the pale of orthodoxy. these christian heresies had in common an attachment to the ideal of apostolic poverty, which came to be seen by the ecclesiastical authorities as a challenge to the institutionalized church. the waldensians or valdesi ( not to be confused with valdesiani, the followers of juan de valdes, d. 1541 ) took their origin from the poor men of lyons, founded by peter valdes or waldo in the 1170s. they were distinguished by a strong attachment to the bible and a desire to imitate christ ' s poverty. at first approved by the papacy as an order of laymen, they were condemned in 1184. likewise condemned was the rather similar lombard movement of the humiliati. one stream of these remained as an approved order within the catholic church, while others merged with the waldensians. the waldensians came to teach that the sacraments could be administered validly only by the pure, i. e : only by waldensian superiors or perfecti practising evangelical poverty. alone among the heretical sects existing in italy they were organized as a church, and regarded themselves as forming, together with brethren north of the alps, one great missionary community. they spread all over western and central europe but in the long term they came to be largely confined to the rhaetian and cottian alps ( the grisons and savoy ). the italian waldensians in the 16th century resisted absorption by reformed protestantism. the early franciscans might be regarded as a movement, similar in character to the poor men of lyons, which was won for the cause of catholic orthodoxy. however, divisions within the order over the issue of poverty led to religious dissidence. the spirituals held up the ideal of strict poverty as obligatory for franciscans and, indeed, normative for churchmen ; following the papacy ' s recognition of the franciscan order as a property - owning body in 1322 - 23, their position became one of criticism of the institutional church as such. their heresies came to incorporate the millenarian doctrines of the 12th century abbot joachim of fiore. he had prophesied a coming age of the holy spirit ushered in by spiritual monks ; his heretical followers prophesied a new spiritual gospel that would supersede the bible. joachimite spiritualists came to see the pope, head of the ' carnal church ', as antichrist. the main impact of the movement upon the laity was in southern france ; in italy it was an affair of various


henry evans is a mute quadriplegic, having suffered a stroke when he was just 40 years old. following extensive therapy, henry regained the ability to move his head and use a finger, which allows him to operate computers. last year, henry caught a tv interview of georgia tech professor charlie kemp showing research with the willow garage pr2 robot. willow garage and professor kemp were contacted by henry shortly afterwards, and we have been collaborating since then. we are currently exploring ways for henry to use a pr2 robot as his surrogate. every day, people take for granted the simple act of scratching an itch. in henry ' s case, 2 - 3 times every hour of every day he gets an itch he can ' t scratch. with the aid of a pr2, henry was able to scratch an itch for himself for the first time in 10 years. while this is only a first step, it demonstrates how people with severe physical disabilities could use personal robots to gain independence. in another example, henry recently used the pr2 to shave his cheek. we are actively researching ways for henry and others to perform tasks like these on a daily basis. currently, henry uses a head tracker to operate a variety of experimental user interfaces. these interfaces allow him to directly move the robot ' s body, including its arms and head. they also let him invoke autonomous actions, such as navigating in a room and reaching out to a location. robots that complement human abilities are extremely valuable, especially when they help us do things that we can ' t do by ourselves. our goal is to get robots in homes to help people like henry and jane evans. this is just the beginning. leila takayama recognized by mit technology review ' s tr35 listing of the world ' s top young innovators for 2012


a california - based company is attempting to introduce expert crowdsourcing to oncology to try and ensure that each cancer patient gets the most appropriate treatment. commons brings together leading physicians and scientists in each type of cancer to create an open - source wiki - style database that will catalogue the different genomic subtypes of each disease and show how patients are responding to different treatments. the project is based on the hypothesis that every patient ' s tumour is, to some extent, unique. although most cancer drugs are tested individually in large - scale clinical trials, the majority of physicians ( 70 percent ) prescribe cocktails of drugs based on their individual experience and particular genomic subtype of the cancer. by capturing, aggregating and analysing the genomic and results data of these individual drug experiments - - cross referencing them with the large scale clinical trials and studies - - physicians might be able to more efficiently find the most appropriate treatment for their patients. cancer commons was set up by jay " marty " tenenbaum - - a silicon valley entrepreneur and cancer survivor who founded a range of e - commerce companies including commercenet and veo systems. he also founded enterprise integration technologies, the first company to conduct a commercial internet transaction, in 1992. more recently he has focused on transforming healthcare, launching collabrx, which uses computers to personalise cancer treatments and accelerate research ( and which powers cancer commons ). tenenbaum argues that there are thousands of studies that are published each year, with only a handful of them getting national or international attention. furthermore, there are hundreds of thousands of individual " trials " being conducted by doctors ( some 30, 000 oncologists in the us, where the program is limited to for the time being ) who are experimenting with different cocktails of drugs on their patients. without one central place to store and access these studies, scientific and clinical advancement in this field is being artificially held back. a major hurdle for the project is getting researchers to supply their data to the site, rather than hold out for a career - making article in a peer - reviewed journal. tenenbaum is frustrated by how little data is shared between peers and hopes that cancer commons could mark the dawn of a new era of open - source science. tenenbaum told wired. co. uk : " there is lots of talking in fragmented silos, but we want to capture all of that in one place and expedite the process through which science turns into the first stage of cancer commons is to create a database


wired. co. uk : " there is lots of talking in fragmented silos, but we want to capture all of that in one place and expedite the process through which science turns into the first stage of cancer commons is to create a database where each different type of cancer has a " molecular disease model " ( mdm ) - - an expert - curated reference node that catalogues the known molecular subtypes of a particular cancer, linked to relevant pathways, diagnostic tests, approved and experimental therapies and current clinical trials. each is akin to a dynamic research paper that reflects the latest scientific, clinical and technological advancements. a rapid submission and dissemination process allows each mdm to be maintained online and continuously updated by cancer specialists and moderated by editors. the project is governed by an editorial board with an impressive set of credentials. the 18 specialists - - chaired by george lundberg, former editor - in - chief of journal of the american medical association and of webmd ' s online properties and e - medicine - - include a former fda commissioner, a former editor of science and a former president of the american society of so far, only one model has been created, for melanoma. it incorporates 78, 185 abstracts from research papers and information relating to some 1016 clinical trials that are ongoing in the field. some 11 expert editors have been assigned to that particular mdm, including dr david fisher, the head of the dermatology at harvard medical school and dr keith flaherty, from the department of medicine at harvard medical school. over the coming year the plan is to create mdms for other cancers including lung, breast, sarcoma, and lymphoma - - each with their own experts overseeing in order to harness the power of the mdm, collabrx is developing apps that tap into the data to aid decision - making. for example, the " targeted therapy finder " can be used by doctors to help identify genetic tests that map an individual tumour ' s unique characteristics, and then select potential treatments based on the findings. by entering information about the particular tumour, they ' ll be given options of tests that ' ll help narrow down the particular subtype of cancer being dealt with ( as categorised by the mdm ), and therefore find out which treatments are the most promising. they can then find information about trials that are looking for patients with that particular subtype. the view is to develop further apps that allow doctors and researchers to submit clinical observations and outcomes and then collaborative


robb godshaw, from syynlabs, has created a haptic cube that gives you an impression of what the temperature will be like tomorrow. the cube, which godshaw has named the cryoscope, consists of an aluminium shell surrounding a peltier element, heatsink, cooling fan and an led, all controlled by an arduino. the cube is heated to a " neutral " state of 30c, and then adjusted by the number of degrees that the next day ' s forecast differs from room temperature ( 23c ). it takes into account wind chill and humidity to give an idea what the following day will " feel " like, rather than merely reflecting air temperature. so, for example, if the forecast for the next day is for 18c, once those factors are all taken into account, the cube ' s temperature will decrease five degrees from 30c to 25c, resulting in it being slightly cool to the touch. godshaw describes it in the video above as a " haptic weathervane ", adding : " users enter their location into a web app. the cube then automatically adjusts to the forecasted temperature. by touching the cryoscope, the user is able to feel tomorrow ' s air you can see the cryoscope in action over on godshaw ' s website. updated 08 : 29 09 / 05 / 2012 : godshaw has redesigned the cryoscope and is raising money for full production over on kickstarter.


odd wisconsin archive today marks the 25th anniversary of the first aids diagnosis, a gruesome fact but one which, like every other, has a historical context. epidemics have swept through human communities for about 10, 000 years, and wisconsin has had its share. european diseases probably reached wisconsin before european explorers themselves. in the fifty years following hernando de soto ' s invasion of the lower mississippi in 1539, disease killed 90 percent of the indians living in the middle mississippi valley. these were indians with whom wisconsin peoples had traded for centuries, since at least the time of aztalan. many archaeologists have speculated that epidemics of measles or smallpox may have swept through indian communities in wisconsin decades before jean nicolet stepped ashore in 1634. once europeans set up permanent settlements and native peoples gathered around them, disease penetrated indian communities as effectively as metal pots, firearms, or porcelain beads. “ maladies wrought among them more devastation than even war did, ” concluded contemporary french writer bacqueville de la potherie of the wisconsin tribes, “ and exhalations from the rotting corpses caused great mortality. ” the first clearly documented epidemic in wisconsin was an act of bioterrorism perpetrated by british traders against indians who had killed one of their colleagues. dr. douglass houghton, who interviewed the ojibwe about epidemics in 1832, wrote down their recollection that in 1770, when visiting mackinac, " a cask of liquor and a flag closely rolled were presented to the indians as a token of friendship. they were at the same time strictly enjoined neither to break the seal of the cask nor to unroll the flag, until they had reached the heart of their own country. " this they promised to observe ; but while returning, and after having travelled many days, the chief of the deputation made a feast for the indians of the band at fond du lac, lake superior, upon which occasion he unsealed the cask and unrolled the flag for the gratification of his guests... and of those indians then at fond du lac, about three hundred in number, nearly the whole were swept off by it. nor did it stop here ; for numbers of those at fond du lac at the time the disease made its appearance, took refuge among the neighboring bands ; and although it did not extend easterly on lake superior, it is believed that not a single band of chippewas north or west from fond du lac escaped its ravages..


