what is sustainable agriculture? agriculture has changed dramatically, especially since the end of world war ii. food and fiber productivity soared due to new technologies, mechanization, increased chemical use, specialization and government policies that favored maximizing production. these changes allowed fewer farmers with reduced labor demands to produce the majority of the food and fiber in the u. s. although these changes have had many positive effects and reduced many risks in farming, there have also been significant costs. prominent among these are topsoil depletion, groundwater contamination, the decline of family farms, continued neglect of the living and working conditions for farm laborers, increasing costs of production, and the disintegration of economic and social conditions in rural communities. a growing movement has emerged during the past two decades to question the role of the agricultural establishment in promoting practices that contribute to these social problems. today this movement for sustainable agriculture is garnering increasing support and acceptance within mainstream agriculture. not only does sustainable agriculture address many environmental and social concerns, but it offers innovative and economically viable opportunities for growers, laborers, consumers, policymakers and many others in the entire food system. this paper is an effort to identify the ideas, practices and policies that constitute our concept of sustainable agriculture. we do so for two reasons : 1 ) to clarify the research agenda and priorities of our program, and 2 ) to suggest to others practical steps that may be appropriate for them in moving toward sustainable agriculture. because the concept of sustainable agriculture is still evolving, we intend the paper not as a definitive or final statement, but as an invitation to continue the dialogue. sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals - - environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity. a variety of philosophies, policies and practices have contributed to these goals. people in many different capacities, from farmers to consumers, have shared this vision and contributed to it. despite the diversity of people and perspectives, the following themes commonly weave through definitions of sustainable agriculture. sustainability rests on the principle that we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. therefore, stewardship of both natural and human resources is of prime importance. stewardship of human resources includes consideration of social responsibilities such as working and living conditions of laborers, the needs of rural communities, and consumer health and safety both in the present and the future. stewardship of land and natural resources involves maintaining or enhancing this vital resource base for the long term. a systems perspective is essential to understanding sustainability. the system


the needs of rural communities, and consumer health and safety both in the present and the future. stewardship of land and natural resources involves maintaining or enhancing this vital resource base for the long term. a systems perspective is essential to understanding sustainability. the system is envisioned in its broadest sense, from the individual farm, to the local ecosystem, and to communities affected by this farming system both locally and globally. an emphasis on the system allows a larger and more thorough view of the consequences of farming practices on both human communities and the environment. a systems approach gives us the tools to explore the interconnections between farming and other aspects of our environment. a systems approach also implies interdisciplinary efforts in research and education. this requires not only the input of researchers from various disciplines, but also farmers, farmworkers, consumers, policymakers and others. making the transition to sustainable agriculture is a process. for farmers, the transition to sustainable agriculture normally requires a series of small, realistic steps. family economics and personal goals influence how fast or how far participants can go in the transition. it is important to realize that each small decision can make a difference and contribute to advancing the entire system further on the " sustainable agriculture continuum. " the key to moving forward is the will to take the next step. finally, it is important to point out that reaching toward the goal of sustainable agriculture is the responsibility of all participants in the system, including farmers, laborers, policymakers, researchers, retailers, and consumers. each group has its own part to play, its own unique contribution to make to strengthen the sustainable agriculture community. the remainder of this document considers specific strategies for realizing these broad themes or goals. the strategies are grouped according to three separate though related areas of concern : farming and natural resources, plant and animal production practices, and the economic, social and political context. they represent a range of potential ideas for individuals committed to interpreting the vision of sustainable agriculture within their own circumstances. water. when the production of food and fiber degrades the natural resource base, the ability of future generations to produce and flourish decreases. the decline of ancient civilizations in mesopotamia, the mediterranean region, pre - columbian southwest u. s. and central america is believed to have been strongly influenced by natural resource degradation from non - sustainable farming and forestry practices. water is the principal resource that has helped agriculture and society to prosper, and it has been a major limiting factor when mismanaged. water supply and use. in california, an extensive water storage and transfer system has been established which has


diversion of water. the plant diversity in and around both riparian and agricultural areas should be maintained in order to support a diversity of wildlife. this diversity will enhance natural ecosystems and could aid in agricultural pest management. energy. modern agriculture is heavily dependent on non - renewable energy sources, especially petroleum. the continued use of these energy sources cannot be sustained indefinitely, yet to abruptly abandon our reliance on them would be economically catastrophic. however, a sudden cutoff in energy supply would be equally disruptive. in sustainable agricultural systems, there is reduced reliance on non - renewable energy sources and a substitution of renewable sources or labor to the extent that is economically feasible. air. many agricultural activities affect air quality. these include smoke from agricultural burning ; dust from tillage, traffic and harvest ; pesticide drift from spraying ; and nitrous oxide emissions from the use of nitrogen fertilizer. options to improve air quality include incorporating crop residue into the soil, using appropriate levels of tillage, and planting wind breaks, cover crops or strips of native perennial grasses to reduce dust. soil. soil erosion continues to be a serious threat to our continued ability to produce adequate food. numerous practices have been developed to keep soil in place, which include reducing or eliminating tillage, managing irrigation to reduce runoff, and keeping the soil covered with plants or mulch. enhancement of soil quality is discussed in the next section. sustainable production practices involve a variety of approaches. specific strategies must take into account topography, soil characteristics, climate, pests, local availability of inputs and the individual grower ' s goals. despite the site - specific and individual nature of sustainable agriculture, several general principles can be applied to help growers select appropriate management practices : - selection of species and varieties that are well suited to the site and to conditions on the farm ; - diversification of crops ( including livestock ) and cultural practices to enhance the biological and economic stability of the farm ; - management of the soil to enhance and protect soil quality ; - efficient and humane use of inputs ; and - consideration of farmers ' goals and lifestyle choices. selection of site, species and variety. preventive strategies, adopted early, can reduce inputs and help establish a sustainable production system. when possible, pest - resistant crops should be selected which are tolerant of existing soil or site conditions. when site selection is an option, factors such as soil type and depth, previous crop history, and location ( e. g. climate, topography ) should be taken into account before planting. diversity. diversified farms are usually more economically and ecological


conditions. when site selection is an option, factors such as soil type and depth, previous crop history, and location ( e. g. climate, topography ) should be taken into account before planting. diversity. diversified farms are usually more economically and ecologically resilient. while monoculture farming has advantages in terms of efficiency and ease of management, the loss of the crop in any one year could put a farm out of business and / or seriously disrupt the stability of a community dependent on that crop. by growing a variety of crops, farmers spread economic risk and are less susceptible to the radical price fluctuations associated with changes in supply and demand. properly managed, diversity can also buffer a farm in a biological sense. for example, in annual cropping systems, crop rotation can be used to suppress weeds, pathogens and insect pests. also, cover crops can have stabilizing effects on the agroecosystem by holding soil and nutrients in place, conserving soil moisture with mowed or standing dead mulches, and by increasing the water infiltration rate and soil water holding capacity. cover crops in orchards and vineyards can buffer the system against pest infestations by increasing beneficial arthropod populations and can therefore reduce the need for chemical inputs. using a variety of cover crops is also important in order to protect against the failure of a particular species to grow and to attract and sustain a wide range of beneficial arthropods. optimum diversity may be obtained by integrating both crops and livestock in the same farming operation. this was the common practice for centuries until the mid - 1900s when technology, government policy and economics compelled farms to become more specialized. mixed crop and livestock operations have several advantages. first, growing row crops only on more level land and pasture or forages on steeper slopes will reduce soil erosion. second, pasture and forage crops in rotation enhance soil quality and reduce erosion ; livestock manure, in turn, contributes to soil fertility. third, livestock can buffer the negative impacts of low rainfall periods by consuming crop residue that in " plant only " systems would have been considered crop failures. finally, feeding and marketing are flexible in animal production systems. this can help cushion farmers against trade and price fluctuations and, in conjunction with cropping operations, make more efficient use of farm labor. soil management. a common philosophy among sustainable agriculture practitioners is that a " healthy " soil is a key component of sustainability ; that is, a healthy soil will produce healthy crop plants that have optimum vigor and are less susceptible to


use of farm labor. soil management. a common philosophy among sustainable agriculture practitioners is that a " healthy " soil is a key component of sustainability ; that is, a healthy soil will produce healthy crop plants that have optimum vigor and are less susceptible to pests. while many crops have key pests that attack even the healthiest of plants, proper soil, water and nutrient management can help prevent some pest problems brought on by crop stress or nutrient imbalance. furthermore, crop management systems that impair soil quality often result in greater inputs of water, nutrients, pesticides, and / or energy for tillage to maintain yields. in sustainable systems, the soil is viewed as a fragile and living medium that must be protected and nurtured to ensure its long - term productivity and stability. methods to protect and enhance the productivity of the soil include using cover crops, compost and / or manures, reducing tillage, avoiding traffic on wet soils, and maintaining soil cover with plants and / or mulches. conditions in most california soils ( warm, irrigated, and tilled ) do not favor the buildup of organic matter. regular additions of organic matter or the use of cover crops can increase soil aggregate stability, soil tilth, and diversity of soil microbial life. efficient use of inputs. many inputs and practices used by conventional farmers are also used in sustainable agriculture. sustainable farmers, however, maximize reliance on natural, renewable, and on - farm inputs. equally important are the environmental, social, and economic impacts of a particular strategy. converting to sustainable practices does not mean simple input substitution. frequently, it substitutes enhanced management and scientific knowledge for conventional inputs, especially chemical inputs that harm the environment on farms and in rural communities. the goal is to develop efficient, biological systems which do not need high levels of material inputs. growers frequently ask if synthetic chemicals are appropriate in a sustainable farming system. sustainable approaches are those that are the least toxic and least energy intensive, and yet maintain productivity and profitability. preventive strategies and other alternatives should be employed before using chemical inputs from any source. however, there may be situations where the use of synthetic chemicals would be more " sustainable " than a strictly nonchemical approach or an approach using toxic " organic " chemicals. for example, one grape grower switched from tillage to a few applications of a broad spectrum contact herbicide in the vine row. this approach may use less energy and may compact the soil less than numerous passes with a cultivator or mower. consideration of farmer


