milligrams covers daily calcium needs. women starting at age 51 and both men and women age 71 and older need no more than 1, 200 milligrams per day. as for vitamin d, 600 ius daily meets the needs of almost everyone in the united states and canada, although people 71 and older may require as much as 800 ius per day because of potential physical and behavioral changes related to aging. the majority of americans and canadians are getting enough vitamin d and calcium, the committee determined from reviewing national surveys of blood levels. some adolescent girls may not get quite enough calcium, and there is a greater chance that elderly individuals may fall short of the necessary amounts of calcium and vitamin d. these individuals should increase their intake of foods containing these nutrients and possibly take a supplement. confusion about the amount of vitamin d necessary to ward off deficiency has arisen in recent years as tests that measure levels in patients ' blood have become widely used. the measurements of sufficiency and deficiency - - the cutpoints - - that clinical laboratories use to report test results have not been based on rigorous scientific studies and are not standardized. this lack of agreement means the same individual could be declared deficient or sufficient depending on which laboratory reads the test. there may be an overestimation of the number of people with vitamin d deficiency because many labs appear to be using cutpoints that are higher than the evidence indicates are appropriate. based on available data, almost all individuals get sufficient vitamin d when their blood levels are at or above 20 nanograms per milliliter as it is measured in america, or 50 nanomoles per liter as measured in canada. although sunlight triggers the natural production of vitamin d in skin and contributes to people ' s vitamin d levels, individuals ' sun exposure varies greatly and many people are told to minimize their exposure, so the committee assumed minimal sun exposure to establish the dris. the new intake levels for vitamin d cover the needs of individuals who get little sun. greater amounts of food fortification and rising rates of supplement use have increased the chances that people consume high amounts of these nutrients. getting too much calcium from dietary supplements has been associated with kidney stones, while excessive vitamin d can damage the kidneys and heart. evidence about other possible risks associated with routine vitamin d supplementation is still tentative, and most studies have focused on very high doses taken short term rather than on routine, long - term consumption of large amounts. however, some signals suggest there are greater risks of death and chronic disease associated with long - term high vitamin


is still tentative, and most studies have focused on very high doses taken short term rather than on routine, long - term consumption of large amounts. however, some signals suggest there are greater risks of death and chronic disease associated with long - term high vitamin d intake, which informed the committee ' s conclusions about levels that consumers should not exceed. upper intake levels represent the upper safe boundary and should not be misunderstood as amounts people need or should strive to consume. the upper intake levels for vitamin d are 2, 500 ius per day for children ages 1 through 3 ; 3, 000 ius daily for children 4 through 8 years old ; and 4, 000 ius daily for all others. the upper intake levels for calcium are 2, 500 milligrams per day from age 1 through 8 ; 3, 000 milligrams daily from age 9 through 18 ; 2, 500 milligrams daily from age 19 through 50 ; and 2, 000 milligrams per day for all other age groups. " while it is too early to make definitive statements about the risks associated with routine high doses of vitamin d and calcium, people don ' t need more than the amounts established in this report, " ross said. " past cases such as hormone replacement therapy and high doses of beta carotene remind us that some therapies that seemed to show promise for treating or preventing health problems ultimately did not work out and even caused harm. this is why it is appropriate to approach emerging evidence about an intervention cautiously, but with an open mind. " the new dris are based on much more information and higher - quality study results than were available when the dris for these nutrients were first set in 1997. at that time, limitations in the evidence resulted in intake levels called adequate intakes, which are rougher estimations of people ' s requirements than the new values. the old and new dris reflect different calculations and are not directly comparable. the study was sponsored by the u. s. department of health and human services, u. s. department of agriculture, u. s. department of defense, and health canada. other social bookmarking and sharing tools : note : materials may be edited for content and length. for further information, please contact the source cited above. note : if no author is given, the source is cited instead.


may 2, 2011 a research team in lund, sweden has discovered primary biological matter in a fossil of an extinct varanoid lizard ( a mosasaur ) that inhabited marine environments during late cretaceous times. using state - of - the - art technology, the scientists have been able to link proteinaceous molecules to bone matrix fibres isolated from a 70 - million - year - old fossil - - that is, they have found genuine remains of an extinct animal entombed in stone. mosasaurs are a group of extinct varanoid lizards that inhabited marine environments during the late cretaceous ( approximately 100 - 65 million year ago ). with their discovery, the scientists johan lindgren, per uvdal, anders engdahl, and colleagues have demonstrated that remains of type i collagen, a structural protein, are retained in a mosasaur fossil. collagen is the dominating protein in bone. the scientists have applied a broad spectrum of sophisticated techniques to achieve their results. the scientists have used synchrotron radiation - based infrared microspectroscopy at max - lab in lund, southern sweden, to show that amino acid containing matter remains in fibrous tissues obtained from a mosasaur bone. in addition to synchrotron radiation - based infrared microspectroscopy, mass spectrometry and amino acid analysis have been performed. previously, other research teams have identified collagen - derived peptides in dinosaur fossils based on, for example, mass spectrometric analyses of whole bone extracts. the present study provides compelling evidence to suggest that the biomolecules recovered are primary and not contaminants from recent bacterial biofilms or collagen - like proteins. moreover, the discovery demonstrates that the preservation of primary soft tissues and endogenous biomolecules is not limited to large - sized bones buried in fluvial sandstone environments, but also occurs in relatively small - sized skeletal elements deposited in marine sediments. other social bookmarking and sharing tools : - johan lindgren, per uvdal, anders engdahl, andrew h. lee, carl alwmark, karl - erik bergquist, einar nilsson, peter ekstrom, magnus rasmussen, desiree a. douglas, michael j. polcyn, louis l. jacobs. microspectroscopic evidence of cretaceous bone proteins. plos one, 2011 ; 6 ( 4 ) : e19445 doi : 10. 1371 / journal. pone. 0019


may 15, 2011 a team of researchers have found that pre - existing malaria prevents secondary infection by another plasmodium strain, the parasite responsible for malaria, by restricting iron availability in the liver of the host. this discovery was published on may 15 in nature medicine and has important implications for the management and prevention of malaria, a condition which affects millions of individuals worldwide. the study was developed by the team led by researcher maria m. mota at instituto de medicina molecular in lisbon, portugal, in collaboration with researchers at the weatherall institute of molecular medicine and oxford university ; and was funded by the portuguese fundacao para a ciencia e tecnologia, european science foundation and medical research council, uk. in this current study, the researchers focused at how malaria parasites developed in both the liver and in red blood cells and analysed patterns of infection in mice, looking in particular at cases of ' superinfection ', in which an individual already infected with malaria is later bitten by a second infected mosquito. an individual in a high risk area can be bitten by hundreds of malaria - infected mosquitoes per year, making the issue of superinfection highly relevant. the study reveals for the first time the crucial role of iron in the development of multiple malarial infections, which has strong implications for iron supplementation used to combat anaemia in malaria - endemic regions. after a mosquito bite, malaria parasites first travel to the liver, multiply, then escape and invade red blood cells. it was previously understood that parasites in both the liver and in blood need iron in order to grow. this new study shows that a second mosquito bite of an individual, already carrying blood parasites, does not lead to a full - blown second infection. the superinfection is blocked in the liver by the first infection. this protective effect is due to the blood parasites causing the parasites in the liver to be starved of iron, so that they cannot grow. in that respect, the results challenge the biological concept that infection of distinct host cells ( liver hepatocytes or red blood cells ) occur independently from each other, which may also have impact in the research area of infection ( beyond malaria ). dr silvia portugal, first author of the study says : " i am very happy that we were able to find such an interesting interaction occurring between different malaria parasite stages in a single host, and that this might contribute for future control of malaria. " dr maria mota, who led the study at instituto de medicina molecular in lisbon says :


were able to find such an interesting interaction occurring between different malaria parasite stages in a single host, and that this might contribute for future control of malaria. " dr maria mota, who led the study at instituto de medicina molecular in lisbon says : " our findings help explaining the differences in infection risk and complexity of infections in young individuals observed in endemic - malaria regions that have hitherto required speculative explanations. also, they challenge the idea that infection in distinct cell types is independent, which may have an impact in future research in the field of infectious diseases as a whole. " dr hal drakesmith who co - led the study at the weatherall institute of molecular medicine adds : " ' now that we understand how malaria parasites protect their territory in the body from competitor parasites, we may be able to enhance this natural defence mechanism to combat the risk of malaria infections. at the same time we may need to look again at the advisability of iron supplementation programmes in malaria - endemic regions, as possible increased risk of infection may need to be weighed against benefits - - more data is needed on this issue. " malaria is a devastating disease that affects extensive areas of africa, asia, south and central america, causing several thousands of deaths per year in children under the age of five. malaria is caused by the infection of the protozoan parasite plasmodium, which belongs to the phylum apicomplexa. attempts to eradicate malaria have so far been unsuccessful. their failure can be attributed to increasing resistance to insecticides in the mosquito vector and to anti - malarial drugs in the parasite. there is an urgent need of developing novel strategies against malaria. other social bookmarking and sharing tools : - silvia portugal, celine carret, mario recker, andrew e armitage, ligia a goncalves, sabrina epiphanio, david sullivan, cindy roy, chris i newbold, hal drakesmith, maria m mota. host - mediated regulation of superinfection in malaria. nature medicine, 2011 ; doi : 10. 1038 / nm. 2368 note : if no author is given, the source is cited instead.


