plant and / or partner organisms. the plant then absorbs the nutrients made available from the corpse. most carnivorous plants will grow without consuming prey but they grow much faster and reproduce much better with nutrients derived from their prey. we do not call these plants " insectivorous plants " because no self respecting carnivore is going to check the id of a potential prey to make sure it is an insect. some carnivorous plants do specialize in capturing insects but they will consume whatever they can. not all plants that trap or kill animals are considered carnivorous. some aroid and aristolochia species capture insects in their flowers to facilitate pollination. they don ' t kill the pollinators and if some of the pollinators do die in the flower it is not to the advantage of the plant. carnivorous plants never use their flowers as traps and tend not to kill their pollinators either but it does happen. because this is nature, there are a lot of cases where it is unclear to us whether a plant is a true carnivore or just has some of the features of a carnivore. until recently it was thought the three species of devil ' s claw in the family martyniaceae are carnivorous. ibicella lutea, proboscidea louisianica, and p. parviflora are large plants that typically catch some small flies. maybe their ancestors were carnivorous. now they are not. they do not derive much if any nutrition from the prey. they probably maintain their carnivorous - like leaves as a predator defense. there are many other types of plants with some features of carnivorous plants where it is even more difficult to argue they are true carnivores. if these plants kill non - plants in an obvious, body present, way but do not derive significant nutrition from the victim, they are considered murderous plants. another plant that has generated a lot discussion about what it takes to be a carnivore is roridula. roridula rely on assassin bugs to perform the digestion of prey. the plant captures the prey. the bugs suck out the juicy insides of the prey and defecate on the leaves. the plant absorbs the nutrients in the poop. if the assassin bugs are not present there is a fall - back for the plant but it is unclear how much this fall - back is used in the wild. bacteria in the gut and on the prey can digest the dead prey and roridula leaves will absorb the nutrients released


not present there is a fall - back for the plant but it is unclear how much this fall - back is used in the wild. bacteria in the gut and on the prey can digest the dead prey and roridula leaves will absorb the nutrients released quite efficiently. darlingtonia and some nepenthes species have also lost the ability to digest prey themselves. these species rely on bacteria and other organisms to make the nutrients in the prey available to themselves. to put it unscientifically, why should a plant go through all the bother of digesting the prey itself when other organisms will do it for them? or scientifically, if there is no selective advantage to expending the energy for digestion, mutations will accumulate eliminating digestion. it should be obvious here we have carefully crafted our definition of carnivory to include these plants as carnivores and to exclude purely murderous plants. if the plants or their story is sufficiently bizarre and their very closest relatives are definite carnivores, we may bend the " rules " a bit to allow them into the club. no one has claimed the toilet bowl nepenthes species are not carnivorous. the toilet bowl nepenthes primarily use their traps to attract animals and collect their excrement as they feed on nectar produced by the plant. carnivorous plant enthusiasts go nuts over these plants and could not care less about definitions. carnivorous plant genera arranged by plant order : aldrovanda ( 1 species ) dionaea ( 1 species ) drosera ( 193 + species ) drosophyllum ( 1 species ) nepenthes ( 131 + species ) triphyophyllum ( 1 species ) darlingtonia ( 1 species ) heliamphora ( 23 + species ) roridula ( 2 species ) sarracenia ( 11 species ) byblis ( 7 + species ) genlisea ( 26 + species ) philcoxia ( 3 species ) pinguicula ( 99 + species ) utricularia ( 233 + species ) cephalotus ( 1 species ) brocchinia ( 2 species ) catopsis ( 1 species ) - - john brittnacher for a more detailed discussion please see the following books and web pages. slack, a. ( 1979 ) carnivorous plants. mit press, cambridge, ma, usa. ( the first comprehensive popular book on carnivorous plants. ) d ' amato, p. ( 1998 ) the savage garden. ten speed press, berkeley, ca, usa. ( the most important book popularizing the growing


, ma, usa. ( the first comprehensive popular book on carnivorous plants. ) d ' amato, p. ( 1998 ) the savage garden. ten speed press, berkeley, ca, usa. ( the most important book popularizing the growing of carnivorous plants as a hobby. ) rice, b. ( 2006 ) growing carnivorous plants. timber press, portland, or, usa. ( a comprehensive book about carnivorous plants including how to grow them. ) mcpherson, s. ; edited by a. fleischmann and a. robinson. ( 2010 ) carnivorous plants and their habitats : volume 1 and volume 2. redfern natural history productions ltd., poole, gb. ( this is basically one 3. 6 kg, 1442 page book published in two volumes. from the review by bob ziemer in cpn 40 ( 1 ) 35 : carnivorous plants and their habitats is an outstanding encyclopedic work that covers the ecology, diversity, and natural history of each carnivorous plant genus in great detail. each genus chapter is a self - contained treatise with the headings : distribution, botanical history, plant structure, habits and ecology, traditional uses, associated life, cultivation requirements, conservation status. ) barry rice ' s faq wikipedia cp page next page : cp trapping mechanisms


contact : public information office ( 301 ) 763 - 3030 ( phone ) ( 301 ) 763 - 3762 ( fax ) ( 301 ) 457 - 1037 ( tdd ) rhode island, which is holding its presidential primaries on march 4, had a 2007 population of 1. 1 million. the state has a higher percentage of people with a bachelor ' s degree or more and a higher median household income than the nation as a whole. about 64 percent of rhode island ' s voting - age citizens cast a ballot in the 2004 general election, not statistically different from the national rate. these and other statistics about rhode island ' s population on topics ranging from language spoken to commute times can be found in the american factfinder section of the census bureau web site < http : / / factfinder. census. gov / >. more information about the nation ' s voting record can be found in voting and registration in the election of november 2004 at < http : / / www. census. gov / hhes / www / socdemo / voting / >. highlights include the following : | selected characteristics | | rhode island | | u. s. | | white alone, not hispanic or latino | | 79. 6 % | | 66. 4 % | | hispanic or latino | | 11. 0 % | | 14. 8 % | | median household income | | $ 51, 814 | | $ 48, 451 | | persons below poverty | | 11. 1 % | | 13. 3 % | | bachelor ' s degree or higher ( age 25 + ) | | 29. 6 % | | 27. 0 % | | median home value | | $ 295, 700 | | $ 185, 200 |


this two - part story by john villasenor looks at how continued advances in unmanned aerial vehicle technology have profound implications on modern warfare. the year is 2020. two air force officers sit in a darkened control center at an air force base in nevada, carefully watching a bank of computer screens. one of the officers gently pushes a joystick to the right, and half a world away a swarm of a dozen small drones, none weighing more than a few hundred grams, banks to the right and continues to skim almost silently across the ground at about 65 kilometers per hour toward a small settlement that has been identified as a source of possible terrorist activity. a large monitor in the front of the control center displays the live view from a night - vision camera in the lead drone. about 300 meters ahead, the first buildings pull into view. the second officer enters a series of touch - screen commands, and three of the drones break away from the formation and begin to circle the perimeter of the settlement, acquiring video that will later be used to build a high - resolution three - dimensional model of the terrain, streets and buildings. the other nine drones fly just above the settlement, break formation and embark on a series of specialized tasks. two drones sniff for minute quantities of chemicals associated with explosives, then combine the resulting measurements with on - site wind measurements to identify a building likely being used to store explosives. another group of three drones with high - resolution cameras converges on the suspect building to collect imagery of the walls, roof and perimeter, including brief stops to hover outside the windows and take pictures into the interior. the final four drones each hold a payload package slightly larger than a grain of rice containing a miniature video camera, microphone and radio transmitter. each drone drops its surveillance payload at one of four carefully chosen sites, then retreats to a gentle landing a hundred meters outside the settlement. there it will stay hidden in the scrub to serve as a radio repeater for the signal from the tiny bug left inside.


when you think about it for a minute, the fact that most of our food requires us spending 10 fossil - fuel calories for every 1 food calorie, it doesn ’ t make much sense. we don ’ t have an inexhaustible supply of fossil fuels, and unless the agricultural system is forced to reform, we ’ re going to be, to put it plainly, totally screwed. so, what to do? step 1 : remember — locavorism begins at home. ( … and ends at home. that ’ s the point. ) you might think it was the business of agriculture to capture the energy of the sun for our nourishment. if you are thinking about the “ food ” that comes to reside on most americans ’ tables at mealtime, you would be very wrong. sunshine has little to do with it. instead, what you would find would mostly be a product of fossil fuels. there ’ s the oil and natural gas for the manufacture of fertilizer ( 31 percent ), for the operation of the machinery ( 19 percent ), for the product ’ s transportation ( 16 percent ), irrigation ( 13 percent ), pesticides ( 5 percent ), and other miscellaneous squanderings ( 16 percent ). 1 and this doesn ’ t even count the fossil fuels burned for the packaging, refrigeration, and transportation of that sunlight - deficient product from the retail outlet to the home. in sum, on average an american consumes 12 barrels of oil equivalents ( 504 gallons ) for energy used in the home, 10 barrels ( 420 gallons ) for food production and distribution, and another 9 barrels ( 378 gallons ) for transportation. 2 the 420 gallons of oil equivalents used to produce the average 2, 175 pounds of food a year the average american eats ( compared to the world average of 1, 630 pounds ) boils down to spending 10 fossil - fuel calories for each one food calorie. it doesn ’ t sound like a good idea, nor does it sound efficient, but that ’ s what most of us depend on to stay alive every daya€ ” fossil calories. how did things get to such a sorry state? as with many things, our move toward convenience has come at the cost of our independence. where at one time many families grew some of their own food and knew the grower of any other food they consumed, now the grower of our food is on average 1, 500 miles away, and oftentimes much


