catherine, and with his friends? 3. paul farmer had a very unusual upbringing in massachusetts, alabama, and florida. what specific elements from his childhood and family life prepared farmer for his current life? how has your upbringing influenced your own choices and goals in life? 4. throughout the book, kidder describes farmer ’ s interactions with patients. in many cases, farmer tends to reach out to touch his patients comfortingly and call them by pet names or endearments. are these gestures typical of modern american doctors? how do these gestures reflect farmer ’ s philosophy of the role of a doctor? 5. what motivates paul farmer to do the work he does? what does he see as his compensation? ( page 24 ) 6. farmer ’ s philosophy is at odds with standard notions of efficiency and cost - effectiveness. his approach to public health care has drawn criticism because it is not perceived to be cost - effective. for instance, one critic commented that the $ 20, 000 spent on transporting a sick haitian child to boston for treatment could have been better spent on other things, like supplies or drugs for many other children ( page 287 ). what is his response to these arguments? what factors do you think are most important in making such decisions about how money should be spent in public health programs? 7. paul has trained as a medical anthropologist and as a doctor. discuss the difference between these two careers with your class. how has his background in medical anthropology complemented his work as a doctor? what specific scenes illustrate farmer ’ s skills as a medical anthropologist? 8. what is meant by the phrase, “ all suffering isn ’ t equal ” on page 216? how does this belief shape the work that paul farmer, jim kim, and partners in health do? 9. as partners in health grows, farmer is expected to travel to many places to implement and monitor programs, meet with policy - makers and other doctors, and make presentations on public health issues. his increasing involvement in other programs in peru and russia requires that he spend less time in cange ( page 260 ). how does he describe the inner conflict between serving his patients in haiti and helping to solve international inequities and epidemics globally? 10. many people in cange believe that paul farmer “ works with both hands, ” meaning that he works both with science and with the magic necessary to remove voodoo curses ( page 27 ). how did he learn about the role of voodoo in the lives of the residents of cange? how does farmer interpret the continuing presence of


, ” meaning that he works both with science and with the magic necessary to remove voodoo curses ( page 27 ). how did he learn about the role of voodoo in the lives of the residents of cange? how does farmer interpret the continuing presence of voodoo in modern haitian life? 11. early members of partners in health refer frequently to an idea from the catholic liberation theology movement, of “ preferential option for the poor ” ( pages 78 and 81 ). how does farmer ’ s life and work reflect this particular theology? what are some other examples of the role of faith and religion in paul farmer ’ s work? 1. do you think that farmer has struck an appropriate balance between acting locally and acting globally? how do you think he should prioritize his responsibilities toward his haitian patients, pih ’ s other international programs, and the global public health community? 2. what responsibilities do you think individuals in wealthier nations have toward people in poor countries? how has reading this account of paul farmer ’ s work changed your ideas about your responsibility or obligations toward people who are poorer than you are? what do you think is the best way to express or act on this sense of responsibility? 3. in many of his projects and activities, paul farmer achieves his goals by subverting policies. for example, while there is officially a fee for patient services at zanmi lasante, he has made a long list of exceptions, so that in fact almost no one has to pay for services ( page 21 ). while he was in medical school, he “ borrowed ” tens of thousands of dollars worth of drugs and lab services from brigham and young hospital on behalf of his patients at zanmi lasante by charming the pharmacists and lab workers ( page 149 ). how do you feel about his unconventional approach to problem solving? do you think that he could be more effective by working within a framework of existing policies and institutional structures, or by working to change policies that he sees as oppressive to the poor? 4. in the final paragraph of the book, kidder makes a reference to the time he spent with the american soldiers before he met paul farmer and of how he regarded the plight of the suffering people. in what ways have kidder and his viewpoints changed since first meeting farmer? how did your own perception of farmer ’ s life and work change, if it did, as you read the book? about the teacher ' s guide writer heather kelly received her master ’ s degree in public administration and economic and political development from


. - water education foundation wef is an impartial non - profit organization, dedicated to creating a better understanding of water issues and helping to resolve water resource problems through educational programs. - water environment association of texas weat is an association of water professionals, practitioners, operations specialists, and public officials working together for professional growth and development, and to educate the public on water issues. - water environment federation the water environment federation is a not - for - profit technical and educational organization with a vision of preserving and enhancing the global water environment. - water environment research foundation the water environment research foundation is dedicated to advancing science and technology addressing water quality issues as they impact water resources, the atmosphere, the lands, and quality of life. - watereuse association the watereuse association is a non - profit organization whose mission is to advance the beneficial and efficient use of water resources through education, sound science, and technology using reclamation, recycling, reuse and desalination. - national institutes for water resources the niwr is a network of 54 research institutes ( one institute located in every state or territory of the us ) with each institute conducting basic and applied research to solve water problems unique in its area. - texas water resources institute twri, a member of the national institutes for water resources, provides leadership for priority research and educational programs in water resources within the texas a & m university system and throughout texas. - universities council on water resources about 90 universities in the unites states and throughout the world comprise the ucowr which facilitates education, research, technology transfer, and information dissemination on contemporary and emerging water resource issues. useful reference documents the document ' s primary purpose is to facilitate further development of water reuse by serving as an authoritative reference on water reuse practices. it updates and builds on the 2004 guidelines for water reuse by incorporating information on water reuse that has been developed since the 2004 document was issued. this report provides a general overview of current knowledge related to direct potable reuse ( dpr ), and identifies the information that needs to be developed through targeted studies to inform the stakeholders regarding the feasibility of implementing dpr as a viable water supply management option. the report provides a comprehensive assessment of technical, economic, social, and regulatory issues associated with both potable and non - potable reuse.


what is homeopathy? the main idea behind homeopathy is the law of similars, which is sometimes explained as a€slike cures like. a€t in the late 18th century, a german physician named samuel hahnemann read that quinine containing peruvian bark ( chinchona ) cured malaria. hahnemann swallowed a dose of peruvian bark and began to feel feverish, drowsy, extremely thirsty, and agitated - - all symptoms of malaria. hahnemann started to experiment more and formed his theory that like cures like, or the law of similars : that when a substance in large doses causes certain symptoms, in small doses it can cure these same symptoms. herbs and other plants, minerals, venom from snakes, and other substances can be used to make homeopathic remedies. they are diluted again and again and a€ssuccusseda€t or shaken vigorously between each dilution. the process of sequential dilution and succussion is called potentization. how does homeopathy work? homeopathic remedies start with substances such as herbs, minerals, or animal products. these substances are first crushed and dissolved in a liquid - - usually grain alcohol or lactose - - mechanically shaken, then stored. this is the " mother tincture. " homeopaths then dilute tinctures more with alcohol or lactose, either 1 part to 10 ( written as " x " ) or 1 part to 100 ( written as " c " ). these tinctures are shaken, yielding a 1x or 1c dilution. homeopaths can further dilute these tinctures 2 times ( 2x or 2c ), 3 times ( 3x or 3c ), and so forth. many times professional homeopaths will use much higher dilutions, because the more diluted the substance, the more potent its healing powers are thought to be. homeopathic remedies aim to stimulate the body ' s own healing mechanisms. homeopaths believe that any physical disease has a mental and emotional component. so a homeopathic diagnosis includes physical symptoms ( such as feverishness ), current emotional and psychological state ( such as anxiety and restlessness ), and the person ' s constitution. a person ' s constitution includes qualities related to creativity, initiative, persistence, concentration, physical sensitivities, and stamina. the right remedy for a condition will take all of these aspects into account, so each diagnosis and remedy is individualized


a person ' s constitution includes qualities related to creativity, initiative, persistence, concentration, physical sensitivities, and stamina. the right remedy for a condition will take all of these aspects into account, so each diagnosis and remedy is individualized. that means 3 people with hay fever could need 3 very different prescriptions. health food stores and some pharmacies sell homeopathic remedies for a variety of problems. remedies are usually taken for no more than 2 - 3 days, although some people may need only 1 - 2 doses before they start feeling better. in some cases daily dosing may be prescribed. what happens during a visit to the homeopath? your first visit to the homeopath can take from 1 - hours. because homeopaths treat the person rather than the illness, the homeopath will interview you at length, asking many questions and observing personality traits, as well as unusual behavioral and physical symptoms. the homeopath will also perform a physical examination and possibly order laboratory work. what illnesses and conditions respond well? scientific evidence is mixed. in some clinical trials, homeopathy appeared to be no better than placebo. in other clinical studies, researchers believed they saw benefits from homeopathy. more controlled clinical research is needed. preliminary evidence shows that homeopathy may be helpful in treating childhood diarrhea, otitis media ( ear infection ), asthma, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes, pain, allergies, upper respiratory tract infections, sore muscles, and colds and flu. some professional homeopaths specialize in treating serious illnesses, such as cancer, mental illness, and autoimmune diseases. in fact, several studies suggest there may be a role for homeopathy in symptom relief and improving quality of life among cancer patients. you should not treat a life - threatening illness with homeopathy alone. always make sure that all your health care providers know about all the different therapies you are using. homeopathic medicines, because they are diluted, generally don ' t have side effects. however, some people report feeling worse briefly after starting homeopathic remedies. homeopaths interpret this as the body temporarily stimulating symptoms while it makes an effort to restore health. homeopathic medicines are not known to interfere with conventional drugs. however, if you are considering using homeopathic remedies, you should discuss this with your doctor. is home


