| view printer - friendly version | | sleeping language gets help from rosetta stone | the chitimacha tribe on louisiana ’ s coast endured for century after century, surviving war, settlement, assimilation. now, its language also lives on arlington, va. ( august 22, 2007 ) — the chitimacha tribe on louisiana ’ s coast endured for century after century — surviving war, settlement and assimilation. its language did not. the native tongue of the chitimacha people disappeared, seemingly forever, when its last two fluent speakers died in 1934 and in 1940. one generation, then another, grew up not knowing the words of their ancestors, the rich language of the bayous of the mississippi delta. but now, with a curious mix of historical, scholarly and technological effort, the language is being reborn. rosetta stone inc., a global language - learning software company, has agreed to subsidize software development in the tribal tongue as part of its endangered language program. “ we want to bring the language back to the point where we can use it conversationally when we gather as a tribe, ” says kimberly s. walden, m. ed., cultural director of the 1, 000 – member tribe. “ language is really the heart of who you are. it ’ s not just about learning the words, it ’ s about learning your past. it ’ s that connection. ” rosetta stone inc. is helping the tribe translate and record its award - winning software program into sitimaxa, the language of the chitimacha. when it ’ s finished, the tribe will own the software and use it to assist ongoing educational programs for children and adults. this unusual journey to awaken a sleeping language began with the help of history. in 1986, tribal leaders at the small reservation in charenton, la. received a delivery from the library of congress, and discovered recordings of their language — sounds no one had heard in decades ; a cultural treasure buried in archives for half a lifetime. twenty - two wax cylinders made by a dictaphone recording machine provided 200 hours of sitimaxa captured in the 1930s by an outsider — the esteemed linguist morris swadesh. with partial funding from the american philosophical society, swadesh conducted extensive field research on native american languages. he had recorded the chitimacha ’ s last two sitimaxa speakers – already aging and alone in the tribe in their fluency. swadesh and his wife, also a linguist, made field notes that the tribe


native american languages. he had recorded the chitimacha ’ s last two sitimaxa speakers – already aging and alone in the tribe in their fluency. swadesh and his wife, also a linguist, made field notes that the tribe has since recovered. “ the recordings were very hard to understand, especially if you ’ d never heard the language spoken before, ” walden says. “ you have to realize that, as long as i was growing up, all we had [ of sitimaxa ] was a few words on a museum brochure that no one could pronounce. ” stumbling upon a scholar faced with a daunting puzzle, and having more pressing community needs, the tribe made little progress for a decade. things began to change when the chitimacha transformed their bingo hall into a casino in 1992 and began to use part of the revenue to finance a cultural department. they finally had the internal employees to tackle the sitimaxa challenge. but they needed help. tribal employees began asking archeological contractors in louisiana if they knew anyone who was familiar with the chitimacha ’ s language – a long - shot request that, improbably, paid off. they found dr. julian granberry, a linguist and anthropologist living in florida with academic credentials and experience with native american languages. most incredible of all, they discovered that he ’ d worked with swadesh as a high school sophomore and had taught himself to speak sitimaxa, using research materials. granberry, now 80, had been studying their native language for decades. “ when dr. granberry spoke sitimaxa to a group of chitimacha elders assembled at a meeting, some of the elders began to cry, ” says walden. “ words started coming back. they remembered. ” he and some members of the tribe threw themselves into the project. dictionaries were created, classes formed, primers and recordings were shared. instruction now starts at six weeks after birth at yaamahana, the chitimacha child development center, and continues through eighth grade at the chitimacha tribal school. adults who live on or near the reservation have access to night sessions. rachel vilcan was one of the first students in the adult class. now she ’ s an aide in the k - 8 sitimaxa program. “ the language sounds natural ; it sounds like it fits me, like it fits the area, ” vilcan says. “ it was scary, at first, to be learning it as an


aide in the k - 8 sitimaxa program. “ the language sounds natural ; it sounds like it fits me, like it fits the area, ” vilcan says. “ it was scary, at first, to be learning it as an adult, but the desire was stronger. it ’ s our identity. ” high - tech solutions from rosetta stone the missing piece in the chitimacha ’ s language revival has been conversational fluency. the rosetta stone endangered language program hopes to help with a solution. the program offers clients, such as the alaskan inupiat, the chance to preserve their language through the cutting - edge rosetta stone® software. but, this year, the company also began to offer a subsidized development program for tribes and other groups with a need, but limited ability, to finance language projects. “ our hope is that sitimaxa rosetta stone software will be a tool that will make a difference in the vitality of the language of the chitimacha tribe, ” says marion bittinger, manager, rosetta stone endangered language program. “ we look forward to working with the tribe to help realize their vision for a living and growing language. ” the software program will be translated into sitimaxa, paired with audio recorded in the studio, and combined with rosetta stone elegant photography and some customized chitimacha images. ilse ackerman, editor - in - chief at rosetta stone, says the ease of access will enhance language learning for the tribe. “ it ’ s wonderful to think about the multiplier effect, ” she says. “ if you only have exposure to a few speakers, you are limited — but the software can change that, giving you access to the language around the clock and at long distances. ” the tribe has members as far away as guam, germany and alaska who will be able to learn chitimacha using cds or online software when the project finishes. “ i think the chances are very great that they will succeed, ” granberry says. “ there has been, for the last decade, a strong interest on the part of a large number of the tribal members. when the rosetta stone program works, which it will, this will be the first native american language revived from zero. ” about rosetta stone inc. rosetta stone inc. is a leading provider of language - learning software. acclaimed for the speed, power and effectiveness of its dynamic immersiontm method, rosetta stone is a revolutionary


native american language revived from zero. ” about rosetta stone inc. rosetta stone inc. is a leading provider of language - learning software. acclaimed for the speed, power and effectiveness of its dynamic immersiontm method, rosetta stone is a revolutionary language - learning software program. while teaching more than 30 languages to millions of people in more than 150 countries throughout the world, rosetta stone software is the key to language learning success™. inc. magazine has named rosetta stone inc. one of the 500 fastest - growing companies in the united states, and for the fourth consecutive year deloitte has named the company one of the fastest - growing technology companies in virginia. rosetta stone was founded in 1992 on two core beliefs : that the natural way people learn languages as children remains the most successful method for learning new languages ; and that interactive cd - rom and online technology can recreate the immersion method powerfully for learners of any age. the company is based in arlington, va. for more information, visit www. rosettastone. com. | " safe harbor " statement under the private securities litigation reform act of 1995 : statements in this press release regarding rosetta stone pr ' s business which are not historical facts are " forward - looking statements " that involve risks and uncertainties. for a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward - looking statements, see " risk factors " in the company ' s annual report or form 10 - k for the most recently ended fiscal year. |


combating heteronormative language the oxford dictionary definition for “ heteronormative ” is : “ denoting or relating to a world view that promotes heterosexuality as the normal or preferred sexual orientation. ” while in the lgbt community the term “ heteronormativity ” is spoken often, we must remember that it is not a commonly used term in the workplace or classroom ( unless you ’ re studying women ’ s studies or queer studies ). it is also not uncommon for you to hear aunts, cousins, or elderly people talking to young girls and teasingly asking “ so, have you got a boyfriend yet? ” and it ’ s often difficult in the workplace or classroom to speak up when someone says something about advertising to “ women looking for a man ” or things like that. so what can we do in times these situations? do we speak up and out ourselves in a potentially non - queer friendly environment, or do we stay quiet and allow the teacher to keep speaking about “ traditional ” heterosexual sex and relations? it ’ s important to also remember that just because a teacher doesn ’ t know about heteronormativity that that doesn ’ t necessarily mean they are not queer friendly. i wrote a paper for an assignment that included the word heteronormativity as an example – and when i got the marked essay back the professor had written “ is this a word? ” many people are not regularly educated on queer issues or studies and terms that affect the queer community. it ’ s very possible that this idea had never been presented to my professor, and i have decided that it is an important role that i get to play in helping to develop someone ’ s education in lgbt issues. when faced with a professor or employer that often uses heteronormative terms, ideas and examples if you feel that it is giving the topic a closed - minded approach, consider talking to them. you ’ d be surprised how many people hadn ’ t heard of the term, nor thought about the idea of including other sexual orientations in their language choice. many people may not realize that by using heteronormative language, they are excluding a growing population of people and further encouraging the idea of “ preferred sexual orientations. ” if you ’ re worried about a teacher grading you, or treating you unfairly based on your concerns – consider an anonymous letter dropped off at their office with a respectful definition of heteronormative language and its effects. if the problem seems to be a persistent one that cannot be solved by


