the very first text message was sent 20 years ago, on dec. 3, 1992. the momentous missive? “ merry christmas, ” wrote neil papworth, then a 22 - year - old engineer, to richard jarvis, an executive at british telecom vodafone. jarvis was attending his company ’ s holiday party in newbury, england, and received the text on an orbitel 901, which looks like this : to be precise, this marks the 20th birthday of sms, which stands for short messaging service. in most cases, an sms is sent from one phone to another on a narrow slice of cellular bandwidth called the control channel, an ever - present connection that ’ s also used to notify phones of incoming calls and signal strength. that ’ s one reason why sms has proven to be a durable form of communication during disasters, when traffic channels, which are used for phone calls and larger data transfers, get overloaded. the control channel ’ s diminutive size is what accounts for the strict, 160 - character cap on text message length. ( in turn, that ’ s why twitter, which was originally based on sms, limits tweets to 140 characters, in order to fit the message plus the sender in a single text message. ) it ’ s also why some people argue that wireless carriers gouge their customers by charging several cents per text when the marginal cost to the company is zero : the control channel is used whether or not it ’ s transmitting an sms. in fact, on its 20th birthday, the text message finds itself threatened by a host of free alternatives, from facebook messaging to apple ’ s imessage. sms usage is waning in much of the world, now even including the united states, which was slower to the adopt the technology. that decline is likely to accelerate as more people purchase smartphones that are laden with other messaging options, meaning the future of sms lies in feature - phone markets like india and africa. still, text messaging remains the world ’ s most widely used form of digital communication, with some six billion to eight billion texts sent per year, according to various estimates. the technology has endured, in part, thanks to its compatibility across different types of phones and networks : sms didn ’ t really take off until the late 1990s, when companies and governments began lifting regulations that only permitted sending texts between customers on the same network. though other forms of communication had more memorable inaugural messages — ” what hath god wrought ” was the first telegram — it ’ s fitting that


one hundred years ago sunday was the watershed 1913 women ' s suffrage march in washington, d. c. plus, friday is international women ' s day. it ' s therefore the perfect moment to reflect on the strategies and tactics of several generations of amazing women. we all know that the suffragettes won in the end by securing the vote for u. s. women in 1920. but to stop with that fact is to miss the phenomenal, inspirational, often nail - biting and groundbreaking campaign that preceded their win, as well as the lessons they have for activists today. before telephones, before tv, before the web, these women mobilized masses of people in a widespread and colorful campaign. their successful tactics continue to shape campaigns today, even if many organizers have no idea where those tactics originated. but no, this couldn ’ t possibly be because of the suffragettes ’ gender and the utter lack of historical study on women ’ s issues until just a few decades ago. first of all, it was huge modern history often gives the impression that suffrage was given to women by men under pressure from some small group of marginalized female activists. of course, there was a committed core organizing crew, but that account is far from what really went down. in the late 1800s, moderate activists, such as those in the national american woman suffrage association, chose to frame voting rights as a natural extension of what was then considered appropriate for women so as not to alienate potential supporters. rather than diminishing men ’ s role, they argued that women needed the vote to fulfill their role as nurturers, holders of morality, keepers of culture, the heart of the household. as mothers and guardians who were considered to be more in touch with morality than men, women were positioned to call out corruption and hold the all - male politicians accountable. “ politics is housekeeping on a grand scale, ” jane addams said at the time. the mainstream nature of the wider movement is displayed in lines from a banner carried in the parade before the 1916 republican national convention : “ for the safety of the nation / to the women give the vote / for the hand that rocks the cradle / will never rock the boat! ” do you think they really meant that, or was it just brilliant pr outreach? either way, before signon. org, twitter or facebook, these women collected more than a millionsignatures in pen and ink, all through hand - to - hand contact, and displayed them as they marched down fifth avenue in new york with 20, 000 supporters and


savvy. allegorical and classical images of women were used commonly in american culture since the revolutionary war, and the suffragettes embraced that. they dressed in robes at public events, personifying america, democracy, liberty and justice, thus linking existing symbols of civic and social virtues to voting rights for women. it was both spectacular and strategic beyond the bold use of color and classic images, the women embraced huge spectacles - - from long, multi - day marches foreshadowing gandhi ’ s salt march to massive pageants with costumed participants, floats and formations. to push the vote in new york state in 1912, there was a 12 - day, 170 mile “ hike to albany ” ; the next year, the suffragist “ army of the hudson ” completed a 225 - mile walk from new jersey to washington, d. c. these physical stunts were part of the ” new womanhood ” that showcased active, fit women in the public sphere to undermine any thoughts of women ’ s inferiority, physically or politically. at the time, astute writers commented that this kind of public work generated millions of dollars in free publicity for the movement, as well as immense outreach opportunities. the militant national women ' s party took this another step further with the first - ever picket of the white house. the " silent sentinels " and their banners were present every day from jan. 10, 1917, to june of 1919 - - except on sundays. more than a thousand women participated over this period. many were arrested, were refused bail and served time in horrendous conditions of solitary confinement, where they experienced beatings and force - feeding when they went on hunger strikes. outrage at the treatment of women activists in prison built sympathy for the suffragette cause. also, the first arrests at the white house were eventually found illegal, which helped ensure the right to protest there to this day. in the 19th century, political parades and pageants were common in u. s. communities - - for local celebrations, temperance marches or presidential campaigns passing through town. suffragists held parades as early as 1906, beginning in california. this practice reached its peak exactly a century ago with what the new york times called " one of the most impressively beautiful spectacles ever staged in this country. " this 1913 woman suffrage procession was reported to include nine bands, four mounted brigades, three heralds, about 24 floats and more than 5, 000 marchers. the march concluded at the department of the treasury steps with 100 women and children staging


. " this 1913 woman suffrage procession was reported to include nine bands, four mounted brigades, three heralds, about 24 floats and more than 5, 000 marchers. the march concluded at the department of the treasury steps with 100 women and children staging a vision of a shining future along with justice, liberty, charity, peace and hope personified by women in flowing classical dresses and trumpets blaring. the now - famous image from this march is of a young beautiful woman in white robes on horseback, in a not - so - closeted, militant nod to joan of arc. wow. lawyer inez boissevain, wearing white cape, seated on white horse at the national american woman suffrage association parade on march 3, 1913, in washington, d. c. ( wikipedia / george grantham bain collection ) their spectrum of tactics included hotter actions, too. at one point in 1919, president wilson was burnt in effigy in front of the white house, pitting the petticoats against the bluecoats. wildly spewing fire extinguishers were unable to prevent the burning of the four - foot - tall cardboard wilson. ( there were about 50 arrests that day. ) the suffragettes used flames again when they set " watchfires " outside the new york city opera house while wilson was speaking there. activists transcribed his words as he spoke them and then publicly burned the paper in public fires outside - - thus condemning the hypocrisy of his words about international freedom while women were denied suffrage at home. these protests kindled more support for the women, who were steadfast, innovative and organized. they left the police looking disorganized and foolish, along with anti - suffrage minions. many of the media stunts were timed just right - - famously, president - elect wilson arrived in washington the day before he was to be inaugurated to empty streets, as the masses in town all were drawn to the woman suffrage procession. of course, that meant that there were many hostile observers who had come just for the next day ’ s inauguration - - about 100 marchers landed in the hospital - - but the riotous swarm and the resulting publicity led to more momentum for the campaign. it worked on many levels generations of american suffragettes were brave, tenacious, dedicated and incredibly talented nonviolent warriors and leaders - - from elizabeth cady stanton to alice paul. their tactics and strategies have become such an integral part of our nation ’ s repertoire of civil resistance that we often take them for granted.


what you seek is nowhere ; but turn yourself away, and the object of your love will be no more. that which you behold is but the shadow of a reflected form and has no substance of its own. with you it comes, with you it gostays, and it will go with you. ( ovid, metamorphoses 3. 433 ) the beautiful narcissus was divinely punished for his exceptionally cruel despisal of those who fell in love with him. he was thus caused, by the gods, to fall in love with his own reflection in a pool. unable to obtain the object of his love and not being able to break away from the beauty of his own reflection, narcissus pined away alongside the pool and, succumbing to his sorrow, finally perished. myths are allegorical representations of ancient society. much like fairytales and folklore, myths served to maintain models for behaviour as well as social structures and institutions. the myth of narcissus teaches society of the dangers of self - love, which leads to sorrow and even death – literal and figurative. this is certainly the case for oscar wilde ’ s dorian gray, who sells his soul in payment for the preservation of his youth and beauty. wilde ’ s the picture of dorian gray can be considered a modern myth – a cautionary tale of supernatural horror, similar to the legends of old. the author ’ s biting wit allows for an acute social commentary on the plague of narcissism that has laid claim to soul of society. at the outset of the novel, dorian gray is a tabula rasa. the young man ’ s encounter with artist basil hallward and socialite lord henry signifies the launch of his descent into a life of debauchery and hedonism. when confronted with his own beauty through the eyes of the two men, gray is loath to part with it and he thus wishes to remain as untainted and lovely as the masterpiece that hallward has painted of him. he wishes that the portrait could age in his stead. a supernatural force grants his wish, and gray ’ s sins and age are manifested in his portrait. he is free to live a life of decadence and immorality without paying the physical cost. he is immortal. gray ’ s initial vulnerability makes him excellent clay for lord henry ’ s willing hands. lord henry moulds and manipulates dorian gray with ideas of pleasure - seeking and hedonism by maintaining that intense experience is the


