. european journal of human genetics, ( 8 september 2010 ) | doi : 10. 1038 / ejhg. 2010. 153 in the heartland of eurasia : the multilocus genetic landscape of central asian populations located in the eurasian heartland, central asia has played a major role in both the early spread of modern humans out of africa and the more recent settlements of differentiated populations across eurasia. a detailed knowledge of the peopling in this vast region would therefore greatly improve our understanding of range expansions, colonizations and recurrent migrations, including the impact of the historical expansion of eastern nomadic groups that occurred in central asia. however, despite its presumable importance, little is known about the level and the distribution of genetic variation in this region. we genotyped 26 indo - iranian - and turkic - speaking populations, belonging to six different ethnic groups, at 27 autosomal microsatellite loci. the analysis of genetic variation reveals that central asian diversity is mainly shaped by linguistic affiliation, with turkic - speaking populations forming a cluster more closely related to east - asian populations and indo - iranian speakers forming a cluster closer to western eurasians. the scattered position of uzbeks across turkic - and indo - iranian - speaking populations may reflect their origins from the union of different tribes. we propose that the complex genetic landscape of central asian populations results from the movements of eastern, turkic - speaking groups during historical times, into a long - lasting group of settled populations, which may be represented nowadays by tajiks and turkmen. contrary to what is generally thought, our results suggest that the recurrent expansions of eastern nomadic groups did not result in the complete replacement of local populations, but rather into partial admixture.


hanukkah begins this year on december 1st, at sundown. be honest. when i say “ hanukkah, ” the first thing you think of is the adam sandler song, talking about “ eight crazy nights. ” if you are a little more connected to jewish culture, you may also think about a dreidel or potato latkes ( pancakes ). while it ’ s commonly called the “ festival of lights, ” a better translation is “ dedication. ” being jewish ( circumcised at 8 days, bar mitzvah at age 13 ) and a christ - follower ( for over 15 years ), i ’ d like to give a brief explanation of this holiday, and why it ’ s a meaningful opportunity to help me worship the lord. here ’ s the story of hanukkah : in the 2nd century bc, antiochus epiphanes gained control over parts of the middle east, including judea ( israel ). he erected an altar to zeus in the temple in jerusalem, and sacrificed pigs there, which are unclean to jews. the maccabee family led a revolt, finally liberating jerusalem and the temple in 165 bc. before god could be properly worshiped in the temple, it had to be cleaned and dedicated. the menorah ( lamp ) had to burn continuously for 8 days for the purification process. despite there only being enough olive oil for one day, the oil miraculously lasted for 8 days and nights. that is why hanukkah is celebrated for 8 nights. most people consider this miracle to be the end in itself, and i think the bigger meaning is missed. the point isn ’ t just that god did a miracle, but that the miracle was the means to allow him to be properly worshiped. the temple needed to be purified in order for yahweh to be worshiped, but it couldn ’ t be purified unless he worked a miracle. god worked a miracle so that his people could be near him in worship. let us not miss that meaning, as we celebrate the advent of jesus christ, the light of the world ( john 8 : 12 ). i don ’ t think we need merely to reflect on the birth of jesus, but we need to consider why the father sent his son. god performed a miracle ( the incarnation ) not as an end to itself, but as a means to allow us to be near him in worship ( through christ ’ s redemptive sacrifice for our sins ). jesus


| oracle® fusion middleware concepts guide 11g release 1 ( 11. 1. 1 ) part number e10103 - 07 this chapter describes oracle fusion middleware. it includes the following sections : middleware is the software that connects software components or enterprise applications. middleware is the software layer that lies between the operating system and the applications on each side of a distributed computer network ( figure 1 - 1 ). typically, it supports complex, distributed business software applications. middleware is the infrastructure which facilitates creation of business applications, and provides core services like concurrency, transactions, threading, messaging, and the sca framework for service - oriented architecture ( soa ) applications. it also provides security and enables high availability functionality to your enterprise. middleware includes web servers, application servers, content management systems, and similar tools that support application development and delivery. it is especially integral to information technology based on extensible markup language ( xml ), simple object access protocol ( soap ), web services, soa, web 2. 0 infrastructure, and lightweight directory access protocol ( ldap ) m etc. figure 1 - 1 middleware architecture due to continued growth and use of network - based applications by businesses, middleware technologies are increasingly important. companies and organizations are now building enterprisewide information systems by integrating previously independent applications with new software developments. the integration process may involve legacy applications which may be used only with, or through a nonmodifiable interface. in some cases, rewriting the code for a legacy application may be cost - prohibitive. increasingly, information systems are composed of a collection of various specialized hardware devices interconnected by a network. each device performs a function that involves receipt of real time data and remote interaction with other devices of the system. some examples include computer networks, telecommunication systems, uninterrupted power supply units, and decentralized manufacturing units. interaction with the information system may span a wide range of performance. you can interact with internet applications through a variety of devices, whose characteristics and performance figures span an increasingly wide range. between a high performance personal computer, a smart telephone, and a personal digital assistant, the variations in bandwidth, local processing power, screen capacity, and the ability to display color pictures, are extremely large. hide the distributed nature of the application. an application represents a collection of interconnected parts that are operational and running in distributed locations, out of view. hide the heterogeneity of the enterprise. this includes the hardware components used, computer operating systems, and


nature of the application. an application represents a collection of interconnected parts that are operational and running in distributed locations, out of view. hide the heterogeneity of the enterprise. this includes the hardware components used, computer operating systems, and communication protocols. provide uniform, standard, high - level interfaces to the application developers and integrators, so that applications can be easily composed, reused, ported, and made to interoperate. supply a set of common services to perform various general purpose functions to avoid duplicating efforts, and to facilitate collaboration between applications. middleware makes application development easier, by providing common programming abstractions, by masking application heterogeneity and the distribution of the underlying hardware and operating systems, and by hiding low - level programming details. the function of middleware is to mediate interaction between the parts of an application, or between applications. therefore, considerations for architectural structure play a central role in middleware design. the architectural design encompasses the organization, overall structure, and communication patterns, both for applications and for the middleware itself. besides architectural aspects, the main problems of middleware design pertain to various aspects of distributed systems. any middleware system relies on a communication layer that allows its different pieces to interoperate. in addition, communication is a function provided by middleware itself to applications, in which the communicating entities may take on different roles such as client server or peer - to - peer. middleware allows different interaction modes ( synchronous invocations, asynchronous message passing, coordination through shared objects ) embodied in different patterns. therefore, middleware system design faces several challenges : middleware systems rely on interception and indirection mechanisms, which induce performance penalties. adaptable middleware introduces additional indirections, which make the situation even worse. as applications become more and more interconnected and interdependent, the number of objects, users, and devices tends to increase. this poses the problem of the scalability of the communication and object management algorithms, and increases the complexity of administration. the availability, reliability, concurrency, security, and performance of applications may also be an issue. widespread computing is a vision of the near future, in which an increasing number of devices embedded in various physical objects participate in a global information network. mobility and dynamic reconfiguration will be dominant features, requiring permanent adaptation of the applications. managing large applications that are heterogeneous, widely distributed, and in permanent evolution raises many questions, such as


participate in a global information network. mobility and dynamic reconfiguration will be dominant features, requiring permanent adaptation of the applications. managing large applications that are heterogeneous, widely distributed, and in permanent evolution raises many questions, such as consistent observation, security, trade - offs between autonomy and interdependence for the different subsystems, and definition and implementation of resource management policies. service - oriented architecture ( soa ) is an architectural style whose goal is to achieve loose coupling among diverse interacting software applications, enabling organizations to take advantage of existing investments in applications and systems. soa facilitates the development of modular business services that can be easily integrated and reused, thus creating a flexible and adaptable infrastructure. using a soa approach, an organization can focus more resources and budget on innovation and on delivering new business services. systems that can successfully use soa can minimize the disruption of planned or unplanned outages in an enterprise. some of the advantages of using soa are : reduction in development time and cost : soa services are easily reused and can be rapidly assembled into new, composite applications. lower maintenance cost : reusable services reduce the number and internal complexity of enterprise services. high - quality services : increased service reuse creates high - quality services through multiple testing cycles from different service consumers. lower integration costs : standardized services know how to work together, enabling disparate applications to quickly and easily connect. reduce risk : fewer, reusable services provide greater control over corporate and it governance policies, and reduce the overall compliance risk to an enterprise. how does soa achieve loose coupling among interacting software agents? it does so by employing two architectural constraints : a small set of simple and widespread interfaces to all participating software agents. only generic semantics are encoded at the interfaces. the interfaces are universally available for all providers and consumers. descriptive messages constrained by an extensible schema delivered through the interfaces. no, or only minimal, system activity is prescribed by messages. a schema limits the vocabulary and structure of messages. an extensible schema allows new versions of services to be introduced without breaking existing services. oracle fusion middleware offers solutions to and support for complex, distributed business software applications. it includes web servers, application servers, content management systems, and similar tools that support application development and delivery. oracle fusion middleware is a collection of standards - based software products that includes a range of tools and services : from a java enterprise edition 5 ( java ee ) compliant environment, and developer tools, to integration


