|Tile Entity ID||
dec: 138 hex: 8A bin: 10001010
A beacon is a unique block that projects a light beam skyward and can provide status effects to players in the vicinity.
The beacon's visual beam is activated by placing it atop a pyramid formation of iron blocks, gold blocks, emerald blocks and diamond blocks, while its status effect giving function can be activated by "feeding" it 1 gold ingot, 1 iron ingot, 1 emerald, or 1 diamond. The tallest "pyramid" that works with the beacon has 4 layers consisting of 164 specific mineral blocks, as seen above, while the smallest has 1 layer consisting of 9 specific mineral blocks.
Beacon blocks provide two unique functions:
- An aesthetic landmark beam reaching into the sky, which can be visible from far away, only when placed atop a 3 by 3 square of specific mineral blocks (see Beam).
- Powers, which give players status effects within a certain radius (the visual beam must first be active)
Beacon blocks can also function as ordinary light sources, as they are brighter than torches, with the same luminance and underwater function as glowstone and jack o'lanterns. A pyramid is not required in order for beacon blocks to emit ordinary light.
Due to the rare crafting ingredients required, glowstone and jack o'lanterns generally make more sense for use in survival mode, though beacons offer creative mode players an aesthetic alternative. Despite their bottom surfaces being opaque and dark-colored (intended to represent the obsidian in their crafting recipe), beacon blocks emit equal light from each of their sides, including their undersides.
In order to produce a beam or effects, beacons must be placed atop pyramid structures constructed from iron blocks, gold blocks, emerald blocks, and/or diamond blocks. They must also have a clear view of the sky with no obstructions (transparent blocks such as glass and the liquid lava, do not interfere, although water does). The type of block used to build the pyramid is entirely cosmetic and has no functional effect, so using the cheapest option (iron blocks) makes the most sense in survival mode. Several different block types can be mixed without affecting functionality.
The smallest pyramid that will make a beacon block work is a single layer of 9 mineral blocks arranged in a 3 by 3 horizontal square. The beacon block should then be placed atop this square, in the center. See below for details on other pyramid sizes. When constructed correctly, and after a short delay, the beacon will emit a blue-white beam of light into the sky; although at this point the beam is purely aesthetic.
 Requirements for Powers
Once the beacon is emitting a beam, it can then be fed 1 iron ingot, 1 gold ingot, 1 emerald, or 1 diamond, in order to provide powers (status effects similar to those that might come from potions) to players who remain within a certain radius. This is done through the beacon's GUI, which is displayed by right-clicking the beacon block.
In the GUI, place the item to be fed in the empty slot shown, and choose a primary power by clicking one of the choices displayed. Beacons sitting atop 4-level pyramids will also display secondary power choices, one of which can be clicked to provide a second simultaneous boost. When the Done button (green check mark) is clicked, the item will be consumed and the power will be activated. To set a beacon to different powers, another gem/ingot must be consumed.
The more levels a pyramid has, the more powers will be available to choose from, and the wider its affected vicinity will be. There are currently four possible pyramid heights:
- Level 1 pyramid requires: 9 mineral blocks + 1 beacon (3 by 3 base)
- Level 2 pyramid requires: 34 mineral blocks + 1 beacon (5 by 5 base + 3 by 3)
- Level 3 pyramid requires: 83 (1 stack + 19) mineral blocks + 1 beacon (7 by 7 base + 5 by 5 + 3 by 3)
- Level 4 pyramid requires: 164 (2 stacks + 36) mineral blocks + 1 beacon (9 by 9 base + 7 by 7 + 5 by 5 + 3 by 3)
If the pyramid is damaged so that the beacon is deactivated, it will "remember" the powers it was set for, and will reactivate once the pyramid is repaired with no additional resource cost. This applies to piston-altered pyramids as well, making it possible for players to build beacons that can be turned on and off with a sticky piston removing or replacing a pyramid block.
 Multiple Beacons
Multiple beacons can make use of the same specific mineral blocks below them, so it is possible to save space and resources by simply expanding pyramids to accommodate multiple adjacent beacons, rather than constructing multiple complete pyramids.
For example, 4 beacons can be arranged 2 by 2 by building a pyramid with a 10 by 10 base layer (then an 8 by 8 layer, a 6 by 6 layer, a 4 by 4 layer, then the beacons on the top; 2 by 2). Combining 4 beacons in this way requires a total of 216 blocks.
Combined pyramids do not need to be symmetrical. The image to the right shows a 6-beacon (2 by 3) pyramid (which is enough, and 1 too many, to provide all six powers currently available). It requires a total of 244 mineral blocks, with a base layer of 10 by 11.
- Beacons require a pyramid below them as described above.
- Beacons in the Overworld and the End require an unobstructed view of the sky, though transparent blocks (including other beacon blocks) will not count as obstruction (with the exception of water).
- Beacons can function in the Nether, but this requires that all terrain above them be naturally generated or transparent. Also, the beam will not appear.
 Details on Powers
Powers will always be reactivated within the vicinity of the pyramid. The effective radius depends on the number of pyramid levels, with a level 4 pyramid providing the widest area-of-effect. When a player travels outside the area-of-effect, the powers will persist for 4–8 seconds.
Regardless of how many levels the pyramid has, only one primary power may be selected. With secondary powers when selecting the tier II variant, regeneration is no longer provided by the beacon. When selecting regeneration, the tier II variant is no longer provided by the beacon, and will change into a tier I version (see power options). Multiple primary powers require multiple beacons.
The beacon forms a squared affected area around itself, the size of which depends on the pyramid type. The affected area has the same radius below the beacon as it does on the sides, however it travels up to the height limit (256) along the light beam, which makes it optimal to place beacons near the bottom of the map. This serves for a more optimal coverage of volume (making beacon powers available in your mine for example).
|Pyramid Type||Radius size|
Since these squares are centered from the beacon, the radius indicates the distance from the beacon to 5 directions, excluding top.
 Power options
- See also: status effect
The five primary powers are:
Speed: Increased movement speed (similar to potions of swiftness).
Haste: Increased mining speed.
Resistance: Increased armor rating.
Jump Boost: Increased jumping distance and height.
Strength: Increased melee damage (similar to potions of strength).
Level 4 pyramids can also select a secondary power. This can either be regeneration or a tier II variation of the selected primary power. When selecting the tier II variant, regeneration is no longer provided by the beacon. When selecting regeneration, the tier II variant is no longer provided by the beacon, and will change into a tier I version.
- Level 1 pyramid - (speed or haste)
- Level 2 pyramid - (speed, haste, resistance, or jump boost)
- Level 3 pyramid - (speed, haste, resistance, jump boost, or strength)
- Level 4 pyramid - (speed, haste, resistance, jump boost, or strength, and regeneration)
Haste affects all gathering speed with tools. With that being said, it is less noticeable with slower items. To get the most out of your tools and beacon, use it with an efficiency V enchantment on a diamond one, and haste II power on. Haste will work with shears, shovels, pickaxes, and axes. The speed boost is 20% greater on materials such as wood, glowstone and cobblestone. Some materials such as mining stone with an efficiency V diamond pickaxe, are significantly faster than 20% while using the haste II power. Others like leaves or cobwebs, when using shears are not. All testing done with no efficiency, efficiency IV, and efficiency V while using a haste II beacon.
There are many useful places to have a beacon set up, all of these include at a home/base. Some of them are as follows:
- At a mob farm.
- At a zombie, skeleton, and other 2-punch kill experience farms, so they will turn into 1-punch. Note that this is not necessary precision crushers at these farms.
- At a manual reed farm.
Keep in mind, some places will benefit much more greatly when using tier II of the power.
The beam is visible from roughly the same distance as a single ordinary stack of blocks. If maximum render distance is set (currently 16 chunks), the beam of light is visible from up to 256 blocks away.
In comparison to constructing an ordinary pillar of blocks as a landmark, a beacon's beam has the benefit of reaching to the maximum map height without having to manually stack blocks. Additionally, while the beam does not actually emit light onto other surfaces, its surface glows brightly itself even in complete darkness, making it more visible than ordinary blocks during the night.
|Icon||Achievement||In-game description||Prerequisites||Actual requirements (if different)||Version restriction|
|Beaconator||Create a fully powered beacon||The Beginning.||PC|
|1.4.2||12w32a||Added the "Work in Progress" block, now called beacon.|
|12w34a||Removed the beacon from the creative menu.|
|12w36a||The "Work in Progress" block is now called "Beacon", can be found in the creative menu, and is craftable.|
|Texture of the beacon changed from to , and a beacon beam was added.|
|12w38a||Texture of the beacon changed from to . The beacon beam changed from a semi-transparent smooth beam (which conflicted with water transparency), to a pattern with 0% transparency.|
|12w40a||Texture of the beacon changed from to . The beacon beam changed again.|
|1.5||13w05a||Effect radius increased from 16/24/32/40 blocks to 20/30/40/50 blocks.|
|1.6.1||13w23a||With the regeneration effect being nerfed slightly, the same effect produced from the beacon did too.|
|1.7.2||13w36a||Added the achievement Beaconator, achieved by placing a beacon on a level-4 pyramid of specific mineral blocks.|
Issues relating to "Beacon" are maintained on the issue tracker. Report issues there.
- The player can leave a resource in the beacon block without clicking "Done".
- A beacon's light beam will shine through lava, but not water. This is because lava is considered a transparent block, whereas water is not.
- The beam is 255 blocks tall, relative to the height where the beacon block itself was placed, so several beacon beams can stop at different heights.
- Like other light sources with a luminosity over 12, the Beacon Block's light will melt snow and ice.