disease made its appearance, took refuge among the neighboring bands ; and although it did not extend easterly on lake superior, it is believed that not a single band of chippewas north or west from fond du lac escaped its ravages... " the indians at this day are firmly of the opinion that the smallpox was at this time communicated through the articles presented to their brethren by the agent of the fur company at mackinac ; and that it was done for the purpose of punishing them more severely for their offences. " his full account, including other outbreaks after this first one, is here. houghton estimated that the disease had appeared among the ojibwe at least five times in the previous 60 years. disease is no respecter of race or ethnicity, and the earliest white settlers suffered catastrophically from epidemic outbreaks as well. at fort crawford in the summer of 1830, 154 of the 199 soldiers came down with malaria. cholera broke out among them in august 1833, taking down 23 soldiers and killing six, and other outbreaks swept through the state between 1849 and 1854. in august of 1895, smallpox swept through the southside of milwaukee, where the traditions of recent polish immigrants clashed with modern public health practices. the first patients were segregated at an isolation hospital outside the neighborhood, even though the residents preferred caring for their own sick in their own homes, as they had in the old country. when hospital patients began dying, the residents came to see the hospital as a slaughterhouse - - a place they would never send their loved ones. when city health officials or ambulances attempted to remove patients to protect the uninfected, they were met by barricaded doors and armed uprisings. a protest rally drew nearly 10, 000 people to the hospital who stoned the police and fired pistols in the air. the 100 police officers plunged into the crowd swinging billy clubs, cracking heads and driving people back to their homes. the spanish flu epidemic that followed world war i perhaps affected more wisconsin residents than any other outbreak. known variously as the " spanish flu " or " la grippe, " influenza killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide. by the end of 1918, more than 675, 000 americans had died from the flu, most between the ages of 19 and 42, and the wisconsin board of health declared that the " spanish flu " epidemic would " forever be remembered as the most disastrous calamity that has ever been visited upon the people of wisconsin. " the first cases were reported in southern wisconsin in september 1918


world bulletin / news desk wheat experts are stepping up monitoring of a crop disease first found in africa in 1999 to minimise the spread of a deadly fungus that is also a threat in asia, experts said on friday. a " rust - tracker ", using data supplied by farmers and scientists, could now monitor the fungus in 27 developing nations across 42 million hectares ( 103 million acres ) of wheat - an area the size of iraq or california. " it ' s the most serious wheat disease, " ronnie coffman, vice - chair of the borlaug global rust initiative ( bgri ), told reuters ahead of a meeting of wheat experts in beijing from sept. 1 - 4. " if it gets started... it ' s like a biological firestorm, " he said. experts will review progress in combating the disease, with fungicides and 20 new resistant varieties developed in recent years. the stem rust disease, forming reddish patches on plants like rust on metal, is known as ug99 after it was found in uganda in 1999. it has since spread as far as south africa and north to yemen and iran. the fungus, which can destroy entire wheat fields, is likely eventually to be carried worldwide on the winds. the biggest threat in coming years is a spread across asia to pakistan, india and china, the world ' s top producer, coffman said. " effective control often depends on finding out what is happening in distant regions, and the rust - tracker can help scientists assess the status of stem rust and other rust diseases, " said dave hodson, the developer of rust - tracker. about 85 percent of wheat now in production worldwide was reckoned to be vulnerable to ug99 and its variants, the bgri estimated. rich nations are far less vulnerable because they can afford to switch to new varieties or deploy fungicides. among developing nations, afghanistan, bangladesh, ethiopia, egypt, india, kenya, nepal and pakistan are on the front line of deploying rust - resistant varieties. coffman said that relatively minor amounts of wheat output had been lost so far. " the only country under immediate threat of a dramatic loss of production is ethiopia, " he said. in kenya, for instance, ug99 had been brought largely under control because of shifts to new varieties. another threat was from yellow rust, which has struck nations from morocco to uzbekistan in recent years. the ug99 fungus is among threats to food supplies. a u. n. panel of


divers have found 30 bottles of champagne thought to pre - date the french revolution on the baltic seabed. when they opened one, they found the wine - believed to have been made by clicquot ( now veuve clicquot ) between 1782 and 1788 - was still in good condition. the bottle - whose shape indicates it was produced in the 18th century - has now been sent to france for analysis. if confirmed, it would be the oldest drinkable champagne in the world. diver christian ekstrom was exploring a shipwreck on the baltic seabed when he found the bottles. he took one to the surface, where he opened it and tasted it with his colleagues. " it was fantastic, " he told the reuters news agency. " it had a very sweet taste, you could taste oak and it had a very strong tobacco smell. and there were very small bubbles. " according to records, clicquot champagne was first produced in 1772 but was laid down for 10 years. production was disrupted after the french revolution in 1789. the wine found on the seabed was perfectly preserved because of the conditions of dark and cold on the seabed. if the bottles do come from the 1780s, that would make them around 40 years older than the current record - holder, a bottle of perrier - jouet from 1825. wine experts estimate each bottle would fetch around 500, 000 swedish kronor ( £45, 000 ; $ 69, 000 ) at auction. the bottles were found off the coast of aaland, an autonomous part of finland. the local authorities will decide what is done with the shipwreck - and the champagne.


french and american scientists won the nobel prize in physics tuesday for their work with light and matter, which may lead the way to superfast computers and " the most precise clocks ever seen, " the prize committee said. serge haroche of france and david wineland of the united states will share the $ 1. 2 million prize, the second of six nobel prizes announced this month. the award surprised those who expected the physics nobel this year to be related to the discovery of the higgs boson, considered one of the top scientific achievements of the past 50 years. wineland and haroche work in the field of quantum optics, approaching the same principles from opposite directions. the american uses light particles to measure the properties of matter, whereas his french colleague focuses on tracking light particles by using atoms. both nobel laureates have found ways to isolate the subatomic particles and keep their properties intact at the same time, scientists at the royal swedish academy of sciences said in stockholm, sweden. usually when these particles interact with the outside world, the properties that scientists would like to directly observe disappear, leaving researchers postulating over what is going on with them. the two have found a way around this, making direct observation possible. " the new methods allow them to examine, control and count the particles, " the academy said. haroche is a professor at the college de france and ecole normale superieure in paris, and wineland is group leader and nist fellow at the national institute of standards and technology and the university of colorado boulder. their work has some potential side benefits to future technology. " their ground - breaking methods have enabled this field of research to take the very first steps towards building a new type of super fast computer based on quantum physics, " the academy said.


on behalf of gov. mark schweiker, department of environmental protection ( dep ) secretary david e. hess announced that this month ' s episode of the emmy - award - winning television series greenworks for pennsylvania features stories about people working to protect pennsylvania ' s watersheds. " raising awareness of the role watersheds play in our environment is one of the cornerstones of pennsylvania ' s ` growing greener ' program, " hess said. " the current episode of greenworks features people of all ages learning about, protecting and restoring pennsylvania ' s watersheds. greenworks, produced in a video - magazine format, takes viewers across the commonwealth to spotlight people doing positive things for the environment. greenworks is supported by dep and the environmental fund for pennsylvania ( efp ). the current episode runs through october. this month ' s episode includes these features. * the radnor middle school watershed program in delaware county, which takes students out of the classroom and into the field to learn about watersheds first hand. * members of the delaware riverkeepers, who worked on mitigating stream bank erosion by clearing, regrading and covering a stream bank with a biodegradable mesh of coconut fibers allowing native plants to regain a healthy foothold. * the pottstown watershed alliance, which removed an old dam in the manatawny creek in pottstown, montgomery county, to improve water quality. * members of the swatara creek watershed association and dep staff, which cleaned up 33 acres of abandoned mine drainage in schuylkill county. * the river sojourn 2001, where people from all walks of life canoed and kayaked on pennsylvania rivers to connect with and appreciate the beauty and power of the state ' s natural water resources. " we all depend on rivers and watersheds for drinking water and more, " efp executive director timothy j. schlitzer said. " i hope this program will deepen viewers ' understanding and respect for what it takes to protect our precious waterways. " efp funds environmental education and improvement projects from contributions made through employee payroll - deduction programs established by businesses and the commonwealth and other donations. the series reaches more than five million households in pennsylvania through 83 cable television stations as well as the public broadcasting service. for a listing of stations carrying greenworks and information on particular broadcasts, visit the greenworks website through the pa powerport at www. state. pa. us, directly at www. greenworks. tv, or call efp at 1 - 800 -


here ' s the way the nws defines it : forecasts issued by the national weather service routinely include a " pop " ( probability of precipitation ) statement, which is often expressed as the " chance of rain " or " chance of precipitation ". http : / / www. srh. noaa. gov / ffc /? n = pop zone forecasts for north and central georgia national weather service peachtree city ga 119 pm edt thu may 8 2008 including the cities of... atlanta... conyers... decatur... 119 pm edt thu may x 2008. this afternoon... mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. windy. highs in the lower 80s. near steady temperature in the lower 80s. south winds 15 to 25 mph.. tonight... mostly cloudy with a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening... then a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after midnight. lows in the mid 60s. southwest winds 5 to 15 mph. chance of rain 40 percent. what does this " 40 percent " mean?... will it rain 40 percent of of the time?... will it rain over 40 percent of the area? the " probability of precipitation " ( pop ) describes the chance of precipitation occurring at any point you select in the area. how do forecasters arrive at this value? mathematically, pop is defined as follows : pop = c x a where " c " = the confidence that precipitation will occur somewhere in the forecast area, and where " a " = the percent of the area that will receive measureable precipitation, if it occurs at all. so... in the case of the forecast above, if the forecaster knows precipitation is sure to occur ( confidence is 100 % ), he / she is expressing how much of the area will receive measurable rain. ( pop = " c " x " a " or " 1 " times ". 4 " which equals. 4 or 40 %. ) but, most of the time, the forecaster is expressing a combination of degree of confidence and areal coverage. if the forecaster is only 50 % sure that precipitation will occur, and expects that, if it does occur, it will produce measurable rain over about 80 percent of the area, the pop ( chance of rain ) is 40 %. ( pop =. 5 x. 8 which equals. 4 or 40 %. ) in either event, the


