know about infrequent and scanty menstruation it is a condition where intermenstrual cycle is prolonged to more than normal 28 days. but some women have a perfectly normal menstrual cycle at 35 days, without any problem because their fertility is intact and that is why it can not be considered as pathological. infrequent menstruation should be diagnosed only if the menstrual cycle is erratic and unduly prolonged and some times it prolonged to three months to four months or longer. this situation is most commonly seen at the time of menarche ( first menstruation ) or at the time of menopause and which can be regarded as modified amenorrhea. but normal reproductive capacity is possible within this infrequent menstrual cycle and infrequent ovulation. in the pathological variety of infrequent menstruation the causes and finding on clinical and investigational findings are to some extent similar to amenorrhea and patient is usually obese, poorly developed secondary sexual characters, hirsute, and hypoplasia of genitals. and the most common finding in the investigation of these types of patients is subnormal functioning of ovaries. in some women the menstruation lasts for only a day or two and the blood loss is also very less and require changing of diapers of only one or two. scanty menstruation that occurs regularly is not pathological and they are not infertile as the regularity of menstruation proves normal pituitary ovarian cycle. so if a patient of scanty menstruation has normal secondary sex characters it can be considered normal and no treatment is required, other than reassurance. if scanty menstruation is accompanied by irregular menstruation, it is suggestive of primary or secondary ovarian sub function. depending on the history of menstruation, the primary or secondary ovarian disorder can be determined ( if from the beginning the menstruation is irregular and scanty, it is due to primary ovarian disorder and if it starts later it is secondary cause ). if the menstruation become suddenly erratic and scanty or no loss, it is suggestive of premature menopause. then the treatment is same as primary and secondary amenorrhea. the patient and relatives should be convinced on this to the point of their satisfaction.


( march 28, 1849 – october 10, 1894 ) french author who in 1877 became teacher of persian language at the … cole des hautes … tudes. chapter 1, discovery of the zend avesta chapter 2 the interpretation of the zend - avesta chapter 3 the formation of the zend - avesta chapter 4 the origin of the avesta religion chapter 5 the vendod ‚ d the zend avesta part i sacred books of the east, volume 4, 1880 the discovery of the zend - avesta [ includes notes below e. g. 1 ] the zend - avesta is the sacred book of the parsis, that is to say, of the few remaining followers of that religion which reigned over persia at the time when the second successor of mohammed overthrew the sassanian dynasty 1, and which has been called dualism, or mazdeism, or magism, or zoroastrianism, or fire - worship, according as its main tenet, or its supreme god 2, or its priests, or its supposed founder, or its apparent object of worship has been most kept in view. in less than a century after their defeat, nearly all the conquered people were brought over to the faith of their new rulers, either by force, or policy, or the attractive power of a simpler form of creed. but many of those who clung to the faith of their fathers, went and sought abroad for a new home, where they might freely worship their old gods, say their old prayers, and perform their old rites. that home they found at last among the tolerant hindus, on the western coast of india and in the peninsula of guzerat 3. there they throve and there they live still, while the ranks of their co - religionists in persia are daily thinning and dwindling away 4. as the parsis are the ruins of a people, so are their sacred books the ruins of a religion. there has been no other great belief in the world that ever left such poor and meagre monuments of its past splendour. yet great is the value which that small book, the avesta, and the belief of that scanty people, the parsis, have in the eyes of the historian and theologist, as they present to us the last reflex of the ideas which prevailed in iran during the five centuries which preceded and the seven which followed the birth of christ, a period which gave to the world the gospels, the talmud, and the qur


theologist, as they present to us the last reflex of the ideas which prevailed in iran during the five centuries which preceded and the seven which followed the birth of christ, a period which gave to the world the gospels, the talmud, and the qur ’ an. persia, it is known, had much influence on each of the movements which produced, or proceeded from, those three books ; she lent much to the first heresiarchs, much to the rabbis, much to mohammed. by help of the parsi religion and the avesta, we are enabled to go back to the very heart of that most momentous period in the history of religious thought, which saw the blending of the aryan mind with the semitic, and thus opened the second stage of aryan thought. inquiries into the religion of ancient persia began long ago, and it was the old foe of persia, the greek, who first studied it. aristotle 5, hermippus 6 ; and many others 7 wrote of it in books of which, unfortunately, nothing more than a few fragments or merely the titles have come down to us. we find much valuable information about it, scattered in the accounts of historians and travellers, extending over ten centuries, from herodotus down to agathias and procopius. it was never more eagerly studied than in the first centuries of the christian era ; but that study had no longer anything of the disinterested and almost scientific character it had in earlier times. religious and philosophic sects, in search of new dogmas, eagerly received whatever came to them bearing the name of zoroaster. as xanthus the lydian, who is said to have lived before herodotus, had mentioned zoroastrian λογια 8, there came to light, in those later times, scores of oracles, styled λογια τοu ζωροαστρου, or ' oracula chaldaica sive magica, ' the work of neo - platonists who were but very remote disciples of the median sage. as his name had become the very emblem of wisdom, they would cover with it the latest inventions of their ever - deepening theosophy. zoroaster and plato were treated as if they had been philosophers of the same school, and hierocles expounded their doctrines in the same book. proclus collected seventy tetrads of zoroaster and wrote commentaries on them 9 ; but we need hardly say that zoro


they had been philosophers of the same school, and hierocles expounded their doctrines in the same book. proclus collected seventy tetrads of zoroaster and wrote commentaries on them 9 ; but we need hardly say that zoroaster commented on by proclus was nothing more or less than proclus commented on by proclus. prodicus the gnostic had secret books of zoroaster 10 ; and upon the whole it may be said that in the first centuries of christianity, the religion of persia was more studied and less understood than it had ever been before. the real object aimed at, in studying the old religion, was to form a new one. throughout the middle ages nothing was known of mazdeism but the name of its founder, who from a magus was converted into a magician and master of the hidden sciences. it was not until the renaissance that real inquiry was resumed. the first step was to collect all the information that could be gathered from greek and roman writers. that task was undertaken and successfully completed by barnabe brisson 11. a nearer approach to the original source was made in the following century by italian, english, and french travellers in asia. pietro della valle, henry lord, mandelslo, ovington, chardin, gabriel du chinon, and tavernier found zoroaster ' s last followers in persia and india, and made known their existence, their manners, and the main features of their belief to europe. gabriel du chinon saw their books and recognised that they were not all written in the same language, their original holy writ being no longer understood except by means of translations and commentaries in another tongue. in the year 1700, a professor at oxford, thomas hyde, the greatest orientalist of his time in europe, made the first systematic attempt to restore the history of the old persian religion by combining the accounts of the mohammedan writers with ' the true and genuine monuments of ancient persia 12. ' unfortunately the so - called genuine monuments of ancient persia were nothing more than recent compilations referring to the last stage of parsiism. but notwithstanding this defect, which could hardly be avoided then, and notwithstanding its still worse fault, a strange want of critical acumen 13, the book of thomas hyde was the first complete and true picture of modern parsiism, and it made inquiry into its history the order of the day. a warm appeal made by him to the zeal of travellers, to seek for and procure at any price the sacred books of


first complete and true picture of modern parsiism, and it made inquiry into its history the order of the day. a warm appeal made by him to the zeal of travellers, to seek for and procure at any price the sacred books of the parsis, did not remain ineffectual, and from that time scholars bethought themselves of studying, parsiism in its own home. eighteen years later, a countryman of hyde, george boucher, received from the parsis in surat a copy of the vendidad sadah, which was brought to england in 1723 by richard cobbe. but the old manuscript was a sealed book, and the most that could then be made of it was to hang it by an iron chain to the wall of the bodleian library, as a curiosity to be shown to foreigners. a few years later, a scotch - man, named fraser, went to surat, with the view of obtaining from the parsis, not only their books, but also a knowledge of their contents. he was not very successful in the first undertaking, and utterly failed in the second. in 1754 a young man, twenty years old, anquetil duperron, a scholar of the ecole des langues orientales in paris, happened to see a facsimile of four leaves of the vendidad, which had been sent from england, a few years before, to etienne fourmont, the orientalist. he determined at once to give to france both the books and the first european translation of them. impatient to set off, without waiting for a mission from the government which had been promised to him, he enlisted as a private soldier in the service of the french east india company ; he embarked at lorient on the 24th of february 1755, and after three years of endless adventures and dangers through the whole breadth of hindustan, at the very time when war was raging between france and england, he arrived at last in surat, where he stayed among the parsis for three years more. here began another struggle, not less hard, but more decisive, against that mistrust and ill - will of the parsis which had disheartened fraser ; but he came out of it victorious, and succeeded at last in winning from the parsis both their books and their knowledge. he came back to paris on the 14th of march 1764, and deposited on the following day at the bibliotheque royale the whole of the zend - avesta and copies of


winning from the parsis both their books and their knowledge. he came back to paris on the 14th of march 1764, and deposited on the following day at the bibliotheque royale the whole of the zend - avesta and copies of most of the traditional books. he spent ten years in studying the material he had collected, and published in 1771 the first european translation of the zend - avesta 14. a violent dispute broke out at once, as half the learned world denied the authenticity of the avesta, which it pronounced a forgery. it was the future founder of the royal asiatic society, william jones, a young oxonian then, who opened the war. he had been wounded to the quick by the scornful tone adopted by anquetil towards hyde and a few other english scholars : the zend - avesta suffered for the fault of its introducer, zoroaster for anquetil. in a pamphlet written in french 15, with a verve and in a style which showed him to be a good disciple of voltaire, w. jones pointed out, and dwelt upon, the oddities and absurdities with which the so - called sacred books of zoroaster teemed. it is true that anquetil had given full scope to satire by the style he had adopted : he cared very little for literary elegance, and did not mind writing zend and persian in french ; so the new and strange ideas he had to express looked stranger still in the outlandish garb he gave them. yet it was less the style than the ideas that shocked the contemporary of voltaire 16. his main argument was that books, full of such silly tales, of laws and rules so absurd, of descriptions of gods and demons so grotesque, could not be the work of a sage like zoroaster, nor the code of a religion so much celebrated for its simplicity, wisdom, and purity. his conclusion was that the avesta was a rhapsody of some modern guebre. in fact the only thing in which jones succeeded was to prove in a decisive manner that the ancient persians were not equal to the lumieres of the eighteenth century, and that the authors of the avesta had not read the encyclopedie. jones ' s censure was echoed in england by sir john chardin and richardson, in germany by meiners. richardson tried to give a scientific character to the attacks of jones by founding them on philological, grounds 17. that the avesta was a fabrication