- solid - state lasers can produce light in the red and blue parts of the spectrum but not the green. - recent research suggests that this " green gap " could be plugged as early as this year. - the advance will allow for laser - based video displays that are small enough to fit in a cell phone. on a rainy saturday morning in january 2007, henry yang, chancellor of the university of california, santa barbara, took an urgent phone call. he excused himself abruptly from a meeting, grabbed his coat and umbrella, and rushed across the windswept u. c. s. b. campus to the solid state lighting and display center. the research group there included one of us ( nakamura ), who had just received the millennium technology prize for creating the first light - emitting diodes ( leds ) that emit bright blue light. since that breakthrough over a decade earlier, nakamura had continued his pioneering research on solid - state ( semiconductor ) lighting, developing green leds and the blue laser diodes that are now at the core of modern blu - ray disc players. as yang reached the center about 10 minutes later, people were milling about a small test lab. " shuji had just arrived and was standing there in his leather jacket asking questions, " he recalled. nakamura ' s colleagues steven denbaars and james c. speck were speaking with a few graduate students and postdoctoral researchers as they took turns looking into a microscope. they parted for yang, who peered into the eyepiece to witness a brilliant blue - violet flash emanating from a glassy chip of gallium nitride ( gan ).


molecular biologist chao - qiang lai of the jean mayer u. s. department of agriculture human nutrition research center on aging at tufts university answers. this question can be rephrased as : " how much variation ( difference between individuals ) in height is attributable to genetic effects and how much to nutritional effects? " the short answer to this question is that about 60 to 80 percent of the difference in height between individuals is determined by genetic factors, whereas 20 to 40 percent can be attributed to environmental effects, mainly nutrition. this answer is based on estimates of the " heritability " of human height : the proportion of the total variation in height due to genetic factors. human height is a quantitative, or metric, trait, i. e., a characteristic that is measured in quantity, and is controlled by multiple genes and environmental factors. many studies have estimated the heritability of human height. often, these studies determine heritability by estimating the degree of resemblance between relatives. one can separate genetic effect from environmental effects by correlating genetic similarity between relatives ( twin, siblings, parents and offspring ) with their similarity in height. to accurately measure how genetically similar relatives are, one can measure the number of genetic markers they share. for example, peter m. visscher of the queensland institute of medical research in australia recently reported that the heritability of height is 80 percent, based on 3, 375 pairs of australian twins and siblings. this estimate is considered to be unbiased, as it was based on a large population of twins and siblings and a broad survey of genetic markers. in the u. s., the heritability of height was estimated as 80 percent for white men. these estimates are well supported by another study of 8, 798 pairs of finnish twins, in which the heritability was 78 percent for men and 75 percent for women. other studies have shown height heritability among whites to be even higher than 80 percent. because different ethnic populations have different genetic backgrounds and live in different environments, however, height heritability can vary from one population to another, and even from men to women. in asian populations, the heritability of height is much lower than 80 percent. for example, in 2004 miao - xin li of hunan normal university in china and his colleagues estimated a height heritability of 65 percent, based on a chinese population of 385 families. in african populations, height heritability is also lower : 65 percent for the population of western africa, according


of hunan normal university in china and his colleagues estimated a height heritability of 65 percent, based on a chinese population of 385 families. in african populations, height heritability is also lower : 65 percent for the population of western africa, according to a 1978 study by d. f. roberts, then at newcastle university in england, and colleagues. such diversities in heritability are mainly due to the different genetic background of ethnic groups and the distinct environments ( climates, dietary habits and lifestyle ) they experience. heritability allows us to examine how genetics directly impact an individual ' s height. for example, a population of white men has a heritability of 80 percent and an average height of 178 centimeters ( roughly five feet, 10 inches ). if we meet a white man in the street who is 183 cm ( six feet ) tall, the heritability tells us what fraction of his extra height is caused by genetic variants and what fraction is due to his environment ( dietary habit and lifestyle ). the man is five centimeters taller than the average. thus, 80 percent of the extra five centimeters, or four centimeters, is due to genetic variants, whereas one centimeter is due to environmental effects, such as nutrition. heritability can also be used to predict an individual ' s height if the parents ' heights are known. for example, say a man 175 cm tall marries a woman 165 cm tall, and both are from a chinese population with a population mean of 170 cm for men and 160 cm for women. we can predict the height of their children, assuming the heritability is 65 percent for men and 60 percent for women in this population. for a son, the expected height difference from the population mean is : 0. 65 x [ ( 175 - 170 ) + ( 165 - 160 ) ] / 2, which equals 3. 25 cm ; for a daughter, the difference is 0. 6 x [ ( 175 - 170 ) + ( 165 - 160 ) ] / 2, which equals 3 cm. thus, the expected height of a son is 170 + 3. 2, or 173. 2 cm, and of a daughter 160 + 3, or 163 cm. on the other hand, environmental effects can add 1. 75 cm to a son ' s height : 0. 35 x [ ( 175 - 170 ) + ( 165 - 160 ) ] / 2, and 2 cm to a daughter ' s : 0. 4 x [ ( 175 - 170 ) + ( 165 - 160 ) ] / 2. of


making graphene nanoribbons : the process for tailoring of the silicon carbide crystal for selective graphene growth and device fabrication is illustrated, starting with the top left figure. ( a ) a nanometer - scale step is etched into the silicon carbide crystal by a fluorine - based reactive ion etch ( rie ). ( b ) the crystal is heated to about 1200 - 1300 degrees celsius ( at low vacuum ), inducing step flow and relaxation to the etching. ( c ) when the crystal is further heated to about 1450 degrees celsius, a graphene nanoribbon forms. ( d ) from there the source and drain contacts, graphene nanoribbon channel, aluminum oxide gate dielectric and metal top gate are added. image : courtesy of walter de heer for years researchers have held out hope that graphene would be the material to pick up the mantle in the electronics industry when silicon hits its limits as the material of choice for making devices smaller, faster and cheaper. yet, turning graphene ' s promise into a reality has been difficult to say the least, in part because of the inherent difficulty of working with a substance one atom thick. methods of cutting graphene into useable pieces tend to leave frayed edges that mitigate the material ' s effectiveness as a conductor. now, a team of researchers at georgia institute of technology led by walter de heer claims to have made a significant advance in that area by developing a technique for creating nanometer - scale graphene ribbons without rough edges. ( a nanometer is one billionth of a meter. ) graphene has, of course, made headlines throughout the scientific world this week, thanks to the awarding of the nobel prize in physics to two researchers at the university of manchester in england who in 2004 pioneered a way of isolating graphene by repeatedly cleaving graphite with adhesive tape. the nobel prize committee recognized andre geim and konstantin novoselov " for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two - dimensional material graphene. " unlike the approach taken by geim and novoselov, de heer and his team in the past have created graphene sheets by heating a silicon carbide surface to 1, 500 degrees celsius until a layer of graphene formed. the graphene was then cut to a particular size and shape using an electron beam. " this was a serious problem because cutting graphene leaves rough edges that destroy a lot of graphene ' s good properties, making it less conduct


graphene formed. the graphene was then cut to a particular size and shape using an electron beam. " this was a serious problem because cutting graphene leaves rough edges that destroy a lot of graphene ' s good properties, making it less conductive, " says de heer, regents ' professor in georgia tech ' s school of physics. de heer ' s new approach, described october 3 in nature nanotechnology, is to etch patterns into the silicon carbide and then heat that surface until graphene forms within the etched patterns. ( scientific american is part of nature publishing group. ) in this way graphene forms in specific shapes and sizes without the need for cutting. " the whole philosophy has changed, " he says. " we ' re not starting with an infinite sheet of graphene ; we ' re growing it where we want to grow it. " the researchers claim to have used the technique to fabricate a densely packed array of 10, 000 top - gated graphene transistors on a 0. 24 - square - centimeter chip, a step toward their ultimate goal of creating graphene components that can be integrated with silicon for new generations of electronics. such a consolidation would be a key milestone towards making microprocessors able to operate at terahertz speeds, 1, 000 times faster than today ' s chips ( whose speeds are clocked at billions of hertz ). another goal is to reduce heat generation as an increasing number of transistors are packed onto each chip. such advances would continue to validate moore ' s law even as silicon circuits reach their miniaturization limit. " in principle, graphene can overcome silicon ' s limitation, " de heer says. " if we completely succeed [ only ] time will tell. " graphene and silicon will be able to coexist much the same way that airplanes and freight ships are used for transporting cargo. " they move at different speeds, but both are important because they have different costs, " de heer says. " i think a similar thing will happen in electronics. " de heer is also quick to acknowledge that, although the study of graphene dates back to the 1970s, the field still has a long way to go. he and his team are now investigating how the ribbons they created will perform over time and to what degree their new approach improves on cutting pieces of graphene out of larger sheets. with so many open questions about graphene ' s viability, de heer says he was