cost. he is immortal. gray ’ s initial vulnerability makes him excellent clay for lord henry ’ s willing hands. lord henry moulds and manipulates dorian gray with ideas of pleasure - seeking and hedonism by maintaining that intense experience is the key to true beauty, even when the experience itself is something sordid, ugly, or grotesque. gray ’ s life is punctuated by momentary happiness but it is fraught with pain and anxiety, much like narcissus. in an ode to the life of dorian gray, society has spawned what is known as ‘ dorian gray syndrome ’ ( dgs ), which “ denotes a cultural and societal phenomenon characterised by an excessive preoccupation with the individual ’ s own appearance accompanied by difficulties coping with the aging process and with the requirements of maturation. sufferers of dorian gray syndrome are heavy users of cosmetic medical procedures and products in an attempt to preserve their youth ”. the terrifying madame zhou, from gregory david roberts ’ autobiographical novel shantaram, is a prime example of someone affected with dgs. the bombay brothel owner, who is deeply feared by all who know her, never reveals her physical identity and speaks from behind a screen. her signature is a photograph that displays a youthful image of unchanging beauty. the mystery surrounding madame zhou is described by an acquaintance in shantaram : “ i ’ ve spoken to her, through the screen. i think she ’ s so incredibly, psychopathically vain that she, she sort of hates herself for getting older. i think she can ’ t bear to be less than perfect. a lot of people say she was beautiful. really, you ’ d be surprised. a lot of people say that. in her photo she hasn ’ t aged past twenty - seven or thirty. there aren ’ t any lines or wrinkles. there ’ s no shadows under the eyes. every black hair is in its place. i think she ’ s so in love with her own beauty, she ’ ll never let anyone see her as she really is. i think she ’ s … it ’ s like she ’ s mad with love for herself. i think that even if she lives to be ninety, those monthly photos will still show that same thirty - year - old blank ” ( gregory david roberts, shantaram ch. 13 ) the desire of society to remain forever youthful is by no means a modern concept. it is deep - rooted in ancient philosophy and practice, and this is perhaps the reason that self - love is so utterly cr


roberts, shantaram ch. 13 ) the desire of society to remain forever youthful is by no means a modern concept. it is deep - rooted in ancient philosophy and practice, and this is perhaps the reason that self - love is so utterly crippling. narcissism has had centuries of practice and it seems to have finally gripped society by the throat and is squeezing out every last breath of life. the ethereal eternal fountain of youth has been replaced with botox, anti - ageing pills and creams, and plastic surgery – some costly but more convenient options to the time consuming hunt for that ever - elusive elixir of life. oscar wilde ’ s lord henry personifies modern society – a predator in the guise of an ally that lurks in the background eagerly awaiting its chance to distort the moral fibre of weak and insecure minds. there exists the idea that, like dorian gray, we are blank slates awaiting the infiltration of ideas that will manipulate our decisions and actions. in an age when few people are inclined to take responsibility for their own actions, it is easiest to jump on the band - wagon and blame the media. a media industry created by society for society – “ of the people, by the people, for the people ”, in the wise words of abraham lincoln. tangible irony. we are caught in a self - created and self - propagated web of inescapable narcissism. and yet the futility of it all seems, conveniently, to elude us – after years of obsession and time - consuming beautification processes, we get old and die. life is spent trying to curb the inevitability of old age, instead of being lived. dorian gray ’ s attempts to “ cure the soul by means of the senses, and the senses by means of the soul ” ( oscar wilde, the picture of dorian gray ch. 16 ) are unsuccessful. when faced with the portrait of his soul, gray beholds that “ in the eyes there was a look of cunning, and in the mouth the curved wrinkle of the hypocrite ”, and he stabs the picture, in a bid to destroy it. in so doing, he ends his own life. gray ’ s soul is united with his body. he becomes the disfigured image in the painting and when his death is discovered, the portrait is found unharmed, showing dorian gray as a beautiful young man, and on the floor is the body of an old man,


united with his body. he becomes the disfigured image in the painting and when his death is discovered, the portrait is found unharmed, showing dorian gray as a beautiful young man, and on the floor is the body of an old man, wrinkled and disfigured, with a knife plunged into his heart. narcissism is understood to be compensation for poor self - esteem – an explanation that renders the likes dgs acceptable. perhaps this is a desperate attempt by society to understand a behaviour that is inherently part of human nature and thus cannot be explained. and yet social behaviour indicates that society is consumed by a culture of self - loathing. self - loathing ignites the desire for perfection and this, in turn, results in narcissism. yet there is a distinction between the narcissism associated with dgs and the self - respect which denotes a healthy self - love. the ability to love oneself is a sign of self - respect as well as the admission that life is precious, and it is necessary in order to love others. if one is void of love, “ blank ” like madame zhou, how can one love another? in a world where so many are desperate for love, for generosity of spirit, there are so few who are able to give it. american screen writer and independent film director todd solondz says “ narcissism and self - deception are survival mechanisms without which many of us might just jump off a bridge ”. this, in itself, is a narcissistic view, albeit true. in this dog - eat - dog world, society teaches us to look out for ourselves. and so we have developed self - preservation tactics, which exclude the unconditional and selfless nature of love, and embrace narcissistic values at the expense of other people. therefore, in a world monopolised by narcissism “ if this girl can give a soul to those who have lived without one, if she can create the sense of beauty in people whose lives have been sordid and ugly, if she can strip them of their selfishness and lend them tears for sorrows that are not their own, she is worthy of all your adoration, worthy of the adoration of the world. ” ( oscar wilde, the picture of dorian gray ch. 7 )


across the globe, governments are opening up traditional public services to the competitive marketplace. the government of the future will be more a focuser of resources than an owner, and more a purchaser and manager of services than a supervisor of personnel and direct service provider. this dramatic change in the nature of government requires fundamental organizational changes. for governments to avoid failures and mishaps, they must concentrate on becoming smarter shoppers. this means creating contracting systems that are outcome based ; writing contracts that contain clear performance standards ; incorporating financial incentives and penalties into the contract ; and developing advanced measurement techniques. such state - of - the - art contracting is often referred to as “ performance - based - contracting. ” when properly structured, performance - based contracting holds great promise to reduce contracting costs while increasing service quality. performance - based contracting systems have several key components : 1. outcome based contracts performance contracts clearly spell out the desired end result expected of the contractor, but the manner in which the work is to be performed is left to the contractor ' s discretion. contractors are given as much freedom as possible in figuring out how to best meet government ' s performance objective. example : the air force saved 50 percent by modifying its statement of work for a janitorial contract. previously, the agency required the contractor to strip and rewax floors weekly. now it requires the floors to be clean, free of scuff marks and dirt and have a glossy finish. 2. performance standards the process of drawing up the request for proposal is a great way to focus a manager ' s mind on exactly what it is the agency wants accomplished from the delivery of a service, operation of an enterprise, or running of a program. a example : : a navy contract for aircraft maintenance doesn ' t specify how many mechanics or parachute riggers must be on a crew,, butt it does hold the contractor accountable for achieving precise and measurable performance standards, such as a ground abort rate of less than 5 percent and meeting 100 percent of flight schedules. 3. financial incentives and penalties privatization gives public officials the freedom to creatively design contractor payments to correspond with certain performance pegs. incentives to increase productivity,, cut costs and raise service quality can be built into the contract. incentive - based contracts shift much of the risk onto the contractor, who is rewarded for productivity improvement and penalized for poor performance or rising costs. example : after the california earthquake, caltrans, the state transportation agency offered the contractor substantial performance incentives and penalties for rebuilding a highway overpass : a $ 200,


who is rewarded for productivity improvement and penalized for poor performance or rising costs. example : after the california earthquake, caltrans, the state transportation agency offered the contractor substantial performance incentives and penalties for rebuilding a highway overpass : a $ 200, 000 per day bonus for completing the project ahead of schedule and a $ 200, 000 a day penalty for each day the project was behind schedule. 4. advanced monitoring and measurement techniques as more governments rely on private companies to deliverer public services, monitoring and assessing these outside partnerships becomes vitally to achieving an administration ' s goals. the monitoring plan defines precisely what a government must do to guarantee that the contractor ' s performance is in accordance with contract performance standards. different services require different types and levels of monitoring. for highly visible services that directly affect citizens such as snow removal and garbage pickup, poor service will be exposed through citizen complaints. for complex or technical services, it may make sense to hire a third party to monitor the contractor. the contractor should be considered a strategic partner and given incentives to innovate, improve, and deliver better customer service. implementing state - of - the - art performance - based contracting requires new evaluation techniques, new management approaches, improved top - level know - how on designing and managing contract relationships, better logistics systems, and a whole new set of skills for public officials. perhaps most important of all, what is needed is a changed mindset where public managers are rewarded for effectively managing projects and networks of contractors rather than for the number of public employees under their command.


