aug. 5, 2009 divers who held their breath for several minutes had elevated levels of a protein that can signal brain damage, according to a new study from the journal of applied physiology. however, the appearance of the protein, s100b, was transient and leaves open the question of whether lengthy apnea ( breath - holding ) can damage the brain over the long term. " the results indicate that prolonged, voluntary apnea affects the integrity of the central nervous system, and may have cumulative effects, " the swedish researchers said. the release of s100b into the blood suggests that holding one ' s breath for a long time disrupts the blood - brain barrier, they said. the concern is that repetitive exposures to severe hypoxia ( lowered oxygen supply ), such as that experienced by individuals training and competing in static apnea diving events, could cause neurological damage over time. the researchers recommended further research on free divers that would begin early in their careers and follow them for years to monitor their neurological function. the study is " increased serum levels of the brain damage marker s100b after apnea in trained breath - hold divers : a study including respiratory and cardiovascular observations. " the researchers are johan p. a. andersson, mats h. liner and henrik jonsson, of lund university in sweden. the american physiological society published the study. free diving is a tradition there is a tradition of breath - hold diving in japan and some other parts of the world that goes back hundreds of years, although the occupation has been dying out. these divers harvest seaweed, shellfish and other growth from the sea bottom, diving dozens of times per day. some divers routinely dive to depths of 90 feet on a single breath while others dive in the 15 - 30 foot range. more recently, breath - hold diving has become a competitive sport. competitive events include how long divers can remain underwater, how far they can swim underwater and how deep they can dive. participants must undergo intense training to increase their lung capacity while learning crucial safety measures. breath - hold diving often leads to hypoxia, elevated blood pressure, slowed heartbeat and other physiological changes. however, whether the sport causes any long - term damage to the brain has remained a point of contention. studies have produced conflicting results. the authors of this study see cause for concern, noting that in six international competitions between 1998 and 2004, 10 % of the contestants in the static apnea events were disqualified after they lost either motor control or consciousness. in this event, participants float face down on the


this study see cause for concern, noting that in six international competitions between 1998 and 2004, 10 % of the contestants in the static apnea events were disqualified after they lost either motor control or consciousness. in this event, participants float face down on the water for as long as possible without coming up for air. the world record for the event is 11 minutes 35 seconds. divers at international competitions routinely hold their breath 4 - 7 minutes. " whether such hypoxic episodes are associated with a risk for brain damage in these athletes remains to be established, " the researchers said. " studying the changes in established biochemical markers of brain damage after such performances offers the possibility to address this question. " breath hold experiment nine competitive breath - hold divers ( eight men and one woman ) took part in this study, along with six individuals who had limited experience with breath - hold diving. the nine competitive divers formed the experimental group, while the non - divers acted as the controls the researchers told the participants to lie on their backs on a cot and hold their breath for as long as possible. the conditions were dry, but mimicked a static apnea dive in which the divers float face down holding their breath. the divers used whatever preparatory techniques they customarily use in competition, such as hyperventilating, insufflation ( filling the lungs with as much air as possible ) and breath - holding warm - ups. the researchers took arterial blood samples from a catheter inserted into the artery that runs through the wrist. they took samples before the breath hold, at the end of the breath hold and at fixed intervals for the two hours following the end of the breath hold. the researchers also measured arterial blood gases. they did the same measurements on the individuals in the control group, but the controls rested on their backs for the entire experiment, without performing the breath hold or the warm - ups. among the findings of this experiment : - the average breath - hold time was 5 minutes 35 seconds. the longest was 6 minutes 43 seconds and the shortest was 4 minutes 41 seconds. - the marker for brain damage, s100b, rose in seven of the nine divers. - the controls showed no change in s100b - on average, s100b rose 37 % within 10 minutes after the apnea ended. - s100b levels returned to normal within two hours for all the participants. - the divers showed signs of asphyxia, that is, blood oxygen levels fell, while carbon dioxide levels rose. the s100b levels, while


##nea ended. - s100b levels returned to normal within two hours for all the participants. - the divers showed signs of asphyxia, that is, blood oxygen levels fell, while carbon dioxide levels rose. the s100b levels, while elevated, were well below levels associated with brain injury. in brain - injured patients, the presence of s100b in the blood can increase by several hundred percent. in addition, the elevation of s100b was more transient in the divers, compared to people who suffered brain injury. the divers had a quick return to normal, while s100b levels peak in 24 hours in brain - injured patients. the transient nature of the increase in s100b among the divers probably indicates the blood - brain barrier has been compromised, allowing the protein to escape from the fluid in the brain into the circulation. the blood - brain barrier controls what passes between the brain and the circulation. s100b would normally remain in the brain. other sports have also been associated with a similar transient increase in s100b, the researchers noted, including boxing, headings in soccer, running and long - distance swimming. one study also reported that individuals suffering sleep apnea had elevated levels of s100b in the morning, although another study indicated there had been no change in s100b overnight. other social bookmarking and sharing tools : - johan p. a. andersson, mats h. liner, and henrik jonsson. increased serum levels of the brain damage marker s100b after apnea in trained breath - hold divers : a study including respiratory and cardiovascular observations. j appl physiol, jul 2009 doi : 10. 1152 / japplphysiol. 91434. 2008 note : if no author is given, the source is cited instead.


nov. 23, 2009 are you a female athlete - - or just someone who likes challenging workouts - - who also wants to get pregnant? it may make sense to ease off a bit as you try to get pregnant. new research from the norwegian university of science and technology ( ntnu ) shows that the body may not have enough energy to support both hard workouts and getting pregnant. roughly seven per cent of all norwegian women are believed to have infertility problems, which means that they are unable to become pregnant during the first year of trying - - even if they might later become pregnant. infertility can have many causes, both medical and lifestyle - related. known risk factors include smoking, stress, and alcohol. being extremely under - or overweight can also play a role. it is known, however, that elite sports women have more fertility problems than other women. but does extreme physical activity play a role in fertility among other women as well? ntnu researchers examined precisely this question in a study involving nearly 3, 000 women. they found that overly frequent and hard physical exercise appears to reduce a young woman ' s fertility. but the decrease in fertility probably lasts only as long as the hard training. two vulnerable groups the study was based on material from the health survey of nord - trøndelag from 1984 - 1986 and from a follow - up survey in 1995 - 1997. all of the women who participated were healthy and of childbearing age, and none had a history of fertility problems. in the first survey, women responded to questions about the frequency, duration and intensity of their physical activity - - and ten years later were asked questions about pregnancy and childbirth. the ntnu researchers also recorded other information that could have significance for the study. " among all these women, we found two groups who experienced an increased risk of infertility, " says sigridur lara gudmundsdottir, a phd candidate in ntnu ' s human movement science programme. " there were those who trained almost every day. and there were those who trained until they were completely exhausted. those who did both had the highest risk of infertility. " age an important factor if the women also were under 30 years old in the first study, the relationship became even more evident in both groups. among those who reported training to exhaustion ( regardless of frequency and duration ), 24 per cent had fertility problems. in the group that had trained almost every day ( regardless of the intensity and duration ), 11 per cent reported the same.


both groups. among those who reported training to exhaustion ( regardless of frequency and duration ), 24 per cent had fertility problems. in the group that had trained almost every day ( regardless of the intensity and duration ), 11 per cent reported the same. even when the data were adjusted for other possible contributing factors ( such as body mass index, smoking, age, marital status and previous pregnancies ), the researchers found that women who trained every day had a 3. 5 times greater risk of impaired fertility as women who did not train at all. " and when we compared those who trained to exhaustion to those who trained more moderately, we found that the first group had a three - fold greater risk of impaired fertility, " says gudmundsdottir. in women who reported moderate or low activity levels, researchers found no evidence of impaired fertility. a transient effect but the negative effects of hard training do not appear to be permanent, the researcher says. " the vast majority of women in the study had children in the end. and those who trained the hardest in the middle of the 1980s were actually among those who had the most children in the 1990s, " she adds. there may be various explanations for why the women who first were least fertile ended up with the most children. " we do not know if they changed their activity level during the period between the two surveys. or if they just had trouble getting pregnant the first time, but afterwards had a hormonal profile that made it easier to get pregnant again, " gudmundsdottir said. scientists have a theory that high levels of physical activity are so energy intensive that the body actually experiences short periods of energy deficiency, where there simply is not enough energy to maintain all the necessary hormonal mechanisms that enable fertilization. on the other hand, previous research shows that moderate physical activity gives women better insulin function and an improved hormonal profile - - and thus better conditions for fertility - - than total inactivity, particularly in overweight people. forget the easy chair but gudmundsdottir says that women who want to become pregnant shouldn ' t give up all physical activity. " we believe it is likely that physical activity at a very high or very low level has a negative effect on fertility, while moderate activity is beneficial, " she says. but as far as identifying how much is " just right, " the researcher is careful. " an individual ' s energy metabolism is a very important factor in this context. the threshold can be very individual, " gu


