Stretching from Céadaoin an Spiaire to Máirt Chásca, there are enough special days surrounding Easter to give a specific Irish name for each day of the week. Since there are already several forms for each day, aside from Easter usage, let’s look at them grouped together in a chart. That will enable us to focus on changes like initial mutation (séimhiú, urú), h-prefixation, and endings (an tuiseal ginideach)
Even for ordinary purposes, each day has at least two forms, one for the day as a subject or concept (like “An Luan,” Monday, lit. “the” Monday) and one used to say when something is happening (like “Dé Luain,” lit. “on the day of” Monday).
This chart has four columns, the first one giving forms that would rarely occur on their own. For these, I have followed the linguistic practice of putting a réiltín in front of them. It’s not that these forms are completely hypothetical (as we might find in historical linguistic reconstruction), it’s just that they would almost always be part of a two-word phrase, sometimes an even longer phrase. From this “root,” we get the subject form (An Luan), and, by following genitive case rules, we get the preposition form (Dé Luain). Hmmm, you might ask, why genitive case (possessive) rules when using a preposition phrase? It’s because “Dé,” when preceding a day of the week, functions as a preposition but is really a noun. This “Dé” comes from the word “dia” (note lower-case), which is an alternate word for “day” in Irish, now somewhat archaic, or, we could say, fossilized. This process is much like what happens with “cois” in the phrase “cois na tine,” where “cois” (from “cos,” foot, leg) is really a noun but functions like a preposition, resulting in the meaning “by the fire” (lit. “at the foot of the fire”).
Some of the words in the chart will also be changed if they’re in a prepositional phrase starting with “ar an,” as in “ar an gCéadaoin” (lit. on “the” Wednesday). Ulster Irish will have lenition in these cases (Chéadaoin).
Unlike “lá,” which seems to be unique in the Indo-European panorama of languages (except for Scottish Gaelic “latha” and Manx “laa”), the word “dia”/”dé” is a cognate to other European words for “day,” such as “dies,” “dydd,” “tag,” and even “day” itself (plus, less directly, “jour” from Latin “diurnus”). So, somewhat unusually, the word “lá” isn’t used in the names of the days of the week. But you probably noticed that already!
The “dia” form of “day” also shows up in the old spellings of the Irish words for “today” and “yesterday,” which are “indiu” and “indé.”
So here’s the chart. Hope you find it helpful. There are additional notes for three of the terms below.
|“Root”||Subject Form||“Dé” Form (w “tuiseal ginideach” ending)||“ar an” Form||Easter Terms|
|*Domhnach||An Domhnach||Dé Domhnaigh||ar an Domhnach||Domhnach Cásca|
|*Luan||An Luan||Dé Luain||ar an Luan||Luan Cásca|
|*Máirt||An Mháirt||Dé Máirt||ar an Máirt, alt., ar an Mháirt (U)||Máirt Chásca (2)|
|*Céadaoin||An Chéadaoin||Dé Céadaoin, or alt., Dé Céadaoine (U)||ar an gCéadaoin, alt. ar an Chéadaoin (U)||Céadaoin an Spiaire, (? Céadaoin Naofa) (3)|
|*Déardaoin||An Déardaoin||Déardaoin (1)||ar an Déardaoin, ar Déardaoin||Déardaoin (na) Mandála|
|*Aoine||An Aoine||Dé hAoine (h-prefix)||ar an Aoine||Aoine an Chéasta|
|*Satharn||An Satharn||Dé Sathairn||ar an Satharn, alt. ar an tSatharn (U)||Satharn Cásca|
1) Although it’s not often explicitly stated, “Dé” is not needed before “Déardaoin” because it’s already built into the word. Having said that, a recent Google search brought up about 300 hits for “Déardaoin” with “Dé” in front of it! Either the usage is changing, or these are all just slip-ups. Bhur mbarúlacha, a léitheoirí?
2) I noted last year (http://blogs.transparent.com/irish/?s=Eastertide) that I found no instances of “Máirt Chásca” being used online for “Easter Tuesday,” but, interestingly, this year I found three hits. The three are duplicates (sigh!) and all refer to the founding of the Kilkenny branch of the Gaelic League in 1897. However else the phrase may be used or not used, it’s interesting to note this designation as opposed to just saying “April 20th,” which was the date of Easter Tuesday in 1897, if http://www.easterbunny.com/date-of-easter/easter-date-for-1897.html serves me right. Go raibh maith agat, a Choinín Cásca! An ceann ponc com, that is!
Of course, there is a long-standing tradition in both Irish and British writing of dating certain events by referring to a holiday, instead of a date, as in the réamhráite of “An Fear Eagair,” in Myles na gCopaleen’s parody An Béal Bocht being written on “Lá an Ghátair” [Day of Distress] and “Lá an Luain” [Day of Doom]. Or, more straightforwardly, the preface to C. S. Lewis’s That Hideous Strength, dated “Christmas Eve, 1943.” It’s not a practice I’ve seen used much in American literature.
As for the general significance of Easter Tuesday, as noted last year, I still see it listed as a public holiday in just one place, An Tasmáin. There it is described as a “restricted public holiday currently observed by certain awards/agreements and the State Public Service (http://www.wst.tas.gov.au/employment_info/public_holidays). Suimiúil! A New Zealand site (http://www.principalskit.org.nz/support-staff/) discusses Easter Tuesday as a potential holiday for employees of New Zealand Educational Institute, but they must have served 10 years and they must incorporate it into their annual leave. I don’t quite get that last bit, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. Suffice it to say that Easter Tuesday may have greater recognition elsewhere than seems apparent in 21st-century America. Many American school districts simply make their Spring Break surround Easter and avoid all discussion as to whether the break has anything to do with Easter at all.
3) There are plenty of references to the Wednesday before Easter being called “Céadaoin an Spiaire” (Wednesday of the Spy) in Irish, but for “Céadaoin Naofa” (the presumed form for “Holy Wednesday”), my search online turned up one questionable reference (in a very mixed-up hybrid site) and in dictionaries I found nothing. As I understand it, the term “Spy Wednesday” has been changed to “Holy Wednesday,” but I simply don’t find much evidence of this usage in Irish and I also can’t find an exact year for the change. Vatican II? If it were that long ago, I’d expect to find more evidence of “Céadaoin Naofa” online. Maybe I’m just barking up the wrong tree, but between Google searches, online dictionaries and hard-copy dictionaries, I usually find some evidence of what I’m looking for, vocabulary-wise. Of course, I always try to build on what I’ve heard and read in everyday usage for years, but I do like to check these sources for more specific information. Btw, I also found nothing under the old spelling, which would be “Céadaoin Naomhtha,” but of course, the formal date of the change, assuming there is one, might preclude that. Hmmm. Lenited and eclipsed versions of the above? Amas ar bith! (No hits) and no luck in dictionaries. Sin sin go dtí an bhliain seo chugainn, is dócha.
And, last but not least, a bit of Google-based trivia that some of you may find amusing as I did. When I tried searching for “Máirt Chásca” without comharthaí athfhriotail and without sínte fada, the first hit (of 7,360,000!) that came up was for the K-Mart in Chaska, Minnesota. Wonders never cease! On that bemused note, SGF, Róislín
P.S. Anyone still wondering about the phrase “Aimsir na Cásca”? Why “weather”? Answer: here it’s not “weather.” “Aimsir” can mean “time,” “tense,” or “tide” in the sense of “time.” So “Aimsir na Cásca” is “Eastertide.”


