.
The interconnection process for battery storage is very similar to interconnection of solar PV systems. Battery storage systems will be processed through SMUD PowerClerk portal. This step by step web tool will make your interconnection process easy and straight forward. Your contactor will most likely handle the process for you.
Do battery storage system installations qualify for other incentives?
Battery systems charged by renewable resources may be eligible for state and federal incentives and tax credits (Federal Investment Tax Credit and California Self Generation Incentive Program). Check with your contractor and tax advisor for more details.
Commercial Battery Storage program
The battery incentives are based upon the storage units kW rating:
Storage Incentive per site
15kW - 30kW $600
30.1 kW - 75kW $1,000
75.1kW - 150kW $2,000
150.1kW+ $5,000
In the event that there are multiple storage units on a single site, all incentives will be based upon total system size. No more than a single incentive will be offered for any one site or SMUD account.
By participating, you may be eligible for future programs that:
1. Provide additional incentives
To apply for an incentive or to learn more, email
Commitment to operate
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Art Encyclopedia - Realism
Art information > Art Encyclopedia > R > Realism
In the visual arts the term realism is used to describe art work that depict subjects as they appear in everyday life. These art works usually depict the subject without embellishment or artist's interpretation and often emphasize the ugly or sordid in order to reveal a truth.
In art history realism also refers to a popular art movement in the 19th century originating in France. Realism as an art movement came about with the introduction of photography which created a renewed desire in people to produce things that look real. It was also a reaction against romanticism and realism revolted against emotionalism having truth and accuracy as their goal.
Realism is not easy to define because it is relative, and determined by culture. It is much the same as naturalism but realism is concerned with specifics and details whereas naturalism is concerned with a general view of the world.
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PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT::Window - A OO interface to PGPLOT windows
perldl> $win = pgwin(Device => '/xs');
perldl> $a = pdl [1..100]
perldl> $b = sqrt($a)
perldl> $win->line($b)
perldl> $win->hold()
perldl> $c = sin($a/10)*2 + 4
perldl> $win->line($c)
In the following documentation the commands are not shown in their OO versions. This is for historical reasons and should not cause too much trouble.
This package offers a OO interface to the PGPLOT plotting package. This is intended to replace the traditional interface in PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT and contains interfaces to a large number of PGPLOT routines. Below the usage examples for each function tend to be given in the non-OO version for historical reasons. This will slowly be changed, but in the meantime refer to the section on OO-interface below to see how to convert the usage information below to OO usage (it is totally trivial).
PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT::Window is an interface to the PGPLOT graphical libraries.
The list of currently availably methods: imag - Display an image (uses pgimag()/pggray() as appropriate) ctab - Load an image colour table ctab_info - Get information about currently loaded colour table line - Plot vector as connected points points - Plot vector as points errb - Plot error bars cont - Display image as contour map bin - Plot vector as histogram (e.g. bin(hist($data)) ) hi2d - Plot image as 2d histogram (not very good IMHO...) poly - Draw a polygon vect - Display 2 images as a vector field text - Write text in the plot area label_axes - Print axis titles legend - Create a legend with different texts, linestyles etc. cursor - Interactively read cursor positions. circle - Draw a circle ellipse - Draw an ellipse.
Device manipulation commands:
new - Construct a new output device
pgwin - Exported hook to new()
close - Close a PGPLOT output device.
focus - Set focus to the given device. This should normally be
done behind the scenes.
hold - Hold current plot window range - allows overlays etc.
release - Release back to autoscaling of new plot window for each
held - Returns true if the graphics is held on the current
env - Define a plot window, put on 'hold'.
panel - Move to a specified plot panel when several panels are
erase - Erase the current window (or panel).
options - Get the options set for the present output device.
id - The ID for the device.
device - The device type.
name - The window name.
Notes: $transform for image/cont etc. is used in the same way as the TR() array in the underlying PGPLOT FORTRAN routine but is, fortunately, zero-offset. The transform() routine can be used to create this piddle.
For completeness: The transformation array connect the pixel index to a world coordinate such that:
X = tr[0] + tr[1]*i + tr[2]*j
Y = tr[3] + tr[4]*i + tr[5]*j
Variable passing and extensions
In general variables are passed to the pgplot routines by using get_dataref to get the reference to the values. Before passing to pgplot routines however, the data are checked to see if they are in accordance with the format (typically dimensionality) required by the PGPLOT routines. This is done using the routine checkarg (internal to PGPLOT). This routine checks the dimensionality of the input data. If there are superfluous dimensions of size 1 they will be trimmed away until the dimensionality is correct. Example:
Assume a piddle with dimensions (1,100,1,1) is passed to line, which expects its inputs to be vectors. checkarg will then return a piddle with dimensions (100). If instead the same piddle was passed to imag, which requires 2D piddles as output, checkarg would return a piddle with dimensionality (100, 1) (Dimensions are removed from the start)
Thus, if you want to provide support for another PGPLOT function, the structure currently look like this (there are plans to use the Options package to simplify the options parsing):
# Extract the hash(es) on the commandline
($arg, $opt)=_extract_hash(@_);
<Check the number of input parameters>
<deal with $arg>
checkarg($x, 3); # For a hypothetical 3D routine.
pgcube($n, $x->get_dataref);
(the catch_signals/release_signals pair prevent problems with the perl-PGPLOT interface if the user hits c-C during an operation).
Setting options
All routines in this package take a hash with options as an optional input. This options hash can be used to set parameters for the subsequent plotting without going via the PGPLOT commands.
This is implemented such that the plotting settings (such as line width, line style etc.) are affected only for that plot, any global changes made, say, with pgslw() are preserved. Some modifications apply when using the OO interface, see below.
Alphabetical listing of standard options
The following options are always parsed. Whether they have any importance depend on the routine invoked - e.g. line style is irrelevant for imag, or the justify option is irrelevant if the display is on 'hold'. This is indicated in the help text for the commands below.
The options are not case sensitive and will match for unique substrings, but this is not encouraged as obscure options might invalidate what you thought was a unique substring.
In the listing below examples are given of each option. The actual option can then be used in a plot command by specifying it as an argument to the function wanted (it can be placed anywhere in the command list).
line $x, $y, $opt; # This will plot a line with red color
If you are plotting to a hardcopy device then a number of options use a different name:
HardLW instead of LineWidth
HardCH instead of CharSize
HardFont instead of Font
HardAxisColour instead of AxisColour
HardColour instead of Colour
[although I'm not sure when HardColour is actually used]
This options allows you to set the arrow shape, and optionally size for arrows for the vect routine. The arrow shape is specified as a hash with the key FS to set fill style, ANGLE to set the opening angle of the arrow head, VENT to set how much of the arrow head is cut out and SIZE to set the arrowsize.
The following
$opt = {ARROW => {FS=>1, ANGLE=>60, VENT=>0.3, SIZE=>5}};
will make a broad arrow of five times the normal size.
Alternatively the arrow can be specified as a set of numbers corresponding to an extention to the syntax for pgsah. The equivalent to the above is
$opt = {ARROW => pdl([1, 60, 0.3, 5})};
For the latter the arguments must be in the given order, and if any are not given the default values of 1, 45, 0.3 and 1.0 respectively will be used.
The arrowsize can be specified separately using this option to the options hash. It is useful if an arrowstyle has been set up and one wants to plot the same arrow with several sizes. Please note that it is not possible to set arrowsize and character size in the same call to a plotting function. This should not be a problem in most cases.
$opt = {ARROWSIZE => 2.5};
Set the axis value (see env). If you pass in a scalar you set the axis for the whole plot. You can also pass in an array ref for finer control of the axes.
If you set the option to a scalar value, you get one of a few standard layouts. You can specify them by name or by number:
EMPTY (-2) draw no box, axes or labels
BOX (-1) draw box only
NORMAL (0) draw box and label it with coordinates
AXES (1) same as NORMAL, but also draw (X=0,Y=0) axes
GRID (2) same as AXES, but also draw grid lines
LOGX (10) draw box and label X-axis logarithmically
LOGY (20) draw box and label Y-axis logarithmically
LOGXY (30) draw box and label both axes logarithmically
If you set the option to an array ref, then you can specify the box/axis options separately for the horizontal (ordinate; X coordinate; 0th element) and vertical (abscissa; Y coordinate; 1st element)) axes. Each element of the array ref should contain a PGPLOT format string. Presence or absence of specific characters flags particular options. For normal numeric labels, the options are:
A : draw axis for this dimension.
B : draw bottom (X) or left (Y) edge of frame.
C : draw top (X) or right (Y) edge of frame.
G : draw Grid of vertical (X) or horizontal (Y) lines.
I : Invert ticks: draw them outside the plot rather than inside.
L : Label the axis Logarithmically.
P : Extend ("Project") major tick marks outside the box.
M : Numeric labels go in the alternate place above (X) or to the
right (Y) of the viewport.
N : Numeric labels go in the usual location below (X) or to the
left (Y) of the viewport
T : Draw major tick marks at the major coordinate interval.
S : Draw minor tick marks (subticks).
V : Orient numeric labels Vertically. Only applicable to Y.
(The default is to write them parallel to the axis.)
1 : Force decimal labelling, instead of automatic choice
2 : Force exponential labeling, instead of automatic.
If you don't specify any axis value at all, the default is ['BCNST','BCNST'] for plots and ['BCINST','BCINST'] for images. (These list ref elements are handed on directly to the low-level PGPLOT routines).
In addition, you can specify that your axis labels should be printed as days, hours, minutes, and seconds (ideal for julian dates and delta-t, or for angular quantities). You do that by setting additional character flags on the affected axis:
X : Use HH MM SS.S time labeling rather than conventional numeric
labels. The ordinate is in secsonds. Hours roll over at 24.
Y : Like 'X' but the hour field runs past 24 if necessary.
Z : Like 'X' but with a days field too (only shown where nonzero).
H : Label the numbers with superscript d, h, m, and s symbols.
D : Label the numbers with superscript o, ', and '' symbols.
F : Omit first (lowest/leftmost) label; useful for tight layouts.
O : Omit leading zeroes in numbers under 10 (e.g. " 3h 3m 1.2s"
rather than "03h 03m 01.2s").
For example, to plot a numeric quantity versus Julian day of the year in a standard boxed plot with tick marks, you can use [``BNCSTZHO'',``BCNST''].
Normally the limits are chosen so that the plot just fits; with this option you can increase (or decrease) the limits by either a relative (ie a fraction of the original axis width) or an absolute amount. Either specify a hash array, where the keys are TYPE (set to 'relative' or 'absolute') and VALUE (the amount to change the limits by), or set to 1, which is equivalent to
BORDER => { TYPE => 'rel', VALUE => 0.05 }
Set the character/symbol size as a multiple of the standard size.
$opt = {CHARSIZE => 1.5}
The HardCH option should be used if you are plotting to a hardcopy device.
colour (or color)
Set the colour to be used for the subsequent plotting. This can be specified as a number, and the most used colours can also be specified with name, according to the following table (note that this only works for the default colour map):
0 - WHITE 1 - BLACK 2 - RED 3 - GREEN 4 - BLUE
5 - CYAN 6 - MAGENTA 7 - YELLOW 8 - ORANGE 14 - DARKGRAY
However there is a much more flexible mechanism to deal with colour. The colour can be set as a 3 or 4 element anonymous array (or piddle) which gives the RGB colours. If the array has four elements the first element is taken to be the colour index to change. For normal work you might want to simply use a 3 element array with R, G and B values and let the package deal with the details. The R,G and B values go from 0 to 1.
In addition the package will also try to interpret non-recognised colour names using the default X11 lookup table, normally using the rgb.txt that came with PGPLOT.
For more details on the handling of colour it is best that the user consults the PGPLOT documentation. Further details on the handling of colour can be found in the documentation for the internal routine _set_colour.
The HardColour option should be used if you are plotting to a hardcopy device [this may be untrue?].
Set the fill type to be used by poly, circle, ellipse, and rectangle The fill can either be specified using numbers or name, according to the following table, where the recognised name is shown in capitals - it is case-insensitive, but the whole name must be specified.
1 - SOLID
$opt = {FILLTYPE => 'SOLID'};
(see below for an example of hatched fill)
Set the character font. This can either be specified as a number following the PGPLOT numbering or name as follows (name in capitals):
2 - ROMAN
(Note that in a string, the font can be changed using the escape sequences \fn, \fr, \fi and \fs respectively)
$opt = {FONT => 'ROMAN'};
gives the same result as
$opt = {FONT => 2};
The HardFont option should be used if you are plotting to a hardcopy device.
Set the hatching to be used if either fillstyle 3 or 4 is selected (see above) The specification is similar to the one for specifying arrows. The arguments for the hatching is either given using a hash with the key ANGLE to set the angle that the hatch lines will make with the horizontal, SEPARATION to set the spacing of the hatch lines in units of 1% of min(height, width) of the view surface, and PHASE to set the offset the hatching. Alternatively this can be specified as a 1x3 piddle $hatch=pdl[$angle, $sep, $phase].
$opt = {FILLTYPE => 'HATCHED',
HATCHING => {ANGLE=>30, SEPARATION=>4}};
Can also be specified as
$opt = {FILL=> 'HATCHED', HATCH => pdl [30,4,0.0]};
For another example of hatching, see poly.
If justify is set true, then the plot axes are shrunk to fit the plot or image and it specifies the aspect ratio of pixel coordinates in the plot or image. Setting justify=>1 will produce a correct-aspect-ratio, shrink-wrapped image or plot; setting justify=>0.5 will do the same thing but with a short and fat plot. The difference between justify and pix is that pix does not affect the shape of the axes themselves.
Sets the pixel aspect ratio height/width. The height is adjusted to the correct ratio, while maintaining any otherwise-set pitch or scale in the horizontal direction. Larger numbers yield tall, skinny pixels; smaller numbers yield short, fat pixels.
Sets the number of output display pixels per data pixel. You can set the unit (see below) to change this to number of PGPLOT units (inches, millimeters, etc.) per data pixel. scale is deprecated, as it is not device-independent; but it does come in handy for quick work on digital displays, where aliasing might otherwise interfere with image interpretation. For example, scale=1> displays images at their native resolution.
Sets the number of data pixels per inch on the output device. You can set the unit (see below) to change this to any other PGPLOT unit (millimeters, pixels, etc.). Pitch is device independent, so an image should appear exactly the same size (e.g. Pitch=100> is 100 dpi) regardless of output device.
If pix is set, then images and plots are not stretched to fill the plot area. the align string tells how to align them within the available area. 'L' and 'R' shove the plot against the left and right edges, respectively; 'B' and 'T' shove the plot against the bottom and top edges. The default is to center the image. e.g. 'BL' puts the image on the bottom left corner, while 'CT' centers the image horizontally while placing it at the top of the available plot area. This defaults to 'BT' for non-justified images, to 'CC' for justified images.
Set the line style. This can either be specified as a number following the PGPLOT numbering:
1 - SOLID line
3 - DOT-DASH-dot-dash
5 - DASH-DOT-DOT-dot
or using name (as given in capitals above). Thus the following two specifications both specify the line to be dotted:
$opt = {LINESTYLE => 4};
$varopt = {LINESTYLE => 'DOTTED'};
The names are not case sensitive, but the full name is required.
Set the line width. It is specified as a integer multiple of 0.13 mm.
$opt = {LINEWIDTH => 10}; # A rather fat line
The HardLW option should be used if you are plotting to a hardcopy device.
It is possible to define multiple plot ``panels'' with in a single window (see the NXPanel and NYPanel options in the constructor). You can explicitly set in which panel most plotting commands occur, by passing either a scalar or an array ref into the Panel option. There is also a panel method, but its use is deprecated because of a wart with the PGPLOT interface.
plotting & imaging range
Explicitly set the plot range in x and y. X-range and Y-range are set separately via the aptly named options XRange and YRange. If omitted PGPLOT selects appropriate defaults (minimum and maximum of the data range in general). These options are ignored if the window is on hold.
line $x, $y, {xr => [0,5]}; # y-range uses default
line $x, $y, {XRange => [0,5], YRange => [-1,3]}; # fully specified range
imag $im, {XRange => [30,50], YRange=>[-10,30]};
fits_imag $im, {XRange=>[-2,2], YRange=>[0,1]};
Imaging requires some thought if you don't want to lose a pixel off the edge of the image. Pixels are value-centered (they are centered on the coordinate whose value they represent), so the appropriate range to plot the entirety of a 100x100 pixel image is [-0.5,99.5] on each axis.
This section will briefly describe how the PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT::Window package can be used in an object-oriented (OO) approach and what the advantages of this would be. We will start with the latter
Multiple windows.
For the common user it is probably most interesting to use the OO interface when handling several open devices at the same time. If you have one variable for each plot device it is easier to distribute commands to the right device at the right time. This is the angle we will take in the rest of this description.
Coding and abstraction
At a more fundamental level it is desirable to approach a situation where it is possible to have a generic plotting interface which gives access to several plotting libraries, much as PGPLOT gives access to different output devices. Thus in such a hypothetical package one would say:
my $win1 = Graphics::new('PGPLOT', {Device => '/xs'});
my $win2 = Graphics::new('gnuplot', {Background => 'Gray'};
From a more practical point of of view such abstraction also comes in handy when you write a large program package and you do not want to import routines nilly-willy in which case an OO approach with method calls is a lot cleaner.
The pgwin exported constructor, arguably, breaks this philosophy; hopefully it will ``wither away'' when other compatible modules are available.
Anyway, enough philosophizing, let us get down to Earth and give some examples of the use of OO PGPLOT. As an example we will take Odd (which happens to be a common Norwegian name) who is monitoring the birth of rabbits in O'Fib-o-nachy's farm (alternatively he can of course be monitoring processes or do something entirely different). Odd wants the user to be able to monitor both the birth rates and accumulated number of rabbits and the spatial distribution of the births. Since these are logically different he chooses to have two windows open:
$rate_win = PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT::Window->new(Device => '/xw',
Aspect => 1, WindowWidth => 5, NXPanel => 2);
Aspect => 1, WindowWidth => 5);
See the documentation for new below for a full overview of the options you can pass to the constructor.
Next, Odd wants to create plotting areas for subsequent plots and maybe show the expected theoretical trends
$rate_win->env(0, 10, 0, 1000, {XTitle => 'Days', YTitle => '#Rabbits'});
$rate_win->env(0, 10, 0, 100, {Xtitle=>'Days', Ytitle => 'Rabbits/day'});
$area_win->env(0, 1, 0, 1, {XTitle => 'Km', Ytitle => 'Km'});
# And theoretical prediction.
$rate_win->line(sequence(10), fibonacci(10), {Panel => [1, 1]});
That is basically it. The commands should automatically focus the relevant window. Due to the limitations of PGPLOT this might however lead you to plot in the wrong panel... The package tries to be smart and do this correctly, but might get it wrong at times.
A new addition to the graphics interface is the ability to record plot commands. This can be useful when you create a nice-looking plot on the screen that you want to re-create on paper for instance. Or if you want to redo it with slightly changed variables for instance. This is still under development and views on the interface are welcome.
The functionality is somewhat detached from the plotting functions described below so I will discuss them and their use here.
Recording is off by default. To turn it on when you create a new device you can set the Recording option to true, or you can set the $PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT::RECORDING variable to 1. I recommend doing the latter in your .perldlrc file at least since you will often have use for recording in the perldl script.
Use of recording
The recording is meant to help you recreate a plot with new data or to a different device. The most typical situation is that you have created a beautiful plot on screen and want to have a Postscript file with it. In the dreary old world you needed to go back and execute all commands manually, but with this wonderful new contraption, the recorder, you can just replay your commands:
dev '/xs', {Recording => 1}
$x = sequence(10)
line $x, $x**2, {Linestyle => 'Dashed'}
$s = retrieve_state() # Get the current tape out of the recorder.
dev '/cps'
replay $s
This should result in a pgplot.ps file with a parabola drawn with a dashed line. Note the command retrieve_state which retrieves the current state of the recorder and return an object (of type PDL::Graphics::State) that is used to replay commands later.
Controlling the recording
Like any self-respecting recorder you can turn the recorder on and off using the turn_on_recording and turn_off_recording respectively. Likewise you can clear the state using the clear_state command.
$w=PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT::Window->new(Device => '/xs');
$x=sequence(10); $y=$x*$x;
$w->line($x, $y);
$w->line($y, $x);
$w->line($x, $y*$x);
$state = $w->retrieve_state();
We can then replay $state and get a parabola and a cubic plot.
Tips and Gotchas!
The data are stored in the state object as references to the real data. This leads to one good and one potentially bad consequence:
The good is that you can create the plot and then subsequently redo the same plot using a different set of data. This is best explained by an example. Let us first create a simple gradient image and get a copy of the recording:
$im = sequence(10,10)
imag $im
Now this was a rather dull plot, and in reality we wanted to show an image using rvals. Instead of re-creating the plot (which of course here would be the simplest option) we just change $im:
$im -= sequence(10,10)
$im += rvals(10,10)
Now replay the commands
replay $s
And hey presto! A totally different plot. Note however the trickery required to avoid losing reference to $im
This takes us immediately to the major problem with the recording though. Memory leakage! Since the recording keeps references to the data it can keep data from being freed (zero reference count) when you expect it to be. For instance, in this example, we lose totally track of the original $im variable, but since there is a reference to it in the state it will not be freed
$im = sequence(1000,1000)
imag $im
$s = retrieve_state
$im = rvals(10,10)
Thus after the execution of these commands we still have a reference to a 1000x1000 array which takes up a lot of memory...
The solution is to call clear on the state variable:
(This is done automatically if the variable goes out of scope). I forsee this problem to most acute when working on the perldl command line, but since this is exactly where the recording is most useful the best advice is just to be careful and call clear on state variables.
If you are working with scripts and use large images for instance I would instead recommend that you do not turn on recording unless you need it.
A more detailed listing of the functions and their usage follows. For all functions we specify which options take effect and what other options exist for the given function. The function descriptions below are all given for the non-OO usage for historical reasons, but since the conversion to an OO method is trivial there is no major need for concern. Whenever you see a function example of the form
Usage: a_simple_function($x, $y, $z [, $opt]);
and you wish to use the OO version, just let your mind read the above line as:
Usage: $win->a_simple_function($x, $y, $z [, $opt]);
where $win is a PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT::Window object. That is all.
Window control functions.
Exported constructor for PGPLOT object/device/plot window.
Usage: pgwin($opt);
Usage: pgwin($option->$value,...);
Usage: pgwin($device);
Parameters are passed on to new() and can either be specified by hash reference or as a list.
See the documentation fo PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT::Window::new for details.
Because pgwin is a convenience function, you can specify the device by passing in a single non-ref parameter. For even further convenience, you can even omit the '/' in the device specifier, so these two lines deliver the same result:
$a = pgwin(gif);
$a = new PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT::Window({Dev=>'/gif'});
Constructor for PGPLOT object/device/plot window.
Usage: PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT::Window->new($opt);
Usage: PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT::Window->new($option=>$value,...);
Options to new() can either be specified via a reference to a hash
$win = PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT::Window->new({Dev=>'/xserve',ny=>2});
or directly, as an array
# NOTE: no more {} !
$win = PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT::Window->new(Dev=>'/xserve',ny=>2);
The following lists the recognised options:
The aspect ratio of the image, in the sense vertical/horizontal. See the discussion on size setting.
The type of device to use. The syntax of this is the one used by PGPLOT.
Hold the plot window so that subsequent plots can plot over existing plots. This can be adjusted with the hold() and release() methods.
The number of panels in the X-direction
The number of panels in the Y-direction
Yet another way to identify the plot window size -- this takes a scalar or an array ref containing one, two, or three numbers. One number gives you a square window. Two gives you a rectangular window (X,Y). Three lets you specify the unit compactly (e.g. [<X>,<Y>,1] for inches, [<X>,<Y>,2] for mm) but is deprecated in favor of using the Unit option. See the discussion on size setting.
The unit to use for size setting. PGPLOT accepts inch, mm, or pixel. The default unit is inches for historical reasons, but you can choose millimeters or (God forbid) pixels as well. String or numeric specifications are OK (0=normalized, 1=inches, 2=mm, 3=pixels). Normalized units make no sense here and are not accepted. Ideally someone will one day hook this into the CPAN units parser so you can specify window size in rods or attoparsecs.
The name to give to the window. No particular use is made of this at present. It would be great if it was possible to change the title of the window frame.
The width of the window in inches (or the specified Unit). See the discussion on size setting.
WindowXSize and WindowYSize
The width and height of the window in inches (or the specified Unit). See the discussion on size setting.
An important point to note is that the default values of most options can be specified by passing these to the constructor. All general options (common to several functions) can be adjusted in such a way, but function specific options can not be set in this way (this is a design limitation which is unlikely to be changed).
Thus the following call will set up a window where the default axis colour will be yellow and where plot lines normally have red colour and dashed linestyle.
AxisColour => 'Yellow', Colour => 'Red', LineStyle => 'Dashed');
Size setting: There are a gazillion ways to set window size, in keeping with TIMTOWTDI. In general you can get away with passing any unique combination of an <X> size, a <Y> size, and/or an aspect ratio. In increasing order of precedence, the options are: (Units, AspectRatio, WindowWidth, Window<X,Y>Size, Size).
So if you specify an AspectRatio *and* an X and a Y coordinate, the AspectRatio is ignored. Likewise, if you specify Units and a three-component Size, the Units option is ignored in favor of the numeric unit in the Size.
If you don't specify enough information to set the size of the window, you get the default pane size and shape for that device.
Close a plot window
Usage: $win->close()
Close the current window. This does not necessarily mean that the window is removed from your screen, but it does ensure that the device is closed.
A message will be printed to STDOUT giving the name of the file created if the plot was made to a hardcopy device and $PDL::verbose is true.
Check if a window is on hold
$is_held = $win->held();
Function to check whether the window is held or not.
Hold the present window.
Usage: $win->hold()
Holds the present window so that subsequent plot commands overplots.
Switch to a different panel
Move to a different panel on the plotting surface. Note that you will need to erase it manually if that is what you require.
This routine currently does something you probably don't want, and hence is deprecated for most use: if you say
then $image will actually be displayed in panel 2. That's because the main plotting routines such as line and imag all advance the panel when necessary. Instead, it's better to use the Panel option within plotting commands, if you want to set the panel explicitly.
Release a plot window.
Release a plot window so that subsequent plot commands move to the next panel or erase the plot and create a new plot.
Erase plot
Erase a plot area. This accepts the option Panel or alternatively a number or array reference which makes it possible to specify the panel to erase when working with several panels.
Plotting functions
Define a plot window, and put graphics on 'hold'
$win->env( $xmin, $xmax, $ymin, $ymax, [$justify, $axis] );
$win->env( $xmin, $xmax, $ymin, $ymax, [$options] );
$xmin, $xmax, $ymin, $ymax are the plot boundaries. $justify is a boolean value (default is 0); if true the axes scales will be the same (see justify). $axis describes how the axes should be drawn (see axis) and defaults to 0.
If the second form is used, $justify and $axis can be set in the options hash, for example:
$win->env( 0, 100, 0, 50, {JUSTIFY => 1, AXIS => 'GRID',
CHARSIZE => 0.7} );
In addition the following options can also be set for env:
The position of the plot on the page relative to the view surface in normalised coordinates as an anonymous array. The array should contain the lower and upper X-limits and then the lower and upper Y-limits. To place two plots above each other with no space between them you could do
$win->env(0, 1, 0, 1, {PlotPosition => [0.1, 0.5, 0.1, 0.5]});
$win->env(5, 9, 0, 8, {PlotPosition => [0.1, 0.5, 0.5, 0.9]});
Axis, Justify, Border
See the description of general options for these options.
Set the colour of the coordinate axes.
XTitle, YTitle, Title, Font, CharSize
Axes titles and the font and size to print them.
Label plot axes
$win->label_axes(<xtitle>, <ytitle>, <plot title>, $options);
Draw labels for each axis on a plot.
$win->imag ( $image, [$min, $max, $transform], [$opt] )
If $image is two-dimensional, you get a grey or pseudocolor image using the scalar values at each X,Y point. If $image is three-dimensional and the third dimension has order 3, then it is treated as an RGB true-color image via rgbi.
There are several options related to scaling. By default, the image is scaled to fit the PGPLOT default viewport on the screen. Scaling, aspect ratio preservation, and 1:1 pixel mapping are available. (1:1 pixel mapping GREATLY increases the speed of pgimag, and is useful for, eg, movie display; but it's not recommended for final output as it's not device-independent.)
Here's an additional complication: the ``pixel'' stuff refers not (necessarily) to normal image pixels, but rather to transformed image pixels. That is to say, if you feed in a transform matrix via the TRANSFORM option, the PIX, SCALE, etc. options all refer to the transformed coordinates and not physical image pixels. That is a Good Thing because it, e.g., lets you specify plate scales of your output plots directly! See fits_imag for an example application. If you do not feed in a transform matrix, then the identity matrix is applied so that the scaling options refer to original data pixels.
To draw a colour bar (or wedge), either use the DrawWedge option, or the draw_wedge() routine (once the image has been drawn).
Options recognised:
ITF - the image transfer function applied to the pixel values.
It may be one of 'LINEAR', 'LOG', 'SQRT' (lower case is
acceptable). It defaults to 'LINEAR'.
MIN - Sets the minimum value to be used for calculation of the
color-table stretch.
MAX - Sets the maximum value for the same.
RANGE - A more compact way to specify MIN and MAX, as a list:
you can say "Range=>[0,10]" to scale the color table for
brightness values between 0 and 10 in the iamge data.
CRANGE - Image values between MIN and MAX are scaled to an
interval in normalized color domain space, on the
interval [0,1], before lookup in the window's color
table. CRANGE lets you use only a part of the color
table by specifying your own range -- e.g. if you
say "CRange=>[0.25,0.75]" then only the middle half
of the pseudocolor space will be used. (See the
writeup on L<ctab|ctab>.)