cost of our independence. where at one time many families grew some of their own food and knew the grower of any other food they consumed, now the grower of our food is on average 1, 500 miles away, and oftentimes much farther. we had the misfortune of buying some garlic grown in china recently. growing this staple 8, 000 miles away seems like a bad idea to us, but most americans don ’ t realize nor do they care where the garlic they buy comes from. in 2005, garlic imports rose to 100 million pounds, while being almost nonexistent five years earlier. 3 if this is what the wisdom of the marketplace dictates, then we suggest that the market is not very bright. the very large distances we are making our food travel has another downside. this is the removal of nutrients from where they are needed : where the food is being grown. exporting produce thousands of miles away ensures that the nutrients locked in that food cannot ever be returned to the soil from which they came to cycle through again. this deficiency ensures the missing nutrients must be replaced by fossil fuels or other fossil accumulations that are being rapidly depleted, such as phosphorus. when we consider these facts in the context of peak fossil energy and global climate disruption, then it ’ s not surprising if our first reaction is some good oldfashioned fear and loathing. not only is our food system consuming unsustainable amounts of energy ( a 10 - to - 1 ratio of calories in to calories out ), it ’ s also overconsuming our water and topsoil resources at a prodigious rate. can there be any hope of rectifying a situation that has gone so awry? the first thing to note is that, generally speaking, we in the united states could use a little less food, anyway, especially with obesity rates at all - time highs. so the fact that food prices might rise at first as we have less fossil energy available is, for most of us, not such a dire situation. moving our diet from lots of higher - energyinput foods like meat and cheese to more vegetables, beans, and grains will not only be cheaper and use much less energy for the same amount of food calories, but the net result will be a healthier population. heavily processed junk and fast food should also increase in price relative to healthier unprocessed items, since the processing requires large energy inputs. unfortunately, the price of this type of food has never


the net result will be a healthier population. heavily processed junk and fast food should also increase in price relative to healthier unprocessed items, since the processing requires large energy inputs. unfortunately, the price of this type of food has never reflected its true cost in terms of pollution, animal welfare, fossil energy depletion, and adverse health effects, the latter afflicting poorer folks disproportionately due to its subsidized cheapness and availability. fortunately, the same path that brought us down into this fossilized abyss is the same one we can take back out. by gradually relocalizing our food production we can return to an agricultural system that is much less energy intensive. if there ’ s one good thing about a system being so grossly inefficient and out of whack ( producing so little food calories for the energy calories that went in ), it ’ s that dramatic improvements can be made very quickly once we realize the need to turn around. the myriad problems that seem overwhelming all stem from a common disease : the fact that we ’ ve let our food production and distribution get out of our hands and into the paws of profit - grubbing corporations. if instead of buying nonorganic ( and, hence, heavily pesticide - and fertilizer - dependent ) canned goods at some big - box grocer that we have to drive to, we grow some veggies in our own yard and get the balance from a local farmer, we ’ ve eliminated the vast majority of tomato - miles it takes to keep our tummies full. spending a fall afternoon planting a few blueberry bushes will result in tens of pounds of blueberries in just a few years. thinking about how many clear plastic half - pint blueberry containers this will save from being brought into existence almost blows the mind ( not even to mention how many dollars will remain in your wallet! ). aiming for total food self - sufficiency will quickly lead to burnout, as the labor demands of such an endeavor quickly become overwhelming. instead of trying to leap to the finish line, consider your goal of fossil - fuel - free food to be a meander through a beautiful park. each year, plant a few more edible perennials, grow some hardy low - maintenance veggies ( see what ’ s doing well in your neighbors ’ gardens ), and maybe experiment with mushroom cultivation. make sure to patronize local farmers ’ markets, food stands, and community - supported


lots of girls and guys worry about when their bodies will develop. guys wonder when their voices will get deeper, when they ' ll need to shave, or when their penises will grow. girls want to know when their breasts will develop or when they ' ll get their first period. if a friend or a younger brother or sister develops first, they may worry that there ' s something wrong with them. different variations of normal the fact is that physical development starts at different times and progresses at different rates in different people. so, the beginning of the development that comes with puberty varies from person to person — and that ' s completely normal. the earliest physical change of puberty for girls is usually breast development, which most often begins around 10 or 11 years. but it ' s perfectly normal for breast development to start anytime between the ages of 8 and 13. a girl ' s first menstrual period usually occurs about 2 to 21 / 2 years after breast development begins. boys begin their development on average around age 11 or 12, but it ' s also normal to begin anytime between the ages of 9 and 15. girls and guys who start developing earlier or later than these ranges can still be normal, but they should be checked by their doctor just to be sure. for both boys and girls, it usually takes several years after the first changes of puberty begin before they ' re all complete — and there ' s a lot of variation from person to person. so, two normally developing guys or girls who are the same age can appear quite different from each other. one can look older and more physically mature than the other. but the one who started later will catch up in time. can i do anything to speed up development? you can ' t do anything to make your body develop faster. of course, you should eat a nutritious diet, exercise, and get enough sleep. but special diets, dietary supplements, or creams won ' t do anything to make normal puberty happen quicker. if you ' re a girl who ' s 13 or older or a boy who ' s 15 or older and you haven ' t shown any signs of puberty ( or if you ' re younger but are still worried ), talk with your doctor. reviewed by : mary l. gavin, md date reviewed : november 2009 | | note : all information is for educational purposes only. for specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor. © 1995 - 2010 the nemours foundation / kidshealth. all


barun brahma, m. d., tobey macdonald, m. d., and ravi bellamkonda, ph. d. ( georgia tech ) collaborate on research using nanomedicine to trap the migrating cells in brain tumors. the eureka grant was awarded to the georgia institue of technology to enable the design of a treatment for brain tumors that would direct moving tumor cells through a scaffold to a sink, located on the brain ’ s surface beneath the dura, which would contain a drug to kill the cells. - peds winter 2010 issue features the article " brain exvaders, " which discusses the novel bioengineering solution aimed at pediatric brain tumors. - reporter newspapers interview children ' s neurosurgeon, dr. brahma, about the exciting new research to remove brain tumors involving teams from children ' s, georgia tech and emory university school of medicine. tracy - ann read, ph. d., research scientist, is studying medulloblastoma and cancer stem cells in the central nervous system, in conjunction with emory department of neurosurgery. barun brahma, m. d., pediatric neurosurgeon, and ravi bellamkonda, ph. d. ( georgia tech ) are conducting a donor funded research study to use nano - technology to better assist surgeons in distinguishing brain tumors form healthy brain tissue. tobey macdonald, m. d., director, neuro - oncology program, is leading a study to develop a drug therapy to stop the spread of medulloblastoma as an alternative to radiation therapy.


03. how much and how often? myth : " exercising three times a week is enough. " there ’ s a lot of conflicting advice about the amount of exercise you need to do to get results, ranging from ‘ anything is better than nothing ’ to ‘ over an hour a day, every day ’. there ’ s a bit of truth in both extremes, and everything in between, though it also depends on what you mean by ‘ get results ’. for example : - if you go for a 30 to 40 - minute brisk walk, you can temporarily reduce blood sugar, triglycerides and blood pressure levels. so in that sense, just one session can have a benefit. - people who ’ ve lost a great deal of weight ( 20kg or more ) seem to require one hour to 90 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise every day to maintain that weight loss. the current federal government national physical activity guidelines for australians recommend that, for good health, adults exercise for a total of 30 minutes or more on most, preferably all days. the 30 minutes can comprise several sessions of at least 10 minutes each. the activity should be strenuous enough to raise your heart rate and rate of breathing. you should be able to talk, but not sing. for greater health and fitness benefits, the guidelines recommend three or four sessions of vigorous exercise each week, for at least 30 minutes each time, in addition to the moderate exercise listed above. exercise should be continuous, and hard enough to make you puff — where it ’ s difficult to talk in full sentences without taking a breath. your heart rate should be about 70 – 85 % of its maximum ( which is 220 beats per minute, minus your age ). finally, for good all - round physical health, you might consider including two or three resistance or strength training ( weightlifting ) sessions per week, as well as a flexibility and balance program ( such as yoga or pilates, or even just some gentle stretching ), in your exercise routine. anything is better than nothing, but for good health, do moderate exercise totalling at least 30 minutes a day, on five or more days a week. myth : " i just ate a 300 calorie chocolate bar. walking burns 300 calories per hour, so if i walk for about an hour, i ’ ll burn off the chocolate. " if you look up most exercise and calorie tables, they ’ ll tell you that a 68kg person walking for one hour at a moderate speed of 5 to 6km / h


an hour, i ’ ll burn off the chocolate. " if you look up most exercise and calorie tables, they ’ ll tell you that a 68kg person walking for one hour at a moderate speed of 5 to 6km / h burns between 250 and 300 calories. they don ’ t usually remind you that by sitting around doing nothing or pottering about, you ’ d also burn some calories — maybe up to 140. in other words, they give ‘ gross ’ calorie expenditure per unit of time, not ‘ net ’ calories ( the amount above and beyond what you ’ d normally expend ). now assuming the chocolate is surplus to your daily energy needs, and you want to burn off an extra 300 calories, you ’ ll need to do 300 ‘ net ’ calories of exercise. researchers have worked out that the net calories burned walking in this situation would be about 180 calories per hour. this means more than 1. 5 hours of walking to burn off the chocolate. and eating it took you … how long? calculating energy expenditure based on gross, rather than net calorie burn overestimates the contribution of exercise to total daily expenditure. myth : " i ’ m slim and healthy, i don ’ t need to exercise. " even if you ’ re slim and seem to be healthy, you ’ re probably not as healthy as you could be if you are inactive. furthermore, studies have found that people who are ‘ fat and fit ’ — that is, who are overweight but do regular exercise — are healthier than people who don ’ t exercise, and therefore likely to live longer. meeting the minimum exercise recommendations can go a long way to achieving good health. benefits include : - normal blood pressure. - healthy cholesterol levels. - lower levels of anxiety and depression. - stronger bones and better balance ( particularly important for older people otherwise at risk of osteoporosis ). - weight management. - good cardio - respiratory fitness, muscular strength and flexibility. - general self - esteem and psychological wellbeing. exercise contributes to good overall physical and mental health — it ’ s not just about body weight.


