. reading the sources in these smaller groups, we analyze pliny ' s apparently unsympathetic comments on the death of regulus ' son in the context of upper - class roman male expectations of fatherhood, emotions, and pliny ' s deep hostility to regulus. pliny ' s letter also shows the independent wealth of a mother and the possibility of a young male coming into independent wealth, either by the death of his father or by the legal technicality of being freed ( " sold " ) from the power ( patria potestas ) of his father. 3 the comparatively large quantity of funerary commemoration of prematurely - dead children helps put regulus ' grief into perspective. regulus ' son had survived early childhood, so his death, in his early teens, was the more tragic. i also project images of various funerary items, including the two sarcophagi, on a screen. these raise the question of parental grief and grieving in a society of high mortality, challenging the claim sometimes made of indifference to children ' s deaths in societies with high rates of infant mortality. each of the sarcophagi depicts a sequence of life - stages, and each can be dated to the first half of the 2nd century ce. 4 by contrast with simple epitaphs, these are quite expensive artifacts. on the first sarcophagus, the boy ' s name, m. cornelius statius ( in the dedicatory form ' m. cornelio m. f. pal. statio ' ), indicates that he is a freeborn roman citizen. the epitaph has been dedicated by the boy ' s parents ( ' parentes ' ). the family ' s dress and attributes, and the quality of the artifact, suggest a well - to - do family. the scenes depict the newborn infant, the child at play, and the child with teacher. the mother appears to be breast - feeding which raises the question about whether this was normal ( in a society of wet - nurses ) or whether the scene was idealized. the father ' s role in the nursing scene and in holding the infant often surprises the students. in well - to - do citizen families, with a household of slave retainers, the stereotype is of more distant relationships and limited contact between parents and children in the early rearing years. ( compare, for example, stereotypes of 19th century upper - class english families. ) the scroll in the boy ' s hand as he recites his lesson to a teacher raises


relationships and limited contact between parents and children in the early rearing years. ( compare, for example, stereotypes of 19th century upper - class english families. ) the scroll in the boy ' s hand as he recites his lesson to a teacher raises questions about many aspects of education, such as the availability of " books, " importance of oral performance and memory, and existence of schools and private tutors. it also sparks discussion of children ' s modes of play, their engagement with animals ( helping put young regulus ' pets in context ), and children ' s place in the family. the second sarcophagus also depicts an infant ( in the arms of one of the parents in the carriage ride on the right - hand side of the stone ) and play ( as a toddler with a wheeled pusher or scooter, and a little older with a pet goose ). but the last scene is of death, foreshadowed by the torches, often symbols of funerals, at each end of the sarcophagus. the parents again ride in a carriage, with the slightly older child between them, and they are led by a winged cupid foreshadowing the child ' s soul ascending to heaven. at some stage in the discussion, students often raise the issue of the nature of the sarcophagus as an artifact. this leads to some questions about the disposal of the dead and how frequently sarcophagi were used. epitaphs for children lead to issues of demography. cremation remained dominant for many centuries, so why the growing popularity of sarcophagi in the 2nd century, well before any real impact of christianity? students also discuss the role of fashion and the greater scope of sarcophagi for sculptural decoration. close examination of the sarcophagi usually increases students ' ability to read art and artifacts, and thus their pleasure in viewing such material. this is partly an aesthetic experience, but also a methodological lesson. students learn that documents can include all kinds of evidence of the past and realize that there can be more than one reading of a document. they realize the importance of assessing the author, his / her authorial intention, the intended reader or viewer, and the societal context. the importance of contextualization also emerges as students realize that a quick, impressionistic reading of any of these documents in isolation yields less understanding than a comparison and some attention to background. moreover, the importance of dating the documents shows the increasing interest in representations of children,


##ualization also emerges as students realize that a quick, impressionistic reading of any of these documents in isolation yields less understanding than a comparison and some attention to background. moreover, the importance of dating the documents shows the increasing interest in representations of children, women, families, and slaves, whereas most of the sources for rome before the 2nd century ce revealed a male, upper - class, political and military focus. that realization leads students to wonder about the differences in representations and to speculate about the role of a new political regime : its emphasis on peace and stability ; growing affluence and leisure ( for many, but not all ) ; and the need of ex - slaves to record their upward mobility in the record of their children. 1 aries, philippe. centuries of childhood. new york : vintage books, 1962. 2 bradley, k. discovering the roman family : studies in roman social history. new york : oxford university press, 1991 ; dixon, suzanne. the roman family. baltimore : johns hopkins university press, ©1992 ; and rawson, beryl. children and childhood in roman italy. oxford : oxford university press, 2003. 3 sherwin - white, a. the letters of pliny. a historical and social commentary. oxford : oxford university press, ©1966. 4 huskinson, janet. roman children ' s sarcophagi : their decoration and its social significance. oxford : clarendon press ; new york : oxford university press, 1996, illustrations 1. 23 and 1. 29. how to cite this source beryl rawson, " roman children ’ s sarcophagi, " in children and youth in history, item # 52, http : / / chnm. gmu. edu / cyh / case - studies / 52 ( accessed may 24, 2013 ).


richmond food secure organised 3 sessions of canning and preserving the bounty of summer harvest for the enjoying in the winter. the workshops will be conducted in the south arm community center. chef karen dar woon will instruct participants on easy methods of canning, using excess fruit and veggies that are coming out of the garden. each workshop costs $ 5. i got to know of these workshops through arzeena, the outreach coordinator of richmond fruit tree sharing project. the theme for the first workshop was golden plum. it is also known as yellowgage or golden drop. the golden plum is a small plum, with diameter around 3 to 4 cm. the skin is sourish while the flesh is sweet. karen shared with us the following home canning knowledge : what is canning : home canning, also known as putting up, is the process of preserving foods ( in particular, fruits, vegetables, and meats ) by packing them into glass jars and then heating the jars. heating kills microorganisms and inactivates the enzymes which can cause deterioration. the heat pocess also drives the air out of the jars, creating a hermetic ( airtight ) seal ; this prevents reentry of contaminants. prior to the mid 20th century, canning was one of the most common methods of preserving food for later use. freezers were not developed for consumer use until mid 1940s, when the birdseye company began distributing frozen foods by rail. a little science : the microorganisms which cause spoilage include molds and yeasts, bacteria ( salmonella, staph and botulism ) and enzymes. these microorganisms are already in or on the foods in nature, but can be killed. most molds and yeasts are destroyed at temperatures between 140 - 190f ( 60 - 88c ). bacteria thrive at those same temperatures, but are unable to live in high acid environments. fruit jams and pickles are considered high acid foods ( ph of 4. 6 or lower ), and so are considered lower risk for home canning. the use of a pressure canner, producing temperatures of up to 240f ( 115c ), is used for processing low acid and acid nuetral foods such as meats and vegetables. heating jars in the water bath processor causes expansion of the food, and pressure within the jar. air escapes from under the lid throughout the processing time. when the produce cools, a vacuum forms and the lid conracts, creating a hermetic ( air


the water bath processor causes expansion of the food, and pressure within the jar. air escapes from under the lid throughout the processing time. when the produce cools, a vacuum forms and the lid conracts, creating a hermetic ( airtight ) seal and preveting recontamination. boiling water bath : any large, heavy pot can be used, as long as it is at least 3 ″ taller than your jars. a rack keeps the glass away from the direct heat of the pot, and can be helpful for removing the jars later, but isn ’ t critical. a folded tea towl can be used instead. jar lifters : specially shaped tongs which fit aroung the top of the jar. pressure canner : specially equipped pot which features a pressure - regulating device and a locking lid. opten available at smaller hardware stores and some specialty cookware shops. these differ from pressure cookers in both shap and manufacture ( more precise regulator ). a pressure canner must be used for ‘ plain ’ vegetables, meat, poultry or fish. jars : canning jars are designed to withstand the temperatures and pressures involved in home canning. jars and rings may be reused, but always use new seals. the two - part sealer uses a soft compound in the lid which softens with heat and provides a cushion between the glass an dthe metal lid. for more info, check out www. homecanning. ca ( bernardin website, and the the art and science of home food preservation @ 2006 jarden corporation. - 3 - 5 pounds plums - 1 cup granulated sugar - 2 1 / 2 cups water | prepare 6 250ml jars, rings and lids. wash in hot soapy water, and rinse well. place lids in hot, not boiling water, for 5 minutes before using. do not heat rings. heat jars in canning pot with hot water to sanitize them. | | prepare syrup by boiling water and sugar until the sugar dissolved. | | prick whole plums with a fork to break skins, or cut in half and remove pits. this is to prevent the plums from exploding when in hot water bath. | | pack plums snugly into jars, leaving 1 / 2 ″ at the top of the jar. | | ladle hot syrup over plums to cover, leaving 1 / 2 ″ at the top of the jar. | | remove air bubbles ( with a plastic cake knife ) and add more syrup if needed. wipe jar rim to remove any