similar tools that support application development and delivery. oracle fusion middleware is a collection of standards - based software products that includes a range of tools and services : from a java enterprise edition 5 ( java ee ) compliant environment, and developer tools, to integration services, business intelligence, collaboration, and content management. oracle fusion middleware offers complete support for development, deployment, and management. figure 1 - 2 provides an overview of the oracle fusion middleware solution. figure 1 - 2 oracle fusion middleware solution overview oracle fusion middleware offers the following solutions through its middleware design : development tools : a unified soa development tool and framework. an integrated, but modular, set of development tools to build complete applications, rather than using lots of specialized tools. the design tool includes a single design environment for user interface, business logic, service composition, business process or workflow, business rules, and business intelligence. the design tool enables simplified design and debugging, and to improve productivity. includes oracle jdeveloper, oracle toplink, oracle application development framework, and oracle eclipse. user interaction : a single, end - user environment that enable access to enterprise applications, business processes, business intelligence and to share information with each other. this end user environment is multi - channel allowing it to be accessed from a variety of different clients ( mobile clients, desktop clients, voice - over ip ( voip ) clients ). includes oracle webcenter framework and oracle portal. business intelligence : a suite of business intelligence tools from extract, transform, and load to integrate data into warehouses ; query, analysis, and reporting tools for decision support ; scorecards to compare how the business is doing against key performance indicators ; and alerting to drive notifications to users about problems in the business software. includes oracle business intelligence discoverer, oracle reports, oracle forms services, and oracle portal. content management : a repository within which to manage documents, digital assets, scanned images and other forms of content ; to integrate this content with a company ' s enterprise applications, web sites, and business processes. soa : a means of using existing investments in applications and systems most efficiently to be able to focus more resources and budget on innovation and on delivering new business services. includes oracle service bus, oracle complex event processing, oracle business rules, oracle business activity monitoring, oracle b2b, oracle bpel process manager, oracle service registry, oracle user messaging service, human workflow, oracle mediator. application server : a standards - based java ee application server to run the enterprise applications


, oracle business activity monitoring, oracle b2b, oracle bpel process manager, oracle service registry, oracle user messaging service, human workflow, oracle mediator. application server : a standards - based java ee application server to run the enterprise applications and provide the web services infrastructure for interoperability. integration and business process management ( bpm ) : a standards - based service bus to connect applications with each other and with legacy systems using messaging ; a bpm or workflow engine to connect the application into a business process or workflow ; and business activity monitoring and optimize business processes in real time. security and identity management : lower cost of security administration across multiple applications and systems in an enterprise, by centralizing how users are created and provisioned, their identities, and roles and by enabling them to have single sign - on access. includes oracle internet directory, oracle virtual directory, oracle directory integration platform, oracle identity federation. enterprise management : lower cost of operations and administration by running on a grid architecture with grouping, backup, and other high availability technologies, and integrating with oracle enterprise manager for systems management. includes fusion middleware control, oracle weblogic server administration console, oracle weblogic scripting tool, oracle process manager and notification server, oracle enterprise manager 10g grid control.


surgery is the initial procedure in the treatment of many cancers. surgery and other invasive procedures work by removing cancerous tissues. surgical removal of the kidney offers the best option for a cure for patients able to physically tolerate the procedure. surgery also may be used to remove cancerous lesions that have spread to other organs. this is usually done to control symptoms and not to cure the disease. nephrectomy is the removal of the whole kidney. doctors may be able to remove part of the affected kidney ( partial nephrectomy ) in certain cases, such as : - the tumor is small. - the cancer is in both kidneys. - you have only one functioning kidney. nephrectomy is recommended for stage i and ii kidney cancer. nephrectomy plus removal of regional lymph nodes is common for stage iii. if the cancer has spread to the renal vein, the doctor may remove the tumor and repair the vein. the doctor may recommend an arterial embolization prior to surgery to decrease blood flow to the affected kidney. for this procedure, a catheter is inserted through the groin and threaded up to the renal artery. the doctor injects a substance into the artery to block blood flow. the surgeon makes an incision under the ribs or in the back just behind the kidney. then the surgeon removes the whole malignant kidney ( radical nephrectomy ) or a portion of the cancerous kidney ( partial nephrectomy ). he or she may also remove the adrenal gland ; one adrenal gland sits above each kidney. nearby lymph nodes may also be taken out. the incision is closed with stitches or staples, and bandaged to prevent infection. generally, this has been an open procedure. but the laparoscopic approach has become the preferred method to treat kidney cancer if suitable. with this method, small incisions are made in the skin through which a camera, light source, and surgical instruments are inserted. the surgeon performs the surgery using these tools, without cutting open the abdomen or back. with the laparoscopic approach you should have a faster recovery and spend only a couple of days in the hospital. open surgery is still performed, usually for larger tumors that require more extensive surgery. you will stay in the hospital for four to seven days. nephrectomy is very successful. it has a five - year survival rate of 94 % for patients with stage i disease. for stage ii, it offers a five - year survival


you will stay in the hospital for four to seven days. nephrectomy is very successful. it has a five - year survival rate of 94 % for patients with stage i disease. for stage ii, it offers a five - year survival rate of 79 %. the survival rate varies for stage iii, depending on where and how extensively the cancer has spread. - damage to other internal organs or blood vessels during the procedure - reaction to anesthesia - collection of air or gases in the lung cavity ( pneumothorax ) - kidney failure, if the remaining kidney does not function well after surgery, you may need certain interventions : - urinary catheter — a tube is passed through the urethra into the bladder to measure urine output and avoid the need to urinate in the bathroom. - medications — you may be given antibiotics, pain medication, or antinausea drugs after surgery. - coughing and deep breathing exercises — your nurse or respiratory therapist will show you how to do these exercises, which are usually done 3 - 4 times daily to help keep your lungs clear. in the hospital and after you leave : - get out of bed often and sit in a chair. increase your activity as much as tolerated. - stay well hydrated. - avoid environments and people that expose you to germs, smoke, or chemical irritants. - difficulty breathing - stitches or staples come apart - bandage becomes soaked with blood - coughing up mucus that is yellow, green, or bloody - signs of infection, including fever and chills - redness, swelling, increasing pain, excessive bleeding, or discharge at the incision site - cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, or severe nausea or vomiting - reviewer : mohei abouzied, md - review date : 09 / 2012 - - update date : 00 / 93 / 2012 -


the right diet can be more enjoyable by using these strategies there is certainly significantly more to nutrition than eating your fruits and vegetables or acquiring the right level of servings of dairy. it is extremely essential and can boost your high quality of life. finding the proper strategy for you is important for your success. it only takes a little research to produce a distinction inside your wellness. are you currently able to do what it takes? these tips will help you find out in the event you do. fish is often championed by nutritionalists as a wholesome option to other meats. omega - 3 fatty acids found in fish are excellent for your heart. there are hundreds of distinct types of fish that will be eaten, so choose several of which you prefer the taste in the most and have them for dinner each so usually. cutting several items out of your diet plan will do wonders for your nutrition. stay away from sugar as it could be damaging for your wellness. second, “ white ” foods, such as bread and rice supply less nutritional value than their brown counterparts. saturated fats and trans fats usually are not good for your cardiovascular program, wholesome fats are a significantly much better option. garlic can be a helpful food for stopping illnesses. it ’ s 1 of nature ’ s greatest antibiotics. you ’ ll be able to use it for a seasoning a meal also. it could also be roasted within the oven and eaten on its personal with some toast. the greatest mistake you are able to make is assuming that you are eating wholesome. for example, seven - grain bread sounds wholesome on the package, however the label will reveal that this bread just isn ’ t produced from whole - grain. rather than picking your food based on a slogan on the package, you ought to base your option on the ingredients listed on the label. there are several affordable products that you could use to help keep in shape while at home. with these tools your body can advantage, as it is easier that will help you help your self get into shape. to eat much better without having even knowing it, add wholesome ingredients to traditionally unhealthy foods. this is particularly helpful in the event you have children or picky eaters, but sneaking nutritious ingredients into your personal foods functions beautifully, also. examples of this method contain adding a 1 / 2 cup of white beans for your subsequent loaf of bread or batch of cookies. you may have everybody eating much better without having them knowing. try going a brief time frame without having consuming grains. humans advantage


examples of this method contain adding a 1 / 2 cup of white beans for your subsequent loaf of bread or batch of cookies. you may have everybody eating much better without having them knowing. try going a brief time frame without having consuming grains. humans advantage greatly from other food types such as vegetables and meat. grains were not introduced into peoples diets till later, because they have not been about provided that other foods we normally consume. cutting grains from your diet plan may help you to really feel healthier. look more closely if a food is “ low fat ” or “ trans fat - free. ” some low - fat foods compensate for their lower fat content with high levels of added sugar. check the food labels meticulously on these items. the initial step in increasing your nutrition level is understanding about proper nutrition. if you don ’ t, you might eat improperly, and waste your time. you need to understand at the very least the fundamentals in the science of nutrition to be able to boost your diet plan. this tip will preserve you away from losing your motivation, and it ’ ll be less most likely which you will go for some thing unhealthy. getting many different meal choices is necessary, so you don ’ t turn out to be bored with your diet plan and give up altogether. eating many different meat - based protein and plant - based protein is important to be able to have a balanced diet plan. you can find protein from several other sources. you ’ ll be able to consume nuts, soy, tofu, or beans. these food items are excellent simply because you are able to use them as primary dishes or as an additive to others. preserve your diet plan intriguing by switching up the types of proteins which you use. now you understand why you have to adjust and how essential it really is. you may begin seeing changes now in the event you make good use of these tips. a majority of these health tips could be very helpful with several health problems, which includes kidney stones. if you among those folks who are afflicted by kidney stones and you ’ re searching for a natural solution to eliminate kidney stones safely then take a look at the following webpage on kidney stone removal report and read about a very popular guide to dissolve kidney stones the natural way. you can also find more on treatments for kidney stones at this post.


