the great barrier reef is one of the world ’ s natural wonders. it is a place where people from all over the world flock to, in order to dive or snorkel in the waters that surround it and marvel at the vast array of colours and sea life that live there. one would expect a place as diverse and important as this to be protected, however the great barrier reef is in danger from rapid industrialisation and under threat from the building of large ports, dredging, dumping and a 7, 000 carrier ship highway. there is nothing better than a vacation in a hot and sunny climate over summer, especially one which involves the beach and tanning lotion. however, this idyllic scene can become painfully interrupted by a sharp sting from an elusive marine culprit! the last known rhinoceroses in mozambique have been wiped out by poachers. it has emerged that this was made possible due to the fact that these poachers were working alongside the rangers that were tasked with protecting them. shark embryos are apparently as deadly as the older members of their family can be. it has been discovered that shark embryos eat their littermates in the womb, with the largest embryo eating all but one of its siblings. the kulen promtep wildlife sanctuary ( kpws ) is the largest protected area in cambodia, located in the northern plains of the country close to the thai border. this area is characterised by a low population density and very limited agricultural presence, which provides an ideal setting for the natural habitat that consists of deciduous forests and grassland savannahs with some scattered semi - evergreen forest galleries. the tsingy de bemaraha national park is a unesco world heritage site located in the melaky region, madagascar. it centres in two geological formations, which are quite remarkable to behold. this collection of limestone formations is known as the ‘ stone forest ’.


garden talk : february 4, 2013 from nga editors 2013 espoma environmental stewardship award environmental stewardship begins at home. one way to do this is to incorporate sustainable, ecologically sound practices into the gardening and landscaping you do. creating and maintaining an environmentally - friendly landscape, garden, or outdoor living space benefits you, your family, the community, and all the life that shares the environment with you. espoma, the pioneer in natural gardening solutions, and the national gardening association want to recognize and reward the efforts of gardeners who are working to protect and improve the environment. that ' s why we ' ve created the environmental stewardship award. this year we ' ll select five home gardeners and one retailer from across the country who are using the most effective, interesting, and innovative practices to help protect the environment and make their corner of the world a better place. tell us how you work to protect and improve the environment on your own home grounds. to learn more about the espoma environmental stewardship award and to apply, go to : 2013 eesa. harvest a harvest moon you won ' t have to wait for a harvest moon in the sky to pluck one from your garden - - a ' harvest moon ' watermelon, that is! a 2013 all - america selections ( aas ) vegetable award winner, this is the first ever hybrid, triploid seedless watermelon to garner this distinction. similar to the seeded heirloom variety ' moon and stars ', with the same deep green rind speckled with yellow dots, this seedless hybrid is earlier ripening, higher yielding, and, according to many, better tasting than its old - time kin. its short, healthy vines produce elongated round, medium - size fruits weighing 18 - 20 pounds, with sweet, crisp, pinkish - red flesh. ready in 80 - 100 days from transplant, each vine produces 4 - 5 fruits, on average. like other seedless watermelon varieties, ' harvest moon ' is best started from seed indoors in peat pots about four weeks before planting out, using bottom heat to aid germination. set hardened off seedlings in the garden once the soil is warm and the danger of frost is past. included in the seed packet will be seeds of a diploid, seeded watermelon variety to provide the necessary pollinator vines ; plant one diploid for every three triploids. if you start with purchased seedlings, be sure to buy a suitable pollinator variety as well. aas


a diploid, seeded watermelon variety to provide the necessary pollinator vines ; plant one diploid for every three triploids. if you start with purchased seedlings, be sure to buy a suitable pollinator variety as well. aas winners are new garden seed varieties that have been selected by aas judges for superior garden performance in impartial, judged trials across the country. to read find out more about harvest moon watermelon, go to : aas. linking neighborhoods and childhood obesity we ' ve probably all heard the real estate maxim, ″ location, location, location! ″ well, it turns out to be true for more than just housing values. it also plays a role in the problem of childhood obesity. two recent studies, published in the american journal of preventative medicine and described online on the science news website, found that children living in neighborhoods lacking green spaces like parks that afford opportunities for physical activity and that were without ready access to a grocery store were about twice as likely to be obese as children living in areas that afforded these amenities. in one study, researchers from the university of british columbia in vancouver rated the built environment in hundreds of neighborhoods in the san diego and seattle areas on the number and quality of their parks, their general ″ walkability, ″ and whether they had easy access to a grocery store selling fresh fruits and vegetables. they then evaluated 681 children randomly selected from among these neighborhoods, correlating their health information with their neighborhood amenity score, while taking into account differences in factors such as sex, race, ethnicity, household income, and the body mass index of parents. they determined that children living in neighborhoods with high physical activity and nutrition scores were 59 percent less likely to be obese than similar children in neighborhoods with low scores. this research points out the vital importance of encouraging not only easy access to stores selling healthful food in urban neighborhoods, but the development of green spaces like safe parks, playgrounds, and school and community gardens with pedestrian - friendly ways to reach them. says researcher lawrence frank, an urban planner and public health researcher who conducted this study along with colleagues, ″ we ' ve engineered out of our communities the ability to travel on foot to things nearby. if we want to reverse the obesity epidemic, we need to reverse the way we ' re building our communities. ″ to read more about the link between neighborhoods and obesity, go to : science news. producing perfect pepper transplants peppers, whether hot or sweet, are not the easiest crop to grow in many parts of


the way we ' re building our communities. ″ to read more about the link between neighborhoods and obesity, go to : science news. producing perfect pepper transplants peppers, whether hot or sweet, are not the easiest crop to grow in many parts of the country. they sulk in cold, yet if it gets too hot, with temperatures above 90 degrees f, they may not set fruit. starting your own transplants from seed can also be tricky. fortunately, the folks at johnny ' s selected seeds in albion, maine have had lots of experience growing peppers in a challenging climate, and they share their tips for growing successful pepper transplants on their website. while their advice is targeted at market growers, it contains lots of useful information for home gardeners as well. their most important piece of advice - - get your timing right. your aim is to have your pepper seedlings ready to go into the garden as soon as the soil and air are warm and the danger of frost is past. for most gardeners, this translates to two weeks after the last expected spring frost date for your area. this means starting seeds indoors eight weeks before your set - out date. bottom heat is essential for good germination, says johnny ' s. with 80 - 90 degree bottom heat, seeds will germinate in seven to eight days. without this boost, germination is slower and more erratic, with fewer seeds germinating. if you start your seeds in flats, transplant to individual cells or pots when they get their first set of true leaves. be sure seedlings don ' t get rootbound, are regularly fertilized, and let the soil dry out between waterings. and of course, seedlings need adequate light ; for most home gardeners this means growing under fluorescent lights. in about eight weeks your peppers will be 6 - 8 inches tall, possibly with buds but no flowers, ready to be hardened off and set out in the garden, weather permitting. to read all of their tips for growing successful pepper transplants, go to : johnny ' s selected seeds.


the new england aster ( aster novae - angliae ) is a bushy perennial that produces beautiful masses of daisylike blooms in the fall. delicate ½ - to 1 - inch flowers feature pink or purple ray florets, either with contrasting yellow or complementing pink disc florets. native to prairie regions of the united states and canada, the species can grow 5 to 6 feet, but many cultivated varieties take a more compact, fuller form. the flowers are a popular attraction for butterflies and bees, since they ' re one of the few food sources that ' s likely to survive a moderate frost. common name : new england aster botanical name : aster novae - angliae plant type : herbaceous perennial height : 5 feet zones : 4 to 8 - sun : full sun or part shade. - soil : well - cultivated, fertile, moist soil. - moisture : grows best with regular watering, but established plants with protection from afternoon sun tolerate some dryness. - mulch : apply 1 to 2 inches of organic mulch around plants to preserve soil moisture and prevent weeds. - fertilizer : apply balanced organic or slow - release plant food in spring. excessive nitrogen will promote leggy, floppy growth and fewer flowers. - pruning : cut back by half before july 1 to encourage greater flower production and bushier, more compact growth. diseases and pests - aster yellows, verticillium wilt, powdery mildew, gray mold, leaf spot, and stem cankers may occur. - insect pests include aphids, mites, slugs and snails, nematodes, and rosy blister galls. - propagate species from seed. - divide cultivars in early spring or fall. - ‘ andenken an alma potschke ', ( often shortened to ‘ alma potschke ' ), pictured here, has rose - pink flowers and is more compact than the species. grows 4 feet tall. zones 4 to 8. - ‘ barr ' s pink ' has semi - double, rose - pink flowers with reddish disc florets tipped in yellow. grows 4½ feet tall. zones 4 to 8. - ‘ purple dome ' is a dwarf cultivar that grows 18 inches tall. it has a mounding form with dense semi - double, purple flowers. zones 4 to 8. - the species and most cultivars require staking if not cut back - divide plants every 2 to 3 years to maintain vigorous growth and