electricity bills are rising. now you can cut down on costs and find out what appliances are actually worth keeping plugged in. simply connect these appliances to the kill a watt™, and it will assess how efficient they really are. large lcd display will count consumption by the killowatt - hour, same as your local utility. you can calculate your electrical expenses by the day, week, month, even an entire year. also check the quality of your power by monitoring voltage, line frequency, and power factor. now you ’ ll know if it is time for a new refrigerator or if that old air conditioner is still saving you money. with the amazing kill a watt™ you ’ ll know “ watts ” killing you. the energy information administration found americans use 60 percent more electricity today than they did 20 years ago. some examples of the amount of energy you use and how much it costs you are in the following examples : these are just some of the things you will discover using the kill a watt electricity usage monitor! specifications : - ipod docking station – uses three watts charging and five when it ’ s playing music. this costs you a penny a day! - big screen tv – when the tv is on it can use 210 watts, when off 64. it costs you 11 cents a day just to have the tv plugged in at your house! - game systems – can use 2 watts when the system is off but uses 145 when it ’ s on. this costs you about one penny an hour! - digital video recorder – this can pull 83 watts all day long. that means just having one of these plugged in the wall can cost you 15 cents a day! - accuracy : + / - 0. 2 % - operating voltage : 115 volts ac max, 60 hz - voltage : 125 volts - vac max current : 15 amps - max power : 1875 va - weight : 5 oz. - dimensions : 5 1 / 8 " x 1 5 / 8 " x 2 3 / 8 " - warranty : 2 years - etl approved


assurance contracts may be a way to pay for so - called “ public goods ; ” things that it ’ s said everyone can use without diminishing their value to others. typical examples of public goods include public parks, open source software, national defense. assurance contracts are basically pledges of funding towards providing a public good. if enough people pledge funds, then the good is undertaken. ( the public park is built. ) if not enough people pledge then the good is not provided. ( the public park is not built. ) the open source 3d editing program “ blended 3d ” was released as a result of spp. the source code was released only when enough members of a community collectively pledged 100, 000 euros. the program was proprietary before. some have proposed assurance contracts as an alternative to taxation as a way to provide public goods. note that the concept of public goods is itself a matter of controversy between free market economists versus more collectivist economists like samuelson, who is credited with creating a formal theory for them. i wonder if seasteads could be funded by assurance contracts, given enough knowledge about and interest in them? > i wonder if seasteads could be funded by assurance contracts, given enough knowledge about and interest in them? i think pledging is a great way of financing. i do not have the statistics to back it up, but i think pledges are more effective than donations. if you pledge you will be sure that your money only goes to the project if a sufficient amount of others give their money, too. so when you give your money away you can be sure it is enough to start the project resp. keep it running. if you donate, you are often uncertain whether your money makes a difference. it is likely that too few people donate. that would waste your money because the project can ’ t take off. so you probably hesitate a lot more to donate than to pledge.


a wayside cross is any cross that has been erected by the side of a road or path and they are found all over the world, particularly in europe. there have been various reasons for erecting these : for example as markers placed along routes used by christian pilgrims, or as a shrine in reverence, perhaps to a saint who has some connection to the locality. others mark burial sites, a disaster, a miracle, or some other event that should be remembered. in some cases they were erected to mark meeting places for christian worship and later churches were built adjacent to the cross, resulting in the cross being within the church ' s walls. ( see churchyard cross and high cross. ) wayside crosses are typically made of stone, iron or wood, of modest size and appearance, and often neglected, especially if sited in the countryside. for protection from the elements, some are enclosed or semi - enclosed. ( see also enshrined cross ) the more famous crosses include those in spain on the pilgrim ' s way to santiago de compostela and in england, the eleanor crosses dating from the late 13th century. a similar custom honoured st. louis of france. prior to those two, when english st. aldhelm died in 709, his body was carried from doulting to malmesbury. later, his friend, egwin, bishop of worcester, erected crosses in aldelm ' s memory at the various places where the funeral procession had stopped overnight. the practice of building wayside shrines is followed by all major religions ( islam, buddhism, hinduism, etc ) and especially ancient religions, where superstition has for long been closely intertwined with spirituality. pagan shrines were believed to offer protection to travellers from bandits and evil spirits. there are an unknown number of wayside crosses, many of which are featured in local history books and tourist guides. many more have quite probably fallen into ditches and become covered with debris, just waiting to be discovered one day.


the long - buried skeleton of colonial san francisco is being brought to the surface at the site of the old spanish fort in yerba buena, where california as we know it was born. archaeologists for the presidio trust are building interpretive replicas of the ruins of el presidio de san francisco directly above the famous garrison ' s original stone and adobe walls. the displays will use the exact same construction methods and, where possible, materials that were used in the historic 1815 expansion of el presidio, the ruins of which were recently uncovered. the idea is to allow visitors to see, feel and identify with the city ' s imperial spanish roots. " we want people to have an immediate visceral connection to the place, which is what this is an attempt to do, " said kari jones, an archaeologist for the presidio trust, as she stood next to a not - yet - complete stone wall covered in a mud mortar concoction. " this is the foundation of san francisco. we think it is one of the most important sites in the west. " jones and her supervisor, eric blind, have been working with architects and builders on ways to reveal to the public the treasure trove of history that was unearthed after being underground for more than 150 years. the foundation walls of the spanish fort were discovered by the army as it prepared for the 1994 transfer of the presidio to the national park service. workers were attempting to remove underground heating fuel tanks from a row of houses on funston avenue when they found stonework running along the backyards. the walls were outside the boundaries of the original 1776 garrison built by the spanish, but subsequent archival work revealed that el presidio had been rebuilt in 1815 after the original structure was severely damaged during earthquakes in 1808 and 1812. " there had been a long - standing search for where el presidio might be, " but nobody had done any real archaeological work, jones said. " they expected something would be here, but i don ' t think anyone expected el presidio to be preserved as much as it was. " the renovated adobe fort had apparently fallen into disrepair and had pretty much disintegrated by the time mexico ceded california to the united states in 1848. what remained in the presidio at the time were deemed " mud huts not fit for officers. " the funston cottages, which were used as officers ' quarters during the civil war, were built parallel to the remains of the rebuilt spanish adobe garrison in 1863. some of the original adobe


the time were deemed " mud huts not fit for officers. " the funston cottages, which were used as officers ' quarters during the civil war, were built parallel to the remains of the rebuilt spanish adobe garrison in 1863. some of the original adobe remained standing in pershing square until the 1906 earthquake. the historic officers ' club, which is now undergoing a $ 15 million renovation, is the last remnant of the original spanish fort. the foundation stones and disintegrated adobe outlining the rest of the giant quadrangle is still underground. there is good reason the actual ruins of the 1815 garrison will remain buried, officials said, not the least of which is how much it would cost the presidio trust to dig them up. maintaining them and protecting them from vandals, the elements and the large community of gophers in the area would be costly. another issue is the fact that lead paint from the row of buildings adjacent to the ruins has contaminated the soil, according to michael lamb, the presidio trust ' s historic landscape architect. consequently, in 2008, the remains were buried and capped in a protective coating. lamb said the project, which he expects to be completed in the fall, is to preserve the artifacts underground for archaeologists to study in the future and build removable structures above them that give passers - by an idea of the history buried below. explaining to the public " what we ' re trying to do here is develop a system that will assist in explaining to the public the layout of el presidio, " said lamb, adding that the three displays under construction, including a corner section, will likely resemble the wall as it looked nearly two centuries ago when it was a comparatively young ruin. " we don ' t want an architecturally clean finish. we want to reinforce the notion that the wall extends farther than we can build. " making the displays authentic is complicated because adobe bricks from the spanish era were large and measured in varas, which are about 3 inches shorter than yards. in an attempt to get it right, the trust enlisted the help of egyptian archaeological intern nabil fahmy, who has worked extensively on shunet el zebib - a ruin in abydos, egypt, that dates from the 27th century b. c. and is the oldest known adobe building in the world. fahmy searched the presidio and found the right kind of soil - and - sand mixture to make the mortar. a company in arizona is making the adobe bricks, which require 90 consecutive hot


the environmental focus in tourism strategy of turkey - 2023 within the outlook of tourism planning 9th international multidisciplinary scientific geoconference - sgem2009, www. sgem. org, sgem2009 conference proceedings / isbn 10 : 954 - 91818 - 1 - 2, june 14 - 19, 2009, vol. 2, 875 - 883 pp the growth of tourism has prompted debate about environmental consequences and desirability of further development. the effects of mass tourism and increasing awareness of the human impact on the environment led more environmentally sensitive forms of tourism such as ecotourism and wildlife - based tourism. with this increasing awareness environmental concerns are explicitly included in sectoral policies and programmes concerning many areas including tourism, urban and rural development. one of the recent examples of environment being involved in tourism planning can be examined in turkey ’ s tourism strategy 2023 and the 9th five year national development plan as both of them promotes ecotourism regions to develop nature based tourism. the tourism strategy of turkey 2023, with its emphasis on cultural, health and environmental areas, has laid out the blueprint for the country ’ s future development. by the implementation of this plan ; nine culture and tourism zones and seven tourism development corridors, 10 tourism cities, ecotourism zones will be created. implementation has merely started recently, but the plan is anticipated to be highly influential on turkey ’ s tourism. the researchers in this study examine turkish tourism policies and planning with a specific focus on tourism strategy of turkey 2023. the plan is studied in detailed to monitor the integration of environmental concern and ecotourism in tourism development plans and aimed zones. keywords : tourism strategy of turkey 2023, ecotourism, tourism planning and policies paper 2009 / s24. 1 : the environmental focus in tourism strategy of turkey - 2023 within the outlook of tourism planning 30 euro add to cart your cart ( items ) tax cost ( ) : articles by this author - transformation and image calibration for endoscopic image analysis in fotom 2008 system - the meteorological usage of water vapor data obtained from gps - photogrammetric study for sircali medrese door - fotom system and measurement visualization - determination and creation of topological description from digital imagery © copyright 2001 international multidisciplinary scientific geoconference & expo sgem. all rights reserved.