- Despite being resource blocks, Lapis Lazuli Blocks, blocks of coal, and blocks of redstone, will not work as part of the pyramid.
- If the player flies more than one block above the top of the light beam, the beam will disappear until the player moves five blocks below it.
- Water and Ice appear transparent when viewed through the particle effect that you give off while you have a beacon power.
- A beacon looks like a slab of obsidian with a glass dome on top, with a diamond block in the middle - even though the crafting ingredients do not include any form of diamond.
- A beacon's light beam does not extend all the way up to the block limit, and becomes increasingly more difficult to see if you are not looking directly at it in higher levels.
- The texture of the beacon is 16x16, but only renders the 10x10 area in the center.
- Mining a beacon render cracks on both the glass and the block inside it.
First image released by Jeb.


X-rays are invisible electromagnetic radiations. Their wavelengths are smaller than those of the visible light. They are high-energy rays, have high penetrating power and travel at the speed of light. They can also pass through the flesh of human beings and animals. A German Scientist, Professor Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen in 1895, discovered x-rays. They are sometimes referred to as ‘Roentgen rays’ also. They were called x-rays (x means unknown) because not much was known about them earlier. Professor Roentgen was awarded the first Nobel Prize for Physics in 1901 for the discovery of x-rays. The apparatus used for producing x-rays is called ‘x-ray tube’. This tube is made up of hard glass and is fitted with two electrodes, which are connected to high voltage power supply. The electrode connected to the negative terminal is called cathode and the one connected to the positive terminal is called anode. Low pressure is created inside the tube by pumping out air from it. When high voltage is applied to the electrodes, electrons emerge from the cathode and strike the anode or the ‘target’, which produces x-rays. X-rays are very useful to us. They can pass through substances like wood, paper, skin and flesh but are absorbed by bones, iron, lead, etc. Doctors make use of x-rays to detect the dislocations and fractures of bones, examine the diseases of various organs and presence of stones in kidneys and gall bladder. The part of the body to be x-rayed is placed between the x-ray machine and the x-ray film. When the machine is switched on, the rays produce an image on the film, which is then developed like a negative. From the x-ray film, the areas affected by the disease or with defects are located easily. X-rays are also used to treat cancer. Airports use x-Rays on the baggage of the travellers because with the help of these rays, gold and other valuable gems as well as firearms hidden in the clothes can be detected easily. They are also used to detect cracks and bubbles in metals used for constructing bridges and building purposes. X-rays have a damaging effect on body’s cells, and it is for this reason that a person should not be exposed to x-rays quite often and for long durations. Today, using soft x-ray instruments like CAT (Computerised Axilliary Tomography) scanners are used to detect body abnormalities.


Object of the Preposition
Among the widely used words in English are prepositions. As one of the function words, prepositions cannot stand on their own to form meaning. It needs other parts of speech to create a complete sentence. Nouns and pronouns fill in the gaps and take the function of becoming an object of the preposition.
An object of the preposition is a noun, pronoun, or phrase that follows a preposition and completes its meaning. It answers the questions “what,” “where, or “who.” For example, in the sentence “I looked for the book on the shelf,” the word “on” is a preposition, and “shelf” is the object of the preposition.
In some cases, the object of the preposition can be a phrase instead of a single word. For example, in the sentence “I looked for the book on top of the shelf,” “top of the shelf” is an object of the preposition. The phrase functions as a single unit and answers the question “where.”
What is an Object of the Preposition?
Prepositions are words that express a relationship between time, space, or direction. The most common prepositions are ‘in, at, with, on, across, and between.’ Moreover, the object of the preposition offers an answer to questions like where, when, who, and whom.
Here are a few examples of prepositions in sentences:
- The bag is in the corner of the room.
- Question form: Where is the bag? In the corner.
- My sister is at the grocery store.
- Question form: Where is my sister? At the grocery store.
- He was with her when the accident happened.
- Question form: Who was he with when the accident happened? He was with her.
- Sam said the bill was on him this time, so I didn’t pay anything.
- Question form: On whom was the bill this time? On him.
- The school is across the street.
- Question form: Where is the school? Across the street.
- His mother left for work early in the morning.
- Question form: When did his mother leave? In the morning.
Object of the Preposition Rules
Using and finding the object of the preposition in a sentence is relatively easy. First, familiarize yourself with prepositions and their meanings. Then, look for the preposition in the sentence and identify what follows it. That would be the object of the preposition.
Consider the sentences below:
- Kiana will visit me in December.
- The conference meeting is on the third floor.
The object of the preposition in the first sentence is “December,” and in the second sentence, it is “the third floor.”
In some cases, a phrase can also be the object of a preposition. Like in the sentence: The book is on top of the shelf. The “top of the shelf” is a phrase that functions as the object of the preposition or prepositional phrase.
Here are a few examples of prepositional phrases:
- My mother has a strong trust in your ability to graduate with flying colors.
- It’s not a secret that behind every person’s success is a lot of hard work.
- Your pet dog has been sleeping well since you brought him home.
Finally, prepositional phrases containing an object of a preposition can function as the subject of a sentence.
- After breakfast would be the best time to go for a walk.
- By the end of June, a new school year begins in this country.
- Through the woods is where I like to take my morning jog.
Examples Object of the Preposition
Here are fifteen examples of sentences with the object of the prepositions.
- You can find the box of confidential documents under the bed.
- Olivia gave me a basket of fruit along with a card.
- The train arrived by the time I got to the station.
- We will be going on vacation during the kids’ summer break.
- I’m not sure why he is not around the office today.
- The meeting is in the conference room at 3 pm.
- The restaurant is far from the museum, so we’ll need to take a taxi.
- On the way home, I stopped to buy a tub of ice cream.
- The cat was hiding behind the couch when I came in.
- I saw a bird flying over the lake this morning.
- We are walking toward the park to have a picnic.
- The kids ran into the house when it started raining.
- I took my shoes off and left them out of sight.
- Henry found a drug store down the street from his house.
- Among fifteen candidates, only three qualified for the scholarship.
Object of the Preposition Exercises with Answers
Find the object of the preposition in the sentences below.
1. Jonathan jumped over the fence and scraped his knee.
2. Mikayla’s grandmother told a story about Snow White.
3. The boy with the khaki shorts ran and screamed.
4. In total panic, he forgot to take the portfolio.
5. They can park their cars across the street.
2. Snow White
Object of the Preposition List
- in your bag
- in the pocket
- in the fridge
- in May
- in the afternoon
- in 2001
- at the party
- at your house
- below the sea level
- below the surface
- beside the lake
- beside the river
- beside the house
- at the store
- on the wall
- on the desk
- on the floor
- on Monday
- on the bus
- before next week
- before midnight
- before Christmas
- after the wedding
- after the announcement
- after the meeting
- above the clouds
- above the tree
- above the mountain
- among friends
- among the students
- among the actors
- from the airport
- from the office
- from the school
- close to the pharmacy
- close to the diner
- close to the church
- outside of the city
- outside of the building
- outside of the house
- up the hill
- up the stairs
- up the tress
- down the street
- down the alley
- down the aisle
- next to the bus stop
- next to the canteen
- next to the auditorium
Advice for ESL Students & English Language Learners
English grammar, like any language, is a complex subject to study. Understanding and applying grammar rules can be challenging, especially for English language learners. However, your success in learning the language is dependent on your learning plan.
First, know that there are different levels of language proficiency. Knowing your status allows you to align it with your study materials and learning strategy. To keep your motivation, select beginner-friendly materials instead of university textbooks when starting. In doing so, you will feel less intimidated by the topics you should learn.
Second, focus on the basics: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Learn how to use them correctly in sentences and understand their meaning. It will help you build a strong foundation for your English language learning journey. Divide those topics into subtopics and learn each concept and rule one by one.
Third, find a reliable source of learning materials. Online resources such as websites, blogs, and YouTube videos are mostly free. LillyPad’s blog, for example, is a great resource for English language learning materials. Additionally, you can find books and other printed materials in your local library or bookstore.
Fourth, practice speaking the language with native speakers or other English learners. It will help you understand how to use the language correctly in conversations and improve your pronunciation.
Finally, be patient with yourself and don’t give up. Learning a language takes time and effort, so set realistic goals and celebrate your achievements along the way.
Common Errors Made by English Learners
Learning a new language can be difficult, and English is no exception. Even experienced English learners make mistakes when speaking or writing in the language. Here are some of the most common mistakes made by English learners:
|Using ‘depends of’ instead of ‘depends on’||In reference to time, on and of are the same. For example “third day of March 2023” is the same as “on March 3, 2023.”|
However, there are words (i.e., depends) that strictly take the preposition “on.”
|Incorrect: It depends of the decision of the upper management.|
Correct: It depends on the decision of the upper management.
|Using in and on interchangeably when speaking of time||The prepositions in and on are used in expressing time reference.|
Use “in” when referring to general times such as a month, week, year, and unspecified date. Whereas “on” is used with specific dates and events.
|Sharmaine will hike in April.|
The event happened in 2019.
We met on August 1, 2020.
I will see her on Easter Sunday.
|Using in the night and at night interchangeably||Both ‘in the night’ and ‘at night’ are correct depending on the context wherein they are used. ‘In the night’ refers to one particular night, and ‘at night’ encompasses any night in general.||In the night of a star-filled sky, one can feel a sense of awe and wonder.|
I avoid going out at night due to safety concerns.
Yvonne stumbled upon a wooden chest on her way home in the night yesterday.
At night, the cats prowl around the neighborhood in search of food.