tall. it has a mounding form with dense semi - double, purple flowers. zones 4 to 8. - the species and most cultivars require staking if not cut back - divide plants every 2 to 3 years to maintain vigorous growth and prolific blooming. - makes a great fall container plant. this aster is also an excellent, long - lasting cut flower. - the native species may be invasive in certain conditions, but most cultivated varieties are better behaved in the garden. all in the family - aster is derived from greek, referring to the starlike appearance of the flowers, and is part of a genus comprised of approximately 250 annuals, biennials, perennials, and wood sub - shrubs. most common and popular cultivated species include : - frikart ' s aster ( aster x frikartii ), an upright perennial with dark purple ray florets and yellow disk florets. zones 5 to 8. - new york aster, or michaelmas daisy ( a. novi - belgii ), a clump - forming perennial with purple, white, or pink rays and yellow or pink discs. zones 4 to 8. - italian aster ( a. amellus ), a clump - forming perennial with lilac - blue or lavender rays and yellow discs. zones 5 to 8. - though most sources refer to the genus as aster, some sources indicate that most north american natives and popular garden asters ( including a. novae - angliae ) have been reclassified into the genus symphiotrichus, a move referred to as the " aster disaster " by one plant taxonomist. ( text by robert weaver, photo courtesy of bailey nurseries, www. baileynurseries. com )


born in the lab in early summer of 1965, a university of florida assistant coach sat down with a team of university physicians and asked them to determine why so many of his players were being affected by heat and heat related illnesses. the researchers - dr. robert cade, dr. dana shires, dr. h. james free and dr. alejandro de quesada - soon discovered two key factors that were causing the gator players to ' wilt ' : the fluids and electrolytes the players lost through sweat were not being replaced, and the large amounts of carbohydrates the players ' bodies used for energy were not being replenished. the researchers then took their findings into the lab, and scientifically formulated a new, precisely balanced carbohydrate - electrolyte beverage that would adequately replace the key components lost by gator players through sweating and exercise. they called their concoction ' gatorade '. proven on the field soon after the researchers introduced their gatorade formula to the team, the gators began winning... outlasting a number of heavily favored opponents in the withering heat and finishing the season at 7 - 4. the team ' s success progressed even more during the 1966 season, with the gators finishing at 9 – 2 and winning the orange bowl for the first time ever in the history of the school. word about gatorade began to spread outside of the state of florida, and both the university of richmond and miami of ohio, began ordering batches of gatorade for their football teams. orders from other college football programs across the country soon followed, as playing without gatorade on your sidelines began to be likened to playing with just ten men on the field. today, gatorade can be found on the sidelines of more than 70 division i colleges as the official sports drink of their men ' s and women ' s intercollegiate sports. from the orange bowl to the super bowl in the summer of 1969, coach ray graves of the florida gators suggested to the kansas city chiefs that they use gatorade to combat the staggering effects of a blistering missouri sun during training camp. the chiefs were so impressed with the " gator coach ' s aid " that they kept it on their sidelines throughout the entire season … which concluded with a stunning victory over the heavily favored minnesota vikings in super bowl iv. in the years that followed, more and more nfl teams began placing gatorade on the sidelines of their games and practices, and in


throughout the entire season … which concluded with a stunning victory over the heavily favored minnesota vikings in super bowl iv. in the years that followed, more and more nfl teams began placing gatorade on the sidelines of their games and practices, and in 1983, gatorade became the official sports drink of the nfl - a title it holds to this day. furthering the science of victory two decades after dr. cade and his team worked diligently to develop the optimum hydration formula that would become gatorade, the gatorade sports science institute was founded in barrington, illinois, to conduct scientific research in the areas of exercise science, hydration, and sport nutrition. three years later, the lab would be expanded to provide advanced testing for athletes and new gatorade products and flavors and develop education materials for sports health professionals around the world. gatorade is now also the official sports drink of the nba, avp, and pga, major league baseball, major league soccer, and numerous other elite and professional organizations and teams. hydration at 180 mph in 2001, after determining that professional race car drivers were not staying adequately hydrated throughout the course of their races, gatorade and gssi begin working with auto racing organizations to develop a hydration tool that could withstand 130 - degree temperatures and keep drivers hydrated safely throughout the course of a race. the result of their research was the development of gids, the gatorade in - car drinking system, which is now considered an essential piece of racing equipment. rising to new challenges after years of careful research by the staff at gssi into the needs of athletes engaged in high - demand training and competition, gatorade launched the gatorade performance series, an elite line of sports nutrition products, in 2001. these products include gatorade energy drink, gatorade energy bar, and the gatorade nutrition shake. four years later, after studying endurance athletes, gssi developed the gatorade endurance formula. featuring a higher concentration of sodium - the key electrolyte found in original thirst quencher - and four other electrolytes lost in sweat, gatorade endurance formula is quickly becoming a mainstay on race courses the world over. today & tomorrow gatorade and gssi continue to search for and study new and innovative ways to help athletes improve performance by facilitating proper hydration and nutrition. from the lab testing of athletes, to new flavor and delivery system development, to the publication and distribution of scientific research, the gatorade


how does amazon ’ s founder spend his down time? catching up on email in the middle of the atlantic while monitoring the progress of his crew recovering historic space artifacts from the bottom of the ocean. jeff bezos reports this morning that his bezos expeditions has recovered significant pieces of two f - 1 rocket engines that were used to launch rockets into space on the landmark apollo missions, before plunging into the ocean. bezos said previously that he believed the engines were from the historic apollo 11 mission that landed the first humans on the moon in 1969 — but he specifically didn ’ t say apollo 11 in his post this morning, and there is a risk that the engines were from a different apollo mission. he writes, “ many of the original serial numbers are missing or partially missing, which is going to make mission identification difficult. we might see more during restoration. the objects themselves are gorgeous. ” bezos adds, “ we ’ re bringing home enough major components to fashion displays of two flown f - 1 engines. ” that ’ s good news for the seattle region. the engines are the property of nasa, but the agency previously indicated its willingness to let the museum of flight in seattle — bezos ’ hometown aerospace museum — display one of the engines if the smithsonian declined, or if two engines were recovered. how did they do it? with robots, of course. here is bezos waxing poetic about the technology, and the setting. the technology used for the recovery is in its own way as otherworldly as the apollo technology itself. the remotely operated vehicles worked at a depth of more than 14, 000 feet, tethered to our ship with fiber optics for data and electric cables transmitting power at more than 4, 000 volts. we on the team were often struck by poetic echoes of the lunar missions. the buoyancy of the rovs looks every bit like microgravity. the blackness of the horizon. the gray and colorless ocean floor. only the occasional deep sea fish broke the illusion. bezos has a deep interest in space, dating back to watching the apollo mission as a kid, and he has his own commercial space venture, blue origin. he concludes with shout - outs to nasa and members of the recovery crew : “ while i spent a reasonable chunk of time in my cabin emailing and working, ” he says, “ it didn ’ t keep me from getting to know the team. ” read his full post here. here ’ s a video from bezos expeditions.


historical documents & records search tips historical documents & records last and first name search - searching both first and last name fields returns historical documents and records where the surname is " near2 " the first name. - the search engine will automatically find the first and last name occurrences within two words of each other in the historical documents and records archive. - searching both first and last name helps find occurrences of middle names or initials in the historical documents and records archive. - the " near2 " search command is not order specific, so your documents and records search will retrieve the person ' s name regardless of how it is ordered : the first name then the last name or the last name then the first name. - the historical documents and records search default is intended to find the most occurrences of the ancestor ' s name you are searching for. - if the family member ' s name you are searching for is popular, like johnson, try using some of the search options such as location, date range, and keyword, in order to do a more targeted search for the exact johnson you are searching for ( see below ). historical documents & records database advanced search tips - there are two keyword search boxes to narrow your search for historical documents and records : - " include keywords " box and " exclude keywords " box ( see below ). - use the date search box to enter a specific date or date range of the historical documents and records you are searching for. searching historical documents & records with keywords & quotation marks - all historical documents and records queries are full - text keyword searches against ocr - generated ascii text. this means the complete text is scanned against your search query for keyword matches. - with the " include keywords " box and / or " exclude keywords " box, you can expand or narrow your historical documents and records search. - place key phrases in quotations such as " george washington " in the " include " keyword box to narrow the historical documents search to the exact name, instead of using the last / first name search that returns results matching george " near2 " washington. - if too many names are returned in the historical documents and records archive search results, make your search more granular by entering names or places you do not want included in your search into the " exclude " box. historical documents & records boolean operators - search the historical documents database using and, or, adjx ( order specific ), nearx ( order non - specific ) and wildcards ( such as "


your search into the " exclude " box. historical documents & records boolean operators - search the historical documents database using and, or, adjx ( order specific ), nearx ( order non - specific ) and wildcards ( such as "? " and " * " ). broaden or narrow your historical documents and records queries - by clearing populated search fields to broaden your query, or by populating empty search fields to narrow your query. display historical documents and records search results in a variety of ways, such as : - best matches ( this is the historical documents and records database search default ). - oldest items ( based on document and record publication dates ). - newest items ( based on document and record publication dates ). - once the search default is changed, the current selection will remain the default until it is changed again. search historical documents & records by date range - if you know the date of the historical documents and records content you are searching for, use the " date " search box : - enter a specific date or a date range — a variety of date formats are accepted. - examples : june 2, 1804, or 1804 - 1849, or june 1804 - august 1949. search old historical documents & records using colonial english variant spellings several of the historical documents and records in the archives database are quite old, and the searches must accommodate colonial english. - the long " s " character was nearly identical to the " f " in many old english texts. - when searching old historical documents and records on words containing the letter " s, " use the "? " for " s. " - note : this can occur whether it is the first letter, a letter within a word, or at the end of a word. - the double " s " in keywords like mississippi should be replaced with two wildcards in historical documents and records queries. old historical documents and records colonial english search examples : | modern spelling | | colonial spellings | | suggested search | - type was set by hand for early american documents, and sometimes printers didn ' t have all the pieces of type needed to correctly spell a word. this resulted in letters being omitted from words, or the substitution of letters that looked similar to the ones missing. - many of these historic documents and records didn ' t use standard spellings. - here are some examples of conventions that were common in old documents and records : - use of name variants : smith or smythe - use of " e " in word endings : chesapeake or chesape


