whenever experts talk about digestive health, the one word that comes up more often than not is fiber. rich in vitamins and minerals, fiber works by sponging and scouring your digestive tract. it ' s one of the best - known preventives and cure - alls for constipation, and it can be helpful in managing irritable bowel syndrome ( ibs ). recent research conducted at baylor college of medicine in houston reveals it may also relieve heartburn and protect against gastroesophageal reflux disease. what ' s more, " eating a sufficient amount of fiber daily helps with weight loss, lowers ‘ bad ' cholesterol and has been shown to protect against heart disease, diabetes and some forms of cancer, " notes dr. wes jones, a gastroenterologist and founder of the cape fear center for digestive diseases in north carolina. yet despite all the buzz, most americans consume only half the recommended 25 to 30 grams of fiber they should eat every day, according to the usda. if you ' re one of them, it ' s time to add more fiber to your diet. but do it gradually to give your body time to adjust, advises jones, author of cure constipation now : a doctor ' s fiber therapy to cleanse and heal. this will help you avoid bloating and other temporary side effects. then, once your body has adjusted, follow these tips to get enough fiber in your diet every day. at the grocery store read labels : certain foods like grains and beans are naturally high in fiber, and many others have fiber added. foods labeled " high fiber " contain 5 grams or more per serving. those labeled " good source " of fiber have at least 2. 5 grams per serving. opt for whole grains : look for " whole grain flour " as the first ingredient listed on breads and pasta. or try quinoa, bulgur, barley or brown rice. stock up on flax : one of the highest sources of fiber, flaxseed can be sprinkled on salads or yogurt and added to smoothies, sauces and soups. ground flaxseed can be substituted for fat in some baked goods and gives any food a big burst of fiber. meal by meal start the day right : have a high - fiber cereal like shredded wheat or oatmeal. top your breakfast with a tablespoon of flax plus fruit and nuts for a double dose of fiber. choose


burst of fiber. meal by meal start the day right : have a high - fiber cereal like shredded wheat or oatmeal. top your breakfast with a tablespoon of flax plus fruit and nuts for a double dose of fiber. choose fruits and vegetables highest in fiber : artichokes, broccoli, berries, figs, pears and apples - - along with many other fruits and vegetables - - have 5 or more grams of fiber per serving. eat them alongside a whole - grain sandwich for a heart - and digestion - friendly midday meal. munch on fiber - rich snacks : carrot and celery sticks with hummus or guacamole make a yummy pick - me - up, as do sliced apples with chunky peanut butter, dried fruit and nuts. load up on legumes : peas, lentils, garbanzo beans and other legumes make tasty side dishes and are healthy additions to salads, soups and stews. all plant - based foods contain fiber, but " not all types of high - fiber foods and fiber supplements behave in your gut the same way, " says jones. to combat constipation, ease ibs, relieve heartburn or simply optimize your overall health, jones recommends varying the types of fiber you eat by including a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts in your diet throughout the day, every day. * disclaimer * : the information contained in or provided through this site section is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be and is not a substitute for professional advice. use of this site section and any information contained on or provided through this site section is at your own risk and any information contained on or provided through this site section is provided on an " as is " basis without any representations or warranties.


breast ironing tradition targeted in cameroon. every morning before school, nine - year - old terisia techu would undergo a painful procedure. her mother would take a burning hot pestle straight out of a fire and use it to press her breasts. with tears in her eyes as she recalls what it was like, terisia tells cnn that one day the pestle was so hot, it burned her, leaving a mark. now 18, she is still traumatized. her mother, grace, denies the incident. but she proudly demonstrates the method she used on her daughter for several weeks, saying the goal was to make her less desirable to boys - - and stave off pregnancy. a study found that one in four girls in cameroon have been affected by the practice. the u. s. state department, in its 2010 human rights report on cameroon, cited news reports and said breast ironing " victimized numerous girls in the country " and in some cases " resulted in burns, deformities, and psychological problems. " there are more than 200 ethnic groups in cameroon with different norms and customs. breast ironing is practiced by all of them. some mothers use hot stones or coconut shells to flatten their daughters ' breasts. doctors believe improved diets have resulted in young cameroonian girls going through puberty early. many of them are also becoming pregnant early. terisia became pregnant at 15. her child died at birth. she told cnn that breast ironing doesn ' t work. she hates the practice and wishes her mother had instead talked to her about sex and preventing pregnancy. grace techu argues that if it weren ' t for the breast ironing, terisia would have become pregnant at an even younger age. techu has four daughters, and she used the procedure on the first two. the third avoided it because her breasts are growing at an acceptable rate, techu says, and the fourth girl is still too young. mothers who want their children to finish school before becoming parents have resorted to this drastic measure, and many see nothing wrong with it. in 2006, a german nongovernmental organization exposed the practice, which at the time was done mainly in secret. now, charities have embarked on campaigns to educate mothers in cameroon that sex education - - not breast ironing - - is the solution to ending teenage pregnancy. dr sinou tchana, a gynecologist in cameroon, has seen breast glands that were destroyed. she also saw one case of cancer, though she says it couldn '


semen quality is a much - discussed subject among scientists these days. data suggests sperm concentration has been declining in western countries over the past couple of decades - - and reasons for the decline are debatable. the lead author of a new study on the subject, audrey gaskins, has been studying the effects of diet and exercise on semen for several years as a doctoral candidate at the harvard school of public health. her latest research shows a lack of physical activity - - and too much time in front of the television - - may impact sperm count and concentration. previous studies have shown a link between physical activity and decreased levels of oxidative stress, gaskins says. " oxidative stress " is stress placed on the body as it tries to get rid of free radicals or repair the damage caused by them. exercise may protect certain male cells from oxidative damage, gaskins says, leading to increased sperm concentration. those findings led gaskins to complete an observational study on young men ' s exercise and tv habits as they relate to semen quality. the results were published online monday in the british journal of sports medicine. gaskins and her colleagues asked 189 healthy men between the ages of 18 and 22 how often they exercised each week and how intensely they worked out. the study participants also recorded their tv watching habits. then at the clinic, semen samples were collected from each man. the semen was analyzed for sperm size and shape, motility, concentration and total sperm count. the researchers also conducted a physical examination and looked at the men ' s diet, body weight, reproductive history, stress levels and smoking habits to rule out other potential causes of their findings. the men who did moderate to vigorous exercise 15 hours or more per week had a significantly higher sperm concentration than those who worked out less than five hours a week. and the men who watched more than 20 hours of tv a week had almost half the sperm concentration as the men who watched zero hours a week.


charleston, w. va. - - dear cindy, what is a resting heart rate, and how do i determine mine? - - corinne a resting heart rate is the number of heartbeats each minute you are at rest and completely still. the rhr can tell you how strong and efficient your heart is and, based on that number, indicate whether your heart is getting stronger or weaker as time goes by. the lower the number, the more powerful your heart probably is, and the higher the number, the less able your heart is to efficiently pump the blood from the tip of your toes to the top of your head. certain medications can skew these numbers, but generally your rhr is a great way to see if your cardio workouts are challenging your system enough to make a healthy difference over time. the most accurate way to determine your rhr is to plan to take your pulse in advance because it must be taken before you rise. once you get out of bed and move, the heart rate increases. place a timepiece with a second hand near your bed so that when you wake, you can easily begin counting your heartbeats. you must record it for a full minute and repeat the count daily for five days. the average will be your rhr. this is a great question, and because february is american heart month, i want to share some information vital to your heart health. care for your sweet heart according to the centers for disease control and prevention, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the united states. one in three deaths is from heart disease and / or stroke, which equates to 2, 200 deaths every day. it ' s also quite costly. in fact, hospitalizations because of heart disease and stroke cost the nation more than $ 444 billion in health - care expenses and lost productivity. pretty depressing statistics, considering it doesn ' t have to be this way. these numbers are out of control because we are out of control. physical activity and better nutrition are life - changing choices we need to make a priority if we want to save lives and to reduce the insane financial burden heart disease is putting on our nation. recently, the cdc and the u. s. department of health and human services launched million hearts, a simple yet powerful initiative that aims to empower everyone to make heart - healthy choices and to reduce the 1 million heart attacks and strokes in the u. s. over the next five years. granted, conquering the nation ' s biggest killer is not a simple task. after


summary paragraph for cdc13 cdc13p is a multi - functional, telomere - binding protein that plays a role in telomere replication, length maintenance, end protection and telomerase regulation ( 4 ). cdc13 / est4 is one of five genes required for telomerase activity in vivo. est1, est2, tlc1 and est3 are the other four genes. mutations in any of these five genes leads to progressive telomere shortening, the so - called ever shorter telomeres ( est ) phenotype and eventually to cell death ; however, a complete deletion of cdc13 is inviable. cdc13 is the only essential gene among the est genes ( 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and references therein ). the n - terminal region of cdc13p is crucial for the protein ' s activity due to its various interactions with different binding proteins ( 12 ). the telomere capping function is mediated through its interaction with stn1p and ten1p, essential proteins required for telomere length regulation ( 13, 14, 15 ). cdc13p plays a role in telomere replication through its interactions with the pol1p catalytic subunit of dna polymerase alpha, and an essential subunit of telomerase, est1p ( 16 ). cdc13p and est1p also recruit and activate the telomere - bound est2p catalytic subunit of telomerase for its replication ( 17 ). the telomerase recruitment step is regulated by the yeast ku heterodimer ( yku70p - yku80p ), and stn1p which impart positive and negative control on the cdc13p - est1p interaction ( 11, 18 ). cdc13p is regulated by the phosphorylation of the sq / tq motif in the telomerase recruitment domain by the checkpoint kinases, mec1p and tel1p ( 19 ). mutation in cdc13p results in abnormal uncapped telomeres with long exposed g - strands leading to activation of the rad9 dna damage pathway, cell cycle arrest at the g2 / m phase and cell death ( 1, 20, 21, 22, 12 ). in humans, telomere length is linked to aging and cancer : in human germline cells telomeres are long, whereas in cells of somatic tissues, telomerase activity is absent and the telomeres are short. upon sufficient short