h. reporting data on homeopathic treatments ( redhot ) : a supplement to consort. homeopathy. 2007 ; 96 ( 1 ) : 42 - 5. dos santos al, perazzo ff, cardoso lg, carvalho jc. in vivo study of the anti - inflammatory effect of rhus toxicodendron. homeopathy. 2007 ; 96 ( 2 ) : 95 - 101. ernst e. homeopathy : what does the " best " evidence tell us? med j aust. 2010 ; 192 ( 8 ) : 458 - 60. fleming s, gutknecht n. naturopathy and primary care practice. primary care : clinics in office practice. 2010 : 37 ( 1 ). frei h, everts r, von ammon k, kaufmann f, et al. randomised controlled trials of homeopathy in hyperactive children : treatment procedure leads to an unconventional study design. experience with open - label homeopathic treatment preceding the swiss adhd placebo controlled, randomised, double - blind, cross - over trial. homeopathy. 2007 ; 96 ( 1 ) : 35 - 41. frenkel m. homeopathy in cancer care. altern ther health med. 2010 ; 16 ( 3 ) : 12 - 6. goossens m, laekeman g, aertgeerts b, buntinx f ; arch study group. evaluation of the quality of life after individualized homeopathic treatment for seasonal allergic rhinitis. a prospective, open, non - comparative study. homeopathy. 2009 jan ; 98 ( 1 ) : 11 - 6. jacobs j, herman p, heron k, olsen s, vaughters l. homeopathy for menopausal symptoms in breast cancer survivors : a preliminary randomized controlled trial. j altern complement med. 2005 ; 11 ( 1 ) : 21 - 7. jacobs j, williams al, girard c, njike vy, katz d. homeopathy for attention - deficit / hyperactivity disorder : a pilot randomized - controlled trial. j altern complement med. 2005 ; 11 ( 5 ) : 799 - 806. kistin sj, newman ad. induction of labor with homeopathy : a case report. j midwifery womens health. 2007 ; 52 ( 3 ) : 303 - 7. mathie rt, farrer s. outcomes from homeopathic prescribing in dental practice


of labor with homeopathy : a case report. j midwifery womens health. 2007 ; 52 ( 3 ) : 303 - 7. mathie rt, farrer s. outcomes from homeopathic prescribing in dental practice : a prospective, research - targeted, pilot study. homeopathy. 2007 ; 96 ( 2 ) : 74 - 81. mcguigan m. hypothesis : do homeopathic medicines exert their action in humans and animals via the vomeronasal system? homeopathy. 2007 ; 96 ( 2 ) : 113 - 9. merrell wc, shalts e. homeopathy [ review ]. med clin north am. 2002 ; 86 ( 1 ) : 47 - 62. milazzo s, russell n, ernst e. efficacy of homeopathic therapy in cancer treatment. eur j cancer. 2006 ; 42 ( 3 ) : 282 - 9. milgrom lr. journeys in the country of the blind : entanglement theory and the effects of blinding on trials of homeopathy and homeopathic provings. evid based complement alternat med. 2007 ; 4 ( 1 ) : 7 - 16. mojaver yn, mosavi f, mazaherinezhad a, shahrdar a, manshaee k. individualized homeopathic treatment of trigeminal neuralgia : an observational study. homeopathy. 2007 ; 96 ( 2 ) : 82 - 6. mousavi f, mojaver yn, asadzadeh m, mirzazadeh m. homeopathic treatment of minor aphthous ulcer : a randomized, placebo - controlled clinical trial. homeopathy. 2009 jul ; 98 ( 3 ) : 137 - 41. muller - krampe b, oberbaum m, dipl - math pk, weiser m. effects of spascupreel versus hyoscine butylbromide for gastrointestinal cramps in children. pediatr int. 2007 ; 49 ( 3 ) : 328 - 34. pilkington k, kirkwood g, rampes h, fisher p, richardson j. homeopathy for anxiety and anxiety disorders : a systematic review of the research. homeopathy. 2006 ; 95 ( 3 ) : 151 - 62. ramachandran c, nair pk, clement rt, melnick sj. investigation of cytokine expression in human leukocyte cultures


review of the research. homeopathy. 2006 ; 95 ( 3 ) : 151 - 62. ramachandran c, nair pk, clement rt, melnick sj. investigation of cytokine expression in human leukocyte cultures with two immune - modulatory homeopathic preparations. j altern complement med. 2007 ; 13 ( 4 ) : 403 - 7. rao ml, roy r, bell ir, hoover r. the defining role of structure ( including epitaxy ) in the plausibility of homeopathy. homeopathy. 2007 ; 96 ( 3 ) : 175 - 82. relton c, chatfield k, partington h, foulkes l. patients treated by homeopaths registered with the society of homeopaths : a pilot study. homeopathy. 2007 ; 96 ( 2 ) : 87 - 9. relton c, smith c, raw j, walters c, adebajo ao, thomas kj, young ta. healthcare provided by a homeopath as an adjunct to usual care for fibromyalgia ( fms ) : results of a pilot randomised controlled trial. homeopathy. 2009 apr ; 98 ( 2 ) : 77 - 82. rossi e, endrizzi c, panozzo ma, bianchi a, da fra¨ m. homeopathy in the public health system : a seven - year observational study at lucca hospital ( italy ). homeopathy. 2009 jul ; 98 ( 3 ) : 142 - 8. rostock m, naumann j, guethlin c, guenther l, bartsch hh, walach h. classical homeopathy in the treatment of cancer patients - - a prospective observational study of two independent cohorts. bmc cancer. 2011 ; 11 : 19. tan g, craine mh, bair mj, et al. efficacy of selected complementary and alternative medicine interventions for chronic pain. j rehabil res dev. 2007 ; 44 ( 2 ) : 195 - 222. thompson ea, montgomery a, douglas d, reilly d. a pilot, randomized, double - blinded, placebo - controlled trial of individualized homeopathy for symptoms of estrogen withdrawal in breast - cancer survivors. j altern complement med. 2005 ; 11 ( 1 ) : 13 - 20. vickers aj, smith c. homoeopathic oscillococcinum for preventing and treating influenza and influenza - like syndromes. cochrane


drive that the desire - free women must resist. in this view, if a woman is raped, she must have brought it upon herself. " a woman may be viewed that she should be responsible for being raped because she aspired to date or go to a man ' s premises ; or that she took the risk of being raped as she went out alone late at night or drank alcohol ; or that she enticed others to rape her with her behavior or dressing, " said linda wong, executive director of the association concerning sexual violence against women in hong kong. the perception that a raped woman is dirty or ruined further compounds the stigma, even within a woman ' s own family. luo studied one case in which after a girl was raped, " her family wouldn ' t put her clothes together into the washing machine when they washed the clothes. they divided them from the other family members, because they thought she was dirty. " wong believes that these attitudes point to a larger inequality in chinese culture. " violence against women is rooted in patriarchal gender relations where women are assigned roles based not on their capacity but norms and values that perpetuate male dominance and superiority, " she said. " the gender inequality is embedded in all levels of the society such as employment, education and social status. " the lack of well - rounded sex education doesn ' t help matters. on the chinese mainland as well as on taiwan, sex education is largely cursory and focused on the biological aspects as opposed to the social. " taiwan does not have much sex education, " luo said. " so students turn to pornographic material. they implant a lot of wrong information in them, such as ‘ no means yes ' and ‘ all girls want sex. ' " the laws pertaining to rape, while not blind to the crime, largely follow cultural perceptions. for example, the definition of " rape " is quite narrow. " only women can be victims in china — males cannot be counted as victims, " zhang said. these laws haven ' t seen change in a decade or so. " the criminal law in china was issued in 1979, and revised in 1997 … to combine the crime of fornication with an underage girl into the crime of rape, " zhang said. " some judicial interpretations took place during 2003 and 2004. no news was heard from modification of laws since then. " sentences for rape range from three years in prison to a death sentence, though there are loopholes to the latter. " the punishment can be a death penalty with a two


float, a community service project or merely to keep the house clean. a fraternity provides a unique combination : family, home away from home, social organization, business and organization in which students can develop confidence as they acquire competence. the opportunities for leadership are unlimited and the most important thing is that the principles of leadership are learned through experience. this experience teaches fraternity men that success is not automatic, but rather, that knowledge and performance are what count most. a fraternity man learns how to develop sensitivity regarding the desires, goals, and aspirations of others ; how to communicate, how to inspire, how to motivate ; the importance of setting an example ; how to delegate responsibility ; and how to accept failure as well as success and glory. he learns that a true leader must have the courage to stand up for his beliefs, while also being attentive, interested, and responsive to those who may disagree. too many students come to college, sign up for classes, study from test to test memorizing material and feeding it back at test time. they may get good grades and graduate, but it is surprising how many college graduates are wandering around looking for jobs because they did not develop the ability to work with people or the basic qualities of leadership while they were in college. the qualities of leadership must be tested and developed by each person and a fraternity provides the opportunity for students for just that. this is how 2 % can equal 80 custom research papers provided by essaylib. com