jan. 30, 2011 in a new study, scientists at the university of maryland and the institut pasteur show that bacteria evolve new abilities, such as antibiotic resistance, predominantly by acquiring genes from other bacteria. the researchers new insights into the evolution of bacteria partly contradict the widely accepted theory that new biological functions in bacteria and other microbes arise primarily through the process of gene duplication within the same organism. their just released study will be published in the open - access journal plos genetics on january 27. microbes live and thrive in incredibly diverse and harsh conditions, from boiling or freezing water to the human immune system. this remarkable adaptability results from their ability to quickly modify their repertoire of protein functions by gaining, losing and modifying their genes. microbes were known to modify genes to expand their repertoire of protein families in two ways : via duplication processes followed by slow functional specialization, in the same way as large multicellular organisms like us, and by acquiring different genes directly from other microbes. the latter process, known as horizontal gene transfer, is notoriously conspicuous in the spread of antibiotic resistance, turning some bacteria into drug - resistant ' superbugs ' such as mrsa ( methicillin - resistant staphylococcus aureus ), a serious public health concern. the researchers examined a large database of microbial genomes, including some of the most virulent human pathogens, to discover whether duplication or horizontal gene transfer was the most common expansion method. their study shows that gene family expansion can indeed follow both routes, but unlike in large multicellular organisms, it predominantly takes place by horizontal transfer. first author todd treangen, a postdoctoral researcher in the university of maryland center for bioinformatics and computational biology and co - author eduardo p. c. rocha of the institut pasteur conclude that because microbes invented the majority of life ' s biochemical diversity - - from respiration to photosynthesis - -, " the study of the evolution of biology systems should explicitly account for the predominant role of horizontal gene transfer in the diversification of protein families. " other social bookmarking and sharing tools : - todd j. treangen, eduardo p. c. rocha. horizontal transfer, not duplication, drives the expansion of protein families in prokaryotes. plos genetics, 2011 ; 7 ( 1 ) : e1001284 doi : 10. 1371 / journal. pgen. 1001284 note : if no author is given, the source


feb. 24, 2011 why, and when, do we learn to speak the way that we do? research from north carolina state university on african - american children presents an unexpected finding : language use can go on a roller - coaster ride during childhood as kids adopt and abandon vernacular language patterns. " we found that there is a ' roller - coaster effect, ' featuring an ebb and flow in a child ' s use of vernacular english over the course of his or her language development, " says dr. walt wolfram, william c. friday distinguished university professor of english linguistics at nc state and co - author of several recent papers describing the research. " this was totally unanticipated. " vernacular english is defined here as culturally specific speech patterns that are distinct from standard english ; in this case, the vernacular is african - american english ( aae ). one implication of the finding involves education, since teachers often advocate teaching standard english early in a childhood education. " this approach does seem to work at first, " wolfram says, " but it doesn ' t last. " in other words, if a school system wants its students to graduate high school with a strong foundation in standard english, it may have to revisit standard english later in the education curriculum. specifically, the researchers found that children come to school speaking english with a relatively high number of vernacular features. then, through the first four grades of elementary school, those features are reduced, as children adopt more standard english language patterns. as the children move toward middle school, the level of vernacular rises - - though many children often reduce their use of vernacular again as they enter high school. " this finding reveals a cyclic pattern in the use of african - american vernacular english that no one expected to see during children ' s language development, " says janneke van hofwegen, a research associate at nc state and co - author of the study. " this wasn ' t even a hypothesis when we began the study. " the researchers note that, while their data looked solely at african - american children, the findings may be applicable more broadly to other groups. the research stems from the longest, and largest, study ever to examine the longitudinal development of language in african - american children. the study began in 1990, following 88 african - american children from central north carolina in order to track their language development. the study is ongoing, with 68 of the original participants still being tracked. the data is collected by the frank porter graham child development institute in chapel hill, n.


88 african - american children from central north carolina in order to track their language development. the study is ongoing, with 68 of the original participants still being tracked. the data is collected by the frank porter graham child development institute in chapel hill, n. c. the retention rate of the participants is remarkably high, particularly given that approximately 71 percent of the children were living below the poverty line in 1990. " it ' s incredible, and gives us a rare opportunity to study language development in children, " wolfram says. the study also gives researchers an impressive array of data, providing them with access to school and test data, as well as the data collected through the study ' s own interviews and surveys. researchers are currently assessing how and whether dialect use is related to literacy skills, as well as the role that mothers play in their children ' s use of vernacular. other social bookmarking and sharing tools : - wolfram, walt, janneke van hofwegen, mary kohn, jennifer renn. trajectories of development in aae : the first 17 years. proceedings of the conference on african american language in popular culture, ( in press ) - janneke van hofwegen, walt wolfram. coming of age in african american english : a longitudinal study. journal of sociolinguistics, 2010 ; 14 ( 4 ) : 427 doi : 10. 1111 / j. 1467 - 9841. 2010. 00452. x note : if no author is given, the source is cited instead.


mar. 7, 2011 in the quest for inexpensive biofuels, cellulose proved no match for a bioprocessing strategy and genetically engineered microbe developed by researchers at the department of energy ' s bioenergy science center. using consolidated bioprocessing, a team led by james liao of the university of california at los angeles for the first time produced isobutanol directly from cellulose. the team ' s work, published online in applied and environmental microbiology, represents across - the - board savings in processing costs and time, plus isobutanol is a higher grade of alcohol than ethanol. " unlike ethanol, isobutanol can be blended at any ratio with gasoline and should eliminate the need for dedicated infrastructure in tanks or vehicles, " said liao, chancellor ' s professor and vice chair of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the ucla henry samueli school of engineering and applied science. " plus, it may be possible to use isobutanol directly in current engines without modification. " compared to ethanol, higher alcohols such as isobutanol are better candidates for gasoline replacement because they have an energy density, octane value and reid vapor pressure - - a measurement of volatility - - that is much closer to gasoline, liao said. while cellulosic biomass like corn stover and switchgrass is abundant and cheap, it is much more difficult to utilize than corn and sugar cane. this is due in large part because of recalcitrance, or a plant ' s natural defenses to being chemically dismantled. adding to the complexity is the fact biofuel production that involves several steps - - pretreatment, enzyme treatment and fermentation - - is more costly than a method that combines biomass utilization and the fermentation of sugars to biofuel into a single process. to make the conversion possible, liao and postdoctoral researcher wendy higashide of ucla and yongchao li and yunfeng yang of oak ridge national laboratory had to develop a strain of clostridium cellulolyticum, a native cellulose - degrading microbe, that could synthesize isobutanol directly from cellulose. " this work is based on our earlier work at ucla in building a synthetic pathway for isobutanol production, " liao said. while some clostridium species produce butanol, these organisms typically do not digest cellulose directly. other clostridium species digest cellulose


in building a synthetic pathway for isobutanol production, " liao said. while some clostridium species produce butanol, these organisms typically do not digest cellulose directly. other clostridium species digest cellulose but do not produce butanol. none produce isobutanol, an isomer of butanol. " in nature, no microorganisms have been identified that possess all of the characteristics necessary for the ideal consolidated bioprocessing strain, so we knew we had to genetically engineer a strain for this purpose, " li said. while there were many possible microbial candidates, the research team ultimately chose clostridium cellulolyticum, which was originally isolated from decayed grass. the researchers noted that their strategy exploits the host ' s natural cellulolytic activity and the amino acid biosynthetic pathway and diverts its intermediates to produce higher alcohol than ethanol. the researchers also noted that clostridium cellulolyticum has been genetically engineered to improve ethanol production, and this has led to additional more detailed research. clostridium cellulolyticum has a sequenced genome available via doe ' s joint genome institute. this proof of concept research sets the stage for studies that will likely involve genetic manipulation of other consolidated bioprocessing microorganisms. other social bookmarking and sharing tools : - w. higashide, y. li, y. yang, j. c. liao. metabolic engineering of clostridium cellulolyticum for isobutanol production from cellulose. applied and environmental microbiology, 2011 ; doi : 10. 1128 / aem. 02454 - 10 note : if no author is given, the source is cited instead.


nov. 8, 2012 a completely new way of delivering anti - cancer drugs to tumours, using " minicells " derived from bacteria, has been tested for the first time in humans and found to be safe, well - tolerated and even induced stable disease in patients with advanced, incurable cancers with no treatment options remaining. the research, which is presented at the 24th eortc - nci - aacr symposium on molecular targets and cancer therapeutics in dublin, ireland, november 9, suggests that it could be possible to use this new technology for targeted delivery of other drugs to a range of cancers, and to personalise treatment by adjusting the drugs to suit the genetic make - up of each patient ' s tumour. dr himanshu brahmbhatt and dr jennifer macdiarmid, the founders of engeneic, a biotech company in sydney, australia, designed the minicells to deliver anti - cancer drugs directly to tumour cells, thereby reducing the toxic side - effects that are seen when chemotherapy is given to patients systemically. the minicells are created from small bubbles of cell membrane pinched off the surface of mutant bacteria. the minicells can then be loaded with chemicals, such as anti - cancer drugs, and coated with antibodies that home in on receptors on the surface of tumour cells. this means that the minicells target the cancer cells, while avoiding normal cells that do not have the same receptors. the cancer cell recognises the bacteria from which the minicell has been derived and activates its standard defence by swallowing the minicell, which exposes the cell nucleus to whatever cancer - killing drug the minicell is carrying. each minicell is about 200 times smaller in diameter than a human hair ( it measures 400 nanometres ( nm ) - - a nm being one billionth of a metre ). " nonetheless, this is much larger than synthetic particles in development for drug delivery, " said associate professor benjamin solomon ( mbbs, phd, fracp ), the principal investigator of the trial and a consultant medical oncologist at the peter macallum cancer centre in melbourne, australia. " this larger size means that the minicells preferentially fall out of the leaky blood vessels around the tumour and do not end up in the liver, gut and skin where they could cause nasty side - effects like smaller particles do. " work in the laboratory and in animals had already shown that the minicells worked in the way they were designed