we form little groups of kids of approximately the same age. they gather up in different homes each day ( the days and hours are agreed before they start ). the objective is to play and learn at the same time with the help of one or two teachers. - educational proposal a group of kids gather up with a teacher and get to do activities like they would do in a kindergarten, but at home by learning through the act of playing. the idea is for them to get used to what they will be doing at the actual kindergarten, for them to have their first experiences with the materials and activities. we give a lot of importance on the forming of a social environment different from their family where they start to learn about sharing and other important activities. - ludic proposal a group of kids who already attend kindergarten are reunited with the objective of playing and socializing with other kids. the intention is to perform activities that they are already doing in the kindergarten in order to strengthen skills. learning is always the objective but without setting aside the act of playing. we form little groups of kids of an average age and reunite them in different homes of each of them, during vacations ( summer and winter ) with the objective of playing. there is always a teacher or two around. we count with special activities for indoors or outdoors, including games with water and without the necessity of a pool. we gather up kids of an average age and reunite them in different homes of each of them that rotate each day with the help of one or two teachers, weekly with the objective of playing or learning about a specific activity. - mobile circus and music the proposal is a fun world with colors, music, laughter and games ; a space for playing clown, acrobats or forming bands of music. they can dance, jump, sing, shout, and do acrobatics, juggling, play instruments and much other stuff. - mobile little chefs this is a fun way to learn about the kitchen, it includes : apron, ingredients, utensils, and didactic material for each participant. the kids take with them everything they prepared on material provided by us. - theater and music comedy workshop theater classes with a little bit of singing lessons for them to have fun acting among friends. - art workshop with an art teacher in charge they can express their artistic skills by drawing and painting. - mobile language workshop we organize little groups of kids of an average age and offer them the opportunity of stimulating their language skills in english and italian throughout the different games. - playing workshop – mother


charge they can express their artistic skills by drawing and painting. - mobile language workshop we organize little groups of kids of an average age and offer them the opportunity of stimulating their language skills in english and italian throughout the different games. - playing workshop – mother stimulation – babies we invite mothers and their babies to share their first social experience with other pairs. the idea is to stimulate their kids through the act of playing. we work with mother / baby bond encouraging their interaction and sharing the experience with other moms that are at the same place. it is the english program of music and movement most respected in the world for more than 25 years. more than 5, 000 authorized educators use these workouts with babies and children of up to 7 years old in more than 50 countries. in dulces nanas we offer you to form a little kindermusik group in your house for you and your kid. it is a space for you to share special and magic moments that occur through music, movement, petting, stories, sounds, etc. by this you will help your child to discover the world in different ways. in these classes you will be able to stimulate your child ’ s learning skills throughout songs, vocal games, object exploration and musical instruments, creative movement, stories, and english in a warm and familiar environment. classes are one hour a week. each can come with a companion ( mom, dad, grandmother, grandfather, nanny, etc. )


the yi archives refer to books and documents written in yi language, the native language of an ethnic group located in southwest china and parts of southeast asia. as a writing tradition in the peripheral area, yi archives have been historically ignored and annihilated by the mainstream han culture. social revolutions in the past half century brought large - scale deconstruction of both the archives and the yi language. the tiny survival collections in yunnan, either public or private, are now facing further serious preservation conditions due to lack of necessary fund and effective means. preservation of the yi archives in yunnan before they disappear forever is the focus of this project. the unsurpassable significance of the yi archives for the study of yi people and yi culture exists in that they are the only available written resource in the native yi language, in addition to their extraordinary richness in contents. the yi language, first appearing in the 14th century, had been actively spoken and written among aboriginal people until the sharply social changes in the middle 20th century. all of the yi archives are written, kept and disseminated by bimo, the ritual priests, scribes and intellectuals in the traditional yi society. the yi archives are therefore also referred to as the bimo sutra. since they cover epic, chronology, philosophy, politics, history, ritual, geography, calendar, divination, literature, music and more, the archives are regarded as the encyclopaedia of yi people. the yi archives gradually became endangered in the 20th century and the deconstruction process has even accelerated in past decades. first of all, the yi language itself has become an endangered or extinct language since the mid 20th century, resulted from increasingly contacts with chinese during the modernization process. most of yi people have adopted chinese as their first or the only language. the native yi language is preserved only in distant or isolated locations. secondly, as the writer, keeper and educator, bimo were deprived of the rights of writing and teaching due to ideological conflicts, and the native knowledge tradition of yi people was terminated in the 1960s and 1970s. the yi archives developed over six centuries was brought to an end. although bimo have been partly allowed to restore their religious activities since the 1980s, the writing tradition has never been restored. third, the physical characteristics of books and documents as woodblock printing or handwriting on rice paper determines that their life cycle is very short, especially when the preservation condition is far from ideal. due to neglect, poverty and incapability in archival preservation of the native yi people, and


books and documents as woodblock printing or handwriting on rice paper determines that their life cycle is very short, especially when the preservation condition is far from ideal. due to neglect, poverty and incapability in archival preservation of the native yi people, and ignorance and annihilation by zealous revolutionists, the size of the yi archives shrank dramatically in the middle and late 20th century. a recent preliminary investigation shows that only about 4, 000 volumes survive in the world. of the surviving yi archives, the largest public collection and most of private collections are preserved in yunnan, especially in the chuxiong autonomous prefecture of yi people. besides 1, 400 volumes in public collections formed since the 1980s, another 900 volumes are estimated to be held by private parties, especially by descendants of bimo families. however, in regards to both preservation and readiness for academic purpose, the yi archives in yunnan need the most urgent attention. there hasn ' t been any positive treatment applied to prevent the aging and mildew process, nor has any image conversion work been done, nor has any material been published before. our pilot investigation shows that only around 40 volumes in the public collection are mounted, and most books are even unaffordable to be stored in desirable spaces. written on perishable rice paper in fading mineral pigment, yi documents will be illegible in several years ' time if no preservative action is taken immediately. neglect resulting from poverty will lead to fatal disaster to the archives. in the proposed project, the two major tasks are : ( 1 ) a thorough registration of yi archival collections before they disappear silently, and ( 2 ) the digitisation and indexing of all available public and private archives. in the former, since the private collections are not as stable as the public, the project will pay extra attentions to the private collections, in order to keep an updated and complete record of the available yi archives. the institute of studies on yi culture, the owner of the largest yi archives in the world, has eagerly expressed the willingness to join the project. the bureau of cultural affairs is also providing access to small public collections of yi archives in wuding, shuangbai and other counties. relocation is not included in this stage, but will be pursued later by searching matching funds from the local government. this project has fully achieved its stated objectives : a thorough investigation of endangered yi archives in chuxiong, dali, kunming, yuxi and honghe was undertaken and a detailed field report and preliminary research completed. an interdisciplinary and multimedia


by piter kehoma boll let ’ s expand the universe of friday fellow by presenting a plant for the first time! and what could be a better choice to start than the famous grandidier ’ s baobab? belonging to the species adansonia grandidieri, this tree is one of the trademarks of madagascar, being the biggest species of this genus found in the island. reaching up to 30 m in height and having a massive trunk only branched at the very top, it has a unique look and is found only at southwestern madagascar. however, despite being so attractive and famous, it is classified as an endangered species by iucn red list, with a declining population threatened by agriculture expansion. this tree is also heavily exploited, having vitamin c - rich fruits which can be consumed fresh and seeds used to extract oil. its bark can also be used to make ropes and many trees are found with scars due to the extraction of part of the bark. having a fibrous trunk, baoabs are able to deal with drought by apparently storaging water inside them. there are no seed dispersors, which can be due to the extiction of the original dispersor by human activities. originally occuring close to temporary water bodies in the dry deciduous forest, today many large trees are found in always dry terrains. this probably is due to human impact that changed the local ecosystem, letting it to become drier than it was. those areas have no or very poor ability to regenerate and probably will never go back to what they were and, once the old trees die, there will be no more baobabs there. - – - baum, d. a. ( 1995 ). a systematic revision of adansonia ( bombacaceae ) annals of the missouri botanical garden, 82, 440 - 470 doi : 10. 2307 / 2399893 wikipedia. adamsonia grandidieri. available online at < http : / / en. wikipedia. org / wiki / adansonia _ grandidieri >. access on october 02, 2012. world conservation monitoring centre 1998. adansonia grandidieri. in : iucn 2012. iucn red list of threatened species. version 2012. 1. < www. iucnredlist. org >. access on october 02, 2012.