Learning Strategies and Best Practices for Object of the Preposition
A holistic approach to learning a language makes it easier to understand and remember. The five macro skills, reading, listening, viewing, speaking, and writing, should be developed and used in the learning process for better language acquisition. The table below lists activities you can do when learning linking verbs:
|Reading||– Use flashcards to know basic English sight words and their meaning.|
– Search for material that contains translations of common expressions from your native language to English.
– Select study materials appropriate for your language proficiency.
|Listening||– Listen to an audiobook or a song and write what you hear to improve your retention of English words.|
– Compare and contrast two audio materials like TV ads and a speech.
– Summarize a podcast, movie, audiobook, and other English audio materials.
|Viewing||– Observe how native speakers speak and try to mimic it.|
– Watch English movies, interviews, and tutorials.
– Use pictographs to learn and remember new words.
|Speaking||– Join a community of English language learners and communicate with them to improve and gain feedback.|
– Integrate the language into your daily life and try to speak using English.
– Participate in speech organizations (e.g. debate clubs, theatre groups)
|Writing||– Write a journal of your learning journey in English.|
– Answer practice tests and create your own sentences.
– Create a reflection essay on the media you watch or listen to.
Object of the Preposition Frequently Asked Questions
Learn from History – Follow the Science – Listen to the Experts
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Last year all spheres of our lives have changed once and for all. Many industries, businesses, and other organizations were forced to convert their workflows to online. Some of them succeeded, and some unfortunately not. These changes also touched the educational process of all educational facilities. While some industries had no problems with turning their learning processes digital, the healthcare industry continues to struggle with lots of limitations and difficulties.
Commonly, healthcare organizations of different types provide a learning plan for all their workers to constantly improve and build on their clinical skills. The pandemic made offline staff education unattractive, so medical facilities started to look for digital solutions that would meet all their demands.
The main thing that separates medical education from all other kinds of education is the level of responsibility that the medical profession carries. Hence, the development of professionals has to be treated extra carefully and extra diligence has to be applied when honing specialists’ clinical skills. Namely, their development process should be accompanied by a structured and thorough approach whereby progress is properly checked and assessed to define whether the student passed the course and increase the skill level. That is why healthcare organizations felt the need to implement clinical online assessment solutions that would give them the same level of assessments as they had available in pre-pandemic in-person settings.
In this article, we are going to discuss why clinical skills online assessments in medical education are so indispensable, now more than ever. And how to make hosting them online a reality, navigate all uncertainties and complications, as well as take into account all educational standards and organizational requirements.
Assessment of Clinical Skills (CSE)
Summative assessments are summary exams that are typically held at the end of medical courses and aim to check and evaluate the students` acquired knowledge. As mentioned and as you very well may know, medical education is slightly different from other types of educations, standing out in terms of its complexity, higher responsibility, and many would argue – value to society. Summative assessments are also meant to reflect on the effectiveness of their respective courses, find weaknesses in teaching strategies, and improve them to provide more qualified and impactful medical education.
Clinical e-assessments are divided into two sub-types – formative and summative.
Let’s get into detail about what each of these sub-types entails.
Formative assessments are progress and diagnostic tests that are held throughout the duration of a given learning course. They are meant to demonstrate students’ clinical skills and what they really know or can do, revealing their strengths as well as their weaknesses, while also exposing the shortcomings of the teaching material or style, and help pinpoint what the plan to improve the learning experience should include or focus on. This type of assessment influences and helps adjust the teaching curriculum. To highlight the key aims of the formative assessment, they are:
- motivate the students to learn as the whole learning path and their improvement and growth depend on and are up to the students, their work ethic and talents;
- provide feedback to the students about their progress to keep them even more engaged in the learning process;
- edit the teaching curriculum to ensure the provision of medical education of the highest quality.
The summative assessment is provided at the end of the module or the whole learning course. It considers all test results that a student was getting throughout the learning path, consolidates knowledge, and determines what grade this student will get.
Summative and formative assessments are correlated as if the summative assessment results are unsatisfactory then the formative assessment content is weak and needs to be upgraded.
Find out more interesting facts about formative and summative assessments from the video added below.
Best practices for summative assessments
The assessment results are incredibly important as generally, the summative outcomes define the student skill levels and take responsibility for their evidence. It has a huge impact on the further development of professionalism and future success as a medical worker. The main goal of clinical summative assessments is to show the efficiency of the educational process, tests and to check the level of knowledge students get when taking this course.
Skill summative assessment has to offer high-quality tests to provide high-class learning. We would like to discuss the most effective practices of structuring summative assessments to evaluate the final outcomes after the learning course.
Criteria for Excellent Assessment
Firstly, it is worth noting what criteria define that a particular summative assessment is efficient and shows the real result of flipped learning. These features were highlighted by Cees van der Vleuten, Professor of Education and chair of the Department of Educational Development and Research in the Faculty of Health, Medicine, and Life Sciences.
The excellent summative assessment should include the following features:
- reliability – means that the assessment should evaluate exactly what it aims to evaluate;
- feasibility and cost-effectiveness – means that if the summative test corresponds to the real situations specifically for local areas;
- educational impact – define if the assessment motivates students to give 100% to their learning process;
- equivalence – indicates that the tests of one organization will be valid for and are applicable to other medical organizations;
- catalytic – means that the assessment motivates students to continue learning and improving their clinical skills.
Learning Outcomes and Assessment Planning
Clinical skills include not only medical knowledge. They cover a bigger range of spheres that a student should be informed about. Along with qualified patient care, a learning course and therefore summative assessment should teach and check the ability to think critically, interact with other medical staff, meaning team skills, professionalism, and competence. All these features help to plan and form the upcoming assessment that will let tutors get the expected outcomes. Thus, the summative exam must contain not only simple medical tests but practical lessons and exams, peer assessments, presentations, portfolios, etc.
Meaningful Test Scores Explanation
Validity of test scores implies suitability of test evaluation to different groups of students as each person is unique and everyone learns differently. It is critical to creating a test score that would evaluate the knowledge correctly corresponding to student specifics. It also implies covering the results into test scores considering the student’s peculiarities. Among the criteria that should be assessed are:
- test content;
- response process;
- internal test structure;
- relations to other variables;
- assessment consequences.
Conformity of Learning and Test Content
The test content is extremely important as it has to correspond to the general assessment standards and be appropriate to all students. The content should be accurately related to the learning course and bring the expected outcomes. The summative assessment usually consists of the following parts:
- assessing cognitive skills like analyzing, remembering, understanding, applying information, and others;
- competency in medical (physician) knowledge like a physical exam, psychology, planning, and management, etc.
Double-check the Test Results
The validity of the response process is all about double-checking the final score of each student. There are so many cases when a student gets assigned the wrong scores in the spreadsheets because of human or system errors. It is vital to provide official instruction on how to work the process of entering the final grades before announcing them to students. It is important to ensure that the scores from learning management systems and manually entered scores correspond to reality. The scoring process involves grading online medical exams across various topics from different parts of the syllabus, and each of these subjects should be evaluated appropriately, as well as all should be brought together to demonstrate the big picture and bottom line.
Reliable Test Structure
The validity based on internal structure implies equal conditions for all students, meaning that each student gets the suitable approach of testing and scoring. The best way to check if the testing process is the same for all students is to provide a functional test. The test reliability is defined by the following factors:
- enough number of test items;
- high-quality discriminating items.
Relationships to Other Variables
The summative assessment outcomes show the student’s readiness to move further and continue the learning course. To provide the qualifying examinations, there is a practice of comparing the internal clinical skills tests and external standards tests from other medical organizations. Then the test outcomes should be compared to create the perfect formula for test content.
Specific Grading System
The grading system for medical students should likely be different than assigning letters like A or C. It would be better to adhere to a passfail grading system with a detailed description of the errors and how they can be fixed further. When a medical student gets a low grade with no explanations, the motivation for qualified education decreases.
To monitor the progress of each student, it is advisable to provide a single database with all examination items like test questions, their results, grades, etc. This database allows tutors to analyze and compare the new and old items, and track the student`s performance. The availability of looking through the tests of the past lead to testing improvements and therefore more qualified knowledge evaluation. Students also can get annotation to their test results and discuss the fails with the tutor if needed.
The database lets monitoring the examination items efficacy and aims to change the syllabus if improvements are required. For example, it is not logical to put practice exams at the end of the learning course as it is important to consolidate knowledge directly after a certain part of the course.
Other Aspects of Assessment to Consider
As we have already mentioned above, the most critical thing about summative assessment is equality for all students. It means that each student should have the access to all learning items and information, practical data, etc. Additionally, it is important to hold the examination in equal conditions, meaning no student should feel stress or pressure from the examiners as it can influence the exam outcomes. It is also worth considering that usually, the clinical exams consist of several parts, especially practical assessments. Well, it is vital not to judge the student by one of the parts as the one failure does not determine the general outcomes.
We also would like to offer you to learn more detailed information about the best practices of holding medical formative and summative assessments from the report of professor of College of Medicine and University of Central Florida, Jonathan D. Kibble.
The impact of COVID-19
The pandemic has changed the educational process once and for all in almost all industries and healthcare is not an exception. Before the quarantine, there was no need for implementing software systems to apply a highly qualified learning process. However, this became impossible to visit classes, work in groups and hold the lectures offline. So most medical organizations who wanted to continue staff education started to look for effective solutions to the sudden problems.
The healthcare industry was also forced to go online, and we are talking not only about staff education. Many clinics started to adopt telemedicine that we will discuss further in this article.
Thus, the educational process and assessments have to turn online using custom healthcare app development. Of course, there are some readymade systems, like TeleOSCE, that could be applied for holding the learning and examination process. However, all of them have basic functionality and can not be customized according to certain clinics’ requirements. So most medical organizations faced the need of developing and integrating custom software to provide online education of the same quality as it was offline.
