press freedom leads to happiness and environmental quality freedom of the press is viewed by many as a cornerstone of democracy. but can it actually help improve people ’ s lives and make them happy? researchers at the university of missouri have found that citizens of countries with press freedom tend to be much happier than citizens of countries without free presses. edson tandoc, jr., a doctoral student in the mu school of journalism, says that press freedom directly predicts life satisfaction across the world. “ we already know that having reliable, objective news sources can benefit democracy, but in this study, we found that press freedom also benefits communities by helping improve the overall quality of life of citizens and, in the process, by also making them happier, ” tandoc said. “ people enjoy having an element of choice about where they get their news. citizens of countries without a free press are forced to rely on the government for information, when what people really want is diversity in content where they are free to get the information they want from the source of their choosing. ” tandoc and his co - author, bruno takahashi from michigan state university, analyzed data from 161 countries using a 2010 gallup poll evaluating happiness levels around the world. tandoc and takahashi compared those happiness levels with freedom house ’ s press freedom index which rates the level of each country ’ s press freedom. they also examined human development statistics gathered by the united nations as well as the environmental performance index created by researchers at yale center for environmental law & policy. tandoc found that the more press freedom a country enjoyed, the higher the levels of life satisfaction, or happiness, of its citizens tended to be. “ the road to happiness isn ’ t direct ; it is a complex path or web that includes many different influences and interrelationships, ” tandoc said. “ things like improving the economy alone are insufficient for increasing happiness. protecting press freedom is also an important component of the happiness web. ” tandoc also found that countries with higher levels of press freedom enjoyed better environmental quality and higher levels of human development, both of which also contribute to life satisfaction. he credits this to the watchdog function of the press, which helps expose corruption of all levels in a community. “ a country with a free press is expected to be more open about what is wrong in their societies and with their environments, ” tandoc said. “ a free press is likely to report about poor human conditions and environmental degradation, bringing problems to the attention of decision - makers. it should


“ brain food : eating fish may lower your risk of alzheimer ’ s ” by alice park, time, it ’ s well documented that the omega - 3s in fish are linked to benefits for the heart, and new research adds to evidence that they benefit the brain as well. in a study of 260 healthy elderly individuals, researchers found that those who ate baked or broiled fish regularly lowered their risk of developing alzheimer ’ s disease. participants were tracked for an average of 10 years. researchers compared changes in brain scans with food questionnaires that the participants answered. those who ate fish at least once a week ( most consumed fish one to four times a week ) showed less brain - cell loss in regions of the brain responsible for regulating memory than non - fish - eaters. they showed stronger short - term memory, which allowed them to perform tasks more efficiently. a separate study also adds eggs, chicken, milk, and kidney beans — or foods containing choline — to the list of brain foods. researchers studied nearly 1, 400 adults between the ages of 36 and 83 and found that those with high intakes of choline performed better on memory tests and were less likely to show changes in the brain associated with dementia. although the difference in memory test scores between the highcholine intake group and the low - intake group were small, study authors say that the findings suggest that people with lower choline intakes are more likely to be on a “ pathway ” toward mental decline. “ choline may help protect the brain from effects of aging ” by nathan gray, www. nutraingredients - usa. com, 11 / 30 / 11 of dietary choline to cognitive performance... ” by c. poly et al., american journal of clinical nutrition, 11 / 11


why test for l - lactic acid? lactic acid is found in many food and beverages. in the wine industry, the course of malolactic fermentation is monitored by tracking the falling level of l - malic acid, and the increasing level of l - lactic acid. lactic acid is responsible for reducing the acidity of wines providing a smoother flavour. similarly, the quality of food produce such as baby food, meats, dairy products, fruit and vegetables and animal feed can be established by measurement of l - lactic acid content. this acid is also used and measured in the cosmetics and tobacco industry. | cost effective price per test | | dedicated standard supplied with each kit | | high quality testing with extended linearity of up to 0. 4g / l | - msds sheet - kit insert - calculation spreadsheet - instrument specific protocols on request for automated analysers - request » testing for l - lactic acid the l - lactic acid assay kit randox food diagnostics supply is designed for the quantitative in vitro determination of l - lactic acid in red and white wine, beer, and fruit juices. excellent sensitivity and inter and intra - assay precision of > 5 % ensures high quality dependable results. this assay is suitable for manual use or for automation on a range of analysers. the test principle is based on the following enzymatic reaction. the amount of nadh formed in the above reaction is stoichiometric with the amount of l - lactic acid present in the sample. it is the nadh which is measured by the increase in absorbance at 340 nm. this method is specific for l - lactic acid determination. this product is currently supplied to the wine / beverage and food producers globally.


a selection of articles related to friendship etymology. original articles from our library related to the friendship etymology. see table of contents for further available material ( downloadable resources ) on friendship etymology. - the beauty of friendship - acquaintance, friend, lover, partner, soulmate. the pattern of human contact that is so vitally important to our being. emotionally, we not only need to feel connected.. we desire it. but what is a connection? how does it happen? we know certain like signs... spirits > > the soul - group mind effectiveness - “ friendship ” is really just the psychic alignment of two people, on the basis of good intent. we know the exact moment a friendship is solidified. there is a distinct impression within the body at a given moment in the interaction, when we perceive a... mind > > telepathy and group mind - starting with jesus and the christian path... - during the years of the historical jesus ' life, there are eight or nine years that his whereabouts are not accounted for. meaning these are the ' lost ' years. it was after returning that he truly began to teach his wisdom. many scholars believe he was in india... religion & philosophy > > religions - the elements of color magick - " color is the place where our mind and the universe meet each other. " paul cezanne in magick colors represent a certain energy, goal, person ( someone you ' re working for ) or a non - physical being ( deity, spiritual force ). the magickal color meanings... symbology > > colorology - a quick guide to reading ordinary playing cards - divining from regular playing cards is an old practice and i am sure many of us know at least one fortune - telling game done with this tool. reading regular cards is called cartomancy or metasymbology. playing cards have been called " the devil ' s picture... divination > > tarot cards - the rose - love, healing, symbolism and alchemy - when someone gives you red roses you know what it means : love. some say it means love and respect, but most of the times it means love and desire. the rose, this wondrous lady of flowers, is attributed to femininity. the red rose belongs with aphrodite, the... earth mysteries > > essential oils friendship etymology is described in multiple online sources, as addition to our editors ' articles, see section below for printable documents, friendship


femininity. the red rose belongs with aphrodite, the... earth mysteries > > essential oils friendship etymology is described in multiple online sources, as addition to our editors ' articles, see section below for printable documents, friendship etymology books and related discussion. suggested pdf resources - what is gonzo? the etymology of an urban legend - journalism also offer different and contradictory etymologies. this paper assesses gonzo '. - vulnerable accumulation : etymology : vulnerable : from l - emotional ties and connection, friendship and affiliations c. intellectual. esposito, roberto communitas : the origin and destiny of community, trans. - a dictionary of ghanaian english - european origin ; possibly some of these are due to their interpretations of... french speaking countries next to ghana friend n. girl - friend / boy - friend froy n. suggested web resources - 1 - online etymology dictionary - plant genus of the borage family, 1753, modern latin, of unknown origin. - online etymology dictionary - the online etymology dictionary. - etymology of word " friend " in many languages - wordreference forums - jan 14, 2008 hello team! i ' m working on a project for my university ' s president, studying the etymologies of the word " friend " in different languages. - communication, friendship and etymology : the irreverent buddhist - aug 24, 2005 communicate ” comes to english from latin, the word is the past - paticiple of communicare, from the root “ commune ” meaning “ to talk. great care has been taken to prepare the information on this page. elements of the content come from factual and lexical knowledge databases, realmagick. com library and third - party sources. we appreciate your suggestions and comments on further improvements of the site. friendship etymology topics related searchescanadian 100 dollar bill peyton manning records the kinks history


cyprus vetoed the controversial bailout offered by the eurozone ' s finance ministers on tuesday. why were the terms of the bailout controversial? what does it mean for the rest of the eurozone? globalpost talked to michael w. klein, the william l. clayton professor of international economic affairs at tufts university ' s fletcher school. why did the cyprus bailout package cause such uproar? with insured deposits, there is a guarantee that there will be no confiscation of depositors ' money. even just the fear of a bank run can lead to a bank run. in the 1930s, none of the deposits were guaranteed by the government and that led to bank runs, which in turn deepened the great depression. government guarantees on insured deposits took away most of those fears. [ the cyprus bailout ] is a little bit of crossing the rubicon to start charging depositors a tax on what they perceived to be insured deposits. the real concern is not so much what ' s going on in cyprus, but if this becomes a method by which bailouts are funded. then, there is concern that this could lead to bank runs all over europe, as other countries ' banks are imperiled. if the same kind of thing happens there, it could be really problematic. what are the potential risks of a bailout that includes taxes on depositors ' accounts? is it a bad precedent to set? i think it is a bad precedent. it doesn ' t distinguish between bad banks and good the bank run is an infrastructure thing because then banks start to shut down and it starves the economy of credit. historically, we ' ve seen that in situations where banks fail, the depressions that ensued were deeper, more severe and more protracted than recessions that arose for other reasons. even though concessions were made to let small depositors off the hook for the tax, the bailout was vetoed by the cyprus government. what does this mean for cyprus and for the rest of the eurozone? there ' s a problem with letting small depositors off the hook logistically, because what could happen is people could split up their deposits and all of a sudden big depositors could look like small depositors. presumably they have information beforehand, so people couldn ' t do that. if you had a deposit in excess of a 100, 000 euros before, you can ' t hide it. for cyprus [ a veto ] means they have to go back to the negotiating table. either they get cut off from the bailout