| yoon jae kim, yj1dreamer at gmail. com ( a project report written under the guidance of prof. raj jain ) | | download | service oriented architecture ( soa ) is a design pattern which is composed of loosely coupled, discoverable, reusable, inter - operable platform agnostic services in which each of these services follow a well defined standard. each of these services can be bound or unbound at any time and as needed. [ jamil08 ] however, as defined, soa has a loosely - coupled feature, which makes soa open to the challenges of security. it means that soa must meet several requirements. the main requirements are as follows [ candolin07 ] : service discovery, service authentication, user authentication, access control, confidentiality, integrity, availability, and privacy. to ensure security in a loosely - coupled soa environment, the open standards communities that created web services developed a number of security standards for web services which is one of the most active and widely adopted implementation of soa. figure 1 depicts a notional reference model for web services security standards. this reference model maps the different standards to the different functional layers of a typical web service implementation. as described above, in the web services security stack the security assertion markup language ( saml ) and the extensible access control markup language ( xacml ) are the standard for access control which means that when the service is requested by a user the service must enforce the specified security policy related to access control. we focus on access control in the web services security and represent what saml and xacml are, how they work and where they are able to be applied together. saml, created by the security services technical committee of the organization for the advancement of structured information standards ( oasis ), is a an xml - based framework for communicating user authentication, entitlement, and attribute information. as its name suggests, saml allows business entities to make assertions regarding the identity, attributes, and entitlements of a subject ( an entity that is often a human user ) to other entities, such as a partner company or another enterprise application. [ madsen05 ] saml is a flexible and extensible protocol designed to be used - and customized if necessary - by other standards. web single sign - on in web sso, a user authenticates to one web site and then, without additional authentication, is able to access some personalized or customized resources at another


to be used - and customized if necessary - by other standards. web single sign - on in web sso, a user authenticates to one web site and then, without additional authentication, is able to access some personalized or customized resources at another site. saml enables web sso through the communication of an authentication assertion from the first site to the second which, if confident of the origin of the assertion, can choose to log in the user as if they had authenticated directly. a principal authenticates at the identity provider and is subsequently appropriately recognized ( and given corresponding access / service ) at the service provider. [ google ] for example, google made saml single sign - on ( sso ) service for google apps. and google apps provides a saml - based single sign - on ( sso ) service that offers partner companies with full control over the authorization and authentication of hosted user accounts that can access web - based applications like gmail or google calendar. as the service provider google offers services as gmail and start pages and partner companies control account information as identity provider. similar to the web sso scenario, the attribute - based authorization model has one web site communicating identity information about a subject to another web site in support of some transaction. however, the identity information may be some characteristic of the subject ( such as a person ' s role in a b2b scenario ) rather than, or in addition to, information about when and how the person was authenticated. the attribute - based authorization model is important when the individual ' s particular identity is either not important, should not be shared for privacy reasons, or is insufficient on its own. securing web services saml assertions can be used within soap messages in order to convey security and identity information between actors in web service interactions. the saml token profile produced by the oasis web services security ( wss ) tc specifies how saml assertions should be used for this purpose with the ws - security framework. the liberty alliance ' s identity web service framework ( id - wsf ) builds on these specifications to use saml assertions for enabling secure and privacy - respecting access to web services. ws - trust, one component of the private ws - * framework initiative, proposes protocols for the exchange and validation of security tokens used as described within ws - security. saml assertions are one such supported security token format. figure 3 illustrates these actors and information flow. as can be seen in the figure, the pap writes polices and policysets and


be performed before granting or denying access. a rule element defines the target elements to which the rule is applied and details conditions to apply the rule and has three components such as target, effect, and condition. a target element specifies the resources, subjects, actions and the environment to which the rule is applied. a condition element shows the conditions to apply the rule and a effect is the consequence of the rule as either permit or deny. a policy is the set of rules which are combined with some algorithms. these algorithms are called rule - combining algorithms. for instance " permit override " algorithm allows the policy to evaluate to " permit " if any rule in the policy evaluates to " permit ". a policy also contains target elements which shows the subjects, resources, actions, environment that policy is applied. a policyset consists of policies and policysets combined with policy - combined algorithm. it has also target like a policy. the xacml context shows how flexible and suitable the xacml is for various application. this feature makes it possible that xacml is applied to access control system with saml. section 4 shows the more detailed. saml is one standard suitable for providing the assertion and protocol mechanisms and specifies schemas for carrying the security and authorization related information and have the bindings to basic transportation mechanisms. therefore, oasis publishes a saml profile for the xacml ( oasis, 2005 ) [ anderson05 ] to carry the xacml messages between the xacml actors. this profile defines the usage of saml 2. 0 to protect, store, transport, request and respond with xacml instances and other information. it contains largely four categories. first, this profile specifies how to use saml attributes in an xacml system. this category contains three standard saml elements such as saml attribute, saml attributestatement and saml assertion, two standard saml protocol such as saml attributequery and saml response, and one new saml extension element, xacmlassertion. in an xacml system, saml attribute may be used to store and to transmit attribute values and must be transformed into an xacml attribute before used in an xacml request context. also saml attributestatement may be used to hold saml attribute instances. a saml assertion may be used to hold saml attributestatement instances in an xacml system, either in an attribute repository or in a saml response to a saml attributequery. to transform


to hold saml attribute instances. a saml assertion may be used to hold saml attributestatement instances in an xacml system, either in an attribute repository or in a saml response to a saml attributequery. to transform a saml attribute into an xacml attribute the saml assertion includes information that is required and a saml assertion or an xacmlassertion instance contains a saml attribute. an xacmlassertion is an alternative to the saml assertion and allows inclusion of xacml statement instances and inclusion of other xacmlassertion instance as advice. an xacml pdp or pep use saml attributequery to request saml attribute instances from an attribute authority for use in an xacml request context and in response to it saml response shall be used to return saml attribute instances. second, this profile represent the use of saml for use in requesting, responding with, storing, and transmitting authorization decisions in an xacml system. this category contains xacmlauthzdecisionstatement, xacmlassertion, xacmlauthzdecisionquery, and xacmlresponse. in this profile, xacmlauthzdecisionstatement and xacmlassertion are new saml extension elements and the others are new saml extension protocol elements. in an xacml system, xacmlauthzdecisionsatement may be used to contain xacml authorization decisions for storage or transmission and xacmlassertion may be used to contain xacmlauthzdecisionstatement instances for storage or transmission. also a pep may use xacmlauthzdecisionquery to request an authorization decision from an xacml pdp and an xacml pdp may use xacmlresponse to return authorization decisions in response to an xacmlauthzdecisionquery. then, this profile shows the use of saml for use in requesting, responding with, storing and transmitting xacml policies. this category includes four new saml extensions ; xacmlpolicystatement, xacmlassertion, xacmlpolicyquery and xacmlresponse. in an xacml system, xacmlpolicystatement may hold xacml policies for storage or transmission and xacmlassertion may hold x


should be granted to pep. xacml defines the content of request / response messages but does not define protocols or transport mechanisms, which saml provides by defining schemas for use in requesting and responding with various types of security assertions. this saml / xacml based access control is a very powerful and practical solution for dynamic and large - scale application domain because it is easier to change and maintain policies. so it can extend the authentication and authorization mechanism within a portal to external web services. | [ candolin07 ] | | candolin, catharina, " a security framework for service oriented architectures ", military communications conference, 2007. milcom 2007. ieee, 29 - 31 oct. 2007, pp. 1 - 6 http : / / ieeexplore. ieee. org / xpl / freeabs _ all. jsp? arnumber = 4455332 | | [ singhal07 ] | | singhal, anoop, " web services security : challenges and techniques " policy, eighth ieee international workshop on policies for distributed systems and networks ( policy ' 07 ), 2007, pp. 282 http : / / www2. computer. org / portal / web / csdl / doi / 10. 1109 / policy. 2007. 50 | | [ madsen05 ] | | madsen, paul, et al., " saml v2. 0 executive overview ", oasis committee draft, 12 april 2005 http : / / www. oasis - open. org / committees / download. php / 13525 / sstc - saml - exec - overview - 2. 0 - cd - 01 - 2col. pdf | | [ ragouzis08 ] | | ragouzis, nick, et al., " security assertion markup language ( saml ) v2. 0 technical overview ", committee draft 02, 25, march 2008, http : / / www. oasis - open. org / committees / download. php / 27819 / sstc - saml - tech - overview - 2. 0 - cd - 02. pdf | | [ sun ] | | " sun ' s xacml implementation ", july 2004, http : / / sunxacml. sourceforge. net / guide. html | | [ moses05 ] | | moses, tim, et al., " extensible access control markup language ( xacml ) version 2. 0 ",