a new type of white blood cell has been identified that activates a killing immune response to an external source — providing a new potential target for vaccines for conditions such as cancer or hepatitis b. publishing in the journal immunity, a team of researchers from newcastle university in collaboration with a * star ’ s singapore immunology network describe a new human tissue dendritic cell ( dc ) with cross - presenting function. most cells are only able to present antigens from within themselves, and so will only elicit an immune response if they are infected themselves. only a specialized subset of dendritic cells is able to generate a response to an external source of antigen, for example bacteria, vaccines, and tumors. the identity of human tissue dcs that are capable of presenting external antigen to activate the cell - killing response by t cells — a process termed cross - presentation — has remained a mystery. their discovery, as revealed by this research, will help scientists to design better targeted vaccine strategies to treat cancer and infections. “ these are the cells we need to be targeting for anticancer vaccines, ” says muzlifah haniffa, m. d., ph. d., a wellcome trust intermediate fellow and senior clinical lecturer at newcastle university. “ our discovery offers an accessible, easily targetable system that makes the most of the natural ability of the cell. ” the researchers also showed for the first time that dendritic cell subsets are conserved between species and have in effect created a map, facilitating the translation of mouse studies to the human immune system. the researchers isolated the dendritic cells from human blood and skin and from mouse blood, lung, and liver. using gene expression analysis, they identified gene signatures for each human dendritic cell subset. mouse orthologues of these genes were identified, and a computational analysis was performed to match subsets across species. this provides scientists for the first time with an accurate model to compare dcs between species. “ these gene signatures are available in a public repository accessible for all researchers to benefit from the data, ” says dr. haniffa. “ it will allow detailed knowledge of individual human dendritic cell subsets to enable specific targeting of these cells for therapeutic strategy. ”


of lakes dot the marshy arctic tundra regions. now, in the latest addition to the growing body of evidence that global warming is significantly affecting the arctic, two recent studies suggest that thawing permafrost is the cause of two seemingly contradictory observations both rapidly growing and rapidly shrinking lakes. thawing permafrost is altering the lakes that dominate arctic landscapes, such as this one in western siberia. courtesy of laurence c. smith. the first study is a historical analysis of changes to 10, 000 siberian lakes over the past 30 years, a period of warming air and soil temperatures. using satellite images, laurence smith, a geographer at the university of california, los angeles, and colleagues found that, since the early 1970s, 125 siberian lakes vanished completely, and those that remain averaged a 6 percent loss in surface area, a total of 930 square kilometers. they report in the june 3 science that the spatial pattern of lake disappearance suggests that the lakes drained away when the permafrost below them thawed, allowing the lake water to seep down into the groundwater. however, the team also found that lakes in northwestern siberia actually grew by 12 percent, and 50 new lakes formed. both of the rapid changes are due to warming, they say, and if the warming trend continues, the northern lakes will eventually shrink as well. these two processes are similar, in that were witnessing permafrost degradation in both regions, says co - author larry hinzman, a hydrologist at the university of alaska in fairbanks, who in previous studies documented shrinking lakes in southern alaska. in the warmer, southern areas, we get groundwater infiltration, but in the northern areas, where the permafrost is thicker and colder, its going to take much, much longer for that to occur. so instead of seeing lakes shrinking there, were seeing lakes growing. that finding is consistent with the second study, which focused on a set of unusually oriented, rapidly growing lakes in northern alaska, an area of continuous permafrost. jon pelletier, a geomorphologist at the university of arizona in tucson, reports in the june 30 journal of geophysical research earth surface that the odd alignment of the lakes is caused not by wind direction but by permafrost melting faster at the downhill end of the lake, which has shallower banks. since the 1950s, scientists have attributed the odd alignment of the egg - shaped lakes to winds blowing perpendicularly to the long axes of the lakes, which then set up currents that caused waves


the downhill end of the lake, which has shallower banks. since the 1950s, scientists have attributed the odd alignment of the egg - shaped lakes to winds blowing perpendicularly to the long axes of the lakes, which then set up currents that caused waves to break at the northwest and southeast ends, thus preferentially eroding them. the prevailing wind direction idea has been around so long that we dont even think about it, smith says, but jons [ pelletier ] work is challenging that. its a very interesting paper. wind - driven erosion occurs in the great lakes, but at rates of about a meter a year. the alaskan oriented thaw lakes grow at rates of 5 meters or more per year. pelletier says this rate difference suggests a different process is at work. according to the model, the direction and speed of growth depend on where and how quickly the permafrost thaws, which is determined by two factors : how the water table intersects the slope of the landscape and how fast the summer temperature increases. if the permafrost thaws abruptly, the shorter, downhill bank is more likely to thaw first. the soggy soil slumps into the water, and the perimeter of the lake is enlarged. its not just the [ global ] warming trend, but also how quickly the warming takes place in the summertime, pelletier says. hinzman says that the lakes are just one part of the arctic water cycle, which has seen an increasing number of perturbations in recent years. the whole hydrologic cycle is changing and this is just one component of that. understanding how the hydrologic cycle is changing is important, hinzman says, because the amount of freshwater runoff into the arctic ocean impacts global ocean circulation and the amount of sea ice, thus affecting climate worldwide. if global warming continues to the point where permafrost goes away, there will be fewer lakes, smith says. and a drier, less marshy arctic could alter weather patterns and ecosystems, researchers say, affecting everything from the subsistence lifestyle of native people to the hazard of fire on the tundra. geotimes contributing writer back to top


formed in 1997, global fund grantee woman of tomorrow ( femme de demain ) works with women who have been " forgotten, " who live on land that has been so over - farmed it is depleted of nutrients. many of them are heads of households, widows, teen mothers or young girls orphaned by aids. they cannot read, and are subject to fraudulent levies and taxes when they take their goods to market. to combat such bleak conditions, the group trains women in basic literacy, accounting and pricing. to address the over - dependence on agriculture, especially during the dry season, a 2001 global fund grant of $ 7, 000 supported their efforts to teach women other ways to earn a living. the group also teaches women about their human rights, explaining that a woman who becomes economically empowered, but remains oppressed within her home may be even more miserable than she was before. recent events in togo have made the group ' s work even more challenging. in february 2005, togo ' s 18 - year dictatorship ended with the death of president gnassingbe eyadema. ensuing actions led to the instatement of his son, faure gnassingbe, as president and involved reports of electoral fraud, violent clashes and roughly 30, 000 people fleeing the country. these events forced women of tomorrow to temporarily suspend its activities for four months. want to change the world?


updated : march 8, 2013 3 : 25 am est ap photos : images from japan ' s nuclear disasterthe associated press two years after a powerful earthquake and tsunami wrecked japan ' s fukushima dai - ichi nuclear plant, many towns nearby remain abandoned, too affected by radiation for residents to return for more than short visits. about 160, 000 people were displaced by the nuclear disaster, and even some areas outside the 20 - kilometer ( 12 - mile ) zone that initially was completely off - limits are too contaminated to be cleaned up in the foreseeable future. in others, work is proceeding on cleaning soil, leaves, grass and buildings to help reduce radiation to safer levels. it remains unclear how effective the cleanup will be or how many people will eventually return to their homes, given fears over potential risks from the radiation and the lack of jobs in an area that depended mainly on farming, fishing and work at the now defunct nuclear plant. for now, the area is mostly deserted, the fields and homes overgrown with weeds. here ' s a gallery of images from abandoned towns in the area around the crippled nuclear plant. | ap photos : images from japan ' s nuclear disaster " data - url = " http : / / www. goerie. com / article / 20131303080563 " data - count = " horizontal " data - via = " goerie " > tweet |


travel to northern india : konarak the sun temple at konarak is a superlative in a country of superlatives. built, it appears, in the 13th century, it was abandoned after the muslim invasion of orissa early in the 16th. composed largely of khondalite, a gneiss that weathers easily, without maintenance the temple began to fall apart. approximately half of it was gone when european visitors arrived for the first time in the 19th century. shortly after 1900, serious conservation efforts were made to stabilize what remained. that lesser half, amounting to no more than the entrance porch or jagamohana of the vanished sanctuary or rekha is one of india ' s most spectacular sights. this is the straight - on approach. the surviving porch of the temple is the triangular mass behind this bhoga - mandapa or hall of offering. it ' s hard to imagine a more densely decorated surface. we ' ll ascend the platform. the roof is missing ; it may have echoed the huge roof of the porch. from the top, you can see across the intervening ground to the stairs rising to the entrance of the temple. the entrance, sorry to say, was blocked with rock and sand in the 19th century for fear that the whole thing would otherwise topple. people who saw it before it was filled report that the interior was very simple, with corbelled stones stepping inwards on all sides to form a roughly pyramidal shape, corresponding to the elaborate external profile of the building. a king named narasimha probably built the temple, but his motivation remains unclear. to mark a recovery from illness? it must have been something serious, because a muslim chronicler at akbar ' s court, abu ' l - fazl, reported that the temple cost 12 years of tax revenue from the province. a recent author writes that this was the " dazzling dream of an ambitious and mighty king, secular to the core and with immense zest for life, who wanted an edifice which would outrival the works of his forbears and immortalize his name. " ( debala mitra, konarak, 1968. ) a closer view. the masonry blocks were laid without mortar, though there was a coat of lime plaster. the top of the porch, seen from the south. there ' s a complex vocabulary for these towers. the step - like layers, for example, are called pidhas. the structure simulates a temple cart riding on a dozen wheels. another


