the role of sub - surface fissures on the establishment of an invasive woody shrub ( prosopis glandulosa ) in grasslands. jurena, p. n. * and s. archer texas a & m university, college station, tx 77843 - 2126 1 we tested the hypothesis that establishment of woody plants in grasslands underlain by indurated limestone would be facilitated by ` fissures ' which give tree / shrub tap roots preferential access to deep stores of water and nutrients. survival and growth of prosopis glandulosa seedlings was monitored along ten 5 m transects perpendicular to known fissures. soil depth along the transects ranged from 0 to 20 cm and decreased with increasing distance from the fissure. contrary to expectations, no seedlings emerged from seeds planted directly over the fissure. survival of prosopis seedlings emerging 5 m from the fissure was 2x greater than that of seedlings emerging 1 m from the fissure. survival trajectories for all seedlings were similar and reached zero within seven months of the initial planting. seedlings farthest from the fissure were taller ( 3. 60. 8 cm vs. 3. 00. 2 cm ) and had a greater number of leaves ( 4. 02. 0 vs. 0 leave / seedling ) than those nearest the fissure. greater production of grasses on vs. away ( 42. 07. 0 g / m2 vs. < 5. 0 g / m2 ) from fissures appeared to negate advantages that fissures might otherwise provide for shrub seedling establishment. supporting experiments have shown that the development of disturbance ` gaps ' in the graminoid root layer might be required for shrub seedlings to exploit favorable microsites. keywords : fissure, shrub seedling, _ prosopis glandulosa _ this abstract is being presented at : 10 : 30 am in session : restoration ecology and invasions


for those of us who work with communities that have collective trauma, there seems to be research indicating that our preconceived ideas of how to deal with trauma might not always pass muster. in a way, it is good reminder that one size doesn ’ t fit all. article date : 26 nov 2012 – 0 : 00 pst in the fields of human rights and memory studies, giving testimony about one ’ s personal experience of genocide is believed to be both a moral duty and a psychological imperative for the wellbeing of the individual and the persecuted group to which she belongs. accordingly, the coping strategies proposed to victims of genocide tend to be rather uniform : tell your story and do not let the violence you suffered be forgotten. the author of this study offers two persuasive case studies that suggest that this universalizing approach to genocide is misguided. in her interviews with jewish - israeli children of holocaust survivors and cambodian - canadians whose parents were persecuted at the hands of the khmer rouge, carol kidron found that virtually all subjects rejected the pathologizing construct of transmitted ptsd. the author ’ s research reveals key differences in the genocidal legacies of cambodian - canadian and jewish - israeli trauma descendants. while the jewish - israeli subjects felt that they bore some emotional scars that were passed on by their parents, they opposed the idea that they have been afflicted by these inherited traces of the holocaust. in fact, in the jewish - israeli cultural context, these markers of emotional difference may serve instead as an empowering way to carry on their parents ’ memory. in great contrast, cambodian - canadians not only resist the stigma of trauma, but also insist that the genocide has not left them psycho - socially impaired in any way. instead of remembering tragedy, the cambodian - canadian subjects appealed to karma and subscribed to buddhist forward - looking attitudes. despite their differences, both accounts defy the tropes of victimization and trauma that pervade scholarship on genocide and humanitarian practice. the author argues that religious worldviews and cultural values frame responses to trauma. cultural paradigms may valorize or marginalize the importance of remembrance, and the author calls for scholars and humanitarian workers to take into account the diversity of cultural frameworks for remembrance when dealing with descendants of genocide victims.


xss prevention in four simple steps preventing cross site scripting ( xss ) attacks is a daunting task for developers. in short, xss attacks are an injection attack in which data that is structurally significant in the current context changes the intended semantics and / or functionality. while there are great resources online that walk you through prevention techniques ( one of the best security resources is the open web application security project, or owasp, website ), it ’ s easy to get confused when you try to implement all of the necessary safeguards. below, i ’ ve outlined four simple steps that significantly lower the risk of xss attacks against your website. by being a bit more restrictive, we can simplify our approach to preventing xss in the most common use cases. these steps must all be implemented together, but there ’ s only four of them, so c ’ mon, you can do it step 1 : escape output provided by users if you want to include data within a page that ’ s been provided by users, escape the output. and, in this simplified list, we ’ re going to stick with one simple escape operation : html encode any <, >, &, ‘, “. for example, php provides the htmlspecialchars ( ) function to accomplish this common task. step 2 : always use xhtml read through owasp ’ s xss prevention strategies, and it becomes apparent that protecting against injection requires much more effort if you use unquoted attributes in your html. in contrast, in quoted attributes, escaping data becomes the same process needed to escape data for content within tags, the escape operation we already outlined above. that ’ s because the only troublemaker in terms of sneaking in structurally significant content within the context of a quoted attribute is the closing quote. obviously, your markup doesn ’ t have to be xhtml in order to contain quoted attributes. however, shooting for and validating against xhtml makes it easy to test if all of the attributes are quoted. step 4 : url - encode url query string parameters if user data is output within a url parameter of a link query string, make sure to url - encode the data. again, using php as example, you can simply use the urlencode ( ) function. now, let ’ s be clear on this and work through a couple examples, as i ’ ve seen much confusion concerning this particular point. the following example outputs user data that must be url - encoded because


old abe ( 1861? – march 28, 1881 ), bald eagle, was the mascot of the 8th wisconsin volunteer infantry regiment in the american civil war and is the screaming eagle mascot depicted on the insignia of the u. s. army ' s 101st airborne division.... that storied creature is for abe sauer just some absurdity that awl readers should laugh at. laugh at the stupid people in wisconsin who think there ' s some meaning embodied in the carcass of a bird. company c named the eagle after president abraham lincoln, and designed a special perch on which they carried the bird into battle. old abe participated in the second battle of corinth ( in which the 8th wisconsin lost half of its men ) and the siege of vicksburg, among other battles. in battle, old abe quickly became legendary, screaming and spreading his wings at the enemy. confederate troops called him the " yankee buzzard " and made several attempts to capture him but never succeeded. several times he lost feathers to bullets and saw his handlers get shot out from under him. when passing by, generals ulysses s. grant, william t. sherman, and william rosecrans were known to doff their hats to the eagle. in 1864, old abe returned to wisconsin with several veterans who did not reenlist. nevertheless, he remained famous and was invited to, among other events, the 1880 grand army of the republic national convention, and the 1876 centennial exposition in philadelphia, pennsylvania. when not at public events, his caretaker kept him in the wisconsin state capitol. crushing ignorance from abe sauer. in the comments : " but old abe ' s carcass indeed is gone. "


in an auditory interpretation study, frazier and clifton ( 1998 ; f & c ) tested sluices with two indefinite possible antecedents : with the embedded object ( someone ) accented, object responses ( who was hiding ) reached 69 %, while accenting the matrix subject ( tourist ) produced 46 % object responses. accent position significantly affected interpretation, presumably by helping focus the accented element, but object responses remained even with subject accent. this object bias was traced to focus more indirectly, through perceivers ' general tendency ( in english ) to assign focus clause - finally. however, these results could also result from a preference specifically for object antecedents, or for antecedents not separated from the sluice by additional clause boundaries. additionally, this work explored focus only in indefinite sluices, though other types exist ( romero 1997, merchant 2001 ). an auditory questionnaire addressed alternative explanations using sluices with two vp - internal indefinites : two further experiments extended this work to the processing of contrast sluices ( with ' else ' indicating contrast with a definite antecedent, instead of an indefinite ) as in ( 3 ) : in a written questionnaire, sentences like ( 3 ) received 86 % object responses, showing that the preference for a clause - final antecedent holds for contrast sluices. in an auditory questionnaire, object responses fell to 42 % with the subject ( alice ) accented, vs. 88 % with the object ( bill ) accented ( p ' s. 001 ). with the verb or both arguments accented, object responses were at 76 % ( each differed from the subject / object accent conditions, p ' s. 05 ). these results show that exclusive accent on only one argument is needed to raise focus assignments to that argument, not just the presence of an accent. finally, despite strong accent effects, an overall bias towards the lower antecedent remains, showing that the position of default focus is important in all sluices tested. the implications of these results for ellipsis processing and the relation between accent and focus will be discussed.


today is the 20th anniversary of world aids day, an “ annual wake - up call to keep the promise to stop aids. ” at the beginning of the aids crisis, the disease was called the “ gay plague. ” in the 1980s, the victims were predominantly white gay men who died within months of their hiv - positive diagnosis. as aids enters its third decade, an hiv - positive diagnosis is no longer an automatic death sentence. the antiretroviral therapy has kept some hiv - infected people alive for nearly 30 years. wilson said the face of hiv / aids has changed : the aids crisis by the numbers : - african americans make up 13 percent of the nation ’ s population but accounted for nearly half ( 49 percent ) of the people living with aids. - aids is the leading cause of death among black women aged 25 - 34. - black women represent 67 percent of new aids cases among women. - aids is the second leading cause of death among black men between the ages of 35 and 44. - between 20, 000 and 30, 000 blacks become newly infected with hiv every year. if black america were a country, it would rank 16th in the number of people living with hiv, and be eligible to participate in president bush ’ s signature global initiative, the president ’ s emergency plan for aids relief. the rate of hiv infections among african americans is higher than botswana, ethiopia, guyana, haiti, namibia, rwanda and vietnam. rev. dr. calvin o. butts iii, chairman of the national black leadership commission on aids, reported on the national conclave on hiv / aids policy for black clergy, which he co - chaired with bishop t. d. jakes. rev. butts outlined the black church ’ s response to the aids epidemic. he noted that in the 111th congress, rep. charles b. rangel will introduce the national hiv / aids elimination act, which would formally declare hiv / aids in the african american community a public health emergency. for more info, go here. to find an hiv testing location near you, text your zip code to knowit ( 566948 ).


