parliament ' s imposition of taxes on the north american colonies led to organized opposition by the colonial legislatures. in 1773 parliament passed a tea act giving the east india company a monopoly on the tea sold in the colonies. in december of that year, residents of boston, massachusetts, tossed three shiploads of tea into the harbor rather than let it be landed. in the spring of 1774 parliament retaliated and passed the coercive acts ( known in the colonies as the intolerable acts ). these acts included the boston port act, which closed the port of boson to all commerce effective june 1, 1774, until the tea was paid for and restitution made to royal officials. the massachusetts government act altered the charter of massachusetts to limit town meetings and to allow the king to appoint a military governor in place of the governor elected by the colony ' s assembly, called the general court. word of the closing of the port of boston reached williamsburg when the general assembly was in session in may 1774. although many virginians disapproved of the destruction of the tea, which was private property, they did not approve of closing the port. on may 23, several members of the house of burgesses met in the capitol and drew on seventeenth - century english precedents to draft a resolution calling on virginians to observe a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer on june 1, in sympathy with the people of boston. the house of burgesses passed the resolution on may 24. two days later the royal governor, john murray, fourth earl of dunmore, dissolved the general assembly so that the members could take no further action, but on may 27 many of the former burgesses met and formed an association that pledged them to purchase no goods imported by the east india company except saltpeter and spices. they advised the colony ' s committee of correspondence to transmit the resolution to the other colonies with the suggestion that the colonies appoint delegates to come together in a general congress. unbeknownst to the virginians, letters from boston were on their way. on may 29, the virginia committee of correspondence received a letter from the boston committee of correspondence proposing to halt all trade with great britain. twenty - five burgesses who were still in williamsburg met on may 30 and agreed to summon a convention to meet on august 1, 1774, in williamsburg to discuss the proposal. that convention would be the first virginia revolutionary convention, at which representatives chose virginia ' s delegates to the first continental congress. 1. how many men signed this resolution? do


convention to meet on august 1, 1774, in williamsburg to discuss the proposal. that convention would be the first virginia revolutionary convention, at which representatives chose virginia ' s delegates to the first continental congress. 1. how many men signed this resolution? do you recognize any of their names? 2. why do you suppose that the burgesses remaining in williamsburg did not make a decision concerning the boston committee ' s proposal? 3. during this time communication between the colonies was delivered by horse or on ships. consequently, it was considerably slower than today ' s instant communications. how do you think this influenced the decisions that the colonists made? on may 29, a letter from the boston committee of correspondence arrived in williamsburg. this letter, dated may 13, proposed ceasing all trade with great britain, both imports and exports. on may 30, the burgesses remaining in williamsburg met to discuss the letter and determine what action they should take. if you had been a burgess what would you have proposed? why do you think the virginians chose the route they did? virginia independence bicentennial commission. revolutionary virginia : the road to independence, a documentary record, vol 1 : forming thunderclouds and the first convention 1763 – 1774. compiled and edited by william j. van schreeven and robert l. scribner. charlottesville : university press of virginia, 1983. middlekauff, robert. the glorious cause : the american revolution, 1763 – 1789. rev. ed. new york : oxford university press, 2005.


cader / cadair idris is a spectacular mountain reserve with a variety of landscapes and terrain. rugged summits, glacial lakes and a mossy wooded gorge cover over 450 hectares of breathtaking landscape. local folklore describes idris as a giant who lived on this magnificent mountain. the large boulders on the lower slopes are said to be the debris of stone throwing battles between idris and other giants. idris is more likely to have been an important leader in this area, a giant in personality and authority rather than in stature. the reserve lies within snowdonia national park and is part of the cadair idris special site of scientific interest ( sssi ) and special area of conservation ( sac ). the site encompasses the mountain and lower slopes, with a variety of habitats of european importance. these include dry heath, wet heath, blanket bog, woodland and the species - rich marshy grasslands of tir stent common, as well as a number of low nutrient or clear - water lakes. the cliffs support tall herbs growing on the ledges, and a range of plants growing on rock crevices. these habitats support a wide range of species, including slender green feather - moss and marsh fritillary butterfly. while the romantically inclined attribute its features to the work of giants, geologists come up with more prosaic but nonetheless interesting explanations that span hundreds of millions of years. the origin of the rock is volcanic, some of the lavas being poured out under the sea and shaped into bulbuous " pillows " that give it the name pillow lava. these are interspersed with layers of ash and other sediments that settled out on the sea bed of the time. the glaciers of the last ice age scoured and scraped at this hard upfolded rock leaving visible scratches on some of the surfaces and hollowing out basins now filled with small lakes such as those at cregennan on the first ' step ' up the mountain, or the supposedly bottomless llyn cau on the south side. amongst this craggy country on the mountain tops there survive rare arctic / alipne flowers, a legacy of the last ice age such as purple saxifrage and least willow ( a ' tree ' that never gets to more than a scrambling shrub ). at the lower level around cregennan the national trust owns two small hill farms where the rough grazing can be managed in the traditional way. a sign of summer here is the arrival of that dainty visitor, the wheatear, often difficult to spot until it displays its


some individuals with disabilities require assistive technology ( at ) in order to access computers. hundreds of windows at third - party products are available, making it possible for almost anyone to use windows® applications, regardless of their disabilities. the microsoft® windows® operating systems also provides a core set of basic accessibility features and at applications, which can be deployed on all computers in a computer lab or classroom without additional cost. these applications provide students with basic accessibility features from any workstation, maximizing the inclusiveness of the learning environment. it should be noted that the at applications that are bundled with windows provide only a minimum level of accessibility, not the full set of features that many users require for equal access to the operating system, educational programs, and other software applications. therefore, many educational entities deploy the standard set of windows at on all workstations by default, but additionally 1 ) provide a small number of dedicated workstations that are equipped with commonly requested third party at, and 2 ) are prepared to purchase and install additional at as needed by specific students. it should also be noted that the availability of at does not itself guarantee accessibility. software applications must be designed in a way that is compatible with at and other accessibility features of the operating system. for information about purchasing software products that are accessible, see the accessit knowledge base article how can i tell whether a software application is accessible? the following is a list of basic accessibility features that are included with windows xp. previous versions of windows also included several of these same features. display and readability : these features are designed to increase the visibility of items on the screen. - font style, color, and size of items on the desktop — using the display options, choose font color, size and style combinations. - icon size — make icons larger for visibility, or smaller for increased screen space. - screen resolution — change pixel count to enlarge objects on screen. - high contrast schemes — select color combinations that are easier to see. - cursor width and blink rate — make the cursor easier to locate, or eliminate the distraction of its blinking. - microsoft magnifier — enlarge portion of screen for better visibility. sounds and speech : these features are designed to make computer sounds easier to hear or distinguish - or, visual alternatives to sound. speech - to - text options are also available. - sound volume — turn computer sound up or down. - sound schemes — associate computer sounds with particular system events. - showsounds — display captions for speech and sounds


visual alternatives to sound. speech - to - text options are also available. - sound volume — turn computer sound up or down. - sound schemes — associate computer sounds with particular system events. - showsounds — display captions for speech and sounds. - soundsentry — display visual warnings for system sounds. - notification — get sound or visual cues when accessibility features are turned on or off. - text - to - speech — hear window command options and text read aloud. keyboard and mouse : these features are designed to make the keyboard and mouse faster and easier to use. - double - click speed — choose how fast to click the mouse button to make a selection. - clicklock — highlight or drag without holding down the mouse button. - pointer speed — set how fast the mouse pointer moves on screen. - snapto — move the pointer to the default button in a dialog box. - cursor blink rate — choose how fast the cursor blinks — or, if it blinks at all. - pointer trails — follow the pointer motion on screen. - hide pointer while typing — keep pointer from hiding text while typing. - show location of pointer — quickly reveal the pointer on screen. - reverse the function of the right and left mouse buttons — reverse actions controlled by the right and left mouse buttons. - pointer schemes — choose size and color options for better visibility. - character repeat rate — set how quickly a character repeats when a key is struck. - dvorak keyboard layout — choose alternative keyboard layouts for people who type with one hand or finger. - stickykeys — allow pressing one key at a time ( rather than simultaneously ) for key combinations. - filterkeys — ignore brief or repeated keystrokes and slow down the repeat rate. - togglekeys — hear tones when pressing certain keys. - mousekeys — move the mouse pointer using the numerical keypad. - extra keyboard help — get tooltips or other keyboard help in programs that provide it. the accessibility wizard is designed to help new users quickly and easily set up groups of accessibility options that address visual, hearing and dexterity needs all in one place. the accessibility wizard asks questions about accessibility needs. then, based on the answers, it configures utilities and settings for individual users. the accessibility wizard can be run again at any time to make changes, or changes can be made to individual settings through control panel. windows accessibility utilities : - magnifier — a display utility that makes the computer screen more read


helpnow by brainfuse : live homework help available 1pm to 10pm, 7 days a week. grades 1 - 12, washington state curriculum - aligned, tutoring subjects include english, math, science, spanish, and more. premium content requires a wcls library card - biography in context - - more than 400, 000 biographies on nearly 275, 000 people from around the world and throughout history. - culturegrams - - cultural reports for state, province and country projects. maps, flags, symbols, timelines, history, economy, geography, recipes, population and more. - elibrary - - search or browse more than 1, 500 full text magazines and journals. access pictures, maps and illustrations to enliven homework assignments. includes the world almanac. - gale virtual reference library - - encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for cross subject research. - helpnow by brainfuse - live homework help available 1pm to 10pm, 7 days a week. grades 1 - 12, washington state curriculum - aligned, tutoring subjects include english, math, science, spanish, and more. - history study center - - is a collection of primary and secondary sources on global history from ancient times to the present day. - learningexpress - - interactive online testing for jobs, school & skills with practice tests and courses designed to help students and adult learners. - literature resource center — a complete literature reference database. rich in biographical, bibliographical, and critical content, provides information on literary figures from all time periods writing in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, journalism, and more. - testing & education reference center - - your one - stop shop for test preparation! ebooks, practice tests ( ged, act, sat ) developing career plans and boosting your job skills. - u. s. history in context - - primary documents, secondary sources, and journal articles covering all areas of u. s. history. - worldbook online — world book sets the standard for providing accuracy, objectivity, and reliability in research materials for both children and adults. available in spanish. - world history in context - - moves chronologically over 5, 000 years from antiquity to the present and geographically around the globe.