. | | ladle hot syrup over plums to cover, leaving 1 / 2 ″ at the top of the jar. | | remove air bubbles ( with a plastic cake knife ) and add more syrup if needed. wipe jar rim to remove any stickiness. | | the photo shows a magnetic gadget used to lift the lid from the hot water. you can use a spatula to lift the lid from the hot water. | | centre snap the lid on the jar. | | apply screw band just until resistance is met ; fingertip tight. do not overtighten. | | place jars in a canner. fill canner with hot water to cover jars by 1 ″. cover canner ; bring water to a boil. boiled filled jars for 10 minutes. for larger size jars like 500ml or 1 litre jar, the boiling time should be 25 minutes. when processing time is complete, turn heat off and remove canner lid. | when boil subsides i. e. bubbles no longer rise to surface ( 3 to 5 minutes ), remove jars without tilting. cool jars upright, undisturbed 24 hours. do not retighten screw bands. during the demo, we had a couple of jars started to leak once they were removed from the canner. such problems can be caused by bad lid or overfiling the jars with syrup. in such case, you can refrigerate the jar after it has cooled down and consume the fruit within a week. after cooling, check jar seals. sealed lids should curved downward and do not move when pressed. remove screw bands ; wip and dry bands and jars. store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. label and store jars in a cool, dark place.


in a typical year, it is not uncommon for a dozen or so comets to come within range of amateur telescopes. during the month of october, 2010, a small comet will pass unusually close to earth. on oct. 20, comet hartley 2 will pass just over 11 million miles ( 18 million km ) from earth. that is close enough for the comet to be seen through binoculars or even, in the darkest skies, with the naked eye. amateur stargazers aren ’ t the only ones looking out for hartley 2 this month. in september 2007, nasa woke up its hibernating di spacecraft and, in november, sent it the maneuvering instructions to intercept hartley 2. the spacecraft is precisely on schedule to rendezvous with the comet on november 4 as it approaches the sun. this week ’ s online current events activity is a study of comets, the hartley 2 comet, and nasa ’ s attempt to study it. begin your investigation into comets by visiting worldbook @ nasa, which features excellent overviews on many topics related to space and astronomy, including comets. as you read this page, look for answers to the following questions : - what are some of the ingredients that make up a comet? - how big are most comets? - how does a comet tail form, and which direction does it always point? - what is the relationship between comets and meteor showers? - what have scientists learned about the nucleus of a comet? more information about comets can be found at the nine planets site. as you read, look for answers to these questions : - name two examples of comet appearances in antiquity ( ancient human history ) - how many comets have been cataloged? - what are the five parts of a comet? - how do comets “ die ”? comet hartley 2 now that you have some solid background information about comets in general, let ’ s see what we can learn about comet hartley 2. start by going to the web site of sky and telescope magazine, and read comet hartley 2 at its best, written by greg bryant. this first half of the page is an ongoing blog with dated status updates, followed by the original article. as you read, just understand that you are reading backwards in time. when you get to the october 8 update, watch the wide - field animation created by ernesto guido and giovanni sostero. can you see the slight movement of the comet against the stationary star field? as you read the original article, look for answers to the following questions : - in what year was hartley 2 discovered? - why does the moon


and giovanni sostero. can you see the slight movement of the comet against the stationary star field? as you read the original article, look for answers to the following questions : - in what year was hartley 2 discovered? - why does the moon play a factor in viewing comets? - what does the epoxi spacecraft ’ s name stand for? - how close will the spacecraft get to the comet? - what does the number 2 mean in “ hartley 2 ”? - why was this comet beyond visual discovery until after 1982? learn more about the exoxi mission by visiting the official mission web site. from the home page, click mission on the left and read the 10 phases of the mission. what is the purpose of the earth fly - bys? what happens during the comet approach phase? what will scientists be looking for during the encounter phase? what data will be gathered? finish your online study of comets this week by comparing comets. this is a student activity developed by nasa in which students can make their own observations based on photos of two different comet nuclei. print this worksheet or follow along online and record your answers separately. follow the directions on each page. on page 2, as you are looking at the two photos of comet surfaces, listen to this audio recording of students making their own observations about the comets in a teacher - led discussion. comets are not easy to study. because of their speed and orbit, it is ( currently ) impossible for humans to travel to comets to make firsthand observations. instead, scientists send up remotely controllable probes to intercept comets, take photographs, and make a variety of different measurements. this practice is not limited to astronomers. for centuries humans have been creating tools used to measure, weigh, count, or in many other ways analyze things that are beyond our physical senses. in a current or recent issue of the e - edition, look for news stories that cite examples of people using tools to measure or analyze. a good example might be dna testing for criminal evidence, but you will find many others. based on your findings, how important have these tools become in our daily lives? why is it becoming increasingly important to measure, collect, and analyze information?


figure 9 - 3. tcp treats all the data as data tcp just needs to worry about the tcp header and doing what it says. in this case, as long as tcp gets the first chunk of data to the server and the second chunk back from the server to the browser, its job is finished. tcp calls the tcp header and the data behind it a tcp segment. later in this chapter, in the section titled " big box, small truckwhat do you do?, " it will be clear why the people who made up tcp chose to call it a segment. one of the largest benefits of a layered networking model relates to how tcp behaves in figure 9 - 3. the fact that tcp doesn ' t have to think about what http is trying to do means that the tcp software does not need to know anything about how http works. so, the person who writes the tcp software can keep it simple. the person who writes http software and any other application protocol that intends to use tcp can keep it simple as well, relying on tcp to deliver the data. if you ' re feeling a little uncomfortable about tcp at this point, it ' s okay. so far, this chapter has described some mechanisms that tcp uses, but it hasn ' t explained much about why tcp is useful to applications. in the next section, you ' ll learn about error recoveryone of the most important features of tcp.


dershowitz is most urgently concerned to reclaim his cherished declaration from the christian right, whose suggestion that america is a christian nation inspires him to fiery sermons that consume about a third of his book. but ultimately — and he is not shy about saying so — he would reclaim the declaration from thomas jefferson, himself, and from the revolutionaries of 1776. words, as you may have read in any one of a million sacred academic texts, and as you will read again on every fourth or fifth page of dershowitz ' s non - academic book, have " different meanings " for different people in different times and places. the most famous and distinctive words of the declaration, according to dershowitz, have fundamentally different meanings ( they bear different ideas and principles ) for us in " the twenty - first - century world " than they had for jefferson and the revolutionaries who proclaimed them 200 - some years ago. to explain this miracle of the lost meanings, dershowitz invokes a hodgepodge of academic articles of faith with which every college freshman has been catechized — under threat of excommunication — for the past forty years. but he turns eventually to the highest authority of his own sect — " legal realism. " certainly the most distinctive and well - known words of the declaration are found in its proclamation : " 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.... " a few score years after 1776, these words still conveyed to abraham lincoln the most essential " meaning " of the american revolution. this " abstract truth, applicable to all men and all times " was america ' s " philosophical cause. " it was the distinctive american expression of natural right and natural law, the recognizably american way of acknowledging a moral truth, accessible to human reason and independent of human enactments, by which americans and all other lovers of liberty might guide their political choices and destinies. all " nonsense on stilts, " according to dershowitz ( with thanks to jeremy bentham ). " the american school of legal realism — beginning with holmes and reaching its zenith in the mid - 20th century — changed all of that. " presto - chango : " rights " and " equality " are purely " human inventions, " " legal or moral fictions. " " the reality is that natural law simply does not exist. " dershowitz thinks that the gospel according to holmes has been so successful


: " rights " and " equality " are purely " human inventions, " " legal or moral fictions. " " the reality is that natural law simply does not exist. " dershowitz thinks that the gospel according to holmes has been so successful that, " [ w ] ith few exceptions " today, everyone believes that " morality " and " even truth are ever - changing. " these " evolve with experience, " with the " views of the age. " he may exaggerate the conversion rate, but he is absolutely right that this is the virtually unquestioned orthodoxy of american law schools today. dershowitz thus faithfully reads the declaration as practically every first - year law student, these days, is taught to read the constitution, as " a text whose meaning may [ indeed, must ] differ from generation to generation with changing experiences. " now alan dershowitz wants to proselytize for " equality " and " rights " — and for decency, truth, morality, the rule of law, democracy, justice, and government by consent, among other things. on page after page, he writes about these and other desiderata not as mere words, but as if they were full of " meaning " ; just as he writes categorically, and as if his words had meaning, about the evils of this world : " [ s ] lavery is wrong, " and so on. he wants others to join him in the faith, and he wants to provide them firm ground from which to wage what he thinks of as a righteous struggle. but since the principles and ideas, the meanings, of jefferson and lincoln have miraculously vanished, he must find a new foundation, a new rock on which to build his church of the " higher morality. " " [ f ] or the millions of good and moral people who do not believe in god [ or natural law, natural rights, unchanging truth, immutable principles of right or wrong, or human equality ]... there must be other sources of morality, law, and rights, " etc., than the principles and ideas of the declaration. " what, then, is the source of [ this ] higher morality, " asks dershowitz. he answers : " it is human experience! trial and error!... [ w ] e recognize our past mistakes and try to build a better system of morality to avoid repetition of those mistakes! " experience!, which is to say history!, becomes the new source of


human experience! trial and error!... [ w ] e recognize our past mistakes and try to build a better system of morality to avoid repetition of those mistakes! " experience!, which is to say history!, becomes the new source of meaning, the god of the dispossessed. the exclamation points bear a heavy burden. they are ( momentary ) expressions of a blind faith that the god of human experience! will somehow recognize his " mistakes! " in a universe where mistakes!, like truth and morality, are ever - changing. when he is moved by this faith, dershowitz writes as an optimistic progressive : experience! is on the side of alan dershowitz and the " higher morality. " we can be expected to have a higher morality than the ten commandments, for example, because " we have much more human experience on which to base our rules than did those who wrote the bible. " " morality [ god bless darwin ] evolves with experience. " but experience! turns out to be a fickle and mysterious god, and dershowitz ' s faith wavers. sometimes dershowitz recognizes and accepts the abject deference to convention required by his new deity. in these moments, he concludes that our meanings must be whatever the consensus of people today allegedly think. " [ t ] he authority to give [ rights ] any real meaning lies with people. " in other passages he recognizes that, by the " people, " he really means the powerful. the jews in hitler ' s germany, for example, got " rights " solely because hitler lost world war ii. if hitler had won, these jews would not, in the eyes of dershowitz ' s god, have had any rights that any man was bound to respect. this is how we must understand dershowitz when he says, sincerely, that " slavery is wrong. " he means that the slave power lost the war. otherwise, his god would have no objection to slavery. elsewhere, seeing the problem, he asserts his " right " to dissent from the consensus or from the latest majority ; it is an assertion that can by his own reasoning have no more " meaning " than the latest consensus or the latest coup. dershowitz does not let his argument get bogged down in consistency. such impasses drive dershowitz, against some of his strongest passions and prejudices, to a final leap of faith. he grabs onto the " spirit " of the " words and ideas " of the american revolution as


