technology transfer is the process of taking existing knowledge, facilities or capabilities developed under research and development and using these findings to fulfil public and / or private needs. essentially, technology transfer brings scientific and research findings to the marketplace. there are several technology transfer organizations and offices operating in alberta, on both a federal and provincial level. the mandate of these offices is to assist inventors to protect, manage and profit from their inventions. technology transfer is concerned with ensuring individuals intellectual property and maximizing the profit for the holders of this property. the main organizations in alberta that deal with technology transfer include the alberta research council research services office at the university of alberta, university technologies international inc. at the university of calgary, the alberta inno - centre and the edmonton innovation centre. by providing a range of services, such as the preparation of a business plan, identification of and assistance with grant funding, or contacting potential financial investors, these organizations facilitate the transfer of research and scientific development to the global marketplace. technology transfer represents an important facet of innovation in alberta, past and present. it has touched the lives of albertans in overt and subtle ways and through all arms of industry. one illustrative example is the technology transfer that has occurred within the important realm of agriculture and agribusiness. for many decades, district agriculturists, employed by the provincial government, were placed in communities across alberta and were responsible for helping communicate the benefits and possibilities of technology transfer to farmers and agriculturalists, serving an important role in agricultural innovation in our province. copyright © 2003 heritage community foundation all rights reserved


logo logo colors transforming the logo with color red and gray black and gray we designed the logo to be printed in two colors, but it ' s also flexible so that it stands out just as effectively in black and white, red and gray, or custom colors. in our design research, however, we discovered that certain color solutions were more successful than others. in fact, we found that a bad choice of color could obscure the identity of the logo altogether. quick tips for using color in the logo optimize the official look if you want the mit identity to resonate, use the institute colors red and gray. you ' ll want to stick to the official shades to be authentic. just as slight variations in a fashion designer ' s logo betray that the merchandise is a knock - off, variations on the official colors may send the message that you are not genuinely part of the institute. equally important is the position of color. we designed the logo in two tones to emphasize the three distinct letters. the stem of the letter " i " is gray, while the rest of the logo is red. if you are reproducing the logo in a black and white document, the stem of the letter " i " should be gray, with the rest of the logo in black. your printer or designer will need these specifications : mit red = pantone 201 mit gray = pantone 424 mit red = pantone 201 mit gray = black ( at 50 % value ) process colors ( cmyk ) mit red = 0 % cyan, 100 % magenta, 65 % yellow, 34 % black ( k ) mit gray = 50 % black ( k ) web - safe mit red = hex # 993333 ( rgb equivalent = r 153, g 51, b 51 ) web - safe mit gray = hex # 666666 ( rgb equivalent = r 102, g 102, b 102 ) choose color carefully school colors will give your logo the most powerful connection to mit. but if the medium in which you are working requires that you use different colors, opt for two that are distinct but don ' t contrast too strongly. use the dominant of the two colors for the " m " and " t " and the top of the " i. " use the secondary color for the stem of the " i. " make the most of black and white if because of financial or aesthetic reasons, you decide to produce a black and white publication, download either the two - tone gray or gray and white version of the logo. as with all


byrd recounts 50 years they call him the man who saved the eagles mitchell byrd likes to tell people that his 50 years at william and mary are due either to his perserverance or administrative benevolence. “ i ’ m not sure which it is, ” byrd, director emeritus at the center for conservation biology at the college, says with a sly smile that accompanies his trademark dry wit. either explanation would be a severe understatement. listed chronologically, byrd ’ s contributions to the college during the past half century would fill pages, but his impact on the institution — and the world — is much more profound. byrd is the man who, many say, has saved the bald eagle. they also say he is the man who brought the peregrine falcon back to life east of the mississippi river. in millington hall, they say the nationally recognized biology program housed there truly took shape during the 13 years that byrd chaired the department. the humility and the gentle demeanor that define byrd will not let him take such credit. reminded of his reputation with bald eagles, byrd turns his head, shrugs a bit and says, “ i don ’ t know that i ’ ve saved it, but i have worked with the bald eagle for about 28 years now. ” photo : byrd holds a falcon. courtesy of mitchell byrd. it started in 1977, about two years after the bald eagle was added to the endangered - species list. the state of virginia had decided to pursue non - game and endangered - species research but was without any in - house expertise. byrd and william and mary were tapped to conduct research on eagles, peregrine falcons and red - cockaded woodpeckers. byrd started out doing aerial surveys to assess the eagle population. “ at that time, in 1977, there were about 33 breeding pairs in the state of virginia, and they produced a total of 18 offspring. pretty pathetic, ” byrd said. years of ddt use had created that dire situation. although the pesticide had been banned from use in the early 1970s, its effects lingered in avian populations. the chemical was discovered to have depressed a liver enzyme that prevented adequate shell formation. “ this is kind of an insidious effect. it wasn ’ t so much direct mortality, although there was some of that. it was more of depressing reproduction. the thin - shelled eggs were not hatching properly, and of course, if eggs aren ’ t hatching, over time the population is going to decline, ” byrd said


there was some of that. it was more of depressing reproduction. the thin - shelled eggs were not hatching properly, and of course, if eggs aren ’ t hatching, over time the population is going to decline, ” byrd said. with few young birds coming along, their recovery started slowly. byrd continued taking aerial surveys, fighting to protect habitats and raising the awareness of landowners. the result is that now, in the tidewater region alone, there are about 428 active bald - eagle nests. byrd also led the chesapeake bay bald eagle recovery team, a group appointed by the u. s. department of the interior. the team developed a plan that called for the repopulation of 175 to 225 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the bay region — numbers byrd called “ a wild guess. ” “ we ’ re probably closer to 1, 000 breeding pairs in the bay by now, so obviously that number was picked out of the blue, ” he said. still, byrd deflects most of the credit for the miraculous recovery of one of the country ’ s most revered species. “ it ’ s been a combination of things — the ban on ddt and the protection afforded habitats under the provisions of the endangered species act of 1973. i didn ’ t tell these eagles to get busy and start producing. this was a natural phenomenon. our impact has been in calling attention to the conservation needs, and we ’ re still pushing that point, ” byrd said. protecting habitats is where much more work is needed. the chesapeake bay recovery team also sought to ensure that one - third of the suitable eagle habitats in the bay area had some sort of protected status, whether through conservation easements or actual land acquisitions. a study showed that only a small percentage of eagle habitats were on protected lands. “ that is where we are going to continue to have conflict with the management of eagles — this increasing population of both eagles and people who want the same chunks of land, and we ’ re just seeing the tip of the iceberg on this. in my experience, whenever in life there is a conflict between man ’ s interest and the interests of another species, i ’ ve never seen the other species win. it ’ s very unfortunate, ” byrd said. people, in byrd ’ s opinion, deserve the land no more than any other species. there is no way to know just how valuable a particular species — eagles or others — is to a natural ecosystem. “ why are we here? we ’ re not very important. if you look


, deserve the land no more than any other species. there is no way to know just how valuable a particular species — eagles or others — is to a natural ecosystem. “ why are we here? we ’ re not very important. if you look at us as a species, what do we have going for us — an opposable first digit and a large cerebral hemisphere. the only thing that enables us to do is to take input, integrate it and, hopefully, make a conscious decision to do the right thing, which we don ’ t always do, ” byrd said. in coastal virginia, land management is essential. the habitat is extremely desirable to many species, including peregrine falcons. prior to concerted efforts to return the birds, peregrines had completely died out east of the mississippi river. leading the eastern peregrine falcon recovery team, also appointed by the u. s. department of the interior, byrd helped to re - introduce peregrines to the region. the hope was to re - introduce the birds to an area ranging from the coastal marshes of new jersey down to virginia, a habitat where, in the past, peregrines rarely nested. “ we viewed this as an experimental area. could we breed these birds in captivity and introduce them into an area successfully where they don ’ t normally occur? unfortunately, it worked too well. we want them in the mountains, but there seems to be something about virginia, ” byrd said. “ we would take them and release them in the mountains, and we find that they ’ re just zapping out of the mountains once they start fledging and going right to the coast. i ’ m sure it ’ s a food - related phenomenon — this is where all the good food is. ” regardless of why the birds prefer the region, ensuring they have adequate habitats is essential to their continued success. this is where byrd and his colleagues continue to be extremely instrumental. in 1991, as he retired as chancellor professor of biology at william and mary, byrd and one of his former students, bryan watts, co - founded the center for conservation biology, a nonprofit organization within the college ’ s biology department. watts now serves as the center ’ s director. “ my thought and brian ’ s thought was that with the center, we ’ d have an opportunity to continue endangered - species research activities at the college, and, at the same time, provide some opportunities for students that they might not otherwise have because of directional changes. i ’ ve been here long enough to know