current models of global climate change predict warmer temperatures will increase the rate that bacteria and other microbes decompose soil organic matter, a scenario that pumps even more heat - trapping carbon into the atmosphere. but a new study led by a university of georgia researcher shows that while the rate of decomposition increases for a brief period in response to warmer temperatures, elevated levels of decomposition don ’ t persist. “ there is about two and a half times more carbon in the soil than there is in the atmosphere, and the concern right now is that a lot of that carbon is going to end up in the atmosphere, ” said lead author mark bradford, assistant professor in the uga odum school of ecology. “ what our finding suggests is that a positive feedback between warming and a loss of soil carbon to the atmosphere is likely to occur but will be less than currently predicted. ” bradford, whose results appear in the early online edition of the journal ecology letters, said the finding helps resolve a long - standing debate about how unseen soil microbes respond to and influence global climate change. other scientists have noted that the respiration of soil microbes returns to normal after a number of years under heated conditions, but offered competing explanations. some argued that the microbes consumed so much of the available food under heated conditions that future levels of decomposition were reduced because of food scarcity. others argued that soil microbes adapted to the changed environment and reduced their respiration accordingly. bradford and his team, which included researchers from the university of new hampshire, the marine biological laboratory at woods hole, duke university and colorado state university, found evidence to support both hypotheses and revealed a third, previously unaccounted for explanation : the abundance of soil microbes decreased under warm conditions. “ it is often said that in a handful of dirt, there are somewhere around 10, 000 species and millions of individual bacteria and fungi, ” said study co - author matthew wallenstein, a research scientist at colorado state university. “ our findings add to the understanding of how complex these systems are and the role they play in feedbacks associated with climate change. ” the researchers studied soil microbes at harvard forest in massachusetts, the site of a soil warming experiment that began in 1991. scientists took soil samples from two plots, one in which buried cables heat the soil to five degrees celsius above the ambient soil temperature ( a condition that is expected to occur around 2100 ) and a control condition in which cables are buried but not producing heat. in the first set of experiments, the scientists


cables heat the soil to five degrees celsius above the ambient soil temperature ( a condition that is expected to occur around 2100 ) and a control condition in which cables are buried but not producing heat. in the first set of experiments, the scientists compared microbial respiration in the two groups and found lower rates of decomposition in the heated plots. this finding supported the idea that respiration decreases after a few years of warming, but didn ’ t explain whether the cause was substrate depletion in the warmer soils or adaptation by the microbes. in the next set of experiments, they added the simple sugar sucrose to both sets of soils to alleviate any food limitation for the microbes. they found that microbes from both conditions increased their respiration, but that the increase was greater in the unheated control soils than in the heated soils. “ that finding told us that substrate depletion played a role, ” bradford said, “ but it also told us that there were other factors involved. ” the researchers then measured microbial biomass and found that there were fewer microbes in the heated soils. to test whether thermal adaptation occurred, they measured respiration while keeping temperature constant. they found that respiration rates were indeed lower in the heated versus the control soils, even when adjusting for microbial biomass. wallenstein pointed out that the study is among the first to demonstrate that microbes, like many plants and animals, can adapt relatively quickly to changes in climate. “ this research presents a new challenge to scientists trying to predict effects of climate change on forest ecosystems because it shows that these soil microbial communities are very dynamic, ” wallenstein said. “ we cannot simply extrapolate from the short - term responses of soil microbes to climate change, since they may adapt over the longer - term. ” bradford notes that there is still much to be learned about how soil microbes respond to global warming. his team is currently working to understand whether the reduced microbial respiration in heated soils is caused by the adaptation of individual microbes, by shifts in species composition or a combination of the two factors. he warns against minimizing the role of soil microbes in global warming, even though his findings suggest that current models overstate their contribution. “ although our results suggest that the impact of soil microbes on global warming will be less than is currently predicted, ” bradford said, “ even a small change in atmospheric carbon is going to alter the way our world works and how our ecosystems function. ” the research was funded by the


watch the miraculous journey of infant sea turtles as these tiny animals run the gauntlet of predators and harsh conditions. then, in numbers, see how human behavior has made their tough lives even more challenging. discover what makes a sea turtle so wonderfully adapted for the marine environment, gain a greater appreciation for the challenges they face, follow efforts to rescue and protect sea turtles both domestically and internationally, and uncover what you can do to help celebrate and preserve these amazing marine animals as you explore saving a species : sea turtles. http : / / www. youtube. com / playlist? list = pl084c71bc9ec2ea8f looking for a rich source of sea turtle information? look no further than seaworld ’ s sea turtle infobook! covering topics such as adaptations for a marine environment, habitat and distribution, diet and feeding habits, conservation issues, and more, this resource will prove a useful and interesting tool. ( and if you ’ re looking for even more, there are a variety of topic - related classroom resources also available on the site. ) http : / / www. seaworld. org / animal - info / info - books / sea - turtle / index. htm the national oceanic and atmospheric administration ( noaa ) fisheries office of protected resources is responsible for sea turtle management in u. s. waters. they maintain a useful online resource with species, conservation, and management references. http : / / www. nmfs. noaa. gov / pr / species / turtles / offering stunning images of sea turtles and accompanying natural history briefs, national geographic offers a beautiful and intriguing species resource. http : / / animals. nationalgeographic. com / animals / photos / sea - turtles / have a question about sea turtles? so do scientists! see what mysteries are of foremost interest to researchers as they are trying to better understand these ancient and imperiled species. http : / / iucn - mtsg. org / about - turtles / key - unsolved - mysteries / scientists, policy makers, industry leaders, and citizens are actively seeking ways for humankind to move into a dramatically more balanced relationship with the ocean. sylvia earle – renowned ocean explorer – is one of the most important voices in this endeavor. personally dedicated to globally growing meaningful commitments to ocean stewardship, she seeks to inspire and engage others to come together now so that we might make a difference for our planet ’ s blue heart. david gallo shows jaw - dropping footage of amazing sea creatures, including a color - shifting cuttle


to ocean stewardship, she seeks to inspire and engage others to come together now so that we might make a difference for our planet ’ s blue heart. david gallo shows jaw - dropping footage of amazing sea creatures, including a color - shifting cuttlefish, a perfectly camouflaged octopus, and a times square ' s worth of neon light displays from fish that live in the blackest depths of the ocean. http : / / www. ted. com / talks / david _ gallo _ shows _ underwater _ astonishments. html ocean explorer robert ballard takes us on a mind - bending trip to hidden worlds underwater, where he and other researchers are finding unexpected life, resources, and even new mountains. he makes a case for serious exploration and mapping. google ocean, anyone? http : / / www. ted. com / talks / lang / en / robert _ ballard _ on _ exploring _ the _ oceans. html seaworld is a powerful and dynamic force working to connect and inspire on behalf of marine life and marine environments. in addition to its own direct efforts, seaworld partners with and supports organizations around the world that are actively exploring, protecting, caring for, and inspiring on behalf of our one ocean and the countless precious forms of life which depend on it. find out more about what seaworld and its partners are doing on behalf of marine life ( sea turtles included! ) and how you might join in the effort. http : / / www. seaworldcares. com /


( cookinglight. com ) - - some nutrition myths bounce around on crazy e - mail chain letters and pop up on goofy evening news reports. others fuel the sale of rip - off diet books. some are so accepted they seem hardwired into our brains. take deep - fried foods, for example. they ' re universally bad for you, right? well, no. when we challenged ourselves to explore whether fried foods could be made healthy, we discovered that, when done properly, fried foods don ' t have to be forever banished from a healthy diet. the exercise inspired us to take on some other ingrained nutrition misconceptions. we talked with leading nutrition researchers, chefs, and food scientists and did some sleuthing of our own to debunk 10 myths so you can enjoy many once - forbidden foods without that old familiar twinge of guilt. myth 1. added sugar is always bad for you. truth : use the sweet stuff to ensure that sugar calories are far from " empty " calories. sugar is essential in the kitchen. consider all that it does for baking, creating a tender cake crumb and ensuring crisp cookies. then there ' s its role in creating airy meringue or soft - textured ice cream. keep in mind that other sweeteners like " natural " honey are basically refined sugar anyway and they are all metabolized by your body the same way, as 4 calories per gram. sugar also balances the flavors in healthy foods that might not taste so great on their own. don ' t go overboard, of course. most health experts suggest that added sugar supply no more than 10 percent of your total calories - - about 200 in a 2, 000 - calorie diet. good news : a little sugar can go a long way. adding a wee bit of sugar to balance a too - tart tomato sauce is a good thing ; so is a teaspoon of honey on a tart grapefruit half or in plain yogurt. " add a little bit of sugar to help boost your intake of nutrient - rich foods by making them tastier, " says jackie newgent, author of the all - natural diabetes cookbook. in this refreshing palate cleansing sorbet, sugar tames the tartness of grapefruit juice. and with just two ingredients, it could not be simpler to prepare. a serving delivers about two - thirds of your rda for vitamin c, and only 145 calories. myth 2. eating eggs raises


the tartness of grapefruit juice. and with just two ingredients, it could not be simpler to prepare. a serving delivers about two - thirds of your rda for vitamin c, and only 145 calories. myth 2. eating eggs raises your cholesterol levels. truth : dietary cholesterol found in eggs has little to do with the amount of cholesterol in your body. the confusion can be boiled down to semantics : the same word, " cholesterol, " is used to describe two different things. dietary cholesterol the fat - like molecules in animal - based foods like eggs doesn ' t greatly affect the amount of cholesterol circulating in your bloodstream. your body makes its own cholesterol, so it doesn ' t need much of the kind you eat. instead, what fuels your body ' s cholesterol - making machine is certain saturated and trans fats. eggs contain relatively small amounts of saturated fat. one large egg contains about 1. 5 grams saturated fat, a fraction of the amount in the tablespoon of butter many cooks use to cook that egg in. so, cutting eggs out of your diet is a bad idea ; they ' re a rich source of 13 vitamins and minerals. good news : eggs of all kinds are fine. the kind of cholesterol found in eggs doesn ' t affect the cholesterol in your blood, so go ahead and enjoy eggs for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, guilt - free. in healthy people, " the research with eggs has never shown any link of egg consumption with blood lipids or with risk of heart disease, " says don layman, professor emeritus in the department of food science and human nutrition at the university of illinois at urbana - champaign. make this mexican scrambled egg dish for dinner, brunch, or for a hearty breakfast. leave all the seeds in the jalapeno if you want a spicier kick, adjust the hot pepper sauce to taste, and throw in your favorite add - ins to create a satisfying meal for four. myth 3 : all saturated fats raise blood cholesterol. truth : new research shows that some saturated fats don ' t. just when we ' d all gotten comfortable with the idea that there are good - for - you mono - and polyunsaturated fats ( like those found in olive oil and walnuts ), along comes new research calling into question the one principle most health professionals thought was sacrosanct : all saturated fat is bad