the top of the porch, seen from the south. there ' s a complex vocabulary for these towers. the step - like layers, for example, are called pidhas. the structure simulates a temple cart riding on a dozen wheels. another angle. the wheels were invisible until conservation work after 1900 cleared away a layer of beach sand that rose to the top of the platform. seven horses pull the temple, which is dedicated to surya, the sun god. the image is of the cart rising from the sea, now receded about a mile from what was the temple ' s beach - front location. a " petrified procession, " some have called it. perhaps their long burial in sand helped preserve the details of the wheels. a closer view. detail, down to the cotter pin. the temple has hundreds of sexual images. side view, from the south. the view here is from the southwest and shows the stump that remains of the sanctuary that rose to a height half - again as high as the porch. ( this assumes that the sanctuary was actually built. parts of it certainly were, because fragments survived until a storm of 1848. ) to see something comparable to what existed here, see the pictures of puri or, on a smaller scale, the temples at bhubaneshwar. " there is, so far as i know, no roof in india where the same play of light and shade is obtained with an equal amount of richness and constructive propriety as in this instance, nor one that sits so gracefully of the base that supports it. " ( fergusson, ii, 107 ) a niche on the north side of the sanctuary carries a statue made of chlorite. it ' s surya, a form of vishnu ; flanking his knees ( and mostly missing from this image ) are two adoring dawn maidens. the decoration also includes mythical animals, in this case a leogryph ( the sanskrit name is simply vyala, " lion, " ) atop an elephant. another leogryph on the right ; on the left, a pious nagni, a female naga with a human head, snake body, and hooded cobras behind. in the center is a maithuna, decorously or perhaps just very literally translated as a " loving couple. " the arrangements ( and positions ) vary. a couple with a niche to themselves. another wheel detail. an elephant, masterfully soft. another elephant, this one preparing to hurl a demon. lions atop elephants at the entrance


" loving couple. " the arrangements ( and positions ) vary. a couple with a niche to themselves. another wheel detail. an elephant, masterfully soft. another elephant, this one preparing to hurl a demon. lions atop elephants at the entrance steps through which we passed earlier. colossal fragmentary lion. this is the ceiling at the entrance to the temple. the iron bars are original, apparently made by beating a bundle of hot bars into a mass. similar beams were used at the top of the corbelled ceiling in the interior of the porch. originally, a stone architrave hid them. it ' s been removed and put in a nearby museum, after 19th century efforts to transport it to calcutta foundered on logistics. a photograph of the partially collapsed interior of the temple before it was filled with a layer of rock pressed flush against the walls, then filled tight with sand, which was finally poured down a 6 - inch shaft drilled at the peak. since then, fears of water accumulating in the mass have led to pressure - grouting of the exterior stones. not impressed? but look inside. here ' s that massive architrave, carved from the same chlorite used in the statue of surya. it was removed from the temple before 1838 by the local raja of khurda, who wanted to use it for his palace. before he could do so, orders came from the british government to cease and desist. the british then attempted to move the stone to a museum in calcutta, but it was too massive and so stayed here. it portrays the nava - grahas, or nine planetary gods. from left to right, surya ( sun ), chandra ( moon ), mangala ( mars ), budha ( mercury ), brihaspati ( jupiter ), sukra ( venus ), and sani ( saturn ). at the far right are rahu and ketu, invisible planets at war with the earth and sun. surya, smiling with a lotus flower in each hand rahu. he carries crescents because he is associated with lunar eclipses. despite the sea ' s retreat from the site, there ' s plenty of sand still around. and relics, whether of the destroyed sanctuary or of other buildings once standing in the neighborhood. what you didn ' t want to see! konarak is a popular place unless you come early. * australia ' s northern territory * austria * bangladesh * belgium * brazil ( manaus ) * burma / myanmar * cambodia


the federal advisory committee act ( faca ) brochure u. s. general services administration office of governmentwide policy committee management secretariat washington, dc 20417 advisory committees have played an important role in shaping programs and policies of the federal government from the earliest days of the republic. since president george washington sought the advice of such a committee during the whiskey rebellion of 1794, the contributions made by these groups have been impressive and diverse. today, an average of 1, 000 advisory committees with more than 60, 000 members advise the president and the executive branch on such issues as the disposal of high - level nuclear waste, the depletion of atmospheric ozone, the national fight against acquired immune deficiency syndrome ( aids ), efforts to rid the nation of illegal drugs, to improve schools, highways, and housing, and on other major programs. through enactment of the federal advisory committee act ( faca ) of 1972 ( public law 92 - 463 ), the u. s. congress formally recognized the merits of seeking the advice and assistance of our nation ' s citizens. at the same time, the congress also sought to assure that advisory committees : - provide advice that is relevant, objective, and open to the public ; - act promptly to complete their work ; and - comply with reasonable cost controls and record keeping requirements. role of federal advisory committees with the expertise from advisory committee members, federal officials and the nation have access to information and advice on a broad range of issues affecting federal policies and programs. the public, in return, is afforded an opportunity to provide input into a process that may form the basis for government decisions. federal agency responsibility each federal agency that sponsors advisory committees must adhere to the requirements established by the faca, as well as regulations promulgated by the u. s. general services administration ’ s ( gsa ) committee management secretariat. gsa has had the responsibility for overseeing the faca since 1977. gsa ' s role under the faca with approximately 1, 000 advisory committees in existence at any given time, special attention is required to assure compliance with the faca, the freedom of information act, and related regulations, as well as to encourage effective and efficient use of committee resources. while executive branch departments and agencies are responsible for continually reviewing committee performance and compliance in these areas, the general services administration was designated by the president in 1977 to monitor committee activities government - wide. as part of this responsibility, gsa : - conducts annual reviews of advisory committee activities and accomplishments ; - responds to requests from agencies on establishing new committees or


the general services administration was designated by the president in 1977 to monitor committee activities government - wide. as part of this responsibility, gsa : - conducts annual reviews of advisory committee activities and accomplishments ; - responds to requests from agencies on establishing new committees or the renewal of existing groups ; and - maintains a faca database on the internet from which advisory committee information may be obtained. together, gsa and the federal community work to eliminate the overlap or duplication of advisory bodies, terminate unnecessary or inactive committees, and develop committee management regulations, guidelines, and training in response to requirements of the executive branch and congress. complying with faca any advisory group, with limited exceptions, that is established or utilized by a federal agency and that has at least one member who is not a federal employee, must comply with the faca. to find out if a group comes under the faca, contact the sponsoring agency ' s committee management officer. the gsa committee management secretariat is an additional resource ( see the last section " for more information... " ). requirements for establishing and managing advisory committees under the federal advisory committee act, advisory committees can be created only when they are essential to the performance of a duty or responsibility conveyed upon the executive branch by law or presidential directive. before committees can be set up, high - level officials within the sponsoring agency must review and approve the request. once a committee is approved, a charter is prepared outlining the committee ' s mission and specific duties and forwarded to gsa ' s committee management secretariat for final review. following a required public notification period, and the filing of the charter with congress, the committee may begin operation. committee management officer and designated federal officer the federal advisory committee act also provides that each agency sponsoring a federal advisory committee must appoint a committee management officer to oversee the administration of the act ' s requirements. in addition, a designated federal officer must be assigned to each committee to : - ensure compliance with faca, and any other applicable laws and regulations ; - call, attend, and adjourn committee meetings ; - approve agendas ; - maintain required records on costs and membership ; - ensure efficient operations ; - maintain records for availability to the public ; and - provide copies of committee reports to the committee management officer for forwarding to the library of congress. expiration of a committee ' s charter unless the renewal of a committee charter is justified under the faca, the charter automatically expires after a two - year period ( or as otherwise provided by law ). advisory committee members federal advisory