fish use clever mating trick [ livescience 2007 - 11 - 15 ] some fish are able to get sex by faking out the females. now scientists have found a gene that helps them do so. the fish, known as cichlids, are maternal mouthbrooders??? the female scoops up eggs in her mouth after she lays them. while collecting her eggs, the female may mistake the yellow, oval - shaped markings on a male ’ s fin as one of her own eggs and approaches the male. once she gets close enough to his anal fin, he then squirts sperm into her egg - filled mouth. this form of mating ‘ trickery ’ works so well that more than 80 percent of cichlid species evolved the fake egg markings. researchers at the university of germany identified the gene associated with the egg - like markings by observing how the gene was expressed in distantly related species, where such spots developed on the pectoral fins rather than the anal fins. the researchers published their findings in the online open access journal bmc biology. " the two kinds of independently evolved egg - dummies serve as a model system to test whether the same genetic pathways are involved in the morphogenesis of both types of dummies, " the authors write.


discover the cosmos! each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2005 march 11 explanation : the classic appearance of the popular ring nebula ( aka m57 ) is understood to be due to perspective - our view from planet earth looks down the center of a roughly barrel - shaped cloud of gas. but graceful looping structures are seen to extend even beyond the ring nebula ' s familiar central regions in this false - color infrared image from the spitzer space telescope. of course in this well - studied example of a planetary nebula, the glowing material does not come from planets. instead, the gaseous shroud represents outer layers expelled from a dying, sun - like star. by chance, spiral galaxy ic 1296 is also visible in the upper right of this spitzer view toward the constellation lyra. the central ring of the ring nebula is about one light - year across and 2, 000 light - years away. however, galaxy ic 1296 much bigger and hence farther away... about 200 million light - years distant. authors & editors : nasa web site statements, warnings, and disclaimers nasa official : jay norris. specific rights apply. a service of : lhea at nasa / gsfc & michigan tech. u.


this information is for reference purposes only. it was current when produced and may now be outdated. archive material is no longer maintained, and some links may not work. persons with disabilities having difficulty accessing this information should contact us at : https : / / info. ahrq. gov. let us know the nature of the problem, the web address of what you want, and your contact information. please go to www. ahrq. gov for current information. the elderly ( age 65 and over ) numbered 35. 6 million in 2002, an increase of 3. 3 million, or 10. 2 %, since 1992. about 1 in every 8 americans is in this age group. by the year 2030, the elderly population will more than double to 71. 5 million. older women outnumber older men ( 20. 8 million vs. 14. 8 million ). members of minority groups are projected to represent 26. 4 % of the elderly in 2030, up from 16. 4 % in 2000. about 3. 6 million elderly lived below the poverty level in 2002, corresponding to a poverty rate of 10. 4 %. another 2. 2 million or 6. 4 % of the elderly were classified as near poor ( income between the poverty level and 125 % of this level ) 67. on average, 65 - year - olds can expect, to live an additional 18. 1 years. in 2003, 38. 6 % of noninstitutionalized older persons assessed their health as excellent or very good compared with 66. 6 % of persons ages 18 - 64, and older blacks and hispanics were less likely to rate their health as excellent or good than older whites. most older people have at least one chronic condition. in 1997, more than half of the elderly reported a disability and over a third reported a severe disability67. the medicare program provides core health insurance to nearly all elderly americans and reduces many financial barriers to acute and post - acute care services faced by the elderly. the medicare prescription drug improvement and modernization act of 2003 added important new prescription drug and preventive benefits to medicare and provides extra financial help to people with low incomes. consequently, differences in access to and quality of health care tend to be smaller among medicare beneficiaries than among younger populations. however, racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic differences are still observed among the elderly. surveys of the general population often do not include enough elderly to examine racial, ethnic, or ses differences in health care. consequently, this report relies


the world ' s two billion christians have just completed holy week, celebrating the final days, death and resurrection of jesus. this year, the global celebration of earth day coincided with good friday, giving many of us an additional perspective on this sacred and ancient commemoration. good friday, marking jesus ' crucifixion, is a challenging day in many ways. the original good friday was a day of grief and confusion for jesus ' friends and followers. today, christian rituals reflect that grief, even though jesus ' sacrifice is central to the broader easter story of salvation and hope. earth day is also a mixture of hope and sadness. the environment continues to remind us of the consequences of the selfish and short - sighted actions we often take against god ' s creation. air and water pollution, deforestation and many other reminders threaten our own well being and the well being of other animals ' habitats and survival. but earth day is also a community celebration of our planetary home and our commitment to caring better for it. in recent years, christians from across the theological and political spectrum have begun to give more serious consideration to our collective impact on the gift of god ' s creation. a creation care movement has given a voice to many younger christians who believe that responsible stewardship is about far more than simply exercising dominion over the earth and maximizing the exploitation of its resources. in the united methodist church, through our god ' s renewed creation project, many congregations and individual members are addressing a set of interrelated threats to creation : endemic poverty and disease, widespread environmental degradation, and the proliferation of weapons and violence. this broadly ecumenical concern for creation is a cause for hope. unfortunately, there are other voices distorting the intentions and efforts of environmentally - minded christians. some religious leaders and political commentators have attacked the environmental movement, equating environmentalism with paganism and earth - worship. others go even further, suggesting that the " green dragon " of environmentalism is actively anti - christian, anathema to the gospel of christ. these criticisms will further delay collaborative efforts to care for creation and create greater risks for our fragile environment. we also see these distortions of faith and reality reflected in the views and actions of too many elected officials, many of whom are in a dangerous state of denial about the scientific consensus on the threats posed by climate change. some explain their opposition to changing our consumption habits as concern for the poor, who they say would be disproportionately hurt if new regulations resulted in higher energy prices. but the scientific consensus is


consensus on the threats posed by climate change. some explain their opposition to changing our consumption habits as concern for the poor, who they say would be disproportionately hurt if new regulations resulted in higher energy prices. but the scientific consensus is overwhelming that it is precisely the world ' s most poor and vulnerable individuals and nations who will be most adversely affected by climate change and its impact on everything from agriculture to rising sea levels and regional resource - related conflicts. the crucifixion and resurrection remind christians of the full range of human possibility. we see fear and self - centeredness and betrayal, but also courage and self - sacrifice and redemption. we learn that god ' s grace allows us to overcome our despair and doubt. indeed, our faith really begins after easter, when the good news begins to spread and believers are challenged to take it to the far ends of the earth. let us demonstrate our love for god, for creation, and for our fellow human beings by facing up to our huge and immensely complicated challenges and acting as if we believe that we are both recipients of god ' s grace and stewards of god ' s creation. john r. schol is bishop of the united methodist church baltimore - washington conference. more information about god ' s renewed creation can be found at http : / / www. hopeandaction. org.


in an announcement about the opening of the spider pavilion at the natural history museum of los angeles county, i recently referred to spiders as insects. it brought this response from a reader in whittier : " spiders are not insects! insects have six legs. " the reader is correct. spiders have eight legs. although insects and spiders are both arthropods, spiders belong to a distinct class, arachnida. unfortunately, the term became known almost exclusively as a root for a word concerning the pathological fear of spiders : arachnophobia. if you know a sufferer, pass the valium, because this is the season for arachnophiles. for a few weeks, no angeleno need go to a museum to see one of the great wonders of nature. our gardens will be jumping with arachnids. even seldom - spotted spiders will be tossing draglines across walkways and dangling at face - height in search of their last big fat fly of the season. the orb weavers of the los angeles basin will be spinning their last and most glorious webs of the year. spiders are so conspicuous in autumn that far and away the most calls that entomologists get concern them, says james hogue, collections manager for the biology department at cal state northridge and one of the region ' s most respected entomologists. the sheer volume at the natural history museum was one of the things that gave brian brown, curator of the entomology section there, the idea of conducting an area - wide spider survey. homeowners could collect spiders, send them in to the museum and, for the first time, scientists would get a picture of the most frequently spotted spiders in the l. a. area. for the four years of the study, it has fallen largely to the museum ' s arachnid specialist, janet kempf, to open the post. there have been spiders in vials, spiders in alcohol, smashed spiders, live spiders crawling gratefully out of envelopes, young spiders that she took home and fed until she could identify them. so far she has cataloged 3, 919 spiders and counting. of these, 32 families and more than 175 species have emerged, she says. people collecting more than 50 spiders in their homes and gardens average 30 different species. a schoolchild in torrance even discovered a brown widow, an african relative of our black widow. rather than send kempf any of the spiders from my garden in central los angeles ( done right, this requires capturing and