TRANSFORM - The transform 'matrix' as a 6x1 vector for display
DrawWedge - set to 1 to draw a colour bar (default is 0)
Wedge - see the draw_wedge() routine
The following standard options influence this command:
To see an image with maximum size in the current window, but square
pixels, say:
$win->imag( $a, { PIX=>1 } );
An alternative approach is to try:
$win->imag( $a, { JUSTIFY=>1 } );
To see the same image, scaled 1:1 with device pixels, say:
$win->imag( $a, { SCALE=>1 } );
To see an image made on a device with 1:2 pixel aspect ratio, with
X pixels the same as original image pixels, say
$win->imag( $a, { PIX=>0.5, SCALE=>2 } );
To display an image at 100 dpi on any device, say:
$win->imag( $a, { PITCH=>100 } );
To display an image with 100 micron pixels, say:
$win->imag( $a, { PITCH=>10, UNIT=>'mm' } );
Display an image with correct aspect ratio
$win->imag1 ( $image, [$min, $max, $transform], [$opt] )
This is syntactic sugar for
$win->imag( { PIX=>1, ALIGN=>'CC' } );
Display an RGB color image
The calling sequence is exactly like imag, except that the input image must have three dimensions: N x M x 3. The last dimension is the (R,G,B) color value. This routine requires pgplot 5.3devel or above. Calling rgbi explicitly is not necessary, as calling image with an appropriately dimensioned RGB triplet makes it fall through to rgbi.
Display a FITS image with correct axes
$win->fits_imag( image, [$min, $max], [$opt] );
Currently fits_imag also generates titles for you by default and appends the FITS header scientific units if they're present. So if you say
$pdl->hdr->{CTYPE1} = "Flamziness";
$pdl->hdr->{CUNIT1} = "milliBleems";
then you get an X title of ``Flamziness (milliBleems)''. But you can (of course) override that by specifying the XTitle and YTitle switches:
will give you ``Arbitrary'' as an X axis title, regardless of what's in the header.
If CTYPE1 and CTYPE2 agree, then the default pixel aspect ratio is 1 (in scientific units, NOT in original pixels). If they don't agree (as for a spectrum) then the default pixel aspect ratio is adjusted automatically to match the plot viewport and other options you've specified.
You can override the image scaling using the SCALE, PIX, or PITCH options just as with the imag() method -- but those parameters refer to the scientific coordinate system rather than to the pixel coordinate system (e.g. PITCH=100> means ``100 scientific units per inch'', and SCALE=1> means ``1 scientific unit per device pixel''. See the imag() writeup for more info on these options.
The default value of the ALIGN option is 'CC' -- centering the image both vertically and horizontally.
By default fits_imag draws a color wedge on the right; you can explicitly set the DrawWedge option to 0 to avoid this. Use the WTitle option to set the wedge title.
Display an RGB FITS image with correct axes
$win->fits_rgbi( image, [$min,$max], [$opt] );
Works exactly like fits_imag, but the image must be in (X,Y,RGB) form. Only the first two axes of the FITS header are examined.
Add a wedge (colour bar) to an image.
$win->draw_wedge( [$opt] )
Adds a wedge - shows the mapping between colour and value for a pixel - to the current image. This can also be achieved by setting DrawWedge to 1 when calling the imag routine.
The colour and font size are the same as used to draw the image axes (although this will probably fail if you did it yourself). To control the size and location of the wedge, use the Wedge option, giving it a hash reference containing any of the following:
Which side of the image to draw the wedge: can be one of 'B', 'L', 'T', or 'R'. Default is 'R'.
How far from the egde of the image should the wedge be drawn, in units of character size. To draw within the image use a negative value. Default is 1.5.
How wide should the wedge be, in units of character size. Default is 2.
A text label to be added to the wedge. If set, it is probably worth increasing the Width value by about 1 to keep the text readable. Default is ''. This is equivalent to the WTitle option to imag, fits_imag, and similar methods.
ForeGround (synonym Fg)
The pixel value corresponding to the ``maximum'' colour. If undef, uses the value used by imag (recommended choice). Default is undef.
BackGround (synonym Bg)
The pixel value corresponding to the ``minimum'' colour. If undef, uses the value used by imag (recommended choice). Default is undef.
$a = rvals(50,50);
$win = PDL::Graphics::PGPLOT::Window->new();
$win->imag( $a, { Justify => 1, ITF => 'sqrt' } );
$win->draw_wedge( { Wedge => { Width => 4, Label => 'foo' } } );
# although the following might be more sensible
$win->imag( $a, { Justify => 1, ITF => 'sqrt', DrawWedge => 1,
Load an image colour table.
ctab ( $name, [$contrast, $brightness] ) # Builtin col table
ctab ( $ctab, [$contrast, $brightness] ) # $ctab is Nx4 array
ctab ( $levels, $red, $green, $blue, [$contrast, $brightness] )
ctab ( '', $contrast, $brightness ) # use last color table
Note: See PDL::Graphics::LUT for access to a large number of colour tables.
Notionally, all non-RGB images and vectors have their colors looked up in the window's color table. Colors in images and such are scaled to a normalized pseudocolor domain on the line segment [0,1]; the color table is a piecewise linear function that maps this one-dimensional scale to the three-dimensional normalized RGB color space [0,1]^3.
You can specify specific indexed colors by appropriate use of the (levels,red,green,blue) syntax -- but that is deprecated, since the actual available number of colors can change depending on the output device. (Someone needs to write a specific hardware-dependent lookup table interface).
See also imag for a description of how to use only part of the color table for a particular image.
Plot vector as connected points
If the 'MISSING' option is specified, those points in the $y vector which are equal to the MISSING value are not plotted, but are skipped over. This allows one to quickly draw multiple lines with one call to line, for example to draw coastlines for maps.
Usage: line ( [$x,] $y, [$opt] )
The following standard options influence this command:
$x = sequence(10)/10.;
$y = sin($x)**2;
# Draw a red dot-dashed line
line $x, $y, {COLOR => 'RED', LINESTYLE=>3};
Plot a list of vectors as discrete sets of connected points
This works much like line, but for discrete sets of connected points. There are two ways to break lines: you can pass in x/y coordinates just like in line, but with an additional pen piddle that indicates whether the pen is up or down on the line segment following each point (so you set it to zero at the end of each line segment you want to draw); or you can pass in an array ref containing a list of single polylines to draw.
Happily, there's extra meaning packed into the pen piddle: it multiplies the COLO(U)R that you set, so if you feed in boolean values you get what you expect -- but you can also feed in integer or floating-point values to get multicolored lines.
Furthermore, the sign bit of pen can be used to draw hairline segments: if pen is negative, then the segment is drawn as though it were positive but with LineWidth and HardLW set to 1 (the minimum).
Equally happily, even if you are using the array ref mechanism to break your polylines you can feed in an array ref of pen values to take advantage of the color functionality or further dice your polylines.
Note that, unlike line, lines has no no specify-$y-only calling path. That's because lines is intended more for line art than for plotting, so you always have to specify both $x and $y.
Infinite or bad values are ignored -- that is to say, if your vector contains a non-finite point, that point breaks the vector just as if you set pen=0 for both that point and the point before it.
Usage: $w->( $x, $y, [$pen], [$opt] );
$w->( $xy, [$pen], [$opt] );
$w->( \@xvects, \@yvects, [\@pen], [$opt] );
$w->( \@xyvects, [\@pen], [$opt] );
The following standard options influence this command: AXIS, BORDER, COLO(U)R, LINESTYLE, LINEWIDTH, MISSING, JUSTIFY, SCALE, PITCH, PIX, ALIGN
Setting pen elements to 0 prevents drawing altogether, so you can't use that to draw in the background color.
Plot vector as points
Usage: points ( [$x,] $y, [$symbol(s)], [$opt] )
Options recognised:
SYMBOL - Either a piddle with the same dimensions as $x, containing
the symbol associated to each point or a number specifying
the symbol to use for every point, or a name specifying the
symbol to use according to the following (recognised name in
capital letters):
0 - SQUARE 1 - DOT 2 - PLUS 3 - ASTERISK
4 - CIRCLE 5 - CROSS 7 - TRIANGLE 8 - EARTH
9 - SUN 11 - DIAMOND 12- STAR
PLOTLINE - If this is >0 a line will be drawn through the points.
The following standard options influence this command:
SymbolSize allows to adjust the symbol size, it defaults to CharSize.
The ColorValues option allows one to plot XYZ data with the Z axis mapped to a color value. For example:
use PDL::Graphics::LUT;
ctab(lut_data('idl5')); # set up color palette to 'idl5'
points ($x, $y, {ColorValues => $z});
$y = sequence(10)**2+random(10);
# Plot blue stars with a solid line through:
points $y, {PLOTLINE => 1, COLOUR => BLUE, symbol => STAR}; # case insensitive
Plot error bars (using pgerrb())
errb ( $y, $yerrors, [$opt] )
errb ( $x, $y, $yerrors, [$opt] )
errb ( $x, $y, $xerrors, $yerrors, [$opt] )
errb ( $x, $y, $xloerr, $xhierr, $yloerr, $yhierr, [$opt])
Any of the error bar parameters may be undef to omit those error bars.
Options recognised:
TERM - Length of terminals in multiples of the default length
SYMBOL - Plot the datapoints using the symbol value given, either
as name or number - see documentation for 'points'
The following standard options influence this command:
errb $y, $sigma, {COLOUR => RED, SYMBOL => 18};
# plot X bars only
errb( $x, $y, $xerrors, undef );
# plot negative going bars only
errb( $x, $y, $xloerr, undef, $yloerr, undef );
Display image as contour map
Usage: cont ( $image, [$contours, $transform, $misval], [$opt] )
Options recognised:
CONTOURS - A piddle with the contour levels
FOLLOW - Follow the contour lines around (uses pgcont rather than
pgcons) If this is set >0 the chosen linestyle will be
ignored and solid line used for the positive contours
and dashed line for the negative contours.
LABELS - An array of strings with labels for each contour
LABELCOLOUR - The colour of labels if different from the draw colour
This will not interfere with the setting of draw colour
using the colour keyword.
MISSING - The value to ignore for contouring
NCONTOURS - The number of contours wanted for automatical creation,
overridden by CONTOURS
TRANSFORM - The pixel-to-world coordinate transform vector
The following standard options influence this command:
$ncont = 4;
$labels= ['COLD', 'COLDER', 'FREEZING', 'NORWAY']
# This will give four blue contour lines labelled in red.
cont $x, {NCONT => $ncont, LABELS => $labels, LABELCOLOR => RED,
COLOR => BLUE}
Usage: bin ( [$x,] $data )
Options recognised:
CENTRE - if true, the x values denote the centre of the bin
otherwise they give the lower-edge (in x) of the bin
The following standard options influence this command:
Usage: hi2d ( $image, [$x, $ioff, $bias], [$opt] )
Options recognised:
IOFFSET - The offset for each array slice. >0 slants to the right
<0 to the left.
BIAS - The bias to shift each array slice up by.
The following standard options influence this command:
Note that meddling with the ioffset and bias often will require you to change the default plot range somewhat. It is also worth noting that if you have TriD working you will probably be better off using mesh3d or a similar command - see the PDL::Graphics::TriD module.
hi2d $y, {IOFF => 1.5, BIAS => 0.07};
Plot an arrow
Usage: arrow($x1, $y1, $x2, $y2, [, $opt]);
Plot an arrow from $x1, $y1 to $x2, $y2. The arrow shape can be set using the option Arrow. See the documentation for general options for details about this option (and the example below):
arrow(0, 1, 1, 2, {Arrow => {FS => 1, Angle => 60, Vent => 0.3, Size => 5}});
which draws a broad, large arrow from (0, 1) to (1, 2).
Draw a polygon
Usage: poly ( $x, $y )
Options recognised:
The following standard options influence this command:
# Fill with hatching in two different colours
# First fill with cyan hatching
poly $x, $x**2, {COLOR=>5, FILL=>3};
# Then do it over again with the hatching offset in phase:
poly $x, $x**2, {COLOR=>6, FILL=>3, HATCH=>{PHASE=>0.5}};
Plot a circle on the display using the fill setting.
Usage: circle($x, $y, $radius [, $opt]);
All arguments can alternatively be given in the options hash using the following options:
XCenter and YCenter
The position of the center of the circle
The radius of the circle.
Plot an ellipse, optionally using fill style.
Usage: ellipse($x, $y, $a, $b, $theta [, $opt]);
The major axis of the ellipse - this must be defined or $a must be given.
The minor axis, like A this is required.
Theta (synonym Angle)
The orientation of the ellipse - defaults to 0.0. This is given in radians.
XCenter and YCenter
The coordinates of the center of the ellipse. These must be specified or $x and $y must be given.
The number of points used to draw the ellipse. This defaults to 100 and might need changing in the case of very large ellipses.
The routine also recognises the same standard options as accepted by poly.
Draw a rectangle.
Usage: rectangle($xcenter, $ycenter, $xside, $yside, [, $angle, $opt]);
This routine draws a rectangle with the chosen fill style. Internally it calls poly which is somewhat slower than pgrect but which allows for rotated rectangles as well. The routine recognises the same options as poly and in addition the following:
XCenter and YCenter
The position of the center of the rectangle. XCentre and YCentre are valid synonyms.
XSide and YSide
The length of the X and Y sides. If only one is specified the shape is taken to be square with that as the side-length, alternatively the user can set Side
The length of the sides of the rectangle (in this case a square) - syntactic sugar for setting XSide and YSide identical. This is overridden by XSide or YSide if any of those are set.
Angle (synonym Theta)
The angle at which the rectangle is to be drawn. This defaults to 0.0 and is given in radians.
Display 2 images as a vector field
Usage: vect ( $w, $a, $b, [$scale, $pos, $transform, $misval], { opt } );
$w->vect($a,$b,[$scale,$pos,$transform,$misval], { opt });
This routine will plot a vector field. $a is the horizontal component and $b the vertical component. The scale factor converts between vector length units and scientific positional units. You can set the scale, position, etc. either by passing in parameters in the normal parameter list or by passing in options.
Options recognised:
SCALE - Set the scale factor for vector lengths.
POS - Set the position of vectors.
<0 - vector head at coordinate
>0 - vector base at coordinate
=0 - vector centered on the coordinate
TRANSFORM - The pixel-to-world coordinate transform vector
MISSING - Elements with this value are ignored.
The following standard options influence this command:
vect $a, $b, {COLOR=>YELLOW, ARROWSIZE=>0.5, LINESTYLE=>dashed};
Display a pair of 2-D piddles as vectors, with FITS header interpretation
Usage: fits_vect ($a, $b, [$scale, $pos, $transform, $misval] )
fits_vect is to vect as fits_imag is to imag.
Create transform array for contour and image plotting
$win->transform([$xdim,$ydim], $options);
(For information on coordinate transforms, try PDL::Transform.) This function creates a transform array in the format required by the image and contouring routines. You must call it with the dimensions of your image as arguments or pass these as an anonymous hash - see the example below.
The rotation angle of the transform
The dimensions of the image the transform is required for. The dimensions should be passed as a reference to an array.
The increment in output coordinate per pixel.
ImageCenter (or ImageCentre)
The centre of the image as an anonymous array or as a scalar. In the latter case the x and y value for the center will be set equal to this scalar. This is particularly useful in the common case when the center is (0, 0).
RefPos (or ReferencePosition)
If you wish to set a pixel other than the image centre to a given value, use this option. It should be supplied with a reference to an array containing 2 2-element array references, e.g.
RefPos => [ [ $xpix, $ypix ], [ $xplot, $yplot ] ]
This will label pixel ($xpix,$ypix) as being at position ($xplot,$yplot). The ImageCentre option can be considered to be a special case of this option, since the following are identical (although one is a lot easier to type ;)
ImageCentre => [ $xc, $yc ]
RefPos => [ [($nx-1)/2,($ny-1)/2], [ $xc, $yc ] ]
The values supplied in ImageCentre are used if both ImageCentre and RefPos are supplied in the options list.
$im = rvals(100, 100);
$t = $w->transform(dims($im), {ImageCenter => 0, Pixinc => 5});
$w->imag($im, {Transform => $t});
Threaded line plotting
$win->tline($x, $y, $options);
This is a threaded interface to line. This is convenient if you have a 2D array and want to plot out every line in one go. The routine will apply any options you apply in a ``reasonable'' way. In the sense that it will loop over the options wrapping over if there are less options than lines.
$h={Colour => ['Red', '1', 4], Linestyle => ['Solid' ,'Dashed']};
$ty = $tx + $tx->yvals;
$win->tline($tx, $ty, $h);
A threaded interface to points
Usage: tpoints($x, $y, $options);
$ty = $tx + $tx->yvals;
tpoints($tx, $ty, $h);
Text routines
Write text in a plot window at a specified position.
Usage: text ($text, $x, $y [, $opt])
Options recognised:
The angle in degrees between the baseline of the text and the horisontal (increasing counter-clockwise). This defaults to 0.
The justification of the text relative to the position specified. It defaults to 0.0 which gives left-justified text. A value of 0.5 gives centered text and a value of 1.0 gives right-justified text.
XPos, YPos, Text
These gives alternative ways to specify the text and position.
This sets the background colour for the text in case an opaque background is desired. You can also use the synonyms Bg and BackgroundColor.
The following standard options influence this command:
line sequence(10), sequence(10)**2;
text 'A parabola', 3, 9, {Justification => 1, Angle=>atan2(6,1)};
Add a legend to a plot
Usage: legend($text, $x, $y, [, $width], $opt]);
This function adds a legend to an existing plot. The action is primarily controlled by information in the options hash, and the basic idea is that $x and $y determines the upper left hand corner of the box in which the legend goes. If the width is specified either as an argument or as an option in the option hash this is used to determine the optimal character size to fit the text into part of this width (defaults to 0.5 - see the description of TextFraction below). The rest of the width is filled out with either lines or symbols according to the content of the LineStyle, Symbol, Colour and LineWidth options.
The local options recognised are as follows:
An anonymous array of annotations, can also be specified directly.
XPos and YPos
The X and Y position of the upper left-hand corner of the text.
Width and Height
The width and/or height of each line (including symbol/line). This is used to determine the character size. If any of these are set to 'Automatic' the current character size will be used.
The text and the symbol/line is set inside a box. TextFraction determines how much of this box should be devoted to text. This defaults to 0.5. You can also use Fraction as a synonym to this.
This option allows for fine control of the spacing between the text and the start of the line/symbol. It is given in fractions of the total width of the legend box. The default value is 0.1.
VertSpace or VSpace
By default the text lines are separated by one character height (in the sense that if the separation were 0 then they would lie on top of each other). The VertSpace option allows you to increase (or decrease) this gap in units of the character height; a value of 0.5 would add half a character height to the gap between lines, and -0.5 would remove the same distance. The default value is 0.
line $x, $y, {Color => 'Red', LineStyle => 'Solid'};
line $x2, $y2, {Color => 'Blue', 'LineStyle' => 'Dashed', LineWidth => 10};
legend ['A red line', 'A blue line'], 5, 5,
{LineStyle => ['Solid', 'Dashed'], Colour => ['Red', 'Blue']
LineWidth => [undef, 10]}; # undef gives default.
Cursor routines
Interactively read cursor positions.
Usage: ($x, $y, $ch, $xref, $yref) = cursor($opt)
This routine has no standard input parameters, but the type of cursor can be set by setting the option Type as a key in the anonymous hash $opt. The first three return values from the function are always defined and gives the position selected by the user and the character pressed.
Depending on the cursor type selected the last two arguments might also be defined and these give a reference position. For instance if the cursor is selected to be Rectangle then the reference position gives one of the corners of the rectangle and $x and $y the diagonally opposite one.
Options recognised:
XRef, YRef
The reference position to be used
The type of cursor. This can be selected using a number between 0 and 7 as in PGPLOT, or alternatively you can specify these as, Default (0), RadialLine (1), Rectangle (2), TwoHorizontalLines (3), TwoVerticalLines (4), HorizontalLine (5), VerticalLine (6) and CrossHair (7) respectively. The default cursor is just the normal mouse cursor.
For the RadialLine you must specify the reference point, whereas for the Two(Vertical|Horizontal)Lines cursor the X or Y reference point, respectively, must be specified.
To select a region on a plot, use the rectangle cursor:
($x, $y, $ch, $xref, $yref) = cursor({Type => 'Rectangle'});
poly pdl($x, $xref, $xref, $x, $x), pdl($y, $y, $yref, $yref, $y);
To select a region of the X-axis:
($x1, $y1, $ch) = cursor({Type => 'VerticalLine'});
($x2, $y2, $ch) = cursor({Type => 'TwoVerticalLines', XRef => $x1});
Internal routines
signal_catcher, catch_signals, release_signals
To prevent pgplot from doing a fandango on core, we have to block interrupts during PGPLOT calls. Specifically, INT needs to get caught. These internal routines provide a mechanism for that.
You simply bracket any PGPLOT calls with &catch_signals above and &release_signals below, and the signal_catcher will queue up any signals (like INT -- the control-C interrupt) until the &release_signals call.
Any exit path from your hot code must include &release_signals, or interrupts could be deferred indefinitely (which would be a bug). This includes calls to &barf -- even barfs from someone you called! So avoid calling out of the local module if possible, and use release_and_barf() instead of barf() from within this module.
Perl 5.6.1 interrupt handling has a bug that this code tickles -- sometimes the re-emitted signals vanish into hyperspace. Perl 5.8 seems NOT to have that problem.
Open a new window. This sets the window ID, which is the one used when accessing a window later using pgslct. It also sets the window name to something easily remembered if it has not been set before.
This routine sets up a new window with its shape and size. This is also where the size options are actually parsed. These are then forgotten (well, they are stored in $self->{Options}) and the corresponding aspect ratio and window width is stored. See the discussion under new() for the logic.
Finally the subpanels are set up using pgsubp and colours and linewidth are adjusted according to whether we have a hardcopy device or not.
This routine checks the status of the window. It returns OPEN if the window is open and CLOSED if it is closed.
This functions reopens a window. Since this is an internal function it does not have a lot of error-checking. Make sure the device is closed before calling this routine.
There is an unfortunate problem which pops up viz. that the window name cannot be changed at this point since we are offering that to the rest of the world. That might be sensible, but it means that the window name will not reflect the id of the window - use id() for that (this is also why we do not call open_new_window )
This routine advances one plot panel, updating the CurrentPanel as well. If the advance will proceed past the page the page will be erased. Also note that when you advance one panel the hold value will be changed.
This routine is a utility routine which checks if we need to move panel, and if so will do this. It also checks if it is necessary to advance panels, and whether they need to be erased.
This function is a cludgy utility function that expands an options hash to an array of hashes looping over options. This is mainly of use for ``threaded'' interfaces to standard plotting routines.
Access the options used when originally opening the window. At the moment this is not updated when the window is changed later.
Access the window ID that PGPLOT uses for the present window.
This function returns the device type of the present window.
Accessor to set and examine the name of a window.
Set focus for subsequent PGPLOT commands to this window.
Get general information about the PGPLOT environment.
@ans = $self->info( @item );
The valid values of @item are as below, where case is not important:
VERSION - What PGPLOT version is in use.
STATE - The status of the output device, this is returns 'OPEN'.
if the device is open and 'CLOSED' otherwise.
USER - The username of the owner of the spawning program.
NOW - The current date and time in the format
'dd-MMM-yyyy hh:mm'. Most people are likely to use Perl
functions instead.
DEVICE * - The current PGPLOT device or file, see also device().
FILE * - The filename for the current device.
TYPE * - And the device type for the current device.
DEV/TYPE * - This combines DEVICE and TYPE in a form that can be used
as input to new.
HARDCOPY * - This is flag which is set to 'YES' if the current device is
a hardcopy device and 'NO' otherwise.
TERMINAL * - This flag is set to 'YES' if the current device is the
user's terminal and 'NO' otherwise.
CURSOR * - A flag ('YES' or 'NO') to inform whether the current device
has a cursor.
Those items marced with a * only return a valid answer if the window is open. A question mark (?) is returned if the item is not recognised or the information is not available.
This routine takes and array and returns the first hash reference found as well as those elements that are not hashes. Note the latter point because all other references to hashes in the array will be lost.
Convert a unit string or number into a PGPLOT-certified length unit specification, or return undef if it won't go.
This is a convenience routine for parsing a set of options. It returns both the full set of options and those that the user has set.
Saves the PGPLOT state so that changes to settings can be made and then the present state restored by _restore_status.
Restore the PGPLOT state. See _save_status.
This routine checks and optionally alters the arguments given to it.
This is an internal routine that encapsulates all the nastiness of setting colours depending on the different PGPLOT colour models (although HLS is not supported).
The routine works in the following way:
This internal routine is the default routine for parsing options. This routine deals with a subset of options that most routines will accept.
Given a PGPLOT tr matrix and an image size, calculate the data world coordinates over which the image ranges. This is used in imag and cont. It keeps track of the required half-pixel offset to display images properly -- eg feeding in no tr matrix at all, nx=20, and ny=20 will will return (-0.5,19.5,-0.5,19.5). It also checks the options hash for XRange/YRange specifications and, if they are present, it overrides the appropriate output with the exact ranges in those fields.
The coding tries to follow reasonable standards, so that all functions starting with an underscore should be considered as internal and should not be called from outside the package. In addition most routines have a set of options. These are encapsulated and are not accessible outside the routine. This is to avoid collisions between different variables.
Karl Glazebrook [kgb@aaoepp.aao.gov.au] modified by Jarle Brinchmann (jarle@astro.ox.ac.uk) who is also responsible for the OO interface, docs mangled by Tuomas J. Lukka (lukka@fas.harvard.edu) and Christian Soeller (c.soeller@auckland.ac.nz) Further contributions and bugfixes from Kaj Wiik, Doug Burke, Craig DeForest, and many others.
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Volume 2, Issue 4
Winter 2006:
Fine Art and Medical Diagnosis
Irwin M. Braverman, M.D.
Cell 2 Soul. 2006 Winter; 2(4):a11
Based on presentation at Cell 2 Soul Conference
November 12, 2006
Pattern recognition is essential for diagnosis in all branches of medicine and is vitally important in dermatology, radiology, pathology and ophthalmology.
Accurate differential diagnosis relies on an astute clinician who is able to discern the fine details in a pattern. This ability is a skill that needs to be continually practiced and honed for ultimate effectiveness. For example, a diagnostician must be able to recognize subtle differences between lesions that resemble one another, but which are actually signs of different disorders, such as the telangiectases of scleroderma and those of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (1).
Observation is necessary in variety of disciplines
Sir Ernst Gombrich, author of the celebrated standard fine arts textbook, The Story of Art, proposes that "We notice only when we look for something, and we look when our attention is aroused by some disequilibrium, a difference between our expectation and the incoming message."
William Osler admonished physicians to "Learn to see, learn to hear, learn to feel. Learn to smell, and know that by practice alone can one become expert."
In 1981, Richard M. Caplan, MD, raised the subject of using observation and analysis of fine art to heighten awareness in the art of medical diagnosis. In an article titled, Can Art be CME? in the Journal of the
Iowa Medical Society
, he posited the following: "Being attentive to appearance, words and manner is a crucial first step in the doctor-patient relationship and a great aid to diagnosis. We teach it (or think we do) at a student's earliest contact with patients, but alas we soon forget about it. It requires reinforcement since most of us grow callous or indifferent. To gaze closely in the museum allows for an awakening of the spirit of attending which may have grown dull through the patterns of routine. One needs a refresher course for the skill of clinical observation."
Can medical students increase observation skills?
To test this principle, I helped initiate a program at Yale University designed to determine the effectiveness of pattern recognition training. First year medical students were divided into two groups: those receiving training intervention and those receiving no training. The intervention group was taken to the museum to study a variety of fine art paintings. Specific visual training questions and exercises were presented to increase powers of observation and analysis.
The students in both groups were shown photographs of patients with medical disorders prior to the fine art training as well as after the training, and their pre- and posts-responses were analyzed. The students in the intervention group improved their mean test score by 9%, while the mean score of the control group showed no improvement. In addition, significantly more students in the intervention group improved their test scores than in the control group.
How does one become a better diagnostician?
Our continued "art walks" through the museum jump start the cerebral expression of discovering the meaning of what one has never seen before. Observing paintings helps medical students and residents to Look! As a result, they become better diagnosticians. So how do we approach the task?
Assume that every feature in a painting has been placed there by the artist for a reason, whether part of the scenery or details on human figures. Every feature is artificial; nothing is there naturally. The task is to identify every detail (e.g, the curl in the hair, the blemish on the ear, the 3 wrinkles on the forehead) and try to understand why it is there and what it means. It may not always be possible to determine the meaning of every feature; however, a good observer should be able to identify every feature present.
We begin by scanning the entire painting. It is important to first grasp a basic idea of what the style and subject matter are; e.g, a landscape showing a village with many people going about their chores, a full length portrait of a farmer holding his tools, a portrait of a young child, etc.
Next, we develop a systematic method of examining the painting so we are sure to cover every inch of the canvas. We might proceed from the foreground and move to the midground and then the background. Or we might split the canvas into sections, such as perusing each of four quarters. We look for every detail possible to help determine clues such as: what season is it, what time of day, what is the geographic location of the scene, what activities are taking place, why are people depicted as they are? Answers to these questions pull focus to the myriad details represented.
Another approach might be to formulate a quick interpretation of what the artist is trying to convey on a first quick pass. Then, seek out details that either support or negate the initial conclusion. Do all the observed features lean in one direction or another, or do some go one way and others go in a different direction? Are there any internal contradictions in the painting?
Whether carefully observing paintings, butterflies, flowers or leaves, we have found that training medical students to look more carefully at details in art and objects crosses over into the practice of medicine. By training the wonderful connection between the eye and the brain, we rise above succumbing to a reliance on the crutches of imaging and testing.
It may not be that physicians don't always know enough, rather that they do not see enough.
1. Braverman IM. Skin Signs of Systemic Disease, 3rd Ed. WB Saunders, Philadelphia, 1998
2. Adrian-Harris D: Aspects of visual perception in radiography. Radiography XLV: 237- 243, 1979
3. Caplan, Can Art be CME?, J Iowa Med Soc, Oct 1981
4. Dolev JC, Friedlaender L, Braverman IM: Use of fine art to enhance visual observational skills. JAMA 286:1020-1021, 2001
5. http://info.med.yale.edu/dermatology/dept/braverman.html
Editor's Note: For a stunning example of the reaction of a student who participated in an Art Walk led by Irwin Braverman at the Williams College Art Museum following the Cell 2 Soul Conference, please read
A Student's "Art Walk" Notes, by Hannah Foote, in this issue.