tumour and do not end up in the liver, gut and skin where they could cause nasty side - effects like smaller particles do. " work in the laboratory and in animals had already shown that the minicells worked in the way they were designed to, but this trial is the first time that they have been used in humans. professor solomon said : " in this study we loaded the cells with a cytotoxic chemotherapy drug called paclitaxel ( which is currently used in many tumour types ) and coated the minicells with an antibody targeting the loaded minicells to tumours expressing the epidermal growth factor receptor ( egfr ) - - a protein that is found on the surface of many cancer cells. the study was then conducted in the way standard phase i studies are conducted to determine the safety and toxicity of minicells by treating small groups of patients with progressively higher doses of minicells and closely monitoring safety and toxicity. " a total of 28 patients with advanced, incurable cancers were treated with the minicells in four centres in australia. ten patients had stable disease at six weeks and received more than one cycle of minicells. " the key finding of the study is that minicells can be given safely to patients with advanced cancer, " said prof solomon. " additionally, we showed that we could give multiple doses and one patient received 45 doses over 15 months. the major toxicity we observed was a mild self - limiting fever seen on the day of the infusion with little or no side - effects seen in the remainder of the following week. at higher doses we found that there were additional side - effects, in particular changes in liver function tests, which, although asymptomatic, prevented us from raising the doses of the treatment higher. " this important study shows for the first time that these bacterially - derived minicells can be given safely to patients with cancer. it thereby allows further clinical exploration of a completely new paradigm of targeted drug delivery using this platform coupled with different ' payloads ' of cell - killing drugs or other treatments such as rna interference, and with different targeting antibodies. " he concluded : " the minicell technology is a platform for the targeted delivery of many different molecules, including drugs and molecules for silencing rogue genes which cause drug resistance in late stage cancer. the technology can also be viewed as a powerful antibody drug conjugate where up to a million molecules of drug can be attached to targeting antibodies and delivered to the body in a


for silencing rogue genes which cause drug resistance in late stage cancer. the technology can also be viewed as a powerful antibody drug conjugate where up to a million molecules of drug can be attached to targeting antibodies and delivered to the body in a safe way. in the future this will enable a truly personalised medicine approach to cancer treatment, since the minicell payload can be adjusted depending on the genetic profile of the patient. " phase ii trials of the minicells are now being planned, including a trial in patients with glioblastoma ( a type of brain tumour ) using minicells loaded with doxorubicin. the researchers also want to develop imaging methods to track the minicells in patients. professor stefan sleijfer, the scientific chair of the eortc - nci - aacr symposium, from erasmus university medical centre ( the netherlands ), commented : " approaches resulting in selective delivery of anti - cancer drugs to tumour cells is highly interesting as it may lead to a reduction in adverse side - effects and improved anti - tumour activity. in this respect, the use of ' minicells ' is a novel and promising technique. " eortc [ european organisation for research and treatment of cancer, nci [ national cancer institute ], aacr [ american association for cancer research ]. abstract no : 585. poster session, phase i trials, 09. 00 hrs, 9 november. the study was funded by engeneic. prof solomon has not received any remuneration from engenic and declares no relevant conflicts of interest. other social bookmarking and sharing tools : note : if no author is given, the source is cited instead.


scientists know that many chemicals including pahs can cross the placenta, but they don ’ t understand how they may interfere with a fetus ’ developing brain. in the sensitive process of brain development, bellinger said, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. “ things are changing very rapidly and they ' re supposed to happen in a particular way, in a particular sequence, ” he said. “ it ' s almost like a choreography of events that go into building a brain. ” this choreography is made up of hundreds of “ performers, ” each taking instructions from chemical signals. pollutants introduce noise to this process, like static over a radio station. also, pahs may affect the fetus ’ dna directly. when a mother breathes in pahs, those chemicals are changed into byproducts in the bloodstream that can cross the placental boundary and bind directly to a fetus ’ dna, explained susan edwards, a graduate student at the imperial college in london, and the lead author on the poland study. the four - point drop in iqs linked to the air pollutants in new york city and krakow is fairly subtle ; parents and teachers wouldn ’ t notice it because most children would fall within normal ranges. nevertheless, “ is a three or point iq - point decrement important? you bet, ” said lanphear, whose research has focused on lead exposure and children ’ s neurodevelopment. he said one recent analysis found that for every dollar invested in reducing lead exposure, society would realize a $ 17 to $ 220 benefit. “ the bulk of the benefit was from increased lifetime earnings by enhancing children ' s intellectual abilities, ” he said. “ at some point, we will cease blaming parents and teachers for children ' s failure to learn or thrive in academics and focus our attention on reducing their exposure to widespread neurotoxicants, ” lanphear said. the good news, perera said, is that levels of pahs are declining in new york city. using data from the women ’ s backpacks, researchers reported that airborne levels dropped by more than 50 percent between 1998 and 2006. bellinger said while steps should be taken to reduce children ’ s exposure to pollutants, other factors remain more important for their cognitive development. “ an important point is that while these exposures are associated with health outcomes, they aren ' t the major determinants. how parents interact with their children, and the kinds of stimulation they provide, explains a lot more,


their cognitive development. “ an important point is that while these exposures are associated with health outcomes, they aren ' t the major determinants. how parents interact with their children, and the kinds of stimulation they provide, explains a lot more, ” he said. living in new york city ’ s washington heights, baldwin, 30, now has five children between the ages of 10 and two. she wore the air - monitoring backpack in 1999 when she was in the third trimester of her pregnancy with her oldest child, patience. like the other children in the group, patience has been monitored by the team of scientists since she was born. when baldwin gave birth, a columbia university researcher was at the hospital to collect the newborn ’ s cord blood for testing. her daughter had her first iq test as part of the study when she was two and has undergone an array of other tests since then, including a recent ct scan of her brain. there is no evidence that the pahs affected her daughter ’ s iq. baldwin said the girl has thrived in school and has no learning problems, although she has moderate asthma. she does not know whether her exposure to pahs during the pregnancy was classified as high or low. baldwin said her role in the study has made her “ hyper aware ” of the risks of pollutants and pesticides. one of her sons was diagnosed with lead poisoning when he was a toddler ; he apparently was exposed from peeling paint. but she tries not to think about what effects her various exposures during her pregnancies might have had on her children. “ i don ’ t like to dwell on something i cannot change, ” baldwin said.


what is scientology? scientology definiton : scio ( latin ) “ knowing, in the fullest sense of the word, ” logos ( greek ) “ study of. ” thus scientology means “ knowing how to know. ” developed by l. ron hubbard, scientology is a religion that offers a precise path leading to a complete and certain understanding of one ’ s true spiritual nature and one ’ s relationship to self, family, groups, mankind, all life forms, the material universe, the spiritual universe and the supreme being. scientology addresses the spirit — not the body or mind — and believes that man is far more than a product of his environment, or his genes. scientology comprises a body of knowledge which extends from certain fundamental truths. prime among these are : man is an immortal spiritual being. his experience extends well beyond a single lifetime. his capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realized. within the vast amount of data which makes up scientology ’ s religious beliefs and practices there are many principles which, when learned, give one a new and broader view of life. knowing the tone scale, for instance, a person can see how best to deal with a grumpy child, mollify an upset friend or get an idea across to a staid employer. these principles amount to a huge area of observation in the humanities. it is a body of knowledge there for the learning. there is nothing authoritarian in it. it is valuable purely as a body of knowledge. scientology helps each being to regain awareness of himself or herself as an immortal spiritual being and the rehabilitation of full spiritual potential — to achieve a recognition of spiritual existence and one ’ s relationship to the supreme being. god is identified in scientology as the eighth dynamic. all scientology services bring people closer to the eighth dynamic, and the congregational services especially focus on this. it is a bringing together of many beings in a joint spiritual experience and an occasion to recognize the ultimate which is the eighth dynamic or god. the church of scientology sunday service consists of a reciting of the creed of the church, a sermon based on the writings of the scientology founder l. ron hubbard, congregational group auditing and prayer. there may also be music and singing, as well as announcements of church events and programs.


american labor merit badge requirements | 1 ) using resources available to you, learn about working people and work - related concerns. list and briefly describe or give examples of at least eight concerns of american workers. these may include, but are not limited to, working conditions, work place safety, hours, wages, seniority, job security, equal - opportunity employment and discrimination, guest workers, automation and technologies that replace workers, unemployment, layoffs, outsourcing, and employee benefits such as health care, child care, profit sharing, and retired benefits. 2 ) with your counselor ' s and parent ' s approval and permission, visit the office or attend a meeting of a local union, a central labor council, or an employee organization, or contact one of these organizations via the internet. then do each of the following : a ) find out what the organization does. b ) share the list of issues and concerns you made for requirement 1. ask the people you communicate with which issues are of greatest interest or concern to them and why. c ) draw a diagram showing how the organization is structured, from the local to the national level, if applicable. 3 ) explain to your counselor what labor unions are, what they do, and what services they provide to members. in your discussion show that you understand the concepts of labor, management, collective bargaining, negotiation, union shops, open ( nonunion ) shops, grievance procedures, mediation, arbitration, work stoppages, strikes, and lockouts. 4 ) explain what is meant by the adversarial motto of labor - management relations, compared with a cooperative - bargaining style. 5 ) do one of the following : a ) develop a time line of significant events in the history of the american labor movement from the 1770 ' s to the present. b ) prepare an exhibit, a scrapbook, or a computer presentation, such as a slide show, illustrating three major achievements of the american labor movement and how those achievements effect american workers. c ) with your counselor ' s and parent ' s approval and permission, watch a movie that addresses organized labor in the united states. afterwards, discuss the movie with your counselor and explain what you learned. d ) read a biography ( with your counselor ' s approval ) of someone who has made a contribution to the american labor movement. explain what contribution this person has made to the american labor movement. 6 ) explain the term " globalization ". discuss with your counselor some effects of globalization on the work force in the united states. explain how this