research paper topics, free example research papers you are welcome to search thousands of free research papers and essays. search for your research paper topic now! research paper topic : aids whats new - 1690 words note : the research paper or essay you see on this page is a free essay, available to anyone. you can use any paper as a sample on how to write research papers or as a source of information. we strongly discourage you to directly copy / paste any essay and turn it in for credit. if your school uses any plagiarism detecting software, you might be caught and accused of plagiarism. if you need a custom term paper, research paper or essay, written from scratch exclusively for you, please, use our paid research papers writing service!.. tory - taking, questionnaires and donor interviews. very few people at risk of aids now come to give blood. the " self - elimination form ", filled out in a private booth, allows any who feel compelled by peer pressure to donate blood, total privacy to check the box that says " do not use my blood for transfusion. " as to banking one ' s own blood, or autologous donations, the red cross permits a few " medically suitable " people, referred by their physician, to store their blood if they are likely to need blood transfusion in upcoming elective surgery. they can bank up to four units of blood, taken in the five weeks before surgery. finally - it can be categorically stated - it is absolutely impossible to get aids by giving blood!!! minimal risk to health care workers : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - while health care personnel face a slight risk of hiv infection, all cases reported to date have been due to potentially avoidable mishaps or failure to follow recommended precautions. of thousands caring for aids patients worldwide, only a tiny percentage has become infected, and so far no canadian health personnel have become hiv - infected. a survey done by the federal centre for aids ( fca ) of 50 workers occupationally exposed to aids showed that none became infected. a british hospital study on staff looking after 400 aids patients over several years found none who became hiv - positive. in one u. s. survey, 7 out of 2, 500 health care workers seroconverted and developed hiv antibodies all by potentially avoidable accidents such as needle pricks, exposure


patients over several years found none who became hiv - positive. in one u. s. survey, 7 out of 2, 500 health care workers seroconverted and developed hiv antibodies all by potentially avoidable accidents such as needle pricks, exposure to large amounts of blood, body fluids spattered into unprotected mouth, eyes or open sores. the reported mishaps underscore the need for rigorous, vigilant compliance with preventive guidelines. universal body substance precautions ( bsp ) urged : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - the newest guidelines suggest that every health care worker, including dentists, should handle all blood and body fluids as if infectious. testing all patients for hiv is not practical and does not confer protection. relying on tests that are not 100 per cent accurate would only induce a false sense of security. rather than trying to identify infected persons, the cdc and ottawa ' s fca now promote a philosophy that regards all patients as potentially infected. ( at johns hopkins in baltimore, about six percent of admissions to the traumatic emergency unit recently tested hiv - positive. ) hospital and health care workers ( including those caring for patients at home ) are encouraged to " think aids " and protect themselves. all patients should be handled in a way that minimizes exposure to blood and body fluids, e. g. by always wearing gloves when touching open sores, mucous membranes, taking blood, attending emergencies, putting in iv needles, touching blood - soiled items, with scrupulous hand - washing between patients ( and whenever gloves are removed ), wearing masks, eye protection, plastic aprons and gowns when appropriate. taking such precautions will not only protect against aids but also against more infectious agents such as hepatitis b and some hospital acquired infections. we are all being forced to remember stringent anti - infection rules! absolutely no evidence of spread by casual contact : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - all the research to date points to the fact that aids is not very easy to catch. one university of toronto microbiologist speculates that those with high antibody counts are probably not very


- - - - - - - - - - - - - all the research to date points to the fact that aids is not very easy to catch. one university of toronto microbiologist speculates that those with high antibody counts are probably not very infectious. the most infectious appear to be seemingly healthy persons carrying hiv without any sign of disease as yet. aids cannot be picked up casually via doorknobs, public washrooms, shared school books, communion coups, cutlery or even by food handlers with open cuts. a relatively weak virus, hiv is easily killed by a dilute 1 in 10 solution of javex / bleach, rubbing alcohol and other disinfectants. even where parents or caregivers have cleaned up hiv - infected blood, vomit or feces, hiv has not been transmitted. it is perfectly safe to share a kitchen, bathroom, schoolroom or workbench with hiv - infected individuals. but it is inadvisable to share toothbrushes, razors, acupuncture needles, enema equipment or sharp gadgets, which could carry infected blood through the skin. ordinary, nonsexual workplace and childhood activities don ' t transmit aids. the rare exception might be direct blood - to - blood contact via cuts or wounds if infected blood ( in considerable amounts ) spills onto an open sore. even in such cases a swab with dilute bleach can kill hiv viruses. not spread by mosquitoes and other insects : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - there ' s no evidence of hiv transmission by insects. researchers report that the aids virus cannot multiply or survive inside a mosquito. the infection pattern in africa - where children who are not sexually active might be expected to have aids if mosquito bites were a real threat - shows no sign of insect transmission. vaccines still a way off : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - scientists caution that a safe, effective vaccine against hiv may be at least a decade away, mainly because, like the influenza virus, hiv mutates ( changes structure ) quickly, producing different strains. ( several different hiv strains have already been isolated. ) an ideal vaccine must be able to stimulate neutralization of both " free " viruses and those hidden within lymph


virus, hiv mutates ( changes structure ) quickly, producing different strains. ( several different hiv strains have already been isolated. ) an ideal vaccine must be able to stimulate neutralization of both " free " viruses and those hidden within lymphocytes, such as t - helper cells. researchers in various countries have developed and are testing a few preliminary vaccines. one sub - unit vaccine, made from virus coat material ( a glycoprotein ) genetically cloned in an insect virus ( the baculovirus, which attacks moths and butterflies but no humans ) has been shown to stimulate an immune response in experimental animals. another preliminary vaccine, produced by cloning modified vaccinia viruses, containing a portion of hiv envelope, is about to enter clinical trials in new york. ( it would be applies, like the old smallpox vaccine, into a small scratch. ) but to date no vaccine tried in animals or humans has been shown to prevent aids. testing no solution : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - large scale, screening of the public for hiv antibodies offers little protection because today ' s apparent negatives can become infected tomorrow or test seropositive when antibodies develop in those already harboring hiv. reliance on tests could lull people into false complacency. a " false negative " result may fool someone into risky sexual behaviour. curiously, despite a widespread demand for tests, especially among high - risk groups, a study in pittsburgh showed that 46 percent of a group of homosexual / bisexual men tested did not return for or want their antibody test results. many health experts therefore believe that mandatory testing would be useless as hiv antibody tests only indicate exposure, not necessarily infectivity. as one university of toronto virologist puts it : " widescale compulsory screening for hiv antibodies is not necessarily useful and will do nothing to promote prevention or cure. what ' s needed perhaps is more accurate knowledge about the disease and more responsible behaviour rather than testing. " those who should consider testing might include people known to be at high risk and any who think they may have been hiv - infected or who wish to be tested and have discussed it with their physician. what ' s needed, as with any infectious disease, is not more testing buy more precautions against infection. message clear but still largely unheeded : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


more testing buy more precautions against infection. message clear but still largely unheeded : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - despite a veritable blitz of aids information, experts claim that too few people are changing their lifestyles or behaviour sufficiently to protect themselves from aids. a recent canadian poll revealed widespread ignorance of the fact that aids is primarily a sexually acquired infection, not caught by casual touch. the survey showed that although sexual intercourse among adolescents has risen steeply in the past 10 years, less than 25 percent of those aged 18 to 34 have altered their sexual behaviour to protect themselves against aids, i. e. by consistent use of condoms and spermicide. the central message is clear : unless absolutely sure ( and monogamy is no guarantee ) that your sex partner is hiv - free, use a condom ( latex, not made of animal material ) plus a reliable spermicide ( e. g. one containing nonoxyl - 9 ). studies with infected haemophiliacs show that condom use by a regular sex partner reduces infection risks, compared to unprotected sex. and regular condom use may bring the added reward of preventing other sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea and chlamydia or unwanted pregnancy. many educators say that, by whatever means, aids information must get out to young people at an early enough age for them to absorb it before becoming sexually active. only by acting upon accurate aids information can people protect themselves, their sex partners, families and ultimately society from this disease. protection the only answer : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - the best way to avoid aids is to regard it as a highly lethal disease and practice commonsense prevention. avoiding infection is in one ' s own hands. people can protect themselves. to halt its spread, people are encouraged to obtain and apply accurate aids information to their living styles and sexual habits in order to reduce the risk of getting or transmitting the virus. sadly, health promoters claim that " reaching the many who don ' t want to know " is no easy task. health promoters suggest that educators must learn how and when to communicate aids information - in the right way at " teachable " moments. many public health departments are now taking the lead in disseminating education about aids with largesca


is no easy task. health promoters suggest that educators must learn how and when to communicate aids information - in the right way at " teachable " moments. many public health departments are now taking the lead in disseminating education about aids with largescale public awareness programs. what of the future? : - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - many virologists believe that since antibiotics became available in the late 1940s we have become too complacent about viral infections, no longer take communicable disease seriously, and have modern medical schools which devote few teaching hours to anti - infective strategies. in fact, we still know little about retroviruses such as hiv. perhaps special virology research centres, like the virus research institute proposed for the university of toronto, will help to halt the tragic toll of aids and other as yet unknown viruses waiting in the wings. for more information on aids or aid for aids call : local aids committees, public health departments, or aids hotlines ( in toronto 392 - aids. ) in everyday conversations, aids is usually a source for humour. for anybody who is suffering from the disease there is very little humour. the best prevention is not the thought that " it could never happen to me ", if that was so all the insurance companies would be out of business. the most reliable person to be put in - charge of preventing you for getting aids is yourself!!!! t a k e p r e v e n t i v e p r e c a u t i o n s!. research paper topics, free term papers, essays, sample research papers on aids whats new