humans, telomere length is linked to aging and cancer : in human germline cells telomeres are long, whereas in cells of somatic tissues, telomerase activity is absent and the telomeres are short. upon sufficient shortening, the somatic cells stop dividing and become senescent. inappropriate telomerase activity is detected in most malignant tumors, and the genes required for telomerase activity are potential targets for cancer therapy ( 23, 8 ). human orthologs for four of the telomerase subunits are known. est2p, the telomerase reverse transcriptase catalytic enzyme, is similar to tert ( omim ), tlc1, the template rna is similar to terc / htr ( omim ), while cdc13p shares sequence similarity with human pot1 ( omim ) ( 24, 9 ). there are three est1p like proteins in humans, although only hest1a and hest1b have been shown to be associated with the telomerase ( 25 ). a human ortholog for est3 hasn ' t been identified. mutations in tert ( omim ) and terc / htr ( omim ) cause short telomeres and congenital aplastic anemia ( omim, 24 ). last updated : 2007 - 06 - 27


on - site energy installations increase nationwide july 28, 2004 as power reliability becomes more and more important, the united states is turning to on - site energy systems more than ever before. sales were up by 20 percent overall in 2003, and most purchases were fairly evenly distributed among the government, communications, and emergency response / healthcare sectors. on - site systems generate power or heat for nearby use, and they can be connected to a building as well as to the electric grid. energy generation thus appears to be following a " distributed " pathway similar to the one charted in the telecommunications industry by cellular technology. today, both established and new energy technologies are used for on - site electricity generation. some of the major technologies include : - advanced batteries and fuels cells ; - combined heat and power ( chp ) systems ; - heat engines and smaller natural gas, propane, and diesel generators ; - micro - hydropower and small ( less than 50 - kilowatt ) wind systems ; - modular biomass ; and - solar technologies ( photovoltaics and solar thermal systems ). on - site systems can also provide thermal energy for space heating and cooling, water heating, and industrial process heat and preheating. in addition to chp systems, these technologies include the following : - concentrated solar systems, - ground - source heat pumps, - solar thermal water heaters, and - transpired solar " walls " to preheat air for buildings. there are several reasons for this increase in the use of on - site energy systems ; one is cost. on - site systems save money in some applications, especially when the alternative involves installing new utility wires and transformers. in addition, both demand charges and peak power rates can often be offset by producing energy on site for use during times of peak demand. another reason for the increase in the use of on - site energy systems is regulatory. on - site renewable energy technologies help users meet green power requirements and renewable portfolio standards. they also provide ways to comply with procurement and environmental regulations established by federal, state, and local governments. some users want to ensure backup power with something other than diesel generator sets, not only because it might be hard to obtain diesel fuel, but also for environmental reasons. if the fuel must be transported a great distance, this can also be costly as well as risky. on - site solar, wind, or fuel cell generators are some of the technologies that can alleviate this problem. another reason for on - site generation is to increase power quality. in some applications, surges and transients on


as well as risky. on - site solar, wind, or fuel cell generators are some of the technologies that can alleviate this problem. another reason for on - site generation is to increase power quality. in some applications, surges and transients on the electric grid can impede the performance of electrical equipment or even harm sensitive controls, computers, or communication systems. dedicating sensitive systems to on - site generation, or adding distributed energy to the grid as backup, can be a good solution. finally, one increasingly important reason is to ensure reliability. distributed, on - site energy systems are maturing to the point that it ' s easier than ever to use them to ensure reliable power, particularly for strategically - important functions such as national emergencies and homeland security. in addition to installations described in earlier issues of femp focus, there are numerous examples of effective, reliable on - site energy systems meeting the need for reliable power in critical applications. one is the 1 - kilowatt relion fuel cell unit installed at mccord air force base in tacoma, washington. the unit runs on unpressurized, industrial - grade hydrogen to back up communications for a federal aviation administration radar system. it has been running flawlessly, according to mr. howard kernodle of the federal aviation administration. the faa supported the san francisco international airport ' s installation of building - integrated photovoltaic ( bipv ) roofing panels to produce 20 - kilowatts of electricity. this system supplies a portion of the power needed at one of the airport ' s support buildings. in new york city, montefiore medical center was the only hospital that continued to operate with full power during the first night of the 2003 regional blackout, in large part because a solar turbines taurus 60 generator set drives its chp system. montefiore operates its own 14 - megawatt cogeneration plant, and all its critical loads are backed up by emergency power generators. the united states postal service implemented an innovative combination of on - site renewable generation and demand control measures to reduce electrical demand and energy use at the marina mail processing center in los angeles. their partnership with powerlight and viron energy services led to the installation of a 127 kwp solar electric system atop the marina del rey facility, and a state - wide energy information system for 27 usps sites. this energy system allows usps to automatically shed more than 4 megawatts of electrical load. the solar system covers more than 15, 00 square feet of the facility ' s roof and can generate enough


supplemental student aid early literacy development charter school facilities quotes to note on january 8, in his last policy speech, president bush discussed his record on education and pressed congress to reauthorize a robust no child left behind act at general philip kearny school in philadelphia. " seven years ago, today, i had the honor of signing a bill that forever changed america ' s school systems, " he said. " i firmly believe that, thanks to [ the no child left behind act ], more students are learning and the achievement gap is closing. and, on this anniversary, i have come to talk about why we need to keep the law strong. " in his remarks, the president addressed common complaints about the law, but he stressed that there was " no debate about the results. " specifically, he cited having accountability plans in place in all 50 states and the district of columbia, disaggregated data, a clear focus on the achievement gap, highly qualified teachers, and research - proven strategies for reading instruction. as evidence of success, he also referenced the new teacher incentive fund, supplemental educational services, and increased numbers of charter schools. " the most important result of no child left behind is this : fewer students are falling behind, and more students are achieving high standards. " then, in closing, the president urged congress to reauthorize the lawwithout undermining its core principles. " there is a growing consensus across the country that now is not the time to water down standards or roll - back accountability, " he said. " and, i call upon those who can determine the fate of no child left behind... to stay strong in the face of criticism, to not weaken the lawbecause, in so weakening the law, you weaken the chance for a child to succeed in americabut to strengthen the law for the sake of every child. " for more information, please go to http : / / www. whitehouse. gov / news / releases / 2009 / 01 / 20090108 - 2. html. ( note : a white house fact sheet on education is available at http : / / www. whitehouse. gov / news / releases / 2009 / joining president bush in philadelphia, secretary spellings released great expectations, a new, well - referenced document which examines the history of public education in the u. s. and how students once left behind are now making progress. " great expectations explores education ' s evolution in america from a privilege for a few to a necessity for all


, well - referenced document which examines the history of public education in the u. s. and how students once left behind are now making progress. " great expectations explores education ' s evolution in america from a privilege for a few to a necessity for all. it tells the story of a remarkable comeback by our nation ' s students, who are achieving record high test scores in reading and math and reveals the reforms that have led to these results, " she stated. " most importantly, great expectations reminds us that our work has just begunwe cannot turn back or slow down. in fact, we must pick up the pace to ensure a quality education for all. " the publication is divided into the following eight sections : ( 1 ) history of expectations, ( 2 ) search for accountability, ( 3 ) education as civil right, ( 4 ) doing what works, ( 5 ) recognizing and rewarding teachers, ( 6 ) higher education that aims higher, ( 7 ) new choices for a new century, and ( 8 ) what ' s next? for more information, please go to http : / / www. ed. gov / nclb / overview / importance / greatexpectations /. ( note : a department fact sheet on great expectations is available at http : / / www. ed. gov / nclb / overview / importance / greatexpectations / meanwhile, in the washington post, the secretary penned a letter to her successor. her concluding advice? " many in washington will judge you on your popularity with adults. if some adults are made uncomfortable by your policies, so be it. the needs of children must come first. " for more information, please go to http : / / www. ed. gov / news / opeds / edit / 2009 / 01132009. html. tying up some loose ends, the department issued official letters to every state, the district of columbia, and puerto rico on the status of some no child left behind cornerstones, including assessments, accountability, and flexibility. in addition, states received a spreadsheet, specifying where each state stands on these issues, and an updated fact sheet on state standards and assessments. to date, 39 states have implemented high - quality standards and assessment systems that have received either " full approval " or " approval with recommendations " from the agency. for more information, please go to http : / / www. ed. gov / admins / lead / account / cornerstones /. at the same time, the secretary announced the approval of several state