##ged down in consistency. such impasses drive dershowitz, against some of his strongest passions and prejudices, to a final leap of faith. he grabs onto the " spirit " of the " words and ideas " of the american revolution as if it were a lone piece of salvific drift wood in an endless ocean of meaningless experience. he is reborn, in effect, a faithful originalist, cleaving not to the original meaning or intent of his sacred text, however, but to its original and enduring spirit. nowhere does he offer a reason why his disciples should not discard the revolution ' s spirit even as he has discarded its ideas. he has no reason to offer. the " spirit " of ' 76, in the hands of this evangelical legal realist, cannot help being as evanescent as the " meanings " ; it becomes, transformed by his deepest faith, a spirit of the times. when the saints go marching in, alan dershowitz will be among the simplest believers in the most naive, fundamentalist academic faith of his time, which would replace god, reason, nature, human nature, natural right, and abstract truths about right and wrong with the latest zeitgeist. until then, he is a ghost dancer in a three - piece suit.


mass transit is critical to the proper functioning of any city, town or rural area. a range of transit modes offer different capacity opportunities, and therefore the potential for high or low impact on car use. higher capacity systems cost more to put in, but offer much more potential reduction in total transport costs and greenhouse gas emissions. the social, economic and environmental costs of not having an efficient mass transit system never go away, so it is really a case of stemming these costs earlier or later. mass transit is a key ingredient in a sustainable, low - carbon transport future, whether in urban or rural settings, in developing or developed countries. it covers three modes of public transport : trains, light rail ( or trams ) and buses. train systems include long haul trains ( running at either normal or high speed ), metro ( subway or elevated urban trains ) and conventional suburban trains. there is also rail freight, which is discussed under the technology description ' freight '. buses include bus rapid transit ( or brt ) with dedicated road lanes and other distinctive features, and conventional bus services that share lanes with other traffic. the technology description ' bus rapid transit systems ' discusses brt systems in more detail. a good mass transit system provides services that are frequent, fast, punctual, safe, comfortable, clean and affordable. it provides transport at the times and in the locations that people require. the system is accompanied by good walking and cycling access to and from transit stations. town planning measures complement good transit by encouraging higher urban densities and mixed land use, particularly near stops and stations. in this way, homes, workplaces, shops, schools, health centres, services and recreation facilities are closer to transit, and more people can use it as they go about their daily lives. complementary and integrated modes good public transit is designed as a whole system. for example, trains or brt will move larger numbers of people longer distances, and then bus services, with shorter trips and fewer passengers, will radiate out from transit stations. brt and light - rail may exist as an in - between mode in terms of its passenger capacity and route lengths, and local buses can complete an urban transit network, linking fast crosscity services to corridor services and local routes. as part of this integration of transit modes, timetables, ticketing and information provision will be integrated, so that a person can use two or three modes to travel from departure point to destination easily, without long delays, and on one ticket ( see the technology description ' influencing travel choices ' ).


when they are arriving. brt systems : bus rapid transit ( brt ) has increasingly been used to provide a faster, higher capacity bus service ( itdp, 2007 ; rogat, 2009 ). brts require dedicated lanes, off - road stops, rapid boarding and alighting, level boarding, pre - board fair collection or checking, frequent service, large capacity, clear signage and real - time information displays, clean engine technologies, signal priority, intelligent ; control systems and excellent customer service. in one dedicated brt lane 10 - 20, 000 passengers can be carried – with some carrying over 40, 000 – but at higher levels there is a risk of buses ‘ bunching ’ at stops. this problem can be reduced with multiple doors on the bus and well - designed stations, as occurs in curitiba. cities like curitiba, bogota and ottawa have examined moving to rail to solve this problem. there can also be problems with noise and emissions. brts can be cheaper if they take over a road lane, although this can be a difficult political issue in cities. other cities with brts include bogota, mexico city, jakarta, beijing, kunming, chengdu, guangzhou, istanbul, ahmedabad ( india ), paris, los angeles, pittsburgh, miami, boston and brisbane. ( see also technology description ' bus rapid transit systems '. ) to attract passengers, transit needs to be faster than cars on the same routes. this is why it helps if trains travel at high speeds and have grade - separated intersections with roads. brt and light rail need dedicated lanes and priority traffic signals to achieve this required speed advantage ( figure 2 ). moreover, there is little point in having fast travel speeds if passengers have to wait a long time for the transport to arrive. this means frequent services and integrated timetables for the different modes so that, for example, a person switching from a train to a bus has minimal waiting time. mass transit will also have a speed advantage over private vehicles if city governments refrain from building more and faster roads. while this may increase traffic congestion in the short term, the intention is that such congestion will encourage private vehicle users to switch to the faster transit services. and making private vehicle travel more expensive – through, for example, petrol taxes, registration charges or congestion taxes – achieves two things : it recovers some of the environmental and social costs of private transport, and it is another measure to encourage people to switch from private vehicles to transit. [ media : image : 2 ] [ media : image :


congestion taxes – achieves two things : it recovers some of the environmental and social costs of private transport, and it is another measure to encourage people to switch from private vehicles to transit. [ media : image : 2 ] [ media : image : 3 ] intercity, regional and rural transit services modern mass transit is just as important for towns, villages and rural areas as it is for cities, and it is also vital for intercity transport. the absence of sufficient transit services outside and between cities has two major adverse effects. firstly, it means continued high levels of use of less sustainable modes of transport, including trucks, cars, motor - bikes and air travel. although air pollution, such as particulates from diesel, may not have as severe an effect in the countryside as it does in the city, greenhouses gases are just as bad wherever they are emitted. and petroleum, a limited resource, is still being depleted. moreover, traffic accidents in rural parts of the developing world are a significant cause of death and injury. secondly, it puts a real brake on national development, and on the ability of ordinary people, especially for the poor, to carry out normal daily activities. most people cannot afford their own vehicle. therefore they must rely on walking, on the existing less than adequate public transit services, on animal transport, or on various kinds of three - and four - wheeled vehicles adapted to carry passengers, vehicles that may not be available and affordable when they are needed. this means that it ’ s much harder and takes much longer for children to get to school, for the sick to get to health services, and for people to get to jobs. an estimated 75 % of maternal deaths could be prevented through quicker access to childbirth services, facilitated by transport, and girls ’ enrolment in school can more than triple with the completion of a rural road ( which is, of course, a precondition for a bus service ) ( sierra, 2008 ). hours and even days can be wasted walking or waiting for infrequent transport services. thus there is a need for good train services between cities or towns, and for more bus services to radiate out from train stations and population centres into outer urban localities, villages and rural areas. if developing countries can afford rapid trains these will be more competitive with cars and air transport, but the cost, of course, is more. selecting and implementing the right transit modes in choosing the most appropriate transit modes for particular localities, planners and communities need to consider a range of factors. these include cost,


competitive with cars and air transport, but the cost, of course, is more. selecting and implementing the right transit modes in choosing the most appropriate transit modes for particular localities, planners and communities need to consider a range of factors. these include cost, population density, and whether there is space to build railway lines or dedicated lanes for brt or light rail. these factors should be considered very carefully from the outset, because experience indicates that once cities or localities select a particular transit mode they tend to stick with that and not adopt other modes later ( wright & fjellstrom, 2005 ) mass transit systems represent a large public investment. if you are making this investment for your locality, you need to ensure that the public – who will ultimately be paying the cost – are aware of the full range of benefits mass transit provides, because greenhouse gas reduction may not be high on their list of priorities. there are many other benefits to tell them about : faster, safer, more comfortable travel ; less traffic pollution, congestion and noise ; fewer people killed or injured in traffic accidents ; cheaper transport for nhe nation and for individuals, especially people on low incomes ; a more pleasant city in which to live and move around ; healthier and more connected residents ; and a more efficient transport system to service a twenty - first century economy. given the systemic and technological complexity of modern integrated transit systems, developing the necessary capacity to plan, construct and operate such systems can be a major challenge. one solution is to form a partnership with a locality that already has such technologies and systems in place. for example, the city of kunming in china is twinned with the swiss city of zurich and, as one part of this, the swiss partners have helped to build the capacity of their kunming counterparts in the transport area. this has seen the development of a transport master plan, and the design and implementation of a brt system ( feiner, 2002 ). middle eastern cities are building $ 80 billion of new high quality transit including the new dubai metro and a service to do the haj. china and india are now prioritising mass transit as the solution to their traffic problems with 82 metros being built in china and 14 in india. most other cities and localities around the world recognise – or are quickly coming to recognise – the economic, social and environmental necessity of good transit systems in the twenty - first century. on the other hand, many localities in the developing world do not yet have a basic organised bus service, that is, a coordinated, quality service that systematically covers the