harbor seal activity and numbers are on the increase as we approach the summer month for pupping or birthing. by late june or early july harbor seals numbers will have peaked and pups will literally be popping out on the beach. check out the blog today! what is a harbor seal haul - out and what are you looking at? harbor seals use specific shoreline areas on a regular basis to haul - out of the water and rest. these resting areas are called seal haul - outs and include : beaches, rocky areas, log booms and floats. some haul - outs are used regularly, while others may be used seasonally or occasionally. time spent on the haul - out is essential for their survival as they rest, dry out, interact and regulate body their temperature. in addition to resting, harbor seals give birth to and nurse their pups on the haul - out, and undergo an annual molt of their pelage or fur. this sealcam is focused on a haul - out in the puget sound and that is used by harbor seals throughout the year for many of the activities described above. a regular viewer may also see many other species of wildlife including perhaps some other fin - footed marine mammals known as pinnipeds. erin d ' agnese is a western washington university graduate student, and has been interning with washington department of fish and wildlife ( wdfw ) marine mammal investigations since 2011. she is collaborating with wdfw biologists on her master ' s project to study pup rearing success of female harbor seals at a longterm study site in south puget sound. her research will study how the success of known females relates to age, body mass, pupping experience and pup care behaviors of the mother. study results may lead to a better understanding of the unique reproductive strategy used by harbor seals and enhance the use of a non - invasive measuring technique on protected marine mammals. erin will be using the wdfw sealcam to aid her in this research and will be posting periodic notes from the field on her project and what she is observing at the harbor seal haulout. check out the blog today! currently, the sealcam has a series of video clips and still photos organized by categories that will help tell you about the life, birth, ecology, diseases and sometimes death of the seals and wildlife that inhabit this fascinating area. as we approach the months of march through june harbor seal presence and activities will intensify leading up to the late june - mid august popping season. the early weeks are challenging for many baby animals,


the seals and wildlife that inhabit this fascinating area. as we approach the months of march through june harbor seal presence and activities will intensify leading up to the late june - mid august popping season. the early weeks are challenging for many baby animals, and seals are no exception. during this time period, mortality rates for our harbor seals, according to biologist dyanna lambourn, can reach as high as 50 percent. so, as we experiment with camera technology, you are invited to stay tuned and cheer on this year ’ s young seals as they practice swimming and begin their fight for survival during the critical first months of life in puget sound. young pups may become separated from their mother and appear “ abandoned ” on shore, log - booms, rocks or other haul - out sites. the pup ’ s best chance for survival is to stay in the location where its mother expects it to be upon return. to help ensure the pups ’ survival, biologists ask that people stay clear — at least 100 yards away from the animals at all times. if you are concerned about the welfare of any harbor seal, please leave the animal in place, and contact the northwest marine mammal stranding network contact for your area at http : / / www. nwr. noaa. gov / marine - mammals / stranding - maps. cfm or call 1 - 800 - 853 - 1964. please visit the sealcam frequently and send it to the attention of friend. the sealcam is also an important tool used by department biologists to continue to study and add our knowledge of this member of the marine mammal ’ s order of pinnipedia or wing or fin - footed mammals. viewing seals responsibly in the wild - if you see a seal on the beach, give it room - use binoculars or a spotting scope if you want to see the animal " close up ". - the nmfs marine mammal viewing guidelines mandate a minimum approach distance of 100 yards. - the approach distance will reduce the potential for disturbing or stressing a resting or injured animal. - keep pets away. baby seals can easily fall prey to dogs. - to avoid possible injury to seals, dogs should be leashed and kept away from seals on the beach. some diseases are common to both dogs and seals. - older seals may bite in self defense. - people may also be at risk if they come into direct contact with a diseased animal. - it is a federal offense to harass seals in any way. - please go to northwest


boldo overview information boldo is a tree that grows in the andes mountains in south america. interestingly, fossilized boldo leaves dating from over thirteen thousand years ago have been found in chile. these fossils have imprints of human teeth, suggesting that boldo has a long history of dietary or medicinal use. boldo is used for mild gastrointestinal ( gi ) spasms, gallstones, achy joints ( rheumatism ), bladder infections, liver disease, and gonorrhea. it is also to increase urine flow to rid the body of excess fluids, reduce anxiety, increase bile flow, and kill bacteria. how does it work? boldo contains chemicals that might increase urine output, fight bacterial growth in the urine, and stimulate the stomach. - achy joints ( rheumatism ). - bladder infections. - liver disease. - fluid retention. - constipation or flushing out of the bowels. - mild stomach or intestinal spasms. - other conditions. boldo side effects & safety boldo might be unsafe when used for medicinal purposes. poisoning by ascaridole, a chemical that occurs naturally in boldo, has occurred in people taking boldo. boldo might cause liver damage when taken by mouth. if you take boldo, use only ascaridole - free preparations. when applied to the skin, boldo can cause irritation. special precautions & warnings : pregnancy and breast - feeding : boldo might be unsafe when used orally in medicinal amounts. ascaridole, a chemical in boldo, can damage the liver. bile duct blockage : boldo seems to be able to increase the flow of bile, a fluid produced by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. bile passes through small channels ( ducts ) in the intestine where it plays an important role in digesting fats. these ducts can become blocked. there is a concern that the extra bile flow caused by boldo might be harmful in people with blocked bile ducts. liver disease : there is some concern that boldo can damage the liver, especially in people who have liver disease. don ’ t use boldo if you have liver problems. surgery : boldo can slow blood clotting, so there is some concern that it might increase the chance of too much bleeding during and after surgery. stop using boldo at least two weeks before a scheduled surgery. moderate interaction be cautious with this combination - lithium interacts with boldo boldo might have


there is some concern that it might increase the chance of too much bleeding during and after surgery. stop using boldo at least two weeks before a scheduled surgery. moderate interaction be cautious with this combination - lithium interacts with boldo boldo might have an effect like a water pill or " diuretic. " taking boldo might decrease how well the body gets rid of lithium. this could increase how much lithium is in the body and result in serious side effects. talk with your healthcare provider before using this product if you are taking lithium. your lithium dose might need to be changed. - medications that can harm the liver ( hepatotoxic drugs ) interacts with boldo boldo might harm the liver. taking boldo along with medication that might also harm the liver can increase the risk of liver damage. do not take boldo if you are taking a medication that can harm the liver. some medications that can harm the liver include acetaminophen ( tylenol and others ), amiodarone ( cordarone ), carbamazepine ( tegretol ), isoniazid ( inh ), methotrexate ( rheumatrex ), methyldopa ( aldomet ), fluconazole ( diflucan ), itraconazole ( sporanox ), erythromycin ( erythrocin, ilosone, others ), phenytoin ( dilantin ), lovastatin ( mevacor ), pravastatin ( pravachol ), simvastatin ( zocor ), and many others. - medications that slow blood clotting ( anticoagulant / antiplatelet drugs ) interacts with boldo boldo might slow blood clotting. taking boldo along with medications that also slow clotting might increase the chances of bruising and bleeding. some medications that slow blood clotting include aspirin, clopidogrel ( plavix ), diclofenac ( voltaren, cataflam, others ), ibuprofen ( advil, motrin, others ), naproxen ( anaprox, naprosyn, others ), dalteparin ( fragmin ), enoxaparin ( lovenox ), heparin, warfarin ( coumadin ), and others. - warfarin ( coumadin


project laser beam ( plb ) is a five - year, multi - million dollar public - private partnership that seeks to eradicate child malnutrition. it brings together the expertise of un agencies with that of fortune 500 companies, and others in the private sector, to work with local governments and companies to find new solutions to old problems. plb was unveiled in september 2009 by plb founding partners wfp, unilever, mondelez international foundation ( formerly kraft foods foundation ), dsm and the global alliance for improved nutrition ( gain ) by us president bill clinton at the clinton global initiative meeting in new york. the pilot projects will focus initially on bangladesh and indonesia. these are countries where there are unacceptably high rates of child malnutrition, but also a demonstrated commitment by the government to tackle the problem. plb partners will be able to assist as these are also countries where they have a presence and the ability to leverage existing resources and knowledge. the projects will centre around three main pillars : food, hygiene and behavioural change. specifically, work will include : fortification of food with micronutrients, products to nutritionally supplement a child ’ s diet, ready - to - use foods requiring no water or cooking, sanitation and hand - washing, access to clean water, deworming, immunization, therapeutic feeding for the severely malnourished, education on the benefits of breastfeeding, nutrition education and others as needed. replicate the model plb will employ the many nutritional solutions already available in the marketplace, ensuring they are accessible to those in need. when gaps in products and services are found, plb will call on an ever - growing number of partners to step into the breach and develop new ones for the fight against child hunger in other countries. ultimately, a model will evolve that can be replicated. at the end of the five - year pilot phase, plb ’ s model will be replicated in other countries where malnutrition is prevalent, paving the way for generations of children to enjoy the benefits of this concerted, co - ordinated action. the situation compels us to act now. in the wake of the global economic crisis, and increasing climate - related emergencies, families with malnourished children are slipping deeper into the poverty and hunger trap every day — many for the first time.


