around the babies, including grandparents, inoculated can protect the unvaccinated child. despite assurances that these vaccines are safe, more parents are choosing to delay getting their children vaccinated or not vaccinating them at all. just last week, a study in the journal of the american medical association ( jama ) found " undervaccination appears to be an increasing trend. " and two weeks ago, a report from the institute of medicine not only found no evidence of major safety concerns when following the recommended vaccine schedules, it also " confirmed that following the schedule strongly reduces the risk of disease. " meissner says it ' s " such a mistake for people not to vaccinate according to the current schedule. " he adds that " a vaccine is not added to the vaccine schedule by fda, cdc, aap unless we are absolutely convinced of the benefit of that vaccine and the safety of the vaccine. " still, some have suggested there are alternate ways to vaccinate children by either spacing out the vaccines or even dropping some. " there is no " alternate " vaccine schedule, " says dr. paul offit, chief of the infectious diseases division at children ' s hospital of philadelphia, co - inventor of a rotovirus vaccine and author of " deadly choices : how the anti - vaccine movement threatens us all. " he says about 13 % of parents are choosing not to vaccine or delay vaccinating their children and " that ' s a dangerous thing to do " because the vaccine - preventable diseases can kill. dr. william schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at vanderbilt university medical center, says " there isn ' t any doubt, there are increasing exceptions to the acip / aap immunization schedule. " childhood vaccinations are being ignored for a variety of reasons, he says. " there are those who are vaccine skeptics or parents don ' t get around to it ; parents are forgetful, or children are not able to get vaccine for health reasons and are listed as not receiving vaccine. " this opens the door for the occasional importation of disease, like measles - which is still very much present in other parts of the world, he says. " i find this disquieting because i think there will be more clusters of more spread of forgotten disease. " the 2013 vaccine schedule calls for vaccinating against 16 diseases : diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis ( who


need help on arrays urgently??? posted by java _ learner ( java _ learner ), 23 march 2003hi.. there. is there any great java programmers out there who can help me on arrays? i am really lose in it and i am trying to create a programme using arrays. so if anyone out there who is kind enough to help me pls reply in either this forum or emailing me thks.. my email add is email @ example. com posted by admin ( graham ellis ), 23 march 2003i ' ve been updating the section on array in our java course over the last couple of days.... here ' s how it starts - it may help there will be frequent occasions when you ' ll want to perform the same operation on a whole series of primitives or objects one after the other, and it won ' t be practical to hold each in a separate named variable. instead of using individual variables, we ' ll use a whole number of variables all in one : * we ' ll give the whole thing a single name * we ' ll access elements by their numeric position in the table * and we ' ll call the whole thing an array let ' s see an example. we ' ll : * create an array * read a number of float values into it * write out the values back - to - front ( clearly this is one of those cases where we have to store what could be a lot of numbers. ) let ' s look through the various parts of that. * definition and declaration just like other variables we have seen, you must define that the variable called " costs " is going to contain float information, and you must also declare it ' s going to be an array : that has defined how the variable name will be used, but has not set aside any memory for it. since computers store things one - after - another in memory, we must actually create our array, declaring its size : costs = new float ; in java, the array is actually an object created by using the new method. it is important that you understand the distinction between defining an array and actually allocating the memory for it, although in practice you could do both in one line : float costs = new float ; we have defined that a variable name is to be used as an array, and we have set aside the memory for it. how do we actually make use of it? we refer to the array name, and then the element number in square brackets. elements are counted from 0 up


name is to be used as an array, and we have set aside the memory for it. how do we actually make use of it? we refer to the array name, and then the element number in square brackets. elements are counted from 0 up, so our five - element array is numbered zero to four. as well as referring to elements by giving an integer constant, we can use an integer variable, or even an integer expression within the square brackets, so that we calculate the element number. and we can use array elements anywhere where we could use just a simple variable of the same type. thus, in our sample program, we had : costs [ count ] = wellreader. read _ number ( ) ; which set an element of the array to contain the number read from the user, and : if ( costs [ count ] < = 0. 0 ) break ; which used an element of the array in a calculation ( in this case to yield a boolean result ), and : ph : 01144 1225 708225 • fax : 01144 1225 899360 • email : firstname. lastname @ example. org • web : http : / / www. wellho. net • skype : wellho


the celebration of the martin luther king, jr. national holiday, this year on monday, jan. 21, has moved from a time of recognizing the man who ultimately gave his life for racial and social equality in non - violent activism., to a day of community service, grounded in dr. king ’ s teachings to help solve social problems. dr. king was quoted, saying, “ life ’ s most persistent and urgent question is : ‘ what are you doing for others? ’ ” the federal holiday was designated in 1983, and after that community services were held in the white lake area on martin luther king jr. day until 2009. they were organized by the interracial committee for communication and understanding which since has disbanded. services were held in an area church, and school students participated by singing in choirs and reciting king ’ s famous “ i have a dream ” speech. in 1994 congress designed the federal holiday as a day of service, and last year hundreds of thousands of volunteers in cities and towns in all 50 states participated in service projects. in 2012, nearly 7, 000 individuals honored dr. kings ’ s legacy through more than 19, 000 hours of service. but, none in the white lake area. and this year, a search of the website, www. serve. gov showed no organized mlk service opportunities within 25 miles of the whitehall zip code. and, in a beacon poll last week, only three of the respondents said they planned to do something to recognize martin luther king, jr. day. that ’ s sad because we live in a community known for its volunteerism and service to one another. it ’ s not too late to individually do an act of service on monday - to go out of your way to help others. let ’ s not let the memory of martin luther king, jr. fade into history and not positively impact our lives.


other rabies biological products category 3 exposures defined as single or multiple transdermal bite / scratchs or contamination of mucous membranes with saliva, call, in most instances in a rabies infected area, for passive immunization in association with vaccination. two types of products are available for passive immunization : human and animal ( mainly equine ) immunoglobulin. in developing countries the use of highly purified horse immunoglobulin, that are safer than the heterologous products of the previous generation, should provide at least a partial solution to the problems of access to human immunoglobulin and the cost involved. production techniques for both products are provided below as well as detailed purification techniques for heterologous immunoglobulins. however, the current situation in developing countries is characterized by the following : - less than 1 % of all pet are comprised of vaccine and serum - human rig is available in confidential quantities on specific markets and is too expensive for most people ( about $ 250 per adult patient, approximately five times more expensive than purified horse serum ) - cheaper and safe ( purified pepsin digested horse serum ) equine immunoglobulin ( erig ) is available in limited quantities and in most situations is inaccessible to those that need it most in addition this situation is getting worse as : - more and more international manufacturers are discontinuing erig production - where production of purified equine products has been initiated ( e. g. thailand ) it remains limited and hardly satisfies national needs - animal protection groups that are becoming more and more influential in developing countries, condemn animal rearing for serum production in this context accelerating research and development of alternative products is very timely and using a limited number of carefully selected mabs for therapeutic purpose is an attractive possibility. mabs have demonstrated their activity in certain animal models and with the progress of technology their potential ease of production in large quantities at low cost and ease of quality control compared to polyclonal serum is attractive. in 2002 considering the chronic shortage of immunoglobulin in developing countries who convened a meeting of its network of who collaborating centres on rabies to discuss the feasibility of producing a monoclonal antibody cocktail for rabies post - exposure treatment ( full report, web only [ pdf, 26, 2 kb ] ) - production of antirabies serum of equine origin different types of equine antirabies immunoglobulin


cocktail for rabies post - exposure treatment ( full report, web only [ pdf, 26, 2 kb ] ) - production of antirabies serum of equine origin different types of equine antirabies immunoglobulin ( erig ) have been produced using various immunogenic preparations, consisting usually of a combination of inactivated and fixed strains of rabies virus. a therapeutic antirabies immunoglobulin for human use is produced at the queen saovabha memorial institute ( qmsi ), bangkok, thailand, by immunizing horses with a purified vero cell rabies ( pvr ) vaccine. the animals are given a series of injections of the vaccine in increasing volumes. all the injections are given subcutaneously into the lateral aspect of the neck. the immunization period lasts 105 days and the first bleeding is made 14 days later. for more information, please click on the link. purification techniques for heterologous rabies antiserum in view of the high costs of rabies immunoglobulin of human origin ( hrig ), heterologous ( mainly equine ) immunoglobulins are still frequently prescribed for the prevention of rabies in persons who have been severely exposed ( category iii ) to the virus, even though they may cause sensitization and are eliminated more rapidly than hrig. purification techniques can be used to reduce the risk of sensitization to erig. their objective is to maximize the specific activity and to minimize the allergenic substances in the product. when these techniques are implemented, it is advisable to adhere to the recommendations of the who expert committee on biological standardization. the purification of immunoglobulins from human plasma is carried out according to the technique of cohn et al, based on the selective precipitation of proteins by chilled ethanol. this technique has been adapted for purifying heterologous immunoglobulins and was described in the third edition of laboratory techniques in rabies. chapter 45 of the fourth edition ( see link below ) describes two other techniques for the purification of erig, which may be applied to clarified equine serum or plasma. production of human rabies immunoglobulin the combination of local treatment of the wound, passive immunization with rabies immunoglobulins and vaccination is recommended for all severe ( category iii ) exposures to rabies. the use of homologous