women of a different generation : the lady spies and soldiers of the civil war. by sarah emanuel what history hasn ' t revealed about the civil war ' s women. by sarah emanuel ladies throughout history have been depicted as genteel, pretty creatures, lacking the strength or intelligence to do much for our country. of course, there have been the marvelous exceptions : harriet tubman, betsy ross, only betsy never existed, deborah sampson, and so forth. there have been extraordinarily independent women, like annie oakley, but the majority of the unconstrained, courageous, violent acts have been attributed to men. in reality, women were among some of the most forceful movers and shakers in history, especially during the civil war. they claimed for themselves the role of soldiers and spies, took control of their homes, and spent time and energy healing the sick and wounded. yet, strangely enough, the most violent actions of women did not take place in battle, but in their daily lives, and sometimes, without warning. young emma edmonds was sent out to collect supplies for a hospital when she was suddenly shot at by a confederate widow who had just given emma supplies. wheeling around on her horse, she sent a round through the widow ' s hand ; the woman fell unconscious, and not daring to risk her life any further, emma wrapped a belt around the widow ' s wrist and dragged her along behind the horse until she woke up. emma then brought the widow to a hospital, where the wound was healed, and the widow became a nurse. kady brownell was also a nurse, as well as a color - bearer, serving with the fifth rhode island during the war. one day, she came to the aid of a confederate engineer lying wounded in a puddle of muddy water. after she had dragged him to dry land, he began to curse and threaten her, calling her a " damn yankee ", and so forth. kady became enraged and grabbed a rifle, and was seconds away from plunging the bayonet into the ungreatful rebel ' s heart, when another soldier intervened and grabbed the gun away. in 1863, a lady by the name of mrs. bickerdyke was put in charge of a hospital in memphis. one morning she arose and made her daily rounds, and upon entering a ward for severely wounded, she found that the surgeon had not yet risen and made up the list of the special foods for the soldiers. it was nearly noon, and the men, already near the brink of death


her daily rounds, and upon entering a ward for severely wounded, she found that the surgeon had not yet risen and made up the list of the special foods for the soldiers. it was nearly noon, and the men, already near the brink of death, were starving. mrs. bickerdyke became immediately furious ; her temper only worsened when she learned that the surgeon had been out drinking the night before. upon finding the surgeon, she tore at him verbally, and when he laughed, she had him discharged. the surgeon went to see general sherman, and explained his case. sherman asked who the lady was, and the surgeon replied that it was mrs. bickerdyke. sherman merely replied, " well, if it was her, i can do nothing for you. she ranks me. " these three women are but examples of the courageous acts that hundreds of women performed during the civil war. they were not afraid to step up and take action, and many of them never received the credit they deserved. sarah is the daughter of a member of the 22nd. along with her mother and sister, she is one of the women who support our unit dressing in period costume and assisting whenever possible. sarah is was going into her senior year in high school when she wrote these articles. | larson, rebecca d. blue and gray : roses of intrigue. gettysburg, pa. 1993. | our price : $ 6. 95 + $ 1. 85 special surcharge | | moore, frank. women of the war : true stories of brave women in the civil war. blue / gray books. 1997. | our price : $ 13. 56 | you save : $ 3. 39 ( 20 % ) | not available | | broadwater, robert p., and joseph t. campbell, ed. daughters of the cause : women of the civil war k - b offset printing, inc., state college pa. 1993. | not available | | mehaffey, karen rae. the after - life : mourning rituals and the mid - victorians laser writers publishing, pipestone mn. 1993.


once a kidney stone has been removed or has passed on its own, the focus shifts to prevention — steps that you can take to minimize your chances of developing another stone. while your specific prevention strategy depends on what kind of kidney stone you had and why it developed, some general guidelines are outlined below. - drink plenty of fluids - watch your diet - talk to your doctor about medications for prevention one of the goals of preventive therapy is to keep your urine as dilute as possible. this helps to keep the substances that could potentially form a kidney stone, including calcium and oxalate, moving quickly through your urinary tract. try to drink at least two liters of fluids a day if you are an adult.. a good gauge of whether or not you are drinking enough fluids is urine color. except for the first thing in the morning, it should be pale in color. if your urine is dark yellow, that ' s an indication that you should drink more fluids. if you are hesitant to drink too much during the day because you have a bladder control problem, discuss this concern with your doctor. whether or not diet can help you avoid another kidney stone depends on what kind of stone you had and what caused it to form in the first place. if your stone was made up of calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, or uric acid, what you eat or don ' t eat can help prevent a recurrence. note that these are only guidelines. people taking some kinds of medications may need to avoid certain foods. always follow the advice of your doctor or registered dietitian in making any diet changes. nutrients to consider include : - reduce your intake of dietary sodium. some of these include : - lunch meats and cured meats like ham, sausage, and bacon - salted snacks - prepared salad dressings, mustard, ketchup, soy sauce, and barbecue sauce - pickled foods and olives - canned soup and bouillon - reduce your intake of animal protein. animal protein includes meat, poultry, fish, and eggs. - maintain proper calcium intake from food or calcium supplements. if your kidney stones contained calcium oxalate, you may also need to avoid certain plant foods that bind with calcium and other minerals. if your body is not absorbing and using calcium correctly, you could end up with too much oxalate in your urine. you can reduce the level of oxalate in your system by avoiding these foods : - wheat bran - brewed tea limit your intake of animal protein from meat,


stewart, ian. taming the infinite : the story of mathematics from the first numbers to chaos theory. quercus, dist. by trafalgar square. dec. 2011. 384p. illus. index. isbn 9781847247681. pap. $ 14. 95. math have you ever thought of math as terrific fun? stewart ( mathematics, univ. of warwick, uk ; why beauty is truth : the history of symmetry ) makes it that and more. his engaging writing style draws readers into the story of mathematics, giving it an arc and its players charismatic personalities, even when those players are notation systems. in each chapter, stewart chronologically examines a particular area of mathematics. he gives accessible, real - world examples that are easy to visualize and often illustrate the impact of complicated mathematical concepts on our daily lives. from tally marks and numerals, to euclid and pythagoras, to imaginary numbers and chaos theory, to godel and faraday, stewart offers an insightful and clear history of mathematical developments. the diagrams and illustrations are comprehensible for lay readers yet not condescendingly simple. throughout, stewart examines the discoveries of great mathematicians and offers absorbing anecdotes about their lives in special callouts throughout the book. verdict clear and readable, this is an essential title for math, science, and technology buffs and will be intriguing for all. it might even be of interest to teens! highly recommended. ‚ candice kail, columbia univ. libs., new york mount, ian. the vineyard at the end of the world : maverick winemakers and the rebirth of malbec. norton. jan. 2012. c. 288p. illus. bibliog. index. isbn 9780393080193. $ 26. 95. beverages adding to the growing body of work on wine history, wine journalist mount traces the history of argentinian wine from its beginning in the 1700s to the present day. to accomplish this monumental task in a digestible narrative, he focuses on one figure and one region but explains in the epilog that many other people and areas were also important. the result is an artfully written story of how a poorly developed wine culture grew into one of the best wine regions in the world. mount brings to light a lesser - known wine region and explains how cultural contact beginning with spanish explorers contributed to its current wine - producing status. the work is obviously well


a poorly developed wine culture grew into one of the best wine regions in the world. mount brings to light a lesser - known wine region and explains how cultural contact beginning with spanish explorers contributed to its current wine - producing status. the work is obviously well researched ; the author includes notes and a bibliography, but citations are not included throughout the chapters. verdict this engaging, important, and accessible book fills a gap in the literature of wine culture and history. ‚ lisa ennis, univ. of alabama lib., tuscaloosa great discoveries in medicine. thames & hudson, dist. by norton. 2011. 304p. ed. by william bynum & helen bynum. illus. index. isbn 9780500251805. $ 45. med coeditors of the dictionary of medical biography, husband - and - wife team william ( history of medicine, emeritus, univ. coll. london ) and helen bynum ( history of medicine, former lecturer, univ. of liverpool ), along with an international team of 49 experts, guide readers through the history and heroes of modern medicine. this beautifully designed, quarto - sized volume features 382 illustrations from classical art to medieval engravings to early photographs to the latest examples of medical imaging and electronic microscopes. egyptian, chinese, indian, islamic, and greek medical traditions are covered both in the text and in the images, which enriches the dominant narrative of western medical progress. seven topical sections include chapters on medical devices, historically important diseases, drugs, surgery, and life - saving innovations such as vaccines, insulin, and dialysis. complementary medicine is treated respectfully, although nutrition is omitted. mental illness and psychoanalysis are also well covered. the book portrays medical progress as gained through incremental steps as well as broad strides, often arriving somewhere new unexpectedly, via outsiders who challenged the medical establishment. verdict a striking and informative history, this book should be the go - to gift for many medical professionals this holiday season. ‚ kathy arsenault, st. petersburg, fl for all the latest reviews in this subject area and more, see lj ‘ s new reviews center ( beta )! the reviews center ( beta ) is available free through march 1, 2012 to all users with a library journal or school library journal online account ( this includes current recipients of our email newsletters ). don ’ t know if you have an account with us? it ’ s easy to check and verify your email, or create a new account.


here is an excerpt as related to that last point : focusing on the past six decades, we observe no sustained upward trends in wind speed distributions ( figs. 1 and 3 ), the mean wind speed at landfall or the annual frequency of occurrence of landfalling segments ( fig. 8 ). ( note that this annual frequency is specific to landfalling segments and different from the annual frequency of landfalling events since some events have multiple landfalling segments, e. g. in 2005 hurricane katrina made landfall in both south florida and louisiana. ) this being the case, the dramatic increases in total economic and insured losses from tcs, which have been manifest over the past six decades, indicates that the increasing losses must be attributed to the factors other than wind speed alone. this is in accord with recent studies ( pielke, 2005 ; pielke et al., 2008 ; crompton and mcaneney, 2008 ), which demonstrate the importance of demographic changes in driving the increasing economic cost of hurricane losses. the paper concludes as follows : the quality of observational data is central to the ongoing debate between a warming climate and consequences for tc frequency and intensities. our analyses show clear, anomalous differences in the wind speed distributions between the early historical period and the very recent six decades. while these differences cannot unequivocally exclude a possible global climate change cause, we suggest that data quality issues are more plausible. find the paper here in pdf. an enormous challenge lies ahead for recovering reliable wind estimates in the early historical record, especially for highly dynamic and short - lived extreme tcs. the counting of events by saffir - simpson hurricane categories is determined by threshold wind speeds, and if the wind estimates are themselves unreliable, how can derivative statistics be trusted sufficiently for long - term trend analysis? it is timely to recognise that using the early historical record will inevitably involve some irreducible uncertainties and “ fixing ” these may not be possible and that more physically - based models are needed to help resolve the data impasse. conclusions drawn from scientific and insurance applications using the inherently lower - quality components of the record should be treated with caution.