a new study by emory university ' s rollins school of public health reveals that the chemical compound in non - stick cookware may impact babies ' weight. according to fox news, researchers studied blood samples from 450 british women who were pregnant in 1991 and 1992, looking for the concentration of polyluoroalkyl compounds ( pfcs ). pfcs are a chemical that is commonly found in non - stick cookware items such as frying pans. study researchers claim that mothers who had high levels of this chemical in their blood during pregnancy had lower birth weight babies than other moms. although the babies were smaller to start, at 20 months, these same babies were larger in size than their counterparts. while the study does not conclude why this happens, researchers did suggest that pfcs may impact how fat is metabolized by the body. what does this mean for pregnant moms? simply stated, it suggests that you might want to avoid using non - stick pans and other similar cookware during pregnancy. this chemical is also found in other items such as water - resistant clothes and some packaging products. while it might not be entirely possible to avoid pfcs, pregnant women can do their best to keep their exposure to a minimum. it should be noted that the data collected during this study is 20 years old, meaning that the current levels of pfcs in products ( or the environment ) may not be the same. while pfcs are still in non - stick cookware, researchers believe that the modern push toward environmentalism and more stringent health standards could mean that the amount of this chemical in the general environment is lower. in turn, a lower general environmental level of pfcs may mean that the overall concentration of this chemical would be lower in a pregnant mom ' s blood than that found 20 years ago. given the latest weight statistics from the centers for disease control and prevention ( cdc ), stating that 17 percent of u. s. kids between two and 19 years old are considered obese, it doesn ' t hurt to give your little one the best start possible. if some scientists believe that using non - stick cookware may lead to bigger babies, then avoiding the connected chemical may just be the right way to go. does this research change the way that you cook? would you plan on giving up your favorite non - stick items during pregnancy to keep your child ' s weight down? tell us below in the comments section! photo credit : morguefile


( ara ) - the peak water usage season, which usually begins in late july or early august, arrived early this year with record high temperatures and widespread drought. during the warmer months, the average american uses about four times as much water as they do the rest of the year. more time outdoors translates into more sweat and dirt, which leads to taking more frequent showers and washing additional loads of laundry. meanwhile, outside, fighting heat and lack of rain requires heavy lawn and garden watering. all of the increased activity adds up. fortunately, the plumbing experts at roto - rooter recommend a list of water safety and conservation tips to beat the heat. 1. check the temperature setting on your water heater. it should be set no higher than 125 degrees to prevent scalding and reduce energy use. summer is a good time to turn the temperature down, especially when away on vacation to save on energy costs. 2. replacing an old showerhead can save up to 7. 5 gallons of water per minute without sacrificing water pressure. also, try cleaning mineral deposits from the showerhead by unscrewing it, soaking it in vinegar overnight and then gently scrubbing with a toothbrush to remove deposits. 3. to maximize efficiency with each load of laundry, check washing machine hoses for rupture. turn valves on and off to check for leaks. 4. water should flow freely from outdoor faucets when watering the lawn, washing the car or filling the pool. 5. if everything is operating as it should, be conscious about conserving water. water your lawn before sun up or after sun down to reduce wasted evaporation. 6. if you will be out of town on vacation and have no house - sitters requiring the washing machine, you can shut off the machine ' s water supply. 7. when traveling, install a rain shut - off device on your automatic sprinklers to eliminate unnecessary watering. another useful device is a flood detector that works like a smoke detector, setting off an alarm to warn your house - sitter of a potential flood or leak. 8. make sure that yard drains, gutters and downspouts are cleaned out, open and free of debris. 9. beware of standing water. excess water can result from leaky or broken pipes or a damaged sewer line. standing water is not healthy for children or pets, and is a breeding ground for insects and germs. inspect the yard for areas that are too wet and with unusual plant or grass growth.


how do people know how old a star is? wow, this is a popular question! scientists have learned a lot about stars, especially the stages in their lives. since a single star can live for billions of years, scientists study several stars at different stages of their lives. certain characteristics of stars are related to each other. the luminosity, temperature, magnitude, spectral class and mass are all related. for example, larger stars are cooler, red in color and are very luminous. all these characteristics are important in determining the age of a star, but scientists found that the composition of a star is the most important. the hertzsprung - russell diagram is a very famous diagram that shows how these characteristics of stars are related. stars are divided into different categories depending on their temperature, size, etc. most stars are either, main sequence, or giants. scientists realized that the compositions of stars were related to the diagram. stars spend most of their lives as a main sequence star. during this time they burn hydrogen in their core. when a star burns hydrogen it creates helium. at some point the star uses up all the hydrogen, and starts to burn helium. the star expands and cools while burning the helium. during this stage a star is called a giant. so why tell you all of this? well, scientists discovered this is a very easy way to compare stars. it is also a great way to tell the age of a star. scientists can look at the spectra of a star and tell its temperature, which is related to the size, etc. in turn, this information reveals how much hydrogen or helium is left inside the star. we know the rate at which stars burn the gases. scientists can now tell how old the star is depending on its composition! submitted by dana, kelly, michael, kelli, tommy, nick, randall, ( ages 11 & 12, north carolina ) windows original artwork shop windows to the universe science store! learn about earth and space science, and have fun while doing it! the games section of our online store includes a climate change card game and the traveling nitrogen game you might also be interested in : most stars fall on a rather wide line ( highlighted in red ) that passes from the lower right to the upper left of the page. this line is called the main sequence. it tells us interesting things about how... more follow along the horizontal curves ( highlighted in red ). these are the locations of the giant stars. giants don ' t behave like main sequence stars. the brightness


line is called the main sequence. it tells us interesting things about how... more follow along the horizontal curves ( highlighted in red ). these are the locations of the giant stars. giants don ' t behave like main sequence stars. the brightness is constant or even increasing as you... more it depends on which type of motion you are asking about. if you take a birds - eye view from the top of the solar system all the planets orbit around the sun in a counter - clockwise ( or direct ) direction.... more almost everyone has a question or two about living in space. what do astronauts do in space? how do they do everyday things like eat, sleep and go to the bathroom? it ' s important to note that astronauts... more there is a really neat internet program called solar system live that shows the position of all of the planets and the sun for any given day. if you go to that page, you ' ll see an image similar to the... more the picture of the american flag ( the one put there by the apollo astronauts ) is waving ( or straight out ) in the wind. how could that be possible if there is no atmosphere on the moon? was it some sort... more i was wondering if there is a new planet? are there planets ( a tenth planet? ) after pluto belonging to our solar system? what are the names of the new planets discovered in the solar system? are there... more if that is so, the energy released during the big bang must have created many such black holes. therefore most of the energy of the big bang must have disappeared in that form. then how did the universe... more


brandon turley didn ' t have friends in sixth grade. he would often eat alone at lunch, having recently switched to his school without knowing anyone. while browsing myspace one day, he saw that someone from school had posted a bulletin - - a message visible to multiple people - - declaring that turley was a " f - -. " students he had never even spoken with wrote on it, too, saying they agreed. feeling confused and upset, turley wrote in the comments, too, asking why his classmates would say that. the response was even worse : he was told on myspace that a group of 12 kids wanted to beat him up, that he should stop going to school and die. on his walk from his locker to the school office to report what was happening, students yelled things like " f - - " and " fatty. " " it was just crazy, and such a shock to my self - esteem that people didn ' t like me without even knowing me, " said turley, now 18 and a senior in high school in oregon. " i didn ' t understand how that could be. " a pervasive problem as many as 25 percent of teenagers have experienced cyberbullying at some point, said justin w. patchin, who studies the phenomenon at the university of wisconsin - eau claire. he and colleagues have conducted formal surveys of 15, 000 middle and high school students throughout the united states, and found that about 10 percent of teens have been victims of cyberbullying in the last 30 days. online bullying has a lot in common with bullying in school : both behaviors include harassment, humiliation, teasing and aggression, patchin said. cyberbullying presents unique challenges in the sense that the perpetrator can attempt to be anonymous, and attacks can happen at any time of day or night. there ' s still more bullying that happens at school than online, however, patchin said. and among young people, it ' s rare that an online bully will be a total stranger. " in our research, about 85 percent of the time, the target knows who the bully is, and it ' s usually somebody from their social circle, " patchin said. patchin ' s research has also found that, while cyberbullying is in some sense easier to perpetrate, the kids who bully online also tend to bully at school.


we ' ve traveled through the heartland to examine iconic regional barbecue styles, but the birthplace of this nation ' s smoky tradition lies in south carolina. in a marriage of the perfect meat with the perfect cooking process, spanish explorers and their european pigs traveled here in the 17th century and happened upon the american indians and their slow cooking method with smoke. long before the region gained the name it boasts today, people were enjoying tender pork thanks to this merging of cultural traditions. the barbecue developed in south carolina is not unlike that of its northern counterpart — with one key difference. like north carolinian barbecue, the smoked meat on the coast ( the " pee dee " region ) uses the whole hog with a spicy, vinegary sauce applied during cooking. and in the western part of the state along the savannah river, the sauce integrates ketchup while the meat of choice is the moister, fattier shoulder. but travel to the midlands, and you ' ll come across carolina gold : a mustard - based sauce traced to early german settlers in the 18th century. south carolina is perhaps best known for this contribution to barbecue culture, as no other state has adopted mustard sauces with the same fervor. have you tried south carolina - style barbecue and its famed mustard sauce? what did you think? take the tour of america ' s other iconic barbecue regions :


october 3, 2011 | a team that includes ncar scientists anne boynard and alex guenther has found that the rate at which plant canopies emit isoprene, a volatile organic compound, is influenced by circadian rhythms. the discovery has the potential to lead to more accurate predictions of ground - level ozone, which is harmful to human health. for the study, the researchers made measurements of isoprene in malaysia above both tropical rain forest and oil palm plantations. they observed for the first time ever a circadian ( 24 - hour ) rhythm operating in concert across the entire tree canopy, especially in the palm plantation. the finding changes how scientists estimate isoprene emissions from plants, as both the palm plantations and rain forest emit less isoprene than shown by computer models of emissions. this has implications for ground - level ozone, which forms when volatile organic compounds such as isoprene react with nitrogen oxides from automobiles and industry. the researchers incorporated the circadian pattern into the ncar model of emissions of gases and aerosols from nature ( megan ) model to estimate isoprene emissions for input to ozone models. they then compared simulated ground - level ozone to observed ozone measurements from 290 monitoring sites in the united states. they found that model accuracy was significantly improved. accounting for circadian impacts on isoprene emissions could especially improve ozone predictions in isoprene - sensitive regions of the world, which include the united states, mediterranean, middle east, japan, and parts of southeast asia. the research was published in nature geoscience in september. c. n. hewitt, k. ashworth, a. boynard, a. guenther, b. langford, a. r. mackenzie, p. k. misztal, e. nemitz, s. m. owen, m. possell, t. a. m. pugh, a. c. ryan, o. wild, “ ground - level ozone influenced by circadian control of isoprene emissions, ” nature geoscience, 2011 ; doi : 10. 1038 / ngeo1271