, we ’ d have an opportunity to continue endangered - species research activities at the college, and, at the same time, provide some opportunities for students that they might not otherwise have because of directional changes. i ’ ve been here long enough to know that things change, ” byrd said. research emphases were beginning to shift away from endangered species, and byrd was keenly aware of how much work still lay ahead. the need for research and continuing public - relations work with landowners was and still is as crucial as ever. “ things have changed a lot. they inevitably do. biology has changed along with a national trend, drifting away from things that are more organism - related or ecologically related to things that are more molecular [ related ] or cell biology [ related ], ” byrd said. the center for conservation biology preserves opportunities that might not fall into newer trends in biology. byrd and watts have worked with dozens of graduate students — sometimes on their own, unsupported time — to keep efforts focused on endangered species. interest in the work has never been an issue. scholars from all over the world contact byrd and watts, hoping to work with the center, but resources are limited. “ nationally, the work has exploded, but the amount of resources going into it has not. i think it goes back to public interest, ” byrd said. “ there is a gap in public knowledge about what ’ s happening to the avian species. some of the declines are precipitous. it ’ s my general impression that the populace, as a group, may be interested in birds, but they really don ’ t have any concept of what ’ s happening to these species around the state, country and world. there are hundreds and hundreds of species around the world on the verge of extinction, and there will be in this country if we don ’ t make some radical changes. ” those changes have to come in terms of land - use management, byrd said. land - use planning rarely, if ever, accounts for anything other than the economic aspects. it is a trend that must change, according to byrd, and through the concentrated efforts of byrd, watts and their students — past and future — might begin to change, as things inevitably do. “ i think if we ’ ve done anything here at william and mary to bring the bald eagle back, it was to call the attention of the state to where the population was and where it needed to go, ” byrd said. “ also, [ it was important when ] working with landowners to


wed october 24, 2012 when fire met meat, the brains of early humans grew bigger originally published on wed october 24, 2012 1 : 08 pm if you ' re reading this blog, you ' re probably into food. perhaps you ' re even one of those people whose world revolves around your viking stove and who believes that cooking defines us as civilized creatures. well, on the latter part, you ' d be right. at least according to some neuroscientists from brazil. they noticed ( haven ' t we all? ) that humans have very big brains. but they point out that gorillas and orangutans have bigger bodies than we do by far, but smaller brains and fewer neurons. normally, brain size pretty much matches body size in primates. so how did we get so well - endowed? big bodies need a lot of energy. and the brain is especially a real calorie hog : about 20 percent of what we consume goes to the brain, even though it ' s only 2 percent of our body mass. our primate ancestors had to graze almost constantly to get enough calories from stuff like raw tubers or other vegetable matter. there was raw meat now and then, but by and large the apes, and our ancestors, were about as neurologically developed as their diets would allow, as we ' ve reported before. if you wanted a bigger brain, you had to downsize the rest of your body. in fact, the brazilian scientists calculated that for a gorilla to get enough extra energy to grow a brain as big as ours, it would have to eat another two hours a day, on top of the nine hours or so it already spends feeding. so what happened was, early humans discovered cooking. if you believe the british writer charles lamb, raw meat - eating humans kept pigs in their houses until one day a house burned down, pig inside, and we discovered roast pork. the brazilian scientists, however, don ' t speculate on how we stumbled on cooking ( though brazilians have earned a worthy reputation for refining the art of barbecuing, which they call churrasco ). what the scientists conclude is that cooking made food easier to chew and digest. moreover, cooking releases more calories to the body in some cases. and it makes old meat that a dog wouldn ' t eat go down a little easier. the same benefits of cooking go for tubers and veggies, too. oh, and don ' t overlook the fact that spending less time grazing and more time gathered


viticulture - n. : the cultivation or culture of grapes enology - n. : a science that deals with wine and wine making the v & e department combines the sciences of viticulture and enology in a single research and teaching unit that encompasses all of the scientific disciplines that impact grape growing and winemaking. for over one hundred years the university of california has maintained an active and productive program in research and education in viticulture and enology. the continuing excellence of the department has enabled california growers and vintners to develop practices that have allowed the golden state to achieve its potential and become a premier wine - producing region. california association of winegrape growers established in 1974, the california association of winegrape growers ( cawg ) is an advocate for farmers, providing leadership on public policies, research and education programs, sustainable farming practices and trade policy to enhance the california winegrape growing business and our communities. in 1986, the california association of winegrape growers funded research by drs. marois and ough, who were studying the effect of botrytis cinerea and aspergillus sp. on wine quality. the problem of deterimining the threshold of disease after which wine quality is affected was under investigation ; this is critical in determining the pricing of wine grapes at the winery. their research allowed the winery to decide what level of diseased gr...


this week in the civil war posted at : 03 / 01 / 2013 9 : 08 am by the associated press this week in the civil war, for week of sunday, march 3 : lincoln signs enrollment act to draft new troops. when the civil war erupted in april 1861, many on both sides of the conflict had expected it to be a short - lived war. but nearly two years later, after several big battles and horrific numbers of casualties, president abraham lincoln was compelled to sign the first enrollment act _ instituting the first wartime draft in american history on march 3, 1863. the move 150 years ago during the civil war was a controversial step. but the conflict was dragging on far longer than any had expected and the union wasn ’ t raising enough troops for combat by other means. thus, lincoln needed more manpower for the fight, much as the confederacy did in resorting to a draft months earlier. the act required enrollment of every male citizen ages 20 - 45, with certain exemptions, and male immigrants of that age who had signed intent of becoming u. s. citizens. nonetheless, exemptions from the draft could be bought for $ 300 each draft period, or by finding a substitute draftee. those exemptions would lead to violent riots for days in july 1863 in new york city, when the first inductees were called. fueling the draft riots was widespread outrage that such exemptions could only be afforded by the wealthy, making the conflict a " poor man ’ s fight. " months later, the $ 300 " commutation fee " would be repealed by congress. the associated press reports more fighting, near franklin, tenn., as 2, 000 rebels are repelled by union forces and compelled to retreat. this week in the civil war, for week of sunday, march 10 : sinking of uss mississippi. this week 150 years ago in the civil war, the union lost the uss mississippi when the warship ran aground on the mississippi river. built in 1839, the side - wheel steamer had taken part in expeditions during the war against mexico and also in the mediterranean and pacific waters before the civil war. the ship had been part of a union squadron led by the famed future admiral, david farragut, who captured new orleans in 1862. however, the mississippi remained most of its time at new orleans after the conquest because it was designed as deep draft ocean - going vessel. on march 14, 1863, the ship ran aground attempting to pass confederate batteries near fort hudson as part of a battle group seeking to run upriver on


its time at new orleans after the conquest because it was designed as deep draft ocean - going vessel. on march 14, 1863, the ship ran aground attempting to pass confederate batteries near fort hudson as part of a battle group seeking to run upriver on the key inland waterway. feverish attempts were made under enemy fire to free the mississippi, but the efforts proved fruitless and union officers had to blow up the ship. set ablaze, the ship drifted downriver before its magazine loaded with gunpowder exploded and it sank. in a march 19, 1863, dispatch about the sinking, the richmond whig newspaper reported the mississippi had been burned and farragut ’ s attack fleet driven back. it said confederate forces opened fire when the mississippi and other vessels tried to pass southern batteries at night and only one or two ships could get beyond that gauntlet. " the firing was terrific. one gunboat passed in a damaged condition and the u. s. sloop - of - war mississippi was burnt to the water ’ s edge in front of one of our batteries. " added the richmond whig : " our victory was complete. no casualties on our part. " this week in the civil war, for week of sunday, march 17 : fighting in virginia as winter nears end. save for the union ’ s aborted " mud march, " the winter of 1863 saw confederate and federal forces idle in their camps until roads became passable and the frigid weather abated. but fighting at the battle of kelly ’ s ford in virginia broke out on march 17, 1863, ending the monotony of winter camp for the two sides. for the first time, union forces were able to mass a formidable cavalry force for an attack. all told, some 2, 100 troopers in the union cavalry division moved on confederate positions, aiming to do battle near culpeper, not far from the ford. but when confederates detected union movements, fighting erupted instead near the ford where the southerners had taken up positions behind felled trees and other obstacles. the bitter combat raged until confederate cavalry troops successfully counterattacked, prompting union forces to withdraw by mid - afternoon of that march 17th. the outcome appeared inconclusive. nonetheless, the union ’ s cavalry _ which had only recently been united from far - flung units by the u. s. war department _ proved itself to be a formidable fighting force that would be used to greater effect later in the war, including an appearance at the battle of gettysburg. this week in the civil war, for week of sunday, march


the u. s. war department _ proved itself to be a formidable fighting force that would be used to greater effect later in the war, including an appearance at the battle of gettysburg. this week in the civil war, for week of sunday, march 24 : west virginia residents urge statehood. what is present - day west virginia broke away from secession - minded virginia early in the civil war, only to enter the union in june 1863. that movement toward statehood was well in motion 150 years ago this week during the conflict. the mountainous area had already begun drumming up union supporters even before a richmond convention voted for virginia to secede from the union in 1861. soon a move was afoot to form a new pro - union government for the region, which found itself largely under union control early in the conflict. president abraham lincoln signed a bill into law in december 1862 approving the creation of west virginia as a pro - union state. the issue of statehood then went to a vote of west virginia residents on march 26, 1863, and a majority approved of the statehood bill, including its amendments. ultimately the state would be officially created as of june 20, 1863. though west virginia obtained statehood in the union during the civil war, animosities between pro - confederate and pro - union sides rankled for years in that region as families sent troops to both sides of the conflict to fight. ( copyright 2013 by the associated press. all rights reserved. )


our catholicism project film crew arrived at the shores of large lake in far northwest ireland, in the county of donegal. we stepped onto a ferry and were taken to an island in the middle of the lake. on the island was a collection of buildings, which in both architecture and color reminded me vividly of alcatraz prison. the weather that day was horrific : temperature around 50, heavy winds, and a steady cold rainfall. our hosts offered us tea and scones and then we made our way onto the island to begin our work. out of the mists and the rain emerged the figures that we had come to film. they were swathed in raincoats, hoods, and jackets, but their feet were bare. most of them carried rosaries in their hands, and some of them were praying aloud. a few were making their way, on their knees, around rude “ beds ” of stone, and one woman was standing against a wall in the attitude of the crucified christ. some of the more elderly denizens of the island were walking with a halting, pained gait. we had come to lough derg, otherwise known as st. patrick ’ s purgatory. in 1879, the first catholic missionaries arrived in the heart of africa, in what is now the nation of uganda. they catechized and preached and in a few years had made a number of converts, especially among the young. the most prominent of these were a group of men and boys who served as pages to the court of king mwanga ii. this king had initially been supportive of the missionaries, but his attitude quickly changed when he discovered how seriously his christian pages took the moral demands of their new faith. accustomed to getting whatever he wanted, mwanga solicited sexual favors from several of his courtiers. when they refused, he presented them with a terrible choice : either renounce their christian faith or die. though they were new converts and though they were very young, the pages, to a man, refused to deny their christianity. joseph mukasa balikudembe was killed outright by the king himself, and the rest were led off on a terrible death march to the place of execution, many miles outside the capital city. on the way, the condemned passed the home of the priest who had baptized and catechized many of them. one can only imagine the profoundly conflicting feelings of pride and anguish that the priest must have experienced as he watched this procession. witnesses said that the young men showed enormous resolution on the