who report 2008 global tuberculosis control 1. 8 progress towards impact targets included in the millennium development goals 1. 8. 1 trends in incidence, prevalence and mortality with the 9. 2 million new incident tb cases in 2006, there were an estimated 14. 4 million prevalent cases ( 219 / 100 000 ) on average ( table 1. 2 ). an estimated 1. 7 million people ( 25 / 100 000 ) died from tb in 2006, including those coinfected with hiv ( 231 000 ). the sequence of annual estimates up to 2006 suggests ( as in the data up to 2005 ) that all three major indicators of impact – incidence, prevalence and mortality per 100 000 population – are falling globally. in our assessment, prevalence was already in decline by 1990, mortality peaked before the year 2000 and incidence began to fall in 2003 ( figure 1. 20 ). tb prevalence continued to fall globally between 1990 and 2006 because, in africa, the hiv epidemic caused a smaller increase in prevalence than in incidence or mortality. the fall in the global incidence rate reinforces data presented in global tuberculosis control 2007. if verified by further monitoring, the data show that mdg 6 target 6. c was met by 2004, well ahead of the target date of 2015 ( though as noted above, the total number of new cases continues to rise, due to population growth in the african, eastern mediterranean, european and south - east asia regions ). this turnover of the global epidemic is largely explained by stable or falling hiv prevalence in africa and by the stabilization of tb incidence in the independent states that emerged from the dissolution of the union of soviet socialist republics. it is unlikely that either of these two phenomena is due primarily to the implementation of hiv / aids or tb control programmes ( see next section 1. 8. 2 on determinants of tb dynamics ), and there is little evidence, from regional trends in case notifications, that dots is accelerating the decline of the incidence of tb on a large scale in asia. the targets related to reductions in prevalence and deaths that have been set by the stop tb partnership – to halve 1990 prevalence and death rates by 2015 – are more demanding. if the estimated changes between 2001 and 2006 are correct, and if the average rates of change over this period persist, then prevalence and deaths per capita will fall quickly enough to meet the 2015 targets in the region of the americas and in the eastern mediterranean, south - east asia and western pacific regions ( figure 1. 21 ). they will not, however, be met in the african and european regions


will fall quickly enough to meet the 2015 targets in the region of the americas and in the eastern mediterranean, south - east asia and western pacific regions ( figure 1. 21 ). they will not, however, be met in the african and european regions. in line with the trends in incidence ( figure 1. 6 ), prevalence and death rates increased in the african and european regions between 1990 and 2006, most dramatically in africa. for this reason, estimates for these two regions in 2006 are very much larger than the 2015 target values. based on progress between 2001 and 2006, and combining the results for all regions, the mortality and prevalence targets are unlikely to be met worldwide by 2015 ( figure 1. 21 ). 1. 8. 2 determinants of tb dynamics : comparisons among countries a further assessment of the scale of the impact of dots around the world can be made by examining the national statistics that lie behind the regional and global summaries. the series of cases reported by 134 countries between 1997 and 2006 indicate that tb incidence rates per capita in most countries were changing at between – 10 % and + 10 % annually between 1997 and 2006, and falling slowly in the majority of these countries ( figure 1. 6 and 1. 7 ). it is possible that these variable rates of decline are attributable to the uneven success of tb control programmes. alternatively, the differences among countries might be explained by other factors that affect transmission of and susceptibility to disease. one way to distinguish between possible explanations is to identify, by comparing countries, which factors are more or less closely associated with changes in tb incidence. in an preliminary ecological analysis1 of 30 possible explanatory variables ( for methods, see annex 2 ), trends in incidence per 100 000 population in the latin america and caribbean subregion are associated ( p < 0. 05 ) with hiv prevalence ( r2 = 0. 41, figure 1. 22a ), with under - 5 mortality ( r2 = 0. 32 ), and with access to clean water ( r2 = 0. 43 ) and adequate sanitation ( r2 = 0. 50 ), among other variables. in the high - income countries of western europe and the united states of america, immigration is the single most important factor associated with tb dynamics ( figure 1. 22b ). in central and eastern europe and in the eastern mediterranean region, tb trends are linked to a variety of economic indicators including health expenditure per capita ( figure 1. 22c ) and expenditure in relation to gdp ( figure


( figure 1. 22b ). in central and eastern europe and in the eastern mediterranean region, tb trends are linked to a variety of economic indicators including health expenditure per capita ( figure 1. 22c ) and expenditure in relation to gdp ( figure 1. 22d ). only three of seven direct measures of tb control were significantly associated with trends in tb incidence, and the form of the association does not suggest any causal link. for example, smear - positive treatment success under dots ( r2 = 0. 29 ), and the product of case detction ( all forms of tb ) and treatment success ( r2 = 0. 32 ), were inversely correlated with tb decline in high - income countries. in multivariate analyses of this kind, the numerous explanatory variables tend to be inter - related, and some are more obviously linked to tb trends as covariates, rather than as primary epidemiological determinants. for example, in the african region incidence was increasing more quickly in countries that spent more on tb control ( r2 = 0. 49, figure 1. 22e ). the likely explanation lies in the association between expenditure on tb per capita and hiv prevalence, with richer african countries that can spend more on health care also having higher hiv prevalence ( r2 = 0. 53 ). similarly, the decline in tb incidence in central and eastern europe tends to be faster in countries where a higher proportion of women smoke ( r2 = 0. 67, figure 1. 22f ). the likely explanation is that smoking among women reflects affluence, which is linked to health and health services in ways that outweigh the importance of smoking as a risk factor for tb ( correlation with gdp, r2 = 0. 67 ). in brief, this ecological analysis provides no evidence that the standard, direct measures of dots implementation - case detection and treatment success in various combinations - can yet explain the variation in incidence trends among countries, despite the wide variation in dots implementation among countries. this observation suggests - subject to further investigation - that dots programmes have not yet had a major impact on tb transmission and incidence around the world. all of the caveats attached to this proposition must be carefully examined before drawing firm conclusions. key assumptions to be tested are that trends in case notifications reflect trends in tb incidence, and that there is measurable and meaningful variation among countries in incidence trends and their determinants. it is also possible that dots programmes have significantly cut transmission, but it is too


one man ' s swamp is a fish ' s nursery grad student examines otoliths ( fish ear bones ) to protect critical areas for juvenile coral reef fish a parade of schoolmaster snapper swims by me, their neon yellow fins directing traffic. echoing in the background is the rhythmic crunch of striped parrotfish nibbling on coral polyps. i ’ m chasing brightly colored coral reef fish through turquoise waters during a childhood vacation to the cayman islands. back on land, the hotel i just left begins construction of a new tennis court where a mangrove swamp had flourished. like most tourists, i ’ ve come for the main show : magnificent coral reefs and the rainbows of fish that dance through them. as i diligently scour the reef for every fish on my checklist, i never stop to question where those fish came from or how they got there. who would have guessed that it ' s what goes on behind the scenes, in mangrove swamps like the one my hotel just paved over, that keeps the main show on coral reefs going. mangroves are like nursery schools for many of the “ celebrity fish, ” such as snappers, parrotfish, and barracuda, that attract millions of tourists to the caribbean each year. amid the mangroves ' tangled undersea roots, juvenile coral reef fish are well - fed and protected from bullies and predators until they mature and can migrate out to populate coral reefs. these valuable nurseries are disappearing at an alarming rate, and so are the fish they support. it ’ s ironic : the sweltering, mosquito - filled mangroves being so eagerly destroyed may be more important to tourism than the tennis courts and martini bars that replace them. scientists estimate we ’ ve already lost 30 to 60 percent of the world ’ s mangroves. meanwhile, more than 70 percent of all reefs are threatened by human activities — from farming and fishing to boating and coastal development. coral reefs offer people living resources, from fish to ecotourism, worth more than $ 375 billion each year, according to the united nations environment program. such dollar figures emphasize the need for management practices such as marine reserves to protect these reefs and their resident fishes. which swamps should we protect? it ’ s been more than a decade since my childhood vacation to the cayman islands, and i ’ m still diving in the caribbean. this time, however, it ’ s as a ph. d. student in the mit / whoi joint program. i study the migration of schoolmaster snapper from their juvenile nurseries


islands, and i ’ m still diving in the caribbean. this time, however, it ’ s as a ph. d. student in the mit / whoi joint program. i study the migration of schoolmaster snapper from their juvenile nurseries in mangroves to coral reefs. unfortunately, we can ’ t save all of the mangroves. my goal is to determine which mangroves and how many mangroves need to be included in marine reserves to safeguard coral reef fish for generations to come. one of the biggest obstacles to protecting coral reef fish is identifying which juvenile nurseries supply the most fish to coral reefs. let ’ s suppose there were several schools that had fantastic teachers and ample resources. however, no one knew which of these schools graduated the most students into successful adults. that ’ s the problem we are facing right now with coral reef fish. i am developing a method, using chemical tags in the ear bones of coral reef fish, to identify which juvenile nurseries are supplying fish to the adult populations on coral reefs. tracking the movements of marine animals has led to incredibly inventive techniques that would make sherlock holmes proud. scientists studying big animals such as whales, sharks, and giant tuna can use sophisticated electronic tags that beam data directly to their offices via satellite as these animals make spectacular ocean migrations. the fish i study are far too small for that : if i put such tags on a juvenile snapper, it would sink to the bottom like a rock. to find out where my fish have traveled, i need something a little more subtle. chemical clues in fish ' s ear bones studying biology and chemistry as an undergraduate at bates college in lewiston, maine, gave me the idea to approach ecological questions such as fish migration from a chemical perspective. mangrove swamps contain carbon, oxygen, and sulfur with distinctive stable isotopes — natural, nonharmful variations in elements that act like a unique chemical address. following the old adage “ you are what you eat, ” the tissue of snappers living and feeding in a mangrove system get imprinted with that mangrove system ’ s stable isotope values, like a chemical address label. the tissue i ’ m interested in is called an otolith. it ’ s an ear bone made of calcium carbonate and protein that helps fish maintain their balance. as the fish grows, its otoliths form sequential rings, much like a tree trunk, corresponding to different times in the fish ’ s life. the chemical makeup of each ring tells us where the fish had been living during that period of time