" approval with recommendations " from the agency. for more information, please go to http : / / www. ed. gov / admins / lead / account / cornerstones /. at the same time, the secretary announced the approval of several state proposals under the department ' s growth model and differentiated accountability pilot programs. first, four additional states ( colorado, minnesota, pennsylvania, and texas ) are approved to implement growth - based accountability models ( see http : / / www. ed. gov / news / pressreleases / 2009 / 01 / 01082009a. html ). colorado and minnesota are immediately approved to use their models this school year, while pennsylvania and texas are conditionally approved, assuming they satisfy requirements related to their assessment and accountability systems. growth models allow states to receive credit for improving individual students ' performance over timebut retain the no child left behind core principles of annual assessment, disaggregation of data, and grade - level proficiency for all students by 2013 - 2014. fifteen states have now been approved to implement growth models. second, three additional states ( arkansas, louisiana, and new york ) may differentiate between underperforming schools in need of dramatic interventions and those that are closer to meeting the goals of no child left behind ( see http : / / www. ed. gov / news / pressreleases / 2009 / 01 / 01082009b. html ). the law currently treats all schools in improvement similarly. differentiated accountability permits states to vary the intensity and type of interventions to match the academic reasons that led to a school ' s identification. nine states have now been approved to implement differentiated accountability. for both pilots, the department used a rigorous peer review process to ensure that the selections were fair and transparent. also, the department ' s policy and program studies services recently published new evaluation studies on state and local implementation of the no child left behind act : - " targeting and uses of federal education funds " ( http : / / www. ed. gov / rschstat / eval / disadv / nclb - targeting / ) examines how well federal funds are targeted to schools and school districts serving economically disadvantaged students, how title i targeting has changed over the past seven years, how districts have spent federal funds, and the base of state and local resources to which federal funds are added. key finding? federal funds were more strongly targeted to high - poverty districts than were state and local funds. however, the higher level of federal funding in high - poverty


funds, and the base of state and local resources to which federal funds are added. key finding? federal funds were more strongly targeted to high - poverty districts than were state and local funds. however, the higher level of federal funding in high - poverty districts was not sufficient to close the funding gap between high - and low - poverty districts. - " title i school choice and supplemental educational services " ( http : / / www. ed. gov / rschstat / eval / choice / nclb - choice - ses - final / ) supplies updated information on the implementation and usage of choice options offered to students in title i schools identified for improvement. key finding? the number of students eligible for and participating in public school choice or supplemental educational services ( ses ) have increased substantially, although, nationwide, participation rates remained stable at 1 % and 17 %, respectively. ( note : the department just released non - regulatory guidance on implementing public school choice and ses. this guidance updates and expands upon previous versions of guidance, covering issues related to the new title i regulations and including information on other major policy guidance the agency has released during the last few years. see http : / / www. ed. gov / news / pressreleases / 2009 / - " implementation of the [ students with disabilities ] 1 % rule and 2 % interim policy options " ( http : / / www. ed. gov / rschstat / eval / disadv / nclb - disab / ) presents findings about the implementation of regulations and guidelines issued under no child left behind providing greater flexibility for the treatment of certain students with disabilities in state assessment and accountability systems. key finding? most states with sound data reported that less than 10 % of tested students with disabilities participated in an alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards. supplemental student aid participation in the department ' s academic competitiveness ( ac ) and national science and mathematics access to retain talent ( smart ) grant programs grew by 28 % in the 2007 - 08 academic year, with 95, 000 more students receiving grants than in 2006 - 07. for 2007 - 08, a total of 401, 372 students received $ 297, 604, 911 in ac grants and 66, 120 students received $ 195, 474, 710 in smart grants. both of these programs were created in 2006 as part of the president ' s american competitiveness initiative. they aim to increase college access and completion for low - income students by providing additional funds to students eligible for a pell grant. first -


grants. both of these programs were created in 2006 as part of the president ' s american competitiveness initiative. they aim to increase college access and completion for low - income students by providing additional funds to students eligible for a pell grant. first - year students who have fulfilled a rigorous high school course of study are eligible to receive an ac grant up to $ 750 ; students who attain a 3. 0 grade point average as freshman are eligible to receive up to $ 1, 300 as a sophomore. smart grants up to $ 4, 000 are awarded to juniors and seniors studying math, science, technology, engineering, or a critical foreign language and sustaining a 3. 0 grade point average in their major. for more information, please go to http : / / www. ed. gov / programs / smart / performance. html. early literacy development last week, at the national press club, the national institute for literacy released " developing early literacy. " this report, developed by the nine - member national early literacy panel ( nelp ), bridges the large gap in the early literacy research knowledge base. by synthesizing research on language, literacy, and communication, it clearly identifies which critical early skills / abilities and proven instructional practices are precursors of later literacy achievement. ( according to the findings, among the best early predictors of literacy are alphabet knowledge, phonemic awareness, rapid naming skills, writing [ such as writing one ' s own name ], and short - term memory for words said aloud. ) it also tenders clues and insights into emergent literacy from birth through age 5 and points the way for future literacy research and scientific inquiry. the national institute for literacy convened the nelp in 2002 with support from the departments of education and health and human services. for more information, please go to http : / / www. nifl. gov / nifl / nelp / nelp09. html. also : turning the issue of literacy development on its head, the department ' s national center for education statistics ( nces ) has unveiled a new web tool with estimates of the percentage of adultsfor all states and counties in the u. s. who lack basic prose literacy skills. the web tool allows for comparisons to be made between two states, two counties, and across data years. estimates were developed using statistical models that related estimated percentages of adults lacking basic literacy skills in counties sampled for the 1992 national adult literacy survey and the 2003 national assessment of adult literacy to county characteristics, such as levels of educational attainment. for more


. estimates were developed using statistical models that related estimated percentages of adults lacking basic literacy skills in counties sampled for the 1992 national adult literacy survey and the 2003 national assessment of adult literacy to county characteristics, such as levels of educational attainment. for more information, please go to http : / / nces. ed. gov / naal / estimates /. charter school facilities earlier this week, the department ' s office of innovation and improvement ( oii ) released the latest guide in its popular " innovations in education " series, " making charter school facilities more affordable : state - driven policy approaches. " this guide, which complements earlier charter school guides, profiles policy interventions from eight states and the district of columbia that have been developed to help charter schools address various facilities - related challenges. while the guide does not describe every effort, it details how some jurisdictions have dedicated funding streams to support charter facilities and how others have helped charter school operators access relatively low - cost financing to buy, lease, or renovate school buildings. for more information, please go to http : / / www. ed. gov / admins / comm / choice / charterfacilities /. on january 20, our nation will observe the transition from one presidential administration to the next. like all other recurring publications of the department, ed review will be on hiatus as it is evaluated by the incoming administration. we expect either ed review or another resource will be available in the near future to provide you updates on department activities. in the interim, we strongly encourage you to visit http : / / www. ed. gov / and check the headlines. thank you for your patience. quotes to note " i have seen the resolve for reform and the belief in high standards in chicago, where reading and math scores are soaring, and where every child still has time to study a foreign language and the fine arts. the school in chicago we went to [ horace greeley elementary school ], like other schools across the city, have benefited from the vision and leadership of a person named arne duncan. and, he is going to be the next secretary of education. we are fortunate he has agreed to take on this position. we wish him all the very best. " | | | president george w. bush ( 1 / 8 / 09 ), on the seventh anniversary of the no child left behind act | " you need no lessons from me on toughness and tenacity. not only did you achieve results for chicago ' s schoolchildren, but you did it in


/ 09 ), on the seventh anniversary of the no child left behind act | " you need no lessons from me on toughness and tenacity. not only did you achieve results for chicago ' s schoolchildren, but you did it in the face of steady criticism. you stuck to your guns on merit pay for teachers who showed results. you expanded charter schools when others wanted to limit them. and, you closed chronically underperforming schools so that they could be restructured. i am confident that you will bring this attitude to washington. " | | | secretary of education margaret spellings ( 1 / 9 / 09 ), in a letter to the secretary of education - designate | don ' t forget! the next " education news parents can use " broadcast ( january 20, 8 : 00 - 9 : 00 et ) will look back at some of the most engaging topics explored on recent shows from the " fresh " point of view of the teaching ambassador fellows. for more information, please go to http : / / www. ed. gov / edtv /. ( you can watch archived webcasts at http : / / www. connectlive. com / events / ednews /. ) next month, the department will exhibit at the american association of colleges for teacher education ' s annual meeting in chicago ( february 6 - 8 ) ; the national association for bilingual education ' s annual conference in austin ( february 18 - 21 ) ; the american association of school administrators ' national conference in san francisco ( february 19 - 21 ) ; the national title i conference in san antonio ( february 19 - 22 ) ; and the national association of secondary school principals ' annual convention in san diego ( february 26 - 28 ). if you are attending any of these events, please stop by the department ' s booth. credits, subscribe & unsubscribe please feel free to contact the office of communications and outreach with any questions : director, intergovernmental affairsrogers johnson, ( 202 ) 401 - 0026, rogers. johnson @ ed. gov deputy directorkeith brancato, ( 202 ) 401 - 6178, keith. brancato @ ed. gov program analystadam honeysett, ( 202 ) 401 - 3003, adam. honeysett @ ed. gov to be added or removed from distribution, or submit comments ( we welcome your feedback! ), please contact adam honeysett. or, visit http : / / www. ed. gov / news / newsletters / ed


developing cultural diversity in teaching what is cultural diversity? the phrase ' cultural diversity ' means a range of different societies or peoples with different origins, religions and traditions all living and interacting together. to be culturally diverse is to accept and celebrate difference. for tutors that means finding a way of ‘ bringing the world into classroom ’ to reflect the diversity of our community and to enrich the learning experience of all our learners as well as creating an inclusive learning environment. to help tutors create more culturally diverse programmes we have put together the following guidance with a down - loadable cultural diversity resource 121kb for subject specific ideas. re - examine your teaching materials and planning, to identify where you can incorporate a broader view of the world. - how outward looking are you expecting your learners to be? are you encouraging learner autonomy? - do you expect them to research, and explore the subject outside the classroom? are they dependant on you for everything? - do you draw learner attention to related activities happening locally, nationally and globally? - examine your own source of your inspiration, ideas, knowledge – how culturally diverse are they? - be pro - active and consider cultural diversity at the planning stage, otherwise it won ’ t happen! - be aware of individual rights and responsibilities ( e. g. gender, age - related issues ) - consider the differences in your learners i. e. age, sex, race etc and plan resources to include all. - share good practice – make this resource useful to ev. eryone by sending your contributions to : email @ example. com.