censure was echoed in england by sir john chardin and richardson, in germany by meiners. richardson tried to give a scientific character to the attacks of jones by founding them on philological, grounds 17. that the avesta was a fabrication of modern times was shown, he argued, by the number of arabic words he fancied he found both in the zend and pahlavi dialects, as no arabic element was introduced into the persian idioms earlier than the seventh century ; also by the harsh texture of the zend, contrasted with the rare euphony of the persian ; and, lastly, by the radical difference between the zend and persian, both in words and grammar. to these objections, drawn from the form, he added another derived from the uncommon stupidity of the matter. in germany, meiners, to the charges brought against the new found books, added another of a new and unexpected kind, namely, that they spoke of ideas unheard of before, and made known new things. ' pray, who would dare ascribe to zoroaster books in which are found numberless names of trees, animals, men, and demons unknown to the ancient persians ; in which are invoked an incredible number of pure animals and other things, which, as appears in the silence of ancient writers, were never known, or at least never worshipped, in persia? what greek ever spoke of hom, of jemshid, and, of such other personages as the fabricators of that rhapsody exalt with every kind of praise, as divine heroes 18? ' yet, in the midst of his ciceronian nonsense, meiners inadvertently made a remark which, if correctly interpreted, might have led to important discoveries. he noticed that many points of resemblance are to be found between the ideas of the parsis and those of the brahmans and musulmans. he saw in this a proof that parsiism is a medley of brahmanical and musulman tales. modern scholarship, starting from the same point, came to that twofold conclusion, that, on the one hard, parsiism was one of the elements out of which mohammed formed his religion, and, on the other hand, that the old religions of india and persia flowed from a common source. ' not only does the author of that rubbish tell the same tales of numberless demons of either sex as the indian priests do, but he also prescribes the same remedies in order to drive them away, and to balk


source. ' not only does the author of that rubbish tell the same tales of numberless demons of either sex as the indian priests do, but he also prescribes the same remedies in order to drive them away, and to balk their attempts. ' in these words there was something like the germ of comparative mythology ; seldom has a man approached the truth so closely and then departed from it so widely. anquetil and the avesta found an eager champion in the person of kleuker, professor in the university of riga. as soon as the french version of the avesta appeared, he published a german translation of it, and also of anquetil ' s historical dissertations 19. then, in a series of dissertations of his own 20, he vindicated the authenticity of the zend books. anquetil had already tried to show, in a memoir on plutarch, that the data of the avesta fully agree with the account of the magian religion given in the treatise on ' isis and osiris. ' kleuker enlarged the circle of comparison to the whole of ancient literature. he tried also to appeal to internal evidence, an attempt in which he was less successful. the strength of his defence was seldom greater than the strength of the attack. meiners had pointed out the mythical identity of the mount alborg, of the parsis with the mount meru of the hindus, as a proof that the parsis had borrowed their mythology from the hindus : the conclusion was incorrect, but the remark itself was not so. kleuker fancied that he could remove the difficulty by stating that mount alborg is a real mountain, nay, a doubly real mountain, since there are two mountains of that name, the one in persia, the other in armenia, whereas mount meru is only to be found in fairyland. seldom were worse arguments used in the service of a good cause. meiners had said that the name of the parsi demons was of indian origin, as both languages knew them by the latin name ' deus. ' this was an incorrect statement, and yet an important observation. the word which means ' a demon ' in persia, means quite the contrary in india, and that radical difference is just a proof of the two systems being independent of one another. kleuker pointed out the incorrectness of the statement ; but, being unable to account for the identity of the words, he flatly denied it. kleuker


difference is just a proof of the two systems being independent of one another. kleuker pointed out the incorrectness of the statement ; but, being unable to account for the identity of the words, he flatly denied it. kleuker was more successful in the field of philology : he showed, as anquetil had done, that zend has no arabic elements in it, and that pahlavi itself, which is more modern than zend, does not contain any arabic, but only semitic words of the aramean dialect, which are easily accounted for by the close relations of persia with aramean lands in the time of the sassanian kings. he showed, lastly, that arabic words appear only in the very books which parsi tradition itself considers modern. another stanch upholder of the avesta was the numismatologist tychsen, who, having begun to read the book with a prejudice against its authenticity, quitted it with a conviction to the contrary. ' there is nothing in it, ' he said, ' but what befits remote ages, and a man philosophising in the infancy of the world. such traces of a recent period as they fancy to have found in it, are either understandings, or belong to its later portions. on the whole there is a marvellous accordance between the zend - avesta and the accounts of the ancients with regard to the doctrine and institutions of zoroaster. plutarch agrees so well with the zend books that i think no one will deny the close resemblance of doctrines and identity of origin. add to all this the incontrovertible argument to be drawn from the language, the antiquity of which is established by the fact that it was necessary to translate a part of the zend books into pahlavi, a language which was obsolete as early as the time of the sassanides. lastly, it cannot be denied that zoroaster left books, which were, through centuries, the groundwork of the magic religion, and which were preserved by the magi, as shown by a series of documents from the time of hermippus. therefore i am unable to see why we should not trust the magi of our days when they ascribe to zoroaster those traditional books of their ancestors, in which nothing is found to indicate fraud or a modern hand 21. ' two years afterwards, in 1793, was published in paris a book which, without directly dealing with the avesta, was


to zoroaster those traditional books of their ancestors, in which nothing is found to indicate fraud or a modern hand 21. ' two years afterwards, in 1793, was published in paris a book which, without directly dealing with the avesta, was the first step taken to make its authenticity incontrovertible. it was the masterly memoir by sylvestre de sacy, in which the pahlavi inscriptions of the first sassanides were deciphered for the first time and in a decisive manner. de sacy, in his researches, had chiefly relied on the pahlavi lexicon published by anquetil, whose work vindicated itself - - better than by heaping up arguments - - by promoting discoveries. the pahlavi inscriptions gave the key, as is well known, to the persian cuneiform inscriptions, which were in return to put beyond all doubt the genuineness of the zend language. tychsen, in an appendix to his commentaries, pointed to the importance of the new discovery : ' this, ' he writes, ' is a proof that the pahlavi was used during the reign of the sassanides, for it was from them that these inscriptions emanated, as it was by them - - nay, by the first of them, ardeshir babagan - - that the doctrine of zoroaster was revived. one can now understand why the zend books were translated into pahlavi. here, too, everything agrees, and speaks loudly for their antiquity and genuineness. ' about the same time sir william jones, then president of the royal asiatic society, which he had just founded, resumed in a discourse delivered before that society the same question he had solved in such an off - hand manner twenty years before. he was no longer the man to say, ' sied - il a un homme ne dans ce siecle de s ’ infatuer de fables indiennes? ' and although he had still a spite against anquetil, he spoke of him with more reserve than in 1771. however, his judgment on the avesta itself was not altered on the whole, although, as he himself declared, he had not thought it necessary to study the text. but a glance at the zend glossary published by anquetil suggested to him a remark which makes sir william jones, in spite of himself, the creator of the comparative grammar of sanskrit and zend. ' when i perused the zend glossary, ' he writes,


glossary published by anquetil suggested to him a remark which makes sir william jones, in spite of himself, the creator of the comparative grammar of sanskrit and zend. ' when i perused the zend glossary, ' he writes, ' i was inexpressibly surprised to find that six or seven words in ten are pure sanscrit, and even some of their inflexions formed by the rules of the vyacaran 22, as yushmacam, the genitive plural of yushmad. now m. anquetil most certainly and the persian compiler most probably, had no knowledge of sanscrit, and could not, therefore, have invented a list of sanscrit words ; it is, therefore, an authentic list of zend words, which has been preserved in books or by tradition ; it follows that the language of the zend was at least a dialect of the sanscrit, approaching perhaps as nearly to it as the pracrit, or other popular idioms, which we know to have been spoken in india two thousand years ago 23. ' this conclusion, that zend is a sanskrit dialect, was incorrect, the connection assumed being too close ; but it was a great thing that the near relationship of the two languages should have been brought to light. in 1798 father paulo de st. barthelemy further developed jones ' s remark in an essay on the antiquity of the zend language 24. he showed its affinity with the sanskrit by a list of such zend and sanskrit words as were least likely to be borrowed, viz. those that designate the degrees of relationship, the limbs of the body, and the most general and essential ideas. another list, intended to show, on a special topic, how closely connected the two languages are, contains eighteen words taken from the liturgic language used in india and persia. this list was not very happily drawn up, as out of the eighteen instances there is not a single one that stands inquiry ; yet it was a happy idea, and one which has not even yet yielded all that it promised. his conclusions were that in a far remote antiquity sanskrit was spoken in persia and media, that it gave birth to the zend language, and that the zend - avesta is authentic : ' were it but a recent compilation, ' he writes, ' as jones asserts, how is it that the oldest rites of the parsis, that the old inscriptions of the persians, the accounts of the zoroastrian religion in the