| storm name | | landfall date | | damage rank | | current damage ( $ 2012 ) | | new england | | sep 21, 1938 | | 8 | | $ 46, 840, 000, 000 | | diane | | aug 19, 1955 | | 12 | | $ 24, 110, 000, 000 | | carol | | aug 31, 1954 | | 17 | | $ 19, 290, 000, 000 | | agnes | | jun 22, 1972 | | 18 | | $ 19, 010, 000, 000 | | storm 7 in 1944 | | sep 14, 1944 | | 31 | | $ 10, 600, 000, 000 | | bob | | aug 19, 1991 | | 66 | | $ 3, 620, 000, 000 | | edna | | sep 11, 1954 | | 67 | | $ 3, 230, 000, 000 | | gloria | | sep 27, 1985 | | 76 | | $ 2, 530, 000, 000 | | donna | | sep 14, 1960 | | 117 | | $ 850, 000, 000 | some notes and caveats : 1. the estimates include hurricane damage as defined by noaa. most importantly that does not include inland flood damage that may occur when a storm moves inland ( that damage is recorded under flood damage ). several of these storms would have much higher damage if inland flood damage were to be included. 2. so when comparing damage estimates that you may see for sandy to those here, to compare apples to apples, a rough method will be to take estimated insured losses and multiply by two. 3. these data are based on pielke et al. 2008, updated by icat. 4. as you can see in the map at the top of this post, none of the historical storm tracks make for good analogues for sandy. all of the top 10 were category 3s at landfall except bob ( 2 ), agnes ( 1 ) and diane ( ts ). and all were in aug or sept except agnes ( june ). 5. large, damaging storms are not unprecedented in the second half of october, with storm 11 ( 1944, ~ $ 54 billion ), wilma ( 2005, $ 26 billion ) and hazel ( 1954, $ 24 billion ).


a few weeks ago south african scientists reported finding a supposedly 360 million year old fossil lamphrey. the problem for evolutionary theory is ; the fossil lamprey is virtually identical to " present day " lampreys. just in case some of those pesky creationists were around to ask embarrasing questions, the scientists noted that though the fossil had surprisingly not evolved much, it appeared that the lampreys had " gotten slightly longer "! what kind of scientist would make such an assumption based on one specimen? an evolutionary scientist who needs to show something for 360 million years of work, that ' s who. that brings us to the subject of this article, " neanderthal man ". the more we learn about neanderthal, the less primitive he becomes. recent scientific articles have admitted that modern man and neanderthal met, interacted and even interbred. another recent article suggests that europeans could be 5 % neanderthal on the other hand, many ruling paradigm scientists are still insisting that neaderthals couldn ' t speak and that there certainly was no interbreeding. so, what would happen when scientists were able to isolate neanderthal dna, as they have recently actually done with material found in a croation cave? neanderthal dna is 99. 9 % identical to " human " dna! blockbuster! all over the news, right? 99. 9 % identical is certainly startling, all right but it ' s not 100 % identical, seemingly preserving something for evolutionary scientists to hang their hats on. like saying it looks like lamphreys got slightly longer over 360 million years. what they don ' t give you is the following fact as quoted from a lecture by eric lanser, ph d ; ( easily verified elsewhere ) " any two humans on earth are 99. 9 percent identical in their dna sequences ". this kind of puts the data on neanderthal dna in a whole new light ; their dna differs from ours exactly as our differs from each other! neanderthal is / was exactly as different from you as your next door neighbor is, only he / she is not typically depicted hunched over wearing animal skins and carrying a spear. given the fact that dna sequencing shows that " modern humans " and neanderthal are " identical ", the article below really makes no sense, continuing the fiction that the populations remained separate and that we ( modern humans ) won ( in evolutionary terms ) and that they lost. turns out that we ' re a little shorter, maybe. by fiona macrae last


article below really makes no sense, continuing the fiction that the populations remained separate and that we ( modern humans ) won ( in evolutionary terms ) and that they lost. turns out that we ' re a little shorter, maybe. by fiona macrae last updated at 22 : 00pm on 15th november 2006 we may like to think we ' re far superior to the neanderthals species that us humans beat in the evolutionary battle. but analysis of dna from a 38, 000 - year - old bone has revealed neanderthal and human dna is actually up to 99. 9 per cent identical. in contrast, humans and chimps only share 95 per cent of their genetic material. the discovery came as scientists work on decoding the entire neanderthal genome from a perfectly - preserved artefact. found in a cave in croatia, the bone could hold the key to many of the secrets of evolution. dr edward rubin, one of the us and german researchers who have started to sequence the ancient dna, said : ' we are at the dawn of neanderthal genomics. ' this data will function as a dna time machine and tell us aspects of biology we could never get from bones or associated artefacts. fossil remains have already shown that neanderthals looked different from us, with heavy brows, low foreheads, and receding chins. they were also much more robustly built than modern humans. a full blueprint of neanderthal dna - due to be produced in two years ' time - could provide information on eye colour and hair colour, intelligence and language. the partial sequencing completed so far has confirmed the theory that humans and neanderthals split from their common ancestor between 400, 000 and 500, 000 years ago, studies published in the journals nature and science report. the two then co - existed for many thousands of years before neanderthals became extinct around 30, 000 years ago, perhaps beaten by their more innovative cousins in the race for food, clothing and shelter. it is thought they were unable to compete with the more innovative and adaptable homo sapiens for food, clothing and shelter. while the studies did not find any evidence that the two populations interbred, the researchers were unable to completely rule out the idea. dr svante paabo ( corr ), of the max planck institute in leipzig, germany, said : ' while unable to definitively conclude that interbreeding between the two species of humans did not occur, analysis of the nuclear dna from the neanderthal suggests the low likelihood of


), of the max planck institute in leipzig, germany, said : ' while unable to definitively conclude that interbreeding between the two species of humans did not occur, analysis of the nuclear dna from the neanderthal suggests the low likelihood of it having occurred at any appreciable level. ' co - researcher professor jonathan pritchard, of the university of chicago, said further analysis could provide more evidence of what makes us human. ' humans went through several key stages of evolution during the last 400, 000 years, ' he said. ' if we can compare humans and neanderthal genomes, then we can possibly identify what the key genetic changes were during that final stage of human evolution. ' professor chris stringer, head of human origins at the natural history museum in london, said : ' research can now extend to complete the whole genome of a neanderthal and to examine neanderthal variation through time and space to compare with ours. ' having such rich data holds the promise of looking for the equivalent genes in neanderthals that code for specific features in modern humans, for example eye colour, skin and hair type, cognitive and language skills. ' he added : ' having a neanderthal genome will also throw light on our own evolution, by allowing a three - way comparison of the genetic blueprints that produced neanderthals, and that today produce us and our closest living relatives, the chimpanzees. ' we should then be able to pin down unique changes in each genome to show how we came to be different from each other. ' * in just 50 years ' time, we ' ll live healthily to 100, thanks to full body transplants and a vegetarian diet, leading scientists predict. asked to forecast the biggest scientific breakthroughs of the next 50 years, they said the development of anti - aging drugs will allow us to live to a sprightly 100. professor richard miller, of the university of michigan, said : ' it is now routine in laboratory mammals to extend lifespan by about 40 per cent. ' turning on the same protective system in humans should, by 2056, create the first class of centenarians who are as vigorous and productive as today ' s run - of - the - mill sexagenarians. ' advances in storing both eggs and ovarian tissue will allow women to give birth into old age, while technology that allows us to read the minds of animals will lead to mass vegetarianism. new scientist magazine ' s 50th birthday issue also predict


collectanea chemica, ed. by a. e. waite,, at sacred - texts. com of the dissolution and extraction of the seed in metals. the true sons of science have always accounted the dissolution of metals as the master key to this art, and have been particular in giving directions concerning it, only keeping their readers in the dark as to the subject, whether ores, or factitious metals, were to be chosen ; nay, when they say most to the purpose, then they make mention of metals rather than the ores, with an intention to perplex those whom they thought unworthy of the art. thus the author of the " philosophical duel, " or a dialogue between the stone, gold, and mercury, says : " by the omnipotent god, and on the salvation of my soul, i here declare to you earnest seekers, in pity to your earnest searching, the whole philosophical work, which is only taken from one subject and perfected in one thing. for we take this copper, and destroy its crude and gross body ; we draw out its pure spirit, and after we have purified the earthy parts, we join them together, thus making a medicine of a poison. it is remarkable that he avoids mentioning the ore, but calls his subject copper, which is what they call a metal of the vulgar, being indeed factitious, and not fit for the confection of our stone, having lost its seminal quality in the fire ; but in other respects it is the plainest discovery extant, and is accounted to be so by sendivogius. yet the reader is not to suppose that the ore of copper is to be chosen in consequence of that assertion, as preferable to others ; no, the mercury, which is the metallic seed, is attainable from all, and is easier to be extracted from lead, which is confirmed by the true adepts, advising us to seek for the noble child where it lies in a despised form, shut up under the seal of saturn ; and, indeed, let it be supposed, for an illustration of this subject, that any one would propose to make malt, he may effect his purpose in the other corns, but barley is generally chosen, because its germ is made to sprout by a less tedious process, which is to all intents and purposes what we want in the extraction of our mercury : neither are the proceedings un - similar in both cases, if regard is had to the fixity