- q what is atrial fibrillation ( af )? dr. mehmet oz, cardiologyatrial fibrillation ( af ) is an irregular heartbeat in which the upper chambers of the heart, called the atria, quiver instead of contracting normally. watch this animation to learn more about af, most common cardiac arrhythmia. full answer - q what are the goals of atrial fibrillation treatment? the main goal of treating your parent ' s atrial fibrillation depends on several factors. the doctor will assess your parent ' s health and check for co - occurring conditions such as thyroid disease, hypertension ( high blood pressure ), diabetes. lung... full answer - q why is the dash diet helpful in preventing atrial fibrillation? dr. michael roizen, internal medicineremember learning about the transitive property in math class? we don ’ t either. it comes into play in the answer to your question. the dash diet has been clinically proven to lower elevated blood pressure. high blood pressure raises your risk for... full answer - q what causes chronic atrial fibrillation? various types of heart disease are often the causes of chronic atrial fibrillation. however, the disorder can occur in people even when there is no history of heart trouble. other causes include alcohol abuse, metabolism problems, sleep apnea, and lung... full answer - q how is atrial fibrillation ( af ) treated? there are different ways doctors treat atrial fibrillation. the standard treatment is a combination of medications, including anti - coagulants ( such as coumadin ) to prevent blood clots ; medications to slow the heart rate ( beta blockers, calcium channel... full answer


" thousands of women have had a ‘ wasted decade ’ of suffering since the hrt scare, according to an international panel of experts, ” the daily mail has reported. the news is based on a major re - evaluation of the women ’ s health initiative ( whi ) study, the results of which prompted safety fears in 2002. the re - analysis comes in a series of journal reports which were highly critical of the way the results of the whi were presented and the media ’ s interpretation of them. the reports said this led to panic based on scant real - life evidence, which may have caused a change in prescribing practice to the potential detriment of the wellbeing of thousands of women worldwide. the authors of one review concluded : “ while hrt is certainly not appropriate for every woman, it may be for those with symptoms or other indications. in that setting, with initiation near menopause, the weight of evidence supports benefits over risks. ” what is hrt? hormone replacement therapy ( hrt ) is a treatment used to relieve the symptoms of menopause. it replaces the female sex hormones that women ’ s bodies stop producing after menopause. reduced production of the hormone oestrogen is associated with many of the symptoms of menopause, including : - hot flushes - night sweats - vaginal dryness - loss of sex drive - stress incontinence hrt replaces this hormone, reducing these symptoms. hrt comes in different forms – some are taken continuously and some are taken with breaks in between – as a tablet, patch, implant, gel or cream. most hrt preparations contain an oestrogen in combination with a progestogen. the kind of hrt a woman is prescribed will be based on her individual circumstances. for more information, see the nhs choices information on hrt. why did hrt fall out of favour? safety concerns over long - term use of hrt significantly altered medical thinking on prescribing it, prompted by the initial results of two large trials. these were the us women ’ s health initiative ( whi ) study ( published in 2002 ), part of which was halted early because women using hrt were seen to be at higher risk of breast cancer, and the uk million women study ( published in 2003 ), which also showed a higher rate of breast cancer in women on hrt. the authors of the new re - analysis said that the scare, which led to a significant drop in prescribing hrt


million women study ( published in 2003 ), which also showed a higher rate of breast cancer in women on hrt. the authors of the new re - analysis said that the scare, which led to a significant drop in prescribing hrt, was not helped by how the science was portrayed worldwide in the media. they were especially critical of the reporting of relative risks ( a 26 % increase in breast cancer risk ) rather than “ excess ” or “ attributable ” risk of four extra breast cancer cases per 1, 000 women taking hrt over a five - year period. the authors also criticised the dramatic nature of the press releases about the research issued by the journal of the american medical association and the us national heart, lung and blood institute. they argued that this gave rise to the health scare that sparked the widespread avoidance of hrt. what have new studies looked at? a decade after the release of the results of the whi study, the peer - reviewed journal climacteric has published an entire issue re - appraising the evidence from the whi study and other evidence published in the last 10 years. one of the climacteric articles stated that the whi study was designed to address whether older women ( much older than the average age for menopause, which in the uk is 52 ) who mostly did not have symptoms of menopause, benefitted from hrt. however, they authors said the results were generalised to all women, and this in combination with the fact that a 26 % relative risk increase in breast cancer was reported ( rather than a modest increase in absolute risk ) led to the hrt scare. other aspects of hrt ’ s effect on women ’ s health were examined, including : - quality of life - gynaecological and sexual health - blood clots - colorectal cancer - fractures caused by osteoporosis - overall effects of the drop in hrt use in the new study looking at breast cancer and hrt, the authors concluded that the benefits of hrt in women with low initial risk of breast cancer and significant menopausal symptoms will outweigh the harms, because their absolute risk of cancer is low. the link between breast cancer and hrt seen in the million women survey has also been disputed by later studies, including in early 2012 a study that criticised the study design of many of the hrt studies. the reviews concluded that hrt is associated with : - improved quality of life in women going through the menopause


has also been disputed by later studies, including in early 2012 a study that criticised the study design of many of the hrt studies. the reviews concluded that hrt is associated with : - improved quality of life in women going through the menopause - reduced risk of coronary heart disease and death ( if taken before the age of 60 or within 10 years of menopause ) - modestly increased risk of stroke, venous thromboembolism and breast cancer - reduced risk of colorectal cancer - reduced risk of dementia for those starting hrt early ( but later use may increase risk ) - decreased risk of fracture what impact did the scare have? one analysis that looked at the rates of hrt use found that it had dropped by between 40 % and 80 %. the positive or negative effects of this decline on disease and death rates have not yet been assessed. a 2011 statement from the international menopause society, quoted in the re - analysis, said that the media presentation of the whi results in 2002 engendered “ excessive conservatism ” that “ has disadvantaged nearly a decade of women who may have unnecessarily suffered severe menopausal symptoms and who may have missed the potential therapeutic window to reduce their future cardiovascular, fracture and dementia risk ”. an analysis of the media ’ s role in the hrt scare found that the common perception of hrt as risky continued until july 2007, when the trial revised its findings on cardiovascular risk. however, they reported that the media portrayed this revision as a “ u - turn ” by experts ( including on the front page of the daily mail ), reinforcing the media ’ s “ confused interpretation ” of the safety and benefits of hrt. however, the authors said that the “ melodramatic presentation ” of the whi results explained the media response. so, is hrt safe? like any drug or treatment, hrt is associated with both risks and benefits. however, according to nice in 2009, the overall balance of benefits and side effects suggests that hrt is acceptably safe and beneficial enough to justify its use for certain women experiencing severe problems during menopause. this is not to say it is risk - free or suitable for the majority of women, but it does have justified uses. in their report, the authors stated that the international menopause society recommends individualised treatment, with age being taken into account as a safety issue. hrt shows the most benefits for women with symptoms who start hrt within a


have justified uses. in their report, the authors stated that the international menopause society recommends individualised treatment, with age being taken into account as a safety issue. hrt shows the most benefits for women with symptoms who start hrt within a few years of menopause, and therefore as women get older the potential risks of hrt may outweigh the diminishing benefit offered. the authors of one review concluded : “ while hrt is certainly not appropriate for every woman, it may be for those with symptoms or other indications. in that setting, with initiation near menopause, the weight of evidence supports benefits over risks ”. doctors would assess whether or not hrt was an appropriate treatment on a case - by - case basis. they would take into account factors such as the severity of a woman ’ s symptoms and whether she has a history of breast cancer ( certain types of breast tumour can be encouraged by female hormones ). the findings of this new research do not in themselves suggest that hrt should be offered more widely, but they certainly raise some interesting points over the need for a clear, evidence - based approach to assessing hrt and also in the way perceptions of danger have affected its use. they open the door to further robust research re - evaluating hrt, which needs to be performed and judged in as objective a manner as possible.


sing and see is an advanced singing software program that visualizes the voice on - screen as you sing, allowing you to discover breaks in the voice, unevenness in vibrato and pitch and work to correct them with a strong visual aid. here ’ s a video of sing and see in action : sing & see was developed in australia by a team of scientists and engineers who partnered with singing teachers to put together a practical vocal feedback tool. singing in tune is perhaps one of the most challenging tasks for a singer. psychological research has shown that the more senses and emotions you involve in learning, the more effective and long - term the learning is. for singers learning how to sing in tune via conventional methods, there is almost no visual component to the process. sing and see involves the visual area of the brain in the processing of pitch, vibrato and tone. this may seem counterintuitive but in fact musical prodigies often experience a crossover and comingling of the senses, or synaesthesia, which allows them to “ see ” music in their minds eye. the sing and see interface is shown below : in this interface, you can tell if you ’ re singing in tune or not by the change in color on the piano keyboard, the stave and also by the graph, which indicates the “ history ” of your sung note. as you can see, the graph shows when your pitch fluctuates up or down and gives you an immediate visual cue if you are singing out of tune. as a voice teacher and performer, i firmly believe that every voice teacher should have one of these in their vocal studio. the truth is that many individuals are visual learners and “ linking ” their ear to their eyes can be extremely effective in speeding up learning and allaying frustration at not being able to hear minute details right away. sing and see is also extremely useful at helping you negotiate your passaggio, or vocal break. i personally have experience with this type of software ( i don ’ t know if it was sing and see in particular ). i visited the florida state university voice department where they have this kind of technology and discovered that i wasn ’ t making a proper transition to my head voice which resulted in a wide, uneven vibrato and poor overtone profile. this sparked a journey to unify my vocal registers which i ’ m still not at the end of! although they don ’ t really advertise this fact, it seems to me that sing and see would be extremely helpful for any musician,