scotland is pushing to become the first u. k. nation to introduce legislature approving same - sex marriage, though their plans are being opposed both by the catholic church and the church of scotland. currently, scotland allows for same - sex civil partnerships, but an entire " rainbow coalition " of organizations, which includes the equality network, amnesty international, unison and the humanist society of scotland, wants fully recognized marriage for gay couples, bbc reported. the u. k. government is, in the meantime, considering whole - scale changes to the definition of marriage and is proposing to legalize gay marriage by 2015. much like the u. k. government proposals, the scottish bill is supposed to provide a provision for religious institutions opposed to same - sex marriage, allowing them to refuse to perform such ceremonies. but the mainstream scottish christian communities are concerned that changing the traditional definition of marriage to include same - sex couples will force churches to accept something that goes against their beliefs nonetheless. cardinal keith o ' brien, the most senior catholic cleric, has even called the plan a " grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right, " and has called for more discussion to be held on the issue. the cardinal has also pushed for the scotland for marriage campaign in opposition to same - sex marriage " the church of scotland cannot agree that the law in scotland should be changed to allow same - sex marriage. the government ' s proposal fundamentally changes marriage as it is understood in our country and our culture – that it is a relationship between one man and one woman. in common with the historic position of the christian church, the church of scotland has always viewed marriage as being between one man and one woman, " a previous statement issued by the church body read. " scriptural references to marriage, whether literal or metaphorical, all operate under this understanding. to redefine marriage to include same - sex marriage may have significant and, as yet, inadequately considered repercussions for our country, for the well - being of families, communities and individuals, " the body added. the general assembly of the church of scotland in may 2011 affirmed that while it supports the traditional definition of marriage, it still views homophobia as sinful and urges ministries to defend all members of the church, regardless of their sexual orientation.


ron coleman is a canadian currently an assistant professor at california state university, sacramento. he is interested in cichlids both as a scientist and as a hobbyist. as a scientist, he tries to understand how and why parent fish take care of their kids. this has led him to a great interest in egg size and he is founder of the cichlid egg project. he works both in the lab and in costa rica and writes for the scientific literature as well as various hobbyist publications, including cichlid news. his favorite fish is tomocichla tuba. ron also maintains the great cichlid research home page. ron puts his interest in cichlids as follows ; i am interested in cichlids from two angles, both as a scientist and as a hobbyist. on the hobbyist side, it is hard to beat cichlids as entertaining an just plain interesting animals to have around. they are intelligent and curious creatures that come in so many shapes, sizes and colors that i find it hard to believe that anyone could not be fascinated by them. many of these same qualities of cichlids make them fascinating to me as a scientist. the sheer diversity of the family offers countless opportunities to evolutionary biologists like myself. the goal of my research is to understand the key processes that shape the characteristics of organisms. those characteristics might be solid physical things, like the size of the body, or more intangible things like behavior. the approach i use is called life history theory which in a nutshell argues that most every aspect of an organism is the product of tradeoffs. this means that there are costs and benefits to every aspect of organismal design. for example, why is the giraffe ' s neck so long? the giraffe gains many benefits from its long neck : the ability to forage on vegetation far above the ground, the ability to see potential predators at great distances, etc. but, balanced against these benefits are an equal number of costs : giraffes have great difficulty drinking, they aren ' t very well balanced, can ' t jump hardly at all, and are pretty easy to spot at great distances as well. as i see it, the goal of modern biology is to understand the costs and benefits of the characteristics of organisms we see around us. in this way, we can hope to understand what is " driving " nature and this will allow us to make intelligent choices on this ever - more - crowded planet. cichlids, are nature ' s


teachers need the commitment of the senior leadership team and support of members of the languages department in order to successfully introduce an applied gcse french course as there are some important aspects to consider : planning the course - timetabling and it is essential that the staff selected to teach the applied french course fully embrace the fact that the course is work - related and that this will need a change of approach if the course is to be successful. staff need to understand that the french needs to be taught in the chosen specialist context ( business, media and communication or leisure and time will need to be allocated to plan detailed schemes of work to ensure that there is full coverage of the generic topic areas within the chosen specialist context. language staff need to be trained in how to deliver and assess the applied french course so it is important to consider funding for inset in the summer term prior to the introduction of the course. edexcel offers training courses at different locations around the country and can also organise bespoke training for individual schools or groups of schools wishing to begin the course. ongoing training will be necessary to ensure that staff are familiar with the assessment requirements especially for the oral and written components which are teacher - assessed and externally ict staff will need to be familiarised with the requirements for the on - screen tests. it is important to do this at a early stage to ensure that that the computer system is appropriate to cope with the demands of the test and that there are sufficient computers to enable the students to sit the examinations. timetable allocation for the applied gcse french is the same as for the conventional gcse course. it is desirable for some lessons to be timetabled in a computer room if possible in order to give students practice for the on - screen tests. however most lessons should not need ict access. a typical model might be one lesson in every four or five taking place in a computer suite or a short block of lessons ( eg four or five ) to complete a particular project which might be internet based. visits, links with companies / tourist attractions and trips abroad should be planned in order to set the course in an authentic work - related context. contacting the local education business partnership may help with this. if you are unsure of local contacts, consult the national education business partnership network. be sure to obtain all available support materials including the kit ( rtf 1. 82 mb ) to facilitate delivery of the course. the on - screen tests before beginning the course it is important to consult with ict staff to familiarise them with the technical requirements ( pdf


obtain all available support materials including the kit ( rtf 1. 82 mb ) to facilitate delivery of the course. the on - screen tests before beginning the course it is important to consult with ict staff to familiarise them with the technical requirements ( pdf 76 kb ) to ensure that everything is in place. the ict staff should contact edexcel and may receive specific training and instructions to suit individual circumstances. the majority of schools have appropriate equipment to be able to conduct the tests. passwords need to be obtained from edexcel and it is the responsibility of ict staff to understand how to do this in good time. it is essential to conduct practice tests before undertaking the real on - screen examination. this will enable any possible technical problems to be sorted out in advance and should mean that the real exam will run smoothly. ict staff should ensure that they provide full support for the duration of the exam in case of schools have devised different methods of ensuring individual privacy in the on - screen tests. some have invested in individual booths so that candidates cannot see other screens. others seat pupils well apart to prevent pupils being able to see neighbouring screens. some schools seat a pupil entering the listening examination next to a pupil entering the reading examination and then let them sit the next examination ( either reading or listening ) immediately afterwards. students will need to have headphones for the listening examination. if large numbers of pupils are involved in the on - screen tests, it may be necessary to hold some pupils in a waiting area if there are insufficient computers available. as the tests each last only 40 minutes, this should not cause a problem. key points about conduct of the spoken - samples are supplied by awarding body for all three specialist contexts - business ( doc, 632kb ), leisure and tourism ( doc, 2. 11mb ), media and communication ( doc, 370kb ) - schools may create their own or adapt the sample interactions provided by the awarding body - stimulus material for the interaction may be in english or french with visuals, symbols, photographs etc ( if the stimulus is in french, students cannot be rewarded for language lifted from the - students have three days in which to prepare for the spoken - three spoken interactions must be recorded for each student. the final one of these must be recorded in a window of time specified by the awarding body. it is recommended that five are conducted and the best three are selected from these. planning will need to be made in advance as to how these recordings are going to be achieved at suitable points throughout the course. the support of


specified by the awarding body. it is recommended that five are conducted and the best three are selected from these. planning will need to be made in advance as to how these recordings are going to be achieved at suitable points throughout the course. the support of senior management is essential for this process to be successful as time will need to be allocated. - all three interactions must be marked by the teacher in line with the assessment criteria. teachers should fully familiarise themselves with the assessment criteria well in advance and if possible attend training on the conduct and marking of the speaking - the marks for all candidates for their three best interactions must be submitted to the awarding body - recordings of candidates selected by the awarding body must be sent to the moderator along with the stimulus material used for the recording the presentation in the formally assessed presentation conducted in the assessment window, students will not be allowed access to a script although they will be able to refer to a printout of key bullet points or a ' spider diagram ' ( no larger than an a5 piece of paper and containing no more than 30 words ). it is important to note that the content of the presentation should be different to any written coursework. most schools record the presentation on the same occasion as the spoken interaction. it will be necessary to plan appropriate oral examination time slots to enable the students to carry out the prepared spoken interaction and the presentation. the presentation should last 1 - 2 minutes with 1 - 2 minutes of follow - up questions. therefore the slot required for each candidate including conduct of the spoken interaction would be around 10 minutes. the applied gcse french microsite examinations officer will know how to gain access to the applied french gcse microsite and on this site you will be able to obtain valuable information on the conduct of the examination and how to enter marks online. document for exams officers on secure online content ( pdf 45 kb ) document for teachers on secure online content ( pdf 44 kb )