. as the fish grows, its otoliths form sequential rings, much like a tree trunk, corresponding to different times in the fish ’ s life. the chemical makeup of each ring tells us where the fish had been living during that period of time — a fishy chemical address book. over the past two years, i have been figuring out how to decipher the chemical addresses stored in otoliths using stable isotope chemistry. as it turns out, some of the smallest compounds may tell the biggest stories. i am identifying specific compounds in otoliths whose stable isotope signatures will say, “ this fish grew up in a mangrove system before it migrated out to the coral reef. ” the non - tropical side of research it all starts with some very small fish and some even smaller otoliths. armed with a scalpel and microscope, i carefully remove the delicate otoliths, each smaller than a grain of rice. i subject the otoliths to a series of chemical processes to identify compounds that reflect the chemical address of the nursery in which that fish lived. this typically involves countless hours injecting samples into a gas chromatograph - combustion - isotope ratio mass spectrometer. this often - temperamental machine tells me the stable isotope values of the otolith material. i match these values to those of the potential nursery habitats to determine where that fish spent its juvenile life. if i do this enough times, i ’ ll be able to say how important those mangrove swamps are to supporting coral reef fish populations. i used to think studying coral reef fish would be all fun in the sun. however, for every day i spend in a wetsuit under the golden sun of the tropics, there are at least 10 more in a white coat under the fluorescent glow of a windowless lab. i ’ ve often run samples for 72 hours straight with only 20 - minute naps in my office chair, using my keyboard as a pillow, to keep me going. a little sleep deprivation is well worth it if it means i can provide the scientific basis to design marine reserves that protect coral reef fishes. with dynamite fishing on reefs and the demolition of mangroves to construct tennis courts, it ’ s not surprising that coral reefs and mangroves have become some of the most degraded environments on earth. i hope my research will guide the conservation of coral reef fishes, so that by the time my children take a caribbean vacation, they can pack their snorkels as well as their tennis rackets. kelton mcmahon ' s research is


yosemite national park ( cnn ) - - health officials said wednesday that they ' ve sent warnings to yosemite national park visitors from 39 other countries about a potentially deadly hantavirus uncovered at some of the park ' s cabins this summer. the centers for disease control and prevention said up to 10, 000 people were at risk, after estimating the number of friends and family members of those who stayed with visitors who booked reservations at the cabins. " all guests who made reservations to stay in the ' signature tent cabins ' from june 10 through august 24, 2012 ( approximately 2, 900 persons ) were e - mailed or mailed a health advisory urging them to seek immediate medical attention if they or other persons in their party exhibit symptoms of hps, " or hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, the cdc reported last week. six cases of hantavirus have been reported at yosemite, the california department of public health said last week. two of those infected died. the syndrome is a rare lung disease that kills about a third of those infected. symptoms can include fever, chills, cough, headaches, gastrointestinal problems, muscle aches and fatigue, though it is not communicable from person to person. the incubation period is typically two to four weeks after exposure, with a range of a few days up to six weeks. in the united states, the carriers of hantavirus are deer mice, cotton rats, rice rats and white - footed mice. the virus can be present in the rodents ' urine, droppings and saliva, and it is spread to people when they breathe in air contaminated with the virus, the cdc says. before this year, yosemite national park saw one hantavirus case each in 2000 and 2010. there is no specific treatment for a hantavirus infection, according to the cdc, but the earlier a patient is brought to intensive care, the better. designed by gray digital media


signing for dummies this title is out - of - print and not currently available for purchase from this site. signing for dummies gives you a general understanding of the properties of sign, as well as an understanding of deaf culture. designed to act as an introduction or a refresher, the book focuses solely on asl. although certainly not the only form of sign language, asl is the most popular in the deaf community within the united states. categorized by subject, this illustrated guide covers grammar and sentence structure, along with the tools to get you going in basic conversation by knowing how to - introduce and greet people - ask questions and make small talk - order food and chat with salespeople - handle medical emergencies - talk on the phone - get around town for fun or business although " speaking " american sign language ( asl ) is mostly a matter of using your fingers, hands, and arms, facial expression and body language are important and sometimes crucial for understanding signs and their meaning. signing for dummies gets the whole body into the action as the fun - to - read resource explores - signs that look like what they mean - expression of emotions and feelings - signing sports and weather - compass points conversations : getting or giving directions - descriptions of where it hurts - deaf community customs, norms, and culture each chapter throughout the book invites you to practice specific signs in a " fun & games " section. translation guides complement the video cd - rom, which features demonstrations by asl signers and actual conversations in progress – all designed to have you moving your hands, body, and face to convey meaning that reaches way beyond linguistic barriers.


by scott lafee, cns climate change is nothing to sneeze at. indeed, if researchers are right, you might be sneezing more. in a new published study, scientists at arizona state university say an analysis of flu and climate patterns in the united states from 1997 to the present suggests that warm winters are usually followed by heavier - than - normal influenza outbreaks. “ it appears that fewer people contract influenza during warm winters, and this causes a major portion of the population to remain vulnerable into the next ( flu ) season, causing an early and strong emergence, ” said study author sherry towers, a professor at the mathematical, computational and modeling sciences center at asu. “ and when a flu season begins exceptionally early, much of the population has not had a chance to get vaccinated, potentially making that flu season even worse. ” the current flu season may be a case in point : it began early and fiercely and still rages in parts of the country. the vermont department of health has labeled the current flu level in vermont “ widespread, ” meaning that outbreaks of influenza or influenza - like illness are reported in at least half the regions in the state. this flu season followed a relatively light 2011 season and coincided with the fourth warmest winter on record. according to studies, flu transmission decreases in warm or humid conditions. the authors speculate that if global warming continues, with warm summers becoming more common, the emergence of future flu seasons is likely to be more dramatic and perhaps more devastating.


a north coast winter that began with storm after drenching storm has petered out into one of the driest months of january on record, with no major precipitation in sight. alex dodd, a meteorologist with the national weather service eureka office, said the area did see three - quarters of an inch of rain one day this month, but only a total of 2. 94 inches. the normal january rainfall total is 6. 5 inches. just 16 januarys have been drier than this one since the weather service started taking records locally in 1887, said national weather service hydrologist reginald kennedy. five of the driest months have occurred since 1990, he said. despite the recent dry weather, dodd said the region has seen about average rainfall overall since the beginning of the season because of the surplus water from the early, wet storms in november and december. ” the normal has been catching up to us, ” dodd said. it ' s not worrisome, he said - - unless the trend continues. “ if we go through most of february with dry weather, that may be a concern. ” california snow surveyors have confirmed the water content of snow that has accumulated in the sierra is slightly below average for this time of year. measurements last week showed the water content at 93 percent of normal statewide. that ' s not bad - - but a month ago it was at 140 percent. the north coast region snow pack is at 87 percent, dodd said. again, that ' s not a bad number - - but if it doesn ' t california water agencies depend on a melting snowpack to replenish the state ' s reservoirs throughout the summer. about one - third of the state ' s water comes from snowmelt. the level of upper klamath lake in oregon, which feeds the klamath river and accompanying local resources like salmon, is about a foot below average, according to the bureau of reclamation. the reservoir started the winter season at a 20 - year low that had local fish advocates concerned after such a prosperous salmon year. the dry weather pattern recently is the result of a jetstream heading north into british columbia, and a ridge of high pressure that set up off the coast that has kept any wet storms at bay, dodd said. the north coast could see a small amount of rain midway through next week, but it won ' t bring much, and will move through quickly, he said. ” the hose will get turned back on, ” dodd said. “ enjoy it while it lasts. hopefully it doesn ' t