( adj ) far ( at a great distance in time or space or degree ) " we come from a far country " ; " far corners of the earth " ; " the far future " ; " a far journey " ; " the far side of the road " ; " far from the truth " ; " far in the future " ( adj ) far ( being of a considerable distance or length ) " a far trek " ( adj ) far ( being the animal or vehicle on the right or being on the right side of an animal or vehicle ) " the horse on the right is the far horse " ; " the right side is the far side of the horse " ( adj ) far ( beyond a norm in opinion or actions ) " the far right " ( adj ) further, farther ( more distant in especially degree ) " nothing could be further from the truth " ; " further from our expectations " ; " farther from the truth " ; " farther from our expectations " ( adv ) far ( to a considerable degree ; very much ) " a far far better thing that i do " ; " felt far worse than yesterday " ; " eyes far too close together " ( adv ) far ( at or to or from a great distance in space ) " he traveled far " ; " strayed far from home " ; " sat far away from each other " ( adv ) far ( at or to a certain point or degree ) " i can only go so far before i have to give up " ; " how far can we get with this kind of argument? " ( adv ) far ( remote in time ) " if we could see far into the future " ; " all that happened far in the past " ( adv ) far ( to an advanced stage or point ) " a young man who will go very far " ( adv ) further, farther ( to or at a greater extent or degree or a more advanced stage ( ` further ' is used more often than ` farther ' in this abstract sense ) ) " further complicated by uncertainty about the future " ; " let ' s not discuss it further " ; " nothing could be further from the truth " ; " they are further along in their research than we expected " ; " the application of the law was extended farther " ; " he is going no farther in his studies " ( adv ) further ( in addition or furthermore ) " if we further suppose " ; " stated further that he would not cooperate with them " ; " they are definitely


support us with kachingle! may 31, 2012 | 12 : 00 a. m. cst robotic sounds spill out of the speakers of what used to be a speak & spell. although it might sound like random humming and high - pitched beeping, this device demonstrates the basics of circuit bending, a trend in the music industry. when the device is turned on, it emits a series of r2 - d2 - like noises that vary depending on which point of the circuit board is touched. the violet - colored children ’ s toy, when resting on its plastic front, shows a disordered jumble of yellow and black wires connected to a green circuit board. although it might look like a complicated electrical entanglement, it was created in a matter of minutes for the sheer purpose of demonstration. “ [ circuit bending ] is basically, in a nutshell, creative short - circuiting, and you ’ re trying to get results and delve into an interface, ” daniel park says. “ it ’ s like being able to pinpoint control over chaos. ” in other words, circuit bending is simply controlling circuits of electricity that produce a sound. this technology can be applied to musical instruments and creates a futuristic, electronic sound. park, 34, constructs modified instruments. he considers this not only music but also an intuitive art form. “ you ’ re just experimenting and seeing what happens, ” park says. “ i want to explore sound and make music. that ’ s my bottom line. ” his first experiment took place seven years ago after buying a cheap casio keyboard. park distributes his circuit - bent devices to producers and studios, mostly from australia, england and japan. “ it ’ s one of those things like jazz where it ’ s not really appreciated as much in our own country, ” he says. he builds each of the devices in his home and handles all the business aspects. he ’ s sold more than 500 devices, which range in price from $ 300 to $ 1, 000. although there are many different approaches people have taken with this technique, park relies on his musical background while experimenting. when toying around with wiring and sounds, he seeks changes in tones and patterns. throughout the years, park has worked with musical instruments such as synths and keyboards as well as electronic children ’ s toys. the price of the object determines how he will approach it. with cheap toys such as speak & spell, park tends to get a little more daring. but when he ’ s working with instruments, he


about the importance of public interventions in making growth more inclusive. indeed, it is now well understood that policies that are designed to maximise growth can only trickle down to the poor if they are accompanied by wealth redistribution, employment opportunities, investments in human capital, and the provision of social protection for the most vulnerable groups in society. spatial inequalities are particularly evident across china, with western and interior rural communities experiencing much weaker effects from economic growth than the eastern coastal provinces. unu - wider ’ s world income inequality database shows that the gini coefficients in china, which measure the income inequality ranging from zero for ‘ perfect ’ equality to one for maximal inequality, have been consistently higher in rural areas than in urban areas, despite the observed growing inequality in urban areas largely attributed to unregistered migration from the countryside to the cities. this, in combination with the fact that the national gini coefficients are higher than both the rural and urban ginis, indicates that the rural – urban divide is driving the growing levels of inequity in the country. in india, the ginis have been consistently higher in the urban areas, with the rural – urban divide also growing over the last two decades. this is illustrated by the ratios of the rural to urban consumption expenditure that have declined from 0. 63 in the early 1970s to 0. 58 in the mid 1990s. fiscal policies have a lot to do with wealth redistribution. tax rates in china and india are low, with most revenues coming from indirect taxes. this also reflects the low share of government revenues as percentage of gdp, which oscillates around 20 %. this is in contrast with the average of 50 % observed in oecd countries. tax systems in both countries remain limited to maximising redistributive policies, and to a large extent, they will also limit the capacity of these countries to tackle extreme deprivation in the coming years. china and india also face significant challenges in terms of employment generation. rising unemployment is a driving factor in the incidence of poverty in urban areas in china, which has been exacerbated by market - oriented structural reforms and large migration flows of unskilled workers from rural areas to the cities. migrant workers face exclusion from formal employment arrangements and state benefits such as housing, health and school subsidies, as well as income support from social protection schemes. but the capacity of china to continue absorbing a larger share of the global consumer goods markets is becoming increasingly limited, with other emerging markets, including india, aggressively competing to get a share of the market


changing planet : black carbon black carbon contributes to global warming in two ways. when in the atmosphere, it absorbs sunlight and generates heat, warming the air. when deposited on snow and ice, it changes the albedo of the surface, absorbing sunlight and generating heat. this further accelerates warming, since the heat melts snow and ice, revealing a lower albedo surface which continues to absorb sunlight - a vicious cycle of warming. click on the video at the left to watch the nbc learn video - changing planet : black carbon. lesson plan : changing planet : black carbon - a dusty situation shop windows to the universe science store! is a fun group game appropriate for the classroom. players follow nitrogen atoms through living and nonliving parts of the nitrogen cycle. for grades 5 - 9. you might also be interested in : earth ’ s climate is warming. during the 20th century earth ’ s average temperature rose 0. 6° celsius ( 1. 1°f ). scientists are finding that the change in temperature has been causing other aspects of our planet... more this picture shows a part of the earth surface as seen from the international space station high above the earth. a perspective like this reminds us that there are lots of different things that cover the... more arctic sea ice is covered with snow all winter. bright white, the snow - covered ice has a high albedo so it absorbs very little of the solar energy that gets to it. and during the arctic winter, very little... more altocumulus clouds ( weather symbol - ac ), are made primarily of liquid water and have a thickness of 1 km. they are part of the middle cloud group ( 2000 - 7000m up ). they are grayish - white with one part... more altostratus clouds ( weather symbol - as ) consist of water and some ice crystals. they belong to the middle cloud group ( 2000 - 7000m up ). an altostratus cloud usually covers the whole sky and has a gray... more cirrocumulus clouds ( weather symbol - cc ) are composed primarily of ice crystals and belong to the high cloud group ( 5000 - 13000m ). they are small rounded puffs that usually appear in long rows. cirrocumulus... more cirrostratus ( weather symbol - cs ) clouds consist almost entirely of ice crystals and belong to the high cloud ( 5000 - 13000m ) group. they are sheetlike thin clouds that usually cover the entire


a ` ` shelf ' ' is a persistent, dictionary - like object. the difference with ` ` dbm ' ' databases is that the values ( not the keys! ) in a shelf can be essentially arbitrary python objects - - anything that the pickle module can handle. this includes most class instances, recursive data types, and objects containing lots of shared sub - objects. the keys are ordinary strings. to summarize the interface ( key is a string, data is an d = shelve. open ( filename ) # open, with ( g ) dbm filename - - no suffix d [ key ] = data # store data at key ( overwrites old data if # using an existing key ) data = d [ key ] # retrieve data at key ( raise keyerror if no # such key ) del d [ key ] # delete data stored at key ( raises keyerror # if no such key ) flag = d. has _ key ( key ) # true if the key exists list = d. keys ( ) # a list of all existing keys ( slow! ) d. close ( ) # close it - the choice of which database package will be used ( e. g. dbm or gdbm ) depends on which interface is available. therefore it is not safe to open the database directly using dbm. the database is also ( unfortunately ) subject to the limitations of dbm, if it is used - - this means that ( the pickled representation of ) the objects stored in the database should be fairly small, and in rare cases key collisions may cause the database to refuse updates. - dependent on the implementation, closing a persistent dictionary may or may not be necessary to flush changes to disk. - the shelve module does not support concurrent read / write access to shelved objects. ( multiple simultaneous read accesses are safe. ) when a program has a shelf open for writing, no other program should have it open for reading or writing. unix file locking can be used to solve this, but this differs across unix versions and requires knowledge about the database implementation used. see about this document... for information on suggesting changes. - module anydbm : - generic interface to - module dbhash : db database interface. - module dbm : - standard unix database interface. - module dumbdbm : - portable implementation of the - module gdbm : - gnu database interface, based on the - module pickle : - object serialization used by


learn something new every day more info... by email a predicate is part of a sentence or clause in english and is one of two primary components that serves to effectively complete the sentence. sentences consist of two main components : subjects and predicates. subjects are the primary “ thing ” in a sentence which the rest of the words then describe through either a direct description or by indicating what type of action that subject is performing. the predicate is this secondary aspect of the sentence and usually consists of a verb or adjective, though complicated sentences may have multiple verbs and a number of descriptions affecting the subject. it can be easiest to understand predicates by first understanding subjects and how sentences are constructed. a sentence just about always has a subject, though it can be implied in some way and not necessarily directly stated. in a simple sentence like “ the cat slept, ” the subject is “ the cat, ” which is a noun phrase consisting of the direct article “ the ” and the noun “ cat. ” subjects can be longer and more complicated, but they are usually fairly simple in nature. the predicate of a sentence is then basically the rest of the sentence, though this is not always the case for longer and more complicated sentences. in “ the cat slept, ” the predicate is quite simple and merely consists of the word “ slept. ” this is simple because “ slept ” is an intransitive verb, which means that it requires no further description or objects to make it complete. the sentence could be expanded as “ the cat slept on the bed, ” but this is not necessary and merely adds a descriptive component to the predicate through the prepositional phrase “ on the bed. ” in a somewhat more complicated sentence, such as “ the man gave the ball to his son, ” the subject of the sentence is still quite simple : “ the man. ” the predicate in this sentence, however, has become substantially more complicated and consists of the rest of the sentence : “ gave the ball to his son. ” this has been made more complicated because the verb “ gave ” is transitive, specifically ditransitive, which indicates both a direct object and an indirect object. the act of “ giving ” requires that there is a direct object, which is the item given, and an indirect object, which is who or what it is given to. in this instance, the predicate consists of the verb “ gave ” and the direct object “ the ball ” with a connecting preposition “ to ” and the indirect object