ww2 women ’ s voluntary service ( wvs ) collected garden vegetables for the men in minesweepers fresh vegetables were collected from gardens all around the coast for the men serving in minesweepers and small naval crafts. thousands upon thousands of vegetables were given out “ another women ’ s voluntary service ( wvs ) activity was centred on our shores. men in minesweepers and small naval craft were often unable to spend long enough on shore to get fresh vegetables. in east anglia, wvs members approached people who have been evacuated from their homes for permission to collect the vegetables from their gardens and take them to the docks. all around the coast and in northern ireland the scheme caught on. thousands upon thousands of vegetables were given out. in winter cakes and mince pies were added to the hampers. ” excerpt about the wvs from wikipedia : by the time of the blitz, women in the wvs were adept at providing food and drink around the clock. while arp wardens and firemen fought the fires, women in the wvs set up mobile canteens to keep them refreshed, thus placing themselves in serious physical danger with collapsing buildings a constant threat. when the raids ended, the wvs also played a part in looking after those who were injured and had lost their homes. records indicate that the wvs dealt with and helped over 10, 000 people every night of the blitz. as the blitz lasted for 57 nights, the wvs helped in total a vast number of people who went to their rest centres. some people stayed just for a night – many stayed for much longer and stretched the resources of the wvs to the limit. in barnes, one wvs member fed 1, 200 bomb victims in just one day, cooking in her own kitchen. it would be difficult to overstate the importance of the work done by the wvs during the blitz : the rest centres provided a roof, food and, importantly, sanitation. but working so near to the centre of the bombing inevitably led to casualties. 241 members of the wvs were killed during the blitz and many more were wounded. 25 wvs offices were destroyed.


course pages 2011 – 12 no. of lectures : 7 ( continued into easter term ) companion courses : object - oriented programming, programming in java this course is a prerequisite for the group project ( part ib ). the aim of this course is to present a range of effective methods for the design and implementation of software, especially where that software must meet professional quality standards. this will include a brief introduction to current commercial methods, but the main motivation is to understand the reasons why such methods have developed, how they differ from the concerns of academic computer science, and what are the technical foundations of good software engineering. - introduction. dealing with uncertainty in design, and the need for a knowledge - based modeling process. overview of the design process, with reference to the terminology of the uml rational unified process ( inception phase, elaboration phase, construction phase, transition phase ). - inception phase. structured description of system usage and function, requirements capture techniques, identification of scenarios and uml use case diagrams. description of scenario elements in terms of crc models - classes, responsibilities and collaborators. - elaboration phase. systematic definition of classes, data and system structure. abstraction, modularisation and uml class diagrams. combining top - down refinement with bottom - up construction. - construction phase ( 1 ). object interaction, behaviour and state. different varieties of uml interaction diagram. recognising coupling between modules and responsibility - driven design. structuring source code as a design model. recognition of variable roles. - construction phase ( 2 ). data lifecycles and constraints, expressed using uml statecharts and z notation. defensive programming methods including recognition of pre - and post - conditions, invariants, composition and assertions. library components and documentation. - transition phase. rapid and agile prototyping strategies and iteration. quality, testing and evaluation strategies, optimisation and debugging techniques. at the end of the course, students should be able to undertake system design in a methodical manner, starting from a statement of system requirements, developing a modular design model, refining it into an implementation that clearly identifies and minimises risk, coding in a manner that can be integrated with the work of a team, and using appropriate methods to identify and prevent faults. mcconnell, s. ( 2004 ). code complete : a practical handbook of software construction. microsoft press ( 2nd ed. ). fowler, m. ( 2003 ). uml distilled. addison - wesley ( 3rd ed. )


faults. mcconnell, s. ( 2004 ). code complete : a practical handbook of software construction. microsoft press ( 2nd ed. ). fowler, m. ( 2003 ). uml distilled. addison - wesley ( 3rd ed. ). revision and reinforcement of object - oriented concepts for those needing this : barnes, d. j. & kolling, m. ( 2006 ). objects first with java : a practical introduction using bluej. pearson education ( 3rd ed. ). broy, m. & denert, e. ( ed. ) ( 2002 ). software pioneers : contributions to software engineering. springer - verlag. collins, h. & pinch, t. ( 1998 ). the golem at large : what you should know about technology. cambridge university press. petroski, h. ( 1985 ). to engineer is human : the role of failure in successful design. macmillan. vincenti, w. g. ( 1990 ). what engineers know and how they know it : analytical studies from aeronautical history. johns hopkins university press. simon, h. a. ( 1996 ). the sciences of the artificial. mit press. schon, d. a. ( 1990 ). educating the reflective practitioner. jossey - bass. pressman, r. s. ( 2010 ). software engineering. mcgraw - hill ( 7th international ed. ). isbn 9780073375977


| castle wall offsets ben e. 30 viii 06 this article will outline various techniques of creating offsets from castle walls. offsets help us create the architectural details that give character to castles. first it is important to understand the units that each brick can be divided into. the brick below has the height to width ratio of 6 to 5. one plate is two units high. jumper tiles : the jumper tile is the most common method of creating an offset. this 1x2 tile has a stud centered on it ' s width. it allows offsets of 2. 5 units, or half of a stud. this can be used effectively to create details such as window and door surrounds, stairs, buttresses, and parapets. check out the window surround instructions below. technic and tiles : you may want even smaller offsets on your walls. using tiles rotated 90 degrees is very effective. tiles are 2 units thick. they can be attached to headlight bricks or technic bricks with half pins. steve decraemer effectively used this technique at brickfest 2005 and 2006 in his stone castles, one of which is pictured below. the only disadvantage of this technique is that all offsets are 5 units tall instead of 2 units found in plates. panels : i discovered the latest offset technique by accident this year by noticing the units of a common 1x2 panel. the back of each panel is a 1 / 5 of a stud wide. this allows us to offset details by one unit. instructions of my white tower corbel ' s below show how panels can be stacked and locked into place by other bricks. it creates small but very stable projections for the tower parapet. discussion of the tower and technique can be found in this the final result is a creation with more depth and detail than using traditional brick methods. home | archives | city | events | sets | how - to | creations | stories | links | contact © 2006 classic - castle. com. site design © anthony sava and benjamin ellermann. all rights reserved. this is an unofficial fan created lego website, and is not sponsored, authorized or endorsed by the lego group. visit the official lego website : www. lego. com


shale gas boom now visible from space oil companies at the heart of the us shale oil boom are burning off enough gas to power all the homes in chicago and washington combined in a practice causing growing concern about the waste of resources and damage to the environment. the volume of unwanted gas being flared off in north dakota, the state leading the shale revolution transforming the outlook for us energy, rose about 50 per cent last year. the surge at the state ' s bakken formation is being replicated in other shale regions with the texas state regulator issuing 1, 963 permits to flare in 2012, more than six times the number of 306 in 2010. the rapid increase has made the us one of the world ' s worst countries for gas flaring. the volume of gas flared in the us has tripled in just five years, according to world bank estimates and is now fifth highest in the world, behind russia, nigeria, iran and iraq. the flaring is a result, in large part, of the low price of natural gas in north america, which can make it uneconomic to build pipelines and tanks to handle the gas released by oil production. flaring is often the safest way to dispose of it. the lights of the flares burning in the bakken and texas ' eagle ford shale fields can clearly be seen in night - time satellite photography. flaring has been attracting attention from investors and environmental campaigners because of the waste of gas and its consequences for greenhouse gas emissions, local air pollution and disturbance to nearby communities. flaring in north dakota increases by about 20 per cent the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the state ' s oil production, refining and transport, compared with the us average, according to financial times analysis of official data. investors managing a total of $ 500bn last year wrote to oil companies including exxonmobil, chevron, statoil and us independents urging them to do more to cut their flaring. they warned that " excessive flaring, because of its impact on air quality and climate change, poses significant risks for the companies involved. " since then, flaring in the us and concerns over it have only increased. mercy investment services, which manages the investments of the sisters of mercy order of nuns, filed a shareholder resolution this month calling on continental resources, the leading oil producer in the bakken, to adopt clear goals for cutting or eliminating flaring. continental said it already flared proportionately less gas than the industry average, was making progress on more reductions and agreed to report on its progress in 2013