the walker circulation is made up of trade winds blowing from east to west across the tropical pacific ocean ( blue arrow ), bringing moist surface air to the west. in the western tropical pacific, the moist air rises, forming clouds. the rising air becomes drier because most of its moisture falls to the surface as rain. winds blow from west to east, moving the now drier air toward south america. the dry air returns back to the surface in the eastern tropical pacific, completing the loop. click on image for full size image courtesy of noaa geophysical fluid dynamics laboratory the walker circulation is an ocean - based system of air circulation. this system influences weather on the earth. normally, the warm, wet western pacific ocean is under a low pressure system, and the cool and dry eastern pacific ocean is under a high pressure system. this causes surface air to move east to west, from high pressure in the eastern pacific to low pressure in the western pacific. higher up in the atmosphere, winds flow from west to east, and this completes the loop. the walker circulation is part of the normal weather conditions in the tropical pacific ocean. normally, the western pacific has warm, wet weather and eastern pacific has cool, dry weather. the walker circulation changes every few years, and this changes the weather. this is part of the el nino - southern oscillation ( enso ). when the walker circulation weakens, it is called el nino. when the walker circulation is very strong, it is called la nina. el nino and la nina impact the weather in north and south america, australia, and southeast africa. el nino and la nina can cause flooding, droughts, and increases or decreases in the number of hurricanes that form. shop windows to the universe science store! the fall 2009 issue of the earth scientist, which includes articles on student research into building design for earthquakes and a classroom lab on the composition of the earth ’ s ancient atmosphere, is available in our online store you might also be interested in : wind is moving air. warm air rises, and cool air comes in to take its place. this movement creates the winds around the globe. winds move at different speeds and have different names based on their speed.... more hurricanes form in the tropics over warm ocean water. the storms die down when they move over land or out of the tropics. at the center of the rotating storm is a small area of calm weather and clear skies... more the winds in the southeast pacific mainly blow from south to north


the storms die down when they move over land or out of the tropics. at the center of the rotating storm is a small area of calm weather and clear skies... more the winds in the southeast pacific mainly blow from south to north. they affect the weather and climate in the region. they also affect the climate in other places around the world. air near the equator... more the atacama desert is one of the driest places on earth. the atacama is in the country of chile in south america. in an average year, this desert gets less than 1 millimeter ( 0. 04 inch ) of rain! it is... more rainbows appear in the sky when there is bright sunlight and rain. sunlight is known as visible or white light and is actually a mixture of colors. the sun ' s rays pass through millions of raindrops. a... more it takes the earth one year to travel around the sun one time. during this year, there are four seasons : summer, autumn, winter, and spring. each season depends on the amount of sunlight reaching the... more scientists sometimes travel in airplanes that carry weather instruments in order to gather data about the atmosphere. these research aircraft bring air from the outside into the plane so scientists can... more


designing sailbots to mop up oil spills - 8 : 00 am it ’ s the second anniversary of the deepwater horizon disaster. of the many terrible lessons learned from the event, perhaps the most tragic is the shocking inadequacy of current cleanup technology. given how often we spill oil this is an urgent problem. enter protei : an open source, shapeshifting, oil - spill - cleaning sailboat drone. developed by a globally connected network of designers, engineers, tinkerers, and makers who are hell - bent on finding a better way to clean up the ocean, protei kicked off just after the deepwater horizon accident. “ i was working at mit as project leader developing technologies to clean up the oil spill using patented expensive technologies for a distant future, ” says project coordinator cesar harada. “ i decided to quit my dream job to develop an open hardware, affordable, and realist technology to clean up oil spills. ” harada left mit and headed to new orleans, where he worked with the louisiana bucket brigade to map the spill. meanwhile, he began designing protei. oil skimming is an old technology. it hasn ’ t been much improved since the 1990 exxon valdez spill, which prompted regulations that oil companies maintain emergency skimmer fleets. dumped oil mostly floats on sea water and drifts downwind, away from the spill. the challenges of cleanup are multitude : weather conditions on the ocean do not lend themselves to careful skimming ; the work is dangerous, exposing people to incredibly toxic materials ; and it ’ s hard to separate oil from water completely, so a lot of the slick gets left behind. protei attempts to address these problems by creating an autonomous sailing vessel that pulls behind it a long, oil - absorbent boom. without a human crew, the drone poses no safety threats. the idea is that you could set a swarm of the robot skiffs out to sea, on the downwind edge of the spill. as they tack back and forth against the wind, their tails would collect oil. protei ’ s bow rudder makes steering easy, even with a heavy tail, and the boat has a shape - shifting hull, which allows it to twist and bend like a fish. “ fish — and their shape - shifting bodies — existed long before humans, so we know we ’ re on the right track, ” says harada. but his greatest achievement, he says, is having developed a community around the project, which makes it advance much more quickly


shape - shifting bodies — existed long before humans, so we know we ’ re on the right track, ” says harada. but his greatest achievement, he says, is having developed a community around the project, which makes it advance much more quickly than an invention with a single author. “ if you are developing environmental technology, you want to make sure it is going to reach the greatest number at the lowest cost possible, as fast as possible, ” he says. the biggest barrier to solving technical problems with any project isn ’ t the pace of discovery, harada says, but the requirement of keeping a tight hold on intellectual property that comes with receiving funding. so he dispensed with the idea of a traditional company and launched the project on kickstarter with an open hardware license. the community is documenting the shifting design process and every prototype it makes. at each step of the way, it offers its lessons to the world. “ version after version, we keep improving the design and discovering new properties, ” harada says. if successful, protei could go well beyond oil spills. “ we have several hundreds of millions of tons of plastic in the ocean to collect. we need distributed surface instrumentation to study disappearing corals reefs, monitor shrinking fisheries, measure radioactivity leaks and much more, ” harada says. “ saying we are ‘ motivated ’ is a weak word. ” all images courtesy protei


when implementing a wlan, the concepts generally associated with network management come into a whole new light. with a traditional wired lan, most network management can be done through configuration of switches, routers, and the layout of the physical cable plant. monitoring takes place through management tools that watch the network through the devices and statistics or network - related information can be gathered through these tools. in a wlan, it has been difficult to port these types of management tools and procedures over to a whole new network infrastructure. most of the existing tools are not designed to handle wlans, and the tools that are designed for wlans are not necessarily designed to interface well with existing network tools. this has led to difficulty in wlans being adopted into corporate environments where network management is a critical and necessary part of daily operations. as the wireless technologies improve, more and more tools are available to help integrate wlans into an existing wired lan infrastructure. obviously, one of these tools is the subject of this book, the cisco wireless - aware lan. this concept is covered later in this chapter and throughout the remainder of the book. the important point to remember is that wireless technologies evolve almost daily and as time goes on, the integration of wlans and wired lans will become easier to administer and control.


sorry, no definitions found. “ the other method is known as the abjad method or ordinal method. ” “ phoenico - hebrew alphabet and the " abjad " of the arabs. ” “ for mnemonic purposes the 28 letters are distributed into eight words of which the first and second are abjad and hawwaz. ” “ they are disposed in the order of the letters of the abjad - hawwaz or older alphabet, 420 according to their numerical power, and in them are secret virtues which none knoweth save allah ( extolled and exalted be he! ) and the stablished in science. ” “ to this i may add that the french translators have sadly corrupted the words which should be abjad, hawwaz, hutti, kalaman, sa ' fas, and karashat ; whilst sakhiz and zuzigh are not found in the hebrew and cognate dialects. ” “ [ en # 62 ] el - abjad, the oldest existing form of the arabic alphabet ; to judge from its being identical with the hebrew. ” “ abjad alphabet which contains only the hebrew and syriac letters not the six arabic. ” “ pixxiplamtu is a porbeagle which is very close to a great white which in turn is called kelb il - bahar abjad. ” “ abjad ( ابجد ) style or showed your list with arabic numbers ( on an arabic website ) instead of english? ” “ in the indian subcontinent the abjad numerals became quite popular. ” ‘ abjad ’ hasn ' t been added to any lists yet. looking for tweets for abjad.


american heritage® dictionary of the english language, fourth edition - n. total loss of vision, especially when occurring without pathological changes to the eye. century dictionary and cyclopedia - n. a partial or total loss of sight independent of any discoverable lesion in the eye itself : formerly and still sometimes called gutta, serena ; by milton “ a drop serene, ” p. l., iii. 25. - n. any form of blindness that is accompanied to no obvious change to the eye ; often the result of disease of the optic nerve gnu webster ' s 1913 - n. ( med. ) a loss or decay of sight, from loss of power in the optic nerve, without any perceptible external change in the eye ; - - called also gutta serena, the “ drop serene ” of milton. - n. partial or total loss of sight without pathology of the eye ; caused by disease of optic nerve or retina or brain - greek amaurosis, from amauros, dark. ( american heritage® dictionary of the english language, fourth edition ) “ so, too, i said i would treat a negative disease, such as amaurosis or torpidity of liver, with the negative pole, placing the positive pole on either some healthy or morbidly positive part. ” “ in ' amaurosis ', the eye is beautifully clear, and, for a little while, this clearness imposes upon the casual observer ; but there is a peculiar pellucid appearance about the eye - - a preternatural and unchanging brightness. ” “ haas was born with a kind of degenerative blindness called leber ' s congenital amaurosis. ” “ last fall, a team led by researchers at children ' s hospital of philadelphia and university of pennsylvania school of medicine reported they had successfully injected a gene via a genetically engineered vector into the retinas of 12 patients suffering from a blindness - causing genetic disease called leber ' s congenital amaurosis. ” “ susan robinson, chief executive officer of seattle - based targeted genetics corp., which is involved in an ongoing gene - therapy trial in britain for leber ' s congenital amaurosis. ” “ there has been a lot of ink recently about a new study where researchers used gene therapy to restore sight to patients suffering from a rare form of congenital blindness known as leber congenital amaurosis. ” “ about 2, 000 people in the u. s. have leber ' s congenital amaurosis


study where researchers used gene therapy to restore sight to patients suffering from a rare form of congenital blindness known as leber congenital amaurosis. ” “ about 2, 000 people in the u. s. have leber ' s congenital amaurosis no. 2, caused when a child inherits a certain flawed gene from both parents. ” “ although the patients had a rare form of blindness called leber ' s congenital amaurosis, researchers believe the approach can ultimately be used for a broad spectrum of disorders, including retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration. ” “ but suppose i do what nearly all of the doctors do, who use electricity with any regard to polarity ; that is, if treating acutely inflamed eyes, for example, apply the negative pole to the eyes, thinking thereby to make them more negative ; or, if treating amaurosis, apply the positive electrode to the affected parts, thinking thereby to make them more positive! ” “ simple glaucoma, 104 cases ; improvement, o. 96 per cent ; condition as before, 10. 5 per cent ; deterioration, 52 per cent ; amaurosis, 36. 5 per cent. ” these user - created lists contain the word ‘ amaurosis ’. another compilation of spelling words suitable for intermediate to advanced spellers. list of words ( or phrases ) containing eye -, - eye -, or - eye. beginning with red - eye and eyebright. i ' ve since begun adding other more oblique terms that lack the string - eye -, but that... " luciferous logolepsy is a collection of over 9, 000 obscure english words. though the definition of an ' english ' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. there exist so many adopted, deriv... words i ' ve come across while reading and looked up in the dictionary. found in the wild ( i. e., not on wordie! ) the perfect site for any true wordie who wants to help in small ways. looking for tweets for amaurosis.