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The bryophytes are generally considered a "key" group in our understanding of how the modern land plants (the embryophytes) are related to each other phylogenetically and how they came to conquer the hostile land environment from their primitive home in fresh water (habitats still occupied by relatives of the land plants, the green algae).
This is because of the apparent basal phylogenetic position of the bryophytes among the extant embryophytes, the remnant lineages present today from the spectacular radiation of the land plants in the Devonian Period, some 400 million years ago.
Bryophytes tend to have distributional ranges that correspond to historical biogeographic patterns of tracheophytes (Crum, 1966; Schofield, 1969; Crum, 1972; Schofield, 1983), but intriguingly, species of bryophytes (at least with currently prevailing species concepts in the group) usually are relatively more widely distributed.
ucjeps.berkeley.edu /bryolab/PEET/peet_bryos.html (756 words)
Bryophyte - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The bryophytes are those embryophyte plants ('land plants') that are non-vascular: they have tissues and enclosed reproductive systems, but they lack vascular tissue that circulates liquids.
However, since the three groups of bryophytes form a paraphyletic group, they now are placed in three separate divisions.
Monoicous bryophytes produce both antheridia and archegonia on the same plant body.
en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Bryophytes (388 words)
The Bryophytes & Lichens Technical Committee
Bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts) are autotrophic plants; mosses are generally radially symmetric, with sporophytes of variable and complex differentiation.
Bryophytes and lichens, together with fungi and algae, are often classed as "lower" plants, since they produce neither showy inflorescences nor large trees.
Bryophytes and lichens that grow on soil and rock may endure through several successional stages, provided the physiography is undisturbed.
www.dickinson.edu /prorg/pabs/bryophytes_and_lichens.htm (6127 words)
Bryophytes (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-30)
Often overlooked by amateur and professional botanists alike, bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts) are nonetheless highly important in the function of ecosystems and an important element in California's plant diversity.
Bryophytes grow on a wide variety of substrates, including exposed soil, rocks, and trees, and some are even completely aquatic.
A very helpful feature of most bryophyte taxa is that they can be collected and studied in nearly any month of the year and be identified in their vegetative (gametophytic) state.
www.cnps.org /programs/Rare_Plant/inventory/bryophytes.htm (630 words)
E-Flora BC Bryophytes Page (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-30)
In bryophytes, the mature gametophyte is generally leafy, but can be strap-shaped, or thallose. In most gametophytes, growth is indeterminate. Neither gametophyte nor sporophyte has a complex vascular system that is as well-developed as in the vascular plants, although they may have a system that conducts water and nutrients for growth and reproduction.
Bryophytes, as with all other organisms, show some polymorphism, and this is often exaggerated in extreme environments. The variability is greatest in the gametophyte. Poorly developed specimens often mimic similar species and genera, therefore caution is necessary in applying names.
As with all organisms in the province, bryophytes are threatened by human disturbance or destruction of the environment. In consequence, some bryophytes are more widespread than they would be without such disturbances. Most, however, have had their abundance restricted. Indeed, a few have been extinguished from the provincial flora within a brief period of time.
www.geog.ubc.ca /~brian/florae/bryophytes.html (708 words)
bryophytes.plant.siu.edu /bryophytes.html (1712 words)
BRYOPHYTES AND FERNS (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-30)
The life cycle of bryophytes is characterized by distinct alternation of generations in which the gametophyte is the dominant stage of the life cycle.
Bryophytes require water for sexual reproduction because the antheridia and archegonia are on separate individual gametophytes, so sperm must swim to the archegonia in drops of water.
The bryophyte sporophyte is nutritionally dependent upon the gametophyte and usually non-photosynthetic.
www.usd.edu /biol/labs/101/bryo01.htm (2605 words)
Morphologically, bryophytes are usually small organisms, typically green, and lacking some of the complex structures found in vascular plants.
Bryophytes have long been used for medicinal purposes and their value as pollution indicators is also well known.
Bryophytes are also threatened because of their lack of "image" within the sphere of nature conservation.
www.iucn.org /themes/ssc/pubs/bryophytes.htm (752 words)
Home Page
Bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts) are the only land plants (embryophytes) whose life history includes a dominant gametophyte (haploid) stage.
Gemmae are a means of asexual reproduction found in many bryophytes.
The form of the gemmae is often very useful when identifying certain bryophytes.
www2.una.edu /pdavis/bryophytes.htm (209 words)
"Bryophytes" is a resource devoted to Bryology, the branch of plant science concerned with the study of mosses, liverworts and hornworts.
They are found growing on soil, rocks and/or trees throughout the world, from coastal Antarctica to the peat bogs of the Northern hemisphere, from the deserts of Australia to the rain forests of the Amazon.
bryophytes.plant.siu.edu (227 words)
BookRags: Bryophytes Summary
Within the bryophytes, liverworts are the geologically oldest group, sharing a fossil record with the oldest vascular plants (Rhyniophytes) in the Devonian era.
www.bookrags.com /research/bryophytes-plsc-01 (1767 words)
Australian Antarctic Division - Bryophytes
Like the lichens, the bryophytes can be found in almost all areas capable of supporting plant life in the Antarctic, though they are not as widespread.
The dominant stage in the life cycle of bryophytes is the sexually reproducing gametophyte plant stage.
Bryophytes are also quite sensitive to atmospheric pollution from distant sources.
www.aad.gov.au /?casid=2433 (480 words)
Bryophytes : Hong Kong Flora and Vegetation
Bryophytes, comprising mosses (??), liverworts (??) and hornworts (???), are a group of small, green land plants characterized by (a) the absence of vascular tissues and by (b) the unique life history having a dominant gametophyte generation (?????), which produces the sex organs (antheridia and archegonia) and gametes (sperms and eggs).
The sporophytes (???), which produce spores, cannot live alone and is essentially dependant on the gametophyte for water and nutrients.
Bryophytes are the second largest group of land plants, followed angiosperms, with about 15,000 species worldwide.
www.hkflora.com /v2/bryophytes/what_are_bryophytes.htm (141 words)
SparkNotes: Plant Classification: Bryophytes
Bryophytes, or "moss plants" (the phylum includes both mosses and liverworts), are the most primitive of the terrestrial plants and require a moist environment for their existence.
Bryophytes are dependent upon the moisture in their surroundings for both reproduction and fluid transport.
The haploid stage, in which a multicellular haploid gametophyte develops from a spore and produces haploid gametes, is the dominant stage in the bryophyte life cycle.
www.sparknotes.com /biology/plants/plantclassification/section1.html (392 words)
Most species of bryophytes don't become established in stands before these stands attain 100 years of age, and they are best developed in stands 400 years or older.
Bryophytes also intercept, absorb, and buffer nutrients and water in the canopy and understory (Brown and Bates 1990).
Bryophytes are also a major component of the forest stream ecosystem, providing year-round habitat for a wide array of algal species, aquatic invertebrates, and amphibians."
www.efn.org /~onrcdoug/creatures.htm (4624 words)
Biological Diversity 5
Bryophytes are small, nonvascular plants that first evolved approximately 500 million years ago.
Bryophytes lack vascular tissue and have life cycles dominated by the gametophyte phase.
www.emc.maricopa.edu /faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookDiversity_5.html (2710 words)
Nearctica - Natural History - Non-Vascular Plants - Bryophytes
The Bryophytes consist of three groups of non-vascular plants; the mosses, the liverworts, and the hornworts.
They lack vascular elements such as phloem and xylem, and in their alternation of generations the haploid stage (gametophyte) and the diploid stage (the sporophyte) are both large and conspicuous (although the gametophyte tends to be more visible).
A checklist of the bryophytes of Kentucky with distributional data by county.
www.nearctica.com /nathist/moss/mosses.htm (424 words)
What Are Bryophytes
Bryophytes are a group of small, simple, green land dwelling plants of which, a few are aquatic comprising of Hornworts (Anthocerotopsida), Liverworts (Hepaticopsida), and Mosses (Bryopsida).
As Bryophyte are simple plants, most have no internal means for transporting water or nutrients.
Bryophyte are mostly one cell thick, sometimes the midrib and stalk are several cells thick but do not contain any water conducting tissue.
www.hiddenforest.co.nz /bryophytes/what.htm (299 words)
Plant Diversity - Bryophytes and Pteridophytes (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-30)
The gametophyte form of bryophytes, pteridophytes and gymnosperms all produce their gametes within multicellular organs (gametangia).
Be able to describe the similarity and difference between bryophytes and pteridophytes.
View living and preserved specimens from the remaining bryophyte and pteridophyte phyla (Hepatophyta, Lycophyta) and other specimens of the Phylum Pterophyta (whisk fern and horsetail).
biology.dbs.umt.edu /biol103/labs/Wyrick/10a_plant_diversity_bryophyte_pteridophyte.htm (1127 words)
Bryophyte Pictures
ROM disks with photographs from bryophytes; with habitat, habitus and details, in the field and in the studio.
The pictures are in jpg format with a solution of 800x600 or 1024x768 pixels and are free to use in lectures, presentations and publications (with reference to the autor).
A collection of 860 fantastic pictures of bryophytes (mainly nordic species) and landscapes from Norway, region Troendelag, from down at the cost to the high mountains.
homepages.compuserve.de /milueth/Moose/index.htm (325 words)
Bryophtes (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-30)
There are three major groups of bryophytes: the liverworts, the mosses, and the hornworts.
The bryophyte sporophyte, unlike that of other plants, does not become a free-living and independent plant; instead, it remains permanently attached to the gametophyte.
The bryophytes lack xylem and phloem, the specialized tissues used by all other plants for the transport of water and food materials (primarily sugar).
www.bio.umass.edu /biology/conn.river/bryophyt.html (158 words)
Research on bryophytes (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-30)
For conservation and monitoring purposes, bryophyte diversity in and outside the nature reserves is compared.
Bryophyte diversity is not evenly distributed in the landscape.
In the Garden the study of tropical bryophytes has mainly focused on Central Africa, with studies of the hepatics by C. Vanden Berghen and bryophytes by F. Demaret.
www.br.fgov.be /RESEARCH/PROJECTS/bryophytes.html (582 words)
Bryophytes: Liverworts (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-30)
All bryophytes are eukaryotic, have chlorophyll a and b as well as xanthophylls and carotenoid pigments for photosynthesis, store starch, have pectin-cellulose walls, mitosis is open (nuclear membrane disappears in mitosis), and cytokinesis is by formation of a cell plate along a phragmoplast.
The dominant phase of the bryophyte life cycle is the gametophyte (haploid).
Bryophyte sporophytes consist of the haustorial foot (nutrition exchange area), a supporting (seta) stalk (maybe with hydroids and leptoids), and (sporangium) capsule.
koning.ecsu.ctstateu.edu /Plant_Biology/liverwort.html (1363 words)
BioEd Online Slides: bryophytes, Plantae, nonvascular, mosses, fern
The Plant Kingdom is often separated into bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), pteridophytes (ferns), and seed plants.
Bryophytes are plants that lack vascular tissue, true roots, stems, and leaves.
Examples of bryophytes are mosses, hornworts, and liverworts.
www.bioedonline.org /slides/slide01.cfm?q=bryophytes&dpg=1 (392 words)
Bryophytes: Hornworts (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-30)
We have already seen how bryophytes are eukaryotic, have chlorophyll a and b as well as xanthophylls and carotenoid pigments for photosynthesis, store starch, and have pectin-cellulose walls.
Bryophytes are very similar to each other and fundamentally similar to flowering plants.
In hornworts, as for all other bryophytes, the dominant phase of the life cycle is the haploid gametophyte.
koning.ecsu.ctstateu.edu /Plant_Biology/hornwort.html (653 words)
There are about 20,000 species of Bryophytes, the plants which lack vascular tissue.
Although more prevalent in moist and shady areas, Bryophytes can be found in alpine regions, where they are subjected to freezing, and some in deserts, where they are desiccated most of the time.
Bryophytes lack vascular tissues so Bryophytes must absorb all water and nutrients at the surface and pass them from cell to cell.
scidiv.bcc.ctc.edu /rkr/Botany110/lectures/bryophytes.html (846 words)
Collectors of Bryophytes in HBG
This is an index of the collectors of bryophytes in HBG, comprising some information on their collections.
There are samples of bryophytes from Germany (Bayern, Hamburg, Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein), other European countries (Italy, Austria, Schweden, Switzerland and Spain) as well as South America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Venezuela).
Bryophytes, mainly from the vicinity ofLeer in Ostfriesland (e.g.
www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de /bzf/herbar/collectors_bryophytes.htm (7942 words)
Try your search on: Qwika (all wikis)
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Types of Early and Modern Clocks
3/26/2012 9:38:17 AM | by Anonymous
Our movement and actions are reliant on time. The clock is an important device of civilization that makes it possible for us to manage our daily lives. Without clocks to let us know the time can lead to disarray and chaos.
The earliest time keepers are sun dial and water clocks. Sun dial can only be used in day time because it depends on the position of the sun to indicate the time. A rod would cast the sun’s shadow upon a plane or surface that is marked with the hours. Water clock was able to resolve the problem with sundials since it can be used even at night. However, the rate of flow of water is difficult to control so it still needed sundial’s help to set the water clock accurately.
More types of clocks are invented that can accurately show the time and can still be seen in households at present. Three of the modern clocks are mechanical, electrical and atomic. Mechanical clocks are powered by mechanical means such as spring, coiled spring or falling weights. They include clocks which are not powered by electricity i.e. grandfather and cuckoo.
Electrical clocks run on electricity supplied through a battery or a main power source. Quartz clock which is the most commonly used clock in the world falls under electrical clock. It is a clock which has a quartz crystal that is introduced into an oscillating electric circuit. The vibration of a quartz crystal is very constant and the frequency of it is used to determine the accuracy of the timepiece.
Atomic clock is an extremely accurate timekeeping piece regulated by the resonance frequency of atoms or molecules of certain substances such as cesium. It is very expensive and can only be found in laboratories and standards organizations.
The development of clocks has shaped today’s civilization. We take time seriously. We would not be able to get things done and be efficient without clocks that would let us know how long we have spent on doing our work.
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Turquoise in Navajo Culture
The turquoise gemstone holds a special significance in Native American culture but especially within the Navajo tribe. Turquoise, or doo tl’izh ii, is considered as the “stone of life”. It is popular amongst the Navajo community because of its jewelry but it does have a long history. Up until this day, the gemstone is valued for its scarcity, beauty and also, its historical significance.
Silver Feather Brooch
Turquoise and Navajo Culture
The gemstone was seen to bring good fortune. It would be stored in baskets and hung up from ceilings to keep away any evil. Additionally, the Navajo people would put the gemstone around the outside of their homes for that reason.
The belief of its good fortune made it common for people to carry it with them, like warrior and hunters. Eventually, its day-to-day usage turned the gemstone into jewelry to keep its energy around people.
Rituals and Ceremonies
With it’s good energy, it was often used in rituals and ceremonies. There’s a Native American legend that says turquoise was made from the tears of people. When the skies would open up and rain after a long drought, the tears of people would go into the Earth to make the gemstone.
Aside from that, the gemstone was the center of many spiritual observances. One piece was often put into a river after saying a prayer to the god of rain, Neinilii. Often times, the gemstone was connected to rain where people would use sticks with turquoise attached to find water.
Turquoise Bracelet
Homage to Navajo Jewelry
Due to the scarcity of this gemstone’s jewelry, it’s only right to invest in authentic Navajo jewelry. To understand its cultural context will give you a better understanding as to why you should invest only in authenticity.
Supporting authentic Navajo turquoise jewelry is to know the history and craft.
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About Hemophilia...
Hemophilia is a rare genetic bleeding disorder in which the blood does not clot normally. Persons with hemophilia are missing or have a low level of a protein needed for normal blood clotting. About 18,000 people in the United States are known to have hemophilia. Hemophilia usually only occurs in males, except for rare exceptions. A person with severe hemophilia means that they have less than one percent clotting factor in their system.
Friday, March 5, 2010
March Hemophilia Awareness Month!
March is Hemophilia Awareness month! Very fitting considering that Dwight was born in March himself, uh… on the thirteenth no less in the early 1980’s. Just as Dwight totally changed our life, hemophilia was entering the AIDS era due to contaminated factor given to clot the blood that would ultimately kill the grandfather Dwight inherited his severe hemophilia from, his grandmother, and thousands of other innocent lives.
During Dwight’s beginning years as we learned to cope with distinguishing internal bleeds we also were caught in the middle between the government refusing to pay for the more expensive heat-treated factor and our hematologist that realized early on- even though the drug companies kept everything hushed up and lied to us customers- the regular factor was contaminated so he wouldn’t prescribe nothing but heat-treated. Dr. Hanna literally saved our son’s life. We will forever be grateful to him.
Medical advancement also exploded as the powdered factor was able to be almost instantly dissolved when sterile water was added instead of having to shake the mixed factor for thirty minutes, then upgraded where the factor no longer had to be store in the refrigerator enabling me to reclaim an entire shelf in my refrigerator that once was used to store factor, to now prophylactic treatment where Dwight infuses himself three times a week keeping a low level of factor in his system instead of having to wait until a bleed starts before factoring. This avoids the long painful bleeds of childhood even though Dwight continues to average two to three internal bleeds a week.
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Cattle mutilation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Cattle mutilations)
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Cattle mutilation (also known as bovine excision[1] and unexplained livestock death[2]) is the killing and mutilation of cattle under unusual, usually bloodless and anomalous circumstances. Worldwide, sheep, horses, goats, pigs, rabbits, cats, dogs, bison, deer and elk have been reported mutilated with similar bloodless excisions; often an ear, eyeball, jaw flesh, tongue, lymph nodes, genitals and rectum are removed.
The earliest known documented outbreak of unexplained livestock deaths occurred in early 1606 "...about the city of London and some of the shires adjoining. Whole slaughters of sheep have been made, in some places to number 100, in others less, where nothing is taken from the sheep but their tallow and some inward parts, the whole carcasses, and fleece remaining still behind. Of this sundry conjectures, but most agree that it tendeth towards some fireworks." The outbreak was noted in the official records of the Court of James I of England.[4] Charles Fort collected many accounts of cattle mutilations that occurred in England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. John Keel mentioned investigating animal mutilation cases in 1966 (while with Ivan T. Sanderson) that were being reported in the Upper Ohio River Valley, around Gallipolis, Ohio.[5] The phenomenon remained largely unknown outside cattle-raising communities until 1967, when the Pueblo Chieftain in Pueblo, Colorado, published a story about a horse named Lady near Alamosa, Colorado, that was mysteriously killed and mutilated. The story was republished by the wider press and distributed nationwide; this case was the first to feature speculation that extraterrestrial beings and unidentified flying objects were associated with mutilation.[6]
The Snippy (Lady) mutilation[edit]
On September 9, 1967, Agnes King and her son Harry found the dead body of their three-year-old horse, Lady. Lady's head and neck had been skinned and defleshed, and the body displayed cuts that, to King, looked very precise. No blood was at the scene, according to Harry, and a strong medicinal odor was in the air. A subsequent investigation concluded there were "No unearthly causes" of the death.[citation needed] When the Lewises phoned Alamosa County Sheriff Ben Phillips, he told them that the death was probably due to "a lightning strike," and never bothered to visit the site.[4] Early press coverage of the case misnamed Lady as Snippy. Snippy was Lady's sire and belonged to Nellie's husband, Berle Lewis.[4] Later press coverage mentions that the horse had been shot "in the rump".[7]
Later developments[edit]
Democratic senator Floyd K. Haskell contacted the FBI asking for help in 1975 due to public concern regarding the issue. He claimed there had been 130 mutilations in Colorado alone, and further reports across nine states.[8] A 1979 FBI report indicated that, according to investigations by the New Mexico State Police, there had been an estimated 8,000 mutilations in Colorado, causing approximately $1,000,000 damage.[9]
In May 2001, 200 goats were mutilated in Panggang District of Gunung Kidul Regency, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.[10]
Physical characteristics[edit]
In most cases, mutilation wounds appear to be clean and carried out surgically. Mutilated animals are sometimes, though not always,[11] reported to have been drained of blood and show no sign of blood in the immediate area or around their wounds.
George E. Onet, a doctor of veterinary microbiology and cattle mutilation investigator, claims that mutilated cattle are avoided by large scavengers "such as coyotes, wolves, foxes, dogs, skunks, badgers, and bobcats" for several days after their death. Similarly, domestic animals are also reported to be "visibly agitated" and "fearful" of the carcasses.[12]
According to Dr. Howard Burgess, nearly 90 percent of mutilated cattle are between four and five years old.[14]
Some mutilations are said to occur in very brief periods. A 2002 NIDS report[15] relates a 1997 case from Utah. Two ranchers tagged a specific calf, then continued tagging other animals in the same pasture. The ranchers were, at the most, about 300 yards (275 m) from the calf. Less than an hour later, the first calf was discovered completely eviscerated—most muscle and all internal organs were missing. There was no blood, entrails, or apparent disturbance at the scene. Independent analysts both uncovered marks on the calf's remains consistent with two different types of tools: a large, machete-type blade, and smaller, more delicate scissors.
The absence of tracks or footprints around the site of the mutilated carcass is often considered a hallmark of cattle mutilation.[citation needed] However, in some cases, strange marks or imprints near the site have been found. In the famous "Snippy" case, there was an absolute absence of tracks in a 100 ft (30 m) radius of the carcass (even the horse's own tracks disappeared within 100 ft (30 m) of the body.) But within this radius, several small holes were found seemingly "punched" in the ground and two bushes were absolutely flattened.[16] In Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, June 1976, a "trail of suction cup-like impressions" was found leading from a mutilated three-year-old cow. The indentations were in a tripod form, 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter, 28 inches (70 cm) apart, and disappeared 500 feet (150 m) from the dead cow. Similar incidents were reported in the area in 1978.[17][18]
Laboratory reports[edit]
In one case documented by New Mexico police and the FBI,[9] an 11-month-old cross Hereford-Charolais bull, belonging to a Mr. Manuel Gomez of Dulce, New Mexico, was found mutilated on March 24, 1978. It displayed "classic" mutilation signs, including the removal of the rectum and sex organs with what appeared to be “a sharp and precise instrument” and its internal organs were found to be inconsistent with a normal case of death followed by predation.
Gabriel L Veldez, New Mexico Police
The animal's heart as well as bone and muscle samples were sent to the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for microscopic and bacteriological studies, while samples from the animal's liver were sent to two separate private laboratories.
Los Alamos detected the presence of naturally occurring Clostridium bacteria in the heart, but was unable to reach any conclusions because of the possibility that the bacteria represented postmortem contamination. They did not directly investigate the heart's unusual color or texture.[9]
Samples from the animal's liver were found to be completely devoid of copper and to contain 4 times the normal level of zinc, potassium and phosphorus. The scientists performing the analysis were unable to explain these anomalies.[9]
Blood samples taken at the scene were reported to be "light pink in color" and “Did not clot after several days” while the animal's hide was found to be unusually brittle for a fresh death (the animal was estimated to have been dead for 5 hours) and the flesh underneath was found to be discolored.[9]
Conventional explanations[edit]
As with most disputed phenomena, there are a number of potential explanations for the causes of cattle mutilations, ranging from death by natural causes to purposeful acts by unknown individuals.
U.S. governmental explanation[edit]
After coming under increasing public pressure, Federal authorities launched a comprehensive investigation of the mutilation phenomenon.[19]
In May 1979, the case was passed on to the FBI, which granted jurisdiction under Title 18 (codes 1152 and 1153). The investigation was dubbed "Operation Animal Mutilation".
Rommel's final report was 297 pages long and cost approximately US$45,000. It concluded that mutilations were predominantly the result of natural predation, but that some contained anomalies that could not be accounted for by conventional wisdom. The FBI was unable to identify any individuals responsible for the mutilations. Details of the investigation are now available under the Freedom of Information Act. The released material includes correspondence from Rommel where he states that "most credible sources have attributed this damage to normal predator and scavenger activity".[20]
Prior to the involvement of the FBI, the ATF launched their own investigation into the phenomenon.[21]
Both federal investigations were preceded (and followed, to some extent) by a state level investigation carried out by enforcement officials in New Mexico. This investigation reported finding evidence that some mutilated animals had been tranquilized and treated with an anti-coagulant prior to their mutilation.[9]:13 It also contended that alleged surgical techniques performed during mutilations had become "more professional" over time.[9]:13 However, officers in charge were unable to determine responsibility or motive.
Natural causes[edit]
Blowflies have been implicated as possible scavengers involved in making livestock carcasses look "mutilated."
While many unconventional explanations have been put forward to explain cattle mutilations, a variety of scientists, veterinary workers, and knowledgeable observers (including farmers and other agricultural workers) have suggested more conventional ideas, most of which revolve around the hypothesis that "mutilated" animals died of natural causes and were subjected to known terrestrial phenomena – including the action of predators, parasites, and scavengers.[22]
• Contraction of missing/damaged areas due to dehydration.
Missing/mutilated eyes and soft internal organs are explained as:
• The action of carrion feeding insects such as blowflies, and opportunistic or carrion birds such as vultures, which are known to direct themselves toward an animal's eyes, and to enter the body through the openings of the mouth and anus in order to feed on soft internal organs.
Absence of blood is explained as:
Surgical incisions in the skin are explained as:
• Tears in the skin created when it is stretched by postmortem bloat and/or as dehydration causes the animal's hide to shrink and split, often in linear cuts.
• Incisions caused by scavengers or predators, possibly exacerbated by the above.
The hypothesis that natural phenomena account for most mutilation characteristics has been validated by a number of experiments, including one cited by long-time scientific skeptic Robert T. Carroll, conducted by Washington County (Arkansas) Sheriff's Department. In the experiment, the body of a recently deceased cow was left in a field and observed for 48 hours. During the 48 hours, postmortem bloating was reported to have caused incision-like tears in the cow's skin that matched the "surgical" cuts reported on mutilated cows, while the action of blowflies and maggots reportedly matched the soft tissue damage observed on mutilated cows. No explanation was made however, for the entire absence of any blood.
Experiments have also been conducted to compare the different reactions of surgically cut hide/flesh and predated hide/flesh to natural exposure.[23] They demonstrated pronounced differences between surgical cut and non surgical cuts over time. This article does not address tearing due to bloating.
Human intervention[edit]
Animal cruelty and human activity[edit]
Attacks against animals are a recognized phenomenon. There have been many recorded cases around the world, and many convictions. Typically the victims of such attacks are cats, dogs, and other family pets,[25] and the actions of humans are usually limited to acts of cruelty such as striking, burning, or beating animals. However, attacks have also been recorded against larger animals, including sheep, cows, and horses.[26] Humans, particularly those with sociopathic disorders, have been found to have mutilated animals in elaborate ways[25] using knives or surgical instruments.
On April 20, 1979, Dr. C Hibbs of the New Mexico State Veterinary diagnostics Laboratory spoke before a hearing chaired by Senator Harrison Schmitt. Dr. Hibbs testified that mutilation fell into three categories, one of which was animals mutilated by humans[9] (page 25). FBI records did not record the percentage of mutilated animals that fell into this category.
Closely related to the deviant hypothesis is the hypothesis that cattle mutilations are the result of cult activity.[27] However, contrary to the deviancy hypothesis, which holds that cattle are mutilated at random by individual deviants, the cult hypothesis holds that cattle mutilations are coordinated acts of ritual sacrifice carried out by organized groups.
• That the apparent absence of blood at mutilation sites may indicate cult members harvest it[28]
• That organs have been removed from cattle for use in rituals[22]
• That unborn calves have been harvested from mutilated cattle.
The hypothesis that cults were responsible for cattle mutilation was developed in the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s, a time of growing national concern over cults (such as the Peoples Temple and Jonestown) and ritual satanic abuse ("Satanic panic").[29][30]
In 1975, the US Treasury Department assigned Donald Flickinger to investigate the existence of connections between cults and the mutilation of cattle.[21][31]:23 The operation came under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Flickinger recorded a number of 'unusual' incidents and circumstantial evidence, but was unable to find sufficient evidence of cult involvement for the ATF to take further action.[21][31] Media reports of the time reported his investigation was dropped when it was determined cattle deaths were not a prelude to a co-ordinated campaign against elected officials by cult members.[31]:23
During their investigations, the FBI and the ATF were unable to find appropriate evidence, including signs of consistency between mutilations, to substantiate that the animals had been the victims of any form of ritual sacrifice or organized mutilation effort. They were also unable to determine how or why a cult would perform procedures that would result in the anomalies reported in some necropsies,[9]:3 or to verify that the anomalies were 1) connected to the mutilations themselves 2) the result of human intervention.[19]
In most cases, mutilations were either ruled due to natural causes, or the cattle were too far decayed for any useful conclusions to be drawn. Some cases of cult hysteria were traced back to fabrication by individuals unrelated to the incident. In one case it was concluded that claims had been falsified by a convict seeking favorable terms on his sentence in exchange for information.[28]:14–15[31]:23–24 In another case, claims were traced back to local high school students who had circulated rumors as a joke.[28]:21
Government or military experimentation[edit]
In his 1997 article “Dead Cows I've Known”,[34] cattle mutilation researcher Charles T. Oliphant speculates cattle mutilation to be the result of covert research into emerging cattle diseases, and the possibility they could be transmitted to humans.
Biochemist Colm Kelleher,[36] who has investigated several purported mutilations first-hand, argues that the mutilations are most likely a clandestine U.S. Government effort to track the spread of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow disease") and related diseases, such as scrapie.
Theories of government involvement in cattle mutilation have been further fueled by "black helicopter" sightings near mutilation sites. On April 8, 1979, three police officers in Dulce, New Mexico, reported a mysterious aircraft which resembled a U.S. military helicopter hovering around a site following a wave of mutilation which claimed 16 cows. On July 15, 1974, two unregistered helicopters, a white helicopter and a black twin-engine aircraft, opened fire on Robert Smith Jr. while he was driving his tractor on his farm in Honey Creek, Iowa. This attack followed a rash of mutilations in the area and across the nearby border in Nebraska.[37][38][39] The reports of "helicopter" involvement have been used to explain why some cattle appear to have been "dropped" from considerable heights.