power supplies and wires for some time i ’ ve been wondering how the wire size for power supplies limits the power. so i ’ ve done some quick calculations to determine if it ’ s a problem. the first type that is of interest are the “ inverters ” that are used to convert 12vdc to 240vac ( mains power ) to allow electric devices to be operated in a car. i ’ ve seen some reports from dissatisfied user about inverters not supplying as much power as expected and i ’ ve had problems with my 150w inverter not always supplying my thinkpad ( which definitely doesn ’ t draw 150w ). the second type is phone chargers as charging a phone in a reasonable amount of time is always a problem. inverter rating fine print vs laptop psu my thinkpad power supply claims “ efficiency level iv ” which according to the us epa document describing the efficiency marking protocol for external power supplies means that it is at least 85 % efficient when supplying 50w +. the peak output of the psu is 4. 5a at 20v which is 90w peak output, 90 / 0. 85 = = 106w power drawn. one would hope that wouldn ’ t be a problem from a 150w psu. but the fine print on the psu says that it can provide 110w continuously and 150w for 10 minutes. so according to my calculations i ’ m within 4w of overloading the psu if my thinkpad uses full power. it also says that it is designed for 13. 8v input. i have no idea how the performance of the inverter changes as the supply voltage changes between the 12. 6v that a 6 cell lead - acid battery is designed to provide and the 13. 8v charge from the car alternator. but i have had occasions when my inverter stopped working correctly presumably due to being unable to supply as much current as my thinkpad draws. as an aside i measured the voltage in my car ( with the engine off ) at 12. 85v from the cigarette lighter socket and 13. 02v directly from the battery. i wonder if there is some sort of overload protection on the cigarette lighter which has a side effect of reducing the voltage. resistance in wires reduces the voltage, but all voltage meters are designed to have a high resistance to prevent that from being an issue. if anyone has an explanation for the 0. 17volt drop then please write a comment! can a car provide 130w from the cigarette lighter socket


, but all voltage meters are designed to have a high resistance to prevent that from being an issue. if anyone has an explanation for the 0. 17volt drop then please write a comment! can a car provide 130w from the cigarette lighter socket? if the inverter is also 85 % efficient ( and it might be less as it has no indication of efficiency on the box ) then when supplying 110w it would draw 110 / 0. 85 = = 129. 4w ( i ’ ll round it up to 130w ). the current that goes through a circuit is equal to the voltage divided by the resistance ( see the wikipedia page on ohm ’ s law for more information ). this also means that the resistance equals the voltage divided by the current. 12. 85v / 10. 12a = = 1. 27 ohms. note that this is the resistance of the entire circuit, all the wires going to the battery, the circuitry inside the inverter, and the internal resistance of the battery. the inverter ’ s cable is 1m long ( 2 meters of wire ) and each wire is about 3. 5mm in diameter including the insulation which means that the copper wire is probably equivalent to a single core conductor that is about 1mm in diameter. according to one of the online guides to resistance wire that is 1. 02mm in diameter will have a resistance of 0. 02 ohms per meter which gives a resistance of 0. 04 ohms. 0. 04 ohms is 3 % of the total resistance of the circuit which doesn ’ t seem like it will be a real problem. in practice i ’ ve noticed that the connector gets extremely hot when it ’ s in use while the cable doesn ’ t get warm enough to notice. i suspect that the quality of the connector limits the power that is available but i don ’ t have an easy way of measuring this. inverters that are rated at 300w are designed to attach directly to the battery. an inverter that is rated at 300w would draw 300w / 0. 85 = = 352w from the battery. that needs 352w / 13. 02v = = 27. 04a and therefore a circuit resistance of 13. 02v / 27. 04a = = 0. 48 ohms total resistance. i wonder whether dirt on the battery terminals would give a significant portion of that. i ’ ve also been wondering about why mobile phones take so long to charge, and now i ’ ve finally done the calculations


= 0. 48 ohms total resistance. i wonder whether dirt on the battery terminals would give a significant portion of that. i ’ ve also been wondering about why mobile phones take so long to charge, and now i ’ ve finally done the calculations. the latest standard for mobile phones is to use usb for charging. the wikipedia page about usb says that the standard is for usb 2. 0 to supply up to 500ma at 5v + - 5 %. that means 0. 5a * 5v = = 2. 5w + - 5 %. if we assume that the internal power supply in a phone is also 85 % efficient then that means 2. 5 * 0. 85 = = 2. 125w going to the battery. my samsung galaxy s3 has a battery which is rated at 7. 98wh. according to the wikipedia page about lithium ion batteries the charge / discharge efficiency is 80 % to 90 % – i ’ ll assume that it ’ s 85 % for further calculations. if the battery in the phone is 85 % efficient and the phone is doing nothing but charging then the charge time for a regular usb port would be 7. 98wh / 0. 85 / 2. 125w = = 4. 42 hours ( 4 hours 25 minutes ) of charge time. that probably means something closer to 5 hours to totally charge the phone while it ’ s running. there are dedicated “ charging ports ” for usb which can supply up to 1. 5a. the 3rd party charger which came with my phone was rated at 1a and would hopefully be capable of completely charging the phone in less than 3 hours ( but in practice isn ’ t ). it ’ s interesting to note that macbooks expose the amount of current drawn from a usb port with a gui, so it should be possible to measure a phone charge rate by connecting it to a macbook ( which is cheaper than cutting up a phone cable ). my old samsung galaxy s has a battery which is rated at 5. 55wh, by the same calculations it would take slightly more than 3 hours to charge on a standard usb port or 1. 5 hours on my newest usb charger. in practice it has never got anywhere close to that, i presume that the phone is designed to draw less than 500ma. phone cable resistance the charger that came with my galaxy s has a cable that is about 1. 75m long, the cable is flat and measures just over 1mm thick and about 2mm wide. presumably the wire is equivalent


than 500ma. phone cable resistance the charger that came with my galaxy s has a cable that is about 1. 75m long, the cable is flat and measures just over 1mm thick and about 2mm wide. presumably the wire is equivalent to a single core that ’ s about 0. 4mm in diameter thus giving it a resistance of about 0. 134 ohm per meter, or 1. 75 * 2 * 0. 134 = = 0. 469 ohm for the cable. the charger is rated at 0. 7a. to supply 0. 7a at 5v the resistance would be 5v / 0. 7a = = 7. 143 ohm – so about 6. 6 % of the total resistance of the circuit would be in the wire from the charger to the phone. the charger that came with my galaxy s3 has a round cable that ’ s just over 3mm thick and about 90cm long. if each wire in the cable is equivalent to a solid wire that is 0. 912mm in diameter then it would be 0. 0264 ohm per meter of wire or 0. 9 * 2 * 0. 0264 = = 0. 0475 ohm. the total circuit resistance would be 5v / 1a = = 5 ohm. so 0. 0475 ohm is less than 1 % of the circuit resistance. the voltage across a part of a circuit is proportional to the resistance ( see the wikipedia page on series and parallel circuits for a good explanation ). basically this means that if 1 % of the resistance of a circuit is in the wire then 1 % of the voltage drop will also be in the wire, so if we have a 5v supply with my galaxy s3 cable then each of the two wires in the cable will have a difference of about 0. 025v between the ends and the phone will receive a supply of 4. 95v, the difference isn ’ t something that is worth worrying about. but the cable from my galaxy s has a resistance equivalent to 6. 6 % of the circuit resistance which means that the theoretical charge time will be 6 % longer than it might be – or 6 % more current will be drawn from the mains than should be needed. the charger that came with my samsung galaxy s isn ’ t much good. wasting 6. 6 % of the power in the wire is unreasonable. phones keep getting more power hungry and batteries keep getting larger. there are third party phone batteries and external batteries that are charged


came with my samsung galaxy s isn ’ t much good. wasting 6. 6 % of the power in the wire is unreasonable. phones keep getting more power hungry and batteries keep getting larger. there are third party phone batteries and external batteries that are charged by usb which have more than twice the capacity of the stock phone batteries – this means more than twice the charge time. this problem will keep getting worse. the problem of a phone in active use drawing more power than the charger can provide ( and running out of battery while on the charger ) seems likely to stay with us. so while an android phone has the potential to be a great little embedded server it seems that hacking the power supply is going to be a required first step for realising that potential. the decision to make 5v the usb power standard was reasonable at the time as it was the voltage used for most things on the motherboard. the decision to use usb as the phone charging standard was also reasonable, it allows phones to be charged anywhere. the combination of those two decisions isn ’ t good for the user. if a higher voltage such as 12v was used then 5 * the power could be supplied through the same wires at the same level of efficiency. it would be really good if cars came with built in inverters and supplied 240vac or 110vac depending on the region they were manufactured for. it ’ s becoming a fairly common feature to have a “ cigarette lighter ” port in the car boot as well as at least two ports inside the car. when a car has three sockets and only one device to actually light cigarettes ( which i suspect is only provided to fill an empty socket ) it ’ s very obvious that people want to connect random devices. also having usb charging ports inside the car would be a really good idea ( one for each seat would be good for ingress ).