sorry, no definitions found. “ also, stephen j. tonsor of michigan state university and mary f. wilson of the forestry sciences laboratory in juneau, alaska, found that some flowering plants, such as pokeweeds ( phytolacca americana ) and english plantains ( plantago lanceolata ), grow faster when potted with full or half sib lings than when potted with nonrelatives. ” “ no publications found so far for tonsor and phytolacca should be 1989 ” “ other homeopathic remedies to consider include phytolacca, sanguinaria, and hydratis — all in 6th to 30th potency. ” “ poke root phytolacca americana has a well - deserved reputation as an herb that purifies the glands, including the breasts. ” “ specific herbs that clear up this problem are dandelion root tea taken together with a combination of three parts echinacea root tincture and one part poke root phytolacca americana. ” “ of the twelve most frequently reported plants in poisoning incidents, only one, pokeweed phytolacca decandra, is used medicinally. ” “ few of such plants are those which can be used as laxatives and purgatives, for example, cassia absus, c. alata, c. obtusifolia, tamarindus indica and phytolacca dodecandra. ” “ the poke - weed ( _ phytolacca _ ) ( fig. 98, _ k _ ), so conspicuous in autumn on account of its dark - purple clusters of berries and crimson stalks, is our only representative of the family _ phytolaccaceæ _. ” “ it belongs to the rare phytolacca family, and has an immense girth - - forty or fifty feet in some cases ; at the same time the wood is so soft and spongy that it can be cut into with a knife, and is utterly unfit for firewood, for when cut up it refuses to dry, but simply rots away like a ripe water - melon. ” “ it is believed by some in this country that the pokeweed ( phytolacca ), if allowed to die in a cotton field, will produce rust. ” resources of the southern fields and forests, medical, economical, and agricultural. being also a medical botany of the confederate states ; with practical information on the useful properties of the trees, plants, and shrubs ‘ phyt


the smart grid is coming! what ’ s a smart grid? several hundred utility executives, government regulators, and engineers have gathered in downtown san diego this week for a three - day conference that is focused on what may be the utility industry ’ s biggest paradigm shift since the tennessee valley authority electrified the southeastern united states. the only problem is that it ’ s the biggest paradigm shift that people have never heard of. a harris poll recently highlighted the fact that u. s. utilities have committed billions of dollars to upgrade the electric grid by installing new “ smart meters ” in homes and businesses. but the harris poll shows about two - thirds of americans ( 68 percent ) have never heard the term “ smart grid ” and 63 percent don ’ t know what a smart meter is. so for at least some people, you got it here first : instead of merely tracking how much total electricity ( or gas, or water ) a customer uses each month, a smart meter tracks a customer ’ s usage continuously throughout the day and uses wireless technology to automatically transmit the data in real time to the utility. this automated meter reading technology makes it possible for regulators to set prices that vary at different times of day — and which encourage or discourage consumption — based on the relative cost of power production and periods of peak energy demand. as the harris poll shows, if the price of electricity changes according to how much it actually costs to produce, three out of four people want to be able to see and control how much electricity they are using. so why are smart meters a big deal? and why should technology innovators care? a few highlights from the “ metering america ” conference are in order : — in california, the big three investor - owned utilities are in the process of deploying 12 million smart meters, covering about 80 percent of the state ’ s population at an estimated cost of $ 4. 5 billion, according to commissioner nancy ryan of the california public utilities commission. ryan told the “ metering america ” conference that utility rates based on time - of - day pricing related to the cost of producing electricity must be coupled with extensive customer communications and education campaigns, or the effort to align consumers and true market costs will be wasted. — san diego gas & electric is on schedule to complete installation of 1. 4 million electric smart meters and 850, 000 gas smart meters in its service area by the end of 2011 at an estimated cost of $ 600 million, says anne shen smith, sdg & e ’ s senior vice president for customer services. while there really are benefits to


gas power plants operate on the margin at least half of the time — and in a number of regions ( the west, southwest, texas, florida, and new england ), they operate on the margin 80 to 90 percent of the time. electricity users can therefore indirectly decrease natural gas consumption — and thus help to put downward pressure on prices — by reducing their electricity use, particularly during daytime hours when natural gas is most likely to be the marginal fuel source for electricity generation. in fact, in many cases, electric efficiency efforts provide the " biggest bang for the buck. " federal agencies can build on their reputation as leaders in promoting the efficient use of electricity by engaging in measures such as retrofitting lighting and hvac systems, installing or recommissioning energy management systems, and establishing energy - smart operational practices. - demand response and load management : in a number of regions, electricity users have the opportunity to receive payment for reducing their electricity use during specific periods by participating in demand response programs offered by the regional grid operator or their electricity provider. two types of programs are typically offered : " emergency " programs that pay customers to reduce their load during periods when the reliability of the grid is potentially jeopardized, and " economic " programs that give customers the opportunity to offer load curtailments in exchange for market - based payments. the importance of such programs is heightened by the recent run - up in natural gas prices, which is likely to put upward pressure on peak period electricity prices in many parts of the country. by participating in demand response programs, federal customers can help to dampen this effect. agencies can leverage their efficiency and demand response efforts with financial and / or technical resources funded through public benefits funds or demand side management programs. these programs have historically been administered by the local utility, although in a number of states ( new york, vermont, oregon, wisconsin ) the programs are administered by a statewide agency or non - governmental organization. current ratepayer funding for electric energy efficiency tops $ 1 billion annually — providing for a range of resources to federal agencies, from rebates for energy - efficient equipment and retrofits, to facility audits and project evaluation. funding for natural gas efficiency is also available in many gas utility service territories. information on those programs most relevant to federal customers is available on the femp web site. for more information, please contact charles goldman of lbnl at 510 - 486 - 4637.


a research internship can allow students to learn while working in the lab with their professor or it can offer them the chance to learn while building a new lab with their professor. such was the case last summer when david negro ' 06 and soo hooi oh ' 06 helped boon siew ooi, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, set up a new optoelectronics and photonics lab in lehigh ' s center for optical technologies. the students ' mission was to assemble the lab ' s several optical waveguide and semiconductor laser characterization stations, and interface them with a central computer so all the new equipment could be controlled from the same keyboard and mouse. " neither of us knew a whole lot about photonics before last summer, " says negro, an electrical engineering major, " so the learning experience was huge. " we not only had to learn how to use new tools, we also had to manipulate the tools for unconventional purposes. " " we had to build the lab, learn the equipment, see how the different instruments work together and learn to be creative, " says oh, a triple major in electrical engineering, integrated business and engineering ( ibe ) and music composition. one purpose of the new lab, says ooi, is to develop emitters and other light sources for use in medical technology, the semiconductor industry and other applications. ooi has a grant from carl zeiss meditec inc., a german - based international maker of eye ophthalmology systems, to develop a semiconductor light source that would increase the sensitivity and resolution of the system. " we have developed a broadband light source for this application, " says ooi, " but we need to increase the bandwidth and the strength of its signal. " negro and oh were chosen for their internship after successfully completing fundamentals of semiconductor devices, a sophomore - level electrical engineering course that ooi taught last spring. their internships were funded by the cot. the students assembled the lab ' s state - of - the - art equipment the old - fashioned way, says negro. " we read the manuals, we got stuck and then we called the company hotline. " the students spent much of the summer measuring the performance of the new equipment, characterizing the properties of photonic devices and semiconductor chips, and generating and guiding laser signals. they also helped determine the properties of quantum dot materials. quantum dots, which emit the light that creates lasers, are nanometer - size semiconductor structures in which the presence or absence of a quantum electron can be used to


generating and guiding laser signals. they also helped determine the properties of quantum dot materials. quantum dots, which emit the light that creates lasers, are nanometer - size semiconductor structures in which the presence or absence of a quantum electron can be used to store information. " we tried to modify the bandgap and lasing wavelength in order to control the optical properties of the quantum - dot structures, " says soo, who hopes to continue her work in the area by setting up the photoluminescent system that can characterize this nano - material structure. using labview software, negro and oh integrated the new equipment to a central computer, then merged data from two or more machines so that the experimental results could be plotted in one graph on the computer screen. " without the computer, it would have taken an entire day to generate a graph, " says negro. " with the computer, we generated the same graph in two seconds. " in addition to gaining valuable experience in the lab, the students realized other benefits from their summer internship. " this opened a wide variety of options for me, " says negro, who hopes to take advantage of the university ' s presidential scholarship program, which offers a tuition - free fifth year of study to students with a 3. 75 undergraduate gpa. " working in a lab requires a lot of patience and dedication, " says oh. " it has enabled me to see what it would be like to be a graduate student. it has also shown me what i ' m lacking, and that will help me know what electives to choose the next two years. " posted on wednesday, december 01, 2004