that. if you had a deposit in excess of a 100, 000 euros before, you can ' t hide it. for cyprus [ a veto ] means they have to go back to the negotiating table. either they get cut off from the bailout funds or there ' s a realization on all parts that this was a problematic solution and they go back to the table. the problem is though — people have been talking about this for a while now — if one country exits the euro area, it could cause a cascade. people have not been focusing on cyprus so far. people have been focusing on greece, of course. if greece were to exit, the concern is, ' who ' s next? ' if cyprus exits... if they don ' t get the bailout and they drop out of the euro, then the question arises again of who ' s next. that question has always been one of the big issues in europe. as market psychology moves against countries, the most immediate problem is that sovereigns have to pay, and everybody else has to pay, much higher interest costs. these interest costs had been coming down and it seemed like things were settling down as compared to a year or two ago, but now the question arises about whether this will cause interest rates to spike up again. the dutch finance minister and deutsche bank ' s chief executive have said this is unlikely to be a model for other countries. why was cyprus a special case? how would this affect other vulnerable countries like spain and italy? cyprus is seen as a financial center where the banks are outsized given the size of the economy. there ' s also an issue with a lot of foreigners parking their money in cyprus. but, nonetheless, people might not necessarily perceive it as a special case. on monday morning when banks opened in spain and italy, there were no bank runs. some people cite that as evidence that cyprus is a special case. on the other hand, it could be the case that the tinder has gotten a lot drier and a spark can do a lot more damage. the fact that it hasn ' t happened yet doesn ' t mean it ' s not going to happen. what ' s the next step in dealing with the euro crisis? greece is still a real problem. greece doesn ' t show signs of recovery. there has been some shift in other countries, but they ' re operating in an environment of very weak growth for europe as a whole. in the last week or so, germany has talked about not providing for the stimulus to its economy,


of recovery. there has been some shift in other countries, but they ' re operating in an environment of very weak growth for europe as a whole. in the last week or so, germany has talked about not providing for the stimulus to its economy, which means that germany ' s not going to be an instrument of growth for europe. the three problems in europe are the sovereign debt crisis, the banking crisis and slow growth. they ' re all interconnected with each other. you can ' t solve one without solving another. the banking crisis, part of it has to do with non - performing loans, so slow growth affects the banking crisis. the banking crisis means that credit is less available, and that contributes to slow growth. slow growth makes tax receipts lower for the sovereigns, so their debt crisis is worse because the cyclical part of their deficit is large. and then banks hold sovereign debt, and when that looks more imperiled, the banks are more imperiled. all these three things are very interconnected. you can ' t really solve one without solving the other two. so far they seem to have pushed austerity measures as a way of dealing with the eurozone crisis. do you think that ' s the wrong approach? in a lot of countries, ultimately there has to be a scaling back of government spending and a way to raise taxes. however, in the midst of a deep, deep downturn, austerity just makes the situation worse. it ' s sort of an extreme example of what ' s happening in the united states. in the united states, we seem to be coming out of a recession, and the government ' s deficit has been bigger because of the recession. if we started cutting the deficit right now, we would provide very strong headwinds to the recovery. in europe, it ' s like that but much more severe. they ' re in a much worse situation. these countries are just stuck in a deep cycle of austerity and slow growth, which means further deficit problems, which raises more demands for austerity, and so on. it seemed like things were getting a bit better but this is raising concerns so the eurozone crisis may be back in the headlines. there may be second round effects around what ' s going on in cyprus, especially that they ' re willing to cross the rubicon now. once you start not distinguishing between banks that are better off and banks that are worse off, once you say insured deposits are not really insured and are open for taxation


skin pigmentation studies that shed light on the evolution of race a special series of papers in the peer - reviewed journal zebrafish provides a comprehensive look at future directions of research on pigment biology. model organisms such as zebrafish advance the scientific understanding of the genetic basis of human skin color and race. the papers, which include historical findings and perspectives, are published by mary ann liebert, inc., and are available online at www. liebertpub. com / zeb " with the election of the first african - american president of the united states, our society has taken a landmark step towards deracializing human conduct, " says stephen c. ekker, phd, rochester, mn, editor - in - chief of zebrafish. " as scientists, we contribute to this work by sharing genetic insights to demystify skin color and race. " guest editors keith c. cheng, md, phd, department of pathology, penn state college of medicine, and david m. parichy, phd, department of biology, university of washington, have compiled an intriguing collection of original scientific papers and historical perspectives on the study of pigmentation in zebrafish, a vertebrate that shares genetic mechanisms of skin color with humans. the special focus on pigmentation biology includes a roundtable discussion entitled, " research implications of pigment biology in zebrafish, " by cheng, parichy, and ekker. keith cheng explains that zebrafish " have outstanding potential as an educational tool ” ” to ‘ demystify ’ race, to increase public understanding of the role of model systems and evolution in science, and to enhance appreciation of both genetic and environmental factors that impact human health and society. " fish research has already played an important part in the discovery of genetic changes that make the largest known contribution to the lighter skin color of europeans. variation ” ” or genetic polymorphisms ” ” in these dna sequences are key determinants of pigmentation among different human populations. the special issue of zebrafish also includes an essay by steven a. farber that provides historical perspective on the first application of genetics to manage human society – a scientific area that lead to the eugenics movement. a series of papers on pigmentation biology features a report on the study of skin cancer in fish by leonard zon and colleagues, and a paper by keith hultzman, alexander scott, and stephen johnson that explores the science behind regeneration and stem cell biology using pigment patterning as a major readout of organogenesis. additional papers focus on natural variation of male ornamental


creating sustainable solutions in central america risd students have been traveling to earth u ' s la flor campus in costa rica to explore sustainable solutions to global problems. for many children who grow up in developing countries in central america, their classrooms are little more than cement buildings. indoor plumbing doesn ' t exist, clean drinking water is scarce during the dry season and on sunny days, schoolhouses can turn into sweltering sweatboxes due to poor ventilation. given these conditions, it ' s common for students to become distracted – even dizzy – while attempting to concentrate. to help tackle this ongoing problem, risd students enrolled in the interdisciplinary innovation studio : a high - tech, low - tech school, a studio that ' s offered by the industrial design and landscape architecture departments, have developed a prototype off - the - grid schoolhouse for rural costa rica in collaboration with earth university – the world ' s foremost research institute for sustainable agriculture. since 2008 risd students have been traveling to earth u ' s la flor campus in costa rica ' s guanacaste province to explore sustainable solutions to complex global problems such as poverty, food production and waste management. “ as the world becomes more connected, problems that affect human life become more complicated, ” notes associate professor charlie cannon, who taught the fall 2012 studio and has been involved in risd ' s ongoing collaborations with earth university. “ it was incredibly valuable for students to learn how to develop comprehensive solutions to critical issues. i believe these challenges will truly define the 21st century. ” as part of their preliminary research, students were introduced to the local environment through a brief trip to earth university ' s tropical campus, which is situated in the midst of a banana plantation. during their visit in october, they started work on theoretical projects for potential incorporation into the prototype design. students explored eco - progressive concepts for rooftop gardens, tree latrines and clever plumbing configurations, among other ideas hatched in the design studio. mickey rockafellar mla 13 quickly focused on the issue of water. “ there isn ' t a problem with water availability during the rainy season, ” he explains. “ but it becomes scarce during the dry months. ” so, after returning to risd, the landscape architect designed an ingenious water collection system that makes use of discarded water bottles, which are both cheap and easy to find in costa rica. the design also includes a sand filtration system that rids water of bacteria. he envisions that the structure can be attached to a schoolhouse – or any other type of


bottles, which are both cheap and easy to find in costa rica. the design also includes a sand filtration system that rids water of bacteria. he envisions that the structure can be attached to a schoolhouse – or any other type of building – in order to provide clean drinking water. “ it ' s efficient and cost effective, ” rockafellar notes. “ plus, community members can easily build this themselves. ” this month, during wintersession, professor colgate searle bla 71 is leading a small team of adventuresome students who are building a prototype of the schoolhouse in costa rica – using a blueprint developed from selected student designs proposed during the fall studio which was funded by the fund for sustainable education. it will be unveiled at an international climate change conference earth university is hosting in april. the project is a noble one. according to searle, the participating students are part of a larger philanthropic effort lead by earth university that attempts to radically improve academic facilities throughout costa rica. the hope, says searle, is that the prototype will inspire local populations to build their own low - cost schoolhouses to support active learning. “ students actually have the potential to change a community ' s standard of living, ” notes searle, adding : “ now that ' s a real reason to design. ” among the key features of the prototype is a roof designed to collect rainwater that will be processed by an on - site filtration system. the rainwater collected will be used for hand washing and to flush indoor toilets. and to make sure students aren ' t sweating at their desks during the warm months, the building will offer an open ventilation system. sturdy materials that are indigenous to the area – including teak and bamboo – are being used for the building ' s frame and roof. “ we want to make sure that the community is able to replicate this building using the resources available to them, ” searle explains. abigail foster 13 id, one of the students helping to build the prototype in costa rica, was asked to photograph the process. the materials will then be added to a book she ' s creating with rawan alsaffar march 13 that chronicles the students ' final projects and offers instruction in sustainable design. the publication will eventually be turned into an online document available to everyone. “ the book is a means of communication, ” foster explains. “ we want the knowledge we cultivated in the innovation studio can be shared with people in many different locations. it ' s about making connections and then building from there