i just read about the discovery of a temple at beth - shemesh in israel, dated to the 11th century b. c. ( see the link below ). this got my attention right away because ( 1 ) beth - shemesh was a border town in old testament times, between the israelites and philistines, ( 2 ) the 11th century b. c. was the time of the last judges and king saul, and ( 3 ) a story from the old testament took place in beth - shemesh, right at that time. according to 1 samuel 4 - 6, the philistines captured the ark of the covenant in a battle, but after a wave of plagues hit the cities where the ark was kept, they decided to return it. to find out if god was behind the plagues, they loaded the ark on an ox - cart, and sent it off without a driver, to see if the oxen would take it to israel. they did, and when the cart reached beth - shemesh, the locals rejoiced and made a sacrifice of the oxen, until a number of them were struck dead for not handling the ark properly. then the ark was sent to another town, kiriath - jearim, and because nobody there wanted to touch it, after what had already happened, it stayed there for at least forty years, until king david came along and took the ark to jerusalem. the article goes on to say that the site was identified as a holy place because of the animal bones found there, and that it was destroyed once and rebuilt. the archaeologists are guessing it was an israelite place of worship, which the philistines destroyed when they took beth - shemesh, and the israelites rebuilt it later, when they took beth - shemesh back. so far so good, but i have a few questions which the story did not answer. first, how did the archaeologists get the 11th century b. c. date? i am assuming it was carbon - 14 dating, or a comparison of the local styles of pottery. this matters because at other sites in the holy land, it now looks like the artifacts were dated to the wrong period. the ashlar stone walls at megiddo, for example, are usually dated to the time when the canaanites ruled the city, when king solomon may have been the one who really built them. second, how did they decide it was an israelite temple, and not a philistine or can


the journal of american medical association did a study on “ e - mobile technology ”, for example sending text messages on phones to try to increase immunization rates, in this case flu rates of children. the research was done at the university of rochester where about 8, 000, mostly low - income kids, and parents got a series of text messages regarding flu shots starting at the beginning of the 2010 - 2011 flu season, and then received an additional reminder. about half the parents got weekly text messages, educating them about the flu and the importance of immunizing their children. they also got weekly text messages reminding them about flu clinics that were being held. researchers found that about 44 % of the kids and teens that were in the text message group were vaccinated and about 40 % of those parents who did not receive texts were vaccinated. statistically, there ’ s not much difference, but clinically this is important, and here ’ s why. these authors pointed out that if these results were applied to the entire population you would have several million more kids getting vaccinated. one of the concerns we should consider is cost and even potentially, some privacy issues. but despite the possible downsides, even if it ’ s only a 4 % difference, if you apply that, it could result in lives saved. i think we should continue to pursue this area of research of using text message reminders as a potential to make a difference from the public health perspective. in the meantime though, make sure your children are getting their flu shots every year!


given all the evidence presently available, we believe it entirely reasonable that mars is inhabited with living organisms and that life independently originated there the conclusion of a study by the national academy of sciences in march 1965, after 88 years of surveying the red planet through blurry telescopes. four months later, nasa ’ s mariner 4 spacecraft would beam back the first satellite images of mars confirming the opposite. after earth and mars were born four and a half billion years ago, they both contained all the elements necessary for life. after initially having surface water and an atmosphere, scientists now believe mars lost it ’ s atmosphere four billion years ago, with earth getting an oxygenated atmosphere around half a billion years later. according to the chief scientist on nasa ’ s curiosity mission, if life ever existed on mars it was most likely microscopic and lived more than three and a half billion years ago. but even on earth, fossils that old are vanishingly rare. “ you can count them on one hand, ” he says. “ five locations. you can waste time looking at hundreds of thousands of rocks and not find anything. ” the impact of a 40kg meteor on the moon on march 17 was bright enough to see from earth without a telescope, according to nasa, who captured the impact through a moon - monitoring telescope. now nasa ’ s lunar reconnaissance orbiter will try and search out the impact crater, which could be up to 20 metres wide.


around 1881, herbert bryant, a prominent citizen who owned a large fertilizer plant in alexandria, had a new home built near the northwest corner of north washington and queen streets. designed by architect benjamin f. price, the second empire style home featuring a mansard roof was noted in a local paper : of all the residences in the city, none are handsomer than the one recently erected by captain herbert bryant. the building inside is supplied with all the modern improvements. the workmanship on this building reflects credit upon alexandria mechanics. even more than 25 years later, a souvenir publication described it as a splendid modern residence. bryant died at his home at 306 north washington st. in 1914, and around 1918, the property became the site for a new parochial school. the xaverian brothers operated the school for boys within st. marys parish. the first two floors served as classroom space and initially, the brothers lived on the top floor. but as enrollment grew, st. marys purchased a nearby property to provide living quarters for the brothers. lawn parties and suppers were held on the grounds to help raise money for the st. marys school. student enrollment at the xaverian school reached 154 in 1930, but the school proved to be too expensive to operate. with church officials citing the impact of the depression, it closed around 1934. the old bryant home was used as an apartment building for many years. in 1956, it and other structures in the 300 block of north washington street were demolished. in the early 1960s, an office building was constructed on the site. out of the attic is provided by the office of historic alexandria.


an individual who uses a computer with an internet connection pretty much practices caution when downloading programs from the internet and email because of the threat of viruses and worms. these malicious program codes and programs can cause your system to become unstable and worse yet, after it has spread within your system, it further infects other systems connected to yours. this is why any sensible computer user has anti virus programs installed in one ’ s computer for protection against attacks from viruses and worms that proliferate the internet. the good thing about viruses and worms is the fact that it is easier to spot them trying to get into your system. for instance, a virus or worm can try to enter your system through a suspicious attachment usually from an unknown source. by now, most internet users know better than to open suspicious attachments. also, rigorous anti virus programs can scan attachments before you can open them so that your risk against viruses and worms are properly managed. however, as an internet user, you have more to worry about than viruses and worms. unfortunately, anti virus programs are not designed to detect other types of threats and if you are not careful, you may unwittingly install adware and spyware into your system and once this happens, uninstalling these programs can become problematic. for one thing, most spyware can go undetected in your system. you will continue on your regular computer and internet habits without realizing that your privacy is immensely violated and your security is greatly hindered. since spyware can go undetected and you can continue to use your computer and the internet as usual, there is no need to worry about uninstalling spyware, right? spyware in mild cases infringes on your privacy because it can track and take note of your usage patterns and these information are reported back to the company that created the spyware so that they can build marketing profiles. more than that though, some spyware have the ability to register and take note of key strokes, scan documents within your computer ‘ s hard drive, and can steal your passwords and other sensitive information that can make you the victim of identity theft and other situations where your personal information can be used to compromise your security. on the other hand, adware is used by companies to infect your computer with unsolicited ads. the most problematic kinds are the ones that indiscriminately pop ads on to your screen even if you are not viewing their site or using the parent program that launched the adware. in fact,


nutrition : nuts may, in fact, help avert diverticulitis doctors have long advised people with diverticulosis to steer clear of nuts and foods with small seeds, fearing they might cause severe intestinal complications. but a study has found that eating these foods not only does not increase the risk of complications, but may even lower the risk of developing the disease. the study, published in the aug. 27 issue of the journal of the american medical association, is the first large - scale study of the matter. about a third of americans over 60 develop diverticulosis, which causes intense pain in the abdomen and leads to the rupture of small pouches in the colon, called diverticula. in the study, scientists analyzed data on more than 47, 000 men ages 40 to 75 who had no history of the disease at the start of the study. the subjects were followed for the next 18 years, a period in which 800 cases of diverticulitis and about 380 cases of diverticular bleeding were diagnosed. those who ate the most nuts, twice a week or more, had a 20 percent lower risk of developing diverticulitis than those who ate the least, while those who ate popcorn at least twice a week had a 28 percent lower risk. they also found no link between any foods and complications. the authors say the benefits may come from nutrients and fiber in nuts and light popcorn.