insciout recently participated in a debate at the royal institution, aimed at what scientists could do to improve science news reporting. about 150 - 200 people attended from science ( 40 % ), journalism and press relations backgrounds as well as interested members of the general public. the debate concerned how scientists and journalists could improve science reporting by changing their own behaviour ( see an insciout blog and companion piece in the guardian online ). the speakers were chris chambers, fellow at cardiff university and member of insciout ( see here for his account of the debate ) dr ananyo bhattacharya, editor nature online ( see his views as well as nature. com write - up of twitter feeds of the debate. ed yong ( science writer and blogger ) as well as fona fox, chief executive of the science media centre provided commentary on presentations. alice bell chaired the event and posted a commentary the debate raised several issues that will be addressed in upcoming research and in a future debate to be held at cardiff university. see links to the full debate at the end of this precis : we summarise the debate around six themes that were discussed by the speakers and / or members of the audience. 1. accuracy, accountability and public interest ultimately journalists are responsible for the news they report ( accuracy, interpretation ). the quality of this reporting can be dependent on the quality of a press release because it is often the only data source for the press article ; scientists could take more responsibility for avoiding exaggeration in press releases. there are standards for science news reporting and these vary by publication title and the specialism of the journalist. error can also originate in the original scientific publication itself, and because, by nature, science constantly evolves, the first journal article is unlikely to be the final say on a topic. the probabilistic nature of the scientific truth can sometime clash with the journalist ’ s need for more absolute values. 2. journalism versus reporting ( and workload ) there is tension between reporting and journalism, which is not specific to science news. there is also tension between short headline pieces that likely attract many readers and in - depth pieces aimed at public understanding that are likely to attract a smaller audience. how these tensions are resolved depends on goals of the report. the tensions exist because of pressures of news reporting that are old ( lack of specialism, advertising ) and new ( online hit rates ). the investment made in researching a piece ( accuracy, reading the science article, following blogs, speaking to scientist, etc ) depends on which


pressures of news reporting that are old ( lack of specialism, advertising ) and new ( online hit rates ). the investment made in researching a piece ( accuracy, reading the science article, following blogs, speaking to scientist, etc ) depends on which type of story is required, and by whom. online news reporting is having a major impact on the format of science reporting and possibly the relevance of the press release as an intermediary between scientists and journalists. blogs could facilitate exchange between journalists and scientists. however this benefit could not be guaranteed if the blog was poor quality or journalists did not have the time to read the blogs. there could also be limitations related to bloggers having more influence than warranted due to being particularly present on the science scene and ‘ shouting the loudest ’. a blog of opinion by a scientist could also be misconstrued as a science report such that the distinction between blogger and reporter could become blurred. the editorial agenda affects science reporting. the agenda is about what the reader wants but also about hits and traffic for advertising, including readers and subscriptions. the story and its hit - potential, rather than public interest, can be the starting point for the journalist. scientists, journals and universities also have their own agendas. it is not coincidental that press releases are sometimes made when new funding is required or to influence research councils preparing their thematic priorities. scientists can also be political ( e. g., climate change ). scientists should be more willing to do something when they see inaccuracies in news reports or when they see data misinterpreted. scientists could usefully engage with journalists, write letters to the editor or provide a commentary following science reports or blogs. scientists have a duty to speak to the press when they see bad reporting. however engagement should go beyond addressing problems and also aim to prevent such problems from occurring in the first place, for example by improving quality of press releases. scientists could probably be a better source for science reporting if they knew more about what journalists really expected by engagement. journalists could improve reporting by taking specialist courses ( e. g., statistics, common errors of interpretation ) but reading the focal scientific publication could make an even bigger difference. however there is mixed opinion about whether reporters would understand content of a scientific article ( even with training ) and whether it was even necessary for a reasonably good report. reporters should take account of the fact that science evolves and that scientists debate scientific data, models and interpretation over many issues of the scientific journal. see part 1 and part


if you ’ ve ever wondered whether your favorite coffee, tea or soda contains caffeine — despite its decaf label or the absence of caffeine on the ingredient list — then you may soon be able to test the beverage yourself. chemists at washington university school of medicine in st. louis are developing a quick, convenient " dipstick " test that they say could represent the first home testing kit to detect the common stimulant, which can cause insomnia and make you jittery. their study will appear in the june 1 print issue of the american chemical society ’ s analytical chemistry. " we envisioned that a simple method to measure caffeine, even in hot beverages, such as coffee, would be of value to individuals and institutions wanting to verify the absence of caffeine, " says study leader jack h. ladenson, ph. d., a chemist at the university. " this will greatly assist individuals who wish to avoid caffeine. " ladenson hopes to develop a simple caffeine test in which test strips that are treated with a specific antibody will react by changing color in the presence of caffeine. the new test will be designed to be qualitative only : it allows a person to quickly determine whether caffeine is present, but does not indicate the exact amount or concentration of caffeine. in preliminary tests using coffee and cola, an experimental version of the test effectively distinguished caffeinated versions of these products from their decaf counterparts, ladenson says. the researcher adds that he does not know when the test will be available to consumers or at what price. further refinements are ongoing, he says. many consumers are increasingly trying to avoid caffeine due to unwanted health effects, including insomnia and irritability. several studies have linked an increase in caffeine consumption with a higher risk of miscarriage among pregnant women. for years, the u. s. food and drug administration has specifically advised pregnant women to avoid or limit their intake of caffeine. but the caffeine content of foods and beverages can be difficult for consumers to determine. products do not always indicate whether they contain caffeine, and the caffeine content of similar food products can vary widely depending on the manufacturer. even drinks that are labeled " decaf " can contain detectable amounts of caffeine, experts say. current tests to detect caffeine use sophisticated laboratory methods, including spectroscopy and chromatography, none of which are applicable to home use


even drinks that are labeled " decaf " can contain detectable amounts of caffeine, experts say. current tests to detect caffeine use sophisticated laboratory methods, including spectroscopy and chromatography, none of which are applicable to home use, ladenson and his associates say. while caffeine - specific antibodies are commercially available, these antibodies are destroyed at high temperatures, like those of hot beverages, and consequently are not practical for use in home tests, the scientists say. to develop the new immunoassay test, ladenson and his associates obtained an unusual antibody — derived from the blood of llamas — that is resistant to high temperatures due to its unusually stable structure. they obtained the antibodies by repeatedly injecting the animals with caffeine to illicit an immune response to the drug. the researchers then cloned the caffeine - specific antibody and combined it with other chemicals to facilitate caffeine detection. in early laboratory studies, the antibody mixture was used to measure the presence of caffeine in both caffeinated and decaf versions of coffee and cola. in general, the researchers found that test results were comparable to those of conventional chromatography tests and that the caffeine content of these beverages was accurately labeled. the antibodies worked equally well in both hot and cold beverages and did not appear to show any false readings caused by structures that are similar to caffeine, ladenson says. he has filed patents related to the research. funding for the current study was provided by washington university school of medicine. other researchers at the university involved in the study were ruth c. ladenson, dan l. crimmins, and yvonne landt. the american chemical society — the world ’ s largest scientific society — is a nonprofit organization chartered by the u. s. congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry - related research through its multiple databases, peer - reviewed journals and scientific conferences. its main offices are in washington, d. c., and columbus, ohio. the online version of the research paper cited above was initially published april 26 on the journal ’ s web site. journalists can arrange access to this site by sending an e - mail to firstname. lastname @ example. org or calling the contact person for this release. last reviewed : by john m. grohol, psy. d. on 21 feb 2009 published on psychcentral. com. all rights reserved.


portugal has been affected by large wildfires causing huge losses, not only environmental, but also economic and social losses. to face this risk, the portuguese government, through the national forest authority ( afn ), decided, a few years ago, to create technical offices allocated to local governments which, among other skills, must prepare municipal plans for forest fire protection and operational response. in order to support the elaboration of these documents, the afn provided technical guides with a methodology for calculating and mapping the forest fire hazard and risk. moreover, tutorials have been offered to follow this methodology, using proprietary software. however, the acquisition and licensing costs of that software are unaffordable for most of the smaller local administrations and so, it was decided to create and make available a guide with a methodology for developing hazard and risk cartography using only free and open source software. it was proposed to use the following set of software : qgis, grass gis, gvsig and gdal / ogr libraries. that guide describes all the geoprocessing tasks necessary for the elaboration of the plans for forest fire protection and operational response, according to the afn methodology. a large part of the tasks were developed with qgis, and spatial analysis in raster model was developed with grass. gvsig was used for network analysis, with its network analysis extension, and gdal / ogr libraries were used for transformations between coordinate reference systems. after an extensive suite of tests to the methodology, and three years of real application in the preparation of the operational plan for the municipality of pinhel, it can be said that the proposed alternatives allow to replace, with many advantages, proprietary software that is usually used to carry out this task. the validation of the results shows that, despite the relative simplicity of the conceptual model, its predictive ability is quite good, and that the model implementation in open source software does not interfere negatively with the results, quite the opposite. figure 1 - forest fire hazard and risk maps of pinhel, implemented with open source software. in a second phase, it was tried to speed up this process, using models to establish a workflow that perform a wide set of tasks, almost without human intervention. this second stage consisted essentially in the automation of the entire procedure described in practical guide which resulted from the first phase. such automation could mean a reduction of several hours of intense work on the part of the technician who intends to produce annually forest defense plans, for just a few minutes, in which the human intervention