History of Rapa Nui
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Was the first highest rank leader of Easter Island, he is believed to have brought his people on 2 boats more than 1.000 (perhaps even 1.700) years ago to the island.
Western literature refers to Hotu Matu'a as to "Rapa Nui's first king", although it is known that there were no real kings, but rather tribal rulers in Polynesia, we continue to use this term. Hotu Matu'a was considered the "Ariki Mau" by the locals, this meaning sort of a "major leader" or "highest ruler".
The settlement of the island
With certainly we can affirm that Easter Island has been inhabited for over 1.200 years. But, specialists still debate on when the first settlers lead by the legendary Hotu Matu'a arrived.
Specialists consider that the island was colonized sometime between 300 BC and 800 BC. Pollen analysis, DNA analysis and also the studies of local legends point out to various periods between this interval. Of course, some people might have arrived later and others earlier, but it is generally accepted by the great public that the island was uninhabited before 300 BC, despite the fact that there is scientific evidence that Easter Island was inhabited before Hotu Matu'a's arrival.
According to the legends, the Ariki Mau, Hotu Matu'a arrived from an island or group of island called Hiva. Linguistic analysis of the Rapa Nui language suggests that the place of origin was the Marquesas Islands.
Legends say that a person called Hau-Maka (Haumaka) had a dream in which his spirit travelled to an island located far away in order to look for new land for the ruler Hotu Matu'a.
Hau-Maka's dream trip took him to the Mata Ki Te Rangi, meaning "Eyes that look to the Sky", an island located in the center of the Earth. This piece of land was called "Te Pito 'o the Kainga", meaning "center of the Earth".
After Hau-Maka woke up, he told about his dream to Motu Matu'a, the supreme leader who ordered 7 men to travel to the island. So they did and they return to Hiva with the news that indeed, there is new land far away. Following this discovery, Hotu Matu'a traveled with 2 boats with settlers and colonized what we call today "Easter Island".
Several hundreds of years ago a bloody conflict had broken out on Easter Island. This is attributed to a variety of factors: remoteness, overpopulation, deforestation, tribal rivalry.
Easter Island is one of the most isolated islands
in the World. Even today, if you fly with a modern airplane from Santiago,
Chile, it takes 5-6 hours to get there. Imagine how difficult it was about
1.500 years ago!
It is believed that this island was formed by ancient volcanic eruptions.
Roggeveen, the Dutch discoverer of the island had estimated a number of 2.000 - 3.000 inhabitants in 1722. But specialists analyzed the bones, the legends and have come to the conclusion that around the 1500s and the 1700s there could have been as many as 10.000 - 15.000 people living on the island.
Overpopulation could have been the primary reason why the locals started fighting each other. This is believed to have lead to the splitting of the population into several tribes, families. Some think there were 2 tribes fighting, others believe there were multiple families.
During the fights, many moai statues and ahu platforms were destroyed, magnificent statues pulled down. Perhaps it was a revenge against the god(s)? Or just because of anger at the constructors? Perhaps the towards the ancestors who had cut down so many trees in order to move the statues?
The tribal wars have even lead to cannibalism.
During Roggeveen's visit it was noticeable that life on the island has degenerated due to deforestation and the depletion of the island's natural resources.
Today, Easter Island has very few trees, this is due to the fact that the locals had used up all wood for firewood, boat and house construction, but certainly have irresponsibly cut down large amounts of trees for building tools to move and put the moai into place.
Once there were forests of palm trees on Rapa Nui, now the only palm trees that exist were planted. So are all other trees which were brought here from other islands and the Americas.
The disappearing of forests has coincided with the conflict on the island. There was not enough wood to make fishing boats, therefore the islands could forget about going out for fishing and also about leaving the island! The disappearance of wood has also led to the decrease of the number of bids, which could not construct nests anymore. The locals found themselves stuck for good on what they believed to be the "Center of Earth".
The discovery of Easter Island
On Sunday, April 5th, 1722, the first Europeans arrived to the island called by locals "Te Pito 'o Te Henua".
Because it was discovered on Easter, it was named "Easter Island".
The discoverer was Jacob Roggeveen, a Dutch captain.
The name we hear so often, "Rapa Nui" is a newer one, given to the island by Polynesians in the mid 1800.
The oldest name known for this island is "Te Pito 'o Te Henua".
Over 800 statues are today on the island, but when Roggeveen discovered Easter Island, these were in pretty good shape, many in place. Afterwards many have fallen. It is generally believed that there were revolts, conflicts and the islanders pulled them down. There even are theories that point out to the possibility of tsunami tidal waves, which could have demolished moai statues, for example it is strongly suggested that the site of Ahu Tongariki was destroyed by such a force coming from the ocean.
Recovery from the conflicts, colonization and more tragedy
Following the drastic decrease of population induced by the tribal violence and famine, Rapa Nui had recovered only by the mid 1800s, when about 4.000 people lived there. But in the 1800s and the 1900s, more and more Europeans and South Americans arrived to Easter Island, which had become part of Chile in 1888.
Tragically many Rapa Nui people were forcefully deported to Peru and Chile, many others died of diseases brought in by the white man.
All these have almost lead to the extermination of the whole population. In 1877 only 111 Rapa Nui people existed on the island.
Later, the island's population took a positive turn and many Polynesians, Amerindians and white men from Chile and Peru came to settle here.
Today tourism, fishing, some agriculture account for the main economic resources of the island. In fact, tourism which so far helped the island may be its biggest threat as more and more people flock to this tiny triangular land on a weekly basis.


In a commentary in the February issue of the journal Nature, a team of scientists from University of California, San Francisco has suggested that sugar should be regulated like alcohol and cigarettes.
In an article entitled ‘The toxic truth about sugar’, the UCSF group suggests that like alcohol and tobacco, sugar is a toxic, addictive substance that should be highly regulated with taxes, laws on where and to whom it can be advertised, and even age-restricted sales.
In response, the American Beverage Association issued the following statement:
"The authors of this commentary attempt to address the critical global health issue of non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. However, in doing so, their comparison of sugar to alcohol and tobacco is simply without scientific merit. Moreover, an isolated focus on a single ingredient such as sugar or fructose to address health issues noted by the World Health Organization to be caused by multiple factors, including tobacco use, harmful alcohol use, an unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity, is an oversimplification.
“There is no evidence that focusing solely on reducing sugar intake would have any meaningful public health impact. Importantly, we know that the body of scientific evidence does not support that sugar, in any of its various forms - including fructose, is a unique cause of chronic health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease or metabolic syndrome."
Source: American Beverage Association
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- Pom-Bear Zoo snacks from Intersnack