friday, september 14, 2012 you can start by turning off most tv shows. as a follow - up to our 25 ways to boost your intelligence, we ' ve compiled a list of things that decrease intelligence or iq or cause neurological decline. watching reality tv an austrian study showed participants a reality - like show and asked them to take a knowledge test immediately afterward. those participants fared worse than those who had not seen the reality show beforehand. a ucla study showed that steady sugar consumption for as little as six weeks " slows the brain, hampering memory and learning. " americans consume 35 pounds of high - fructose corn syrup each year, ucla reported via the u. s. department of agriculture. research conducted at stanford university in 2009 shows that multitaskers " who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information do not pay attention, control their memory or switch from one job to another as well as those who prefer to complete one task at a time. " borderlys via flickr a series of three experiments conducted by cardiff university in wales determined that chewing gum " impairs short - term memory for both item order and item identity. " by jono haysom on flickr watching fox news a 2011 study by fairleigh dickinson university found that people who watch fox news are less likely to be knowledgeable about the political landscape than those who watch msnbc, jon stewart ' s the daily show or npr. " fox news viewers are significantly more misinformed than consumers of news from other sources, " a 2010 university of maryland study showed. a 2010 kent state university study tested more than 100 obese individuals before and after they had bariatric surgery. men ' s health reports that " before the surgery, most subjects showed below - average memory skills. but 12 weeks after surgery... their memory test scores had improved to within the average range for all adults. " researchers at cal berkeley changed the sleep schedule for hamsters every three days for a month and the hamsters produced 50 percent fewer neurons than they did on a normal sleep schedule. a recent study performed by environmental health perspective, a journal published by the national institute of environmental health sciences, concluded that " children in high - fluoride areas had significantly lower iq scores than those who lived in low - fluoride areas. " fluoride is found in most drinking water in the united states. flickr – irargerich in businesses around the world, it ' s fairly common to toss ideas around at meeting to help stimulate creative and productive activity


fluoride areas. " fluoride is found in most drinking water in the united states. flickr – irargerich in businesses around the world, it ' s fairly common to toss ideas around at meeting to help stimulate creative and productive activity. but a virginia tech study revealed that " group settings can diminish expressions of intelligence, especially among women. " social feedback in settings ranging from jury deliberations to cocktail parties " had a significant effect " on the subjects ' problem - solving abilities. being spanked as a child a wide - ranging study by the university of manitoba found that more than five percent of all mental disorder is caused by being spanked or other forms of childhood physical abuse. " this type of punishment was associated with poor mental outcomes and several mental disorders almost uniformly across the board, " said tracy afifi, the founder of the study, according to webmd. if you believe the u. s. army, powerpoint presentations are making us stupid. commanders in the army told the new york times in 2010 that the microsoft program " stifles discussion, critical thinking and thoughtful decision - making. " paul king via flickr ” > rosa menkman via flickr a 2011 study by the journal pediatrics showed that children who watched fast - paced cartoons like spongebob performed poorer at a mental test than those who watched an educational show or those who drew. " children who watched 9 minutes of a fast - paced cartoon, " spongebob, in the study ' s case, " had impairment in their executive function compared with children who were assigned a drawing task and those who watched educational television. " in addition to the numerous other harmful effects secondhand smoke causes, children who are exposed to enough of it could end up with lower iqs and lower achievement in school and on test scores, according to central michigan university. the yale stress center concluded this year that stressful situations " can reduce the number of connections between neurons in the brain and impair the ability of managing tense events in the future, " as reported by the morning call. cumulative stress, yale found, can cause a decrease of gray matter in the brain ' s prefrontal cortex and " can impair the brain ' s ability to store information and respond to the environment. " flickr / joephilipson ambien and xanax if you ' re an older individual, taking ambien ( a sleeping pill ) and xanax ( used to ease stress and anxiety ) could become extremely harmful, according to doctors at


/ joephilipson ambien and xanax if you ' re an older individual, taking ambien ( a sleeping pill ) and xanax ( used to ease stress and anxiety ) could become extremely harmful, according to doctors at aarp. these drugs could cause " memory loss ( even amnesia ), dementia and suicidal thoughts " among users and " both xanax and ambien slow down the central nervous system. " dean812 via flickr lack of iodine you don ' t need much iodine in your system, but it ' s crucial to have before you ' re born. in the prenatal stage, an iodine deficiency " can lead to serious physical and mental disorders, " according to steady health. in fully developed adults, an iodine deficiency can lead to a 13 point decrease in iq. smoking weed consistently from adolescence causes " neuropsychological decline broadly across domains of functioning, even after controlling for years of education, " according to research from duke university. even stopping the habit for a long period of time " did not fully restore neuropsychological functioning among adolescent - onset cannabis users. findings are suggestive of a neurotoxic effect of cannabis on the adolescent brain. " flickr / wiros to help us go ahead with the same spirit, a small contribution from your side will highly be appreciated.


frequently asked questions select a question to view the answer. - how do the different environmental labels and schemes compare? some labels are specific to a single issue, such as forest certification labels ( e. g. the fsc label refers to the origin of fibre and does not consider manufacture ). other labels, such as nordic swan, are used on product and indicate that defined production standards have been met, whereas environmental management systems ( iso14001 and emas ) relate to the manufacturer rather than the product. other schemes, such as paper profile, are designed to provide information only. see the glossary for further information on individual labels and schemes. at a glance refers to the sourcing of fibre from well - managed forests : - fsc 100 % - fsc mixed sources refers to there being a high proportion of recycled fibre : - napm recycled mark - blue angel - fsc recycled refers to environmentally responsible manufacture : - nordic swan - blue angel - eu eco - label provides an overview of environmental information : - paper profile - robert horne ’ s green bible sheets - what is the forest & trade network? the wwf - uk forest and trade network ( ftn ) is the uk arm of the worldwide fund for nature ’ s global forest and trade network. it strives to improve forest management, link certified forest products with markets, provide support to local and indigenous forest communities and create demand for certified forest products. in short, it aims to ensure that forest products, including paper, come from responsibly managed sources. as a member of the ftn, robert horne is committed to a responsible paper purchasing policy, to increasing how much is know about the origin of fibre in paper products and to ensuring that it comes from well - managed sources. - what are weee and rohs? weee and rohs are associated pieces of legislation relating to electrical and electronic equipment and the components ( including casing and labels ) that they are made from. weee stands for waste electrical and electronic equipment and requires producers of electrical and electronic equipment to finance the collection and recycling of such items. producers are also required to provide information about how to recycle their products. rohs ( restriction of hazardous substances ) require producers to restrict the use of lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, cadmium, polybrominated biphenyls ( pbbs ) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers ( pbdes ) in electrical and electronic items. robert horne can provide a selection of rohs compliant substrates. - what are


cadmium, polybrominated biphenyls ( pbbs ) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers ( pbdes ) in electrical and electronic items. robert horne can provide a selection of rohs compliant substrates. - what are the benefits of using recycled paper? with the growing commitment to responsible forest management, preventing trees being cut down is becoming less of a key incentive for buying recycled paper. however, it is still true that continuing demand for recycled fibre products will relieve pressure on the world ’ s forest resources. today the main reason for buying recycled is to generate demand for waste paper that would otherwise go to landfill sites where it would break down and release methane and carbon dioxide, both greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. generally, the production of recycled pulp has less environmental impact than producing virgin fibre pulp. making recycled pulp produces less air pollution and most types of emissions to water are less. recycled pulp production usually requires less water and less energy ( although virgin pulp production can be energy self sufficient by incinerating wood by - products such as bark ). contrary to some beliefs, the ink is not bleached out of the fibre but is removed by soaps. so, it ’ s not true that the amount of bleach required is more for recycled pulp. the actual papermaking process will be the same whether the pulp contains virgin or recycled fibre. - what is carbon offsetting? businesses can reduce their carbon emissions ( and so help to reduce climate change ) through energy efficiency and switching to renewable energy sources. the remaining emissions of co2 or equivalent can be calculated and the business can pay to ‘ offset ’ these emissions by planting trees ( which will absorb an equivalent amount of carbon ) or by investing in energy - efficient technologies, often in developing countries ( which will reduce the carbon emissions of others by the appropriate amount ). carbon offsetting is not in itself a solution to climate change and it is sometimes criticised for masking the underlying problem of excessive energy consumption. therefore to be credible, carbon offsetting should be part of a comprehensive energy policy that has a focus on energy efficiency. a growing number of companies are becoming carbon neutral ( at least in part ), including hsbc, sky, barclays bank, bt, avis, honda and o2. - which plastic has the best environmental credentials? all plastics have environmental impacts in terms of raw material use, energy use, emissions and waste from manufacture and potential difficulties in disposal of the end of life product. positive aspects are the longevity of plastic products, versa