is made to sprout by a less tedious process, which is to all intents and purposes what we want in the extraction of our mercury : neither are the proceedings un - similar in both cases, if regard is had to the fixity of ores, and the ease with which barley gives forth its seminal virtue from the slight cohesion of its parts. let the artist remark how a maltster manages his grain by wetting, to loosen the cohesion of its parts, and leaves the rest to nature, knowing that she will soon furnish the necessary heat for his purpose, if he does not suffer it to escape by mismanagement in the laying of his heap too thin, or raising the fermentation too high by a contrary proceeding, as it is well known actual fire may be kindled from the fermentation of vegetable juices when crude ; and ripe corn, under such treatment, would soon be fit for nothing but hogs, or the dunghill. now the intention is to raise such a fermentation only as will draw out the vegetable mercury without spoiling it, either for the earth, if it was cast there to fructify, or the kiln, if it is to be fixed at that precise point, by exhaling the adventitious moisture, and thus preserving the whole strength of its seminal quality for the purposes of brewing, or making malt spirits. suppose, then, an artist would extract a mineral mercury from the ores, and chooses lead ore for his subject. he can only assist nature in the process by stirring up a central heat, which she includes in everything not already putrefied, as a root of its life, in which it is increased. the medium by which this central heat is put in motion is known to be putrefaction ; but the ores of every kind are found to resist putrefaction in all known processes extant. they may, indeed, when they have been fluxed in the fire, contract a rust from the air, which is a gradual decomposition of their substance, but this is only the natural decay of a dead body, not the putrefaction of its sperm for the purposes of propagation ; and we are sensible from the heat of furnaces which is required to flux the ores, and the slowness of their decay when deprived of their seminal qualities, by fluxation, that a heat which would destroy the seed in vegetables may be necessary in the first stages of putrefaction for the ores,


flux the ores, and the slowness of their decay when deprived of their seminal qualities, by fluxation, that a heat which would destroy the seed in vegetables may be necessary in the first stages of putrefaction for the ores, as they will bear a red fire without being fluxed or losing anything but their sulphureous and arsenical impurities ; in short, a matter in itself as much extraneous to the seed of metals, as the chaff to the wheat ; wherefore, a careful separation of these by roasting, or otherwise, is deservedly reckoned among the first operations for the putrefaction of ores, and the rather because that which has been calcined, by having its pores opened, is rendered attractive, both of the air and other menstruums proper for its decomposition. let the artist, therefore, by fire and manual operation, separate the impure qualities from his subject, pounding, washing, and calcining till no more blackness is communicated to his menstruum, for which pure rain water is sufficient. it will be seen on every repetition of this process, that what fouls the water is extraneous, and the ore yet exists in its individual metallic nature, except it is fluxed by a too intense heat, in which case it is no longer fit for our purpose ; therefore fresh ore is to be used. the matter being thus prepared, its central fire will be awakened, if it is treated properly, according to the process for extracting quicksilver from it ores, by keeping it in a close heat, which is continued without admission of the crude air, till the radical moisture is elevated in the form of a vapour, and again condensed into a metallic water, analogous to quicksilver. this is the true mercury of the philosophers, and fit for all their operations in the hermetic art.


index previous next once ( there lived ) a polygamist. he said to his wives, " one ( of you ) have a fur shirt made, and the other have some trousers made, and let them be all white. " they finished the clothes, and all of them went out. the moon was on the wane. then ( the polygamist ) p. 84 ran away. his wives looked on. he crouched down and made himself flat right before them. then they looked for him, but could not find him. they entered the house. he departed towards the east [ windward ], and saw a number of ke´let. one of them, just as he was coming, began to angle for fish with a rod. very soon he pulled out a little infant. it was a human infant. he pulled it out. the infant cried, " ana´, ana´, ana´! " the man coughed. the ke´le said, " oh, oh, a guest! " — " yes! " — " let us go home! " — " you go first, " the ke´le said to the man. " how can i go first? i do not know ( the way ). the house - masters ( should ) go first. " — " oh, oh, all right! " the ke´le went first. they came to the house. " go in! " — " we in our houses are wont to say to our wives, ' spread good skins for bedding. a guest is here. ' " " ah, well, all right! " the ke´le entered the house. " oh, i bring this one! sharpen your butcher - knives! " meanwhile the man fled, running to a corner of the house — the one clad in white. the ke´le came out, but ( the man ) was not to be seen. he made himself flat there ( upon the ground ). the ke´le began to chide his wife : " oh, this is bad! we have let our quarry go, very good game. " the other one again departed. again he found a settlement. this one was of real human people. one man came out. he stopped close by him, but the other one could not see him at all. that one passed p. 85 water, and then said, " the moon is on the wane. " the guest then said, " it is quite true. " — " oh, oh,


the other one could not see him at all. that one passed p. 85 water, and then said, " the moon is on the wane. " the guest then said, " it is quite true. " — " oh, oh, a guest? " — " yes! " — " indeed, you are human? " — " oh, yes! rather it is you who are not human. you are the ke´let. " — " in truth, we are not. " — " oh, then let us enter the house! " " but we have neighbors who indeed are ke´let, and these ke´let will fetch you to their own house. " they entered the sleeping - room. before they had time to eat, a ke´le - woman entered. " oh, i have come to fetch you! you must marry me. " he went out. she took him to her home. on the sides of the entrance a brown bear and a polar bear were tied up. before they could enter, the monsters rushed at the man. the ke´le - woman said to them, " aha! it is the master. " they lay down and copulated. all at once an old woman appeared from the rear wall. she carried a butcher - knife. this was the mother of the ke´le - woman. this old woman approached the man, carrying the butcher - knife. she wanted to strike him on the head. he simulated sleep. still she proved to be quite nimble, and fled again. he ( simulated awakening ), said to the ke´le - woman, " oh, i had a dream! such an old woman ( it was ), who nearly killed me! " the woman said, " oh, oh! again, again! what are you doing? i want to have this one for a husband. " they slept again, the ke´le - woman slept quite soundly, then the man laid her down and exchanged clothes with her. the woman ' s combination - suit he used for a covering for himself, p. 86 and his own fur shirt he put on her as a covering. then he slept again, simulated sleep. he had a knife ready. the old woman appeared again from the rear wall, and all at once she rushed on her daughter and struck her, sleeping, ( with such force ) that the head was cut off. just then the man struck the old woman with his knife, and also cut off her head. he put on


lives of the saints, by alban butler, benziger bros. ed., at sacred - texts. com st. gerard was of a noble family of the county of namur, france. an engaging sweetness of temper, and a strong inclination to piety and devotion, gained him from the cradle the esteem and affection of every one. having been sent on an important mission to the court of france, he was greatly edified at the fervor of the monks of st. denis, at paris, and earnestly desired to consecrate himself to god with them. returning home he settled his temporal affairs, and went back with great joy to st. denis '. he had lived ten years with great fervor in this monastery, when in 931 he was sent by his abbot to found an abbey upon his estate at brogue, three leagues from namur. he settled this new abbey, and then built himself a little cell near the church, and lived in it a recluse until god called him to undertake the reformation of many monasteries, which he did successfully. when he had spent almost twenty years in these zealous labors, he shut himself up in his cell, to prepare his soul to receive the recompense of his labors, to which he was called on the 3d of october in 959. reflection. — though we are in the world, let us strive to separate ourselves from it and consecrate ourselves to god, remembering that " the world passeth away, but he that doth the will of god abideth forever. "


when barack obama became president, he vowed to reduce deficit spending. working with liberals in congress, he increased it. with obama ' s term in office not yet completed, the national debt has increased by about $ 5. 4 trillion since he became president. now obama wants voters to believe his plan to cut deficit spending is more appealing than one suggested by his opponent in the presidential election, mitt romney. obama says he has a plan to reduce deficit spending by about $ 4 trillion during the next decade. actually, as analysts point out, that simply isn ' t true. about $ 2 trillion of the amount obama is counting already is part of a long - term plan approved only because conservatives in congress insisted on it. nearly $ 600 billion more is " savings " that would have occurred anyway because of troop reductions in iraq and afghanistan. but the $ 4 trillion number does have some significance : that happens to be the amount most analysts say the national debt will increase during the next 10 years, if obama ' s proposals remain in place. perhaps it is because few teenagers vote that ohio legislators enacted a ban on use of cellular phones and other electronic devices by vehicle operators that is much tougher on younger drivers. or it could be that lawmakers simply believe younger drivers are more dangerous when distracted by practices such as " texting " on cell phones. whatever the logic, it was faulty. distracted driving is a concern for motorists of all ages, not just juveniles. after years of being prodded, the general assembly finally enacted a law aimed at lessening the danger from distracted drivers. it went into effect a few weeks ago. but while the measure is tough on juveniles, it is less so on adults - and it contains loopholes law enforcement officers say make it difficult to enforce in some situations. legislators should close the loopholes and establish the same limits for both adults and younger drivers in ohio.