Date: September 16th 2006
Hair loss is experienced by all of us at one or the other time. To know the causes of hair fall, it is very essential to know the structure of hair and its normal growth cycle.
Structure of hair
The hair on our scalp can be divided into two parts, the root and shaft. The root part of hair is in the skin (epidermis) of scalp. The hair root is surrounded by a pouch like structure called follicle. The base of hair root is in the shape of a bulb. This bulb is indented by capillaries and nerve fibers. The cells in the center of bulb divide. The newly divided hair cells push the previous cells up. The cells which move upwards die slowly forming hard hair shaft. The hair shaft has three layers the cuticle, medulla and cortex.Cuticle is the outer layers and protects the inner layers. It is transparent. Healthy cuticle gives a shiny appearance for hair and unhealthy cuticle gives lifeless look. The medulla is the innermost layer composed of large cells. The cortex is the layer between cuticle and medulla. This contains pigment and keratin. Cortex determines the bulk and strength of hair. The hair follicle contains oil secreting glands which make the hair shiny .Stress and illness diminish secretion of oil and pigments causing graying of hair.According to Ayurveda the hair is considered as a tissue which uses the same nutrients of bone and considered as a tissue which is formed as bi-product of bone tissue.
Normal cycle of hair growth.
About 10 % of the hair on the scalp is in a resting phase at any given time. The resting hair falls after 2 to 3 months and new hair starts growing in its place. The growing phase continues for 2.25 to 6 yrs. During this phase each hair grows approximately 1 cm per month. At any given time about 90% of the hair on scalp will be in growing phase. Few strands of hair fall as the part of normal hair growth cycle. But some people may experience excessive hair fall which is more than normal cycle. Excessive hair loss can affect men, women and children.
Causes of hair loss
1. Hormonal imbalance in men and women: In men high concentration of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in hair follicles causes hair fall. In women hormonal imbalances during pregnancy and after delivery cause hair fall.
2. High amount of sebum in scalp clogs pores of scalp and prevent nutrition to hair follicle.
3. Inadequate nutrition causes hair fall.
4. Stress, worry, lack of sleep, worry and anxiety cause hair fall
5. Long standing diseases like typhoid, viral infections, anemia, surgery etc cause general debility which lead to hair fall
6. Some medicines used for gout, chemo therapy of cancer , birth control pills , antidepressants etc cause hair fall
7. Diseases like lupus, diabetes cause hair fall.
8. Tying hair tightly pulls the hair from follicles and cause traction alopecia.
9. Heredity also causes hair fall.
10. Dandruff or Fungal infection of scalp. 11. Accumulation of dirt on scalp causes blocking of pores and weakens hair roots. This leads to hair fall.
According to ayurveda the causes of hair loss are described as follows:-
1. Too much exposure to dust, sunlight, water and other pollutants.
2. Too much of sweating.
3. Irregular sleeping pattern.
4. Anxiety, depression, insomnia.
5. Unhygienic way of living
7. Alcohol consumption.
Hair Loss Remedies
1. Liberal intake of vitamins.
2. High protein and iron rich diet.
3. Consumption of raw vegetables, fresh fruits, salads, green leafy vegetables regularly.
4. Washing hair regularly ( twice weekly ) with suitable shampoo.
5. Using relaxing techniques to overcome stress, anxiety and sleeplessness.
6. Preventing fungal infections of scalp.
7. Preventing hairstyles which pull hair.
Due to these causes the tridoshas get vitiated and cause hair loss. The vitiated doshas affect the scalp skin and cause hair fall occurs. Medicated oil with the herbs Bhringaraja ( Eclipta Alba ), Amalaki ( Embelica officinalis ), Haritaki ( Terminalia chebula ) and Vibhitaki ( Terminalia bellirica ) is a best remedy for hair fall.
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WILDLIFE organisations have issued a reminder about the impact of recent hot waves on native birds.
With sweltering conditions, and temperatures in the 40s predicted again over the coming weeks, head of research at Bird Life Australia James O’Connor is encouraging people to fill their birdbaths and leave water out.
Mr O’Connor said over the past few weeks, thousands of native birds had felt the effects of the heat wave, both in the city and in the country.
“Hot weather always takes its toll, but if it only lasts for a day or two, birds can usually survive until the weather cools down again,” he said.
“However, when it’s hot for day after day, like the rest of us they start to feel the effects.”
He said, like everyone else, birds needed to drink lots of water and shelter from the heat during the hot weather.
“Unlike the rest of us, they can’t turn on a tap for some cold water, or switch on an air-conditioner to cool down,” he said.
“Just a few months ago, wetlands were brimming with water, but now many are just parched expanses of cracked mud.
“Birds need water to drink every day, and when the wetlands dry out, they need to find water somewhere else or they will die.”
Mr O’Connor suggested the best thing people could do to lend the birds a hand was to place a dish of water in the shade.
“So that the birds can have a drink or cool off in it,” he said.
“And make sure it’s not too deep so that birds won’t drown in it!
“Also, if you have a birdbath in your garden, make sure it’s topped up regularly and placed in the shade so the water doesn’t heat up too much.”
He added it was important to keep the water out of the reach of the neighbourhood cats.
“Heat-stressed birds are easy prey for them,” he said.


The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) was established in 2002 by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences to provide educators, policymakers, and the public with a central and trusted source of scientific evidence of what works in education. The WWC is administered by the Department, through a contract to a joint venture of the American Institutes for Research and the Campbell Collaboration.
To provide information needed by decision-makers, the WWC reviews and reports on existing studies of interventions (education programs, products, practices, and policies) in selected topic areas. WWC reviews of the evidence apply a set of standards that follow scientifically valid criteria for determining the effectiveness of these interventions. The WWC provides its findings in accessible, user-friendly, online reports, which include the following:
- Reports on evaluation studies that pass the WWC standards
- Reports on the research base for each identified intervention
- Reports that synthesize the evaluation studies of interventions within defined topic areas
A Technical Advisory Group (TAG) composed of the nation's leading experts in research design, program evaluation, and research synthesis advises on the standards for evaluation research reviews and monitors and informs the methodological aspects of WWC reviews and reports.
The WWC is committed to ensuring that its products and services meet user needs and invites input from educators, policymakers, researchers, and members of the public. All products are available through the WWC website at www.whatworks.ed.gov


Do you cringe at the word “xeriscape”? Does that mean boring, thin-leaved, un-colorful plants to you? Well think again. Xeriscape gardening can look lush, colorful and be a snap to maintain. To help people learn how to have a beautiful garden while being water consious, Colorado Springs Utilities has created two xeriscaped demonstration gardens for denizens to learn about and apply water thriftiness in their own gardens. The display at these gardens provides a lesson for everyone, even if you don’t live in a drought prone area. Can you imagine not having to water much *at all* between rains?
(Editor's Note: This article was originally published on September 1, 2008. Your comments are welcome, but please be aware that authors of previously published articles may not be able to promptly respond to new questions or comments.)
Even if you don't live in Colorado Springs, the Rocky Mountains, or even in a dry climate, the suggestions from these demonstration gardens will help you save time watering and money on your next water bill. Colorado and areas like it have wonderfully dry climates due to low humidity and unfortunately sometimes high winds.For most gardeners, this means both dry skin and dry soil.Besides a good moisturizer, here's how to cope.Plant water-wise plants and irrigate intelligently!
Once the plants on this list get established (one-two weeks) they don't need much water, if any, at all.With the growing water shortage in Colorado and many other states, this is an important feature for sustainability in the coming years.The Mesa Road Xeriscape Garden (one of CSU's featured demonstration gardens) is actually a lush, colorful and peaceful place that requires very little water.Come along for a tour and a xeriscaping lesson, Colorado style.
Why should you xeriscape?
The biggest and most widely misunderstood lesson of xeriscaping is planting in water-usage zones, or hydrozones. That is, putting plants that need lots of water next to ones that need lots of water, and putting plants that can don't need any water with the like. Seems logical right? If you put an iris next to a nasturtium, you are bound to do one of three things: overwater the iris, underwater the nasturtium, or kill both. It just makes sense to put your irises with your Blanketflowers and your Nasturtium next to your cannas. That doesn't sound all that boring, right?
When you really get down to it though, xeriscaping does mean planting flora that does not require much additional water than the average rainfall of your area. Once established, they should practically grow themselves.
CSU (the utilities company, not the university) has created two demonstration gardens to showcase how good xeriscaping can look: the Mesa Xeriscape Demonstration Garden and the Cottonwood Creek Park Xeriscape Garden in Colorado Springs. Along with some planting tips and the right plants, xeriscaping never has to be humdrum.
Bee Balm - Monarda
Blanketflower - Gaillardia
Texas Red Yucca surrounded by other colorful xerics
Lavender and Creeping Thyme
Plants you'll find at the Mesa Xeriscape Demonstration Garden (and you should try!)
Silver Blade Evening Primrose
Dwarf Garden Phlox
Rocky Mountain Sumac
Mullein 'Southern Charm'
Mexican Feather Grass
Dwarf Goldenrod 'Goldenbaby'
Blue Mist Spirea
Pale Purple Coneflower
Gray Creeping Germander
California Fuchsia 'Orange Carpet'
Some more hardy xeric plants to check out:
Red Hot Poker
Autumn Joy Sedum
The Mesa Garden also has a demonstration rock garden, which usually are made up of small xeric plants. Some great xeric rock garden plants are sedums, Penstemon, Dwarf Barberry, Edelweiss, Lamb's Ear, Oregano, Hens and Chicks, Rupturewort, and Cattail Iris. The list of attractive rock garden plants is just about endless.
For more information on fantastic, hardy xeric plants, here is a great link:
Xeric gardening does not have to be colorless or boring as you can see from all of these beautiful flowers showcased at the Mesa Xeriscape Demonstration Garden. Even if you just put in a few xerics, you can benefit from the decreased water usage.
All photos taken at Mesa Xeriscape Demonstration Garden, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Copyrighted to Susanne and Kyle Talbert
About Susanne Talbert
I garden in beautiful Colorado Springs, half a mile from Garden of the Gods. Since we bought our first house two years ago, I have been busy revamping my 1/4 acre of ignored decomposed granite.
My garden passions include water gardening, vines, super-hardy perennials, and native xerics. By day, I am a high school ceramics teacher as well as a ceramicist and painter.