Other explanations[edit]
Aliens and UFOs[edit]
Government Interference[edit]
Unknown creatures explanation[edit]
Local folklore has attributed the mutilations to chupacabras or similar creatures.[41]
See also[edit]
1. ^ Levengood W C, "A Study of Bovine Excision Sites from 1993 to 1997" (1997), Pinelandia Biophysical Laboratory
2. ^ The Mysterious Valley, St. Martin's Press, 1996, 0-312-95883-8
3. ^ Animal Mutilation Project, FBI, Released under FOIA
4. ^ a b c O'Brien, Christopher (November 2014). Stalking the Herd (1st ed.). Kempton, IL: Adventures Unlimited Press. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-939149-06-0.
5. ^ Keel, John A. The Complete Guide to Mysterious Beings, 1994, Doubleday, NYC, NY
6. ^ David R. Saunders and R. Roger Harkins; UFO's? Yes! Where the Condon Committee Went Wrong; World Publishing, 1969
7. ^ Tosches, Rich (8 December 2006). "Town gets Snippy about skeleton of mutilated horse". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
8. ^ Operation Cattle Mutilation, Section 1, FBI, Released under FOIA
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Operation Cattle Mutilation, Section 4 FBI report on cattle mutilations
10. ^ "Archived copy" (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 2012-03-31. Retrieved 2011-08-31.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
11. ^ First Pregnant Cow Mutilation Discovered (February 13, 2006), Earthfiles
12. ^ Onet George E, DVM PhD, Animal mutilations: What we know
13. ^ Results of a Survey Among Bovine Practitioners Concerning Animal Mutilation Archived 2008-05-10 at the Wayback Machine G. E. Onet, NIDS
14. ^ Good Timothy, Alien contact: top-secret UFO files revealed, William Morrow & Co., ISBN 0-688-12223-X
15. ^ Three Reports of Unusual Killings and Mutilation of Calves (2002), NIDS
16. ^ M. Rommel Jr, Kenneth, Operation Animal Mutilation, pp.172-75
17. ^ M. Rommel Jr, Kenneth, Operation Animal Mutilation, pp.12-13
18. ^ The Albuquerque Tribune, June 15, 1976
19. ^ a b "Freedom of Information/Privacy Act". Federal Bureau of Investigation.
20. ^ Animal Mutilation Project FBI correspondence, 1980
21. ^ a b c Clark J, Pear N (1997), "Strange and unexplained phenomena", Visible Ink Press
22. ^ a b Carroll Robert T, Skeptic's Dictionary: Cattle Mutilation (September 2006)
23. ^ Onet George E, DVM, PhD, Kelleher Colm, PhD, (1997), Histological Changes in Bovine Skin Exposed to Natural Environmental Conditions
24. ^ Costilla County officials probe cattle mutilation Archived 2007-08-01 at (July 22, 2006), Pueblo Chieftain
25. ^ a b More Cat and Dog Mutilations, (2006), Linda Moulton Howe
26. ^ Life term sought for killer, horse mutilator, Expatica, November 11, 2005
27. ^ Meta Cattle Mutilation Archived 2006-08-23 at the Wayback Machine, (September 2006)
28. ^ a b c Mystery Stalks the Prairie (1976), Donovan Roberta, Wolverton Keith, ASIN B0006WH8CA
29. ^ Bromley David G. and Anson Shupe (1981), Strange Gods: The Great American Cult Scare. Boston: Beacon Press, ISBN 0-8070-3256-5
30. ^ Hadden J.K (2002) Cult Group Controversies: Conceptualizing "Anti-Cult" and "Counter-Cult" Archived August 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, University of Virginia
31. ^ a b c d Operation Cattle Mutilation, Section 2, FBI, Released under FOIA
32. ^ D. Albers, Michael, The Terror, pp. 86-87
33. ^ Clark J (1999), Unexplained! Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences, and Puzzling Physical Phenomena, 2nd Edition, ISBN 1-57859-070-1
34. ^ Dean Trimboli T(1997), Dead Cows I've Known.
35. ^ Anonymous, Report on Unusual Animal Injuries in Cache County, Utah Archived 2005-12-22 at the Wayback Machine (2002)
36. ^ Kelleher, Colm, Brain Trust: The Hidden Connection Between Mad Cow and Misdiagnosed Alzheimer's Disease Paraview, 2004, ISBN 0-7434-9935-2
37. ^ M. Rommel Jr, Kenneth, Operation Animal Mutilation, pp.22-23
38. ^ D. Albers, Michael, The Terror, pp.13-15.
39. ^ W. Smith, Fredrick, Cattle Mutilation, p.21
40. ^ a b Goleman, Michael J. (2011). "Wave of Mutilation: The Cattle Mutilation Phenomenon of the 1970s". Agricultural History. 85 (3): 398–417. doi:10.3098/ah.2011.85.3.398. JSTOR 10.3098/ah.2011.85.3.398.
External links[edit]
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Immunogenetics of Hashimoto's thyroiditis
Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is an organ-specific T-cell mediated disease. It is a complex disease, with a strong genetic component. To date, significant progress has been made towards the identification and functional characterization of HT susceptibility genes. In this review, we will summarize the recent advances in our understanding of the genetic input to the pathogenesis of HT.
Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is one of the most common human autoimmune diseases responsible for considerable morbidity in women [1]. It is an organ-specific T-cell mediated disease that affects the thyroid, and genetics play a contributory role in its complexity. To date, significant progress has been made in identifying and characterizing those genes involved in the disease. In this review, we will summarize recent advances in our understanding of the genetic contribution to the pathogenesis of HT.
Epidemiology and clinical features of Hashimoto's thyroiditis
Goitrous autoimmune thyroiditis, or Hashimoto's thyroiditis is a common form of chronic autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD). The disorder affects up to 2% of the general population [2] and is more common in older women and ten times more frequent in women than in men [3]. In the NHALES III study, performed in the USA, the prevalence of subclinical and clinical hypothyroidism was 4.6% and 0.3% respectively [4]. Another US epidemiological study, the Whickham survey, showed the prevalence of spontaneous hypothyroidism to be 1.5% in females and less than 0.1% in males [5]. These prevalence rates are similar to those reported in Japan [6] and Finland [7]. A significant proportion of patients have asymptomatic chronic autoimmune thyroiditis and 8% of woman (10% of woman over 55 years of age) and 3% of men have subclinical hypothyroidism [8]. According the data of the 20-year follow-up to the Whickham survey cohort, the risk of developing overt hypothyroidism is four times higher in women aged between 60 and 70 years than for women between 40 and 50 years of age [1].
Subclinical hypothyroidism is characterized by an increase in serum thyrotropin (TSH) whilst serum levels of thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) remain normal. The overt disease is defined by the dramatic loss of thyroid follicular cells (thyrocytes), hypothyroidism, goitre, circulating autoantibodies to two primary thyroid-specific antigens, thyroglobulin (Tg), thyroid peroxidase (TPO), and lowered concentrations of serum TSH and T4 [9]. Histological and cytological features of HT include a dense thyroidal accumulation of lymphocytes, plasma cells and occasional multinuclear giant cells. The epithelial cells are enlarged, with a distinctive eosinophilic cytoplasm, owing to increased number of mitochondria [10].
HT has been shown to often coexist with other autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes (T1D), celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, vitiligo, etc [1114]. HT can also be expressed as part of an autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type 2 (APS-2), which is usually defined by the occurrence of two or more of the following: Addison's disease (always present), AITD and/or type 1 diabetes [15], in the same patient.
In common with probably all autoimmune disorders, the harmful interaction between internal (genetic) and external (environmental and endogenous) factors is required to initiate Hashimoto's disease (Fig. 1). Environmental triggers of HT include iodine intake [16, 17], bacterial and viral infections [18, 19], cytokine therapy [20] and probably pregnancy [21, 22]. The role of dietary iodine is well defined in epidemiological studies [23, 24] and in animal models [2527] and seems to be the most significant environmental factor to induce thyroiditis.
Figure 1
Possible pathogenic mechanism of Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Genetically predisposed individuals could be influenced by an environmental trigger (i.e., dietary iodine, infection, pregnancy, cytokine therapy) that induces an autoimmune response against thyroid-specific antigens by infiltrating immune cells. The autoimmune process results in preferential T helper type 1 (TH1)-mediated immune response and induction of apoptosis of thyroid cells that leads to hypothyroidism.
Pathogenesis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis
Autoimmunity in Hashimoto's thyroiditis
The development of the autoimmune failure of the thyroid is a multistep process, requiring several genetic and environmental abnormalities to converge before full-blown disease develops (Fig. 2). At the onset of disease, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II-positive antigen-presenting cells (APC), particularly dendritic cells, and different subclasses of macrophages, accumulate in the thyroid [28, 29]. APC present thyroid-specific autoantigens to the naïve T cells, leading to activation and clonal expansion of the latter. Thus, the initial stage of the disease is followed by a clonal expansion phase and maturation of autoreactive T and B lymphocytes in the draining lymph nodes.
Figure 2
A scheme of autoimmune events in Hashimoto's thyroiditis. In an initial stage, antigen-presenting cells (APC), mostly dendritic cell and macrophage (Mφ) derived, infiltrate the thyroid gland. The infiltration can be induced by an envinromental triggering factor (dietary iodine, toxins, virus infection, etc.) which causes insult of thyrocytes and releasing of thyroid-specific proteins. These proteins serve as a source of self-antigenic peptides that are presented on the cell surface of APC after processing. Taking up relevant autoantigens, APC travel from the thyroid to the draining lymph node. A central phase occurs in the draining lymph node in which interactions between APC, autoreactive (AR) T cells (that survive as result of dysregulation or breakage of immune tolerance) and B cells result in inducing production of thyroid autoantibodies. In the next step, antigen-producing B lymphocytes, cytotoxic T cells and macrophages infiltrate and accumulate in the thyroid through expansion of lymphocyte clones and propagation of lymphoid tissue within the thyroid gland. This process is preferentially mediated by T helper type 1 (TH1) cells which secrete regulatory cytokines (interleukin-12, interferon-γ and tumor necrosis factor-α). In a final stage, the generated autoreactive T cells, B cells and antibodies cause massive depletion of thyrocytes via antibody-dependent, cytokine-mediated and apoptotic mechanisms of cytotoxity that leads to hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's disease.
In autoimmune thyroditis animal models, genetically determined immune defects have been suggestively linked to the breakdown of immunological self-tolerance that results in the presentation of host autoantigens and expansion of autoreactive lymphocyte clones. These immune defects are associated with the presence of particular MHC class II haplotypes, but other immune and immune regulatory genes (i.e., CTLA-4 and others) are also involved [3032].
Breakdown of the immune tolerance might occur in several ways including interrupting central tolerance (e.g. deletion of autoreactive T cells in the thymus), defects in maintaining peripheral tolerance (e.g. activation-induced T-cell death and suppressing activity of regulatory T lymphocytes) and anergy (e.g. the expression of MHC class II molecules on non-professional APC). Animal models genetically predisposed to develop an autoimmune disease, and patients with AITD, showed a lack of, or a deficiency in, a subpopulation of regulatory T cells with suppressive function [3335].
The mechanisms, whereby autoreactive T cells escape deletion and anergy, and become activated, remain uncertain. There is evidence that the thyroid cell itself, by "aberrantly" expressing MHC molecules, can play the role of "non-professional " APS and present disease-initiating antigen directly to the T cells [36, 37]. The concept of aberrant MHC class II expression was supported by studies in mice. They developed a type of Graves' Disease (GD) after being injected with fibroblasts coexpressing MHC class II and the TSH receptor (TSHR). TPO antibody production was induced after injection with fibroblasts coexpressing class II molecules and TPO [38, 39].
Iodine is a necessary component of normal thyroid hormonogenesis. Incorporation of iodine into thyrosine residues of Tg leads to the formation of mono-iodotyrosine and di-idothyrosine derivates that subsequently undergo an oxidative coupling event resulting in the producing of T3 and T4. Iodine can promote antithyroid immunity in a number of ways. Several studies suggest that iodination of Tg is crucial for recognition by Tg-reactive T cells [40, 41]. Iodine excess can affect the Tg molecule directly, creating new epitopes or exposing "cryptic" epitopes. It has been demonstrated that a highly iodinated thyroglobulin molecule is a better immunogen than Tg of low iodine content [41, 42]. Therefore, highly iodinated Tg may facilitate antigen uptake and processing by APC. Additionally, high doses of iodine were shown to directly affect macrophages, dendritic cells, B and T lymphocytes, resulting in stimulation of macrophage myeloperoxidase activity, acceleration of the maturation of dendritic cells, increasing the number of circulating T cells and stimulating B cell immunoglobulin production [25]. Excessive amounts of iodide ion are rapidly oxidized by TPO, thereby generating excessive amounts of reactive intermediates such as hypoiodous acid and oxygen radicals. These oxidative species damage thyrocyte cell membrane by oxidation of membrane lipids and proteins causing thyrocyte necrosis [43]. The state of severe iodine deficiency itself namely leads to a lowering of thyroid autoimmunity and an immunodeficient state in autoimmune-prone BB-DP rats. This hampers the autoreactcive T-cell generation and autoantibody production [25]. A lower degree of Tg iodination also makes this molecule less antigenic [42].
An influx of dendritic cells and macrophages to the thyroid may occur as a consequence of inflammatory events in the gland. Early non-specific necrosis of thyrocytes due to toxins (i.e. iodine, etc.), and perhaps viral or bacterial infection, can attract these cells to the thyroid. Moreover, these immune cells are normal constituents of the thyroid that are able to regulate the growth and function of thyrocytes via interleukin-1 (IL-1) and IL-6-mediated pathways [44].
A central phase of HT is characterized by the recognition of presented autoantigens by the lymphocytes, followed by an apparent uncontrolled production of autoreactive CD4+ T cells, CD8+ cytotoxic T cells and immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies. Initially, the production of self-reactive cells and autoantibodies occurs in the draining lymph nodes (Fig. 2). Later, the lymphoid tissue often develops directly in the thyroid gland itself. This tissue is generally very well organized, with cords of anti-Tg-antibody-producing plasma cells in the periphery. It is usually non-destructive and shows a peaceful co-existence with adjacent thyrocytes.
Thyroglobulin, the main protein synthesized in the thyroid, serves both in the synthesis and in the storage of thyroid hormones. Human Tg molecules contain at least four thyroid hormone synthesis sites from the iodinated tyrosine residues at positions 5, 2553, 2567 and 2746 [45]. The hormone synthesis sites and the iodine content of Tg play an important role in its autoantigenicity [40]. Tg is one of the major autoantigens in thyroid autoimmunity and serologic studies have shown that there are at least 40 antigenic epitopes on human Tg [16, 46]. Tg-antibodies are detected in almost all patients with AITD [47]. Anti-thyroglobulin antibodies were also reported in up to 27% of normal individuals [48]. However, numerous studies have clearly shown that the epitope recognition pattern of the natural anti-Tg antibodies is differented from that of AITD-associated anti-Tg antibodies. Most studies have demonstrarted a restricted epitope recognition pattern of AITD subjects by anti-Tg antibodies, in contrast to polyclonal reactivity observed with anti-Tg antibodies from healthy individuals [49, 50]. Human or mouse Tg immunization induces experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT) in mice [51]. The EAT induction is HLA-dependent implying an interaction between the Tg molecule and the MHC glycoproteins [52]. In addition, alterations to Tg could explain interactions between genetic and environmental factors in the aetiology of HT.
Thyroid peroxidase is another significant autoantigen in the thyroid of patients affected with HT and AITD. This enzyme catalyses the oxidation of iodine to an iodinating species that forms iodotyrosines in a Tg molecule and subsequently iodotyronines [53]. TPO antibodies are heterogeneous. To date, around 180 human TPO anribodies have been cloned and sequenced. This allows for the possible identification of major features of the TPO-directed antibodies repertoire during AITD. In Graves' disease patients, heavy chain VH domains of anti-TPO antibodies preferentially use D proximal IGHV1 genes. IGHV3 genes, mainly located in the middle of the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene (IGH) cluster on chromosome 15q11, characterize HT patients more frequently. A large proportion of the anti-TPO heavy chain VH domain comes about following a VDJ recombination process that uses inverted D genes [54, 55].
Autoantibodies against other thyroid-specific antigens such as thyrotropin receptor and sodium iodide symporter were also found in serum of HT patients. However, these antibodies occur at low frequency and do not appear to contribute any diagnostic power for HT [56, 57].
In a final, destructive step of Hashimoto's thyroiditis, the autoreactive T cells diffusely accumulate in large numbers and infiltrate thyroid parenchyma (Fig. 2). In the BB-DP rat model, T-helper type 1 (TH1)-mediated mechanisms involving production of IL-12, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ play a major role in the destruction of thyrocytes, rather than TH2 type mechanisms directed by IL-4 and IL-10 [58]. The infiltration of activated scavenger macrophages into the thyroid follicles, thus destroying the thyroid cells, is compatible with TH1-mediated mechanisms [59]. Fas and Fas ligand (FasL) expression was higher in rats with lympholytic thyroiditis indicating a role of these apoptotic molecules in thyrocyte death [60].
Apoptosis in Hashimoto's thyroiditis
Autoimmune responses against specific antigens are primary determinants in thyroid autoimmunity. Other molecular mechanisms including cell apoptosis may play a role in determining the opposite phenotypic outcomes of AITD such as thyroid destruction in HT and thyroid hyperplasia in GD. T-helper lymphocytes produce cytokines that influence both immune and target cells at several levels. The predominance of TH1 or TH2 cytokines might regulate thyrocyte survival through the induction of pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic proteins. TH1-mediated mechanisms lead to thyrocyte depletion in Hashimoto's thyroiditis through the involvement of death receptors and cytokine-regulated apoptotic pathways [61, 62].
The normal thyroid gland has been shown to act as an immune privileged site having carefully regulated mechanisms of cell death and self-protection against attack by infiltrating activated T-cells induced by apoptosis [63, 64]. Cell apoptosis occurs in the normal thyroid at a low level. As new thyrocytes are produced, old cells are destroyed in order to maintain normal thyroid volume and function. Deregulation of apoptosis, which is weakly determined by genetic susceptibility, can lead to destructive processes. Initiation of an out-of-control apoptotic mechanism in thyroid cells may be caused by various non-genetic injuries that affect expression of apoptosis inhibitor molecule Bcl-2 or membrane ligand FasL [65]. Thyrocytes from HT thyroid glands are able to hyperproduce Fas and FasL on their surfaces thus inducing fratricide apoptosis [66]. IL-1β, abundantly produced in HT glands, induces Fas expression in normal thyrocytes, the cross-linking of Fas resulting in massive thyrocyte apoptosis. This can play a role in the progression of Hashimoto's thyroiditis [67].
Immune-mediated apoptosis of thyrocytes is directed by CD8+ cells. Receptors on the target cell are triggered by lymphocyte ligands and/or released soluble factors are delivered to the target cell [68]. Receptors involved in immune-mediated apoptosis include the TNF R1 receptor, the Fas receptor and death receptors DR3 and DR4, whereas soluble mediators include substances such as perforines and TNF [6870].
The common apoptotic pathway consists of subsequent activation of specific intracellular proteases known as caspases. These caspases are themselves activated by specific proteolytic cleavage or may be activated by cleavage performed by other caspases. The caspase cascade ultimately induces enzymes that progressively destroy the cell and its genetic material, finally lead to cell death. The apoptosis, or programmed cell death, can be initiated by binding death ligands, such as TNF, TNF-related apoptosis-induced ligand (TRAIL) and FasL, to the cell surface. This in turn starts intracellular signal cascading of caspases [71].
Several apoptosis signalling pathways, initiated by molecules such as FasL and TRAIL, have been shown to be active in thyrocytes and may be involved in destructive thyroiditis [72]. Fas-mediated apoptosis seems to be a general mechanism of cell destruction in AITD. In GD patients, reduced levels of Fas/FasL and increased levels of antiapoptotic molecule Bcl-2 favour thyroid cell survival and apoptosis of infiltrating lymphocytes. In contrast, the regulation of Fas/FasL/Bcl-2 expression in HT can promote thyrocyte apoptosis through homophylic Fas-FasL interactions and a gradual reduction in thyrocyte numbers leading to hypothyroidism [61].
Thus, the rate of thyrocyte apoptosis dictates the clinical outcome of thyroid autoimmunity. Though rare in normal thyroid, it markedly increases during HT, but not in GD. Therefore, regulation of thyrocyte survival is a crucial pathogenic determinant.
Genetics of Hashimoto's thyroiditis
Evidence for genetic susceptibility to Hashimoto's thyroiditis
Abundant epidemiologic data (population-based and family-based studies, twin studies) suggest a strong genetic contribution to the development of HT. The disease clusters in families [22, 73]. Thyroid abnormalities with clinical outcomes were observed in 33% of offspring of patients with HT or GD [73]. The sibling risk ratio (λS), that is the ratio of the prevalence of disease in siblings to the prevalence in the general population, can be used as a quantitative measure of the genetic contribution to the disease. Usually, a λS of more than five indicate a significant genetic contribution to the disease development. Based on historical data, the λS for AITD is estimated to be greater than 10, supporting a strong case of genetic influence on disease development [74]. Using HT prevalence data from the NHAHES III study, an estimated λS value is about 28 for HT [74].
In Danish twin study, the concordance rates for Hashimoto's disease were 38% for monozygotic (MZ) twins and 0 for dizygotic (DZ) twins [75]. For HT, a recent twin study in California confirmed these results, showing concordance rates of 55% and 0% in MZ and DZ twins, respectively [76]. For thyroid antibodies, the concordance rate in the Danish twin study was twice high in MZ twins (80%) than that in DZ twins [75]. In a recent twin study in the UK, the concordance rates for Tg-antibodies were 59% and 23% in in MZ and DZ twins, respectively [77]. In this study, the concordance rates for TPO-autoantibodies were 47% and 29% in MZ and DZ twins, respectively [77]. These data suggest that HT and other AITD outcomes such as antibody production against thyroid-specific antigens have a substantial inherited susceptibility. HT seems to be a polygenic disease with a complex mode of inheritance. Immunomodulatory genes are expected to play an important role in predisposing and modulating the pathogenesis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis.
Animal models of autoimmune thyroiditis
Animal models of AITD still hold immense promise for the discovery of pathways, genes and environmental factors that determine the development of thyroid autoimmunity. Animals affected by experimental autoimmune thyroiditis (EAT) provide a unique opportunity to uncover disease-associated pathways, which are complicated to define in man.
One of the oldest inbred models is the obese strain chicken (OS), which develops goitrous lympholytic thyroiditis with the subsequent atrophic lympholytic thyroiditis followed by a rapid onset of hypothyroidism [78]. The biobreeding diabetes-prone (BB-DP) rat expresses a form of focal lympholytic thyroiditis that under normal conditions does not lead to hypothyroidism [79]. The nonobese diabetes (NOD) mouse strain NOD-H2h4 spontaneously develops iodine-induced autoimmune thyroiditis but not diabetes [26]. In particular, this murine strain has been extensively used to evaluate the role of iodine in the development of autoimmune thyroiditis [16].
EAT can be induced in mice by injecting with murine or human Tg, [80] and in normal syngenic recipients it is induced by the adoptive transfer of in vitro activated T cells from Tg-immunized mice [81]. The induced disease is characterized by the production of murine Tg-specific antibodies and infiltration of the thyroid by lymphocytes and other monocytes, with murine or human Tg-specific CD4+ T cells as the primary effector cells [80, 82].
Clinical features of EAT induced in the animal models mentioned above are similar to those of human HT. For example, autoimmune thyroiditis in the NOD-H2h4 mouse is induced by dietary iodine that supports epidemiologic data on human populations. In addition, the iodinified mouse represents high levels of IgG2b that is similar to HT patients expressing the predominance of IgG2 subclass, the human analog of murine IgG2b [83]. IgM class generally restricts Tg-antibodies of normal individuals and mice, while HT individuals and affected mice commonly produce Tg-antibodies of the IgG isotype [17]. However, anti-TPO antibodies generally detectable in HT patients could not be found in NOD-H2h4 mice. Despite some differences between EAT and HT, these animal models have greatly contributed to the knowledge concerning the etiology and the pathogenesis of thyroid autoimmunity, most notably on the events occurring in the very early prodromal phases.
Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules are thought to play an important role in the initial stages of the development of HT and AITD. MHC molecules, or Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) homologs, play a pivotal role in T-cell repertoire selection in the thymus and in antigen presentation in the periphery. Crystal structures of MHC molecules show a peptide-binding cleft containing the variable region of these molecules. Genetic polymorphism of the MHC molecule determines the specificity and affinity of peptide binding and T-cell recognition. Therefore, polymorphisms within MHC class I and class II loci can play a significant role in predisposition to autoimmune disease [84].
A role of selected HLA class II genes susceptible to HT has been significantly clarified using transgenic NOD (H2Ag7) class II-knockout mice with EAT as a model for HT [85, 86]. In mouse genome, the H2 class II locus is homologous to the human HLA class II region [51]. A role for HLA-DRB1 polymorphism as a determining factor in HT-susceptibility, with DR3-directed predisposition and DR2-mediated resistance to the disease, was demonstrated using H2 class II-negative mice injected with HLA-DRA/DRB1*0301 (DR3) and HLA-DRB1*1502 (DR2) transgenes [85]. A role for HLA-DQ polymorphism was shown with human thyroglobulin-induced EAT in HLA-DQ*0301/DQB1*0302 (DQ8), but not HLA-DQ*0103/DQB1*0601 (DQ6), transgenic mice [52]. In summary, DR3 and DQ8 alleles are found to be susceptible, whereas DR2, DR4 and DQ6 alleles are resistant [30, 87]. Studies on EAT-developing mice showed the differential effects of class II molecules on EAT induction. Susceptibility can be determined when class II molecules from a single locus, H2A or HLA-DQ, are examined in transgenic mice, but the overall effect may depend upon the presence of both class II molecules H2A and H2E in mice and HLA-DQ and HLA-DR in humans [88]. Polymorphism within DQ alleles can determine predisposition to HT while DRB1 molecules associated with susceptibility to HT may appear to play a permissive role. The combination of susceptibility-inducing HLA-DQ and permissive DR alleles is responsible for the association of the HLA class II region with the disease.
T cells recognize an antigenic peptide via interaction of their membrane T cell receptors (TcR) with antigen-MHC complexes presented on the surface of APC. Biased or restricted TcR gene use has been reported in a variety of human or murine autoimmune diseases [89]. Biased TcR V gene in intrathyroidal T cells was also observed in mice with spontatenous (NOD strain) or human Tg-induced (CBA/J strain) thyroiditis. This confirms the primary role played by T cells in initiating EAT and the phenomenon of oligoclonal expansion of intrathyroidal T lymphocytes in early thyroiditis [90]. Sequencing of amplified TCR V beta cDNA showed that within each NOD thyroid sample at least one of the overexpressed V beta gene families was clonally expanded. For example, in the CBA/J mouse immunized with human Tg, clonally expressed T cells were shown to primarily express the murine TcR Vβ1 and Vβ13 sequences [91].
A new murine model that developed destructive thyroiditis with histological and clinical features comparable with human HT has been recently reported [92]. The transgenic mice express the TcR of the self-reactive T-cell clone derived from a patient with autoimmune thyroiditis. The T-cell clone is specific for the autoantigen thyroid peroxidase (TPO) peptide comprising amino acid residues at positions 535–551 (TPO535–551) of the TPO amino acid sequence. This includes a cryptic epitope (TPO536–547) preferentially displayed after endogenous processing during inflammation [93]. These results underline the pathogenic role of autoreactive human T cells and the potential significance of recognition of cryptic epitopes in target molecules such as TPO for inducing thyroid-specific autoimmune response.
The two-signal theory for T cell activation requires TcR engagement of its cognate antigen-MHC complex and CD28 binding to B7 ligands (B7-1 and B7-2) on APC. Activation of T cells results in increased expression of the cytotoxic T cell antigen-4 (CTLA-4) molecule that shares homology with CD28. Although B7-1 (CD80) and B7-2 (CD86) expressed on APC can bind to both CD28 and CTLA-4 (CD152), because of higher affinity, they preferentially bind to CTLA-4 on activated T cells and attenuate the T cell response [94].
The importance of CTLA-4 in the down-regulation of T cell responses and in the induction of anergy and tolerance to alloantigens, tumors and pathogens, has been clearly demonstrated in experiments with CTLA-4 deficient mice. The mice developed a severe inflammatory disorder due to up-regulated proliferation of T cells [95, 96]. CTLA-4 can down-regulate T cell responses involving binding and sequestering B7 molecules from CD28, therefore preventing CD28-mediated co-stimulation. Another possibility is that CTLA-4 through its intracellular domain could actively transmit a negative signal resulting in down-regulation of activated T cells [97]. The crucial role of CTLA-4 in maintaining self-tolerance breakdown of which leads to the initiatition of a primary autoimmune response has been demonstrated in several murine models of autoimmune diabetes [98] and autoimmune thyroiditis [32].
Human Leukocyte Antigen class I and II genes
Genes of the human MHC region are clustered on chromosome 6p21 and encode HLA glycoproteins and a number of additional proteins, which are predominantly related to immune response. The MHC locus itself contains three groups of genes: class I genes encoding HLA antigens A, B and C, class II genes encoding HLA-DR, DP and DQ molecules and class III genes [99].
Previous studies in the early 1980s investigated the HLA locus in relation to the genetics of HT. Associations between HLA and HT have both been analysed by serologic typing of HLA and DNA typing using sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe analysis or restriction fragment length polymorphism. In Asians, HLA class I (A2, B16, B35, B46, B51, B54, C3) and HLA class II (DR2, DR9, DR53, DQ4) genes showed an association with the disease [31, 100105]. In Caucasians, HT is associated with HLA class II genes such as DR3, DR4, DR5, DQA1*0301, DQB1*0201 and DQB1*0301 [106120] but not with the HLA-DP and HLA class I (HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-C) genes [113, 114, 121]. However, some studies could not reveal an association between HLA-DQ and DR genes and Hashimoto thyroiditis [114, 122, 123]. Reports of disease-associated alleles are not consistent, but associations appear to be strongest with alleles in the HLA-DR and -DQ loci. This has also been suggested by studies in transgenic mouse [30, 52, 8587].