readers may remember the footprints found in mexico that have been dated to about 40, 000 years bp. geotimes has an interesting story on the subject : in summer 2003, researchers matthew bennett of bournemouth university and silvia gonzalez and david huddart of liverpool john moores university in the united kingdom were dating and mapping the geology of the valsequillo basin in mexico, about 130 kilometers south of mexico city, when they came across what appeared to be footprints on the floor of an abandoned quarry. examining the site further, they found the site littered with footprints, bennett says — 269 individual prints of humans and animals intermingled. sixty percent of the footprints appear to be human, with telltale arches and impressions of the heels, balls and toes, and 36 percent of those appear to be child - sized, according to the researchers, whose work is in press in quaternary science reviews. the remaining 40 percent of the prints were from a variety of animals, bennett says, including dogs, big cats and animals with cloven hooves, such as deer and camels. the researchers also found mastodon and mammoth teeth. previously, in the 1960s and 1970s, archaeologists found megafaunal remains, including bones that had been “ worked ” with tools, scattered throughout the basin. those remains had been unreliably dated to be between 20, 000 and 40, 000 years old, bennett says, so the sites have been somewhat ignored since then. the footprints are preserved in a layer of volcanic ash from the eruption of cerro toluquilla beneath a shallow lake in the valsequillo basin just over 40, 000 years ago. “ volcanic ash lithifies quickly, like cement, ” bennett says, so when the inhabitants of the lake shores wandered across the mucky ash, their footprints were captured. when lake levels later rose, water washed over the footprints, burying them in lake sediments, he says. “ so we have this great stratigraphic sequence ” of lake sediments, topped by ash, which is then topped again by lake sediments, bennett says, that can be dated. the dissenting opinion : but michael waters, a geoarchaeologist at texas a & m university in college station, is not convinced. he says that the ash layer is likely much older than 40, 000 years, and should be retested using different methods. furthermore, says waters, who has visited the site, “ i have serious reservations as to whether or not these are even footprints, human or animal. ” the site


from the time of alzheimer ’ s first description of psychotic symptoms in a patient with alzheimer ’ s disease in 1907, psychosis has been recognized as a major clinical syndrome in this illness. the consequences of psychotic symptoms in alzheimer ’ s disease may be painful and costly for the affected individuals, those who care for them, and society at large. psychotic symptoms have been linked to greater caregiver distress ( 1 – 3 ) and have been found to be a significant predictor of functional decline and institutionalization ( 4 – 7 ). compared to patients with alzheimer ’ s disease without psychosis, those with alzheimer ’ s disease and psychotic symptoms are also more likely to have worse general health ( 8 ) as well as a greater incidence of other psychiatric and behavioral disturbances ( 9 – 11 ). psychotic patients tend to have more frequent and problematic behaviors, including agitation ( 12 – 14 ), episodes of verbal and physical aggression ( 10, 15 – 18 ), and anxiety ( 11 ). reviews completed before the early 1990s found that psychotic symptoms were common in dementia, including alzheimer ’ s disease ( 19 – 23 ). in their review of 21 studies, for example, wragg and jeste ( 23 ) found that approximately one - third of all patients with alzheimer ’ s disease had delusions at some point during their illness, 28 % had hallucinations, and nearly 35 % had other psychotic symptoms that were difficult to categorize. overall, however, the reviewed studies were compromised by sampling deficiencies and methodological problems. wragg and jeste ’ s review included studies with as few as nine subjects. moreover, only five of the 21 studies had a sample size larger than 100 subjects. other methodological problems included the use of unreliable or nonvalidated diagnostic criteria for alzheimer ’ s disease. consequently, samples included individuals with various types of dementias, and thus generalizability was limited, and findings as they related to alzheimer ’ s disease specifically were obscured. imprecise operational definitions of psychosis ( 24 ) and utilization of assessment methods with questionable reliability and validity also undermined these investigations. moreover, all of the studies published before 1990 were cross - sectional or descriptive and thus did not provide data on the incidence or course ( e. g., persistence ) of symptoms. since the early 1990s, research on psychosis of alzheimer ’ s disease has advanced considerably. there have been improvements in the development of diagnostic criteria for alzheimer ’ s disease and for psychosis of alzheimer ’ s disease ( 25 ) and the development of more reliable


the early 1990s, research on psychosis of alzheimer ’ s disease has advanced considerably. there have been improvements in the development of diagnostic criteria for alzheimer ’ s disease and for psychosis of alzheimer ’ s disease ( 25 ) and the development of more reliable measures of psychotic symptoms, including the behaviorial pathology in alzheimer ’ s disease rating scale ( 26 ) and the neuropsychiatric inventory ( 27 ). larger sample sizes have become available because of increased awareness of the disease and the establishment of alzheimer ’ s disease centers. longitudinal data from these centers have become available, and more investigators have undertaken prospective studies on this topic. we reviewed studies published from 1990 through 2003 that investigated psychosis of alzheimer ’ s disease with the aim of providing a systematic overview of the current state of knowledge in this area. in so doing, we employed more stringent inclusion criteria than were applied in reviews conducted before the early 1990s. in this article, we summarize findings on the epidemiology of psychotic symptoms in alzheimer ’ s disease. delusions and hallucinations are also reviewed separately, and we include findings on other uncategorized psychotic symptoms. in addition, we examine the literature on potential risk factors for psychosis of alzheimer ’ s disease. implications of the findings for clinical practice and for future research are discussed. computerized searches using pubmed and psycinfo databases were performed for english - language articles published between 1990 and the end of 2003 with the keywords " psychosis and alzheimer disease " and " psychosis and dementia. " additional articles were identified by using the " related articles " function in pubmed and by cross - referencing identified articles. only empirical investigations reporting data on psychotic symptoms in patients with alzheimer ’ s disease were selected. if a given study included subjects with dementias other than alzheimer ’ s disease ( e. g., vascular dementia or mixed dementia ), sufficient data on the alzheimer ’ s disease group itself ( e. g., number of subjects and a prevalence rate of psychotic symptoms ) must have been provided. in addition, the study design, study setting, some description of the method of diagnosing alzheimer ’ s disease ( e. g., national institute of neurological and communicative disorders and stroke and the alzheimer ’ s disease and related disorders association criteria ), and description of how psychotic symptoms were measured or defined must have been clearly stated. target symptoms that could not be well categorized as delusions or hallucinations were considered " other psychotic symptoms. " using these methods, we identified 55 articles for


), and description of how psychotic symptoms were measured or defined must have been clearly stated. target symptoms that could not be well categorized as delusions or hallucinations were considered " other psychotic symptoms. " using these methods, we identified 55 articles for review. sample size and subject characteristics the mean sample size in the 55 studies reviewed ( t1 ) was 177 subjects ( median = 135 ; range 27 to 1, 155 ). these findings represent an increase in sample sizes from those in the studies of psychosis in alzheimer ’ s disease prior to 1990 that were included in a previous review ( 23 ). in that review, the largest sample size among 21 studies was merely 175 subjects, and the median sample size was 33. in the current review, the mean age of subjects with alzheimer ’ s disease was 75. 5 years ( median = 74. 0, range = 69 – 85 ), and the mean level of education was 10. 7 years ( median = 12. 0, range = 6 – 13 ). inclusion of education data was not possible for some studies because of the use of alternative scales of measurement ( e. g., less than high school versus high school ). nearly two - thirds of the total subject sample were women ( mean = 64. 2 % ), although considerable variability in gender distribution was noted across studies, with the proportion of women ranging from 28. 8 % to 83. 4 %. in general, subjects included in the studies tended to have mild or moderate cognitive impairment, as reflected by a mean mini - mental state examination ( mmse ) ( 28 ) score of 15. 5 ( median = 16. 3 ; range 5 – 21 ), although there was considerable variability in this regard across studies as well. relatively few studies provided data on age at onset or the mean duration of illness. these variables may be considered unreliable estimates because they are based on a patient ’ s or informant ’ s retrospective memory and / or perceptions. although a majority of the reports ( 63. 6 % ) were cross - sectional ( 8, 10, 12, 17, 29 – 60 ), 34. 5 % of the studies provided longitudinal data ( 9, 13, 16, 63 – 78 ). the primary settings for 72. 7 % of the studies were outpatient clinics, alzheimer ’ s disease clinical centers, or alzheimer ’ s disease research centers ( 8, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 29 – 32, 34 – 39, 43, 44, 48 – 50, 52, 53, 55, 57


alzheimer ’ s disease clinical centers, or alzheimer ’ s disease research centers ( 8, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 29 – 32, 34 – 39, 43, 44, 48 – 50, 52, 53, 55, 57 – 74 ) ; relatively few studies included samples of inpatients ( 33, 41, 45 – 47, 56, 75 ) or a combination of inpatients and outpatients ( 9, 42 ). even fewer reports ( 51, 54 ) included community - based samples, which are often more difficult to obtain. the setting was not clear in one investigation ( 76 ). diagnosis and measurement the national institute of neurological and communicative disorders and stroke and the alzheimer ’ s disease and related disorders association criteria ( 77 ) were used most commonly for diagnosis of alzheimer ’ s disease ( 8, 10, 12, 16, 31 – 34, 36, 40 – 44, 48, 50 – 55, 57, 61 – 63, 65, 66, 71 – 75 ). both those criteria and the dsm criteria were used together in several studies ( 9, 13, 17, 29, 30, 35, 37, 45 – 47, 50, 59, 63, 64, 67, 69 ). autopsy results, specifically those that utilized criteria of the consortium to establish a registry for alzheimer ’ s disease ( 78 ), were used infrequently. numerous measures or tools were used alone or in combination to assess psychotic symptoms. informal or semistructured interviews of patients and / or their caregivers ( such as the national institute of mental health diagnostic interview schedule, the structured clinical interview for dsm - iv axis i disorders, and the initial evaluation form ) were utilized most frequently ( 15 studies ), with an additional six studies incorporating other measures in addition to interviews. the behavioral pathology in alzheimer ’ s disease rating scale and the neuropsychiatric inventory, or both, were also used frequently. the median prevalence of psychotic symptoms ( delusions or hallucinations ) in patients with alzheimer ’ s disease was 41. 1 % ( range = 12. 2 % – 74. 1 % ). the median prevalence of delusions was 36 % ( range = 9. 3 % – 63 % ). delusions of theft were the most common type of delusions reported ( 50. 9 % of studies ). hallucinations occurred less frequently, with a median prevalence of 18 % ( range = 4 % – 41 % ). visual hallucinations were more prevalent than auditory