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use in Native American music
...Native Americans developed lingua francas in order to facilitate trade and social interaction; in these areas, song texts may feature words from a lingua franca. Many Native American songs employ vocables, syllables that do not have referential meaning. These may be used to frame words or may be inserted among them; in some cases, they constitute the entire song text. Vocables are a fixed...
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Blocking production of a pyruvate kinase splice-variant shows therapeutic promise
Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.
– Cancer cells grow fast. That’s an essential characteristic of what makes them cancer cells. They’ve crashed through all the cell-cycle checkpoints and are continuously growing and dividing, far outstripping our normal cells. To do this they need to speed up their metabolism.
CSHL Professor Adrian Krainer and his team have found a way to target the cancer cell metabolic process and in the process specifically kill cancer cells.
Nearly 90 years ago the German chemist and Nobel laureate Otto Warburg proposed that cancer’s prime cause was a change in cell metabolism – i.e., in cells’ production and consumption of energy. In particular cancer cells have a stubborn propensity to eschew using glucose as a source to generate energy. This is known as the Warburg Effect.
While metabolic changes are an important feature in the transformation of normal cells into cancer cells they are not now thought to be cancer’s primary cause. Despite this, metabolic changes remain an attractive target for cancer therapy, as Krainer and colleagues show in a paper published online today in Open Biology
, the open-access journal of Great Britain’s Royal Society.This image compares glioblastoma cells untreated or treated with antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) that modulate splicing for PK-M. The cells are visible under light microscopy in the left column, and the DNA in their nuclei shows up when using the blue dye DAPI in the second column. PK-M2 is visualized using a red stain in the third column, with the merge of the images in each row in the forth column. The 2nd and 3rd rows show cells that have been treated with ASOs. The red dye is nearly all gone indicating that there is less PK-M2 and that the ASOs have worked. Image courtesy of Zhenxun Wang and Adrian Krainer. (click to enlarge)
One difference between metabolism in cancer and normal cells is the switch in cancer to the production of a different version, or isoform, of a protein produced from the pyruvate kinase-M (PK-M) gene. The protein version produced in normal cells is known as PK-M1, while the one produced by cancer cells is known as PK-M2.
PK-M2 is highly expressed in a broad range of cancer cells. It enables the cancer cell to consume far more glucose than normal, while using little of it for energy. Instead, the rest is used to make more material with which to build more cancer cells.
PK-M1 and PK-M2 are produced in a mutually exclusive manner -- one-at-a-time, from the same gene, by a mechanism known as alternative splicing. When a gene’s DNA is being copied into the messenger molecule known as mRNA, the intermediate template for making proteins, a cellular machine called the spliceosome cuts and pastes different pieces out of and into that mRNA molecule.
The non-essential parts that are edited out are known as introns, while the final protein-coding mRNA consists of a string of parts pasted together known as exons. The bit that fits into the PK-M1 gene-coding sequence is known as exon 9, while it is replaced in PK-M2 by exon 10. In this way alternative splicing provides the cell with the ability to make multiple proteins from a single gene.
Krainer, an authority on alternative splicing, previously published research
on the protein regulators that facilitate the splicing mechanism for PK-M. His team showed that expression of PK-M2 is favored in cancer cells by these proteins, which act to repress splicing for the PK-M1 isoform. In the study published today the team explains that it decided to target the splicing of PK-M using a technology called antisense, rather than target the proteins that regulate the splicing mechanism.
Using a panel of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), small bits of modified DNA designed to bind to mRNA targets, they screened for new splicing regulatory elements in the PK-M gene. The idea was that one or more ASOs would bind to a region of the RNA essential for splicing in exon 10 and reveal that site by preventing splicing of exon 10 from occurring.
Indeed, this is what happened. “We found we can force cancer cells to make the normal isoform, PK-M1,” sums up Krainer. In fact, a group of potent ASOs were found that bound to a previously unknown enhancer element in exon 10, i.e., an element that predisposes for expression of the PK-M2 isoform, thus preventing its recognition by splicing-regulatory proteins. This initiated a switch that favored the PK-M1 isoform.
When they then deliberately targeted the PK-M2 isoform for repression in cells derived from a glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer, all the cells died. They succumbed through what is known as programmed cell death or apoptosis -- a process whereby the cell shuts down its own machinery and chops up its own DNA in committing a form of cellular suicide.
As to why the cells die when PK-M2 is repressed: the team found it was not due to the concomitant increase in PK-M1 (the cells survived even when extra PK-M1 was introduced). Rather, it was the loss of the PK-M2 isoform that was associated with the death of the cancer cells. How this works is still unclear but a subject of investigation in the Krainer laboratory.
The next step will be to take their ASO reagents into mouse models of cancer to see if they behave the same way there. While there are some technical and methodological obstacles to overcome, Krainer is optimistic.
“PK-M2 is preferentially expressed in cancer cells, a general feature of all types of cancer -- it’s a key switch in their metabolism,” he says. Thus targeting the alternative splicing mechanism of PK-M2 using ASOs has the potential to be a cancer therapeutic with many applications.
The paper can be obtained online at the following link: Zhenxun Wang, Hyun Yong Jeon, Frank Rigo, C. Frank Bennett and Adrian R. Krainer. 2012 Manipulation of PK-M mutually exclusive alternative splicing by antisense oligonucleotides. Open Biology 2: 120133. http://rsob.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/10/120133.full
The research described in this release was supported by the National Cancer Institute grant CA13106, the St. Giles Foundation, and a National Science Scholarship from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore. About Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Founded in 1890, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has shaped contemporary biomedical research and education with programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology and quantitative biology. CSHL is ranked number one in the world by Thomson Reuters for impact of its research in molecular biology and genetics. The Laboratory has been home to eight Nobel Prize winners. Today, CSHL's multidisciplinary scientific community is more than 360 scientists strong and its Meetings & Courses program hosts more than 12,500 scientists from around the world each year to its Long Island campus and its China center. Tens of thousands more benefit from the research, reviews, and ideas published in journals and books distributed internationally by CSHL Press. The Laboratory's education arm also includes a graduate school and programs for undergraduates as well as middle and high school students and teachers. CSHL is a private, not-for-profit institution on the north shore of Long Island. For more information, visit www.cshl.edu.
Written by: Edward Brydo
n, Science Writer


Plant Care GuidesPerennials | Bulbs | Trees and Shrubs | Vegetables | Fruits | Herbs
Mesclun and Salad Greens
About This PlantSweet corn varieties include yellow, white, and bi-colored types. Because corn is wind-pollinated, it should be planted in blocks of at least four rows rather than in long single rows. By planting early, mid, and late-season varieties you can extend the harvest over several weeks. Plant corn on the north side of the garden to prevent it from shading nearby crops.
Site SelectionSelect a site with full sun and well-drained soil. Prepare the garden bed by using a garden fork or tiller to loosen the soil to a depth of 12 to 15 inches, then mix in a 2- to 4-inch layer of compost and/or aged manure.
Planting InstructionsPlant corn directly outdoors after all danger of frost has passed and the soil temperature is about 60 degrees F. Corn requires a good deal of nitrogen for optimum growth, so work plenty of aged manure into the soil the previous fall and plan to fertilize with additional nitrogen during the growing season if necessary. Plant corn seeds in blocks of at least four rows with 2 to 4 feet between rows, sowing the seeds 1-1/2 to 2 inches deep and 6 to 8 inches apart.
CareThin the corn to stand 12 to 16 inches apart when the plants are 4 to 5 inches tall. Provide at least 1 inch of water a week. Control weeds with frequent shallow cultivation until the plants are knee high. Then apply a 3- to 5-inch layer of mulch. Watch for signs of nitrogen deficiency (yellowing leaves) and respond with quick side-dressings of a nitrogen-rich fertilizer such as fish emulsion. Contact your local County Extension office for controls of common corn pests such as corn earworms and European corn borers.
HarvestingSweet corn should be harvested when its ears are completely filled out and a pierced kernel shows a milky white liquid. Sweet corn varieties (except for supersweet varieties) lose their sweetness soon after harvest. Immediately after picking prepare the ears for eating or preserving.