Online clinical skills learning proved not only efficient but also more profitable:
- each student can check the personal progress, look through the materials once again, and get extensive feedback about their clinical skills;
- as all student data is recorded in a database, tutors have access to all grades and outcomes to monitor the students learning progress;
- modern technologies provide an improved version of the practice skills.
The development and adoption of telemedicine were caused by the rapid spread of Covid-19 all over the world. The clinics and hospitals were overcrowded by infected patients, so they were forced to eliminate the need for in-person visits inside medical establishments.
So what exactly does telemedicine or telehealth provide?
It allows to treat or assist people with all kinds of different diagnoses remotely, meaning patients visit hospitals only in cases of emergency, or clinics or laboratories if some kind of testing needs to be done. But clinics also create virtual care programs that are suitable for remote treatment and health monitoring. Telemedicine is possible only for those facilities where internal software systems like EHR and EMR are implemented. Each patient has personal health records that are accessible in real-time for doctors as well as for this patient. These records usually contain medical history, medication lists with detailed descriptions of what pills, in what dosages, and when the patient should take them. Doctors and patients also can add the latest information about the patients’ state of health or update the existing data. Moreover, patients get reminders about taking medications and can urgently alert doctors about the deterioration of their conditions. For example, patients can use the BrainCheck app to track the brain health and send this data to clinics.
Learn more about the benefits and future development of telemedicine from the video below.
Additionally, some hospitals supply patients with wearable devices that record and track vital signs such as the heart rate, pulse, blood pressure, blood sugar (i.e. glucose monitoring system), steps for activity, etc., which automatically transmits real-time information to the hospital system, which providers can then seamlessly analyze. Wearables provide improved remote monitoring and are effective at preventing crises.
TeleOSCE is considered to be one of the most effective readymade software systems that allow remote learning and knowledge gauging for medical students. The pandemic forced OSCE or Objective Structured Clinical Examination to turn their clinical skills assessments online and consequently adopt telemedicine to maintain the same high quality of the learning process and examination of the same high quality. Its task is to check the student’s clinical practice to determine whether it is worth it for a particular student to continue the educational process.
TeleOSCE offers simulations of real medical cases to teach students how to act in a given situation. After the learning lesson, students are to pass the examination that aims to prove and confirm their clinical skills.
Generally, passing this simulation implies that a student can:
- provide patient treatment via telemedicine;
- use CDS (Clinical Decision Support) systems to treat patients appropriately;
- determine the diagnosis and prescribe a suitable cure or treatment course;
- identify mental illnesses and determine the treatment plan;
- improved communication skills that are required to effectively communicate with patients.
Although this solution cannot be applied by and isn’t appropriate for all medical organizations that provide clinical staff education, it is and can be used widely. Along with its benefits, it can bring inconvenience like TeleOSCE, which is developed specifically for Oregon Health & Science University, taking into consideration their particular requirements, so the software cannot be modified or customized to reflect the features that your particular entity wants or needs.
Designing effective online assessment
As we have already figured out, all facilities that conduct education for medical workers were tasked with converting the learning process, including basic lectures, practice lessons, quizzes, and assessments completely to online. This process aimed to eliminate the need for in-person attendance.
If the classes could be held via video meeting apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams for communication with tutors, sharing the learning information, providing some tests, showing presentations, videos, etc.
Talking about e-assessment, they could not simply be held online via video meetings. Medical education demands the highest quality and level of skills, hence everything needs to be held to the highest standard, including rigorous and accurate examination of participants. It should be a specifically implemented cloud-based software system that offers the option to hold the online formative and summative assessment of the expected level of quality, fairness, and credibility.
We would like to list the features that such a solution should provide:
- auto-scoring the different types of questions so there is no problem with making and accurately grading short, as well as elaborate questions;
- auto-mixing and pulling the questions from the database pool for each new examination;
- intuitive exam canvasses ( interface) that allow students to resize the screen during the exam;
- remote monitoring of the open-book examination process by supervisors (available only for cloud-based systems);
- eliminates the ability to abandon the test after already starting it, making it reliable and fair for all students, meaning when students start the examination, the only way to exit is to submit the test;
- ability to lock other programs and files on a student’s laptop for the time of the assessments, mostly required when tutors cannot be present during exams;
- cheating in paper written tests can take place when your organization has only started adopting the system;
- custom reports based on test analytics to show students their results, feedback, and studying effectiveness in general;
- real-time notification alert updates if the tests are checked manually and the scores are uploaded into the system or portal;
- delivery of test results via an email notification or integration with the existing digital tool with students` records.
It is worth noting that readymade solutions were not enough to cover all processes of the learning process.
Turning summative assessments online means providing the same level of learning and test quality. Just like any other online platform, e-assessments should enable data exchange between different educational systems, meaning students can use several different platforms to learn like some of them are for holding the lectures, some are for communication with professors and other students, and some are for summative tests. All of them have to be connected to each other in order to provide quick data exchange.
However, this data exchange is an important process that includes the range of standards as medical education a little bit differs from other professions. These standards should be considered before the actual planning, development, and implementation of the e-assessment systems to make them interoperable and accessible for all users.
And now we would like to highlight the main standards that should be taken into account when developing and integrating an educational digital solution.
Correlation of online assessment parameters with summative exam performance
The greatest concern about online education is that it does not provide the same quality and efficacy of medical education as in-person learning. The pandemic proved that any industry and sphere of our life can turn online, didn’t it? The key point of holding the online clinical skills learning and assessments is to provide efficient instructions for students as well as for tutors. As we have already mentioned above, e-assessment platforms should be developed and implemented considering the key standards and best practices of holding the assessments.
Online assessment platforms are tasked to improve the correlation of students and tutors, provide more expanded feedback about the conducted formative or summative assessments that help students get through the courses and graduate more successfully, possessing the highest levels of clinical skills. Students can also monitor their progress through an e-assessment platform that allows them to evaluate their results and keep motivated to learn better and further.
Development of the custom e-assessment system
Before the actual development process, it is important to research the existing solutions that provide the options of online clinical skills summative assessments. This step allows the Business Analyst to highlight the main functions this system has to perform and select the most appropriate one for your solution.
Additionally, it is no less important to analyze your medical organization, existing electronic systems that could be connected to the online assessment systems, and ways of staff learning that were conducted in offline versions.
At GBKSOFT we normally call this the discovery stage, which is a must for any custom software development. This stage lets our Business Analysts reveal the objectives that should be reached with the custom software, the weak side of the previous solution that can be improved, and opportunities to update the staff educational process to make it more productive.
Further, our specialists, particularly Business Analysts, offer the accurate plan of the following actions that bring the implementation of custom online assessment solutions into your organization closer. Consequently, all these tasks are distributed among the developers by our project manager with particular deadlines and details.
Here at GBKSOFT, we guarantee:
- keeping you informed about the latest changes in your project;
- constant communication with the development team, including video meetings;
- qualified project delivery considering all your requirements;
- maintenance services that keep your solution up to date with the latest technological trends.
Talking about the cost of this type of software solution, it all depends on the organizational goals, objectives, and demands that this solution should address. Initially, we recommend that you release an MVP to test it for your organization, reveal the weak side, and hopefully turn them into strengths.
The competition for online assessment solutions is kind of low and it is quite hard to find a readymade, reliable solution that is also suitable for meeting existing needs. The online assessment aims to deliver the same high quality of the learning process, the same expected outcomes, and clinical skill levels. Its popularity is only now starting to pick up and grow as many medical organizations have largely been skeptical about its effectiveness. However, the custom clinical skills e-assessment solution is something different as it is developed specifically according to your entity’s requirements and delivers the educational process of the highest level.
Our future belongs to online education in any sphere of our lives
Got interested in how to implement an e-assessment platform into your medical organization?


Rapid Swine Flu Test Misses Many Infections
Doctors should diagnose based on symptoms and strains in circulation, experts say
By Steven Reinberg
THURSDAY, Aug. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors can't rely on rapid tests to diagnose the pandemic H1N1 swine flu, say U.S health officials who evaluated three kits and found that they miss many infections.
The tests do a better job detecting seasonal flu than H1N1 flu, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Sensitivity for the H1N1 swine flu was just 40 to 69 percent.
"These are rapid tests that the physician would do in the office while the patient is waiting," said Michael Shaw, associate director for laboratory science in CDC's influenza division and the report's co-author. "These tests can sometimes provide misleading results."
A quick flu test is just one diagnostic tool, Shaw said. "You shouldn't rely on it alone," he said. "There is no substitute for the judgment of the clinician."
Because people might test negative but actually have the flu, Shaw said, "we want to emphasis that the clinician should also go by the patient's symptoms and what they know is circulating in the community."
Positive test results are accurate, however. "But a positive result only tells you it's flu, not what kind," Shaw said. "It could be seasonal, it could be the pandemic strain." In either case, he said, doctors could start antiviral treatment with a drug such as Tamiflu.
For people at high risk for flu complications, doctors should start treatment with antiviral medication and also get a test to confirm the results, which can take 24 hours, Shaw said.
For the report, which is published in the Aug. 7 issue of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, CDC researchers tested three commercially available rapid influenza diagnostic tests that can identify influenza A or B antigens in about 15 minutes. Respiratory samples were used from 65 people known to have swine flu or seasonal flu.
The tests were able to detect the H1N1 swine flu only when a high percentage of the virus was in the respiratory sample, which means that many infections would be missed, according to the CDC.
Shaw said that people will shed the most virus shortly after symptoms start so, for the most accurate results, it's important to give the test early.