in the long, often boring, and generally disappointing history of evolution, nothing has managed to capture our imagination quite like the dinosaurs. 1 the simple fact that there were once giant, terrifying reptiles with tiny brains who “ ruled the earth ” 2 is enough to inspire awe, but that they then disappeared prior to the invention of the camera phone really compounds it. on the cosmic scale of things, the fact that grizzly bears frighten us is a bit laughable, for if they stepped out of a time machine and into the age of the dinosaurs, grizzly bears would spend the majority of their short lives screaming like children and running away from everything they saw – including the plants, probably – and wondering what the hell was going on here ( and also kicking themselves for not just stopping the time machine in 1929 and shorting the stock market, like they had planned ). ‘ i ’ m short oil, i ’ m short steel, i ’ m short railroads … i ’ m short pretty much everything. oh, i ’ m from the future. ’ of all the dinosaurs, none is so iconic as tyrannosaurus rex ( lit. ‘ tyrant - lizard king ( not the band ) ’ ). hailing from the late cretaceous between 85 and 65 million years ago, tyrannosaurus rex ( or t. rex, as it preferred to be called ), was, from what we can suss out based on skeletal remains, one of the largest carnivores ever, standing 15 feet tall, reaching up to 40 feet long, and weighing somewhere around 7, 000 pounds. according to people who estimate things that are impossible to estimate, its 700 pound head could, with the aid of serrated teeth the size of bananas, tear off up to 500 pounds of meat in a single bite. but what ’ s most breathtaking about t. rex was that it was, at one point, real. t. rexes roamed western north america for millions of years, and in a time when dinosaurs ruled, they were king. ‘ more mead and serving wenches! and tell my younger brother to calm down. i can ’ t handle his psychodrama right now. ’ or so we ’ re led to believe. the truth is that everything we know about t. rex comes from fossilized remains – reptilian bone slowly replaced by minerals over the course of millions of years – and a few spielberg movies. and from these sources, our best and brightest scientists can only make rough deductions about t. rex based on


from fossilized remains – reptilian bone slowly replaced by minerals over the course of millions of years – and a few spielberg movies. and from these sources, our best and brightest scientists can only make rough deductions about t. rex based on a knowledge of biomechanics and animal anatomy comparisons drawn from extant fauna. what this means is that, while it certainly looked like a carnivorous tyrant - lizard king, for all we really know, t. rex actually liked eating flowers and hugging. only one thing is for sure — leaving behind a giant skeleton with massive teeth the size of bananas is a surefire way to get lots of kids books written about yourself. his one wish was that some future species educate their offspring about his work. as with all other dinosaurs, there are no t. rexes frozen in ice ( unlike the wooly mammoth ), no t. rex photographs, no t. rex audio recordings, and only the crudest of t. rex diary entries, leaving a vast chasm of t. rex knowledge that is open to interpretation, speculation, and prolific grant - writing by bearded paleontologists who spend their adult lives hoping that pbs interviews them in their indiana jones hat at least once. ‘ believe it or not, i ’ m a bit of a rebel. i mean, i got the hat and everything. ’ for instance, some paleontologists believe that all tyrannosaurs, including t. rex, must have been covered in feathers at some point during their life cycles ( most likely after hatching ). if nothing else, a feather - covered t. rex was surely a lot less intimidating, not to mention a lot more upsetting for his dad. but we don ’ t know. we also don ’ t know whether t. rex was a hunter or a scavenger. while a massive dinosaur with a mouthful of banana teeth that could deliver a bite with 1440 pounds of force in the front part of its jaw and 3011 in the back would seem to be a bit of a no - brainer in the hunting department, some paleontologists suggest that their massive legs may have prevented them from running as fast as their potential prey ( biomechanics pins their top speed at about 18 mph, which is slightly faster than a human being can run ). they also had relatively large olfactory lobes, which could ( could! ) mean a powerful sense of smell for locating rotten meat ( similar to new world vultures, which are award - winning, world - class scave


human being can run ). they also had relatively large olfactory lobes, which could ( could! ) mean a powerful sense of smell for locating rotten meat ( similar to new world vultures, which are award - winning, world - class scavengers ). and then, of course, there was the issue of t. rex ’ s hilariously undersized forearms, which could not even reach their own mouth ( meaning that, however they got their food, they never wiped their mouth after dinner ). these almost vestigial forearms were likely little use for grasping prey, and they were almost certainly worthless in push up contests. ‘ well they ’ ll work just fine for xbox. when ’ s that coming out again? ’ but others dissent from this view and remain convinced t. rex was a hunter, pointing to its stereoscopic vision ( and, you know, the spiky banana teeth ). still others think the shreds of rotten, bacteria - infested meat lodged in its numerous teeth gave t. rex a “ septic bite, ” which caused an initial bite wound to become infected, making these tyrannosaurs among the very first bioterrorists. and, for what it ’ s worth, this would also explain why two t. rex fossils have never been found locked in a passionate kiss. the most complete t. rex skeleton ever found was discovered in south dakota in 1990. currently on display at the field museum in chicago, ‘ sue ’ has shed a great deal of new light on the tyrannosaurus rex. for instance, we now know that we don ’ t know whether sue was a male or a female. we do know, however, that sue died at some point in what is now south dakota. probably. for all we know, she or he passed away in what is now montana, but the other t. rexes brought her to south dakota for an incredibly elaborate funeral procession that featured a full marching band and several push up contests. ‘ by the way, i was also pink. everything was. long story. ’ however, using a little bit of common sense, we can probably make the reasonable leap and conclude that t. rex was a hunter ; after all, t. rex - esque wounds have been found in other dinosaur skeletons. of course, these may have been inflicted post - mortem. but let ’ s be honest – does anyone think that something with banana teeth and a brain smaller than a quart of milk was reluctant to bite anything and


member states were next asked a series of questions related to safety and herbal medicines. the first question asked countries to describe those regulatory requirements used for the safety assessment of herbal medicines. the following options were given : same requirements as for conventional pharmaceuticals, special requirements or no requirements. if member states chose the option “ special requirements ”, they were further asked to choose all that applied from the following options : traditional use without demonstrated harmful effects, reference to documented scientific research on similar products, and other requirements. if other requirements were selected, the respondents were asked to describe the requirement. a total of 130 member states responded to this question : however, as respondents were asked to choose all that applied, there are more responses than respondents for this question ( figure 30 ). eighty two countries indicated that special regulatory requirements exist for herbal medicine. of the remaining responses, 57 countries indicated that the same regulatory requirements for safety assessment apply to herbal medicines as to conventional pharmaceuticals. finally, 28 countries indicated that no regulatory requirements for safety assessment exist in their country. figure 30. regulatory requirements for safety assessment of herbal medicines when selecting the category “ special requirements ”, countries were further asked to choose the relevant categories of special requirement, or to describe other special requirements. sixty - six countries of the 82 that chose the category of special requirements indicated that their laws and regulations employ the regulatory requirement of traditional use without demonstrated harmful effects, while 53 countries indicated that they had a regulatory requirement for reference to documented scientific research ( figure 31 ). please note that, as countries were able to choose all options that apply, the number of responses exceeds the number of responding countries. figure 31. special regulatory requirements for safety assessment of herbal medicines twenty - one countries chose the option “ other ” and provided details on other regulatory requirements for safety assessment. these included the following : clinical studies, bibliographical documents, screening of herbs not suitable for food use, screening for toxic elements, radioactivity and heavy metals, well - established use, traditional literature documentation and toxicological studies. finally, countries were asked whether control mechanisms exist for the regulatory requirements for safety assessment detailed above and, if so, a brief description was requested. though 125 member states responded, the figure below only includes 106 since it excludes those that did not respond to the previous question, or responded solely that that there are no requirements. of the responding countries, 67 %, or 71 countries, indicated that such control mechanisms exist ( figure 32 ). the control mechanisms were also specified in some cases, of which licensing and registration, laboratory


as the years tick by with most of the planet doing little in the way of reducing carbon emissions, researchers are getting increasingly serious about the possibility of carbon sequestration. if it looks like we ' re going to be burning coal for decades, carbon sequestration offers us the best chance of limiting its impact on climate change and ocean acidification. a paper that will appear in today ' s pnas describes a fantastic resource for carbon sequestration that happens to be located right next to many of the us ' major urban centers on the east coast. assuming that capturing the carbon dioxide is financially and energetically feasible, the big concern becomes where to put it so that it will stay out of the atmosphere for centuries. there appear to be two main schools of thought here. one is that areas that hold large deposits of natural gas should be able to trap other gasses for the long term. the one concern here is that, unlike natural gas, co2 readily dissolves in water, and may escape via groundwater that flows through these features. the alternative approach turns that problem into a virtue : dissolved co2 can react with minerals in rocks called basalts ( the product of major volcanic activity ), forming insoluble carbonate minerals. this should provide an irreversible chemical sequestration. the new paper helpfully points out that if we ' re looking for basalts, the east coast of the us, home to many of its major urban centers and their associated carbon emissions, has an embarrassment of riches. the rifting that broke up the supercontinent called pangea and formed the atlantic ocean ' s basin triggered some massive basalt flows at the time, which are now part of the central atlantic magmatic province, or camp. the authors estimate that prior to some erosion, camp had the equivalent of the largest basalt flows we ' re currently aware of, the siberian and deccan traps. some of this basalt is on land — anyone in northern manhattan can look across the hudson river and see it in the sheer cliffs of the palisades. but much, much more of it is off the coast under the atlantic ocean. the authors provide some evidence in the form of drill cores and seismic readings that indicate there are large basalt deposits in basins offshore of new jersey and new york, extending up to southern new england. these areas are now covered with millions of years of sediment, which should provide a largely impermeable barrier that will trap any gas injected into the basalt for many years. the deposits should also have reached equilibrium with the