american heritage® dictionary of the english language, fourth edition - n. a small cup - shaped structure or organ, such as the cup at the base of an acorn or one of the suckers on the feet of certain flies. century dictionary and cyclopedia - n. a small cup - shaped depression, as in rock. - n. in botany : a form of involucre, occurring in the oak, beech, chestnut, and hazel, consisting of bracts which in fruit cohere into a kind of cup. in fungi, a receptacle shaped like the cup of an acorn, as in peziza. - n. in entomology, a little cup - shaped organ ; specifically, one of the sucking - disks on the lower surface of the tarsi of certain aquatic beetles. - n. also cupula. - n. any small structure shaped like a cup, such as at the base of an acorn, or the sucker on the feet of some flies gnu webster ' s 1913 - n. ( bot. ) a cuplet or little cup, as of the acorn ; the husk or bur of the filbert, chestnut, etc. - n. ( zool. ) a sucker or acetabulum. - n. cup - shaped structure of hardened bracts at the base of an acorn - n. a sucker on the feet of certain flies - late latin cupula, little cask, diminutive of latin cupa, tub. ( american heritage® dictionary of the english language, fourth edition ) “ 6d : nut with a cupule ( acorn ) - remembered this feature from some earlier discussion we had about the word " cupule ” “ a common form of prehistoric rock - art here in california is the cupule. ” “ each girl ground a cupule at the completion of the rite and families had their own special rock faces where this was done. ” “ cohesion of the bracts by their edges, so as to form a tubular involucre, or by their surfaces, so as to form a cupule, is not of uncommon occurrence, under natural conditions, and may be met with in plants which ordinarily do not exhibit this appearance. ” “ ps ( 2008 ) molecular phylogenetics and cupule evolution in fagaceae as inferred from nuclear crabs claw sequences. ” “ [ dr. johnson again. ] acorn... the nut of the oak usu. seated in or


estadio centenario stadium in montevideo was born when fifa assigned the first world cup football championship to uruguay. an adequate venue was missing to host this important event. the uruguayan delegation was engaged in the building of a gigantic stadium that could hold 100, 000 spectators. the entire tournament had to be played in this stadium! works had to start right away. within a year the tournament would start! the stadium was designed by architects juan antonio scasso and jose domato. the initial project consisted of four sectors built in an elliptical shape. if followed a strict geometrical order and was designed to include an athletics track. the different sectors were characterized by a geometrical continuity and by an equal distance to the centre of the playing field. however, it turned out impossible to complete the stadium with three levels of tiers. therefore, the initial project was modified and the third ring was remodelled. it got built on one sector of the stadium only. base areas with standing room were added below the tribunes and therefore the athletics track could not be built anymore. the capacity of remodelled stadium dropped to 70 000. the first world cup tournament was set to start on july 13th, 1930. construction of the stadium was finished only 5 days later. therefore, the first opening match in world cup ' s history was relocated to pocitos stadium, a small stadium that belonged to a local football club named penarol. the new stadium was named ' centenario ' to celebrate the first century of uruguay ' s independency. at that time, the stadium was very modern and functional. it had two levels of tiers, three sections with base areas, and a main tribune with three levels of tiers. on the latter, a tower of 100 meters ( 328 feet ) was built, symbol of the monumental project. on top of the tower, the winning country ' s flag of the world cup tournament flew. in successive years, the stadium was enlarged several times. a third ring of tiers was built on two other sections of the stadiums ( the ones behind the goals ). during the seventies, the stadium could hold a capacity of 90 000 spectators. during these years, a school and museum on football were opened under the tribunes of the stadium. today the stadium contains several stands and it has a capacity of almost 74 000, mostly seating. it is also used for other events. in recent history, for example, it often served as the arrival of the ' vuelta ciclista ', a cycling competition in uruguay.


by bill daley, tribune newspapers november 14, 2012 george washington carver was a scientist who did more to raise the peanut ' s public profile than any other figure in american life, with the possible exception of former farmer - turned - president jimmy carter and planters ' mr. peanut. carver ' s work with peanuts and other crops at alabama ' s famed tuskegee institute benefited millions of farmers in the first half of the 20th century. " the primary idea in all my work was to help the farmer and fill the poor man ' s empty dinner pail, " he once said. " my idea was to help the ' man farthest down, ' this is why i have made every process just as simple as i could put it within his reach. " food science is a field viewed with mixed feelings by many these days. but carver ' s research was seen at the time as a blessing for farmers, especially for african - americans struggling to make a living across the rural south. cotton was king, or so the old saying went, but cotton also robbed the soil of all nutrients. carver promoted peanuts, soybeans and sweet potatoes as crops that could restore farmland to productivity. but he didn ' t stop there. carver realized farmers wouldn ' t grow these plants unless there was a strong enough demand for them. so he created uses for these crops that extended far beyond the kitchen — some 285 uses for peanuts alone, according to a 1941 time magazine article. " he gave black farmers a means of staying on the land. we all couldn ' t move north to chicago and new york, " said michael twitty, a rockville, md. - based writer, food historian and blogger at afroculinaria. com. " carver knew the value of working the land, of being with the land, of working with each other. " carver cared not just for the health of the land but the health of the farmers, twitty added, noting that the diet of poor african - americans at the time was often referred to as the " three m ' s " : meat, meal and molasses. carver promoted crops designed to enrich the diet. a man of faith as well as science and a very talented artist, carver took a green approach to life that many would recognize today. " i love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting system, through which god speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in, " he once said. besides championing farmers, carver promoted natural medicines and believed in recycling.


today. " i love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting system, through which god speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in, " he once said. besides championing farmers, carver promoted natural medicines and believed in recycling. he was " a pioneer of the green manure movement, " said gary r. kremer, author of 2011 ' s " george washington carver : a biography " and executive director of the state historical society of missouri. kremer said carver was ultimately unsuccessful in his dream to transform the south and its economy, largely because so many farmers didn ' t own the land they worked. but the author said carver transformed the lives of so many others by inspiring and empowering them. born a slave in the last years of the civil war, carver became one of the most prominent african - americans in what was then a legally segregated united states. henry ford was his friend. time lauded him as the " black leonardo. " so potent a symbol did he become that eight years after his death in 1943, the federal government issued a commemorative half dollar honoring him and booker t. washington, tuskegee ' s founder and first president. carver ' s birthplace in southwestern missouri was also turned into a national monument and park. for twitty, the attention and respect paid to carver by whites during the jim crow era had a double edge. " here ' s a shining example of the negro thriving under segregation, " he said. " if they stay in their own place, build their own bricks and don ' t ask us for anything, then everything is ok. we can deflect all the tensions and all the negative. " yet twitty noted that carver ' s work has a " subversive " element ; many who studied with him went on to build the civil rights movement. take 88 - year - old eliot battle of columbia, mo. he went to the tuskegee institute so he could study under carver. what struck him most about carver? " his brilliance, and his ability to talk and visit with anybody and not make them feel he was as brilliant as he was or that we were as average as we were, " recalled battle, who went on to a career as an educator and civil rights leader. " he always gave time to anyone who approached him. … he was a positive man with such strength of character. " given the growing interest in the agricultural topics carver was exploring a century ago, there ' s been a resurgence of interest in him. " a lot of


time to anyone who approached him. … he was a positive man with such strength of character. " given the growing interest in the agricultural topics carver was exploring a century ago, there ' s been a resurgence of interest in him. " a lot of people writing cookbooks focusing on natural, healthy foods are following in his footsteps, " twitty said. " peanuts and sweet potatoes wouldn ' t have been emphasized if not for dr. carver. " peanut cookies, number one prep : 25 minutes bake : 17 - 19 minutes per batch makes : 72 cookies note : this cookie, reproduced as worded in george washington carver ' s 1916 bulletin, " how to grow the peanut and 105 ways of preparing it for human consumption, " has a delicacy, an elegance, not associated with the robust kids ' cookie made with peanut butter. " sweet milk " is regular whole milk. we added 3 / 4 teaspoon salt with the dry ingredients and used lightly salted nuts. the recipe calls for vanilla to taste ; we used 2 teaspoons. carver ' s instruction to " bake quickly " today would mean baking the cookies in a 375 - degree oven ; we baked them 17 - 19 minutes. for ground peanuts, chop in a food processor until coarsely ground. 3 cups flour 1 / 2 cup butter 1 cup sweet milk 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 1 / 2 cups ground peanuts ( 9 ounces ) cream butter and sugar ; add eggs well beaten ; now add the milk and flour ; flavor to taste with vanilla ; and the peanuts last ; drop one spoonful to the cooky in well greased pans ; bake quickly. per serving : 63 calories, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 9 mg cholesterol, 7 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, 44 mg sodium, 0 g fiber.