/ code. google. com / apis / apps / sso / saml _ reference _ implementation. html | | corba | | common object request broker architecture | | dce | | distributed computing environment | | gsa | | general services administration | | idp | | general services administration | | j2se | | java platform standard edition | | id - wsf | | identity web services framework | | ldap | | lightweight directory access protocol | | oasis | | the organization for the advancement of structured information standards | | pap | | policy administration point | | pdp | | policy decision point | | pep | | policy enforcement point | | pip | | point information point | | saml | | security assertion markup language | | soa | | service oriented architecture | | soap | | simple object access protocol | | ssl | | secure sockets layer | | tls | | transport layer security | | wss | | web security service | | xacml | | extensible access control markup language | | xkms | | xml key management specification | | xml | | extensible markup language | | xslt | | extensible markup language | last modified : april, 19, 2009 this and other papers on latest advances in network security are available on line at http : / / www1. cse. wustl. edu / ~ jain / cse571 - 09 / index. html back to raj jain ' s home page


being an ethical hunter imagine that you are in the woods during hunting season and you are deer hunting on a piece of property owned by one of your friends. she tells you that there are too many does running around, eating crops and destroying property, and she wants you to help cull the herd. she states that she does not want anyone to shoot the antlered deer just the does. she gives you four special non - antlered damage tags, and you have your own state antlered tags. does and bucks are legal to harvest. after sitting in the woods for hours, you hear a loud noise. you look over your shoulder and see the biggest antlered deer you have ever seen! he is just over the property line, but appears to be heading towards the fence line. what would you do? it comes down to a matter of ethics - between what a hunter is allowed to do, and what a hunter should do. the way we think about or judge the right thing to do comes from our surroundings and the people we associate with. the influence on every individual to do the right thing comes from, but is not limited to, the following : our individual ethics shape who we are and what we will do... when no one is watching us. it forms our character and defines us as a group of individuals called safe and ethical hunters. our individual and cultural ethics involving hunting define us - positively or negatively - to other hunters and to the general public who are non - hunters. others judge your ethics through your attitude and behavior.


eighteen years ago, the eminent conservation biologist gary meffe warned of what he considered to be the greatest problem in human history – humanity ’ s inexorable and exponential increase in numbers. meffe ’ s paper, entitled ‘ human population control : the missing agenda ’ published in the journal conservation biology, outlined the threats posed by an ever - increasing human population to biodiversity in terms of species extinctions, and to the ecosystem services necessary for our survival. these include water and air purification, hydrologic cycling and food production. not only is humanity ’ s deluge drowning the creatures we share the earth with, but it also runs the risk of submerging itself too. but was this ‘ missing agenda ’ acknowledged? was a dam constructed to stem our exponential flow? nearly two decades later and we see the publication of the un ’ s state of world population report 2011. it announced that on october 31st we reached the population milestone of seven billion people inhabiting our world. instead of warning of future population growth and the associated negative impact, it had a more positive tone that encouraged us to ask “ what can i do to make our world better? ” rather than “ are we too many? ” this is the united nations after all, and understandably it has to take a progressive and reassuring stance rather than one of doom and gloom. but the angle taken is perhaps revealing of the prevailing attitude of the global collective consciousness – population growth is inevitable and cannot be stopped. of course there ’ s no such thing as a global collective consciousness, explaining in part why meffe ’ s view has been largely ignored, because humanity lacks a collective impetus and so anything that requires mass cohesion, for instance only having one child or reducing carbon emissions, is doomed to fail. seven billion people – it ’ s enough to make you feel insignificant. except it ’ s not, it ’ s just a number. a very big number too large to visualise, grasp or comprehend. incidentally, if you ’ re ever having trouble feeling insignificant, then listen to what the ‘ woody allen ’ of science, lawrence krauss has to say. in his recent lecture on cosmic connections for the school of life he stated that “ you are much more insignificant than you thought ” before going on to compete with brian cox for the title of ‘ king of making outlandish profound points ’, by explaining how we are all quite literally “ made of stars ”. every atom in our bodies comes from the remnants of an exploded star. it turns out moby was right ( see


title of ‘ king of making outlandish profound points ’, by explaining how we are all quite literally “ made of stars ”. every atom in our bodies comes from the remnants of an exploded star. it turns out moby was right ( see video below ). this digression aside, the ineffably large human population will continue to increase and even if we wanted to implement population control, doing so would be unethical and practically speaking impossible. very few people, not even many devout conservationists, would be willing to sacrifice the right to have children. i for one wouldn ’ t, it is in our evolutionary spirit. instead of tackling the so called ‘ root cause ’ of the population problem by implementing unrealistic, unfavourable, and unwanted population control, efforts have been directed at addressing offshoot issues such as those relating to overconsumption and overexploitation of natural resources. if we can adopt new cleaner technologies and practices to ensure our impact on the environment is neutral or at least negligible, it will be a step in the right direction. just this week the production of a ‘ microbial fuel cell ’ has been announced which can purportedly produce electricity from human urine! researchers at the university of the west of england ( uwe ) have found that by utilising anaerobic bacteria as they metabolise organic waste waters, electrons can be harnessed and useful electricity generated. by ‘ useful ’ it is meant that enough electricity would be generated to charge a battery say, but presumably not enough to heat a home for instance, yet. for now, no one is suggesting this is the answer to the world ’ s problems, but switching to technologies that rely less on finite earth resources and more on recycling waste products will help ameliorate the effects our species has on the planet. unfortunately though, those who sing the praises of such advances are often branded with the stigma of being too ‘ preachy ’. increasing public apathy to important issues such as clean technology, climate change and biodiversity decline should be at least as worrying to everyone as financial crises or global terrorism.


idaho state university researchers study newly discovered earthquake fault in idaho ’ s sawtooth mountains posted september 28, 2010 while looking at a highly detailed new topographic image of idaho ’ s sawtooth range, idaho state university geosciences professor glenn thackray had an " eureka moment " when he discovered a previously unknown active earthquake fault about 65 miles, as the crow flies, from boise. the researchers examined a light detection and ranging ( lidar ) image. lidar is a remote sensing system used to collect topographic data with aircraft - mounted lasers capable of recording elevation measurements at a rate of 25, 000 pulses per second and can have a vertical precision of about six inches. the images can be displayed so they don ' t show an area ' s vegetation. four years ago while doing some research on glaciers in the sawtooth range, thackray was examining a high - resolution, " bare - earth " lidar image of the mountains : this is when he noticed a line running through the image in the vicinity of redfish lake. " the black line stood out and i thought that it had to be an earthquake fault, " thackray said. " it was long suspected that there was an active fault in the sawtooths, but without the lidar technology it would have been exceptionally hard to find. " since that time, isu researchers have been on the ground documenting the fault that is at least 25 miles long and could be as long as 40 miles. it is located on the eastern edge of the range and comes within about five miles from the town of stanley. a portion of it runs through the upper end of redfish lake. it runs along the range approximately from near stanley lake to at least as far south as petitt lake. “ the reason this discovery is so important is that it is within the heavily visited areas of the sawtooth national recreation area, very close to the town of stanley, and within 65 miles of idaho ’ s largest city, boise, and the most populated area in the state, ” thackray said. “ we would like to know how big the earthquakes are along this fault and how active it is. ” thackray emphasized that the fault is cause for concern, but not alarm, for visitors to and residents of the stanley - sawtooth area, and to the residents of the wood river or boise valleys. the discovery may have implications for land - use and emergency planning, and perhaps building codes. depending on the magnitude of a potential earthquake, it could do damage to surrounding areas. there are


, and to the residents of the wood river or boise valleys. the discovery may have implications for land - use and emergency planning, and perhaps building codes. depending on the magnitude of a potential earthquake, it could do damage to surrounding areas. there are few major, active faults in idaho. idaho ’ s three other major faults run along the base of the lost river range ( where the famous borah peak magnitude 7. 3 earthquake, the largest ever recorded in idaho, occurred in 1983 ), the lemhi range and the beaverhead range. faults are break in the earth ’ s crust, along which rocks and the earth move. typically, the earth is moving up on one side of the fault, and moving down on the other. " it ' s the movement of the rocks that are important. that is what creates an earthquake hazard, " thackray said. after discovering the fault on the lidar image and then confirming its existence on the ground, isu researchers had to determine whether it was an active fault, defined as a fault that has featured an earthquake within the last 10, 000 years. determining whether the fault was active was a challenge for the researchers because most of the fault is located within the sawtooth wilderness and recreation area. " normally, to test a fault you could take in a cat or backhoe and dig up sediment and rock and use carbon dating to date the occurrence of previous activity, " thackray said. " but we couldn ’ t do that because the fault is in a wilderness area. " this is where a little luck and scientific serendipity came into play. other isu researchers, biological sciences professor bruce finney, postdoctoral researcher mark shapley, and isu geosciences graduate student eric johnson, were doing lake sediment core sampling of lakes in the sawtooths, including redfish lake, to study the historical record of sockeye salmon returning to the area. while drilling through the sediment in the upper portion of redfish lake the researchers hit levels where there were landslide deposits interrupted the regular accumulation of sediment deposits. " we were able to date the occurrence of the most recent fault activity by using those drilling samples from the large landslides in redfish lake, " thackray said. " there is a lot that we still don ’ t know about this fault, but our studies have revealed the outline of its history, " he added.