congress. expiration of a committee ' s charter unless the renewal of a committee charter is justified under the faca, the charter automatically expires after a two - year period ( or as otherwise provided by law ). advisory committee members federal advisory committee members are drawn from nearly every occupational and industry group and geographical section of the united states and its territories. the faca requires that committee memberships be " fairly balanced in terms of the points of view represented and the functions to be performed. " as a result, members of specific committees often have both the expertise and professional skills that parallel the program responsibilities of their sponsoring agencies. in balancing committee memberships, agencies are expected to consider a cross - section of those directly affected, interested, and qualified, as appropriate to the nature and function of the advisory committee. appointing committee members agency officials, members of congress, the general public, or professional societies or current and former committee members may nominate potential candidates for membership on a committee. selection of committee members is made based on the faca ' s requirements and the potential member ' s background and qualifications. final selection is made by the president or heads of departments or agencies. prior to accepting an appointment with a federal advisory committee, each prospective member should clarify his / her role, obligations, duties, allowable expenses, compensation limitations, and any ethics requirements with their committee ’ s designated federal officer and / or committee management officer, as appropriate. federal ethics and conflict of interest laws agency officials must provide prospective advisory committee members with information regarding any applicable standards of conduct - including those imposed by federal conflict of interest statutes. in some instances, members may be subject to special limitations during the course of their service on an advisory committee. for some members, these restrictions also may apply ( for limited periods ) after their committee assignments have ended. some agencies may impose additional administrative requirements as well. to avoid potential conflicts, each advisory committee member should assure that he or she receives adequate information from the sponsoring agency and completes any required appointment papers and disclosure forms prior to service on a committee. oral briefings and other explanatory material may be obtained through the sponsoring agency ' s committee management officer, designated agency ethics official, or from the office of government ethics, which has government - wide jurisdiction on federal ethics issues. limits on membership terms each agency may set limits ( unless provided by law or presidential directive ) on the lengths of terms for serving on advisory committees to allow for new membership. open access to committee meetings and operations under the provisions of the federal advisory committee act, federal


membership terms each agency may set limits ( unless provided by law or presidential directive ) on the lengths of terms for serving on advisory committees to allow for new membership. open access to committee meetings and operations under the provisions of the federal advisory committee act, federal agencies sponsoring advisory committees must : - arrange meetings that are reasonably accessible and at convenient locations and times ; - publish adequate advance notice of meetings in the federal register ; - open advisory committee meetings to the public ( with some exceptions - see the section on " government in the sunshine act " below ) ; - make available for public inspection, subject to the freedom of information act, papers and records, including detailed minutes of each meeting ; and - maintain records of expenditures. government in the sunshine act advisory committee meetings may be closed or partially closed to the public based upon provisions of the government in the sunshine act of 1976 ( public law 94 - 409 ). examples of meetings that may be closed under the faca are : - those including discussions of classified information ; - reviews of proprietary data submitted in support of federal grant applications ; and - deliberations involving considerations of personnel privacy. for more information on the requirements of the federal advisory committee act, contact the general services administration ' s committee management secretariat at firstname. lastname @ example. org or via the internet at : examples of materials available on the committee management secretariat website are : - federal advisory committee act - gsa final rule on federal advisory committee management - guidance documents - access to the federal advisory committee act database - information on the federal advisory committee act training course. other materials, such as samples of nominating letters and committee reports, are available from each sponsoring agency.


british consumers love cheese, milk and yoghurt, but to keep the cows producing all that milk, they need to keep calving. this works out fine for female calves, but not so great for young bulls. as the offspring of dairy herds such as guernsey, ayrshire and friesians, these bull calves do not tend to grow up to make good beef, and their fate has been a varied and, at times, inhumane one. until 1990, when the british government banned transporting animals in close - confinement crates, many of the bull calves were exported, mostly to the netherlands, where animal welfare standards are lower than they are here. then it became common practice to slaughter and dispose of male calves at just a day or two old. carol yesson, a stop calf exports campaign officer at compassion in world farming, says that an estimated 7, 000 to 9, 000 male calves are destroyed in the uk each month. and this year, as close - confinement crates were banned throughout the rest of the eu, we are back to exporting up to 3, 000 a week. " but we fear that may double if defra don ' t take action to stop calf exports, " says yesson. " most of the calves exported end up in the netherlands and belgium where the barren, group - housing system is commonplace. and some animals undertake incredibly long journeys, of up to 100 hours, to spain and italy. a compassion in world farming report published in may 2007 with bristol university showed that death and disease following transport can be high and that for a two - week - old calf, transportation is incredibly stressful and causes undue suffering. " molly dineen ' s recent documentary - the lie of the land - highlighted britain ' s un - joined - up farming practices. one scene follows a cornish knackerman driving around in his truck, picking up all these day - old calves ( this is known candidly, if gruesomely, as " the flesh run " ), often having to shoot them as well. he gets paid about £3 per animal. at one point, a farmer leaves him two quid and a packet of fudge to destroy just about the healthiest, most doe - eyed brown calf i have ever seen. meanwhile, according to the meat and livestock commission, we import 95 % of the 2, 000 tonnes of veal we eat every year from the continent. i am certainly not blaming our farmers, who do tough jobs, but clearly this system has been failing. helen browning, an organic


livestock commission, we import 95 % of the 2, 000 tonnes of veal we eat every year from the continent. i am certainly not blaming our farmers, who do tough jobs, but clearly this system has been failing. helen browning, an organic livestock farmer, and food and farming director of the soil association, says, " historically, for most dairy farmers, male calves are seen as having no useful function - but due to the increasing demand for veal, as well as more and more people wanting to buy british, things are changing. " abroad, traditionally, veal calves are kept in close individual pens, a tragedy in itself as cows are social animals that need to touch and have eye contact with other members of the herd. to keep their meat as pale as possible they are kept in the dark, fed only milk ( not solids, which they need to grow strong ) and are anaemic, with no iron or minerals in their diet. " welfare standards on the continent are just not as high as ours, " says browning, whose veal calves, by contrast, are allowed to roam free in the summer months, and are given hay and oats to eat in their communal sheds through the winter. they are often even settled with surrogate mothers - cows who are retired from the dairy - and generally have a pretty good time of it until they ' re about six months old and their number ' s up. although browning, whose produce is available online ( helenbrowningorganics. co. uk ), has big growth plans for the future, at the moment she is only producing about 40 veal calves a year, which isn ' t going to meet any nationwide run on domestic veal. but help is coming from the award - winning ginger pig farm and butchers. proprietor tim wilson says, " we ' re working on it - literally building the sheds as we speak. " he goes on to warn, however, that because of the increase in demand for goat ' s milk, the same wasteful cycle could occur with them. " there are farms just down the road from me killing [ and disposing of ] the kids at a day or two old, then down at smithfield ' s you see imported french milk - fed billy goats. " here we go again. for veal, though, it does seem that change is a - hoof. british meat now accounts for around 60 % of the veal that waitrose sells ( escalopes currently retailing at £23 per ki


we go again. for veal, though, it does seem that change is a - hoof. british meat now accounts for around 60 % of the veal that waitrose sells ( escalopes currently retailing at £23 per kilo ). but so far it doesn ' t seem to be trickling down to the market and the restaurants. my local and very good butcher john stenton says that veal is the only imported meat he stocks. " we sell very little veal, and it ' s all dutch. i used to have a source in cornwall but they dried up. you just can ' t seem to get hold of welfare - reared meat in the uk. " danny lidgate of london uber - butchers, lidgates, has had a little more luck. " we get some british veal, but milk - fed dutch veal tends to be a higher standard because it ' s produced on a bigger scale and it ' s more readily available. however, we have just started selling british organic veal which is starting to become more available. it is very popular, good quality and slightly redder than the imported meat. " for rose gray of the river cafe, it ' s a question of quality. " in the past, we ' ve used both french and dutch veal, " she says, " but i ' ve never come across a british veal good enough to use in our restaurant. it just has no flavour, no texture and not enough fat - the fat is important. maybe [ quality british veal ] is out there, but i ' ve never tasted it. " having cooked and eaten browning ' s veal, i find it has more flavour than the usual pale version ; all the delicateness of its continental counterpart and is just as tender. i believe that, ethics aside, when it comes to animals, taste is defined by life : what it ate and how it moved. as happy calves move around, they grow muscle, and giving them a balanced diet provides their bodies with what they need to get stronger - as nature intended. these differences produce a meat with a pinker tinge to it, which is known in the industry as " rose veal ". despite my name ( allegra ), there ' s no italian blood in my body, but my love of italian food is written on my bones. along with garlic, tomatoes, parmesan and a bunch of other super - special italian cookery staples, veal sits at the high table of


s no italian blood in my body, but my love of italian food is written on my bones. along with garlic, tomatoes, parmesan and a bunch of other super - special italian cookery staples, veal sits at the high table of italian ingredients ; i adore this unique flesh in all of the many dishes it appears in, such as vitello tonnato and involtini of spinach, mozzarella and grilled aubergines, saltimbocca alla romana ( pan fried with parma ham and sage ), scaloppine al burro e salvia ( escalope cooked with butter and sage ) and costoletta alla milanese ( pan - fried in breadcrumbs ). i have even cited osso buco ( shin steak, including the bone and marrow, braised very slowly with vegetables, tomatoes, white wine and herbs ) as being my death row meal. · allegra mcevedy is co - founder of the fast - food chain leon. her cookbook is published by kyle cathie at £19. 99. to order a copy for £18. 99 with free uk p & p, call 0870 836 0875 or go to guardian. co. uk / bookshop. ask allegra at blogs. guardian. co. uk / food our resident chef answers your culinary dilemmas live online, tomorrow at 2pm