a piece of space debris left over from a 2007 chinese missile test collided with a russian satellite earlier this year, rendering the satellite unusable, a researcher said saturday. the collision appears to have happened january 22. that ' s when it ' s thought a piece of the feng yun 1c weather satellite, which was destroyed in the 2007 missile test, accidentally hit the russian satellite, said t. s. kelso, a senior research astrodynamicist at the center for space standards & innovation. the collision changed the orientation and orbit of the russian satellite, which was being used in scientific experiments, kelso said. it may have also damaged it. " there has been a piece of debris catalogued by u. s. strategic command as a result of that collision, " kelso said. " that would suggest that at least a part of the satellite broke off because of the collision. " it was february 4 when two scientists with the institute for precision instrument engineering in moscow noticed a change in the orbit of the satellite, known as blits, kelso said. the scientists estimated the change happened january 22. they contacted kelso because cssi operates a service that looks for close satellite approaches, he said. cssi looked for objects that may have had a nearby approach with the blits satellite around the time of the collision. the chinese debris was the only object they found. although the predicted distance between the debris and the satellite seemed to preclude a collision, the fact that the close approach happened within 10 seconds of the change in orbit made the feng yun 1c debris the likely culprit, kelso wrote in a blog post. cssi is now working with the russian scientists to find out more about the collision. blits is a small glass sphere that reflected laser beams for research. because of the collision, the satellite now faces the wrong way and can ' t be used, kelso said.


walton county – the florida department of health ( doh ) of walton county advises private well owners affected by flood waters to take precautions against disease - causing organisms that may make water unsafe to drink. doh recommends one of the following : · boil water before use, holding it at rolling boil for at least one minute before using it for drinking, brushing teeth, washing food, cooking, or washing dishes. · disinfect water by adding 8 drops ( about 1 / 8 tsp. – this would form a puddle about the size of a dime ) of plain, unscented household bleach ( 4 to 6 percent active ingredient ) per gallon of water, and then let it stand for 30 minutes. if the water is cloudy after 30 minutes, repeat the procedure once. use a container that has a cap or cover for disinfecting and storing water to be used for drinking. this will prevent contamination. · use bottled water, especially for mixing baby formula. after the flooding subsides : · disinfect your well using the procedures provided by your county or state health department : http : / / www. myfloridaeh. com / water / privatewells. html. you may also visit the u. s. environmental protection agency ’ s website for instructions : http : / / water. epa. gov / drink / info / well / whatdo. cfm. · if available, have your water tested through your county health department or by a laboratory certified by the state to perform a drinking water analysis for coliform bacteria. for more information, please contact the florida department of health in walton county ( 850 ) 892 - 8021 or visit www. doh. state. fl. us or www. floridadisaster. org.


malaria resurges around the globe there is a disease that annually sickens over one - half billion people, killing over 1 million. because of climate change, increasingly aggressive resource extraction, and growing multi - drug resistance, every year, the disease fells 16 percent more than it did the year before. by the turn of the century, this disease will be the world ' s most deadly contagion. it isn ' t ebola, or sars, or avian influenza. it isn ' t multi - drug - resistant staphylococcus bacteria. it isn ' t aids. it ' s malaria, a wily parasite that has plagued humankind and shaped our lopsided world for millennia. " world malaria day " is april 25, and will undoubtedly be full of events and fundraisers drawing attention to the fight against malaria, and most importantly the need for people to step up and donate their dollars. let ' s remember, as we empty our wallets, the depths of our failures against this disease. we ' ve known how to prevent and cure malaria for over a hundred years and yet - still, unforgivably - hundreds of millions are infected very year and scores perish. worse, malaria infection leaves people much more vulnerable to other infections, including hiv. why? according to the editors of the esteemed journal nature, part of the problem is that the public isn ' t hearing the real story. " the agencies involved in the malaria fight, including the who, have for too long been driven by advocacy, " nature complained in a february 28 editorial. the result : " good news spin " that prevents us from understanding the true complexities, challenges, and failures in the fight against this age - old pathogen. minor, predictable gains are painted as major breakthroughs to maintain the donor support that our tepid fight against this neglected, forgotten disease requires. meanwhile the microbe that causes malaria - the protozoan parasite plasmodium, the malignant spawn of an ancient plant gone wrong - proceeds on its rounds, barely deterred. the fundraisers say all that is required is a $ 5 donation to buy a mosquito net for some vulnerable child. as if the failures to control this disease hinge upon some lack of charitability. if only it were so simple. i ' m standing on the cameroonian shore of the gulf of guinea, a gray blob shimmering on the sea at the horizon. it ' s bioko island, where marathon oil has built a giant natural gas installation


it were so simple. i ' m standing on the cameroonian shore of the gulf of guinea, a gray blob shimmering on the sea at the horizon. it ' s bioko island, where marathon oil has built a giant natural gas installation, along with hundreds of neat ranch houses of the type that are commonly found in texas. the ranch houses are supposed to be full of texan oil workers and their families, but they are all empty. " too much damn malaria, " the late malariologist andy spielman, who consulted for marathon, told me. nobody wants to come and risk the bite of a local mosquito. malaria ' s ability to stymie the most powerful companies on earth is testament to its longstanding capacity to transform the history of the landscapes in which it settles, from west africa to london to panama. the mosquito - borne disease is exquisitely sensitive to opportunities in newly disrupted ecologies, which is part of why it has proved such a powerful foe, for we alter our environment as surely as beavers build dams. from the streets of modern panama city to the villas of ancient rome, when malaria parasites are introduced into biologically altered landscape, they ' ve exploited the opportunity, with far - reaching consequences. the net effect of climate change on malaria is a matter of ongoing scientific controversy. what is clear is that our changing climate will exact its pounds of flesh, at least for some, in some places. it isn ' t hard to see how. take for instance the summer of 2005. the clouds never came to the amazon river that year. the patch of warm ocean and rising air that unleashed hurricane katrina in the southeastern united states had the opposite effect across the amazon river basin : instead of tempestuous rains, a lengthy drought. the long clear days of summer had a sudden effect on the river, whose serpentine gulleys carry a fifth of the planet ' s fresh water. in september, the water level plummeted by nearly 2 feet every day. as the water level plunged, the fish started to smother. soon, it was impossible to navigate a canoe down the muddy trickle. thousands of boats were marooned on red, cracked earth. by december, the mighty amazon had turned into a grassy swamp, and the brazilian government was forced to airlift food, water, and medicines to over 800 towns and villages stranded along the former river ' s banks. horacio ramos had planned to drive his boat back 30 miles to his village, but the houseboat was stuck in the mucky


to airlift food, water, and medicines to over 800 towns and villages stranded along the former river ' s banks. horacio ramos had planned to drive his boat back 30 miles to his village, but the houseboat was stuck in the mucky riverbed. with all the local rivers dry, he said, " there ' s no way back home. " while ramos and scores of others idled hungrily, clinicians waited grimly for what appeared inevitable. without the rains to flood them away, the eggs of millions of anopheles mosquitoes would soon hatch. the flies would find the people weakened by hunger, lingering dazed around the still, dirty puddles left in the wake of their vanished river. and one day, a dormant malaria parasite - whether from cameroon, india, or a few miles upstream - would awaken, and sense its opportunity. multiply this picture times one hundred, and you can begin to see the new malaria landscape emerging. malaria is largely a forgotten disease in the most powerful countries of the west. political will to challenge malaria waxes and wanes within the limits of the political and business ambitions of western leaders. it is ironic, in a way, since malaria flourished as lushly in these regions as it does today in sub - saharan africa. malaria once spread across the united states, from massachusetts to florida to iowa and california. but in the world ' s economic centers, malaria receded before anyone really understood much about it, with the result that we ' ve been able to indulge our most cherished vanities about why. in the united states, the peculiar history of malaria ' s recession ( our wanton destruction of mosquito - breeding wetlands had much to do with it ) gave rise to the unspoken notion that malaria is mainly a business problem ; in britain, to the idea that malaria is mostly the inevitable result of poverty. in other words, anything but the peculiar ecological and demographic disease that it is. and so with the most accessible natural resources of the west largely in decline, from minerals to timber, western companies now exploit the more distant, difficult resources of the tropics. but far from alleviating malaria, the new " economic development in agriculture and mining " was fingered by the who in the early 1990s as culprits in the spread of malaria, especially in their leading frontiers, where war and lawlessness reign. the highways built through the brazilian amazon brought settlers, workers, and new development projects to the region, for example, but the jungle ' s mosquitoes feast