replicon particle vaccine for white spot syndrome virus in marine shrimp phase ii currently there are no truly effective interventions or therapeutic treatments for white spot syndrome virus ( wssv ) in farmed shrimp. current production practices focus on pathogen exclusion by stocking specific pathogen free ( spf ) larvae, decontamination and filtration of water to prevent pathogen introduction, and strict biosecurity at hatcheries and grow out pond sites. this is extremely challenging due to the prevalence of wssv in estuarine waters in shrimp producing areas, resulting in devastating financial losses, even in spf populations. wssv was first discovered in 1992 after several outbreaks of a high mortality disease occurred in shrimp farms in taiwan. within a decade it has spread throughout the world and is now endemic in most shrimp producing areas. wssv has a wide host range of over 50 separate species including all penaeids and crayfish. in the united states, a 2007 aphis study showed that 66 % of tested samples were positive and it has been declared endemic by the state veterinarian and oie in the louisiana freshwater crayfish population. the combined economic impact of wssv in farmed shrimp is tremendous. it is estimated that asia alone has lost over $ 6 billion since 1992, and the americas about $ 1 - 2 billion since wssv introduction in 1999 with countries such as ecuador showing the greatest economic impact. in addition to the tremendous economic effect on shrimp production, there is a rising concern for an introduction of wssv into native crustacean species. avenues exist for the introduction of wssv into naive species such as reprocessing of frozen emergency harvested product or animal movement. in addition, the united states possesses over 350 of the estimated 500 species worldwide of crayfish species. in north america, 65 out of the estimated 400 resident species are endangered and half of these are listed as needing protection. the outcome of the proposed project would be the first effective commercially available vaccines that protect against disease caused by wssv in shrimp. harrisvaccines intends to market vaccine to be used in two different shrimp production settings. first, an injectable vaccine for adult breeding females will be targeted to spf production companies and larger integrated intensive shrimp producers abroad who possess their own hatcheries for the purpose of restocking their ponds. the second would be an orally administered vaccine for post larvae ( pl ) shrimp that would aid in protection of the shrimp prior to entry into the ponds. this accomplishes disease


arnold school researchers : technology can help shed pounds anyone who has ever struggled to stick to a restricted diet knows that willpower alone is rarely a successful offense. but reinforcements are on the way, in the form of technology. a group of university of south carolina researchers in the arnold school of public health has found that incorporating armband technology into weight - loss interventions can help sedentary and overweight individuals shed those unwanted pounds. the results were published in the online journal, “ international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity. ” “ changing behavior is one of the hardest things for a person to do, ” said dr. greg hand, co - director of the clinical exercise program and associate dean for research, and one of the researchers on the nine - month study. people can stick to a diet, but they ’ ve got to change their behavior to keep the weight off. ” hand and his colleague, exercise science and epidemiology / biostatistics professor dr. steven blair, said that technology is a powerful tool because it offers real - time feedback on caloric intake and activity. “ real - time data can be a powerful motivator, ” blair said. “ it ’ s hard to argue with the numbers. ” blair and hand teamed up with five colleagues in the arnold school ’ s department of exercise science to study 197 sedentary, overweight or obese men and women between the ages of 18 and 65. sedentary was defined as exercising less than 150 minutes moderately each week. essentially, the team wanted to test the effectiveness of the armband technology, which featured a wrist watch with real - time display and access to a personalized web account designed to help manage their weight loss program. while wearing the armband, individuals got real - time feedback on the amount of energy they expended and they could determine the calories they took in by entering their diet onto the website. participants were divided among four groups, each of which followed different weight - loss strategies : one group received a weight - loss manual ; a second group received the same manual and participated in group counseling sessions to help them change their diet and physical activity habits ; the third was given the manual and the armband ; and the fourth received the manual, armband, and the group counseling sessions. the study found that the group that had access to group sessions and the armband lost the most weight ( nearly 15 pounds ) and logged improved levels of glucose, triglycerides and lower blood pressure. the potential for individuals to change behavior via


david goodstein used this term to describe : the long - discredited baconian view of the scientist as disinterested seeker of truth who gathers facts with mind cleansed of prejudices and preconceptions. the ideal scientist, in this view, would be more honest than ordinary mortals, certainly immune to such common human failings as pride or personal ambition. when people find out, as they invariably do, that scientists are not at all like that, they may react with understandable anger or disappointment. i think it is a useful term. but i don ’ t agree with goodstein ’ s belief that scientists are guilty of promoting it. certainly not in my experience. | before fermi lab visit i think of a scientist as very dedicated to his work. he is kind of crazy, talking always quickly. he constantly is getting new ideas. he is always asking questions and can be annoying. he listens to others ’ ideas and questions them. | after fermi lab visit i know scientists are just normal people with a not so normal job.... scientists lead a normal life outside of being a scientist. they are interested in dancing, pottery, jogging and even racquetball. being a scientist is just another job which can be much more exciting. | these are drawings and comments made by amy, one of a group of us 7th graders before and after their visit to the fermi lab true, there is an ethos of honesty in science which we can be proud of and attempt to adhere to. but we know that scientists are just as human as anyone else. they certainly are as susceptible as others to human failings. and this includes not only pride and personal ambition but also subjectivity, blinkered views, bias and even superstition. maybe in the past there was this public picture of the noble scientist but we now live in a more more sensible age. biographies of scientists are no longer hagiographies. anyone who has read a recent biography will be aware of how unpleasant newton was personally. of albert einstein ’ s treatment of his first wife and their fist child. of madame curies ’ affair. no, these heroes of science were real people, not the idealised noble scientist. some biographies will even discuss the scientific mistakes of these great scientists. although, i personally think more should be made of these as they would help us understand the real processes that go on in scientific discovery. media beat ups, like the “ climategate ” concentration on stolen scientist emails, have also revealed how human,


. although, i personally think more should be made of these as they would help us understand the real processes that go on in scientific discovery. media beat ups, like the “ climategate ” concentration on stolen scientist emails, have also revealed how human, and even petty, scientists can be. and the recent news of scientific misconduct by marc d. hauser has exposed another, unpleasant, side of human failings ( see hauser misconduct investigation — full text of dean ’ s statement and marc hauser replies — acknowledges mistakes ). human scientists but noble science but scientists do evoke the image of trust – if you believe advertisements for cleaning products and cosmetics. how often have we seen white lab coats used in such ads. but i think this reputation comes more from the nature of science itself, rather than the scientist. after all, we know from experience that science is capable of delivering. we all depend on this reliability of science in our everyday lives. this reliability comes from the scientific method – not from the character of individual scientists. taken in isolation humans rely on pattern recognition. they also rely on brain processes which create our own version of reality. rather than “ seeing is believing ” we are often confronted more with “ believing is seeing. ” it is only human to unconsciously select the information which fits with our preconceived views. to seek confirmation for our own biases. this may have been a result of our evolution and has probably served us well in our attempts to survive and reproduce. but this approach is not a good basis for truly investigating and understanding reality. they are not a good basis for doing science. and we can certainly see the influence of subjective attitudes, protection of pet ideas, cultural and religious influences, etc., when we look at the history of science. modern science has developed methodologies to minimise subjective influences. one is the importance we now place on interaction with reality. on collection of evidence and the testing of any resulting hypotheses and theories against reality. scientific theories are validated both by testing against reality and by their use in subsequent investigations and technological appliances. the social nature of science also helps. ideas and theories must be open to sceptical consideration of peers in the process of collaborative research, funding applications, conference presentations and scientific publications. scientific knowledge is progressive – it generally improves with time. this means that mistakes, and scientific frauds, do not remain undiscovered. scientific knowledge is always provisional. ambitious scientists are eager to expose such mistakes. science really is self - correcting.


is progressive – it generally improves with time. this means that mistakes, and scientific frauds, do not remain undiscovered. scientific knowledge is always provisional. ambitious scientists are eager to expose such mistakes. science really is self - correcting. irrespective of the human failings of individual scientists. the noble scientist as a straw man scientists themselves have no illusions. after all they experience the human side of their colleagues all the time. i don ’ t know about the perception of the person in the street but suspect that the image of noble scientist would not be common in these cynical times. personally, the only time i come across this myth is when it is used as a straw man by those who are critcising science or denying certain scientific findings. you know. when confronted with scientific features they wish to reject the climate change or evolution denier will sometimes justify their rejection by arguing that scientists are not objective. that scientific fraud is common. the “ scientific establishment ” controls peer review. or that science can ’ t escape from its cultural prejudices. some theological critics of science fall back on the bias of the so - called “ materialistic ” or “ naturalistic ” “ paradigm ” in science. they will accuse those they are debating with of having an idealised, fictional concept of the objective, honest scientist. the noble scientist. a debating ploy, but one that really avoids the issue. and that is probably why it is used. they should be dealing with, and possibly critiquing if they can, the actual scientific evidence and its interpretation. not the all too human individual scientist.