. this sparked a journey to unify my vocal registers which i ’ m still not at the end of! although they don ’ t really advertise this fact, it seems to me that sing and see would be extremely helpful for any musician, singer or not, in improving their musicianship. when you sing an interval on sing & see, it will show you accurately you make the jump between notes. do you tend to overreach and sing sharp or come short and sing flat? an example is below : in addition, you can also play the virtual keyboard on this singing software. from the perspective of a singing student, my teacher creds aside, i believe that this kind of singing software is a force multiplier in terms of learning singing quickly. why do i say that? i ’ ve done a lot of “ modeling ” of super successful individuals in various fields be it singing, marketing, sports, etc., and one common characteristic that they all share is that they find ways to monitor themselves objectively. in the world of learning how to sing this translates to recording your lessons and practice sessions, getting honest feedback from a competent vocal coach and leveraging powerful singing software such as sing & see. the person who knows they are making a mistake can fix it while the one who doesn ’ t may never realize it and wil continue making the error. honest feedback is golden. sing & see costs $ 49 for the student version and $ 99 for the professional version and is available for both mac and pc. thanks for reading this sing and see review!


causes of keratosis pilaris keratosis pilaris is not a very well known skin condition. up to 40 % of adults all over the globe suffer from it, and over half of them don ’ t even know it. keratosis pilaris is genetic in origin but the precise cause has not yet been determined. still, many doctors believe that the cause of keratosis pilaris is the overproduction of keratin inside the skin. this excess gets trapped inside the follicle, developing a bump. it is also thought to be a disorder of keratinisation in which the sticky cells that line the hair follicle form a horny plug instead of exfoliating. this widens the pores making them appear more obvious than elsewhere. often a curled hair can be identified under the skin. keratosis pilaris is a skin condition frequently seen on the upper arms, buttocks and thighs. the skin cells that normally flake off as a fine dust form plugs in the hair follicles. these appear as small pimples that have a dry ' ' sandpaper ' ' feeling. they are usually white, but when inflamed they appear rather red. they usually don ' t itch or hurt, except with extreme changes in temperature. this condition is particularly common among teenagers ( up to 80 % ). its manifestation is very common on the upper arms, especially on the external side of the arm. it may occur in babies where it tends to be most obvious on the cheeks. it may remain for years but in most cases it gradually disappears usually before age 30. keratosis pilaris is unsightly but completely harmless. it is usually worse during the winter months. the worsening is directly associated with low humidity, skin dryness and tight clothes that “ rub ” the bumps at al times. some people have stated that this condition worsened during pregnancy and / or after childbirth. some doctors as well as patients believe that food is related with keratosis pilaris. according to their own experience, spicy foods tend to increase the bumps and make them more noticeable. on the other hand, patients that reduced or eliminated milk and its derivatives from their diet claimed to have had a considerable improvement. treatment for keratosis pilaris is not necessary, and unfortunately, it often has disappointing results. with persistence, most people can get improve this aesthetic condition by moisturizing and replenishing the lipid content of the skin regularly. the


treatment for keratosis pilaris is not necessary, and unfortunately, it often has disappointing results. with persistence, most people can get improve this aesthetic condition by moisturizing and replenishing the lipid content of the skin regularly. the plugged pores can be removed by taking long, hot soaking tub baths and then rubbing the areas with a coarse washcloth, stiff brush, or ' buf - puf '. also, a good microdermabrasion proceeding can help get rid of all the excess keratin. prescription medicines may help, including some antibiotics like erythromycin and bactrim. if the swelling or redness of the bumps is getting worse, you should discuss with your doctor the use of topical retinoids. the derivatives of vitamin a can be very harsh for the skin, so be aware of all the symptoms you develop. we offer a solution for keratosis pilaris, a natural cream with helix aspersa muller glycoconjugates. it is a biological ingredient collected from live snails and contains a complex compound of molecules that protect the skin from free radical oxydation, promote the proliferation of the water holding molecules in the skin and the healthy turnover of connective tissues, dissolve damaged and non functional tissues such as keratin plugs by enzymatic digestion or breakdown of their amino - acid components and has antimicrobial properties. bioskintreatment™ and bioskinexfol™ are natural skin care products that require constancy in their use to achieve results. you must apply bioskinexfol three times a week, or the bioskintreatment lotion twice a day every day. it is important to be patient since results will not be immediate, not even fast. for most people results will be seen in 5 to 6 weeks. bioskintreatment™ and bioskinexfol™ work because the biological ingredient in them and the formulation makes it the most complete and balanced natural solution for the normal functioning of the skin and for regeneration of damaged skin. bioskintreatment lotion clears skin of keratin bumps and regenerates healthy skin the product is made with the same base as bioskincare plus salix nigra ( willow ) extract and amorphophallus konjac root powder for a more potent keratolytic effect that cleans the excess horny material of the skin by degrading keratin plugs and dissolving debris,


willow ) extract and amorphophallus konjac root powder for a more potent keratolytic effect that cleans the excess horny material of the skin by degrading keratin plugs and dissolving debris, damaged, abnormal and necrotic tissues. it decongests the skin as the enzymes in the snail serum and the natural salicylic acid in willow bark extract help to ' digest ' all damaged structures into their amino - acid and other components, which also favors the regeneration of all the structural components of healthy skin. it leaves your skin smooth, refreshed, soft and with use over a period of time it takes away keratosis pilaris, actinic keratosis scales, controls acne and reduces and even vanishes all types of skin blemishes : razor nicks and burns, roughness, blisters, scrapes, cuts, and the list can go on and on... made in the usa. 60 grams = 2 oz one bottle : $ 60 ultra exfoliate rough scars and dull skin with bioskinexfol home microdermabrasion cream. contains the same natural ingredients in bioskintreatment but infused with micro - crystals so that you may rub it with your finger tips to remove old, hard, and tough scars or stretch marks by a physical breakdown of the scar tissues. best also for oily skin and aged skin, actinic keratosis scales and pitted acne scars. not for keloids and not if your skin is still fragile ( use bioskintreatment for a few months first to strengthen your skin ). the compounded action of the physical abrasion and the enzymes in the cream liquefy damaged proteins more thoroughly helping to release amino - acids to aid in rebuilding damaged tissues quickly. results are not only immediate, but compound over time and do not trigger inflamm - aging of delicate skin tissues. made in the usa. two to three month ' s supply 120 grams = 4. 23 oz 120 gram bottle : $ 89 biological skin treatment ingredient our products contain a biological serum created by a living creature. it is packed with enzymes, coenzymes, glycoproteins, glycosaminoglycans ( hyaluronic acid ), proteoglycans, peptides and oligoelements that ( a ) dissolve keratin plugs that obstruct the hair follicles and cause hyperker


why we need ecological medicine we know which species make us sick, but we must learn which species make us healthy. photograph by ralf nau / lifesize. it was a revelation. germs cause disease. when louis pasteur and robert koch discovered and developed what would later be called the germ theory in the 1860s, this was a radical, then revolutionary idea — one so good it seems obvious in retrospect. at the heart of their work was the notion that individual species cause disease by invading our bodies. over the next century, the notion of " germs " changed our behavior. it led us to scrub our hands and actively fight specific pathogens ( as researchers came to call dangerous germs ) and to cure the diseases they cause. these changes saved millions, maybe billions of lives. every day you rub shoulders with the success of this theory. how could there be anything wrong with it? new research, however, is beginning to question, if not germ theory itself, at least some of the actions we have taken on its behalf. these studies come from very different groups of scientists, largely working separately and apparently without much awareness of one another. but i believe that they are unwittingly part of the slow unraveling of a new, broader theory of disease, the ecological theory of disease. here ' s the thinking. in the late 1980s, microbiologists and public - health researchers began to notice differences between rural and urban kids. rural kids seemed less likely to develop allergies. a new idea was floated — perhaps they had been exposed to more bacteria that had helped their immune systems to " balance " themselves. this idea, often called the hygiene hypothesis, has since found support in empirical studies worldwide. country kids whose fingers still plunge regularly into the rich bacteria of soil ( and farm animals ) have fewer allergies. but it isn ' t just farm living : sometimes the exposure to a wilder bacterial life can be subtle. for example, a recent study in australia found that pregnant mothers living with dogs were less likely to have children with allergies. these studies note fundamental differences between the immune systems of dirty kids and clean kids. conclusion : in some ways it is better to be dirty. more recently, a new version of the hygiene hypothesis has suggested that it isn ' t just large numbers of bacteria that it is good to be exposed to but, rather, many kinds of bacteria. our immune system needs to be exposed to many species in order to sort the good from the bad