in the spread of malaria, especially in their leading frontiers, where war and lawlessness reign. the highways built through the brazilian amazon brought settlers, workers, and new development projects to the region, for example, but the jungle ' s mosquitoes feasted upon the non - immune newcomers regardless, transmitting residual parasites darting in their guts. human flesh was too conveniently available, laid out in crude houses perched along the region ' s newly felled rivers and lakes. in the late 1990s, more than 120, 000 fell prey to falciparum malaria in peru, compared to under 150 cases a year earlier in the decade. the fast - falling rainforest, far from depriving the local malarial mosquito anopheles darlingii of the shady, fast - flowing streams they liked to breed in, had proved fruitful for the flies, which settled thickly in the disturbed lands around new man - made fish farms and ponds. with political commitment limited and scientific consensus scarce, only a magic - bullet technology - something awe - inspiring, super - potent and fast - unites the scientific and political community to turn against malaria, en masse. ddt, promoted by chemical warriors and pro - business american public health leaders after world war ii, was just the thing. africa was purposely excluded from the 1950s " global " malaria eradication campaign which sent ddt sprayers fanning across the globe. when ddt - resistant mosquitoes started to fly, the campaign refocused on another chemical onslaught : the antimalarial drug chloroquine, which was in some places added to the table salt. when chloroquine - resistant parasites started to spread, political commitment to the program dissipated. it took just three decades for drug - resistant malaria to sweep across the globe, carried by mosquitoes coolly impervious to the most deadly insecticides known to man. by the late 1990s, deadlier, faster, and harder - to - contain resistant malaria was annexing whole new swaths of the planet, from the war zones of afghanistan and the highlands of kenya to the banks of the panama canal and the alleys of mumbai. the death toll, compared to 1961, quadrupled. the parasite continually invades its former stomping grounds, in the 1, 200 malarial travelers, refugees, soldiers, and miners that toss and turn on american hospital and clinic beds every year. little besides sheer metal mesh prevent the parasites from re - entering the hungry anopheles mosquitoes outside, re -


1, 200 malarial travelers, refugees, soldiers, and miners that toss and turn on american hospital and clinic beds every year. little besides sheer metal mesh prevent the parasites from re - entering the hungry anopheles mosquitoes outside, re - igniting an epidemic. anopheles flit in every state of the u. s. union, save for hawaii, and the swarms double in size for every half - degree uptick in the global temperature. the sun streams into the squat, whitewashed red cross malaria clinic, the cerulean sea lapping the shore visible from its open - air windows. fishermen are untangling their netting on the beach. inside, there are 2 small rooms, with 2 small cots, and a dozen silent workers wearing bright white smocks to tend to the hundreds of villagers who patronize this humble facility. this clinic is in the right place, a small village outside douala, cameroon, where nearly every inhabitant is infected with malaria parasites. with the right drugs, given at the right time, they could render malaria absolutely toothless. for almost as long as we ' ve had malaria, we ' ve known about potent compounds that vanquish the parasite. many come from plants, the weedy type that can grown almost anywhere. but the steel medicine cabinet, when i peek into it, is bare. i count maybe a dozen small vials. i ' ve got more drugs in my bedside table at home. the one drug that effectively treats multi - drug resistant malaria is based on an ancient chinese medicine called artemisinin, an extract from the sweet wormwood tree. but political disinterest and profit - driven drug companies have already compromised its effectiveness. it is essential that the drug is taken in combination with other drugs, so that the parasite is not able to evolve resistance to this one last cure. throughout the 1980s and 1990s, drug companies did just that, selling stand - alone artemisinin drugs throughout africa and asia. by 1994, chinese scientists, who had formulated a combination artemisinin drug, sold the rights to drug giant novartis. but novartis didn ' t launch the combination drug until 1999, and when they did, they priced it at $ 44 per course. when the who declared that the novartis drug should be the first - line drug against malaria, in 2001, novartis dropped the price to $ 2 / course, but that was still 10 to 20 times more expensive than the older - but useless - malaria


declared that the novartis drug should be the first - line drug against malaria, in 2001, novartis dropped the price to $ 2 / course, but that was still 10 to 20 times more expensive than the older - but useless - malaria drugs like chloroquine. and western aid organizations refused to foot the bill. according to usaid ' s dennis carrol, despite the who ' s recommendation, coartem was " not ready for prime time. " in a 2003 malaria epidemic in ethiopia, unicef expressly refused to pay for and distribute artemisinin combination drugs. there wasn ' t enough supply on hand, they said, and the new drug therapy would cause confusion. african and malaria aid physicians were appalled. " i couldn ' t believe my ears, " said ghanian epidemiologist fred binka. donors ' reluctance was " frankly, very difficult to understand, " said msf ' s bernard pecoul. but without usaid or other funders ' support, there was no way developing countries ' health ministries could weather a 10 - fold increase in malaria drug prices. in the financial and regulatory vacuum, the underground market in stand - alone artemisinin drugs continued to thrive. by 2004, the parasite had been widely exposed to stand - alone artemisinin, and had started to evolve resistance. artemisinin combination drugs might still work on these parasites, but probably not for long, commentators in the lancet noted. for the first time ever, the who publicly criticized the drug companies that sold stand - alone artemisinin drugs, demanding that the industry immediately stop marketing the drugs. " it will be at least 10 years before a drug that good is discovered, " bemoaned the who ' s arata kochi, referring to artemisinin. " basically we ' re dead. " new resolve to tackle malaria emerged in the late 1990s and early 2000s, in the wake of intensifying business interest in the natural resources of africa. led by business leaders such as exxonmobil and bill gates, malaria ' s new challengers brazenly call for a fight to the finish. working toward anything less than complete eradication of malaria from the face of the earth, bill gates said in october 2007, would be to admit defeat. and yet, controlling environmental disruptions that aggravate malaria, building better housing that separates human from mosquito, and public - health - oriented drug development and distribution remain, effectively, off the table. gates and exxon et al want more


the architecture of apartheid the word " revenge " is scrawled in hebrew on a palestinian school in hebron. the windows are covered with screens and the play yard obstructed with more screens tipped with barbed wire, to obstruct the stones regularly pelted down by jewish settlers. the space between the school and the neighboring building is blocked off with large, wooden slabs, to ensure that palestinian school children do not encroach into settler territory. nearby checkpoints and cameras placed on rooftops serve as constant reminder that these kids ' every movement is monitored and contained. this schoolyard scene, on an empty weekend day, illustrates the separation and containment that has become written into the architecture of hebron. in this city where 1, 500 israeli soldiers are stationed on any given day, the 170, 000 palestinians living here are kept under constant watch, their movements restricted while their safety is under constant threat. the jewish settlers who have been moving in since the late ' 70s, now numbering 800, are known for repeatedly attacking palestinians while israeli soldiers sit idly by. walking into hebron literally feels like a nightmare. shahuda street, one of the main roads, is traveled only by settlers on foot or in speeding cars, soldiers and police, and packs of fighting dogs. palestinians living on this street have to climb into their houses from the rear, either cutting across neighbors ' rooftops, carving holes in their walls, or, like one little girl we watched, scaling a rope to the second story. their front doors have been welded shut or barricaded with rusty metal, like the countless shops in hebron, closed by military order. streets are sealed off with concrete and bales of ribbon wire. " security is the magic word here, " says hisham sharabati, a journalist who has been living in hebron for most of his life, gesturing towards an israeli military checkpoint at the entrance of the abraham mosque, in the middle of the old city. " israel uses that word in any way it likes, so that it can justify denying palestinian human rights. " in 1994, a settler named baruch goldstein opened fire in the mosque at abraham ' s tomb, a sacred site to muslims, jews, and christians. we saw the torn marble, bullet holes in the arch that points towards mecca. 29 palestinians were killed while praying, then more when the military opened fire on people trying to run out of the mosque. the response? palestinians were placed under 30 days of curfew, the fruit and vegetable


in the arch that points towards mecca. 29 palestinians were killed while praying, then more when the military opened fire on people trying to run out of the mosque. the response? palestinians were placed under 30 days of curfew, the fruit and vegetable market was shut down, and the " system of separation " developed. since then, palestinians living in hebron have been controlled by the military and attacked by settlers - a " security " structure that many say was intended to push out palestinians to make way for settlers. the city was carved up into the h1 area - controlled by the palestinian authority, and the h2 area, controlled by the israeli military. within the h2 area, jewish and palestinian quarters were cordoned off by a matrix of roads, many of them off - limits to palestinian use. vibrant marketplaces and city centers were shut down, some of them slowly taken over by jewish settlers, others turned into ghost towns guarded by military checkpoints. israeli soldiers now patrol every street in the h2 area, in a tactic that serves as a constant reminder of the israeli military presence. jewish settlers claim that they have rights to the land, invoking a bloody massacre in 1929 that left 67 jews dead. there are varying accounts of this tragedy : mikhael manekin from breaking the silence, a group of former idf soldiers who now speak out about what they witnessed and acts they perpetrated, told us that many of the murderers had come in from surrounding villages. he claims that several palestinian locals risked their lives to defend the jews, and some of them were granted certificates of appreciation by jewish organizations for doing so. local settlers have used the 1929 massacre to justify pushing palestinian hebron residents out of their homes, with a sign placed in the middle of a settlement that reads, " these arabs are living on stolen land. " what happened in 1929 is horrible, but it does not justify mass displacement and systemic degradation of a people. the massacre is being used to target arabs and perpetuate racism in a way that has not been directed towards european populations guilty of massacring jews on a far larger scale. the painful landscape of hebron is an example of how trauma can beget trauma : a population of jews, traumatized by a history of violence and discrimination, has turned around and traumatized another people, and in doing so, is doing untold damage to their own community. settlers here occupy a city that has become a hotbed of religious / ethnic tension and blatant racial discrimination. this is not good for anyone who