a contribution to the american labor movement. explain what contribution this person has made to the american labor movement. 6 ) explain the term " globalization ". discuss with your counselor some effects of globalization on the work force in the united states. explain how this global work force fits into the economic system of this country. 7 ) choose a labor issue of widespread interest to american workers - an issue in the news currently or known to you from your work on this merit badge. before your counselor, or in writing, argue both sides of the issue, first taking management ' s side, then presenting labor ' s or the employees point of view. in your presentation, summarize the basic rights and responsibilities of employers and employees, including union members and nonunion members. 8 ) discuss with your counselor the different goals that may motivate the owners of a business, it ' s stockholders, it ' s customers, it ' s employees, the employees ' representatives, the community, and public officials. explain why agreements and compromises are made and how they effect each group in achieving it ' s goals. 9 ) learn about opportunities in the field of labor relations. choose one career in which you are interested and discuss with your counselor the major responsibilities of that position and the qualifications, education, and training such a position requires. source : boy scout requirements, 33215, revised 2007


in years past, valentine ’ s day has been a fun chance to explore the more lighthearted aspects of science, as pertains to matters of the heart ( such as our post on the neurobiology of love and dating ). this year, we use valentine ’ s day as an opportunity to talk about a different, more serious matter pertaining to our hearts — keeping them healthy. and while blogs, magazines and popular media provide men with no shortage of ideas about what to shower the many women in their lives with on valentine ’ s day, they provide little coverage of the biggest silent killer and danger to women every day : heart disease. so this year, join us in going red for women and learning more about an issue truly close to our hearts. for more, click “ continue reading. ” fact : more women will die of heart disease than all cancers combined. scary, isn ’ t it? with the “ pink ” - washing of virtually all consumer products ( and even some sports teams! ) every october, one would surely think that breast cancer is the biggest threat to women ’ s health. indeed, 48 % of women do. yet despite the very real, and deadly, threat that breast cancer continues to pose for women, according to the american heart association, only 1 in 30 women will die of breast cancer, while 1 in 3 will die of cardiovascular disease. 500, 000 women die each year in the united states ( 1 per minute! ) of cardiovascular disease, making it the number one killer of women — our colleagues, our friends and loved ones. [ download a full fact sheet here. ] but there ’ s good news! 80 % of all heart attacks are preventable, with the majority of heart disease precursors ( including diet, weight and sedentary lifestyle ) under our control. if you are absorbing this sobering information for the first time, you ’ re not alone. at a recent los angeles event for an aha cause called go red for women, i learned many of these facts for the first time as well. even in the medical community, the rates of misdiagnosis and underdiagnosed, with women ’ s heart disease symptoms often dismissed as stress. the power of organizations such as go red for women is enormous. in addition to helping spread the necessary information about heart risks to women online and at local events all across the country, grfw provides educational tools for physicians to better treat female patients for cardiovascular disease. in los angeles county, they were instrumental in championing ordinances that


spread the necessary information about heart risks to women online and at local events all across the country, grfw provides educational tools for physicians to better treat female patients for cardiovascular disease. in los angeles county, they were instrumental in championing ordinances that removed smoking from beaches and junk food from schools. nationally, they ’ ve championed legislation such as the heart for women act, federal legislation introduced to congress february 12, 2009 to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and stroke in women. they are also working with the entertainment and media industries to produce more pop culture materials such as this short video called “ just a little heart attack starring actress elizabeth banks : ” scriptphd. com caught up with dr. vyshali rao, a cardiologist that has led the efforts of the los angeles - based go red for women campaign, to ask her about the importance of raising awareness for women ’ s heart issues. scriptphd : dr. rao, tell us about what motivated you to get involved with go red for women? vyshali rao : at first i got involved on my own, with the american heart association, because of my dad, who is a cardiac survivor and had a bypass operation when he was 86 years old. being a cardiologist myself, it ’ s important tying it as much to health care as possible. and it turns out, the hospital that i work at, huntington hospital in pasadena, ca, is the los angeles sponsor for the go red for women campaign. through myt work at huntington, i ’ ve become the medical director of the women ’ s heart program here, and through that, have worked closely with the go red for women campaign. it really has, for the last three or four years, been a really exciting experience for me, because you meet so many women from all walks of life — different ethnicities, different backgrounds. the commonality of it, though, is they are all [ impacted the same way cardiovascularly ], which is what we are trying to get out there. sphd : why is this an issue just now coming to the forefront in the media? vr : in this day and age, it ’ s interesting to note that cardiovascular disease remains [ women ’ s ] # 1 health risk. the majority of people will think it ’ s breast cancer, or cervical cancer, but no one thinks, “ ok, i ’ m going to die of a heart attack or a stroke or cardiovascular disease. ” so, i think that for the last few


majority of people will think it ’ s breast cancer, or cervical cancer, but no one thinks, “ ok, i ’ m going to die of a heart attack or a stroke or cardiovascular disease. ” so, i think that for the last few years, the go red for women campaign has really tried to push that information so that more women get involved and get everyone educated about it. sphd : do you feel, fairly or unfairly, that there has sometimes been an overemphasis in the media on other causes or issues? do you think they could be doing more to highlight women ’ s cardiovascular health? vr : yes. obviously, in today ’ s day and age, whoever gets their message out the loudest and attracts the most attention gets it. at this point, there ’ s so much advertising and so much media for breast cancer and aids, which are both issues we need to get everyone educated about. but, heart disease seems to be a little bit slower to get attracted to, and we don ’ t have the big budget like some of the other [ causes and organizations ] do. and we don ’ t have as much money directed at heart disease. the majority — 80 % – of all the money that comes into the american medical association is directed towards research. so, we don ’ t have big budgets for advertising or media campaigns, so sometimes our message gets lost. through volunteers and through programs and events sponsored by organizations such as go red for women, we are hoping that this will change, and that heart disease and the american heart association will get the attention that it deserves. sphd : do you feel that this campaign and discussion extends somewhat beyond women ’ s health to our health as a nation and steps we can all take to make our hearts healthier? vr : yes, absolutely. the goal of the campaign is not to just empower women. it ’ s to get everyone educated and to understand the risks for cardiovascular disease. the best thing about cardiovascular disease is that the majority of it is preventable! there ’ s not a lot of diseases that you could say that about. the majority of the risk factors for heart disease — hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, obesity, sedentary lifestyle — they are all potentially preventable. if people can get educated, get off the couch and exercise, we won ’ t have to suffer from cardiovascular disease as much as we are. sphd : if someone is reading this and wondering what they can do to get involved, beyond their own health,


can get educated, get off the couch and exercise, we won ’ t have to suffer from cardiovascular disease as much as we are. sphd : if someone is reading this and wondering what they can do to get involved, beyond their own health, what would you tell them? vr : that ’ s the great thing. you don ’ t have to have any money to get involved. the american heart association largely works through volunteers. so the majority of the events that we have, like our ‘ heart ’ walks, they ’ re always looking for volunteers, whether it ’ s to learn cpr, or educate people about it. now, they launched a new program called ‘ school gardens ’ where we actually go to inner - city communities, educate the kids about fresh vegetables, plan the fresh vegetables, harvest them, and then cook with them. you ’ d be surprised how many of these kids have never eaten a fresh tomato! there ’ s so many things that have nothing to do with money and people can get involved. feel motivated to go red? here are some suggestions for you and your valentine that will get your hearts pumping, and leave them healthy for many valentine ’ s days to come. 1. know the risks for, warning signs and types of cardiovascular disease. educate yourself. 2. get involved! volunteer in your community for an american heart association event or training. if there is a girlfriend, wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend or other significant woman in your life, donate the time and effort to spreading the word about go red for women and heart health. let ’ s stop heart disease from being the biggest killer of women together. 3. take care of your heart. we ’ re not speaking metaphorically here, lovebirds. from heart - healthy recipes, to stress management, to managing physical activity and weight management, the american heart association offers a plethora of ideas and guides to forming heart - healthy habits. 4. impact the next generation. i cannot stress strongly enough how much the problems plaguing western nations as a whole ( and that contribute as precursors to heart disease ) are preventable through dietary changes and exercise. but changing decades of unhealthy eating, especially in lower - income neighborhoods without immediate access to fresh fruits and vegetables, will take a collective effort. programs such as first lady michelle obama ’ s let ’ s move campaign and the aha ’ s teaching gardens will go a long way towards planting seeds for a lifetime of good health. take a look at this incredibly moving video about


this article was mirrored here faithfully for ease of access and printing. d. pauly and j. dalsgaard, fisheries centre, 2204 main mall, university of british columbia, vancouver, british columbia, canada v. christensen, r. froese, f. torres jr., international center for living aquatic resources management, m. c. post office box 2631, 0718 makati, philippines. * to whom correspondence should be addressed. e - mail : email @ example. com the mean trophic level of the species groups reported in food and agricultural organization global fisheries statistics declined from 1950 to 1994. this reflects a gradual transition in landings from long - lived, high trophic level, piscivorous bottom fish toward short - lived, low trophic level invertebrates and planktivorous pelagic fish. this effect, also found to be occurring in inland fisheries, is most pronounced in the northern hemisphere. fishing down food webs ( that is, at lower trophic levels ) leads at first to increasing catches, then to a phase transition associated with stagnating or declining catches. these results indicate that present exploitation patterns are unsustainable. exploitation of the ocean for fish and ma - rine invertebrates, both wholesome and valuable products, ought to be a prosperous sector, given that capture fisheries - in con - trast to agriculture and aquaculture - reap harvests that did not need to be sown. yet marine fisheries are in a global crisis, mainly due to open access policies and subsidy - driven overcapitalization ( 1 ). it may be argued, however, that the global crisis is mainly one of economics or of governance, whereas the global resource base itself fluctuates naturally. contradicting this more optimistic view, we show here that landings from global fisheries have shifted in the last 45 years from large piscivorous fishes toward smaller invertebrates and planktivorous fishes, especially in the northern hemi - sphere. | for all marine areas, the trend over the past 45 years has been a decline in the mean trophic level of the fisheries landings, from slightly more than 3. 3 in the early 1950s to less than 3. 1 in 1994 ( fig. 1a ). a dip in the 1960s and early 1970s occurred because of extremely large catches [ > 12e6 metric tons ( t ) per year * ] of peruvian anchoveta with a low trophic level ( 12 ) of 2. 2 ( + / -