should be avoided. however, small scale loss of vegetative cover around water or feed troughs may be tolerated if surrounding vegetative cover is adequate. confined livestock production. animal health and waste management are key issues in confined livestock operations. the moral and ethical debate taking place today regarding animal welfare is particularly intense for confined livestock production systems. the issues raised in this debate need to be addressed. confinement livestock production is increasingly a source of surface and ground water pollutants, particularly where there are large numbers of animals per unit area. expensive waste management facilities are now a necessary cost of confined production systems. waste is a problem of almost all operations and must be managed with respect to both the environment and the quality of life in nearby communities. livestock production systems that disperse stock in pastures so the wastes are not concentrated and do not overwhelm natural nutrient cycling processes have become a subject of renewed interest. in addition to strategies for preserving natural resources and changing production practices, sustainable agriculture requires a commitment to changing public policies, economic institutions, and social values. strategies for change must take into account the complex, reciprocal and ever - changing relationship between agricultural production and the broader society. the " food system " extends far beyond the farm and involves the interaction of individuals and institutions with contrasting and often competing goals including farmers, researchers, input suppliers, farmworkers, unions, farm advisors, processors, retailers, consumers, and policymakers. relationships among these actors shift over time as new technologies spawn economic, social and political changes. a wide diversity of strategies and approaches are necessary to create a more sustainable food system. these will range from specific and concentrated efforts to alter specific policies or practices, to the longer - term tasks of reforming key institutions, rethinking economic priorities, and challenging widely - held social values. areas of concern where change is most needed include the following : food and agricultural policy. existing federal, state and local government policies often impede the goals of sustainable agriculture. new policies are needed to simultaneously promote environmental health, economic profitability, and social and economic equity. for example, commodity and price support programs could be restructured to allow farmers to realize the full benefits of the productivity gains made possible through alternative practices. tax and credit policies could be modified to encourage a diverse and decentralized system of family farms rather than corporate concentration and absentee ownership. government and land grant university research policies could be modified to emphasize the development of sustainable alternatives. marketing orders and cosmetic standards could be amended to encourage reduced pesticide use. coalitions must be


by carl weese light, natural or artificial, indoors or out, is constantly variable. we notice the warm, reddish light of sunrise and sunset, but there are subtle variations all the time. we generally don ’ t notice the color of ambient light because our eye / mind perceptual system adapts, much as it adapts to changes in light intensity. for example, from outdoors on a dark day, the windows of a house will look yellow if there are tungsten lights inside. the observer standing outside is adapted to the color of daylight and sees the yellow color of the interior light, but if we enter the house we adapt almost immediately. from inside, the room light seems normal while the view out a window can look bright blue. concentrate on what you see through the window, and the color will quickly look right again. the yellow / amber light from a standard light bulb has a lower color temperature than daylight. why is it referred to as temperature? a black body radiator ( think of an iron bar or fireplace poker ) gives off energy in the form of light when it is heated. first it glows ruby red. when it is heated to a temperature of 3200 kelvin, it gives off light the same color as a typical studio photoflood, so the studio lamp is said to have a color temperature of 3200 kelvin and that ’ s the calibration for a typical tungsten color film. sunlight is the color given off by a black body radiator heated to 5000 – 5500k so that ’ s the color temperature daylight film is calibrated for. the color temperature of overcast sky is in the range of 5800 to 7000k, while open shade under a clear blue sky can hit 9000 – 12000k. that ' s why a " warming filter " is needed to keep pictures in shade from looking bright blue on slide film. at the other end, low wattage light bulbs in a living room lamp can be way down around 2000k and candlelight is lower still. these light sources, like the heated iron bar, produce a continuous spectrum of light. the lower temperatures make warmer, redder light, and the higher temperatures produce cooler, bluer, light. fluorescent tubes, sodium - vapor lamps, and other forms of high efficiency energy - saving lighting usually produce a discontinuous spectrum. this means that while the light from a “ daylight ” fluorescent looks somewhat similar to real daylight, it is deficient in specific wavelengths, mostly in the magenta area


forms of high efficiency energy - saving lighting usually produce a discontinuous spectrum. this means that while the light from a “ daylight ” fluorescent looks somewhat similar to real daylight, it is deficient in specific wavelengths, mostly in the magenta area. our eyes don ’ t adapt to this deficiency as well as to different temperatures of a continuous spectrum, which is why these light sources often look unpleasant and unnatural to us. color film without correction records fluorescent light with a strong green cast and sodium - vapor with an even more obnoxious green / brown palette. photographic recording media — film, or digital sensors — do not have our ability to adapt to the color of ambient light. that ’ s why color transparency film has always been made in both daylight and tungsten versions. color negative films can be adjusted with filtration when they are printed in order to compensate for different color temperature light sources with a high degree of success. magenta filtration over the camera lens does a good job of taking out the green cast transparency film registers from magenta - deficient fluorescents, though the filter costs a stop or more in light transmission. sophisticated color meters like the minolta unit introduced in the 1980s gave two readings of incident light — color temperature in degrees kelvin, and a second reading on “ the green / magenta axis ” of a theoretical color wheel. after reading the light and consulting a filter chart, a combination of a warming or cooling filter with a green or magenta one would closely match the light to the film and so provide the most accurate color possible. basically, with the right filters, the ambient light would be converted to the nominal 5000° of daylight film, or 3200° of tungsten film. this was a lot of work, and expensive too. the meter with additional flash - reading head cost over $ 1, 000 and a workable set of fragile gel filters cost hundreds more. but it allowed for accurate color recording of subjects either in studio or out on location. now, with digital capture, the problem is still there, but we can deal with it in software. the sensor can ’ t change its sensitivity to match different sources of ambient light, but the software that interprets the sensor data either to make in - camera jpegs or to develop raw files on the computer can adapt. not only is it much easier than the old days, but no filters are required and you don ’ t have to buy a color meter. with raw files, you can get accurate color simply by shooting a reference exposure


marriage emerged as the most popular institution throughout history primarily because it was an effective arrangement to improve the care and upbringing of children. marriage is not necessary to have children, but it has been of enormous importance in the rearing of children. birds and other non - human species do not have “ marriage ”, but both parents are often involved in raising their offspring. with the sharp declines in birth rates since 1970 in western and other rich countries, including much larger fractions of adults who do not have any children, both men and women have significantly increased their ages at marriage, and sharply raised their propensities to divorce. in 1950, a typical woman and man married at ages 20. 3 and 22. 8, respectively, whereas now the typical marital ages are 26. 0 and 27. 7, respectively. these changes in age at marriage are related to reduced demand for many children, increased college education of both men and women but especially of women, much greater labor force participation of married and divorced women, and the narrowing of the gender gap in earnings. there are several reasons to be concerned about the below population replacement fertility levels in all of europe and about half the world ’ s population, including china and japan. low fertility makes it much harder to finance retirement benefits, medical care for the aged, and other entitlements that rely on taxing working age populations to pay for the support of older persons. low birth rates in richer countries also induce increased migration of young workers from poorer countries with large families to provide the unskilled and other young workers that every society needs. low birth rates lead to sex - selected abortions in societies with a strong preference for having at least one son, as in china and parts of india. below replacement fertility eventually causes populations to decline ( aside from migration ), which has unknown consequences for economic growth and other macro economic and social developments. as important as these topics are, i will not discuss them further since our subject today is low marriage rates and high propensities to divorce, which raise distinct issues from the effects of low fertility. the most important economic and social concerns due to low marriage rates are the effects on rearing of children. these effects are not due to lower marriage rates alone, but rather to the close connection between these low rates and high divorce rates, and to the greater propensity of women to have children without being married, or without living with the fathers of their children. although many single mothers do an absolutely wonderful job in raising their children, common sense and most academic findings suggest that


empowering women to participate fully in economic life across all sectors is essential to build stronger economies, achieve internationally agreed goals for development and sustainability, and improve the quality of life for women, men, families and communities. the private sector is a key partner in efforts to advance gender equality and empower women. current research demonstrating that gender diversity helps business perform better signals that self - interest and common interest can come together. yet, ensuring the inclusion of women ’ s talents, skills and energies — from executive offices to the factory floor and the supply chain — requires intentional actions and deliberate policies. the women ' s empowerment principles offer practical guidance to business and the private sector on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. developed through a partnership between un women and the united nations global compact, the principles are designed to support companies in reviewing existing policies and practices — or establishing new ones — to realize women ’ s empowerment. in brief, the principles are : subtitled equality means business, the principles emphasize the business case for corporate action to promote gender equality and women ’ s empowerment and are informed by real - life business practices and input gathered from across the globe. they also reflect the interests of governments and civil society and serve to support interactions among stakeholders, as achieving gender equality requires the participation of all actors at all levels. introduced on international women ’ s day 2010, the women ’ s empowerment principles are adapted from the calvert women ’ s principles®. the calvert women ’ s principles were originally developed in partnership with unifem ( now un women ) and launched in 2004 as the first global corporate code of conduct focused exclusively on empowering, advancing and investing in women worldwide.