authentic : ' were it but a recent compilation, ' he writes, ' as jones asserts, how is it that the oldest rites of the parsis, that the old inscriptions of the persians, the accounts of the zoroastrian religion in the classical writers, the liturgic prayers of the parsis, and, lastly, even their books do not reveal the pure sanskrit, as written in the land wherein the parsis live, but a mixed language, which is as different from the other dialects of india as french is from italian? ' this amounted, in fact, to saying that the zend is not derived from the sanskrit, but that both are derived from another and older language. the carmelite had a dim notion of that truth, but, as he failed to express it distinctly, it was lost for years, and had to be re - discovered. the first twenty - five years of this century were void of results, but the old and sterile discussions as to the authenticity of the texts continued in england. in 1808 john leyden regarded zend as a prakrit dialect, parallel to pali ; pali being identical with the magadhi dialect and zend with the sauraseni 25. in the eyes of erskine zend was a sanskrit dialect, imported from india by the founders of mazdeism, but never spoken in persia 26. his main argument was that zend is not mentioned among the seven dialects which were current in ancient persia according to the farhang - i jehangiri 27, and that pahlavi and persian exhibit no close relationship with zend. in germany, meiners had found no followers. the theologians appealed to the avesta in their polemics 28, and rhode sketched the religious history of persia after the translations of anquetil 29. erskine ' s essay provoked a decisive answer 30 from emmanuel rask, one of the most gifted minds in the new school of philology, who had the honour of being a precursor of both grimm and burnouf. he showed that the list of the jehangiri referred to an epoch later than that to which zend must have belonged, and to parts of persia different from those where it must have been spoken ; he showed further that modern persian is not derived from zend, but from a dialect closely connected with it ; and, lastly, he showed what was still more important, that zend was not derived from sanskrit. as to the system of its sounds, zend approaches persian rather than sanskrit ; and as to its grammatical forms


a dialect closely connected with it ; and, lastly, he showed what was still more important, that zend was not derived from sanskrit. as to the system of its sounds, zend approaches persian rather than sanskrit ; and as to its grammatical forms, if they often remind one of sanskrit, they also often remind one of greek and latin, and frequently have a special character of their own. rask also gave the paradigm of three zend nouns, belonging to different declensions, as well as the right pronunciation of the zend letters, several of which had been incorrectly given by anquetil. this was the first essay on zend grammar, and it was a masterly one. the essay published in 1831 by peter von bohlen on the origin of the zend language threw the matter forty years back. according to him, zend is a prakrit dialect, as it had been pronounced by jones, leyden, and erskine. his mistake consisted in taking anquetil ' s transcriptions of the words, which are often so incorrect as to make them look like corrupted forms when compared with sanskrit. and, what was worse, he took the proper names in their modern parsi forms, which often led him to comparisons that would have appalled menage. thus ahriman became a sanskrit word ariman, which would have meant ' the fiend ; ' yet bohlen might have seen in anquetil ' s work itself that ahriman is the modern form of angra mainyu, words which hardly remind one of the sanskrit ariman. again, the angel vohu - mano, or ' good thought ' was reduced, by means of the parsi form bahman, to the sanskrit bahuman, ' a long - armed god. ' at last came burnouf. from the time when anquetil had published his translation, that is to say, during seventy years, no real progress had been made in knowledge of the avesta texts. the notion that zend and sanskrit are two kindred languages was the only new idea that had been acquired, but no practical advantage for the interpretation of the texts had resulted from it. anquetil ' s translation was still the only guide, and as the doubts about the authenticity of the texts grew fainter, the authority of the translation became greater, the trust reposed in the avesta being reflected on to the work of its interpreter. the parsis had been the teachers of anquetil ; and who could ever understand the holy


texts grew fainter, the authority of the translation became greater, the trust reposed in the avesta being reflected on to the work of its interpreter. the parsis had been the teachers of anquetil ; and who could ever understand the holy writ of the parsis better than the parsis themselves? there was no one who even tried to read the texts by the light of anquetil ' s translation, to obtain a direct understanding of them. about 1825 eugene burnouf was engaged in a course of researches on the geographical extent of the aryan languages in india. after he had defined the limits which divide the races speaking aryan languages from the native non - brahmanical tribes in the south, he wanted to know if a similar boundary had ever existed in the north - west ; and if it is outside of india that the origin of the indian languages and civilisation is to be sought for. he was thus led to study the languages of persia, and, first of all, the oldest of them, the zend. but as he tried to read the texts by help of anquetil ' s translation, he was surprised to find that this was not the clue he had expected. he saw that two causes had misled anquetil : on the one hand, his teachers, the parsi dasturs, either knew little themselves or taught him imperfectly, not only the zend, but even the pahlavi intended to explain the meaning of the zend ; so that the tradition on which his work rested, being incorrect in itself, corrupted it from the very beginning ; on the other hand, as sanskrit was unknown to him and comparative grammar did not as yet exist, he could not supply the defects of tradition by their aid. burnouf, laying aside tradition as found in anquetil ' s translation, consulted it as found in a much older and purer form, in a sanskrit translation of the yasna made in the fifteenth century by the parsi neriosengh in accordance with the old pahlavi version. the information given by neriosengh he tested, and either confirmed or corrected, by a comparison of parallel passages and by the help of comparative grammar, which had just been founded by bopp, and applied by him successfully to the explanation of zend forms. thus he succeeded in tracing the general outlines of the zend lexicon and in fixing its grammatical forms, and founded the only correct method of interpreting the avesta. he also gave the first notions of a comparative mythology


the explanation of zend forms. thus he succeeded in tracing the general outlines of the zend lexicon and in fixing its grammatical forms, and founded the only correct method of interpreting the avesta. he also gave the first notions of a comparative mythology of the avesta and the veda, by showing the identity of the vedic yama with the avesta yima, and of traitana with thraetaona and feridun. thus he made his ' commentaire sur le yasna ' a marvellous and unparalleled model of critical insight and steady good sense, equally opposed to the narrowness of mind which clings to matters of fact without rising to their cause and connecting them with the series of associated phenomena, and to the wild and uncontrolled spirit of comparison, which, by comparing everything, confounds everything. never sacrificing either tradition to comparison or comparison to tradition, he knew how to pass from the one to the other, and was so enabled both to discover facts and explain them. at the same time the ancient persian inscriptions at persepolis and behistun were deciphered by burnouf in paris, by lassen in bonn, and by sir henry rawlinson in persia. thus was revealed the existence, at the time of the first achæmenian kings, of a language closely connected with that of the avesta, and the last doubts as to the authenticity of the zend books were at length removed. it would have required more than an ordinary amount of scepticism to look still upon the zend as an artificial language, of foreign importation, without root in the land where it was written, and in the conscience of the people for whom it was written, at the moment when a twin language, bearing a striking likeness to it in nearly every feature, was suddenly making itself heard from the mouth of darius, and speaking from the very tomb of the first achæmenian king. that unexpected voice silenced all controversies, and the last echoes of the loud discussion which had been opened in 1771 died away unheeded 31. click on footnote numbers to return to the text above 1 at the battle of nihavand ( 642 a. c. ) 2 ahura mazda. 3 they settled first at sangan, not far from daman ; thence they spread over surat, nowsari, broach, and kambay ; and within the last two centuries they have settled at bombay, which now contains the bulk of


. 3 they settled first at sangan, not far from daman ; thence they spread over surat, nowsari, broach, and kambay ; and within the last two centuries they have settled at bombay, which now contains the bulk of the parsi people, nearly 150, 000 souls. 4 a century ago, it is said, they still numbered nearly 100, 000 souls ; but there now remain no more than 8000 or 9000 souls, scattered in yezd and the surrounding villages ( dosabhoy framjee, the parsees ). 5 diogenes laertius, prooemium 8. 6 pliny, hist. nat. xxx, 1, 2. cf. infra, iii, 11. 7 dinon, theopompus, hermodorus, heraclides cumanus. 8 see nicolaus damazcenus, didot, fragm. hist. iii, 409. 9 fabricius, graeca bibliotheca, fourth ad. p. 309 seq. 10 clemens alexandrinus, stromata i. cf. infra, iii, 11, and porphyrius, de vita plotini, § 16. 11 ' de regio persarum principatu libri tres, ' paris, 1590. the second book is devoted to the religion and manners of the ancient persians. 12 ' veterum persarum et parthorum et medorum, religionis historia, ' oxford, 1700. 13 thus he recognised in abraham the first lawgiver of ancient persia, in magism a sabean corruption of the primeval faith, and in zoroaster a had learnt the forgotten truth from the exiled jews in babylon. 14 ' zend - avesta, ouvrage de zoroastre, contenant les idees theologiques, physiques et morales de ce legislateur.... traduit en francois sur l ’ original zend. ' par m. anquetil du perron, 3 vols. in 4o, paris, 1771. 15 ' lettre a m. a * * * du p * * * dans laquelle est compris l ’ examen de sa traduction des livres attribues zoroastre. ' 16 cf. the article on zoroaster in the dictionnaire philosophique. 17 ' a dissertation on the