up to southern new england. these areas are now covered with millions of years of sediment, which should provide a largely impermeable barrier that will trap any gas injected into the basalt for many years. the deposits should also have reached equilibrium with the seawater above, which will provide the water necessary for the chemical reactions that precipitate out carbonate minerals. using a drill core from an onshore deposit, the authors show that the basalt deposits are also composed of many distinct flows of material. each of these flows would have undergone rapid cooling on both its upper and lower surface, which fragmented the rock. the core samples show porosity levels between 10 and 20 percent, which should allow any co2 pumped into the deposits to spread widely. the authors estimate that new jersey ' s sandy hook basin, a relatively small deposit, is sufficient to house 40 years ' worth of emissions from coal plants that produce 4gw of electricity. and the sandy hook basin is dwarfed by one that lies off the carolinas and georgia. they estimate that the south georgia rift basin covers roughly 40, 000 square kilometers. the authors argue that although laboratory simulations suggest the basic idea of using basalts for carbon sequestration is sound, the actual effectiveness in a given region can depend on local quirks of geology, so pilot tests in the field are absolutely essential for determining whether a given deposit is suitable. so far, only one small - scale test has been performed on any of the camp deposits. given the area ' s proximity to significant sources of co2 and the infrastructure that could be brought into play if full - scale sequestration is attempted, it seems like one of the most promising proposals to date. pnas, 2010. doi : 10. 1073 / pnas. 0913721107


( the source of funds used … ) 1 ) the source of funds used by a non - resident indian ( nri ) should be identified at the time of investing in order to decide if the money can be taken outside the country on sale or redemption. 2 ) if the source of funds is foreign currency, it can be sent without any restriction. if, however, it is indian rupees, it cannot be remitted. these two sources cannot be clubbed together. 3 ) the bank account through which the investment is routed is used to determine the source of funds. the funds that are remitted from abroad into the nre or fcnr accounts and invested can be freely sent back. 4 ) the income earned in india on investments is repatriable, irrespective of the source of funds. this includes interest from bonds and bank accounts, rental income, dividends from shares and mutual funds. 5 ) the income earned on an investment is freely repatriable once the taxes have been paid according to the indian laws. 6 ) the income in the form of sale proceeds from capital assets, such as property, land, shares, bonds, and mutual funds held in india, are repatriable to the extent of funds remitted from abroad for buying these capital assets. ( the content on this page is courtesy centre for investment education and learning ( ciel ). contributions by sunita abraham, girija gadre and arti bhargava. )


seventh grade - practice vocabulary word list a / b / c / d / e / f / g / h / i / j / k / l / m / n / o / p / q / r / s / t / u / v / w / x / y / z vocabulary words - seventh grade - e : 1 - 25 ( of 26 ) ( adj. ) honest and polite ; serious. ( adj. ) related to the economy. ( adj. ) using time, money, or goods carefully and without wasting any. ( n. ) the financial situation in an area. ( n. ) a group of plants, animals and their environment that work together as a unit. ( n. ) a change that is made on a person or thing. ( adj. ) doing something without wasting time and doing it well. ( adj. ) something that can be stretched. ( n. ) energy carried by wires that you use to provide heat or light or to make machines work. ( v. ) to put into another substance. ( v. ) to do something to the surface of an object. ( v. ) to make something possible. ( n. ) a set of books that give information on many topics. ( n. ) the area where people or animals live. ( v. ) to wish for someone else ' s talents or possessions. ( adj. ) needed ; important. ( v. ) to judge how well something or someone works. ( v. ) to surpass or go beyond what was expected. ( n. ) something left out of the usual rule. ( n. ) a short trip. ( n. ) a manager or supervisor. ( adj. ) related to the job of a manager or supervisor. ( n. ) a display in public. ( v. ) to make a public display. ( v. ) to increase. ( v. ) to treat someone unfairly to make money. ( n. ) when something is made bigger or longer. we ' ve taken all of the words found in our practice vocabulary word lists and created an online vocabulary building game that anyone can play. we call it lemons for literacy. this vocabulary building game is meant to be a fun way to improve vocabulary comprehension, spelling and reading skills, but it is also tool for people to help in the cause of literacy. as you play, and match vocabulary words with their definitions, reading horizons will donate money and it ' s award winning reading software to people in need


for the first time ever, scientists have mapped out the underground reservoirs of water throughout africa and found that the northern part of the continent has the most groundwater stored. contrary to the common notions, beneath africa ' s vast desert landscapes there exists about 0. 66 million km3 of groundwater, a hundred times more than can be found on the surface and twenty times more than in africa ' s lakes. researchers from the british geological survey ( bgs ) and university college - london mapped out the groundwater reservoirs, also known as aquifers, by cross - referencing a geological base map of the african continent with previously published maps of the african continent ' s aquifers, in addition to conducting studies of 283 african aquifers. the results were the first " quantitative groundwater maps for africa. " as the climate became drier, transforming the sahara into a desert, water was trapped underneath the surface in these aquifers more than 5, 000 years ago. in africa, more than 300 million people do not have access to safe drinking water. the discovery of these reservoirs offer hope for the continent, provided that the water resources are not exhausted by recurrent droughts. " much lower storage aquifers are present across much of sub - saharan africa. however, our work shows that with careful exploring and construction, there is sufficient groundwater under africa to support low - yielding water supplies for drinking and community irrigation, " helen bonsor, co - author of the bgs report, told the bbc. however, these underground acquifers have not been replenished for an estimated 5, 000 years due to the lack of rain, meaning that the stored groundwater is of limited supply. this fact has raised debate over how to best extract the water for drinking purposes. generally, groundwater is accessed by drilling boreholes, deep and narrow holes. however, caution must be exercised given the limited supply. wide developments of boreholes could actually deplete the aquifers. " it is not as simple as drilling big bore - holes and seeing rice fields spring up everywhere. in some places it could be economically and technically feasible to use groundwater to reduce crop loss, but i would question whether that is true everywhere. it will need detailed evaluation, " dr stephen foster, a london - based senior adviser for aid group global water partnership told reuters. in addition the yield of boreholes, as in how much water is delivered from pumping, might not be enough for large - scale irrigation. the uneven groundwater distribution is another cause for debate and potentially violent conflict between african countries as


the cpu market is now flooded with multi - core and multi - threaded cpus. we see them in everything from smartphones ( with dual core cortex a9 from arm ) to the highest end notebooks and desktops where the core i7 - 980x is now king. but the question many people are asking is ; what will more cores give me? - so let ' s take a brief look at why even with 6 and 12 core cpus in the channel we do not see better multi - thread and multi - tasking support in our applications and operating systems. the question of what does more cores get me is an important one and one that needs to be answered by the big software companies. if you go back a few years ( like around 10 ), you will see that it was not until very recently that even the big names like microsoft began to seriously consider multiple cpus or cores in their products. true, you had windows nt that would support more than one cpu, but the scheduler that handled the tasks was very basic, though it still achieved the end result and allowed you to use more than one cpu through the os. in the professional space this was great and helped with production and content creation. in the consumer space there were very few applications that could deal with this, so it was up to the very immature task scheduler to deal with these in what it felt was the most efficient manner. from windows nt we moved to windows 2000 then to windows xp ( yes, i know, i am skipping over a few years here ). of these two, only xp had rudimentary support for consumer level smp and smt systems. but, again this was not a very mature or efficient product. in fact, there was quite a large issue with the home version of xp and anything with more than one cpu. the problem centered on the poorly written task scheduler and the power management. if you had a dual core cpu ( or dual cpu system ) and only one core was active, the pwm system would still try to throttle down both cores. this caused many systems to slow down dramatically or simply lockup. this was one of the reasons that most gamers and enthusiasts used windows xp professional over home ( there were others, but this was a big one ). again, even with support for more than one cpu in windows xp, it was very limited. in fact, the original kernel only had support for two cpus, the same type of smp support that existed since the days of windows nt works