twin rovers headed for mars | tweet | twin rovers headed for mars nasa today announced plans to launch two large scientific rovers to the red planet in 2003. august 10, 2000 - - the traffic on mars is expected to double in the near future. nasa today announced plans to launch two large scientific rovers to the red planet in 2003, rather than the original plan for just one, said dr. ed weiler, associate administrator for space science, nasa headquarters, both mars rovers, to be built, managed and operated by nasa ' s jet propulsion laboratory, pasadena, calif., currently are planned for launch on delta ii rockets from cape canaveral air force station, fla. the first mission is targeted for may 22, with the second launch slated for june 4. after a seven - and - a - half month cruise, the first rover should enter mars ' atmosphere january 2, 2004, with the second rover bouncing to a stop on the martian surface january 20. above : this image is a single frame from a striking video of the planned mars 2003 rover mission. [ more information from nasa headquarters ] the rovers will be exact duplicates, but that ' s where the similarities end. relatives of the highly successful 1997 sojourner rover, these 150 - kilogram ( 300 - pound ) mobile laboratories may look and act alike, but they ' re going to decidedly different locations. scott hubbard, mars program director at nasa headquarters said, " for the past few weeks nasa has been undertaking an extensive study of a two - lander option. hubbard added, " the scientific appeal of using the excellent launch opportunity in 2003 for two missions was weighed carefully against the resource requirements and schedule constraints. " " our teams concluded that we can successfully develop and launch these identical packages to the red planet, " continued hubbard. " we also determined that, in addition to the prospect of doubling our scientific return, this two - pronged approach adds resiliency and robustness to our exploration program. " " mars is a beguiling place, and conducting a real mobile field - geology mission is always better when there are multiple perspectives, " said dr. jim garvin, mars program scientist at nasa headquarters. however, the landing sites have yet to be selected. " we are thinking about localities where there is evidence of surface processes involving what we might call ' past ' water on mars, " garvin said. " this includes sites where we have today mineralogical evidence that water may have produced unique chemical fingerprints, as well as places where it


there is evidence of surface processes involving what we might call ' past ' water on mars, " garvin said. " this includes sites where we have today mineralogical evidence that water may have produced unique chemical fingerprints, as well as places where it seems likely water ' ponded ' in closed depressions for enough time to modify the regional geology, " garvin added. during the next two to three years, engineers and scientists will conduct an intensive search for potential touchdown sites. using the flood of data still coming in from mars global surveyor, and that expected starting in 2002 from the mars 2001 orbiter, scientists will search for compelling landing zones with the fewest hazards and select the best candidates. above : this artist ' s rendering shows a view of nasa ' s mars 2003 rover as it sets off to roam the surface of the red planet. the rover is scheduled for launch in june 2003 and will arrive in january 2004, shielded in its landing by an airbag shell. the airbag / lander structure, which has no scientific instruments of its own, is shown to the right in this image, behind the rover. [ more information ] " the goal of both rovers will be to learn about ancient water and climate on mars, " said professor steven squyres, cornell university, ithaca, n. y., and principal investigator for the rovers ' athena science package. " you can think of each rover as a robotic field geologist, equipped to read the geologic record at its landing site and to learn what the conditions were like back when the rocks and soils there were formed. " | parents and educators : please visit thursday ' s classroom for lesson plans and activities related to this story. | given the high priority nasa and the administration assign to the space science program overall, and to the timely exploration of mars, the agency proposes that space science cover any additional costs of the first rover mission, and that the bulk of the cost for the second lander be reallocated from programs outside space the mars 2003 rover project will be managed at jpl, for the office of space science. dr. firouz naderi is the mars program manager at jpl, which is a division of the california institute of technology in pasadena. mars exploration program - from the nasa jet propulsion laboratory science @ nasa stories about mars : to the future on mars - - july 28, 2000. nasa announces plans for a mars rover in 2003 with a second rover under consideration. making a splash on mars - - june 29, 2000. scientists ponder how to keep


nasa stories about mars : to the future on mars - - july 28, 2000. nasa announces plans for a mars rover in 2003 with a second rover under consideration. making a splash on mars - - june 29, 2000. scientists ponder how to keep water in its liquid form on super - dry and cold mars. mars surprise - - june 22, 2000. new pictures from nasa ' s mars global surveyor spacecraft reveal gullies on mars, possibly created by recent flash floods martian swiss cheese - - march 9, 2000. new pictures from nasa ' s mars global surveyor spacecraft show exotic terrain made of dry ice near the red planet ' s south pole. unearthing clues to martian fossils - - june 11, 1999. the hunt for signs of ancient life on mars is leading scientists to an otherworldly lake on earth. the red planet in 3d - - may 27, 1999. new data from mars global surveyor reveal the topography of mars better than many continental regions on earth. search for life on mars will start in siberia - - may 27, 1999. nasa funds permafrost study to support astrobiology research. join our growing list of subscribers - sign up for our express news delivery and you will receive a mail message every time we post a new story!!! | for lesson plans and educational activities related to breaking science news, please visit thursday ' s classroom | | hq press release 00 - 124 | production editor : dr. tony phillips curator : bryan walls media relations : steve roy responsible nasa official : john m. horack


this blog post is sponsored by adt. there is a silent killer among us. according to the cdc, it is responsible for the deaths of about 400 americans every year. it ’ s also the reason why more than 20000 people visit the emergency room and 4000 of them are hospitalized every year. good reasons to find out more about this threat in order to prevent it from getting its mark. who. it goes by the name of carbon monoxide, better known as co. what. it ’ s a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is slightly lighter than air. where. carbon monoxide is not readily found in the atmosphere. however, it is produced by animal metabolic activities in small quantities - needed for normal biological functions. when. carbon monoxide in larger quantities is formed when fuels like coal and gas are burned without enough oxygen. so, instead of carbon dioxide, we get co. the most common way of producing it is to use a stove in an enclosed space. why. well, what ’ s the fuss all about? inhaling carbon monoxide results in the body replacing much - needed oxygen with carbon monoxide in the blood. and this can induce headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. more importantly, this can cause tissue damage and in more severe cases, death. everyone is at risk for co poisoning, especially babies, seniors and people with respiratory problems. here are a few simple but effective ways to keep the killer at bay. cleanliness is next to safety. get your refrigerator, heating and plumbing, gas range and other such appliances checked and serviced by a qualified technician every year. no gas leaks, no co poisoning. keeping your chimney free from debris also helps prevent the buildup of co in your home. don ’ t settle for less. buying gas appliances certified by agencies like the american gas association means that these appliances have been tested and will not cause co poisoning. some things are best left outdoors. these include charcoal grills, generators and camp stoves. get an alarm but don ’ t get alarmed. install a carbon monoxide detector in your home and connect it to an alarm. this alarm will beep when the levels of carbon monoxide are dangerously high. and if the alarm does go off, don ’ t panic. call 911 and get to a hospital immediately. don ’ t get back home till emergency services indicate that it ’ s safe to return. so, don ’ t wait any longer! protect yourself from co poisoning and stay safe!


a word may have many senses and a good parser must choose the right one. which is the right one? this is often obvious from the context. when you see an ambiguous word alone ( e. g. cooks ), you can tell nothing about its meaning. but if you see it in context, you may start guessing its syntactic and / or semantic behavior ( our cooks have prepared the dinner vs. mary cooks fish ). surrounding words greatly help in determining the part of speech, and many disambiguation algorithms take advantage of that. but who on earth cares about the parts of speech? well, many do, for example, parsers, both statistical and declarative, employ this information for building all kinds of structures. but anyway, that ' s an intermediate thing used for the own convenience of those parsers. for the ultimate text analysis tasks parts of speech are not important at all. the meaning is what is important, not them. so why bother at all? i ' m currently trying to live without the intermediate part - of - speech level in my parser, and so far it works. how? consider cooks again. it can participate in the following constructions : - she cooks - cooks fish - cooks when something happens - cooks well - the cooks - sad cooks - cooks that came from germany - and so on let ' s now say there are no nouns, verbs and so on, there are only constructions. upon encountering cooks, the parser notes all the constructions possible with this word ( at least 1 - 7 from above ). it also marks some of them ( 1 - 4 ) as incompatible with others ( 5 - 7 ). then another word comes, for example, fish. it also generates tons of constructions, some of them also mutually incompatible ( fish can be a noun or a verb as well ). importantly, one of them is the familiar transitive ( number 2 in the list ). it ' s been suggested by both words, and it clearly wins over the others which were suggested only by one of the two words. now the constructions which are incompatible with this transitive can be pruned : both " nominal " for cooks and " verbal " for fish. and the transitive is promoted and may now contribute to the meaning of the entire text. ( e. g. cook. patient = fish ). disambiguation complete. positive side : it ' s very simple and i don ' t have to create boring data structures for different parts of


teach children planning and problem solving not programming when i first heard that children in secondary education ( 11 - 16 year olds ) here in the uk were to be taught programming i thought it was another example of a poorly thought through fad ruining our education system. schools already have enough trouble finding goos maths and science teachers, and the average school leavers knowledge of these subjects is not that great, now resources and time are being diverted to a specialist subject for which it is hard to find good teachers. after talking to a teacher about his experience teaching scratch to 11 - 13 year olds i realised he was not teaching programming but teaching how to think through problems, breaking them down into subcomponents and cover all possibilities ; a very worthwhile subject to teach. as i see it the ‘ writing code ’ subject needs to be positioned as the teaching of planning and problem solving skills ( ppss, p2s2, a suitable acronym is needed ) rather than programming. based on a few short conversations with those involved in teaching, the following are a few points i would make : - stay with one language ( scratch looks excellent ). - the more practice students get with a language the more fluent they become, giving them more time to spend solving the problem rather than figuring out how to use the language. - switching to a more ‘ serious ’ language because it is similar to what professional programmers use is a failure to understand the purpose of what is being taught and a misunderstanding of why professionals still use ‘ text ’ based languages ( because computer input has historically been via a keyboard and not a touch sensitive screen ; i expect professional programmers will slowly migrate over to touch screen programming languages ). - give students large problems to solve ( large as in requiring lots of code ). small programs are easy to hold in your head, where the size of small depends on intellectual capacity ; the small program level of coding is all about logic. large programs cannot be held in the head and this level of coding is all about structure and narrative ( there are people who can hold very large programs in their head and never learn the importance of breaking things down so others can understand them ), logic does not really appear at this level. large problems can be revisited six months later ; there is no better way of teaching the importance of making things easy for others to understand than getting a student to modify one of their own programs a long time after they originally wrote it ( i ’ m sure many will start out denying ever having written the horrible code handed back to them ). - problems should