procedure described in practical guide which resulted from the first phase. such automation could mean a reduction of several hours of intense work on the part of the technician who intends to produce annually forest defense plans, for just a few minutes, in which the human intervention boils down to the selection of input data and the indication of the place where we intend to keep the output data. figure 2 - interface of the sextante model to calculate the probability of the forest fire hazard. in furtherance of this second phase, we used the python version of sextante software, that works integrated into qgis and adds a broad set of independent applications ( grass gis, saga gis, otb, r, gdal / ogr, pymorph, lastools, python scrips, etc.. ) in a single interface, providing a huge geoprocessing toolbox to qgis users. besides the integration of these applications in qgis, sextante has a tool for creating models, taking advantage of the modules offered by any of those softwares which aggregates. so, we ' ve created a model to automate the process of producing forest fire hazard and risk maps, using grass, saga, ftools and mmqgis tools. figure 3 - part of the model developed for automation of the production of cartography for forest fire hazard and risk. the results obtained so far are very promising, as already can be automatically achieved the creation of the hazard and risk maps. taking into account that the python version of sextante is still very recent and is in heavy construction, there are some problems that must be corrected so that the models may be completed, which certainly will happen very soon, given the momentum that sextante project presents. as future work, we intend to apply, also automatically, the symbology to the results as well as provide the final layouts in qgis composer, ready for export and / or print. upon completion of the second phase and the realization of a sufficient set of tests that can validate the results obtained, it is our intention to provide the model free and openly. the alternatives studied proved to be of enormous quality, allowing all operations recommended in the national forest authority technical guides, in many ways, more efficiently than with proprietary software. in terms of ease of use, it was observed that this type of software is not, in any way, more complex than the proprietary software, requiring only more technical knowledge of the models and algorithms implemented which, however, allow a higher degree


software. in terms of ease of use, it was observed that this type of software is not, in any way, more complex than the proprietary software, requiring only more technical knowledge of the models and algorithms implemented which, however, allow a higher degree of freedom, making possible to explore and fine tune the models to each particular situation. the process of producing forest fire hazard and risk cartography using, exclusively, open source software is fully consolidated, after several years of testing and application in the municipality of pinhel. the fact that open source software is based on standards and support most of the open data formats, allows the complete interoperability between software, allowing the user to opt for the most suitable in each moment. despite our proposal point to a specific set of software, nothing prevents to be replaced by any of the existing alternatives in the wide range of proposals for free and open source software for geospatial. however, qgis increasingly presents itself as the most complete, stable and easy to use foss4g solution, and whose project is more dynamic, with rapid correction of bugs and with almost daily implementation of new plugins that adds specific functionalities to the most diverse areas of activities. pedro venancio b. sc. in geology, postgraduate in free software and m. sc. in geographic information systems. he was a researcher at the centre for geophysics of the university of coimbra, at the national laboratory for civil engineering and is currently responsible for the service of cartography and geographic information systems at the municipality of pinhel. venancio, pedro - cartografia de risco de incendio florestal com software open source - elaboracao e disponibilizacao online ( url : http : / / goo. gl / tsv2e ).


there are some interesting things to note in there : i think that ray tracing in the classical sense, of analytically intersecting rays with conventionally defined geometry, whether they be triangle meshes or higher order primitives, i ’ m not really bullish on that taking over for primary rendering tasks which is essentially what intel is pushing. but, i do think that there is a very strong possibility as we move towards next generation technologies for a ray tracing architecture that uses a specific data structure, rather than just taking triangles like everybody uses and tracing rays against them and being really, really expensive. it involves ray tracing into a sparse voxel octree which is essentially a geometric evolution of the mega - texture technologies that we ’ re doing today for uniquely texturing entire worlds. it ’ s clear that what we want to do in the following generation is have unique geometry down to the equivalent of the texel across everything. - ray tracing in the classical sense, in which rays intersect with triangles, is far too expensive for use in games, even with next generation hardware - the sparse voxel octree format permits unique geometry octrees can be used to accelerate ray tracing and store geometry in a compressed format at the same time. quote from a game developer ( rare ) on the voxel octree : storing data in an octree is far more efficient than storing it using textures and polygons ( it ' s basically free compression for both geometry and texture data ). it ' s primarily cool because you stop traversing when the size of the pixel is larger than the projected cell, so you don ' t even need to have all your data in memory, but can stream it in on demand. this means that the amount of data truly is unlimited, or at least the limits are with the artists producing it. you only need a fixed amount of voxels loaded to view a scene, and that doesn ' t change regardless of how big the scene is. the number of voxels required is proportional to the number of pixels on the screen. this is true regardless of how much data you ' re rendering! this is not true for rasterization unless you have some magical per - pixel visibility and lod scheme to cut down the number of pixels and vertices to process, which is impossible to achieve in practice. plus ray casting automatically gives you exact information on what geometry needs to be loaded in from disk, so it ' s a " perfect " streaming system, wheras with rasterization it would be very difficult to incrementally load a scene


plus ray casting automatically gives you exact information on what geometry needs to be loaded in from disk, so it ' s a " perfect " streaming system, wheras with rasterization it would be very difficult to incrementally load a scene depending on what ' s visible ( because you need to load the scene before you know what ' s visible! ) if you want to model micrometer detail, go ahead, it won ' t be loaded into memory until someone zooms in close enough to see it. voxels that are not intersected can be thrown out of memory. of course you would keep some sort of cache and throw things out on a least recently used basis, but since it ' s hierarchical you can just load in new levels in the hierarchy only when you hit them. voxels have some very interesting benefits compared to polygons : - it ' s a volumetric representation, so you can model very fine details and bumps, without the need for bump mapping. particle effects like smoke, fire and foam can be efficiently rendered without using hacks. voxels are also being used by some big hollywood special effects studio ' s to render hair, fur and grass. - id wants to use voxels to render everything static with real geometry without using normal maps. - voxels can store a color and a normal. for the renderer, textures and geometry are essentially the same. - the position of the voxel is defined implicitely by the structure that is holding it ( the octree ). here ' s the good part : this structure represents both the primitives that need to be intersected and the spatial division of these primitives. so, in contrast to triangle ray tracing which needs a separate spatial division structure ( kd - tree, bvh,... ), voxels are right away structured in a grid or an octree ( this does not mean that other structures can ' t be used as well ). so for voxel ray tracing, octrees are perfect. - voxels are very cheap primitives to intersect, much cheaper than triangles. this is probably their biggest benefit when choosing between voxel and polygon ray tracing. - a voxel octree permits a very natural multiresolution. there ' s no need to go deeper into the octree when the size of a pixel is larger than the underlying cell, so you don ' t have to display detail if it ' s not necessary and you don ' t streal in data that isn ' t visible either way


go deeper into the octree when the size of a pixel is larger than the underlying cell, so you don ' t have to display detail if it ' s not necessary and you don ' t streal in data that isn ' t visible either way. - voxels are extremely well suited for local effects ( voxel ray casting ). in contrast to triangle rasterization, there are no problems with transparency, refraction,... there are also major benefits artwise : because voxels are volumetric, you can achieve effects like erosion, aging materials, wear and tear by simply changing the iso value. - ray casting voxels is much less sensitive to scene complexity than triangles ( partly translated from http : / / forum. canardplus. com / showpost. php? p = 1257790 & postcount = 96 ) disadvantages of voxel ray tracing vs polygon ray tracing : - memory. voxel data sets are huge relative to polygon data. but this doesn ' t have to be a problem, since all data can be streamed in. this does however create new challenges when the point of view changes rapidly and a lot of new data bricks have to be streamed in at once. voxels sets have the benefit over polygons that voxel subsets can be loaded in, which permits some sort of progressive refinement. other possible solutions are : using faster hard disks or solid state drives to accelerate the streaming, limiting depth traversal during fast camera movement or masking the streaming with motion blur or depth of field postprocessing. - animation of voxels requires specialized tools - disadvantages of ray tracing in general : dynamic objects require the octree to be updated in realtime. however, there are solutions for dynamic objects which don ' t require updating of the octree ( such as building a deformation lattice around dynamic objects so that when you raycast into it bend the rays as it hits the deformation lattice ). id tech 6 plans to tackle the problem of having many dynamic objects with hybrid rendering. more on dynamic raytracing : dynamic acceleration structures for interactive ray tracing, reinhard, e., smits, b., and hansen, c., in proc. eurographics workshop on rendering, pp. 299 - 306, june 2000. summary : this system uses a grid data structure, allowing dynamic objects to be easily inserted or removed. the grid is tiled in space ( i. e. it wraps around ) to avoid problems with fixed boundaries. they