Early linkage, non-genome-wide studies of the HLA region have failed to detect linkage between the HLA locus and HT [124129]. Using dataset of 56 US Caucasian multigenerational families, genome-wide scans has revealed a susceptibility locus AITD-1 located on chromosome 6p [130]. The AITD-1 locus is common for both general forms of thyroid autoimmunity, HT and GD [130]. This locus was replicated in the expanded dataset of 102 US Caucasian families but is distinct from the HLA gene cluster [131]. Whole-genome scans of a large family with members affected with vitiligo and HT mapped a HT susceptibility locus that shared both the MHC region and the non-MHC AITD-1 [132]. However, evidence for linkage between the HLA locus and HT (or autoimmune thyroid disease) has not been confirmed by further whole-genome scans of other affected families [133, 134], sibling pairs [135], or within HLA-DR3 positive families [120]. The lack of linkage means, for instance, the DR3 gene did not cause the familial segregation of Hashimoto's disease while a relatively strong and consistent association showed that HLA-DR3 conferred a generalized increased risk of HT in the general population. These data did not support a major role for the HLA region in the susceptibility to HT and may imply that the DR3 gene modulates the effect of other non-HLA susceptibility gene.
However, a linkage between the HLA region and HT was recently shown in the data set of 40 US multiplex families affected with AITD and type 1 diabetes [136]. The linkage to HT was found to be weaker than to diabetes, suggesting that additional, non-HLA loci were contributing to the joint susceptibility to AITD and T1D. Among HLA-DR alleles, HLA-DR3 was detected as the only associated gene for Hashimoto's thyroiditis and diabetes [136]. Indeed, DR3 seems to represent the major HLA allele, which contributes to the shared susceptibility to T1D and AITD. These findings, however, need to be replicated in larger data sets because early family [137, 138] and case-control [139, 140] studies have not shown the unique role for HLA-DR3 allele in conferring shared susceptibility to T1D and thyroid autoimmunity.
The HLA region has been established to be involved in multiple autoimmune disorders [141]. The mechanisms by which HLA molecules influence the susceptibility to autoimmune disorders become more and more clear. Different HLA alleles could have different affinities to autoantigenic peptides. Therefore, certain alleles can bind the autoantigenic peptide, with the subsequent recognition by T cells that have escaped self-tolerance, whereas others may not [142]. The possibility of certain class II alleles to bind and present thyroid-specific antigens such as TSHR or Tg peptides has been shown in vitro [143] and in mice with EAT [144].
Thyroid autoantigens need to occur in the thyroid or its draining lymph nodes in order for them to be presented by HLA molecules. It has been suggested that an aberrant intrathyroidal expression of MHC class II molecules by thyrocytes is necessary to initiate thyroid autoimmunity [145, 146]. This hypothesis is supported by detection of the expression of HLA class II molecules by thyroid epithelial cells in HT and GD patients [147, 148] and in studies on animal models with experimentally induced thyroid autoimmunity [85, 145, 149, 150]. The aberrant expression of HLA class II antigen by thyrocytes can initiate autoimmune responses through direct thyroid self-antigen presentation or a secondary event following on from cytokine secretion by infiltrated T lymphocytes [148, 151].
Genetic contribution of HLA varies depending on the disease. HLA involvement in T1D, rheumatoid arthritis or multiple sclerosis is large and can constitute more than 50% of the genetic risk [84, 152]. Contributions of HLA alleles as genetic risk factors to HT are much weaker [118, 153]. HLA class I and II genes appear to contribute to the autoimmunity in general but not to organ specificity. Their role in the predisposition to HT is rather non-specific [62, 117]. The HLA class I and II genes appear not to be the primary HT genes, and are likely to be modulating genes that increase the risk for AITD contribution by other genes. HLA class III and other non-HLA genes, located in the HLA region, are also critical to the immune response. It is possible that HLA associations as seen in thyroid autoimmunity are due partially to genetic variation in these closely linked immune regulatory genes and their linkage disequilibrium with class I and II genes [154].
HLA class III genes and non-HLA genes of the HLA region
The HLA class III region lies between class I and II genes and encodes important immunoregulatory proteins such as cytokines [tumour necrosis factor (TNF), lymphotoxin alpha (LT-α) and beta (LT-β)], complement components (C2, C4, properdin factor B) and heat shock proteins (HSP) [155]. Both TNF and LT-α mediate B-cell proliferation and humoral immune responses [154]. TNF has been found to enhance cellular expression of HLA class I and II antigens, and enhances adhesion and complement regulatory molecules in the thyroid gland of HT patients. Alterations to the above could promote the autoimmune process [156]. However, case-control studies showed no association between polymorphisms within the TNF and LT-α genes and HT in Germans [112], UK Caucasians [118] and Koreans [157].
HSP70 gene cluster consists of three genes encoding HSP70-1, HSP70-2 and HSP-Hom proteins. They are expressed in response to heat shock and a variety of other stress stimuli (e.g. oxidative free radicals, toxic metal ions and metabolic stress). HSPs are also important for antigen processing and presentation [158]. Genetic variations within all three HSP70 genes were tested in British patients with HT and no associations were found [118]. Polymorphisms of complement component-encoding genes have not yet been evaluated in relation to HT. Meanwhile, finding a link between frequency disturbances in BI and C4A allotypes and one of the forms of thyroid autoimmunity, postpartum thyroiditis [159], may be an intriguing future study in HT patients.
Other genes crucial to the immune response, including TAP (transporters associated with antigen processing), LMP (large multifunctional protease), DMA and DMB genes are located within the HLA class II region [155]. Protein products of TAP (TAP1 and TAP2) and LMP2 (LMP2 and LMP7) genes participate in the proteolysis of endogenous cytoplasmic proteins into small fragments and subsequent transportation of these self-peptides from the cytoplasm into the endoplasmic reticulum, the site of HLA class I assembly [160]. To date, one investigation has been concerned with the association between TAP1 and TAP2 genes and Hashimoto's thyroiditis. No significant association was observed in the British population [118]. The genetic role of LMP in HT has not yet been examined. An association between the R60 allele of the LMP2 gene and GD was observed [161]. Additionally, quantitative defects in the amount of transcription products of TAP1, TAP2, LMP2 and LMP7 genes were found in lymphocytes of patients with AITD [160]. These findings suggest that defective transcription of HLA class I-processing genes could contribute to the quantitative defect in cell-surface expression in autoimmune lymphocytes in HT. Further evaluation of the role of such class I-processing genes as TAP and LMP is necessary.
DMA and DMB genes are involved in the assembly of HLA class II peptides. These genes encode subunits of a functional heterodimer that is critical for class II antigen presentation [160, 162]. Based on nucleotide variation within exon 3, three rare DMB alleles (DMB*01kv1, DMB*01kv2 and DMB*01kv3) have been detected in Korean HT patients while these DMB variants have not been found in healthy subjects [163]. However, these DMB alleles have not yet been functionally characterized. In summary, there is a significant dearth of information on how HLA class III genes and non-HLA genes, located in the HLA region, contribute to the pathogenesis of HT. Further studies are required to clarify the involvement of these genes in HT susceptibility.
CTLA-4 gene
The CTLA-4 gene is the most frequently studied of the immune modulatory genes located outside the HLA region, in relation to the genetics of HT. This gene encodes a costimulatory molecule, which suppresses T-mediated immune response and is crucial in the maintenance of peripheral immunological self-tolerance [164]. An inventory of case-control studies based on the association between three polymorphic markers within the CTLA-4 gene [A49G dimorphism in the leader peptide, C (-318) T substitution in the promoter region and a dinucleotide repeat polymorphism at the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR)] and HT is reviewed in [165]. Results of these studies, except for those for the C (-318) T single nucleotide polymorphism, suggest that polymorphisms within the CTLA-4 gene are associated with the development of HT.
Family studies showed linkage between CTLA-4 and GD [166], thyroid antibody production [167] and autoimmune thyroid disease [12, 62] but not specifically to HT, probably due to lack of their power [129, 130, 135]. Classical linkage analysis is suitable for detecting susceptibility loci with major genetic effects. CTLA-4 demonstrates a modest but significant effect in the genetics of HT. To detect a locus with a modest genetic effect, a large number (at least 400) of affected families should be tested [168].
This investigation has recently been performed involving about 600 AITD families and more than 1300 affected patients [169]. The CTLA-4 gene has been found to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases such as GD, HT and T1D [62, 153, 169]. Disease susceptibility was mapped in the 6.1-kb 3' untranslating region of CTLA-4. Allelic variation was correlated to altered mRNA levels of soluble form of CTLA-4 [169]. This alternative splice form of CTLA-4 lacks exon 3 encoding the transmembrane domain but maintains exon 2 encoding the ligand-binding domain [170]. The short form of CTLA-4 can bind CD80/86 and inhibit T-cell proliferation [171]. The soluble CTLA-4 (sCTLA-4) is expressed constitutively by T regulatory cells suppressing the effector T-cell response [172]. Its role in autoimmune disease is not exactly clear, but sCTLA-4 was observed significantly more often in patients with AITD [173] and myasthenia gravis [174] in comparison with non-affected subjects. Patients with AITD and myasthenia gravis had an aberrant expression of the CTLA-4 products, with high levels of sCTLA-4 and low levels of the intracellular form [175]. Soluble CTLA-4 might play an important role in immune regulation by binding with the B7 molecules, thus interfering with the binding of CD28 and/or full-length CTLA-4. Interference of sCTLA-4 with B7/CTLA-4 interactions could block suppressive signals transferred via surface-bound CTLA-4. Therefore, high concentrations of sCTLA-4 in serum might contribute to disease manifestations through interference of sCTLA-4 with B7/CTLA-4 interaction.
It may be that the amino acid change at codon 17 of the signal peptide could alter the function of the signal peptide to direct intracellulat trafficking of CTLA-4. In in vitro expreriments, the Ala17 (G49) allele was found to represent a translation product, which was not glycosylated in one of two N-linked glycosylation sites [176]. This aberrantly glycosylated product was shown to be further translocated from the endoplasmic reticulum back to cytoplasm and, probably, to become a target for proteolytic degradation. In addition, the distribution of Ala17 CTLA-4 variant on the surface of COS1 cells is significantly less density than the Thr17 variant of CTLA-4 [176]. These fundings suggest that the Ala17 allele is linked to the inefficient glycosylation of CTLA-4, which subsequently could affect suppressing effects of the CTLA-4 molecule. This could also explain observations showing that the G49 allele of the CTLA-4 signal peptide is associated with accelerated proliferation of T lymphocytes in human subjects homozygous for this allele, and with suppression of the downregulation of T-cell activation in response to IL-2 [177, 178].
The codon 17 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is shown to be in tight linkage disequilibrium with another SNP situated at position (-318) of the CTLA-4 promoter region and with the (AT)n repeat polymorphism at the 3'-UTR of the CTLA-4 gene [176, 179181]. For the C (-318) T SNP, the protective T (-318) allele demonstrated higher promoter activity than the alternative C allele in a luciferase expression assay [182]. Since the (-318) dimorphism occurs in a potential regulatory region, this suggets that this nucleotide substitution may influence the expression of CTLA-4. However, this possibility remains to be explored.
The (AT)n repeat polymorphism at the 3'-UTR of the CTLA-4 gene has been shown to affect the expression of this costimulatory molecule [174]. Adenylate- and uridylate-rich elements (AUREs) presented in the 3'-UTRs can regulate stability of eukaryotic mRNAs, and their presence correlates with rapid RNA turnover and translational and posttranslational control [183, 184]. The AT repeats in the 3'-UTR of CTLA-4 might represent a special type of of AUREs. CTLA-4 mRNA with longer (AT)n alleles have shorter half-lives and, hence, are more unstable [174, 185]. Indeed, the (AT)n microsatellite in the 3'-UTR influences the mRNA stability. Additionally, the CTLA-4 AT-repeat polymorphism was recently shown to alter the inhibitory function of CTLA-4. The long AT-repeat allele is associated with reduced control of T-cell proliferation and thus contributes to the pathogenesis of GD [186].
The AT-repeat may also affect splicing of one or more of the alternative CTLA-4 transcripts but this should be clarified. Ueda et al. [169] showed that another polymorphism (A6230G, or CT60 SNP) located in the first position of the 3'-UTR correlates with higher expression of a soluble CTLA-4. In this study, the highest power of linkage with GD was found for this SNP and three other SNPs (JO27, JO30 and JO31) within a 6.1-kb segment of the 3'-UTR, but not for the (AT)n repeat polymorphism [169]. However, no T-cell function data were presented. Thus, further investigations are necessary to evaluate functional significance of these SNPs. Due to the linkage disequilibrium, it is currently not possible to determine whether one, or both, are of physiological importance. It can not be excluded that allele combination of several closely linked CTLA-4 polymorphisms might form a functionally significant haplotype that is directly involved in the susceptibility to autoimmune disease [187, 188].
It should be noted that the genomic region 2q33 linked to autoimmune disease contains cluster of three genes encoding costimulatory molecules CTLA-4, CD28 and inducible costimulator (ICOS) [189]. However, genetic studies showed that the AITD gene in the 2q33 locus is the CTLA-4 gene and not the CD28 or ICOS genes [167, 169, 181].
The CTLA4 gene should be recognised as the first major known non-HLA locus of human autoimmunity and that its role in the pathogenesis of HT is rather general and non-specific [74, 153]. Association of CTLA-4 with the production of thyroid antibodies [167, 190], an event that often represents the subclinical stage of AITD [1], can explain non-specific mechanism of CTLA-4-mediated susceptibility to the development of thyroid autoimmunity. The association of the CTLA-4 gene with several autoimmune diseases such as T1D [153, 169], Addison's disease [191, 192], multiple sclerosis [193, 194], myasthenia gravis [175] and all clinical outcomes of AITD [74], can also explain the general contribution of CTLA-4 to autoimmunity. Interestingly, AITD, Addison's disease and autoimmune diabetes frequently coexist in patients with the autoimmune polyendocrine syndrome type II as mentioned above. The above disorders seem to share a genetic background, and CTLA-4 could represent a common susceptibility focus for them [195]
Other immune regulatory genes
In initial phases of AITD, oligoclonal expansion of T lymphocytes occurs in the thyroid gland. These T cells are restricted by their T cell receptor V gene use [89, 90]. Therefore, the TcR may be considered a likely candidate gene for AITD and HT. Early case-control investigations showed a lack of association between HT and the T-cell receptor-α gene in the US white population [111] but not the T-cell receptor-β gene in the Japanese [102]. Linkage analysis using a US Caucasian AITD family dataset [129] and Tunisian affected pedigree [196] has eliminated the T-cell receptor V alpha and V beta gene complexes, located on 14q11 and 7q35, respectively, as candidate genes for susceptibility to thyroid autoimmunity. Therefore, the TcR genes are not major susceptibility genes for HT and AITD.
Another likely candidate among immune-related genes was the IGH gene because HT individuals commonly produce Tg-autoantibodies restricted by IgG class [50]. Early investigations found an association between IgH Gm allotypes and AITD in the Japanese [197, 198]. However, these findings have not been confirmed in Caucasians [129, 196].
Cytokines are crucial in the regulation of immune and inflammatory responses. Multiple investigations showed the important role of these regulatory molecules in directing autoimmune and apoptotic pathogenic processes, of particular, in central and late stages of the development of HT [72, 80, 199]. Therefore, cytokine genes might be good candidates for HT. Intrathyroidal inflammatory cells and thyroid follicular cells produce a variety of cytokines, including interleukin-1α (IL-1α), IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13, IL-14, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interferon-γ [200]. Hunt et al. [201] evaluated 15 polymorphisms within nine cytokine genes for IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL1RN), IL-1 receptor 1, IL-4, IL-4 receptor, IL-6, IL-10, and transforming growth factor-β in British patients with AITD. They only found a significant association for one of those. The T-allele of the IL-4 promoter [T (-590) C] polymorphism was associated with lower risk of GD and AITD but not HT [201]. Blakemore et al. [202] failed to find an association between a polymorphic minisatellite in the IL1RN gene and HT in another group of affected patients from UK. Thus, it may be concluded that these genes are not major susceptibility genes for thyroid autoimmunity but need to be further studied.
The autoimmune regulator (AIRE1) gene is known to contribute to the pathogenesis of autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy (APECED), a rare monogenic autoimmune disease with endocrine components including T1D, adrenal failure, and thyroid dysfunction, with major autoantibodies directed against adrenal, pancreas, and thyroid tissue [203]. However, studies in UK patients showed no relation between a 13-bp deletion at nucleotide 964 in exon 8 (964del13) of the AIRE1 gene, a common disease-associated marker for APECED in British population, and HT [204].
The vitamin D-mediated endocrine system plays a role in the regulation of calcium homeostasis, cell proliferation and (auto) immunity. 1,25-Dihydroxi-vitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) is the most active natural vitamin D metabolite that effectively prevents the development of autoimmune thyroiditis in an animal model [205] and inhibits HLA class II expression on endocrine cells [206]. C/T polymorphism located at intron 6 of the vitamin D 1α-hydroxylase (CYP1α) gene failed to show association with HT in Germans [207]. Two polymorphic markers within the vitamin D-binding protein gene encoding another member of the vitamin D metabolic pathway also showed no association with HT in the German population [208]. However, among two polymorphic sites tested at the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene, the Fok I(+) allele of the FokI/restriction fragment length polymorphism was found to be associated with higher risk HT in Japanese females [209]. Meanwhile, the VDR gene remains to be a likely candidate for the common autoimmune susceptibility gene because it has been found to be associated with autoimmune disorders such as GD [210], Addison's disease [211], multiple sclerosis [212] and T1D [213].
Thus, a wide variety of non-HLA immune regulatory genes located outside the HLA region showed no significant linkage or association with HT and AITD except for the CTLA4 gene. However, we still cannot estimate whether or not these genes significantly contribute to HT susceptibility due to a serious shortfall in information about their role in this disorder. It cannot be excluded that other genes in linkage disequilibrium with these genes are the susceptibility genes at these loci.
Thyroid-specific genes
Antibodies against thyroid peroxidase are one of the most specific features of HT [214]. Therefore, the TPO gene is expected to be a putative candidate responsible not only for susceptibility to HT but also for specific determination between two common outcomes of AITD, such as HT and GD. Genetic transmission of the recognition by antibody of the TPO immunodominant region and the TPO B domain has been described in families affected with HT [215]. This transmission could be explained by genetic variations within the TPO gene. However, case-control studies showed lack of association between the TPO gene polymorphisms and AITD [113, 216]. These data suggest that the thyroid peroxidase gene does not play an important role in predisposition to HT. Subsequent studies are necessary to clarify exactly whether this gene is a true susceptibility gene for AITD.
Within the other thyroid-specific gene, the TSHR gene, the T52P amino acid substitute was examined in US white and Thai populations but no association with HT was found [217, 218]. Various genome-wide scans have failed to detect linkage between the thyrotropin receptor gene and HT or AITD [130, 133135, 219, 220]. However, two microsatellites, an (AT)n marker at intron 2 of the TSHR gene and a (CA)n marker that was mapped to approximately 600 kb of the TSHR gene, have been shown to be strongly associated with HT in Japanese patients [221, 222]. The TSHR gene, therefore, does not seem to be a major susceptibility gene for HT, although a minor role cannot be excluded.
Tg-specific autoantibodies are common in AITD. The thyroglobulin gene makes a significant contribution to HT and AITD. Whole-genome scans in Japanese-affected sibling pairs have detected a HT susceptibility locus on chromosome 8q24, with a maximum linkage to marker D8S272 [135]. This marker is separated by 4.6 megabases (Mb) from the Tg gene. Subsequent studies of the mixed US and European Caucasian family dataset has confirmed the susceptibility locus to be on chromosome 8q24, with the maximum linkage to markers D8S514 and D8S284 [74, 131, 223]. These markers border a large region of chromosome 8 spanning about 15 Mb. The thyroglobulin gene is located within this region. Moreover, a new microsatellite marker Tgms2 inside intron 27 of the Tg gene showed strong evidence of linkage and association with AITD [223, 224]. Two new microsatellites have recently been described in introns 29 and 30 of the thyroglobulin gene that can be useful for further linkage studies in families with autoimmune thyroid diseases [225]. Using a high-density panel of SNPs within the human and murine Tg genes, Ban et al. [226] identified a unique SNP haplotype, consisting of an exon 10–12 SNP cluster in both genes and, additionally, exon 33 SNP in the human gene, associated with AITD in humans and with EAT in mice. Taken together, these data strongly suggest that the thyroglobulin gene could represent the susceptibility gene for HT and AITD on 8q24 [74, 227] and, therefore, be characterized as the first thyroid-specific susceptibility gene for thyroid autoimmunity [228].
The Tg gene spanning over 300 kilobases long is expected to harbour more than one haplotype block associated with AITD since the length of a linkage disequilibrium block of SNPs is shown to be less than 100 kilobases [229]. It seems that this gene is AITD-specific but is not a HT-specific susceptibility gene. The manner in which the Tg gene can be a predisposition to AITD remains unclear. It could be that amino acid variations within the Tg gene can affect the immunogenicity of Tg. The evidence that iodination of thyroglobulin affects its immunogenicity favours this suggestion [230, 231]. However, additional studies are required to evaluate that.
Recent investigation in Tunisians showed significant association of two polymorphic microsatellites (D7S496 and D7S2459) close to the PDS gene (7q31) with GD and HT, and one of them, D7S496, was linked to GD only [232]. The PDS gene encodes a transmembrane protein known as pendrin. Pendrin is a chloride/iodide transporting protein identified in the apical membrane of the thyroid gland [233]. Data of Kacem et al. [232] suggest that the PDS gene might be considered a new susceptibility gene to autoimmune thyroid diseases, having a different involvement with different diseases. However, studies in other populations are necessary to support a role for the PDS gene in thyroid autoimmunity and HT.
Finally, a role for other genes specifically expressed in the thyroid gland, has yet to be defined. These genes include those encoding thyrotropin-β, thyroid-specific factor-1, sodium iodide (Na+/I) symporter and paired box transcription factor-8, among others. They also need to be evaluated for any putative impact on HT.
Apoptotosis-related genes
Two polymorphic sites within the FasL gene were recently tested in HT Caucasian patients from Italy and Germany. No association between these polymorphisms and the disorder was shown [234]. Assuming a lack of association of the naturally occurring FasL gene polymorphisms with multiple other autoimmune diseases tested, we conclude that genetic variation within this gene does not contribute to autoimmunity. Inactivating mutations within the Fas and FasL genes are associated with carcinogenesis [235, 236]. This situation is common among apoptotic-related genes encoding caspases, death receptors, decoy receptors and death ligands as well as for genes that encode other types of signalling molecules [237]. However, since apoptotic mechanisms play a critical role in pathogenesis and progression of HT, genes associated with programming cell death should be evaluated whether or not they confer susceptibility to HT.
Other genes
Due to the prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity in females, gender-related genes could also be considered as putative candidates for HT susceptibility. Some of these genes, such as the CYP19 gene encoding aromatase that participates in estrogen synthesis, and genes for estrogen receptor-α (ESR1) and -β (ESR2), were examined but showed no linkage with HT [238]. The ESR1 and ESR2 genes demonstrated no association with AITD in the Japanese [239, 240]. It seems that the CYP19 and both estrogen receptor genes do not predispose to HT and AITD. Other gender-specific genes could contribute to AITD. A possible involvement of such genes has been shown for GD with the discovery of a susceptible locus on chromosome X [238].
The SEL1L gene, encoding a novel transcription factor, was recently described [241]. The gene is located on chromosome 14q24.3-q31 close to the GD-1 susceptibility locus [128, 130, 219] and considered a likely candidate for thyroid autoimmunity. However, a case-control study in the Japanese population detected no association of a dinucleotide (CA)n repeat polymorphism in the intron 20 of the SEL1L gene with AITD [242]. This gene may be a potentially predisposing gene to T1D because it is specifically expressed in adult pancreas and islets of Langerhans [241]. It lies in the vicinity to IDDM11, a susceptibility locus to this autoimmune disease, on chromosome 14q24.3-q31 [243].
A new zink-finger gene designated ZFAT (a novel zink-finger gene in AITD susceptibility region) has been recently found on chromosome 8q24 [244]. The T allele of the Ex9b-SNP10 dimorphism representing an adenine-to-thymidine substitution within intron 9 of this gene was shown to be associated with high risk for AITD in Japanese patients. Functional studies showed that the Ex9b-SNP10 significantly affects the expression of the small antisense transcipt of ZFAT (SAS-ZFAT) in vitro and this expression results in the decreasing expression of the truncated form of ZFAT (TR-ZFAT) [244]. This SNP is located in the 3'-UTR of TR-ZFAT and in the promoter region of SAS-ZFAT. Full-length ZFAT and TR-ZFAT encode a protein with unknown function, which has eighteen and eleven repeats of zink-finger domains, respectively. Both molecular variants of ZFAT are expressed in different tissues including peripheral blood lymphocytes, while SAS-ZFAT is exclusively expressed in peripheral blood B cells and represents a non-coding RNA with putative regulatory function [245]. The disease-associated polymorphism can play a significant role in B cell function by enfluencing the expression level of TR-ZFAT through regulation of transcription of SAS-ZFAT. Interestingly, Shirasawa et al. found no association of the thyroglobulin gene with AITD when studying different ethnic groups [244]. These results suggest that the ZFAT gene could implicate the susceptibilty to AITD on chromosome 8q24 but that it needs to be strongly replicated in other populations. Additionally, the ZFAT gene should be functionally studied to clarify whether the ZFAT or thyroglobulin gene are true contributors of genetic susceptibility to AITD and HT on 8q24.
Non-defined susceptibility loci for Hashimoto's thyroiditis and autoimmune thyroid disease
At present, the CTLA-4 (chromosome 2q33), thyroglobulin (or ZFAT) (8q24) and likely HLA genes (6p21.3) are the only susceptibility loci for HT and thyroid autoimmunity to be mapped. Two HT-specific susceptibility loci that have been detected in mixed Caucasian families from USA and Europe, HT-1 (13q) near marker D13S173 and HT-2 on chromosome 12q in the vicinity of marker D12S351, are still not defined [130]. HT-2 locus has been subsequently replicated in the extended dataset, with a peak linkage close to marker D12S346, which HT-1 does not have [223]. Possible candidate genes for susceptibility to HT positioned within the HT-2 locus may include the BTG1 and CRADD genes. The BTG1 gene encodes B-cell translocation protein-1, which play an immune regulatory role as a negative regulator of the proliferation of B cells [246]. The GRADD gene encodes CASP-2 and RIPK-domain-containing adaptor with death domain, that represents apoptotic function, inducing cell apoptosis via recruiting caspase 2/ICH1, TNF receptor 1, RIPK-RIP kinase and other proteins [247].
AITD-1 locus located on chromosome 6p is very close yet distinct from the HLA region [120, 130]. It has been shown that the AITD-1 is positioned in the same location as susceptibility loci for T1D (locus IDDM15) [248] and systemic lupus erythematosus [249]. This may imply that a general autoimmunity susceptibility gene is located in this region. The AITD-1 locus contains an interesting positional candidate gene such the SOX-4 gene, encoding a transcription factor that modulates differentiation of lymphocytes [250].
A whole-genome scan in Japanese showed evidence for linkage with AITD on chromosome 5q31-q33 [135, 251]. The 5q31 locus was replicated by recent genome-wide scan in Caucasian population, the Old Order Amish of Lancaster County, from Pennsylvania [220]. This locus harbours a cluster of cytokine genes and, therefore, several positional candidate genes occur in this region and need to be evaluated.
In the Chinese, a whole-genome screening for AITD susceptibility found two chromosome regions (9q13 and 11q12) linked to AITD [134]. Susceptibility genes have yet to be defined within these regions. However, the 9q13 locus harbours a putative candidate gene such as the ANXA1 gene, whose product annexin A1 prevents the production of inflammatory mediators [252]. The 11q12 locus contains several interesting candidate genes encoding immune modulators (CD5 and CD6) and possible components of antigenic peptide processing (PSMC3) and transport (PTH2).
In a large Tunisian family affected with AITD, a susceptibility locus was mapped on 2p24 [133] This locus harbors two possible candidate genes such as the FKBP1B gene, product of which demonstrates immune modulating activity [253], and the TP53I3 gene encoding p53-inducible protein 3 that is involved in p53-mediated apoptotic pathway [254].
These data suggest that both HT and AITD show genetic heterogeneity in different populations. Susceptibility loci differ in their chromosome location depending on the population being tested. The contributory value of these genes to the disease pathology varies significantly depending on the ethnic background. A gene, that has a major effect on the susceptibility to HT in one population, may contribute weakly in other population. To date, several regions of linkage to HT and AITD have been defined. Further studies are required to find a true susceptibility gene in these genomic regions to reveal the functional significance of disease-associated polymorphisms within these genes.
AITD can be initiated in individuals genetically predisposed to AITD by non-genetic (environmental) triggers such as dietary iodine, infection, pregnancy, cytokine therapy (Fig. 1). This interaction leads to different clinical phenotypes of thyroid autoimmunity such as Graves' disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis or production of thyroid antibodies. HT and GD are two distinct but related clinical outcomes of AITD. It seems that both thyroid diseases have common pathogenic mechanisms as their initial steps including breakdown of the immune tolerance and accumulation of T lymphocytes in the thyroid gland.
Sequence variants of CTLA-4, associated with increased levels of the soluble form of this immune costimulator and with stability of CTLA-4 mRNA, could play a crucial role in the earliest stages of AITD (i. e. breakdown of self-tolerance and surviving autoreactive T lymphocytes). This role might be sufficient to regulate subsequent steps in the development of autoimmune responses to the production of thyroid autoantobodies [167].
Environmental factors (particularly, iodine intake and infection) could cause insult of the thyrocyte followed by abnormal expression of MHC class I and class II molecules, as well as changes to genes or gene products (such as MHC class III and costimulatory molecules) needed for the thyrocyte to become an APC [255]. In this stage, a modulating role of sequence variants of HLA class II molecules could become pivotal in binding and presenting thyroid antigenic peptides derived from Tg, TPO and TSHR. Genetic variations in Tg, and probably in TSHR and other thyroid-specific genes, might be responsible for generating an autoimmune response.
In later stages, thyroid autoimmunity could be switched towards GD or HT. GD is characterized by TH2-mediated switching of thyroid-infiltrating T cells. These induce the production of stimulating anti-TSHR antibodies by B cells and anti-apoptotic mechanisms that lead to clinical hyperthyroidism. In HT, preferential TH1 response initiates apoptosis of thyroid cells and results in clinical hypothyroidism [22].