. again, even with support for more than one cpu in windows xp, it was very limited. in fact, the original kernel only had support for two cpus, the same type of smp support that existed since the days of windows nt workstation. this was still going on while quad core cpus from intel and amd were hitting the market. it was very interesting to see reviews on quad core cpus using software and games that could not even deal with two, especially considering that windows xp was still not able to efficiently deal with them. some of that changed when many sites moved to the server 2003 kernel based windows xp x64 os. you still did not have many applications outside the professional world that would allow you to use more than two cores, but the platform was getting better. with the release of windows vista we saw ms try its hand at smt / smp for the masses again. the scheduler in vista was much more efficient and was a big improvement over anything ( other than server operating systems ) that had been available on the consumer market before. however, vista was not received well and due to some internal issues combined with terrible press, it was not widely adopted across the consumer space. it can also be said that microsoft ' s insistence on making 50 different skus for the os hurt. when people think of an os, they think of it by name. they have vista, not vista basic, or vista home, or vista home basic premium lite. this caused major confusion and only hurt the adoption of better smt and smp support in the consumer space. it is only now in the beginnings of 2010 that we see a widely adopted operating system with good solid multi - thread and multi - cpu support in the consumer market space. windows 7 has a great task scheduler ; it is very efficient at managing the applications and giving them cpu time based on demand and application need. it ' s not 100 % perfect, but it is pretty damn good compared to what we had before. there are some things i would like to see in future versions ; preset core affinity would be nice, as would being able to set application priority at launch vs. having to do it after the fact in task manager, but i am digressing here. the reason i touched on the path of smt and smp in the operating system is to cover the major reason why most consumer applications have almost no support for multi core systems. to put it simply and rather bluntly, they have not seen the need to spend the money


the path of smt and smp in the operating system is to cover the major reason why most consumer applications have almost no support for multi core systems. to put it simply and rather bluntly, they have not seen the need to spend the money on it. after all, if the os does not support it, why should they? i have said this over and over again ; money drives the market. you can put any friendly name on it you want. consumer demand, adoption rate, call it what you will ; both equal sales and money. software development costs money, so to add in even rudimentary support for multiple cpus or threads to an existing application that does not already have it, is not worth the time for most companies. they will happily continue to push out the same core product with a few minor updates, all the while unknowingly limiting their own customer ' s performance on their new systems. after all, if you think about it ; every application that was pushed out to the consumer while xp was king was fighting for the same single cpu core and its resources. you had to rely on the dodgy task scheduler in windows xp to hopefully open up the new application instance on another free cpu core, but that did not always happen. the same issue was present in almost every game. i mean come on guys ; we saw smp and smt support going all the way back to quake iii and half life! why can ' t we see that now when a dual core is the standard and quad cores are not far behind? it makes no sense at all to be honest. page 1 of 2 further reading : read and find more software content at our software reviews, guides and articles index page. do you get our rss feed? get it!


the story of the relationship between sigmund freud and his american nephew, edward bernays. bernays invented the public relations profession in the 1920s and was the first person to take freud ' s ideas and use them to manipulate the masses. he showed american corporations how they could make people want things they didn ' t need by systematically linking mass - produced goods to their unconscious desires. bernays was one of the main architects of the modern techniques of mass - consumer persuasion, using every trick in the book, from celebrity endorsement and outrageous pr stunts, to eroticising the motorcar. his most notorious coup was breaking the taboo on women smoking by persuading them that cigarettes were a symbol of independence and freedom. but bernays was convinced that this was more than just a way of selling consumer goods. it was a new political idea of how to control the masses. by satisfying the inner irrational desires that his uncle had identified, people could be made happy and thus docile. it was the start of the all - consuming self which has come to dominate today ' s world. the programme explores how those in power in post - war america used freud ' s ideas about the unconscious mind to try and control the masses. politicians and planners came to believe freud ' s underlying premise - that deep within all human beings were dangerous and irrational desires and fears. they were convinced that it was the unleashing of these instincts that had led to the barbarism of nazi germany. to stop it ever happening again they set out to find ways to control this hidden enemy within the human mind. sigmund freud ' s daughter, anna, and his nephew, edward bernays, provided the centrepiece philosophy. the us government, big business, and the cia used their ideas to develop techniques to manage and control the minds of the american people. but this was not a cynical exercise in manipulation. those in power believed that the only way to make democracy work and create a stable society was to repress the savage barbarism that lurked just under the surface of normal american life. in the 1960s, a radical group of psychotherapists challenged the influence of freudian ideas in america. they were inspired by the ideas of wilhelm reich, a pupil of freud ' s, who had turned against him and was hated by the freud family. he believed that the inner self did not need to be repressed and controlled. it should be encouraged to express itself. out of this came a political movement that sought to create new beings free of the psychological conformity that had


by the freud family. he believed that the inner self did not need to be repressed and controlled. it should be encouraged to express itself. out of this came a political movement that sought to create new beings free of the psychological conformity that had been implanted in people ' s minds by business and politics. this programme shows how this rapidly developed in america through self - help movements like werber erhard ' s erhard seminar training - into the irresistible rise of the expressive self : the me generation. but the american corporations soon realised that this new self was not a threat but their greatest opportunity. it was in their interest to encourage people to feel they were unique individuals and then sell them ways to express that individuality. to do this they turned to techniques developed by freudian psychoanalysts to read the inner desires of the new self. this episode explains how politicians on the left, in both britain and america, turned to the techniques developed by business to read and fulfil the inner desires of the self. both new labour, under tony blair, and the democrats, led by bill clinton, used the focus group, which had been invented by psychoanalysts, in order to regain power. they set out to mould their policies to people ' s inner desires and feelings, just as capitalism had learnt to do with products. out of this grew a new culture of public relations and marketing in politics, business and journalism. one of its stars in britain was matthew freud who followed in the footsteps of his relation, edward bernays, the inventor of public relations in the 1920s. the politicians believed they were creating a new and better form of democracy, one that truly responded to the inner feelings of individual. but what they didn ' t realise was that the aim of those who had originally created these techniques had not been to liberate the people but to develop a new way of controlling them. the purpose of the second part of this book is to show various aspects of political and non - political strategy used to change the feelings and thoughts of the masses, starting with simple advertising and propaganda, then surveying psychological warfare and actual cold war, and going on to examine the means used for internal streamlining of man ' s thoughts and behavior. part two ends with an intricate exmination of how one of the tools of emotional fascination and attack - - the weapon of fear - - is used and what reactions it arouses in men. the ordinary, law - abiding citizen of totalitaria, far from being a hero,


how one of the tools of emotional fascination and attack - - the weapon of fear - - is used and what reactions it arouses in men. the ordinary, law - abiding citizen of totalitaria, far from being a hero, is potentially guilty of hundreds of crimes. he is a criminal if he is stubborn in defense of his own point of view. he is a criminal if he refuses to become confused. he is a criminal if he does not loudly and vigorously participate in all official acts ; reserve, silence, and ideological withdrawal are treasonable. he is a criminal if he doesn ' t look happy, for then he is guilty of what the nazis called physiognomic insubordination. he can be a criminal by association or disassociation, by scapegoatism, or by projection, by intention or by anticipation. he is a criminal if he refuses to become an informer. he can be tried and found guilty by every conceivable " ism " - - cosmopolitanism, provincialism ; deviationalism, mechanism ; imperialism, nationalism ; pacifism, militarism ; objectivism, subjectivism ; chavinism, equalitarianism ; practicalism, idealism. he is guilty every time he is something. the only safe conduct pass for the citizen of totalitaria lies in the complete abdication of his mental integrity.


the new york city council released a study today entitled, “ the middle class squeeze, " a report that details how new york city ’ s middle class is shrinking as a percentage of the city ’ s working - age population. the study – which uses the area median income ( ami ) standard developed by the federal department of housing and urban development ( hud ) to define the middle class – outlines the striking economic challenges for new york city ’ s middle - class families. most remarkably, the study found new york city is one of the most expensive places to live in the country : manhattan and brooklyn ranked first and second with the most expensive housing costs out of 300 u. s. metropolitan areas. queens ranked seventh. in sheer numbers, the city ’ s middle class has seen growth between 1989 and 2012, gaining 129, 000 middle class adults. however, the number of middle - class residents as a percentage of the total population has gotten smaller, as well as the overall median income of middle - class residents ( see chart ). in addition, the number of poor residents in the city has grown significantly, causing what researchers are terming the “ hollow in the middle ” effect, where the middle gives way to a heavier top and bottom. the city ’ s share of residents who are college - educated or better is higher than the nation as a whole. but the percentage of the population without a high school diploma fell, as well as those associated with the middle - educated section of the city ’ s population – those with some college population or an associate degree, reflecting the same “ hollow in the middle ” income polarization. also, between 1989 and 2012 the city ’ s middle class also has grown more diverse, a trend that largely reflects the growing hispanic and asian populations in the city. however, although the chance that an african - american, hispanic or asian was in the middle class remained relatively stable throughout the period, the representation of african - american and hispanic middle - class households has fallen. the report also found : - jobs paying middle class wages are increasingly scarce. - since 2001, median rents for middle class households rose by 6. 2 %, the price of a condominium apartment increased by 47 %. - new york city ’ s middle class unemployment rate is 6. 2 %, three times higher than it was in 2008 and 75 % higher than in 1989. - in 1989, more than half of the city ’ s working age high school graduates were in the middle class. today only a third are in the middle class. “ clearly the middle


bussos : byssus ( a species of flax ), also ( the ) linen ( made from it ) original word : βυσσος, ου, η part of speech : noun, feminine phonetic spelling : ( boos ' - sos ) short definition : fine linen, cotton definition : fine linen, cotton. cognate : 1040 byssos – fine linen, i. e. a very expensive ( sought - after ) form of linen – " a specific species of egyptian flax or linen made from it that is very costly, delicate " ( j. thayer ). see 1039 ( byssinos ). word origin of hebrew origin buts byssus ( a species of flax ), also ( the ) linen ( made from it ) fine linen ( 1 ). strongs nt 1040 : βυσσος βυσσος, βυσσου, η ( vanicek, fremdworter, under the word ), byssus, a species of egyptian flax ( found also in india and achaia ) — or linen made from it — very costly, delicate, soft, white, and also of a yellow color ( see respecting it pollux, onomast. 50 : 7 c. 17 § 75 ) : luke 16 : 19 ; revelation 18 : 12 rec. ( in the sept. generally for שש, also בוץ, cf. 1 chronicles 15 : 27 ; 2 chronicles 5 : 12 ; cf. winers rwb under the word baumwolle ; ( bb. dd., see under the words, and ). josephus, antiquities 3, 6, 1f ; 3, 7, 2 ; philostr. vit. apoll. 2, 20 ( p. 71, olear. edition ) ; on the flax of achaia growing about elis, cf. pausanias, 5, 5, 2 ; 7, 21, 7. ) < 1 > of hebrew origin ( buwts ) ; white linen - - fine linen. see hebrew buwts βυουσης βυσσον βυσσον βυσσος βυσσου βυσσω βωλακας βωλους busson bysson bysson strong ' s greek 1040 βυσσον — 1 occ. luke 16 : 19 n - afs bi