hygiene hypothesis has suggested that it isn ' t just large numbers of bacteria that it is good to be exposed to but, rather, many kinds of bacteria. our immune system needs to be exposed to many species in order to sort the good from the bad. without such exposure, argues this " biodiversity " version, mistakes get made. the immune system, in not having seen enough of the world, doesn ' t know quite what to attack. it attacks pollen. it attacks us. this made me sit up and take notice. there are, i realized, many separate fields of science in which the failure to be exposed to good species or even just a diversity of species is believed to make us sick. the " worm hypothesis " argues that our bodies evolved with parasitic worms as a dependable presence, and that for some individuals the absence of such worms causes the immune system to overreact, leading to autoimmune diseases such as crohn ' s, multiple sclerosis, and asthma. the nature deficit hypothesis, on the other hand, argues that lack of exposure to nature in our city environments causes psychological problems in children who then suffer from any of a variety of behavioral and other problems. this is country cousin to the biophilia hypothesis, which suggests an innate fondness for nature and biodiversity, which both bring us benefits and, in their absence, costs. all of these relate to the much older and well - accepted " deficiency " model, which correctly states that diseases such as scurvy are caused by the absence of whole classes of species ( and their nutrients ) in our diets. what seems to have gone pretty much unremarked is that these ideas all suggest ways in which the absence of beneficial or historically common species in our lives can make us sick. in a way, taken together these ideas make up the obverse of the germ theory of disease ; if the germ theory is about bad species being present, these hypotheses are all about good species that have gone missing. bringing the pieces of the puzzle together seems to show what i call the ecological theory of disease. this is the idea that illness can arise from the presence of species that negatively affect our health or the absence of species that positively affect our health. of course, to ecologists and evolutionary biologists, such a theory is not exactly news. we can all hold up long lists of species that require other species, their partners and neighbors, to survive. think corals, lichens, leaf - cutter ants, tube worms,


evolutionary biologists, such a theory is not exactly news. we can all hold up long lists of species that require other species, their partners and neighbors, to survive. think corals, lichens, leaf - cutter ants, tube worms, bean plants. now think humans. take away the species we benefit from every day and we would die in many different ways. the point is that public - health researchers, medical researchers and doctors don ' t think like ecologists. hospitals only consider other species when they are " bad, " when, that is, they are behaving as germs. with a couple of examples we tend to regard as freakish ( the medical use of leeches or fly maggots ), doctors almost never prescribe the apple, bacteria, worm, or other sort of " nature " your body is " missing, " though if you took just the right mix it would surely help keep the doctor away. so what should we do? if the germ theory of disease tells us to hunt down, scrub off and otherwise avoid bad species, the ecological theory of disease suggests the same, but that we also need to figure out how to attract, farm, and nurture beneficial species. fine. but there is a big problem : while we have spent the last 200 years chasing down bad species, we have spent far less time hunting good ones. worse, while there are hundreds of pathogens that affect our health and well - being ( with a small handful being the really deadly monsters ), the precise melange of beneficial species we need could involve hundreds of thousands of species — or more. those species do not always have names. recently, i cataloged the species on my body and my house, finding more than 2, 000 species, most of which most experts could not identify. which ones were good for me? who knows? what is worse, no one could tell me which good species i might be missing. more and more, we seem to " know " that we need nature. many of its species benefit us, but we are not yet smart enough to know which ones. we are left to wait for the systematists — those catalogers of life — to find and name the species on our behalf. and then we will have to wait some more for the ecologists and evolutionary biologists to study those species. only then, finally, will medical researchers begin to weigh up which ones we need and which ones we don ' t. but it will take a while. we have neglected


saint michael ' s professor ' s discovery named a top 10 breakthrough for 2011 by physics world physics world announced its top 10 breakthroughs for 2011 on december 16th. coming in at number 10 is saint michael ' s college professor john o ' meara, with his colleagues michele fumagalli and xavier prochaska of the university of california, santa cruz, for their discovery of clouds of pristine gas from the very early universe - a triumph of big bang cosmology. the team was lauded by physics world for being " the first to catch sight of clouds of gas that are pure relics of the big bang. unlike other clouds in the distant universe - which appear to contain elements created by stars - these clouds contain just the hydrogen, helium and lithium created by the big bang. as well as confirming predictions of the big bang theory, the clouds provide a unique insight into the materials from which the first stars and galaxies were born. " see the full announcement see the story of o ' meara ' s discovery - pristine relics of the big bang spotted " we are grateful and delighted to have been named a top10 breakthrough in astrophysics, but there is plenty of work still to be done, " professor o ' meara said. criteria for selecting the top 10 breakthroughs award the top 10 breakthroughs list has been compiled by the physics world team, who reviewed over 350 news articles about breakthroughs in the physical sciences published on physicsworld. com in 2011. the criteria for judging included : - fundamental importance of research - significant advance in knowledge - strong connection between theory and experiment - general interest to all physicists a story of the astronomical break - through discovery appeared in science, the premier science journal in the u. s., november 10, 2011. using the giant 10 - meter keck i telescope in hawaii, the three astronomers discovered two giant clouds of intergalactic gas whose chemical composition has been unaltered since the dawn of time. the clouds, located over 11 billion light years from earth, offer direct supporting evidence for the big bang model of cosmology. o ' meara explained that in the big bang model only the very lightest elements such as hydrogen and helium were created during the first few minutes of the history of the universe. as cosmic time progressed over billions of years to the present, gas containing these few elements form stars and galaxies. as part of the life cycle of stars, the remaining elements, such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, are produced and recycled into the gas within and outside of galaxies. until now,


the present, gas containing these few elements form stars and galaxies. as part of the life cycle of stars, the remaining elements, such as carbon, nitrogen and oxygen, are produced and recycled into the gas within and outside of galaxies. until now, astronomers have always detected these heavy element remnants wherever they ' ve looked. gas with no trace of heavy elements was the break - through discovery. " these clouds are exciting for both what they do and don ' t have, " saint michael ' s professor o ' meara said. " specifically, they represent the first detection of pristine gas : gas with no trace whatsoever of heavy element absorption. what the gas does contain, however, is hydrogen and its isotope deuterium in the levels predicted by big bang models. " although the discovery is a triumph for the big bang cosmology, o ' meara points out that it raises new questions. " a good overall model of cosmology, but plenty of work to do, " o ' meara said. " these clouds have been uncontaminated by heavy elements for over two billion years since the big bang. this means that our understanding of how galaxies return heavy elements to their environments is incomplete. although we ' ve provided great evidence that our overall model of cosmology is a good one, we still have plenty of work left to do. "


removing sea defences may reduce impact of coastal flooding 03 december 2012 a study involving a scientist from the university of southampton, which shows that ensuring continued flood protection for low lying coastal areas may mean sacrificing cliff top communities to the sea, has won the 2012 lloyds science of risk prize for climate change research. robert nicholls, professor of coastal engineering at the university of southampton and co - author of this study, says the research – which will be further developed in a new book he is leading, to be launched in spring 2013 – says that the benefits of protecting our coastline from erosion must be balanced against the impacts of coastal flooding. “ the trade - off between protecting cliffs and their role in naturally nourishing our protective beaches will lead to difficult decisions, especially as sea levels are rising and finance is in short supply. this requires strategic planning for the future. ” professor nicholls was part of a research team from the tyndall centre for climate change research which, by focussing on a 72km stretch of shoreline along the east anglian coast, detailed the interconnection between the two risks of erosion and flooding and show that in some cases, allowing natural erosion could reduce the impact of flooding associated with rising sea levels. coastal defences put in place over the last century or so have re - shaped the uk coastline, artificially protecting some areas, but at the expense of beaches in adjacent areas. this man - made situation increases the risk of flooding in low lying coastal settlements where beaches act as a natural flood defence. beach levels can be artificially recharged, but maintaining this indefinitely along large stretches of coastline is costly and likely to be unsustainable. richard dawson, professor of earth systems engineering at newcastle university and lead author of this study, adds : “ coastal areas typify the environmental challenge our society faces - their beauty and economic opportunities attracts settlement and they include some of our most important ecosystems and most productive farmland. yet this exposes us to hazards such as erosion and flooding which will be exacerbated by sea - level rise. “ clearly we can ’ t, and wouldn ’ t want to, remove all our sea defences, but there are difficult trade - offs to be made in prioritising coastal management measures. “ our research provides a common platform to get all parties round the table – local residents, policy - makers, insurers, scientists and farmers to name but a few – to understand each other ’ s perspectives, discuss potential compensatory arrangements, and collectively decide the best way forward.


all parties round the table – local residents, policy - makers, insurers, scientists and farmers to name but a few – to understand each other ’ s perspectives, discuss potential compensatory arrangements, and collectively decide the best way forward. ” notes for editors 1. ‘ integrated analysis of risks of coastal flooding and cliff erosion under scenarios of long term change ’ by richard dawson, mark dickson, robert nicholls, jim hall, mike walkden, peter stansby, mustafa mokrech, julie richards, jian zhou, jessica milligan, andrew jordan, stephen pearson, jon rees, paul bates, sotiris koukoulas, andrew watkinson. climatic change, vol 95 pp249 – 288 ( 2009 ). 2. the paper won the 2012 lloyds science of risk prize in the climate change category : http : / / www. lloyds. com / the - market / tools - and - resources / research / exposure - management / emerging - risks / the - science - of - risk 3. this research was part of the tyndall centre coastal programme and was funded by the natural environment research council, the engineering & physical sciences research council and the economic and social research council. 4. “ broad scale coastal simulation : new techniques to understand and manage shorelines in the third millennium ”, published by springer and edited by professor robert nicholls ( university of southampton ), professor richard dawson ( newcastle university ) and dr sophie day ( university of southampton ), will update this research and provide further insights into the tyndall centre ’ s coastal research. the book is due for publication in spring 2013. 5. the tyndall centre for climate change research is an active and expanding partnership between the universities of east anglia ( headquarters ), cambridge, cardiff, manchester, newcastle, oxford, southampton, sussex, and recently fudan university in shanghai. it conducts research on the interdisciplinary aspects of climate change and is committed to promote informed and effective dialogue across society about the options to manage our future climate.