It is clear that a number of loci and genes determine genetic predisposition to HT, with varying effects. These loci could be unique to HT or general for both HT and GD. Several whole-genome scans showed results suggesting that there is significant shared susceptibility to HT and GD [130, 131, 134, 135]. This is also supported by the frequent coexistance of both diseases in affected families [74, 133]. Preliminary data suggest that shared genetic susceptibility involves both immune regulatory (i. e. CTLA-4 and HLA) and thyroid-specific genes (i.e. Tg). These genes are not responsible for the determination of pathogenic mechanisms of thyroid autoimmunity distinct for HT and GD. It remains unclear which susceptibility genes are specifically involved in the HT pathogenesis.
The CD40 gene, an important immune modulator, appears to act as a GD-specific susceptibility gene. The gene is located within the 20q11 locus and shows significant linkage to GD, but not to HT, in UK Caucasians [74, 130, 131, 256, 257]. Subsequent analysis found the CD40 gene to be associated with GD [258]. However, this finding needs to be independently confirmed in other population samples.
A probable susceptibility gene that could direct switching towards GD or HT is thought to be located within the 5q31 locus, which is linked to AITD and contains a cytokine gene cluster. Different sets of cytokines are known to regulate switching to TH1 or TH2 type mechanisms [58]. There may be two susceptibility genes, each of which uniquely contributes to the development of HT- or GD-specific pathogenesis. The IL-4 promoter [T(-590) C] polymorphism also appears to be associated with GD, but not with HT [199]. IL-4 mediates TH2 type mechanism, which can lead to hyperthyroidism [259].
Another HT-specific susceptibility gene(s) may be an apoptotic gene. Apoptosis of thyroid follicular cells is the hallmark of HT and might be the primary cause of death of thyrocytes compared to T cell-mediated cytotoxity [69].
Thus, it is necessary to identify additional susceptibility genes and disease-associated polymorphisms in apoptotic genes in AITD- and HT-linked loci by using a fine mapping approach and high-density panels of SNPs. Further functional analysis and search for correlations between genotype and phenotype will help to evaluate the role of these genes in the development of autoimmune thyroid disease. Susceptibility genes interact with thyroid autoimmunity [62, 130], and the level of these interactions could affect disease severity and clinical expressions. The molecular mechanisms of these interactions is unknown. However, significant progress has been made in identifying susceptibility genes to HT and AITD along with intriguing findings regarding the functional characterization of disease-associated polymorphisms. These should stimulate further studies towards the in-depth understanding of the mechanisms by which these genes contribute to thyroid autoimmunity.
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• Major Histocompatibility Complex
• Human Leukocyte Antigen
• Major Histocompatibility Complex Class
• Human Leukocyte Antigen Class
• Thyroid Autoimmunity
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Is there a more quintessential snack on a hot summer day than a slice of watermelon exploding with juice as you take a bite into its fleshy core?
Many people don’t realize there are dozens of varieties of melons available. Let’s explore a few varieties, how to best use them, and learn about their rich nutritional content.
Melons: Where are they from?
Melons originated in Africa and southwest Asia, but now grow throughout the warmer regions of the world. The melon plant belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae, the gourd family of flowering plants. They are annual plants and found in season typically from July through September. The fruits come in all shapes and colors depending on the variety and vary in size and shape as well. Despite melons having a different outward appearance and size, they all have a sweet, juicy flesh which makes them a natural thirst quencher.
The Sweetest Melon
The Crenshaw melon, considered one of the sweetest varieties in the melon family, is a hybrid cross between a Persian melon and Casaba melon. It boasts a sweet, but slightly spicy taste. They are large, averaging 8-10 pounds and are typically spherical in shape with a tapered point at the stem.
Choose a Crenshaw melon at the peak of ripeness when their skin turns a golden-yellow color and you feel a small tenderness at the stem end.
Besides a tasty snack, serve fresh Crenshaw melon in a salad or dessert. For something different, pair with salty cured meat and mozzarella as an appetizer or sear or grill cubes on a fruit skewer. This variety in particular is an excellent source of Vitamins A and C.
Muskmelons, Say What?
Muskmelons come in many varieties but all of them have a characteristic light tan netting over their exterior and are round or oval in shape. They range from 5-8 pounds and thrive in high heat conditions. When sliced into, you find their smooth, aromatic, musky-scented orange flesh along with a central seed cavity.
Think twice before tossing out those seeds! Along with vitamins and minerals, the seeds are a good source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids which are supportive of good heart health and cholesterol levels. Roast the seeds and toss them on a salad.
In the United States, we commonly see muskmelons displayed or advertised as cantaloupe so pick one up today!
Health Benefits of Melons
No matter the color, shape or size, all melons provide similar vitamins and minerals. Melons are made up of mostly water, making them a great way to rehydrate. They are low in calories and a good source of fiber. They are a great source of vitamin C and contain minerals like potassium to aid in regulating blood pressure, manganese, iron and phosphorus.
Eating melons can provide an energy boost: They contain B vitamins, which support the body’s energy production and processing of carbohydrates and sugars. Collagen is found in melons, which supports the integrity of our cell structure in all connective tissues like our skin to help maintain firmness and aid in wound healing. Our hair even benefits from this tasty fruit as the Vitamin A derived from the beta carotene in melons like cantaloupe, is essential for normal hair growth and the maintenance of healthy hair.
Recipe for Health: Watermelon Feta Orzo Salad With Lemon and Basil
This month’s recipe features watermelon, an iconic summer fruit. Watermelon is particularly high in the antioxidant lycopene which has been thought to prevent heart disease and some types of cancer. Think outside of the box and try this refreshing salad.
Orzo pasta is cooked al dente and mixed with fresh, juicy cubed watermelon and tossed in a tangy lemon vinaigrette. The feta cheese adds a nice salty contrast to the sweet watermelon and touch of honey. Serve this alongside grilled meat or fish at your next barbeque and watch it disappear before your eyes!
Watermelon Feta Orzo Salad With Lemon and Basil
• 1cupdry orzo
• 1 1/2tspfresh lemon zest
• 1Tbspfresh lemon juice
• 2 1/4tspextra virgin olive oil
• 1tsphoney
• 3cupscubed seedless watermelon (dice into 1/2 to 3/4 inch cubes
• 3/4cupfeta cheese, crumbled
• 1/8cupchopped fresh basil
1. Cook pasta in salted water according to directions listed on package. Drain well (don’t rinse) then pour into a large bowl.
2. While pasta boils, stir together lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil and honey. Pour half of mixture over drained pasta in bowl and toss. Season with salt to taste. Allow to cool.
3. Add watermelon, feta and basil to orzo.
4. Add remaining lemon juice mixture and toss to evenly coat.
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Understanding the Principles of Assessment
Essay Topic: ,
1. Understand the principles and requirements of assessment 1. Explain the functions of assessment in learning and development. Assessment is carried out to evaluate that learning has taken place. It measures the learner’s attainment of knowledge and skills in their particular learning area. Assessment encourages learners to ask questions on anything they have not fully understood, as learners know that they will have to prove their knowledge and understanding during assessment to the standards of the awarding body.
The anticipated outcome of assessment is that the learner will complete assessment to City and Guild standards within the time frame stated, with no assistance and show through answering questions that they have full understanding of the subject.
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2. Define the key concepts and principles of assessment. Assessment has to remain fair, consistent and valid to ensure all learners have an equal and fair chance of receiving a fair assessment. An assessor cannot be swayed to give a learner an easier assessment because they favour the learner.
The assessment process may have to be adapted to be suitable to the learner’s needs but, needs to eventually lead to the same outcome. 3. Explain the responsibilities of the assessor. The role of the assessor is to assess the learner’s knowledge and performance in a range of tasks. This includes, ? Ensuring that the learner has demonstrated competence and knowledge in the assessment to the standard of City and Guilds criteria. ? Assessments need to be planned between the assessor and each learner; the learner needs to be fully aware of his/her responsibilities in the collection and presentation of evidence. The assessor then needs to observe the learners performance in their workplace or similar environment and can ask questions to confirm a learners understanding. ? Accurate and constructive feedback needs to be given to the learner whether they have passed the assessment or not. If the assessment has not been achieved the learner needs to be aware of why they did not achieve and how they can rectify this for the next time they are assessed. ? Records of the learner’s achievement must be kept up to date and be available for the learner to see. 4.
Identify the regulations and requirements relevant to assessment in own area of practice. As a tutor , I am required to discuss and set targets for the completion of tasks, units, skills development and observations to the City and Guild standards. This is to ensure the learner achieves their programme. I am responsible for the learners to complete the programme units with the time-scale stated by the awarding body, the time-scaled will initially be dictated by the Learning and Skills council but, learners will be assessed on an individual basis and time-scales adjusted to suit individuals.
As an assessor I have to set challenging targets, record their progress against their targets in the learners individual learning plan (ILP), monitor their progress with every 4 or 8 week reviews in which progress is discussed and targets are agreed and set for learner to work towards. Once assessment begins I have to give learners clear and constructive feedback on their achievement and progress, learner progress is monitored through 1 to 1 .. Each learner has a portfolio logbook that records the learner’s competence against the standards for the qualification they are working towards.
I have to ensure that the logbook is completed and kept up to date to show what progress has been made, and what areas of competence have yet to be achieved, this allows me, learner and visitor from the awarding body to easily track the learner’s progress. Once the learner has achieved their qualification, it is my responsibility to advise them of any further programmes they could do to develop their skills further. 2. Understand different types of assessment methods 1. Compare the strengths and limitations of a range of assessment methods with reference to the needs of individual learners. | | | |Assessment Methods |Strengths |Limitations | |Observation of performance in the work |Authentic |Demanding on assessors time | |environment |Low disruption to candidates workplace |Travel | | |Assesses real life skills. Need co-operation from candidate’s | | |Could help in integrating assessment across|workplace. | | |outcomes and units. |Reliability may be hard to achieve. | |Examining products of work |Authentic |Time-consuming with large groups. | | |Showcases learner’s skills. | | |Clear feedback back can be given on the | | | |work | | |Questioning the learner |Can occur naturally out of an observation |Is difficult to manage with larger numbers | | |Non-threatening to the learner |of learners | |Can be offered to learners with additional |Due to the range of responses from | | |support needs |learners, reliability may be difficult to | | |May fill in gaps in the learners portfolio |achieve. | |of evidence | | |Discussing with the learner |Learner may feel less threatened. |Time-consuming with large numbers of | | |More one to one |learners. | | |Could help less confident learner. | |Use of others (witness testimony) |Others may see areas which are normally |Authenticity of testimony could be | | |difficult for assessors to observe |questionable | |Looking at learner statements |Builds confidence in the learner’s |Learners with additional learning needs may| | |capabilities. |find it difficult. | |Understand the standards they are working |Does not show the learners practical | | |to. |ability. | |Recognising prior learning |Gauge the learner’s knowledge of learning. |Prior learning could be to a higher/lower | | |Recognise if any additional learning needs |standard | | |maybe required. | | . Understand how to plan assessment 3. 1Summarise key factors to consider when planning assessment. Key factors that have to be taken into consideration when planning assessment are; • Is learner ready? • Suitable time • Suitable model • Convenient for workplace • Suitable environment Is Learner Ready? To determine if the learner is ready for assessment, Assessment has to be planned between the assessor and each learner, together they must come up with a plan that will suit the learner’s employers and the unit the learner is to be assessed on.
As an assessor you have to be flexible to accommodate the learner. Suitable model The learner has to ensure the correct model is selected for assessment the learner is planning to do. For the colour unit (GH9), all models must have been skin tested 24-48 hours before the application of colour; this is a requirement to ensure insurance is valid. The correct model must be chosen so the learner can be assessed on what they plan, for example; a short haired client would not be suitable for a long graduation assessment. Convenient for workplace.
A good relationship has to be established between the assessor and the learners employers. The learners workplace needs to be aware of the learners progress throughout the course and when planning the assessment the assessor hs to contact the workplace to ensure it is a suitbale time for the learner to be assessed. Suitable place Observing the learner in their workplace is the most suitable place to assess the learner. Whilst in the workplace a holistic assessment is more likely to happen, as different units may also be assessed when the assessor only planned on one. . 2 Evaluate the benefits of using a holistic approach to assessment. An holistic assessment will make the learner feel comfortable and competent in their assessment as it gives the assessor the oppourtunity to see the learner in their workplace covering another unit or aspect of the learners course as it naturally happens. This could occur without the learner realising. An holistic approach will help the assessor to use their time more efficiently, as hopefully more assessment than planned will occur. . 3 Explain how to plan a holistic approach to assessment. The assessor has to take some responsibility for collecting and structuring evidence when planning an holistic approach to assessment, further evidence is collected through observation of the learner and questioning the learner. The learner can also collect evidence but, must be supported by the assessor. 3. 4Summarise the types of risks that maybe involved in assessment in own area of responsibility.
The types of risks that maybe involved in assessment of my own area are high, it is important for the assessor and learner to ensure the assessment is carried out in a safe environment. Learners must adhere to their own salon procedures and insurance policies. When assessing a learner at their workplace the assessor would have to ensure it was safe to do so, before the planning of assessment the assessor would have to make sure the workplace had carried out a risk assessment, have health and safety certificates, liability insurance, a first aid box, fire extingushers and fire procedures. . 5Explain how to minimise risks through the planning process. Risks will be minimised through the planning process by making sure the learner is complying with the worksplaces in-house policies (each salons policies will differ) and local by laws. The assessor must follow their policy and procedures when planning the assessment. The learner can be questioned on any of the policy and procedures and the learner has to be able to explain them. 4. Undertand how to involve learners and others in assessment. 4. Explain the importance of involving the learning and others in the assessment process. It is important to involve the learner and others in the assessment process so that the learners and employers know the progress of the learner and what the learner still has to achieve. If the employers know the learners know the learners progress they are more likely to encourage and motivate the learner, the employer may make time to train with the learner or let the learner observe other stylists work which will expand the learners skills and understanding.
Knowing the learners progress, employers may be able to observe a specific piece of evidence that has not occurred when the assessor has been present, when the assessor does visit the workplace the employers could provide the assessor with a witness testimony of the evidence they observed. 4. 2 Summarise types of information that should be made available to learners and others involved in the assessment process. Documentation Log books are given to each learner once registered on the course and are available to the learner and others and provide useful means of assessing the progress of the learners achievement and performance.
The log book documents the learners ability to carry out a range of tasks. This document works well for the assessor to minitor progress and any areas the learner may require more guidance. Log books are alos checked by the internal verifier once a unit is completed, to ensure everything is completed to the standards, also the log book may be sampled by an external verifier. Policies Policies are necessary to ensure learners and others know what is expected and what they have to achieve to gain the qualification. All learners will work against the same policies so each learner has to meet the same requirements to complete the qualification.
Procedure Procedures are in place for learners and others to follow, each assessment follows the same procedure and cannot be amended. Assessors work is sampled by IV’s to ensure each learner is being treat equally and fairly and that the assessment is following the standards procedure. Skills analysis Learners and others need to be aware of the learners skills, so guidance and further teaching can be given to the learner to pass assessment. If the learners has not passed assessment this is documented with constructive critism and help on areas the learner has missed. By keeping a record the learner can check and practice the skills. . 3Explain how peer and self-assessment can be used effectively to promote learner involvement and personal responsibility in the assessment of learning. to promote learner involvement a tracking grid is used for each individual learner. The tracking grid is for the learner to keep a record of their own progress on what they have practiced in salon, this encourages the learner’s development of skills as they can track what they need to practice and when they will be ready for assessment. Learners also reflect on what they have done, learnt and what they can learn from after each session by completing an end of day form.
The learners have to state what they have learnt, what they enjoyed the most and least and anything they have achieved in the session, there is also spave for the assessor/tutor to make comment on what they learner has done, these forms are filed and can be used for learners to reflect on. Learners are to approach the assessor once they feel ready to be assessed, the assessor has to advise the learner to look through the criteria of the unit the learner wants to be assessed on and the learner is to decide if they feel they can meet the criteria.
If the assessment id not achieved feedback is a must, by asking the learner ‘how they felt it went’ will encourage the learner to analyse their work and reflect on what they could do better next time to achieve the assessment. 4. 4 Explain how assessment arrangements can be adapted to meet the needs of individual learners. An assessor is the hairdressing sector would have to be flexible to fit in with the salons opening times. Many salons are closed Mondays but, open Saturdays.
In order to assess a learner it may require the assessor to work when they normally have a day off, work later or start earlier. If a learner was particularly shy the assessor may have to go at quieter times in the salon to carry out an assessment, if it is a busy salon the assessor has to ensure they do not get in the way whilst doing assessment. 5. Understand how to make assessment decisions. 5. 1Explain how to judge whether evidence is:- Sufficient A performace criteria is stated in each learners log book for each unit within the NVQ qualification.
The learner must achieve the stated outcomes to have sufficient evidence to meet the requirements. Authentic The learner is watched by the assessor from start to finish of the assessment to ensure outcomes are met and assessment is completed with the time scale stated by the standards. Current All assessments are recorded in the learners logbook, which is completed by the assessor dating and signing to confirm assessment has been achieved, the learner also signs the log book. Dating the log book ensures assessments are current. 5. Explain how to ensure that assessment decisions are:- Made against specified criteria The outcomes in the logbook for each unit ensure that the assessment decision is made against the specified criteria and that the learner is working to City and Guild standards. Valid To ensure the assessment is valid, the assessor has to ensure that the learner is being assessed against the correct standards. For example; if a learner was being assessed on styling hair (GH10), the assessor would not use change hair colour (GH9) standards to assess the learner against.
Reliable By following the standards set by City and Guild for each assessment, it ensures that the same result will be achieved. Fair By following the standards all assessments are fair. An assessors personal feelings about the learners cannot cloud cloud the assessors judgement. 6. Understand quality assurance of the assessment process. 6. 1Evaluate the importance of quality assurance in the assessment process. A trainee assessor is observed by an internal verifier, at Woodspeen Christopher Pauls, assessors are given 5 days notice before the observation.
The observations take place to ensure assessors are working to the same standards and that assessments are being completed correctly. The IV will also have interviews will the learners to see how they are learning and interacting with their assessor, this gives the learners to air any grievances they may have which they may have not wanted to discuss with their assessor. An IV will go through the learners logbook after the learner has been on the course for 6 months, this is to ensure that the assessors accupational competence is up to date.
The IVwill give feedback to the assessor verbally and written. The IV can sample the log book at anytime and will go through the whole log book again once the learner has completed. At Woodspeen Christopher Paul all assessors attend a standardisation meeting in which the assessors are split into small groups and given the same unit to work through and assess. The assessors then discuss their findings and work together so all assessors come to the same outcome, so all assessors is working to the same standards. 6. Summarise quality assurance and standardisation procedures in own area of practice. To ensure trainee assessors are correctly assessing they will be observed by the IV every 3 months, trainee assessor also have 100% sampling/counter signing which takes place initially and all assessment decisions will be countersigned by qualified assessors. Any problems that are identified during sampling the IV will follow up with discussion/training with the assessor involed. All evidence sampled in the log book is initialled in red by the IV, all feedback will be kept and dated for EV’s.
All these actions are taken to ensure every assessor is working to the standards set by the awarding body, ensuring there is standardisation within the assessors. 6. 3Summarise the procedures to follow when there are disputes concerning assessment in area of practice. Every learner has the right to a fair assessment process, if the learner feels that they have been treated unfairly they have the right to appeal the decision. There is a NVQ appeal procedure in line with the awarding body requirements and NVQ code of practice which must be followed.
The learner must first approach the centre lead internal verifier, if not resolved then to the centre manager, if the learner is still not happy with the outcome it will then be referred to the awarding body who will pursue the matter with the external or lead verifier. Assessment decision unfair Report to the internal verifier within 10 days Internal verifier to investigate within 10 days If problem not resolved it will be passed to centre co-ordinator who will give a decision within 10 days or within a time scale that has allowed for full investigation of the complaint
If still not resolved it will be passed to the awarding body within 10 days The final decision will rest with the awarding body. 7. Understand how to manage information relating to assessment. 7. 1Explain the importance of following procedures for the management of information relating to assessment. It is important to follow procedures when managing information relating to assessment to ensure all assessors are working to the NVQ standards. All information collected during assessment must be kept up to date and and follow the policies and procedures of the awarding body.
This information should be available to learners and others to see at any point. Following procedures in the assessment process enables internal and external verifiers track the work of the learners and sample work of the assessor to ensure everything is being done to the company and awarding body standards. 7. 2Explain how feedback and questioning contribute to the assessment process. The assessment process is to plan, assess, give feedback and develop.
Firstly, the assessor and the learner must come up with a plan for assessment, the assessor will write up the planned assessment plan before assessment begins, the learner is then assessed through observation and the assessor asking relevant questions, once assessment is completed feedback needs to be given to the learner from the assessor, if the learner has achieved the assessment feedback still needs to be given on what the learner did really well on anything they could still improve on and then a plan is made between the assessor and learner on what the assessor would like to see next assessment and how the learner can achieve and develop their skills for this. If the learner has not achieved the assessment constructive cristism is given to the learner, the feedback will be what they didn’t achieve on, what they did well and what they need to do to imporove, the learner will also be given a plan on what they need they need to complete to enable the learner to achieve assessment next time. The learners are given a 2 week period before they are assessed again to develop their skills. 8. Understand the legal and good practice requirements in relation to assessment. 8. 1Explain legal issues, policies and procedures relevant to assessment, including those for confidentiality, health, safety and welfare.
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I saw this post:
Typos… Just use option strict and explicit please.. during one software development project, which I was on as a consultant, they were getting ridiculous amounts of errors everywhere… turned out the developer couldn’t spell and would declare variables with incorrect spelling.. no big deal, until you use the correct spelling when you’re assigning a value to it… and you had option explicit off. Ouch to them…"
What is Option Strict and Option Explicit anyway? I have googled it up but can't get the idea (because mostly it's Visual Basic, I'm doing PHP).
Option Explicit means that all variables must be declared. See here. Without this, you can accidentally declare a new variable just by misspelling another variable name. This is one of those things that cause a lot of grief as you're trying to debug VB programs and figure out why your program isn't working properly. In my opinion, this shouldn't even be an option - it should always be on.
Option Strict "restricts implicit data type conversions to only widening conversions". See here. With this option enabled, you can't accidentally convert one data type to another that is less precise (e.g. from an Integer to a Byte). Again, an option that should be turned on by default.
• Option Explicit off for shorter programs saves the development time and energy of thinking up and typing in data types. – Doug Null Feb 22 '18 at 20:36
• 2
@DougNull No, Option Explicit has nothing to do with data types. Dim could always be used to declare a variable without specifying its type. With Option Explicit off you may additionally declare a variable by simply starting to use it. So if you misspell a previous variable, you're declaring new one: that's evil. – Teejay Aug 27 '18 at 14:15
Option Strict and Option Explicit help you to catch potential and actual errors at design time, rather than your code compiling and failing at runtime. You should switch Both On
Option Strict and Option Explicit are Off By Default. To switch them on:
Option Strict Tools -> Options -> Projects and Solutions -> VB defaults -> Option Strict. Set it to On.
Option Explicit Tools -> Options -> Editor -> Require Variable Declaration. tick it.
Option Explicit
With Option Explicit Off you don't have to declare (Dim) a variable before using it:
a = 123 'a is automatically declared as an Integer
This becomes dangerous when you declare a variable in one place and think you are using it later but mis-type it:
Dim counter As Integer = 0
'some lines later...
countr = 55 'This creates a new variable called countr
Or even worse, you assign a value to a variable that you think is in scope, but it isn't and you end up declaring a new variable with the same name but differing scope.
With a lot of code or long methods these can be easy to miss to you should always switch it on to prevent these sorts of issues
Option Strict
With Option Strict Off you can implicitly convert a datatype to a narrowing type with no error
Dim d As Double = 999.99
Dim s As Single = d 'No error with Option Strict Off
For these cases Option Strict serves as a warning to the developer to make sure that the double value should never exceed Single.MaxValue
You can also assign an Enum to the incorrect value with no error. The following is a real example of this:
enter image description here
The variable should have been set to EOpticalCalStates.FAILED (24), in fact it sets the State to a value of 4 which is equivalent to EOpticalCalStates.ALI_HOR
Something like this is not easy to spot.
Therefore you should always have Option Strict on by default. This setting should have been set on as default, but Microsoft decided to leave it off to increase backwards compatibility (which with hindsight was a mistake IMO)
Find details here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311329
The Option Explicit statement
By default, the Visual Basic .NET or Visual Basic compiler enforces explicit variable declaration, which requires that you declare every variable before you use it. To change this default behavior, see the Change the Default Project Values section.
The Option Strict statement
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Java is littered with statements like:
if(cage.getChicken() != null) {
dinner = cage.getChicken();
} else {
dinner = getFreeRangeChicken();
Which takes two calls to getChicken() before the returned object can be assigned to dinner.
This could also be written in one line like so:
dinner = cage.getChicken() != null? cage.getChicken() : getFreeRangeChicken();
But alas there are still two calls to getChicken().
Of course we could assign a local variable then use the ternary operator again to assign it if it is not null, but this is two lines and not so pretty:
FutureMeal chicken = cage.getChicken();
dinner = chicken != null? chicken : getFreeRangeChicken();
So is there any way to say:
Variable var = some value if some value is not null OR some other value;
And I guess I'm just talking syntax here, after the code is compiled it probably doesn't make much difference how the code was written in a performance sense.
As this is such common code it'd be great to have a one-liner to write it.
Do any other languages have this feature?
• 3
Not really an answer but if your code is full of such blocks of code replacing missing values with default one, there's probably a problem in the design of your API. – Denys Séguret Apr 9 '15 at 11:50
Java lacks coalesce operator, so your code with an explicit temporary is your best choice for an assignment with a single call.
You can use the result variable as your temporary, like this:
dinner = ((dinner = cage.getChicken()) != null) ? dinner : getFreeRangeChicken();
This, however, is hard to read.
• 3
Upvote for your conclusion. – jan groth Apr 9 '15 at 12:14
Same principle as Loki's answer but shorter. Just keep in mind that shorter doesn't automatically mean better.
dinner = Optional.ofNullable(cage.getChicken())
Note: This usage of Optional is explicitly discouraged by the architects of the JDK and the designers of the Optional feature. You are allocating a fresh object and immediately throwing it away every time. But on the other hand it can be quite readable.
• I think this actually is the clearest. – Peter Hall May 23 '17 at 12:37
• 6
If getFreerangeChicken() is costly, make sure to use dinner = Optional.ofNullable(cage.getChicken()) .orElseGet(()->getFreerangeChicken()); – Matheus208 Nov 30 '17 at 14:04
• this was useful in a websocket client: javax.websocket.CloseReason.getReasonPhrase() returns null on successful messages – Stuart Cardall Jun 14 '18 at 11:10
• Too bad it's discouraged. I kinda like it. – Pieter De Bie Jul 6 '18 at 13:19
• @PieterDeBie Why is this discouraged? – Heather Sawatsky Nov 27 '18 at 21:14
Using Java 1.8 you can use Optional
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
//example call, the methods are just dumb templates, note they are static
FutureMeal meal = getChicken().orElse(getFreeRangeChicken());
//another possible way to call this having static methods is
FutureMeal meal = getChicken().orElseGet(Main::getFreeRangeChicken); //method reference
//or if you would use a Instance of Main and call getChicken and getFreeRangeChicken
// as nonstatic methods (assume static would be replaced with public for this)
Main m = new Main();
FutureMeal meal = m.getChicken().orElseGet(m::getFreeRangeChicken); //method reference
FutureMeal meal = m.getChicken().orElse(m.getFreeRangeChicken()); //method call
static Optional<FutureMeal> getChicken(){
//instead of returning null, you would return Optional.empty()
//here I just return it to demonstrate
return Optional.empty();
//if you would return a valid object the following comment would be the code
//FutureMeal ret = new FutureMeal(); //your return object
//return Optional.of(ret);
static FutureMeal getFreeRangeChicken(){
return new FutureMeal();
You would implement a logic for getChicken to return either Optional.empty() instead of null, or Optional.of(myReturnObject), where myReturnObject is your chicken.
Then you can call getChicken() and if it would return Optional.empty() the orElse(fallback) would give you whatever the fallback would be, in your case the second method.
If you're not on java 1.8 yet and you don't mind to use commons-lang you can use org.apache.commons.lang3.ObjectUtils#defaultIfNull
Your code would be:
dinner = ObjectUtils.defaultIfNull(cage.getChicken(),getFreeRangeChicken())
• why not with java 8? – Blauhirn Feb 26 '17 at 0:41
• Java 8 has Optional, which doesn't require an external dependency. You can still use this of course. – Pieter De Bie Feb 26 '17 at 9:29
• Good answer, for example when you develop for Android pre API 24, where Optional calls are not available. – Levit Nov 21 '17 at 11:37
Use your own
public static <T> T defaultWhenNull(@Nullable T object, @NonNull T def) {
return (object == null) ? def : object;
defaultWhenNull(getNullableString(), "");
• Works if you don't develop in Java8
• Works for android development with support for pre API 24 devices
• Doesn't need an external library
• Always evaluates the default value (as oposed to cond ? nonNull() : notEvaluated())
This could be circumvented by passing a Callable instead of a default value, but making it somewhat more complicated and less dynamic (e.g. if performance is an issue).
By the way, you encounter the same disadvantage when using Optional.orElse() ;-)
Since Java 9 you have Objects#requireNonNullElse which does:
public static <T> T requireNonNullElse(T obj, T defaultObj) {
return (obj != null) ? obj : requireNonNull(defaultObj, "defaultObj");
Your code would be
dinner = Objects.requireNonNullElse(cage.getChicken(), getFreeRangeChicken());
Which is 1 line and calls getChicken() only once, so both requirements are satisfied.
Note that the second argument cannot be null as well; this method forces non-nullness of the returned value.