with where good ideas come from, steven johnson pairs the insight of his bestselling everything bad is good for you and the dazzling erudition of the ghost map and the invention of air to address an urgent and universal question : what sparks the flash of brilliance? how does groundbreaking innovation happen? answering in his infectious, culturally omnivorous style, using his fluency in fields from neurobiology to popular culture, johnson provides the complete, exciting, and encouraging story of how we generate the ideas that push our careers, our lives, our society, and our culture forward. beginning with charles darwin ' s first encounter with the teeming ecosystem of the coral reef and drawing connections to the intellectual hyperproductivity of modern megacities and to the instant success of youtube, johnson shows us that the question we need to ask is, what kind of environment fosters the development of good ideas? his answers are never less than revelatory, convincing, and inspiring as johnson identifies the seven key principles to the genesis of such ideas, and traces them across time and disciplines. most exhilarating is johnson ' s conclusion that with today ' s tools and environment, radical innovation is extraordinarily accessible to those who know how to cultivate it. where good ideas come from is essential reading for anyone who wants to know how to come up with tomorrow ' s great ideas.


in this post we take our next step with the mathematical models, and it begins to show different kinds of results. to this point we have been looking at the bible ' s four gospels : matthew, mark, luke, and john. to expand our horizons a little, the next document i ' d like to consider is paul ' s letter to the romans. it is an early letter within the christian church, it has been vital in the formation of protestant christianity. in modern times the question has become more pointed : did paul stay with the direction laid out by jesus, or was paul responsible for a change of course? i will not presume to answer that question here, but i will point out some promising pieces of objective information that come to light with this kind of mathematical review. to compare this letter to a gospel, then, i chose the gospel of luke. since luke was a companion of paul ' s, i thought it could be a productive place to begin. the short version of the results shared word estimate ( 13 / 52 ) = 25 % shared emphasis estimate : 27 % much different than gospel - to - gospel comparisons for the first time, all of the matching methods show less than a 50 % match - - and here the match is significantly less than 50 %. while the gospels consistently had a shared emphasis estimate higher than 50 %, paul ' s letter to the romans matches luke at roughly half that level. there are several kinds of differences that are immediately seen. we will start at the top of the list with the most common word. the gospels all had the same word as the most common word : jesus. the letter to the romans has a different most - common word : god. in fact, " jesus " doesn ' t appear until # 8 on the list in romans. however, " christ " appears higher on the list than " jesus ". what do we make of the fact that " jesus " is the common way to speak of jesus in the gospels, but " christ " is more common in paul ' s letter to the romans? the word " christ " does not appear on the common - words list of any of the four biblical gospels. to be sure, even if the word " christ " is not prominent in the gospels, still the idea that jesus is the christ is well - known from the gospels. they all make a point to explain that jesus is the christ, and to demonstrate it. in the gospels, the time when peter identifies jesus as the christ is portrayed as a key teaching, and so is


key : " s : " = show synset ( semantic ) relations, " w : " = show word ( lexical ) relations display options for sense : ( gloss ) " an example sentence " - s : ( n ) present, nowadays ( the period of time that is happening now ; any continuous stretch of time including the moment of speech ) " that is enough for the present " ; " he lives in the present with no thought of tomorrow " - s : ( n ) present ( something presented as a gift ) " his tie was a present from his wife " - s : ( n ) present, present tense ( a verb tense that expresses actions or states at the time of speaking ) - s : ( v ) show, demo, exhibit, present, demonstrate ( give an exhibition of to an interested audience ) " she shows her dogs frequently " ; " we will demo the new software in washington " - s : ( v ) present, represent, lay out ( bring forward and present to the mind ) " we presented the arguments to him " ; " we cannot represent this knowledge to our formal reason " - s : ( v ) stage, present, represent ( perform ( a play ), especially on a stage ) " we are going to stage ` othello ' " - s : ( v ) present, submit ( hand over formally ) - s : ( v ) present, pose ( introduce ) " this poses an interesting question " - s : ( v ) award, present ( give, especially as an honor or reward ) " bestow honors and prizes at graduation " - s : ( v ) give, gift, present ( give as a present ; make a gift of ) " what will you give her for her birthday? " - s : ( v ) deliver, present ( deliver ( a speech, oration, or idea ) ) " the commencement speaker presented a forceful speech that impressed the students " - s : ( v ) introduce, present, acquaint ( cause to come to know personally ) " permit me to acquaint you with my son " ; " introduce the new neighbors to the community " - s : ( v ) portray, present ( represent abstractly, for example in a painting, drawing, or sculpture ) " the father is portrayed as a good - looking man in this painting " - s : ( v ) confront, face, present ( present somebody with something, usually to accuse or criticize ) " we confronted him with the evidence " ; " he was faced with all the evidence


emily cox and henry rathvon provide the second sunday acrostic puzzles every second week. if you think that ’ s all they do, you need to read my interview with them from last year. this weekend we are treated to one of their cryptic crosswords. i try to be careful writing about these puzzles because i ’ d rather not give too much away. feel free to comment on any clues or answers, or to ask any questions, and we can let the conversation happen that way. if you ’ re new to these cryptic shenanigans, it might be instructive to consider the first two clues, and then you ’ re on your own. 1 across is “ from stem to stern, tossed in the sound ( 10 ). ” the parenthetical number at the end tells us the number of letters in the answer. the trick to these puzzles is realizing that, for most clues, there are two parts that each point to the same answer. often is it difficult to separate those parts, so you have to be on your toes. it looks as if this one might mean “ from stem to stern ” and there is a word meaning tossed inside another one meaning sound. that ’ s a perfectly logical parsing of the clue. it ’ s also wrong. sound here means “ sounds like, ” so we ’ re looking for a single word meaning “ from stem to stern ” that sounds like a word or phrase meaning “ tossed. ” throughout fits that description. reread the explanation here if it doesn ’ t make sense right away. the clue at 6 across reads “ exchange hands, from right to left ( 4 ). ” in this case, the answer is swap. it means exchange. what has swap to do with “ hands from right to left ”? follow the directions in the clue to find out. cryptics are an acquired taste, but once you get over the hump, they ’ re great fun. they often benefit from solving with a friend, who might be able to look at the clues at a different angle when you ’ re stuck.


the montgomery bus boycott looms as a formative turning point of the twentieth century : harbinger of the african american freedom movement, which in turn inspired movements for freedom around the globe ; springboard for the leadership of martin luther king jr. in civil rights, human rights and peacemaking ; launching pad for the worldwide era of upheaval known as the “ sixties ”. the bus boycott stands for all times as one of humankind ’ s supreme democrtatic moments, a monumental struggle to actualize the american dream of freedom, equality and constitutionalism. the nonviolent uprising of 1955 and 1956 represented a new founding of american democracy that pushed the nation a quantum leap closer to keeping faith with parchment principles. - - - from the daybreak of freedom if any single event touched off the activist phase of the civil rights movement, it was the montgomery bus boycott of 1955 - 56. triggered by the refusal of a black seamstress, mrs. rosa parks, to take her place at the back of a city bus when the driver demanded it, this grass - roots movement led by the young martin luther king lasted for just over a year, from 1955 to late in the next year. for the first time since the depression, political initiative shifted from washington back into the country itself, in this case the courts, schools, lunch counters, courthouses, streets and jails of the south. - - - from the experience of politics


space station has to wait for its scientific destiny the international space station will now have to wait for delivery of first science facility - the us laboratory ' destiny ' - after the launch of space shuttle atlantis was cancelled this week. the us $ 1. 4 billion destiny is a laboratory module enabling experiments in the near - zero gravity of space. the module will end up with 24 payload racks supporting facilities for research in biotechnology, fluid physics, combustion and life sciences. in microgravity - also called weightlessness - fluids no longer convect or flow because one part is lighter or heavier than the other. these conditions allow materials scientists to investigate the fundamental properties that control how materials form and behave. the module is 8. 5 metre long and 4. 3 metre in diameter and consists of three cylindrical sections and two endcones with hatches that will be mated to other station components. it has an exterior covered by a debris shiled blanket made of a material similar to that used in bulletproof vests on earth. the current space station crew have passed their 73rd day in space and will live onboard for about 120 days before being replaced by another team of one russian commander and two americans. the iss, which is a joint project of the us, russia, europe, japan and canada orbits the earth every 90 minutes at an altitude of 370 kilometers. it is scheduled for completion in 2006 and will have as much pressurised space as a 747 jumbo jet.