one - third of a second. that ' s how long a federal inspector will have to examine slaughtered chickens for contaminants and disease under new rules proposed by the federal government. the proposal would speed up production lines as much as 25 percent. it also would pull most federal inspectors off the lines and replace them with plant workers. the u. s. department of agriculture says its proposal is a win - win - win that modernizes food inspection while saving money for taxpayers and the poultry industry. the nation ' s most recognized food safety and consumer groups, however, say the plan would leave gaping holes in oversight that will endanger the nation ' s food supply, not to mention create a conflict of interest for poultry plants. they warn that americans, who eat about 80 pounds of poultry a year, will be at greater risk of getting a side serving of fecal contamination or cancerous tumors with their chicken. " i went out and bought a food processor so we could make more vegetarian meals, " said felicia nestor, a food safety advocate and a consultant with the government accountability project. " if the changes go into effect, my husband and i will no longer buy chicken. " the usda ' s food safety inspection service, which oversees poultry plants, believes the changes would " ensure and even enhance the safety of the poultry supply by focusing our inspectors ' efforts on activities more directly tied to improving food safety, " fsis spokesman dirk fillpot said in a statement. the agency says it wants inspectors to focus on issues that pose the greatest health risks to the public. georgia produces more chickens for meat consumption — 1. 3 billion a year — than any other state, so the usda ' s proposed changes are critically important here. the agency has not said when it will make its final decision on the proposal. the new system would be voluntary, though fsis expects all but the smallest poultry plants to opt in. advocates say that ' s because the other option would prohibit those plants from remaining competitive in the industry. the biggest changes would : — use workers in chicken and turkey plants to replace all but one federal inspector on the conveyor belt, where bad birds are removed from the production line. ( currently, chicken plants have as many as four federal inspectors on their lines. ) — let those plants decide how much training their workers receive in identifying diseased or defected birds. — enable plants to speed up their slaughter lines so that the sole federal inspector, stationed at the end of the line, would be required to view up to 175 birds per minute


decide how much training their workers receive in identifying diseased or defected birds. — enable plants to speed up their slaughter lines so that the sole federal inspector, stationed at the end of the line, would be required to view up to 175 birds per minute. the maximum speed now is 140 per minute, but that workload is divided among four inspectors so that it averages out at 35 per minute for each inspector. — let poultry plants decide what dangerous bacteria they test carcasses for and how often they test, and no longer require plants to test for e. coli. the government says the changes will save taxpayers more than $ 90 million over three years. but the big winner will be the poultry industry, which will save at least $ 256 million a year in production costs, the usda has projected. but at least one georgia poultry plant owner isn ' t sold on the concept. will harris, owner of white oak pastures in bluffton, said he likes having an unbiased third party closely examining each chicken that comes through his production line. " i don ' t want to be the fox that ' s guarding the henhouse, " said harris, whose farm is about 75 miles south of columbus. harris also raises grass - fed cattle and sheep and is one of the few operations that handles its own slaughter on - site. georgia ' s largest poultry plants are capable of slaughtering and processing hundreds of thousands of chickens in a day. on the production line, chickens are hung upside down by their feet in shackles, one next to another, and subjected to an electric shock that stuns them into unconsciousness. a razor - sharp blade then cuts the animals ' jugular vein ; other devices remove their feathers, heads, feet and internal organs. as the chickens move down the line, as many as four federal inspectors are stationed to examine them. the line is timed so that birds pass in front of an inspector for about two seconds. the inspectors handle each carcass and peer inside its chest cavity, searching for defects such as disease, infection and fecal contamination ; he or she also looks at the bird ' s internal organs for signs of disease. the inspector pulls the chicken off the line if any of those conditions is present. a few times a month, other inspectors take small samples of birds and mail them to federal labs, where they are tested for bacteria such as salmonella and campylobacter. the food safety inspection service says the new system would require poultry plants to take more responsibility for weeding out birds with diseases,


birds and mail them to federal labs, where they are tested for bacteria such as salmonella and campylobacter. the food safety inspection service says the new system would require poultry plants to take more responsibility for weeding out birds with diseases, infections and defects. these conditions include an infection of the blood called septicemia, which discolors the bird, and an infection called " inflammatory process, " which can cause a hard yellow scab to form under a chicken ' s skin. currently federal inspectors pull these birds off the line when they spot them ; the new rules would largely leave that to plant employees. in redirecting its inspectors from production lines, fsis says, more inspectors will be freed up to focus on issues that affect public health, such as salmonella and campylobacter. yet, under the proposed system, fsis would not increase testing for those pathogens. advocates say they ' re not opposed to modernizing poultry inspection and requiring plants to take more ownership of their product. they say, however, that the agency ' s proposal goes far beyond that, giving too much control and freedom to poultry plants while also relaxing the government ' s oversight. in 1999, fsis created a pilot program that allowed 20 chicken plants and five turkey plants to play by a different set of rules. they could run their slaughter lines at faster speeds. they swapped most government inspectors on the lines with their own plant workers. two plants in that pilot program are in georgia, one in gainesville, one in claxton. the program is the foundation for the proposed changes. and fsis documents portray it as an overwhelming success. the agency says the rates of fecal contamination — a major vehicle for spreading bacteria — are lower in the pilot plants. the agency also says the rates of salmonella compare favorably. opponents of the proposal say fsis is distorting the facts on both issues. they cite an audit by the government accountability office in december 2001, which concluded that results from the program would be " unreliable. " the audit also noted that citations for fecal contamination skyrocketed in poultry plants ' first year in the pilot program. critics say fsis responded by gaming the system. they say the agency allowed the pilot plants to rearrange the production line in a way that largely prevented inspectors from writing citations for fecal contamination. as a result, the critics say, the citations plummeted. the government says its fecal contamination rates in pilot plants are about half those of other plants '. "


in a way that largely prevented inspectors from writing citations for fecal contamination. as a result, the critics say, the citations plummeted. the government says its fecal contamination rates in pilot plants are about half those of other plants '. " so all those ( citations ) that were getting written up early on under the ( pilot ) program because inspectors were finding a lot of fecal, all of a sudden, they all go away, " nestor said. she is the food - safety consultant to the government accountability project, a washington group that supports government and corporate whistle - blowers. asked for a response, fsis did not address the alleged connection between the citations and the relocation of the employee stations. the agency would not agree to an interview with the atlanta journal - constitution for this article but answered some of the newspaper ' s questions by email. food safety advocates also say that the agency ' s statistics on salmonella rates in pilot plants are unimpressive. salmonella rates were actually lower in 2009 and 2010 in nonpilot comparison plants than the pilot plants, according to a 2011 evaluation of the pilot program. as birds whiz past them at a rate of three per second, federal inspectors say, it ' s impossible to properly inspect all of them. " there ' s no humanly way you can keep up, " said inspector and union official stan painter, who works at a pilot plant in crossville, ala., that uses the faster line speeds. " they ' re going by in a blur. " fsis says it ' s a reasonable speed, in part because there won ' t be as much for the federal inspector to look for. in the new system, plant workers will have already sorted most of the birds with defects and disease. " therefore, fsis inspectors at ( pilot plants ) are able to inspect carcasses at these line speeds, " according to the agency. it added that inspectors would still have the power to stop or slow the lines if large numbers of birds with defects prevented them from performing proper inspections. where federal inspectors now examine each bird ' s chest cavity — a frequent hiding place for fecal contamination — they won ' t do so under the new system. " such hand contact will be infrequent, " fsis says. the new rules would still dictate that inspectors write citations when they find fecal contamination, nestor said, " but they ' re just not letting inspectors look for fecal. " for defects that haven ' t been proven to harm people,


. the new rules would still dictate that inspectors write citations when they find fecal contamination, nestor said, " but they ' re just not letting inspectors look for fecal. " for defects that haven ' t been proven to harm people, fsis will let chicken plants set their own standards for weeding them out, a change that inspectors and advocates say will result in more undesirable discoveries in packages. when it comes to food safety, though, controlling foodborne bacteria is paramount. plants are currently required to test a sample of carcasses for e. coli. the new regulation would let them test for the bacteria of their choice but does not set any minimum requirements for how often to test. " all they ' ve done so far is remove regulations, " said caroline smith dewaal, director of food safety for the center for science in the public interest, a consumer advocacy group. " they haven ' t replaced them with better standards. " what fsis should do, advocates say, is require all plants to test for the same bacteria, so the agency could track results and identify poor performers. if plants are largely responsible for removing diseased and unwholesome birds from production, the question is : will they do it? the industry says yes. " if there ' s any defects on those birds at all, they ' re coming off the line, " said ashley peterson, vice president of science and technology for the national chicken council. others fear the worst. david barrett, a federal inspector assigned to poultry plants in gainesville, worked in the industry as a young man. he says he was told to do things he knew were wrong, such as picking up contaminated birds off the floor and putting them back into production. his desire to right those wrongs led him to become an inspector. barrett, stressing that he is speaking on his own behalf and not for his agency, said he believes plant workers will be pressured to keep as many birds as possible in production. " they don ' t like it when we slow the lines down, " barrett said of plant supervisors. " you think they ' re going to allow their own people to do it? " inspectors and advocates also say it ' s a mistake not to require training for poultry workers on how to identify diseased or infected birds. " i have a problem with that, " said brian lubke, also a federal inspector in gainesville speaking on his own behalf. " do these people know what they ' re looking for? " the government has