299 - 306, june 2000. summary : this system uses a grid data structure, allowing dynamic objects to be easily inserted or removed. the grid is tiled in space ( i. e. it wraps around ) to avoid problems with fixed boundaries. they also implement a hiearchical grid with data in both internal and leaf nodes ; objects are inserted into the optimal level. towards rapid reconstruction for animated ray tracing, lext and akenine - moller, eurographics 2001. summary : each rigid dynamic object gets its own grid acceleration structure, and rays are transformed into this local coordinate system. surprisingly, they show that this scheme is not a big win for simple scenes, because in simple scenes it is possible to completely rebuild the grid each frame using only about a quarter of the runtime. but, this would probably not be true for a k - d or bsp tree. distributed interactive ray tracing of dynamic scenes, wald, benthin, and slusallek, proc. ieee symp. on parallel and large - data visualization and graphics ( pvg ), 2003. summary : this system uses ray transformation ( into object coordinate system ) for rigid movement, and bsp rebuild for unstructured movement. a top - level bsp tree is rebuilt every frame to hold bounding volumes for the moving objects. performance is still an issue for unstructured movement. interactive space deformation with hardware assisted rendering, ieee computer graphics and applications, vol 17, no 6, 1997, pp. 66 - 77. summary : instead of deforming objects directly, this system deforms the space in which they reside ( using 1 - to - 1 deformations ). during raytracing, the rays are deformed into the object space instead of deforming the objects into the ray space. however, the resulting deformed rays are no longer straight, so they must be discretized into short line segments to perform the actual ray - object intersection tests. ray casting free - form deformed - volume objects, haixin chen, jurgen hesser, reinhard manner a collection of techniques is developed in this paper for ray casting free - form deformed - volume objects with high quality and efficiency. the known inverse ray deformation approach is combined with free - form deformation to bend the rays to the opposite direction of the deformation, producing an image of the deformed volume without generating a really deformed intermediate volume. the local curvature is estimated and used for the adaptive selection of the length of


last summer during a dive with pacific adventure charters in hood canal, washington, a group of reef pacific advanced assessment team ( aat ) surveyors came across something unexpected. as part of reef ’ s funded project with the russell family foundation, the team ’ s goal was to look for invasive tunicates and do reef marine life surveys on several previously unsurveyed sites. while they found the invasive tunicates they were looking for, they also found a derelict fishing net that was damaging fragile habitat and ensnaring marine life. aat members, pete naylor, steve rubin and janna nichols found the abandoned gill net on a wall, amid large growths of cloud sponge ( aphrocallistes vastus ), one of puget sound ’ s rarest and longest lived animals and an invertebrate species monitored in the reef pacific northwest volunteer survey project program. as the name implies, cloud sponges form pale, irregular cloud - shaped colonies, which can be more than ten feet across and seven feet high. these colonies attach to rocky surfaces and provide complex habitat for a variety of marine species. the nearly invisible monofilament derelict gill net was draped over and around the cloud sponge colonies, clearly causing damage. dungeness crab and other invertebrates lay dead and entangled in the net ’ s folds. concerned by what she saw that day, janna contacted the northwest straits commission, a regional marine conservation initiative that runs a derelict gear removal program. given the net ’ s direct threat to the safety of divers and that it was causing clear harm to marine life and habitat, the commission made removing the gill net in dewatto bay a high priority. after an initial search in the fall 2007 that failed to locate the net, the net was successfully located with the help of reef members keith clements and rob holman. trained commercial divers removed the net from the fragile cloud sponge reef earlier this month. it was clear during the removal operation that the net had swung in the current and scraped much of the rocky outcrop clean of marine life. but cloud sponge colonies were still present on either side. the initial reef survey conducted last summer will now serve as a baseline for future monitoring. a reef team, including janna, pete and steve are planning to revisit the site in may to note any signs of recovery. jeff june, the initiative ’ s derelict gear program lead commented about the collaborative effort : “ this particular net removal effort shows the importance of the reef divers participation in these types of projects. we would have probably


in may to note any signs of recovery. jeff june, the initiative ’ s derelict gear program lead commented about the collaborative effort : “ this particular net removal effort shows the importance of the reef divers participation in these types of projects. we would have probably never known there was a gillnet in the vicinity of these amazing sponges had the reef folks not been monitoring the site. ” janna made this observation about encountering the net : “ from a diver ' s point of view, it ' s really shocking to see firsthand just how much marine life a derelict net can snare and kill. we spend hours underwater all around the waters of washington state, and are specifically attracted to viewing and protecting all the amazing wildlife we can on each dive. seeing trapped and dead or dying fish and invertebrates is a real shame. derelict gear not only poses hazards to all the marine life they continue to snare and kill, but to divers as well, because of the entanglement hazards. ” if you are a pacific northwest diver, you can report derelict fishing gear in washington through the wdfw sighting form. other states have similar programs. reef scientists, volunteers and collaborators will be in the cayman islands next month for the 8th year of the grouper moon project. thanks to a three - year grant awarded last year by the lenfest ocean program of the pew charitable trusts, reef has greatly expanded the critical conservation research conducted as part of this study of nassau grouper spawning aggregations. we will have teams on all three of the cayman islands conducting field research as part of the project, “ the reproductive biology of remnant nassau grouper stocks : implications for cayman islands marine protected area ( mpa ) management ”. the little cayman team will continue the long - term visual monitoring of the large aggregation located there. work on grand cayman and cayman brac will focus on studying the remnant aggregations that remain on these islands after years of fishing. there is currently a harvest ban in effect for all aggregations in the islands. this ban is set to be lifted in 2011 unless the extension of the protections are warranted. despite logistical complications, weather anomalies and difficulties locating fish, the grouper moon project had a successful year of field - work in 2008. the team conducted preliminary work on cayman brac and grand cayman, tagging nassau grouper with pinger acoustic tags and then installing hydrophone arrays to track the movements of those tagged individuals. studies were also conducted to better understand the patterns of recruitment by larval and juvenile nassau grouper to the islands.


cayman, tagging nassau grouper with pinger acoustic tags and then installing hydrophone arrays to track the movements of those tagged individuals. studies were also conducted to better understand the patterns of recruitment by larval and juvenile nassau grouper to the islands. in addition, members of our team attended major scientific conferences both nationally and internationally, and presented aspects of our research and findings to date. in the winter of 2002, reef launched the grouper moon project with a ground breaking expedition to observe the nassau grouper spawning aggregation off the western tip of little cayman and to develop a protocol for monitoring their numbers and activity at the site. since that first year, reef has coordinated annual efforts to monitor and study the little cayman nassau grouper aggregation. the project has grown in scope to include an ambitious acoustic tagging research project, juvenile habitat and genetics studies, and early results have been published in the scientific literature. this work is a collaboration with the cayman islands department of the environment and researchers from oregon state university. to find out more, visit the grouper moon project webpage. as part of reef ' s efforts to increase awareness about the invasive lionfish, train removal teams and develop regional response plans, reef recently conducted a series of workshops, talks and lionfish removals in partnership with the gray ' s reef national marine sanctuary ( grnms ) in georgia and the cozumel marine park in mexico. combined the two projects held in july 2009 included 15 talks to more than 370 people. the gray ' s reef project included a meeting of sanctuary personnel from the florida keys, flower garden banks and gray ' s reef national marine sanctuaries, working to develop a regional coordinated response plan. sanctuary and reef staff also conducted two days of lionfish collecting and handling dives, including the removal of 54 lionfish averaging almost 30 cm from sites just outside the grnms boundaries. talks to the general public, sanctuary advisory council and georgia law enforcement working groups also helped increase awareness of the lionfish issue and conveyed removal plans for the region. immediately following the gray ' s reef project, a week - long series of workshops and talks were held in mexico to initiate development of the mexican regional lionfish response plan focusing on the yucatan. an initial day - long meeting included over 40 representatives, including national environmental regulators, regional marine park directors, conservation and science groups, academia and the mexican navy. presentations and discussions resulted in the development of an early detection / rapid response plan. the plan was then unveiled in numerous public and key user group talks including those to dive operators


regional marine park directors, conservation and science groups, academia and the mexican navy. presentations and discussions resulted in the development of an early detection / rapid response plan. the plan was then unveiled in numerous public and key user group talks including those to dive operators, fishermen, medical / first responders and university groups. training dives with marine park staff also resulted in the removal of 3 juvenile lionfish from local cozumel reefs. to find out more about reef ' s lionfish research program and to report a lionfish or other non - native fish sighting, visit the reef lionfish webpage. share on facebook for the next 10 days ( starting 10am pst on march 25 ), the original " grumpy " grouper painting will be up for auction on ebay. bidding ends on april 4. own the original painting by rogest and at the same time benefit an endangered reef fish species. proceeds from this auction will go to the support reef ' s important work on nassau grouper spawning aggregations. last summer, reef friend and world famous painter, diver and character extraordinaire, ron steven ( aka rogest ), created a brand new piece celebrating the nassau grouper. rogest was inspired after talking with reef scientists about the reef grouper moon project and the important conservation research being done to study one of the last remaining spawning aggregations of the endangered nassau grouper. rogest painted " grumpy ", which features the face of a nassau grouper, with the tag line " extinction makes me grumpy ". he has since been inspired to create additional pieces with grumpy. “ the ocean is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more. my life is the ocean and its critters. i created this grumpy grouper for reef. it is my hope it will give a little back to the ocean we all love so much. " - - rogest the original " grumpy " painting is 18 " x24 ", created with acrylic, saltwater and sand on 100 % cotton canvas, stretched ready to frame or hang. place your bid today and help make this auction a success! for the ninth year in a row, new england ' s scuba - diving community hosted the largest single - day great annual fish count ( gafc ) event. on july 24, 2010, a stunning 104 divers conducted 114 fish surveys at 13 locations around cape ann and southern maine. after