gardens average 30 different species. a schoolchild in torrance even discovered a brown widow, an african relative of our black widow. rather than send kempf any of the spiders from my garden in central los angeles ( done right, this requires capturing and killing them by popping the subjects in a jar, freezing them and dropping them in alcohol ), i invited her and hogue over to see what they could find as dawn light came glinting across dew - studded webs. strung across the front window was the classic circular, spoked web of a common orb weaver. the spider had retreated to the day position up at the corner, with one foot on a silk line to feel for the sudden movement of an insect landing. neither kempf nor hogue needed to see the spider close up to wager that it was a member of the \ o7neoscona \ f7genus. " you can often tell the spider by its web, " says hogue. this one lacked the whitish zigzagging or " stabilamenta, " an insect lure that reflects ultraviolet light that would have identified it as another common genus, the \ o7argiope \ f7, or golden orb weaver. although all spiders can spin, says kempf, not all make orbs. through the house, inside the kitchen, up in the ceiling next to the porch door, there were yellow sac spiders, \ o7cheiracanthium \ f7 \ o7mildei \ f7 to arachnologists - - smart little arachnids with more random - looking webs, waiting for dusk, when flies, moths and gnats might stray inside. it can give a respectable bite if you grab or poke it, but most of us know better. evidently yellow sacs came from europe, probably in the furniture or plant shipments. sharing the ceiling with the yellow sacs were what most of us call daddy long legs, but which aren ' t, says hogue. they ' re cobweb or cellar spiders, or \ o7pholcus phalangioides \ f7, which also emigrated from europe. real daddy long legs, he explains, are native, and though arachnids, they are actually not spiders. they are their own order, the opiliones. unlike spiders, which make silk to trap prey, have fangs to bite them and venom to paralyze them, real daddies have no fangs, no venom, no silk,


by dr. mercola for all of us who love, respect and share our lives with animals, it is devastating to see this appalling abuse of dairy farm animals. this video was produced by the non - profit organization animals ' angels, an internationally active non - profit organization based in germany, whose mission is to end the abuse of livestock animals and improve the conditions at auctions. unfortunately, this video is not one of a kind. many other disturbing videos can be found online, documenting animal cruelty by the food industry and others valuing profit above all else. why suggest watching such horrible images? the videos about cruelty are, unfortunately, a necessary evil as they inform concerned citizens about what is endured by animals entrusted to our care. without seeing it, many would simply be unable to believe it exists. and seeing it has a far more visceral impact and is harder to ignore than reading about it. awareness is always the first step toward positive change, and great change is needed to improve the lives of these farm animals. the main points the film makes are quoted and expanded upon below. the disturbing truth about confined animal feeding operations ( cafos ) most milk no longer comes from cows happily grazing in lush, green fields in the open air, as their advertisements commonly suggest. most conventional milk comes from cows raised in intensive production systems, also known as confined animal feeding operations ( cafos ). according to vegan outreach, farms with fewer than 200 cows are in sharp decline, while the number of very large cafos ( 2, 000 - plus cows ) more than doubled between the years 2000 and 2006. the largest operations have more than 15, 000 cows. about half of the milk sold in the u. s. comes from just four percent of the farms, which are owned by a handful of large corporations. " today, most dairy cows are confined to a barren, dry lot, which often holds several thousand animals. " most of these large cafos have very high animal densities and confine their cows inside barns or in feedlots. some cows are housed indoors year - round. when lactating, most of the cows are kept tied up in stalls. cows confined in stalls show signs of stress from social isolation and the inability to lie down, as well as increased susceptibility to a number of diseases. only usda - certified organic farms are required to provide some access to pasture for grazing. in 2008, fewer than three percent of u. s. dairy cows were managed on organic farms. dairy cows are


if they even live that long. many dairy cows die by age three or four, exhausted by constant lactation and frequent disease. in some countries where cows are revered, such as india and nepal, cows are commonly kept as pets. cows are very social animals, being sturdy yet gentle, and make wonderful pets for families with children. ii miniature cows are even beginning to be bred as pets in the united states. " after birthing, the calves are often immediately taken away from their mothers. while the female calves remain on the farm to replace other " spent " daily cows, the male calves, often called the " unwanted by - product " of the dairy industry, are usually shipped to auction and sold to veal operations. " the female calves are commonly mutilated by tail docking, dehorning, and the removal of " extra teats. " most female calves are fed colostrum until they are weaned at eight weeks, and then fed a milk replacer or " waste milk " that is unfit to be sold for human consumption. each year, hundreds of thousands of female calves die between 48 hours and eight weeks of age, mostly due to diarrhea ( calf scours ) and other digestive problems. the torture of veal calves " many of the bull calves, with their umbilical cords still attached and unable to stand by themselves, are often too weak to survive and die at the auction. " many consumers don ' t realize that veal is a direct by - product of the dairy industry. newborn bull calves are taken away from their mothers and shipped off to veal producers for a short life of torture. some bull calves are killed within a few days of their birth, but many are harvested for veal. these veal calves are typically kept immobilized in tiny crates so that their flesh stays tender, until they are slaughtered at 16 to 20 weeks of age. their confinement is so extreme that they cannot even turn around or lie down comfortably. this abuse begins as young as one day old. in order to make their flesh white, the veal calves are fed a low iron, nutritionally deficient liquid diet that makes them ill ; they frequently develop anemia, diarrhea, and pneumonia. iii according to john robbins, author of the food revolution and several other booksiv : " the veal calf would actually have more space if, instead of chaining him in such a stall, you stuffed him into the trunk of a subcompact car and kept him there for


of the food revolution and several other booksiv : " the veal calf would actually have more space if, instead of chaining him in such a stall, you stuffed him into the trunk of a subcompact car and kept him there for his entire life. " sickly animals are treated like piles of waste the term " downer " refers to an animal that is too injured, weak, or sick to stand and walk. the leading causes are complications from calving and injuries from slipping and falling, most often occurring within one day of giving birth. the exact number of downer cattle on american farms or feedlots is estimated to be 500, 000 animals per year. most are dairy cows. you can see on the video how these poor animals are mistreated, being pushed around by tractors and forklifts as if they were piles of waste. " when they reach auction, many dairy cows will be weakened and emaciated. because of their poor state of health, these animals have a high risk of becoming non - ambulatory. " another major factor causing these animals to become ill is their transport to auction. animals are transported thousands of miles over land and sea, and subjected to enormous stress. frequently these transports do not meet legal requirements. the conditions of animal transport are such a huge problem that animals ' angels has a division specifically committed to eliminating long - distance transports. v unnatural diets lead to painful udder and hoof infections the natural diet for a cow is grass, but a grass diet doesn ' t result in an extraordinarily high milk yield. therefore, conventional dairy farms put their cows on high grain diets ( mostly corn ), and diets that are also high in cheap protein, such as genetically engineered soy and animal by - products. these foods are hard for cows to digest and cause health problems. these unnatural diets, combined with filthy and overcrowded living conditions, create an environment in which metabolic disorders and infections are commonplace. millions of cows are suffering mercilessly and needlessly at the hands of big agribusinesses that fancy themselves as " dairy farmers. " " by the time they arrive at the auction to be sold to a meat buyer, 33 percent of dairy cows will have developed mastitis, a very painful udder infection. many cows will be limping and in pain due to laminitis, an inflammation of the hoof. " raw milk may be the solution for you and the cows if you want to continue consuming milk and milk products


very painful udder infection. many cows will be limping and in pain due to laminitis, an inflammation of the hoof. " raw milk may be the solution for you and the cows if you want to continue consuming milk and milk products, i suggest you get them in the raw from organic dairy farmers who are set up specifically to produce high - quality, clean, nutritious raw dairy products. you can find milk, cheese, and other dairy products in raw form, although it may take a little searching. high - quality raw milk has an abundance of nutritional elements, including : - valuable enzymes ( which are destroyed by pasteurization ) - natural butterfat helps your body to absorb and utilize vitamins and minerals ( also destroyed by pasteurization ) - healthy unoxidized cholesterol - conjugated linoleic acid ( cla ), which fights cancer and may help reduce body fat - omega - 3 fats and omega - 6 fats in a better ratio than conventional milk all raw milk is not safe — you must know what to look for there ' s a vast difference in quality between the milk of organically raised, grass - fed " happy cows, " and that from conventionally raised, confined, grain - fed cows. raw, unpasteurized milk from cafos would be dangerous to consume. conventional dairy farms are not typically set up to produce milk that is safe and pure enough to be consumed raw. and really, the very idea of producing mass quantities of milk from huge numbers of cows confined to one area is contrary to the very nature of " healthy " milk. when buying raw milk, it ' s important to make sure you ' re buying milk that ' s been produced with the intention of being consumed raw — and not just unpasteurized milk from conventional dairy operations. it would cost large industrial dairies an enormous amount of money to clean up their operations enough to turn out milk that would be safe to drink raw, since it ' s often loaded with blood, pus, hormones, dangerous pathogens and other sludge that you wouldn ' t want to ingest under any circumstances. realize that when you consume conventional pasteurized supermarket milk, you are likely drinking this sludge — it ' s just " cooked sludge. " voting with your wallet or pocketbook is the best way to send a message to the factory farm industry that there is a market for ethically raised livestock. by purchasing milk from dairy farmers who are doing things right, you are showing kindness to