home of the priest who had baptized and catechized many of them. one can only imagine the profoundly conflicting feelings of pride and anguish that the priest must have experienced as he watched this procession. witnesses said that the young men showed enormous resolution on the march and that the youngest, a boy named kizito, actually chattered and laughed with this friends as he walked. when they arrived at the place of execution, a spot called namugongo, they were put to death, some by spear but most by fire. the leader of the group, charles lwanga, all of twenty - five years old, asked permission to prepare the pyre himself. after arranging the wood, he lay down and endured a slow torture in silence, crying out “ oh god! ” only at the very end. i grant, of course, that the bp oil - leak in the gulf of mexico has been an environmental disaster, perhaps the worst since the dust bowl of the 1930 ’ s. but i also think it might carry a certain spiritual value. how would i explain this gnomic remark? well, the gusher a mile below the surface of the ocean has confounded everyone. bp executives look and sound befuddled ; the crews using the most advanced technological tools to stem the tide of oil are ineffectual ; our smartest scientists can ’ t seem to come up with any solutions ; and the president who was hailed, just a few months ago, as the one, is stymied by his daughter ’ s plaintive question, “ daddy, have you plugged the hole yet? ” i don ’ t point all this out in order to mock the scientists, businessmen and politicians who are, presumably, striving to solve the problem ; i do so in order to draw attention to our profound vulnerability and our inescapable finitude. this has been a particularly terrible year for gun violence in chicago. we wring our hands over the killings in the holy land, iraq, and afghanistan, but things are practically as bad in our own streets. attention has been drawn to this problem recently because of the supreme court ’ s striking down of chicago ’ s gun ban and the city council ’ s rapid re - institution of another version of the same law. i was recently scheduled to address the priests of the archdiocese of boston, but bad weather rolled into o ’ hare, and my flight was cancelled. however, i ’ d like to share with you some of the insights i had intended to offer to the boston priests


threat of eutrophication to the baltic ecoregion a widespread and persistent problem eutrophication it is a process where bodies of water, such as lakes, estuaries, or slow - moving streams, receive excess nutrients that stimulate excessive plant growth. this enhanced plant growth, often called an algal bloom, reduces dissolved oxygen in the water. this affects the ecosystem and might change it totally. about 80 % of all nutrients in the sea come from land - based activities, including sewage, industrial and municipal waste and agricultural run - off. the rest is mainly from nitrous gasses, emitted when burning fossil fuels, from traffic, industry, power generation and heating the baltic sea contains 800 % more phosphorus than it did 100 years ago there are two main nutrients causing eutrophication, nitrogen ( n ) and phosphorus ( p ). they are deposited to the sea in several different ways. in 2000, about 660, 000 tonnes of nitrogen and 28, 000 tonnes of phosphorus entered the baltic sea via rivers. the baltic sea now contains four times as much nitrogen and eight times as much phosphorus as it did in the early 1900s. five large rivers – the neva, nemunas, daugava, vistula, and oder – together account for the majority of the nutrient loads entering the baltic sea. although a decline in the nutrient loading has been observed in recent years, little change in eutrophic effects has been recorded in the baltic sea. the expected development of agriculture in the new eu countries around the baltic sea will worsen the conditions measurably if no measures are taken to reduce the harmful effects of nutrient losses. global warming a contributor global warming is also stimulating eutrophication as higher temperatures in the baltic sea region increases the decomposition rates of the algae, compounding the effects of the nutrients. ecological effects of eutrophication the imbalance caused by the abundance of nutrients has led to numerous changes in the ecological composition and state of the baltic sea. certain plants and animals thrive, enabling them to increase in number and geographic spread, frequently at the expense of other species. some of the negative effects of the nutrient overload of the past century are : - excessive growth of plants and algae – there has been an increase in primary production by 30 - 70 %. annuals such as green and brown filamentous algae have grown at the expense of the perennial bladder wrack, which in turn has had severe impacts on the littoral ecosystem - algal blooms, some of them even toxic, are a


annuals such as green and brown filamentous algae have grown at the expense of the perennial bladder wrack, which in turn has had severe impacts on the littoral ecosystem - algal blooms, some of them even toxic, are a frequent phenomenon in the baltic every summer - a decrease in water transparency by 2. 5 - 3 metres as a result of the increase in biomass, e. g. an increase in zooplankton by 25 % - changes in fish species composition. economically less valuable freshwater fish species are thriving and cod is severely affected - a decrease in numbers and spread of predatory fish, such as pike, in coastal waters. the loss of ecological functions on land – the nutrient retention capacity of wetlands, floodplains, coastal lagoons and free - flowing rivers – has added substantially to the eutrophication problem. up to 90 % of wetlands in the southern part of the baltic sea region have been drained over the past century. state support for drainage and regulation of rivers and the construction of dams have been the key reasons for loss of these natural features. the changes have been driven by demands for additional land for farming, protection from flooding and a growing demand for electricity. the lack of market or regulatory mechanisms for assigning value to wetland functions is a major root cause for the loss of ecological functions. limiting the negative impacts of eutrophication efforts have been made to limit the production of algae and reverse the development of a eutrophied baltic. major investments have been made in waste water treatment plants and industrial production. but the main problems are now non - point sources – mainly run - off from agriculture. eutrophication is a process where bodies of water, such as lakes, estuaries, or slow - moving streams, receive excess nutrients that stimulate excessive plant growth. this enhanced plant growth, often called an algal bloom, reduces dissolved oxygen in the water. this can kill other marine life which also depend on disolved oxygen in the water.


( dailyrx news ) brain devastation resulting from stroke and head trauma is often due to the overproduction of a substance in the brain called glutamate. a new method of therapy may prevent this from happening. glutamate, a short - lived neurotransmitter, is normally almost absent in brain fluids. following injury or stroke, ischemia ( lack of blood flow ) usually occurs in the brain, which causes glutamate to flood the brain. high levels of glutamate in the brain end up causing cell death by allowing calcium to flood the neuron. many drugs are not able to cross the blood - brain barrier, making treatment for stroke and head trauma a challenge. but professor vivian i. teichberg of the weizmann institute of science ' s neurobiology department has devised a way for a naturally - occurring enzyme ( glutamate - oxaloacetate transaminase or got ) to " scavenge " blood glutamate and thus, lower levels of glutamate in the brain following stroke or injury. in this method, tiny transporters on the capillaries that work on differences in glutamate concentration transport glutamate from the brain to the blood. now, two new studies from the university of santiago de compostela, spain, demonstrate the method is effective in rats by using a chemical similar to got, known as oxolacetate, which could lead to more effective post - stroke and post - brain trauma treatments. the researchers in spain also discovered some of the most significant indicators of the prognosis in stroke are glutamate levels and got levels. high levels of glutamate meant poorer prognosis ( in terms of time spent recovering and amount of brain damage ), whereas high levels of got indicated better prognosis in stroke victims. stroke is the third leading cause of death and the no. 1 cause of long - term disability in the united states, according to the american heart association ( aha ). african - americans are at higher risk of stroke than caucasians.


galaxies | emission nebulae | reflection nebulae | dark nebulae | planetary nebulae | star clusters | stars supernovae | 50 favorites | messier objects | repro conditions | aao images page | aao site overview about star trails the important things the quality of the sky is the single most important ingredient in successful star trails photography, and that depends a lot on where you live. the next most important thing is to experiment and take notes of your exposures and camera settings as you go. the third most important thing is to be patient - - exposures can last for hours... you will have plenty of time for your notes. these notes refer mainly to work using colour film between 1976 and around 1996, a period when digital cameras were a distant dream. of course such cameras are now much superior to traditional photography for most work involving faint light, though very long exposures are ( as used here ) are not practicable. and for star trails they don ' t capture the colours of the stars as well as photography did. with film, the image is captured in one exposure, but with a digital camera many relatively short exposures are made and combined in software. however, the basic ideas below are applicable to all star trail imaging. some background - the airglow australia has about the same land area as the usa but only 8 percent of its population, and most australians live in the large cities on the south - eastern seaboard. in addition, the southern hemisphere is relatively unpopulated and only lightly industrialised, so there is little air pollution. what little there is cleansed by the vast expanses of ocean that encircle the globe at southern latitudes. away from the cities the sky of the outback is transparent and very dark at night - if there are no clouds. this is not the case in most of the usa or europe, indeed over most of the northern hemisphere. even when a truly dark sky is found, airborne particulate pollution from distant industrial activity is carried around the world and can affect night - time photography. happily, it does not cross the equator. in the southern hemisphere, the velvet blackness allows long photographic exposures during the night without any signs of the sky fogging from artificial light. however, the night sky is never completely dark even in the middle of australia. the air above is feebly luminous at night, mainly from the natural ' airglow ' which arises as the atoms and molecules of the air lose the solar energy they have absorbed by day. when the sun