Consider also the alternative Objects#requireNonNullElseGet:
public static <T> T requireNonNullElseGet(T obj, Supplier<? extends T> supplier)
which does not even evaluate the second argument if the first is not null, but does have the overhead of creating a Supplier.
dinner = cage.getChicken();
if(dinner == null) dinner = getFreeRangeChicken();
if( (dinner = cage.getChicken() ) == null) dinner = getFreeRangeChicken();
• Missing curly braces aside, using an assignment within an evaluation shouldn't be legal IMHO. This code is just too hard to read and too easy to get wrong. – jan groth Apr 9 '15 at 12:12
• While this may answer the question it’s always a good idea to put some text in your answer to explain what you're doing. Read how to write a good answer. – Jørgen R Apr 9 '15 at 12:33
• 1
i find the first part of the answer the best solution, its clear and easy to understand and only one call to getChicken is made – NikkyD Sep 14 '17 at 15:49
Alternatively in Java8 you can use Nullable or NotNull Annotations according to your need.
public class TestingNullable {
public Color nullableMethod(){
//some code here
return color;
public void usingNullableMethod(){
// some code
Color color = nullableMethod();
// Introducing assurance of not-null resolves the problem
if (color != null) {
public class TestingNullable {
public void foo(@NotNull Object param){
//some code here
public void callingNotNullMethod() {
//some code here
// the parameter value according to the explicit contract
// cannot be null
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Psychology Reflective Essay
The psychology is named the "science of behavior" this means the analysis of human mother nature and activities. It really is significant as it is involved with the study of actions and psychological strategies and simultaneously, it is also used in numerous places of individual lifestyle. The most frequent approaches in psychology are behavioral, psychoanalytic, cognitive, interpersonal/cultural, and physiological. Everything we do is very much indeed related to mindset. It's relevant in my life since it allows me to comprehend myself better. It also allows me to comprehend other individuals. If you comprehend mindset, you can change your own activities and help other individuals to modify theirs. You can also estimate how other individuals are going to react to factors. The people that study the behaviours are called psychologists. Psychology's four main goals are to describe what occurred, clarify why it took place, forecast what event is likely to occur next, and to change to prevent unwanted final results. Psychologists study the process of considering, learning, cognition, thoughts, motivations, and personalities. Based on the psychology knowledge that I am acquiring within my psychology course I notified that as person mindset has helped me to get ready myself for almost any situation in life: it can benefit you understand different behaviors of individuals and the items around you, which is beneficial to you if you want to make a judgment or have a hard decision ; it can help in your development as a person with specific connection in places such as school or job configurations; It also can help shape your personality and it can even enhance your individual life: if you know very well what can cause psychological or mental problems then you understand how to avoid it.
In the first place, learning is a big change in action or in potential tendencies that occurs because of this of experience. You will discover three major types of learning respectively: the classical fitness which is learning through relationship, the operant fitness it's learning through repercussions and the observational learning which is learning through observation. First of all I acquired the classical fitness explain by Pavlov's and Watson's tests, from my personal opinion I have to confess that I've been learned a whole lot about of organizations with several situations that took place during my day to day routine, for example I often have problems to control my desire to visit the bathroom whenever i listen the noise next if you ask me in any place because I think my brain usually make the relationship of water noises with the feeling of relief and my body's programmed response is make a pee. I QUICKLY have operant fitness by B. F. Skinner says that the patterns is result of consequences. It's split into two aspects namely the reinforcement that escalates the likelihood of response being repeated. It could be positive when there's a strengthening response because something is added and negative when which strengthening response because something is migrated/avoid. On the other hand we got punishment that decreases the chance that the action will be repeated, and yes it can maintain positivity when the habit decreases by adding an aversive stimulus and negative when the behavior decreases by removing something suitable. On my youth I recall that I used to be reinforced and punished in a number of different situations by my parents and sometimes by some teachers that I possessed. However, the most amazing situations about reinforced and punishment were with my parents especially with my father because he is an extremely conservative person about the customs and behaviors, so we were almost each time incompatible with ideas, I used to be a one who didn't prefer to listen their advices and I took my decisions by myself behaving like irresponsible person in some instances. As a consequence of my personality I received more punishment than reinforcement but I presumed which it helped me to comprehend better some situations in life and today I become more adaptable and understandable person when I got eventually to take any decision or even allow any life condition. The last an example may be the observational learning by Albert Bandura, it concerns to learning new behavior by enjoying others. About this type of learning I think it's the most frequent in my life because I've learned a great deal things in my life by observing the individuals around me such as using computer, riding on bicycle, and participating in acoustic guitar. I used to like see my dad playing guitar, so I made a decision to try understand how that can be played it by myself and It had been a good idea because I just viewed him and then I visited practice on my bedroom when I realized after one month I was playing it. Even though I experienced these tree learning process I don't have any doubt to state that the operant was the the one which had more impact on me because of my mentality now.
Second, the development describes the expansion of humans throughout the life-span, from conception to loss of life. The study of individuals development seeks to understand and make clear how and just why people change throughout life. This includes all aspects of human growth, including physical, emotional, intellectual, public, perceptual, and personality development. There're four ideas in development, the first theory is the theory of cognitive development by Piaget it discusses the nature and development of human being intellect. He divided this theory in four phases: the first level is the sensorimotor during this stage, newborns and children acquire knowledge through neurological encounters and modifying things. I don't keep in mind about nothing I did on this stage, my mom always tells me i cried too much, though. The second stage is the preoperational level at this stage, children understand through imagine play but nonetheless struggle with reasoning and taking the perspective of other folks. On this level I acquired some memories not very clear but one of them is very funny I remember that I was fighting my parents because I didn't want to talk about the gadgets with my brother even easily wasn't using them. The 3rd level is the concrete operational stage children at this point of growth commence to think more rationally, but their considering can even be very firm, they often struggle with subjective and theoretical ideas. This stage is very interesting because during it I started to be very curious about the things around me and I used to make a great deal questions for my parents related to every single object or person who I saw in front of me. The last stage is the formal operational includes a rise in thinking, the capability to use deductive thinking, and a knowing of subjective principles. It's the easier one to remember since it happened recently, it was proclaimed by my liberty of expression whenever i needed to take decisions and point out my thoughts, and essentially I've are more independent. The next theory is the Erikson's theory of psychosocial development where he explained the development of ego identity occurring throughout the life-span. With the he stated eight psychosocial phases proclaimed by basic conflict between several elements. On Erikson's levels I'm on stage 6 (Intimacy vs Isolation) this stage is focused on relationships, so I privately liked this stage for this aspect and the other aspect is basically because it means that at least I'm already young adult. In fact, the relationship aspect upon this stage is crucial for me because I consider myself as a timid person, since I moved to the U. S. this characteristic of my personality has become even more difficult for me because it's a different culture and folks, however I decided to focus on it therefore far I've relished this challenger where I try to building new human relationships with folks from others culture. The third theory is the Ainsworth's attachment theory it's focused on the human relationships and bonds between individuals, particularly long-term romantic relationships such as those between a father or mother and kid and between caring associates. She identified three main connection styles, secure, insecure avoidant and insecure ambivalent. Truthfully, I'm not confident about my connection but I feel that I'm the secure connection because of my romantic relationship with others people I usually liked to truly have a physical connection with the people who are near to me especially given that I'm far from family. This theory also discuss of the three parenting main styles, authoritarian parenting style, authoritative parenting style, and permissive parenting style. My parents fit better with authoritative parenting style even not totally but at least 90 % because they established rules and guidelines for me which are likely to follow. However, they used to be very democratic with especially my father we'd a lot of discussions to avoid pointless situations before they happen. These interactions had an enormous impact for me personally to be who I am today because I could feel that I more happy, capable and adult person. Finally, we got Kohlberg's theory of moral development which is based upon research and interviews with groups of young children. My moral development was formed in accordance with my parent's education, it allowed me to create a common sense within me that has been advantageous on my relationships now as a young adult. I can say that inside the moral development area I see myself on Level 3 post standard morality on stage 6 because now I became aware that morality is dependant on principles that transcend common gain and I follow these internalized principles of justice that I believe even if indeed they conflict with law and guidelines.
Afterwards is the personality identifies our enduring, distinctive thoughts, thoughts, and conducts, which characterize how exactly we adapt to the world. There're four major psychology ideas; the behavioral and social theories suggest that personality is a consequence of interaction between the individual and the environment consist of B. F. Skinner and John B. Watson; the humanist ideas highlight the importance of free will and individual experience in the expansion of personality include Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow; the trait theories, the relating to this theory, character is created up of a number of wide characteristics, and finally the psychodynamic ideas that see personality as generally unconscious, occurring in levels, and being associated with early experiences. The very last theories were affected by Sigmund Freud, he thought that the three components personality were the id which is the only real part of personality that is existing from labor and birth, for example as a child my id was cry too much like my mother usually inform me and I simply ceased crying when someone required me for a ride. Next is the ego it's the part of personality that is accountable for dealing with fact, in my case I must confess that I'm an egocentric person it's good to attain my goals in life, however, sometimes I do not be so egocentric because it can induce some issues with others people and I simply like to avoid them, so I would prefer to be an understandable person with others. Even though I'm egocentric, I still care about the others people. The last is the superego the aspect of personality that retains all of our internalized ethical requirements and beliefs that people obtain from both mom and dad and society--our feeling of right and wrong. I personally believe that my superego is the reflection of my ego because I needed to get ready myself for the life span in culture mentally and actually, as a result I became more adaptable and reasonable to use decisions avoiding follow my impulses. Additionally he talked about defense mechanisms which is a tactic produced by the ego to protect against anxiety. You will find nine defense mechanisms but within my life I take advantage of to undergo the quantity six protection mechanism which is the sublimation because I believe that the better way to relief your system and head from your emotions that make you are feeling furious or mad does something constructive. In fact, there are some significant changes in my personality from my childhood until these days, I became more mature, and I started to use the critical thinking to investigate my faults and failures to improve my personality. Now I could tell from wrong.
In addition, the stress and health. Overall, the strain is a natural feeling that people all already experienced and it may cause some health issues. Thereupon, the strain and health don't match one another. Likewise with others people my stress is brought on by various resources either by day-to-day situations or even personal life. The most frequent and common sources of stress that I have are usually related to my own life such as frustrations and charges in the relationship with my parents and my lover. I strongly consider there will be a period of my entire life that I'll figure out how to package with them but I have no idea if they'll change because I feel that they can be part of life, so we have to find answers to deal with them. In order to cope with my stressors Personally, i like to do a number of things such as physical actives because I consider myself a wholesome person, so I feel safe and well when I'm rehearsing physical exercises; another thing that I love is to hang out with my friends and sometimes with my family it's a good way to have fun with the people you like; I also like to play my guitar. Basically, you will need to something that make you are feeling good definitely not physical activists it can be some types of solutions to relax your mind and body. Due the circumstances of my entire life I'm more likely to employ a problem focused strategy, therefore i created a daily stress journal because it helps me to recognize how much stress I'm under, the actual stress triggers and ways to lessen the stress in my own life. I'm an optimistic person but sensible too. After all in every situations of my life I always like to be optimistic, however, with my feet on floor, I normally prefer to use the probability rule because of this I could be both positive and realistic.
In summary, this article made me recognize that psychology is nothing but common sense. Mindset can be used in every day lifestyle. You should use mindset to get influenced toward whatever objectives you create by yourself. Success stories approaches for yourself, implementing yourself to understand new factors, and rewarding yourself when you achieve a aim are uses of psychology. I have found out a great deal about effects of psychology in my lifestyle. Learning mindset has been very significant if you ask me and has given me an improved comprehend of my ideas, feelings, and actions. Lastly, I can comprehend who I am and appearance at activities on a more beneficial part.
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Galapagos Wildlife, Sea Lion Galapagos
The Lions are endemic to the Galapagos Islands. The local population now has 50,000 copies, are adapted to their lifestyle semi-aquatic. They can be seen along sandy beaches and rocky islands, capturing the intention of the tourists.
Datos de interés
• Scientific name:Zalophus wollebaeki
• Class:Mammalia
• Family:Otariidae
• Size:150 - 250 cms
• Weight:50 - 400 kgs
Sea Lion Galapagos
The endemic Galapagos sea lion is a subspecies of the California sea lion.
It is characterized by its extremities in the form of fin and spend most of the year at sea. Like seals, are different from those in which their puppies are much slower growth, remaining two years with their mothers. Males have the hair of the head very long, a feature not present in females, making them very similar to the seals.
The Galapagos sea lion is also known as "wolf hair" because the length of its coat is uniform throughout the body.
A male sea lion can weigh up to 250 kilograms. When wet, both sexes are dark brown and dries your skin is often a lighter color.
Mating season is usually from July to December. The sea lion fight with other males for control of territory and the breeding colony is located there. There are several reproductive groups present in each breeding colony. These include male, female, young and puppies. Females are known to move between the territories if the dominant male are not suitable for breeding.
The females have their young each year. The females wean their babies past 11 or 12 months, but some nurse their pups a year old next to the newborn.
Galapagos sea lions are always playing each other or with other animals.
Galapagos Wildlife, Sea Lion Galapagos
Galapagos Wildlife
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Public events security
The organization of a major public event, such as a sporting event or high-level political meeting, presents unique security challenges, including possible threats involving nuclear or other radioactive material. Upon request, the IAEA provides assistance to States in the form of detection equipment, staff training and information.
Nuclear security threats have the potential of severe health, social, psychological, economic, political and environmental consequences. They could include such scenarios as the dispersal of nuclear or other radioactive material in public places; the intentional placement of radioactive material in public places; and, although the likelihood of this is much lower, the possibility of a nuclear weapon being produced.
Adding nuclear security measures to traditional arrangements for the organization of a major public event is a complex task that requires a high degree of planning and coordination. Different national authorities and institutes need to work together, sharing information on the illicit movement of nuclear and radioactive material and actively monitoring the flow of persons and goods for radiation sources. They also need to train front line officers in the use of radiation detection instruments and pass on knowledge to them of how to respond to radiological incidents.
The complexity of these tasks requires the establishment of coordination bodies and the conduct of preparatory exercises. Several States hosting major public events have requested assistance from the IAEA for implementing strategies and concepts to deal with nuclear security threats. The IAEA not only provides to States, upon request, necessary detection equipment but also organizes training for security staff and facilitates peer-based sharing of knowledge and expertise.
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There is No S for Security in IoT
There is No S for Security in IoT
You do not have a cell phone, you have a computer in your pocket that can make phone calls; you no longer drive a car, you are driving in a computer whose computer case is shaped like a car and is designed for transportation. The same can be said about thermostats, X-ray machines and yes – security camera systems. We now know these internet-connected devices as the ‘The Internet of Things’ (IoT) and we in IT have a joke about it.
“What does the “S” in IoT stand for?”
“There isn’t an “s” in IoT.”
“S” is for Security
With the quality varying in the vast array of IoT devices, there is plenty of low hanging fruit for bad guys to take advantage of. Usually, this means hackers taking control of a device so they can add it to their ‘zombie’ network of infected, remote controlled Internet devices. You may have heard of this before, it is called a botnet. Remember when Twitter, Netflix, CNN, and Reddit went down late last October? That was a botnet.
“P” is for Protected
To address the security of your network, answer these two questions:
1. How do we ensure that none of your equipment would become part of an infected botnet?
2. How do we protect your office network from the bot-nets that already exist?
I previously mentioned that the bad guys go for the low hanging fruit. What does this look like? Take network-based, wireless security cameras for example – aka “nanny cams”. You can find these devices ranging in price and quality from $35 to well over $2000. Parallel to this large span of pricing lies a huge difference in features, and quality.
Related: How to Handle Internet of Things Security
When we focus on quality there are certainly the physical tangibles: ability to withstand abuse, quality control of the product before it leaves the manufacturer, quality of the lenses and the image the camera takes. However, what is frequently overlooked by the consumer is the quality of the intangibles: quality code (code that is secure, stable, and frequently updated).
You Get What You Pay For
The equipment on the lower-end of the scale, like a nanny cam, is most likely rushed through production – with the only requirement being that the equipment functions as advertised with little to no effort spent on reliability and security (despite the claims on the box).
If you happen to purchase such equipment – you alone would be responsible for visiting the manufacturer’s website to download and install firmware updates for security – and that is assuming the manufacturer even releases security updates. This kind of sloppy security can lead to hackers watching your nanny cam feed – even if it is password protected. Effective security and automatic updates are what companies pay for when they purchase more expensive network equipment.
The Cost of Security
A deep investment in network security means your servers are protected with patch management, the routers are the only equipment directly connected to the internet, monitored, and the firmware is upgraded regularly of each device monitored remotely. The rest of your equipment, access points and switches are commercial grade, also monitored, and not directly connected to the internet so if they were to get infected, it would have to be an ‘inside job’.
Now that we know what is necessary to prevent your equipment from being infected, let’s focus on the second half – how do we protect your already healthy network from the millions of infected devices on the internet? By putting all your equipment behind a firewall so the outside world cannot directly communicate with them.
Long story short, when it comes to your IoT, YOU are responsible for adding the “S”.
The end user’s first and last stop for making technology decisions.
This article was originally published at TechDecisions. It was added to IoTplaybook or last modified on 03/14/2018.
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The Coming Middle Ages
The middle of the 21st century will resemble nothing so much as the Middle Ages of the 5th to 15th centuries, from the sacking of Rome by the Visigoths, in 410, to the fall of Constantinople, in 1453. This was a long and uncertain period and thus an ideal metaphor to characterize our times. It was an age of plagues and progress, commercial revolutions, expanding empires, crusades, city-states, merchants, and universities. It was multipolar, with expanding empires on the Eurasian landmass, and apolar, with no one global leader. The new Middle Ages—synonymous with the age of globalization—have already begun. First let us take the empires. Charlemagne’s efforts to resurrect the Roman Empire have been succeeded, over a millennium later, by the multipronged armadas of Brussels Eurocrats steadily colonizing Europe’s periphery, in the Baltics, the Balkans, and, eventually, Anatolia and the Caucasus. The Eurocrats’ book is not the Bible but rather the acquis communautaire: the 31 chapters of the Lex Europea, which is rebuilding EU member states from the inside out. By 2040, even depopulated Russia, with any luck, will be an EU member and the West’s front line against the far more populous East. By then, a rebranded, globalizing China will be just a decade shy of the centennial of its civil war’s end, in 1949; the Communist Party has long declared that 2050, not 2008 (the year of the Beijing Olympic Games), will mark the country’s real coming-out party as a superpower. A half century from now, China may still be the world’s most populous country, and if the exploits of its 15th-century explorer–statesman Zheng He are any guide, its demographic, commercial, and strategic presence from Africa to Latin America—to say nothing of its diplomatic and cultural dominance in East Asia—will have substantially increased. The world’s third center of gravity will be the United States, demographically stable but also more thoroughly amalgamated with Latin America. Almost a century after John F. Kennedy’s Alliance for Progress, the country will have rediscovered its southern neighbors, especially Brazil, for an industrial partnership to boost the Western hemisphere’s competitiveness against Asia—and to achieve energy independence from the Middle East. What then of the Middle East, the current center of geopolitical travails? Monarchies may still support dreams of a caliphate, but a unified Islamic ummah, such as the Abbasid empire attempted, is unlikely to emerge. Global energy resources will be more diversified than they are today, so oil and petrochemicals will sustain only a modest degree of Arabian cultural expansionism, even if they still support a few Islamic crusades. With something of a reformation under way in parts of the Muslim world, one of the most practiced religions on Earth will be ever more fractured and embedded in diverse geographies, much as Christianity is today. Meanwhile, the resurrection of the city-state, the most prominent medieval political unit, will continue. To the current list of global cities—Dubai, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo—we may add additional globalized nodes, such as Alexandria, Istanbul, and Karachi along major trade routes. Now, as then, city-states are commercial hubs all but divorced from their national anchors, reminding us that corporate actors will be paramount well into the future. City-states will pay for protection as global security privatizes further into corporate hands—the 21st century’s knights, mercenaries, and condottieri. Today’s sovereign-wealth funds, fused with city-state savvy, will be tomorrow’s Hanseatic League, forming capital networks that disperse the newest technologies to nearby regions. Not Oxford and Bologna, but rather Silicon Valley, Singapore, Switzerland, and their like will be the standard-setting centers. The Middle Ages witnessed a number of innovations—from the cannon to the compass—that were geared to intensified global exploration. In the 21st century, the speed of communication and transport will bring us ever closer to simultaneity. As the ranks of billionaires soar beyond Gates, Branson, and Ambani, mega-philanthropists will become the postmodern Medicis, financing explorations in outer space and the deep sea alike and governing territory and production in the manner of medieval princes. And, as in the Middle Ages, humanity faces diseases and invasions in the decades ahead. AIDS, malaria, SARS, and other maladies could become plagues like the 14th-century Black Death. What will be the impact of the coming migratory hordes, potentially unsettled by wars and environmental disasters? Who will be the next Mongols—small, concentrated hordes who violently establish their own version of peace, law, and order? How will contemporary diasporas—the millions of Chinese, Indian, Turkish, and Arab peoples living outside their home countries—blend into European, African, and American societies? Finally, the fundamental reality of the Middle Ages was feudal social stratification, whose return the global economy may be accelerating. In medieval times, diverse power structures—religious, political, military, and commercial—all vied for control in shifting alliances. All of this is true again today and will remain so until a dominant form, like the nation-state in the 16th century, finally emerges. For now, the state is still in flux: declining in the Near East, resurgent in Asia, and almost nonexistent in Africa. Establishing a new system of global governance will take centuries, hence the uncertain leadership and complex landscape of the mid-21st century. The next Renaissance is still a long way off.
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What is MFA, and why do I need it?
By Gabriel Castro
Keeping on top of your online security is a constant but important battle. One popular and easy technique is Multifactor Authentication (MFA), which is rising among the ranks of security best practices. You are probably wondering, “What’s the big deal about MFA? What is it, and why am I hearing about it everywhere?” We’ll answer that question by painting a familiar picture. Let’s say you want to log into a web account. What do you do? You go to the website, enter your username, and that familiar password. Then, you’re in. You can go about your business.
Hold on, though! If you’re one of the 54% of consumers who, according to TeleSign, use five or fewer passwords for all of their accounts, you could allow hackers to gain access to any number of your accounts by simply cracking one those passwords or stealing it from one of the many recent data hacks.
The good news: There’s an easy way to better protect your data. It’s called multifactor authentication (MFA) and you can take initiative to get it.
What does MFA mean?
Multifactor Authentication sounds like a complex system that the FBI or CIA might use. It’s actually very easy to understand. In general, credentials fall into one of three categories:
• Something you know (a password, a PIN number)
• Something you possess (a smart card, a smartphone app)
• Something you are (your fingerprint, your face)
Up until now, you have used one type of credential to gain access into most accounts: your password. MFA is a security enhancement that, when activated, increases the requirement to two types of credentials. The key to MFA’s security enhancement is that your two credentials must come from two different categories out of the three listed above. e.g. Entering two different passwords does not count.
Learn more about activating MFA on your personal accounts
Hacker programing in technology environment with cyber icons and symbols
What’s the difference between MFA and 2FA?
The difference between MFA and 2FA (2 Factor Authentication) is very minute in terms of authentication layers and factors used, which may be considered negligible. Basically, 2FA is a subset of MFA but vice-versa is not true. Authentications involving more than one authentication layers/parameters fall under the category of MFA. As such, 2FA, 3FA, 4FA, are nothing but the sub-categories of MFA.
In short, every 2FA is a multi-factor authentication, but all multi-factor authentications are not necessarily 2FA.
In the light of the above discussion, it may be stated that the selection between 2FA and MFA (2FA and above) should be based on the scope, boundary, data sensitivity, need of securing small, medium or large-sized infrastructure and many similar factors. It should be noted that more the authentication checks we have, better will be the security, but at the same time the user should not feel tiresome/difficult in getting authenticated.
With MFA activated, over 90% of our clients have found it simple and easy to use on a regular basis. Here’s what it looks like. When you go to sign-in with your Office 365 email and password, an additional window will ask you to provide one more credential. You take 5-10 seconds to enter a special code or push a button on an app…and you’re done!
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Why Should I feed a Raw Diet?
More and more professionals in the world of dogs and cats (breeders, vets, sports competitors) are advocating a second look at what we feed our animals. Why? Because there is a growing belief that cats and dogs need a raw, natural diet in order to be healthy and that commercial pet foods cannot supply the nutrients necessary for good health and long lives.
Isabella Approved!
Isabella Approved!
What Should Carnivores Eat?
Proper nutrition is vital to good health. In nature, it is live foods that truly nourish both people and animals. If your animals are to thrive, they need the live enzymes, phytochemicals, antioxidants and unadulterated amino acids, vitamins and minerals that only Raw Food can provide. While commercial pet foods are convenient, most contain sub-standard or condemned meats. This is allowed by our FDA for pet foods.
Cats and dogs are carnivores, yet most dry pet foods are at least 50% (or more) grains, which are needed to hold food together as a binder. The Merck Veterinary Manual tells us, that dogs and cats have “No dietary requirement for carbohydrate.” If grains were the primary nutrient source you would see dogs and cats eating stalks of corn and heads of wheat.
Raw Diets simulate the menu that nature intended carnivores to eat, which include some bone, some organ meats and some vegetation contained in the digestive tract. That’s natures perfect meal-the meal raw diets replicate.
Are Raw Diets Safe?
Dogs and cats are NOT humans. They have a very different digestive tract and process. We can get sick from eating raw meat, while our pet thrives on it. Dogs and cats have a much shorter digestive system than we do, which means that foods are processed quickly- before harmful bacteria have a chance to multiply and cause problems.
A Raw Food Diet consists of good quality USDA inspected and approved meats and bones, the ingredients used in all the Raw Food Diets that we carry,
Stella & Chewy’s and Bravo!
Foods to Avoid
Check out the StylaPet Freezer!
Check out the StylaPet Freezer!
1. Onions- can cause Hemolytic Anemia even when used in small amounts whether cooked, raw or dehydrated in cats and dogs.
2. Chocolate - The theobromine in chocolate is toxic to dogs.
3. Yeast - in any form. Dogs do not tolerate yeast very well and it can lead to, or exacerbate, certain health problems.
4. White Potatoes - feed sparingly. Never feed raw if the skins are sprouted or have green skins.
5. Grains - dogs and cats are carnivores not grain eaters. They derive their energy from fats and protein. In addition, grains break down into sugars in the body and sugars feed unhealthy conditions like cancer, obesity, diabetes, and some skin problems.
6. Dairy Products - Milk and its derivatives are not natural foods for an adult animal. They are not digested well at all. Full fat yogurts and cottage cheese are the exceptions.
Noticeable benefits of a Raw Diet
1. One effect of a raw diet will become quickly apparent -- a large reduction in stool as well as a significant reduction in stool odor. Stools from dogs and cats on raw diets tend to be smaller and harder due to the fact that the animal is actually utilizing most of what it is eating.
2. A healthier and more compact stool will reduce the risk of anal gland impaction or infection, and allow the pet to release their anal glands naturally as intended.
3.Water consumption on a raw diet normally decreases because of the high moisture content in the raw foods, so do not become alarmed if your animal begins drinking less.
4. Your animal will be eating the diet that nature intended it to eat, not a man-made kibble, which can lead to obesity and other problems.
5. Raw food companies, ( Stella & Chewy’s and Bravo! and Nature’s Variety ) are highly conscious of the quality of the ingredients in your pets food. All ingredients are antibiotic and hormone free as well as being produced locally so there is no risk of any products coming from CHINA. All produce is organically grown and harvested from local organic farmers.
For More Information Visit: http://www.bravorawdiet.com/rawdiets.html
Heather HudsonComment
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“The concept of ‘artificial blood’ sounds simple, but it isn’t. When William Harvey first described the circulation of blood in , scientists starting thinking about. 19 Apr Making artificial blood for transfusions. “Bioinspired Polydopamine-Coated Hemoglobin as Potential Oxygen Carrier with Antioxidant Properties. 19 Apr Blood transfusions can save the lives of patients who have suffered major blood loss, but hospitals don’t always have enough or the right type.
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Raw Materials Depending on the type of artificial blood that is made, various raw materials are used. Second, it must be able to transport oxygen throughout the body and release it where it is needed.
The Future in Resuscitation?. Plasma is the extracellular material made up of water, salts, and various proteins that, along with platelets, encourages blood to clot. Blood, artificial blood, Nanoobts.
PFCs in solution act as an intravascular oxygen carrier to temporarily augment oxygen delivery to tissues. In artificiial, enough of the patients given milk as a blood substitute seemed to improve that it was concluded to be a safe and legitimate blood replacement procedure. These are long chain polymers similar to Teflon.
Artificial blood
Various other steps are needed to form hemoglobin into a useful and safe oxygen therapeutic agent. It can be further segregated and purified using fractional distillation.
Unmodified cell-free haemoglobin is not useful as a blood substitute because its oxygen affinity is too high for effective tissue oxygenation, the half-life within the intravascular space that is too short to be clinically useful, it has a tendency to undergo dissociation in dimers with resultant kidney damage and toxicity, and because free haemoglobin nanoots to take up nitric oxide, causing vasoconstriction.
This is in contrast to natural blood which can only be stored for one month before it breaks down. But it still has to be cross-matched and can be stored for only a few weeks before it has to be discarded.
Oxyglobin was approved in the US and Europe and was introduced to veterinary clinics and hospitals in March Footnotes Source of Support: Research in this area was further fueled in when it was discovered that HIV and hepatitis could be transmitted via blood transfusions.
Indian J Crit Care Med. The bacterial solution inside the seed tank is constantly bathed with compressed air and mixed to keep it moving. These hemoglobin products are different than whole blood in that they are not contained in a membrane so the problem of blood typing is eliminated. Synthetic hemoglobin-based products are produced from hemoglobin harvested from an E. Contains perfluorodecalin and perfluoro-N- 4-methylcyclohexyl -piperidine along with a surfactantProxanol Similarly, conjugation of poly ethylene glycol with hemoglobin has been suggested to act a hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier.
After much research, saline was developed as a plasma volume expander. Best of all, HBOCs can be used in situations and locations where real blood is not available, as at disaster sites, underdeveloped countries or battle zones. Inpatients were injected with milk to treat Asiatic cholera. These are chemicals that plants and animals use to create the proteins that are essential for life.
The authors contend that the cells had a near-normal lifespan, when compared to natural red blood cells. The Food and Drug Administration has examined and approved the safety of this blood from previously submitted O-negative blood.