economic, social and environmental necessity of good transit systems in the twenty - first century. on the other hand, many localities in the developing world do not yet have a basic organised bus service, that is, a coordinated, quality service that systematically covers the locality ( embarq ). town planning and transit oriented developments ( tods ) transit oriented developments are areas of new development around brt and train stations that feature higher density residential complexes and a mix of other land uses, for example, shops, workplaces, educational institutions, health facilities and other services, as well as good walking and cycling paths. tods can reduce car use by around fifty percent, save money on infrastructure, and encourage community interaction ( newman et al, 2009 ). tods can occur where there are ‘ greenfield ’ ( new ) sites ‘ brownfield ’ ( old industrial ) sites or ‘ greyfield ’ sites ( redeveloped old housing areas ). tods should include a range of housing types, including affordable housing for those on low - incomes. the increased value of tod properties can be used to help fund the mass transit system, a process known as ‘ value capture ’ that is discussed below ( and tods are described in more detail in another section of this chapter ). not every area can be a tod, however. in other parts of cities the challenge is to make changes within an already established infrastructure of buildings, roads and other features. over time, with new developments and altered building uses, higher densities and more mixed land use can be permitted and encouraged. existing thoroughfares can be used for walking and cycling paths and dedicated transit lanes. traffic can be restricted and calmed through a variety of measures. and available land and buildings can be used for parks and other community facilities. all of these measures complement good transit systems and make them more viable. raising the status of mass transit mass transit sometimes has an image problem. it can be seen as a second - rate form of transport, used only by those who can ’ t afford their own vehicles. however, this image is changing rapidly, as modern mass transit is attractive, clean, comfortable, safe, fast and frequent. the stations as well as the transit vehicles need to be of a high standard ( figure 4 ). climate control can make a big difference, as can proximity of stations to shops and other attractions. sophisticated marketing can also lift patronage. such measures will counteract the growth in many developing world cities of very car - dependent greenfield housing estates and gated communities. [ media : image : 4 ] modern


can proximity of stations to shops and other attractions. sophisticated marketing can also lift patronage. such measures will counteract the growth in many developing world cities of very car - dependent greenfield housing estates and gated communities. [ media : image : 4 ] modern transit services in all parts of the world amply demonstrate that people at all levels of society will choose mass transit if the quality is good. in fact, rail - based cities in the 84 global cities sample are 40 % wealthier than non - rail - based cities ( newman & kenworthy, 1999 ). there has been a big growth of new transit systems in developed countries, including the united states and australia, with railways being built, for example, in over 100 us cities. many parts of developing world have an advantage in that cities are already dense enough to make transit very viable, and transit does have to compete with such a high level of private vehicle use. good quality bus systems also raise the status of mass transit, providing high quality services and infrastructure. the newer systems include well segregated bus lanes, accessible and enclosed stations with prepayment and level boarding, lower emission buses, integrated information systems for centralised control and user information, and a distinctive image. mass transit ’ s greater affordability, and its accessibility for people too young or unable to drive, makes it a form of transport that more people can use to meet their needs : to get to health and other services, to make vital social connections and, as just noted, to work, shop and learn. thus it is a factor leading to greater equality and social inclusion ( vasconcellos, 2011 ). ( note that public transit in fact is often expensive and unaffordable for people on low incomes, but it is cheaper than car ownership, and the challenge for governments – as discussed above – is to make it as affordable as possible. ) clean, efficient mass transit makes for healthier communities, because it is responsible for less pollution and fewer traffic accidents, and it encourages walking and cycling. and communities with fewer private vehicles, an effective mass transit system and good walking and cycling routes are pleasant places to live in, with less congestion and noise, and greater levels of social interaction – all factors that have been shown to boost health and happiness. mass transit can move large numbers of people at less cost to the individual and society. it is much cheaper to transport a large number in one vehicle than to move one person in each of a large number of vehicles. ( while cars can potentially transport four or five people, in


numbers of people at less cost to the individual and society. it is much cheaper to transport a large number in one vehicle than to move one person in each of a large number of vehicles. ( while cars can potentially transport four or five people, in fact they only transport 1. 52 on average, based on the 84 city survey described in chapter 2. ) thus, it is not surprising that cities and countries that have high rates of mass transit use spend much less on transport overall than do localities where larger proportions of the population use private vehicles ( newman & kenworthy, 1999 ; vasconcelos, 2010 ). mass transit also makes it easier for people who can ’ t afford private vehicles, or can ’ t drive them, to get to workplaces, shopping areas and educational institutions. this means that more people are able to be economically active as workers, buyers and sellers, and as well - educated workers of the future. public transit and denser cities reinforce one another through a ‘ virtuous circle ’. transit moves large numbers of people in a smaller space, thus saving space and allowing greater urban density. vuchic first set out the passenger capacity in the different modes. he suggested that a train service could carry up to 50, 000 people per hour in a space that could only convey 2, 500 car travellers per hour. in the same time and space light rail and brt could both convey 10 - 20, 000, while conventional buses could convey 5, 000 ( vuchic, 1981 ). since then, there have been data claims of over 40, 000 passengers per hour on the bogota brt and over 80, 000 per hour on the hong kong metro and mumbai rail system ( which carries 10 million passengers a day ). such huge numbers are related to the density of these cities as only mass transit can adequately service places where space is at such a premium. in car - based cities densities are much lower. it is argued that viable transit requires densities over thirty - five people or jobs per hectare ( newman & kenworthy, 2006 ). moreover, the provision of transit, given its benefits, can further increase densities in its corridor ( bailey et al, 2008 ). finally, a denser city ’ s infrastructure costs less per resident ( trubka et al, 2010 ). as well as using less energy and emitting less greenhouse gas than private vehicles do, mass transit has many other environmental benefits. as just noted, much larger numbers of people can be transported within a given space and period of


et al, 2010 ). as well as using less energy and emitting less greenhouse gas than private vehicles do, mass transit has many other environmental benefits. as just noted, much larger numbers of people can be transported within a given space and period of time than private vehicles can transport, and this contributes to higher densities. in denser urban areas, less energy and other resources are required per urban resident for the provision not only of roads, but also of all the other services these residents need – footpaths, bicycle paths, electricity, gas, telecommunication lines, water, sewerage, stormwater drainage, and so on. and in denser urban areas people travel shorter distances for work, shopping, leisure and social purposes, and this leads to further energy savings. and despite being denser, if cities have clean, efficient mass transit they will have less of the crowding, noise and pollution that cars, motor - bikes, motor - scooters and other private vehicles generate. pollutants like particulates from diesel are major causes of asthma and other respiratory diseases. a well - designed mass transit city will also have good networks of safe walkways and cycleways to enable residents to walk or cycle for short trips, or to walk or cycle to transit stations for longer ones. these non - motorised means of travel are of course completely non - polluting and, to the extent that they replace trips using other transport modes, they help to reduce overall pollution and greenhouse gas emission levels. figure 5 summarizes energy efficiency data by mode in 84 cities. in some cities exceptionally low energy usage can be found, such as 0. 05 mj / pass - km in chinese light - rail, due mainly to high loadings. when estimating greenhouse gas reduction potential from mass transit it is also necessary to consider the ‘ transit leverage ’ factor, i. e. the tendency for every kilometre travelled on transit to replace between 5 and 7 kilometres of total travel. [ media : image : 5 ] comparing the costs of various modes of mass transit is fraught with difficulty as so many local factors can make costs vary hugely for each mode. the costs of going above ground or underground are always higher than on - ground though this may just not be possible in some dense cities. the main consideration is the capacity of the system to attract patronage and the mode that is best able to do that needs to then be assessed against the costs of the cars that will be cramming the city if the system is not built. high capacity systems like fast


is the capacity of the system to attract patronage and the mode that is best able to do that needs to then be assessed against the costs of the cars that will be cramming the city if the system is not built. high capacity systems like fast rail ( regional, metro and suburban ) are most expensive to build, but will take the highest proportion of car travel out of the urban system, and this can be demonstrated to provide higher benefits than costs ( wright & fjellstrom, 2005 ). and transport that is more costly to build may also be cheaper to run ( see for example afd & meeddm, 2009 ). when assessing the benefits and costs of mass transit, many factors need to be taken into account, including predicted travel time savings, reductions in fuel, pollution and accidents, and space saved when the city builds up around the transit infrastructure ( known as ‘ agglomeration economies ’ ) ( see australian government, department of infrastructure and transport ) a rapid train system costs about the same per kilometre as a freeway, whether the train or freeway are at ground level, underground or above ground. perth ’ s new southern train system costs much less than a normal freeway to build ( $ a17 million per km ) and frequently carries the equivalent of eight lanes of traffic ( newman et al, 2009 ). transit systems can be financed and managed through public - private - partnerships, with private partners building the system, operating it, or both. when the transit system in buenos aires switched to private operators, patronage doubled over a five year period and the budget burden of the system was reduced by nearly us $ 1 billion per year. systems can also be financed through land development, as mentioned in the tod section. real estate above and around transit stations can be sold by government or private developers to help finance the transit system. such property will sell for a higher price because of its closeness both to good transit and to the many facilities clustered around transit stations. it will tend to keep its value in bad times and appreciate faster in good times. hong kong and tokyo financed their rail systems in this way, and many us cities are using tax increment financing based on land development to fund new rail projects. in relation to hong kong, see rail and property development in hong kong : experiences and extensions ( cervero & murakami, 2009 ). public funds may also be available through the world bank, regional development banks or bilateral development cooperation arrangements. in addition, climate change funding mechanisms may fund transit projects, specifically, the clean