dark even in the middle of australia. the air above is feebly luminous at night, mainly from the natural ' airglow ' which arises as the atoms and molecules of the air lose the solar energy they have absorbed by day. when the sun is very active the night sky is brighter, even to the point of being obvious to the eye, as in aurorae. rarely, the sky just appears milky to the eye as it does when the moon is up, but there is no moon. long exposure photographs show it to be coloured, and examples are here and here. other effects such as scattered starlight, interplanetary dust ( zodiacal light and gegenschein ) and distant, unresolved stars and galaxies are always there and add a little to the airglow. of course, long - exposure star trail photographs are compromised when the moon is in the sky, and exposures are relatively short, as here. but sometimes a sliver of moon and a little cloud can make an interesting picture. siding spring mountain, in the warrumbungle range, is about 500 km by road from sydney in eastern australia and was chosen as an astronomical observatory for its clarity and darkness. it is the site of the anglo - australian telescope ( aat ) a 3. 9m reflecting telescope built in the mid - 1970s as a joint australian - british venture. the telescope itself can be used as a giant camera, when it functions as a 12. 7 m focal length ' lens ', working at f / 3. 3. the observatory also operates the uk schmidt telescope ( ukst ) which is effectively a 3000 mm catadioptric ' lens ' working at f / 2. 5. about star trails star trail pictures are made when the camera is fixed ( best to a tripod ) and the shutter is left open for long periods at night. not all cameras can do this, especially not digital cameras. long exposures with digital cameras produce ' noisy ' images. this has improved as digital cameras improve and some cameras have noise reduction technology built in. it can also be useful to make a long exposure ' dark frame ' to be subtracted from each image exposure. even so, at the time of writing, exposures longer than a few remain difficult for most digital cameras, and exposures longer than an hour ( like those mentioned below ) involve combining many separate, noise - subtracted frames in software. this is not to detract from digital cameras ; they can make fine star trails and beautiful time - lapse


, and exposures longer than an hour ( like those mentioned below ) involve combining many separate, noise - subtracted frames in software. this is not to detract from digital cameras ; they can make fine star trails and beautiful time - lapse videos of the night sky, but the images referred to here were all made on film. digital cameras are generally much more sensitive to faint light than film cameras, so for many low - light or twilight images they are excellent, however, working at the time i did, i used film, and at the time of writing it ' s still available. modern, battery - operated film cameras can be made to take very long exposures, but usually at the cost of battery life. the best sort of camera for this work using film is a simple, wholly mechanical camera, that can be picked up easily for modest cost in many used camera stores. when i use 35 mm film for star trails i use an ancient pentax spotmatic i have had for 40 years. it is best to use a fixed - focus ( non zoom ) lens if possible, partly because zoom lenses used near full aperture show serious vignetting - - light fall - off towards the corners of the frame. zoom lenses generally have poorer image quality than an equivalent fixed focal length lens and have larger f numbers, so they are slower, photographically speaking. extreme wide angle lenses produce interesting star trail effects but a standard lens ( 55mm on 35mm film ) is perfectly useful. of course, long exposures can be made with a tracking camera - - but that ' s a different topic. most of the star trail images referred to below were made with a mechanical camera, a hasselblad 500c / m. the 6 x 6cm format produces better quality than 35mm but a fancy camera like this is not necessary for star trails. however, it was useful when many of these pictures were made, in the 1970s and early 1980s. in those days, fast films were quite grainy, so small formats were not as good for star trails. this is no longer true, so a 35mm camera loaded with 200 - 400 iso slide film works perfectly well. colour negative ( print ) film is ok, but it is always grainier for a given speed and most labs don ' t know how to print star trails pictures. of course negatives can be scanned for good results, but in general, slide film is better. most of the exposures were made on 200 iso ektachrome, some on similar fujichrome


don ' t know how to print star trails pictures. of course negatives can be scanned for good results, but in general, slide film is better. most of the exposures were made on 200 iso ektachrome, some on similar fujichrome and usually the exposure was started about 90 minutes after sunset, when the sky is completely dark except for the low western horizon. under a dark sky, exposures can last up to 10 hours, using a lens set to f / 5. 6 - f / 8. for many of the pictures on these web pages the film was push - processed by one stop, which gives useful extra contrast as well as speed. the picture aat 5 shows the trails of stars setting behind the aat dome. the motion is the earth ' s rotation of course - - the stars don ' t move. there ' s also some artificial light from houses on the mountain top and the signs of a night assistant ( telescope systems operator ) lighting his pipe as he wanders around the dome catwalk. the radius of the curved star trails decreases towards the left of the picture which is towards the south. if the camera was pointed due south you would see the stars apparently circling a point on the sky, the south celestial pole. this is the projection of the earth ' s axis of rotation in the sky and is seen above the dome in the companion picture aat 6. more detail on what the star trails show is on misc 36. of course from the northern hemisphere you would have to point your camera to the north to achieve the same circular effect. extended caption for aat 6 the rotation of the earth makes the stars follow gigantic arcs across the sky. these arcs appear to circle a point which is, in the southern hemisphere, the south celestial pole, the projection of the earth ' s axis of rotation on the sky. at siding spring, where this picture was taken, this point is 31 degrees 16 minutes above the horizon, the exact geographical latitude of the site of the aat. if a similar picture was taken in antarctica or the arctic ( 90 degrees south or north ) these circles would be directly overhead, while from the equator they would appear as semicircles on the northern and southern horizons. the stars have traced out an angle of about 160 degrees, indicating an exposure time of over 10 1 / 2 hours. if you measure the angular extent of the star trails yourself, don ' t forget you are measuring ' sidereal time ' not clock time. the difference is negligible for these purposes


, indicating an exposure time of over 10 1 / 2 hours. if you measure the angular extent of the star trails yourself, don ' t forget you are measuring ' sidereal time ' not clock time. the difference is negligible for these purposes, but it is instructive to think of why the two time systems should be different. there ' s more about sidereal time on the caption for misc 5. the trails reveal the colours of the stars, which in turn tell us of their surface temperatures. blue trails are left by stars which are much hotter than the sun, while cooler stars leave orange or yellow trails. this exposure was so long that the feeble glow of the night sky itself was recorded and during the long winter night observers using aat occasionally peered outside to inspect the weather. as they walked around the dome in darkness, their lights produced the irregular lines at the catwalk level. long exposure star trails pictures on this site aat 5. star trails southwest of the aat dome aat 6. star trails around the s celestial pole misc 4. the aat dome by the light of the full moon misc 5. dawn and evening twilights reflected in the aat dome misc 6. moonset into cloud over the warrumbungle range misc 7. pinatubo sunset and star trails around the aat dome misc 8. aurora australis from siding spring misc 11. orion star colours, step - focus technique misc 12. orion ' s belt rising over the lights of coonabarabran misc 13. north celestial pole star trails misc 14. south celestial pole star trails misc 15. north and south celestial poles star trails misc 16. southern cross and pointers, star colours - step - focus technique, long trails misc 18. the view to the north from siding spring misc 19. sunset ' star ' trail, the track of the setting sun misc 22. the aat dome from the director ' s cottage. misc 23. southern cross and pointers, star colours - step - focus technique, short trails misc 29. the uk schmidt telescope under a milky sky misc 32. antares and jupiter, defocused trails misc 36. southern cross star trails around the aat dome other beautiful examples of star trails are seen on the pictures by david miller and akira fujii david malin, march 2012. | emission nebulae | reflection nebulae | dark nebulae | planetary nebulae | star


was hurricane sandy caused by climate change? climate changing? " anyone who thinks there isn ' t a change in weather patterns is denying reality, " says andrew cuomo, governor of new york state, which bore the brunt of the superstorm. many climate scientists would agree with cuomo when it comes to identifying the cause of the record - breaking droughts and floods of recent years. but when it comes to tropical storms, the experts also say they cannot give a black - or - white answer for one of the most complex issues in meteorology. tropical storms are fuelled by warm seas, so intuition says that as ocean temperatures rise - known as cyclones, typhoons and hurricanes - should become more frequent and more brutal. but a clear rise in earth ' s surface temperature since the 1970s has so far failed to engender a similar increase in tropical cyclone numbers, which have remained stable at about 90 per year. in the atlantic alone, however, the us national oceanic and atmospheric administration ( noaa ) says major storms have become more frequent and intense since 1995. the agency also warns that science right now cannot tease out how much of the change should be attributed to natural climate variability, and how much to man - made warming. as for the future, experts give conflicting or sketchy predictions of what could happen this century, when surface temperatures are predicted to warm 2 to 3°c. " there is some evidence to suggest that with climate change we might see stronger wind speeds but that the overall number of tropical cyclones ( will show ) no change or maybe even go down a little bit, " says tom mitchell, head of climate change at britain ' s overseas development institute. serge planton, head of climate research at french weather forecasting service meteo france, explains why the picture is so fuzzy. " it ' s a very complex phenomenon, " he says. " a cyclone depends not only on the sea surface temperature, but also on the structure of the winds at every layer of the atmosphere. this means it does not respond in a simple, linear fashion to climate change. " surges more certain when it comes to storm surge, there seems to be more scientific consensus that climate change ' s impact is clear. sandy ' s swells were entirely consistent with scenarios sketched by the un ' s intergovernment panel on climate change ( ipcc ) in a report on extreme weather events, published in march, contends mitchell. " what the ipcc said there is with sea level rising a little bit already and with the potential