in the 1960s and early 1970s occurred because of extremely large catches [ > 12e6 metric tons ( t ) per year * ] of peruvian anchoveta with a low trophic level ( 12 ) of 2. 2 ( + / - 0. 42 ). since the collapse of the peruvian anchoveta fishery in 1972 – 1973, the global trend in the trophic level of marine fisheries landings has been one of steady decline. fisheries in inland waters exhibit, on the global level, a similar trend as for the marine areas ( fig. 1b ) : a clear decline in average trophic level is apparent from the early 1970s, in parallel to, and about 0. 3 units below, those of marine catches. the previous plateau, from 1950 to 1975, is due to insufficiently detailed fishery statistics for the earlier decades ( 10 ). fig. 1. global trends of mean trophic level of fisheries landings, 1950 to 1994. ( a ) marine areas ; ( b ) inland areas. | in northern temperate areas where the fisheries are most developed, the mean trophic level of the landings has declined steadily over the last two decades. in the north pacific ( fao areas 61 and 67 ; fig. 2a ), trophic levels peaked in the early 1970s and have since then decreased rapidly in spite of the recent increase in landings of alaska pollock, theragra chalcogramma, which has a relatively high trophic level of 3. 8 ( + / - 0. 24 ). in the northwest atlantic ( fao areas 21 and 31 ; fig. 2b ), the fisheries were initially dominated by planktivorous menhaden, brevoortia spp., and other small pelagics at low trophic levels. as their landings decreased, the average trophic level of the fishery initially increased, then in the 1970s it reversed to a steep decline. | | fig. 2. trends of mean trophic level of fisheries landings in northern temperate areas, 1950 to 1994. ( a ) north pacific ( fao areas 61 and 67 ) ; ( b ) northwest and western central atlantic ( fao areas 21 and 31 ) ; ( c ) northeast atlantic ( fao area 27 ) ; and ( d ) mediterranean ( fao area 37 ). | similar declines are apparent throughout the time series for the northeast atlantic ( fao area 27 ; fig. 2c ) and the mediterranean ( fao area 37 ; fig. 2c ), although the latter system


( fao area 37 ). | similar declines are apparent throughout the time series for the northeast atlantic ( fao area 27 ; fig. 2c ) and the mediterranean ( fao area 37 ; fig. 2c ), although the latter system operates at altogether lower trophic levels. the central eastern pacific ( fao area 77 ; fig. 3a ), southern and central eastern atlantic ( fao areas 41, 47, and 34 ; fig. 3b ), and the indo - pacific ( fao areas 51, 57, and 71 ; fig. 3c ) show no clear trends over time. in the southern atlantic this is probably due to the development of new fisheries, for example, on the patagonian shelf, which tends to mask declines of trophic levels in more developed fisheries. in the indo - pacific area, the apparent stability is certainly due to inadequacies of the statistics, because numerous accounts exist that document species shifts similar to those that occurred in northern tem - perate areas ( 13 ). fig. 3. trends of mean trophic levels of fisheries landings in the intertropical belt and adjacent waters. ( a ) central eastern pacific ( fao area 77 ) ; ( b ) southwest, central eastern, and southeast atlantic ( fao areas 41, 34, and 47 ) ; and ( c ) indo ( west ) - pacific ( fao areas 51, 57, and 71 ). | the south pacific areas ( fao areas 81 and 87 ; fig. 4a ) are interesting in that they display wide - amplitude fluctuations of trophic levels, reflecting the growth in the mid - 1950s of a huge industrial fishery for peruvian anchoveta. subsequent to the anchoveta fishery collapse, an offshore fishery developed for horse mackerel, trachurus murphyi, which has a higher trophic level ( 3. 3 + / - 0. 21 ) and whose range extends west toward new zealand ( 14 ). | | fig. 4. high - amplitude changes of mean trophic levels in fisheries landings. ( a ) south pacific ( fao areas 81 and 87 ) ; ( b ) antarctica ( fao areas 48, 58, and 88 ). antarctica ( fao areas 48, 58, and 88 ; fig. 4b ) also exhibits high - amplitude variation of mean trophic levels, from a high of 3. 4, due to a fishery that quickly depleted local accumulations of bony fishes, to a low of 2. 3,


88 ; fig. 4b ) also exhibits high - amplitude variation of mean trophic levels, from a high of 3. 4, due to a fishery that quickly depleted local accumulations of bony fishes, to a low of 2. 3, due to euphausia superba ( trophic level 2. 2 + / - 0. 40 ), a large krill species that dominated the more recent catches. the gross features of the plots in figs. 2 through 4, while consistent with previous knowledge of the dynamics of major stocks, may provide new insights on the effect of fisheries on ecosystems. further interpretation of the observed trends is facilitated by plotting mean trophic levels against catches. for example, the four systems in fig. 5 illustrate patterns different from the monotonous increase of catch that may be expected when fishing down food webs ( 15 ). each of the four systems in fig. 5 has a signature marked by abrupt phase shifts. for three of the examples, the highest landings are not associated with the lowest trophic levels, as the fishing - down - the - food - web theory would predict. instead, the time series tend to bend backward. the exception ( where landings continue to increase as trophic levels decline ) is the southern pacific ( fig. 5c ), where the westward expansion of horse mackerel fisheries is still the dominant feature, thus masking more local effects. the backward - bending feature of the plots of trophic levels versus landings, which also occurs in areas other than those in fig. 5, may be due to a combination of the following : ( i ) artifacts due to the data, methods, and assumptions used ; regarding item ( i ), the quality of the official landing statistics we used may be seen as a major impediment for analyses of the sort presented here. we know that considerable under - and misre - porting occur ( 16 ). however, for our analysis, the overall accuracy of the landings is not of major importance, if the trends are unbiased. anatomical and functional considerations support our assumption that the trophic levels of fish are conservative attributes and that they cannot change much over time, even when ecosystem structure changes ( 17 ). moreover, the increase of young fish as a proportion of landings in a given species that result from increasing fishing pressure would strengthen the reported trends, because the young of piscivorous species tend to be zooplanktivorous ( 18 ) and thus have lower trophic levels than


a proportion of landings in a given species that result from increasing fishing pressure would strengthen the reported trends, because the young of piscivorous species tend to be zooplanktivorous ( 18 ) and thus have lower trophic levels than the adults. ( ii ) large and increasing catches that are not reported to fao ; ( iii ) massive discarding of bycatches ( 16 ) consisting predominantly of fish with low trophic levels ; ( iv ) reduced catchability as a result of a decreasing average size of exploit - able organisms ; and ( v ) fisheries - induced changes in the food webs from which the landings were extracted. if we assume that fisheries tend to switch from species with high trophic levels to species with low trophic levels in response to changes of their relative abundances, then the backward - bending curves in fig. 5 may be also due to changes in ecosystem structure, that is, item ( v ). in the north sea, norway pout, trisopterus esmarkii, serves as a food source for most of the important fish species used for human consumption, such as cod or saithe. norway pout is also the most important predator on euphausiids ( krill ) in the north sea ( 3 ). fig. 5. plots of mean trophic levels in fishery landings versus the landings ( in millions of metric tons ) in four marine regions, illustrating typical backward - bending signatures ( note variable ordinate and abcissa scales ). ( a ) northwest atlantic ( fao area 21 ) ; ( b ) northeast atlantic ( fao area 27 ) ; ( c ) southeast pacific ( fao area 87 ) ; ( d ) mediterranean ( fao area 37 ). we must therefore expect that a directed fishery on this small gadoid ( landings in the northeast atlantic are about 3e5 t / year ) will have a positive effect on the euphausiids, which in turn prey on copepods, a much more important food source for commercial fish species than euphausiids. hence, fishing for norway pout may have a cascading effect, leading to a build - up of nonutilized euphausiids. triangles such as the one involving norway pout, euphausiids, and copepods, and which may have a major effect on ecosystem stability, are increasingly being integrated in ecological theory ( 21 ), especially in fisheries biology ( 22 ). globally, trophic levels of fisheries


this is the most populous area of nicaragua. it is home to beautiful lakes and some of the world ' s only freshwater sharks. with sandy beaches fronted by a long row of young cone - shaped volcanoes ( some of which are active ), nicaragua features beach and resort communities. this area also features an array of colonial architecture and artifacts. the temperatures in the region remain fairly constant throughout the year with november to april being the dry season and may to october representing the rainy season. the north - central highlands, or amerrique mountains, is less populated than the pacific lowlands and features a rugged terrain of forested mountains with deep valleys. this region gradually slopes to the caribbean lowlands. the north - central highlands boasts an abundance of wildlife as well as mild temperatures that are cooler than the pacific lowlands. this area experiences a longer and wetter rainy season. the caribbean lowlands are a large rainforest region with several large rivers. it is an area that is sparsely populated. it features a predominately tropical climate with high temperatures and high humidity. nicaraguan is multiethnic with a great diversity of art, cuisine and music. nicaraguan culture on the pacific side evidences a largely european influence, while on the caribbean coast there exists a very clear and lasting british influence. on the pacific side, the cuisine and main staples revolve around fruits and corn, while on the caribbean coastal region, cuisine and main staples revolve around seafood and the coconut. the most common dish is the gallo pinto, a blend of rice and beans. there is a tremendous range of attractions in nicaragua including the capital city of managua, which features spanish colonial architecture. one can also visit the masaya volcano national park, xilo crater lake, churches of leon, ruins of leon viego, a conquistador buriel site, and granada, a favourite of tourist destinations. nicaragua provides the opportunity for escondido river boat tours, rainforest eco - tours, fabulous diving among the coral reefs of the corn islands, and sightseeing at bluefields, a coastal town that is the center for reggae music. the opportunities for adventure, discovery, and rejuvenation are endless.