when you create an input form in microsoft excel, understanding how to make the application work for you can save hours of manual input. if you want to narrow question responses to specific options, you can use a drop - down response menu. these instructions are written for excel 2010, so the steps may vary slightly if you use a different version. enter each of the items that you want to appear in the pull - down list on a new worksheet in your excel workbook. place one item per cell with each one listed in an adjacent cell. for example, list the items in columns with one option each in cells a1, a2, a3 and so on. you could also list them in a row with one in each cell, such as a1, b1 and c1, until all your data is listed. the drop - down will be ordered based on the entries, so organize the items accordingly. highlight all of the cells in the list. right - click your mouse and choose " define name " from the menu. create a name for the list and enter it in the " name " field. do not use spaces in the name. click " ok. " this name is only used to select the list for the drop - down ; it does not appear for users. click the cell where you want to create the drop - down menu. select the " data tools " section by clicking " data. " choose " data validation " and click " settings. " select " list " in the allow field. click the " source name " input field and type a " = " followed immediately by the name you assigned to the list on the previous worksheet. for example, if your list was named " options, " type " = options " in the source name field. click the check box beside " in - cell dropdown " so that the drop menu appears in the cell. if you want to require that responders choose an option, clear the " ignore blank " check box. click " input message " to set a message to users when the cell is clicked. this is a good place to explain what selection you want the user to make or other specifics. leave it blank if you do not want to use this feature. navigate to the " error alert " tab. click the check box beside the option to show an error notice if invalid data is entered. use the provided text fields to set the contents of the message. clear the check box if you do not want the message to appear.


as christo pantev prowled the halls of toronto ' s baycrest center for geriatric care he was struck, over and over, by the vitality of many of the elderly patients who played a musical instrument. " i saw much more activity in these people than in the others, " says pantev, a neuroscientist at the center ' s rotman research institute. he saw a difference even among those who were slipping over the edge into dementia. memory begins to fade as the patients slide toward that dark abyss, but the last thing that goes — the last bit of memory — he says, is their ability to remember music. and he thinks he may know why. musician and scientist he has developed evidence over the years that the study of music may change the way the human brain is wired. and that has kept him on a course that has guided nearly his entire professional career. he has a few questions he would like to answer, including : does learning a skill, like playing the violin, physically change the brain and improve cognitive and perceptive skills among children, and maybe even stave off mental illness among the elderly? maybe, he reasons, the intense concentration and the long hours of practice that make someone a skilled musician have benefits that far outweigh the rewards of playing a musical instrument. those are tall questions, but pantev has spent the last few years laying the groundwork for research that is just getting underway at the institute. as a child, pantev spent years studying the violin, and it became his passion. even today, he says, " if i work, i have to hear music. " in time, the violin gave way to neuroscience, but it was to return later as a key player in his research. while working at the university of muenster ' s institute for experimental audiology in germany, panlev and a colleague began studying people who had lost a limb to see how their brains adapted to their new environment. it was known that persons who had lost a hand sometimes felt pain, or other sensations, in their fingers, even though the hand was no longer there. the researchers used sensitive equipment that could measure electric activity and magnetic fields in the brain to see which areas were active when the person reported feeling " phantom pain " in the missing limb. the results, published in a 1995 issue of the journal nature, showed that other parts of the body commandeered the neurons formerly used by the missing limb. if the lip took over those neurons, for example,


pain " in the missing limb. the results, published in a 1995 issue of the journal nature, showed that other parts of the body commandeered the neurons formerly used by the missing limb. if the lip took over those neurons, for example, simply biting the lip caused the person to feel pain in the phantom limb. the research showed that the brain adapted to its new environment by rewiring itself, and that led pantev to his next question. " can we modify the functional brain organization by training? " he asks. playing violin, wearing a helmet to answer that, the researchers needed a model, something they could test to see if training had a measurable impact on the brain. pantev knew from his own experience that playing the violin required far more dexterity in the left hand than the right. " the right hand is much less involved, " he says. pantev, the violinist, thus supplied pantev, the neuroscientist, with " the perfect model. " like the research into phantom pain, the difference between the use of the left hand as opposed to the right gave the researchers something to measure in the brain. over time, they reasoned, practicing the violin several hours a day should cause a neurological shift in the brain.


australian bureau of statistics 1301. 0 - year book australia, 2009 – 10 previous issue released at 11 : 30 am ( canberra time ) 04 / 06 / 2010 | page tools : print page rss search this product | feature article : households and renewable energy householders have increased their use of energy saving measures in their homes. in 2008, 59 % of households had energy saving lighting installed ( up from 33 % in 2005 ) ( graph 2. 40 ) ; and energy star ratings were the main household consideration when replacing refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers and clothes dryers. counteracting this, graph 2. 39 shows more households now own coolers ( 66 % in 2008 up from 35 % in 1999 ) and dishwashers ( 45 % in 2008 up from 30 % in 1999 ) and other appliances, such as lcd and plasma televisions, the latter using almost three times the amount of energy compared to a standard television ( end note 6 ). types of energy electricity is the main energy source used in people ' s homes. in 2007 - 08, about half ( 49 % ) of the energy used by households was sourced from electricity. household electricity consumption rose to 210 petajoules ( pj ) in 2007 - 08, up 48 % from 1990 - 91 ( abare, 2009 ). in march 2008, electricity was the primary source throughout australia for household cooking ( three - quarters of ovens used electricity and more than half ( 56 % ) of cooktops ) and for hot water systems ( 46 % ). there has been a fall in the use of electricity for hot water systems between 2002 and 2008 from 61 % to 46 %. of those homes with heaters, electricity was the main source of energy for space heating ( 45 % ), followed by gas ( 41 % for mains gas and lpg / bottled together ) and wood ( 13 % ). natural gas is the second most common source of energy used in the home, used by more than six in ten households ( 61 % ) in 2008. in total, households used 137 pj of natural gas in 2007 - 08, equivalent to almost a third ( 32 % ) of total household energy use ( abare, 2009 ). for almost one in three australian households ( 31 % ), gas ( mains or lpg / bottled ) was the main source of energy for space heating and 37 % used gas for hot water systems. in the main gas - producing states of victoria and western australia, gas was used as an energy source in nine


( mains or lpg / bottled ) was the main source of energy for space heating and 37 % used gas for hot water systems. in the main gas - producing states of victoria and western australia, gas was used as an energy source in nine out of ten households ( 90 % and 87 % respectively, compared with six out of ten households nationally ). used primarily as a source of heating, wood use by households has declined 26 % in the last 10 years, from 82 pj in 1997 - 98 to 60 pj in 2007 - 08 ( abare, 2009 ). in 2008, 13 % of australian households used wood as a source of energy in the home. more than one - third ( 35 % ) of households in tasmania used wood as an energy source, a decrease from more than half ( 52 % ) in 2002 ( graph 2. 41 ). due to air pollution concerns, households have been encouraged to stop using wood for heating or to convert open fires to slow combustion fires, which are more energy efficient and produce less greenhouse emissions than open fires. firewood collection can have a detrimental effect on australia ' s native wildlife, as dead trees and fallen timber provide habitat for a diverse range of fauna including a number of threatened species ( end note 7 ). a range of government grants and rebates have been made available to households in recent years to encourage people to use solar energy in the home. in 2008, 7 % of households used solar energy to heat water, up from 4 % of households in 2005. more than half of all households in the northern territory used solar energy to heat water ( 54 % ) - a much larger proportion than in western australia ( 21 % ) and no other state or territory exceeded 10 % ( graph 2. 42 ). greenpower provides an option for people to pay a premium for electricity generated from renewable sources that is fed into the national power grid. greenpower was first established in new south wales in 1997 and since then has spread to other states and territories. by march 2009, just over 984, 000 households were paying for greenpower, up from 132, 300 customers in march 2005 ( end note 8 ). there has also been an increase in the awareness of greenpower products in the past decade. in 1999, less than one - fifth ( 19 % ) of households were aware of greenpower. nearly a decade later, this had risen to more than half ( 52 % ) of all households in 2008, including 5 % who reported that they were already paying for greenpower. households


fifth ( 19 % ) of households were aware of greenpower. nearly a decade later, this had risen to more than half ( 52 % ) of all households in 2008, including 5 % who reported that they were already paying for greenpower. households in the australian capital territory had the highest rate of greenpower awareness ( 71 %, including 5 % who were paying for greenpower ) while western australian households had the lowest awareness ( 39 % ) ( graph 2. 43 ). biomass is plant material, vegetation or agricultural waste used as a fuel or energy source. biomass can also be processed to produce liquid biofuels ( biodiesel ) or a gas biofuel ( biogas ). hydro - electric power is electricity produced from the energy of falling water using dams, turbines and generators. solar / solar photovoltaic : photovoltaics ( pv ) convert sunlight directly into electricity. photovoltaic systems differ from solar hot water systems that absorb sunlight directly into the water - carrying tubes contained in the panel. wind turbines can be used to drive a generator to create electricity. 1. australian energy regulator, state of electricity market 2008, viewed 22 january 2009, < http : / / www. aer. gov. au > 2. department of climate change ( dcc ), australia ' s national greenhouse accounts : national inventory by economic sector 2007, last viewed 20 october 2009, < http : / / www. climatechange. gov. au / inventory > 3. australian bureau of agricultural and resource economics ( abare ), energy update 2009, electronic datasets, viewed 22 september 2009, < http : / / www. abare. gov. au > 4. australian bureau of agricultural and resource economics ( abare ), energy update 2009, table f, viewed 22 september 2009, < http : / / www. abare. gov. au > 5. department of climate change ( dcc ), australia ' s national greenhouse accounts : national inventory by economic sector 2007, dcc, 2009, canberra. 6. energy australia, typical household appliance wattages, viewed 29 january 2009, < http : / / www. energy. com. au >. 7. department of environment, water, heritage and the arts, land pressures, viewed 28 october 2009, < http : / / www. environment. gov. au / land > 8. greenpower, you can bank on greenpower, viewed 26 november 2008, < http : / / www. greenpower. gov. au >