plan for an unmanned mission to earth ' s core first, split the ground open with cataclysmic force, then fill it with the world ' s entire supply of molten iron carrying a small communication probe - and the resulting 3, 000 kilometre journey to earth ' s core should take about a week, according to a u. s. planetary physicist. " we would learn a lot more about the nature of earth and how it works - the generation of the magnetic field, the origin of some kinds of volcanoes, the heat sources inside earth, the stuff earth is made of - in short, all the basic questions, " he told abc science online. in his paper, stevenson argues that " planetary missions have enhanced our understanding of the solar system and how planets work, but no comparable exploratory effort has been directed towards the earth ' s interior ". " space probes have so far reached a distance of about 6, 000 million kilometres, but subterranean probes ( drill holes ) have descended only some 10 kilometres into the earth, " he writes in his article. the main barrier to travelling to the core is the dense matter of the earth ' s mantle. the energy required to penetrate the mantle by melting is about a thousand million times the energy needed for space travel, per unit distance travelled. stevenson ' s scheme relies on principles observed in ' magma fracturing ' - where molten rock migrates through the earth ' s interior. he proposes pouring 100 million tonnes of molten iron alloy into a crack of about 300 metres deep in the earth ' s surface. this massive volume of iron, containing a small communication probe, would work its way down to the earth ' s core, along the crack, which would open up by the force of gravity and close up behind itself. the crack would open downwards at 5 metres per second, giving a mission timescale of " around a week ". such ' earth dives ' have not been tried before on any scale, nor is the technology yet available. " no, we can ' t do it now, " said stevenson. " but the basic scientific principles are understood. the same answer applied to the atomic bomb in 1940. " the initial crack would require a force equivalent to several mega tonnes of tnt, an earthquake of magnitude 7 on the richter scale, or a nuclear device " with a capability within the range of those currently stockpiled ". the amount of iron needed could be as much as the amount produced world - wide in a week. heat would be maintained through the release of


richter scale, or a nuclear device " with a capability within the range of those currently stockpiled ". the amount of iron needed could be as much as the amount produced world - wide in a week. heat would be maintained through the release of gravitational energy and the partial melting of silicate rock walls. " but of course, the mantle is hot anyway, " said stevenson, " so once you get below the first 100 kilometres, there are alloys that would never freeze in equilibrium with the mantle. " he said the probe would penetrate the outer core but the solid inner core of the earth would probably stop it from going any further. the grapefruit - sized probe embedded in the molten iron would contain instruments to measure temperature, conductivity, and chemical composition. it would rely on encoded sound waves to beam data to the surface, as the earth ' s interior does not transmit electromagnetic radiation. one of the existing laser interferometer gravitational - wave observatories ( ligo ), used to detect tiny amounts of gravitational radiation from space, could be reconfigured to read the acoustic frequencies from the probe burrowing beneath. " my paper is an idea, not a blueprint! " stevenson told abc science online. " but the physical process involved - with melt moving through the outermost 100 kilometres of earth - is something the earth does every day. " " this proposal is modest compared with the space program, and may seem unrealistic only because little effort has been devoted to it, " he concludes in nature. " the time has come for action. " click here to listen to a follow - up of this story broadcast on the science show, abc radio national.


lichen love space scientist have found the most complex organism to date that can survive direct exposure to space : lichen. the european space agency ( esa ), which sponsored the research, says the findings bolster the possibility that life was transferred between planets. researchers from spain flew samples of lichen, which are made of algal cells in a mat of fungus, on the outside of a russian capsule that spent two weeks in orbit. the organisms survived the high levels of ultraviolet radiation, as well as the vacuum and extreme temperatures of space. dr rosa de la torre, from spain ' s national institute for aerospace technology in madrid, says post - flight analysis shows the lichens not only survived, but still had the ability to photosynthesise upon their return. images taken by electron microscopes showed no cell damage. " [ the experiment shows ] for the first time that complex organisms integrated by the association of seaweed and fungi, are able to resist the conditions of space without showing apparent damage, " says professor leopoldo sancho, with complutense university of madrid. sealed in a capsule two species of lichen, rhizocarpon geographicum and xanthoria elegans, were sealed in a capsule and launched on russian soyuz rocket on 31 may 2005. upon reaching orbit, the lid of the container holding the lichen was opened, exposing the samples to the space environment for 14. 5 days. the lid was then closed to protect the samples while the capsule returned to earth. " the lichens are probably some of the most resilient organisms that you can find, " says astrobiologist professor charles cockell, with the uk ' s open university, who is familiar with the madrid team ' s work. lichens have a mineral coating that apparently shields the organisms from the ultraviolet radiation of space, says dr rene demets, who oversaw the project for the esa. on earth, lichens are typically found on the surfaces of rocks and survive extreme conditions, such as high on mountaintops. previous studies have shown that simple organisms such as bacteria can survive in space and possibly even on the surface of mars. other organisms, such as plant seeds, have not fared as well. " they could resist the absolute emptiness and the extreme temperatures, but not the radiation, " sancho says. follow - up ground and flight studies are planned for september 2007 to determine how long lichens might survive in space, and if they could survive re - entry forces if, for example, they


receive weekly summaries of top business books, lessons in leadership, and inspiration, for free. the opposable mind published by harvard business press think of a rubik ’ s cube. those who can complete one ( i. e. put all the coloured tiles where they belong ) will tell you that one of the keys to accomplishment is keeping all the other tiles in mind while focusing on completing a certain placement. it ’ s not simply a matter of completing one side to the exclusion of the others, but rather the process of building one side while maintaining or building the others as well. author / professor roger martin explains this process to be “ integrative thinking ” ; the ability to face constructively the tension of opposing ideas and, instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generate a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new idea that contains elements of the opposing ideas but is superior to each. silly example? maybe. and yet people fall back onto “ either - or ” choices all the time. consider the story of izzy sharp – a hotelier interested in creating a new type of guest experience. he was told there were only two ways to run hotels : 1 ) small and intimate, but lacking enough guest rooms to support amenities like gyms, pools or business centres or, 2 ) large, fully equipped hotels that, due to their size, were run with cold and impersonal service. sharp refused to accept the two existent models, choosing instead to take the best of each and create something entirely new – a hotel chain built around the exact desires ( both spoken and unspoken ) of his ideal clientele ; huge capacity, yet with a complete and personalized catering to the guests ’ individual needs. the hugely successful four seasons was the result. the opposable mind teaches that leaders – true innovators – have the remarkable ability to hold two contradictory thoughts in their minds at one time, and then work through the unique strengths and challenges of each to create an even better, third option. in the opposable mind, martin examines the topic brilliantly and, perhaps most important to our conversation, teaches how you can develop a more opposable mind yourself. your rubik ’ s lens “ integrative thinking shows us a way past the binary limits of either - or. it shows us that there ’ s a way to integrate the advantages of one solution without cancelling out the advantages of an alternative solution. integrative thinking affords us, in the words of the poet wallace stevens, ‘


of either - or. it shows us that there ’ s a way to integrate the advantages of one solution without cancelling out the advantages of an alternative solution. integrative thinking affords us, in the words of the poet wallace stevens, ‘ the choice not between, but of. ” the opposable mind, page 9 the human mind is a wonderful thing. from early in our childhood development, our minds begin to categorize and filter information vital to our survival. through education and experience, we start to qualify objects, people and events as “ safe ” or “ dangerous ”, “ beneficial ” or “ detrimental ”. we do this for our own safety and survival, and we do it unconsciously as we grow. while the function of this process is strictly to keep us safe from physical harm, it actually begins to shape the way we see the world – a lens through which we experience reality, if you will. virtually as soon as we are conscious of our actions, none of us are capable of seeing the world completely objectively, as we all see reality through the tint of our own upbringing. integrative thinking is about testing and expanding our own “ lens ” ( or “ reality - model ”, as martin calls it ) by comparing and contrasting it with the lenses of the people around us, constantly seeking new, better alternatives to all. it ’ s about having a certain level of expectation as to what a solution could look like and refusing to lower that expectation simply because the ideal solution doesn ’ t yet exist. according to martin, there are six beliefs or “ stances ” that are possessed by leaders who practice integrative thinking : belief # 1 : the current solutions or models for a situation are simply the best solutions or models created to date, and not the absolute best solution available. belief # 2 : conflicting solutions or models are not to be feared or resisted, but rather to be learned from, adding to the available data for study and creation of a new, superior model. belief # 3 : better solutions are available, they are just yet to be discovered. belief # 4 : they are personally capable of creating or leading the creation of that better model from abstraction to reality. belief # 5 : “ messiness ” or complexity of options and components is actually a good thing, as it assures no details ( or fewer, at any rate ) are being missed in the creation of an ideal solution. belief # 6 : patience is needed to create the better model. the opposable mind, page 111


a good thing, as it assures no details ( or fewer, at any rate ) are being missed in the creation of an ideal solution. belief # 6 : patience is needed to create the better model. the opposable mind, page 111 - 3 it is martin ’ s belief that we can expand our own capacity for integrative thinking through constant experience and reflection. learn from picasso “ the great ones utilize their experiences to build and deepen their mastery while maintaining and expressing their originality. average leaders do one or the other. ” the opposable mind, page 185 even those who don ’ t have an intimate knowledge of the art world probably recognize the name pablo picasso. renowned as one of the fathers of modern art, and the uncontested creator of the cubism painting style, picasso is remembered for his originality. and yet, as martin reminds us, picasso has often times attributed his pioneering skill to his deep roots in traditional forms of painting. it was his mastery of the dominant styles of his time that allowed him the opportunity and insight to see where things could be effectively adapted and changed. true innovators overcame the weaknesses of existing models because they have become intimately familiar with them first, before they were able to create lasting change. the old admonishment for want - to - be - authors – “ write what you know ” – comes from the same lesson ; you need to know something to the level of mastery before you can start to inject effective originality. izzy sharpe, as case in point, created and ran two successful hotels ( one of each existent model ) before he had the insight and skill to create the successful third. if you want to see change in the world, immerse yourself in the existing models first, so you can clearly identify the points that need changing. “ integrative thinkers don ’ t mind the mess. in fact, they welcome it, because the mess assures them that they haven ’ t edited out features that necessary to the contemplation of the problem as a whole. they welcome complexity because they know the best answers arise from complexity. ” the opposable mind, page 41 simple options breed simple results. typical results. pre - planned results. if you want to create a new, better model – one that considers more aspects of true reality ( and not just your own lens ), you need to be willing to consider more details than those who came before you. you need to go looking for more “ salient factors ”, as martin calls