Artificial Blood- A Game Changer for Future Medicine: Where are we Today? | OMICS International
The membrane of a red blood cell contains the antigen molecules that determine the ‘type’ of the blood A, B, AB or O. The ideal artificial blood product has the following characteristics.
Alliance has developed a blood substitute based on perfluoroctylbromide C8F17Br with egg yolk lecithin as the surfactant. The Future Currently, there are several companies working on the production of a safe and effective artificial blood substitute.
Page not available
Similarly, Hemospan was developed by Sangart, and was a pegylated haemoglobin provided in a powdered form. This eventually led to findings that the reduction in blood pressure caused by a loss of blood volume could be restored by using Ringer’s solution. Depending on the type of artificial blood, it can be produced in different ways using synthetic production, chemical isolation, or recombinant biochemical technology.
There are two significantly different products that are under development as blood substitutes. Unchecked, oxygen radicals may cause reperfusion injuries and other problems. Development of Hemoglobin-based oxygen carriers as artificial blood. In this strategy, the polymerization process is crucial due to the possibility of nephrotoxicity and liver failure from dissociated hemoglobin [ 8 ].
They take the form of an emulsion, a suspension of extremely small particles in a liquid that can be injected into a patient. This initial inoculation causes the bacteria to multiply. The artificial blood can then be pasteurized and put into an appropriate packaging. Blood is now safe, thanks to improved collection and screening by blood banks. So-called bifunctional agents can cross-link the hemoglobin molecules to one another to form polyhemoglobin.
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posted May 3, 2015
How the Rich Get Richer in the USA
Since the official end of the last recession in June 2009, the wealthiest 1% households in the U.S. have captured 91% of all the net income gains, according to university studies based on US income tax records. At the same time, median family real incomes have consistently fallen 1%-2% every year since 2009 in the US—and that’s at the median income level. For those below the median, the real income decline has been even greater. That’s almost 100 million households of ‘production and non-supervisory workers’ in the US, trying to survive on stagnant or falling wage incomes for the past six years.
How has this extreme inequality come about? How is it that wage incomes have been stagnant during a so-called ‘economic recovery’ since 2009, while the wealthiest 1% have captured virtually all the income gains for themselves?
It starts with profits. Compressing wages have allowed corporations to enjoy historic record profit margins—i.e. profits not from increased sales of goods and services but from slimming down operations, from cost cutting, which means mostly labor cost cutting.
Grow Profits by $5 Trillion in 5 years
Official government estimates of US corporate profits amounted to $1.3 trillion in 2008, rising to more than $2.4 trillion in 2014. Cumulatively, over the six years since 2009, that adds up to extra profits of $3.7 trillion over and above the $1.3 trillion level of 2008. But that’s not all. That’s only profits from sales of goods and services.
Not included in the $3.7 trillion are profits from corporations’ speculating in financial assets and securities, which is equal to another fourth of total corporate profits. That’s profits from buying and selling stocks, bonds, derivatives, currencies, real estate properties, and so on. At roughly one fourth, that’s about another $1 trillion dollars .
So US corporations have added about $5 trillion extra profits since 2009, give or take a couple hundred billion dollars here or there. The key question is what’s happened to that $5 trillion?
$3.8 Trillion in Stock Buybacks and Dividends
The lion’s share of the $5 trillion–$3.8 trillion— went to wealthy corporate shareholders, distributed in the form of record corporate stock buybacks and dividend payouts since 2008. As corporations reaped historic, record profits—from squeezing wages and speculating in financial securities—so too did their wealthy ‘owners’ receive record distributions of corporate income in the form of stock buybacks and dividend payouts.
That’s how the rich get richer in the USA. Their corporations are the ‘conduit’; stock buybacks and dividend payouts are the ‘pay offs’. Here’s some interesting facts on corporate stock buybacks and dividend payouts in recent years. Note the figures apply only to the largest 500 US corporations. Totals would be higher if all corporate buybacks and dividends were included:
In 2009, Standard & Poor’s largest 500 corporations distributed stock buybacks of ‘only’ $137 billion to shareholders. Dividend payouts were another $195 billion. That’s a combined $332 billion paid to shareholders in 2008, in what is generally considered the worst year of the recent 2007-09 great recession. Oh, such hard times for shareholders, only $332 billion—while 27 million workers lost their jobs, had their real incomes reduced for the next five year, and 14 million lost their homes.
But the years since 2008 have been even better for shareholders and the wealthiest 1%, in fact much better: escalating ever higher since 2009, by 2014 corporate buybacks rose to $553 billion and dividend payouts by another $350 billion. That’s $903 billion in just the year 2014 alone, or three times the level of combined buybacks and dividends in 2008. And over the five years since 2009, that’s a cumulative total of $3.8 trillion in buybacks and dividends.
That $3.8 trillion combined payout last year leaves just $1.2 trillion of the $5 trillion undistributed—which coincidentally is just about what remains on corporate balance sheets for the largest 500 corporations in hoarded cash at year end 2014.
Forecasts for this year, 2015, project a further 16% rise in corporate stock buybacks and another 14% for dividends. That’s more than $1 trillion that will be paid out in 2015—$604 billion in buybacks and $400 billion in dividends.
Meanwhile, economists try to convince us the gross income inequality in the USA today is the result of lack of workers pursuing better education or simply not being productive any more. The victims of income inequality are the cause, in this perverted logic of the professors. At least their conservative ilk. The more liberal variety of the professorial tribe claim it is excess compensation paid to CEOs or the tax system that has produced the income inequality. Neither liberals or conservatives say anything about inequality resulting from profits from excess financial speculation, and from six years of wage compression, subsequently distributed in the form of annual trillions in stock buybacks and dividends.
Capitalism’s New 21st Century ‘Business Model’
Global capitalism is shifting to a new, even more profitable business model. In decline is the old industrial production model. Fast replacing it is a model focusing on financial asset investing and speculation, on artificially boosting financial asset values like stocks, bonds, derivatives, real estate and the like.
In the post-2000 global world, instead of investing in real things, i.e. real assets, buildings, equipment, etc., in order to produce real goods and services, the new corporate model is squeeze profits from wages and then add to that further profits from speculating in financial securities. Profits from cost cutting or profits from driving up financial asset prices resold for a capital gain, or some combination of both. That’s the new model. Forget making things that require investment and the creation of decent paying jobs and incomes to buy the things.
Create profits by driving up financial asset prices. Buyback stock and payout dividends. That drives up stock prices even further. (In the US the stock markets have tripled in value since 2009). Both stockholders and corporations then get even richer. Complete the new model by arranging for government and ‘bought and paid for’ politicians to reduce taxes on dividends and capital gains from stock sales to 15%, as in the US. That way shareholders can keep the lion’s share of the capital gains from the buybacks and dividends.
General Electric Co., Buybacks, & Blackstone
General Electric Company is one of the largest manufacturing companies in the US and the world. It produces aircraft equipment, transport equipment, medical devices, power and water systems, lighting and appliances, and oil & gas equipment. It also became one of the biggest finance companies in the US in recent decades, earning from its financial subsidiary, GE Capital Assets, $6 billion of its annual $30 billion revenues last year.
But GE represents the classic ‘old business model’ of industrial production, of goods provided to both businesses and consumers. Last week GE announced its plan to buyback $90 billion of its stock over the next three years, starting with $50 billion this year. GE’s stock price has languished since 2007. It promised a mere $10 billion stock buyback in 2012, but that did little to raise its stock price two years ago. However, the $90 billion announcement last week produced an immediate double digit overnight stock gain for the company. GE has thus signaled it is planning to try to join the ranks of the new 21st century business model, where the way to raise stock prices is to buyback stock rather than produce profit gains from making and selling more real things.
To finance the $90 billion in buybacks, GE announced it was selling off much of its GE Capital Assets financial operation. $26 billion of its portfolio of offices, malls, commercial properties, and housing is being sold. The sale is necessary to offset growing losses from GE’s oil and gas equipment business, which is now collapsing in value as the global oil glut continues. Longer term prospects for GE’s old industrial products business model don’t appear very good. But $90 billion in buybacks will go a long way to support GE stock for a while.
In the 21st century it is now more important to boost corporate stock prices by whatever means, more important than making profits the old way, investing in real assets, providing jobs and incomes, and making products to sell to customers.
To fund its $90 billion stock buybacks GE is selling off assets to a company that represents the ‘new business model’ of the 21st century global capitalism. The global private equity company, Blackstone, is buying most of GE’s financial real estate assets currently up for sale. Blackstone doesn’t make things, or employ many workers, or generate income for many except its managers and investors. It fact, it makes nothing at all. It has pure financial speculation business model, as are all private equity companies. Blackstone buys assets and resells them at a higher price, making speculative financial profits. Half of its total profits in 2014 were made from buying real estate and then ‘flipping’ it, i.e. selling at a higher price. Blackstone owns $300 billion in assets it has bought from other companies, $81 billion of which is real estate. It is now the largest ‘landlord’ in the USA with more than 50,000 housing properties which it rents out. It has become far more profitable than General Electric, by speculating in assets rather than producing anything. It represents the far more profitable business model of 21st century global capitalism than does GE. It represents the new face of 21st century capital.
The General Electric vs. Blackstone comparison reflects several key trends underway in 21st century global capitalism: why the global economy today is on a steady, long run slowdown, why real investment is on a slowing trajectory, and why a drift toward deflation in goods and services in settling in everywhere. The old industrial capital business model represented by GE is under significant pressure. Revenues are slowing. Stock prices are consequently performing poorly. GE and others are thus driven to sell off parts of the company in order to fund buybacks in order to keep their stock prices from declining further. In contrast, financial asset speculators like Blackstone are buying up the assets of the old industrial model companies, and generating more and more profits from pure financial asset investing.
Investors are therefore piling in to the Blackstones, knocking on the door, wanting to give it the money capital they are diverting from the GEs. Their motto: ‘Who cares how profits are made, so long as they can be made faster and greater than before. So give us more stock price increases, more buybacks and more dividends. Who cares about stock or bond bubbles. We can get out before the bust comes again’—or so they say, time and again, until the next financial crash in stock and bond values.
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Matthew 25:1-13 The Parable of the Virgins
We will enter the Scripture in a section that has our Lord and His disciples sitting on the Mount of Olives only a few days before His crucifixion. The teaching began with the disciples asking our Lord when and what the signs would be of the Temple’s destruction, His coming, and the end of the age. In this section, teaching on the near destruction of Jerusalem and the return of the Son of Man are mingled together. There are four parables taught and we will discuss the third concerning the Return: The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins.
READ Scripture- This is the Word of God
This parable concerns the waiting period until the Lord Jesus’ return. The intention is to describe future events and by doing so, urge a response in the here and now. As we move through the text, we will keep one, primary focus: *Waiting for the Lord’s return involves preparations for a long delay.*
[READ First Line] Then the Kingdom of Heaven shall be likened…
A. At the time of Christ’s Return it will be something like this parable.
B. Not every individual parabolic detail can be interpreted to explain every detail of the Return.
a. Then will be like…
b. We must read this as an entire picture of the Return.
C. Background of Wedding:
a. Engagement:
1. The father would choose a wife for his son.
2. Formal (and Legal) Arrangements
Couple was legally married, but didn’t live together or have physical relations.
*The parable begins with the wedding night. The proposal and preliminary arrangements have long been made. Now the time of waiting takes place- waiting for the Bridegroom.
b. Wedding:
1. About year later
2. Bridegroom/companions went to escort Bride/maids to Groom’s home.
3. Along the way, many neighbors, friends, and family would join.
4. Marriage supper (public celebration) was held at the house of the Bridegroom
The parable ends at the home of the Bridegroom.
[READ vv. 1-2] The Virgins
A. Various interpretations
1. Children of Friends and Neighbors
2. Servants of the Bridegroom
3. Bridesmaids (Can Rule Out)
a. Would not be on the road
b. Would not supply own oil
c. Would not be excluded at the Bridegroom’s house
B. Most likely young women waiting to join the procession to the party.
C. The parade would move through the streets at night using the light of oil-fed torches, for lack of street lights. As they move through the town, they pick people along the way and these people are expected to have torches. The 10 girls were waiting for the group to get to them so that they could join in and be taken to the home of the groom where the joyous party would continue all night and possibly even a week.
[READ vv. 3-9] The Bridegroom Delayed
A. The majority of people agree that the Bridegroom is the Lord Jesus.
a. Yahweh calls Himself the Husband of Israel in the OT
b. Jesus calls Himself the Husband of the Church in the NT
B. The delay of the Bridegroom is a major point in the parable.
a. The delay is what distinguishes the wise from the foolish.
b. It is presupposed that the foolish took oil in their lamps just as the wise and they were interested in going to the party like the wise.
c. v. 4 “But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.”
d. By the way, nothing is made of the group sleeping.
e. The wise made preparations for a long delay while the foolish did not.
[READ vv.10-12] And the Door was Shut
A. Waiting for the Bridegroom involved preparations for a long delay.
B. Preparedness and prudence cannot be shared or in any way benefit the foolish.
C. The foolish virgins did not forget oil, but willingly chose to not take any extra. The group set out together, yet five prepared and five didn’t in the group of ten. You have to think that the wise warned the foolish that they weren’t bringing enough oil!
D. It is not that people who desired to be in the wedding party were refused, but rather that they never made the preparations needed to be accepted.
Conclusion: v. 13 reiterates the theme of the section and the parable. Watch! Be Prepared!
The difference between the 5 wise and the 5 foolish is that the wise took extra oil.
Oil has been interpreted in many ways including: good works, grace, and the Holy Spirit.
These three are obviously lacking. **The point is that the wise are prepared for a long delay.
Waiting for the Lord’s return involves preparations for a long delay.
We must be strategic for now and the future. There is a waiting period. We have our defining moment, make a commitment to the Lord, and then we realize there is still time remaining.
What do we do with this time? What is this interim period for? Why has the Lord left us here?
1. Preparatory Period: To Prepare Ourselves
a. Spiritual Growth by assembling ourselves together for study.
(Spiritual Learnedness) - Colossians 1:9
b. Glorifying God - Colossians 1:16
2. Preparatory Period: To Prepare Others
a. Teach the Gospel (Matthew 28:20) / Be Peace-Makers (Matthew 5:9)
b. Our preparation may not be transferable, but we can prepare others through teaching.
SEE John 17:15 “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world…”
We have a preparatory period.
Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour…
Waiting for the Lord’s return involves preparations for a long delay.
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Home > Photos, Science&Technology > D.S.P.&P.R.R.
D.S.P.&P.R.R. Locomotive
D.S.P.&P.R.R. Locomotive
I took this shot of a steam locomotive on my recent visit to South Park City, a re-creation of an early Colorado mining town. This locomotive, painted to represent an engine of the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad (D.S.P.&P.R.R.), is a survivor of the era of the “Narrow Guage” railroads. In Colorado we hear about narrow guage all the time, but for those of you not familiar with narrow guage, this refers to the distance between the rails of a railroad track. Standard guage is 4 foot, eight and 1/2 inches between the rails’ inside edges, where the width of a narrow guage track might be 3 foot or less. The narrower guage allowed the train to make sharper turns, necessary in the mountains where digging railroad grades was enormously expensive. The depot’s large red tank in the background held water to fill the steam locomotive’s boiler; and the black car immediately behind the engine held wood or coal for keeping the engine’s fire box fed.
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lungröntgen anatomi märkt
study of the tissues of various structures, known as histology, and also in the study of cells. Their bodies tend to be dorso-ventrally flattened, they usually have five pairs of gill slits and a large mouth set on the underside of the head. Magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography, and ultrasound imaging have all enabled examination of internal structures in unprecedented detail to a degree far beyond the imagination of earlier generations. It is found in such organs as sea anemone tentacles and the body wall of sea cucumbers. 37 Mammal anatomy edit Main article: Mammal anatomy Mammals are a diverse class of animals, mostly terrestrial but some are aquatic and others have evolved flapping or gliding flight.
Angiography using X-rays or magnetic resonance angiography are methods to visualize blood vessels. The practice was halted in Britain by the Anatomy Act of 1832, 81 82 while in the United States, similar legislation was enacted after the physician William. 48 Insects possess segmented bodies supported by a hard-jointed outer covering, the exoskeleton, made mostly of chitin. A b c Von Staden, Heinrich (October 2007). The extracellular matrix contains proteins, the chief and most abundant of which is collagen. They are clothed in hair and their skin contains glands which secrete sweat.
Kan lungröntgen upptäcka astma,
7 Gross anatomy is the study of structures large enough to be seen with the naked eye, and also includes superficial anatomy or surface anatomy, the study by sight of the external body features. The mouth is found at the anterior end of the animal, and the anus at the base of the tail. The brain and heart are more primitive than those of other reptiles, and the lungs have a single chamber and lack bronchi. 41 42 A thorough working knowledge of anatomy is required by physicians, especially surgeons and doctors working in some diagnostic specialties, such as histopathology and radiology. "Warwick honorary professor explores new material from founder of modern human anatomy". 24 The defining characteristic of a vertebrate is the vertebral column, formed in the development of the segmented series of vertebrae. Over time, this medical practice expanded by a continually developing understanding of the functions of organs and structures in the body.
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NMT II: Understanding PFO Closure
What is a PFO?
A PFO is a relatively common heart defect characterized by an unsealed tunnel between the right and left atria of the heart. This defect has been known to be present in anywhere between 10%-25% of people. However, in a number of cases, it is benign.
HEART_PFOcombo2How does a PFO occur?
The PFO is formed as a trace of the fetal circulation. When the chambers of a human heart begin to develop, a tunnel is made between the right and left atria, allowing blood to flow directly from the venous circulation to the arterial circulation, circumventing the non-functioning fetal lungs. Following birth, the pressure differential between the right and left atria changes with newly operational blood flow to the fully functioning lungs. Because of this, the tunnel eventually closes completely within the first few months. However, in some patients, the foramen ovale fails to seal and stays “patent”. In patients with a patent foramen ovale (PFO), the tunnel can reopen under elevated atrial pressure, such as coughing, or straining.
What are the effects of a PFO?
A key issue with PFO is that it gives a pathway for blood clots to pass directly to the arterial circulation without being filtered out by the capillary bed of the lungs. A PFO can also let deoxygenated blood and certain chemicals to cross over to the arterial side. The presence of a PFO has been linked to a number of clinical issues, mainly stokes and migraines. Developments are being made to solidify the link between PFO and strokes or migraines, and to identify patients that would benefit from PFO closure.
The NobleStitch is approved in Europe for vascular and cardiovascular suturing and PFO closure. In the United States the NobleStitch is FDA cleared and is indicated for use in the placement of sutures for soft tissue approximation in surgical procedures such as general, vascular and cardiovascular surgery, including endoscopic procedures at the end of that last sentence add The NobleStitch EL is not indicated for blind closure.
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Abnormal Behavior Is Ubiquitous Essay
2524 words - 10 pages
Name: Vera Smith
Course Title: Abnormal Psychology
Professor: Dr. Kannarkat
Abnormal Behavior is Ubiquitous
Abnormal psychology is often synonymous with mental disorders. It is common to find books defining abnormal as how much a behavior stray from what is considered a cultural norm. Cultures vary with what is considered "normal," creating more complication in what defines mental disorders. Being "normal" is usually defined as conforming to the present standard of behavior or appearance within our society.
Mental disorder is often established per groups of identifiable symptoms; people who have been diagnosed with a mental disorder can be prone to recognition by the general public. The general public seems to infer mental disorders from four different cues. These cues include psychiatric symptoms, social-skills deficits, physical identifiers, and labels.
Even though defining mental disorder is very difficult, mental disorders in our society is persistent and ubiquitous. In 2005, Hardcastle and Hardcastle wrote that 30% of all general practitioner consultations were regarding a mental disorder. They also established that one in four people, during their lifetime, will be diagnosed with mental disorder.
According to the National Alliance for the Mentally (NAMI), mental disorders
are considered brain disorders. There is continuum of severity among mental disorders. The most severe mental disorders impact between five to ten million adults in the United States. In addition, mental disorder is the main cause of disability in the United States. While mental disorders can occur anytime in the life of an individual, the young and old are more susceptible. Untreated mental illness can lead to sharp rates of disability, substance abuse, homelessness, criminalization of individuals with mental illness, unemployment, and suicide. NAMI states untreated mental disorders costs 100 billion dollars a year in the United States. However, severe mental disorders can be treated through psychotropic medications and psychosocial interventions. There is a 70 to 90 % reduction in symptoms among those receiving treatment. Finally, early
diagnosis and treatment increases the rate of recovery and long-term outlook.
The first case of mental disorder I`ve met in my community is a friend named Cynthia. She is a 26-year-old manager of the women's department in one of our community`s mall. She considered her younger years a sad one since her parents divorced so she developed a "too close" relationship with her mother, that she was the entire focus of her social life and thus preventing her from developing serious friendships. Cynthia knew that she was a moody person, she judged people unkindly and displayed irritation easily and, she believed, this discouraged potential friends. She suspected that she was...
Abnormal Psychology Essay
Principles and Methods in Identifying Mental Disorders - Abnormal Psychology, Argosy University - Essay, Assignment
600 words - 3 pages According to NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) approximately one in five adults experience mental illness a year in the U.S. (NAMI, 2017). Abnormal psychology focuses on the nature, causes, and treatment of metal health disorders (Butcher, Hooley, Mineka, 2013). In researching why determining abnormal behavior or a mental disorder is so difficult I noticed that culture and each individual person is unique and therefore make it difficult
Abnormal psychology
538 words - 2 pages Running Head: ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT 1 ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT 2 ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGYName:Institutions:Professor:Date of submission:IntroductionAbnormal psychology is the branch of psychology that studies unusual patterns of behavior, emotion and thought, which may or may not underlie a mental disorder. Though many behaviors are considered abnormal, the field of abnormal psychology attempts to identify
Substance Abuse
1272 words - 5 pages eating disorders focuses on the unrealistic images of female beauty presented by the media and their negative effects on women. Eating disorders usually arise from multiple causes.Most treatments, especially in cases where the eating-disordered behavior is severe, involve the combination of techniques from a variety of theoretical perspectives. Biological explanations of anorexia and bulimia focus on the role of genetic, hormonal, and
Defining Abnormality
1576 words - 6 pages University Of PhoenixClinical psychologists diagnose study and treat patients with a wide range of psychological problems and abnormal behaviors. Assessing what behavior is normal is not as easy as it might at first seem. Many challenges hinder the creation of a clear cut set of definitions for what constitutes normal and abnormal behaviors. Culture, age and religion are just a few of the factors that can reframe the context of behavior, and
Abnormal Behaviors
925 words - 4 pages 1. Your uncle consumes a quart of whiskey per day; he has trouble remembering the names of those around him. Drinking alcohol in some limit may be considered as normal behavior. However, since drinking quarter of whiskey clearly effects brain and bodily functions, we can say this behavior is abnormal. Possible diagnoses would be substance use disorders. One can be drunk after he or she got divorced, however this is not a sign of mental disorder
Abnormality's in Psychology
Abnormal Psychology
786 words - 3 pages or disruption that a behavior might cause. If a behavior is causing problems in a person's life or is disruptive to other people, then this would be an "abnormal" behavior that may require some type of therapy". (Quote) This paper will compare and contrast normal and abnormal psychology, explain two mental disorders and two mental illnesses, and discuss therapies used for each school of thought for treating mental disorders. Therapies for mental
Abnormal Psychology and Therapy
1271 words - 5 pages Psychology is a huge science area with many variations on approach. Over many years Psychologists such as Freud, Skinner, Rogers and Watson, just to name a few, have contributed, providing us with invaluable tools to evaluate and treat mental illness, understand and treat phobias and indeed provide us with a window into the unconscious mind. 'Abnormal behavior' can be defined as behavior which is unusual, socially unacceptable, dangerous to
Discussion 1
606 words - 3 pages Abnormal psychology describes, classifies, and offers an explanation concerning unusual or out-of-the-ordinary behavior/consciousness (Bridges, 1919). Abnormal behavior or consciousness typically strays significantly from the normal or central tendency symbolizing normal behavior (Bridges, 1919). Normal behavior is that which is acceptable in one’s society, culture, religion, work place, among those of the same gender, sexual orientation
The Importance of Nature and Nurture
1316 words - 5 pages techniques for each child, especially in punishment. As children or adults, punishment is used to as an experience to learn from. This is only possible if consequences for one’s actions are conformed to each individual. “The punishment must fit the crime” is a ubiquitous fallacy that must be changed in order to reap full benefits of an effective punishment. Through punishment, parenting, or common life, nature and nurture have an enormous impact on who
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Assignment 3: Challenges In Identifying Mental Disorders
867 words - 4 pages To understand, or not to understand…that is the question. People live fairly normal, adaptive or with mental disorders, it would be a great task to understand thus. This paper is a short APA formatted reflective essay on my research determining, why abnormal behavior or a mental disorder so difficult to understand. When discussing or defining what is abnormal we can run into some challenges on our techniques in defining or diagnosing a
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1275 words - 5 pages organs. If any of these systems is malfunctioning they may indeed cause abnormal behavior especially behaviors associated with psychological functioning. In John’s case psychologists may conclude that John has some malfunctioning with his neurotransmitters or some hormonal imbalance. In the past few decades’ researchers have pointed to the neurotransmitter dopamine as one of the causes of schizophrenia . They state that this neurotransmitter
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Audio Endpoint Devices
The term endpoint device refers to a hardware device that lies at one end of a data path that originates or terminates at an application program. Examples of audio endpoint devices are speakers, headphones, microphones, and CD players. The audio data that moves along the data path might traverse a number of software and hardware components during its journey between the application and endpoint device. Although these components are essential to the operation of the endpoint device, they tend to be invisible to users. Users are more likely to think in terms of endpoint devices that they directly manipulate rather than in terms of the devices on audio adapters that the endpoint devices plug into or in terms of the software components that process the audio streams that flow to and from these adapters.
To avoid confusion with endpoint devices, this documentation refers to a device on an audio adapter as an adapter device.
The following diagram shows how audio endpoint devices differ from adapter devices.
examples of audio endpoint devices and adapter devices
In the preceding diagram, the following are examples of endpoint devices:
• Speakers
• Microphone
• Auxiliary input device
The following are examples of adapter devices:
• Wave output device (contains digital-to-analog converter)
• Output controls device (contains volume and mute controls)
• Wave input device (contains analog-to-digital converter)
• Input controls device (contains volume control and multiplexer)
Typically, the user interfaces of audio applications refer to audio endpoint devices, not to adapter devices. Windows Vista simplifies the design of user-friendly applications by directly supporting the endpoint device abstraction.
Some endpoint devices might permanently connect to an adapter device. For example, a computer might contain internal devices such as a CD player, a microphone, or speakers that are integrated into the system chassis. Typically, the user does not physically remove these endpoint devices.
Other endpoint devices might connect to an audio adapter through audio jacks. The user plugs in and unplugs these external devices. For example, an audio endpoint device such as an external microphone or headphones lies at one end of a cable whose other end plugs into a jack on an adapter device.
The adapter communicates with the system processor through a system bus (typically, PCI or PCI Express) or external bus (USB or IEEE 1394) that supports Plug and Play (PnP). During device enumeration, the Plug and Play manager identifies the devices in the audio adapter and registers those devices to make them available for use by the operating system and by applications.
Unlike the connection between an adapter and an external bus such as USB or the IEEE 1394 bus, the connection between an endpoint device and an adapter device does not support PnP device detection. However, some audio adapters support jack-presence detection: when a plug is inserted into or removed from a jack, the hardware generates an interrupt to notify the adapter driver of the change in the hardware configuration. The endpoint manager in Windows Vista can exploit this hardware capability to notify applications which endpoint devices are present at any time. In this way, the operation of the endpoint manager is analogous to that of the Plug and Play manager, which keeps track of the adapter devices that are present in the system.
In Windows Vista, the audio system keeps track of both endpoint devices and adapter devices. The endpoint manager registers endpoint devices and the Plug and Play manager registers adapter devices. Registering endpoint devices makes it easier for user-friendly applications to enable users to refer to the endpoint devices that users directly manipulate instead of referring to adapter devices that might be hidden inside the computer chassis. The endpoint devices that are reported by the operating system faithfully track dynamic changes in the configuration of audio hardware that has jack-presence detection. While an endpoint device remains plugged in, the system enumerates that device. When the user unplugs an endpoint device, the system ceases to enumerate it.
In earlier versions of Windows, including Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, and Windows XP, the system explicitly presents only PnP devices to applications. Thus, applications must infer the existence of endpoint devices. An operating system that lacks explicit support for endpoint devices forces client applications to do more of the work themselves. For example, an audio capture application must perform the following steps to enable capturing from an external microphone:
1. Enumerate all the audio capture devices (these are adapter devices) that were previously registered by the PnP manager.
2. After selecting a capture device, open a capture stream on the device by either calling the waveInOpen function or by using the DirectSoundCapture or DirectShow API.
3. Call the mixerOpen function and use the other mixerXxx functions to look for a MIXERLINE_COMPONENTTYPE_SRC_MICROPHONE line that corresponds to the capture device opened in step 2. This is an educated guess.
4. Unblock the data path from the microphone. If the data path includes a mute node, then the client must disable muting of the signal from the microphone. If the capture device contains a multiplexer for selecting from among several inputs, then the client must select the microphone input.
This process is error-prone because the software that performs these operations might fail if it encounters a hardware configuration that its designers did not anticipate or for which it was not tested.
In Windows Vista, which supports endpoint devices, the process of connecting to the same endpoint device is much simpler:
1. Select a microphone from a collection of endpoint devices.
2. Activate an audio-capture interface on that microphone.
The operating system does all the work necessary to identify and enable the endpoint device. For example, if the data path from the microphone includes a multiplexer, the system automatically selects the microphone input to the multiplexer.
The behavior of the audio subsystem is more reliable and deterministic if applications, instead of implementing their own endpoint-identification algorithms, can relegate the task of identifying endpoint devices to the operating system. Software vendors no longer need to verify that their endpoint-identification algorithms work correctly with all available audio hardware devices and configurations—they can simply rely on the operating system for endpoint identification. Similarly, hardware vendors no longer need to verify that every relevant client application can readily identify any endpoint device that is connected to their audio adapter—they need only to verify that the operating system can identify an endpoint device that is connected to their audio adapter.
The following topics provide additional information about audio endpoint devices:
Programming Guide
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