which plastic has the best environmental credentials? all plastics have environmental impacts in terms of raw material use, energy use, emissions and waste from manufacture and potential difficulties in disposal of the end of life product. positive aspects are the longevity of plastic products, versatility and cost effectiveness, the social or health benefits ( e. g. blood bags and cling film ), lighter packaging and the possibility of recycling. there are few objective sources of information about the environmental attributes of plastics. some environmental groups have raised particular concerns about pvc, although these are disputed by the industry. degradable plastics are not yet commercially viable for most uses and there are concerns that growing crops for use in plastics may not be an appropriate use of land. for some applications ( such as point of sale displays ), paper - based products are becoming popular alternatives, as they are predominantly made from renewable resources and relatively easy to recycle. when making a choice of material it can be useful to take a holistic view and consider issues such as the environmental impact of the substrate and how easily it can be recycled, efficient design and production of the job, the technical requirements of the application and the commercial considerations. - what is pefc? pefc stands for the programme for the endorsement of forest certification schemes and is an international, non - profit organisation that is primarily made up of representatives of the forest products industry. unlike the fsc, it does not set specific standards but is an umbrella brand that incorporates different national forest certification schemes ( e. g. the national scheme in finland is endorsed by the pefc ). this is intended to make the forest certification easier and more applicable to different types of forests. while it continues to make improvements, the pefc scheme is still sometimes criticised by environmental groups for being too variable from country to country and not always addressing conservation and social issues satisfactorily. pefc certified products have therefore been less in demand from end - users than fsc certified grades. however, robert horne supports the principle of forest certification, and as some suppliers want to bring pefc labelled products to market, we have achieved pefc chain of custody. - can i use the fsc logo? to use the fsc logo ( or make any reference to fsc ) on a printed job, an fsc certified paper must be used and the supply chain – e. g. paper mill, merchant and printer – must all have fsc chain of custody certification. there are three distinct types of labels featuring the fsc logo ( fsc 100 %,


print version issn 0042 - 9686 bull world health organ vol. 87 n. 10 genebra oct. 2009 tami toroyan * ; margie peden department of violence and injury prevention and disability, world health organization, 20 avenue appia, 1211 geneva 27, switzerland road traffic injuries are a leading public health problem, resulting in over 1. 2 million deaths each year. 1 they affect all age groups but their impact is most striking among the young : they are the leading cause of death globally for those between the ages of 15 and 29. while road traffic death rates in many high - income countries have stabilized or declined in recent decades, data suggest that in most regions of the world they are increasing as a result of rapidly increasing motorization combined with insufficient prevention activities. it has been estimated that, unless immediate action is taken, road deaths will rise to become the fifth leading cause of death by 2030, resulting in an estimated 2. 4 million fatalities per year. 1, 2 the attention given by policymakers and funders to this epidemic on the world ' s roads has been far from commensurate with the disease burden caused by road traffic injuries. efforts to strengthen advocacy efforts and position road safety higher up political and development agendas and to secure long - term funding for sustained investment in road safety are assisted by the ability to make reliable statements about the magnitude of the problem, improved monitoring of global and regional trends, and identification of the gaps in action that are needed at the national, regional and international levels. this in turn requires a global assessment of road safety measures using a standard method that allows monitoring of trends of several road safety indicators over time, and that enables countries to compare their road safety situation with other countries. such assessments are common in other health related topics : alcohol, tobacco control, and tuberculosis all have tools and indicators that allow them to assess the global status of their particular topic on a regular basis and to use this data for advocacy purposes. this year for the first time such a survey was conducted in 178 countries : the results presented in the global status report on road safety provide the first global overview of road safety, and offer governments, donors, practitioners and researchers the information they need to make evidence - based decisions around road safety. 3 the report presents several key findings that have important policy implications. it confirms previous research that road traffic fatality rates are much higher in low - and middle - income countries ( 21. 5 and 19. 5 per 100 000 respectively ) than in high - income countries ( 10. 3


that have important policy implications. it confirms previous research that road traffic fatality rates are much higher in low - and middle - income countries ( 21. 5 and 19. 5 per 100 000 respectively ) than in high - income countries ( 10. 3. per 100 000 ). it highlights that while developing countries represent over 90 % of road traffic deaths, they account for less than half of the world ' s registered vehicles. this links to another finding that shows that almost half of those killed in road traffic crashes are pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists : this proportion of deaths of vulnerable road users is higher in the poorer economies of the world, many of which are still lacking road safety prevention measures and emergency medical services that can cope with the consequences of increasing crashes. halting or reversing the trend in global road traffic fatalities therefore necessitates a broad perspective involving the protection of all road users, in particular, consideration of the needs of vulnerable road users in land use and transport planning decisions. for example, infrastructure developments can separate motorized and non - motorized road users who share road space ; investment in public transport can reduce the risk among vulnerable road users ; and strategies can be used to encourage safe walking and cycling, already major modes of transport in some low - and middle - income countries. reducing dependency on individual forms of motorized transport can also have many associated health and environmental benefits due to reduced air pollution and the health consequences that result from increased levels of physical activity. the report provides some striking trends of national fatalities in several middle - income countries that have undergone rapid urbanization and motorization. these suggest that many low - and middle - income countries that are yet to undergo this transition could see their road traffic death rates rise further unless immediate and decisive action is taken to put into place and sustain several road safety measures. the report provides some important new data on interventions in place at a country level : it shows that a mere 15 % of countries have laws that conform with good practice based on sound evidence of their effectiveness, in spite of evidence on the effectiveness of applying and enforcing legislation relating to key risk factors excessive speed, drink - driving, and the use of seat - belts, child restraints and motorcycle helmets. enforcement of legislation is critical to the success of such measures and the data presented in the report suggest levels of enforcement are inadequate in many countries. finally, the report suggests that there are huge gaps in the quality and coverage of data that many countries collect and report on road traffic injuries, with underreporting of deaths a widespread problem, along


suggest levels of enforcement are inadequate in many countries. finally, the report suggests that there are huge gaps in the quality and coverage of data that many countries collect and report on road traffic injuries, with underreporting of deaths a widespread problem, along with lack of data for monitoring and evaluating interventions. the global status report on road safety provides the first global baseline of road safety against which future efforts can be measured. the results of the report can be used to inform policy decisions in road safety and to leverage political support and resources for safer road transportation for all road users. 1. the global burden of disease 2004 update. geneva : world health organization ; 2008. available from : http : / / www. who. int / healthinfo / global _ burden _ disease / gbd _ report _ 2004update _ annexa. pdf [ accessed on 8 september 2009 ] [ links ]. 2. world health statistics 2008. geneva : world health organization ; 2008. available from : http : / / www. who. int / whosis / whostat / en _ whs08 _ full. pdf [ accessed on 8 september 2009 ] [ links ]. 3. global status report on road safety : time for action. geneva : world health organization ; 2009. available from : http : / / www. who. int / violence _ injury _ prevention / road _ safety _ status / [ accessed on 8 september 2009 ] [ links ].


conception / leipzig. even the snow on aconcagua mountain in the andes is polluted with pcbs. an international team of researchers detected low concentrations of these toxic, carcinogenic chlorine compounds in samples taken from america ' s highest mountain. the snow samples taken at an altitude of 6200 metres are among the highest traces found anywhere in the world of these substances, which have been banned since 2001. in particular, the samples contained more persistent compounds like hexachlorobiphenyl ( pcb 138 ) and heptachlorobiphenyl ( pcb 180 ). mountain ranges could be a natural trap for persistent organic pollutants that are transported by the atmosphere all over the world, say the scientists from iiqab in barcelona ( now idaea ), the ufz in leipzig and the university of concepcion in chile, writing in the journal environmental chemistry letters. according to the researchers, these findings highlight the need to investigate further the role of mountains in the spread of these pollutants and the associated risks. just a few weeks ago, swiss researchers found similar persistent environmental pollutants in glacial lakes in the alps and pointed to potential risks to drinking water supplies. polychlorinated biphenyls ( pcbs ) are among the ' dirty dozen ' persistent organic pollutants banned worldwide under the stockholm convention. until the 1980s, pcbs were used primarily in transformers and capacitors and as hydraulic fluids and diluents. as well as causing chronic effects like acne, hair loss and liver damage, pcbs are also a suspected cause of male infertility. the toxin also represents a danger to a large number of animals because it accumulates in fatty tissue and is passed on via the food chain. the study of environmental pollution in remote mountain regions is difficult because they are not easily accessible. " this is compounded by the fact that the concentrations are often so small that researchers have to bring back large quantities of snow just to reach the detection limit. while conventional extraction methods need at least a litre of snow, the solvent - free method we used works with 40 ml, " explains peter popp of the helmholtz centre for environmental research ( ufz ), who analysed the samples in the laboratory in leipzig. roberto quiroz of iiqab, the spanish research institute for environmental chemistry ( now researcher at the eula chile environmental sciences centre ), adds, " on expeditions to high mountain peaks, every gram counts. we would never have been able