Fast flu tests have been in use for a couple of decades. "It's not news that these tests are not as sensitive as we would like them to be," Shaw said. The question for the CDC was whether they would work with the new pandemic strain, he said.
Dr. Marc Siegel, an associate professor of medicine at New York University Langone Medical Center in New York City, said that anyone currently suffering from the flu has H1N1 swine flu.
Right now, the test is not clinically important, Siegel said. "If you got flu now, this is what you got," he said.
Siegel agrees with the CDC that a flu diagnosis is best made on the basis of a person's symptoms and the flu strains in circulation.
"I make the diagnosis on clinical grounds. I am comfortable doing that," Siegel said. "The test is just an adjunct. It's helpful if it's positive, but a negative flu test does not rule it out. Go by your clinical judgment."
Getting a more definitive test, Siegel said, would have two benefits: It could identify what viruses are circulating, and it could confirm a diagnosis for high-risk patients susceptible to complications such as pneumonia.


Every patient demands different oral care needs. For this reason, your need for dental X-rays may vary on your specific oral wellbeing.
On the other hand, if you are vulnerable to tooth decay, your dental professional may recommend this procedure annually for identifying weak spots and cure before any problem progresses.
However, dental X-rays do not only exist for these reasons.
Dental X-rays have crucial roles when it comes to determining various oral health issues that can’t be measured by a simple oral exam.
Your age, current oral health status, and indications of dental diseases are the factors that affect how often you necessitate dental X-rays.
The Need for Dental X-rays
Dental X-rays are also required for new patients. Your new dentist will capture images of your teeth to get familiarised with your teeth’s condition.
The procedure will assist your dentist in classifying mouth infections that can’t be identified through an oral examination.
Here are the following conditions dental X-rays can also detect:
- Changes in the bone surrounding teeth
- Periodontal (gum) disease
Children may require further X-ray procedures compared to adults, given that their teeth and jaws are still in the process of developing and since their teeth are smaller.
Adults that have extensive treatments are also required to inspect for the decay under existing fillings.
People who are into an unhealthy lifestyle such as too much consumption of sugary drinks and tobacco use calls for dental X-rays than others who do not.
So if you are suffering from gum disease and dry mouth, you must see your dentist for suitable diagnoses, such as dental X-rays.
Safe and Effective Dental X-rays
All X-rays involve radiation. However, the amount of exposure to dental X-rays is minimal.
Thus, studies have indicated that dental X-rays are not dangerous for most individuals in most circumstances.
The radiation in dental X-rays has been measured, and it shows that they are not considerably different from the radiation most people are exposed to, such as travelling by aeroplane or certain home appliances like TV sets.
Though the procedure’s radiation is low and safe, it is still not advisable for pregnant women.
They must refrain from it unless they are necessary.
However, pregnant women are highly at risk for gum disease; thus paying attention to the treatment is more crucial than focusing on fears about radiation.
Fortunately, there is no extra danger connected with dental X-rays for breastfeeding women or women who are planning to get pregnant.
Remarkable Dental X-rays in Brisbane
It is important to talk with your dentist when you are mindful about radiation in dental X-rays.
Here at Precision Dental, we help you understand the benefits of getting X-rays for your oral health inspection.
Through our proficiency and comprehensive oral treatments, we can make the most of your dental consultation for the benefit of your oral wellness.
Call us on (07) 3852 1160 or visit us at S13, HQ South Tower, 520 Wickham St in Fortitude Valley.


by Louise Kelley, DPT
During one of my daughter’s recent lacrosse games, her teammate, attempting to deny the opposing team an open pass, quickly pivoted to the right. Her left foot and leg, however, stayed planted, and she fell to the ground. Diagnosis: Anterior cruciate ligament (or ACL) tear, the injury of one of the knee’s major ligaments.
ACL tears are all-too-common in youth sports, particularly in games requiring cutting, pivoting, and jumping, such as lacrosse, soccer, volleyball, and basketball.
What factors predispose athletes to this season-ending injury? And what can be done to prevent an ACL tear?
The Jump Test:
To assess risk, first have the athlete perform the jump test. From a standing position, the athlete squats, jumps off of both feet to a tuck positon, then lands on both feet. If the athlete exhibits any of the following four neuromuscular imbalances, they are at risk of:
Ligament dominance: If there is insufficient muscle strength to absorb the contact with the ground, the joints and ligaments will have to take up the force, leading to ligament rupture.
What does it look like? When the athlete lands, the knees fall excessively inward.
What can you do about it? Practice jumping with good technique, especially with the landing. The athlete should make sure their knees are pointing forward or slightly inward, but not excessively, when they land.
Quadriceps dominance: The person preferentially uses their quadriceps muscles to stiffen and stabilize the knee, rather than using the glutes and hamstrings.
What does it look like? The athlete lands with less bend in their knees and ankles. The landing is not soft but, instead, noisy.
What can you do about it? Perform exercises that strengthen the hip muscles (glutes) and the hamstrings. Examples include the clamshell, hamstring curls on a Swiss ball, and the Nordic hamstring exercise. Keep your calf muscles flexible.
Leg dominance: The athlete demonstrates significant differences in leg strength and control from one side to the other.
What does it look like? When the athlete jumps up, their legs won’t be symmetrically positioned. One thigh may flare or not lift as high or one foot might not kick as high. The feet may not land at the same time or next to one another.
What can you do about it? Train for symmetry. Try single leg activities, including balance work and hopping.
Trunk dominance: The athlete has difficulty controlling their trunk in all three planes of motion during the jump.
What does it look like? The athlete might rotate their trunk, either during the height of the jump or upon landing. At the peak of the jump, the thighs won’t reach parallel.
What can you do about it? Core stabilization exercises, such as side planks or lying length-wise on a foam roller and lifting a single arm or leg.
Other suggestions to prevent ACL injuries:
- Avoid “locking out” your knees when standing.
- Shift your weight from side to side to prevent one-sided dominance.
- When you get up from a chair or climb up stairs, make your gluts (the buttocks muscles) and hamstrings (muscles in the back of the thigh) do the work, instead of the quads (the muscles in the front of the thigh).
Finally, teams should invest in an ACL prevention program before the onset of the season. If an athlete exhibits any of the above neuromuscular imbalances, she/he should consider a consult with a physical therapist, who can advise on additional interventions.
- Hewett TE, et al. 2010. Understanding and preventing ACL injuries: current biomechanical and epidemiologic considerations. N Amer J Sports Phys ther. Vol 5(4): 234-251.
- Powers CM. 2010. The influence of abnormal hip mechanics on knee injury: a biomechanical perspective. J Ortho Sports Phys Ther. Vol 40(2): 43-51.
- Alentorn-Geli E, et al. 2013. Prevention of ACL injuries in sports. Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthosc. 1-13.


The European Commission has called for further improvements in the safety features of “almost all European nuclear power plants”.
The Commission made the recommendation after carrying out nuclear stress tests, which established that not all international best practices were applied in all member states.
Commissioner Günther Oettinger said: “The tests were serious, and they were a success. Generally, the situation is satisfactory but there is no room for complacency.
“All authorities involved must work to ensure that the highest safety standards are in force in every single nuclear power plant in Europe.”
The Commission said the following lessons needed to be taken from Fukushima:
- Earthquake and flooding risk. Current standards for risk calculation are not applied in 54 reactors for earthquake risk and 62 reactors for flooding risk out of the 145 checked. The risk calculation should be based on a 10,000 year time frame, instead of the much shorter time periods sometimes used.
- On-site seismic instruments to measure and alert of possible earthquakes should be available at every nuclear power plant. These instruments should be installed or improved in 121 reactors.
- Containment filtered venting systems to allow safe depressurizing of the reactor containment in case of an accident should be in place – 32 reactors are not yet equipped with these systems.
- Equipment to fight severe accidents should be stored in places protected even in the event of general devastation and from where it can be quickly obtained. This is not the case for 81 reactors in the EU.
- A backup emergency control room should be available in case the main control room becomes inhabitable in case of an accident. These are not yet available in 24 reactors.
Cumbrian radioactive waste blow
A blow has been dealt to the search for a site to store Cumbria’s higher activity radioactive waste.
Three councils have delayed a decision on whether to allow detailed searches until January 2013.
Allerdale Borough Council, Copeland Borough Council and Cumbria County will use the time to seek clarification from the Department of Energy and Climate Change on a number of issues.
Councillor Eddie Martin, leader of Cumbria County Council, said: “Members don’t yet feel we’re in a position where we have all the information needed to make a decision on whether to continue to engage in the Managing Radioactive Waste Safely process.”


What is a sore throat?
A sore throat is a condition in which, you feel annoying throat pain. It is caused by inflammation of the throat, which in scientific terms is called acute pharyngitis. Sore throat is the first warning sign of common cold, strain in the vocal chords or something more serious, like strep throat. Regardless of knowing the actual cause of pain or soreness in throat, we immediately rush to the doctor, but there are various natural home remedies that can easily fix and heal the problem. But, for taking the right cure, it is better to first identify the symptoms. The risk of sore throat is generally higher in smokers, allergic, children, and people with bad immune system.
What are the symptoms of the sore throat?
The signs and indications of sore throat include:
- Dry throat
- Difficulty in swallowing food
- Pain or an abrasive sensation in the throat
- Pain that increases while talking and eating
- Croaky or subdued voice
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Tenderness in the neck
- Bloated and red tonsils
- White patches or pus on the tonsils
There are various other signs that one feel while having a sore throat:
- Runny or stuffy nose
- Nausea or vomiting
Causes of sore throat
There are certain reasons, which cause an inflammatory or sore throat. They are as under:
- Viral Infections :
Viral illnesses are the most common reason which results in sore throat. The most frequently occurring viral infection is the common cold. The other causes are infection of the laryngitis, influenza, herpangina, and mumps.