, new england ' s scuba - diving community hosted the largest single - day great annual fish count ( gafc ) event. on july 24, 2010, a stunning 104 divers conducted 114 fish surveys at 13 locations around cape ann and southern maine. after conducting their surveys, divers gathered at stage fort park in glouster, ma, for fun, food, and prizes ( over $ 8, 000 in prizes were donated for the event ). the event was coordinated by active reef volunteers, holly martel bourbon and bob michelson, and was sponsored by the new england aquarium dive club. with support from the stellwagen bank national marine sanctuary, reef expanded the fish survey project to the northeast in 2001 and participation has been slowly growing ever since. we are currently working to increase the frequency that divers conduct surveys, taking it beyond the one - day gafc event. regional survey and training materials are currently being revised, and a companion invertebrate monitoring program for the area is also now in development. reef is proud to partner with over 130 dive shops, dive clubs, individuals, and other organizations as reef field stations. this month we feature reef watch waikiki in hawaii, which has been a field station for about a year. reef watch waikiki is a project of the university of hawaii sea grant college program and their mission is to inspire and facilitate community stewardship of the famed waikiki coastline. they coordinate a suite of ocean education and marine monitoring programs, which began in february 2009 with " beach watch ", a human - use monitoring program, followed by " fish watch " in february 2010. fish watch trains community volunteers and visitors in the reef method and encourages participants to conduct surveys in the waikiki marine life conservation district. this unique site is a small, no - take marine protected area located along a largely " engineered " shoreline that is heavily utilized by both visitors and residents. reef watch waikiki has really embraced the reef program and we are thrilled to have this active partner on oahu, an island that previously had very few reef surveys. coordinator, jennifer barret, says that her favorite things about the reef program are " to see people ' s excitement and enthusiasm when they participate in their first survey and see fish, yes, even in waikiki!, as well as the easy access online to the database. " in the past year, since becoming a reef field station, the folks at reef watch waikiki have offered 17 reef classes and have coordinated 15 snorkel surveys ( because of uh


, as well as the easy access online to the database. " in the past year, since becoming a reef field station, the folks at reef watch waikiki have offered 17 reef classes and have coordinated 15 snorkel surveys ( because of uh requirements for scuba, they stick to snorkeling )! thanks to grant funding that they secured, reef watch waikiki provides reef starter kits and a supply of underwater survey paper to most of their volunteers. for participants who happen to have a favorite snorkel spot outside of waikiki, they take advantage of the opportunity for a ' field trip ' to help out with obtaining gps coordinates for new surveys sites. they also connect their volunteers with monthly dives planned by another local reef field station, fin oahu. in order to share sightings and post information about their monitoring efforts, they recently started a blog, which has been a great way to keep the community informed of their activities and to experiment with online resources like quizzes and ( coming - soon ) self - paced training modules. a big fish thanks to reef watch waikiki - keep up the great work! reef members are at the heart of our grassroots marine conservation programs. over 43, 000 divers, snorkelers, students, and armchair naturalists stand behind our mission. this month we highlight mike phelan ( reef member since 1998 ). mike is a member of our golden hamlet club, having conducted over 1, 000 surveys ( 1, 211 to be exact! ), and he is a member of the advanced assessment team in the tropical western atlantic. in addition to being an active reef surveyor, mike has been documenting an annual aggregation of goliath grouper in florida. here ' s what mike had to say about reef : when and how did you first volunteer with reef? i read an article in skin diver magazine over 12 years ago. shortly thereafter, i signed up for a reef field survey trip to saba and several other nearby islands on a live aboard. since then, i have participated in seven reef field surveys and several reef advanced assessment team surveys in the florida keys. the most memorable was my trip to st. vincent. i was fortunate to add several fish to my species life list including the illusive black brotula. my favorite part of being a reef member is interacting with fellow citizen scientists. what inspires you to complete reef surveys? what is the most interesting thing you ’ ve learned doing a reef fish survey? i believe that reef members occupy a somewhat unique position to make


part of being a reef member is interacting with fellow citizen scientists. what inspires you to complete reef surveys? what is the most interesting thing you ’ ve learned doing a reef fish survey? i believe that reef members occupy a somewhat unique position to make a dive that really counts. i find that the focused experience of completing a survey opens up your eyes to the entire reef ecosystem including fish behaviors, the surrounding benthic community, and both species presence and absence. i have been a diver for over 44 years, and i can state with certainty that you need to enlarge your diving hobby beyond “ blowing bubbles ” to keep that inquisitiveness that attracted you to diving in the first place. do you dive close to where you live, and if so, what is the best part about diving there? i live in se florida and most of my diving takes place on the off - shore reef system of jupiter, florida. jupiter is a unique location. it is the only known aggregation and spawning site for the goliath grouper ( epinephelus itajara ) in the se united states. in the late summer, aggregations of 30 - 50 goliath groupers can be seen. since the species was almost fished to extinction in the late 1980s, it is a privilege to witness its repopulation on the reefs of florida. jupiter is also a major nesting site for three species of sea turtle ( leatherback, loggerhead, and green ). in the spring and summer, the reefs abound in turtles. they are very cool animals. lastly, there is a winter aggregation of lemon sharks ( negaprion brevirostris ) and seeing them is quite a thrill. do you have a favorite local ( or not ) reef field station or dive shop? my favorite dive shop is the jupiter dive center. they are very supportive of the goliath grouper research. what is the most fascinating fish encounter you ’ ve experienced? while bluewater drift diving in the gulf stream near jupiter, i sighted a large sailfish that turned sharply upon sensing me and thereby displayed its sail. last year, i was able to see the flashlightfish in a cave at night in the solomon islands. the flashing light was very disorienting since you were hovering in completely black water while the blinking lights of about 30 fish turned on and off. the number one fish that i would like to see is the sawfish ( pristis pectinata ). do you have any surveying, fishwatching


hovering in completely black water while the blinking lights of about 30 fish turned on and off. the number one fish that i would like to see is the sawfish ( pristis pectinata ). do you have any surveying, fishwatching, or identification tips for reef members? my recommendation for all fish surveyors is to slow down and let nature emerge right in front of you. carry a point and shoot type camera to aid in identification after the dive. this can be very helpful with the smaller gobies and blennies. in your opinion, what is the most important aspect of reef ’ s projects and programs? by far, the database containing the fish and sea turtle sightings gains ever more importance each year. there really is no other information source on the planet containing the number of reported survey dives with such a broad geographic scope. every month, scientists, government agencies, and other groups request raw data from reef ’ s fish survey project database. here is a sampling of who has asked for reef data recently and what they are using it for : - a researcher from the seattle aquarium is using reef data on rockfish populations from washington state to analyze with other long - term monitoring data. - the nature conservancy in washington state is using reef data to evaluate patterns of biodiversity in the salish sea and oregon. - a citizen group from the florida keys is using data from areas around key largo to evaluate the status of fish populations on reefs that are not currently protected within the existing network of sanctuary preservation areas. - a scientist from university of connecticut is using reef data collected in gray ' s reef national marine sanctuary in georgia. we are excited to announce our 2013 field survey schedule. spaces are already starting to fill up so reserve yours today. these trips offer a great introduction to fish identification for novice fishwatchers, and are a fun way for experienced surveyors to build their life list while interacting with fellow fishwatchers. each trip features daily classroom seminars and a full diving schedule. complete package details and prices can be found online at www. reef. org / trips. to find out more about any of these trips or to book your space, contact our travel consultants at caradonna at 1 - 877 - 295 - 7333 ( reef ), or via e - mail reef @ caradonna. com. make a dive trip that counts! dates and destinations for 2013 - - may 11 - 21, 2013 fiji, aboard the nai ' a, led by paul humann may 18 - 25,


e - mail reef @ caradonna. com. make a dive trip that counts! dates and destinations for 2013 - - may 11 - 21, 2013 fiji, aboard the nai ' a, led by paul humann may 18 - 25, 2013 southern bahamas, lionfish research cruise aboard explorer ii, led by lad akins, reef director of special projects, and peter hughes july 13 - 20, 2013 little cayman, southern cross club, led by paul humann, reef co - founder and renowned underwater photographer and marine life author july 20 - 27, 2013 utila, deep blue utila, led by ned and anna deloach, reef board members and world - famous marine life authors and photographer / videographers september 25 - 28, 2013 barkley sound, british columbia with rendezvous dive adventures. led by janna nichols, reef outreach coordinator october 5 - 12, 2013 grenada, with true blue bay resort and aquanauts diving. led by dr. christy pattengill - semmens, reef director of science december 3 - 12, 2013 socorro islands, aboard rocio del mar, led by andy dehart and marty snyderman, shark experts, photographers, and reef board members december 7 - 14, 2013 cozumel, aqua safari, led by tracey griffin and sheryl shea, reef fish experts and cozumel naturalists 2012 trips with space available - - july 14 - 21, 2012 - lionfish research in dominica - dive dominica and anchorage hotel, led by lad akins, reef director of special projects july 28 - august 4, 2012 - san salvador, bahamas - riding rock inn and marina, led by paul humann, reef co - founder and renowned underwater photographer and marine life author september 22 - 29, 2012 - sea of cortez, baja mexico - rocio del mar liveaboard, led by drs. christy and brice semmens, reef director of science, reef researcher october 6 - 13, 2012 - bermuda - triangle diving and grotto bay hotel, led by ned and anna deloach, reef board members and world - famous marine life authors and photographer / videographers november 10 - 17, 2012 - british virgin islands - cuan law liveaboard, led by heather george, reef expert