for - you mono - and polyunsaturated fats ( like those found in olive oil and walnuts ), along comes new research calling into question the one principle most health professionals thought was sacrosanct : all saturated fat is bad. researchers have long known that there are many kinds of saturated fats, and they are handled differently by the body when consumed. stearic acid, a type of saturated fat found naturally in cocoa, dairy products, meats, and poultry, as well as palm and coconut oils, does not raise harmful ldl cholesterol but boosts beneficial hdl cholesterol levels. good news : saturated fat may be better than once thought. eating foods like coconut and chocolate that contain stearic acid, an hdl - cholesterol booster that may eventually be called the " good " saturated fat, is healthier than once thought. this is not a license to eat freely of anything containing stearic acid, though, because foods rich in any type of fat tend to be dense in calories, as well. given that both chocolate and coconut are not as " bad " as once thought, and given that they taste mighty good together, we baked up a batch of toasty, chocolaty treats to celebrate. like all sweets with few other nutrients, though, they are treats perfectly healthy every once in a while. myth 4 : the only heart - friendly alcohol is red wine. truth : beer, wine, and liquors all confer the same health benefits. the so - called french paradox elevated red wine to health - food status when researchers thought it was the antioxidants in the drink that protected the foie gras - and cheese - loving french from heart disease. more recent research, however, has shown that antioxidants aren ' t the answer after all. alcohol, the ethanol itself, raises levels of protective hdl, or good cholesterol, which help protect against plaque buildup in the arteries and reduce clotting factors that contribute to heart attack and stroke, according to eric rimm, associate professor of nutrition at the school of public health at harvard university. any kind of beverage that contains alcohol, when consumed in moderation ( and that means one to two drinks a day ), helps reduce heart disease risk. myth 5 : adding salt to the pot adds sodium to the food. truth : salt added to boiling water may actually make vegetables more nutritious. public health messages encouraging us to shake our salt - in - everything


, helps reduce heart disease risk. myth 5 : adding salt to the pot adds sodium to the food. truth : salt added to boiling water may actually make vegetables more nutritious. public health messages encouraging us to shake our salt - in - everything habits are, in general, good ; sodium is a potential problem even for non - hypertensive people. but it ' s easy to overlook how sodium can actually help in recipes. " salt in the cooking water reduces the leaching of nutrients from vegetables into the water, " says harold mcgee, author of on food & cooking. that means your blanched broccoli, green beans, or asparagus likely retains more nutrients. " it also speeds up the cooking process so you don ' t lose as many nutrients from overcooking. " mcgee recommends using about 1 teaspoon of salt per cup of water. the amount of sodium absorbed by the food is minuscule. myth 6 : fried foods are always too fatty. truth : healthy deep - fried food is not an oxymoron. here ' s how frying works : when food is exposed to hot oil, the moisture inside boils and pushes to the surface and then out into the oil. as moisture leaves, it creates a barrier, minimizing oil absorption when the frying is done right. meanwhile, the little oil that does penetrate the food ' s surface forms a crisp, tasty crust. to keep foods from soaking up oil, fry according to recipe instructions. for most foods, 375°f is optimal. oil temperatures that are too low will increase fat absorption. when we added tempura - coated vegetables to cooler - than - optimal oil, the result was greasy and inedible - - they absorbed more than 1 cup of oil instead of 1 / 3 cup. so, watch the oil temperature like a hawk using a candy / fry thermometer, and drain cooked foods on a paper towel for a minute or two before diving in. good news : you can have fried catfish and hush puppies, too. keep in mind that we ' re not giving fast - food fried chicken dinners with french fries a passing grade. such a meal contains an entire day ' s worth of calories and sodium, thanks to large portion sizes, excessive breading, and globs of sauces. but as an occasional treat, home - fried foods have a place in a healthy diet. use in moderation by pairing with a sensible side or salad. always choose a healthy oil that ' s


breading, and globs of sauces. but as an occasional treat, home - fried foods have a place in a healthy diet. use in moderation by pairing with a sensible side or salad. always choose a healthy oil that ' s low in saturated fat - - such as peanut, soybean, and canola oils - - and follow our step - by - step techniques to frying basics to keep calories and fat as low as possible. in the hands of a careful home cook, a delicately breaded and fried catfish fillet with a few hush puppies can be a perfectly reasonable and delicious dinner. myth 7 : the more fiber you eat, the better. truth : not all fibers are equally beneficial. consider the source. yogurt doesn ' t naturally come with fiber, yet the grocery aisles now boast fiber - supplemented yogurt, along with cereals, energy bars, even water. what ' s the deal? fiber is a fad - food component right now, and manufacturers are isolating specific types of fiber and adding them to packaged foods to take advantage. but the science isn ' t entirely clear yet : just as we ' re learning more about different types of fat, research is showing how complex fiber is as well. we now know that different fibers have different functions ( wheat bran helps move foods along ; oat bran lowers cholesterol ; inulin supports healthy gut bacteria ). some experts are skeptical that the so - called faux - fiber foods offer the same beneficial effect as naturally fiber - rich ones like whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and legumes. good news : fiber - rich whole foods satisfy hunger. while it ' s true that only half of us eat the fiber we need for good health, eating processed foods with added fiber doesn ' t get us off the hook. fact is, most processed foods lack a bevy of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. eating fiber - rich whole foods is the best way to gain this essential component of you diet. in this recipe, whole - grain wheat berries are chewy, mild, and packed with fiber. dressing the hot wheat berries in a homemade spicy - sweet vinaigrette and letting stand for 20 minutes infuses them with intense flavor. and more good news : this fiber - and protein - rich salad will curb hunger pains, something packaged foods can ' t always deliver on. myth 8 : you should always remove chicken skin before eating. truth : you can enjoy a skin -


flavor. and more good news : this fiber - and protein - rich salad will curb hunger pains, something packaged foods can ' t always deliver on. myth 8 : you should always remove chicken skin before eating. truth : you can enjoy a skin - on chicken breast without blowing your sat - fat budget. half the pleasure of eating roast chicken comes from the gloriously crisp, brown skin that seems to melt in your mouth. yet the skinless, boneless chicken breast - - one of the more boring protein sources on earth - - became the health - conscious cook ' s gold standard somewhere along the way. fortunately, the long - standing command to strip poultry of its skin before eating doesn ' t hold up under a nutritional microscope. a 12 - ounce bone - in, skin - on chicken breast half contains just 2. 5 grams of saturated fat and 50 calories more than its similarly portioned skinless counterpart. good news : you can splurge with skin - on chicken from time to time. a chicken breast will always be lean - - skinned or not. what ' s more, 55 percent of the fat in the chicken skin is monounsaturated - - the heart - healthy kind you want more of, says amy myrdal miller, program director for strategic initiatives at the culinary institute of america at greystone. so if you and your family are tired of plain skinless, boneless chicken breasts, splurge on a skin - on option like this oregano - and lime - scented dish. a quick pan sauce made from some of the delectable pan drippings will make your regular chicken dinner a lot more interesting and appetizing. myth 9 : organic foods are more nutritious than conventional. if you buy organic because you believe that sustainable farming supports the health of the soil, the work of small farmers, or the well - being of livestock, that ' s all good. and you may find it more tasty. however, it ' s not accurate to also promote organic as inherently more nutritious. researchers at the london school of hygiene & tropical medicine provided the most comprehensive review of organic foods to date. their conclusion : no significant nutritional difference exists between conventional and organic crops and livestock. a good radish by any other name is still a radish. there is, of course, still the issue of trace amounts of pesticides or herbicides - - wash conventional produce carefully. myth 10 : cooking olive oil destroys its health benefits. truth : even delicate extra - virgin oils can


a radish. there is, of course, still the issue of trace amounts of pesticides or herbicides - - wash conventional produce carefully. myth 10 : cooking olive oil destroys its health benefits. truth : even delicate extra - virgin oils can take the heat without sacrificing nutrition. this one has been kicking around ever since olive oil became a " good " fat : cook with premium versions and you heat away the healthful properties. it simply isn ' t true. first of all, heart - healthy mono - unsaturated fats aren ' t unfavorably altered by heat. they survive a saute intact. now, research is showing that other plant - based compounds - - the elements that likely give olive oils their complex flavor profiles as well as other healthful properties - - can also stand up to standard cooking procedures. they ' re surprisingly stable, as long as the oil isn ' t heated past its smoking point, which for extra - virgin olive oil is pretty high, about 405°f. good news : olive oil can take the heat as long as oil is kept below its smoking point, flavor and nutrition are intact. more important is how you store the oil. fats and phytonutrients stay stable for up to two years in unopened opaque bottles stored at room temperature and away from light. heat, light, and air drastically affect stability. store oil in a room - temp cupboard, and use within six months. in this simple side dish, extra - virgin olive oil adds great fruity flavor, and sauteing over high heat doesn ' t burn away the oil ' s healthful antioxidants. enter for a chance to win in our $ 5, 000 grocery giveaway copyright 2011 cooking light magazine. all rights reserved.


description from flora of china dissochaeta sect. diplectria blume, flora 14 : 501. 1831. climbers or scandent shrubs. stems squamose, glabrous or pubescent. leaves shortly petiolate ; secondary veins 1 or 2 on each side of midvein, margin entire. inflorescences terminal or axillary, cymose paniculate, sometimes bracteate. flowers small, 4 - merous. hypanthium tubular - campanulate to campanulate, squamose, glabrous or pubescent, apex truncate or inconspicuous. petals white, ovate to oblong, glabrous. stamens 8, whorls unequal in shape and length. longer stamens with anthers oblong to linear - oblong, base abaxially 2 - tuberculate and abaxially spurred or not, apex usually beaked. shorter stamens abortive ; anthers rhomboid - ovate, usually papery, abaxially long caudate - spurred, adaxially 2 - setose at base. ovary inferior, ovate, apex truncate. style filiform ; stigma apiculate. fruit a berry, subglobular to ovate, apex often with persistent calyx lobes. seeds numerous, cuneate, small, angular. diplectria is often considered as a synonym of dissochaeta blume ( see renner et al., fl. thailand 7 ( 3 ) : 419 - 420. 2001 ). dissochaeta when including diplectria has ca. 40 species and a similar geographic distribution. between eight and eleven species : china, india, indonesia, malaysia, myanmar, new guinea, philippines, vietnam ; one species in china.