. " voting with your wallet or pocketbook is the best way to send a message to the factory farm industry that there is a market for ethically raised livestock. by purchasing milk from dairy farmers who are doing things right, you are showing kindness to cows everywhere, decreasing their chances of suffering tragic and miserable lives, one gallon at a time. if you object to factory farming practices and the mistreatment of animals, and you are still buying conventional dairy products, then your actions are not aligned with your beliefs. if you had a difficult time watching this video but you continue to buy these products, then it may be time to recommit or reevaluate your values. do you want easy access to raw milk? government, public health, and dairy industry officials want to restrict the sale and distribution of raw milk, citing safety concerns. but small dairy farmers, organic consumers ' advocates and raw milk drinkers all agree that safety isn ' t the real issue — it ' s control of the dairy market. by joining the fight to make access to healthy raw milk a right for all americans, you ' re not only standing up the animals, you ' re protecting your freedom of choice with respect to your food supply. presidential candidate ron paul has joined the battle to protect your rights to raw milk by introducing house bill hr 1830vi, which essentially authorizes the production and transport of raw milk products for direct human consumption. on may 13, 2011, this bill was sent to the house subcommittee on health. i cannot urge you strongly enough to support hr 1830, and inform everyone you know. total video length : 0 : 20 : 39 download interview transcript additionally, the farm - to - consumer defense fund has created a petition for hr 1830. if you care about this issue, please take a moment to sign this petition right now! additional raw milk resources the following is a list of resources that can help you become better informed :


washington : scientists have rediscovered what they claim is the eighth wonder of the world - - pink and white terraces in new zealand, which were buried in mud for a 100 years, losing some charm. until the late 19th century, the pink and white terraces along lake rotomahana on the north island, attracted tourists from around the world, interested in seeing beautiful natural formations created by a large geothermal system. but the eruption of mt tarawera on june 10, 1886, buried the terraces in sediment and caused the lake basin to enlarge, engulfing the land where the terraces stood. for more than a century, people have speculated whether any part of the pink and white terraces survived the eruption. now, an international team has located portions of the long - lost pink and white terraces, using autonomous underwater vehicles ( auvs ) to map the bottom of lake rotomahana. team leader cornel de ronde of gns science in new zealand said the scientists were elated by the rediscovery. " the first sidescan sonar image gave a hint of a terraced structure so we scanned the area twice more and we are now 95 per cent certain we are seeing the bottom two tiers of the pink terraces, " de ronde said. side - scan sonar and bathymetric data collected by two remus 100 auvs clearly show crescent - shaped terraced structures in about 60 meters of water where the pink terraces were located prior to 1886 ; they are covered by a brownish lake sediment, say the scientists. after detecting areas of interest with the auv ' s sonar systems, the team used the underwater camera system to capture images of the lake floor where they were able to photograph some of the stepped terrace edges.


some economists, executives and financiers — as well as energy secretary steven chu — argue that the government must play a role because certain technologies have non - financial benefits, such as producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions or easing u. s. reliance on foreign oil. the semiconductor industry is often held up as a model of how government money can help build a new type of economy. but others argue that the history of government attempts to reach for the holy grail of new energy technology — a history that features both political parties — is not inspiring. “ we ’ re making very large bets, and the decisions seem to be more grounded in politics and geography than in engineering and science, ” said michael graetz, a professor at columbia law school and the author of “ the end of energy. ” consider the saga of the clinch river breeder reactor. in 1971, president richard nixon set a goal of building an experimental nuclear power plant. the clinch river reactor was supposed to be a sort of perpetual motion machine, producing power as well as plutonium that could be used in other plants. private utilities agreed to kick in $ 175 million, less than half of the $ 400 million that the atomic energy commission estimated it would cost to build. as expenses ballooned, the government covered all the overruns. the project was criticized by activists and scientists worried about the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation. cheap uranium undercut it. after president ronald reagan was elected, clinch river survived the first round of his spending cuts, in part out of deference to senate majority leader howard baker ( r - tenn. ), a strong supporter of the reactor, which was in his home state. but finally, in 1983, with the congressional budget office saying the cost might exceed $ 4 billion, congress terminated the program. blueprints had been drawn up, modeling done, components ordered and some ground cleared, but the reactor was never built. the price tag for the federal government : $ 1. 7 billion ( $ 3. 9 billion in today ’ s dollars ).


importance of safety in a work environment emergency equipments contain flashlights and containers and several other equipments that are served as the basic and most primary equipment when the need arises in case of provision of basic safety. you must have heard the concept of first aid. this is one step further to this concept and gives several features to help a victim before he or she can be taken to the hospital for permanent treatment. basically it is a temporary treatment apparatus that is often used in factories and other heavy mechanical projects. this is the responsibility of the employer to have in store at least some quantity of emergency equipments. the employer has also have some other responsibilities as well that includes providing employees with the health and safety manual, giving them training and education for the use of equipment, encouraging safety environment, providing facilities within the work environment and monitoring the compliance by employees on a regular and continued basis. the rules and regulations surrounding the health and safety aspects of the organization especially a factory or a place where manufacturing is taking place should be in black and white. this must be communicated to the employees so as to tell them the required level of safety precautions expected from their day to day operations. this must be implemented fully and actions must be taken in case of any non compliance. the manual also needs to be updated on frequent and regular basis. if it is felt that the manual is complete and need not be revised or updated then a period must be determined after which it is considered mandatory to at least review it. this period is normally for a year because companies have several of their documents prepared on an annual basis like financial statements and also the appraisal activity is also performed on an annual basis. survival kit accomplishes a variety of purposes. it is available in different sizes ranging from large to medium and also for small size. the basis aim of using a survival kit is to help a person who is not in normal condition like at extreme weather or under sea etc. in some areas where the temperature is so low that the chances in high for the attack of snow bite this kit offers several unique features that helps the person to survive. it includes several things like a small knife and a torch light and has unique colors that can identify the existence of the person from a great distance. sometimes people have to reach a place in case of emergency or in case the person has craze for attaining some thrill objectives, in both of these cases the use of a kit is something inevitable. it also has certain feature that helps a person to have a good respiratory and to breathe easily. disaster kits are


updated 06 / 08 / 2012 10 : 32 am your health : clinic of last resort to view our videos, you need to install adobe flash 9 or above. install now. then come back here and refresh the page. some patients wait years for a definitive diagnosis. using a unique combination of scientific and medical expertise and resources at the national institutes of health ( nih ), the undiagnosed diseases program pursues two goals : • to provide answers to patients with mysterious conditions that have long eluded diagnosis • to advance medical knowledge about rare and common diseases nih undiagnosed diseases program the udp was started in 2008 as a federal research project to learn more about what causes illness and how to treat it. about 40 percent of those who apply to the program are children. a longstanding medical condition that eludes diagnosis by a referring physician can be considered undiagnosed and may be of interest to this clinical research program. of the total number of cases that are referred to this program, a very limited number will be invited to proceed in the study following careful application review by the program ' s medical team. those add up to between 50 and 100 cases a year. in general, it takes 8 to 12 weeks for the udp to evaluate an application, and the waiting list for admission is 2 to 6 months. a rare disease is generally considered to have a prevalence of fewer than 200, 000 affected individuals in the united states. irak - 4 deficiency is an inherited disorder of the immune system. most people with irak - 4 deficiency have invasive bacterial infections, which can involve the blood, the membrane covering the brain and spinal cord ( meningitis ), or the joints ( arthritis ). in addition, affected individuals can have localized infections of the upper respiratory tract, skin, or eyes. many people with irak - 4 deficiency do not develop a high fever in response to these bacterial infections, even if the infection is severe. irak - 4 deficiency is a very rare condition, although the exact prevalence is unknown, at least 49 individuals with this condition have been described in the scientific literature. a nonprofit known as in need of diagnosis also helps undiagnosed patients find doctors and resources while providing support. they receive letters from around the world. they also work to increase the timeliness and accuracy of diagnosis. inod does not diagnose, but it is sometimes possible to find unexplored options that could lead to help.


words are powerful and can create many a response better or worse, but it ’ s good to have an opinion. words in our english language are exciting and paint a picture with the added beauty of america ’ s melting pot of cultures and languages. yet, english is the language of america and immigrants learn it and other countries teach it. the english language needs to be the official and only language written and spoken in america. manners also are a nice use of words and set boundaries. “ please, “ and “ thank you ” set standards as opposed to swearing, or interrupting another ‘ s words. the idea that someone has a different opinion is okay. it ’ s good to have an opinion, no matter which side, and the debate needs to be directed at the issue, not the individual. yes, perhaps a lackluster leader might not be an " idiot, " " failure " or " liar ", just an individual incapable of understanding “ capitalism ” as opposed to “ socialism. ” having an opinion, rather than being “ undecided ” is significant. when people are “ undecided ” they give away their being and more than just words. i heard a woman ask a friend this past presidential election, “ who are you voting for? ” by the question, it seemed clear that the response from her friend became her vote. in one city, voters actually take a list of all of the candidates who are democrat and vote the straight democrat ticket. the words “ democrat ” and “ republican ” carry huge ramifications. right now, america is experiencing what the words of this democrat president are doing to the american dream. when a spouse comes home and says he ’ s lost his job, those words have immense impact. things happen with those words and other things don ’ t. the american dream is being shattered by government and way too many political words. the executive branch “ recommends, should provide leadership and should have a bunch of clear words and plans, and our legislative branch should make laws best for america. their words and “ yes, ” or “ no ” vote impacts generations. words can shatter lives just as much as a baseball bat hitting a ball to outfield. a child who hears his parents call him “ stupid ”, or a couple spewing “ i hate you ” might as well be clumped with that bat as, except for the bruises, it hurts just the same. other words, in the end, do hurt like the crack of a bat. the words “ cancer ” or “ alzheimer “ creates