extensions ( cervero & murakami, 2009 ). public funds may also be available through the world bank, regional development banks or bilateral development cooperation arrangements. in addition, climate change funding mechanisms may fund transit projects, specifically, the clean development mechanism ( cdm ) and the global environment facility ( gef ). transit operating costs can of course be at least partially covered by passenger fares. almost all modern public transit systems are subsidised by government, and each city or locality must decide the amount of subsidy it can afford to provide. making transit affordable for all socio - economic groups should be a high priority, and one option is to offer concessional fares for specific groups, such as older people, children and those out of work or unable to work. in this way public support is being targeted at those who might not otherwise be able to afford the transit. agence francaise de developpement ( afd ) and the french ministry of ecology, energy, sustainable development and the sea ( meeddm ) ( 2009 ). who pays what for good transport? handbook of good practices, codau, available at http : / / www. codatu. org / english / studies / handbook _ good _ practices. pdf, viewed 23 feb 2011. australian government, department of infrastructure and transport : www. infrastructure. gov. au, viewed 23 feb 2011. bailey, l., p. l. molchtarian & a. little, ( 2008 ). the broader connection between public transportation, energy conservation and ghg reduction, icf international, february 2008 ; cervero r. & j. murakami ( 2009 ). ‘ rail and property development in hong kong : experiences and extensions ’, urban studies, vol. 46, no. 10, 2009, pp. 2019 - 2043. embarq. bus karo : a guidebook on bus planning and operations, available at http : / / www. embarq. org / en / bus - karo - a - guidebookbus - planning - operations, viewed 23 feb 2011. embarq ( b ). modernizing public transportation : lessons learnt from major bus improvements in latin america and asia, http : / / www. embarq. org / en / modernizing - publictransportation, viewed 23 feb 2011. feiner. j. p. et al, ( 2002 ). ‘ priming sustainability : the kunming urban regional development project ’, disp 151, 2002, pp 59


modernizing - publictransportation, viewed 23 feb 2011. feiner. j. p. et al, ( 2002 ). ‘ priming sustainability : the kunming urban regional development project ’, disp 151, 2002, pp 59 - 67, available www. nsl. ethz. ch / index. php / de / content / download / 435 / 2831 / file, viewed 23 feb 2011. itdp ( 2007 ). bus rapid transit planning guide in english, available at http : / / www. itdp. org / index. php / microsite / brt _ planning _ guide _ in _ english, viewed 23 feb 20011, newman, p. & j. kenworthy ( 1999 ). sustainability and cities, island press, washington, 1999. newman, p. & j. kenworthy, ( 2006 ). ‘ urban design to reduce automobile dependence in centers ’, opolis 2 ( 1, 2006 ), pp 35 - 52. newman, p., beatley. t. & boyer, h. ( 2009 ). resilient cities : responding to peak oil and climate change, island press, washington dc, 2009. rogat, jorge ( ed ) ( 2009 ). planificacion e implementacion de un sistema de bus rapido en america latina resumen orientado a tomadores decisions, unep, unep riso centre, gef, 2009, available at http : / / nestlac. org / publicaciones / planificacion & implementacionbusrapidoamericalatina. pdf, viewed 23 feb 2011. sierra, k. ( 2008 ). foreword. in safe, clean and affordable... transport for development, the world bank group ’ s transport business strategy for 2008 - 2012, washington dc, 2008. trubka, r., p. newman & d. bilsborough ( 2010 ). ‘ the costs of urban sprawl ’, in parts 1 - 3, environmental design guide, april 2010. vasconcellos, e. ( 2001 ). urban transport, environment, and equity : the case for developing countries, earthscan publications ltd. november 2001. vasconcelos, e. ( 2010 ). ‘ analisis de la movilidad urbana espacio, medio ambiente y equidad ’, caf, available at http : / / omu. caf. com / media / 14683 / analisis _


api for probabilities. finite - distributions full namespace name : clojure. contrib. probabilities. finite - distributions finite probability distributions this library defines a monad for combining finite probability public variables and functions usage : ( certainly v ) returns a distribution in which the single value v has probability 1. usage : ( choose & choices ) construct a distribution from an explicit list of probabilities and values. they are given in the form of a vector of probability - value pairs. in the last pair, the probability can be given by the keyword : else, which stands for 1 minus the total of the other probabilities. variant of the dist monad that can handle undefined values. usage : ( cond - prob pred dist ) returns the conditional probability for the values in dist that satisfy the predicate pred. monad describing computations on fuzzy quantities, represented by a finite probability distribution for the possible values. a distribution is represented by a map from values to probabilities. usage : ( join - with f dist1 dist2 ) returns the distribution of ( f x y ) with x from dist1 and y from dist2. usage : ( make - distribution coll f ) returns the distribution in which each element x of the collection has a probability proportional to ( f x ) usage : ( normalize weights ) convert a weight map ( e. g. a map of counter values ) to a distribution by multiplying with a normalization factor. if the map has a key : total, its value is assumed to be the sum over all the other values and it is used for normalization. otherwise, the sum is calculated explicitly. the : total key is removed from the resulting distribution. usage : ( prob pred dist ) return the probability that the predicate pred is satisfied in the distribution dist, i. e. the sum of the probabilities of the values that satisfy pred. usage : ( uniform coll ) return a distribution in which each of the elements of coll has the same probability. usage : ( zipf s n ) returns the zipf distribution in which the numbers k = 1.. n have probabilities proportional to 1 / k ^ s.


how to avoid being a victim of identity theft, online fraud identity theft and online fraud are two of the fastest - growing crimes in the nation. these crimes can rob you of your money, time, and peace of mind. typically, these crimes happen on the internet where a criminal steals an individual ' s personal information like his social security number or password, and uses these to commit fraud and other crimes. these crimes are particularly harmful as the crime can be ongoing and happen over a long period of time before you actually become aware. in addition, identity thieves and online frauds may access all of your personal information, giving them the potential to wipe you out. the best way to fight identity theft is to prevent it from happening in the first place. keep the following three tips in mind on how to avoid being a victim of identity theft or online fraud. 1. keep your personal records safe. while identity theft and fraud generally happen online, you may also be robbed of your identity offline. prior to the internet, many criminals would dumpster dive and look for your sensitive information in the garbage. this still happens. so keep your personal information secure in your home such as in a safe or locked drawer. if you must dispose of such information, you should shred it first. 2. use a password that is unique. " password " and " mypassword1234 " are easy to remember, but hardly unique. other passwords to avoid are pet ' s names, phone numbers, birthdays, and anything else easily guessed. also, you should avoid using the same password for all your accounts. this way, if one password is compromised, some of your accounts will be unaffected. 3. don ' t give out personal information over the phone. there are many scammers that are attempting to use telephone calls to get personal information. these phone calls will often sound official, such as a department store ’ s credit department calling in order to get payment. typically, legitimate businesses will not require anything too personal over the phone. - identity theft ( findlaw ) - detecting identity theft : has someone stolen your identity? ( findlaw ' s common law ) - irs trash puts consumers at risk of identity theft, report finds ( findlaw ' s common law )


1 - “ see the women and children going to the train, fair - you - well, my husband, if i never see you again, the engineer turned his head when he heard so many were dead ; so many have lost their lives. isn ’ t it sad, isn ’ t it sad? excursion left durham going to charlotte, north carolina isn ’ t it sad, isn ’ t it sad? so many have lost their lives. 2 - some of us have mothers standing at the train, fare - well - well, my daughters, i may never see you again, and the train began to fly and some didn ’ t come back alive ; so many have lost their lives. 3 - the firemen said to the engineer, “ we are something late, we don ’ t want to meet up with the local freight, ” the local was on the line and they could not get there on time ; so many have lost their lives. 4 - when the news got to durham, some said it was a lie, but there were some in the hospital almost ready to die, and there poor old mothers, you know, they were running from door to door ; because so many have lost their lives. 5 - now colored people i will tell you to your face, the train that left durham was loaded with our race, and some did not think of dying when they rode on down the line ; so many have lost their lives ; 6 - they put the dead in coffins and sent them back to town, and then they were taken to the burying ground, you could hear the coffin sound when they let those bodies down ; so many have lost their lives. by franklin williams and william firkins. click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections. the images and audio files contained in the " so mote it ever be : the folksong heritage of north carolina ' s northern blue ridge mountains " collection are available for free personal, non - commercial, and educational use, provided that proper citation is used ( e. g. i. g. greer / w. amos abrams manuscript files series, folksong files subseries, w. l. eury appalachian collection, special collections, appalachian state university, boone, nc ). any commercial use of the materials without the written permission of appalachian state university is strictly prohibited. please contact the appalachian state university w. l. eury appalachian collection with specific questions or with requests for further information.