– one that considers more aspects of true reality ( and not just your own lens ), you need to be willing to consider more details than those who came before you. you need to go looking for more “ salient factors ”, as martin calls them – more potential pieces of the better picture. do you know all the details of what it is you want to change? issy sharp interviewed hundreds of his guests, at both hotels, to better learn what they really wanted. not only that, he studied all aspects of the hotel experience – from amenities to the check in / check out process, staff feedback and needs, and beyond. he didn ’ t build the new, four seasons model to represent his version of a better hotel, he instead collected more data on what a better hotel would look like. he went beyond his own reality - model. while having both mastery and originality play key roles in successfully creating a new model, collecting a wide amount of data, and being willing to sift through that data – patiently and with purpose – are also key factors to success. the opposable mind is a groundbreaking book on a topic that, in this age of information overload, will play an ever increasingly crucial role in the lives of leaders. to avoid overload, it can be so tempting to specialize, to simplify, focusing on a small part of the whole as we attempt to improve or “ fix ”. while simplification certainly makes decisions easier, it hardly ever makes them better. martin ’ s message, in a nutshell, is this : next time you find yourself with an either - or decision to make, take a step back, take a breath, and see if you can ’ t find an “ and ” that surpasses both. life ’ s a puzzle. focus on the big picture.


all my japanese language budo books are in my office, so a fuller reply will have to wait till i go and check, but i can answer your question to some extent now. ' ik - ka - jo ' simply means ' first item ', or ' first point '. in the glossary referred to by ubaldo, it is given as the first technique in daito - ryu, but the japanese characters are not given. one possibility is ‰ ozđ. as someone else said, the ' kyo ' of ' ik - kyo ' means ' teaching ' or ' religion '. when applied to aikido techniques, the meaning becomes somewhat artificial, but ' first teaching ' seems a reasonable translation. it should be understood that the founder of aikido did not use any names for techniques. these were coined by the students in order to remember what they had been taught. it is plausible that ikkyo was preferred to ikkajo by members of the aikikai. there is also a logical progression from 1 - kyo to 4 - kyo in the sense that the four forms can be done successively in one movement ( from elbow, to base of thumb, to base of wrist, to nerve point in wrist ). p a goldsbury


wind turbine installations have grown significantly in the last decade as a result of the quest for alternative energy sources. for the past 10 years, worldwide total installed capacity has grown at nearly 28 percent annually. the global wind energy council expects total installed capacity to continue to grow at almost 21 percent annually, leading to over 400 gw by the end of 2014. wind turbines represent an exciting opportunity for clean power production. courtesy tuv nord e. v. most wind turbine power production comes from large machines, in the 2 mw to 3 mw range for land - based units. the turbines are huge, with blade lengths approximately 50 meters. as a result of the sheer size, engineering simulation is both important and challenging. full - scale physical testing is difficult, time consuming and expensive. at the same time, the cost of getting it wrong is prohibitive. ansys tools uniquely offer an optimal combination of high fidelity and breadth, empowering product designers to improve virtually every aspect of wind turbine design. wind turbine design involves the interaction of a range of physical phenomena and market demands : - the aerodynamics comprise changing wind direction and speed, making it necessary for designers to understand the flow at the turbine installation and blade boundary scales as well as effects from the unsteady rotor – tower interaction. - rotors must be light, strong and flexible, which indicates the use of advanced engineered materials. - shaft and gearbox loads are high, yet operators demand dependability and low, predictable maintenance costs. - the industry calls for high electric generator efficiency, even for low wind speeds. the electrical control system must safely manage operation of the turbine ’ s overall operating conditions. - all mechanical components must be strong to meet reliability and durability targets. at the same time, components must be light weight — as they are usually mounted 100 meters above ground. - nearby communities and governments demand low noise and minimal environmental impact. while large industrial wind turbine units provide much of today ’ s installed capacity, the application of smaller units is growing at fast pace. these machines provide personal and distributed power generation, sometimes in remote areas. the engineering challenges — and benefits of using the broad technology offering from ansys — are the same as for large industrial installations.


teaching with documents : alexander graham bell ' s patent for the telephone and thomas edison ' s patent for the electric lamp in 1876 americans held a centennial exhibition in philadelphia to celebrate the nation ' s birth 100 years earlier. it was the first world ' s fair to be held in the united states, and it announced for all to see that the nation had come of age as an industrial power. over 8 million americans attended, many traveling the railways that now spanned the continent. of all the exhibition buildings, machinery hall drew the most admiration and wonder. its displays were powered by the world ' s largest steam engine. inside, inventions by two of america ' s greatest inventors were on display. alexander graham bell exhibited the first telephone, and thomas alva edison presented the automatic telegraph, one of more than 1, 000 inventions he would patent in his lifetime. together their inventions changed american life in ways that still affect us today. alexander graham bell alexander graham bell ( 1847 - 1922 ) was born in scotland and moved to boston in 1872 to open a school for teachers of the deaf. he became a u. s. citizen in 1882. his early experiments included ways to improve and use telegraphy. the telegraph conveyed messages through a system of electrical sounds that, when decoded, could be translated into words. it was dependent on skilled technicians and never became a home appliance. rather, it required you to go to a telegraph office to send or receive a message, or perhaps a messenger did this for you. bell sought something revolutionary : to transmit not only the sound of the human voice, but audible words. with the telephone, bell wrote in 1878, " it is possible to connect every man ' s house, office or factory with a central station, so as to give him direct communication with his neighbors. " thomas edison ( 1847 - 1931 ) was born in ohio and grew up in michigan. his formal education lasted at most four years, in part because his teachers complained that he asked too many questions. by age 12 he was a newsboy and candy seller on the railways. working as a telegraph operator gave him some of his early lessons in the uses of electricity. among edison ' s many patents were ones for totally new inventions as well as those that dramatically improved the inventions of others. these included patents for the electric motor, motion picture projector, storage battery, dictaphone, duplicating machine, typewriter, and phonograph ( his most original ). but his most far - reaching achievement was his patent for improving the


patents for the electric motor, motion picture projector, storage battery, dictaphone, duplicating machine, typewriter, and phonograph ( his most original ). but his most far - reaching achievement was his patent for improving the incandescent lightbulb. before the invention of the electric lightbulb, homes were lit by candle, kerosene - oil lamp, or gaslight. all flickered, were fire hazards, and emitted smoke and heat. other inventors of the day were experimenting with a glass globe that, if emptied of air, could contain a light that would not burn out. but no one could find a suitable filament, or wire. the filament creates light when an electric current passes through it, but it must neither burn out quickly nor melt. edison solved this problem by using carbonized cotton. the growth of the corporation a vision such as bell ' s could not become a reality without enormous sources of capital ( money ) to mass - produce telephones, lay cables, and establish switchboards. likewise the incandescent light was of little use until houses could be linked by electric wires to powerful generators. until the industrial revolution, a shop owner did not need to raise great sums of money to invest in expensive machinery. he probably made his goods by hand and sold them directly to the customer. he therefore did not need to advertise his goods far and wide. a business was usually the responsibility of one person, a proprietor, who hired others and accepted total financial responsibility if the venture went under. partnerships were able to raise greater capital because two or more people pooled their money. but if their partnership failed, all the partners were personally liable ; any assets they owned could be seized to pay their debts. the civil war gave impetus to many new industries on a scale never before seen in america. what was needed was a new way to fund them. the corporation solved the problem. corporations are legal entities chartered by state governments. to establish a corporation, money is raised from many investors. each investor then owns shares of the company, represented by the stock certificates the corporation issues to its shareholders. if the company earns a profit, the corporation will divide its profit with its investors and pay dividends. ( the greater the number of shares you own, the greater your dividend. ) the value of the corporation ' s stock will go up. but if the corporation fails, each investor will only lose what he or she invested. when the u. s. government granted edison