” might as well be clumped with that bat as, except for the bruises, it hurts just the same. other words, in the end, do hurt like the crack of a bat. the words “ cancer ” or “ alzheimer “ creates great despair, while words like cure “ and “ recovery ” create hope. the warm wishes of “ happy birthday ” or “ merry christmas ” leave a good feeling, but these words also have impact. a city sign reading “ god bless ” can get a whole town buzzing. or mean words spray painted on a school wall might reveal more about that community than that cheap can of paint. perhaps more police are needed to fight “ the druggies, “ or better parenting needs to happen, or fewer “ baby daddies. ” words tattooed on movie stars ' arms “ joe loves jane ” sure can cause problems and a lot of laser erasing when joe or jane don ’ t. bumper stickers glued on vehicles make a statement, and let others know how politically active, environmentally friendly, school positive or vacation happy that driver may be. words are fun and worth clearly stating, in english if in america, and with an opinion that is yours because it ’ s good to have an opinion. for more of my opinions, please visit : www. theprickleypear. com


mullein is the common name of a number of species in the verbascum genus. verbascum thapsus ( also verbascum densifolium ) grows throughout germany in open fields and roadsides. it is a biennial which prefers sandy soils and its stately second - year growth is a welcome sight for the interested observer. mullein is a native eurasian plant with a long history of medicinal use. it was brought to north america by early settlers and it did not take long before it became part of the ethnobotanical repertoire of many native american tribes. smoking the leaves was thought to have a calming effect in addition to clearing the respiratory tract. interestingly, native americans realized that mullein could be an effective fishing aid. once released in a stream, the seeds temporarily paralyze the fish, thus facilitating their catch. indeed mullein contains rotenone, a fish poison which naturally occurs in certain plants and is found in both mullein seeds and seed capsules. mullein has a number of suggestive common names in german, from koenigskerze ( king ’ s candle ) to wetterkerze ( weather candle ). the latter reveals an understandably common preoccupation of northern europeans, namely the weather. according to german folklore, careful observation of the flowering display of mullein can predict future weather patterns. mullein plants with a greater number of flowers on the lower part of the stalk forecast snow before christmas, whereas a greater number of flowers on the upper part of the stalk means the first snow will not arrive until after the new year. fortunately, our ( admittedly amateur ) first reading of the mullein flower arrangements in berlin predicts a late winter. so, we ’ ve decided to interpret this as a long and hopefully warm fall this year! if you ’ d like to make your own weather predictions, feel free to look at our map to see where you can find some mullein nearby ( although it grows freely all over berlin ).


paragraph divisions of modern translations vision of the restored temple and land vision of the future temple | the lord ' s portion of the land | | the holy district | | the distribution of land | | the lord ' s portion of the country | | the division of the country - the portion for yahweh | | properties of the city and the prince | | portion for the prince | | land for the prince | | the portion for the prince | | laws governing the prince | | rules for the prince | | weights and measures | | 45 : 12 | | offerings for worship | | keeping the feasts | | festival regulations | | the festivals | | the feast of the passover | | 45 : 21 - 25 | | 45 : 21 - 25 | | 45 : 21 - 25 | | 45 : 21 - 24 | | the feast of shelters | reading cycle three ( see " guide to good bible reading " ) following the original author ' s intent at paragraph level this is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the bible. each of us must walk in the light we have. you, the bible, and the holy spirit are priority in interpretation. you must not relinquish this to a commentator. read the chapter in one sitting. identify the subjects ( reading cycle # 3 ). compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author ' s intent, which is the heart of interpretation. every paragraph has one and only one subject. 1. first paragraph 2. second paragraph 3. third paragraph word and phrase study nasb ( updated ) text : 45 : 1 - 5 1 " and when you divide by lot the land for inheritance, you shall offer an allotment to the lord, a holy portion of the land ; the length shall be the length of 25, 000 cubits, and the width shall be 20, 000. it shall be holy within all its boundary round about. 2out of this there shall be for the holy place a square round about five hundred by five hundred cubits, and fifty cubits for its open space round about. 3from this area you shall measure a length of 25, 000 cubits and a width of 10, 000 cubits ; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. 4it shall be the holy portion of the land ; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister


width of 10, 000 cubits ; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. 4it shall be the holy portion of the land ; it shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister to the lord, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. 5an area 25, 000 cubits in length and 10, 000 in width shall be for the levites, the ministers of the house, and for their possession cities to dwell in. " 45 : 1 " when you divide by lot the land " the verb ( bdb 656, kb 709, hiphil infinitive construct ) basically means " to fall, " but in the hiphil refers to casting lots to know the lord ' s will on a matter. the concept ( i. e., mechanism ) originated with the urim and thummim of the high priest ( cf. exod. 28 : 30 ; num. 27 : 21 ). this method was to be used to divide the promised land ( i. e., canaan ) among the twelve tribes ( excluding levi ) as described in num. 26 : 53 - 56 ; 33 : 54 ; 34 : 2, 13 ; 36 : 2 - 3 and originally done in joshua 13 - 22 ( esp. 14 : 1 - 2 ). ezekiel is drawing a mental image from the past to illustrate a new beginning! " an allotment to the lord " the phrase is literally " set apart an offering. " this refers to the temple area. this offering / allotment is described in vv. 1 - 5. 1. length, 25, 000 cubits or rods / reeds ( cf. 42 : 15 - 20 ) 2. width, 10, 000 cubits ( lxx, 20, 000 ) or rods / reeds, which means it includes the priestly and levitical areas 3. containing a square 500 cubits by 500 cubits or rods / reeds for the holy place 4. square surrounded by an open space of 50 cubits or rods / reeds 5. contains yhwh ' s sanctuary and priests ' housing 6. area for the levites ( 25, 000 cubits by 10, 000 cubits or rods / reeds ) a cubit would be about 21 inches, a rod / reed about 10 feet. reb " places in which they live " the mt has " chambers " ( לש


000 cubits by 10, 000 cubits or rods / reeds ) a cubit would be about 21 inches, a rod / reed about 10 feet. reb " places in which they live " the mt has " chambers " ( לשכת ), which is so common in this section of ezekiel ( cf. 40 : 17 [ twice ], 38, 44, 45, 46 ; 41 : 10 ; 42 : 1, 4, 7 [ twice ], 8, 11 ), but the septuagint has " cities " ( לשבת ). the b ( beth ) and k ( kaph ) consonants are formed in a similar way and are often confused in handwritten texts. nasb ( updated ) text : 45 : 6 6 " you shall give the city possession of an area 5, 000 cubits wide and 25, 000 cubits long, alongside the allotment of the holy portion ; it shall be for the whole house of israel. " 45 : 6 " the city " this area ( 5, 000 by 25, 000 cubits ) is further described in 48 : 15 - 18, 30 - 35. it is a holy area for all the house of israel, similar to the courts of herod ' s temple. nasb ( updated ) text : 45 : 7 - 8 7 " the prince shall have land on either side of the holy allotment and the property of the city, adjacent to the holy allotment and the property of the city, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border. 8this shall be his land for a possession in israel ; so my princes shall no longer oppress my people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of israel according to their tribes. " 45 : 7 - 8 " the prince shall have land " the allotment for the royal leader is described in vv. 7 - 8, which is adjacent to the holy common area for the people. the purpose of the land is twofold. 1. symbolizes closeness to yhwh 2. symbolizes he is a servant of the people ( i. e., outside the common area ) it is also a way of providing status and authority without oppressing the people ( cf. v. 9 ; 22 : 27 ; 46 : 18 ). this " prince " is an administrator fulfilling isa. 9 : 6