autism is a genetic disorder. we ' ve known this ever since the 1970s when studies by susan folstein and michael rutter showed that genetically identical twins are much more likely to both be autistic than non - identical twins. these findings were incredibly important at the time and fundamentally changed the way people think about autism. but they didn ' t tell us which genes cause autism or, perhaps more importantly, how they do it. i ' ve just been attending the autism brain research meeting in san diego. much of the first day was dedicated to genetic research and animal models of autism. the gist of the talks was that, while there are some genetic variations that carry a high risk for autism, these are probably very rare and only account for a very small proportion of cases. most ' genes for autism ' will actually carry a very low risk of the person actually having autism, so identifying these genes is going to be difficult. however, a recent study, just out in science translational medicine, offers a new perspective. ashley scott - van zeeland and colleagues focused on one particular gene - cntnap2 - apparently referred to colloquially as the " catnap " gene. previous studies have linked cntnap2 to autism, but also to specific language impairment, adhd, tourette syndrome, and schizophrenia. it encodes a protein, caspr2, which is thought to be involved in the migration of cells during brain development and is expressed in frontal and temporal lobes in humans. in the first part of the study, the authors conducted a genetic test on the saliva of 32 children, half of whom had a diagnosis of autism. across the whole sample, they identified 9 kids who carried the allele ( variant ) of the cntnap2 gene that has been linked to autism. it ' s not clear how many of the 9 ' at risk ' kids were in the autism group, but reading between the lines it seems like a 5 : 4 split. then, rather than comparing the autism group to the non - autism group, they compared the 9 children with the ' risk allele ' to the remaining 23 children fmri was used to record brain activity while participants completed a reward - guided implicit learning task in which they were given a monetary reward for correct responses. the first main finding was that the ' non - risk ' group showed reduced activity in the medial prefrontal cortex ( mpfc ). this might sound a bit counter - intuitive, but the mpfc is part of what is termed the ' default


the first main finding was that the ' non - risk ' group showed reduced activity in the medial prefrontal cortex ( mpfc ). this might sound a bit counter - intuitive, but the mpfc is part of what is termed the ' default mode network ' - a collection of brain regions that show reduced rather than increased activity during cognitive tasks. so the risk allele was associated with a reduction in normal reduction in mpfc activity. if that makes sense. previous studies have reported abnormal patterns of mpfc activity in autism during theory of mind tasks, as well as abnormalities of the default mode network. so this finding fits nicely with the autism research, except for the fact that it ' s looking at the cntnap2 gene, irrespective of autism diagnosis. the authors also conducted connectivity analysis on residual time series. put simply, this involved subtracting out activity related to actually completing the task and then looking at which brain regions showed a similar pattern of changes in activity over time as the mpfc. individuals with the risk allele showed greater connectivity between the mpfc and neighbouring right frontal cortex, but reduced connectivity with more distant regions including the medial occipital cortex and the lateral temporal cortices *. this fits in nicely with the idea that " the frontal cortex in autism might be only talking to itself ". except again this a study relating to a risk allele, not to autism per se. just to be sure, the authors then analysed the data from a second study, using a completely different task and a completely different group of subjects. this time none of the subjects were autistic. but the connectivity analysis showed a very similar pattern of results. individuals with the risk allele showed stronger local connectivity and weaker long - range connectivity with the mpfc. so really, this study isn ' t about autism. it ' s showing a link between a gene associated with autism ( cntnap2 ) and individual differences in patterns of brain activity that have been associated with autism. having this gene doesn ' t mean that you ' ve got autism. it doesn ' t even mean there ' s a high risk of autism. but it may have a subtle effect on the way the brain is wired up and this may put you at an ever - so - slightly higher risk of having autism. or schizophrenia. or language difficulties. presumably, all depending on a host of other genetic and environmental risk factors to which you ' re also exposed. one thing i ' d really like to know is whether non


so - slightly higher risk of having autism. or schizophrenia. or language difficulties. presumably, all depending on a host of other genetic and environmental risk factors to which you ' re also exposed. one thing i ' d really like to know is whether non - autistic individuals with the ' risky ' variant of the cntnap2 gene differ in terms of their behaviour or cognitive processes. are there subtle differences, for example, in language or perceptual processing, or their social characteristics? or are they only observable at the brain level? looking at this might help us work out which particular aspects of autism might be linked to this neural / genetic pathway. * the authors also reported that the non - risk group showed focal patterns of connectivity between the mpfc and regions in the left hemisphere classically associated with language processing, including left inferior frontal gyrus, insula, anterior temporal pole, superior temporal gyrus, and angular gyrus. in contrast, the at - risk group showed much more widespread connectivity across both left and right hemispheres. however, while tantalising, it doesn ' t appear that these differences were statistically significant when direct comparisons were made between the two groups. - virginia hughes ( as per usual ) had the scoop on this research last year. - discover and time also covered the study - lindsay at autist ' s corner has recently written about the cntnap2 gene and has covered some other autism genetics stories here and here scott - van zeeland aa, abrahams bs, alvarez - retuerto ai, sonnenblick li, rudie jd, ghahremani d, mumford ja, poldrack ra, dapretto m, geschwind dh, & bookheimer sy ( 2010 ). altered functional connectivity in frontal lobe circuits is associated with variation in the autism risk gene cntnap2. science translational medicine, 2 ( 56 ) pmid : 21048216


bessie ( lake erie ) lake erie – lake monster lake erie is located in cleveland ohio and there is said to be a creature roaming its waters. there have been many sightings in the waters of lake erie of a unknown creature that is known to many by the nickname of “ bessie ”. the lake erie locals have themselves given this unknown cryptid a name “ south bay bessie ”. the creature has been reported as far back as the 1800 ′ s up until many present day sightings. most discriptions vary some but the creature is said to have a snake like frame ranging in length from 30 to 40 feet long and having a grayish color. sightings of bessie have started to become a little more frequent over the last two decades. there was an attack in 1992 where 3 people were killed on the lake and the creature was reportedly linked to the tragidy. one of the people who survived the attack was said to make a quote saying “ the creature that attacked him has a head the size of a car ”, but this report cannot be confirmed so it is considered by many to simply be a local myth or legend. many main stream scientist still reject the notion that “ bessie ” could be alive and well in lake erie. they refer to the fact that the lake does not offer a habitat capable of sustaining a creature the size of bessie alone much less anykind of breading population of the creatures. but many in the cryptozoological field say that it is possible the creature could have adapted to the lake conditions over the years and could very well be alive and well and able to sustain itself. there is still to this day a reward offered for a humane capture of the living creature known as “ bessie ”. does this lake monster really exist in the waters of lake erie? well there is yet to be any solid proof to the existance of any cryptid among the waters, but only time will tell if this turns out to be simply a local legend. the search continues – cryptoreports


ball & beam : system modeling a ball is placed on a beam, see figure below, where it is allowed to roll with 1 degree of freedom along the length of the beam. a lever arm is attached to the beam at one end and a servo gear at the other. as the servo gear turns by an angle, the lever changes the angle of the beam by. when the angle is changed from the horizontal position, gravity causes the ball to roll along the beam. a controller will be designed for this system so that the ball ' s position can be manipulated. for this problem, we will assume that the ball rolls without slipping and friction between the beam and ball is negligible. the constants and variables for this example are defined as follows : ( m ) mass of the ball 0. 11 kg ( r ) radius of the ball 0. 015 m ( d ) lever arm offset 0. 03 m ( g ) gravitational acceleration 9. 8 m / s ^ 2 ( l ) length of the beam 1. 0 m ( j ) ball ' s moment of inertia 9. 99e - 6 kg. m ^ 2 ( r ) ball position coordinate ( alpha ) beam angle coordinate ( theta ) servo gear angle - settling time < 3 seconds - overshoot < 5 % the second derivative of the input angle actually affects the second derivative of. however, we will ignore this contribution. the lagrangian equation of motion for the ball is then given by the following : linearization of this equation about the beam angle,, gives us the following linear approximation of the system : the equation which relates the beam angle to the angle of the gear can be approximated as linear by the equation below : substituting this into the previous equation, we get : 1. transfer function taking the laplace transform of the equation above, the following equation is found : rearranging we find the transfer function from the gear angle ( ) to the ball position ( ). it should be noted that the above plant transfer function is a double integrator. as such it is marginally stable and will provide a challenging control problem. the transfer function can be implemented in matlab as follows : m = 0. 111 ; r = 0. 015 ; g = - 9. 8 ; l = 1. 0 ; d = 0. 03 ; j = 9. 99e - 6 ; s = tf ( ' s ' ) ; p _ ball = - m * g * d / l / ( j / r