biological contaminants include viable and non - viable microbiological matter such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, house dust mite and insect feces and pollens. their presence can result in infectious disease, toxics effects or allergic reaction. much is known about the occurrence and health effects of microbial growth associated with water damage but there has been little investigation on the impact of other microbial contaminants on indoor air quality. 1. 1 infectious contaminants while all types of microorganisms can cause problems indoors, bacteria and fungi are most commonly associated with indoor air quality complaints. in any indoor environment a variety of species will be present at different times and in different micro - environments. in order for airborne disease transmission to occur from microbes in buildings, there must be a source or reservoir for the microbes, some means for the microbes to multiply ( amplifiers ) and a mechanism for their release and dispersion into indoor air. the major indoor reservoir is stagnant water or moist interior surfaces. these can accumulate microbes that enter the building in outdoor air and act as amplifiers for bacteria. fungi can grow in relatively dry environments ( eg at relative humidities above 75 % ). airborne dispersion is relatively easy for microbes found in building ventilation systems ( eg fungal and bacterial spores ) or contaminated carpet. bioaerosols ( which include bacteria, fungi, dust mites and other biological particles ) are recognised as an important subgroup involved in building - related illness. microbes, particularly fungi, which can contain mycotoxins, and vocs, are now thought to be more involved as causative agents in mechanically ventilated indoor work environments. several studies suggest that indoor air microbials may have a more common role in the sick building syndrome than previously thought. several companies routinely screen buildings for airborne microbial levels ; standardised test methods, which provide reproducible test results, are now readily available. some caution is required when evaluating any one - off microbial test results, because airborne microorganisms are ubiquitous in the environment, with ‘ typical ’ levels ranging from 50 to 1500 cfus per cubic metre in outside city air. an external sample taken on the day of test can provide a useful baseline figure for the evaluation of results. measurement of microorganisms in excess of about 1000 cfus per cubic metre of air indicates that the indoor environment may need to be investigated for microbiological contamination. however, the report also stated that


useful baseline figure for the evaluation of results. measurement of microorganisms in excess of about 1000 cfus per cubic metre of air indicates that the indoor environment may need to be investigated for microbiological contamination. however, the report also stated that exceeding this level does not mean the air is unsafe or hazardous. merely using a number to represent cfus per cubic metre is an unreliable indicator of the actual hazard posed by airborne micro - organisms. because of the universal presence of microorganisms, it is critically important to obtain an indication of the ratios of organism groups present. this information will be of greatest value with periodic testing to provide data for a trend analysis of the microbial groups in a particular site. by differentiating these groups of organisms, the likely source, the risk potential and the need for any action can be established. determining the groups of microorganisms present in a sample is significantly different from identifying all organisms present. the full identification of isolates from a sample would not generally provide any useful information and is certainly not cost - effective. a number of techniques have been recommended for sampling for microbial contamination in indoor environments. bacteria are ubiquitous in the air and general environment. they can cause adverse human health effects and deterioration of building materials when they proliferate in indoor environments. the health effects of bacterial exposure in indoor air will depend on the species and the route of exposure. the bacteria in building air can come from airborne sources from the wind ’ s action on soil and vegetation, compost, municipal landfills, sewage sludge, etc. they can also be a direct result of human activity, such as breathing, coughing and sneezing, or they may colonise the ductwork of the cooling systems, the water cooling towers ( eg legionella spp ) or interior building materials and furnishings such as wallboard, wallpaper, flooring and furnishings. in indoor environments, bacteria usually grow in areas with standing water such as water spray and condensation areas of air conditioning systems. dirty or poorly maintained air handling systems can become contaminated over time by bacterial populations that thrive on moisture - laden surfaces caused by water condensation. legionella is probably the most common group of bacteria mentioned in association with airconditioning systems ( see below ). viruses are important airborne organisms and a significant contributor to occupational absenteeism. examples of important viruses include the causative agent of the common cold ( rhinoviruses ) and the flu ( influenza viruses types a, b, c, etc ). the spread of these


organisms and a significant contributor to occupational absenteeism. examples of important viruses include the causative agent of the common cold ( rhinoviruses ) and the flu ( influenza viruses types a, b, c, etc ). the spread of these illnesses can be aided by inadequate ventilation levels within a building. viruses cannot multiply outside the human host, but can survive and remain infective for extended periods in the warm recirculating airspace of the modern air - conditioned building. routine testing for airborne viruses is expensive and not generally recommended. however a useful correlation between the levels of some airborne bacteria, particularly the micrococcus group, and poor ventilation levels has been noted, and these can thus be used as an indicator of potential cross - infection problems. allergens are substances that cause an allergic reaction. many substances that are found indoors may act as allergens and have a significant impact on the health and quality of life of the 30 – 40 % of individuals in our population who are atopic. domestic allergen exposures may represent significant risks for the development of asthma and of acute asthma attack. the prevalence of allergy and asthma has increased considerably in recent years. the emergence of allergies has been attributed to a number of factors, in particular, the changes in landscape from forest to pasture, and the trend for most people to lead an indoor, climate - controlled lifestyle. a wide range of trigger allergens have been identified, many of which are found in the indoor environment. findings suggest that house dust mite, cat and cockroach allergens may cause the onset of asthma while pollen and fungal allergens may exacerbate asthma or trigger episodes of asthma. the national academy of sciences of the united states has found sufficient evidence to conclude that there is a causal relationship between exposure to cat, cockroach and house dust mite allergens and exacerbations of asthma in sensitised individuals. it also found that there was evidence of a causal relationship between environmental tobacco smoke exposure and exacerbations of asthma in preschool - aged children. an association ( rather than causal relationship ) was found for exposure to allergens of dogs, fungi and high - level exposures to nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen ( at concentrations that may occur when gas appliances are used in poorly ventilated kitchens ). house dust mite allergen appears to have the widest public health impact, with insect allergens ( primarily cockroach ) also important. pets, particularly dogs


may occur when gas appliances are used in poorly ventilated kitchens ). house dust mite allergen appears to have the widest public health impact, with insect allergens ( primarily cockroach ) also important. pets, particularly dogs and cats and to a lesser extent birds, impact on a smaller part of the community. bedding, soft furnishings and carpets have been shown to act as reservoirs for allergens and it has been suggested that strategies to reduce asthma risk should be targeted at these sources. house dust mites are microscopic organisms that live mainly in mattresses and carpets within the home, where they feed off human skin flakes and other products. these mites are a major source of allergens that can sensitise various organs, leading to inflammation at the next exposure. it is suggested that house dust mites were more likely to cause sensitisation than pollens or fungi since house dust mite exposure is perennial rather than seasonal and the level of allergen exposure can be 20 ng / hour for house dust mites compared to 1 mg / season for pollen and fungi. the sources of dust mites are well known and general health effects are understood, yet the risks of developing allergy to house dust mites is a more complicated issue relating to exposure and genetic predisposition. house dust mite faeces, which contain the allergen, may become airborne if disturbed and build up in carpets, sofas, cushions, bedding etc. allergic reaction in the lung leads to asthma ; in the nose, to hay fever or allergic rhinitis ; in the skin, to dermatitis or a form of eczema. most households have pets, but there is little information on pet allergens. allergen sources include animal dander, saliva, faeces and urine. a review found that the levels of pet allergens were high in homes with pets ( especially if the standard of cleaning was poor and ventilation inefficient ) and that they were greatest during seasons when heating was likely to be used. the potential for exposure to pet allergens can be seen from the estimates of households with pets ( 45 % dogs, 30 % cats, 20 % birds ). anecdotal evidence suggests that dogs with woolly coats and short - haired cats have less effect on sensitised individuals. dog and cat allergens are readily transported by air currents and attachment to objects like clothes which then are moved. allergens from pets, particularly dogs and cats,


also been found in schools. it has been found to be associated with particles greater in size than 10 µm and is found in the air only after vigorous disturbance. although the health risks are less than those associated with house dust mites, the allergen has a significant consequences for some individuals. pollen is the popular term for the microspores ( male spores ) of seed - producing plants. the symptoms associated with pollen allergy, hayfever and allergic rhinitis can be either acute or chronic. it is not unusual for 10 – 20 % of a population to be pollen sensitised. as part of the ambient aerosol, pollens are readily transported into the indoor environment through windows, doors, air intakes and even humans. there has been little or no systematic investigation of indoor / outdoor pollen concentrations across the united states. the major source of pollen exposure is the outdoor environment, so exposure would be expected to be low in mechanically ventilated buildings with well maintained systems. indoor plants may produce allergenic pollen. carpets are a reservoir for particles but regular cleaning will reduce pollen load provided the equipment used captures the particles. humans release a variety of odorous gaseous bioeffluents ( eg body odours ) that influence the perceived acceptability of indoor air. carbon dioxide, which is odourless, is one of the gaseous human bioeffluents in exhaled air. humans are normally the main indoor source of carbon dioxide. the outdoor carbon dioxide concentration is approximately 350 ppm, whereas indoor concentrations are usually in the range of 500 ppm to a few thousand parts per million. at these concentrations, carbon dioxide is not thought to be a direct cause of adverse health effects ; however, carbon dioxide is an easily measured surrogate for other occupant - generated pollutants, such as body odours. human breath emissions may be a significant source of vocs. fenske and paulson ( 1999 ) used data from previous studies to calculate the proportion of vocs attributable to human emissions in places where people congregate indoors, such as schools and offices. they calculated that human emissions are likely to be the source of at least 10 – 20 %, and sometimes more than 50 %, of vocs in these places.