august 14, 2002 roundabouts have been shown to reduce intersection injury crashes by 76 % compared to signals, and to reduce fatalities by 90 % ( retting et al, 2001 ). results of these american studies, published by the insurance institute for highway safety, and by the american journal of public health, are identical to findings from decades of overseas research. put another way, comparable crossroad intersections have four times as many injuries - including severe brain and spinal cord injuries - and about ten times as many fatalities as a roundabout. where roundabouts have replaced signals, repeated studies have shown they reduce pedestrian accidents by 30 - 50 % ( lalani 1975, daley 1981, o ' brien 1985 ). in lay terms, roundabouts can keep people out of hospitals, wheelchairs, and graveyards, and that ' s a common reason they ' re built. unfortunately, these safety facts were not emphasized in dr. richard long ' s report to the access board : a report which was used to develop the access board ' s current design proposals. the proposed new unfunded federal mandate would require complex signals and barrier systems at every roundabout crosswalk, regardless of how easily the crosswalk operates or whether a blind person ever uses it. at $ 100, 000 or more per intersection, that ' s an expensive proposal, and since it has serious ramifications on public safety, it bears close examination. like more than 90 % of us crosswalks, most roundabout crosswalks are not signalized. because a pedestrian refuge is provided mid - crossing ( shortening the crossing distance ), and because vehicles operate at unusually low speeds ( typically 15 - 20 mph ), the overwhelming majority of roundabout crosswalks are extremely easy to use, and like the vast majority of all crosswalks in the us, they simply don ' t need signals. in such locations, even if signals were provided, pedestrians wouldn ' t use traffic engineers have known for decades that, if unwarranted and infrequently used, signals can confuse drivers, become ineffective, and increase accidents, causing more injuries to pedestrians and vehicle occupants alike. that ' s bad for public safety, but too few lay people understand it. people tend to think that signals always improve safety, but signals can increase speeding, distract drivers ' eyes away from traffic and pedestrians, and create a false sense of security for pedestrians. signals do not put a concrete wall between vehicles and pedestrians : pedestrians are struck at traffic signals with sickening in locations where pedestrian and traffic volumes warrant them


distract drivers ' eyes away from traffic and pedestrians, and create a false sense of security for pedestrians. signals do not put a concrete wall between vehicles and pedestrians : pedestrians are struck at traffic signals with sickening in locations where pedestrian and traffic volumes warrant them, crosswalks should have signals, and many roundabouts in the united kingdom and europe have pedestrian signals. they ' re common in london, birmingham, and other cities. examples of appropriate locations for signalized crosswalks include high - volume urban roundabout crosswalks, and locations where pedestrians ( both blind and sighted ) are most frequent. these factors are easily quantifiable. at rural intersections or low - volume locations, and locations where pedestrians are infrequent, signals are not used because they confuse drivers and unnecessarily increase highway construction, maintenance, and operating costs. to assure that traffic signals are only installed where prudent, " warrants " have been developed for traffic signal installation in the united states. in the united kingdom - a country with decades of experience with roundabouts in a wide variety of locations - the warrant for a signalized pedestrian crosswalk at a roundabout is where pv squared is greater than 1 * 10 ^ 8 ( in words, where the number of pedestrians, times the number of vehicles per hour squared, exceeds a value of 100 million ). use of appropriate signal warrants assures that signals are provided only where needed, and not where they are unnecessary and potentially harmful. the ramifications of an ill - considered intersection design policy can negatively impact the general public in unintended ways. for example, if all roundabout crosswalks were required to have signals, about $ 100, 000 would be added to the cost of each roundabout, making them unnecessarily expensive in comparison to other intersection alternatives. as a result, far fewer roundabouts would be built, and many more of the common alternative - a signalized crossroad - would be built instead. as stated previously, studies show these have four times as many injuries, and ten times as many fatalities as a roundabout. the united states currently has about 15, 000 deaths and about 1 million injuries at intersections every year, and installation of well - designed roundabouts might prevent countless human tragedies. meanwhile, signals at unwarranted locations may help no one at all, and could in fact be harmful. a single - user approach to traffic engineering would be a mistake. all users of an intersection must be taken into account, and the appropriate solution needs to


despite the important role of goats for meat and milk production in ethiopia, little information is available on the epidemiology of caprine tuberculosis ( tb ). caprine tb is important as milk is usually consumed raw particularly by ethiopian pastoralists. the objectives of the present study were to estimate the prevalence of tb in goats at an abattoir, to evaluate associated risk factors and to characterize the causative mycobacteria. a cross - sectional study was conducted on 1990 randomly selected male goats that were slaughtered at luna export abattoir of central ethiopia. postmortem examination, mycobacterial culturing and molecular typing techniques like genus typing, deletion typing and spoligotyping were used. the overall prevalence of caprine tb - like lesions was 3. 5 %. the lesion prevalence increased significantly with increasing age. mycobacteria were found by culture and seen as acid fast bacilli in 12 % of the goats with tb - like lesions. characterization of the eight isolates using multiplex polymerase chain reaction ( pcr ) indicated that five of them belonged to the genus mycobacterium. four of the latter were confirmed to be members of the m. tuberculosis complex. further characterization of the three m. tuberculosis isolates by spoligotyping identified them as type sit53 and two new spoligotypes. the isolation of m. tuberculosis from goats in this study indicates a potential risk of transmission of m. tuberculosis between humans and goats. keywords : goat ; tuberculosis ; epidemiology ; molecular typing ; mycobacterium tuberculosis ; ethiopia caprine tuberculosis ( tb ) caused mainly by mycobacterium bovis and m. caprae [ 1, 2 ] poses a risk to goat health and production in developing world [ 3 - 5 ]. recently, reports of caprine tb have increased in several countries ; even in those practicing a long standing test and slaughter policy [ 2, 3, 5 - 10 ]. it is reported that the infection is widespread in africa where goats co - graze with cattle that are not subject to tb testing and slaughter regimes [ 9 - 11 ]. goats may become infected with m. bovis when sharing pastures with infected cattle, at watering points, market places and shared night shelters. in ethiopia, mixed farming of cattle and goats is a common practice. livestock move freely from one region to another and from farm - to - farm. thus, this practice poses a high risk of inter - and


, market places and shared night shelters. in ethiopia, mixed farming of cattle and goats is a common practice. livestock move freely from one region to another and from farm - to - farm. thus, this practice poses a high risk of inter - and intraspecies transmission and spread of m. bovis infection. this mixed farming of small and large ruminants is especially a risk to goats in countries like ethiopia where bovine tb is endemic and reports have shown a prevalence of bovine tb ranging from 3. 4 % in small holder production systems to 50 % in intensive dairy production systems [ 14 - 17 ]. a previous study reported a prevalence of 4. 2 % tb in ethiopian goats and also reported the occurrence of the disease for the first time in ethiopia. however, that study did not identify the species of the m. tuberculosis complex ( mtbc ). thus, there is little information on the status and etiology of caprine tb in ethiopia. as scientific knowledge is required to design appropriate control methods, this study was performed to estimate the prevalence of caprine tb in slaughter goats, evaluate associated risk factors, and characterize the causative agents. materials and methods study site and animals this study was conducted in luna modern export abattoir at modjo town, which is located 73 km southeast of addis ababa in central ethiopia. the abattoir is privately owned and primarily male goats are slaughtered for export purpose. all goats were of local breeds and originated mainly from arsi, borana, jimma, somali and south wello representing different agro - ecological zones. all goats had been kept under extensive production systems either as mixed crop – livestock production system or as a pastoral system of production. goats were purchased at different local markets and transported to the abattoir. at the abattoir, animals were fed, watered, and rested for 24 to 72 hrs before being slaughtered. the tb status of the goats was not known as there was no pre - slaughter tuberculin skin testing scheme. our project was evaluated and approved by the institional review board ( irb ) of the aklilu lemma institute of pathobiology, addis ababa university. the reference number of the approval letter / minutes is irb / 01 / 2011 - 12 study design and sampling techniques a cross - sectional study design was used. the design involved stratification of the goats according to geographic origin and goat type to estimate the prevalence of caprine tb and assess the potential risk factors of the disease.


- 12 study design and sampling techniques a cross - sectional study design was used. the design involved stratification of the goats according to geographic origin and goat type to estimate the prevalence of caprine tb and assess the potential risk factors of the disease. the goat type was defined according to its origin and the physical description given earlier. the study goats were also categorized into two age groups conventionally : ≤ 1. 5 years as young, and > 1. 5 years as adult on the basis of the dentition as described earlier for african indigenous goats. the selection of the goats was based on systematic random sampling while the goats were moving in line to the slaughter hall. the selected goats were identified using permanent marker, kept separately after selection and released for slaughter one after the other. the sampling interval was obtained by dividing the total number of animals slaughtered from specific geographical origin within specific day by the estimated daily sample size. twelve goats were sampled during every study day. thus, the total number of animal slaughtered in the particular day from a particular origin was divided by twelve and every nth animal was selected after random selection of the first animal until the daily sample size was met. accordingly, a total of 1990 goats were examined. postmortem inspection was performed following a procedure described previously. all pulmonary lobes and the lymph nodes of the head ( retropharyngeal, mandibular ), thorax ( mediastinal and bronchial ), mesenterium, and liver were examined thoroughly. the carcass including internal organs and lymph nodes were examined under a bright - light source. the lung and the lymph nodes were cut into approximately 2 cm thick slices to facilitate the detection of lesions using separate sterile scalpel blades. the cut surfaces were examined visually under bright light for the presence of lesions compatible with tb [ 22, 23 ]. gross nodular lesions of caseous necrosis and / or calcification were considered as suspected for tb. such tissues were collected for bacteriological culture into sterile universal bottles with 5 ml of 0. 9 % saline solution. the samples were transported to aklilu lemma institute of pathobiology ( alipb ) on the same day and stored at + 2 to + 8°c for a maximum of one month until mycobacteriological culturing was carried out. however, almost all samples were cultured within a few days of sampling. culturing and identification of mycobacteria specimen processing and culturing for mycobacteria