australian national botanic gardens a weekly news sheet prepared by a gardens ' volunteer. numbers in square brackets refer to garden bed sections. plants in flower are in bold type. 11 february 2005 rhododendron lochiae - click for larger image this is a short walk abounding with colourful flowers to suit those with little time. on entering the gardens throught the main gates, the expanse of grasses with tall graceful nodding ochre flower heads is mostly of the kangaroo grass, themeda australis [ section 175 ]. in the pots at the entrance to the visitors centre, plants include rhododendron lochiae with bright red trumpet flowers on a low spreading shrub and a ground cover goodenia sp. with bright yellow flowers. these are seen below the large arching fronds of the birds nest fern, asplenium australasicum. against the wall a wattle, acacia mollifolia [ section 221 ] is a tall, slender shrub reaching towards the path, with fine divided velvety leaves and sprays of golden fluffy flower balls. the background to the statue of sir joseph banks is banksia serrata [ section 172 ], tall with dark foliage and large cylindrical green - grey flower spikes seen mostly at the tops of these shrubs. banks walk is edged with numerous, still colourful, kangaroo paws. they include anigozanthos bush dawn [ section 210 ] with bright yellow paw flowers on long bare stems, anigozanthos bush noon [ section 210 ] with yellow - orange coloured flowers and anigozanthos bush glow [ section 210 ] with flowers coloured red. prostrate and brilliant, scaevola new blue [ section 210, 174 ] have vivid blue flowers along the dense trailing stems. below the notice add colour to your garden with australian plants is another prostrate plant, pelargonium rodneyanum [ section 174 ] with attractive magenta coloured flowers over the suckering plant. anigozanthos ' bush glow ' - click for larger image at the corner the attractive small shrubs, crowea festival [ section 174 ] are clad with pink star flowers. in the crescent garden, a suckering herb, brachyscome formosa [ section 174 ] bears mauve daisies and goodenia humilis [ section 174 ] is small and mounded with its yellow flowers to complement. dampiera sylvestris [ section 174 ] is close by with its blue flowers on upright stems. opposite and in the centre of the garden the glorious orange - red flowers crowning the


small and mounded with its yellow flowers to complement. dampiera sylvestris [ section 174 ] is close by with its blue flowers on upright stems. opposite and in the centre of the garden the glorious orange - red flowers crowning the eucalyptus ficifolia [ section 174 ] could not be missed. cross over the car park to the tasmanian section where probably many gippsland water dragons, physignathus lesueurii howittii [ section 149 ] can be seen basking in the sun. entering this section, the nsw christmas bush, ceratopetalum gummiferum [ section 142 ] displays its renowned reddened swollen calyces which followed the tiny white flowers, mostly at the top of the tall shrub. this next section is in front of the cafe building in the ellis rowan garden where the grevillea deua flame [ section 131 ] is a rather dense shrub which dangles its lovely red terminal flower clusters from pendulous branches. opposite, a grouping of crowea coopers hybrid [ section 240 ] is floriferous with its shade of pink star flowers. on the opposite side of this garden is a colourful patch containing goodenia macmillanii [ section 240 ] with small upright stems of pink flowers, surrounded by scaevola new blue [ section 240 ], with its flowers so blue and behind, senecio sturtianum [ section 240 ] with deep purple flowers and grey - green foliage on upright stems. so many flowers to enjoy barbara daly.


this is the time of year gulf coast residents begin watching the weather reports to see if there is a storm and if it is heading their way. it would be wise if we watched, as well. and prepared accordingly. think back to october 1995, when hurricane opal hit the florida panhandle. it remained a hurricane for the next 12 hours as it roared deep into alabama. fifty mph winds were felt as far north as montgomery. anniston got more than six inches of rain in a few hours. power outages erupted throughout the state. the system spun off tornadoes and caused extensive damage all the way to tennessee. more recently, hurricane ivan, which made landfall near gulf shores in september 2004, sent the wind gusting at more than 60 mph in central alabama and caused more power outages, more tornados and more rain. now ernesto is taking aim at the gulf coast. although alabama is not currently in the cone of uncertainty, anyone who follows the weather knows hurricanes can change course. our ability to predict where and when a storm will strike improves every year, but it is still an imperfect science. however, this much we do know : it is better to be prepared, just in case. when serious weather looms, make sure you have working flashlights and a weather radio with plenty of batteries. keep your cell phones charged, keep gas in your car, and if you have a freezer, and there is room in it, pack in a couple of bags of ice, the most valuable commodity when the power goes out. some bottled water and non - perishable food would be wise — and an old fashioned can - opener, the kind that does not need electricity. you can figure out the rest. little things become big things when you find yourself in the cone of uncertainty.


genetic model organisms have revolutionized science, and today, with the rapid advances in technology, there is significant potential to launch many more plant species towards model status. however, these new model organisms have to be carefully selected. hemerocallis ( the daylily ) satisfies multiple criteria for selection and deserves serious consideration as a subject of intensive biological investigation. several attributes of the genus are of great biological interest. these include the strict control of flower opening and, within a short period, the precisely regulated floral death by a programmed cell death system. the self - incompatibility system in hemerocallis is also noteworthy and deserves more attention. importantly, the genus is widely cultivated for food, medicinal value and ornamental interest. hemerocallis has considerable potential as a ‘ nutraceutical ’ food plant and the source of new compounds with biomedical activity. the genus has also been embraced by ornamental plant breeders and the extraordinary morphological diversity of hybrid cultivars, produced within a relatively short time by amateur enthusiasts, is an exceptional resource for botanical and genetic studies. this paper in aob plants explores these points in detail, explaining the reasons why this genus has considerable value – both academic and socio - economic – and deserves new resources devoted to its exploration as a model. its impact as a future model will be enhanced by its amenability to cultivation in laboratory and field conditions. in addition, established methods for various tissue and cell culture systems as well as transformation will permit maximum exploitation of this genus by science. rodriguez - enriquez, m. j., and grant - downton, r. t. ( 2012 ) a new day dawning : hemerocallis ( daylily ) as a future model organism. aob plants 5 : pls055 doi : 10. 1093 / aobpla / pls055


discover the cosmos! each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2001 december 20 explanation : viewed from earth, the solar system ' s planets do a cosmic dance that is hard to appreciate on any single night. but consider this well planned animated sequence combining 23 pictures taken at approximately 2 week intervals from june 2000 through may 2001. it reveals the graceful looping or retrograde motion of bright wanderers jupiter ( leftmost ) and saturn. loitering among the background stars are the familiar pleiades ( above right ) and v - shaped hyades ( below left ) star clusters. the planets didn ' t actually loop by reversing the direction of their orbits, though. their apparent retrograde motion is a reflection of the motion of the earth itself. retrograde motion can be seen each time earth overtakes and laps planets orbiting farther from the sun, earth moving more rapidly through its own relatively close - in orbit. astronomer tunc tezel captured jupiter and saturn ' s " paired " retrograde loop in this remarkable series made after the close alignment of these gas giants in may 2000. the next opportunity to see these two planets dance such a pas de deux will be in the year 2020. authors & editors : jerry bonnell ( usra ) nasa technical rep. : jay norris. specific rights apply. a service of : lhea at nasa / gsfc & michigan tech. u.


| the german inflation of 1923 — one dollar worth trillions of marks. [ this article is excerpted from the book the age of inflation, by hans sennholz. ] the german inflation of 1914 – 1923 had an inconspicuous beginning, a creeping rate of one to two percent. on the first day of the war, the german reichsbank, like the other central banks of the belligerent powers, suspended redeemability of its notes in order to prevent a run on its gold reserves. like all the other banks, it offered assistance to the central government in financing the war effort. since taxes are always unpopular, the german government preferred to borrow the needed amounts of money rather than raise its taxes substantially. to this end it was readily assisted by the reichsbank, which discounted most treasury obligations. a growing percentage of government debt thus found its way into the vaults of the central bank and an equivalent amount of printing press money into people ’ s cash holdings. in short, the central bank was monetizing the growing government debt. by the end of the war the amount of money in circulation had risen fourfold and prices some 140 percent. yet the german mark had suffered no more than the british pound, was somewhat weaker than the american dollar but stronger than the french franc. five years later, in december 1923, the reichsbank had issued 496. 5 quintillion marks, each of which had fallen to one - trillionth of its 1914 gold value. how stupendous! practically every economic good and service was costing trillions of marks. the american dollar was quoted at 4. 2 trillion marks, the american penny at 42 billion marks. how could a european nation that prided itself on its high levels of education and scholarly knowledge suffer such a thorough destruction of its money? who would inflict on a great nation such evil which had ominous economic, social, and political ramifications not only for germany but for the whole world? was it the victors of world war i who, in diabolical revenge, devastated the vanquished country through ruinous financial manipulation and plunder? every mark was printed by germans and issued by a central bank that was governed by germans under a government that was purely german. it was german political parties, such as the socialists, the catholic centre party, and the democrats, forming various coalition governments, that were solely responsible for the policies they conducted. of course, admission of responsibility for any calamity cannot be expected


. it was german political parties, such as the socialists, the catholic centre party, and the democrats, forming various coalition governments, that were solely responsible for the policies they conducted. of course, admission of responsibility for any calamity cannot be expected from any political party. | how could a european nation that prided itself on its high levels of education and scholarly knowledge suffer such a thorough destruction of its money? | the reasoning that led these parties to inflate the national currency at such astronomical rates is not only interesting for economic historians, but also very revealing of the rationale for monetary destruction. the doctrines and theories that led to the german monetary destruction have since then caused destruction in many other countries. in fact, they may be at work right now all over the western world. in our judgment, four erroneous doctrines or theories guided the german monetary authorities in those baleful years. the most amazing economic sophism that was advanced by eminent financiers, politicians, and economists endeavored to show that there was neither monetary nor credit inflation in germany. these experts readily admitted that the nominal amount of paper money issued was indeed enormous. but the real value of all currency in circulation, that is, the gold value in terms of gold or goods prices, they argued, was much lower than before the war or than that of other industrial countries.