[ ronald hutton, history of pagan witchcraft, in witchcraft and magic in europe : the twentieth century ed. bengt ankarloo and stuart clark, p. 54 ] 1. " witchcraft doesn ’ t pay for broken windows. " indeed, gardner ' s witches did multiply, and soon doreen valiente had formed a new, sister coven, in 1957. a number of factors contributed to this growth, among them being the publication in 1954 of gardner ' s book witchcraft today, combined with gardner ' s eagerness and talent for courting of public attention. however, a great deal of the resulting attention paid to gardner and his witches was decidedly negative. according to hutton ( continuing on in his essay on the history of pagan witchcraft already quoted above ), starting in 1955 the popular press began to " run features attacking witchcraft as satanism.... in 1957 and 1959 the original london coven was denounced sensationally and unscrupulously, putting a considerable strain on its members and fracturing relations between valiente ' s group and gerald gardner. " in response, gardner came out with ( in 1959 ) the meaning of witchcraft : " answering the press attacks and attempting to establish the historical credentials of his religion more firmly by relating it to a string of ancient religious texts and images, and later magical groups. " [ p. 55 ] ( it should be noted, at least parenthetically, that, hutton ' s crude misdirection notwithstanding, the connections drawn by gardner, in the meaning of witchcraft, between 20th century wicca and " ancient religious texts and images, and later magical groups, " constitutes a seamless continuation of the way gardner had presented the history and roots of wicca previously in witchcraft today. in fact, gardner had included in the foward of that earlier book a prominent reference to the mystery cult of isis and the writings of platonic philosopher apuleius, who was an initiate in the cults of isis, asclepius, and hermes, and possibly that of other deities as well. gardner also devoted an entire chapter of witchcraft today to " the witches and the mysteries ", as well as another chapter titled " out of the land of egypt ", which is also primarily focused on the mystery religions of the ancient world. and there are in addition significant references to the mysteries in the chapters on " witch beliefs " and " witch practices ". ) the following two passages from the first chapter of the meaning of witchcraft give some indication of the kind of hostility that gardner and " his witches "


in addition significant references to the mysteries in the chapters on " witch beliefs " and " witch practices ". ) the following two passages from the first chapter of the meaning of witchcraft give some indication of the kind of hostility that gardner and " his witches " were up against : " i am a member of the society for psychical research, and on the committee of the folklore society ; so i wanted to tell of my discovery. but i was met with a determined refusal. ' the age of persecution is not over, ' they told me ; ' give anyone half a chance and the fires will blaze up again. ' when i said to one of them, ' why do you keep all these things so secret still? there ’ s no persecution nowadays! ' i was told, ' oh, isn ’ t there? if people knew what i was, every time a child in the village was ill, or somebody ’ s chickens died, i should get the blame for it. witchcraft doesn ’ t pay for broken windows. ' " i can remember as a boy reading in the papers of a woman being burned alive in southern ireland as a witch ; but i could not believe that there could be any persecution nowadays in england. so, against their better judgment, they agreed to let me write a little about the cult in the form of fictions, an historical novel where a witch says a little of what they believe and of how they were persecuted. this was published in 1949 under the title of high magic ’ s aid. " in 1951 a very important event occurred. the government of the day passed the fraudulent mediums act, which repealed and replaced the last remaining witchcraft act, under which spiritualists used to be prosecuted in modern times. this act is, i believe, unique in legally recognising the existence of genuine mediumship and psychic powers. " i thought that at last common sense and religious freedom had prevailed ; but even so, the passage of this act was highly obnoxious to certain religious bodies which had been preaching against spiritualism for years and trying to outlaw it as ' the work of satan, ' together with any other societies to which they objected, including freemasonry and, of course, witchcraft. " about a year previously, this museum had been opened, and i had flattered myself that showing what witchcraft really is, an ancient religion, would arouse no hostility in any quarter. i was to find out in due course how wrong i was! " any attempt to show witchcraft in anything even remotely resembling a favourable light


flattered myself that showing what witchcraft really is, an ancient religion, would arouse no hostility in any quarter. i was to find out in due course how wrong i was! " any attempt to show witchcraft in anything even remotely resembling a favourable light, or to challenge the old representation of it as something uniformly evil and devilish, or even to present it as a legitimate object of study, can still arouse the most surprising reactions. the virtues of humanism, which charles saltman defined as ' sensitivity, intelligence and erudition, together with integrity, curiosity and tolerance, ' have still quite a long way to go in their struggle against the mentality which produced the malleus maleficarum. " [ the meaning of witchcraft, pp. 11 - 12 ] " the old horned god of the witches is not the satan of christianity, and no amount of theological argument will make him so. he is, in fact, the oldest deity known to man, and is depicted in the oldest representation of a divinity which has yet been found, namely the stone age painting in the innermost recess of the caverne des trois freres at ariege. he is the old phallic god of fertility who has come forth from the morning of the world, and who was already of immeasurable antiquity before egypt and babylon, let alone before the christian era. nor did he perish at the cry that great pan was dead. secretly through the centuries, hidden deeper and deeper as time went on, his worship and that of the naked moon goddess, his bride, the lady of mystery and magic and the forbidden joys, continued sometimes among the great ones of the land, sometimes in humble cottages, or on lonely heaths and in the depths of darkling woods, on summer nights when the moon rode high. it does so still. " from time to time the public have been treated to various highly - coloured and highly unconvincing ' revelations ' in the popular press and elsewhere upon the subject of ' black magic ', ' satanism ', and similar matters, and occasionally these have been linked with witchcraft. let me state right away that i personally maintain an attitude of thorough - going scepticism towards these things, and that even if they do exist i do not consider them to have any relation to the survival of the witch cult. alleged ' confessions ', especially where witchcraft is mentioned, bear ample internal evidence of their own meretriciousness, in that they are obviously modelled upon sensational thrillers and reveal no


them to have any relation to the survival of the witch cult. alleged ' confessions ', especially where witchcraft is mentioned, bear ample internal evidence of their own meretriciousness, in that they are obviously modelled upon sensational thrillers and reveal no knowledge whatever of genuine witch practices. " [ the meaning of witchcraft, pp. 21 - 22 ] " that there is no positive evil. " rachel beauvoir - dominique is an oxford educated anthropologist who is chair of the department of anthropology and sociology at l ' universite d ' etat d ' haiti. she is also a highly respected priestess ( mambo ) in the haitian vodou religion. in september of 2009 ( fully 55 years after gerald gardner wrote witchcraft today ), beauvoir - dominique was interviewed in conjunction with an exhibit on vodou at the museum of world culture in gothenburg, sweden ( too see the interview, go here ). the first question asked of professor beauvoir - dominique was " what is vodou? " a perfectly reasonable question, to which the mambo gives a very informative answer. however, it does not take long for the other shoe to drop. the second question was " are there any evil forces in vodou? " to which professor beauvoir - dominique again gives a very educational answer, part of which is : " vodou... is part of haitian culture, and in this culture we don ' t see that there is evil. we think that the word evil is constructed, it comes from other places, and is really not ours. the " good " and the " bad " are very christian notions, very manichean. we think more in terms of grays, of black becoming white, of white becoming black. of yin and yang. as in the figure of yin and yang - - there is a perpetual movement of things. and for us there is no evil. things become evil when they are seen through evil eyes. " this chapter on " the black mass " is, in fact, the section of the meaning of witchcraft in which gardner introduces sallustius ' peri theon kai kosmou and pronounces it to be " a general statement " of the beliefs of wiccans ( as discussed in part one of this series ). the first portion of sallustius ' pagan manifesto that gardner quotes is the entirety of section xii : " the origin of evil things ; and that there is no positive evil. " " the gods being good and making all things, how do evils exist in