month until mycobacteriological culturing was carried out. however, almost all samples were cultured within a few days of sampling. culturing and identification of mycobacteria specimen processing and culturing for mycobacteria was carried out at tb laboratory of alipb in accordance with the guidelines of the office des internationale epizooties. in the laboratory, individual tissue specimens were sectioned using sterile blades in sterile petri dishes to obtain fine pieces and then homogenized with a mortar and pestle. the homogenate was decontaminated using 2 ml of 4 % naoh for 15 min and then centrifuged at 3, 000 rpm for 15 min. the supernatant was discarded and the sediment was neutralized by 1 % ( 0. 1 n ) hcl using phenol red as indicator. neutralisation was considered to be achieved when the color of the solution was changed from purple to yellow. thereafter, 0. 1 ml of the suspension was inoculated onto a duplicate set of lowenstein - jensen ( lj ) slants ; one supplemented with 0. 4 % sodium pyruvate ( lj pyruvate ) and the other with glycerol ( standard lj ). cultures were incubated aerobically at 37°c for at least eight weeks with weekly observation for growth according to. positive cultures were confirmed by ziehl – neelsen staining and heat killed in water bath at 80°c for 45 min. the heat killed isolates was stored at −20°c for further molecular typing. mycobacterial genus typing mycobacterial genus typing was done using polymerase chain reaction ( pcr ), which differentiates the mtbc from the m. avium complex, m. intracellularae and other mycobacterial species. pcr was conducted as described previously. heat killed ziehl – neelsen positive samples were used as source of the dna template. dna amplifications were done in a thermocycler with 20 μl reaction volume consisting : 5 μl of heat killed cells as a template, 8 μl hotstartaqmastermix ( mgcl2, dntp, taq polymerase and pcr buffer ) ( qiagen, united kingdom ) for each sample, 0. 3 μl of each of the six primer per sample and 5. 2 μl of qiagen water per sample. the


taq polymerase and pcr buffer ) ( qiagen, united kingdom ) for each sample, 0. 3 μl of each of the six primer per sample and 5. 2 μl of qiagen water per sample. the name and nucleotide sequence of each primer used for amplification in genus typing is given in table 1. table 1. primers used for genus and rd9 typing of isolated mycobacteria m. tuberculosis strains ( h37rv ) and m. avium were used as positive controls while qiagen water was used as negative control. the reaction mixture was then heated in a programme thermal controller ( applied biosystem ; ptc - 100™ ) using the following amplification programs : 95°c for 10 min for enzyme activation ; 95°c for 1 min for denaturation ; 61°c for 0. 5 min for annealing ; 72°c for 2 min for extension ; involving 35 cycles all in all and final extension at 72°c for 10 min. a 1. 5 % agarose gel was prepared and the products were electrophoresed in 10×tae running buffer. ethidium bromide at ratio of 1 : 10, 100 bp dna ladder, and orange 6x loading dye were used in gel electrophoresis. finally, bands were visualized using alpha innotech, version 22. 214. 171. 124 ( alpha innotech corporation ) in a multi – image™ light cabinet. region of difference ( rd ) deletion typing for deletion typing, the procedure described earlier was followed. the rd9 deletion typing was carried out on isolates that showed band for m. tuberculosis complex by genus typing. each sample was tested in a separate pcr tube. primers directed against the rd9 were used to generate a deletion profile that would allow species identification of the isolate. rd9 is a 2030 base pair ( bp ) gene segment of m. tuberculosis and pcr analysis using flanking primers revealed that rd9 is absent in m. bovis, m. microti, and m. africanum. primers used for rd9 typing and the size of pcr product size expected in the presence or absence of the respective region of difference is given in table 1. the reaction mixture consisted of : 10 μl of hotstartaq master mix, 0. 3 μl × 3 of each primer ( flank _ r, f and int )


absence of the respective region of difference is given in table 1. the reaction mixture consisted of : 10 μl of hotstartaq master mix, 0. 3 μl × 3 of each primer ( flank _ r, f and int ) of the respective deletion typing, 2 μl dna template and 7. 1 μl qiagen water to a final volume of 20 μl. m. tuberculosis h37rv and m. bovis 2122 / 97 were used as positive controls while qiagen water was used as negative control. the mixture was heated in a programme thermal controller ( applied biosystem ; ptc - 100™ ) using an initial hot start of 95°c for 15 min followed by 35 cycles of 95°c for 1 min ; 55°c for 1 min ; and 72°c for 1 min ; a final extension step of 72°c for 10 min to complete the cycle. pcr products were electrophoresed in 1. 5 % agarose gel in 10× tae running buffer. ethidium bromide at ratio of 1 : 10, 100 bp dna ladder and orange 6× loading dye ( gene craft, germany ) were used in electrophoresis. finally, bands were visualized using alpha innotech, version 126. 96. 36. 199 ( alpha innotech corporation ) in a multi – image™ light cabinet. spoligotyping was performed at alipb ; following the procedure described earlier and according to the spoligotype kit supplier ’ s instructions ( ocimum biosolutions company, iisselstein, the netherlands ). the direct repeat ( dr ) region were amplified by pcr using oligonucleotide primers derived from the dr sequence ( dra : 5 ′ - ggt ttt ggg tct gac gac - 3 ′ and drb : 5 ′ - ccg aga ggg gac, gga aac - 3 ′ ). a total volume of 25 μl of the following reaction mixture was used for the pcr : 12. 5 μl of hotstartaq master mix ( qiagen ). this solution provides a final concentration of : 1. 5 μm mgcl2 and 200 mm of each deoxynucleotides triphosphates, 2 μl of each primer ( 20 p mol each ), 5 μl suspension of heat - killed cells ( approximately 10 to 50 ng ), and 3.


mm of each deoxynucleotides triphosphates, 2 μl of each primer ( 20 p mol each ), 5 μl suspension of heat - killed cells ( approximately 10 to 50 ng ), and 3. 5 μl distilled water. pcr amplification was performed for 15 min at 96°c and then subjected to 30 cycles of 1 min at 96°c ; 1 min at 55°c, 30 sec at 72°c and a final extension at 72°c for 10 min. the amplified products were hybridized to a set of 43 immobilized oligonucleotides, each corresponding to one of the unique spacer dna sequences within the dr locus. after hybridization, the membrane was washed twice for 10 min in 2× sspe ( 1× sspe is 0. 18 m nacl, 10 μm nah2po4, and 1 μm edta ( ph 7. 7 ) - 0. 5 % sodium dodecyl sulfate at 60°c and then incubated in 1 : 4, 000 diluted streptavidin peroxidase ( boehringer, ingelheim germany ) for 45 to 60 min at 42°c. the membrane was washed twice for 10 min in 2× sspe - 0. 5 % sodium dodecyl sulfates at 42°c and rinsed with 2× sspe for 5 min at room temperature 20°c ). hybridizing dna ( presence or absence of the unique spacers ) were detected by the enhanced chemiluminescence method ( amersham, buckinghamshire, england ) and by exposure to x - ray film ( hyperfilm ecl, amersham ), which detects light signals and thereby produces a pattern which allows for typing of isolates as specified by the manufacturer. data collection, management and analysis for each individual animal examined age, goat type and geographical origin were recorded on a data sheet. presence or absence of tb - like lesions and affected tissue ( s ) were recorded in database based on microsoft® excel for windows 2007. descriptive statistics was used to estimate prevalence of tb - like lesions across the individual factors and lesion frequency in different anatomical locations. uni - and multivariate logistic regressions were used to investigate possible associations between the prevalence and the explanatory variables. p value < 0. 05 and 95 % confidence level were used for statistical significance. statistical analysis was carried out using spss version 18. 0


logistic regressions were used to investigate possible associations between the prevalence and the explanatory variables. p value < 0. 05 and 95 % confidence level were used for statistical significance. statistical analysis was carried out using spss version 18. 0 ( spss inc. chicago, il, usa ). prevalence of tb - like lesions in goats and associated risk factors the prevalence of tb - like lesions was 3. 5 % ( 2. 69 - 4. 31 % ). it was significantly higher in older goats ( > 1. 5 year ) than in younger goats ( p < 0. 05 ) but there was no statistically significant difference in lesion prevalence between the different goat types and origins ( p > 0. 05 ) ( tables 2 and 3 ). the highest ( 4. 9 % ) and lowest ( 2. 1 % ) prevalences of caprine tb - like lesions were recorded in goats originated from borena and somali areas, respectively. table 2. individual variables, prevalence, and univariate analysis of risk factor of tuberculosis - like lesions in slaughtered goats table 3. multivariate analysis of risk factor with presence of tuberculosis - like lesions in goats distribution of pathology characteristic tb - like lesions ( figure 1 ) were observed in both lung and lymph nodes. figure 1. irregularly shaped, soft white foci of granulomatous inflammation ( tb - like lesion ) on the pleural and cut surfaces of a goat lung. most of the tb - like lesion were observed in the thoracic cavity ( lung : 22 % of cases, mediastinal lymph nodes : 42 %, and bronchial lymph nodes : 33 % ) and only 3 % was observed in mesenteric and hepatic lymph nodes. culture and acid fast test microscopy results seventy - eight samples from suspected tb lesions were processed and cultured. bacterial growth was observed in 14 % ( 11 / 78 ) of the sowed slants of which eight were confirmed to be acid fast bacilli ( afb ). genus identification of afb isolates genus typing revealed that five of the eight afb positive isolates showed the expected pcr product ( 1030 bp ) and could be identified as mycobacterium species. furthermore, four of these five isolates generated a pcr product of 372 bp which belongs to mtbc group whereas the remaining isolate was considered to be atypical mycobacteria ( figure 2 ). figure 2. gel electrophore