- Bacterial Infections :
One of the reasons of sore throat is a bacterial infection, which occurs due to irritating or inflamed tissues, burning epiglottis or infection in the tonsils. In certain cases, STD’s (sexually transmitted diseases) like gonorrhoea and chlamydia are also the causes of burning throat.
- Injuries and Irritants :
If your sore throat does not heal up within a week, then it may be a result of certain injuries and irritating factors, like a cut due to falling with something pointed in mouth, gastroesophageal reflux disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, yelling, pollution, dust, smoking, low humidity, and excessive use of antibiotics.
- Other Reasons :
Cigarette smoke and certain medical treatments (such as cancer treatment with radiation or chemotherapy) may also result in sore throat.
How to cure a sore throat?
Various cures are available for sore throat. Medicines can treat only a specific type of throat infection. For instance, antibiotics are useful in bacterial infections but not in case of viral infections. Before undergoing for any medication, one should know the exact cause of infection. However, several home remedies are also available for treating sore throat.
Homemade Remedies for Curing Sore Throat
There are various home remedies that can ease the patient and can relieve him/her from the problem of sore throat, almost immediately.
The superb home remedy to fix the problem of sore throat is gargling with lukewarm water, mixed with salt. You can also mix turmeric powder in the salt solution.
Alternatively, you can also use the solution of baking soda for gargling. For this, mix ½ tsp of baking soda in one glass of warm water.
Honey is used in treating many ailments, and sore throat is one of them. Honey has some natural antibacterial properties that can quickly heal the patient, suffering from sore throat. It acts as a hypertonic osmotic and reduces the discomfort of the patient by drawing out water from the inflamed tissues. You can add 4-5 tsp of honey to a cup of herbal tea or hot water. Juice of half lemon mixed with honey in hot water also soothes the burning throat.
3. Vitamin C
Whatever may be the reason of your sore throat, Vitamin-C works in all conditions. The sufferer should intake sources of Vitamin-C thrice a day, which is helpful in strengthening the immune system to fight-off the infection. Include oranges, tomatoes, strawberries, squash, mangoes, and red peppers in your diet.
Raw garlic also has antibacterial and antiseptic qualities, which can cure the throat infection. If you don’t wish to have raw garlic, take garlic capsules.
Run a humidifier or cool mist vaporizer in the patient’s room. This helps in adding moisture in the air that in turn helps the throat from drying out. If you do not have a humidifier at home, take a large bowl of water and place it in front of the radiator or heating vent.
6. Improvise the Immune System
Strengthen your immune system by adding nutritional supplements, like zinc, magnesium, vitamins C and E, and immunity boosting herbs, like astragalus and goldenseal in your diet.
7. Sugar-free Popsicles or Ice-creams
Though, cold drinks and food are a big NO in sore throat, but sugar-free popsicles and ice-creams are beneficial in the sore throat, caused due to cold. They decrease inflammation and irritation.
8. Ginger Tea
Drink ginger tea for avoiding soothing the sore throat. The procedure of preparing ginger tea is simple. Prepare the tea as you normally would, just add crushed piece of ginger and boil for 4-5 minutes.
9. Chamomile Tea
The patient can also be given the chamomile tea as it helps in alleviating the sore throat by reducing inflammation and throat pain. Take two tea bags of chamomile and steep them in one cup of boiling water. Honey can also be added to it if you want to have it sweet. Sip it slowly.
10. Inhale Fragrances
Essential oils, like thyme, lavender, eucalyptus, sandalwood, etc. can be inhaled to experience some relief.
11. Basil Leaves
Boil basil leaves in water. Then, strain it and intake the water, sip by sip. Else, gargle with the water.
12. Indian Spices
Make a decoction of Indian spices by boiling grinded black peppercorn, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, and dry ginger in two cups of water for 5-6 minutes. Strain the solution and drink it hot.
13. Chicken Soup
Eating and swallowing become difficult when you suffer from sore throat. In this case, soups help in soothing the inflammation and relieving the pain. Drink hot chicken soup to lubricate your throat.
Steam inhaling is also an effective measure for treating a sore throat. Heat water in a large vessel, and lean over the pot by covering your head with a towel. Breathe in the steam with the nose and mouth. Take necessary precautions to save yourself from the hot water and vessel. Else, take a hot shower or bath.
The intake of Echinacea helps in providing quick relief to sore throat.
16. Licorice (Mulethi) Root
Licorice root is anti-inflammatory in nature and is the main ingredient of many herbal teas. Its expectorant properties help in easing congestion and cough, thereby reducing sore throat.
Note: Licorice root should not be taken into a large amount as it causes low potassium levels and high blood pressure. Therefore, people with heart diseases must take precaution while consuming Licorice.
17. Vicks VapoRub
Gently massage Vicks VapoRub on your neck and chest while going for bed. Cover your neck and chest. You will certainly feel relief in the morning.
Homeopathic Remedies for Sore Throat
Various homeopathic remedies are also available for sore throat. Homeopathic medicines that are mostly taken for sore throat are Belladonna, Apis, Lachesis, Mercurius, Rhus Tox, Aconitum, etc.
The problem of sore throat can be reduced to a great extent by following the given below measures:
- In order to prevent the bacteria from spreading, wash your hands frequently.
- Don’t hold the cough. Cough whenever you need to.
- Don’t talk too much. Try to give your throat as much rest as you can.
- Drink a lot of water and fluids. But, avoid drinking fast.
- Avoid drinking cold drinks.
- While suffering from sore throat, don’t consume dairy products.
- Avoid eating too sweet food as excess sugar may irritate your throat.
- Cough drops may make your throat feel tired and heavy. So, don’t consume too many cough drops.
- Do not smoke or use tobacco while suffering from sore throat as it may worsen the disease. It’s best to give up smoking if you want to prevent this disorder from reoccurring in the future.
Depending on the cause of sore throat, it may last for 7 to 10 days. If the sore throat does not soothe or fix up within a week, it is advisable to consult a doctor immediately as it may result in AIDS or throat cancer.


How Art And Literature Improve Mental Health
Art and literature have been shown to benefit one’s mental health. A majority of the community say that art is a useful avenue for expression. Meanwhile, others comment that reading literature helps in re-evaluating beliefs and emotions as well as learning techniques to handle mental health.
But, how could art and literature exactly improve mental health? Here are the reasons why.
Art Can Relieve Stress
With today’s fast-paced and performance-intensive environment, stress is almost a common feeling among workers. For this reason, people have been turning to adult coloring books for stress alleviation.
Researchers have discovered that art is therapeutic. But, how? Well, an average human has around 600,000 thoughts per day. And strangely enough, 95% of those thoughts are quite the same! No wonder people are always so stressed. But with art, a person enters into “the zone,” which puts the mind in total focus and temporarily gets rid of unnecessary thoughts.
So, art helps people enter into a meditative state and be free from worries for just a moment.
Art Can Foster Creative Thinking
Creative thinking is quite essential in growth and brain development, especially the brain. Creative thinking is not just the usage of the right side of the brain to do tasks; it is the usage and communication of both sides of the brain. This type of thinking is found to enhance problem-solving skills and even stimulate the growth of more neurons.
So, the next time a person is looking for some neurotics, or exercise for the brain, then art is the way to go. Coloring adult coloring books or sketching is almost synonymous to a math exam, just without the numbers.
Art Can Improve Brain Function
Other than learning art can encourage both sides of the brain to work, art could also improve brain activity; thereby, mental health.
Brain plasticity refers to the brain’s ability to forge connections and change given periods. Brain plasticity improves when the brain engages in new or complex activities. An example of those activities is art. Studies have shown that art can stimulate different areas of the mind into communicating with each other.
But that’s not all! Studies have also found that art can make a person more resistant to psychological and emotional distress. Art can also make a person more resistant to stress, other than helping manage stress levels.
Art Can Improve Quality Of Life Of Patients With Dementia
Treatment methods often use art for patients with dementia. From earlier studies, medical researchers have found that drugs are not effective in treating patients with dementia. But with art, patients with dementia responded far better than the drug treatments. Patients with dementia expressed pleasure when encourage to create art.
According to Dr. Arnold Bresky, a physician who create the “Brain Tune Up” program, has seen the effectivity of art to patients with dementia, first-hand. He observed that 70% of his patients with memory problems had improvements in memory after they created art.
What’s the reasoning behind this? Well, art has proven its capacity to improve cognitive abilities and memories of different people, even those with severe mental health disorders.
Literature Can Also Help Patients With Dementia, Too
While art has become a popular form of therapy for mental health illnesses, literature is gaining traction. The NHS has recognized the power of bibliotherapy, or therapy through the use of books, for the treatment of severe mental health disorders. The NHS, through The Reading Agency, has compiled a list of books to read for patients with dementia or depression. However, always note that the NHS recommended bibliotherapy alongside the traditional treatment of Dementia.
Literature Encourages Mindfulness
On its own, bibliotherapy is said to encourage mindfulness. Research studies have discovered that reading books help maintain positive change as well as learn different perspectives, emotions, and beliefs. Books can even improve empathy. But more importantly, books can help navigate through the feelings of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Several books on the subject matter have been published to help people who are going through troubled times.
On a related note, multiple research studies have discovered that bibliotherapy can “provide long-lasting help” to people with mild depression.