the meteor that slammed into russia in february injured about 1, 000 people and freaked out many more. recent months have highlighted the danger of larger space objects that could bring doomsday if they collide with our planet. aside from death and taxes, there ' s another thing certain in life : meteors. to get a historical perspective on just how many dazzling space rocks have fallen through our skies in recent times, peep at carlo zapponi ' s visual graph called bolides, which puts meteor strikes in a chronological view. inspired by the greek word bolis ( missile ), bolides features data from a range of historical meteor records, ranging from metbase to london ' s natural history museum catalog of meteorites, and displays the data in a way that makes you want to click around and explore. … read more shortly after a large meteor hit russia in february, injuring about 1, 000 people, president obama ' s administration announced that the u. s. would work on asteroid tracking technology to avoid potentially more severe earth collisions. on monday, top nasa administrator charles bolden reiterated this pledge. bolden spoke at the human to mars summit in washington, d. c. on monday and said that a robotic spacecraft mission currently being planned will " prepare efforts to prevent an asteroid from colliding with devastating force into our planet, " according to u. s. news & world report. the government ' s plan is … read more the meteor shower created by the debris trail of halley ' s comet will peak sunday evening, and nasa is providing a live view of the celestial fireworks show. prime viewing of the annual eta aquarid meteor shower should be around 9 p. m. et, providing stargazers with 30 to 40 meteors an hour, according to nasa. a camera at nasa ' s marshall space flight center in hunstsville, ala., will provide live video of the event from 8 p. m. et to 3 a. m. et monday ( see below ). the lyrid meteor shower is peaking right now, and nasa wants to make sure you don ' t miss this once - a - year space fireworks show. mindful that some stargazers may not have optimum viewing conditions because of local weather conditions or the moon ' s glow, nasa has set up a camera at the marshall space flight center in huntsville, ala., to broadcast live images of the meteor shower. " if you ' d like to catch a last look at 2013 lyrid meteror shower, this


glow, nasa has set up a camera at the marshall space flight center in huntsville, ala., to broadcast live images of the meteor shower. " if you ' d like to catch a last look at 2013 lyrid meteror shower, this is your chance! " nasa said in a statement. " although a bright moon may interfere with viewing, … read more apparently the bright object that people reported seeing shooting over the east coast of the united states last night - - and that left a glittery trail across twitter - - may well have been a meteor. bill cooke of nasa ' s meteoroid environmental office told the associated press that, " going on visual reports, " the flash was " a single meteor event. " " the thing is probably a yard across. we basically have ( had ) a boulder enter the atmosphere over the northeast, " he added. the object lit up twitter last night at about 8 p. m. east coast … read more at a house committee hearing today, nasa administrator charles bolden jr. was asked what america would do if a meteor similar to the one that hit in russia on february 15 was found to be on a path toward new york, with impact three weeks away. his response? " pray. " at the moment, we might be lucky to get even three weeks ' warning. the united states and the rest of the world simply do not have the ability to detect many " small " meteors like the one that exploded over russia, which has been estimated at roughly 55 … read more capitalism is certainly alive and well in today ' s russia, as demonstrated by the growing number of attempts to cash in on the recent and much - recorded ( thanks to the help of ubiquitous russian dashboard cams ) meteor strike in siberia. the meteor that broke up over the city of chelyabinsk while also producing a window - shattering sonic boom and momentarily outshining the sun has become a cash cow for many opportunistic folks now offering up purported fragments of the space stone on ebay and elsewhere online. … read more subscribe to crave : this week on crave, william shatner has some choice words for j. j. abrams, and we toss one back in the greatest drinking game ever invented. cheers! plus, we dodge a bullet the size of a football field as an asteroid nearly collides with earth. phew. … read more leaked from today ' s 404 episode : - fiery meteor explodes over russia ' s ural mountains ; 1, 100 injured as shock wave breaks


and well - being of children and youth the canadian paediatric society gives permission to print single copies of this document from our website. for permission to reprint or reproduce multiple copies, please see our copyright policy. objective : to assist physicians in providing guidance to parents regarding neonatal circumcision. options : whether to recommend the routine circumcision of newborn male infants. outcomes : costs and complications of neonatal circumcision, the incidence of urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted diseases and cancer of the penis in circumcised and uncircumcised males, and of cervical cancer in their partners, and the costs of treating these diseases. evidence : the literature on circumcision was reviewed by the fetus and newborn committee of the canadian paediatric society. during extensive discussion at meetings of the committee over a 24 - month period, the strength of the evidence was carefully weighed and the perspective of the committee developed. values : the literature was assessed to determine whether neonatal circumcision improves the health of boys and men and is a cost - effective approach to preventing penile problems and associated urinary tract conditions. religious and personal values were not included in the assessment. benefits, harms and costs : the effect of neonatal circumcision on the incidence of urinary tract infection, sexually transmitted diseases, cancer of the penis, cervical cancer and penile problems the complications of circumcision ; and estimates of the costs of neonatal circumcision and of the treatment of later penile conditions, urinary tract infections and complications of circumcision. recommendation : circumcision of newborns should not be routinely performed. validation : this recommendation is in keeping with previous statements on neonatal circumcision by the canadian paediatric society and the american academy of pediatrics. the statement was reviewed by the infectious disease committee of the canadian paediatric society. the board of directors of the canadian paediatric society has reviewed its content and approved it for publication. sponsor : this is an official statement of the canadian paediatric society. no external financial support has been received by the canadian paediatric society, or its members, for any portion of the statement ' s preparation. circumcision is one of the procedures performed most often on males. it was estimated in 1970 that 69 % to 97 % of all boys and men in the united states had been circumcised, in comparison


statement ' s preparation. circumcision is one of the procedures performed most often on males. it was estimated in 1970 that 69 % to 97 % of all boys and men in the united states had been circumcised, in comparison with 70 % of those in australia, 48 % of those in canada and 24 % of those in the united kingdom. the procedure is uncommon in northern european countries, central and south america and asia. in 1971 and 1975 the american academy of pediatrics ( aap ) took a stand against the routine circumcision of newborns on the basis that there are no valid medical indications for circumcision in the neonatal period. in 1975 the fetus and newborn committee of the canadian paediatric society ( cps ) reviewed the literature available at that time and reached the same conclusion. in 1983 this position was reiterated by the aap and the american college of obstetricians and gynecologists in their joint publication guidelines for perinatal care. the cps fetus and newborn committee re - examined the issue in 1982, in response to an article on the benefits and risks of circumcision, and saw no reason to modify its 1975 statement. in 1989 a multidisciplinary task force on circumcision established by the aap summarized the evidence for and against the routine circumcision of newborns but did not make a specific recommendation. the evidence the task force reviewed on the status of circumcision of newborns and the question of routine neonatal circumcision was subsequently discussed in commentaries by the chairman of the task force and by one of its members. considerable discussion followed in the letters to the editor of the two journals in which these appeared -. there have continued to be articles published presenting arguments supporting and opposing routine neonatal circumcision -. detailed estimates of the financial and medical advantages and disadvantages have been made. groups opposed to neonatal circumcision have been formed and have become visible lobbyists ( for example, the national organization to halt the abuse and routine mutilation of males, san francisco, and the national organization of circumcision information resource centers based in san anselmo, calif., with branches across the united states and in canada and other countries ). it therefore seemed appropriate for the fetus and newborn committee of the cps to revisit the subject. articles on circumcision published between 1982 and 1992 were identified from index medicus, and


states and in canada and other countries ). it therefore seemed appropriate for the fetus and newborn committee of the cps to revisit the subject. articles on circumcision published between 1982 and 1992 were identified from index medicus, and articles published from 1988 to 1994 were found through medline searches. relevant articles were also identified from the bibliographies of the aap task force statement, the subsequent commentaries and other review articles. the reference lists of identified articles were searched for additional publications. a total of 671 published articles on circumcision were identified. case reports, case - control studies, cohort studies, randomized controlled trials and two meta - analyses were identified and included. no randomized controlled trials of circumcision per se were identified ; the only randomized controlled trials found involved the use of analgesia or anesthetic agents during circumcision. of the articles identified, 61 concerned urinary tract infections ( utis ) and circumcision, 23 involved the relation between male circumcision and hiv status and 25 discussed the pain caused by circumcision and the use of analgesia. articles reviewed were restricted to those in english, except for one article in spanish. we asked the following questions. what is the effect of routine circumcision of newborn male infants on the rate of uti, sexually transmitted diseases, cancer of the penis, cervical carcinoma and penile problems? what is its effect on health care costs? is the balance of evidence sufficient to warrant a change in the position taken by the cps in 1982? the prepuce is described anatomically as a simple fold of skin. its function has been assumed to be protection of the glans. there are unwritten assumptions in the literature discussing circumcision. however, a recent report has described numerous oval, rounded or elongated nerve corpuscles in the inner mucosal surface of the prepuce. these are similar to nerve endings seen, although less frequently, in the glans and the frenulum. their function is unknown. the author of the report speculated that this specialized sensory tissue may perform different functions at different times of life and may be involved in sexual responses in adults. the presence of these nerve endings also emphasizes the need for pain control when circumcision is performed. an association between an increased incidence of uti and uncircumcised status has been reported. in 1982 ginsburg and mccracken reported a case series of