contents - previous - next this is the old united nations university website. visit the new site at http : / / unu. edu because the imminent demise or depletion of commercially usable natural forests can be so readily foreseen in many pacific island countries ( watt 1980, 297 ), governments and development agencies have in several places promoted either some form of restocking or enrichment of commercially logged areas or the establishment of forest plantations on degraded grassland sites. not all these efforts can be classified as agroforestry, strictly speaking ; but in the pacific context, as in most of the tropical world, the traditional, if transient, shift of land use back and forth between forest and agriculture on any particular site makes it relevant to consider what at first glance appear to be purely forestry projects. many of the timber species institutionally promoted have been exotics such as caribbean pine ( pinus caribaea ), west indian mahogany ( swietenia macrophylla ), cordia ( cordia alliodora ), and eucalytus spp., although some indigenous pacific species such as albizia falcataria, agathis spp., araucaria spp., and endospermum spp. have been successfully established, often as exotics in areas beyond their natural range. many other species - including west indian cedar ( cedrela odorata ), the silky oak ( grevillea robusta ), teak ( tectona grandis ), mahogany ( swietenia mahogoni ), toon tree ( toona australis ), cadamba ( anthocephalus chinensis ), and albizia lebbeck along with several indigenous trees - have also been the subject of trials, and planted to various degrees throughout the islands. firewood and multi - purpose species that have been successfully introduced include leucaena leucocephala, erythrina spp., casuarina spp., and gliricidia septum, and, to a lesser extent, securinega samoana and adenanthera pavonina. other species, all of which have been planted experimentally and which seem to grow successfully, but which have not yet become so well established, include cassia, acacia, and calliandra spp. apart from timber and fuel wood, the major multi - purpose objectives of such plantings are site reclamation and amelioration, erosion control, wind protection, shade, multipurpose construction and hand


cassia, acacia, and calliandra spp. apart from timber and fuel wood, the major multi - purpose objectives of such plantings are site reclamation and amelioration, erosion control, wind protection, shade, multipurpose construction and handicrafts, nurse cropping, fodder, green manure, and food. the indigenous casuarinas, particularly casuarina equisetifolia, have also shown considerable promise for reforestation programmes, and have been planted in tonga in land reclamation projects, in the cook islands for the rehabilitation of degraded lands, and on atolls as sources of fuel wood and to protect coconut plantations from saltwater damage. c. oligodon and c. papuana are traditionally used for reforestation and to enrich fallow land in papua new guinea, and are now promoted in some areas for land rehabilitation and as shade plants for coffee. pine planting in relation to agroforestry of the total area of timber plantations in the pacific, well over 50 per cent is accounted for by caribbean pine ( pinus caribaea ). the largest area of pine planting is in fiji, where that country ' s pine commission together with the forestry department has established over 50, 000 ha of plantation since 1960, mostly on degraded anthropogenic grasslands ( drysdale 1988a, 110 ; watt 1980, 301 ). some pine timber is used locally, but the wood was intended mainly for export, and a wood - chipping mill is now in operation. in the mid1960s, under a programme now discontinued, woodlots of pinus caribaea on smallholder sugar - cane farms were promoted by the colonial government. sized from 0. 4 to 2 ha, these woodlots were planted on steeper non - cane areas of farms to control erosion, provide on - farm supplies of timber and fuel wood, and for undergrazing by farm animals ( eaton 1988b, personal communication ). apart from this woodlot grazing and grazing of cattle in association with larger pine plantations ( described below ), there has been no institutional support for any form of intercropping or other agroforestry activities in pine plantations ( drysdale 1988b ). similarly, in the limited areas of pine planting in new caledonia, western samoa, tonga, and the cook islands, there has been little or no link to agroforestry in such programmes, with the main focus being on creating a timber resource, land improvement, erosion control, and employment creation in rural


, western samoa, tonga, and the cook islands, there has been little or no link to agroforestry in such programmes, with the main focus being on creating a timber resource, land improvement, erosion control, and employment creation in rural areas. in highland papua new guinea large areas of degraded grassland have been planted with pines ( pinus spp. ) and araucaria spp. intercropping activities are few and consist of the intercropping of coffee and cardamon on a trial and demonstration basis ( howcroft 1983 ). in vanuatu, p. caribaea var. hondurensis is the main species planted in forest plantations in seasonally dry and highly degraded sites on the southern islands of aneityum and erromango, where some 550 ha had been established up to april 1985. the commercial viability of such plantings is still uncertain, however, due to poor access to markets and high transport costs. on erromango, high costs of clearing land of the indigenous pioneering species acacia spirobis has stopped the development of pine plantations. benefits in the form of erosion control and aiding the local economy through wages were the main motives behind these programmes ( neil 1986a ). non - pine forestry in relation to agroforestry to judge from programmes in papua new guinea, the solomon islands, vanuatu, tonga, and western samoa, there seems to be greater promise and greater institutionalized promotion of intercropping with other, primarily broadleaved evergreen, species than has been the case with pines. in papua new guinea, where extensive areas of eucalyptus deglupta have been planted, cocoa and coffee have been successfully grown at 4 m x 4 m and 3 m x 3 m spacing, respectively, in conjunction with e. deglupta planted at 10 m x 10 m ( jacovelli and neil 1984, 10 ). also in papua new guinea, severe environmental degradation resulting from rapid urban expansion and associated subsistence gardening and " fuel - wood mining " prompted the cities of lae and port moresby to institute fuel - wood - planting programmes. in lae, in 1978, it was decided to plant 200 ha of sloping land ( 20° - 30° ) in leucaena leucocephala for firewood and to intercrop fuel - wood species with annual food crops in zones designated for subsistence food gardening. the project, which was allocated k250, 000 ( us $ 275, 000 ) over six years, had a management component coupled with


, kava ( piper methysticum ), and trials with coffee ( arabica and robusta ), cocoa, and cardamon. in addition to these trials, subsistence gardens have also been established under cordia alliodora by both local landowners and forest workers alike ( jacovelli and neil 1984, 8 ). because c. alliodora may be severely attacked by root rot ( phelli nus noxius ) in some conditions, and does not perform well on some sites, other species currently being tried in vanuatu include terminalia brassii, t. calamansanai, eucalyptus deglupta, swietenia macrophylla, toona australis, and cedrela odorata. however, the barks of both t. brassii and e. deglupta are palatable to cattle ( jacovelli and neil 1984, 10 ; macfarlane 1980 ). the species showing greatest potential as an alternative species to c. alliodora may be s. macrophylla, and if grown with nurse species to reduce pest problems, intercropping should be possible during the early years of rotation ( neil 1986b ). several other systematic experiments on tree species, both exotic and indigenous, have been carried out in vanuatu in a search for species especially suitable for fuel wood, timber, or pulpwood, but none of this research was connected with agroforestry. research on agroforestry has focused almost exclusively on " cash crops which appear to have great potential, particularly coffee and cocoa, and possibly kava and cocoa " ( jacovelli and neil 1984, 11 ). in fiji, some 22, 953 ha of tropical hardwood forests have been planted as of mid - 1986. of these, 14, 987 ha are west indian mahogany ( swietenia macrophylla ), 3, 058 ha are cordia alliodora, 2, 963 ha are cadamba ( anthocephalus chinensis ), 928 ha are maesopsis eminii, 438 ha are eucalyptus deglupta, and 202 ha are the indigenous species endospermum macrophyllum ( adab 1986 ). despite such considerable silvicultural activity, in terms of both hardwood and pines, it is essentially monocultural, and, as the general manager of the fiji pine commission has stated : " institutionalized agrosilviculture is non - existent in fiji at present " ( dry


activity, in terms of both hardwood and pines, it is essentially monocultural, and, as the general manager of the fiji pine commission has stated : " institutionalized agrosilviculture is non - existent in fiji at present " ( drysdale 1988b, personal communication ). tonga ' s silvicultural activities are more diverse, some being significantly agrosilvicultural. more purely silvicultural activities include a major reforestation programme begun on the island of eua in the mid - 1960s. over 40 ha of mixed exotic species including toona australis, cedrela odorata, cordia alliodora, grevillea robusta, agathis robusta, pinus caribaea, and eucalyptus spp., as well as suitable indigenous species, such as casuarina equisetifolia, terminalia catappa, and dysoxylum tongense, were planted on the eua forest farm. tests of seed stock from throughout the world were also carried out on the farm. larger areas were subsequently planted, with 104 ha alone being planted in 1979 ( thaman 1984e, 3 ). the species most commonly planted in 1984 were eucalyptus saligna, e. tereticornis, toona australis, and pinus caribaea. seedling pro auction for these species and other timber species, such as cupressus lusitanica, amounted to 77, 491 seedlings ( 42, 427 of which were planted ) in 1979 ( maff 1985, 100 - 102 ). reforestation continues, as the small areas of remaining indigenous forest on eua are exploited, with the local mill " approaching the end of its productive life as the local hardwood timber supply is cut out and cannot be replaced from the forest farm for at least another 10 years " ( maff 1985, 99 ). the only truly agroforestry aspect of the eua silvicultural activities, a taungya system of combined tree - planting and temporary gardens, was phased out because " it has greatly increased pressures for settlement of unsuitable land, and is thus clearly not in the national interest " ( maff 1985, 100 ). a second and continuing agroforestry activity has been the forestry extension programme, which began in the 1960s to produce seedlings for distribution to smallholder farmers for planting in small woodlots or as windbreaks around their agricultural allotments ( see chapter 5 on tongan agrofor