- hhmi news - scientists & research - janelia farm - science education - resources & publications browse all resources by typeanimation ( 3 ) book / manual ( 4 ) cd ( 1 ) classroom activity ( 12 ) college course ( 6 ) curriculum ( 11 ) game ( 1 ) kit ( 1 ) lab ( 9 ) lesson plan ( 5 ) publication ( 23 ) software ( 3 ) tutorial ( 5 ) video ( 24 ) website ( 47 ) wiki ( 2 ) by topicbiochemistry ( 14 ) biodiversity ( 3 ) bioengineering ( 3 ) bioethics ( 3 ) bioinformatics ( 8 ) biology ( 104 ) biotechnology ( 9 ) cell biology ( 3 ) chemistry ( 17 ) earth science ( 1 ) ecology ( 9 ) engineering ( 1 ) evolution ( 10 ) general science ( 15 ) genetics ( 29 ) genomics ( 13 ) immunology ( 2 ) infectious diseases ( 1 ) life science ( 65 ) mathematics ( 9 ) medicine ( 6 ) microarrays ( 5 ) microbiology ( 3 ) molecular biology ( 34 ) neuroscience ( 7 ) physics ( 5 ) plants ( 2 ) professional development ( 35 ) research methods ( 12 ) science communication ( 2 ) systems biology ( 1 ) by grade levelk - 16 ( 1 ) 4 - 8 ( 1 ) k - 5 ( 6 ) medical school ( 6 ) k - 3 ( 2 ) k - 8 ( 2 ) k - 12 ( 9 ) 6 - 8 ( 18 ) 9 - 12 ( 52 ) college ( 101 ) graduate ( 21 ) folded - list study tool this article describes the folded - list study technique, a method designed by professor of biology paul heideman at the college of william and mary, to give students a fast and efficient way to learn, recall, and apply key science concepts. ( it is designed to be used in conjunction with the “ minute sketch ” tool, which is available within this database. ) this document explains the method : using a blank piece of paper folded lengthwise into four sections, students create one column for words and one for sketches or images. in the words column, they write the term or phrase for the first key concept. in the next column, they create a simple sketch to represent the concept. they keep adding words and sketches until the page is filled ( although, over time, they should be able to condense all the essential material from one entire lecture on the top half of one sheet ). next, students fold the earlier columns behind and engage in repeated sketching and


until the page is filled ( although, over time, they should be able to condense all the essential material from one entire lecture on the top half of one sheet ). next, students fold the earlier columns behind and engage in repeated sketching and writing of these concepts in columns three and four. the recopying and rethinking of these concepts engages a student ’ s motor memory and visual cortex. dr. heideman says that his method forces students to extract the essentials from a large amount of material and learn the key concepts as sequential events. it is an active - learning method that engages students ’ attention and allows them to review material quickly and to assess how much they have accomplished within a given time. dr. heideman says the method can be applied to other study techniques, such as concept mapping. program director : margaret somosi saha, ph. d. award years : 1989, 1998, 2002, 2006 summary : the college of william and mary is a public research university in williamsburg, virginia. its hhmi - funded educational initiatives emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary and integrative approaches to education and research. they include : - the development of a biological mathematics program ( which includes substantial curricular changes and the addition of new faculty positions ), the strengthening of the interdisciplinary neuroscience major, and the establishment of a new undergraduate applied science minor. - the enhancement of both introductory biology and chemistry and upper - level immunology, molecular genetics, physiology, and neurophysiology laboratories through new equipment and expanded laboratory exercises. - the hhmi freshman research program in biology and chemistry and related sciences, which allows participating students to conduct independent research with a faculty mentor very early in their college careers — as freshmen. many of these students have the opportunity to continue their research during the following summer and throughout the next three years. - student participation in the national genomics research initiative ( ngri ), a national experiment in both research and education sponsored by hhmi ’ s science education alliance. through this initiative, groups of freshmen at selected colleges participate in an authentic research experience — integrated into an introductory laboratory course — on the genetics of phages or bacteriophages ( viruses that infect bacteria ). freshmen in the college of william and mary ’ s program discovered a new life form, a bacteriophage they named crimd. - the expansion of a summer fellowship program to include students at thomas nelson community college and three neighboring hbcu — hampton university, norfolk state university, and virginia state


a new life form, a bacteriophage they named crimd. - the expansion of a summer fellowship program to include students at thomas nelson community college and three neighboring hbcu — hampton university, norfolk state university, and virginia state university. students in this program have the option of continuing their research project throughout the academic year and receive an hourly stipend and weekend transportation and carpooling. - partnerships with hampton university, norfolk state university, and virginia state university to enable faculty to work together with research students at both the home campus and the college of william and mary. the objective and anticipated outcomes are to establish lasting collaborations that improve opportunities for publication and the development of ideas for competitive grant proposals, either independently or in collaboration with faculty from the college of william and mary. - the saturday and summer enrichment programs, which allow young children with high abilities to explore specialized areas of science, mathematics, and the arts and humanities. - the science training and research program ( star ), a four - week residential summer enrichment program that serves high - school juniors from disadvantaged backgrounds. the program, which offers core science and mathematics courses and an opportunity to visit research centers and laboratories, is designed to introduce students to the world of science, research, and technology. - a series of “ update courses ” tailored to help middle and high - school teachers develop both a knowledge base and practical experience with topics — such as microbiology and molecular biotechnology — that are the stated components of the standards of learning for the commonwealth of virginia. participants also help design teaching modules that help integrate the science topics into the classroom.


parshuram did not stay with his parents. instead he wanted to go for penance somewhere in badrinath. before leaving, he promised to visit his parents once a year. renuka fair is held to commemorate parshuram ' s visit to his mother. on the 10th day of the bright half of the month kartika ( november ) the idol of parshurarn, seated in a well decorated palanquin, is taken out in procession which treks the path of some eight kilometers from village jamu to the site of the lake renuka. the two deities held as embodiments of the lord parshuram, from villages kattah and masu, also join the procession, which is attended by hill orchestra. a few folk dancers dressed in long garb with loose sleeves add to the gaiety of theprocession as they dance to the accompaniment of the folk music. on the ilth day i. e. ekadashi, the son stays with his mother and on the 12th afternoon he takes leave for jamu with a promise to visit next year. " * the minjar fair has different legends. " the week - long festivities of the colorful minjar fair of chamba start on the second sunday of shrawan ( august ). when was minjar first celebrated is not known but the present form of the fair is attributed to raja shahil verma who ruled the state in the 10th century. * the cultural heritage of the himalayas by k. l. vaidya, ( national, 1977 ), page 34 - 35.


pets for life points the way to better animal health and reduced shelter overpopulation through community outreach the humane society of the united states today released the report “ pets for life – a new community understanding. ” this report explains that increasing access and removing cost barriers to animal care and veterinary services for pet owners in underserved areas will improve community animal health and reduce shelter overpopulation. the report uses data gathered from events organized by the hsus pets for life team and local partners to provide free and low - cost pet wellness and spay / neuter services for people in underserved communities. pfl is a program of the hsus that employs innovative strategies and fresh approaches to extend the reach of animal services, resources, and information for the sake of building humane communities. in difficult economic times, families can have trouble providing for the health and welfare of pets. with two - thirds of american families having pets and nearly one in every six americans living at or below poverty level, it ’ s more important than ever to reach out to those in need with workable answers. among the key findings in the report : more than half, 53 percent, of the owners of unaltered pets surveyed had never seen a veterinarian before. there is a growing gap between underserved pet owners and veterinary service providers and this has severe consequences for companion animal overpopulation and overall health. the vast majority, 87 percent, of attendees at pets for life events had never contacted their local animal control or animal shelter organization for any reason. it is critical for leaders in the animal welfare field to recognize the unmet needs in their communities and the impact on companion animal health and overpopulation. meeting people in the neighborhoods where they live, and marketing services strategically using canvassing and community organizing techniques, is much more effective than traditional advertising in reaching owners of unaltered pets in underserved communities. adequate follow - up is critical to build relationships and ensure that animal veterinary needs are met. “ pets are one of the greatest common denominators across social, economic and cultural boundaries and are a very important part of most people ’ s lives, ” said amanda arrington, associate director for pets for life. “ recognizing that so many people in underserved communities are struggling to care for their pets with little to no basic health care and wellness resources available is heart - breaking. the animal welfare, veterinary and related fields must take this as a call to action and work together to ensure that all pet owners have the information, resources, and services they


jump to : page content graduate degree : mit, department of urban studies and planning the satellite cities can also gain by cooperating rather than competing for economic development. compared to large cities like boston, the gbscs have few resources to devote towards attracting new employers. since they offer very similar environments to prospective businesses, they are frequently competing with one another by giving away tax incentives. the winning city often gains very little. if gbscs work together they could market themselves as a group to industry groups. sharing their resources would allow them to design more sophisticated sales strategies and promote a more unified image of the advantages of the region ’ s medium - sized cities. gbscs can also turn the fact that they have been abandoned by industry into an advantage. the gbscs are relatively clean and quiet urban environments. they can market this advantage by creating " green " campaigns. the cities could work together to tailor environmental plans that would generate energy and cost savings for the cities and their residents. these plans could be created by officials from each city working with students studying environmental planning at local universities. greater boston is an increasingly expensive area to live and do business. the danger is that the region will suffer as firms seek less expensive business environments. fortunately there is an alternative vision. the recent recovery of inner - city neighborhoods in places like boston, cambridge and somerville demonstrates that there is demand for dense urban living – demand that far exceeds the available supply. medium - sized older historic cities offer vital attractive living environments to families and new dense nodes of activity to growing businesses. in order to achieve this vision, local leaders from gbscs must cooperate and convince powerbrokers beyond their borders that their cities can become ideal destinations.