, rosdiana ( 1997 ) a morphological study of malang reversion usage. bachelor thesis, petra christian university. full text not available from this repository. malang walikan is a kind of language that uses reversed words in which malang people use in their daily - conversation, especially in informal talks. usually it is the younger generations who use such language more often than the older ones. there are three reasons why the writer is interested in analyzing malang reversion. the first reason is because she has many friends who live in malang and use the reversion everyday. the second is she is curious about the usage of malang reversion. she becomes more interested in such reversion after she read a thesis of malang reversion done by former student of ikip malang in 1976. this study tries to find out the various types of malang walikan. another important focus of this study is to determine the source languages of malang walikan. this study is also a kind of further study of similar research conducted by melik sumanandar. the reason is to find out the proves of the writer ' s disagreement to sumanandar ' s findings. after a thorough analysis, it is revealed that malang walikan can be divided into three types of words ; systematic reversion, fluctuated reversion, and slang. there is a particular formula to form systematic reversion, while the other two types could not be found any formula. the formula is : p l + p 2 +..... + p x becomes px + p ( x - 1 ) +...... + p1 the words of systematic and fluctuated reversions are derived from indonesian and javanese since the people of malang are influenced by the usage of both languages. thus, the domination of indonesian words can be seen obviously in both types of reversion. | item type : | | thesis ( bachelor ) | | date deposited : | | 23 mar 2011 18 : 48 | | last modified : | | 31 mar 2011 21 : 41 | actions ( login required )


health matters : ‘ i ’ m no racist, but … ’ : hidden messages in everyday conversations by mina tanaka medical student and member of the student group, physicians for social responsibility, university of illinois college of medicine at rockford i was recently seeing patients with a doctor when one of the patients asked me, “ where are you from? ” “ chicago, ” i answered. “ no, i mean, where are you really from? ” i knew that what he wanted to hear was “ japan, ” because i ’ ve done this song and dance so many times before. this seemingly innocent interaction is commonly experienced by many minority individuals. but this question can have a way of making people feel as if they don ’ t belong. the hidden messages are : “ hi, you look different to me, ” or even, “ hey, you ’ re not a true american. ” psychologists refer to these subtle everyday insults that alienate and offend people of different ethnicities and backgrounds — including gender, sexual orientation, religions, disability and age — as “ microaggressions. ” these microaggressions are often delivered by well - meaning people who have no idea they are engaging in harmful behavior. in this way, they are different from more obvious macroaggressions, like hate crimes and racial slurs. microaggressions could be non - verbal actions, like designating women to less physical duties around the workplace or in the home ( hidden message : women are weak and incapable of physical labor ). they could even come in the form of compliments, such as the case with vice president joe biden describing president barack obama as an ideal candidate because he is “ the first mainstream african - american who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice - looking guy ” ( hidden message : all other african - americans are inarticulate and dumb ). many of these occurrences of microaggressions can seem trivial, but research indicates they have a big impact on people ’ s quality of life by affecting their mental health, physical health and school / work performances. researchers have found that experiences of microaggressions are linked to increased risks of depression, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, colds and poor breast cancer survival because of the elevated level of stress caused by such perceived prejudices. other researchers have shown that women and african - american students did poorly on standardized exams when they were primed with stereotypes on gender or race. for example, if the female subjects were told that women usually


level of stress caused by such perceived prejudices. other researchers have shown that women and african - american students did poorly on standardized exams when they were primed with stereotypes on gender or race. for example, if the female subjects were told that women usually did not do well on a particular test compared to men, they scored noticeably lower than women who took the exact same test without such a “ warning. ” the hidden messages in microaggressions, in spirit, do the same thing : enforce stereotypes. by doing so, we are essentially setting up certain marginalized people for failure. some readers may think this kind of thinking is simply being hypersensitive. my goal is not to stifle free expression or make certain people angry. rather, i am hoping to encourage more introspection and cultivate an environment for thoughtful discussion. as an asian american woman myself, the idea of microaggression helped make sense of some of my own experiences. until then, i had a hard time putting my finger on why i felt disturbed when people told me i seemed very american or when someone asked me what i was trying to prove by joining the high school wrestling team. it also made me realize that certain things i said to other people may have been offensive. in short, i would like people to think twice before making comments based on someone ’ s race / ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion or age, but i am not saying you should ignore those differences. i ’ m encouraging the thoughtful consideration of comments we might make before we say them and, of course, we might decide that a statement is not offensive after thinking about it. however, if you ’ re still not sure, discuss it with the person you ’ re talking to. if you are on the receiving end of a comment or question that has insulted you, speak up! the more we talk about it and the more aware we become of the issue, the more likely we are to change our speech and behavior. after all, most microaggressions occur because the speaker is unaware that what they are saying can be hurtful or demeaning. for more examples of microaggressions, visit the microaggressions project at www. microaggressions. com. from the jan. 23 - 29, 2013, issue print this article


guide for the perplexed, by moses maimonides, friedlander tr., at sacred - texts. com the term hokmah ( " wisdom " ) in hebrew is used of four different things : ( 1 ) it denotes the knowledge of those truths which lead to the knowledge of god. comp. " but where shall wisdom be found? " ( job xxviii. 12 ) ; " if thou seekest her like silver " ( prov. ii. 4 ). the word occurs frequently in this sense. ( 2 ) the expression hokmah denotes also knowledge of any workmanship. comp. " and every wise - hearted among you shall come and make all that the lord hath commanded " ( exod. xxxv. 10 ) ; " and all the women that were wise - hearted did spin " ( ibid. ver. 25 ). ( 3 ) it is also used of the acquisition of moral principles. comp. " and teach his senators wisdom " ( ps. cv. 22 ) ; " with the ancient is wisdom " ( job xii. 12 ) ; for it is chiefly the disposition for acquiring moral principles that is developed by old age alone. ( 4 ) it implies, lastly, the notion of cunning and subtlety ; comp. " come on, let us deal wisely with them " ( exod. i. 10 ). in the same sense the term is used in the following passages : " and fetched thence a wise woman " ( 2 sam. xiv. 2 ) ; " they are wise to do evil " ( jer. iv. 22 ). it is possible that the hebrew hokmah ( " wisdom " ) expresses the idea of cunning and planning, which may serve in one case as a means of acquiring intellectual perfection, or good moral principles ; but may in another case produce skill in workmanship, or even be employed in establishing bad opinions and principles. the attribute hakam ( " wise " ) is therefore given to a person that possesses great intellectual faculties, or good moral principles, or skill in art ; but also to persons cunning in evil deeds and principles. according to this explanation, a person that has a true knowledge of the whole law is called wise in a double sense ; he is wise because the law instructs him in the highest truths, and secondly, because it teaches him good morals. but as the truths contained in the law are taught by way of tradition, not by a philosophical method, the knowledge of the


he is wise because the law instructs him in the highest truths, and secondly, because it teaches him good morals. but as the truths contained in the law are taught by way of tradition, not by a philosophical method, the knowledge of the law, and the acquisition of true wisdom, are treated in the books of the prophets and in the words of our sages as two different things ; real wisdom demonstrates by proof those truths which scripture teaches us by way of tradition. it is to this kind of wisdom, which proves the truth of the law, that scripture refers when it extols wisdom, and speaks of the high value of this perfection, and of the consequent paucity of men capable of acquiring it, in sayings like these : " not many are wise " ( job xxxii. 9 ) ; " but where shall wisdom be found " ( ibid. xxviii. 12 )? in the writings of our sages we notice likewise many passages in which distinction is made between knowledge of the law and wisdom. they say of moses, our teacher, that he was father in the knowledge of the law, in wisdom and in prophecy. when scripture says of solomon, " and he was wiser than all men " ( 1 kings v. 11 ), our sages add, " but not greater than moses " ; and the phrase, " than all men, " is explained to mean, " than all men of his generation " ; for this reason [ only ] " heman, chalcol, and darda, the sons of mahol, " the renowned wise men of that time, are named. our sages further say, that man has first to render account concerning his knowledge of the law, then concerning the acquisition of wisdom, and at last concerning the lessons derived by logical conclusions from the law, i. e., the lessons concerning his actions. this is also the right order : we must first learn the truths by tradition, after this we must be taught how to prove them, and then investigate the actions that help to improve man ' s ways. the idea that man will have to render account concerning these three things in the order described, is expressed by our sages in the following passage : " when man comes to the trial, he is first asked, ' hast thou fixed certain seasons for the study of the law? hast thou been engaged in the acquisition of wisdom? hast thou derived from one thing another thing? ' " this proves that our sages


trial, he is first asked, ' hast thou fixed certain seasons for the study of the law? hast thou been engaged in the acquisition of wisdom? hast thou derived from one thing another thing? ' " this proves that our sages distinguished between the knowledge of the law on the one hand, and wisdom on the other, as the means of proving the lessons taught in the law by correct reasoning. hear now what i have to say after having given the above explanation. the ancient and the modem philosophers have shown that man can acquire four kinds of perfection. the first kind, the lowest, in the acquisition of which people spend their days, is perfection as regards property ; the possession of money, garments, furniture, servants, land, and the like ; the possession of the title of a great king belongs to this class. there is no close connexion between this possession and its possessor ; it is a perfectly imaginary relation when on account of the great advantage a person derives from these possessions, he says, this is my house, this is my servant, this is my money, and these are my hosts and armies. for when he examines himself he will find that all these things are external, and their qualities are entirely independent of the possessor. when, therefore, that relation ceases, he that has been a great king may one morning find that there is no difference between him and the lowest person, and yet no change has taken place in the things which were ascribed to him. the philosophers have shown that he whose sole aim in all his exertions and endeavours is the possession of this kind of perfection, only seeks perfectly imaginary and transient things ; and even if these remain his property all his lifetime, they do not give him any perfection. the second kind is more closely related to man ' s body than the first. it includes the perfection of the shape, constitution, and form of mans body ; the utmost evenness of temperaments, and the proper order and strength of his limbs. this kind of perfection must likewise be excluded from forming our chief aim ; because it is a perfection of the body, and man does not possess it as man, but as a living being : he has this property besides in common with the lowest animal ; and even if a person possesses the greatest possible strength, he could not be as strong as a mule, much less can he be as strong as a lion or an elephant ; he, therefore, can at the utmost have strength that might enable him to carry a heavy