alice and bob in i / o land [ click here to start ] this lecture is also available in one big html file table of contents alice, bob and their race to disk - haven alice ' s adventures in wonderland - a partial recap alice ' s adventures in wonderland - a partial recap - cont. meet alice - the 16kb " write " that could alice goes down the rabbit hole alice wants to pass through the small door little alice joins the ( page - cached ) caucus race little alice going down the ( disk ) elevator little alice grows again - the i / o scheduler dance example of " iostat " output big alice plays the disk crockett - the basic elevator algorithm original alice stands to trial - err _ success or err _ io? mad hatter testifies - the small bio - s joining in original alice wakes up from her write - full dream ecila - the " read " that came back from the cold through the looking glass - a partial recap through the looking glass - a partial recap - cont. ecila passes through the looking glass ecila meets the red queen and ( page - cachely ) runs nowhere what ' s in my cache? ecila meets the white knight and goes to gather herself ecila and humpty dumpty have a great elevated fall ecila meets twiddledee and twiddledum - and sends them ahead tuning device - level read - ahead ecila comes back through the mirror file - systems and meta - data i / o directory hierarchy traversal and the dentry cache checking dentry - cache statistics file control blocks and the inode cache checking inode - cache statistics file blocks and file extents file blocks and file extents - cont. bob - the raw - " write " - er bob goes into i / o land to cache or not to cache - that is the d ( irect ) question what if bob was sync ( ing ) harder? bob - the reader from the " raw " bob goes catching some rie bob the cached vs. bob the direct alice and bob go picking an elevator the " noop " elevator - quick and noisy the " cfq " elevator - " no room! no room! ( at the tea party ) " i / o priority using " ionice " the " deadline " elevator - " i ' m late! i ' m late! i ' m late! " the " anticipatory " elevator - " if you build it - they will come " i


broken or knocked out tooth the dentist ' s term for a knocked out tooth is " avulsed. " teeth - broken ; tooth - knocked out a permanent tooth that is knocked out can sometimes be reimplanted. in most cases, only permanent, adult teeth are reimplanted into the mouth. baby teeth are usually left out. immediately contact your dentist when a tooth is broken or knocked out. if you can find the tooth after the accident or injury, bring it with you when you seek medical help. tooth accidents are commonly caused by : - accidental falls - sports - related trauma - car accidents - biting on hard food save any tooth that has been knocked out for possible reimplantation. bring it to your dentist as soon as possible. the longer you wait, the less chance there is for successful reimplantation. handle the tooth only by the crown ( chewing edge ). use one of the following options to transport the tooth : - try to replace the tooth in the socket, to the level of adjacent teeth. bite down gently on gauze or a wet tea bag to help keep it in place. the surrounding teeth can be used as anchors. care must be taken not to swallow the tooth. - if the tooth cannot be replaced in the socket, place it in a container and cover with a small amount of whole milk or saliva. the tooth can also be carried between lower lip and lower gum or under the tongue. - a tooth - saving storage device ( save - a - tooth, emt tooth saver ) may be available at your dentist ' s office. such a kit contains a travel case and fluid solution. consider buying one for your home first aid kit. for additional first aid, follow these steps : - apply a cold compress to the mouth and gums for pain. - apply direct pressure, using gauze, to control bleeding. - get dental help immediately. the sooner dental attention is received, the better the chances are for successful reimplantation. teeth that have been badly fractured may expose nerve tissue inside the tooth. in this case, immediate attention is needed to avoid infection, abscess, and pain. simple chips or fractures may be tended to on a nonemergency basis, but should still be fixed to avoid sharp edges that can cut the lips or tongue, and for cosmetic reasons. - do not handle the roots of the tooth. handle only the chewing edge - - the crown portion of the tooth. - do not scrape the root of the tooth to remove dirt


edges that can cut the lips or tongue, and for cosmetic reasons. - do not handle the roots of the tooth. handle only the chewing edge - - the crown portion of the tooth. - do not scrape the root of the tooth to remove dirt. - do not brush or clean the tooth with alcohol or peroxide. when to contact a medical professional see a dentist immediately if : - a permanent tooth has been knocked out. - a tooth has been partially fractured, and pain and swelling results. in the case of simple tooth fractures, a nonemergency dental appointment can be made. after a major accident, if you are not able to bring your upper and lower teeth together, the jaw may be broken. this requires immediate attention. you may call a dentist, but also seek help at a hospital. - wear a mouth guard when playing any contact sport. - avoid fights. - avoid hard foods, such as bones, stale bread, and tough bagels. - always wear a seatbelt. roberts jr, hedges jr, eds. clinical procedures in emergency medicine. 4th ed. philadelphia, pa : saunders ; 2004. marx ja, hockberger rs, walls rm, eds. rosen ’ s emergency medicine : concepts and clinical practice. 5th ed. st. louis, mo : mosby ; 2002. jack d. rosenberg, dds, advanced dental care, palm beach gardens, fl. review provided by verimed healthcare network. also reviewed by david zieve, m. d., mha, medical director, a. d. a. m., inc. the information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. a licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. call 911 for all medical emergencies. links to other sites are provided for information only - - they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. © 1997 - a. d. a. m., inc. any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.


a person may need emergency treatment after a suicide attempt. they may need first aid, people who try to commit suicide may need to stay in a hospital for treatment and to reduce the risk of future attempts. therapy is one of the most important parts of treatment. the condition that may have caused the suicide attempt should be treated. this includes : - bipolar disorder - borderline personality disorder - drug or alcohol dependence - major depression people who are at risk for suicidal behavior may not get treated for many reasons, including : - they believe nothing will help - they do not want to tell anyone they have problems - they think it is a sign of weakness to ask for help - they do not know where to go for help if you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, there are numbers that you can call from anywhere in the united states, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week : 1 - 800 - suicide or 1 - 800 - 999 - 9999. as with any other type of emergency, call the local emergency number ( such as 911 ) right away if someone you know has attempted suicide. do not leave the person alone, even after you have called for help. always take suicide attempts and threats seriously. about one - third of people who try to commit suicide will try again within 1 year. about 10 % of people who threaten or try to commit suicide will eventually kill themselves. the person needs mental health care right away. do not dismiss the person as just trying to get attention. complications depend on the type of suicide attempt. calling your health care provider call a health care provider right away if you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide. review date : 03 / 07 / 2011 reviewed by : linda j. vorvick, md, medical director, medex northwest division of physician assistant studies, unviersity of washington, school of medicine ; and david b. merrill, md, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry, department of psychiatry, columbia university medical center, new york, ny. also reviewed by david zieve, md, mha, medical director, a. d. a. m., inc.


cloud computing as commonly defined is when a business gives its data, applications, storage and computational power to a cloud computing provider and accesses those resources via the public internet. it ' s been a godsend for many organizations, most notably small enterprises that can save enormously on infrastructure costs and have access to highly skilled i. t. expertise that they couldn ' t afford otherwise. salesforce. com and amazon. com have quickly become giants in the " public " cloud service sector thanks to the convenience and low start - up costs for their services. international data corp., a technology research firm, estimates in a recently released report that the cloud software market reached $ 22. 9 billion in 2011, a 31 percent year - over - year growth increase. the market is expected to reach $ 67. 3 billion by 2016 at a compound annual growth rate of 24 percent. idc also estimates that small businesses - defined as those with 100 or fewer employees - spent $ 3. 5 billion on cloud technologies in 2011, or about 7 percent of the $ 53 billion the small business segment spent overall on i. t. expenditures. that enthusiasm for remotely hosted services and low - cost infrastructure is shared by the health care industry, but not necessarily in the same way, or to the same degree, as industries such as construction or retail. klas enterprises, a utah - based health care i. t. research firm, polled nearly 100 provider organizations for a 2011 " perception " study of cloud computing. right off the bat, erik westerlind, the report author, had to sift through how respondents - of which nearly 70 percent were c - level executives - defined cloud computing. " we ran into a lot of cases where executives would tell us that yes, they use the cloud because they ' re having their electronic health record remotely hosted by cerner, for example, " he says. " but those types of services are not really how " the cloud " is typically defined outside this market - yes, they ' re remotely hosted, but the applications are running via direct connections to cerner ' s data center, and all their information is housed in one place, kansas city. " some of the confusion about how to define cloud services is due to the " cloud washing " going on - rebranding application service provider or application hosting services as " cloud " solutions. " true " cloud service is virtualized, elastic, scalable, metered out and resides on pooled or shared resources on the web. respondents mentioned every one of these attributes, but


service provider or application hosting services as " cloud " solutions. " true " cloud service is virtualized, elastic, scalable, metered out and resides on pooled or shared resources on the web. respondents mentioned every one of these attributes, but only a few mentioned them all, according to the klas report. the health care execs most commonly used two attributes - an application was remotely hosted, and it was available via the web - to define the cloud. the bottom line is that interest in the cloud is strong in health care, but neither klas nor other industry experts expect a stampede of providers to a public cloud environment where their data is stored and accessible via the public web. not surprisingly, data security and privacy, and lack of control, are the top concerns of health care execs. and while health care is - has to be - downright obsessive about security and privacy, those concerns are not exclusive to the industry. the idc report and other cloud research finds the top drawback for adopting cloud services is data security. " one hospital cio summed it up pretty neatly - he noted that he has to go before his board of directors every year and attest to them that the hospital is compliant with hipaa regulations, one requirement being that he certifies that he knows where its data resides, " westerlind says. " in a public cloud that data could be anywhere in the world. that pretty much sums up why many are taking a cautious approach to public cloud services. " but then again, interest is high in cloud computing, and 55 percent of respondents to the klas survey are currently deploying some part of their i. t. environment in the cloud, where the definition was the delivery of storage solutions, software solutions, or both over the web. at this point, much of the industry ' s interest is focused on creating private clouds that enable providers to keep control of their data by either storing it on virtual servers they own, or putting it on dedicated virtual servers owned by trusted third parties. a lot of the future of health care cloud computing hinges on trust. while much has been made of the reluctance of health care organizations to use the cloud, another roadblock has been the lack of cloud service providers willing to take on the burden of handling health care data, says jeffrey white, a principal at pittsburgh - based aspen advisors, a health care consultancy. " there ' s been a reluctance on the part of cloud platform providers to sign hipaa business associate agreements, which has really