in 1999, a task force consisting of research and policy - oriented slps, people who stutter, and an epidemiologist ( ken st. louis, bobbie lubker, scott yaruss, jaan pill, and charles diggs, respectively ) convened to develop the first prototype of a questionnaire to measure attitudes toward stuttering. known as the public opinion survey of human attributes ( posha - e ), it is handled like public opinion polls from a national polling organization, with respondents selected at random. participants first answer baseline questions before filling out a demographic survey. finally, they respond to follow up questions. here are examples of the most recent experimental version of the posha - e. it asks the respondents their overall impression of a person who is in one of nine categories : " left handed, mentally ill, obese, addicted to alcohol, has a stuttering disorder, is multilingual, has epilepsy, has hiv / aids, or uses a wheelchair. " the respondents give their impression of the person, ranging from very negative, somewhat negative, neutral, somewhat positive, or very positive, to not sure. then the questionnaire asks the respondent, " i would want to be a person who " fits in one of those nine categories. finally, the respondent answers follow - up questions on up to three of the listed categories. for example, " people who stutter ( or are obese, or multilingual ) are nervous or excitable ; are dangerous to others ; can raise a family. " the respondents indicate whether they agree, disagree, or are not sure. these survey questions have been asked of more than 1, 200 adult respondents in 27 nonprobability ( nonrandom ) pilot study samples in 11 countries ( brazil, bulgaria, cameroon, canada, denmark, nepal, nicaragua, macedonia, south africa, turkey, and the u. s. ). respondents completed questionnaires in either english or one of six other languages ( bulgarian, macedonian, portuguese, turkish, french, and spanish ). since 1999, the team has undergone changes and the posha - e has been revised three times. one major change in the last version is that attributes of " old, " " intelligent, " and " good talker " were replaced by " epilepsy, " " hiv / aids, " and " alcohol addiction. " also, " overweight " was changed to " obese. " the research initiative using the results of the posha - e is


inadvertently translated as " to increase a family. " to reduce these problems, ipatha guidelines will mandate a " back translation " from a foreign language to english by another translator, unfamiliar with the study and the original translation, so that the eventual translated versions are as accurate as possible. ) fourth, it is designed specifically to measure many of the responses that might be expected to change after public information campaigns designed to " improve attitudes " have been undertaken. for example, one series of questions asks where respondents have acquired their information. even if attitudes may not have changed, it is likely that public awareness campaigns will result in different profiles of perceived knowledge acquisition. fifth, consideration of the instrument ' s eventual recommended scheme for use must allow for probability sampling that is accurate but reasonably inexpensive for stakeholders. importantly, the posha - e is still in its developmental phase. it is not yet a user - friendly instrument, but we are making progress. for example, the response format has been progressively simplified in the three versions from an original 0 - 100 quasi - continuous scale, to a 1 - 9 equal - appearing interval scale, and finally to the above illustrated categorical " yes, " " no, " or " unsure " response mode ( with a 1 - 5 scale for a few items ). this modification has progressively reduced respondent completion time and errors as well as data coding time and errors ; both were achieved without appreciable loss in sensitivity to subtle differences in the attitudes of the nonprobability pilot samples studied. also, as is the case with most standardized instruments, the posha - e contains many more items than the eventual version will. forthcoming item analysis will identify those questions that are most discriminating and useful. after consideration of information available from pilot studies, redundant items will be eliminated. also, confusing and ambiguous items will be eliminated or modified. the intent is to have a questionnaire that can be completed by most respondents in 10 minutes or less. the next step is to carry out the difficult task of field - testing the near - final version of the posha - e with representative samples. like political polling, this component is necessary to improve accurate representation of the attitudes of any target sampling area. a number of plans under evaluation, but one that may be the most cost efficient for stakeholders, could involve a public school - based sampling plan as follows. a probability ( i. e., random ) sampling scheme would be used to select public schools as the units from which random samples of children and, ultimately, progressively less random samples of


, could involve a public school - based sampling plan as follows. a probability ( i. e., random ) sampling scheme would be used to select public schools as the units from which random samples of children and, ultimately, progressively less random samples of parents, grandparents, and other adults would be generated as prospective respondents. all children in selected classrooms would be potential survey respondents. so, too, would one of their parents or guardians, one of their grandparents, and one of their adult neighbors. probability sampling would determine school and classroom selection, but adults would be recruited by parents of children in these classrooms. we hope that one outcome of the ipatha initiative will be a data archive into which results from new studies may be added and against which results from isolated samples may be compared. finally, in concert with other stakeholders around the world, we plan to develop strategies designed to reduce stigma and to measure their effectiveness. sample pilot results in the process of gathering pilot data, a large amount of questionnaire data has been amassed from more than 1, 200 adults. we have attempted not to be distracted from our primary purpose of instrument development. accordingly, we have inspected the comparative data for trends showing consistent versus variable results that might suggest the best items for eventual inclusion and elimination. following are some illustrations of what the pilot data have shown that is relevant to slps and to those interested in international comparisons ( knudsen et al., 2004 ; st. louis et al., in press ; st. louis et al., 2004 ). the table below provides selected demographic information from nine samples, ranging in size from 14 to 188 respondents. the first two ( columns 2 and 3 ) compare probability samples of slps holding specialty recognition in fluency disorders with a sample of slps nationwide. it was thought that board - recognized specialists in fluency disorders might provide a " gold standard " for public attitudes toward stuttering. these are compared with a nonprobability sample of students from the mid - atlantic region of the u. s. ( column 3 ). all three of these samples responded to the most recent version of the posha - e. the other nonprobability samples were from six different countries, with those in denmark ( column 5 ), south africa ( column 6 ), and nepal ( column 7 ) being administered in english and those in the remaining three countries administered in respondents ' native language : brazilian portuguese ( column 8 ), bulgarian ( column 9 ), and turkish ( column 10 ), respectively. these groups responded to either the first


column 7 ) being administered in english and those in the remaining three countries administered in respondents ' native language : brazilian portuguese ( column 8 ), bulgarian ( column 9 ), and turkish ( column 10 ), respectively. these groups responded to either the first version ( drawing a vertical line on a horizontal scale marked on either end and the middle, with scores later converted to numbers from 0 to 100 ) or the second version ( circling a number from 1 - 9 or a "? " for " i don ' t know. " ). the table illustrates that the percentage of females to males, age, educational level, religion, and marital status varied widely across the nine samples. preliminary results indicate that multilingual, as well as intelligent and good talkers in the earlier versions of the posha, are regarded as desirable characteristics. left handed - as predicted - is neutral. old ( in earlier versions ) is neutral to somewhat undesirable. the remaining attributes, wheelchair use, obesity or overweight, mental illness, alcohol addiction, epilepsy, hiv / aids, and stuttering, are all regarded as conditions that respondents would not want to have or be. the only significant exception was that specialists in fluency disorders were less likely to rate stuttering as something they would not want to have. respondents in the six countries, responding in english as a second language or in their native language showed similarity overall to profiles of adults in the u. s., but showed some interesting variations. for example, stuttering was the lowest item scored for the turkish respondents while brazilian and bulgarian adults both scored mental illness lowest. data collected also confirm the well - known public confusion about the cause of stuttering. the data from specialists and generalist slps reveal general agreement for a genetic causal component and less certainty about psychological or learning components. among the lay public, only the danes believed that psychological etiology was not the strongest causal component ; neither did they believe stuttering is learned. by contrast, all the other lay groups rated psychological etiology the strongest. among all groups except fluency specialists, a disturbing minority regarded stuttering as an act of god, especially in south africa, nepal, and turkey. the fact that ghosts, demons, or spirits as causal agents for stuttering was not completely rejected - even by all slps in the u. s. - suggests that stigmatizing beliefs still occur. by contrast, most to nearly all respondents believe that people who stutter can lead normal lives, though least so in nepal. while most respondent


significance and use this test method is designed to measure the permeability to air of a small sample of rock. by extrapolation, this test method also determines an equivalent of the liquid permeability. this parameter is used to calculate the flow through rock of fluids subjected to a pressure differential. note 1 — notwithstanding the statements on precision and bias contained in this test method, the measures of precision of this test method is dependent on the competence of the personnel performing them, and on the suitability of the equipment and facilities used. agencies that meet the criteria of practice d 3740 are generally considered capable of competent and objective testing. users of this test method are cautioned that compliance with practice d 3740 does not in itself assure reliable testing. reliable testing depends on many factors ; practice d 3740 provides a means for evaluating some of those factors. 1. 1 this test method covers the determination of the coefficient of specific permeability for the flow of air through rocks. the procedure establishes representative values of the coefficient of permeability of rocks or well - indurated soils. 1. 2 this test method is limited to permeability values greater than 0. 9869 pm2 ( 1. 0 picodarcy ), and is limited to rocks free of oil or unctuous matter. 1. 3 the values stated in si units are to be regarded as the standard. the values given in parentheses are mathematical conversions to inch - pound units that are provided for information only and are not considered standard. 1. 4 this standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. it is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use. 2. referenced documents ( purchase separately ) the documents listed below are referenced within the subject standard but are not provided as part of the standard. d653 terminology relating to soil, rock, and contained fluids d3740 practice for minimum requirements for agencies engaged in testing and / or inspection of soil and rock as used in engineering design and construction american petroleum institute standard flow and flow rate ; permeability ; airflow performance ; coefficient of permeability ; flow and flow rate - - soil / rock / related materials ; liquids ; permeability - - soil / rock ; pressure testing - - rock ; reciprocal mean pressure ; rock materials / properties / analysis ; ics number code 93. 020 ( earth works. excavations. foundation construction. underground