. roberto quiroz of iiqab, the spanish research institute for environmental chemistry ( now researcher at the eula chile environmental sciences centre ), adds, " on expeditions to high mountain peaks, every gram counts. we would never have been able to carry 40 litres of snow per sample. so we were very pleased that only 40 ml per sample were required for analysis in leipzig. " aconcagua is in the southern andes, close to the chile - argentina border, and has five large glaciers. it was a holy mountain of the incas. as one of the seven summits ( the highest mountains of each of the seven continents ) aconcagua is now a popular destination for mountaineers. the first to reach the summit was swiss mountaineer matthias zurbriggen in 1897. during the 2003 expedition, the chilean researchers took samples at altitudes of 3500, 4300, 5000, 5800 and 6200 metres. the concentrations measured do not represent any immediate danger to mountaineers, who melt small quantities of snow to obtain water. the pcb concentration on aconcagua was less than half a nanogram per litre. compared with the values measured in other mountain and polar regions, the concentrations on the mountain peak in the andes were relatively low. concentrations four times higher have been measured in the italian alps, for instance – an indication that pollution in the southern hemisphere is less severe than in the northern hemisphere. the pcb concentrations measured around the peak of mount aconcagua were approximately one - tenth of those found in earlier samples taken from sierra velluda, a mountain just 3500 metres high on the west side of the andes in chile. " this could be because of the way in which these pollutants accumulate in the snow. but it could also have something to do with the three hydroelectric power stations on the lower slopes of sierra velluda. their transformers are potential sources of pcbs, " suggests ricardo barra of the eula - chile centre for environmental research at concepcion university. " however, detecting pcbs in the snow on top of aconcagua clearly shows that these compounds are transported to the andes by the atmosphere and accumulate there. " the research findings are also relevant in relation to climate change : " the shrinking of the glaciers could lead to the pollutants stored in the glacier snow being carried down with the melt water, " fears roberto quiroz. south america is not the only part of the world in which water from melting glaciers plays an important role in irrigation for farming and


may 13, 2002 stanford, calif. - researchers at stanford university medical center have created fruit flies with a condition that mimics human diabetes. although it ' s a big evolutionary leap from flies to humans, the researchers say their tiny diabetic " patients " will help scientists understand how insulin - releasing cells develop - a first step toward replacing cells lost in human diabetes. " the idea is that the more you know about normal development the better chance you have to make stem cells develop into insulin - producing cells, " said eric rulifson, phd, a postdoctoral fellow in developmental biology and lead author of a paper due out in the may 10 issue of science. insulin ' s normal role in the body is to help muscle, liver and fat cells take up sugar from the blood and use it for energy. in type i diabetes ( also known as juvenile diabetes ), the immune system destroys pancreatic cells that produce insulin. without insulin, sugar accumulates in the blood, damaging the eyes, kidneys, blood vessels and nerves, and preventing the body from converting sugar to energy. people with type i diabetes must inject insulin in order to survive. one potential cure involves using stem cells to generate replacements for the lost insulin - producing cells. the problem is coaxing those stem cells to develop into pancreatic cells rather than some unrelated cell type. to entice those cells down the correct developmental pathway, researchers need to know how the cells normally develop. this is where the fruit fly excels, said roel nusse, phd, professor of developmental biology and co - author on the paper. although flies are less complicated than humans, they retain the same basic biological process and are much easier to study. " there are many examples of functions that are conserved between flies and humans, " said nusse, who is also an investigator at the howard hughes medical institute. as an example, nusse points out that one branch of the immune system is nearly identical in flies and humans, including the genes and molecular defenses used by the two systems. because of this similarity, researchers have been able to learn more about the human immune system by studying flies. rulifson said the same could be true for insulin - producing cells. " if the fly cells are using the same molecules and genes as humans, then there ' s a good chance that much of the pathway of development is conserved, " he said. to make the diabetic flies, rulifson first identified a group of cells in the brain that produce insulin.


genes as humans, then there ' s a good chance that much of the pathway of development is conserved, " he said. to make the diabetic flies, rulifson first identified a group of cells in the brain that produce insulin. he then specifically destroyed only those insulin - producing cells in the fly larvae. these larvae were significantly smaller than their normal counterparts and took longer to develop into full - fledged flies. what ' s more, the fly larvae that lacked insulin had high blood - sugar levels, comparable to human diabetes. when rulifson looked at where the insulin - producing cells were located in the fly brain, he found that they sent projections to the heart, where the nerves released insulin into the larvae ' s circulatory system. this is similar to how the pancreatic cells release insulin into the human bloodstream. the nerves also sent projections to a group of cells that release a protein similar to human glucagon. this substance has the opposite effect of insulin - causing cells to release stored sugar into the blood when blood - sugar levels are low. together, the two opposing hormones keep human blood - sugar levels steady, and may do the same in flies. rulifson called these similarities between fly and human hormonal systems " the tip of the iceberg. " he said there is enough similarity to suspect his diabetic flies will be good models for the human disease. " this fly model could help us understand the origin of insulin - producing cells in people, " he said. rulifson is supported as an advanced postdoctoral fellow by the juvenile diabetes research foundation. stanford university medical center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions - stanford university school of medicine, stanford hospital & clinics and lucile packard children ' s hospital at stanford. for more information, please visit the web site of the medical center ' s office of communication & public affairs at http : / / mednews. stanford. edu. other social bookmarking and sharing tools : the above story is reprinted from materials provided by stanford university medical center. note : materials may be edited for content and length. for further information, please contact the source cited above. note : if no author is given, the source is cited instead.


mar. 22, 2009 the territory where the higgs boson may be found continues to shrink. the latest analysis of data from the cdf and dzero collider experiments at the u. s. department of energy ' s fermilab now excludes a significant fraction of the allowed higgs mass range established by earlier measurements. those experiments predict that the higgs particle should have a mass between 114 and 185 gev / c2. now the cdf and dzero results carve out a section in the middle of this range and establish that it cannot have a mass in between 160 and 170 gev / c2. “ the outstanding performance of the tevatron and cdf and dzero together have produced this important result, ” said dennis kovar, associate director of the office of science for high energy physics at the u. s. department of energy. “ we ' re looking forward to further tevatron constraints on the higgs mass. " the higgs particle is a keystone in the theoretical framework known as the standard model of particles and their interactions. according to the standard model, the higgs boson explains why some elementary particles have mass and others do not. so far, the higgs particle has eluded direct detection. searches at the large electron positron collider at the european laboratory cern established that the higgs boson must weigh more than 114 gev / c2. calculations of quantum effects involving the higgs boson require its mass to be less than 185 gev / c2. " a cornerstone of nsf ' s support of particle physics is the search for the origin of mass, and this result takes us one step closer, " said physics division director joe dehmer, of the national science foundation. the observation of the higgs particle is also one of the goals of the large hadron collider experiments at cern, which plans to record its first collision data before the end of this year. the success of probing the higgs territory at the tevatron has been possible thanks to the excellent performance of the accelerator and the continuing improvements that the experimenters incorporate into the analysis of the collider data. “ fermilab ’ s tevatron collider typically produces about ten million collisions per second, ” said dzero co - spokesperson darien wood, of northeastern university. “ the standard model predicts how many times a year we should expect to see the higgs boson in our detector, and how often we should see particle signals


, ” said dzero co - spokesperson darien wood, of northeastern university. “ the standard model predicts how many times a year we should expect to see the higgs boson in our detector, and how often we should see particle signals that can mimic a higgs. by refining our analysis techniques and by collecting more and more data, the true higgs signal, if it exists, will sooner or later emerge. ” to increase their chances of finding the higgs boson, the cdf and dzero scientists combine the results from their separate analyses, effectively doubling the data available. “ a particle collision at the tevatron collider can produce a higgs boson in many different ways, and the higgs particle can then decay into various particles, ” said cdf co - spokesperson rob roser, of fermilab. “ each experiment examines more and more possibilities. combining all of them, we hope to see a first hint of the higgs particle. ” so far, cdf and dzero each have analyzed about three inverse femtobarns of collision data - - - the scientific unit that scientists use to count the number of collisions. each experiment expects to receive a total of about 10 inverse femtobarns by the end of 2010, thanks to the superb performance of the tevatron. the collider continues to set numerous performance records, increasing the number of proton - antiproton collisions it produces. the higgs search result is among approximately 70 results that the cdf and dzero collaborations presented at the annual conference on electroweak physics and unified theories known as the rencontres de moriond, held march 7 - 14. in the past year, the two experiments have produced nearly 100 publications and about 50 ph. d. s that have advanced particle physics at the energy frontier. other social bookmarking and sharing tools : note : materials may be edited for content and length. for further information, please contact the source cited above. note : if no author is given, the source is cited instead.