traumatized another people, and in doing so, is doing untold damage to their own community. settlers here occupy a city that has become a hotbed of religious / ethnic tension and blatant racial discrimination. this is not good for anyone who grows up in such an environment, whether israeli or palestinian. hisham guided us through the city all morning ; in the afternoon, we met with mikhael, who as an israeli, could take us into the areas hisham is prohibited from entering although he ' s lived in hebron his whole life. mikhael explained that there are 2 or 3 soldiers per settler, a ratio clearly intended to control the large palestinian population. rather than correlate the military presence to the amount of settlers ; the logic is based in military containment and control of the " enemy, " under the guise of protection. mikhael served as an officer in hebron, and now is one of the breaking the silence members who leads tours there for israelis and internationals. the settlements within hebron have been declared illegal by the geneva conventions. the official city maps, which are the documents used by israeli courts, are wildly inaccurate. they claim that ghost streets, long sealed off by concrete and metal, are functioning thoroughfares and marketplaces. walking through the streets of hebron, you find a city carved up by the violent military presence and constant threat of settler violence. some roads have a concrete barrier running along the edge, leaving a few feet for palestinians to walk along while two wide lanes are reserved for settlers. the souks, old city markets, have wire screens or makeshift netting overhead : insufficient protection for attacks from settlers living on the floors above. the wire screens are heavy with trash, bricks, giant concrete chunks, and exploded plastic bags that contained sewage and urine when they burst onto the people and racks of goods below. hisham told us one young man was in a coma after a sharpened metal rod came through the screen and penetrated his skull. now, when you look up, you can see piles of objects that got caught in the screen : crowbars, bricks, stones, chairs. while walking through a market, we saw a settler woman throw sand from her third story apartment down at a crowded market where palestinians were shopping. it fell on a palestinian woman ' s head, as well as on one of our delegation members, eddie, who because of being mexican - american has often been perceived to be arab on this trip. an older man who lives at the edge of shahuda street,


a palestinian woman ' s head, as well as on one of our delegation members, eddie, who because of being mexican - american has often been perceived to be arab on this trip. an older man who lives at the edge of shahuda street, in the last meters palestinians living on that block are allowed to walk up to, explains that he has to apply for permits if his children or grandchildren want to visit his home. he is not allowed any other visitors, like every palestinian who remains in their home in h2. on the other hand, settler children take field trips on his street. we watched a group of elementary school - aged settler children walk down shahuda, accompanied by a few adults including with some with assault rifles strung over their shoulders. standing on a rooftop overlooking the old city, we could see concrete and stone buildings, punctuated by military bases in the center of the city, and on opposing hills. these military installations have either expelled or built on the rooftops of people living in top floor apartments. many of the rooftops held water tanks, important storage for a neighborhood whose water is diverted to the nearby settlements and sold back at higher prices to palestinians. in the hills south of mount hebron, settlers attack palestinians going to graze their sheep. a friend told us about a village that was expelled in 2000, and until a few weeks ago, was living in caves near their lands. the israeli court actually ruled that they could go back to their village, and on friday settlers attacked their flocks and killed a lamb. when israeli solidarity activists called the police, who came hours later, the police accused the elderly palestinians of having killed their own animal to frame the settlers. olive harvest accompaniment is prioritized not only because the olive trees sustain many people, but also because legal loopholes are used to take away peoples ' land if they aren ' t able to reach it for a certain period of time. it is reminiscent of the eminent domain laws used to steal people ' s land in the lower 9th ward : if displaced new orleanians weren ' t able to return to the city to cut their grass regularly the city would claim their plot - often an overgrown lot with only the foundations left where the house was blown away by the wall of water. solidarity work in this area sounds like it mostly takes the form of accompaniment, whether it ' s escorting children to school to protect them against stone - throwing settlers, or walking with people to their grazing lands. settler children throw stones at palestinian children on their way to school - children under


like it mostly takes the form of accompaniment, whether it ' s escorting children to school to protect them against stone - throwing settlers, or walking with people to their grazing lands. settler children throw stones at palestinian children on their way to school - children under 14 cannot be held responsible, mikhael told us, so they are careful about who throws the stones. one school finally had to change its hours and days so that the children would not be walking to school when settler children were home to attack them - they ' re the only palestinian school not open on saturdays, and the kids have no recess so they can leave early enough to get home safely. every day. " the palestinians are the ones who take the burden of the separation policy into their lives, " hisham says. palestinian residents of hebron have been organizing to revitalize their communities and challenge military occupation and settler violence. the hebron rehabilitation committee fixes up battered neighborhoods to encourage people to come home, planting gardens and repainting dilapidated storefronts. youth against settlements has organized creative direct actions : a recent protest involved setting up mock checkpoints next to israeli ones, getting arrested after five minutes but still drawing attention to the conditions they live in. hebron is situated in the center of global power struggles and alliances situated around israel. this city is the logical conclusion of a religious / ethnic state - a city where military occupation is woven into the fabric of daily life and residents are forced to build screen fortresses to protect themselves from stones and bricks. from the shut down city centers, with welded doors and security cameras pointing towards the emptiness, to the settlement military bases that sit in the center of town, this is the reality of the current state of israel. this is what we, as u. s. citizens are supporting, when our government sends military aid so that israel can buy tanks and weapons to patrol these streets.


permanent url to this publication : http : / / dx. doi. org / 10. 5167 / uzh - 46196 background : cyanobacteria are one of the oldest and morphologically most diverse prokaryotic phyla on our planet. the early development of an oxygen - containing atmosphere approximately 2. 45 - 2. 22 billion years ago is attributed to the photosynthetic activity of cyanobacteria. furthermore, they are one of the few prokaryotic phyla where multicellularity has evolved. understanding when and how multicellularity evolved in these ancient organisms would provide fundamental information on the early history of life and further our knowledge of complex life forms. results : we conducted and compared phylogenetic analyses of 16s rdna sequences from a large sample of taxa representing the morphological and genetic diversity of cyanobacteria. we reconstructed ancestral character states on 10, 000 phylogenetic trees. the results suggest that the majority of extant cyanobacteria descend from multicellular ancestors. reversals to unicellularity occurred at least 5 times. multicellularity was established again at least once within a single - celled clade. comparison to the fossil record supports an early origin of multicellularity, possibly as early as the “ great oxygenation event ” that occurred 2. 45 - 2. 22 billion years ago. conclusions : the results indicate that a multicellular morphotype evolved early in the cyanobacterial lineage and was regained at least once after a previous loss. most of the morphological diversity exhibited in cyanobacteria today — including the majority of single - celled species — arose from ancient multicellular lineages. multicellularity could have conferred a considerable advantage for exploring new niches and hence facilitated the diversification of new lineages. | item type : | | journal article, refereed, original work | | communities & collections : | | 07 faculty of science > institute of evolutionary biology and environmental studies | | ddc : | | 570 life sciences ; biology | 590 animals ( zoology ) | deposited on : | | 08 mar 2011 19 : 55 | | last modified : | | 23 nov 2012 17 : 45 | | free access at : | | publisher doi. an embargo period may apply. | | wos citation count : | | 9 | users ( please log in ) : suggest update or correction for this item repository staff only : item control page


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annual report to congress fy 2004 | ms word ( 417 kb ) | making a difference congress enacted the civil rights laws as a mandate to bring the formerly excluded into the mainstream of american education. these laws also are designed to carry out the u. s. department of education ' s commitment to assuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual. the federal civil rights laws have helped bring about profound changes in american education and improved the educational opportunities of millions of students. many barriers that once prevented minorities, women and girls, and individuals with disabilities from freely choosing the educational opportunities and careers they would like to pursue have been eliminated. while we applaud this progress, we recognize that there are persons who continue to be denied equal access to quality education. however, behind statistical data and research findings is a human face — a student hoping for a chance to learn and excel. this hope is expressed eloquently in the letter below from a college student with a disability. the statement serves as a reminder of the potential impact of the civil rights laws in making a difference in improving individual lives. i am one of the millions of students who have a learning disability, dyslexia, and i also have health problems that make ordinary daily living a challenge …. the life i live is hard but not impossible. i am not looking for pity or sympathy or platitudes. i do not want undeserved special treatment. i am not an exception, a freak, a statistical abnormality. i am a real person with real disabilities. the problems i live with are hard for you to see. i have no wheelchair, white cane or hearing aid. if you use your imagination, maybe you can picture my life, wanting to talk, to listen, to read, to learn, and not being able to. now add to that the confusion of harsh, chronic pain and frequent loss of motor control. this is my condition, a condition compounded by stress and frustration. all i ask is a little respect in a world where people and institutions are allowed to discriminate against disabled persons in the interest of convenience and conformity. i can achieve anything, learn to do anything, but not in an environment of censure and bureaucratic red tape. i am asking for a chance, a fair chance, to get an education. i am willing to fight for my future. i should not be penalized by the attitudes of people who are allowed to sweep the disabled under a rug, refusing them their rights as individuals. i am presenting