8 ; l = 1. 0 ; d = 0. 03 ; j = 9. 99e - 6 ; s = tf ( ' s ' ) ; p _ ball = - m * g * d / l / ( j / r ^ 2 + m ) / s ^ 2 p _ ball = 0. 21 - - - - s ^ 2 continuous - time transfer function. the linearized system equations can also be represented in state - space form. this can be done by selecting the ball ' s position ( ) and velocity ( ) as the state variable and the gear angle ( ) as the input. the state - space representation is shown below : however, for our state - space example we will be using a slightly different model. the same equation for the ball still applies but instead of controlling the position through the gear angle,, we will control the torque of the beam. below is the representation of this system : note : for this system the gear and lever arm would not be used, instead a motor at the center of the beam will apply torque to the beam, to control the ball ' s position. the state - space equations can be represented in matlab with the following commands ( these equations are for the torque control model ). h = - m * g / ( j / ( r ^ 2 ) + m ) ; a = [ 0 1 0 0 0 0 h 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 ] ; b = [ 0 0 0 1 ] ' ; c = [ 1 0 0 0 ] ; d = ; ball _ ss = ss ( a, b, c, d ) ball _ ss = a = x1 x2 x3 x4 x1 0 1 0 0 x2 0 0 7 0 x3 0 0 0 1 x4 0 0 0 0 b = u1 x1 0 x2 0 x3 0 x4 1 c = x1 x2 x3 x4 y1 1 0 0 0 d = u1 y1 0 continuous - time state - space model.


virtual sailing program helps people with disabilities " it provides participants with a sense of purpose and hope, " says dexter township resident larry courson, who is working to gauge interest in bringing the v - sail trainer simulator to the community. a virtual sailing program that helps people with spinal cord injuries develop upper body strength and boost coordination skills might be implemented in dexter. dexter township resident larry courson is working to bring the v - sail trainer program to the community to help children and adults with developmental and physical disabilities. " right now we ' re just in the planning stages, " courson said. " i ' m really looking for volunteers and families with special needs children to indicate whether or not there is an interest. " similar to flight simulators, the v - sail trainer program is a sailboat simulator operated by custom designed software. the sailor sails the simulator around virtual courses displayed on a computer screen, or overhead display, in the same way as a real sailboat on water. electronic sensors provide real time feedback to match the movements of the virtual sailboat displayed on the screen with those of the simulator. " for some participants, therapeutic sailing acts as a life preserver pulling them out of the depths of despair. it allows them to take control of the wheel and put aside the uncertainty that often capsizes their everyday life. by facilitating teamwork and communication, " courson said. " it provides participants with a sense of purpose and hope. " courson said he would like to partner with local organizations to acquire the simulator, which costs roughly $ 40, 000. " the simulator costs too much for just one group, but if we partner together, the cost is negligible, " he said. " ideally we could house the simulator at the dexter wellness center or at a local church and allow any group to use it, " courson said. " i think it has great potential to help not only special needs children and adults in dexter, but also cancer patients and people throughout southeast michigan with other rehabilitative needs, as well. " courson said the idea came to him after participating in a recreational sailing club at the university of michigan last year. " i wasn ' t very good ( at sailing ), and after doing more and more research, i stumbled on this virtual sailing program, " he said. the program is currently available at john ’ s hopkins university, and is endorsed by dr. norman saunders, a prominent australian neurologist, and dave mccabe, a former nasa engineer. "


stray dogs have learned to use the subway in their search travel for food. they board the trains daily and travel back and forth without paying any fares ; quite a feat for supposedly “ dumb animals. ” according to russian biology professor andrew poyarkov, dogs in moscow have learned to use the city ' s underground rail system. he told the press that he has seen them travel into the center of the city, where they can more easily find food, each morning and travel back to where they live each evening. in his words : “ they do not just go to the subway station, they actually board the trains. they seem to have learnt how long they need to stay on the train to leave at the right station. sometimes they fall asleep and miss their stop. then they get off take another train back to the centre. ” moscow ecologists believe that this phenomenon began in the early 1990s after the soviet union collapsed and moscow fell into the hands of new class of russian capitalists. this commercial revolution, which was marked by the removal of moscow ’ s industrial complexes that had served as shelters for homeless dogs, eliminated access to habitual feeding places like trash bins. the dogs were forced to make lemons out of lemonade, so to speak, and find new ways to reach different feeding grounds. it is as if the animals commute in the same manner as their human counterparts ; they travel to the center in the morning and back home again in the evening. amazingly, these dogs have the ability to usually not miss their stop while traveling by subway. biologists feel this talent relates to an innate sense of timing. they also know to cross the street on a green traffic light, which scientists feel has more to do with the picture that appears on the light rather than the color. the dogs usually choose the first or the last car on the subway, which are generally the least crowded. despite their desperate existences, the dogs often play while they travel back and forth. they often jump into the train just seconds before the door closes and risking injury to their tails. this is a sad commentary on the lot of stray animals but its message is clearly one of survival. the world may be going to the dogs but not without the dogs adjusting to it and marking it with their own particular stamp of animal ingenuity.


concept 39 a genome is an entire set of genes. cross pure - bred pea plants to identify dominant flower color. hi! one of the first steps in locating a disease gene is screening families with the disease for markers that are linked to the gene. scientists use short tandem repeats ( str ) as markers. these repeats can vary from ten to hundreds of base pairs, and are usually found in multiple copies. different people will have different numbers of these repeats. in this example, a has two copies and b has four copies of the tandem repeat. the dna sequences flanking the repeats are unique sequences found in everyone. pcr primers can be made to the unique flanking sequences and the intervening fragments can be amplified. these fragments are different sizes because of the number of repeats present in the individuals. the size difference can be seen when the fragments are electrophoresed on a gel. assuming that a and b are homozygous for the length of an str, what would the gel pattern look like for their progeny c? no, if c is the progeny of a and b, then it should have both bands. no, if c is the progeny of a and b, then it should have two bands. no, if c is the progeny of a and b, then it should not have a different size band. a progeny from a cross between a and b will be heterozygous for the length of the str. in other words, c will have the smaller - size fragment from a and the larger - size fragment from b. the size differences of strs are markers that can be associated with the occurrence of a disease or genetic trait. which of the following gels and associated pedigrees shows an str linked with an autosomal, recessive disease gene? no, two affected individuals have different str patterns ; there is no linkage. no, two unaffected individuals have different str patterns ; there is no linkage. no, both the affected and unaffected parent have the same str pattern ; there is no linkage. in this example, the str is linked to an autosomal, recessive disorder. carriers and the affected individual all have the same str fragment. this is only a very small sample size. larger, multi - generational analysis can confirm the linkage of this str with the disease trait. gene hunters try to find two markers linked to one gene. which two markers ( labeled 1 and 2 ) will be most useful?


sample size. larger, multi - generational analysis can confirm the linkage of this str with the disease trait. gene hunters try to find two markers linked to one gene. which two markers ( labeled 1 and 2 ) will be most useful? gene hunters look for markers that are tightly linked to the disease gene. this indicates that the gene is nearby. by finding two flanking markers, gene hunters narrow their search to a defined stretch of dna. though the flanking markers are relatively close together, there may be a million base pairs and a hundred genes to wade through. your next step is to find the coding sequences in this region. first you need to clone the dna between the two markers, and order them with additional markers. if your biggest clone is 150, 000 bp, which of the following " clone maps " is most useful in your hunt? no, there are gaps between the clones. no, the clones are too big. remember, you don ' t know where the gene is, so you have to clone the entire region. overlapping clones are needed to put each clone in the proper order. now, you need to locate the coding sequences on the clones. what method cannot be used to identify coding sequences? a ) look for hybridization between cloned dna and a human cdna library. ( no, human cdna will identify coding sequences by hybridization. ) b ) look for hybridization between cloned dna and dna from other species. ( no, dna from other species will identify coding sequences by hybridization if the genes are conserved. ) c ) sequence the clones and look for tell - tale signs of coding sequences. ( no, common promoter sequences can be used to find the beginnings of coding sequences. ) d ) look for hybridization between cloned dna and dna from patients with the disease. b and d. ( no, only one of these is incorrect. ) when using dna instead of cdna, hybridization will reveal noncoding as well as coding sequences. suppose you get lucky, and your analysis only reveals three candidate genes. for each, you compare sequences of unaffected people and disease patients. candidate gene # 1 no differences found. candidate gene # 3 disease patients are missing an exon. candidate gene # 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms found in some disease patients. which candidate is most likely the disease gene? candidate # 1 no differences found. ( no, that is incorrect. ) candidate gene # 2 single nucleotide polymorphisms found in some disease patients. ( no, that is


the fourth volume covers the period of governor johnston ' s administration, the longest known in the annals of north carolina. governor gabriel johnston, the successor of burrington, was a scotchman by birth, and received his education in the university of st. andrews. he also spent a few years in studying medicine, after which, still in early manhood, he was made professor of the oriental languages in st. andrews. later still, he removed to london, where he employed himself as a political writer with such effect that he was appointed governor of north carolina, spence compton, baron of wilmington, being his chief patron. his administration began on the 2d november, 1734, when he took the oaths of office at brunswick, and continued till his death, which occurred on 17th july, 1752. unlike his immediate predecessors, governor johnston was neither a profane man nor a drunkard, and he has come down to us with the enviable reputation of having done more to promote the prosperity of the colony than perhaps all the other colonial governors put together. one of our historians goes so far as to say that he deserved the gratitude of every citizen of north carolina as a statesman, a scholar and a patriot. another lauds him as a general benefactor of the province and its special patron of learning, declaring that he was so earnest in his efforts to advance the cause of education that he urged its importance upon every legislature during his stay here. a still later writer says he was the ablest of all the colonial governors, not less distinguished for his energy and prudence than for his extensive classical and scientific attainments. chalmers, who lived nearer to his time than any other historian, says “ he was a man of sufficient knowledge and prudence, but whose experience degenerated a little into cunning. ” it may well be doubted, however, in view of the facts now presented, whether his enviable reputation has a sure foundation. the fact that his brother was the founder of a distinguished and influential family, and that a noted fort and a prominent county in the state have borne his name, and the further fact that the province grew and thrived greatly during his administration, have doubtless had much to do with creating and perpetuating a favorable public opinion in regard to him. but the fact that a county was named after him proves nothing, unless it be that our ancestors were wise in their day and generation, for every royal governor, save burrington, was thus honored, just as in the days of the proprietary government, the lords proprietors