of another country — clear evidence that they had been opened — kaunitz calmly replied, “ how clumsy these people are. ” when the french ambassador to russia, the marquis de la chetardie, in 1744 protested an order for him to leave, an official began reading him his intercepted letters, showing his meddling in russian affairs. “ that ’ s enough! ” the marquis said — and began packing. the mores of diplomacy began to change in the 19th century, pushed first by the spread of democracy and republican government. public opinion came to regard it as wrong and unbecoming to a democracy to do anything illegal — in particular when representing itself abroad. other factors in that change, according to the british diplomat and writer harold nicolson, lay in the emerging sense of the community of nations and of the importance of public opinion. as lord palmerston, the mid - 19th - century british prime minister, maintained, opinions are stronger than armies. this shift was exemplified by a growing belief that mail shouldn ’ t be tampered with. in britain in the 1840s, there was a huge public outcry over the post office ’ s opening of the mail of the italian revolutionary giuseppe mazzini ; at the time, the english historian and politician thomas babington macaulay declared that it was as wrong to take his letter from the mail as to take it from his desk. and when the vienna convention on diplomatic relations was passed in 1961, among its prescriptions was that “ the official correspondence of the mission shall be inviolable. ” ambassadors now regard themselves as ladies and gentlemen. they do not lie. they do not steal. but in some ways, diplomacy has not advanced beyond the old ways. and diplomatic cables can always be intercepted or revealed — as wikileaks has demonstrated.


| module 3 : interpreting data | 2. using data to support an argument to test a theory or answer a question a study is designed, sampling is conducted and the data is collected. the process of descriptive statistics then involves presenting the data in tables and graphs. the data may seem to indicate a clear conclusion about the population which has been sampled. but how strongly do the data support that conclusion? is there strong evidence for the link between data and conclusion? how can you be sure that the effect observed is due to the experimental treatment and is not just an accidental result? deciding on the strength of the link between data - and making conclusions about the population - involves interpretation. the basis of how to make interpretation lies in another statistical process called inferential statistics. inferential statistics involves the use of statistical methods and models to make measurable claims about populations ( and population parameters ) on the basis of samples ( and sample statistics ). usually researchers do not know the value of population parameters - they have to estimate them. but they do have measurements made on a sample - these are sample statistics. researchers also realise that if they used a different sample from the same population to produce more data, the new sample statistics would be different to the first ones. inference uses probability to account for this sample variability. however, to make inferences you need to have designed a reliable, unbiased study so that the data that are produced are accurate and valid. therefore, in order to make useful interpretations about data, or to assess the appropriateness of other interpretations, you need to first ask about how the data were produced and presented. this page last updated 31 august 2009


( the very short version ) in september 1891, pasadena philanthropist amos throop rented the wooster block building in pasadena for the purpose of establishing throop university, the forerunner of caltech. in november of that year, throop university opened its doors to 31 students and a six - member faculty. throop might have remained just a good local school had it not been for the arrival in pasadena of astronomer george ellery hale. the first director of the mount wilson observatory, hale became a member of throop ’ s board of trustees in 1907, and envisioned molding it into a first - class institution for engineering and scientific research and education. under his leadership throop ’ s transformation began. by 1921, hale had been joined by chemist arthur a. noyes and physicist robert a. millikan. these three men set the school, which by then had been renamed the california institute of technology, firmly on its new course. for the next 85 years, millikan and his successors — lee dubridge, harold brown, marvin goldberger, thomas everhart, and david baltimore — led the institute as it achieved preeminence in the scientific community. during this time programs were added in geology, biology, aeronautics, astronomy, astrophysics, the social sciences, computer science, and computation and neural systems. now serving as president is jean - lou chameau, who took office in september 2006. dr. chameau came to caltech from georgia tech, where he was provost and vice president for academic affairs, hightower professor, and a georgia research alliance eminent scholar. he previously served as dean of georgia tech ' s college of engineering, the largest in the nation. dr. chameau places strong emphasis on improving the educational experience of students, increasing diversity, and fostering research, entrepreneurial, and international opportunities for faculty and students. his research interests include sustainable technology ; environmental geotechnology ; soil dynamics ; earthquake engineering ; liquefaction of soils ; and soil - structure interaction problems. you may have run into the work of past caltech scientists without even knowing it. if your mom ever told you to take vitamin c to fend off a cold, you can thank linus pauling, the caltech chemist who discovered the nature of the chemical bond in 1930 ( his ideas about vitamins came later ). his chemical - bond research won him the 1954 nobel prize for chemistry. ( pauling also won the nobel peace prize in 1962. ) after an earthquake, news anchors


nature of the chemical bond in 1930 ( his ideas about vitamins came later ). his chemical - bond research won him the 1954 nobel prize for chemistry. ( pauling also won the nobel peace prize in 1962. ) after an earthquake, news anchors can tell us how relatively shaken up we were, courtesy of the formula that geophysicist charles richter devised in the 1920s for measuring the size of southern california earthquakes. ( later, richter and fellow caltech geophysicist beno gutenberg would apply the formula to earthquakes throughout the world. ) and if anyone ' s ever told you to stop acting so " left brain, " it ' s because of the pioneering brain - hemisphere research done by caltech psychobiologist roger sperry ( another nobelist ). other luminaries in our past include carl anderson ( discoverer of the positron ) ; clair patterson ( whose work on lead pollution spurred the federal government to impose pollution controls on the auto industry ) ; henry borsook ( who formulated the recommended daily requirements for human nutrition ) ; theodore von karman ( father of modern aviation, jet flight, and, indirectly, jpl ) ; and richard feynman ( the theoretical physicist / renaissance man whose name was for years practically synonymous with caltech ' s ). you can read about these and other scientists in more detail in scientific milestones.


science fair project encyclopedia religious conversion is the adoption of new religious beliefs that differ from the convert ' s previous beliefs ; in some cultures ( e. g. judaism ) conversion also signifies joining an ethnic group as well as adopting that group ' s religious beliefs. conversion requires internalization of the new belief system. a person who has undergone conversion is called a convert or proselyte. a proselyte ( from the latin word proselytus which in turn comes from the greek word, proselytos meaning " someone who has found his / her place " ) is in general a title given to a person who has fully embraced a certain religion, world view, ideology, metaphysics, ontology et cetera. in the traditional sense like in proselytism this word signified people who have converted to judaism, but is nowadays used in a wider meaning. conversion to judaism see also the main article ger tzedek jewish law has strict guidelines for accepting new converts to judaism ( a process called " giur " ). according to jewish law, which is still followed as normative by orthodox judaism and most of conservative judaism, potential converts must want to convert to judaism for its own sake, and for no ulterior motives. a male convert needs to undergo a ritual circumcision, and there has to be a commitment to observe the 613 commandments and jewish law. a convert must accept jewish principles of faith, and reject the previous theology that he or she had prior to the conversion. ritual immersion in a small pool of water known as a mikvah is required, and the convert takes a new jewish name and is considered to be a son or daughter ( in spirit ) of the biblical patriarch abraham, and a male is called up in that way to the torah. the reform judaism and conservative judaism movements are lenient in their acceptance of converts. many of their members are married to non - jews, and these movements make an effort to welcome the spouses of jews who seek to convert. this issue is a lightning rod in modern day israel as many immigrants from the former soviet union are technically not jewish. conversion to judaism in history - see the main article : list of converts to judaism the most famous jewish king, king david, was descended from the convert ruth ( who, according to the talmud and midrash, was a moabite princess ). no formal conversion procedure is given in the text ; modern critical historians generally hold giur, in its modern sense, to be an innovation of a later period.


times. differences between jewish and christian views judaism does not characterize itself as a religion ( although one can speak of the jewish religion and religious jews ). the subject of the tanach ( hebrew bible ) is the history of the children of israel ( also called hebrews ), especially in terms of their relationship with god. thus, judaism has also been characterized as a culture or as a civilization. rabbi mordecai kaplan defines judaism as an evolving religious civilization. one crucial sign of this is that one need not believe, or even do, anything to be jewish ; the rabbinic definition of ' jewishness ' requires only that one be born of a jewish mother, or that one convert to judaism in accord with jewish law. ( today, reform and reconstructionist jews also include those born of jewish fathers and gentile mothers if they are raised as jews. ) to jews, jewish peoplehood is closely tied to their relationship with god, and thus has a strong theological component. this relationship is encapsulated in the notion that jews are a chosen people. although some have taken this as a sign of arrogance or exclusivity, there are jewish scholars and theologians who have emphasized that a special relationship between jews and god does not in any way preclude other nations having their own relationship with god. for jews, being " chosen " fundamentally means that jews have chosen to obey a certain set of laws ( see torah and halakha ) as an expression of their covenant with god. jews hold that other nations and peoples are not required or expected to obey these laws, and face no penalty for not obeying them. thus, as a national religion, judaism has no problem with the notion that others have their own paths to god ( or " salvation " ), though it still makes claim as to the truth or falsehood of other beliefs, and as to whether gentiles are allowed to hold them. thus, for example, maimonides believed that the truth claims of islam were largely false, but he also believed that gentiles were not sinning by following islam ; on the other hand, he regarded idolatry not just as false, but also as a serious sin, for jew or non - jew. in this respect, rabbinical sources have usually classed christianity with islam, rather than with idolatry, though the use of icons in many denominations has raised questions as to whether they are, in fact, idolatrous. christianity is characterized by its claim to universality, which marks a break with jewish identity