the most common type of delusions reported ( 50. 9 % of studies ). hallucinations occurred less frequently, with a median prevalence of 18 % ( range = 4 % – 41 % ). visual hallucinations were more prevalent than auditory hallucinations ( median = 18. 7 % and 9. 2 %, respectively ). between 7. 8 % and 20. 8 % of subjects ( median = 13 % ) experienced both hallucinations and delusions. psychotic symptoms not categorized as delusions or hallucinations were reported by 3. 6 % to 38. 9 % of patients with alzheimer ’ s disease ( median = 25. 6 % ). most often, this category comprised misidentifications ( frequently considered to be a type of delusion, although it may be a separate phenomenon ). prevalence data are summarized in t1. prevalence is affected by several factors, including the study setting and study design. a higher prevalence of psychotic symptoms tended to occur in inpatient settings ( e. g., acute care hospitals, nursing homes, neurobehavioral units ) ( 31. 2 % to 74. 1 % ) ( 33, 40, 41, 45 – 47, 56, 75 ), whereas lower rates ( 12. 2 % to 65. 2 % ) were noted in patients referred to outpatient memory or research clinics ( 8, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 29 – 32, 34 – 38, 43, 44, 48 – 50, 52, 53, 55, 57 – 61, 63 – 70, 72 – 74 ). two studies included a community sample ( 51, 54 ), and one reported that 26. 9 % of the subjects experienced psychosis ( 51 ). delusions among inpatients were present in 44. 4 % to 62. 9 % and hallucinations were present in 5. 7 % to 34 %. in outpatient samples, 9. 3 % to 63 % of subjects experienced delusions, and 3. 8 % to 41 % had hallucinations. in the two studies of community - dwelling subjects, 21. 8 % and 22. 7 % had delusions, and 12. 8 % and 13. 1 % had hallucinations. the incidence of psychosis of alzheimer ’ s disease refers to the percentage of individuals with alzheimer ’ s disease who are initially not psychotic and who develop one or more psychotic symptoms by a specified end - point. no studies before 1990 reported data on incidence. in studies conducted since 1990,


alzheimer ’ s disease refers to the percentage of individuals with alzheimer ’ s disease who are initially not psychotic and who develop one or more psychotic symptoms by a specified end - point. no studies before 1990 reported data on incidence. in studies conducted since 1990, however, seven studies ( 13, 61, 63, 64, 66, 69, 73 ) reported data on incidence over observation periods ranging from 1 to 5 years. paulsen et al. ( 69 ) reported a 1 - year incidence of 20 %. levy and colleagues ( 13 ) reported a comparable incidence of 25 % after 1 year. over a 2 - year period, paulsen and colleagues ( 69 ) reported an incidence of 36. 1 %, and in the study by caligiuri et al. ( 63 ) of neuromotor abnormalities and risk for psychosis, 32. 5 % of subjects developed psychotic symptoms over the course of 2 years. the latter rates are likely comparable because the samples from the two studies overlapped to some extent, given that subjects in both studies were drawn from the same group of individuals enrolled in longitudinal studies at the alzheimer ’ s disease research center in san diego. delusions and hallucinations both seem to develop more readily within a 1 - year to 2 - year span, although these data are limited by the small number of studies addressing delusions and hallucinations specifically over more than two assessment points ( 60, 65 ). incidence seemed to plateau after 3 years, as there was little difference between 3 - year ( 49. 5 % ) and 4 - year ( 51. 3 % ) cumulative rates for psychosis in the study by paulsen et al. ( 69 ). in the study by chen and colleagues ( 64 ), 29. 7 % of the subjects developed psychosis over an average of 5 years of follow - up. however, the authors pointed out that subjects were not evaluated the same number of times or at the same time points. the 14. 9 % incidence reported by sweet and associates ( 73 ) was difficult to compare to the findings of other studies because the length of follow - up was not specified. persistence of psychosis of alzheimer ’ s disease refers to whether an individual experiences a symptom at two or more consecutive evaluations. again, comparison of rates across studies is limited because variable follow - up periods were used by different researchers. in one study, subjects were evaluated every 3 months over 1 year, and 57 % had psychotic symptoms on at least two occasions ( 13 ). in another study, a similarly high


is limited because variable follow - up periods were used by different researchers. in one study, subjects were evaluated every 3 months over 1 year, and 57 % had psychotic symptoms on at least two occasions ( 13 ). in another study, a similarly high persistence of psychosis was found for individuals evaluated at baseline and 1 year later : 44 % for delusions, 26 % for visual hallucinations, and 45 % for auditory hallucinations ( 61 ). psychotic symptoms rarely seemed to persist after several months, however. haupt et al. ( 66 ) reported that after 2 years, psychotic symptoms did not persist in any of 21 subjects who had delusions or in any of 11 subjects who had hallucinations at baseline. the results may have been affected by the small number of patients manifesting psychotic symptoms. furthermore, the authors assessed symptoms at 1 and 2 years but reported persistence on the basis of the presence of a symptom at both time points. a low persistence rate over a 2 - year period was also found by devanand and colleagues ( 9 ), who reported that delusions persisted in only 12. 8 % of 180 subjects and hallucinations in only 5. 6 %. rosen et al. ( 70 ) and zubenko et al. ( 76 ) considered a symptom to be persistent if it was present on any two consecutive annual evaluations conducted over the course of the study ( on average, 2 and 5 years, respectively ). using this definition, these authors reported that 86. 7 % and 84. 6 %, respectively, of the same subject sample had persistent psychotic symptoms. seven studies examined the relationship between african american or black ethnicity and psychosis. five found a positive association ( 8, 16, 31, 36, 52 ), and two found no relationship ( 9, 32 ). bassiony and colleagues ( 31 ) reported that african americans were significantly more likely to have hallucinations than caucasians ; the investigators did not report on other psychotic symptoms. lopez et al. ( 52 ) reported that african americans in the moderate to severe stages of alzheimer ’ s disease had significantly more psychotic symptoms than caucasians in the same stages ; the relationship between ethnicity and psychotic symptoms was not significant in mild stages, however. no studies reported associations with any other ethnic groups. associations between risk factors and psychosis are summarized in t2. severity of cognitive impairment ( assessed with the mmse or a similar global cognitive measure ) showed a significant positive association with the presence of psychosis in individuals with alzheimer ’


other ethnic groups. associations between risk factors and psychosis are summarized in t2. severity of cognitive impairment ( assessed with the mmse or a similar global cognitive measure ) showed a significant positive association with the presence of psychosis in individuals with alzheimer ’ s disease in 20 studies ( 8, 9, 12, 13, 31, 32, 34, 36, 37, 40, 44, 45, 48, 52, 57, 65, 67 – 69, 74 ) and no association in 10 studies ( 10, 33, 39, 42, 47, 50, 51, 58, 62, 70 ). overall, the prevalence of psychosis in general increased as cognitive impairment became more severe. delusions tended to initially become more prevalent as cognitive functioning worsened but then decreased again as cognitive impairment became more severe in later stages of the illness. hallucinations, like general psychotic symptoms, also increased in prevalence as cognitive impairment became more severe. when subjects were categorized as mildly, moderately, or severely cognitively impaired on the basis of mmse scores ( 28 ), a similar pattern was observed. the median prevalence of psychosis was 25. 5 % ( range = 3. 1 % – 50 % ) in mildly impaired individuals ( mmse scores 21 – 25 ), 37 % ( range = 18. 8 % – 56 % ) in those with moderate cognitive impairment ( mmse scores 20 – 11 ), and 49 % ( range = 21. 9 % – 79 % ) in severely impaired subjects ( mmse score 10 or below ). delusions were reported in a median of 23. 5 % ( range = 11 % – 50 % ) of mildly impaired individuals, 46 % ( range = 13 % – 67 % ) of those with moderate cognitive impairment, and 33. 3 % ( range = 23 % – 57 % ) of severely impaired subjects. the median prevalence of hallucinations among those with mild cognitive impairment was 11. 4 % ( range = 9 % – 33 % ) and increased to 19 % in those with moderate cognitive impairment ( range = 13 % – 48 % ) and to 28 % ( range = 16 % – 44 % ) in severely impaired patients with alzheimer ’ s disease. other psychotic symptoms occurred in 5. 9 % and 16. 7 % of mildly impaired subjects ( as reported in two studies ), in 43. 5 % of moderately impaired individuals, and in 41. 7 % of those with severe cognitive impairment ( one study ). overall, a statistical examination of the mean prevalence figures for psychotic symptoms and cognitive severity level


reported in two studies ), in 43. 5 % of moderately impaired individuals, and in 41. 7 % of those with severe cognitive impairment ( one study ). overall, a statistical examination of the mean prevalence figures for psychotic symptoms and cognitive severity level revealed a significant difference only between the mean prevalence of hallucinations in mildly and moderately impaired individuals, with hallucinations being more prevalent in the moderately impaired than in the mildly impaired subjects. there were no other significant differences in mean prevalence of symptoms at any other levels of cognitive impairment. education, gender, and family history of dementia or psychiatric disorder were weakly associated with increased risk for psychosis in the majority of reviewed studies. a majority of studies ( 76. 5 % ) found that education level was not correlated with the presence of psychotic symptoms ( 10, 16, 31, 36, 37, 44, 45, 47, 48, 50, 51, 56, 69 ). in contrast, education level was positively associated with delusions in one study ( 33 ) and negatively associated with psychosis in three ( 8, 32, 52 ). gender was not associated with psychosis in 17 studies presenting these data ( 9, 10, 16, 31, 32, 36, 37, 44, 47, 48, 50, 55, 56, 68 – 70, 76 ), but it was associated with psychosis in seven. of those seven, four found that women were at greater risk for psychotic symptoms ( 45, 51, 63, 65 ) and three found that men had a higher risk for psychosis ( 39, 42, 62 ). of seven studies that investigated the association of family history of dementia and / or other psychiatric disorders and psychosis in alzheimer ’ s disease ( 8, 10, 12, 31, 37, 48, 56 ), none found a positive relationship. however, lack of knowledge and diagnostic inaccuracy in diagnosis among family members could have obscured such an association. the relationships between psychosis and patients ’ age, age at onset of alzheimer ’ s disease, and duration of alzheimer ’ s disease were generally equivocal. older age was correlated with psychotic symptoms ( delusions, hallucinations, or both ) in 12 of 25 studies ( 8, 13, 17, 32, 36, 37, 40, 45, 47, 50, 55, 56 ) and was not associated with psychosis in the remaining 13 investigations ( 9, 10, 31, 42, 43, 48, 57, 59, 62, 69, 70, 75, 76 ).