dear helen : i cannot find tuberous roots or plants of peruvian lily ( alstroemeria ), a flower i used to grow. j. c. dear j. c. : packages of roots for alstroemeria aurea ( a. aurantiaca ), which has beautiful yellow or orange flowers, used to be commonly available in late winter and early spring. this is not so currently and i ' m not sure why. either the plants have lost popularity and gone out of fashion, or their bad habits have caught up with them. once very well established, the roots become an aggressively travelling weed from hell, sprouting amid desirable plants. it is almost impossible to eradicate. ask one who knows. dwarf hybrids that bloom in pinks, purples and white are sometimes available as potted plants in late spring, but even these are seen far less frequently. i did track down a grower still producing these plants, but they grow mainly to supply costco and safeway stores, with any leftovers distributed to garden centres that order them. they ' ll appear about late may. alstroemerias can be grown from seed. chiltern seeds offers a good selection, but choose dwarf species or ligtu hybrids. avoid the devil weed. dear helen : early last spring we sowed parsnip seeds, which germinated well but the roots never developed to any usable size. we left them in the ground over the winter. they are sprouting now, and we wonder whether they can be left to develop worthwhile roots this summer. dear j. & g. c. : the parsnip plants that have wintered in the garden will put their energies this growing season into producing a flower stem and setting seed. the roots will not be usable for eating. hopefully, you ' ll have better luck with parsnips this year. parsnips and beets are two root vegetables that seem to present chronic problems for home gardeners, with the issue most often being failure of the roots to size up properly. changing soil acidity levels and variety choice are worth looking at. in most of our area, treating the soil with lime is helpful for both beet and parsnip development. parsnips grow best in a soil that is slightly acid to slightly alkaline, with a ph range of 6. 0 to 7. 5. left to their own devices, our garden soils become more acidic as alkaline elements wash away in winter rains


grow best in a soil that is slightly acid to slightly alkaline, with a ph range of 6. 0 to 7. 5. left to their own devices, our garden soils become more acidic as alkaline elements wash away in winter rains. in my current garden, i need to apply at least a light dusting of dolopril to my plots before seeding to get decent growth in beets, parsnips and spinach. parsnips don ' t need a rich soil, and often grow best in plots that were fertilized and plumped with compost for the crop grown previously in the site. thinning the plants early helps. gladiator is the variety that consistently grows the best for me. the flavour is at its best after frosts in the fall. eaglecrest meeting. the eaglecrest garden club will meet at 7 : 30 tonight at the qualicum beach civic centre. candice coghill from the new cultivate garden and gift nursery in parksville will give a demonstration on propagation. all are welcome to the meeting. information at 250 - 752 - 5315. chrysanthemum meeting. the victoria chrysanthemum society will meet thursday at 7 : 30 p. m. in the st. matthias church hall, 600 richmond ave. ( at richardson ). government house volunteers. the friends of government house gardens are seeking volunteers to help maintain the gardens and woodlands during tuesday and thursday morning work sessions. anyone interested is invited to an orientation session tuesday, march 27, at 9 : 30 a. m. at government house. more information at 250 - 744 - 4019. hcp courses. the following courses are offered at the horticulture centre of the pacific, 505 quayle rd. in saanich. phone 250 - 479 - 6162 to register. www. hcp. ca. - listen, interpret, create : a unique response to nature, saturday, march 31, 1 to 4 p. m. and sunday, april 1, 1 to 4 p. m. in two sessions artist karen hibbard will guide participants in seeing and hearing gardens in a new way and in producing art work. no experience is necessary. all materials are supplied. cost to hcp members is $ 75, others $ 105. - build a mason bee condo, saturday, march 31, 1 to 4 p. m. no carpentry experience is necessary. instructor gord hutchings will ensure everyone will go home


whenever cardiac conditions develop these conditions, weaken or damage your heart, which leads to heart failure. in a weakened condition, the heart over time can no longer keep up with even the normal demands placed on it. the ventricles may become stiff and not fill properly between beats. the heart ventricles stretch ( dilate ) to the point that the heart cannot pump blood efficiently throughout your body. the failing pump causes blood and fluid to back up throughout your circulatory system. the circulatory system consists of your lungs, legs, feet and ankles. the kidneys retain excess water and sodium. all this builds up is the congestive part of your heart failure. the lung congestion occurs only with left - sided heart failure with fluid backing up into the lungs. the most common cause of right sided heart failure is left sided heart failure. when the fluid fills up the left side of the heart the pressure in the lungs passes to the right side of the heart, which then fails. the fluid then collects in the abdomen and lower extremities which all leads up to heart failure. heart failure develops quickly after a heart attack. the heart failure can also develop after years of high blood pressure or coronary artery disease. a defective valve may cause heart failure. a heart valve replacement in this case will prevent heart failure. a specialist normally does the surgical part, which is a cardiologist. many times people think that such things cause heart failure as smoking, being overweight or eating foods high in cholesterol and fat but there is a condition known as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy were the heart weakens without explanation. this condition will also cause you congestive heart failure if not properly taken seriously. you might be suffering from if you have heart failure several conditions. these conditions can weaken your heart over time and be present without you being aware that you have the problem. the follow is a brief description of some conditions that affect the heart : - the most common cause of heart failure is coronary artery disease. a process called atherosclerosis, which is a build up of fatty deposits in the arteries. this fatty build up causes the blood to narrow a process called plaque, which leaves chronically deprived of oxygen - rich blood pump less vigorously. a heart attack occurs if an unstable plaque not function well it will cause a blood clot in turn completely blocks the blood flow to an area of the heart muscle. this is one of the most common causes of heart failure. - there are several


. a heart attack occurs if an unstable plaque not function well it will cause a blood clot in turn completely blocks the blood flow to an area of the heart muscle. this is one of the most common causes of heart failure. - there are several other reasons that might cause heart failure but we shall discuss the next highest reason for now. high blood pressure ( hypertension ) is the force of blood pumped by your heart through your arteries. when your blood pressure is high then your heart has to work harder causing failure. take your cardiologists advice watch your weight and exercise your on the way to a heart healthy way of life. frank mangano ’ s e - book, “ the blood pressure miracle ”, is the best way to naturally and permanently lower your blood pressure without using any pharmaceutical drugs. the program in this book is a unique, all - natural system for lowering your blood pressure that is not based on a single approach such as stress reduction, or herbs or special foods or exercise. it ’ s actually a combination of every method that has ever been scientifically proven to work, complied into one comprehensive lifestyle program. this is why the program has been so successful for so many people. the best part of the program is the 60 - day plan that ’ s included in the appendix. it makes the whole program a no brainer to make a part of your daily life because frank gives you a single change you can make to your daily routine, one day at a time. if you change the little things one at a time, they all add up and the results over the weeks and months can be astonishing. frank also offers an unconditional, risk - free 60 - day guarantee, which is very generous and shows that he has faith that his 60 day plan will lower your blood pressure or else you get your money back. if you want to purchase frank mangano ’ s e - book, “ the blood pressure miracle ” and learn more about frank ’ s natural blood - pressure reducing methods, then please click here to get more information!


one of the main morphological differences between men and women is the greater amount of fat that women carry ; this softens the outline of the muscles, more or less erases the osseous indicators, and rounds out the surfaces while creating characteristic folds and grooves. fat in normal women represents between 18 % and 20 % of body weight, whereas in men it represents only 10 % to 15 %. the reason for this difference is that women at some point in their lives may nourish a fetus and then a baby from their own reserves, so women have to stock energy in the form of fat in anticipation of future pregnancies ( and must stock even more energy during the last two trimesters of pregnancy ). for various reasons, different fat distributions occur in women according to climate. in hot countries, the fat is localized on the buttocks ( black africans ), on the hips ( mediterraneans ), and around the navel ( certain asians ). this distribution avoids covering the woman with a hot coat of fat that would be difficult to bear and inefficient for thermoregulation during hot periods. in cold countries, the distribution of fat is more uniform, which provides for better protection during rigorous winters. however the fat is distributed, its main function is for the survival of the species as it provides for survival of the woman and her offspring during times of scarcity. it is important to note that all healthy people have fat reserves necessary for the proper functioning of their bodies. obsession with obesity or the need to follow deviant aesthetic fashions should not lead to the complete elimination of fat. in fact, the almost complete disappearance of fat can lead to serious hormonal problems involving the cessation of the period ( amenorrhea, which is a temporary absence of ovulation and therefore momentary sterility ), as this means has been put in place during evolution to avoid bringing progeny into the world that the female could not nourish with her own organic reserves. primary fat deposits fat reserves accumulate in very specific areas on the body. generally they avoid the flexion folds at the joints in order not to interfere with movement. fat accumulations are often distributed the same in both sexes ; the main difference is in the greater development on certain areas in women. 1. the buttocks the buttock region can be quite prominent in women ; this is almost entirely due to fat that is contained by the gluteal fold. besides its role as an energy reserve, this concentration protects the anal


in women. 1. the buttocks the buttock region can be quite prominent in women ; this is almost entirely due to fat that is contained by the gluteal fold. besides its role as an energy reserve, this concentration protects the anal area and helps make the sitting position more comfortable by cushioning the direct contact between the bones ( ischial tuberosities ) and the ground or supporting surface. the gluteal fold the gluteal fold is made up of tough, fibrous tracts that connect the deep surface of the skin in the gluteal area to the ischium. the main consequence of this fibours attachement is to contain the fat in a sort of pocket, which prevents it from falling down against the back of the thigh while at the same time increasing the volume of the buttock. when certain people age, this fat empties and the bottom of the buttock withers, even going so far as to hang down. only appropriate training of the buttock area will compensates for the disappearance of fat and the loss of tone through muscle development that maintains the buttocks from the inside. 2. low back second in importance, this concentration merges with the gluteal area so that the buttock increases in height until it seems to go up to the waist. 3. below the trochanter, or “ riding breeches ” frequently found in mediterranean women, this concentration can be quite bulky. located on the superior part of the lateral thigh just below the depression of the greater trochanter, it blends with the fatty tissue of the anterior surface of the thigh and, at the posterior, with that of the buttocks. when there is a lot of fat in this area we often observe many more or less deep depressions on the surface of the skin, referred to as a “ pitted ” or “ cottage cheese ” surface. this is due to inelastic fibrous tracts that, like little cables, connect the deep surface of the skin at the level of the depressions to the enveloping aponeurosis of the muscle, with the adipose tissue creating bumps or bulges in between ( a quiltlike phenomenon ). 4. between the thighs relatively common in women, fat in this location plays an important aesthetic role in that it fills the space between the two thighs ; it is often more noticeable in women than in men. 5. around the navel as in the subtrochanteric location, the periumbil