a county was named after him proves nothing, unless it be that our ancestors were wise in their day and generation, for every royal governor, save burrington, was thus honored, just as in the days of the proprietary government, the lords proprietors were the recipients of such honors. at the breaking out of the revolution there were four counties in north carolina named after royal governors, viz : johnston, dobbs, tryon and martin. wake county, too, may almost be put in the same list, for it was named after esther wake, a sister of governor tryon ' s wife. in the course of time, after the revolutionary fever had reached its height, dobbs and tryon counties disappeared, glasgow and lenoir in the east and lincoln and rutherford in the west taking their places. wake county came very near sharing the same fate, but when the proposition was made in the legislature to change its name, it was replied that the county was named after a woman who was as charming in manner as lovely in person, and with one consent, our gallant ancestors declared the name should remain, and it is to be hoped it will ever remain as a memorial, not only of the beauty and attractions of esther wake, but of the gallantry of our forefathers. neither does the fact that the province advanced rapidly and steadily during his administration prove anything, if it be remembered that the province had already entered upon and was well on the way in a career of prosperity before he landed upon our shores. and in the matter of his efforts to advance the cause of education, the truth seems to be that in all the years he was governor of the province, governor johnston called the attention of the legislature to the subject only one time — an effort that, made shortly after his arrival, seems to have exhausted his interest in the subject. indeed, so far as now appears, if he had any influence whatever upon the province it was to retard its growth. his intentions doubtless were good, and his motives pure enough, but he was exceedingly arbitrary, not to say unscrupulous, in his methods. in one case, according to his own admission, he sought to procure the passage of a bill he favored by calling the legislature together at a time and place that would prevent its opponents from being present, and, he significantly adds, “ some of the most troublesome leading men were prevailed upon to be absent ; ” but it was all in vain. at another time, using similar means in behalf of another measure, he was


opponents from being present, and, he significantly adds, “ some of the most troublesome leading men were prevailed upon to be absent ; ” but it was all in vain. at another time, using similar means in behalf of another measure, he was more successful, but the “ management, ” as he called it, was so glaring that the crown refused to accept the fruits of it, though much desired and much to its advantage. at still another time, when he wished to move the seat of government from brunswick to newton, the place he afterwards named wilmington, in honor of his patron, the earl of wilmington, his course was equally arbitrary, to call it by no harsher name. there were eight members of the upper house, four of whom voted against the bill for the removal, and four, including the presiding officer, voted for it. the presiding officer, chief justice smith, claimed the right to give a casting vote, and having done so, that is to say, having voted twice in favor of the bill, declared it had passed, and sent it to the governor. the governor, thereupon, formally gave his assent to the bill, and announced that he would regard all bills passed in that way as being legally enacted. at still another time, when he wished to save chief justice smith from impeachment and trial for malfeasance in office, he induced members of the legislature to absent themselves, and then a quorum not being present he dissolved the legislature for want of a quorum and sent the members home. in spite of all his “ management, ” however, he seems to have been but little if any more successful in controlling the legislatures of his day than were his predecessors, and was in favor neither with the people in the province nor the government at home in england. one of his first acts as governor was to initiate a bitter quarrel with the leading men of the cape fear on the subject of the blank patents, as they were called, in which he alleged that the grossest fraud had been perpetrated. later, governor johnston was doubtless well enough versed in the learning of the books, and doubtless, too, he was not unacquainted with the learning so easily to be acquired in london under walpole ' s administration, as to the “ management ” of legislative bodies. it not unfrequently happens, however, that a mere scholar is unfitted to grapple with the practical details of daily life. especially is a mere theorist unfitted to solve the


, as to the “ management ” of legislative bodies. it not unfrequently happens, however, that a mere scholar is unfitted to grapple with the practical details of daily life. especially is a mere theorist unfitted to solve the problems that constantly present themselves in frontier life. had johnston been a practical man, he would have seen the importance of answering the queries annually propounded to him by the board of trade as to the material condition of the province, its resources and development, and we would not have been left so much to conjecture in that regard. had he been a man of practical business capacity, he would certainly have collected money enough to pay his own salary and the salary of the other officers of the government. as it was, when he died his salary was thirteen years in arrears — years during which the province had grown greatly in wealth and population. his salary was £1, 000 per annum, and he might have paid himself out of the quit renis under his instructions if he had collected them. had he been a practical man, he would have counted the cost, to say nothing of the chances of success, before entering upon a quarrel like that with the northern counties, the outcome of which he ought to have known would be confusion and anarchy, if not open insurrection, that he was helpless to suppress. but counting the cost and weighing chances of success, he seemed to think not worth considering. sharp practice, intrigue, “ management, ” as he termed it, and the manifold devices of a cunning nature, were much more to his taste. but they availed not but what better could have been expected from a man who, going from the atmosphere of a scotch university to that of a london political writer at a time when political writings were characterized by “ equal animosity and argument, ” was suddenly transplanted to the wilds of america and made governor not because of his fitness for the place, but as a reward for his vigor or his zeal in the defence of his patron? in a word, our present knowledge of the condition of the province during his administration does by no means justify the impression that he exerted any influence for good on its destinies. nor does it increase our respect for him as a man, after bringing about a deplorable state of affairs, to find him complaining to the authorities in england, that without help from there he could not much longer maintain even the semblance of a government, a complaint that he had occasion to make more than once


a deplorable state of affairs, to find him complaining to the authorities in england, that without help from there he could not much longer maintain even the semblance of a government, a complaint that he had occasion to make more than once during his administration. nor does it improve one ' s regard for his memory to find him abusing, as “ wild and barbarous, ” the people he could not mould to his will. it is difficult to believe, too, that a man could have exercised a controlling influence in a province without leaving some record showing the fact. governor johnston left no such record. in none of the many papers he wrote during the eighteen years he was governor is there anything by which we may form an estimate of the population of the province or its material growth. happily, burrington and dobbs left us information by which its condition at the beginning and at the end of johnston ' s administration may be known. of his quarrel about the blank patents, that with the northern counties, that with mcculloh, and those about the currency, the king ' s quit rents, about the chief justice, about the removal from brunswick to wilmington, the records are full enough, but nowhere do we find a word from him to show the condition of the agricultural, commercial or manufacturing interest of the province, and but once any reference to the great tide of population that was so rapidly filling up the western section of the province. in this regard he was inferior to burrington, and greatly inferior to both dobbs and tryon. it may be that, in the later years of his life, but, perhaps after all, governor johnston ' s great fault was not that of the individual, but the fault of the age in which he lived, an age that regarded a province simply as a mine, to be worked solely for the profit of its owner, the king. accordingly, never during his whole administration did he seem to think the colonist subjects had any rights that he, as the king ' s representative, was bound to respect, and so, when he found upon his arrival in the country that of all of the proprietary statutes only six had been confirmed by the lords proprietors, as had been required by a practically dead provision of the law, he proceeded to declare all of the unconfirmed laws to be null and void wherever, in his opinion, trenching upon the king ' s prerogative. to promote the interest of the king and to magnify his prerogative, seemed to have


declare all of the unconfirmed laws to be null and void wherever, in his opinion, trenching upon the king ' s prerogative. to promote the interest of the king and to magnify his prerogative, seemed to have been the mainspring to every action during his administration. many masters doubtless have had more discreet servants, but none one more zealous than was johnston. in 1735, was run the first or eastern part of the boundary line between north and south carolina. it began at the mouth of little river, on the seashore, thirty miles below the mouth of cape fear river, and was extended in a northwest direction 64½ miles, to a point two miles northwest of one of the branches of little pedee. in 1737, the line was extended in the same direction 22 miles, to a stake in a meadow, erroneously supposed to be at the point of intersection with the 35th parallel of north latitude. the commissioners on the part of north carolina were robert halton, eleazer allen, mathew rowan, edward moseley and roger moore. in 1738, the act was passed appointing sheriffs in the place of the marshal and his deputies in the province, directing the mode of choosing them and prescribing their duties, and providing that the precincts should be called counties. in september, 1739, “ dugald mcneal, col. mcalister and several other scotch gentlemen, ” arrived with three hundred and fifty scotch people, doubtless in the cape fear country, and, in 1740, at the ensuing resolved that the persons mentioned in the said petition, shall be free from payment of any publick or county tax for ten years next ensueing their arrival. resolved that towards their subsistance the sum of one thousand pounds be paid out of the publick money, by his excellency ' s warrant to be lodged with duncan campbell, dugald mcneal, daniel mcneal, coll. mcalister and neal mcneal esqrs to be by them distributed among the several families in the said petition mentioned. resolved that as an encouragement for protestants to remove from europe into this province, to settle themselves in bodys or townships, that all such as shall so remove into this province, provided they exceed forty persons in one body or company, they shall be exempted from payment of any publick or county tax for the space of ten years, next ensueing their arrival. resolved that an address be presented to his excellen