using taskset for priority tasks unless you ' re using a really old machine or cheap netbook, almost any system you touch with linux these days is going to be a multiprocessor system. any server machine deployed within the past five years should have at least two cpus, and most desktops released in the past three years have at least two cores. for a number of reasons, you might want to " pin " some tasks so they run exclusively on a single cpu or set of cpus. a tisket, a tasket, be sure to use the open source server tool taskset for priority tasks. whether you want to ensure resources for a process, ensure that a process doesn ' t hog all system resources or improve a process that doesn ' t scale well to multiple cpus, you can use taskset to assign a task to specific cpus. it ' s pretty simple. taskset, you " bond " a process to a cpu. let ' s say you want to run google chrome on one cpu. you ' d run something like this : taskset 0x00000001 google - chrome now chrome will be limited to cpu 0 ( 0x00000001 is the " mask " for cpu 0 ). if you wanted to assign it to two cpus, you would use taskset 0x00000003 instead. or you could use the - c option and specify the cpus by numerical ranges. see the taskset man page for more on that. to see what processors a task is assigned to, try running taskset - p xxxx, where xxxx is the process id ( pid ). if you ' re on a two - core system, for example, and haven ' t set the affinity, it will return 3. if you ' ve assigned it to both cores / cpus, then it will return 3. i don ' t make the syntax, i just write about it... is this going to speed up your system or be worth doing with all tasks? nope. it is, however, something you can try to experiment with when you ' re having performance problems or having issues with a process / application causing problems with the rest of the system. i ' d recommend testing it out on your desktop or test systems before attempting it in a production environment - - but with the right combination, you might be able to solve some system problems in short order. joe ' zonker ' brockmeier is a freelance writer and editor with more than


[ view the story " climate change : what can obama do without congress? " on storify ] climate change : what can obama do without congress? with the house controlled by republicans, some environmentalists are urging president obama to take action on climate change on his own. here are five things he could do. digital first media · mon, feb 11 2013 06 : 02 : 45 president barack obama has pledged to make addressing climate change a major priority in his second term. but house republicans remain skeptical about both the problem and potential legislative solutions. that ’ s led many environmentalists to urge obama to go it alone and take actions to reduce america ’ s greenhouse gas emissions on his own. below are five major things he could do without congressional approval. use the epa ’ s authority in 2007, the supreme court that the environmental protection agency has the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide under existing air pollution laws. the ruling empowered the agency to set higher standards for new power plants and write new regulations for older power plants some environmentalists think obama should take advantage of the epa ’ s newfound powers to restrict emissions as much as possible. that would still fall short of what a comprehensive bill passed through congress could do, however, and it might spark a backlash from big business. reduce methane emissions considered the second most significant greenhouse gas, methane is released from leaks in gas pipelines and coal mines, from landfills and livestock and agriculture. some scientists think reducing methane in the atmosphere could delay the effects of climate change by as much as 15 years. obama could order the epa, the department of energy and other federal agencies to refocus efforts at reducing methane emissions by capturing methane released at coal mines, reducing methane from landfills or even requiring more frequent draining of rice paddies. soot, also known as black carbon, is another concern for environmentalists. one recent study argued that black carbon is a more dangerous greenhouse gas than methane because its color causes it to take in more solar radiation. obama could order federal agencies crack down on such as diesel engines, coal - fired power stations and coal - burning cookstoves. however, coal is already cleaner in the u. s. than it used to be, so there may be a limit on how much this can be addressed within the united states alone. approve more renewable energy obama can order to focus on climate change including the department of energy, that state department and the department of the interior. between interior and the department of agriculture, the government manages 700 million acres of land, with another 1


alone. approve more renewable energy obama can order to focus on climate change including the department of energy, that state department and the department of the interior. between interior and the department of agriculture, the government manages 700 million acres of land, with another 1. 7 billion acres of offshore continental shelf managed by the interior department alone. public lands are prime real estate when it comes to energy development, from coal mining to wind farms. the administration could approve more renewable energy projects on federal lands. though that would not subtract any greenhouse gas emissions from existing sources, it would reduce how many are added to the air in the future. reject the keystone xl pipeline many environmentalists argue that the obama administration needs to reject the proposed keystone xl pipeline because it would promote the use of fossil fuels and create emissions from the extraction process. still, there is uncertainty about how much the pipeline itself actually would increase oil sands production and how the oil it produces might end up being used. obama rejected the keystone xl pipeline last year while in the midst of a re - election campaign, but the project is still alive. a number of senators have urged obama to allow the pipeline, arguing they want to see energy resources developed in this country, but obama will have a lot of power to block the pipeline if he wants.


1 in 4 in u. s. starts drinking before turning 21 : report monday, nov. 26 ( healthday news ) - - underage drinking in the united states remains a serious public health issue, a new federal government report shows. the analysis of data gathered between 2008 and 2010 from the u. s. national survey on drug use and health found that more than 26 percent of 12 - to 20 - year - olds reported drinking in the month before they were surveyed, and nearly 9 percent said they bought their own alcohol the last time they drank. the purchase and consumption of alcohol by anyone under age 21 is prohibited in the united states. there has been progress in reducing the amount of underage drinking in recent years, particularly among those under 18 years of age. however, rates of underage drinking are still unacceptably high, according to the report released nov. 20 by the u. s. substance abuse and mental health services administration ( samhsa ). " underage drinking should not be a normal part of growing up. it ' s a serious and persistent public health problem that puts our young people and our communities in danger, " samhsa administrator pamela hyde said in an agency news release. " even though drinking is often glamorized, the truth is that underage drinking can lead to poor academic performance, sexual assault, injury and even death, " she noted. rates of underage drinking were highest in vermont ( 37 percent ) and lowest in utah ( 14. 3 percent ). five other states in the northeast were among the 10 states with the highest rates of underage drinking : connecticut, massachusetts, new hampshire, new york and rhode island. new york also had one of the highest rates of underage youth illegally buying alcohol ( 15 percent ). states with the lowest rates of underage youth buying alcohol included new mexico ( 2. 5 percent ), idaho ( 2. 6 percent ) and oregon ( 2. 6 percent ). southern states had some of the lowest rates of underage drinking ( alabama, arkansas, georgia, north carolina, south carolina, tennessee and west virginia ) and some of the highest rates of underage youth illegally purchasing alcohol ( alabama, louisiana, kentucky, mississippi and north carolina ), the investigators found. the u. s. national institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism has more about underage drinking. source : u. s. substance abuse and mental health services administration, news release, nov. 20, 2012related articles - health tip : help keep teen drivers safe may 20


o ' connor was a hard - core bird lover. her favorite bird? yes, the peacock. she owned dozens of them and considered herself their servant. in her november 25, 1955 letter to her friend betty hester, o ' connor discussed the peacock in " the displaced person " : the priest sees the peacock as standing for the transfiguration [ one of christ ' s stages of transformation ], for which it is most certainly a most beautiful symbol. it also stands in medieval symbology for the church – the eyes are the eyes of the church. ( source : collected works, 971 ) notice that o ' connor doesn ' t try to tell us how to read the peacock in the story, but rather to share with us what it means to her. the quote suggests that she uses the peacock to let us know what she thinks of a character. for example father flynn and astor are the only characters who seem to care about the peacocks : the priest is fixated on the bird, and astor is upset about the fact that mrs. mcintyre starved the peacock population from twenty plus to one peacock and two peahens. that makes mrs. mcintyre a villain and father flynn and astor likeable characters. notice also that neither father flynn nor astor are present at the murder of mr. guizac. most of the characters in " the displaced person " don ' t seem to notice the peacock at all. it seems that o ' connor uses the peacock when she wants to make a specific point about a certain character or set of characters. the other character strongly associated with the peacock is mrs. shortley. her relationship with it is ambiguous. she isn ' t fascinated by it and doesn ' t appreciate it. the thing that makes the relationship ambiguous is the fact that the peacock follows her around and seems to be fascinated by her. the " fiery wheels with fierce dark eyes in them " sound suspiciously like the eyes on the peacock ' s tail. if these are the eyes of the church then does that mean the church has its eyes on mrs. shortley? if so, what does that mean? it depends, we suppose, on how the church is looking at her. disapprovingly? lovingly? we leave it to you to decide.