entire country should convert to christianity, and that sacrifice to the old gods, while still allowed, should no longer be made in the open. similar mass conversions in other scandinavian countries were not as democratic. the christian denomination of the religious society of friends ( quakers ) accepts new members into its monthly meetings. after a person becomes familiar with the beliefs and practices of friends, he may embrace these things for himself. this embracing of the beliefs and practices of friends is called convincement. he then applies for membership, and, if accepted is officially a friend. conversion to islam one becomes a muslim by believing that allah ( arabic for god ) is the only god and that muhammad was his messenger. a person is considered a muslim from the moment he sincerely makes this witness, the shahada. of course a new muslim has to familiarize himself / herself with the religion, the belief, and the practices of islam, but there is no formal requirement for that. it is a personal process ; acceptance of all of that is taken to follow from the original statement, since all of islam is considered to derive from either divine inspiration, in the form of the qur ' an, or prophetic example, in the form of the hadith and sunna of muhammad. conversion to religions of indic origin religions of indic origin such as hinduism, sikhism and buddhism do not believe in conversion as a form of religious expansion, even though they welcome anybody to join their faiths. the reason for this is the strongly held belief in these religions that " all religions are true and are only different paths to the same truth ". the followers also believe that the religion you follow is to be chosen based on an individual ' s temprement, birth etc. also, what would be very strange and foreign to non - indic origin faiths is that people can claim to be follower of multiple religions. for example in japan which was influenced by the indic faith of buddhism, it is easy to find people who follow both buddhism and shinto. it is also common to find people in india claming to be both hindu and buddhist or hindu and sikh etc. this inclusivism is in direct contrast to the belief that the ordained path in the book is the only true paths, found in exclusivistic belief systems. this inclusivism also makes any conversion unnecessary. it should be noted that the above does not apply for some sects of indic faiths, like soka gakkai and hare krishna / iskcon. conversion to new


belief systems. this inclusivism also makes any conversion unnecessary. it should be noted that the above does not apply for some sects of indic faiths, like soka gakkai and hare krishna / iskcon. conversion to new religious movements and cults conversion to new religious movements ( nrm ' s ) is riddled with controversies. the anti - cult movement sometimes uses the term thought reform or even brainwashing, though the latter term has now become discredited, for this process. often they will call certain nrm ' s cults. however, the definition of a cult has become so broad that in many instances it is almost meaningless and is used to define anything outside of orthodoxy. nrms are very diverse and it is not clear whether conversion to nrms differs from conversion to mainstream religions. see also brainwashing controversy in new religious movements research, both in the usa and in the netherlands has shown that there is a positive correlation between the lack of involvement in main stream churches in certain areas and provinces and the percentage of people who are a member of a new religious movement. this applies also for the presence of new age centers., the dutch research included jehovah ' s witnesses and the latter day saint movement / mormonism to the nrm ' s. professor eileen barker believes that the psychological changes as described in converts of the divine light mission can be generalized for other nrms, however she has supplied no proof of such claims. conversion of catholics to protestantism prohibition of conversion several ethnic religions don ' t accept converts, like the yazidis and the druze. the only way to become a yazidi is to be born in a yazidi family. conversely, the shakers and some indian eunuch brotherhoods don ' t allow procreation, so every member is a convert. the english language word proselytism is derived ultimately from the greek language prefix ' pros ' ( towards ) and the verb ' erchomai ' ( to come ). it generally describes attempts to convert a person from one point of view to another, usually in a religious context. in the bible, the word proselyte denotes a person who has converted to judaism, without overtly negative overtones. in our day, however, the connotations of the word proselytism are almost exclusively negative. nonetheless, many people use the words interchangeably. an orthodox writer, stephen methodius hayes has written : " if people talk about the need for evangelism, they meet with


brookhaven national laboratory has what is currently one of the highest energy particle accelerators on the planet. the relativistic heavy ion collider ( rhic ) hosts collisions between the nuclei of gold atoms that are moving at roughly 99 percent of the speed of light, creating a quark soup similar to the one that existed immediately after the big bang. but the scientists running the experiments started noticing something funny about the data : instead of expanding evenly outward, the collision debris were ellipsoidal ( think a 3 - d ellipse ). what was even stranger was that this sort of behavior had already been described, for a gas of lithium atoms at the opposite end of the temperature spectrum, at a fraction of a microkelvin. as these groups were talking about a collaboration, things got stranger still when string theorists started citing this work, since the behavior had already been predicted through their work — a fact that the physicists weren ' t aware of until a science reporter called to ask what they thought about it. the tale of this unlikely collaboration unfolded at the american association for the advancement of science meeting, where the introductory remarks described just how far apart these systems are. in terms of temperature, the rhic and chilled lithium differ by 19 orders of magnitude ( that ' s a factor of 1019 ). when it comes to density, the difference is an astonishing 25 orders of magnitude. meanwhile, the bit of string theory that describes the normal, four - dimensional ( 3 - d + time ) behavior of these systems can be predicted by modeling a four - dimensional sphere wrapped around a five dimensional black hole. quantum viscosity runs hot and cold the cold atomic cloud is probably easiest to understand, although john thomas of duke, who does the work, claimed that, when dragged to wine tastings with his wife ' s friends, " i wait until everyone ' s sufficiently drunk before explaining what we do. " his short description is that he makes bowls of light ; in principle, the first steps in his system involve the sort of laser cooling that our chris lee has described in the past. this can only get things down to a bit under a kelvin above absolute zero, but thomas then loosens the laser trap, and a few atoms evaporate off, taking most of the remaining heat with them. the end result is an atomic cloud at one - tenth of a microkelvin. the 6li atoms that he uses have up and down spins that form an analog of the cooper pairs of electrons that cause high - temperature supercondu


with them. the end result is an atomic cloud at one - tenth of a microkelvin. the 6li atoms that he uses have up and down spins that form an analog of the cooper pairs of electrons that cause high - temperature superconductivity, so his system allows theorists to test some of their ideas in an accessible experimental system. but it also has interesting properties when in a magnetic field. at a specific magnetic field strength, the interactions between the paired atoms start to go asymptotic and, when at a very precise point, the interactions vanish and quantum effects dominate. when the laser trap is released again, the atoms expand elliptically, displaying essentially the smallest amount of quantum viscosity possible. because the system is experimentally possible, they were able ( on the advice of string theorists — more on that below ) to measure both the viscosity and entropy, and found that they were related directly to one divided by four?. out at the other end of the temperature spectrum, the collisions in the rhic were producing what brookhaven ' s barbara jacack termed " quark soup. " in normal matter, quarks interact by exchanging gluons with a limited number of partners. but, at the densities that exist immediately after these collisions, quarks can exchange multiple gluons with multiple partners, leading to longer - range interactions that are more similar to those in a liquid. two aspects of the behavior seen by rhic ' s detectors, however, were a bit surprising. the first is the ellipsoidal expansion that marks the behavior of perfect quantum liquids that we mentioned above. the second is that, although radiation can pass across the small cluster of quark soup, the actual quarks, it appeared, could not. jacack likened the fact that even the heavy charm quark didn ' t make it across the collision to a set of bowling pins stopping an incoming ball. like thomas, talking to string theorists allowed jacack and her team to look for some specific properties — in this case, shock waves of a particular type — of the quark soup. so far, it ' s looking like they ' re there. rhic is about to undergo a retrofit that should make it easier to study this, and the stimulus package may have some money for the doe that could accelerate the work. the theory needs a five - dimensional black hole, but reality may not clifford johnson of usc then spoke about how a specific application of string theory helped tie everything together


, and the stimulus package may have some money for the doe that could accelerate the work. the theory needs a five - dimensional black hole, but reality may not clifford johnson of usc then spoke about how a specific application of string theory helped tie everything together. as he described it, quantum chromodynamics ( qcd ) works very well at describing the interactions of a limited number of particles, and its successes in the early 1970s caused researchers to abandon an earlier version of string theory. but qcd doesn ' t work that well at the densities seen in the rhic, where ensembles of particles have emergent behavior — as johnson noted, a single water molecule isn ' t wet ; that ' s a property that emerges from a population of water molecules. and this, along with a few other vexing problems, has allowed string theory back in the game. " string theory, " johnson said, " having failed to explain something, got resurrected a few years on and was used to explain everything, " or at least provide a quantum description of gravity. he got interested in the problem of describing quantum black holes, which are far smaller than the macroscopic ones we ' ve observed in space. based on their emission of quantum radiation, they have to have an internal structure, one that our lack of a quantum gravity is preventing us from probing. ( during the questions, it became clear that johnson is one of the few people hoping that the lhc does spawn a small black hole. ) it turns out, using the math of string theory, it ' s easy to examine a five - dimensional black hole simply by wrapping a four - dimensional sheet around it. when you do that, however, a lot of three - dimensional qcd behavior pops out of the equations — " the bugs of string theory become features, " as johnson put it. in the extra dimensions, gravitons get pulled towards, and then bounce off, the black hole, undergoing interference as they do. that interference apparently describes the behavior seen in both of these real - world systems. johnson was emphatic that this doesn ' t mean that the experiments that have used these string theory models are a test of the theory ; rather, it means that the predictions of string theory are being used to guide experiments, which is a measure of its utility. as for whether there ' s really an extradimensional black hole tucked away in these conditions, johnson described himself as " agnostic. " it may be possible, he said, to find a way to describe this