we think of the five senses as exclusive to living things processing sights and sounds requires eyes, ears and, most important, a brain — right? but what if your hardware shared your senses? in the era of cognitive computing, systems learn instead of passively relying on programming. as a result, emerging technologies will continue to push the boundaries of human limitations to enhance and augment our senses with machine learning, artificial intelligence ( ai ), advanced speech recognition and more. no need to call for superman when we have real super senses at hand. this year ibm presents the 5 in 5 in five sensory categories, through innovations that will touch our lives and see us into the future. from ibm ' s chief innovation officer read what he says about the 5 in 5 the poll is closed, but you can follow up and continue the discussion on ibm ' s people for a smarter planet facebook page. touch : you will be able to touch through your phone in the 1970s, when a telephone company encouraged us to " reach out and touch someone, " it had no idea that a few decades later that could be more than a metaphor. infrared and haptic technologies will enable a smart phone ' s touchscreen technology and vibration capabilities to simulate the physical sensation of touching something. so you could experience the silkiness of that catalog ' s egyptian cotton sheets instead of just relying on some copywriter to convince you. associate director, ibm research, retail analytics sight : a pixel will be worth a thousand words recognition systems can pinpoint a face in a crowd. in the future, computer vision might save a life by analyzing patterns to make sense of visuals in the context of big data. in industries as varied as healthcare, retail and agriculture, a system could gather information and detect anomalies specific to the task — such as spotting a tiny area of diseased tissue in an mri and applying it to the patient ' s medical history for faster, more accurate diagnosis and treatment. senior manager, intelligent information management hearing : computers will hear what matters before the tree fell in the forest, did anyone hear it? sensors that pick up sound patterns and frequency changes will be able to predict weakness in a bridge before it buckles, the deeper meaning of your baby ' s cry or, yes, a tree breaking down internally before it falls. by analyzing verbal traits and including multi - sensory information, machine hearing and speech recognition could even be sensitive enough to advance dialogue across languages and cultures. ibm research scientist taste : digital taste buds will help you eat smarter the challenge of providing food — whether it '


all you want to know : pigments and cooking there are several characteristics of vegetables that influence the way we cook them. one of these is colour. no matter what colour a raw vegetable is, we want to preserve as much as possible of that colour. vegetables may be grouped by colour into four categories : red : beets, red cabbage, red beans green : beans, broccoli, asparagus, peas artichokes, okra, brusselsprouts, spinach, parsley. yellow : carrots, yams, squashes, sweet potatoes, white : potatoes, turnips, celery, cauliflower, onions, mushrooms, cucumbers, zucchini these colours come from the pigments in the vegetables. certain pigments react to acids, alkalis, or heat during cooking, undergoing chemical changes that cause the vegetable to change colour. it is important to know which pigments are susceptible to colour change and how to deal with them during the process of cooking. red vegetables : the pigments in red vegetables are known as anthocyanins. these pigments are red in an acid medium but will change to blue or purple in an alkaline medium. they are also water soluble and therefore can draw out the colour into the cooking medium. egs. : beetroot - one would have to cook it with the skin on, so that the colour does not leach out into the water. cook covered so the acids do not evaporate. red cabbage in an alkaline medium will not only lose its redness, but will also turn purple, blue or green. green vegetables ; chlorophyll ’ s action to acid is the opposite of the red vegetables. they keep their colour best if cooked in a slightly alkaline medium. it would seem ideal to include baking soda in the cooking medium to increase alkalinity - not so! if only colour were the quality desired then this approach would be fine. baking soda has other less desirable effects. it tends to destroy such nutrients as vitamins, and also makes the vegetables more mushy and sometimes gives it a bitter taste. note - the dark green colour in canned green vegetables is because of prolonged cooking at high temperatures to prevent botulism. yellow vegetables ; the pigments here are known as carotene ’ s, and there are several types which range from the yellow in corn, to the orange in carrots, to the red in tomatoes. they do not suffer any colour loss in


yellow vegetables ; the pigments here are known as carotene ’ s, and there are several types which range from the yellow in corn, to the orange in carrots, to the red in tomatoes. they do not suffer any colour loss in acidic or alkaline medium, however if the vegetable is overcooked then it can lose some amount of colour. white vegetables ; the flavones are the pigments in these veggies! they remain white in acid, but turn yellow in an alkaline medium, so a bit of lemon juice or a cover on the pot is in order. note ; the ph value of a material indicates its acidity or alkalinity. acids are characterized by hydrogen ions ( h + ), while alkalis or bases by hydroxyl ions ( oh ). to test the ph value of a material a scale of numerical value ranging from 1 ( for very acidic ) to 14 ( for very alkaline ) has been developed and is in common use. the whole ph scale has been so devised that each whole step represents a tenfold change in the degree of acidity. thus a solution with a ph of 5 is ten times more acidic than a solution with a ph of 6. similarly a solution with a ph of 4 is hundred times more acidic than a solution with a ph of 6. - salad greens go limp and discolour when salad dressings are poured over them, a long time before service. this is because the acids first of all destroy the chlorophyll. the reaction here takes a long time, because there is no heat involved in this reaction. secondly the acids and the seasonings in the dressings draw out the moisture in the leaves - this leaves the salad all limp. - fresh milk has a ph of 6. 6. as it ages the milk sugar lactose is converted to lactic acid, and at a ph of around 6. 4 the change in the ph along wit the other changes can be detected in taste. we say that milk is sour at a ph of around 5 where the coagulation of protein takes place and the milk has curdled. - table wines have a ph of between 3 to 3. 5 and beers a ph of about 4 to 5. - the ph of living muscle is about neutral, but becomes acidic after death due to the formation of lactic acid from glycogen. - did you know that egg white is alkaline while egg yolk is acidic? image credit : almightydad


a first - degree burn is the least serious type of burn in which only the outer layer of skin is burned, and not all the way through. the skin is usually red, swollen and possibly painful. as long as it doesn ’ t involve a substantial portion of skin in places like the face or major joints, a first - degree burn can be treated as a minor burn. even these “ minor ” burns, however, should be treated correctly to prevent complications. whether you live alone or with a large family, it ’ s important to know how to prevent common household burns, as well as how to treat minor burns. safe kids canada, the national injury prevention program of the hospital for sick children, reminds parents and caretakers that children are particularly vulnerable to burns because their skin is thinner than an adult ' s skin. a child ' s skin burns 4 times more quickly and deeply than an adult ' s at the same temperature. scalding injuries, caused by hot water and liquids, are unfortunately common. to avoid these types of burns, be sure to keep cooking materials and hot liquids out of reach when children are nearby. always test the temperature of bath water and any drinking liquids before they come in contact with a child. if a minor burn does occur, use these recommendations : • cool the burn by holding the injury under cool – not cold – running water for 10 or 15 minutes or until the pain subsides. you can also immerse the burn in a bowl of cool water or use a cold compress. • don ' t put ice on the burn. • cover the burn with a sterile gauze bandage. don ' t use fluffy cotton or other materials that easily stick to the wound. wrap the gauze loosely to avoid putting pressure on burned skin. • take an over - the - counter pain reliever such as aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen or acetaminophen. use caution when giving aspirin to children and teenagers, and call your doctor with any questions or concerns. • don ' t apply butter or ointments to the burn ( unless a specific ointment or cream is advised by your healthcare provider ). • don ' t break blisters. most minor burns heal on their own. if your burn doesn ’ t heal within 10 days to two weeks, or if you experience a fever, excessive swelling or blisters filled with coloured fluid, however, seek immediate medical attention. for more information about burns and first aid, visit safe kids canada


almost one million school children think professor green is a scientist, says study almost one million school children aged five to 16 think rapper professor green is a scientist, according to research. children are more familiar with mark zuckerberg, the creator of facebook ( 68 % correctly identified him ), than physicist albert einstein who discovered the theory of relativity ( only 45 % correctly identified him ), the poll by haier home appliances reveals. although one in five children ( 19 % ) know and love tv professor brian cox, a large proportion are unable to identify a number of significant, heavyweight names from the world of science and innovation, including charles darwin ( 63 % unable to identify ), louis pasteur ( 75 % ), thomas edison ( 62 % ) and isaac newton ( 61 % ). despite spending an average 17 hours and 34 minutes in front a tv screen every week, almost half ( 45 % ) do not know that john logie baird invented the television. in fact, a quarter of eight - year - olds think david cameron invented it ( 23. 83 % ). other key findings from the survey are : : around a third five - year - olds ( 35 % ) think boris johnson discovered gravity : : almost a quarter of eight - year - olds ( 22 % ) think stephen hawking is a hairdresser : : around a fifth of seven - year - olds ( 22 % ) believe thomas edison created facebook : : nearly a tenth of children ( 8 % ) think charles darwin was a reality tv star : : around one in 20 school children ( 6 % ) believe the x factor judge tulisa contostavlos created penicillin. around a third of key stage three pupils ( 35 % ) do not know that isaac newton discovered gravity, despite energy transfer and physical processes being part of the school curriculum. jeff moody, sales and marketing director of haier home appliances uk, said : " it is eye opening to discover that children of today are more aware of popular figures like mark zuckerberg than men and women who have made iconic discoveries and inventions that have revolutionised the modern world. " at haier, we put science at the very heart of everything we do and we passionately believe the future of innovation lies in the scientific interest and imagination of the next generation. " the research was commissioned as part of haier ' s let children dream campaign and supports its partnership with the science museum and its children ' s create it drawing wall where children are encouraged to dream up and draw their ideas and inventions. : : hai