, outside the common area ) it is also a way of providing status and authority without oppressing the people ( cf. v. 9 ; 22 : 27 ; 46 : 18 ). this " prince " is an administrator fulfilling isa. 9 : 6 - 7 and micah 5 : 2 - 5. however, the " princes " ( cf. vv. 8, 9 ) are governmental leaders who must be admonished to live and act appropriately. ezekiel takes seriously the corruption of the leadership which occurred regularly in the past. this very point shows that this does not directly refer to an " ideal messianic " period, but future israeli history. the results of the fall potentially continue and must be guarded against. nasb ( updated ) text : 45 : 9 9thus says the lord god, " enough, you princes of israel ; put away violence and destruction, and practice justice and righteousness. stop your expropriations from my people, " declares the lord god. 45 : 9 - 10 these verses list what the governmental leaders should and should not do. 1. put away violence ( bdb 329 ) and oppression ( bdb 994 ) – bdb 693, kb 747, hiphil imperative plural 2. practice justice ( bdb 1048 ) and righteousness ( bdb 842 ) – bdb 793, kb 889, qal imperative ( terms often paired, cf. 18 : 5, 19, 21, 27 ; 33 : 14, 16, 19 ) 3. stop your expropriations ( bdb 177, literally, " lift your evictions " ) – bdb 926, kb 1202, hiphil imperative 4. have just balances, ephah and baths – bdb 224, kb 243, qal jussive nasb ( updated ) text : 45 : 10 - 12 10 " you shall have just balances, a just ephah and a just bath. 11the ephah and the bath shall be the same quantity, so that the bath will contain a tenth of a homer and the ephah a tenth of a homer ; their standard shall be according to the homer. 12the shekel shall be twenty gerahs ; twenty shekels, twenty - five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your maneh. " 45 : 11 - 12, 14 see special topic : ancient near eastern weights and measures ( metrology ) at 4 : 11. nasb ( updated ) text : 45


shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your maneh. " 45 : 11 - 12, 14 see special topic : ancient near eastern weights and measures ( metrology ) at 4 : 11. nasb ( updated ) text : 45 : 13 - 17 13 " this is the offering that you shall offer : a sixth of an ephah from a homer of wheat ; a sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley ; 14and the prescribed portion of oil ( namely, the bath of oil ), a tenth of a bath from each kor ( which is ten baths or a homer, for ten baths are a homer ) ; 15and one sheep from each flock of two hundred from the watering places of israel — for a grain offering, for a burnt offering and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them, " declares the lord god. 16all the people of the land shall give to this offering for the prince in israel. 17it shall be the prince ' s part to provide the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the drink offerings, at the feasts, on the new moons and on the sabbaths, at all the appointed feasts of the house of israel ; he shall provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of israel. " 45 : 13 - 16 these verses describe what an israelite worshiper should provide ( either in kind or as a tax ). 1. a sixth of an ephah ( dry measure ) from a homer of wheat 2. a sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley ( cf. num. 5 : 15 ) 3. a bath ( liquid measure ) of oil 4. one sheep which will make up 1. a grain offering 2. a burnt offering 3. a peace offering 45 : 17 the prince ( i. e., government ) shall provide the offerings. 1. the burnt offering 2. the grain offering 3. the drink offering for the feasts of 1. new moons 3. appointed feasts to make atonement ( cf. v. 15 ) 1. the sin offering 2. the grain offering 3. the burnt offering 4. the peace offering ( often used to inaugurate a temple, cf. lev. 9 : 4, 18, 22 ; i kgs. 8 : 63 - 64 ; ii chr. 30 : 22 ; 31 : 2 ; ezek. 43 : 27 ) nasb (


kinematic and electromyographic analysis of the push movement in tai chi - correspondence to : ms chan, department of sports science and physical education, kwok sports building, the chinese university of hong kong, shatin, nt, hong kong ; - accepted 16 september 2002 background : tai chi is a form of exercise derived from the martial art folk traditions of china. the force used in tai chi includes different principles of mechanical advantage. no studies on the kinematic features of tai chi exercise have been published. objective : to analyse the kinematics and electromyographic characteristics of tai chi. methods : an experienced tai chi master was asked to perform a sequence of basic movements : ward off, roll back, press, and push. the movements were videotaped and digitised using a motion analysis system. electromyographic activities of the lumbar erector spinae, rectus femoris, medial hamstrings, and medial head of gastrocnemius were recorded by surface electrodes. the push movement data were analysed. results : the medial hamstrings and medial head of gastrocnemius muscle groups maintained low activity, with higher electromyographic values in the lumbar erector spinae and substantially higher ones in the rectus femoris during the push movement. both concentric and eccentric contractions occurred in muscles of the lower limbs, with eccentric contraction occurring mainly in the anti - gravity muscles such as the rectus femoris and the medial head of gastrocnemius. the forward and backward shifts in centre of gravity ( cg ) were mainly accomplished by increasing and decreasing respectively the joint angles of the bilateral lower limbs rather than by adopting a forward or backward postural lean. the path of the cg in the anteroposterior and mediolateral component was unique, and the sway or deviation from the path was small. the master maintained an upright posture and maintained a low cg ( hips, knees, and ankles bent ) while travelling slowly and steadily from one position to another. conclusion : the eccentric muscle contraction of the lower limbs in the push movement of tai chi may help to strengthen the muscles.


what the heck is health physics? the name sounds like it is all about pendulums and inclined planes, but it is really about radiation protection. the most entertaining story about the origin of the job description “ health physicist ” is that it came about during the “ manhattan project ” when scientists needed to protect themselves from the radioactive materials they used. according to the story, the term, “ health physicist ” was chosen to be an intentionally confusing description to disguise the work on the atomic bomb. over the last 60 years, health physics has developed into an important and complex scientific discipline and profession. there are entire university degree programs devoted to it as well as professional - level certification. in keeping with the confusing name, health physicists have many confusing terms and units such as rem, rad, roentgen, effective dose equivalent, and committed dose, just to name a few. if that weren ’ t confusing enough, health physicists also use the international system of units ( kind of like the metric system ). today many health physicists work in nuclear power plants, hospitals and industries, all places where radiation is used. some also work at epa, since epa is the primary federal agency charged with protecting the public from the harmful effects of radiation. many of them became involved in health physics because they were interested in the science of radiation. i once had a manager tell me that health physicists were unique at epa because they were the only ones who “ thought their pollutant was cool. ” i think the hardest job health physicists have is explaining radiation to the public and to other scientists at the epa. we know a lot about radiation, but for low level radiation exposure, there is a lot that we need to assume and estimate, and many areas where the science is not clear. i usually start out my discussions about radiation by reminding people that this is a radioactive world. did you know that the reason the earth ’ s core is still molten after 4. 5 billion years is that the long - lived radioactive decay in the core keeps it hot? without that molten core, earth would not have a magnetic field, and without a magnetic field the solar wind would have blown away our atmosphere long ago ( like mars ). and of course without an atmosphere, earth would be a lifeless rock. so in a way, radioactivity is the reason there is life on earth. health physicists think that is cool – just ask one. about the author : richard poeton is a health physicist. he started his career with epa while studying for his ms


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a new article on the college website features an interview with brittany klemm ( ’ 14 ) and dr. burmeister on their recent research activities in the northern appalachian mountains and the desolation wilderness area of the sierra nevada, student research in the department of earth & environmental sciences, and students presenting research at professional meetings. tulelake, ca – students from the geology of california ( geos 61 ) course explored some of the most striking geologic features of northern california and southern oregon on a late - september four - day field trip led by dr. kurtis burmeister. the group started by learning about the formation and significance of table mountain near oroville, then headed up the feather river valley to investigate the exposed metamorphic rocks and granodiorite plutons. during the second half of the day, the group examined how high - viscosity felsic lavas create stratovolcanoes that violently erupt into pyroclastic debris flows at lassen volcanic national park, where the group camped for the night. on the second day, the caravan proceeded to lava beds national monument to explore how the low - viscosity mafic lavas erupted from the medicine lake volcanic field to create not only broad shield volcanoes, but also lava tubes ( into several of which the class intrepidly descended ) and cinder cone volcanoes ( one of which about half the class awoke before daybreak to ascend and watch the sunrise ). the group camped at lava beds on the second and third nights of the trip, and, in between, paid a visit to crater lake national park for a vivid look at just how catastrophic a high - viscosity felsic eruption can be. jaw dropping in its beauty, crater lake is the remains of mount mazama, a stratovocano that completely obliterated itself in a cataclysmic eruption about 7, 700 years ago. on the final day of the trip, the group was afforded spectacular views of mount shasta en route back to stockton. for the past five years, dr. burmeister has been accompanied on the trip by dr. ty raterman ( department of philosophy ). this year, drs. burmeister and raterman worked together to incorporate multidisciplinary exercises in which the students used their time in the field as a springboard for reflecting on the concept of nature and in turn on the relationship between naturalness and morality. the trip was further enhanced by the presence of juan con


a baseball speeds from the hands of a pitcher, a slave to newton ’ s laws. but in the brain of the batter who is watching it, something odd happens. time seems to dawdle. the ball moves in slow motion, and becomes clearer. players of baseball, tennis and other ball sports have described this dilation of time. but why does it happen? does the brain merely remember time passing more slowly after the fact? or do experienced players develop matrix - style abilities, where time genuinely seems to move more slowly? according to five experiments from nobuhiro hagura at university college london, it ’ s the latter. when we prepare to make a movement – say, the swing of a bat – our ability to process visual information speeds up. the result : the world seems to move slower. at first glance, this might seem to contradict a now - classic experiment by david eagleman. he threw volunteers off a tall fairground ride and asked them to stare at a special watch, to see if their perception of time would slow. it didn ’ t. they merely remembered the experience as being long and drawn out afterwards. ( see my earlier post for the details. ) but there ’ s a critical difference between the two studies. eagleman studied time perception while people were actually undergoing a crisis — in this case, falling to their possible doom. but hagura showed that time appears more leisurely before an event, rather than during it — when we ’ re preparing to move, rather than moving. hagura first asked volunteers to press a key for as long as a white disc appeared on a screen. the disc would then be replaced by a hollow target. in some trials, the volunteers had to release their key and touch the target. in others, they were told to keep pressing the key. in every case, they had to say how long the white disc stayed up for, compared to all the previous trials in the experiment. hagura found that the volunteers deemed the durations to be longer if they were preparing to move, than if they were planning to keep still. perhaps the volunteers who were about to reach out were just more excited or attentive? not so. when hagura changed the task from pressing ( or not pressing ) the target, to naming ( or ignoring ) a letter, the time - slowing effect vanished. preparing to move makes the difference, rather than just preparing for any old task. in a third variation, the white disc was replaced by two possible targets instead of