staten island, n. y. - - back in the 1800s, when ambitious new york - based painters went looking for dramatic landscapes, they found them a ferry - ride away, on staten island. at the time, the island ’ s high, central hills were still wooded and sparsely settled. much of the level land was green farmland. the surrounding waters were clean and filled with picturesque sailing vessels. the place was a landscape painter ’ s dream come true. the era will be documented for the first time in " staten island scenery : 1679 - 1900, ” a new book by barnett shepherd, the new brighton - based historian who is director emeritus of historic richmond town and an advisor to the staten island museum. the book, published jointly by richmond town and the museum, will be released later in the year. both collections preserve paintings of island scenes from the 19th century “ at the time, our island was regarded as a glorious representation of all of america, ” shepherd said. “ there were scenic views of the the harbor, acres of woods, grassy meadows, marshy wetlands and, the hills, which towered over the terrain other boroughs. these were perfect scenes for artists to recreate. ” landscape paintings became popular with the public. eventually painters left the city and sailed up the hudson river looking for new views. even after they headed west, artists who specialized in dramatic, unpopulated american landscapes became known as hudson river school painters. " staten island scenery : 1679 - 1900 " will be accompanied by documentary dvd, narrated by shepherd and directed by award - winning director ed wiseman, who is also executive director of historic richmond town.


dr. nicholas karanikolas, director of urologic oncology at staten island university hospital, demonstrates the robotic arms of the da vinci surgical system. using the da vinci robot for prostatectomy mario monteleone underwent robot - assisted prostate cancer surgery in august 2010 at siuh. mario monteleone ' s doctor had been tracking his psa levels for six years. with each blood test, his level of prostate - specific antigen - a protein made by the body and used to help detect prostate cancer - varied. if the number rose, antibiotics were prescribed, and the cause attributed to infection or inflammation in his prostate. then, about four years ago, his levels continued to climb. a biopsy was done that came back normal. in 2010, monteleone ' s psa level reached 10, meaning he was at an increased risk for prostate cancer. a second biopsy was done that showed that the 66 - year - old great kills man had cancer in 5 percent of his prostate. his doctor recommended several treatment options : hormone therapy, external beam radiation or radioactive tumor seeding. " i didn ' t want any of that, " said the retired wall street securities specialist. " so, i looked at alternatives and i got opinions and more opinions. " after much thought, monteleone chose to have a prostatectomy - surgical removal of the prostate gland - using robot - assisted technology recently available at staten island university hospital. in august 2010, dr. nicholas karanikolas, director of urologic oncology at siuh ' s ocean breeze campus, operated on monteleone using the da vinci surgical system. the high - tech surgery involved two components : a robot with spider - like arms equipped with a camera and tiny surgical instruments, and a separate console station located several feet away from the operating table where the surgeon controlled the robot ' s every movement. five half - inch incisions were made in monteleone ' s abdomen through which the camera and instruments were passed. during the prostatectomy, dr. karanikolas sat at the console looking into special binocular - enhanced lenses at a 3d image sent from the camera inside his patient ' s body. aided by the magnified view, he used the console ' s control knobs, which resemble video game joysticks, to maneuver the grasping and cutting motions made by the da vinci robot. " we control the arms and the camera with the joysticks allowing us not only optimal visualization but manipulation of tissues in a very deep


which resemble video game joysticks, to maneuver the grasping and cutting motions made by the da vinci robot. " we control the arms and the camera with the joysticks allowing us not only optimal visualization but manipulation of tissues in a very deep and intricate area of the body, " said dr. karanikolas. the ability to move the robotic arms in precise millimeter increments allowed him to remove monteleone ' s prostate while preserving surrounding tissue and nerves responsible for urinary continence and sexual function. the da vinci robot enables surgeons to do minimally invasive procedures with smaller incisions, resulting in less bleeding and pain for the patient, shorter recovery times and fewer post - operative complications, such as incontinence and impotence, explained dr. karanikolas. following his surgery, monteleone spent another day and a half at the hospital before being discharged. a catheter placed during the procedure was removed 10 days later. " it took about a month or two to heal and after that, everything has been fine, " said monteleone, who prior to his surgery had difficulty urinating. for the next two years, he will have to have his psa level monitored every three months to check for cancer recurrence. monteleone said he has no regrets about opting for the high - tech surgery. " this is becoming the dominant means by which prostate cancer is being treated, " said dr. karanikolas. " presently, 85 to 90 percent of all prostates are being removed robotically and in the future, it may represent 95 to 99 percent. "


risky business : gambling on climate sensitivity posted on 21 september 2010 by gpwayne there are some things about our climate we are pretty certain about. unfortunately, climate sensitivity isn ’ t one of them. climate sensitivity is the estimate of how much the earth ' s climate will warm if carbon dioxide equivalents are doubled. this is very important because if it is low, as some sceptics argue, then the planet isn ’ t going to warm up very much. if sensitivity is high, then we could be in for a very bad time indeed. there are two ways of working out what climate sensitivity is ( a third way – waiting a century – isn ’ t an option, but we ’ ll come to that in a moment ). the first method is by modelling : climate models have predicted the least temperature rise would be on average 1. 65°c ( 2. 97°f ), but upper estimates vary a lot, averaging 5. 2°c ( 9. 36°f ). current best estimates are for a rise of around 3°c ( 5. 4°f ), with a likely maximum of 4. 5°c ( 8. 1°f ). the second method calculates climate sensitivity directly from physical evidence : these calculations use data from sources like ice cores, paleoclimate records, ocean heat uptake and solar cycles, to work out how much additional heat the doubling of greenhouse gases will produce. the lowest estimate of warming is close to the models - 1. 8°c ( 3. 24°f ) on average - but the upper estimate is a little more consistent, at an average of around 3. 5°c ( 6. 3°f ). it ’ s all a matter of degree to the lay person, the arguments are obscure and complicated by other factors, like the time the climate takes to respond. but climate sensitivity is not just an abstract exchange of statistics relevant only to scientists. it also tells us about the likely changes to the climate that today ' s children will inherit. consider a rise in sea levels, for example. predictions range from centimetres to many metres, and the actual increase will be governed by climate sensitivity. the 2007 ipcc report proposed a range of sea level rises based on different increases in temperature, but we now know they underestimated sea level rise, perhaps by a factor of three, in part because of a lack of data about the behaviour of greenland and antarctic ice - sheets. current estimates of sea level rise alone, as a result of a two degree


know they underestimated sea level rise, perhaps by a factor of three, in part because of a lack of data about the behaviour of greenland and antarctic ice - sheets. current estimates of sea level rise alone, as a result of a two degree rise in temperature, are very worrying. more worrying is that the current projections do not account for recently accelerated melting of polar regions. there are also many other possible effects of a 2°c rise ( 3. 6°f ) that would be very disruptive. all the models and evidence confirm a minimum warming close to 2°c for a doubling of atmospheric co2 with a most likely value of 3°c and the potential to warm 4. 5°c or even more. even such a small rise would signal many damaging and highly disruptive changes to the environment. in this light, the arguments against mitigation because of climate sensitivity are a form of gambling. a minority claim the climate is less sensitive than we think, the implication being we don ’ t need to do anything much about it. others suggest that because we can ' t tell for sure, we should wait and see. in truth, nobody knows for sure quite how much the temperature will rise, but rise it will. inaction or complacency heightens risk, gambling with the entire ecology of the planet, and the welfare of everyone on it. this post is the basic version ( written by graham wayne ) of the skeptic argument " climate sensitivity is low ". for the stout of heart, be sure to also check out the advanced version by dana which is currently getting rave reviews on climate progress.


can we teach computers what “ truth ” means? it ’ s harder than it sounds. courtesy of null0 / flickr this article arises from future tense, a partnership of slate, the new america foundation, and arizona state university. from feb. 28 through march 2, future tense will be taking part in emerge, an annual conference on asu ’ s tempe campus about what the future holds for humans. this year ’ s theme : the future of truth. visit the emerge website to learn more and to get your ticket. i ’ d like to begin with two different ideas of truth. the first appears to be the simplest : “ it is true that 1 + 1 = 2. ” the second is from the beginning of the declaration of independence : “ we hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. ” now, these sound like quite different ideas about truth. but the process of trying to teach computers to understand truths like these — difficult for both notions — is revealing the ways in which they are similar. the term artificial intelligence was coined in 1955 by a computer scientist named john mccarthy. early on, mccarthy enunciated his key aim as the systematization of common sense knowledge. in 1959, he wrote : “ [ a ] program has common sense if it automatically deduces for itself a sufficiently wide class of immediate consequences of anything it is told and what it already knows. ” this has proven very difficult, primarily because it is difficult to encode, in a systematic fashion, what it means to say something is true. even “ 1 + 1 = 2 ” is less obvious than it seems at first. beginning in the early part of the 20th century, mathematicians and philosophers, led at first by bertrand russell and gottlob frege and later by ludwig wittgenstein, kurt godel, alan turing, and others, tried to see whether mathematical knowledge — facts like “ 1 + 1 = 2 ” — could be reduced to the laws of logic. ( by logic, frege meant “ those laws of thought that transcend all particulars. ” the most basic principle of logic is perhaps the conviction that nothing exists — it is possible to name a set that has no elements. ) david hilbert, the dean of mathematics at the dawn of the century, had thought that such a reduction was possible and posed it as a challenge. but hilbert