june 3, 2009 florida institute of technology researchers are trying to solve one of the great mysteries in nature : how thunderstorms make lightning. because, in principle, lightning is a big spark it should behave like other sparks — like the ones created when we touch a door knob on a dry day. scientists have accumulated evidence, however, that lightning sometimes behaves in very un - spark - like ways. lightning can start in regions of thunderstorms that have relatively low electric fields and, so, should create no sparks. because lightning obviously is made by thunderstorms, scientists are left wondering what they are missing. three such scientists, joseph dwyer and hamid rassoul from florida tech and martin uman from the university of florida developed a new technique to remotely measure thunderstorm electric fields on the ground. by measuring small radio pulses made by cosmic - rays passing through these storms, they calculate that they can reconstruct the electric fields along the high - energy particle ' s paths. this could allow them to measure any lightning initiation pockets that might exist. one idea is that thunderstorms generate big electric fields capable of making sparks, but those strong fields are localized in very small pockets — too small to be easily detected by the balloons and aircraft sent into thunderclouds to measure the fields. although this seems reasonable, the problem has been how to test it. indeed, for decades scientists have struggled in vain to find such pockets where lightning might be initiated. " cosmic - rays are high - energy particles from outer space that constantly rain down on our planet. they form a natural probe for measuring thunderstorms, " explained dwyer, professor of physics and space sciences, who is leading the research effort. " thunderstorms are big, violent, and dangerous places. cosmic - ray air showers allow us to study them from a relatively safe location on the ground. " " it ' s a daunting task to find these high field regions, " explained rassoul, professor of physics and space sciences. " thunderstorms are large and the chance that a balloon would find its way into exactly the right place at the right time to catch lightning initiation is small. " this summer at the uf / florida tech international center for lightning research and testing at camp blanding, fla., scientists are conducting experiments to search for these lightning initiation pockets. if successful, researchers will be closer to understanding lightning, a phenomenon that has mystified people for thousands of years. other social bookmarking and sharing tools : note : materials may


jan. 20, 2013 research led by st. jude children ' s research hospital scientists has identified a possible lead in treatment of two childhood leukemia subtypes known for their dramatic loss of chromosomes and poor treatment outcomes. the findings also provide the first evidence of the genetic basis for this high - risk leukemia, which is known as hypodiploid acute lymphoblastic leukemia ( all ). normal human cells have 46 chromosomes, half from each parent, but hypodiploid all is characterized by fewer than 44 chromosomes. chromosomes are highly condensed pieces of dna, the molecule that carries the inherited instructions for assembling and sustaining a person. the research appears in the january 20 advance online edition of the scientific journal nature genetics. the study, the largest ever focused on hypodiploid all, confirmed that this tumor has distinct subtypes distinguished by the number of chromosomes lost and the submicroscopic genetic alterations they harbor. researchers found evidence suggesting more than one - third of patients with a subtype known as low hypodiploid all have li - fraumeni syndrome. families with li - fraumeni syndrome harbor inherited mutations in the tp53 tumor suppressor gene and have a high risk of a range of cancers. hypodiploid all had not previously been recognized as a common manifestation of li - fraumeni syndrome. researchers reported that the major hypodiploid subtypes are both sensitive to a family of compounds that block the proliferation of cancer cells. the compounds include drugs already used to treat other cancers. the subtypes are low hypodiploid all, characterized by 32 to 39 chromosomes, and near haploid all, which has 24 to 31 chromosomes. " this study is a good example of the important insights that can be gained by studying the largest possible number of patients in as much detail as possible. this approach led us to key insights about these leukemia subtypes that we would otherwise have missed, " said the study ' s senior and corresponding author, charles mullighan, mbbs ( hons ), msc, m. d., an associate member of the st. jude pathology department. mullighan is a pew scholar in biomedical sciences. the near haploid and low hypodiploid all subtypes represent 1 to 2 percent of the estimated 3, 000 pediatric all cases diagnosed annually in the u. s. but they account for a much larger number of all treatment failures. today more than 90 percent of young all


project has sequenced the complete normal and cancer genomes of more than 600 children and adolescents with some of the most aggressive and least understood cancers. near haploid all was characterized by alterations in six genes and increased activity in key pathways that help regulate cell division and development. disruption of these pathways, known as ras and pi3k, has been linked to other cancers. the changes were found in 71 percent of near haploid all patients and included deletion of the nf1 gene. the gene had not previously been linked to high - risk leukemia. other alterations involved the genes nras, kras, mapk1, flt3 and ptpn11. low hypodiploid all in both adults and children was linked to mutations in the tp53 tumor suppressor gene. the gene was altered in 91 percent of pediatric patients with the all subtype and in 10 of the 11 adults with low hypodiploid all included in the study. other common alterations involved rb1, another tumor suppressor gene. about 38 percent of children with low hypodiploid all also carried tp53 abnormalities in non - cancerous blood cells. the mutations included many previously linked to li - fraumeni syndrome, which is characterized by changes in tp53. further evidence linking low hypodiploid all to li - fraumeni syndrome came when researchers found the same tp53 mutation in two generations of the same family. the father was 31 years old when he was found to have a brain tumor associated with li - fraumeni syndrome. his son later developed low hypodiploid all. " identification of children with low - hypodiploid all and inherited tp53 mutations could help expand the use of life - saving cancer screening, " said linda holmfeldt, ph. d., a st. jude postdoctoral fellow. she and lei wei, ph. d., of the st. jude department of computational biology and formerly of pathology, are the study ' s co - first authors. " screening helps save lives by finding cancers much earlier when the odds of a cure are greatest, " holmfeldt said. investigators also reported deletions involving ikaros gene family members that are rare in other all patients. the genes play a role in normal immune system development. the ikzf3 gene, also known as aiolos, was deleted in 13 percent of near haploid all patients. ikzf3 was deleted in nearly 53 percent


patients. the genes play a role in normal immune system development. the ikzf3 gene, also known as aiolos, was deleted in 13 percent of near haploid all patients. ikzf3 was deleted in nearly 53 percent of patients with low hypodiploid all. despite such differences, when researchers tested a variety of compounds against cells from both subtypes growing in the laboratory, they found compounds that targeted the pi3k pathway inhibited proliferation. researchers are testing the effectiveness of these drugs in mouse models. the authors are ernesto diaz - flores and mignon loh, both of university of california school of medicine, san francisco ; michael walsh, jinghui zhang, debbie payne - turner, michelle churchman, shann - ching chen, kelly mccastlain, jared becksfort, jing ma, gang wu, letha phillips, guangchun song, john easton, matthew parker, xiang chen, michael rusch, kristy boggs, bhavin vadodaria, erin hedlund, christina drenberg, sharyn baker, deqing pei, cheng cheng, geoffrey neale, david ellison, sheila shurtleff, ching - hon pui, raul ribeiro, susana raimondi and james downing, all of st. jude ; anna andersson of st. jude and lund university hospital, sweden ; samir patel and susan heatley, both formerly of st. jude ; li ding, charles lu, robert fulton, lucinda fulton, yashodhan tabib, david dooling, kerri ochoa, elaine mardis and richard wilson, all of washington university ; mark minden, princess margaret hospital / university health network, toronto ; ian lewis and l. bik to, both of the institute of medical and veterinary science, adelaide, australia ; paula marlton, princess alexandra hospital, queensland, australia ; andrew roberts, royal melbourne hospital, australia ; gordana raca and wendy stock, both of university of chicago school of medicine ; hans drexler, german collection of microorganisms and cell cultures, braunschweig, germany ; ross dickins, walter & eliza hall institute of medical research, parkville, australia ; meenakshi devidas, university of florida, gainesville ; andrew carroll, university of alabama at birmingham ; nyla heerema and julie gastier - foster, the ohio state university ; brent wood, seattle children ' s hospital ; and michael borowitz, johns hopkins hospital, baltimore. the


deadly navy sonar strikes again last wednesday, about 80 dolphins beached themselves in the florida keys. the miami herald reported that this occurred after a nuclear - powered submarine used two different types of active sonar to navigate over several days as it trained off the florida keys last week, including the day of a massive dolphin stranding in marathon, florida. more than 20 of the dolphins have already died. last month, 37 whales of three different species died after beaching themselves in north carolina. though navy officials maintain there is not enough conclusive evidence to link sonar to either mass stranding, they admit their ships were using sonar in nearby waters at those times, carrying out training exercises for the possibility of a terrorist attack. mounting evidence indicates that mid - and low - frequency range active sonar ( lfa ) can cause whales and dolphins to beach, surface too quickly, or behave in other unusual ways. at close range, the system ' s shock waves are so intense they can destroy a whale ' s eardrums, cause its lungs to hemorrhage, and even kill it. further away, lfa noise can cause permanent hearing loss in marine mammals after a single transmission. at 40 miles away, lfa noise is still so intense it can disrupt the mating, feeding, and nursing and other behaviors of marine mammals. some sonar systems can generate 235 decibels. in the air, that ' s as loud as a shuttle launch. the international whaling commission and other environmental and scientific groups have published reports supporting the possibility that sonar has such effects scientists are warning that lfa sonar may threaten the very survival of entire populations of whales, some already teetering on the brink of extinction. last week, the bush administration issued a statement strongly opposing international efforts to restrict sonar use, in favor of using active sonar worldwide. " the navy is intent upon terrorizing dolphins, whales, and other marine species with this overkill technology, " said captain paul watson. " john paul jones said that the role of the u. s. navy was to place itself in harm ' s way. now we have the u. s. navy placing entire species of whales and dolphins in harm ' s way. the question must be asked, ‘ just why is this lfa system being deployed? ' it is only useful in nuclear submarine warfare. the soviets are not a threat anymore. terrorists do not deploy submarines. none of the so - called ‘ axis of evil ' nations have submarines. this is simply one of those pork - barrel waste - the - taxpayers - money schemes,