" the research was commissioned as part of haier ' s let children dream campaign and supports its partnership with the science museum and its children ' s create it drawing wall where children are encouraged to dream up and draw their ideas and inventions. : : haier surveyed 1, 000 children, aged between 5 and 16 on october 8. that ' s some guestlist! stunning images show huge dynastic wedding between ultra - orthodox jewish families which attracted 25, 000 guests man and woman arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder victim of woolwich machete attack, named as drummer lee rigby ' sickening, deluded and unforgivable ' : horrific attack brings terror to london ’ s streets video : woolwich attack - man with bloodied hands and knife addresses camera ingrid loyau - kennett, the mother - of - two hailed as a hero for confronting woolwich attackers, thought : ' better me than a child ' - 2 ' sickening, deluded and unforgivable ' : horrific attack brings terror to london ’ s streets - 4 woolwich murder : they killed, then they performed - these men should be starved of our attention - 5 woolwich attack : the edl will seek to exploit this evil crime for their own evil ends bmf is the uk ’ s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes get the latest on the evening standard ' s campaign to get london ' s children reading. win anything from gadgets to five - star holidays on our competitions and offers page.


millions of tons of debris washed out to sea from north - east japan by the march 11 tsunami has embarked on a 10 - year circuit of the pacific, endangering shipping and wildlife. the french environmental group robin des bois estimates that a large percentage of the 25 million tons of debris created by the magnitude 9 earthquake and the tsunami that it triggered has been sucked out to sea. insurance costs for damage caused across japan likely to be in region of £9bn adding further blow to indebted economy a firefighter looks at burned - out vehicles at hitachi port, north - eastern japan, the day after the giant quake and tsunami struck. photograph : ap industry in the world ’ s third - largest economy all but ground to a halt following the earthquake, as manufacturers ranging from toyota to nissan, sony, fuji and brewers kirin and sapporo shut down their operations in japan to assess damage and allow staff to check on their families. the quake is a shattering blow to japan ’ s already heavily indebted economy, which recently endured a downgrade in its credit rating. finance minister yoshihiko noda raised the prospect of an emergency budget to cope with reconstruction costs, but suggested that this would be hard to compile before the end of march. jakarta ( reuters ) – indonesia ’ s mount merapi volcano erupted on monday for the third time in a week, driving the number of refugees to almost 70, 000, as the death toll from a tsunami thousands of kilometers to the west rose to 431, officials said. the fresh eruption forced a thick ash cloud around 1. 5 kilometers ( 0. 9 miles ) into the air above merapi, which sits on the outskirts of yogyakarta city in central java, and caused panicked residents to flee villages on the slopes of the mountain for safety shelters. the national disaster mitigation agency said that 38 people have been killed and 69, 533 evacuated since merapi began erupting last week, while indonesia ’ s vulcanology agency warned that flights around yogyakarta may be disrupted. dozens of injured survivors of a tsunami off western indonesia today languished at a sorely strapped hospital alongside a newly orphaned 2 - month - old baby found in a storm drain, as the death toll from the disaster rose above 400. the injured lay on mats or the bare floor as rainwater dripped onto them from holes in the ceiling and intravenous cords hung from plastic ropes strung from the rafters. the baby, its lungs filled with fluid and with cuts on


above 400. the injured lay on mats or the bare floor as rainwater dripped onto them from holes in the ceiling and intravenous cords hung from plastic ropes strung from the rafters. the baby, its lungs filled with fluid and with cuts on its face, blinked sleepily in a humidified crib. “ we need doctors, specialists, ” nurse anputra said at the tiny hospital in pagai utara — one of the four main islands in the mentawai chain slammed by monday ’ s tsunami. the toll from the tsunami and the 7. 7 - magnitude earthquake beneath the indian ocean that spawned it rose to 408 today as officials found more bodies, and 303 people were still missing, said agus prayitno, of the west sumatra provincial disaster management center. rescue teams “ believe many, many of the bodies were swept to sea, ” said harmensyah, the disaster center ’ s chief. along with the 33 people killed by a volcano that erupted tuesday more than 800 miles ( 1, 300 kilometers ) to the east in central java, the number of dead from indonesia ’ s twin disasters this week has now reached 441. the downtown of fagatoga was flooded when a tsunami hit american samoa early on tuesday. ( ap ) sydney, australia — a powerful tsunami generated by an undersea earthquake killed more than two dozen people and wiped out several villages in the tropical islands of american samoa and samoa early on tuesday there, according to officials and local residents who were working to assess the damage. the earthquake struck around dawn, as many residents were preparing for work and getting their children ready for school. officials said they expected heavy damage in the southern parts of samoa and american samoa, a united states territory with about 60, 000 residents. damaged telephone lines on both islands hampered efforts to count the casualties and assess the destruction from the earthquake, with a magnitude of 8. 0. it struck below the ocean about 120 miles southwest of american samoa and 125 miles south of samoa, and it was centered only 11 miles below the seabed, according to the united states geological survey. at least 14 people were killed in american samoa, the territory ’ s governor, togiola t. a. tulafono, said at a news conference in hawaii. the toll could rise as emergency workers gain access to damaged areas, he and other officials said. food riots have broken out across the globe destabilizing large parts of the developing world. china is experiencing double - digit inflation. indonesia, vietnam and india have imposed controls over


emergency workers gain access to damaged areas, he and other officials said. food riots have broken out across the globe destabilizing large parts of the developing world. china is experiencing double - digit inflation. indonesia, vietnam and india have imposed controls over rice exports. wheat, corn and soy beans are at record highs and threatening to go higher still. commodities are up across the board. the world food program is warning of widespread famine if the west doesn ’ t provide emergency humanitarian relief. the situation is dire. venezuelan president hugo chavez summed it up like this, “ it is a massacre of the world ’ s poor. the problem is not the production of food. it is the economic, social and political model of the world. the capitalist model is in crisis. ” right on, hugo. there is no shortage of food ( this is disinformation – the infinite unknown ) ; it ’ s just the prices that are making food unaffordable. bernanke ’ s “ weak dollar ” policy has ignited a wave of speculation in commodities which is pushing prices into the stratosphere. the un is calling the global food crisis a “ silent tsunami ”, but its more like a flood ; the world is awash in increasingly worthless dollars that are making food and raw materials more expensive. foreign central banks and investors presently hold $ 6 trillion in dollars and dollar - backed assets, so when the dollar starts to slide, the pain radiates through entire economies. this is especially true in countries where the currency is pegged to the dollar. that ’ s why most of the gulf states are experiencing runaway inflation. continue reading »


human expansion and interference have detrimental effects as civilizations continue to encroach on previously undisturbed habitats. as a result, many species of animals and plants must struggle to survive. biodiversity reveals the important role each of these life forms plays in its ecosystem as well as the irreversible and extensive consequences that would result from a massive loss of biodiversity. it explores the ecological and evolutionary processes, how these processes depend on the cohabitation of a wide range of life forms within an ecosystem, and how the existence of these diverse organisms maintains a crucial stability in the natural world. beginning with an introduction to biodiversity, this new volume discusses its importance and history, the difficulties in maintaining it, and past and current efforts to protect ecosystems from greater destruction. it examines five specific case studies, including the united states, indonesia, new zealand, madagascar, and costa rica, describing the current status and history of biodiversity, obstacles, and conservation efforts in the country at hand. maps. index. bibliography. glossary. chronology. tables and graphs. about the author ( s ) natalie goldstein is a freelance writer who has written numerous books for the educational market, including textbooks and teacher ' s guides for the middle school and encyclopedias for the high school. she also wrote globalization and free trade and global warming in the global issues series. foreword author julie l. lockwood is director of the graduate program in ecology and evolution and associate professor in the department of ecology, evolution, and natural resources at rutgers university. she is the coauthor of avian invasions : the ecology and evolution of exotic birds and invasion ecology.


paper presented by robert e. arnold m. d. dr. arnold is a retired naval surgeon it was april 24, 1865, ten days after john wilkes booth had assassinated abraham lincoln. lt. edward doherty, enerton conger and luther baker reported to the office of lafayette baker the war departments chief detective and luther baker ’ s cousin. ( 1 ) general james r. o ’ beirne had discovered the route taken by booth for his escape. o ’ beirne thought he had booth cornered, he asked for orders from washington but was told to return to his command in maryland. the honor of capturing booth was taken from a first class general and transferred to amateurs ( 2 ). thus began a strange saga of mistakes, contradictions, and unexplained occurrences. lt. doherty, conger, baker and twenty - five men embarked on the steamer john ide for belle plain ( 3 ). they searched the area and eventually were led to mr. garretts house. under threat of death, garrett led the detectives and the detachment to the barn. the farm was surrounded and a conversation ensued with the men inside. one of them, david herald, surrendered. the official report states that a fire was started in some hay in the rear of the barn. a shot struck the lone figure in the neck. conger, baker, and some of the soldiers entered the barn and removed him to the front porch of the house. conger stated that the man had shot himself. baker thought conger had fired the fatal shot but thought that if he had, it had better not be known. sgt. boston corbett would eventually get the credit for shooting booth. sgt. corbett deserves comment. he was a religious fanatic who changed his first name to boston after the city where he had joined the church. he was also said to have castrated himself in remorse for spending a night with a prostitute. he had been a hatter in civilian life and hatters were well famous for mental alterations caused by inhaling mercury vapors ( the mad hatter from through the looking glass by lewis carrol ). for example, when corbett was asked why he had shot booth, he said, “ god had directed him to do so. ” ( 2 ) one of the soldiers summoned a doctor, charles urquhart, but there is nothing in the official record of his visit. there was no death certificate and urquhart was not questioned later. the decedent lived 2 - 3 hours and was reported to have uttered a few sentences. cong