the conviction that nothing exists — it is possible to name a set that has no elements. ) david hilbert, the dean of mathematics at the dawn of the century, had thought that such a reduction was possible and posed it as a challenge. but hilbert was doomed to failure here. the reason for this, at a basic level, is self - reference. sentences like “ this sentence is false ” turn out to pose a nasty set of technical challenges that make it impossible to fully express mathematical knowledge as a consequence of logical axioms — things that are held, on their face, to be true. godel, an austrian logician who would become a good friend of albert einstein ’ s after both of them settled in princeton, proved this in a 1931 paper, whose consequences were later strengthened by turing. godel ’ s incompleteness theorem says that in any sufficiently strong logical system ( meaning one that is rich enough to express mathematics ), it is impossible to prove that the axioms — the assumptions — of the system do not lead to a contradiction. the importance of godel ’ s incompleteness theorems for artificial intelligence is something that remains hotly debated. one school of thought, as ernest nagel and james newman wrote in 1956, holds that incompleteness means “ that the resources of the human intellect have not been, and cannot be, fully formalized, and that new principles of demonstration forever await invention and discovery. ” the other school of thought says, basically, “ don ’ t worry about it! ” the best - known recent exponent of this school is ray kurzweil, who claims, without much evidence, that “ there is an essential equivalence between a computer and the brain. ” kurzweil ’ s overheated triumphalism aside ( he seems determined to prove that careful thought is not necessary to be human by displaying a tremendous lack of care himself ), this is not a question that we need to resolve to say something about what current progress in artificial intelligence is doing to the idea of truth. even if nagel and newman are right and human intellect cannot be fully formalized, computer scientists have come a long way since john mccarthy first enunciated the aim of formalizing common sense. computer scientists have worked to come up with formal descriptions of the everyday world. here is a short list, taken from the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy of some of scenarios they ’ ve tried to encode : the baby scenario, the bus ride scenario, the chess board scenario, the ferryboat connection scenario, the furniture assembly


world. here is a short list, taken from the stanford encyclopedia of philosophy of some of scenarios they ’ ve tried to encode : the baby scenario, the bus ride scenario, the chess board scenario, the ferryboat connection scenario, the furniture assembly scenario, the hiding turkey scenario, the kitchen sink scenario, the russian turkey scenario, the stanford murder mystery, the stockholm delivery scenario, the stolen car scenario, the stuffy room scenario, the ticketed car scenario, the walking turkey scenario, and the yale shooting anomaly. let ’ s take the last of these — the yale shooting anomaly, which aims to formally codify the fact that an unloaded shotgun, if loaded and then shot at a person, would kill the person. classical logic dealt with things like “ 1 + 1 = 2 ” which are true, ( or false, like 1 = 0 ) for all time. they were true, are true, and always will be true. it doesn ’ t allow for things to happen. but to encode common - sense knowledge, computer scientists need a way to allow for events to take place. they also need ways to encode spatial locations. some of this had been worked out in a rigorous but limited way, in what philosophers call modal logic, which was first enunciated by c. i. lewis in 1918. but modal logic was too limited for computer scientists to use in semireal world systems. in the languages that computer scientists have come up with, as in the yale shooting anomaly, they were unable to preclude the possibility that the shotgun would spontaneously unload itself. it ’ s not that computer scientists think that that will happen ; it ’ s that they struggle to formalize how it can ’ t. ( since the yale shooting anomaly was first stated in 1986, many solutions have been proposed, but it remains an area of research. ) a central challenge computer scientists face is what ’ s called the ramification problem : how to codify that fact that if i walk into a room, my shirt does, too. this is paralleled by the “ frame problem, ” first enunciated by mccarthy in 1969, which is the “ problem of efficiently determining which things remain the same in a changing world. ” these problems are considerably harder than careless cheerleaders like kurzweil make them out to be. the central result of logicians in the 20th century was that, in the end, it will always be necessary to extend your axioms — things you just assume to be true without


polishing characteristics and problems pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, magnetite and pentlandite. kambalda, western australia the section has been partially polished with 6µm diamond paste. individual grains of pyrrhotite ( brown ) are clearly seen due to differential polishing. crystals in some orientations still retain many polishing pits ( black ) whereas others are well polished. chalcopyrite ( yellow, centre bottom ) and magnetite ( light grey, bottom right ) are present. pentlandite ( pale yellow - brown, centre right and close to a diagonal fracture ) has higher reflectance than pyrrhotite and is just visible within the largest pyrrhotite crystal as small pentlandite flame - like exsolution bodies along a fracture - dark grey area ( bottom right ) is silicate, black areas are polishing pits. coarse features, especially grain boundaries, are well shown after initial polishing, but fine features are still difficult to see. llmenite and haematite. kimberlite pipe. unknown provenance this section has been polished with 1µm diamond paste, but shows extensive plucking. host magnesium - rich ilmenite crystals ( brown ) carry lath - shaped haematite exsolution bodies ( blue - grey ). plucked areas ( black ) have the same size, shape and orientation as the haematite, suggesting that it has been preferentially removed. if more than one phase is plucked in a section then it becomes difficult to estimate modal percentages. bornite, stromeyerite, chalcocite, pyrite and tetrahedrite group mineral. unknown provenance this section has been polished with ¼ µm diamond paste. although the section is scratch - free has enormous relief and hence shows strong shadows about the harder phases. euhedral to subhedral pyrite ( pale yellow, high reflectance ), a tetrahedrite group mineral ( light grey, centre and top centre ) and quartz ( dark grey, bottom centre ) show high relief against the softer copper and silver sulphides. bornite ( brown - red, left ) has an symplectite - like intergrowth with, and inclusions of, chalcocite ( light blue ). stromeyerite ( light lilac - grey, centre right ) also is complexly intergrown with chalcocite. although relief accentuates the symplectite texture of the softer phases, they remain poorly polished


light blue ). stromeyerite ( light lilac - grey, centre right ) also is complexly intergrown with chalcocite. although relief accentuates the symplectite texture of the softer phases, they remain poorly polished in areas close to high relief minerals. minerals forming thin rims around the harder phases would be ' lost ' within the shadows. bornite ( top and bottom right ) is purple coloured rather than brown, this is tarnish which has been protected by the adjacent quartz crystals from removal. chloanthite, rammelsbergite, pyrargyrite, argentopyrite, acanthite and altered argentopyrite. tynebottom mine, north pennines, britain this section has been polished with ¼µm diamond paste but shows the effects of overpolishing. chloanthite ( cream - white ) is overgrown by rhombic rammelsbergite ( pale blue - white, slightly lower reflectance, centre ) on the edge next to pyrargyrite. pyrargyrite ( blue ) and argentopyrite ( brown ) overgrow the arsenides. in argentopyrite the slightly higher reflectance patches with a lighter surface colour in the centre of the crystals are more overpolished than the margins. the pyrargyrite crystal ( bottom centre left ) also shows the same effect. acanthite ( light blue - grey, bottom left ) is less strongly coloured than pyrargyrite and more poorly polished. fine - grained porous aggregates of pyrite, marcasite and an uncharacterized mineral, agfe11s8, have pseudomorphed argentopyrite ( bottom right ) but individual crystals cannot be identified at this magnification. calcite ( dark grey ) is the main gangue. pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, native gold and galena. cabacal 1, mato grosso, brazil the final polishing conditions are not known. native gold shows relief, compare gold ( golden - yellow, high reflectance, strong relief, centre top ) within the silicate gangue with gold ( centre bottom ) intergrown with chalcopyrite ( yellow - green, bottom centre ) and pyrrhotite ( brown, right ) where it shows less relief minor amounts of galena ( blue - grey, top centre ) are intergrown with pyrrhotite and gold, but are difficult to


, bottom centre ) and pyrrhotite ( brown, right ) where it shows less relief minor amounts of galena ( blue - grey, top centre ) are intergrown with pyrrhotite and gold, but are difficult to see. the high reflectance and colour of gold give adjacent crystals of chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite anomalously low reflectance and colours. these effects are more marked to the eye than the photomicrograph suggests. gangue phases ( greys ) are quartz ( left ) and phyllosilicates ( centre ). black areas are polishing pits. sphalerite, galena, haematite and magnetite. jersey, channel islands, britain final polishing with ¼ µm diamond paste. despite a wide variation in hardness between the phases, there is little relief. sphalerite ( light grey, left ) is intergrown with galena ( white, centre ) and euhedral magnetite ( brown, bottom centre ). haematite ( pale blue, bottom centre ) laths are being replaced by galena ( centre ). the gangue is quartz ( dark grey, bottom centre ) and abundant coarse - grained carbonate with a slightly higher reflectance than quartz.


publisher : u. s. census bureau social explorer ; u. s. census bureau ; design and methodology, american community survey. u. s. government printing office, washington, dc, 2009. a term used in 2000 to describe the data that were asked of " 100 percent " of the population in census 2000. that is, questions that were collected for all people on both the census short - form and long - form questionnaires. in 2000, this included sex, relationship, age / date of birth, hispanic origin, race, and tenure. one of four key dimensions of survey quality, accessibility refers to the ability of the data users to readily obtain and use survey products. the average number of basic acs items reported per person, including sex, age ( counted double ), relationship, marital status, hispanic origin, and race. a questionnaire for an occupied unit must have an acceptability index of 2. 5 or greater to be considered an interview. one of four key dimensions of survey quality. accuracy refers to the difference between the survey estimate and the true ( unknown ) value. attributes are measured in terms of sources of error ( for example, coverage, sampling, nonresponse, measurement, and processing ). address control file the residential address list used in the 1990 census to label questionnaires, control the mail response check - in operation, and determine the nonresponse follow - up workload. address corrections from rural directories a post - census 2000 master address file ( maf ) improvement operation where census bureau staff reviewed commercial directories for 300 rural counties in 10 midwestern states to obtain new city - style addresses for maf records that did not contain a city - style address. conducted in 2002, over 15, 000 city - style addresses were associated with maf records that previously lacked a city - style address. a census 2000 field operation to develop the address list in areas with predominantly non - city - style mailing addresses. a lister captured the address and / or a physical / location description for each living quarters within a specified assignment area. the lister marked the location of each residential structure on a block map by placing a spot on the map indicating its location and assigning a map spot number. the lister also updated and corrected features on the map if necessary. this activity was called " prelist " in the 1990 census. geographic areas, usually with legally defined boundaries but often without elected officials, created to administer elections and other governmental functions. administrative areas include school districts, voting districts, zip codes,