off the shelf chemistry 1. the student will learn that chemicals are not something just found in laboratories. our physical environment is composed of chemicals. our bodies are composed of chemicals. understanding the principles of chemistry helps us better understand our world. 2. the student will learn to read and understand the ingredient labels on consumer products. in doing this the student will become a more sophisticated consumer. 3. the student will be able to use both english and si systems of weights and measures to conduct experiments and to compare different brands of similar products. 4. the student will learn the importance of making and recording accurate observations. 5. the student will learn that in science, language is very important. terms must be carefully defined in order for scientists to communicate with each other. the student will learn the difference between operational definitions and conceptual definitions. 6. the student will develop an appreciation of the chemistry that is used in our everyday lives. this chemistry lab manual is designed to use consumer products for student chemistry experiments. the students should be required to shop for many of the reagents. they will need to carefully read the labels of the products. they will develop greater understanding with experience. as they develop the good habit of reading the fine print on the ingredients portion of the label, they will be more confident of their ability to make informed intelligent choices. safety : all standard chemistry lab safety procedures must be strictly followed. the instructor must carefully check the labels on all the products used in the labs. the formula of a product and the chemicals used in a product can be changed by the manufacturer at any time. obtaining the chemicals : here is a list of where the chemicals for the experiments may be purchased. all of the reagents for these experiments may be purchased in supermarkets, drugstores, paint stores, etc., except chemical indicator solutions. no lab tables required : these experiments are especially suited to schools that have intensive scheduling. the experiments are designed to use a minimum of laboratory equipment so that they may be carried out on tables in a standard classroom if necessary. this allows the students to do hands on lab work without being in the chemistry lab. the emphasis is inquiry. the students must do more thinking and will not be able to look up answers to complete the laboratory reports. this makes these experiments more challenging than they may appear at first glance. background information : as in any scientific endeavor, the first step is to gather information about the subject. before each experiment, the students need to have information relevant to the lab topic. the pre lab discussion provides some background information.


appear at first glance. background information : as in any scientific endeavor, the first step is to gather information about the subject. before each experiment, the students need to have information relevant to the lab topic. the pre lab discussion provides some background information. the teacher may wish to provide additional information or the students may look up additional relevant information. language skill building : clear precise communication is a key to good science. scientists must be able to communicate their findings in unambiguous language. this often means that the common words are defined as used in this report so that the reader knows exactly what the scientist means when he reads the term. the teacher may wish to discuss the term significant as it is found in many scientific studies. it is usually defined using a statistical test in a scientific study but it shows up in advertising without any definition. scientific writing is designed to have only one interpretation while poetry will invoke many different meanings, depending on the reader ' s personal experiences. students often tell the teacher that they " know " something but can ' t put it into words. developing language skills is a large part of science, and students must be taught how to better use their language to communicate their ideas. the first step is to have students clearly define the terms that they are using. in many experiments, the students need to develop operational definitions for terms that are needed to describe critical aspects of the experiment. scientific thinking : the students must develop confidence in their own thinking ability. great science does not depend on expensive complex equipment but on the clear thinking of the experimenter. the experiments in this manual serve only as entertainment if students do not do the follow - up thinking scientifically. teachers should insist that students think before they write and that they express their thoughts clearly. printing the labs : the labs are available both as web pages and as adobe portable document format ( pdf ) files, a more printer - friendly format. you must have adobe acrobat reader installed on your computer to use this feature. you can download the free adobe acrobat reader software here. 1. introduction to alchemy like the alchemists, our objective is to make gold from base metals ; we use drain cleaner, pennies and galvanized nails. 2. water, water everywhere different to determine the differences between samples of water obtained by the class. 3. a slippery slimy substance to make and study an unusual polymer, using borax, guar gum and food coloring. 4. what is the pop in popcorn? to determine what causes some corn kernel


of water obtained by the class. 3. a slippery slimy substance to make and study an unusual polymer, using borax, guar gum and food coloring. 4. what is the pop in popcorn? to determine what causes some corn kernels to pop when heated. 5. hard rock candy to study how crystals form while making sugar crystal rock candy. 6. heat - - hide & seek to learn the difference between heat and temperature, using moth crystals. 7. hot & cold reactions to explore the energy of chemical reactions, using baking soda, lye, vinegar, zinc, hcl. 8. are we saturated yet? to make and observe the properties of unsaturated, saturated, and supersaturated solutions, using photography fixer. 9. cleaning up your act to make a useable soap. 10. the solution to solubility is the solvent to determine the solubility of three general types of common solvents : water, alcohol and xylene. pdf lab for the solution to solubility is 11. out spot, darn spot to explore the science of laundry. this laboratory exercise is different from the others in that students will not be given a set procedure to follow to remove a spot. instead they will need to use the information provided to develop a procedure to remove a spot. 12. can the mettle of metal be improved? to determine the effects of annealing, quenching, and tempering on metals, using bobbi pins, hair clip, single strand steel wire. 13. creepy metals to determine the tensile strength and creep in three common metals. 14. blowing up balloons, chemically to determine what observable factors are changed in a chemical reaction and what factors remain constant. to determine the amount of acid neutralized by several brands of antacid tablet. 16. chemistry clicks your bic to experimentally determine the molecular mass of butane, using a lighter. 17. electric gel cell to make functional electrical cells and determine the relative strength of each type of cell, using jell - o. 18. viscosity is a virtue to compare the viscosity of motor oil at different temperatures ; compare the viscosities of several grades of motor oil ; and to compare the viscosity of new and used motor oil. © 1999 robert farber - all rights reserved. teachers are encouraged to copy and modify these labs for use in their teaching. please send any questions or comments to robert farber ( firstname. lastname @ example


schaub was photographing at an antique auto show when she decided to put a 17mm lens on her minolta x - 700 camera. for this unique point of view she photographed at about a foot from the front wheel and tilted the camera to encompass the entire car. this created severe distortion of the wheel. the effect was enhanced by using an aperture of f / 22 to ensure sharpness throughout the picture plane. © 2003, grace schaub, all rights reserved we judge near and far, big and small by our innate sense of perspective. a sort of visual grammar, it orders the world around and ensures that we can get where we ' re going and that when we reach out to touch we ' ll have a tactile rather than virtual experience. in photography, and all visual arts, the relationship of foreground and background is established by the relative size of subjects within the picture ' s two - dimensional plane. barry staver made this image while working on a british airways in - flight magazine assignment about raising buffalo. this image was made with a nikon f5 and a 20 - 35mm f / 2. 8 nikkor lens on kodak 100 sw film. staver used the widest setting on the zoom ( 20mm ) and got close to the wrangler. this created a dynamic composition where the cowboy seems to pop out of the frame while retaining the context of the working atmosphere of the ranch. © 2003, barry staver, all rights reserved much of what determines our sense of a scene ' s perspective is the lens we use to create the image. so - called " normal " lenses, such as a 50mm in 35mm format and an 80mm in medium format, are called just that because they order perspective in a way that is close to what we see. but when we use very wide angle or long telephoto lenses, combined with a particular point of view, we can skew that normal sense of perspective and create another way of looking at a subject or scenes. for some, such as architectural photographers, that can result in unwanted distortion. this can be corrected with camera movements or special lenses, known as pc ( or perspective control ) lenses. but one person ' s distortion is another ' s creative point of view, and that ' s where creative use of long and short lenses comes into play. lenses not only get you close to distant subjects ; they also can help you " assemble " disparate elements of a scene into closely packed elements. taken from about 30 ft


that ' s where creative use of long and short lenses comes into play. lenses not only get you close to distant subjects ; they also can help you " assemble " disparate elements of a scene into closely packed elements. taken from about 30 ft away with a tamron 28 - 200mm lens set at 200mm and an aperture of f / 16 ( to maximize depth of field ) on a canon eos 1n, this street scene becomes a collection of very different subjects unified by the frame. © 2003, george schaub, all rights reserved a sense of space when used to their full potential very wide angle lenses ( 24mm and wider ) tend to expand space by altering the apparent distance between foreground and background subjects. conversely, long - range telephoto lenses ( 200mm and longer ) tend to compress those distances and create what is known as a " stacking " effect. but use of the lens alone does not guarantee the full visual effect. to enhance the expansion of space with wide angle lenses, exploit their close focusing distance capability and get close to the foreground subject, being sure to allow for the context, or background, to show. an added visual kick is when the lenses are used at narrow apertures to obtain a deep zone of sharpness, or depth of field. placement of the foreground subject at the edge of the frame and tilting the lens to the side, up, or down further adds to the effect. we use a long lens to isolate a set of subjects within a distant landscape we choose both a composition and a distinct point of view unique to the " photographic " eye. this scene, photographed by frances schultz, uses a painterly effect known as aerial perspective. the darker near foreground is separated from the distant background by the interplay of light and dark tonal values. so even though the telephoto lens " stacks " the foreground and background, aerial perspective provides a sense of © 2003, frances e. schultz, all rights reserved to compress space, make use of the narrower angle of view of long telephoto lenses to stack subjects together. the effect is a flattening of the image plane and is an excellent way to enhance repeating patterns, group similar subjects, or play with the juxtaposition of one environment with another. telephoto lenses can also be used to create abstractions from larger subjects, such as buildings or long - distance landscape views. they can also be used to isolate distant subjects so that other visual effects, such