" fugitive methane " released during shale gas drilling could accelerate climate change. robert howarth, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist, and anthony ingraffea, a civil and environmental engineer, reported that fracked wells leak 40 to 60 percent more methane than conventional natural gas wells. when water with its chemical load is forced down a well to break the shale, it flows back up and is stored in large ponds or tanks. but volumes of methane also flow back up the well at the same time and are released into the atmosphere before they can be captured for use. this giant belch of " fugitive methane " can be seen in infrared videos taken at well sites. halliburton is the world ' s largest provider of hydraulic fracturing. who would have guessed. wait, aren ' t they in the private war contractor business. it seems they ' ve expanded to waging war on us water supplies. according to michael shellenberger, president of the breakthrough institute in california, we can thank us government policy for fracking. government policy encouraged the new exploration for gas and should get much of the credit for the resulting reduction in emissions. “ the gas boom is largely from shale, which is the result of a concerted government push, and tax credits, starting in the 70 ’ s, both of which are policies,... of course, he thinks fracking ' s good because it allows natural gas to replace coal. breakthrough institute apparently is " luke - warmist ". essentially " don ' t worry, be happy about our economic system ". “ luke - warmists ” may be defined as those who appear to accept the body of climate science but interpret it in a way that is least threatening : emphasising uncertainties, playing down dangers, and advocating a slow and cautious response. the effect of luke - warmers ’ contributions has been to sow doubt in the public mind about the credibility of the scientific warnings and the need to respond, just as exxon - funded think tanks have.... emphasize the “ inherent unknowability ” and “ systematic doubt ” in the body of scientific knowledge. they express misgivings about the desirability of investments in renewable energy, referring to their “ chilling history ” and “ serious financial and social consequences ”, a theme pursued by the breakthrough institute and more recently taken upby tea party republicans. here we get to the conservative heart of the luke - warmist position. for them the prevailing economic system is sacred, and any change must work around it. “ growth is


h. l. mencken ( 18801956 ). the american language. 1921. by jefferson. charles ledyard norton has devoted a whole book to their etymology and meaning ; 27 the number is far too large for a list of them to be attempted here. but a few characteristic specimens may be recalled, for example, the simple agglutinates : omnibus - bill, banner - state, favorite - son, anxious - bench, gag - rule, executive - session, mass - meeting, office - seeker and straight - ticket ; the humorous metaphors : pork - barrel, pie - counter, wire - puller, land - slide, carpet - bagger, lame - duck and on the fence ; the old words put to new uses : plank, pull, platform, machine, precinct, slate, primary, floater, repeater, bolter, stalwart, filibuster, regular and fences ; the new coinages : gerrymander, heeler, buncombe, roorback, mugwump and to bulldoze ; the new derivatives : abolitionist, candidacy, boss - rule, per - diem, to lobby and boodler ; and the almost innumerable verbs and verb - phrases : to knife, to split a ticket, to go up salt river, to bolt, to eat crow, to boodle, to divvy, to grab and to run. an english candidate never runs ; he stands. to run, according to thornton, was already used in america in 1789 ; it was universal by 1820. platform came in at the same time. machine was first applied to a political organization by aaron burr. the use of mugwump is commonly thought to have originated in the blaine campaign of 1884, but it really goes back to the 30s. anxious - bench ( or anxious - seat ) at first designated only the place occupied by the penitent at revivals, but was used in its present political sense in congress so early as 1842. banner - state appears in niles register for december 5, 1840. favorite - son appears in an ode addressed to washington on his visit to ports - mouth, n. h., in 1789, but it did not acquire its present ironical sense until it was applied to martin van buren. thornton has traced bolter to 1812, filibuster to 1863, roorback to 1844, and split - ticket to 1842. regularity was an issue in tammany hall in 1822. 28 there were primaries in new


? when on march 26 the supreme court hears oral arguments about whether california ’ s ban on same - sex marriages violates the constitutional right to “ equal protection of the laws, ” these arguments will invoke the intersection of law and social science. the court should tread cautiously, if at all, on this dark and bloody ground. the obama administration says california ’ s law expresses “ prejudice ” that is “ impermissible. ” but same - sex marriage is a matter about which intelligent people reasonably disagree, partly because so little is known about its consequences. when a federal judge asked the lawyer defending california ’ s ban what harm same - sex marriage would do to the state ’ s interests in “ the procreation purpose ” of heterosexual marriage, the lawyer said, “ i don ’ t know. ” this was mistakenly portrayed as a damaging admission. both sides should acknowledge that, so far, no one can know. a brief submitted to the u. s. supreme court concerning the california case by conservative professors leon kass and harvey mansfield and the institute for marriage and public policy warns that “ the social and behavioral sciences have a long history of being shaped and driven by politics and ideology. ” and research about, for example, the stability of same - sex marriages or child rearing by same - sex couples is “ radically inconclusive ” because these are recent phenomena and they provide a small sample from which to conclude that these innovations will be benign. unlike the physical sciences, the social sciences can rarely settle questions using “ controlled and replicable experiments. ” today “ there neither are nor could possibly be any scientifically valid studies from which to predict the effects of a family structure that is so new and so rare. ” hence there can be no “ scientific basis for constitutionalizing same - sex marriage. ” the brief does not argue against same - sex marriage as social policy, other than by counseling caution about altering foundational social institutions when guidance from social science is as yet impossible. the brief is a pre - emptive refutation of inappropriate invocations of spurious social science by supporters of same - sex marriage. for example, a district court cited dr. michael lamb, a specialist in child development, asserting that the “ gender of a child ’ s parent is not a factor in a child ’ s adjustment ” and that “ having both a male and female parent does not increase the likelihood that a child will be well - adjusted. ” the conservatives ’ brief notes that, testifying in the trial court, lamb “ had conceded that his own


’ s adjustment ” and that “ having both a male and female parent does not increase the likelihood that a child will be well - adjusted. ” the conservatives ’ brief notes that, testifying in the trial court, lamb “ had conceded that his own published research concluded that growing up without fathers had significant negative effects on boys ” and that considerable research indicates “ that traditional opposite - sex biological parents appear in general to produce better outcomes for their children than other family structures do. ” the brief is replete with examples of misleading argumentation using data not drawn from studies satisfying “ the scientific standard of comparing large random samples with appropriate control samples. ” the late sen. daniel patrick moynihan, a distinguished social scientist, said the “ pronounced ” liberal orientation of the social sciences is “ well established ” and explainable : “ social scientists are frequently caught up in the politics which their work necessarily involves ” because social science “ attracts persons whose interests are in shaping the future. ” this helps explain why “ brandeis briefs ” have shaped american law. before joining the supreme court, louis brandeis defended constitutional challenges to progressive legislation by using briefs stressing social science data, or what purported to be such, rather than legal arguments. he advanced his political agenda by bald assertions inexcusable even given the limited scientific knowledge of the time. for example, in his 1908 defense of an oregon law restricting the number of hours women could work, he said “ there is more water ” in women ’ s than in men ’ s blood and women ’ s knees are constructed differently. since moynihan wrote the above in 1979, the politicization of the social sciences has become even more pronounced, particularly in matters of “ lifestyle liberalism. ” hence the need for judicial wariness about social science that purports to prove propositions - - e. g., that same - sex marriage is, or is not, harmful to children or society - - for which there cannot yet be decisive evidence. if california ’ s law is judged by legal reasoning, rather than by social science ostensibly proving that the state has no compelling interest served by banning same - sex marriage, the law may still be overturned on equal protection grounds. but such a victory for gay rights, grounded on constitutional values, and hence cast in the vocabulary of natural rights philosophy, would at least be more stable than one resting uneasily on the shiftable sand of premature social science conclusions. george will ’ s email address is firstname. lastname @ example. org. washington post


research on the nature, diagnosis, and treatment of obesity and diabetes the purpose of this study is to determine whether the level of foxa2 expression in fat tissue is a biomarker of insulin resistance. to test this hypothesis, we will perform euglycemic - hyperinsulinemic clamps in normal and obese human subjects to calculate insulin sensitivity, and see if insulin sensitivity correlates with the foxa2 expression in subcutaneous fat. the investigators at rockefeller university hospital are engaged in research on the nature, diagnosis and treatment of obesity and diabetes. the investigators are trying to find out why insulin, a blood sugar lowering hormone that is released by the pancreas following a meal, does not work effectively in individuals with obesity or type 2 diabetes. the investigators have recently discovered a protein in fat cells of obese mice that helps fat cells to take up and break down sugar from the blood. this protein ( called foxa2 ) also prevents the generation of more fat cells. foxa2 is only present in obese mice, but absent from fat stores of lean animals. insulin can stimulate the production of foxa2 in fat cells. furthermore, the levels of foxa2 protein correlate with the degree of blood insulin levels. in this study, we are would like to determine whether foxa2 is also produced in fat cells of humans, and if its level correlates with the degree of obesity and insulin resistance. observational model : cohort, time perspective : prospective rockefeller university hospital results ( where available ) - source : http : / / clinicaltrials. gov / show / nct00229268 - information obtained from clinicaltrials. gov on july 15, 2010 medical and biotech [ mesh ] definitions a syndrome with excessively high insulin levels in the blood. it may cause hypoglycemia. etiology of hyperinsulinism varies, including hypersecretion of a beta cell tumor ( insulinoma ) ; autoantibodies against insulin ( insulin antibodies ) ; defective insulin receptor ( insulin resistance ) ; or overuse of exogenous insulin or hypoglycemic agents. diminished effectiveness of insulin in lowering blood sugar levels : requiring the use of 200 units or more of insulin per day to prevent hyperglycemia or ketosis. it can be caused by the presence of insulin antibodies or the abnormalities in insulin receptors ( receptor, insulin ) on target cell surfaces. it is often associated with obesity ; diabetic ketoacidosis ;