target, to naming ( or ignoring ) a letter, the time - slowing effect vanished. preparing to move makes the difference, rather than just preparing for any old task. in a third variation, the white disc was replaced by two possible targets instead of just one. in some trials, the disc had a line that told the volunteers which of the two targets was correct, allowing them to prepare the right movement. in other trials, there was no line, and the volunteers had to make their move when the two targets appeared. as you might have guessed by now, they thought the white disc stayed up longer if they were preparing to move their arm in a specific direction, but not if they were simply waiting. these three sets of results support the idea that time moves more slowly when we prepare an action. but they could also be explained in the same way that eagleman ’ s results were : time only seemed to pass more slowly because the volunteers remembered it doing so. but two final experiments suggest that, instead, preparing to move actually slows “ the flow of visual experience ”. first, hagura replaced the solid white target with one that flickered at different frequencies. the volunteers had to say whether it was flickering faster or slower than usual, compared to previous trials. if they were preparing to hit the screen, they said that the high - frequency flickers were slower than they actually were. second, hagura showed his volunteers a stream of rapidly flashing letters, while they held a key. each letter appeared for just 35 milliseconds, and the whole series went by in less than a second. somewhere in the stream, there was a c or a g, but never both. once the sequence had stopped, as before, the volunteers either kept holding their key, or touched the screen. their task was to say whether they had seen a c or a g. if the volunteers were preparing to reach out, they got the right answer about 66 percent of the time. if they kept still, their success rate was just 59 percent. by readying their arms to touch the screen, they were better able to spot their target amid the zooming letters. this difference was particularly marked if the c or g appeared towards the end of the flashing sequence – the longer the volunteers spent preparing to move, the slower time seemed to pass. how does the slowing effect actually work? we don ’ t know. hagura notes that there are certainly connections between the parts of the brain that encode the passage of time, and those that prepare


move, the slower time seemed to pass. how does the slowing effect actually work? we don ’ t know. hagura notes that there are certainly connections between the parts of the brain that encode the passage of time, and those that prepare sequences of movement. the details, however, are still unknown. why does the effect happen? hagura argues that speeding up our powers of perception allows us to change, tweak and halt our course of action on the fly. he writes : “ as expert ballgame players assert, being maximally prepared may allow ‘ more time ’ to perfect the hit. ” that would be a clear benefit, but andrew welchman, who studies perception at the university of birmingham, wonders if there are any drawbacks. “ you never get anything in the brain for free, so if you get better at one moment in time, you should get worse at another, ” he says. “ take someone who moves a lot versus someone how moves little. they should both be calibrated to the same external time, so the one who moves a lot needs to have more ‘ downtime ’ to keep in step. ” a bout of neo - like bullet - time should be followed by a burst of perceptual sluggishness. for example, welchman says that when we move our eyes around, our visual sensitivity plummets immediately before, during and after the movement. this is called saccadic suppression. the standard interpretation is that we ’ re “ filtering out the junk ” – the “ smeary visual signals ” that we get when our eyes move too quickly. “ but framed in light of this paper, it might be a way of resetting the clock so that the person stays calibrated to the visual world around them, ” says welchman. reference : hagura, kanai, orgs & haggard. 2012. ready steady slow : action preparation slows the subjective passage of time. biology letters http : / / dx. doi. org / 10. 1098 / rspb. 2012. 1339


download research tools a mind is a terrible thing to waste, and so, apparently, is an idle computer. on november 18, scientists from oregon state university ( osu ) will begin harnessing the idle time of thousands of personal computers to study climate modeling and the resulting weather effects on the pacific northwest and california. this project illustrates the power of " citizen scientists, " in this case, the thousands of individuals whose personal computers will be leveraged during idle times. by lashing together the computing power of these privately owned pcs, the osu team will create a digital network with the computational chops of a supercomputer. the osu participation in this worldwide initiative, under the leadership of philip mote, director of the oregon climate change research institute, will study the reliability of various climate simulation models in the western united states. microsoft research provided primary funding for this initiative, with additional support coming from the bureau of land management, the california energy commission, and the u. s. geological survey. the work at osu will join that already underway in south africa and the united kingdom. since the project ' s inception in 2003, hundreds of thousands of citizen scientists have donated their spare computer processing power to run global climate change models. during idle times, the personal computers collect data on regional climate information, including temperature, winds, and humidity, which is then compiled and fed into climate model simulations. experiments in the osu - led initiative include predicting regional weather events - including droughts, floods, and temperature extremes - during the 2020s and 2030s, and forecasting the possible climate impact if global temperatures rise two, three, or four degrees by the end of the century. surface temperature in the global model - you can watch this progressing as your model runs. mote notes that the rationale behind these climate modeling studies is elegantly simple. " in less than two months, we can run 40, 000 different year - long climate simulation models with our network of volunteers. a dedicated supercomputer, during that time, could simulate a couple hundred years worth of data. " " it ' s exciting that both climate modeling and computer technology have advanced to the point that people at home can contribute to the effort to study climate change, " he added. individuals in the western united states who wish to donate their computer ' s spare processing power are encouraged to visit www. climateprediction. net / weatherathome, where they can register to have the climate model application downloaded. much like a screensaver, it will run only


who wish to donate their computer ' s spare processing power are encouraged to visit www. climateprediction. net / weatherathome, where they can register to have the climate model application downloaded. much like a screensaver, it will run only when your computer is idle. — dan fay, director of the external research division of microsoft research on november 11 and 12, 2010, an international group of distinguished researchers met in sao paulo, brazil, to expand ongoing environmental research on the brazilian tropical rainforest ecosystem. the workshop built upon the sensor nets in tropical forests, a pilot project that deployed a sensor net in a 1 km2 area of forest in serra do mar, ubatuba, southeast of brazil. the workshop was sponsored by microsoft research - fapesp institute for it research, a joint venture of the external research division of microsoft research and fapesp ( the sao paulo research foundation ). the gathering brought together scientists from the united states, chile, canada, and brazil, representing such diverse disciplines as phenology, climate science, soil ecology, successional forestry, micrometeorology, and earth system modeling. among them was dr. carlos nobre, one of the world ' s foremost researchers on climate change, whose talk, " the fate of the amazon forest in the 21st century, " discussed the impact of global warming, climate change, and fires to the balance of the amazon forest. the distinguished attendees identified and tied together a multidisciplinary set of research problems with technology development and collaboration requirements, creating an experiment plan that broadly charts several years of environmental experiments and technology development. in the course of developing the plan, the researchers spent considerable time reflecting on how technology can support them in the ongoing research, pondering the implications of using new methods and technology support to conduct their science. there was broad consensus that environmental science is faced with enormous data - driven challenges - from data acquisition to data management, cleaning, provenance, annotation, visualization, sharing, publication, discovery, and archival. these challenges are accompanied by acceleration in problem complexity and the need for new, integrated multidisciplinary approaches to research. in response to these important and daunting trends, it is essential to develop new technologies and particularly new computational solutions. in the collaborative rainforest project, we find just such interdisciplinary and data complexity problems, and we see this as a tremendous opportunity to solve specific problems by flexible, extensible, and adoptable means. by so doing, we will build solutions with applicability beyond


rainforest project, we find just such interdisciplinary and data complexity problems, and we see this as a tremendous opportunity to solve specific problems by flexible, extensible, and adoptable means. by so doing, we will build solutions with applicability beyond their immediate corresponding problems. — juliana salles, senior research program manager in the external research division of microsoft research amazing people working to make the world a better place — that pretty much encapsulates the presentations at the recent poptech conference in camden, maine. a network of cutting - edge thinkers from many disciplines, poptech fosters deep, world - changing collaborations. and in a world where science often receives short shrift in the popular media, the annual poptech conference puts a spotlight on the social impact of science. one of the highlights of the conference was the inauguration of the poptech science and public leadership fellows program, which aims to develop " a corps of highly visible and socially engaged scientific leaders who embody science as an essential way of thinking, discovering, understanding and deciding. " this initiative is supported by microsoft research, intel, the national science foundation and others. the 18 fellows chosen in this first year of the program were all present at the conference, with many presenting the results of their ground - breaking research. for example, fellow sinan aral demonstrated his work on how behavioral contagions spread through social networks and discussed his belief that we are on the brink of a new understanding of human behavior. sarah fortune, another science fellow, talked about her efforts to develop new approaches to curing tb — the leading cause of death by a treatable disease, while fellow justin gallivan presented his work in synthetic biology, which aims to reprogram bacteria to track and neutralize environmental pollutants. some of the most impressive talks revealed how much can be achieved with very little, by thinking outside the box. dutch inventor pieter hoff showed off his creation, the groasis waterboxx, a simple apparatus that will enable billions of survivable trees to be planted in arid regions around the world — even deserts and salt flats — helping to reverse the crisis of co2 buildup occurring today. nathan eagle, from mit, discussed his efforts to build a cell - phone based virtual workforce in africa, where everything is now starting to be enabled via mobile phones ; he is working on rolling this out in 220 operations across 80 countries, reaching a population of potentially 2. 1 billion workers. nathan eagle discusses the use of cell phones to empower a third - world workforce