The talk, made available by the Center for Design Innovation (via The Next Web), was from 1983's International Design Conference at Aspen, at which a 20-something Steve Jobs spoke to how personal computers would change the world forever. His insight was eerily prescient as he described a day when email would dominate the communications landscape, people would use portable network-connected computing devices and users would be able to interact with machines in new and innovative ways.
In about 20 minutes, Jobs summarized the then-current state of personal computing, noting that the market was about to see a significant boom. He also said that computers would likely be poorly designed, a theory that became reality with the early beige boxes of the 80s and early 90s, including Apple's own Apple II.
Jobs' vision of "good design" meant not only building aesthetically pleasing machines, but devices that had a utility of function like user-friendly GUIs akin to those seen on early Macs.
Near the end of his talk, Jobs looked even further into the future, hinting that technology like artificial intelligence and predictive computing could one day be a possibility.
He recalls how books helped him learn straight from the source instead of being filtered through interpretation when he was in school, citing Plato and Aristotle as two examples. The problem, Jobs said, was that the great minds couldn't be tapped once they were dead. To this, he proposed a machine that can collect data, compiling it into a type of artificial intelligence.
"I think as we look toward the next 50 to 100 years, if we really can come up with these machines that can capture an underlying spirit, or an underlying set of principles, or an underlying way of looking at the world so that then when the next Aristotle comes around?" Jobs said. "Maybe if he carries around one these machines with him his whole life and types in all this stuff, then maybe someday after the person's dead and gone we can ask this machine, 'Hey, what would Aristotle have said?what about this?' And maybe we won't get the right answer?but maybe we will. And that's really exciting to me."
A video of the speech as well as an accompanying audio file can be found at the Center for Design Innovation's blog.