hidden in plain sight today ' s entry was written by charley gordon. please note the views expressed here are those of the author, not necessarily of the biologos foundation. you can read more about what biologos believes here. in the heart of manhattan, a small statue that once stood in the center of an atrium fountain inside a stately fifth avenue mansion has become the center of an international mystery. the home was built in the 1920s for a private family and was sold to the french embassy in the 1950s. along with the house came this quaint, but neglected marble carving of a young boy carrying a quiver of arrows. for years, it was ignored by thousands of visitors and dignitaries alike, all headed somewhere else in their busy lives. then, one fateful evening in 1997, dr. kathleen weil - garris brandt, a new york university art professor, was invited to a social event there. she was instantly captivated by the statue. as she looked closer, she saw what others had not recognized for almost a century : its composition bore the mark of genius. she suspected this piece was from the hand of a young michelangelo. naturally, the professor did not announce the statue was the authentic early work of michelangelo without doing some homework. she discovered it had been listed for sale by auction as an original michelangelo just after the turn of the 20th century. however, it did not sell and was later bought by the architect of the home, who purchased it from a european dealer as an “ artifact of antiquity. ” the professor then brought to bear her considerable expertise in the art world and, in looking at the work itself, pronounced its authenticity. when dr. weil - garris brandt shared her findings regarding the statue now called “ young archer, ” her conclusion was initially met with disbelief. could it be? this fountain centerpiece turned priceless masterpiece had suffered decades of neglect. more experts were called in, most of whom concurred that the work was, indeed, likely the result of the master ’ s hand. it is currently on loan to the metropolitan museum of art, the only known michelangelo sculpture in america. there all along what intrigues me about this story is that the masterpiece was there all along — hidden in plain sight less than a block away from the met. what it took to draw it out of hiding was the trained eye of a student of the arts. at our home, we love i spy books and where ’ s waldo?, but it makes us crazy once we realize what we were looking


met. what it took to draw it out of hiding was the trained eye of a student of the arts. at our home, we love i spy books and where ’ s waldo?, but it makes us crazy once we realize what we were looking for had been there all along, staring us in the face! ( i do this with my keys, by the way — hide them where one would least expect to find them, like on the mantle or in a drawer. ) my question is this — what else are we missing? as a medical student learning about how the body works, i thought it fascinating to understand how we fight off disease, how the brain responds to stress and how we reproduce, how we perceive vision and memory — the list goes on and on. these, too, are miracles in plain sight. regardless of how you believe these everyday miracles came about, they speak to an underlying order and bedrock physical principles that we can only contribute to an eloquent genius. without the predictable, physical laws that order our universe, none of these miracles could happen. in fact, we would not happen. but how soon we forget the mystery of beauty and the joy of being able to breathe and to think! like the thousands of people hustling by the “ young archer ” for decades, we scurry past god ’ s most wondrous creations on display every day. and in doing so, all too often we miss the miracle hidden in plain sight. god, the artist in romans 1 : 20, we are told, “ since the creation of the world god ’ s invisible qualities — his eternal purpose and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that men are without excuse. ” in other words, god ’ s invisible qualities show up in the visible universe. this is really amazing when you think about it. we can learn about god by studying nature? yes, it is true and biblical. the more we learn about our universe, the more examples we find of physical laws that mirror spiritual laws. there are these consistent physical laws and principles that allow us to exist, all of which are orderly and consistent. the bible teaches us that the spiritual world and the natural world are inter - related, and as we learn more about the natural world, we better understand its creator. my belief is that this creator, like michelangelo and all artists, has a distinctive style — and it shows up in the most unexpected places. i first noticed this while studying the brain cells responsible for coordination, the


world, we better understand its creator. my belief is that this creator, like michelangelo and all artists, has a distinctive style — and it shows up in the most unexpected places. i first noticed this while studying the brain cells responsible for coordination, the purkinje cells. i ’ ll never forget the night i realized how much they resembled oak trees. see for yourself in the accompanying photographs. then i started seeing these “ design copycats ” everywhere, in places one would least expect them. next, a sunflower that looks like a silicone crystal. and the branching of a bronchial tree that reminds me of a river flowing into the sea. really, if you look, you can find thousands of examples every day. in fact, they are so common that we often fail to notice them. for example, take the endless variety of spirals : from roses, to seashells, to your inner ear. these patterns are at once mysterious and beautiful. much has been studied about this pattern, termed the “ golden ratio, ” but no one understands why we are drawn to it. i think i have a clue. god is an artist, and we are endowed with his sense of appreciation for beauty. these repetitive themes represent god ’ s signature on his work, his calling card, if you will. these themes show up in what ’ s been referred to as the “ unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics ” and are often strikingly beautiful. they are scattered throughout creation for our pleasure, yet are often so commonplace that we often overlook them. i invite you to reawaken your sense of wonder, and i guarantee if you look, you will find evidence of the author of beauty in your everyday world. dr. charley gordon is committed to seeing god ’ s handiwork in daily life. as a neurosurgeon and scientist in tyler, texas, he brings a unique perspective to his pursuit of cataloging evidence of god ’ s signature throughout creation. his observations can be found in a recently published book called, in plain sight : seeing god ' s signature throughout creation available at amazon. com. see more of his work at www. designedonpurpose. com.


michel pastoureau begins his book black : the history of a color with a biblical quote : “ in the beginning, god created the heavens and the earth. the earth was without form and void. darkness was upon the face of the deep … god said, ‘ let there be light ”. the color black has been a part of our collective pysche since the beginning of time. with a thorough text and a beautifully curated set of images, pastoureau, a historian at the sarbonne, examines how over the centuries, the meaning and influence of the color has fluctuated in relation to culture, art and dress. prior to the year 1000, black was easily accepted as clothing. but in the early christian period, black became less a color for everyday life and took on an association with the devilish and infernal. in medieval times, black was symbolic of wealth, royalty and luxury, before swinging back to the gloom and depression of the romantic period ( think edgar allen poe ’ s the raven ). in the 20th century, black and white film, photography and print elevated black once again. as acceptability and perception have shifted over time, today we see black as a dual personality : the proper, businesslike, modern, sleek color of the little black dress and the business suit is the same as the dark, rebellious, dangerous color of the gothic and the undergound. black reflects the duality of human values in our modern society. much like pastoureau looks at broad historical periods to identify how perceptions of black have changed over time, designers are also required to look at trends in society each season and determine how to use the color black in a collection. keep your eye on the runway during fashion week and you ’ ll start to see exactly how this translates into fashion.


the latest of our proofreading projects to be completed is the brighton boys in the trenches. the brighton boys series is something that may be a bit hard for the modern reader to imagine : books for young boys glorifying the act of going to war, written during an ongoing conflict. using the same basic hardcover series format as tom swift or the bobbsey twins, these books provide juvenile adventures in various world war i contexts. unlike many similar series, though, the brighton boys books do not follow the same heroes from title to title ; instead, each adventure features different students from the fictional brighton academy. given the subject matter, there is a rather grim reason for this atypical format! while the overall series concept is itself a bit shocking, the brighton boys in the trenches goes a step further by dealing with what is probably the dirtiest and most horrific aspect of a dirty and horrific subject : trench warfare. the plot is simple enough : after encountering a boastful german, herbert whitcomb, a 17 - year - old orphan with an eye for shooting, leaves school to enlist along with his irish sidekick roy flynn. before long, they are engaged in combat in france, facing gas attacks, trench foot and other dangers! as a work of fiction, the book leaves much to be desired. its main characters are two - dimensional at best, and the prose is littered with long, awkward, nearly - unreadable sentences. the author ’ s most ambitious attempt at achieving literary merit appears to be having one of his characters name a gun after a dickens character. the plot is thin, just a series of action - filled incidents loosely strung together. however, despite its flaws, the book is quite interesting as a piece of social history. the early portions of the book, set in america, have a decidedly paranoid tone. germans and their agents are actively trying to turn the public against the war, and the book makes it very clear that acts of physical violence are perfectly acceptable to counter such dangerous speech. once the action switches overseas, the book ’ s role as propaganda remains fairly clear. the germans are generally referred to in dehumanizing terms, and while the conflict is unquestionably portrayed as dangerous, the text is designed to frequently imply american superiority and inevitable victory. the book ’ s role as propaganda is not particularly surprising ; more startling are its occasional deviations from predictability. there is a heroic depiction of an implicitly homosexual — or at least feminized — character ( “ he possessed a manner that some