In A Nutshell
Art and literature shouldn’t just be solely for entertainment and aesthetic purposes. They have been used to improve cognitive functions and aid in the treatment of severe mental health conditions. They have also been used to foster creative thinking and alleviate stress. Indeed, one could say that art and literature touch the heart and mind.


Potato tuber size and uniformity is critical for every market, whether it is fresh potatoes, seed or processing crops. Anything that prolongs a healthy leaf canopy will increase the average tuber size.
Correct balanced nutrition is important for increasing potato tuber size. The nutrients nitrogen, phosphate, potassium, calcium, magnesium and manganese have all been shown to affect potato tuber size.
Nitrogen affects the leaf canopy and so tuber bulking rate
Nitrogen is important in fuelling growth and providing high yields. Nitrogen is largely needed during leaf formation and then for increasing tuber growth and size, when it ensures optimal photosynthate production in the leaves. Nitrogen fed at an early stage of crop development will help build the overall size of the leaf canopy, whereas at later stages of growth, nitrogen use helps maintain the greenness of the canopy and maximize yield.
However, this needs to be balanced as too much early nitrogen can lead to excessive vegetative growth at the expense of tuber formation and an excess supply of nitrogen at later stages of growth will keep the crop growing and can also result in a crop with many 'oversize' potatoes and place it under increased risk of blight infection. However, in hot, dry climates, where true yield potential and desired tuber size has not been met, additional nitrogen can maintain canopy growth and prolong bulking.
Thus, the right rate and timing of nitrogen is important in managing potato yields, tuber size and desired quality characteristics.
This series of trials from England demonstrates increasing rates of nitrogen resulted in an increase in tuber size and so an increase in overall yield.
Nitrogen form is also important. A balance of ammonium and nitrate is best used at planting but too much ammonium nitrogen is a disadvantage as it reduces root zone pH and thereby promotes rhizoctonia. During tuber initiation onwards through tuber bulking nitrate nitrogen has distinct advantages and is the preferred source.
Phosphate applied after tuber initiation increases tuber size
Foliar phosphate, applied after tuber initiation increases tuber size and so increases tuber yields, however, foliar phosphate is not a substitute for soil applied phosphate and without adequate soil phosphate early season growth is sub-optimal.
These trials conducted independently in England show a consistent yield increase from applications of foliar phosphate after tuber initiation resulting in an increase in tuber size and so overall yield.
Potassium is critical for high yields
Potato plants absorb large quantities of potassium throughout the growing season and it is critical for high yields.
In five trials across three years on K rich volcanic soils, 120kg K2O/ha increased average yields by 10t/ha.
Calcium affects tuber bulking rate
Calcium is a key component of cell walls, helping to build a strong structure and ensuring cell stability. It is critical during cell division and expansion, and is therefore essential prior to, and during, the rapid growth phase of tubers.
Magnesium deficiency reduces tuber size
Magnesium is needed during tuber bulking and if supply is restricted tuber size and yield will both be reduced. Soils with a severe magnesium deficiency can reduce yields by up to 15%, in such cases regular applications of magnesium on an annual basis has achieved yield increases of 1 to 10% in trials.
Uptake of magnesium is dependent upon the balance with the other cations, especially potassium. High concentrations of potassium in the soil can induce magnesium deficiency. Similarly sufficient magnesium may be present in the soil yet dry soil conditions may restrict uptake, in both cases, foliar applications of magnesium can be very effective.
Other crop management practices increasing potato tuber size
- Planting as early as possible to extend the length of the growing season in areas where daylight hours are limited
- Planting physiologically aged potatoes that emerge quickly
- Planting at optimum soil temperatures to ensure fast crop emergence
- Use of irrigation, crop nutrition and crop protection methods to ensure maximum canopy life and unlimited tuber growth
- Desiccation at the right stage to meet market requirement


- Form of Tomb
- Form of Burial
- Grave Goods from the Grave Circles at Mycenae
- The Problem
True shaft graves of the type found in Grave Circles A and B at Mycenae are relatively rare on the Greek Mainland. The best known examples other than the Mycenae tombs are the two from Lerna which were found completely robbed but which can be confidently dated to the same period, late Middle Helladic (MH) to Late Helladic (LH) I, as the Mycenae grave circles on the basis of massive quantities of fragmentary pottery of this date which filled both tombs. Afound at Ayios Stephanos (Laconia) in 1977 also dates to the late MH period but was poorly furnished, containing nothing more than the extended corpse of the deceased. Other shaft graves of the same period are known from Argos, but those from Knossos on Crete, Kambi on Zakynthos, and several sites in Attica (Alyki, Athens, Perati, perhaps Varkiza) are all considerably later. Grave Circle A at Mycenae is usually dated ca. 1600-1500 B.C., Grave Circle B ca. 1650-1550 B.C., but Dickinson has suggested a shorter span of usage for both circles, ca. 1600-1500 B.C.
Ais really nothing more than an enlarged entered through the roof from a shaft several feet deep which was itself dug from the contemporary ground surface. Shaft graves may be roofed by timbers, reeds or twigs, and waterproofing clay or simply by large flat slabs. After a burial was made, the shaft above the tomb’s roof was filled with earth and the location of the tomb was often marked by a rectangular outline of fieldstones (Ayios Stephanos, Mycenae) within which a grave stele might be implanted (Mycenae).
The two circles at Mycenae may have supported low earthen tumuli, although some specialists argue that the ground inside the circle was basically flat. In any case, the idea of a “grave circle” itself is probably derived from the circular funerary tumuli of the MH period at such sites as Vrana (Marathon), Aphidna, Voïdhokoilia, Elateia, and Argos.
The individuals buried in the Shaft Graves at Mycenae were on the whole larger and more robust, whether male or female, than the contemporary or earlier MH occupants of graves of other kinds. It is debatable whether this difference on its own is indicative of a new racial stock or simply of a richer and hence better fed stratum of MH society.
Burial in anormally takes the form of an extended , usually lying on its back. Multiple burial is common, in contrast to the normal practice of single burial in MH cist and pit graves. Earlier burials in a are often pushed aside or stacked up in a corner when a new burial is made. Bodies were often covered with burial shrouds to which cut-outs of gold foil were affixed by means of thread sewn through string-holes in the gold sheet. Gold masks are attested in the cases of six adult male burials and one child burial of uncertain sex. Adult females were not provided with such masks.
There is evidence for funeral meals celebrated at the time of burial in the form of broken vases and animal bones which are commonly found in the earth fill of the tomb shaft.
These are not universal nor does every individual even in a tomb over which two or more steles were placed appear to have been provided with his/her own. The steles from Mycenae constitute the first large-scale relief sculpture of the Mainland Greek Bronze Age. Plain (i.e. unsculpted) parallels have been found above a few contemporary graves at nearby Argos, but the practice of marking burials with what are in effect decorated tombstones is peculiar to Mycenae and, with the exception of a single 12th century B.C. example, restricted to theera. Chariot scenes (whether these are to be interpreted as illustrations of warfare, of hunting, or of races at funeral games) are quite common on these steles, but most of the decoration is abstract (spirals, wavy lines, etc.).
There are numerous swords of two basic varieties: Type A (more common; rounded shoulders, short thin tang, very long; derived from Minoan prototypes such as the Protopalatial “ceremonial” swords from Mallia) and Type B (relatively rare; squared shoulders, broader tang, shorter and broader blade; derived from Minoan and Levantine prototypes in the form of daggers but first developed into a true sword on the Mainland, probably at Mycenae). Some swords are decorated on the blades with incised ornament, as often representational as abstract, while the hilts are often covered with richly decorated gold sheet and the pommels consist of handsomely carved lumps of ivory,, or marble.
Daggers and knives are also common. Some of the daggers are inlaid with figured scenes rendered by means of “painting” in a variety of differently colored pure metals and their alloys. These scenes include both hunting episodes (suiting Mainland tastes) and scenes of nature (familiar from Minoan art and possibly derived ultimately from Egypt in some cases). Spearheads too are frequent, and numerous arrowheads make clear that the bow was also a standard piece of Mycenaean armament, as one might have suspected in any case from some of the representational scenes depicted on other artifacts found in the Shaft Graves.
Of gold, silver, and bronze, most of these pieces are of Minoan shapes (e.g. Vapheio cups, ewers, rhyta), but Mainland tastes are also reflected in the numerous two-handled goblets and kantharoi which are particularly common among the gold vessels. Some unusual shapes in silver include ain the form of a bull’s head comparable to Minoan examples in , the “Silver Siege ” (decorated in relief with the scene of an attack on a fortified town) and the “Battle ” (decorated in relief with a scene of crowded combat between warriors outfitted with boars’-tusk helmets), and the “Stag ” (possibly an import from central Anatolia where zoomorphic rhyta of this type are quite common in Hittite art). Of the twenty-eight vessels of solid gold, most are rather clumsily made and exhibit technical features which are atypical of Minoan craftsmanship in precious metalwork. These are therefore almost without exception to be considered the products of local craftsmen. The vast majority of the forty-two silver vessels, on the other hand, are far more carefully made and exhibit technical features well paralleled in silver plate found in Protopalatial and Neopalatial Crete. The bulk of these silver vases are therefore identified either as imports from Crete or as products of Minoan craftsmen made on demand for Mainland patrons at Mycenae.
The examples from the Shaft Graves are of standard Minoan types. Ostrich-egg rhyta are probably also Minoan products, although the raw material clearly comes from Egypt or Syria.
The technology to make these, and even the idea of the seal as an artifactual form, are Minoan, there having been no seals in use on the Mainland at any point during the earlier MH period. The scenes of warfare and the chase on several of these seals and rings are again Mycenaean in spirit.