, four of these five isolates generated a pcr product of 372 bp which belongs to mtbc group whereas the remaining isolate was considered to be atypical mycobacteria ( figure 2 ). figure 2. gel electrophoretic separation of pcr products by multiplex pcr genus typing of mycobacterial isolate from tuberculous tissue of goats. lanes : 1 = 100 bp dna ladder, 2 = m. tuberculosis ( positive control ), 3 = qiagen h2o ( negative control ), 4 = m. bovis, 5 = m. avium complex ( positive control ) and 6 = m. intracellulare complex ( positive control ). lanes 7 – 14 were samples from individual goats with tb - like lesions. lanes 8, 10, 11, 12, 13 were positive for the genus mycobacterium lanes 8 and 10 – 12 showed bands for m. tuberculosis complex ( mtbc ) and lane 13 was positive only for the genus mycobacterium while lanes 7, 9 and 14 were negative. rd9 deletion typing result to identify the species of the mtbc isolates, rd9 deletion typing was performed. in this deletion typing, all the three isolates generated a pcr product of 339 bp confirming that they were m. tuberculosis ( figure 3 ) while one of the samples ( lane 8 ) did not produce the band ( negative ). figure 3. electrophoretic separation of pcr products of rd9 deletion typing. lanes : 1 = 100 bp dna ladder, 2 = m. tuberculosis ( positive control ), 3 = m. bovis ( positive control ), 4 = qiagen h2o ( negative control ), lanes 5 – 7 were isolates which generated a pcr product of 372 bp in genus typing. spoligotyping of m. tuberculosis isolates all the three isolates of m. tuberculosis showed distinct patterns indicating that they were different strains ( figure 4 ). one of these strains ( sw6 ) was sit53. however, the patterns of the remaining two strains ( ar3 and jl8 ) were not recognized by the international spoliotyping database indicating that they were new strains. figure 4. spoligotype patterns of m. tuberculosis isolates from goats. one of the goat isolate was sit53 while the other two were new to the spoligotype international typing ( sitvit ) database. the octal numbers of the two


spoligotype patterns of m. tuberculosis isolates from goats. one of the goat isolate was sit53 while the other two were new to the spoligotype international typing ( sitvit ) database. the octal numbers of the two new strains are 703777540003171 and 777757777560771. an abattoir - based epidemiological survey of caprine tb was conducted on goats originated from different regions of ethiopia. lesion - based prevalence was calculated and mycobacteria were characterized. compared to the two previous studies carried out on goat tb in ethiopia, this study was more comprehensive as the number of goats included was relatively higher, the origin and types of animals was more representatives of the reference population and advanced molecular techniques were used. the overall lesion prevalence of 3. 5 % reported in this study is similar to the prevalence reported in previous studies in ethiopia. a tb - like lesion prevalence of 4. 2 % in 1, 536 goats was reported in a study conducted in 2005 at modjo modem export abattoir. a similar prevalence ( 4. 3 % in 1, 152 goats ) was recorded based on gross lesions at helmex export abattoir. likewise, a prevalence of 3. 1 % in 193 goats was reported in goats kept at adami tulu research center using a single intradermal tuberculin test ( tst ). studies conducted in other countries have also reported similar results [ 3, 30 ]. a significantly higher prevalence of tb - like lesions in goats aged > 1. 5 years is in agreement with a study, which reported higher prevalence in older goats although the goats were older than 6 years in that study. similarly, several cross sectional studies conducted on bovine tb have reported higher prevalences of tb in older cattle [ 11, 14, 31 ]. this may be explained by an age depend risk of exposure. the prevalences of tb in goats that originated from the different zones and regions were similar indicating the overall similarity of management system and infection pressure. this finding is consistent with that of an earlier study, which reported similar prevalences in different regions of ethiopia. a significantly higher prevalence was recorded for goats originating from the borena area as compared to those from somali region although the goats types were the same in both areas. the present study showed that tb - like lesions were almost exclusively observed in the thoracic cavity of goats. a similar study has shown that 97 % of the gross tb -


those from somali region although the goats types were the same in both areas. the present study showed that tb - like lesions were almost exclusively observed in the thoracic cavity of goats. a similar study has shown that 97 % of the gross tb - like lesions were found in the lungs and associated lymph nodes, while lesions were only found in the thoracic cavity in algerian goats. this indicates that goats acquire the infection mainly through the respiratory route. the isolation of three m. tuberculosis strains was unexpected as a previous study has reported that the causative agent of caprine tb in some european countries was m. bovis [ 9, 11 ] and m. caprae in several european countries. even recently, outbreaks of tb in goats in the united kingdom, italy and portugal were reported to be caused by m. bovis [ 2, 5, 34 ]. however, m. tuberculosis has previously been isolated from goats in nigeria. the isolation of m. tuberculosis from goats in this study is likely to be due to transmission of the bacterium from tb infected people to goats as has been suggested earlier. transmission of m. tuberculosis from man to cattle has been reported from slovenia and in ethiopia ; cattle owned by farmers with active tb were four times more likely to have tb than cattle owned by those farmers without active tb. this study documented an equal low prevalence of caprine tb - like lesions across a range of eco - epidemiological settings in ethiopia. the high prevalence of lesions in the lung and associated lymph nodes suggests that transmission of tb to goats is mainly through the respiratory route. the isolation of the sit53 strain of m. tuberculosis from goats in this study suggests transmission from humans. we have no financial or other competing interests to declare in relation to this manuscript. the study was conceived and designed by bd, ga and fjc. field work was performed by bd ; laboratory work was done by bd and ga. analysis of data and preparation of the manuscript was a joint contribution of bd, fjc and ga. all authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript. the study was financially supported by ethiopian ministry of agriculture, aklilu lemma institute of pathobiology and edulink. aranaz a, liebana e, gomez - mampaso e, galan jc, cousins d, ortega a, blazquez j, baquero f, mateos a, suarez g, dominguez l : mycobacterium tuberculosis subsp. cap


, gomez - mampaso e, galan jc, cousins d, ortega a, blazquez j, baquero f, mateos a, suarez g, dominguez l : mycobacterium tuberculosis subsp. caprae subsp. nov : a taxonomic study of a new member of themycobacterium tuberculosis complex isolated from goats in spain. int j sys bacteriol 1999, 49 : 1263 - 1273. publisher full text em inf dis 2009, 15 : 2066 - 2069. publisher full text prodinger wm, brandstatter a, naumann l, pacciarini m, kubica t, boschiroli ml, aranaz a, nagy g, cvetnic z, ocepek m, skrypnyk a, erler w, niemann s, pavlik i, moser i : characterization of mycobacterium caprae isolates from europe by mycobacterium interspersed repetitive unit genotyping. tuber lung dis 1995, 76 : 1 - 46. pubmed abstract ameni g, aseffa a, engers h, young d, gordon s, hewinson g, vordemieier m : high prevalence and increased severity of pathology of bovine tuberculosis in holsteins compared to zebu breeds under field cattle husbandry in central ethiopia. berg s, firdessa r, habtamu m, gadisa e, mengistu a, yamuah l, ameni g, vordermeier m, robertson bd, smith nh, engers h, young d, hewinson rg, aseffa a, gordon sv : the burden of mycobacterial disease in ethiopian cattle : implication for public health. kamerbeek j, schouls l, kolk a, van agterveld m, van soolingen d, kuijper s, bunschoten a, molhuizen h, shaw r, goyal m, van embden j : simultaneous detection and strain differentiation of mycobacterium tuberculosis for diagnosis and epidemiology. javed mt, ahmad l, irfan m, ali i, khan a, wasiq m, farooqi fa, latif ms, cagiola m : hematological and serum protein values in tuberculin reactor and non - reactor water buffaloes, cattle,


lenny had a problem. a close friend of his invested some money a few years prior, in a local italian bank — in pisa actually — that had promised him steady interest of 4 percent per month. rather than sitting by and letting the money rapidly grow and compound over time, lenny ’ s friend started withdrawing large and irregular sums of money from the account every few months. these sums were soon exceeding the interest he was earning and the whole process was eating heavily into his capital. to make a long story short, lenny was approached by this friend and asked how long the money would last, if he kept up these withdrawals. reasonable question, no? now, if i were lenny, i would have pulled out my handy hp business calculator, entered the cash flows, pushed the relevant buttons and quickly obtained the answer. in fact, with any calculator these sorts of questions can be answered quite easily using the technique known as “ present value analysis ” — which is something all business school professors teach their finance students on the first day of class. unfortunately, lenny didn ’ t have access to an hp business calculator that performed the necessary compound interest calculations. to be honest, lenny didn ’ t have a calculator at all because they hadn ’ t been invented yet. you see, lenny was asked this question over 800 years ago, in the early part of the 13th century. but to answer it — which he certainly did — he invented a technique that today is called present value analysis. yes. the one i mentioned we teach business students. you might have heard of lenny by his more formal name : leonardo pisano filius ( “ family, ” in latin ) bonacci, a. k. a. fibonacci ( 1170 - 1250 ), probably the most famous mathematician of the middle ages. in fact, fibonacci helped solve his friend ’ s problem, wrote the first commercial mathematics textbook liber abaci and introduced the methodology for solving complicated questions involving interest rates. let me repeat. his technique is still used and taught with slight refinements to college students 800 years later. now that is academic immortality! ( he published and his name hasn ’ t perished yet. ) the spending rate : a burning question let ’ s translate fibonacci ’ s mostly hypothetical 800 year - old puzzles into a problem with more recent implications. imagine that you are thinking about retiring and to date have managed to save a total of $ 300, 000 in your retirement account. for now, i ’


excess fat may be " protective " in seniors over 85 tuesday, february 28, 2012 surprising tau research finds obesity can decrease risk of mortality in people over 85 years of age obesity is considered the leading preventable cause of death worldwide — until you reach old age, that is. though obesity increases the risk of an early death, shaving an average of six to seven years off a person ' s lifespan, tel aviv university researchers have found that this trend may reverse itself after the age of 85. in these people, excess fat seems to have a " protective " effect, decreasing the risk of death when compared to those who are considered at a normal body weight. when we reach a very old age, some of the factors that affect mortality in younger people may no longer be significant, explain prof. jiska cohen - mansfield and rotem perach of the herczeg institute on aging and the sackler faculty of medicine. heavier people have lower rates of osteoporosis, which could decrease incidences of falls and subsequent injury. obesity could also provide excess energy storage in times of trauma or stress, or prolong the period of weight loss caused by a decrease in appetite, a common occurrence as people near death. this research was recently published in the journal of aging research. the survival effect research has consistently shown that people who are underweight in their old age have a higher mortality risk. but until now, the protective impact of obesity on mortality in this same age group has been unexplored. the study was based on data collected as part of the cross sectional and longitudinal aging study ( calas ), which included 1, 349 people between the ages of 75 - 94. participants were asked basic questions about their height and weight, age, gender, family, education, socioeconomic status, and smoking history. two decades after the data was first collected, the researchers completed a mortality analysis on the original sample. during the course of these 20 years, 95 percent of the participants had died, leaving 59 subjects still living. obesity continued to be a predictor of death for those aged 75 - 84, notes prof. cohen - mansfield. but past the age of 85, participants who were in the obese category were not only at lower risk of death than their underweight peers, but also appeared to be less at risk than those who had a normal weight as well. there is a " selective survival " rate at play, say the researchers. often, obese people die early in life due to obesity - related illnesses. so those