the amino - acid sequence ( or primary structure ) of a protein predisposes it towards its native conformation or conformations. it will fold spontaneously during or after synthesis. while these macromolecules may be regarded as " folding themselves ", the mechanism depends equally on the characteristics of the cytosol, including the nature of the primary solvent ( water or lipid ), macromolecular crowding, the concentration of salts, the temperature, and molecular chaperones. subscribe in a reader most folded proteins have a hydrophobic core in which side chain packing stabilizes the folded state, and charged or polar side chains on the solvent - exposed surface where they interact with surrounding water molecules. it is generally accepted that minimizing the number of hydrophobic side - chains exposed to water is the principal driving force behind the folding process, although a recent theory has been proposed which reassesses the contributions made by hydrogen bonding the strengths of hydrogen bonds in a protein vary, i. e. they are dependent on their microenvironment, thus h - bonds enveloped in a hydrophobic core contribute more than h - bonds exposed to the aqueous environment to the stability of the native state. the process of folding in vivo often begins co - translationally, so that the n - terminus of the protein begins to fold while the c - terminal portion of the protein is still being synthesized by the ribosome. specialized proteins called chaperones assist in the folding of other proteins. a well studied example is the bacterial groel system, which assists in the folding of globular proteins. in eukaryotic organisms chaperones are known as heat shock proteins. although most globular proteins are able to assume their native state unassisted, chaperone - assisted folding is often necessary in the crowded intracellular environment to prevent aggregation ; chaperones are also used to prevent misfolding and aggregation which may occur as a consequence of exposure to heat or other changes in the cellular environment.


so last time, tetra was being enlightened by mc - kun about definitions. this actually arises from mc - kun using prime numbers as a motivating example. primes are megas important in mathematics and even more important today. the entire branch of mathematics called number theory is all about studying the properties of prime numbers. they ’ re so useful that we ’ ve done stuff like extend the notion of prime elements to algebraic structures called rings or apply analytic techniques to learn more about them, but we ’ ll stick with elementary number theory for now. now, for hundreds of years, we ’ d been studying number theory only because it ’ s cool and mathematicians love prime numbers. last time, i mentioned some examples of math preceding useful applications. well, number theory is a really good example of that, because in the 70s, we found a use for it, which is its main use today, in cryptography. there have been some new techniques using some algebra as well, but for the most part, modern cryptography relies on the hardness of factoring primes. neat! okay, so we ’ re back to the original question that mc - kun tries to get tetra to answer, which is, what is a prime number? definition. an integer $ p $ is prime if and only if $ p \ geq 2 $ and the only positive divisors of $ p $ are 1 and itself. mc - kun explains that the motivation for excluding 1 from the definition of a prime number is because we want to be able to say that we can write every number as a unique product of prime numbers. this is very useful, because now we know we can break down every number like this and we can tell them apart because they ’ re guaranteed to have a unique representation. this is called unique prime factorization. theorem. let $ a > 0 $ be an integer. then we can write $ a = p _ 1p _ 2 \ cdots p _ k $ for some primes $ p _ 1, \ dots, p _ k $. this representation is unique up to changing the order of terms. we can show this by induction on $ a $. we ’ ve got $ a = 2 $ so that ’ s pretty obvious. so let ’ s say that every integer $ k \ lt a $ can be decomposed like this and suppose we can ’ t decompose $ a $ into prime numbers, assuming $ a $ itself isn ’ t already a prime since it would just be its own


that every integer $ k \ lt a $ can be decomposed like this and suppose we can ’ t decompose $ a $ into prime numbers, assuming $ a $ itself isn ’ t already a prime since it would just be its own prime decomposition. then we can factor $ a = cd $ for some integers $ c $ and $ d $. but both $ c $ and $ d $ are less than $ a $, which means they can be written as a product of primes, so we just split them up into their primes and multiply them all together to get $ a $. tada. as a sort of side note, i mentioned before that primes are so useful that we wanted to be able to extend the idea of prime elements into rings. well, it turns out for certain rings, it isn ’ t necessarily true that numbers will always have a unique representation when decomposed into primes. this is something that comes up in algebraic number theory, which is named so because it involves algebraic structures and techniques. this was invented while we were trying to figure out if fermat ’ s last theorem was actually true ( which needed this and other fun mathematical inventions from the last century that implies that fermat was full of shit when he said he had a proof ). so at the end of the chapter, after tetra gets her chair kicked over by the megane math girl, we ’ re treated to a note that acts as a sort of coda to the chapter that mentions that there are infinitely many primes. how do we know this? suppose that there are only finitely many primes. then we can just list all of the prime numbers, like on wikipedia or something. so we ’ ve got our list of primes $ p _ 1, p _ 2, \ dots, p _ k $. so let ’ s make a number like $ n = 1 + p _ 1 \ cdots p _ k $. well, that number is just a regular old number, so we can break it down into its prime factors. we already know all the primes, so it has to be divisible by one of them, let ’ s say $ p _ i $. now we want to consider the greatest common divisor of the two numbers, which is just the largest number that divides both of them. we ’ ll denote this by $ \ gcd ( a, b ) $. so since $ p _ i $ is a factor of $


common divisor of the two numbers, which is just the largest number that divides both of them. we ’ ll denote this by $ \ gcd ( a, b ) $. so since $ p _ i $ is a factor of $ n $, we ’ ve got $ \ gcd ( n, p _ i ) = p _ i $. but then that gives us $ p _ i = \ gcd ( n, p _ i ) = \ gcd ( p _ i, 1 ) = 1 $ by a lemma that says that for $ a = qb + r $, we have $ \ gcd ( a, b ) = \ gcd ( b, r ) $. this means that we have $ p _ i = 1 $, which is a contradiction, since 1 isn ’ t a prime number, and so i guess there are actually infinitely many primes. so the nice thing is that we won ’ t run out of prime numbers anytime soon, which is very useful because as we get more and more computing power, we ’ ll have to increase the size of the keys we use in our cryptosystems. luckily, because factoring is so hard, we don ’ t need to increase that size very much before we ’ re safe for a while. or at least until we develop practical quantum computers.


table of contents there are times when a generic ( in the sense of general as opposed to template - based programming ) type is needed : variables that are truly variable, accommodating values of many other more specific types rather than c + + ' s normal strict and static types. we can distinguish three basic kinds of generic type : converting types that can hold one of a number of possible value types, e. g. int and string, and freely convert between them, for instance interpreting 5 as " 5 " or vice - versa. such types are common in scripting and other interpreted languages. boost : : lexical _ cast supports such conversion functionality. discriminated types that contain values of different types but do not attempt conversion between them, i. e. 5 is held strictly as an int and is not implicitly convertible either to " 5 " or to 5. 0. their indifference to interpretation but awareness of type effectively makes them safe, generic containers of single values, with no scope for surprises from ambiguous conversions. indiscriminate types that can refer to anything but are oblivious to the actual underlying type, entrusting all forms of access and interpretation to the programmer. this niche is dominated by void *, which offers plenty of scope for surprising, undefined behavior. the boost : : any class ( based on the class of the same name described in " valued conversions " by kevlin henney, c + + report 12 ( 7 ), july / august 2000 ) is a variant value type based on the second category. it supports copying of any value type and safe checked extraction of that value strictly against its type. a similar design, offering more appropriate operators, can be used for a generalized function adaptor, any _ function, a generalized iterator adaptor, any _ iterator, and other object types that need uniform runtime treatment but support only compile - time template parameter conformance. | last revised : march 15, 2003 at 23 : 12 : 35 gmt |


leds are commonly used in all kinds of applications. the tiny red and green indication lights found here and there on electronic equipment such as tvs and computers are leds. they are very efficient in converting an electric current directly into light, but their use was limited by technical constraints preventing the creation of colors other than red and green. in the 1990s, led color display was made possible by the development of blue leds, and we are now witnessing rapid growth in led applications. the outdoor displays you see on the sides of buildings and other locations on city streets use leds. they are also employed in the optical scanning units of color copying machines and image scanners. mechanism by which light exposure produces an electric current to understand leds, let ' s first take a look at the mechanism by which light exposure produces an electric current, such as in solar batteries. semiconductors, a term you probably hear daily, are a key component of electric circuits, including computers, and they are commonly made from silicon. semiconductors either use " n - type " silicon, in which there are extra electrons, or " p - type " silicon, in which there are missing electrons that form " electron holes " or simply " holes. " combining these two types of silicon produces a " pn junction diode. " when the pn junction is exposed to light, the p - type silicon becomes an anode and the n - type silicon a cathode. attaching electrodes to either side and then connecting them to an external electrical conductor produces a current. this is also the principle behind solar batteries. what do you suppose goes on inside a pn junction diode? when silicon is exposed to light such as that from the sun, electrons and electron holes are produced therein. connecting the p - type silicon and n - type silicon to an external electrical conductor causes electrons in the electron - rich n - type silicon to move to the p - type silicon and the electron holes in the hole - rich p - type silicon to move to the n - type silicon. this in turn causes the excess electrons to flow out over the electrical conductor from the electrode attached to the n - type silicon and head towards the electrode on the p - type silicon, thereby generating an electric current. the flow of an electric current is defined as heading in the opposite direction of the flow of electrons, thus we get an electric current in which the p - type silicon is an anode and the n - type silicon a cathode. mechanism by which application of a current produces