45, 47, 50, 55, 56 ) and was not associated with psychosis in the remaining 13 investigations ( 9, 10, 31, 42, 43, 48, 57, 59, 62, 69, 70, 75, 76 ). in 12 studies reporting on the relationship between age at onset of alzheimer ’ s disease and psychotic symptoms, seven studies found no relationship ( 12, 16, 42, 47, 51, 68, 76 ), four found that the later the age at onset of alzheimer ’ s disease, the more likely the individual was to experience psychosis ( 40, 45, 56, 75 ), and only one found that an earlier age at onset was associated with psychosis ( 62 ). nine of 17 studies found no relationship between duration of alzheimer ’ s disease and the occurrence of psychotic symptoms ( 36, 47, 51, 55, 56, 58, 68, 71, 76 ). the other eight studies, however, found that a longer duration of alzheimer ’ s disease was correlated with the occurrence of psychosis ( 12, 17, 31, 32, 34, 37, 39, 45 ). psychotic symptoms were significantly associated with more rapid cognitive decline over time in all nine studies that examined this relationship ( 13, 37, 40, 58, 62, 69 – 71, 74 ), supporting the notion that psychosis may denote a subset of patients with alzheimer ’ s disease with a more aggressive course of the disease ( see references 13, 69, 70 ). it is interesting to note that only two of these studies examined the relationship between the rate of cognitive decline and hallucinations or delusions separately, and each found that hallucinations, but not delusions, were significantly associated with more rapid cognitive decline ( 62, 74 ). our review of 55 studies of psychosis in possible or probable alzheimer ’ s disease revealed that a sizable proportion ( median 41 % ) of individuals with the disease experience psychotic symptoms at some time during the course of their illness. delusions occurred more frequently ( median = 36 % ) than hallucinations ( median = 18 % ). other psychotic symptoms not categorized as delusions or hallucinations occurred in 25 % of individuals. the incidence of psychotic symptoms seemed to increase with increasing follow - up intervals over the first 3 years. psychotic symptoms tended to be reported in a majority of patients at least over a period of several months but often were not observed beyond 1 or 2 years. african american or black ethnicity and greater degree of cognitive impairment were strongly associated with a higher rate of psycho


psychotic symptoms tended to be reported in a majority of patients at least over a period of several months but often were not observed beyond 1 or 2 years. african american or black ethnicity and greater degree of cognitive impairment were strongly associated with a higher rate of psychosis. psychosis was also associated with a faster rate of cognitive decline. age, age at onset of alzheimer ’ s disease, and duration of alzheimer ’ s disease were associated with psychosis in approximately one - half of studies. education, gender, and family history of dementia or psychiatric illness showed a weak or inconsistent relationship with psychosis in patients with alzheimer ’ s disease. the prevalence rate of psychosis in patients with alzheimer ’ s disease found in our review was 41 %. the median rate for delusions was 36 %, which is comparable to the median rate of 33. 5 % reported in one of the only review studies of psychosis in alzheimer ’ s disease published before the early 1990s ( 23 ). the rate of hallucinations found in the present review ( 18 % ) represents a decrease from the 28 % reported by wragg and jeste ( 23 ). the fact that prevalence remains high in light of pharmacologic treatment may reflect increased awareness that these disturbances are consequences of alzheimer ’ s disease, improved detection, or the use of better criteria and rating scales that allow for psychotic symptoms to be diagnosed with greater accuracy. as an increasing number of patients with alzheimer ’ s disease are treated with cholinesterase inhibitors over the coming years, we might expect that the prevalence and incidence of psychosis would decrease, although findings for the efficacy of these drugs in reducing psychotic symptoms specifically have been mixed ( see references 13, 82, 83 ). the fact that psychosis is persistent over a short interval of a few months may reflect the reasonable amount of time it takes to begin typical treatment for psychosis and to observe amelioration of symptoms. to assess the true persistence of symptoms, subjects would have to be enrolled in a placebo - controlled study in which some psychotic patients did not receive the typical treatment for symptoms. in the studies that were reviewed, it was more the exception than the rule that subjects would be excluded if they were taking an antipsychotic drug or cholinesterase inhibitor or that a drug washout period would be invoked. furthermore, there were no means of determining whether the patients who were taking these drugs were being treated optimally, and the extent to which psychotic symptoms persist despite antipsychotic treatment is not known. therefore, persistence values may reflect


would be invoked. furthermore, there were no means of determining whether the patients who were taking these drugs were being treated optimally, and the extent to which psychotic symptoms persist despite antipsychotic treatment is not known. therefore, persistence values may reflect the experience of psychosis given current treatments rather than the true persistent nature of psychotic symptoms. few equivocal associations with psychosis emerged from the reviewed studies. the association between african american or black ethnicity and psychosis is intriguing, although it is also limited by the fact that only caucasian samples are available for comparison. issues of acculturation and genetic influences are yet to be adequately examined, highlighting an area in need of exploration. cognitive impairment and the rate of cognitive decline were also found to be strongly associated with psychotic symptoms. the findings of the present review suggest that psychosis represents a developmental feature marking the progression of alzheimer ’ s disease or that it represents a distinct disease subtype marked by psychotic symptoms and a particularly rapid disease course. the fact that delusions, specifically, seemed most prevalent in patients with moderate cognitive impairment supports the hypothesis that a certain amount of neuronal integrity must be present for delusions to occur ( see references 48, 84 ). conclusions are limited, however, by a general failure to include severely cognitively impaired subjects in these studies. in addition, the association between psychosis and cognitive impairment and between psychosis and rate of cognitive decline may be influenced by medications, including antipsychotics and cholinesterase inhibitors, the former of which is recommended as a first - line treatment for dementia patients with delusions ( 85 ). yet, a majority of the studies reviewed did not account for the potential effects of medication on cognition and simply reported that these effects were a possible limitation to their findings. a number of studies altogether failed to report what, if any, medications the subjects were taking. the importance of considering medication effects is illustrated in studies of antipsychotic use and cognition. the use of two atypical antipsychotics ( clozapine and risperidone ) in cognitively impaired patients was reviewed by jeste et al. ( 86 ) and gladsjo et al. ( 87 ). jeste and colleagues found that the effects of clozapine on cognition were somewhat conflicting, which they posited was due, at least in part, to the strong anticholinergic activity of clozapine, which is likely to confound or diminish any enhancement of cognitive functioning. berman and colleagues ( 88, 89 )


they posited was due, at least in part, to the strong anticholinergic activity of clozapine, which is likely to confound or diminish any enhancement of cognitive functioning. berman and colleagues ( 88, 89 ) reported significant increases in mmse scores in patients with schizophrenia or mild dementia treated with risperidone. moreover, cholinesterase inhibitors have been shown to improve cognitive symptoms or temporarily reduce the rate of cognitive decline ( 90 ). certainly, future studies should examine the potential influence of medication use, not only to examine any potential effects, positive or negative, on cognitive functioning but also to elucidate underlying biological mechanisms of psychosis in dementia. furthermore, difficulties in diagnosing patients with lewy body dementia may have led to their inadvertent inclusion in studies of patients with alzheimer ’ s disease, thereby affecting the association between some psychotic symptoms and rate of cognitive decline, given that psychotic symptoms, and hallucinations in particular, may occur in nearly one - half of those with lewy body dementia ( 30, 91 ). for many variables that were found not to be associated with psychosis, including age, age at onset, and duration of illness, small standard deviations likely affected the detection of associations. in the case of age and age at onset, few individuals who were younger than age 55 years or who had an early age at onset ( age 55 years or younger ) were included in these studies. similarly, the range and standard deviation for illness duration were restricted ( range = 2. 8 – 7. 7 years, sd = 1. 33 years ), thus limiting the potential to detect a positive association. in addition, many authors noted that age at onset of alzheimer ’ s disease was inherently difficult to determine, because it was often an estimate that relied on the failing memory of those with alzheimer ’ s disease or the recall and dating by others of behaviors that occurred several years earlier. the results of this review are also limited by problems in assessing psychosis. despite more regular use of accepted diagnostic criteria, some researchers continue to use diagnostic criteria that are nonspecific to alzheimer ’ s disease ( e. g., dsm - iii or dsm - iv criteria ). even when accepted criteria are utilized, inconsistencies in interpreting those criteria are evident. presumably, the rates reported herein may underestimate the prevalence of delusions and hallucinations specifically, as evidenced by the fact that from 3. 6 % to 38. 9 % of psychotic


sizable proportion of individuals with alzheimer ’ s disease. the incidence of psychosis in any sample of patients typically continues to climb during the first 3 years of observation and may persist for several months, pointing to the necessity for early detection and treatment. with recognition of how prominent and devastating psychotic symptoms may be, it becomes increasingly clear that research should continue to focus on the epidemiology of and risk factors for psychosis of alzheimer ’ s disease. as alzheimer ’ s disease affects a growing number of individuals over time, so too will psychosis as a syndrome. systematic delineation of the epidemiology of and risk factors for psychosis in alzheimer ’ s disease may clarify the biological underpinnings of these symptoms and direct indications for early interventions, facilitate patient management, reduce caregiver burden, improve patients ’ quality of life, and open the door to discovering the nature of psychosis in other diseases. received nov. 29, 2004 ; revision received feb. 1, 2005 ; accepted feb. 22, 2005. from the department of psychiatry, university of california, san diego ; and the veterans affairs san diego healthcare system, san diego. address correspondence to dr. jeste, department of psychiatry, university of california, san diego, va san diego healthcare system, 9500 gilman dr., mail code 0603v, la jolla, ca 92093 - 0603 ; email @ example. com ( e - mail ). supported in part by nimh grants mh - 66248 and mh - 59101 and by the department of veterans affairs.