portion of sallustius ' pagan manifesto that gardner quotes is the entirety of section xii : " the origin of evil things ; and that there is no positive evil. " " the gods being good and making all things, how do evils exist in the world? or perhaps it is better first to state the fact that, the gods being good and making all things, there is no positive evil, it only comes by absence of good ; just as darkness itself does not exist, but only comes about by absence of light. " if evil exists it must exist either in gods or minds or souls or bodies. it does not exist in any god, for all god is good. if anyone speaks of a ' bad mind ' he means a mind without mind. if of a bad soul, he will make the soul inferior to body, for no body in itself is evil. if he says that evil is made up of soul and body together, it is absurd that separately they should not be evil, but joined should create evil. " suppose it is said that there are evil spirits : - if they have their power from the gods, they cannot be evil ; if from elsewhere, the gods do not make all things. if they do not make all things, then either they wish to or cannot, or they can and do not wish ; neither of which is consistent with the idea of god. we may see, therefore, from these arguments, that there is no positive evil in the world. " it is in the activities of men that the evils appear, and that not of all men nor always. and as to these, if men sinned for the sake of evil, nature itself would be evil. but if the adulterer thinks his adultery bad but his pleasure good, and the murderer thinks the murder bad but the money he gets by it good, and the man who does evil to an enemy thinks that to do evil is bad but to punish his enemy good, and if the soul commits all its sins in that way, then the evils are done for the sake of goodness. ( in the same way, because in a given place light does not exist, there comes darkness, which has no positive existence. ) the soul sins therefore because, while aiming at good, it makes mistakes about the good, because it is not primary essence. and we see many things done by the gods to prevent it from making mistakes and to heal it when it has made them. arts and sciences, curses and prayers, sacrifices and initiations, laws


about the good, because it is not primary essence. and we see many things done by the gods to prevent it from making mistakes and to heal it when it has made them. arts and sciences, curses and prayers, sacrifices and initiations, laws and constitutions, judgments and punishments, all came into existence for the sake of preventing souls from sinning ; and when they are gone forth from the body, gods and spirits of purification cleanse them of their sins. " [ on the gods and the cosmsos, sallustius, section xii : " the origin of evil things ; and that there is no positive evil. " ] " the inner meaning of religious rituals. " the section of sallustius that gardner turned to first requires little or no explanation. it is, in fact, one of the clearest explications of a pagan answer to the so - called " problem of evil ". less clear, perhaps, are gardner ' s reasons for his next selection from sallustius, which deals with, as gardner styles it, " the inner meaning of religious rituals. " " it is impious to suppose that the divine is affected for good or ill by human things. the gods are always good and always do good and never harm, being always in the same state and like themselves. the truth simply is that, when we are good, we are joined to the gods by our likeness ; when bad, we are separated from them by our unlikeness. and when we live according to virture we cling to the gods, and when we become evil we make the gods our enemies - - not because they are angered against us, but because our sins prevent the light of the gods from shining upon us, and put us in communion with spirits of punishment. and if by prayers and sacrifices we find forgiveness of sins, we do not appease or change the gods, but by what we do and by our turning toward the divine we heal our own badness and so enjoy again the goodness of the gods. to say that the gods turn away from evil is like saying that the sun hides himself from the blind. " this solves the question about sacrifices and other rites performed to the gods. the divine itself is without needs, and the worship is paid for our own benefit. the providence of the gods reaches everywhere and needs only some congruity for its reception. all congruity comes about by representation and likeness ; for which reason the temples are made in representation of heaven, the altar of earth, the images


benefit. the providence of the gods reaches everywhere and needs only some congruity for its reception. all congruity comes about by representation and likeness ; for which reason the temples are made in representation of heaven, the altar of earth, the images of life ( that is why they are made like living things ), the prayers of the element of though, the mystic letters of the unspeakable celestial forces, the herbs and stones of matter, and the sacrificial animals of the irrational life in us. " from all these things the gods gain nothing ; what gain could there be to god? it is we who gain some communion with them. " [ on the gods and the cosmsos, sallustius, section xiv ( partial ) : " in what sense, though the gods never change, they are said to be made angry and appeased. " and also section xv : " why we give worship to the gods when they need nothing. " ] the issue here is not merely the accusation that pagans do evil things, but rather that we worship evil things. this accusation goes back to the earliest days of christianity. among its clearest expressions is that found in the writings of augustine, and his city of god, against the pagans in particular. somewhat ironically, augustine wrote that work largely as a defense of christianity against the accusation, from pagans, that the christian prohibitions against the worship of the old gods had led to the downfall of rome ( some of the historical background to this is discussed in reflections on vergil and augustine. ) in book viii of his against the pagans, augustine asserts that the traditional gods worshipped at pagan festivals and in the urban pagan temples are " rather malign demons than gods. " furthermore, augustine employs a favorite christian trope that is still popular today with ronald hutton and his fanbase, in which it is claimed that the religion of ancient philosophers is somehow different from and unrelated to that of the pagan masses generally. ( by this logic the " philosophy " of augustine is equally unrelated the lowbrow christianity of the ignorant, unwashed masses who make up the vast bulk of the army of christ, thus making augustine no christian at all. but any such appeal to consistency is lost on the likes of hutton. ) and so augustine now focuses not on " the fabulous, that is, the theatrical " theology of the plebs, nor on the more staid " civil, that is, the urban " theology of the aristocratic priests and priestesses serving the deities of


so augustine now focuses not on " the fabulous, that is, the theatrical " theology of the plebs, nor on the more staid " civil, that is, the urban " theology of the aristocratic priests and priestesses serving the deities of the polis. instead, augustine explains that he wishes to address himself " not to ordinary men, but to philosophers... concerning the theology which they call natural. " in particular, augustine, and here he shows that he knows what he is about, directly attacks the magical and erotic theology set forth by socrates in plato ' s dialogues. in his famous speech in the symposium, socrates had revealed what the witch ( for surely she fits gardner ' s profile for ancient witches ) diotima had revealed to him as a young man concerning the nature of eros. she had instructed socrates that eros is not really a god, per se, but rather a daemon : " a great daemon, socrates ; for the whole realm of the daemons is intermediary between the gods and mortals. " at this point socrates had inquired about the " powers " possessed by these daemons. and here is diotima ' s answer : " interpreting and conveying things from men to gods, and things from gods to men, prayers and sacrifices from one, commands and requitals in exchange for sacrifices from the other, since, being in between both, the daemons fill the region between both so that the all is bound together with itself. " through this daemonic realm moves all prophetic art and the art of priests having to do with sacrifices and rituals and spells, and all powers of prophecy and enchantment. the gods do not mingle with mortals, but all intercourse and conversation of the gods with humans, waking and sleeping, are through this intermediary realm. those who are wise about such things are truly divine, but those who are wise about any other arts or crafts are mere technicians and mechanics. the daemons, then, are many and manifold, and one of them is eros. " [ 202d - 203a, taken from r. e. allen ' s translation, with some liberties ] almost two thousand years later, marsilio ficino wondered why diotima, in addition to describing the great daemon eros as clever, philosophical and a sophist, had also imputed magical powers to eros : " but why do we think that eros is a magician? because the whole power of magic consists in eros. the work of


daemon eros as clever, philosophical and a sophist, had also imputed magical powers to eros : " but why do we think that eros is a magician? because the whole power of magic consists in eros. the work of magic is the attraction of one thing by another because of a certain affinity of nature. but the parts of this world, like the parts of a single animal, all deriving from a single author, are joined to each other by the communion of a single nature. therefore just as the brain, lungs, heart, liver and the rest of the parts draw something from each other, and help each other, and sympathize with any one of them when it suffers, so the parts of this great animal [ the cosmos as a single living being ], that is, the bodies of the world, similarly joined together, borrow and lend natures to and from each other. from this common relationship is born a common love ; from love, a common attraction. and this is true magic.... [ t ] he works of magic are works of nature, but art is its handmaiden.... the ancients attributed this art to daemons, because the daemons understand what is the inter - relation of natural things, what is appropriate to each, and how the harmony of things, if lacking anywhere, can be restored.... they [ the ancients, such as socrates, zoroaster, apollonius of tyana, and porphyry ] seem to have become magicians through friendship of the daemons, just as the daemons are magicians through understanding the friendship of things themselves. and all nature, because of mutual love, is called a magician. " [ de amore, marsilio ficino. this is specificaly from speech vi, using the translation by sears jane, p. 127 of the 1985 spring publications edition ] the take home message from augustine ' s polemics against plato, apuleius, and hermes is that the whole daemonic realm is, in reality, demonic in the sense of being purely evil. in other words, what plato portrayed as the liminal realm of the cosmos, situated above the human realm, whose purpose is to connect us with the gods, and which is responsible for the efficacy of both religious practices and magic arts ; that this is in fact an infernal realm populated with demons that are " arrogant " and " deceiving " who prey on those who seek " divine refuge " by " fei


is responsible for the efficacy of both religious practices and magic arts ; that this is in fact an infernal realm populated with demons that are " arrogant " and " deceiving " who prey on those who seek " divine refuge " by " feigning divinity ". these demons are everywhere " lying in wait for the deception of man! " the christian view, then, is that ( 1 ) pagan religiosity is generally evil, ( 2 ) more specifically, the spiritual powers upon which pagans call are evil beings, and ( 3 ) the whole spiritual realm ( outside of the holy ghost and " angels " ) is filled with and characterized by malignant evil. it is in order to counter these dark ( and as perversely self - serving as they are self - revealing ) christian fantasies, which they sometimes try to hide behind the philosophical niceties of the so - called " problem of evil ", that gardner invokes the words of sallustius on the subject of the " the inner meaning of religious ritual. " in essence, gardner wishes to categorically disprove any idea that the magical / religious practices of wiccans amount to calling upon evil forces. however, gardner chooses not to explicitly defend the liminal / daemonic aspects of platonic theology but to explicate pagan rituals in such terms as ( 1 ) being " joined to the gods ", ( 2 ) having " the light of the gods... shining upon us ", and ( 3 ) " by turning toward the gods we heal our own badness and so enjoy again the goodness of the gods. " all this and more comes about because " the providence of the gods reaches everywhere and needs only some congruity for its reception. " the fact is that sallustius provides no opportunity to more directly defend the intermediary spiritual realm, for, true to the title of the work, he sticks to " the gods " and " the cosmos ". and it is unlikely, anyway, that gardner would have thought there could be anything to be gained by trying to convince the general public that wicca relies on daemons, but not on demons. and then there was also gardner ' s choice to ( dishonestly, as is now generally accepted ) deny the very real connections between his wicca and ceremonial magic ( where explicit references to daemons are easy to find ). but ( even though he avoids direct references to daemons ) it is quite clear that gerald gardner in 1959, just like practitioners of vodou