diseased or infected birds. " i have a problem with that, " said brian lubke, also a federal inspector in gainesville speaking on his own behalf. " do these people know what they ' re looking for? " the government has had plenty of time to decide whether to require training for plant employees ; the 2001 audit recommended it to ensure " that plant personnel are as competent as federal inspectors. " the agency hasn ' t heeded the advice. " it would ( be ) appropriate for the establishment to determine the type of training its employees need, " fsis says. other countries with similar inspection programs keep their meat or poultry plants on a shorter leash : — in new zealand, the usda requires that company workers receive training equivalent to that of a u. s. federal inspector — a much higher standard than it is proposing here — if the plant exports meat to the u. s. — employees at australian plants that export meat must undergo about 500 hours of training to inspect meat. — in canada, the government trains plant workers for two months before they may inspect poultry. advocates say fsis should re - examine its plan. some criticized the agency for not consulting with its own advisory committee before announcing its plans. the committee directly advises agriculture secretary tom vilsack. " i certainly am irritated and annoyed, " said patricia buck, a member of the national advisory committee on meat & poultry inspection. " it should not happen this way again. " after members complained, the agency organized a two - hour phone conference call with the committee, which usually meets in person and for longer stretches. they also were not permitted to ask questions. " it was phoning it in — the perfect use of that phrase, " said committee member sarah klein, an attorney with the center for science in the public interest. at least one elected official wants fsis to put the brakes on its proposal. u. s. sen. kirsten gillibrand, d - n. y., asked gao to conduct another audit of fsis ' s pilot program. the agency said it will do so soon. she then sent a letter to vilsack, asking him to delay the changes. " i do not believe usda should yield inspection responsibilities to plant personnel that have an inherent conflict of interest unless ( the pilot program ) can be independently verified to be safe and effective, " gillibrand wrote. vilsack wrote back to gillibrand in a letter filled with fsis ' s talking points on the issue. but more notable is what


- personal development - entrepreneurial toolkit - the store when you were 5, it was all about getting the cookie. did you ask respectfully and get the cookie? or did you yell and scream? did you avoid making waves to get it? or did you go behind your parents ’ backs to get that cookie? kids figure out what works and that communication style becomes part of their personality. being direct and open — communicating assertively — is healthiest and most efficient. while most people have a default style of communication, we all tend to use all four styles, depending on the situation and the person with whom we ’ re speaking. communication is a learned skill, but it ’ s important to know we have a choice in how we communicate. " i will be nice to your face, but behind your back... " passive - aggressive communication is the most challenging for others. if you ’ re faced with it, you don ’ t know where you stand ; you may think the passive - aggressive is your friend, and you probably open up without realizing you risk being sabotaged. the passive - aggressive mode of operation is : “ i will be nice to your face, but behind your back, i will do things to make you suffer in hell for the rest of your life. ” if you ’ ve ever thought about making that certain someone who needs to be taught a thing or two suffer — even just a teensy bit — you ’ re stepping close to that sneaky and devious world of the passive - aggressive. don ’ t go there. one passive - aggressive trait is gossiping and tattling. anyone who says, “ i am not a gossip, ” probably is. if you hear disparaging words one minute followed by, “ but she really is my good friend, ” that ’ s another red flag. when confronting someone for their passive - aggressive tendencies, realize they are motivated to seek revenge when they perceive an injustice done to them. you didn ’ t necessarily do them any wrong, but they believe your behavior inappropriate, unacceptable or unjust. because they often believe their lives are controlled by others, they lack the skill, knowledge, desire and confidence to be assertive. to deal with someone who communicates in a passive - aggressive style : • talk openly and honestly to set an example of healthy, assertive communication and to minimize attacks. • confront them and hold them accountable. have them say to your face what they usually would say behind your back. if they ’ re giving you the silent treatment,


and honestly to set an example of healthy, assertive communication and to minimize attacks. • confront them and hold them accountable. have them say to your face what they usually would say behind your back. if they ’ re giving you the silent treatment, ignore them. • do not back down when they ’ re openly disagreeing with you. • challenge inappropriate behavior in a positive, upbeat way, but prepare for the counterattack. indecisiveness : the passive personality another difficult personality is the passive person, who wants to avoid confrontation at all costs. passives don ’ t talk much and question even less. they don ’ t want to rock the boat because they have learned it ’ s safer. passive people lack self - confidence to communicate assertively. they don ’ t trust other people to respond positively to their assertive attempts. passive people act like everything is perfect and put everyone else first, but inside, they often are a seething mess. " anyone who says " i am not a gossip, " probably is. " why bother learning how to deal with passive people? they are the saintly, never - cause - a - fuss, do - whatever - you - want people, right? in truth, passives constantly create havoc because they never let you know where they stand. they ’ re too busy keeping the peace. to deal with a passive person : • be open, direct and honest, modeling assertive behavior. • establish trust. help passive people have the confidence to share their feelings and concerns by making them feel worthy and respected. • encourage an environment of solving problems and discussing options. • don ’ t let the passive person avoid confrontation. resolve the issue immediately, rather than avoiding the problem as a passive personality is accustomed to doing. • give the passive person permission to be decisive and praise them for their participation. inflicting anger and hurt : the aggressive personality aggressive personality types use manipulation by inducing guilt, hurt, intimidation and control tactics. covert or overt, aggressive people simply want their needs met — and right now! people who communicate aggressively do it because it works. they ’ re bullies with words. aggressive communicators differ from those who are being assertive. while assertive people are forthright and open, aggressive communicators say what they mean, but they hold nothing back, usually at the expense of others ’ feelings. to deal effectively with someone communicating aggressively : • assert yourself to neutralize the onslaught. • confront them. don ’ t let them get away with their manipulation


the ap ( via the ny times ) is reporting that the avian flu has been confirmed as the cause of death of a young woman in iraq. patients displaying symptoms consistent with the flu have been admitted to local hospitals. january 2006 archives declan butler is reporting in tomorrow ' s nature that the h5n1 strains currently circulating in turkey carry mutations, " likely to make the virus better adapted to humans. " according to dr. butler : the turkey outbreak is unusual, because of the large family clusters of cases ; the fact that many of those infected have only mild symptoms ; and the speed with which infections have arisen — twenty cases, including four deaths, in less than two weeks. so scientists are urgently trying to establish whether the virus is behaving differently in this outbreak from previous ones in asia. in particular, international teams are investigating the possibility that the virus is moving between people. i speculated briefly last week about the odd behavior of the turkey strain, and with 20 cases and 4 fatalities in two weeks, there may be reason for concern that the virus has changed its tropism to favor humans. one of the mutations, in the polymerase gene, is said to be among the ten that caused the 1918 pandemic strain to be so problematic. the other mutation is in the ha gene, which enables the virus to better target epithelial receptors in the nose and throat. dr. butler reports that together these mutations may make it easier for the virus to be transmitted between humans. if this were a pandemic strain we would probably know it already. unfortunately, human morbidity and mortality are likely the only clues we are going to have ; as i ' ve described previously, there is presently no scientific basis to predict the course of the flu. alas, human institutions are complicating the process of gathering better data. dr. butler writes that : researchers are sequencing more strains from the turkey cases, to see whether they share the mutations and to check for further changes. samples were expected to arrive in london on 18 january, after being held up for more than a week in turkey because of the eid ul - adha holiday period. given the threat, and the potential for rapid transmission beyond turkey ' s borders, why didn ' t the who have a guy ( or better yet, a dozen ) on the ground chasing samples, with a private jet waiting to fly them to fully outfitted labs in western europe? or perhaps celebration of eid prevented even the turks from grasping how the situation was changing? in


( or better yet, a dozen ) on the ground chasing samples, with a private jet waiting to fly them to fully outfitted labs in western europe? or perhaps celebration of eid prevented even the turks from grasping how the situation was changing? in any event, i suspect we can ill afford to be without better intelligence from the field. the ap is just now reporting that iraq is investigating a potential human death from h5n1, which occurred in a migratory flyway out of turkey. one can only hope some of the $ 1. 9b pledged today to fight the bird flu is spent on better surveillance. this is an important paper. " epidermal dna vaccine for influenza is immunogenic in humans, " is " in press " at vaccine ( pubmed ), accessible online even though it is undergoing final review. the manuscript describes initial results from vaccination with a plasmid - based vaccine containing the ha domain of the h3 panama strain. i wrote briefly about this last year. - the vaccine appeared well tolerated, with some reaction to the physical effects of the vaccine that amounted to at most a slight rash. standard reactions to flu vaccination were observed, including fatigue, fever, headaches. no antibodies to the double - stranded vaccine itself were detected. - the antibody titers are as reported previously, and this paper claims, " the present study is the first successful demonstration of immunogenicity of an influenza dna vaccine in humans. " - increasing doses of the vaccine ( up to 4 micrograms ) induced increasing antibody titers, with only the largest dose meeting the 21 license requirement of the committee for proprietary medical products in the european union. i would observe that this is still a factor of 250 lower than any intramuscular dna vaccine up to this point, and well within doses reasonable for widespread manufacturing and inoculation. the specific antibody kinetics of vaccination with dna are still unclear, and the authors note that, " the immune response to the dna vaccine in humans may be qualitatively different than the response to protein vaccines. " something that requires further study, to be sure. in addition to the speed, manufacturing, and distribution advantages of dna vaccines over egg - or cell culture - based approaches, it should be possible to achieve vaccination against multiple strains with one shot. this could be accomplished either by including plasmids coding for multiple antigenic domains or by tailoring sequences to achieve cross - protection from the same antigen. that is, it appears careful