Individual differences |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a method of therapy which blends features of two disciplines:
- Cognitive therapy aims to identify and alter cognitive distortions (warped or inaccurate thoughts);
- Mindfulness is a meditative practice from Buddhism, which aims to help people identify their thoughts, moment by moment, but without passing judgement on the thoughts.
In MBCT, the patient is urged to recognize and accept undesired feelings as they come and go instead of trying to push them away. Traditional cognitive therapy, or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), focuses on changing negative content of thoughts while MBCT emphasizes the process of paying attention to thoughts and feelings moment by moment and without judgment. Changing the patient's relationship to the suffering caused by negative thoughts is the key because there is no possible way to alleviate all suffering. No therapy or meditation will prevent unpleasant things from happening in our daily lives but the two practices combined may provide more objectivity from which to view these unpleasant things.
MBCT's main technique is based on the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) eight week program, developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979 at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Research shows that MBSR is enormously empowering for patients with chronic pain, hypertension, heart disease, cancer, and gastrointestinal disorders, as well as for psychological problems such as anxiety and panic. People often misunderstand the goal of therapy and especially mindfulness. Relaxation and happiness are not the aim, but rather a "freedom from the tendency to get drawn into automatic reactions to thoughts, feelings, and events" . Patients change the relationship to chronic pain so the pain becomes more manageable.
Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy grew largely from Jon Kabat-Zinn's work. Zindel V. Segal, J. Mark G. Williams and John D. Teasdale helped adapt the MBSR program so it could be used with people who had suffered repeated bouts of depression in their lives. Currently, MBCT programs usually consist of eight-weekly two hour classes with weekly assignments to be done outside of session. The aim of this program is to enhance awareness so we are able to respond to things instead of react to them. "We can respond to situations with choice rather than reacting automatically. We do that by practicing to become more aware of where our attention is, and deliberately changing the focus of attention, over and over again". The structure of MBCT requires strong commitment and work on the clients' part but the rewards can be lasting.
Effectiveness of MBCT Edit
Research is now showing the effectiveness of mindfulness in the prevention of relapse. The UK National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recently endorsed MBCT as an effective treatment for prevention of relapse. Research has shown that people who have been clinically depressed three or more times (sometimes for twenty years or more) find that taking the program and learning these skills helps to reduce considerably their chances that depression will return. In a study conducted with 145 participants, all the patients had previously recovered from depression and then relapsed. These sufferers were split randomly into groups providing different methods of treatment. Within a year, patients who were undergoing MBCT "reduced relapse from 66% (control group) to 37% (treatment group)". "Whereas most people might be able to ignore sad mood, in previously depressed persons a slight lowering of mood might bring about a potentially devastating change in thought patterns". The core skill of MBCT is to teach the ideas of recognizing these thought patterns in order to break away from the false constructs of our mind. Relapse is avoided because the onset of depression is recognized before it has fully developed. The vicious cycle is stopped before it even gets started.
Benefits of MBCT and mindfulness practice Edit
Mindfulness meditation is a useful tool in dealing with many different scenarios. Practicing mindfulness aids patients, laypersons, and therapists. This approach to meditation focuses our attention back to the present, to what is happening right now in this exact moment. When one is mindful, the attention is focused on the present so judgment cannot be placed. Often, our pain and mental discomfort are caused by the judgment placed on the present moment and not by what is actually happening. This judgment and negative thinking is what can possibly lead to depression. MBCT prioritizes learning how to pay attention or concentrate with purpose, in each moment and most importantly, without judgment.
Segal and his partners found that "thoughts and feelings could interact with each other in a damaging, vicious spiral". Through the practice of mindfulness, we recognize that holding onto some of these feelings is ineffective and mentally destructive. Viewing things mindfully requires not turning away from any feeling but instead being open to the experience while trying not to engage defense mechanisms. All thoughts are welcomed into the mind equally so that one does not judge the thought or herself for thinking the thought. Gaining perspective on one's own thoughts allows us to escape the mental grooves and ruminative thinking that plagues us. Through mindfulness practice the spiral of negative thought is stopped before one finds herself at the bottom looking up.
Not only is this practice helpful to laypersons but to the actual therapist doing this type of MBCT. As a therapist, mindfulness can be implemented into therapy sessions, and used as a means of self-care in the therapist's personal life. "Meditating therapists often report feeling more 'present', relaxed, and receptive with their patients if they meditate earlier in the day". Mindfulness incorporates not judging thought. By having that non-judgment, the therapist allows the patient to fully express true feelings by having that openness. "As the therapist learns to disentangle from her own conditioned patterns of thoughts that arise in the therapy relationship, the patient may discover the same emotional freedom". The concentration development from mindfulness also helps the therapist be able to stay fully engaged with the patient. The mind naturally wanders to other things but mindfulness is the answer to being unfocused. There is a degree of perspective that also comes with mindfulness meditation. This new perspective allows a therapist to see other solutions or options to a patient's problem he or she may not have been originally aware of. "Having this [perspective] enables the therapist to have some flexibility in finding a formulation that accords with the patient's understanding". As therapists help their patients come to these solutions and become more fully functioning, it may be easy to think they are powerful and all knowing. Maintaining perspective prevents therapists from 'buying their own press'.
As means of self-care, P. Fulton and his fellow authors would say "offering love and care to ourselves replenishes the physical and emotional reservoirs that are necessary to care for others" (p. 87). When looking at burn-out rates in the social service fields, one can see that self-care is absolutely necessary whether one thinks they need it or not. Meditating saturates these reservoirs so compassionate, sincere work can continue. Also by dealing with personal suffering through this practice, therapists develop greater empathy and become more openhearted to the needs of their clients.
Depression as the inspiration of MBCT Edit
Depression is a more serious problem than how it is presently seen. The World Health Organization (WHO) conducted a study and came up with the following projection for the year 2020: "of all diseases, depression will impose the second largest burden of ill health worldwide". Research shows that at any given time, ten percent of the United States has experienced this type of clinical depression in the last year alone. Women being affected at a significantly higher rate (20-25%) than men (7-12%). The people who are affected with this common mental disorder are also the least likely to get help or treatment.
Depression is a severe and prolonged state of mind in which normal sadness grows into a painful state of hopelessness, listlessness, lack of motivation, and fatigue. Depression can vary from mild to severe. When depression is mild, one may find himself brooding on negative aspects of himself or others. He may feel resentful, irritable or angry much of the time, feeling sorry for himself, and needing reassurance from someone. Various physical ailments could also occur that have no correlation to physical illness.
Depression is classified as clinical when the episode inhibits a person's ability to accomplish routine daily tasks for at least two weeks. If suddenly 'normal' activities become difficult to do or the interest to do them is lost completely for a sustained amount of time, clinical depression could be a possibility. A change in basic bodily functions may also be experienced. The usual daily rhythms seem to go 'out of kilter'. One can't sleep, or one sleeps too much. One can't eat, or one eats too much. Others may notice that the sufferer may become agitated or slowed down. One may find that required energy for activities that used to be enjoyed is now gone. He or she may even feel that life is not worth living, and begin to develop thoughts that he or she would be better off dead.
Currently the most commonly used treatment for major depression is antidepressant medication. These medications are relatively cheap, and easy for family practitioners (who treat the majority of depressed people) to prescribe. However, once the episode has past, and the client has stopped taking the antidepressants, depression tends to return, and at least 50% of those experiencing their first episode of depression find that depression comes back, despite appearing to have made a full recovery. After a second or third episode, the risk of recurrence rises to between 80% and 90%. Also, those who first became depressed before 20 years of age are particularly likely to suffer a higher risk of relapse and recurrence.
The main method for preventing this recurrence is the continuation of the medication, but many people do not want to stay on medication for indefinite periods, and when the medication stops, the risk of becoming depressed again returns. People are turning to new ways of helping them stay well after depression. To see what it is most helpful to do, we need to understand why it is that we may remain at high risk, even when we've recovered. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy seems to be a complementary method to treating acute and chronic depression.
Why do we remain vulnerable to depression? Edit
New research shows that during any episode of depression, negative mood occurs alongside negative thinking (such as 'I am a failure', 'I am inadequate, 'I am worthless') and bodily sensations of sluggishness and fatigue. When the episode is past, and the mood has returned to normal, the negative thinking and fatigue tend to disappear as well. However, during the episode a mental association has formed between the mood that was present at that time, and the negative thinking patterns.
This means that when negative mood happens again (for any reason) a relatively small amount of such mood can trigger or reactivate the old thinking pattern. Once again, people start to think they have failed, or are inadequate - even if it is not relevant to the current situation. People who believed they had recovered may find themselves feeling 'back to square one'. They end up inside a rumination loop that constantly asks 'what has gone wrong?', 'why is this happening to me?', 'where will it all end?' Such rumination feels as if it ought to help find an answer, but it only succeeds in prolonging and deepening the mood spiral. When this happens, the old habits of negative thinking will start up again, negative thinking gets into the same rut, and a full-blown episode of depression may be the result.
The discovery that, even when people feel well, the link between negative moods and negative thoughts remains ready to be re-activated, is of enormous importance. It means that sustaining recovery from such depression depends on learning how to keep mild states of depression from spiralling out of control.
Future of MBCT Edit
Further research is being conducted to identify all the different uses of MBCT. Significant decreases in anxiety, depression, with a resulting increased sense well being, have been found so far. Research being conducted will evaluate MBCT as a useful technique with patients who are diagnosed with cancer or haematological illness. Mindfulness practice is being done over various cultures and demographics. Ellen Langer has been focusing on the future of mindfulness.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn
- Dialectical behavior therapy
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
References & BibliographyEdit
- REDIRECT Template:Reflist
- Segal, Z.V., Williams, J.M.G. & Teasdale, J.D, 2002, Mindfulness–based Cognitive Therapy for Depression. A New Approach to Preventing Relapse. Guilford Press.
- Teasdale, JD, Segal, ZV, and Williams, JMC. How does cognitive therapy prevent depressive relapse and why should attentional control (mindfulness) help? Behav Res Ther (1995) 33:25-29.
- Teasdale, JD, Segal, ZV, Williams MG, Ridgeway, VA, Soulsby, JM, Lau, MA. Prevention of Relapse/Recurrence in Major Depression by Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. J. of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (2000) 68:615-623.
- Williams JMG, Teasdale JD, Segal ZV and Soulsby J. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduces overgeneral autobiographical memory in formerly depressed patients. J Abnorm Psychol (2001).
- [http://www.mbct.co.uk/ Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (UK). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy Homepage. Very complete website with information on books, founders, and workshops.
- What is Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction?
- The Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice
- Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre
- MBSR & MBCT
- How to do Mindfulness Meditation[[Category:Mindfulness
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POMEROY — George Wright has always been somewhat of a conservationist at heart, so it was no surprise to see him transplanting king-sized hickory nuts into a tub of dark soil.
“King hickory nut trees are scarce here,” he says. “My goal is to help get them re-established in this part of the country.”
Asked where he got his “seed” hickory nuts, he said a couple of places, one being underneath a tree near Annie Chapman’s Morgan Rest Bed and Breakfast on Lincoln Hill in Pomeroy.
The whole process of starting King hickory nut tree starters began a number of months ago. George said it takes storage of the nuts in a cold place six to eight months in order for them to germinate. So they remained refrigerated until the weather began to warm a few weeks ago at which time he planted them in a tub and then waited and watched until little sprouts finally came up and growth began.
His goal has always been to plant enough so he could keep a few for himself and have enough left to give away to others interested in propagating the king-sized hickory nuts.
The plants have now grown into little trees four to six inches high and are ready to be planted in areas large enough to accommodate a tall tree which in a dozen or more years from now will yield hickory nuts.
George is ready to give them away to someone like him who wants to see the King Hickory Nut trees more plentiful in Meigs County.
Anyone interested in getting one of the dozen or so tree plants can leave their name and telephone number with his daughter, Susan Clark Dingess, at Clark’s Jewelry Store and George will get in touch with them. He has some specific instructions on how to handle the planting and care for the delicate plants so that they will survive.