endings also emphasizes the need for pain control when circumcision is performed. an association between an increased incidence of uti and uncircumcised status has been reported. in 1982 ginsburg and mccracken reported a case series of 109 infants in whom uti developed between 5 days and 8 months of age. male infants predominated in their series ; of these, 95 % were uncircumcised. in 1985 wiswell, smith and bass reviewed a cohort of 5261 infants born at an army hospital and found a higher incidence rate of uti among the uncircumcised male infants ( 4. 12 % ) than among those who were circumcised ( 0. 21 % ). a subsequent review of the records of 427 698 infants ( 219 755 of whom were boys ) born in us armed forces hospitals from 1975 to 1979 supported these findings, showing a 10 - fold higher incidence rate of uti among uncircumcised boys ( 1. 03 % ) than among circumcised boys ( 0. 10 % ). by comparison, the incidence rate among the female infants was 0. 52 %. in addition, the investigators reported a temporal association between a decrease in the circumcision rate and an increase in the uti rate among boys in the early 1980s. there was no concurrent change in the incidence among girls, and the ratio of the incidence of uti among boys to that among girls during early infancy shifted toward a predominance among boys. a later review of uti among 209 399 infants born between 1985 and 1990 in us army hospitals worldwide found that 1046 infants, of which 496 were boys, had been admitted to hospital for uti in the first year of life. there was a 10 - fold greater incidence of infection among the uncircumcised than among the circumcised boys. among the uncircumcised boys younger than 3 months of age, the incidence rate of concomitant bacteremia caused by the same organism that caused the uti was 23 %. the diagnosis of uti in all of these studies was made on the basis of culture of urine samples obtained by bladder tap or by catheter. these studies are retrospective, and therefore some caution must be exercised in their interpretation. a potential bias in these studies is that patients were admitted to hospital because of the infections ; since infections not requiring hospital treatment were excluded, the true incidence may have


cells. this ability has been shown to be associated with the presence on the bacteria of proteinaceous, filamentous organelles called fimbria, which appear to recognize and bind to specific receptors on the epithelial cells. kallenius and associates reported that 94 % of the cases of infantile pyelonephritis they reviewed were due specifically to p - fimbriated e. coli. on the basis of these observations, winberg and collaborators suggested two alternative preventive strategies : deliberate colonization with nonpathogenic bacterial flora during the newborn period or the promotion of rooming - in to facilitate close contact between newborns and their mothers. the first strategy is analogous to the active colonization of the umbilicus and nasal mucosa undertaken in the past to arrest epidemics of infection with staphylococcus aureus. these two strategies need to be evaluated further. one would expect both to have a low risk of complications. the second is in keeping with recent trends in maternal and infant care and could also have a low cost. if either strategy is successful, it may prove to be a more cost - effective way to prevent uti among male infants than circumcision. such an approach could also be applied to the prevention of uti in female infants, since adherence of bacteria to epithelial cells also plays a role in the development of uti in girls. there has been one report of a case - control study of breast - feeding and uti among infants. in the study, 47 % of 62 infants presenting with a uti had been breast - fed, whereas 82 % of 62 control infants seen at a well - baby clinic and 87 % of 62 control infants admitted to hospital because of fever had been breast - fed, and none of the control infants had a uti ( p < 0. 001 ). no information was given about alterations in the bacterial flora of the infants in the study. a meta - analysis has been made of six articles containing original patient data on circumcision and uti. in a sample of 221 799 patients the odds ratio ( or ) of uti among uncircumcised male infants compared with circumcised male infants was 13. 1 ( 95 % confidence interval [ ci ] 10. 9 to 15. 7 ). a second meta - analysis of nine studies of the circumcision status of boys with uti, which included the six articles covered by the first meta - analysis, reported an or of 12. 0 ( 95


9 to 15. 7 ). a second meta - analysis of nine studies of the circumcision status of boys with uti, which included the six articles covered by the first meta - analysis, reported an or of 12. 0 ( 95 % ci 10. 6 to 13. 6 ). however, the risk of uti among the uncircumcised boys during the first year of life was low enough that the first set of authors felt that routine neonatal circumcision was not justified. the authors of the second analysis emphasized the importance of discussing the association between uti and uncircumcised status while counselling parents about neonatal circumcision to obtain their informed consent. an epidemiological study of uti during the first year of life involving 169 children born in israel found that 48 % ( 27 / 56 ) of the male infants presented with uti within 12 days after ritual circumcision. the incidence of uti among male infants was significantly higher just after circumcision ( from 9 to 20 days of life ) than during the rest of the first month of life and significantly higher in the first month of life than during the rest of the year. after the immediate postcircumcision period, the incidence rate of uti dropped to a level comparable to that reported among circumcised male infants in the united states. among the 113 female infants, the episodes of infection were evenly distributed throughout the first year of life, except that the incidence was lower during the first month. this study suggests that the method and the timing of circumcision also may be important factors to consider. in a retrospective case - control study, 26 men with symptomatic uti confirmed by microbiological analysis were compared with 52 men who had urinary symptoms but negative results of cultures from urine specimens. the groups were similar with respect to age, race and sexual activity. of the men with a uti, 31 % ( 8 / 26 ) were uncircumcised, whereas 12 % ( 6 / 52 ) of the men without a uti were uncircumcised ( p = 0. 037, or 5. 6, 95 % ci 1. 6 to 19. 4 ). in the case - control study by herzog, in 8 of the 31 patients who underwent radiographic investigation, abnormalities were found. four of the patients had grade ii reflux, two had grade iv reflux, one had posterior ureth


). in the case - control study by herzog, in 8 of the 31 patients who underwent radiographic investigation, abnormalities were found. four of the patients had grade ii reflux, two had grade iv reflux, one had posterior urethral valves with hydronephrosis, and one had ureteropelvic junction obstruction with hydronephrosis. amir, varsano and mimouni found anomalies of the urinary tracts of three out of eight patients who had a uti after ritual circumcision. it has been suggested that not circumcising male infants is, therefore, advantageous because it allows early identification of infants who have structural abnormalities that require surgical intervention or close medical follow - up. whether the reflux found in the patients in the case - control study was acquired or was a result of a congenital lesion, as suggested by rockney and caldamone, is unknown. a higher risk of nongonococcal urethritis among circumcised men than among uncircumcised men has been described. a recent cross - sectional study of 300 consecutive heterosexual male patients attending a sexually transmitted diseases ( std ) clinic showed that circumcision had no significant effect on the incidence of common stds. however, a significantly greater incidence of stds — including genital herpes, candidiasis, gonorrhea and syphilis — among men who were not circumcised than among those who were circumcised has been previously reported. uncircumcised status and diseases causing genital ulceration have been reported to be risk factors in the transmission of hiv to heterosexual men. a recent review of the literature on the association between circumcision status and the risk of hiv infection included 30 epidemiological studies, of which 15 were published articles and 15 were abstracts presented at conferences. twenty - six of these studies were cross - sectional, two were prospective and two ecological in design. one of the latter estimated the seroprevalence of hiv in the general population of 37 african capital cities and correlated these data with the estimated national proportions of uncircumcised males. the other related data on hiv seroprevalence from 140 discrete geographic locations in africa to the usual male circumcision practices in those areas. both showed positive associations. eighteen of the cross - sectional studies reported a statistically significant association, determined through univariate or multivariate analysis


study involved 110 men with penile cancer who were available and consented to participate, from a total of 219 men diagnosed with this condition, and 355 controls who were successfully interviewed, from a total of 481 eligible men. the controls were matched with the case subjects in a 2 : 1 ratio by 5 - year age groups and the year of diagnosis. the authors found that the rr of penile cancer was 3. 2 for uncircumcised men compared with circumcised men ( 95 % ci 1. 8 to 5. 7 ). however, other factors were also found to be associated with an increased risk of penile cancer. the rr was 2. 8 ( 95 % ci 1. 4 to 5. 5 ) among men who currently smoked compared with men who had never smoked. in addition, the rrs associated with a history of genital warts, penile rash or penile tear were 5. 9 ( 95 % ci 2. 1 to 17. 6 ), 9. 4 ( 95 % ci 3. 8 to 23. 9 ) and 3. 9 ( 95 % ci 1. 9 to 7. 7 ), respectively. furthermore, the men with penile cancer reported more sexual partners than those without cancer, and the men with tumours associated with hpv also reported more sexual partners than those whose tumours had a negative result of a test for hpv. in a case - control study conducted in hunan province in china, where a high rate of death from penile cancer has been documented and early circumcision is not practised, the rr of penile cancer was 32. 9 ( 95 % ci 4. 3 to 253. 8 ) among subjects who had been circumcised compared with those who had not. an elevated risk persisted when the analysis was restricted to men who were circumcised more than 5 years before penile cancer was diagnosed ( rr 14. 9, 95 % ci 1. 8 to 121 ). among those who had never been circumcised, those who failed to retract their foreskin while bathing were at elevated risk ( rr 1. 49 ), although this risk was not statistically significant ( 95 % ci 0. 8 to 2. 8 ). smoking was not identified as a risk factor. more case than control subjects reported previous stds. reported premarital or extramarital affairs were associated with an elevated risk. although the number of subjects was small, making it difficult to ascer