living under the protection of the canadian navy and in a world safeguarded by international conventions, it ’ s hard for us to imagine that terror once lurked in the waters off the coast of the maritimes. yet when marsters uses that word in his title, he ’ s not exaggerating. for three hundred years, during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, people living on the atlantic coast were regularly at risk from marauding privateers. the line between privateering and piracy was sometimes thin. both pirates and privateers preyed on ships and coastal towns. and privateers were occasionally as ruthless as pirates in the treatment of their captives. the critical difference between them was the privateer ’ s letter of marque. as long as they followed the rules laid out in that official government commission, privateers could legally attack both enemy ships and ships trading with the enemy in time of war. they brought these ships or “ prizes ” back to port to be condemned, which meant that a judge determined whether or not the cargo was enemy property. any condemned goods belonged to the individual or corporation that employed the privateer, and the employers usually auctioned the cargoes off and pocketed the profit. it was “ the merchant ’ s way of waging war. ” marsters quickly gets these and some other explanations out of the way at the beginning of his book, because his focus is not on privateering in general but on the stories of individual privateers. he highlights their personal histories, their adventures, and their influence on the times in which they lived. during the early years of french colonization, for example, forts and settlements were often severely undermanned and the governors had to rely on privateers to protect the fledgling colony. even more important, when trade was cut off from france because of armed conflict, the cargos captured by privateers kept the colonists from starving. pierre morpain was one such hero. he spent much of his fifty year career defending the colonies of port royal and louisbourg against the british. his cruises took him from newfoundland to haiti in search of prizes, and he inspired the new england colonists with so much dread that for years after his death they still remembered “ morpang the pirate. ” the story of morpain is typical of this book. the chapters are arranged roughly chronologically, focusing either on individual privateers or on particular conflicts that saw the reemergence of privateering. we read about d ’ iberville ’ s brilliant battle strategy in his attacks along hudson ’ s bay.


chapters are arranged roughly chronologically, focusing either on individual privateers or on particular conflicts that saw the reemergence of privateering. we read about d ’ iberville ’ s brilliant battle strategy in his attacks along hudson ’ s bay. we see how privateers were involved in the destruction of acadian settlements. and we learn about the predatory actions of american privateers during the revolutionary war. they fell upon the town of liverpool in one instance, looting the houses, burning the homes of people who resisted, and sailing off with their plunder. the citizens had to bear their losses at that time, but they did exact revenge some forty years later. during the war of 1812, the liverpool packet turned the tables on the americans and terrorized the coast of new england. marsters has interspersed these romantic sea stories and historical accounts with a generous number of illustrations. his experience as an interpreter at the maritime museum of the atlantic must have been stood him in good stead as he assembled this collection. paintings of battles, seaports, and ships under full sail combine with contemporary maps and photographs of artifacts related to privateering life. the result is a visually captivating book, well deserving of its place on the shortlist in the non - fiction category of the atlantic book awards.


gulf coast activists resolve to save lousiana ’ s disappearing bayou by brian vanneman every year, 25 to 35 square miles of louisiana ’ s bayou country — an area larger than manhattan — sinks into the gulf of mexico. since the 1930s, an area about the size of rhode island has disappeared. and without and focused intervention, the rate of loss is likely to accelerate. | the gulf inches washes closer to a coastal louisiana home, above. barbara and maurice coman, at bottom, are fighting for the preservation of the the coast ' s rich wildlife habitats — and for the area ' s future as a population and economic center. ( top and center photos courtesy of the coalition to restore coastal louisiana. ) maurice coman, a longtime kayaker and gulf coast regional conservation committee ( gcrcc ) chair, loves to paddle through these disappearing marshlands near his metairie, louisiana, home, especially in the spring. " can ’ t go out too much until after the storm clouds settle, " he says. then he ’ s free to meander through little - visited backwater bayous, surrounded by tall grasses, vast flocks of migratory birds, and gentle ridges topped coman and his fellow conservation committee members jumpstarted their campaign to limit coastal erosion after their annual meeting at the defelice complex perched at the dead end of highway 56, in the heart of louisiana ’ s vast wetlands. tom douglas, a bird - lover, chemistry professor, and committee member from houston, was shocked by the far - reaching implications of the sinking wetlands. " many of the birds we have in texas — great blue herons, snowy and american egrets — also migrate through louisiana, " he said, " and they depend on the abundant water life there for survival. " in fact, some five million migratory birds, traveling from as far as canada and through the area every year. after long travels, they depend on the shrimp and fish whose habitats are endangered by coastal subsidence. unlike other wildlands issues important to the club, there is no clear wrongdoer, and the beneficiaries of a restored coast are unusually broad. the " straight - jacketing " of the mississippi river is usually listed first among the causes of coastal subsidence. after the great flood of 1927, residents of the floodplain demanded action, and the army corps of engineers responded by building levees as much as 30 feet high along the length of the river. but the rich sediment that the erratic branches of the mississippi had


great flood of 1927, residents of the floodplain demanded action, and the army corps of engineers responded by building levees as much as 30 feet high along the length of the river. but the rich sediment that the erratic branches of the mississippi had once deposited throughout louisiana is now funneled right to the gulf of mexico and dumped over the continental shelf. the broad coastal plain — more than 40 miles wide from baton rouge to the gulf — is now denied the sediment it had received for thousands of years. so inland areas built on loose silt, like new orleans, are subsiding. the tides and fierce storms of the gulf wash away the coast ’ s outlying coastal marshes and beaches. of the entire 18, 000 - square - mile coastal zone, more than 96 percent is less than two feet above sea level. but there are other notable causes. the thousands of oil and gas pipelines and pump stations that cut through the fragile landscape create canals where saltwater can enter and erode the swamps. canals constructed for waterborne commerce cause the same problems. and the rise in sea level caused by global warming is also cited as a cause of lost land. as scientific data and observed evidence of louisiana ’ s disappearing coast has mounted, the state government and other institutions have scrambled for solutions. but, argues coman, the reaction thus far has failed to match the scale of the problem. louisiana ’ s 1990 breaux act got the ball rolling by establishing what are now more than 80 separate restoration projects. then came the " coast 2050 " initiative — a plan assembled over the past three years by a broad coalition of environmental groups, academics, the lousiana and the army corps of engineers. now, the council on environmental quality ( ceq ), a group that reports directly to president bush, is reviewing coast 2050. it can approve, make revisions to the plan, and if all goes as coman is hoping, ceq will to be ratified by the coastal authority and louisiana citizens. " now is the time for sierra club members to tell the bush administration that environmental issues must be addressed in the coastal restoration plan, " says stakeholders in the restoration of coastal louisiana extend well beyond the sierra club and typical environmental partners. the future of millions louisiana ’ s considerable fishing industry, mississippi barge operators, and even the oil and natural gas industries, all depend on a coastal plain that remains above sea level. while coastal lands are carried away by the tides, greater new orleans, with a population of 1. 2 million, is sinking. within 50


, and even the oil and natural gas industries, all depend on a coastal plain that remains above sea level. while coastal lands are carried away by the tides, greater new orleans, with a population of 1. 2 million, is sinking. within 50 years, the gulf be within a few miles of the french quarter. the delta coastland surrounding all sides also protects it from winter hurricanes. as the low - lying bayou disappears, the unique culture of southern louisiana ’ s cajun people is also threatened. isolated by a landscape far more hospitable to boats than cars, and set apart by history and their french - inflected dialect, the generally poor cajun fishers can do nothing to stop their fishing grounds from moving or disappearing, and their homes from becoming uninhabitable. coastal fisheries — which supply 30 percent of america ’ s seafood — are also in jeopardy. finally, oil and gas giants like shell crave federal assistance because their pipelines and facilities — now at least somewhat protected — could be left vulnerable to the tides if the coast keeps sinking. that could cause pipelines to rupture, lead to untold consequences for coastal habitats wildlife, and massive lawsuits against the energy companies. coman does not begrudge business interests for helping to bring louisiana ’ s coastal crisis to the attention of the state and federal government. but he vows to make sure that corporate interests do not overshadow environmental priorities. " if a plan comes down [ from the council on environmental quality ] that supports industry exclusively, we will not support it, " says coman. the sierra club joined the coalition to restore coastal lousiana, the gulf restoration network, and seven other environmental groups to establish eight key conservation principles that must be met in order to win their endorsement. " in this environment, with the federal budget being so tight, we know that the ceq will want everyone ’ s full support in order to allocate money. so we feel our point of view will be heard, " says coman. everyone wants to fix the problem, but the price tag is steep. coast 2050 seeks a $ 14 billion budget from federal and state governments to complete the necessary river diversion and coastal breakwater projects. but like the florida everglades or the grand canyon, says coman, the louisiana coast is a national treasure. " if one of the sierra nevada mountains was disappearing every year, we wouldn ’ t just stand by and let it happen, " he urge the white house ’ s council on environmental quality to