urquhart, but there is nothing in the official record of his visit. there was no death certificate and urquhart was not questioned later. the decedent lived 2 - 3 hours and was reported to have uttered a few sentences. conger took the man ’ s possessions and left for washington accompanied by sgt. corbett at lest as far as belle plain. conger officially reported that booth had been tracked down and shot by sgt. boston corbett while trying to escape. the body ’ s 18 - mile trip to the belle plain landing was bizarre. luther baker took the body over doherty ’ s objection and went on ahead. this resulted in quite a delay and baker said they had “ gotten lost. ” they arrived in alexandria at eleven o ’ clock p. m. and lafayette baker took charge of the body, transferred it to a tugboat and took it to the ironclad montauk, which was laid up for repairs in the washington navy yard. the commanding officer, lc. dr. edward stone stated he received no orders or authority concerning the body. they sent an urgent message to the secretary of the navy that the body was changing rapidly. an autopsy was ordered to be performed on the montauk by joseph k. barnes, the surgeon general. the witnesses summoned for the identification of the corpse deserve comment. charles dawson, the hotel clerk, said he knew booth from the initials tattooed on his wrist but he named the wrong wrist. the captain clerk on the montark said he knew booth and recognized the body from “ general appearance. ” likewise the montark ’ s acting master, william crowninshield. there is no good evidence that either of these had ever met booth. dr. frederick may who had removed a tumor from booth ’ s neck was summoned. his first comment was, “ there is no resemblance in that corpse to booth nor can i believe it to be him. ” ( 1 ) dr. may later said the scar on the neck was similar to booths. no stage acquaintances, personal friends, relations, or co - conspirators were questioned, although they were readily available. the autopsy demonstrated a bullet wound through the transverse processes of the third and fourth cervical vertebrae. the body was then taken to the grounds of washington ’ s old penitentiary, which was being used as an arsenal and interred in one of the old cells. this removal from the montauk was done quickly and without the knowledge of the commandant of the washington navy yard, john b. montgomery. the body remained interred until 1869 when


was being used as an arsenal and interred in one of the old cells. this removal from the montauk was done quickly and without the knowledge of the commandant of the washington navy yard, john b. montgomery. the body remained interred until 1869 when the body was disinterred and transferred to a baltimore undertaker. joseph booth was present but the corpse had disintegrated so thoroughly that identification was not possible. the remains were then buried in green mount cemetery. in 1903, a man named david george committed suicide in enid, oklahoma after confessing to have assassinated president lincoln. the body was mummified and put on public display locally and at st. louis world fair in 1904. various carnivals displayed the remains until 1920 when finis bates of memphis claimed it. its whereabouts are no longer known. ( 5 ). the mummy was supposedly examined and had a broken ankle, deformed right thumb and a scar above the right eye which booth was known to have ( 6 ). the controversy begins there are many contradictions surrounding the death and autopsy of booth. many of them are minor, such as the presence of a mustache, what he was wearing and also fake testimony given by witnesses for various reasons. there is one undeniable fact that casts doubt on the identity of the dead man and that is the actions by the army during the autopsy and burial. booth was the most wanted man on earth. the natural course would be to take the body to washington where as many people as possible could see it, pictures taken and documentation by impeccable sources. the army did the exact opposite. 1. instead of taking the remains to a hospital, they were placed on a ship where the number of people allowed


participatory video created by members of various indigenous communities in itogon, philippines, tracking the impacts of large - scale mining and now climate change on their environment and culture. this film was created by members of various indigenous communities in the cordillera region of the philippines, during a participatory video project facilitated by insightshare. the participants were taught to use video cameras during an intensive 9 - day pv workshop in the barangay of garrison, in itogon, and created this 24 - minute film to communicate the devastating impacts of large - scale mining wrought on their communities by various companies over the years, and now the increasingly alarming impacts of climate change. this project was part of conversations with the earth project. launched in april 2009, conversations with the earth is a collective opportunity to build a global movement for an indigenous - controlled community media network. cwe works with a growing network of indigenous groups and communities living in critical ecosystems around the world, from the atlantic rainforest to central asia, from the philippines to the andes, from the arctic to ethiopia. through cwe, these indigenous communities are able to share their story of climate change. through the creation of sustainable autonomous indigenous media hubs in these regions, cwe fosters a long - term relationship with these communities, based on principles of local control and supporting indigenous media capacity.


how does it work? read on for a thrilling example scenario! ( alternatively, skip to step 10 to find out how i made it. ) step 1 : a text - based adventure in 3d printing and alcoholism you try to get up, but your stomach climbs up your throat and tries to smother your brain. you lie back down. > drink the water. you are too far away from the water and you lack the coordination required to crawl. you doze off again, in the hope that sleep will somehow solve your predicament. you wake some time later. your head still aches. the hedgehog in your mouth has been joined by its unruly, even less healthy family. > remove the hedgehog. the hedgehog is not a literal hedgehog. it began as a simile then became a metaphor while you were napping. it represents dehydration and regret. you lurch to your feet and, after swaying on the spot for over a minute, you manage to remain upright. after another minute, so does the room. > drink the water. you drink the stale water. it feels pure and cleansing. there is not enough of it. > go to the bathroom. you stagger to the bathroom. there is a sink, a mirror, a toothbrush and a toilet which has been soiled in an unholy manner. > use the sink. you put your lips over the faucet and fumble for the taps. the water is warm, but still good. you drink until you are dizzy. the vile taste in your mouth remains. > brush your teeth. you squeeze toothpaste along the entire length of the toothbrush and, on your third attempt, insert the head of the brush into your mouth. you brush gingerly. with nothing better to occupy your mind for two minutes, you try to make sense of what happened last night. you draw blanks. you glance in the mirror. a message is printed on your forehead. > read the message.


last reviewed by faculty of harvard medical school on january 24, 2013 by harvey b. simon, m. d. harvard medical school chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( copd ) is the fourth leading cause of death in the united states. it ' s also the only disease among the top 10 killers that is seeing an increase in deaths each year. about 15 million americans suffer from copd. men are affected about twice as often as women because male smokers have outnumbered female smokers. copd is not curable, but it is treatable. lifestyle changes and medication can help people cope with chronic lung disease and live longer, fuller lives. but as you ' ll see, most cases of copd can be prevented. back to top what is copd? copd refers to chronic illnesses that block the flow of air and make breathing difficult. the two major forms of copd are chronic bronchitis and emphysema. in both, narrowed air passages or bronchi make it hard to exhale. ( bronchi are wider during inhalation and narrow during exhalation. ) narrowed bronchi also cause asthma, but the narrowing is temporary and reversible. in copd, it ' s permanent. in chronic bronchitis, the mucous glands in the air passages are enlarged and produce too much mucous, which narrows the bronchi. in emphysema, the narrowing of the bronchi is caused by damage to the lung tissue and is more severe than in chronic bronchitis. most patients with copd have a mixture of chronic bronchitis and emphysema. inflammation triggered by irritants that are inhaled also contributes to copd. white blood cells try to fight off the irritation, but instead of controlling the damage caused by the irritant, they release chemicals that damage and eventually destroy lung tissue. smoking causes about 85 % of copd cases. heavy smokers have the highest risk of developing copd. secondhand smoke and other inhaled toxins can cause copd in some nonsmokers. in others, an inherited protein deficiency is to blame. but in some cases, no cause is apparent. back to top what are the symptoms of copd? copd starts gradually and progresses slowly over time. that ' s why the number of cases of copd continues to increase years after many american men quit smoking. at first, there are no symptoms. but little by little, symptoms appear, usually in middle age. a morning " smoker


time. that ' s why the number of cases of copd continues to increase years after many american men quit smoking. at first, there are no symptoms. but little by little, symptoms appear, usually in middle age. a morning " smoker ' s cough " is often the first complaint. the cough gradually gets worse and occurs throughout the day. next, shortness of breath develops. in the beginning, it only occurs during exercise, but as the disease progresses, breathing becomes a chore even at rest. wheezing is another common symptom. most patients also become tired and weak. patients with chronic bronchitis have a recurrent cough that brings up large amounts of thick, discolored phlegm almost every day for three months or longer. over time, the lung disease puts a strain on the heart and men may develop cor pulmonale, a form of congestive heart failure. as a result, they accumulate fluid and gain weight. their lips and skin may eventually turn bluish due to low blood oxygen levels. men with emphysema have a scant and dry cough, severe shortness of breath and they breathe faster than normal. their skin stays pink and they dont retain fluid, but their appearance changes : they lose weight, their muscles tend to waste away, and they develop large, barrel - shaped chests. most patients with copd have symptoms of both chronic bronchitis and emphysema. in addition to daily symptoms, most patients have two to three exacerbations each year. these are abrupt flares that are often triggered by lung infections. symptoms get much worse and aggressive treatment is needed. back to top how is copd diagnosed? the best way to diagnose copd is with a simple, safe lung - function test, called the forced expiratory volume at one second ( fev1 ). it measures the amount of air you can breathe out with maximum effort in one second. doctors can also use this test to check the results of treatment. x - rays, blood oxygen mearurements, and other tests may also help. back to top people with copd can take steps to control symptoms, and minimize complications and disability. the first rule is the most important : avoid tobacco and secondhand smoke. this is a hard and fast rule. there are no exceptions. good nutrition is also important. a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and fish may actually help the lungs. there is no evidence that vitamin supplements help. in