- published : 24 feb 2007 - views : 235816 - author : coderedreel | | this article needs additional citations for verification. please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( may 2011 ) | the modern - day confusion in the english language around the word " biscuit " is created by its etymology. the middle french word bescuit is derived from the latin words bis ( twice ) and coquere, coctus ( to cook, cooked ), and, hence, means " twice - cooked ". this is because biscuits were originally cooked in a twofold process : first baked, and then dried out in a slow oven. however, the dutch language from around 1703 had adopted the word koekje, a language diminutive of cake, to have a similar meaning for a similar hard, baked product. this may be related to the russian or ukrainian translation, where " biscuit " has come to mean " sponge cake ". the difference between the secondary dutch word and that of latin origin is that, whereas the koekje is a cake that rises during baking, the biscuit, which has no raising agent, in general does not ( see gingerbread / ginger biscuit ), except for the expansion of heated air during baking. when peoples from europe began to emigrate to the united states, the two words and their " same but different " meanings began to clash. after the american war of independence against the british, the word cookie became the word of choice to mean a hard, twice - baked product. further confusion has been added by the adoption of the word biscuit for a small leavened bread popular in the united states. today, throughout most of the world, the term biscuit still means a hard, crisp, brittle bread, except in north america, where it now denotes a softer bread product baked only once. in modern italian usage, the term biscotto is used to refer to any type of hard twice - baked biscuit, and not only to the cantuccini as in the past. the need for nutritious, easy - to - store, easy - to - carry, and long - lasting foods on long journeys, in particular at sea, was initially solved by taking live food along with a butcher / cook. however, this took up additional space on what were either horse - powered treks or small ships, reducing the time of travel before additional food was required. this resulted in early armies


provide paired - up aid. in 2001 the central authorities held the fourth tibet work forum, at which it was decided that more effective measures would be adopted and efforts would be further strengthened to support tibet and push forward in an all - around way the region ' s development and stability. since 1994 the central government has organized 60 state organs, 18 provinces and municipalities and 17 state - owned enterprises to provide aid to tibet in the fields of human resources, finance and materials, technology and management in a paired - up way to cover all the cities at the prefectural level and 73 counties ( including cities and districts at the county level ) in tibet. the completion of 62 aid projects identified in 1994 and 117 aid projects identified in 2001, respectively, in tibet gave a strong impetus to its economic and social development. in the meantime, the central government overcame interference and sabotage from the dalai lama clique, identified the reincarnated the soul boy of the 10th panchen lama, approving gyaltsen zangpo ' s position as the 11th panchen lama, and resolutely struggled against the dalai lama ' s secessionist group, all of which helped to maintain stability in tibet. 6. upholding the scientific outlook on development, vigorously accelerating tibet ' s development to realize leapfrog development, and achieving lasting peace based on stability. after the 16th national congress of the cpc, in light of the new historical conditions, the central authorities explicitly stated that its priorities for tibet ' s economic and social development would be to ensure and improve the production and living conditions of farmers and herdsmen, and to increase their incomes as required by the scientific outlook on development. by doing this, it helped to promote the region ' s economy and society to develop in a better and faster way, and make all ethnic groups in tibet enjoy the fruit of the reform and development. in 2006 the central government formulated 40 preferential policies aiming to accelerate tibet ' s development and maintain its stability, and identified 180 ( the actually completed number is 188 ) construction projects for its 11th five - year plan ( 2006 - 2010 ), which helped tibet to score remarkable achievements in development and stability. tibet ' s economy developed at a high rate, infrastructure construction in transportation and energy improved markedly, a large number of major projects including the qinghai - tibet railway were completed and have produced satisfactory economic benefits, social undertakings showed all - around progress, the living standards of people of all ethnic groups in tibet were greatly improved and tibet ' s self - development capacity was further enhanced. in the meantime


all over the world. tibet ' s energy, transportation and other basic industries are also flourishing. on the eve of tibet ' s peaceful liberation, there was only one 125 - kw hydropower station in the region, which supplied electricity only to a handful of senior officials and aristocrats. now, an extensive energy system has been formed, with hydropower as the mainstay, backed up by geothermal, wind and solar energy sources. in 2010 the installed power - generating capacity in tibet reached 974, 000 kw, and more than 82 percent of the population had access to electricity. the qinghai - tibet dc power transmission line is under construction, which will link the tibetan grid to those of the rest of the country. in the old days there was not a single highway in tibet. today, a comprehensive transportation network has taken shape, with highway, rail, air and pipeline transportation as the backbone. all townships and more than 80 percent of the administrative villages in tibet have gained access to highways, which now total 58, 200 km. china ' s last " isolated " county is soon to be connected to the country ' s highway network with the completion and operation of the galung la tunnel on the medog highway. the operation of the qinghai - tibet railway ended tibet ' s history of being without railways. the navigation lighting project at the lhasa gongkar airport, and the nyingchi menling airport, ngari gunsa airport, xigaze peace airport have been completed and put into use, allowing night flights into and out of tibet and greatly increasing the number of air routes. an airport layout has taken shape in tibet, with the lhasa gongkar airport as the main hub, and the chamdo bangda, nyingchi menling, ngari gunsa and xigaze peace airports as the branches, catering to 22 domestic and international air services. in old tibet, letters were carried by people or beasts of burden and relayed via posthouses. nowadays, tibet has entered the information age, having established a modern telecommunications network with cables, satellites and the internet as the backbone. it has also realized broadband coverage in all townships and telephone communication in all villages. in the old days tibet ' s agriculture and animal husbandry were completely at the mercy of the weather. nowadays, modern facilities have been widely introduced. the added value of primary industry ( agriculture ) in tibet increased from 128 million yuan in 1959 to 6. 813 billion yuan in 2010, registering an average annual growth of 4. 8


bbsrc is not responsible for the content of external websites biology by design – how synthetic biology could revolutionise everything from medicines to energy 13 july 2012 in a series of articles we will be highlighting the work of some of the leading synthetic biology researchers in the uk. here we profile professor dek woolfson of the university of bristol, professor jamie davies of the university of edinburgh and professor richard cogdell of the university of glasgow. flat pack proteins – professor dek woolfson, university of bristol professor dek woolfson is hoping to use synthetic biology to create new structures out of proteins with uses ranging from wound repair to water purification. - proteins play many important roles in nature. - proteins can assemble into complicated structures like tiny pumps and motors. - scientists are hoping to combine proteins in new ways using synthetic biology to create useful new tools for uses as diverse as water filtration and medicine. proteins are like nature ' s robots working tirelessly in the cells of every plant, animal and microbe to do virtually all of the important functions that make life tick. each individual protein can twist and fold into an incredibly complex 3d shape, with holes, cracks and protrudances giving it its function. groups of proteins then combine with one another and other types of molecules to create bigger and more complicated structures still. understanding how proteins assemble and combine is at the heart of professor dek woolfson ' s research at the university of bristol. professor dek woolfson this work is important for our understanding of biology because by figuring out how to make parts these molecular machines from scratch scientists can get a much better understanding of how they work in nature. it could also have a range of possible applications. professor woolfson and his team are working on a toolkit of newly designed proteins that could be used as building blocks to produce biological machines. this is a key pillar of a synthetic biology approach. scientists like professor woolfson hope to create catalogues of modular parts so that biological structures can be built from flat pack rather than being crafted from scratch each time. one such structure that professor woolfson ' s team are working on is a synthetic version of the extracellular matrix, the scaffold that surrounds our cells. a synthetic extracellular matrix could be used in regenerative medicine to help generate tissues like skin, nerves or bone in the test tube that could then be transplanted into patients. professor woolfson is currently working with clinical scientists exploring applications for the technology in wound repair. another project in their lab is attempting to use rational protein design to produce


skin, nerves or bone in the test tube that could then be transplanted into patients. professor woolfson is currently working with clinical scientists exploring applications for the technology in wound repair. another project in their lab is attempting to use rational protein design to produce new technologies for water purification and desalination. the team have discovered a new cylindrical protein structure which they call cc - hex which they think could be engineered into biological membranes to filter water. these devices would be particularly valuable for producing small scale products that could be used easily by people who do not have access to clean water in the developing world. this research is being developed in collaboration with the university of oxford and with an australian water consortium that brings together a team of engineers, biochemists, chemists, materials scientist and microbiologists. prof woolfson explains " when we discovered cc - hex we thought we might use it to make enzymes. it was a visiting colleague from australia who recognised the similarity of the structure to aquaporins ( a natural protein that rescues water in kidneys, the brain and even the roots of plants ). he suggested that we explore that direction too and it is now the basis of our latest bbsrc grant. we are far from achieving a working prototype but are collaborating with australian scientists with this goal in mind. " designer tissues – professor jamie davies, university of edinburgh stem cells offer incredible medical promise because they can turn into virtually any tissue in our bodies ; but what about tissues that do not exist in our bodies or even in nature? - during development, a simple group of cells multiplies and rearranges to form complicated tissues and organs and eventually a whole plant or animal. - currently, scientists are working to coax stem cells to produce human tissues in the lab to repair damaged organs. - using synthetic biology, scientists could put new programming in to cells so that they develop into never - before seen types of tissues with a range of medical uses. professor jamie davies of the university of edinburgh is working to use synthetic biology to control cell and tissue shape, research which he calls ' synthetic morphology '. his work could lead to a future where cells can be programmed to self assemble into new structures and tissues which have never existed before in nature. professor jamie davies this science is in its infancy and there are a number of technical hurdles still to be overcome. however it promises to give us a far greater understanding of how organisms develop which might give scientists insights that could help prevent developmental abnormalities like conjoined twinning. as well as increasing our understanding of