The raw material for numerous large necklaces of amber beads is imported from the Baltic to the far north and was brought to Mycenae by means of a lengthy and no doubt complex exchange network which apparently did not involve Crete at all.
The ceramic assemblage from the Shaft Graves is a mixture of Mainland (mostly Gray and Yellow Minyan, fine and relatively coarse Matt-painted), Minoan (some LM IA imports) and Minoanizing (some imitations of MM III light-on-dark-painted vessels whose center of production is as yet unknown), and Cycladic (Matt-painted vessels including several decorated with polychrome patterns) types. Interestingly, the major non-Helladic ceramic component is Cycladic rather than Minoan.
Dickinson observes, “The heterogeneity [of Shaft Grave material] extends to the decoration, and suggests that the craftsmen were manufacturing individual objets d’art rather than an established corpus of types, and had considerable reason to experiment. This would most easily fit a situation in which industries were being newly established on the Mainland, without strong previous traditions.” He continues, “…what is clearly lacking is any large or characteristic group of objects whose parallels must be sought elsewhere than the Aegean, and this tells very strongly against any theory that thepeople were foreign.”
The Mycenaean period begins with a great “bang”. The contents of the Shaft Graves are the richest finds ever made in the Aegean area. The contrast with the general poverty of the MH period is immensely striking. How is such sudden, dramatic, and peculiarly localized change to be explained?
I. [Evans]: Themonarchs were Cretan conquerors of the Argolid.
Contra: Although many of the artifacts in the Shaft Graves may have been made by Minoan artisans, there is nothing in the mode of burial or the skeletal material from these tombs to warrant concluding that their occupants were Minoans. There are in fact Minoan colonists being buried abroad at this very time on the island of Kythera, in chamber tombs at the site of Kastri. The finds in their graves and the types of tomb in which they are buried are quintessentially Minoan. Why would Minoans buried at Mycenae have behaved so differently?
II. The distinctive features of the latest graves in Circle B and of the graves in Circle A [such as grave steles, masks, evidence for use of the chariot, unusual art styles [e.g. the hexagonal box decorated with gold plaques characterized by what has been called a "barbaric/nomadic" style of relief work)] could represent a group, perhaps from central or northern Europe, who took over an already flourishing center and adopted many local customs, thereby becoming quickly “Aegeanized” because of their own lack of a sufficiently “advanced” cultural tradition.
Contra: Chariots did not exist in northern or central Europe at this time. A chariot-using group could only have come from the Near East, and such a group would have had to abandon completely a much more sophisticated cultural tradition to embrace the prevailing, rather backward one of the MH Greek Mainland. In any case, why would invaders, whether northern or eastern, choose the Argolid and Mycenae to settle in, as opposed to Thessaly or Boeotia (richer agriculturally) or Argos (more strategically placed within the Argolid itself)?
III. [Dickinson]: First of all, the Shaft Graves are evidence for a general shift in burial customs to a situation where the dead were buried with most, if not all, of their movable wealth in life. Note especially the wide functional range of the grave goods found in the tombs of Circles A and B in sharp contrast with the limited functional variability of typical MH funerary assemblages.
Mycenae’s rulers at this time must have taken over control of the entire Argive Plain, presumably by using the superior types of armament which occur for the first time, and in quantity, in the Shaft Graves. Mycenae may also have dominated the Corinthia and the eastern Argolid, since no traces of major sites of this period have been found in those areas. The agricultural surplus of this area would have served to feed the craftsmen who produced the treasures of the Shaft Graves, presumably Cretans for the most part but also possibly some Cycladic islanders and a few Mainland apprentices destined to become the master craftsmen on the Mainland in the following generation.
However, agricultural surplus does not, and cannot, explain the presence at Mycenae of vast amounts of precious raw materials (gold, silver, amber, ivory, rare stones, bronze, etc.), since the Argolid itself has no gold or copper mines, much less sources of ivory, amber, and so forth. Two scenarios have been proposed to explain this wealth of raw materials:
(1) Theprinces looted Neopalatial Crete.
(2) Theprinces were well-rewarded mercenaries working for the Egyptian princes of Thebes who were to become the Pharoahs of the 18th Dynasty after ca. 1570 B.C. when they drove the Hyksos invaders out of Egypt and inaugurated the New Kingdom.
Both scenarios suggest a sudden acquisition of wealth, much too sudden an acquisition to account for the gradually growing wealth visible in the Shaft Graves at Mycenae which span a full century of time. In addition, theprinces were probably not well enough organized as a fighting force to have played much of a role in the war against the Hyksos in Egypt. Besides, how could they have helped the Egyptian Pharoahs when the Hyksos controlled the Nile Delta located between Greece and Egyptian Thebes? As far as raids on Crete are concerned, we have no evidence for major destruction levels on Crete at this time, and again the Mycenaeans are unlikely to have been well enough organized, quite apart from lacking the basic naval capabilities, to take on the Minoans.
The nature of the Cretan craftsmen employed at Mycenae (who must have been palace-trained artisans) and the large quantities of raw materials used at Mycenae whose ultimate source must have been the Near East rather than Crete (e.g. gold and ivory, as well as the know-how of chariotry) are evidence for a “special relationship” between theprinces and one or more of the Minoan palaces. Only the Minoans had the ships and the foreign contacts to acquire the raw materials in question, since there is little evidence for any significant seafaring abilities on the part of the Greek Mainlanders at this time (pace Iakovides, AJA 83(1979) 101-102; see Davis, AJA 85(1981) 69-70). What, then, is the nature of this “special relationship”? The possibilities include:
(A) Tribute from Knossos to Mycenae. This is hardly believable at this stage of Mainland development and obvious Minoan pre-eminence.
(B) Payment from Knossos to Mycenae for a service or a local northeast Peloponnesian raw material. But what? The lack of possible candidates for such a service or material disqualify this hypothesis.
(C) Payment for a raw material over whose route of access into the southern Aegean theprinces at Mycenae exercised strict control. The raw material in question may have been tin, a necessary ingredient for the production of bronze. In the Protopalatial period, the Minoans probably obtained tin from the Near East, but during the 17th and 16th centuries B.C. the Near East was in turmoil due to the rise of the Hittites, military expansion on the part of both the Hurrians and the Kassites, and the long-term conflict between the Egyptians and the Hyksos, and thus the old trade network in this material may well have broken down. The Minoans, forced to look elsewhere for their tin, may have explored sources such as the Carpathian Mountains north of the Danube in Rumania and Hungary, the eastern Alps, Etruria, and possibly even Brittany or Cornwall. The evidence of early Mycenaean pottery on the Aeolian Islands just north of Sicily and the presence of Baltic amber in both Messenia and the Argolid in early Mycenaean contexts may be indicative of exchange networks with continental Europe involving some other, more important material such as tin.
IV. [Davis]: Stylistic and distributional analysis of vessels of precious metal (silver and gold) in the 16th and 15th centuries B.C. throughout the southern Aegean reveals that the Mainlanders had ready access during the period of the Shaft Graves to large quantities of gold. Twenty-eight gold vessels from the Shaft Graves are part of a total of over 15 kgs. of this material employed to make a variety of different artifacts for these tombs. By contrast, only one entirely gold vessel is known from Crete before ca. 1400 B.C., a small and light cup (wt.: 68 gms.) from a “Warrior Grave” of the late 15th century B.C. which was probably the tomb of a Mycenaean rather than a Minoan in any case. The Minoans used gold skilfully in bimetallic silver-and-gold vases or in thin sheets applied over stone vases carved in relief, but did so very sparingly and economically. The Mycenaeans of theperiod, on the other hand, produced relatively crude objects out of gold and made no obvious effort to “stretch” the available quantities of this material so as to make optimal use of it. Silver, on the other hand, was in quite common use on Crete and all but a half-dozen or so of the forty-two silver vessels from the Shaft Graves at Mycenae were either imported as finished objects from Crete or made on demand at Mycenae by Minoan craftsmen to suit Mainland tastes.
This evidence suggests that the commodity over which the Mycenaeans exercised control was not tin but rather gold. The Mainlanders in the areas of Mycenae and Pylos somehow managed to gain control for a brief time of an extremely lucrative exchange with the inhabitants of Transylvania who had only recently begun to mine gold in significant quantities. In exchange for technological expertise in bronzecasting and the distribution of superior Aegean weaponry in the form of swords, these small groups of Mycenaeans received massive amounts of gold bullion which they used to produce flashy artifacts for their tombs, to secure handsome imports from Crete and elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean, and presumably also to establish and maintain a newly acquired political and military status at home in the Argolid and Messenia.
Comment: Davis’ theory has the virtues of explaining why certain early Aegean sword types are found in Rumania and why a few small groups of Greek Mainlanders seem to have had access to far larger supplies of gold in the later 16th century B.C. than did all of Minoan palatial civilization at its apogee. By positing that the Mycenaean control over gold was relatively short-lived but enormously valuable almost immediately, Davis explains the relative suddenness of the Mainland Greeks’ acquisition of wealth, while the fact that it was Greeks from Mycenae and Pylos who happened to be lucky enough to be “in the right place at the right time” accounts for the peculiar distribution of early Mycenaean wealth through what must be presumed to be some sort of “historical accident”. This wealth is manifested, it should be stressed, not only by the presence of gold in quantity but also by that of amber in equally impressive amounts, and in the case of the amber there is no doubt but that its ultimate source is northern Europe. Did the amber and the gold somehow reach the Peloponnese together? On the negative side, Davis’ explanation ofwealth is unusually specific in its reconstruction of events, although not so specific and coincidence-laden as to be altogether untestable through future programs of excavation and physico-chemical analyses.