- cpu ( cpu type ) the cpu ( or processor ) is the core component of any console. it executes the programs ( e. g. games ) with the help of other dedicated hardware. the cpu has high impact on the general performance of a console, altough other components and the general architechture of the devide also play a significant role. - memory ( memory installed ) the amount of internal memory available to execute programs. - video memory ( video memory ) the amount of video processing memory reserved for graphics board. presented as megabytes. - hdd size ( storage capacity ( hdd size ) ) if the console has an internal hard disk drive, the storage capacity of the drive is announced here ( in giga bytes, gb ). the hdd can be used, for example, to store games / game data, photos, music, videos or software. - usb ports ( number of usb or usb2 ports ) the number of usb ports the console has. the ports can bes uses to connect game controllers or external devices, or to read memory cards. - ethernet ( integrated ethernet / lan adapter? ) if the console has an integrated ethernet port, it can be connected to a local area network ( lan ) via the port. the speed of the lan connection is announced as megabits per second ( mbps ). - wifi ( integreated wlan / wifi ) wifi is a wireless solution to connect a device to a local area network. if the console is wifi - enabled, it can be connected to a wlan network without the use of a connection cable. - bluetooth ( integrated bluetooth adapter ) bluetooth can be used to form a data transfer connection between the console and bluetooth enabled devices. another possible use of the technology is to connect external devices or game controllers. - hd media support ( support for hd media ) the console can support some kind of hd media, i. e. it can be used as a hd media player for the supported format ( s ). theoretically there can be devices suppporting either hd dvd or blu - ray, but in practice only the latter is supported by consoles. - component video ( component video output ) component video is a type of video transmission where either luma and chroma difference channels ( y, cb, and cr ) or red, green, and blue ( rgb ) video is sent across three separate cables. - hdmi ( hdmi output ) hdmi ( high -


for the last few years, there ' s been discussion within the agriculture community about a shortage of food animal veterinarians and finding solutions to help generate interest in the profession. since then enrollments in many veterinary schools are up, but an american association of bovine practioners ' committee report says there actually is not a shortage of food animal veterinarians, but rather an issue of rural economies being able to sustain large animal practices. since the first reports on the shortage of food animal veterinarians, the economy has taken a downturn, including serious financial losses in the dairy segment, shrinking herd sizes and agriculture in general continuing to consolidate, explains christine navarre, louisiana state university extension veterinarian and aabp president. and some graduates are finding it difficult to find jobs. " with the changing economy, the job market in general is tough, " she explains. " this report served as a reality check, and found that there are pockets of under served rural areas but not necessarily a shortage of veterinarians to fill those needs. " the problem is that those under served rural areas are not able to sustain a veterinary practice. she explains it ' s similar to rural issues with human healthcare, and requires some examination of alternative solutions to serving those communities rather than flooding the food - animal veterinary field with qualified graduates and limited job openings. to address the issue of providing veterinary care in under served rural areas, the aabp has set up three new subcommittees that will : - identify alternative and sustainable business models in rural areas. - develop tools to help veterinarians hone business skills. - look at the role of veterinary technicians to fill this gap.


the rebuilding of the temple, which had began under cyrus when the persians first took over the babylonian empire, and which was then interrupted for 18 years, resumed with blessing of darius ii, the persian king whom we believe to be the son of esther. the work is completed in 350 bce and the temple is re - dedicated. but it is not the same. the intense spiritually of the first temple cannot be compared to the second. the constant open miracles are gone. prophecy will also disappear during the early years of the second temple. the ark of the covenant is gone ― and although there is a holy of holies, it stands empty. the ark ― this special gold - lined cedar chest which had contained the tablets of the ten commandments ― was the place where the shechina, the presence of god, descended from heaven between the outstretched wings of the two golden cherubs. what happened to it? the talmud talks about it and relates two opinions. ( 1 ) one opinion says the babylonians took it into captivity. the other opinion says that it was hidden by king josiah who had anticipated the impending invasion and destruction. there ' s a well - known story told in the talmud of a cohen, a priest, who finds a loose stone on the temple mount and realizes that ' s where the ark is hidden. on the way to tell others about it, he dies. ( 2 ) the point of the story is that the ark is not meant to be found. not yet. ezra and nechemiah the jews who rebuild the temple in jerusalem were faced with many challenges and difficulties. strong leadership would be essential for them to be able to both rebuilt the temple and re - establish a strong community. two individuals played a critical role in the re - establishment of the jewish community in israel. one was ezra. a scribe and scholar and a jewish community leader in persia, ezra, a cohen, hears that the jewish community in the holy land is floundering with neither king nor prophet. so, he takes with him 1, 496 well - chosen men with leadership abilities and comes to the rescue. ezra is so well thought of in the talmud that it is written of him that " the torah could have been given to israel through ezra, if not that moses preceded him " ( sanhedrin 21b ). this high praise goes to ezra for the spiritual rebuilding of the jewish people and his efforts to reinstate torah law in the land. among his most dramatic reforms is his war against assimilation and inter - marriage. indeed,


sanhedrin 21b ). this high praise goes to ezra for the spiritual rebuilding of the jewish people and his efforts to reinstate torah law in the land. among his most dramatic reforms is his war against assimilation and inter - marriage. indeed, the book of ezra condemns all the men living in israel who had married non - jewish wives and gives their names ― all 112 of them. ( ezra 10 : 18 - 44. ) you might ask : why the big deal? after all, only 112 men strayed. today, millions of jews are intermarrying ― the intermarriage rate in america over 50 %. the difference is that 2, 500 years ago, even one jew intermarrying was an outrage. now society accepts it as normal. so - called " progressive " congregations in america are even shopping for rabbis who will officiate at mixed marriages ― to lend legitimacy to something the bible repeatedly condemns, and which spells the death of the jewish people. through ezra ' s efforts, these mixed marriages are dissolved. all the people are then gathered in jerusalem ― men and women from all over the country ― and the torah is read out loud to all. at the end, all present pledge not to intermarry, uphold the torah and strengthen themselves spiritually. ( 3 ) the other major personality of this period is nechemiah, a leader of the jewish community of babylon and an official of the emperor darius ii. while ezra had succeeded in spiritually strengthening the returnees, jerusalem remained un - walled and unprotected. thirteen years after the arrival of ezra, nechemiah arrives, having been appointed governor by darius. after surveying jerusalem he announces : " come, let us build the walls of jerusalem so that we will no longer be an object of scorn. " ( nechemiah 2 : 17 ). despite the efforts of the surrounding peoples to hinder its construction, the wall is completed. spiritually and physically fortified, jerusalem will prosper and its population will expand. despite ezra ' s efforts ( and those of the other leaders ) the temple is spiritually a shadow of its former self. the returnees from babylon are not in a position to rebuild the temple as splendid as solomon ' s. eventually ( circa 30 bce ) it will be rebuilt again by herod the great, and made into a spectacular structure, but even though it is going to be physically beautiful, it will be spiritually empty when compared with the first temple. and even though there are going to


) it will be rebuilt again by herod the great, and made into a spectacular structure, but even though it is going to be physically beautiful, it will be spiritually empty when compared with the first temple. and even though there are going to be high priests, the institution will become corrupt. according to the talmud, during the first temple period of about 410 years, there were only 18 high priests. during the second temple period of 420 years, there were more than 300 high priests! we know ( from the talmud, yoma 9a ) that yochanan was high priest for 80 years, shimon was high priest for 40 years, and yishmael ben pabi was high priest for 10 years. that means in the remaining 290 years there were at least 300 priests ― one every year or so. what accounts for that? the talmud tells us that the holy of holies was forbidden ground, except for yom kippur. on that one day only, the high priests entered to perform special rites before god. but if he himself was not spiritually pure and unable to focus, he would not be able to stand the intense encounter with god and would die on the spot. we know that during the second temple period a rope had to be tied to the high priest, so that in case he died, he could be pulled out of the holy of holies. because the whole high priesthood was a corrupted institution for most of the second temple period, the high priests died or were replaced every year. ( 4 ) and yet people clamored for the job, which went to the highest bidder. so the question has to be asked : if he was going to die on yom kippur, who would want the position? one possible answer is that many of the candidates strongly believed that their incorrect temple service was actually the correct way to do it. ( 5 ) that is how bad things go loss of prophecy why did things get so bad? largely because prophecy disappeared from the land and strong central authority was largely lacking. when the prophets were around and leadership was strong, heresy was much more difficult. a prophet talked to god and he ' d straighten a heretic right out. no one could deny basic tenets of judaism in the face of prophecy and open miracles. in the period of the judges and the first temple an individual could always make a free - will decision to reject judaism, worship idols and even use the impure spirituality of idolatry to perform magic and divination, but the