has been the forestry extension programme, which began in the 1960s to produce seedlings for distribution to smallholder farmers for planting in small woodlots or as windbreaks around their agricultural allotments ( see chapter 5 on tongan agroforestry ). the major species distributed included casuarina equisetifolia, grevillea robusta, cedrela odorata, eucalyptus spp., agathis spp., and gmelina arborea ( thaman 1984e, 3 ). with the establishment of the extension nursery at mataliku on the main island of tongatapu in 1978, the programme was expanded to include the propagation and distribution of a wide range of timber trees, " cultural " species, and species providing food, medicine, and ornamentation. the considerable interest shown by the people for planting on both rural and town allotments led to a " blossoming of forest extension work " to the point that, in 1978, the nursery could not cope with the demand, which exceeded 8, 000 trees per month ( maff 1979, 99 ). according to programme records, as of 1984, at least 155 species had been tested and / or propagated for distribution on eua and tongatapu. of these, 66 were timber species, 45 ornamentals, 32 " cultural " plants of particular importance to the tongan society, 11 food plants, 6 plants used for coastal protection or land reclamation, 4 for living fences or hedgerows, 3 medicinal plants, and 2 each for windbreaks and firewood. among the most popular nontimber species were casuarina equisetifolia ( planted as an ornamental, living fence, or wind - break ) ; culturally important sacred or fragrant plants, known locally as akau kakala, such as heilala ( garcinia sessilis ), langakali ( aglaia saltatorum ), sandalwood, or ahi ( santalum yasi ), pua ( fagraea berteriana ), pipi ( parinari glaberrima ), huni ( phalaria disperma ), perfume tree, or mohokoi ( cananga odorata ), allspice ( pimenta doica ), and pandanus cultivars ; fruit - trees, such as mango, malay apple ( syzygium malaccense ), and macadamia nut ( macadamia integrifolia ) ; and ornamental or shade


doica ), and pandanus cultivars ; fruit - trees, such as mango, malay apple ( syzygium malaccense ), and macadamia nut ( macadamia integrifolia ) ; and ornamental or shade plants, such as flamboyant, or poinciana ( delonix regia ), hibiscus ( hibiscus rosa - sinensis ), cordyline fruticosa, copperleaf, or beefsteak, plant ( acalypha amentacea ), bougainvillea ( bougainvillea spp. ), poinsettia ( euphorbia pulcherrima ), gardenia ( gardenia spp. ), and the hedge panaxes ( polyscias spp. ) ( thaman 1984e ). the final major area of activity has been the testing and establishment of trees for land reclamation, such as the project to rehabilitate low - lying areas at sopu to the west of the capital of nuku ' alofa on tongatapu. reclamation work at sopu began in the 1960s, with the planting of casuarina equisetifolia to stabilize the area, and has continued to the present with extensive plantings of lumnitzera littorea, rhizophora mangle, bruguiera gymnorhiza, xylocarpus granatum, and other selected species. as recently as 1980, 6 acres of lumnitzera littorea, 4 acres of terminalia catappa, and 3 acres of queensland kauri ( agathis robusta ) were planted. the vegetation has reportedly been well - established, with the operation becoming more maintenance than reclamation. grazing, usually of cattle, with commercial tree cropping and silviculture consists mainly of the widespread practice of grazing cattle under coconuts or commercial timber species, and the limited grazing of cattle under leucaena leucocephala or other fuel - wood or multipurpose species. livestock under coconuts the grazing of cattle ( primarily beef, but also dairy cattle ) under coconuts ( in some cases with pasture improvement ) is by far the most widespread practice. it has been encouraged throughout the islands since colonial times, particularly on large coconut estates. in addition to providing meat and dairy products, cattle are seen as effective weed control and fertilization agents, thus facilitating plantation management and the collection of fallen nuts. although primarily promoted on large, often


since colonial times, particularly on large coconut estates. in addition to providing meat and dairy products, cattle are seen as effective weed control and fertilization agents, thus facilitating plantation management and the collection of fallen nuts. although primarily promoted on large, often foreign or state controlled estates or plantations, some governments, such as those in the solomon islands, tonga, and niue, have encouraged smallholder grazing of cattle under coconuts and other trees. in the case of tonga, smallholder agriculturalists have been encouraged to fence limited portions of their 3. 3 ha bush allotments to graze cattle, and sometimes horses, under coconuts and other tree crops and protected trees, or, alternatively, to tether animals to trees and graze on a rotational basis. the practice has been particularly important in vanuatu ( both before and after independence in 1980 ) and new caledonia, where beef cattle production is a major activity. beef cattle production became so important in vanuatu, prior to independence, that some plantations were turned into cattle properties. the importance of cattle grew in the 1950s, when steeply rising labour costs made planters increasingly dependent on cattle to keep their plantations clean. at one period in the 1950s, herds became larger than the plantations could support, especially during dry spells, and by the end of the decade, town butcheries had opened in both port vila and luganville, the two main towns. by the end of the 1960s, copra production had become no more than a sideline on a number of plantations ( brookfield with hart 1971, 164165 ). in fiji, in 1973, 10. 5 per cent of the local beef requirements were supplied by the 9. 9 per cent of the cattle population grazed under coconuts ( maf 1973 ; manner 1983 ). this is particularly significant given the large proportion of range - fed cattle raised on extensive large - scale developments in the dry zones of fiji. papua new guinea, the solomon islands, vanuatu, and new caledonia in melanesia, and western samoa and french polynesia have also actively encouraged cattle under coconuts with trials having been conducted on optimum stocking rates and pasture improvement. much of the western samoa trust estates ( wstec ) mulifanua copra plantation, reportedly one of the largest copra plantations in the world ( carter 1984 ), is undergrazed by cattle. the potential for the formal promotion of large - scale grazing of cattle under coconuts is greatest on the larger islands of melanesia and polynesia. on smaller islands, such as


the world ( carter 1984 ), is undergrazed by cattle. the potential for the formal promotion of large - scale grazing of cattle under coconuts is greatest on the larger islands of melanesia and polynesia. on smaller islands, such as those in tonga and the cook islands, where high population densities and land scarcity make more extensive agrosilvipastoral developments less relevant, small - scale rotational undergrazing of tethered animals is more appropriate. in nine, where population density is low because of emigration to new zealand, there have been problems of overgrazing and lack of fodder during times of drought - for example, during the severe drought of 1977 - 1978, when hay had to be imported from new zealand. richardson ( 1983, 59 ) cautions that grazing under coconuts can create problems of soil compaction and, especially in the case of free grazing, preclude intercropping, which should take precedence in areas with limited land resources. as shown by studies in papua new guinea and elsewhere, smallholder beef cattle production can have harmful impacts on subsistence cropping ( grossman 1981 ). where cash cropping or subsistence production is feasible, richardson ( 1983, 59 ) argues that intercropping should take precedence over grazing under coconuts. cattle under timber species the grazing of cattle under commercial timber species has been actively promoted in papua new guinea, the solomon islands, vanuatu, and fiji. in papua new guinea, reforestation projects in both the highlands and lowlands offer opportunities for beef production, and cattle have been actively promoted to control weeds and reduce fire danger by consuming the fuel. pinus caribaea planting has also been encouraged in order to provide shade for cattle in open grasslands ( watt 1980, 308 ). the introduction of pasture legumes into timber plantations and surrounding areas has also been actively encouraged, and the development of pastures, followed by grazing, has been more or less standard practice in a number of forest plantations in papua new guinea, where klinki and hoop pine ( araucaria spp. ), pinus caribaea, and eucalyptus spp. are grown. government forest plantations are made available to local braziers who establish adequate fencing and pastures and follow acceptable range management and stocking practices ( howcroft 1974 ; 1983 ). in the solomon islands, where there is a " cattle under trees " ( cut ) project, cattle have been grazed under eucalyptus deglupta in forest plantations established by the government in logged forest ( macfarlane and whiteman


1974 ; 1983 ). in the solomon islands, where there is a " cattle under trees " ( cut ) project, cattle have been grazed under eucalyptus deglupta in forest plantations established by the government in logged forest ( macfarlane and whiteman 1983 ; schirmer 1983, 101 ; watt 1980, 308 ) and in vanuatu under both " local supply plantations " and " industrial supply plantations " of cordia alliodora, as well as under pinus caribaea on aneityum, erromango, pentecost, and santo ( jacovelli and neil 1984, 8 ). grazing under pines in vanuatu is seen as a means of reducing the significant fire threat in plantations ( neil 1986a ). it is in fiji that the practice has probably been tried most exten sively, owing to research undertaken by the fiji pine commission ( fpc ), a statutory body with the objective of facilitating and developing " an industry based on the growing, harvesting, preserving and marketing of pine and other species of trees grown in fiji " ( cpo 1980, 141 ). the fpc is responsible for managing over 45, 000 ha of pinus caribaea out of an envisioned gross estate of 80, 000 ha on the highly degraded talasiga ( sunburnt ) soils of the drier leeward grasslands of the two largest islands of fiji. the relatively infertile and eroded areas are vegetated with a grassland sub - climax of presumed anthropogenic origin, including species such as pennisetum polystachyon, pteridium esculentum, gleichenia liners, psidium guajava, dodonaea viscose, and casuarina equisetifolia. on moister slopes, miscanthus floridulus forms almost impenetrable thickets. these grasslands are subject to frequent and unauthorized burning. the fpc undertook research into cattle grazing for two reasons : to examine the effects of cattle grazing on reducing fuel in high fire - risk zones ; and to test the use of cattle as a site - preparation tool for clearing the land of miscanthus floridulus, which proved difficult to eradicate by more conventional means such as slashing and burning ( drysdale 1982 ). research has yielded variable results. vincent ( 1971 ) concluded that grazing of cattle under 5 - and 6 - year - old pine plantations in poor soils had a detrimental effect on the incremental growth of pines, whereas grazing trials in the nausori