real connections between his wicca and ceremonial magic ( where explicit references to daemons are easy to find ). but ( even though he avoids direct references to daemons ) it is quite clear that gerald gardner in 1959, just like practitioners of vodou today, had to defend himself against the mindset that all spiritual powers outside christianity are by definition infernal, evil and satanic. and gardner turns to the platonic paganism of sallustius to assert both that ( 1 ) in terms of belief, " wicca positively denies the existence of a power of evil " ( using gardner ' s words ), and ( 2 ) in terms of practice, the gods of wicca " are always good and always do good and never harm " and " worship [ of the gods ] is paid for our own benefit, " with the end in mind that by such worship we might " live according to virture " and be " joined to the gods by our likeness to them " ( using sallustius ' words as cited by gardner ). modern paganism and the ancient mysteries : - part one : sallustius, gardner & wicca : " a general statement of their creed. " - part two : gerald gardner, sallustius, and the problem of evil - part three : gerald gardner, sallustius, and reincarnation - part four : " divested of their garments "


report : 100 million people will die by 2030 if world fails to tackle climate change it is estimated that over 100 million people will die and global economic growth will be cut by 3. 2 percent of gross domestic product ( gdp ) by 2030 if the world fails to tackle climate change, a report commissioned by 20 governments has claimed. as global average temperatures continue to rise due to greenhouse gas emissions, the effects on the planet, such as melting ice caps, extreme weather, drought and rising sea levels, will threaten populations and livelihoods, said the report conducted by humanitarian organization dara. dara calculated that five million deaths occur each year from air pollution, hunger and disease as a result of climate change and carbon - intensive economies. that toll is sure to increase, with estimates pinning at up to six million a year by 2030 if current patterns of fossil fuel use continue. more than 90 percent of those deaths will occur in developing countries, said the report that calculated the human and economic impact of climate change on 184 countries in 2010 and 2030. it was commissioned by the climate vulnerable forum, a partnership of 20 developing countries threatened by climate change. “ a combined climate - carbon crisis is estimated to claim 100 million lives between now and the end of the next decade, ” the report said. it said the effects of climate change had lowered global output by 1. 6 percent of world gdp, or by about $ 1. 2 trillion a year, and losses could double to 3. 2 percent of global gdp by 2030 if global temperatures are allowed to rise, surpassing 10 percent before 2100. it estimated the cost of moving the world to a low - carbon economy at about 0. 5 percent of gdp this decade. british economist nicholas stern told reuters earlier this year investment equivalent to 2 percent of global gdp was needed to limit, prevent and adapt to climate change. his report on the economics of climate change in 2006 said an average global temperature rise of 2 - 3 degrees celsius in the next 50 years could reduce global consumption per head by up to 20 percent. temperatures have already risen by about 0. 8 degrees celsius above those from pre - industrial times. almost 200 nations agreed in 2010 to limit the global average temperature rise to below 2c ( 3. 6 fahrenheit ) to avoid dangerous impacts from climate change. but climate scientists have warned that the chance of limiting the rise to below 2c is getting smaller as global greenhouse gas emissions rise due to burning fossil fuels. the world ’ s poorest nations are the most


the blink of an eye the facts about eyelid cancer symptoms and types of cancer sun exposure is cumulative — the older we get, the more likely we are to develop eyelid cancer. people with fair skin, and blonde or red hair and light eyes are particularly at risk. the lower lid is affected most often by eyelid cancer. the corner of the eyelid closest to the nose is the second most common area, followed by the upper eyelid. like other skin cancers, basal cell carcinoma is the most common cancer to affect the eyelid. “ you may see a little nodule or lesion that gets larger. it will usually be pearly with visible blood vessels in the center, ” says dr. hui. “ it may have crusting or bleeding at the site. you may also notice a loss of eyelashes in that area. ” a squamous cell carcinoma will progress more rapidly with a non - healing area in the center. more rarely, a melanoma will occur which most often appears as a dark spot. “ ideally, people should be aware of any lump or bump anywhere on their eyelid, especially on the margin in between the lashes, ” notes dr. hui. the standard of care for eyelid cancer is mohs microscopic surgery by a dermatologist to remove the lesion, followed by repair of the area by an ocuplastic surgeon. “ during the mohs procedure, a mohs - trained dermatologist takes the cancer off and immediately looks at the lesion under a microscope to make sure they removed all of the cancer, checking to see if they need to go back and remove more, ” explains dr. hui. “ this tissue - sparing approach is preferable because there is so little redundant tissue in the eyelids. once the lesion is removed, the area can be repaired within hours or on the following day. ” radiation and topical treatments are available but not optimal. “ topical treatments can be very irritating and i don ’ t feel there is a role for radiation because of the damage it can cause to surrounding tissue, ” says hui. “ excision is by far the treatment of choice. ” preventing eyelid cancer is relatively easy but does require self - discipline. sunscreen is a must. an spf of 30 is recommended in desert areas like the coachella valley. “ find a sunscreen you will wear and reapply it regularly, ” says dr. hui. “ you always want the sunscreen to be directly in contact with your skin for best


ancient greek marriage law | | this article may require cleanup to meet wikipedia ' s quality standards. ( october 2009 ) | marriage as a public interest the ancient greek legislators considered the relation of marriage a matter not merely of private, but also of public or general interest. this was particularly the case at sparta, where the subordination of private interests and happiness to the public was strongly exemplified in the regulations. for instance, by the laws of lycurgus, criminal proceedings might be taken against those who married too late ( graphe opsigamiou ) or unsuitably ( graphe kakogamiou ), as well as against those who did not marry at all ( graphe agamiou ). these regulations were founded on the generally recognised principle that it was the duty of every citizen to raise up a strong and healthy progeny of legitimate children to the state. so entirely, in fact, did the spartans consider the teknopoioia ( childbearing ) as the main object of marriage, which the state was bound to promote, that whenever a woman had no children by her own husband, she was not only allowed, but even required by the laws, to cohabit with another man. on the same principle, and for the purpose of preventing the extinction of his family, the spartan king anaxandridas ii was allowed to cohabit with two wives, for whom he kept two separate establishments : a case of bigamy, which, as herodotus observes, was not at all consistent with spartan nor indeed with hellenic customs. thus the heroes of homer appear never to have had more than one kouridie alochos : lawfully wedded wife ; though they are frequently represented as living in concubinage with one or more. solon also seems to have viewed marriage as a matter in which the state had a right to interfere, for we are told that his laws allowed agamiou graphe, though the regulation seems to have grown obsolete in later times ; at any rate there is no instance on record of its application. plato too may be quoted to prove how general was this feeling, for according to his laws, any one who did not marry before he was thirty - five was punishable not only with atimia ( loss of civil rights ), but also with pecuniary penalties, and he expressly states that in choosing a wife everyone ought to consult the interests of the state, and not his own pleasure. selecting a spouse but independent of any public


( loss of civil rights ), but also with pecuniary penalties, and he expressly states that in choosing a wife everyone ought to consult the interests of the state, and not his own pleasure. selecting a spouse but independent of any public considerations there were also private or personal reasons ( peculiar to the ancients ) which made marriage an obligation. plato mentions one of these the duty incumbent upon every individual to provide for a continuance of representatives to succeed himself as ministers of the divinity ( toi theoi hyperetas an ' hautou paradidonai ). another was the desire felt by almost every one, not merely to perpetuate his own name, but also to prevent his heritage being desolate, and his name being cut off, and to leave someone who might make the customary offerings at his grave. with this view, childless persons would sometimes adopt children that had been left to die or were simply unwanted. by the athenian law a citizen was not allowed to marry with a foreign woman, nor conversely, under very severe penalties. however, proximity by blood ( anchisteia ), or consanguinity ( syngeneia ), was not, with some few exceptions, a bar to marriage in any part of greece ; direct lineal descent was. thus brothers were permitted to marry with sisters even, if not homometrioi or born from the same mother, as cimon did with elpinice, though a connection of this sort appears to have been looked on with abhorrence. in the earlier periods of society, indeed, we can easily conceive that a spirit of caste or family pride, and other causes such as the difficulties in the way of social intercourse would tend to make marriages frequent amongst near relations and connections. ( compare book of numbers ^ c. xxxvi. ) at athens, however, in the case of a father dying intestate, and without male children, his heiress had no choice in marriage ; she was compelled by law to marry her nearest kinsman not in the ascending line ; and if the heiress were poor ( thessa ) the nearest unmarried kinsman either married her or portioned her suitably to her rank. when there were several coheiresses, they were respectively married to their kinsmen, the nearest having the first choice ( see epikleros ). the heiress in fact, together with her inheritance, seems to have belonged to the kinsmen of the family, so that in early times a father could not give his