are a number of technical hurdles still to be overcome. however it promises to give us a far greater understanding of how organisms develop which might give scientists insights that could help prevent developmental abnormalities like conjoined twinning. as well as increasing our understanding of development this work could allow the production of useful new tissues that would not be possible with stem cells. you could imagine, for example, that tissues grown in this way could provide an interface to allow a person to control movement in an artificial hand or even to see through an artificial eye. these developments are still some way off. however in the nearer term professor davies hopes to be able to improve medical technologies like dialysis machines by developing tissues that can live happily inside medical machinery. dialysis machines are very good at replicating the mechanical functions of a kidney but they cannot perform the biochemical functions that are important in properly filtering blood. by designing tissues that could grow along the tubes of a dialysis machine researchers could produce a more effective artificial kidney. professor davies explains " the development of even really complex tissues can be broken down into a series of simple events like the multiplication, clumping together or movement of cells. there are about ten of these simple behaviours and we think that by programming cell circuitry to carry them out in different orders we can coax cells into new types of tissues in ways that we can predict. " the immediate value of this work to scientists is that it will give them a much deeper understanding of the process of development. how relatively unorganised populations of cells assemble precisely into something as complex as a person is one of the big outstanding questions in biology. by developing synthetic systems that cause cells to organise and assemble themselves, the researchers can begin to understand how it happens in nature. one of the immediate challenges that professor davies and their team faced when starting this work was that they wanted to work with animal cells. most synthetic biology to date has been in simple organisms that are easy to work with like bacteria or yeast. mammalian cells are much bigger and more complex than those of bacteria which make them considerably harder to work with. however this work is not just limited to human or animal cells. it should be possible to programme bacteria, yeast or plant cells to form new multicellular structures which could have an enormous range of uses in medicine and industry. the artificial ' leaf ' – professor richard cogdell, university of glasgow professor richard cogdell is hoping to use synthetic biology to create an artificial " leaf " capable of converting the sun ' s energy into sustainable liquid fuels. - plants


industry. the artificial ' leaf ' – professor richard cogdell, university of glasgow professor richard cogdell is hoping to use synthetic biology to create an artificial " leaf " capable of converting the sun ' s energy into sustainable liquid fuels. - plants use photosynthetisis to capture energy of the sun to create fuel to power the plant ' s growth. - we use this fuel ourselves in the form of wood, coal, oil and gas. - by using the tools of synthetics biology, scientists hope to create an artificial system that can do photosynthesis, - this could capture the sun ' s energy like a solar panel but would produce liquid fuel rather than electricity. we have always relied on plants to provide us with energy. for millennia, burning wood was humanity ' s main, sometimes only, source of power. later, more energy dense fuels – coal, oil and gas, drove the development of modern society. professor richard cogdell by burning these fuels we are tapping into the stored energy of the sun. in the case of wood this might have been captured months or years before. when we burn fossil fuels we are releasing energy that fell as sunlight on the world of the dinosaurs hundreds of millions of years ago. only plants, algae and some bacteria have the amazing ability to capture and store the sun ' s rays as sugars using photosynthesis. while amazing, photosynthesis is actually quite an inefficient process. a plant is not a machine for producing fuel, rather a machine for producing plants, and as such scientists think that they might be able to tweak photosynthesis to produce fuel more efficiently. the researchers, based at the university of glasgow, hope to deliver the next stage in our long relationship with photosynthesis by taking it out of the leaf and into the lab. professor cogdell, who is leading the research project, explains : " more energy hits the surface of the earth in the form of sunlight in the space of one hour than the entire human race uses in a whole year. this abundant energy is given away for free but making use of it is tricky. we can use solar panels to make electricity but it ' s intermittent and difficult to store. you can ' t fly an aeroplane or send a ship round the world using batteries, you need a fuel. what we are trying to do is to take the energy from the sun and trap it so that it can be used when it is needed most. " the researchers hope to use a chemical reaction similar to photos


world using batteries, you need a fuel. what we are trying to do is to take the energy from the sun and trap it so that it can be used when it is needed most. " the researchers hope to use a chemical reaction similar to photosynthesis but in an artificial system. plants take solar energy, concentrate it and use it to split apart water into hydrogen and oxygen. the oxygen is released and the energy from the hydrogen used to lock carbon into a fuel. the latest research aims to use synthetic biology to replicate the process outside of the cell. professor cogdell added : " we are working to devise a chemical system that could replicate photosynthesis artificially on a grand scale. this artificial leaf would use solar collectors and produce a fuel, as opposed to electricity. " professor cogdell hopes that his team ' s artificial system could also improve on natural photosynthesis to make better use of the sun ' s energy. by stripping back photosynthesis to a level of basic reactions, much higher levels of energy conversion could be possible. ultimately, success in this research could allow the development of a sustainable carbon neutral economy arresting the increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere from fossil fuel burning. in fact, if successful, this research could allow for carbon to be harvested from the atmosphere and returned to the ground, reversing the accumulation of carbon caused by burning fossil fuels. the research is funded through a joint eu funding scheme " eurosolarfuels " which aims to produce fuels from light. the bbsrc funds the uk part of this research. what is synthetic biology? synthetic biology is the science of designing, engineering and building useful new biological systems which have not existed before in nature. using our ever - increasing understanding of genetics and cell biology synthetic biologists are able to design complicated biological parts, systems and devices to act as sensors, tissues or to produce useful chemicals. these technologies could deliver advances in a wide range of fields including medicine, biofuels and renewable materials. a synthetic biology approach offers incredible promise but also poses many ethical, legal and even existential questions for the scientific community, policymakers and for all of us to think about. some of these questions were explored in a public dialogue carried out by bbsrc and the engineering and physical sciences research council in 2010.


a chinese farmer dries corn outside of qingdao, 14 oct. 2009. china has approved its 1st strain of gm rice, which is locally - developed, for commercial production. china has also approved its first gm corn. " africa — from basket case to breadbasket " op - ed, new agriculturalist author : calestous juma, professor of the practice of international development ; director, science, technology, and globalization project ; principal investigator, agricultural innovation in africa calestous juma, professor of the practice of international development and director of the agricultural innovation project at harvard kennedy school, is optimistic about economic prospects in his native continent of africa. in his new book, the new harvest : agricultural innovation in africa, launched in january 2011, he states very clearly that africa is a continent that can feed itself within a generation. for readers of new agriculturist he outlines why, despite the challenges of ever increasing population and climate change, he thinks africa will change its image of being a basket case to becoming a breadbasket. the basis for my optimism is the reality on the ground and knowledge of the rapid rate at which africa is changing. one concrete example is the investment that africa is making in economic transformation. take infrastructure for example : a significant effort is being made by african countries to extend road networks, the lack of which has been the biggest barrier to agricultural production, especially connecting markets to farms. similar investments are being made in energy and irrigation. only seven per cent of african agriculture is irrigated — 3. 6 per cent in sub - saharan africa — compared to about 47 per cent in south asia ; this is changing. the impact of telecommunications has served as an important source of inspiration and evidence of the role of infrastructure in development. mobile phones are helping farmers to know when to plant, where to sell and where to bank. mobile technology is also becoming a substitute for traditional extension services. the next wave of broadband technology will be even more transformative and will affect all sectors of the economy. agriculture will be a key beneficiary of the terrestrial cables that are being laid across the continent. innovation in agriculture now includes the use of genetically - modified crops that have been adopted in south africa, burkina faso and egypt. other countries such as kenya and tanzania are planning to follow suit. but africa will go further in using all methods, including organic farming, as well as alternative crops such as breadfruit that help meet food needs while providing vegetation cover. sustainable agriculture can take root in africa. the second fact that


an efficient solar harvest solar power could be harvested more efficiently and transported over longer distances using tiny molecular circuits based on quantum mechanics, according to research inspired by new insights into natural photosynthesis. incorporating the latest research into how plants, algae and some bacteria use quantum mechanics to optimize energy production via photosynthesis, ucl scientists have set out how to design molecular circuitry that is 10 times smaller than the thinnest electrical wire in computer processors. published in nature chemistry, the report discusses how tiny molecular energy grids could capture, direct, regulate and amplify raw solar energy. solar fuel production is all about energy from light being absorbed by an assembly of molecules ; this electronic excitation is subsequently transferred to a suitable acceptor. for example, in photosynthesis, antenna complexes capture sunlight and direct the energy to reaction centers that then carry out the associated chemistry. in photosynthesis chlorophyll captures sunlight and directs the energy to special proteins that help make oxygen and sugars. this is no different in principle than a solar cell. in natural systems energy from sunlight is captured by colored molecules called dyes or pigments, but it is only stored for a billionth of a second. this leaves little time to route the energy from pigments to the molecular machinery that produces fuel or electricity. the key to transferring and storing energy very quickly is to harness the collective quantum properties of antennae, which are made up of just a few tens of pigments. recent studies have identified quantum coherence and entanglement between the excited states of different pigments in the light - harvesting stage of photosynthesis. although this stage of photosynthesis is highly efficient, it remains unclear exactly how or if these quantum effects are relevant. dr alexandra olaya - castro, co - author of the paper from ucl ’ s department of physics and astronomy said : “ on a bright sunny day, more than 100 million billion red and blue colored photons strike a leaf each second. ” “ under these conditions plants need to be able to both use the energy that is required for growth but also to get rid of excess energy that can be harmful. transferring energy quickly and in a regulated manner are the two key features of natural light harvesting systems. “ by assuring that all relevant energy scales involved in the process of energy transfer are more or less similar, natural antennae manage to combine quantum and classical phenomena to guarantee efficient and regulated capture, distribution and storage of the sun ’ s energy. ” summary of lessons from nature about concentrating and