now starting to be enabled via mobile phones ; he is working on rolling this out in 220 operations across 80 countries, reaching a population of potentially 2. 1 billion workers. nathan eagle discusses the use of cell phones to empower a third - world workforce of 2. 1 billion people. lauren abramson, of the community conferencing center, showed the means for communities to resolve conflict on their own, without governmental intervention. it ' s effective and costs less than a tenth of going through the criminal justice system. meanwhile, citizen scientist gale mccullough presented amazing information about whale migration that she uncovered by watching closely. she has been tracking pictures of humpback whales and discovered that a particular whale photographed in brazil was also seen off the coast of madagascar, more than 6, 000 miles away. this was breakthrough information : it was not previously known that these whales migrated this way. perhaps the most inspiring presentation came from azeem hill, co - captain of an amazing team of teenagers from west philadelphia high school. the west philly team went head - to - head with major universities and research institutes in the progressive insurance automotive x prize competition, a contest to develop production - capable 100 mpg automobiles. the revolutionary car designed by these budding engineers from a disadvantaged community made it to the finals, edging out the team from mit! the uplifting mood of the conference was reinforced by treating the attendees to a sneak preview of kinect for xbox 360, the new sensor that allows people to control the machine merely by moving their body. this demo was very popular, and attendees began to realize that this is just an inkling of how we will all be interacting with computer technology in the ( near? ) future. — tom mcmail, senior research program manager, external research, a division of microsoft research


clinical validity refers to the predictive value of a test for a given clinical outcome ( e. g., the likelihood that cancer will develop in someone with a positive test ). it is primarily determined by the sensitivity and specificity with which a test identifies people with a defined clinical condition within a given population. sensitivity of a test refers to the proportion of people who test positive for a clinical condition among those who actually have the clinical condition ; specificity refers to the proportion of people who test negative for a clinical condition among those who do not have the clinical condition. in the case of genetic susceptibility to cancer, clinical validity can be considered at two levels : - does a positive test identify a person as having an increased risk of cancer? - if so, how high is the cancer risk associated with a positive test? thus, the clinical validity of a genetic test is the likelihood that cancer will develop in someone with a positive test result. this likelihood is affected not only by the presence of the gene mutation itself but also by any other modifying factors that might affect the penetrance of the mutation ( e. g., the mutation carrier ' s environmental exposures or personal behaviors ) or by the presence or absence of mutations in other genes. for this reason, the clinical validity of a genetic test for a specific mutation may vary in different populations. if the cancer risk associated with a given mutation is unknown or variable, a test for the mutation will have uncertain clinical validity. a summary of definitions of concepts relevant to understanding clinical validity and other aspects of cancer genetics testing has been published. the test should be evaluated in the population in which the test will be used. clues to whether a particular familial cancer syndrome has a genetic basis can be derived informally, by inspecting the pattern of affected and unaffected people in a series of families ; or formally, using an analytic technique known as segregation analysis. segregation analysis provides quantitative data in support of, or against, the likelihood that a particular genetic mode of inheritance might explain the patterns observed in the study families. evidence that a particular gene might explain a specific cancer predisposition syndrome often derives initially from linkage studies that use collections of families meeting stringent clinical criteria for a specific cancer susceptibility syndrome. the demonstration of strong linkage of cancer susceptibility to a gene or genetic region in a pattern consistent with autosomal dominant inheritance provides evidence in support of both the mode of inheritance and the particular gene that might underlie the risk. once linkage is established, a strong case


susceptibility to a gene or genetic region in a pattern consistent with autosomal dominant inheritance provides evidence in support of both the mode of inheritance and the particular gene that might underlie the risk. once linkage is established, a strong case for association between the genetic trait and disease can be made, even though the families used in the study may not be representative of the general population. the genetic trait measured in linkage studies is not always the causal factor itself but may be a genetic trait closely linked to it. additional molecular studies are required to identify the specific gene associated with inherited risk, after linkage studies have determined its general chromosomal location. linkage studies, however, provide only limited evidence concerning either the range of cancer types associated with a mutation or the magnitude of risk and lifetime probability of cancer conferred by a mutation in less selected populations. in addressing these questions, the best information for clinical decisions comes from naturally occurring populations in which people with all degrees of risk are represented, similar to those in which clinical or public health decisions must be made. thus, observations about cancer risk in families having multiple members with early breast cancer are applicable only to other families meeting those same clinical criteria. ideally, the families tested should also have similar exposures to factors that can modify the expression of the gene ( s ) being studied. the mutation - associated risk in other populations, such as families with less dramatic cancer aggregation, or in the general population can best be assessed by direct study of those populations. references - grann vr, jacobson js : population screening for cancer - related germline gene mutations. lancet oncol 3 ( 6 ) : 341 - 8, 2002. [ pubmed abstract ]


chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells. the drugs enter the bloodstream and travel through the body in order to kill cancer cells. the side effects come from the fact that it destroys normal cells as well as cancer cells. chemotherapy may be given either alone or along with radiation therapy. when given alone, it is given in a higher dose designed to kill off cancer cells. when given along with radiation therapy, it is delivered at a lower dose and is designed to make the cancer more sensitive to the radiation. chemotherapy is usually given by vein, but some forms can be given by mouth. your treatment team will tell you how many cycles or courses of chemotherapy are best for you. usually there are between 4 - 6 cycles of chemotherapy given when the chemotherapy is delivered on its own, and up to 10 cycles of chemotherapy when the drugs are given along with radiation therapy. the side effects and amount of time required in the doctor ’ s office depend on the type of chemotherapy you receive, as well as how many cycles you get and how often. types of chemotherapy drugs there are a number of chemotherapy drugs that are available. some examples include : - cisplatin ( platinol - aq, platinol ) - etoposide ( toposar, vepesid ) - bevacizumab ( avastin ) - carboplatin ( paraplatin, paraplat ) - paclitaxel ( taxol ) - docetaxel ( taxotere ) - vinorelbine ( navelbine ) most treatment regimens will combine two or more of these drugs. the types, dosages, and duration of treatment will depend on the stage and type of your tumor and how well it responds to treatment. while undergoing chemotherapy, most patients suffer from : - fatigue and weakness - loss of appetite - nausea and vomiting - hair loss - fuzziness in thinking, memory problems other side effects include : - risk of infection - skin irritation, cracked nails - allergic reactions - mouth sores - tendency to bleed and bruise easily - fluid retention - bladder problems - numbness in limbs - fever or chills - low blood cell counts ( eg, anemia ) to manage other side effects, you may need to make diet and lifestyle changes and take medicine. for example, your doctor may recommend that you eat several small meals throughout the day and avoid alcohol. light exercise ( eg, walking for 30 minutes ) may help to fight fatigue. some of these side effects go away soon after chemotherapy has ended, while others linger


your doctor may recommend that you eat several small meals throughout the day and avoid alcohol. light exercise ( eg, walking for 30 minutes ) may help to fight fatigue. some of these side effects go away soon after chemotherapy has ended, while others linger after treatment. when to call your doctor contact your doctor if you develop : - signs of infection, including fever ( 100. 3°f [ 37. 9°c ] ) and chills - sores in your mouth or throat - black and blue marks on your skin - nausea, vomiting, loose or runny bowel movements - pain that you cannot control with the medicine you have been given - cough, shortness of breath, or chest pain - joint pain, fatigue, stiffness, rash, or other new symptoms - tingling in your fingers, toes or ringing in your ears - weight gain or loss of 10 pounds ( 4. 5 kilograms ) or more newer treatment options epidermal growth factor receptors ( egfr ) play a role in the development of cells, including cancer cells. some people who have lung cancer also have a mutation that affects egfr. because of this, medicines, like cetuximab, have been created to target the action of this receptor. doctors can test a tissue sample or do blood tests to find out if someone has this mutation. if the result is positive, then treatment with this type of targeted therapy may help the person live longer. there is also a drug called crizotinib that targets a gene mutation on the anaplastic lymphoma kinase ( alk ) gene. this mutation has been linked to adenocarcinoma, a common kind of lung cancer that affects both smokers and non - smokers. crizotinib may be able to stop cancer from growing and shrink tumors. other targeted therapies that are being researched include : these drugs are designed to target certain molecules in the cancer cells. by interfering with these molecules, the ability of the cancer to grow and spread is blocked. immunotherapy involves using medicines or substances made by the body to increase or restore the body ' s natural defenses against cancer. monoclonal antibodies are an example of immunotherapy. these antibodies are designed to attack certain proteins in the cancer cells, which helps the immune system fight cancer. researchers continue to study new treatments that may be able to stop cancer and prolong life. - reviewer : igor puzanov, md - review date : 09 / 2012 - - update date :