National Conservative Political Action Committee
The National Conservative Political Action Committee (NCPAC; pronounced "nick-pack") was a New Right political action committee in the United States that was a major contributor to the ascendancy of conservative Republicans in the early 1980s, including the election of Ronald Reagan as President, and that innovated the use of independent expenditures to circumvent campaign finance restrictions.
In 1979 Time magazine characterized NCPAC, the Conservative Caucus and the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress (headed by Paul Weyrich) as the three most important ultraconservative organizations making up the New Right.
NCPAC was founded in 1975 by conservative activists John Terry Dolan, Charles Black and Roger Stone, with help from Richard Viguerie and Thomas F. Ellis. The group got its start through direct mail solicitations. "The shriller you are, the better it is to raise money," explained co-founder Terry Dolan.
NCPAC became one of the first groups to circumvent the contribution limits of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) by exploiting the "independent expenditure" loophole permitted under a 1976 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Although federal law restricted political action committees' expenditures to $10,000 per candidate, an organization could spend unlimited amounts of money supporting or opposing a particular candidate as long as their campaign activity was not coordinated with a candidate. NCPAC pooled independent contributions in order to make independent expenditures on campaign attack ads. Not only did this circumvent campaign finance restrictions, but it prevented candidates from being associated with advertising created on their behalf. NCPAC Chairman Terry Dolan was quoted as saying, "A group like ours could lie through its teeth, and the candidate it helps stays clean." Dolan later said he was describing a hypothetical situation, not NCPAC's actual tactics.
1978 election
NCPAC's first major target was Democratic Senator Dick Clark of Iowa in the election of 1978. Three weeks before the November 1978 election, incumbent Clark had a 30 percentage-point lead in campaign polls, but he lost to Republican Roger Jepsen, 52 to 48 percent. Clark's defeat was attributed to intense anti-Clark campaigning conducted by direct mail, mailgrams, and leaflet distribution during the final weeks of the campaign, attacking Clark for his positions on abortion, gun control, and the Panama Canal Treaty. NCPAC took credit for Clark's defeat and was encouraged to expand its efforts in the 1980 election.
1980 election
Clark's defeat, for which NCPAC took credit, encouraged NCPAC and other allied organizations to expand their efforts in the 1980 election, when NCPAC spent at least $1.2 million. Four of the six incumbent Democratic Senators targeted by NCPAC in 1980, John Culver (Iowa), George McGovern (South Dakota), Frank Church (Idaho), and Birch Bayh (Indiana), were defeated. Senators Alan Cranston of California and Thomas Eagleton of Missouri were also targeted, but achieved re-election.
1982 election
NCPAC hoped to repeat its success in the 1982 election. Initially the group targeted a list of 20 Senators for defeat, including Pat Moynihan of New York, Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, and John Melcher of Montana. The organization later trimmed its target list to five incumbents, and spent $4.5 million in the 1982 elections. However, only one of its targets, Democrat Howard Cannon of Nevada, failed to win re-election. Sarbanes was charged with being "too liberal for Maryland," but voters did not respond to the NCPAC message. Sarbanes made NCPAC's tactics a major issue in his campaign. Democratic Senator John Melcher, a veterinarian, countered a commercial that claimed he was "too liberal for Montana" by running a TV commercial of his own featuring cows. After a shot of "out-of-staters" carrying a briefcase full of money off an airplane, one cow remarked, "Did ya hear about those city slickers bad-mouthing Doc Melcher? One of 'em was stepping in what they've been trying to sell."
Later years
L. Brent Bozell succeeded Dolan as the group's head after Dolan's death in 1986.
The organization is based in Alexandria, Virginia.
- The New Right Takes Aim, Time magazine, August 20, 1979
- Thomas Frank, "The Tilting Yard: Charlie Black's Cronies" Wall Street Journal July 2, 2008
- Running with the PACs Time magazine, October 25, 1982
- The Washington Post, August 10, 1980, p. F1, as cited at http://www.bartleby.com/73/150.html
- Richard F. Fenno, Jr., Richard F. Fenno, Senators on the Campaign Trail, University of Oklahoma Press, 1998 ISBN 0-8061-3062-8, ISBN 978-0-8061-3062-0, page 111
- Richard F. Fenno, Jr., Richard F. Fenno, Senators on the Campaign Trail, University of Oklahoma Press, 1998 ISBN 0-8061-3062-8, ISBN 978-0-8061-3062-0, page 114
- Richard F. Fenno, Jr., Richard F. Fenno, Senators on the Campaign Trail, University of Oklahoma Press, 1998 ISBN 0-8061-3062-8, ISBN 978-0-8061-3062-0, page 115
- No Thunder from the Right, by Jane O'Reilly, Time magazine, Nov. 15, 1982
- A Bag of Tricks: Independent Expenditures, Center for Responsible Politics opensecrets.org website, archived January 13, 2008.
- New Resolve by the New Right, by Edwin Warner, Time magazine, December 1, 1980
- NCPAC's Waterloo, by Chuck Lane, The Harvard Crimson, September 25, 1982
- Attack PAC Time magazine, Oct. 25, 1982


Dating photos relies on a combination of:
- internal evidence - clothing, subject matter, composition, props, etc
- identification of people in it - what age were they when the photo was taken? how does this fit with known birth dates?
- production processes - different materials (eg. type of photographic paper) and chemical processes resulted in characteristic types of photo. Standard sizes of commercial prints have changed over time.
- photographer - photographer's marks and advertising can be used to identify the photographer, hence the period the business operated.
Jayne Shrimpton and Maureen Taylor's books are good references, but they concentrate on the 1850-1950 period.
The scanned image shows a black-and-white print. The informal outdoor setting suggests it was taken by an amatuer photographer. I think this print has been cut down from a larger original because prints usually had white borders on all sides.
Commercially processed prints tended to come in standard sizes, which is derived from the size of the negative. Typically commercial processesing produced contact prints (exactly the same size as the negative) and enlargements of the whole negative, which maintain the aspect ratio of the negative. Unfortunately in this case, we do not know the size of the original print, so we can't deduce the size of the negative.
As othe answers have suggested, the 1950s is strongly indicated. At that time, colour photography existed, but was not as widely popular and affordable as black-and-white.


Open source software is becoming more popular and its price is certainly drawing raves.
Open source software is software that is distributed along with its source code. This is usually done free and it is done with the purpose of allowing the improvement of the software be driven by the general user and developer base. This way, the software can definitely apply to user needs and interests as well as draw closer to perfection in the most efficient way possible. Many organizations have adopted the open source philosophy in order to produce the premier software of their markets and many nonprofit organizations have coalesced in support of open source software. Even governments have heralded their support of open source software and some have even gone as far as to initiate mandates that render the distribution of open source software all but compulsory.
Free? Free? Free?
Corporations benefit from open source software as it gives them the capacity to penetrate the market in one of the most effective and cost-efficient ways. These entities can garner loyalty, market presence, and increased stability with the proliferation of open source as opposed to proprietary software. Developers benefit from open source software in that they have the capacity to learn and perfect their methods as well as apply their methodologies and innovation to other large-scale enterprises. This can benefit them as both something they can put on their resume as well as something that they can apply to later projects. Individual users benefit from open source software in that they desires and needs are what drives the development of software that is usually free, especially during its initial stages.
Managing Free Software?
Open source management is usually handled cooperatively, but can also be taken care of through several software tools. On one hand, the Open Source Initiative and the debian-legal mailing list offer networking solutions to open source software management, while on the other, individual teams and firms can track the development of open source software through tools created for that purpose. There is a multitude that is available on the market, many of which also happen to be open source.
The Asian open source software movement has been gaining steam almost at a faster rate than in the Western World. Not only are there many organizations that are dedicated to the development and distribution of open source software, many Asian governments have spearheaded initiatives to make open source software the most-used software development approach. These initiatives have largely been due to a desire to become technologically independent of proprietary software from United States-based corporations. As a result of these pursuits, though, many essential sectors of Asian society, including education and healthcare, have been improved through open source software.
Open source software differs from free software or “freeware” in that it is distributed with the source code and with the intention to initiate the gradual improvement of such software. As a result, open source software is often distributed to a larger segment of the market and is not normally used as an advertising method, while freeware is. Accordingly, open source software is available to and can be used by absolutely anyone.
The development of open source software is contingent on each respective program or platform’s developers. Alternately, its presentation, purpose, and distribution are based on the open source philosophy, which may alter how the software is initially presented. For example, while proprietary software is often produced as a “finished version,” open source software is presented as a work-in-progress, with the expectation that members of the market base will work to gradually improve the software.