. smoking was not identified as a risk factor. more case than control subjects reported previous stds. reported premarital or extramarital affairs were associated with an elevated risk. although the number of subjects was small, making it difficult to ascertain the significance of this finding, the investigators found a greater number of genital warts, many in the same area as the tumours, during physical examination of the case subjects. the researchers did not test the subjects for hpv. although circumcision was not routinely practised in hunan, among the men who had been circumcised the most common reason for circumcision was the presence of a redundant prepuce or phimosis ; both of these conditions were also identified as risk factors for penile cancer. these studies support the need for further evaluation of the causal role of hygiene and stds in penile cancer. hpv types 16 and 18 are the viruses most commonly associated with cancer of the cervix -. herpes simplex virus type 2 has also been shown to be a causal agent in cervical cancer. a higher - than - average risk of cervical cancer has been reported among the wives of men who had been previously married to women with cervical cancer. as well, epidemiological studies have shown that starting sexual activity at an early age and having multiple sexual partners predispose women to cervical cancer. overall, no specific cause - and - effect relation between exposure to uncircumcised sexual partners and cervical cancer has been established. circumcision may lead to complications, which range from minor to severe. they include easily controllable bleeding, amputation of the glans -, acute renal failure, life - threatening sepsis and, rarely, death. the evidence of postoperative complications is unknown. the rates of complications reported in several large case series are low, from 0. 2 % to 0. 6 %. however, published rates range as widely as 0. 06 % to 55 %. williams and kapila have suggested that a realistic rate is between 2 % and 10 %. wiswell and geschke, in a survey of 136 086 boys, reported a rate of complications of circumcision and other genitourinary problems of 0. 19 % among circumcised infants during the first month of life and a rate of genitourinary problems of 0. 24 % among uncircumcised boys. among the circumcised boys, hem


0. 19 % among circumcised infants during the first month of life and a rate of genitourinary problems of 0. 24 % among uncircumcised boys. among the circumcised boys, hemorrhage, local infection, surgical trauma, uti and bacteremia were identified. among those not circumcised, the problems were all related to utis. three of these children also had meningitis, two had renal failure, and two died. the incidence of urinary - tract abnormalities was not reported. the incidence of uti and bacteremia was lower among the circumcised boys, at a statistically significant level, although the overall rates of complications and other problems between the two groups were not significantly different. therefore, the incidence of complications of circumcision, according to some reports, approaches or exceeds the incidence of uti among uncircumcised male infants. although some of the complications are less severe than a uti, the incidence and cost of complications need to be included in any assessment of the cost - effectiveness of routine circumcision. the incidence of bleeding, erosion of the glans and stenosis of the ureteral meatus has been reported to be higher in male infants who have been circumcised than in those who have not been circumcised. meatitis and meatal ulcers occur almost exclusively in circumcised boys. however, a retrospective survey of boys 4 months to 12 years of age showed a significantly greater frequency of penile problems ( 14 % v. 6 %, p = 0. 001 ) and of medical visits for penile problems ( 10 % v. 5 %, p = 0. 05 ) among uncircumcised boys than among those circumcised. most of the problems were minor. another study of boys in their first 8 years of life reported that the relation between the risk of penile problems and circumcision status varied with the child ' s age. during infancy, the circumcised children had a statistically significantly higher risk of problems than the uncircumcised boys, but among the older children the uncircumcised boys had a significantly higher rate of penile problems, which included penile inflammation and phimosis. these studies did not assess the possible effect of the forcible retraction of the prepuce, before it had


. newborn infants exhibit physiological, autonomic and behavioural responses to noxious stimuli. these responses suggest that they experience pain, and there is evidence that preventing pain in newborns can be important. newborns who undergo circumcision without an anesthetic have greater increases in heart rate, cry longer and have greater decreases in transcutaneous oxygen tension than those who undergo the procedure after administration of a dorsal penile nerve block with lidocaine. behavioural differences have also been reported. infants circumcised without an anesthetic were reported to show decreases in responsiveness and in optimal motor performance in comparison with those who received a dorsal penile nerve block. these differences were still evident a day after the procedure. furthermore, a recent report has described significantly longer crying bouts and pain scores among circumcised boys than among uncircumcised boys during routine vaccination at 4 to 6 months of age. dorsal penile nerve block has been shown to reduce the behavioural and physiological changes during circumcision but may have serious consequences, including skin sloughs. topical anesthetic agents show promise - but do not take effect until 45 to 60 minutes after application. furthermore, these agents may produce methemoglobinemia. a prospective, randomized, double - blind, placebo - controlled trial involving 47 patients showed that acetaminophen did not alleviate the intraoperative or the immediate postoperative physiological and behavioural changes indicating pain. however, it may have provided some benefit after the immediate postcircumcision period. the use of sucrose for pain relief has also been tested. in a controlled trial, 30 normal term infants undergoing circumcision were randomly assigned to receive no intervention, a nipple dipped in water or a nipple dipped in a solution of 24 % sucrose. the bottles of sterile water and of sucrose solution were prepared and marked so as to ensure that neither the investigator nor the physician knew their contents. the use of a pacifier dipped in sterile water reduced the percentage of time spent crying after circumcision from 67 % to 49 % ( p < 0. 01 ), and the use of sucrose on the pacifier further reduced the percentage of time spent crying to a mean of 31 % ( p < 0. 05 ). the evidence of the need for pain control is strong, and there is evidence of the increasing use of agents to achieve this. however, the most effective and least risky type of an


to a mean of 31 % ( p < 0. 05 ). the evidence of the need for pain control is strong, and there is evidence of the increasing use of agents to achieve this. however, the most effective and least risky type of anesthesia or analgesia remains to be determined. further studies are required to determine the most appropriate agents and the timing of their use. chessare developed a model for decisions concerning circumcision of newborn male infants to prevent utis. in the model, the probability of having a uti in the first year of life was considered to be 4. 1 % for an uncircumcised boy and 0. 2 % for a circumcised boy, and the likelihood of renal scarring as a result of a uti was considered to be 7. 5 %. the probability of minor complications was set at 21. 8 %, which is a much higher incidence rate than the rate of 0. 19 % reported by wiswell and geschke or of 2 % to 10 % estimated by the authors of a recent review. chessare stated that the rate of minor complications has no effect on the preferred choice. major complications were not included because they are relatively rare. all possible outcomes were ranked from worst ( e. g., circumcision followed by renal disease ) to best ( e. g., no circumcision and no later uti ) on a scale of 0 to 1. for the set of values assigned to the possible outcomes, the highest expected benefit was obtained from the choice not to circumcise. the choice would remain not to circumcise even if none of the infants circumcised had complications as a result of the procedure and would change only if the probability of a uti in the first year of life was 29 % or greater. the possible reductions in the risk of penile carcinoma and of hiv infection were not considered in this model. thompson interpreted the published data by considering a hypothetical cohort of 2000 newborn male infants, half of whom were circumcised and half of whom were not. given an incidence of uti of 0. 1 % in the circumcised boys and of 1. 0 % in the uncircumcised ones during the first year of life, he calculated that there would be nine more utis for every 1000 newborns who were not circumcised. thus, 99. 9 % of the circumcised infants


all factors concerning neonatal circumcision were considered, and the restriction of the analysis to purely economic factors is a significant limitation. lawler, bisonni and holtgrave used a decision tree to illustrate the consequences of the choice to circumcise or not to circumcise male infants. with the use of the markov process, they simulated the natural history of uncircumcised patients in whom penile cancer develops later in life. they assumed there was no risk of penile cancer after circumcision. they included in the analysis the risks of death from the surgical procedure, of surgical complications, of uti, of death from uti and of penile problems. for the uncircumcised patients, the analysis included the risks of penile problems ( e. g., balanitis, phimosis and paraphimosis ), of death from the surgical procedure when performed at a later age, of surgical complications, of uti, of death from uti and of penile cancer. the incidence of these events was taken from the literature. however, this incidence information varies widely, and reliable data on the incidence of phimosis and the need for circumcision later in life are lacking as a result of differences in diagnostic criteria. given an 85 - year life expectancy, these investigators calculated that the expected lifetime cost of routine neonatal circumcision was $ 164. 61 per patient, and the quality - adjusted survival was 84. 999 years. for those not circumcised, the expected mean lifetime cost was $ 139. 26 per patient and the quality - adjusted survival was 84. 71 years. the investigators therefore concluded there was no medical indication for circumcision or contraindication against it. according to their sensitivity analyses, if the rate of surgical complications of neonatal circumcision fell below the threshold value of 0. 6 %, then circumcision would be preferred, both in terms of its cost and its favourable effect on lifespan. similarly, if the risk of penile problems among uncircumcised males rose to 17 % from the baseline value of 14 %, then circumcision would be preferred from a cost perspective. the authors recognized and emphasized the need for epidemiologically sound data on the surgical complications of circumcision and on the incidence and outcome of therapy for balanitis, phimosis and other penile problems, in order to better assess the risks and benefits


the need for epidemiologically sound data on the surgical complications of circumcision and on the incidence and outcome of therapy for balanitis, phimosis and other penile problems, in order to better assess the risks and benefits. ganiats and coworkers performed a cost - utility analysis of two hypothetical groups of 1000 neonates, one circumcised and the other uncircumcised. their analysis included the reported differences in incidence of utis and of penile cancer, the estimated costs of treating these diseases, the incidence and cost of later therapeutic circumcision and the costs of neonatal circumcision and its complications. the net discounted lifetime cost of routine circumcision was $ 102 per man, and the net discounted lifetime cost to health of no circumcision was 14 hours per man. the results suggested that the financial and medical advantages and disadvantages of routine neonatal circumcision cancel each other out, and that personal cultural or religious views, rather than cost or health outcomes, should be the basis for decision making. poland commented that relatively few medical procedures are routinely recommended for the care of infants and children, and that a good general principle is to withhold the routine application of procedures to large groups unless the benefits clearly far outweigh the risks and costs. our review of the literature leads us to conclude that, for routine neonatal circumcision, the benefits have not been shown to clearly outweigh the risks and costs. when information on the medical advantages and disadvantages of neonatal circumcision is presented to parents before they make a decision concerning neonatal circumcision, it results in little change in their decisions. there is evidence that parents ' decision making is based mainly on social, rather than medical, concerns. the strongest factor associated with the decision about whether to circumcise a male infant is whether his father was circumcised, and concerns about the attitude of peers and the boy ' s self - concept are also prominent influencing factors. these concerns also need to be discussed during physician counselling of parents. further information that addresses these concerns is required. we undertook this literature review to consider whether the cps should change its position on routine neonatal circumcision from that stated in 1982. the review led us to conclude the following. members : wayne andrews md ; douglas mcmillan md ( chair ) ; arne ohlsson md ; therese perreault md ; michael vincer