burden of handling health care data, says jeffrey white, a principal at pittsburgh - based aspen advisors, a health care consultancy. " there ' s been a reluctance on the part of cloud platform providers to sign hipaa business associate agreements, which has really hampered the development of truly cloud - based services in the market, " white says. as a result, many organizations are using hosting services from established health i. t. vendors, which provides some but not all of the benefits of a web - based cloud environment. however, the cloud is coming, thanks in part to the health care industry ' s increased focus on collaboration and consumerism. dignity health provides a good example of how and why cloud computing is starting to carve out a health care space. dignity health is massive, encompassing more than 40 hospitals, operating in 17 states, and with 60, 000 providers working at its facilities. not surprisingly, the health system has a large and skilled i. t. department and a massive technological infrastructure. but while it has the internal capability to meet pretty much any data demand thrown at it, dignity health is putting more and more information on a cloud platform managed by a third party, says scott whyte, the vice president of i. t. connectivity. the impetus behind most of its cloud efforts is the need to collaborate with more and more business partners and provide additional services to physicians and patients. and those various projects need to be done yesterday. " we ' re forming an accountable care organization and getting more involved with independent physicians, and everything has to happen fast because we ' re dealing with aggressive timelines, either because they ' re regulatory timelines or we have competitive pressures, " whyte says. " while we have the resources to do this internally, our cloud services partner brings a lot to the table - they can spin up data center capacity very quickly, and they have very skilled human resources that augment our own staff. " in addition, that partner, phoenix - based cleardata networks inc., serves only the health care market, and consequently is steeped in the sometimes esoteric health security and privacy requirements required, whyte says. and while it might not matter in every case and to all providers, the cloud services also enable dignity to expand its i. t. environment using operating expenses instead of capital outlays for more servers and other infrastructure, he adds. dignity health also has found that many of its new partners, be they competing hospitals, or insurers or independent physicians, want to have all the collaborative data stored


expenses instead of capital outlays for more servers and other infrastructure, he adds. dignity health also has found that many of its new partners, be they competing hospitals, or insurers or independent physicians, want to have all the collaborative data stored in " neutral " territory separated from their larger infrastructures, whyte says. not only are there competitive reasons to want to ensure the data is on neutral ground, but it also means there are fewer legal and compliance hoops to jump through to share the necessary data, which enables the organizations to speed up the development timelines. one example is the physician metric reports being used for the emerging aco, whyte says. " that ' s an application that is really well - suited for a web - based cloud environment : we need to share data among partners and make it widely accessible to physicians using all different types of devices to access it. " cloud computing at dignity will grow, but likely won ' t encompass its core legacy systems, whyte says. " we are not fork - lifting legacy applications to the cloud : we use cerner corp. ' s hosting services for our ehr, and we have no plans to move our core financials [ from lawson corp. ] to a cloud environment. we are using the cloud for the new types of collaborative applications we need to offer. " collaboration doesn ' t necessarily have to be external, either. as health systems continue to grow through consolidation and buying up physician practices, the management of internal data needed for collaborative efforts is getting more complex. jonathan teich, m. d., the chief medical information officer at elsevier corp. and a practicing physician at brigham and women ' s hospital in boston, says the use of cloud platforms for knowledge is far less daunting than the idea of changing the entire computing paradigm. elsevier, an amsterdam - based provider of clinical decision support information, plans to soon make a new service generally available that enables health systems to manage and maintain their clinical order sets via a cloud service. " health systems with hundreds or thousands of order sets have a hard time having local staff maintain them, and many are widely dispersed, which makes it more difficult to collaborate, " teich says. that idea of fork - lifting core applications into a cloud environment is a task that many providers seem unwilling to tackle at this point. much of that big legacy technology, as white from aspen advisors points out, is built of proprietary architectures that are not well - suited to transition into a cloud environment. not only that, but most


many providers seem unwilling to tackle at this point. much of that big legacy technology, as white from aspen advisors points out, is built of proprietary architectures that are not well - suited to transition into a cloud environment. not only that, but most cloud providers at this point can ' t guarantee the reliability and service levels health care organizations require for those applications. " when it comes to core systems, providers have invested heavily in the infrastructure around them, including investments in virtualizing their servers and to provide a level of redundancy, that they ' re uncertain they can get from a cloud platform. if you look across different industries, including the financial sector, you ' re seeing cloud adoption, but they ' re not running their businesses over the cloud. " dan riskin, m. d., ceo of menlo park, calif. - based health fidelity and consulting assistant professor at stanford university, says that his is one of a new wave of health care cloud companies providing a low - cost bridge to convert data into knowledge. health fidelity uses natural language processing technology - which incorporates the medical language encoding and extraction system from columbia university - to identify and encode clinical information in caregiver narratives to standard code sets, such as icd - 9 and 10, cpt - 4 and loinc. the company works with solution providers to standardize all that unstructured data in feeds from providers for use in analytics, revenue cycle and compliance efforts. " even with the all the efforts at making health care all about discrete data, around 80 percent of the clinical information is unstructured in clinical notes, " he says. mining the mountain of unstructured data takes a lot of computational power. cloud platforms, riskin says, are ideally suited for the task. " analytics requires processing power and expertise, and cloud computing is proving in health care and other markets that it can deliver faster and cheaper than internal resources, " he says. " what we and other start - ups in this space are doing is bypassing the manual processes of data collection and standardization that take such an enormous amount of time and resources to perform. " in riskin ' s mind, new health i. t. start - ups, many of which are using cloud computing platforms, are the ones that can work with the data holders in the market - the hospitals, practices and health information exchanges among them - and find ways to embed new knowledge into care processes. " what the country bet on, and is paying for, is that if the industry can digit


patients have a hard time understanding the differences between screening tests and diagnostic tests. the most misunderstandings or misconceptions that seem to arise during pregnancy revolve around screening for aneuploidy ( fetal chromosomal abnormalities ). even for providers, this can be a complex and confusing issue that can be difficult and time - consuming to explain to patients and, therefore, often is not given the attention it deserves. screening tests are used to provide presumptive identification of an unrecognized or unexpected disease or defect. they are usually designed to be relatively rapid and widely applicable to the population at large. they are not diagnostic, often are associated with what are perceived to be high ‘ false positive ’ rates, and are meant to have follow - up if ‘ abnormal. ’ although, only a small percentage of the ‘ abnormal ’ tests are usually found to confirm the diagnosis of the abnormality in follow - up, the wide net that is cast by a good screening test does not often miss the opportunity to make the diagnosis either. in the case of aneuploidy, there are several relatively noninvasive approaches for evaluating the fetus ‘ at risk ’ without putting the fetus at risk by the screening process itself. many patients are put off by the screening tests for aneuploidy during pregnancy and the most common reasons cited when they are asked are : “ the false positive rates are too high ” ( which i have found, interestingly enough, often means to them that they think they will be asked to make hard decisions regarding the pregnancy based on the screening test alone and don ’ t want to take the chance of terminating a normal baby ) ; “ i wouldn ’ t do anything about it anyway ” ; “ i will take what i get and i don ’ t want to worry about it the whole pregnancy ” ; and, “ my doctor told me that it wasn ’ t a very good test ” ( usually related to provider bias or misunderstanding regarding ‘ false positive rates ’ ). although i wish it wasn ’ t so, point in fact is that not all pregnancies are perfect ; and, these screening tests can help detect completely unexpected aneuploid fetuses in young women who are at ‘ low risk ’ based on age alone, and also help to guide the ‘ at risk ’ woman in her decisions regarding the need for invasive diagnostic studies that could, potentially, put the pregnancy at risk by the procedure alone. indeed, what i have learned in the two years that we have been offering


also help to guide the ‘ at risk ’ woman in her decisions regarding the need for invasive diagnostic studies that could, potentially, put the pregnancy at risk by the procedure alone. indeed, what i have learned in the two years that we have been offering “ combined first trimester screening ” ( the topic for the next post ) to ‘ at risk ’ women, is that most women end up with reassuring results, and sleep better as a consequence, and our number of invasive diagnostic procedures have declined dramatically with no increase in the number of chromosomally abnormal babies missed in women with ‘ advanced maternal age. ’ i have also learned over the years that some patients know they need to know ( and need to be given the opportunity to find out ) ; some patients don ’ t know they need to know ( and benefit from unbiased counseling regarding the value and pitfalls of screening ) ; and many ( most? ) don ’ t know what they would do with the information until after they find out. if you haven ’ t gotten the message thus far, i believe that all pregnant women should be offered aneuploidy screening and i believe more would accept it if they got better counseling. the bottom line is that aneuploidy screening is recommended as a ‘ standard of care. ’ from the provider ’ s standpoint, there is proven liability associated with not offering it, not offering it in an unbiased fashion, and with inadequate documentation of informed consent and refusal. the greatest benefit to the patient is that in the vast majority of patients, it can reduce the ‘ risk ’ and therefore the anxiety related to possibly having an abnormal baby ; reduce the need for invasive diagnostic procedures in many cases ; and, in situations in which an aneuploid fetus is detected, it can provide time for preparation for the baby, or allow for timely decision - making for those who choose not to continue their pregnancies ….