when i read the pocohontas story to my kids ( we have the disney version ), we usually have a little discussion when we get to the page where pocohontas attempts to dissuade her father ( the local indian chief ) from starting a war with the settlers. the kids are interested in the idea that both people are trying to do the right thing, but they have completely different ideas about what the right thing is. for those of you not familiar with the story, pocohontas has fallen in love with a mercenary on the voyage ( john smith ), and the two of them want to establish peace between the settlers and the natives. the book suggests that peace involves the settlers staying in north america. powhatan, her father, is assembling a war party to drive the settlers away. we can look back in history to better understand who was " right ". - as the book makes clear, a war between the settlers and the indians is going to lead to many indian casualties, since the settlers have guns and the indians do not. furthermore, most of the settlers are not intending to do harm to the indians, as they ' ve been told they are settling land that has no ownership yet. pocohontas ' efforts end up saving many well - intentioned people ' s lives. - these same settlers would probably understand that, had they landed anywhere in england and built a village where they landed, they would be summarily evicted by whomever owned the land they were on. the racism here is lightly touched on in the book, but it ' s helpful because it ' s pretty easy for the kids to see how convenient it is for the settlers to suppose that nobody in north america owns anything yet. - i usually tell the kids what little i know of the mauri, the indigenous people of new zealand. as i understand it, they immediately made war with white folks who arrived. i suspect that the mauri were territorial in a way that worked better with the white conception of property, and because of that mauri today have a significant representation in the new zealand constitution and legislature, and own very large amounts of new zealand ' s real estate. i expect many native americans would prefer the mauri outcome to their own. - the na ' vi are territorial. they have a few specific high - value trees. my understanding is that most of the north american natives had a much less specific sense of property. - the movie has the natives resisting under human leadership, which is interesting to think


18 ) the story of merriwether lewis and william clark young americans by nellie kingsley the source book entitled, four american heroes, was authored by nellie kingsley, and published by the the werner school book company. this book included the follow titles : 1 ) the story of meriwether lewis and william clark for young americans 2 ) the story of john charles fremont for young americans this review includes only the story of meriwether lewis and william clark for young americans ; the other two are covered in separate articles. this story is an abbreviated account of the expedition of 1804 - 1805 and as the subtitle indicates is for young americans. the publication consists 132 pages of text and approximately 28 black and white / gray scale images. this is an ideal book for the first time exposure to the lewis and clark expedition. the book is short and uncomplicated so it doesn ' t have the same kind of detail and background that a longer work would have ; realistically even a 600 page book could not tell the whole story but it would have much more detail than this short work. beyond grammar school i never remember reading or remembering much about the lewis and clark expedition ( or the corps of discovery ). i think i envisioned it as being a very long backpacking trip. and i probably assumed that for the men of that day and time it was just a picnic. only in my later reading and study have i learned that it was a monumental achievement. the physical strength and endurance the fortitude and courage intelligence and common sense were all common attributes of all the members of the expedition. not only did they have to battle the elements from oppressive heat to freezing cold to dry desert and flowing rivers but they also had to contend with wild animals, especially the dreaded grizzly bear ( whom the indians also feared ) and some hostile indians ( though some indians were also friendly ). it is amazing that only one man was lost during the whole expedition and that was due to an acute case of appendicitis i ' ve read much more detail works and i ' m sure i ' ve absorbed other details through the years but i still found this book to be an interesting and compelling read. it is exciting and definitely includes details and stories that i ' d never heard before ; ( perhaps this is true because of the age of the book or because of my own age and memory. ) for example in the following passage i ' d never heard of this initiation / custom ; ( in fact i didn ' t realize that there were sailors on the expedition ) and


of the age of the book or because of my own age and memory. ) for example in the following passage i ' d never heard of this initiation / custom ; ( in fact i didn ' t realize that there were sailors on the expedition ) and the phrase equinoctial line. - - - - at last the platte river was reached. there the sailors carried out a curious custom. it seems that the passing of the platte river is regarded by missouri river boatmen just as the crossing of the equinoctial line is regarded by sailors on the sea. to mark the passing of it every man in the who had never been there before was caught and shaved unless he could stand treat ; to his comrades. or that the kite indians were “ so called because they were always flying about. this is an interesting one though kind of bad for the horse : early in august they came to the burial - place of a great and awful chief of the omaha nation named blackbird. he was buried sitting erect on horseback. how about the singing indians : no sooner were the explorers settled than a dozen indians appeared on the opposite bank and began to sing. this was their sign of friendship and their friendship was very genuine. i would be remiss not to mention sacajawea. she and her husband were essential members of the expedition of that there is no doubt. i myself did not know that during that time while she was traveling with them she gave birth to a son and carried him along with her. she was a tough lady! table of contents : introduction i. the two captains ii. the start iii. june and july iv. the first indian council v. the mountain of little people vi. the council with the sioux vii. an indian dance viii. winter among the mandans ix. indian hunts x. the mandan indians xi. the winter xii. fights with grizzly bears xiii. a important decision xiv. making a cache xv. an exciting morning xvi. passing the falls xvii. up the jefferson river xviii. the columbia river reached xix. among the indians xx. hesitation xxi. down the snake river xxii. down the columbia xxiii. fort clatsop and the start home xxiv. ascent of the columbia xxv. crossing the bitter root mountains xxvi. captain lewis ' s adventures xxvii. captain clark ' s adventures xxviii. the end of the great expedition "


polygamy and the quran those people who have modeled their thinking after new testament christianity are, to say the least, a bit surprised ( if not shocked and appalled ) to learn that the religion of islam countenances polygamy. but the christian mind must realize that muhammad ’ s islam arose out of arabia in the sixth and seventh centuries a. d. the arab culture was well - known for the practice of polygamy, in which the men were allowed to have as many wives as they desired. the quran addressed this social circumstance by placing a limitation on the number of wives a man could have. the wording of the pronouncement is in a surah titled “ women ” : “ and if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans, marry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four ; and if ye fear that ye cannot do justice ( to so many ) then one ( only ) or ( the captives ) that your right hands possess ” ( surah 4 : 3 ). setting aside the issue of why muhammad himself was exempt from this limitation ( surah 33 : 50 — see miller, “ muhammad ’ s polygamy, ” 2004 ), the divine origin of the quran is discredited on the basis of its stance on polygamy. in the first place, for all practical purposes, the quran authorizes a man to have as many wives as he chooses, since its teaching on divorce contradicts its teaching on marriage. unlike the new testament, which confines permission to divorce on the sole grounds of sexual unfaithfulness ( matthew 19 : 9 ), the quran authorizes divorce for any reason ( e. g., surah 2 : 226 - 232, 241 ; 33 : 4, 49 ; 58 : 2 - 4 ; 65 : 1 - 7 ). if a man can divorce his wife for any reason, then the “ command ” that limits a man to four wives is effectively meaningless — merely restricting a man to four legal wives at a time. theoretically, a man could have an unlimited number of wives — all with the approval of god! in the second place, jesus declared in no uncertain terms that “ whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery ; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery ” ( matthew 19 : 9, emp. added ). jesus gave one, and only one, reason for divorce in god ’ s sight. in fact, even the


marries another, commits adultery ; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery ” ( matthew 19 : 9, emp. added ). jesus gave one, and only one, reason for divorce in god ’ s sight. in fact, even the old testament affirmed that god “ hates divorce ” ( malachi 2 : 16 ). the teaching of the bible on divorce is a higher, stricter, nobler standard than the one advocated by the quran. the two books, in fact, contradict each other on this point. in the third place, why does the quran stipulate the number “ four ”? why not three or five wives? the number four would appear to be an arbitrary number with no significance — at least, none is given. though the passage in question indicates the criterion of a man ’ s ability to do justice to those he marries, there is no reason to specify the number four, since men would vary a great deal in the number of women that they would have the ability to manage fairly. the answer may be seen in the influence of the contemporaneous jewish population of arabia. sixth century arabia was a tribal oriented society that relied heavily on oral communication in social interactions. muhammad would have been the recipient of considerable information conveyed orally by his jewish, and even christian, contemporaries. many tales, fables, and rabbinical traditions undoubtedly circulated among the jewish tribes of arabia. the jews themselves probably were lacking in book - learning, having been separated from the mainstream of jewish thought and intellectual development in their migration to the arabian peninsula. the evidence demonstrates that the author of the quran borrowed extensively from jewish and other sources. the ancient talmudic record ( arbah turim, ev. hazaer, 1 ) stated : “ a man may marry many wives, for rabba saith it is lawful to do so, if he can provide for them. nevertheless, the wise men have given good advice, that a man should not marry more than four wives ” ( see rodwell, 1950, p. 411 ; tisdall, 1905, pp. 129 - 130 ). the similarity with the wording of the quran is too striking to be coincidental. it can be argued quite convincingly that the magic number of four was drawn from currently circulating jewish teaching. miller, dave ( 2004 ), “ muhammad ’ s polygamy, ” http : / / www. apologeticspress. org / articles / 2219. rodwell, j. m., trans. ( 1950 reprint ),