neonatal circumcision from that stated in 1982. the review led us to conclude the following. members : wayne andrews md ; douglas mcmillan md ( chair ) ; arne ohlsson md ; therese perreault md ; michael vincer md ; c robin walker md ; john watts md consultants : alexander allen md ( former chair ) ; eugene outerbridge md ; saroj saigal md liaisons : debbie fraser askin, neonatal nursing consultant ; robert liston md, maternal - fetal medicine committee, society of obstetricians and gynaecologists of canada ; gerald merenstein md, committee on fetus and newborn, american academy of pediatrics ; renato natale md, maternal - fetal medicine committee, society of obstetricians and gynaecologists of canada ( chairman ) ; william oh md, committee on fetus and newborn, american academy of pediatrics ; apostolos papageorgiou md, neonatal - perinatal medicine section, canadian paediatric society ; janet pinelli, neonatal nursing consultant principal author : eugene outerbridge md disclaimer : the recommendations in this position statement do not indicate an exclusive course of treatment or procedure to be followed. variations, taking into account individual circumstances, may be appropriate. internet addresses are current at time of publication.


consumers and companies today rely on the internet to perform all manner of tasks, from conducting business, to buying and selling personal items to managing their lives, friendships and family interactions. however, working and living online exposes everyone to successive waves of hacks, scams, and other digital exploits – threats unimagined only a few years ago. enterprise it and corporate management are spending increasing time, energy, and funds on securing digital and physical assets with technology of growing complexity. strong encryption, multifactor biometrics, intrusion detection, anti - malware software and other advanced security measures provide necessary protection against a range of threats, but a simple truth remains : verification before a transaction ( or a security breach ) occurs is always cheaper and more effective than attempting to remedy the consequences of failing to do so. internet security today is built on a fragile combination of robust transport authentication mechanisms like ssl and ssh, strong public and private key encryption, and password and captcha regimes. unfortunately, encryption and transport security do little to address vulnerabilities at the endpoints — servers and the personal devices used to access them. and, authentication solutions such as passwords, captcha and tokens have been shown to be vulnerable to attack. intelligent authentication via the phone mobile phones are today the most ubiquitous devices on earth. in 2011, the united nations estimates that more than five billion people worldwide own mobile phones and subscribe to voice and messaging plans and other services. complement that number with 1. 2 billion landlines and a growing number of internet ( voip ) phones for majority coverage of today ’ s global population of nearly 7 billion people. mobile phones and landlines present key advantages for verification and authentication regimes : phoneid provides detailed information about phone type and registration location information globally. scammers and fraudsters often rely on untraceable pre - paid phones or voip numbers that they can acquire in bulk to spam and scam online users. phoneid helps companies identify such anonymous, location - independent telephone numbers, and block or flag these users and their associated transactions. telephone verification entails using a supplied telephone number for one - time authentication of online user identity. it calls or sends a text to the user supplied phone number with a pin that gives users the opportunity to verify their identity in establishing an account or even for each login to the account. combined with phoneid, telephone verification forms a robust out - of - band authentication method. for example, name. com, an accredited domain registrar and web hosting company, has


identity in establishing an account or even for each login to the account. combined with phoneid, telephone verification forms a robust out - of - band authentication method. for example, name. com, an accredited domain registrar and web hosting company, has a multi - layered fraud defense strategy, using telephone verification together with other fraud prevention products to eliminate more than $ 1. 5 million in annual online fraud. domain registrars are frequently targeted by fraudsters, as compromised domain names are easy gateways for scamming customers of banks, cloud services companies, e - commerce and other websites. by stealing and redirecting domain names, fraudsters can intercept traffic and spoof websites to “ phish ” for credentials, compromise user accounts, and siphon off funds and personal data. in recent years, name. com experienced 10 to 12 percent annual fraud rates. by employing fraud prevention solutions to flag suspicious orders and create audit trails with intelligent authentication, name. com reduced the time and manpower needed to identify fraudulent orders and cut illegal domain purchases by 97 percent. phone verification / identification is fast becoming a core security solution for online companies. it ’ s used by organizations of all sizes including some of the world ’ s largest and most prominent web businesses. it ’ s also in use by in multiple industries such as social media, lead generation, classifieds, financial services, healthcare, ecommerce and cloud - based services. verification is not merely a piece of larger security routines. verification lets users, employers, and vendors build and leverage online reputation for applications that include : in short, verification is key to securing online activities where knowing who is attempting to access digital assets is as important as what that person is doing. benefits for solutions providers by offering telephone verification along with other complementary security products, solutions providers can reap many benefits. they include : - protecting the business from cloud application security risks - the massive saas opportunities for vars - a reseller ' s guide : recipe for channel partnership success - cloud connection : seven steps to effective public cloud services - from capex to opex : channel strategy in the federal push to the cloud - a reseller ' s guide : coming out on top in the face of channel conflict - how to create a case for disaster recovery plan - how to offset your customers ' byod risks - how to ease client anxiety about private cloud deployments - how an smb cloud provider can create ' swagger ' in a competitive market - a reseller ' s guide : creating a successful solution provider event - how to prepare


lecture 9 : understanding run - time environment representation and control in algol - like languages like pascal, algol w, and c / c + +, all of the environments that exist at any point during a computation can be collectively represented using a stack. this representation for environments is particularly advantageous because the environment stack can be implemented as an elaboration of the control stack included in the architecture of a modern computer to support procedure calls. algol - like languages are almost always compiled to machine code instead of interpreted like lc and jam. nevertheless, during program execution, the compiled machine code must perform all of the same operations on program data structures as interpreted code. the major difference between the two approaches is that a compiler typically has the opportunity to perform far more program analysis enabling it to precompute quantities that are computed by an interpreter during program execution. almost all modern machines provide a control stack to store the return addresses of procedure calls. in addition, other context information ( such as the contents of registers that must be restored by the called procedure ) is typically saved with the return address in a frame on the control stack. to return, the called procedure pops the current ( " top " ) frame off the stack, restores the saved context information ( typically the contents of registers that by convention must be preserved across procedure calls ) and jumps to the specified return address. the popping of the " top " stack frame off the stack restores the stack to the form it had before the call ( although some of the bindings for local variables stored in the stack may have changed ). some machines also pass argument values to procedures in the stack. the argument values are pushed on the stack along with the return address and the saved context information. another common convention is to pass arguments ( assuming the number is small ) in registers. the result returned by a procedure is typically returned in a register because the stack frame associated with the call is deallocated on return. ( another possible convention is to store the return value in a designated location in the calling stack frame. ) now let us relate the stack representation of environments to our understanding of the evaluation of programming languages with lexical scoping, i. e., the ( recursive ) let and lambda constructs. we have discussed lexical scope in the context of mostly functional languages based on the lambda - calculus, but exactly the same lexical constructs are present in algol - like languages. in algol - like language, a rec - let is called a block and a lambda ( which


the context of mostly functional languages based on the lambda - calculus, but exactly the same lexical constructs are present in algol - like languages. in algol - like language, a rec - let is called a block and a lambda ( which must occur as a rhs of a definition introduced in a block [ rec - let definition ] ) is called a procedure declaration. in a stack - based implementation of a lexically - scoped language, a new environment is constructed ( the extend - env process in our lc interpreter ) to evaluate the body of a let or a lambda application by allocating a new frame called an activation record on the control stack. the activation record contains : in this representation, an environment consists of a linked list of activation records ; the link field connecting this list static link in each record. the first record in the sequence gives the local bindings ( static distance 0 ), the second record gives the bindings at static distance 1, and so forth. the length of this list is simply the lexical nesting level of the body of the let form or lambda application being evaluated. for let invocations ( regardless of whether let is recursive ) ( let ( [ x1 e1 ]... [ xn en ] ) e ) and raw lambda applications ( ( lambda ( x1... xn ) e ) e1... en ), the static link and dynamic link in the new activation record both point to the same place, namely the preceding activation record on the stack ( the activation record for the enclosing let form or lambda application. for a function application ( f e1... en ) the static link in the new activation points to the activation record in the static chain corresponding the static distance between the application site and the definition of f. for a simple recursive function call ( e. g., the recursive call in the usual definition of factorial ), this static link is identical to the static link in the calling activation record ( the preceding activation record on the stack ). in algol - like languages, the only closures are functions that are passed as arguments to other functions. these closures are represented by a pair of pointers. one pointer points to a representation of the the function consisting of a record with the code for the function ( or a pointer it ) and a template describing the format of its activation record. the other pointer is the static link to be stored in the activation record for the closure when it