as a preschooler, your child should have a healthy attitude toward eating. ideally, by this age she no longer uses eating — or not eating — to demonstrate defiance, nor does she confuse food with love or affection. generally ( although almost certainly not always ), she ’ ll now view eating as a natural response to hunger and meals as a pleasant social experience. despite your preschooler ’ s general enthusiasm for eating, she still may have very specific preferences in food, some of which may vary from day to day. your child may gobble down a particular food one day, and then push away the plate with the same food the next day. she may ask for a certain food for several days in a row, and then insist that she doesn ’ t like it anymore. as irritating as it may be to have her turn up her nose at a dish she devoured the day before, it ’ s normal behavior for a preschooler, and best not to make an issue of it. let her eat the other foods on her plate or select something else to eat. as long as she chooses foods that aren ’ t overly sugary, fatty, or salty, don ’ t object. however, encourage her to try new foods by offering her very small amounts to taste, not by insisting that she eat a full portion of an unfamiliar food. as a parent, your job is to make sure that your preschooler has nutritious food choices at every meal. if she has healthy options on the dining room table, let her make the decision of what ( and how much ) to eat. if she ’ s a picky eater — resisting eating vegetables, for example — don ’ t get discouraged or frustrated. keep giving them to her even if she repeatedly turns up her nose at the sight of them. before long, she may change her mind, developing a taste for foods that she once ignored. this is the period of time that healthy snacking and healthy habits get reinforced and / or established. remember, meals don ’ t need to be elaborate to be nutritious. if you have only a few minutes to prepare a meal, try a turkey sandwich, a serving of green beans, an apple, and a glass of nonfat or low - fat milk. a simple lunch like this takes less time to prepare than driving through a fast - food restaurant, and it is much healthier. television advertising, incidentally, can be a serious obstacle to your preschooler ’ s good nutrition. some studies show that children who watch over twenty -


bullying is any behavior person ( s ) exhibit that intends to harm or distress a targeted person ( s ) consistently. the types of bullying are : physical - verbal - cyber - relational ( social aggression ) your child feels sad about attending school - refusal to go to school - loss of personal items such as toys, clothing or lunch money - child may appear withdrawn or anxious - change in sleeping and / or eating habits - complaints of headache and / or stomach ache - frequent visits to health office if you suspect your child is involved in bullying behavior, please consider the following : discuss your concerns with your child, school, or social worker - determine if your child has been having any particular problems with other children - assess if your child is experiencing difficulties in other areas - assist your child in understanding the serious nature and consequences of bullying behavior - share your concerns with your child ' s teacher or any other significant adult ( example teacher, coaches, scout - leaders etc. ) ignore or walk away - tell the person to stop and then walk away - warn that you will get help from an adult and then walk away - get help. tell an adult what has happened bullies keep bullying because of inaction. make sure your child communicates their concerns to a trusted adult. also, if they see bullying happening and they feel comfortable doing so, they should firmly state that those actions are inappropriate.


december 22, 2006 growing new limbs the zebrafish way a zebrafish tail fin one day after amputation is shown on the left. the image on the right shows that by ten days post amputation, the tail fin has regenerated. a lost tail fin can really slow down a zebrafish - at least for a week or so, until it grows a new one. now scientists have shown that they can turn on or block this regeneration in zebrafish with the flip of a molecular switch. understanding how the fish ' s cells coordinate the regrowth of the structurally complex fin can help scientists understand the process of regeneration, providing clues that may aid in the development of new clinical therapies, such as renewing cardiac tissue after heart disease. the scientists said that not only will their findings advance research aimed at regenerating tissues and organs, but the discoveries could also lead to improved therapies for bone marrow transplants to restore the hematopoetic system in cancer patients. “ in studying injury or inflammation in any context, investigators should explore whether wnt signaling is involved. these experiments suggest that wnt signaling is a universal component of regenerative pathways in animals. ” randall t. moon the researchers ' findings were published online december 22, 2006, as a development epress article, which is posted in advance of print publication in the journal development. the senior author was howard hughes medical institute investigator randall moon at the institute for stem cell and regenerative medicine of the university of washington school of medicine, and the joint first authors were cristi stoick - cooper and gilbert weidinger, who designed and carried out the experiments in the moon laboratory. using tail fin regeneration in the zebrafish as a model system, the researchers discovered that a major cellular signaling pathway, called the wnt / ß - catenin pathway, is central to activating the complex machinery of limb regeneration. this pathway is known to play a major role in regulating stem cells in embryonic development and adult tissue maintenance. malfunctions in the pathway have been proven to lead to cancers, as well as being linked to bone density diseases and neurodegenerative diseases. the wnt / ß - catenin pathway comprises a large group of proteins that are activated when the signaling molecule wnt binds to the pathway ' s cell surface receptors. this activation increases the levels of ß - catenin - a master regulator of multiple genes - that reach the cell nucleus. the researchers also found that a related wnt protein, called w


wnt binds to the pathway ' s cell surface receptors. this activation increases the levels of ß - catenin - a master regulator of multiple genes - that reach the cell nucleus. the researchers also found that a related wnt protein, called wnt5b, inhibited regeneration. wntb5 governs a signaling pathway that is independent of ß - catenin. so, wnt proteins can turn on more than one signaling pathway, and both are involved in regeneration, though with opposite roles. “ it was previously known that wnt pathway components were expressed during regeneration, but nobody had really explored whether the pathways were indeed activated, ” said moon. “ and nobody had separated the two pathways and looked at their effects individually. ” in their experiments, stoick - cooper and weidinger genetically manipulated the wnt / ß - catenin pathway in the fish and measured how that manipulation affected the fish ' s ability to regrow an amputated tail fin. using a fluorescent “ reporter ” gene that revealed wnt / ß - catenin pathway activation by glowing like a firefly, the scientists showed that the pathway was clearly switched on during regeneration, just in the area of the body that was regenerating. similarly, they saw that the pathway was activated during regeneration of zebrafish heart and mouse liver, which they said suggests that the pathway may function in regeneration across species. they further noted that the wnt / ß - catenin pathway was activated during the formation of the undifferentiated cells that proliferate to regenerate the tail fin. they next genetically engineered fish in which they could switch off the wnt / ß - catenin pathway by exposing the fish to warm water. doing so, they found, completely blocked regeneration. they could also accelerate regeneration by enhancing wnt / ß - catenin signaling. the researchers noted that this is a significant finding for the new field of regenerative medicine, in which a means of enhancing regeneration is an invaluable tool. in contrast, when they engineered fish to activate the wnt5b gene in response to warm water, regeneration was inhibited. the opposite is true in fish with a mutation in the wnt5b gene, in which they found that regeneration was augmented. this is what one would expect, moon noted, since the loss of a functional inhibitor is a double negative - - meaning that regeneration should be accelerated. “ these experiments showed that there is a completely novel and unexpected mechanism that antagoni


was augmented. this is what one would expect, moon noted, since the loss of a functional inhibitor is a double negative - - meaning that regeneration should be accelerated. “ these experiments showed that there is a completely novel and unexpected mechanism that antagonizes the regenerative process, ” said moon. “ there had been other studies indicating that wnt5b - like genes could block the wnt / ß - catenin pathway, but no one had examined whether this antagonism occurs in the context of the normal regenerative process. ” “ cristi and gilbert ' s experiments rigorously establish through genetic approaches that the wnt pathways are functionally important in regeneration, ” he said. “ more generally, they show that in studying injury or inflammation in any context, investigators should explore whether wnt signaling is involved. these experiments suggest that wnt signaling is a universal component of regenerative pathways in animals, ” he said. according to moon, the findings by stoick - cooper and weidinger will have clinical implications for tissue regeneration, as well as for encouraging growth of stem cells. stem cells are immature, undifferentiated cells that are capable of maturing into a variety of mature cell types. “ wnt / ß - catenin signaling plays an important positive role in the differentiation of stem cells and progenitor cells that are required for regeneration, ” he said. “ it agrees with previous studies in which our laboratory showed in animals that activating this pathway increases the success of transplants of blood - forming hematopoietic stem cells. such transplants in cancer patients whose immune systems have been destroyed by radiation or chemotherapy are invaluable as therapy ; and sometimes they fail because they transplanted cells do not engraft into the bone marrow. we believe that enhancing the wnt / ß - catenin pathway will increase the success rate of such hematopoietic stem cell transplants, ” he said. in other clinically - related studies, moon and his colleagues are exploring whether activating the wnt / ß - catenin pathway can enhance differentiation of human embryonic stem cells into cardiac cells that could be used to treat heart disease moon and his colleagues are also exploring how the myriad different kinds of cells involved in regeneration respond to wnt - activating signals and, in collaboration with hhmi investigator leonard i. zon at children ' s hospital, boston, how injury switches on wnt / ß - catenin signaling. the researchers are optimistic