a person possesses the greatest possible strength, he could not be as strong as a mule, much less can he be as strong as a lion or an elephant ; he, therefore, can at the utmost have strength that might enable him to carry a heavy burden, or break a thick substance, or do similar things, in which there is no great profit for the body. the soul derives no profit whatever from this kind of perfection. the third kind of perfection is more closely connected with man himself than the second perfection. it includes moral perfection, the highest degree of excellency in man ' s character. most of the precepts aim at producing this perfection ; but even this kind is only a preparation for another perfection, and is not sought for its own sake. for all moral principles concern the relation of man to his neighbour ; the perfection of man ' s moral principles is, as it were, given to man for the benefit of mankind. imagine a person being alone, and having no connexion whatever with any other person, all his good moral principles are at rest, they are not required, and give man no perfection whatever. these principles are only necessary and useful when man comes in contact with others. the fourth kind of perfection is the true perfection of man : the possession of the highest, intellectual faculties ; the possession of such notions which lead to true metaphysical opinions as regards god. with this perfection man has obtained his final object ; it gives him true human perfection ; it remains to him alone ; it gives him immortality, and on its account he is called man. examine the first three kinds of perfection, you will find that, if you possess them, they are not your property, but the property of others ; according to the ordinary view, however, they belong to you and to others. but the last kind of perfection is exclusively yours ; no one else owns any part of it, " they shall be only thine own, and not strangers ' with thee " ( prov. v. 17 ). your aim must therefore be to attain this [ fourth ] perfection that is exclusively yours, and you ought not to continue to work and weary yourself for that which belongs to others, whilst neglecting your soul till it has lost entirely its original purity through the dominion of the bodily powers over it. the same idea is expressed in the beginning of those poems, which allegorically represent the state of our soul. " my mother ' s children were angry with me ; they made me the keeper of the vineyards ; but mine own


powers over it. the same idea is expressed in the beginning of those poems, which allegorically represent the state of our soul. " my mother ' s children were angry with me ; they made me the keeper of the vineyards ; but mine own vineyard have i not kept " ( song i. 6 ). also the following passage refers to the same subject, " lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel " ( prov. v. 9 ). the prophets have likewise explained unto us these things, and have expressed the same opinion on them as the philosophers. they say distinctly that perfection in property, in health, or in character, is not a perfection worthy to be sought as a cause of pride and glory for us : that the knowledge of god, i. e., true wisdom, is the only perfection which we should seek, and in which we should glorify ourselves. jeremiah, referring to these four kinds of perfection, says : " thus saith the lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches ; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me " ( jer. ix. 22, 23 ). see how the prophet arranged them according to their estimation in the eyes of the multitude. the rich man occupies the first rank ; next is the mighty man ; and then the wise man ; that is, the man of good moral principles : for in the eyes of the multitude, who are addressed in these words, he is likewise a great man. this is the reason why the three classes are enumerated in this order. our sages have likewise derived from this passage the above - mentioned lessons, and stated the same theory that has been explained in this chapter, viz., that the simple term hokmah, as a rule, denotes the highest aim of man, the knowledge of god ; that those properties which man acquires, makes his peculiar treasure, and considers as his perfection, in reality do not include any perfection : and that the religious acts prescribed in the law, viz., the various kinds of worship and the moral principles which benefit all people in their social intercourse with each other, do not constitute the ultimate aim of man, nor can they be compared to it, for they are but preparations leading to it. hear the opinion of our sages on this subject in their own words. the passage


their social intercourse with each other, do not constitute the ultimate aim of man, nor can they be compared to it, for they are but preparations leading to it. hear the opinion of our sages on this subject in their own words. the passage occurs in bereshit rabba, and runs thus, " in one place scripture says, ' and all things that are desirable ( hafazim ) are not to be compared to her ' ( prov. viii. 11 ) ; and in another place, ' and all things that thou desirest ( hafazeha ) are not to be compared unto her ' " ( ibid. iii. 15 ). by " things that are desirable " the performance of divine precepts and good deeds is to be understood, whilst " things that thou desirest " refer to precious stones and pearls. both - - things that are desirable, and things that thou desirest - - cannot be compared to wisdom, but " in this let him that glorieth glory, that he understandeth and knoweth me. " consider how concise this saying is, and how perfect its author ; how nothing is here omitted of all that we have put forth after lengthy explanations and preliminary remarks. having stated the sublime ideas contained in that scriptural passage, and quoted the explanation of our sages, we will now complete what the remainder of that passage teaches us. the prophet does not content himself with explaining that the knowledge of god is the highest kind of perfection ; for if this only had been his intention, he would have said, " but in this let him who glorieth glory, that he understandeth and knoweth me, " and would have stopped there ; or he would have said, " that he understandeth and knoweth me that i am one, " or, " that i have not any likeness, " or, " that there is none like me, " or a similar phrase. he says, however, that man can only glory in the knowledge of god and in the knowledge of his ways and attributes, which are his actions, as we have shown ( part 1. liv. ) in expounding the passage, " show me now thy ways " ( exod. xxxviii. 13 ). we are thus told in this passage that the divine acts which ought to be known, and ought to serve as a guide for our actions, are, hesed, " loving - kindness, " mishpat, " judgment, " and ze


. we are thus told in this passage that the divine acts which ought to be known, and ought to serve as a guide for our actions, are, hesed, " loving - kindness, " mishpat, " judgment, " and zedakah, " righteousness. " another very important lesson is taught by the additional phrase, " in the earth. " it implies a fundamental principle of the law ; it rejects the theory of those who boldly assert that god ' s providence does not extend below the sphere of the moon, and that the earth with its contents is abandoned, that " the lord hath forsaken the earth " ( ez. viii. 12 ). it teaches, as has been taught by the greatest of all wise men in the words, " the earth is the lord ' s " ( exod. ix. 29 ), that his providence extends to the earth in accordance with its nature, in the same manner as it controls the heavens in accordance with their nature. this is expressed in the words, " that i am the lord which exercise loving - kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. " the prophet thus, in conclusion, says, " for in these things i delight, saith the lord, " i. e., my object [ in saying this ] is that you shall practise loving - kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. in a similar manner we have shown ( part i. liv. ) that the object of the enumeration of god ' s thirteen attributes is the lesson that we should acquire similar attributes and act accordingly. the object of the above passage is therefore to declare, that the perfection, in which man can truly glory, is attained by him when he has acquired - - as far as this is possible for man - - the knowledge of god, the knowledge of his providence, and of the manner in which it influences his creatures in their production and continued existence. having acquired this knowledge he will then be determined always to seek loving - kindness, judgment, and righteousness, and thus to imitate the ways of god. we have explained this many times in this treatise. this is all that i thought proper to discuss in this treatise, and which i considered useful for men like you. i hope that, by the help of god, you will, after due reflection, comprehend all the things which i have treated here. may he grant us and all israel with us to attain what he promised us, " then the eyes of


gods and fighting men, by lady gregory,, at sacred - texts. com but as to the tuatha de danaan after they were beaten, they would not go under the sway of the sons of miled, but they went away by themselves. and because manannan, son of lir, understood all enchantments, they left it to him to find places for them where they would be safe from their enemies. so he chose out the most beautiful of the hills and valleys of ireland for them to settle in ; and he put hidden walls about them, that no man could see through, but they themselves could see through them and pass through them. and he made the feast of age for them, and what they drank at it was the ale of goibniu the smith, that kept whoever tasted it from age and from sickness and from death. and for food at the feast he gave them his own swine, that though they were killed and eaten one day, would be alive and fit for eating again the next day, and that would go on in that way for ever. and after a while they said : " it would be better for us one king to be over us, than to be scattered the way we are through the whole of ireland. " now the men among them that had the best chance of getting the kingship at that time were bodb dearg, son of the dagda ; and llbrech of ess ruadh ; and lir of sidhe fionnachaidh, the hill of the white field, on slieve fuad ; and midhir the proud of bri leith, and angus og, son of the dagda ; but he did not covet the kingship at all, but would sooner be left as he was. then all the chief men but those five went into council together, and it is what they agreed, to give the kingship to bodb dearg, for the sake of his father, for his own sake, and because he was the eldest among the children of the dagda. it was in sidhe femen bodb dearg had his house, and he put great enchantments about it. cliach, the harper of the king of the three rosses in connacht, went one time to ask one of his daughters in marriage, and he stayed outside the place through the whole length of a year, playing his harp, and able to get no nearer to bodb or to