Butter Flavoring Linked To Alzheimer's
If you've been looking for one more thing to worry about, here it is.
If you're a fan of butter-flavored microwave popcorn, a new study finds a flavoring used in the product may trigger Alzheimer's disease. University of Minnesota drug-design expert Robert Vince, PhD, and colleagues found that diacetyl causes brain proteins to misfold into the Alzheimer's-linked form called beta amyloid. Vince's team also found that diacetyl has an architecture similar to a substance that makes beta-amyloid proteins clump together in the brain -- clumping being a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. Even more, the popcorn butter flavorant can pass through the blood-brain barrier and can inhibit the brain's natural amyloid-clearing mechanisms. Diacetyl, already linked to lung damage in people who work in microwave popcorn factories, is also used to produce the distinctive buttery flavor and aroma of margarines, snack foods, candy, baked goods, pet foods, and even some chardonnays.(Tipped by JMG reader SIdan)


MYSTIC, Conn. (AP) — Oceanographer Robert Ballard, best known for discovering the Titanic wreck, has new plans to plumb the depths of the seas.
Ballard said Thursday that his latest deep-sea venture will send crews combing through the Black, Aegean and Mediterranean seas for artifacts from ship wrecks and ancient civilizations.
His research vesse set out from a port in Turkey last week on a four-month mission that will use four remote-operated vehicles and sonar technology to explore lost cities.
At a news conference, Ballard said that while he has a general idea what his crew might find, the exploration is about looking for the unknown.
"We're fascinated by extremely confusing parts of our planet and we say 'let's go there and see if we can figure it out,' " said Ballard.
The 211-foot ship, carrying a team of about 15 scientists, will travel through waters including the Hellenic and Aeolian Arcs, the Gorringe bank and the Straits of Sicily — a course that will take it near deep trenches, continental faults and cities under the surface of the Mediterranean that are more than 2,000 years old. The journey is expected to wrap up in November off the coast of Israel.
Ballard, who is also a professor at the University of Rhode Island, founded the Institute for Exploration at the Sea Research Foundation, the nonprofit environmental organization that also runs Mystic Aquarium. In addition to leading an international team that discovered the RMS Titanic in 1985 on the floor of the North Atlantic, Ballard found the wrecks of the battleship Bismarck and the PT-109 torpedo patrol boat that John F. Kennedy commanded during World War II.
The 69-year-old explorer said his ship will dispatch video and audio feeds from this newest venture to connect with the public as he pursues new discoveries. The material will be available online and at a theater at Mystic Aquarium, and teams of educators will rotate aboard the ship to host information sessions and explain the latest finds.
Mission co-leader Katherine Croff Bell said the live technology lets the ship expand beyond the knowledge of the scientists onboard.
"If we don't have the proper expertise on the ship we can call somebody on shore and have them be a part of the exploration in real time," Bell said.
Paul Johnson, an oceanographer at the University of Washington who has worked with Ballard, said these types of expeditions help stir public interest in deep-sea research. He said the voyage was not a traditional research mission and would likely involve a mixture of education, entertainment and "probably some science mixed in there."
The ship's primary mission is to make discoveries, not try to extract artifacts or disturb the seabed. For Ballard and the E/V Nautilus, that means setting themselves up for to find something new by planning trips over unusual or unknown areas.
"What really excites me is when you go looking for one thing and find something more important," Ballard said.
"So we are all about creating moments of discovery by trying to get a little lucky," he said.
On the Web:
E/V Nautilus website: http://nautiluslive.org/


The man behind ‘Twin Bridges,’ Gen. Thaddeus Kosciuszko, remembered as the Revolutionary War hero he was
HALFMOON — To countless Northway travelers, the span over the Mohawk River is simply a way to get to and from work, or fun Adirondack vacations.
Most people call it the “Twin Bridges.”
To veterans advocate Carol Hotaling, of Clifton Park, the structure has a much deeper meaning – a tribute to the Revolutionary War hero that it’s officially named after — Gen. Thaddeus Kosciuszko.
The bridge, which first opened in 1959, underwent a major reconstruction project this fall.
“I would like to propose a rededication of this bridge,” she said. “He (Kosciuszko) was born in Poland, came to a struggling America, volunteered his services to the Continental Army and became chief engineer.”
Hotaling, the “Yellow Ribbon Lady,” has made countless yellow decorations for veterans-themed events, celebrations and observances, and works tirelessly to support troops stationed overseas.
Kosciuszko’s accomplishments were many, including the fortification of West Point. But his most important contribution was designing the American defenses for the 1777 Battles of Saratoga, which proved to be the Revolution’s turning point.
Gen. Horatio Gates, the American commander, gets most of the credit for the victory at Saratoga. Without Kosciuszko, though, it never would have happened.
“It was his use of topography and design of defenses that gave Americans an extremely strong and defensible position,” said Bill Valosin, a Saratoga National Historical Park ranger.
Specifically, artillery placed atop Bemis Heights stopped the flow of British supplies on the Hudson River, directly below, and kept them from using the main north-south river road. Continued...
The southward advancing British army, under Gen. John Burgoyne, was trying to reach Albany, where it would meet British forces moving up the Hudson Valley led by Gen. William Howe. The goal was to split the colonies in two, and bring the American rebellion to a quick end.
At Saratoga, however, the river forms a bottleneck and thanks to Kosciuszko’s well-designed defenses, the Americans controlled it. Burgoyne’s army split up into three separate columns – one near the river; the other two about a mile and two miles inland, respectively.
However, Kosciuszko built an L-shaped three-quarter-mile long line to the west, and another about two-thirds of a mile to the south and west, to hold off attacks from those directions, too.
None of this work began until Sept. 12, one week before the first battle.
“He (Kosciuszko) wasn’t directly in the (battle) lines,” Valosin said. “But his fortifications, where and the way that he placed them, forced the British to abandon the direct route south.”
Born in February 1746, Kosciuszko came to America looking to gain experience and make a name for himself, which he unquestionably did. In Europe, he’s considered one of the Revolution’s greatest heroes, perhaps second only to George Washington.
After the war, he helped lead an insurrection against the Russian occupation of Poland.
In August 1797, still suffering from battle wounds during the insurrection, he came back to the U.S. and lived in Philadelphia. That historic home is now the smallest site, one fifth of an acre, in the entire National Park system.
The next spring, Kosciuszko left Philadelphia for France. He dreamed of seeing a unified and free Poland, but Napoleon’s rise to power dashed those hopes. He spent the last two years of his life in Soleure, Switzerland where he died in 1817.
Recently, there’s been some debate because of constantly changing European borders, about whether Kosciuszko was born in Poland, Lithuania or Belarus. Continued...
Regardless, there is no question about his role as a hero during the American fight for independence.
His good friend Thomas Jefferson called him “as pure a son of liberty as I have ever known.”
Hotaling would like people to remember that during the course of their busy travels over the bridge that bears Kosciuszko’s name.
“It’s one way we can show him the respect he deserves,” she said.
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Stuttering: Risk Factors
During an evaluation for Reference stuttering Opens New Window, a health professional will consider a child's risk factors to help find out whether the problem is temporary (normal disfluency) or likely to persist (developmental stuttering).
Risk factors (things that increase risk) for stuttering include:Reference 1
- Having a family member whose stuttering did not resolve on its own.
- Being male. Boys are more likely than girls to keep stuttering.
- The age that it starts. Children who start to stutter before age 3½ are more likely to outgrow it than children who start to stutter at an older age.
- The amount of time that it's lasted. A child who has stuttered for at least 6 months may be less likely to outgrow it on his or her own. If it's lasted longer than 12 months, there's even less of a chance that a child will outgrow it on his or her own.
- How clear the speech is. A child who speaks clearly with few, if any, speech errors may be more likely to outgrow stuttering than a child whose speech errors make him or her hard to understand.
- Having speech irregularities that have lasted 18 months or more.
Usually each risk factor taken individually is not significant. Rather, the strength of each risk factor and how many are present can help a health professional determine whether stuttering is likely to be a long-term problem.
|By:||Reference Healthwise Staff||Last Revised: Reference August 7, 2012|
|Medical Review:||Reference Susan C. Kim, MD - Pediatrics
Reference Louis Pellegrino, MD - Developmental Pediatrics


My Child Has These Odd Behaviors!
Autism in Children with Down Syndrome
by Cyndi Ringoen
Austin’s parents have taken him to the doctor. They have a few concerns to discuss. Austin rejects hugs and kisses from them; he won’t leave his shirt on; he screams every time his mom needs to vacuum the house; he sits for hours by himself quietly humming while lining up cars in a neat row. The doctor observes the child in front of him. Austin won’t make eye contact. He isn’t responding to directions (seems almost not to hear), instead he is quietly sitting while continually flipping the pages of a book. “Ah hah!” thinks the doctor. His diagnosis is Autism.
There is a small, but consistent and significant portion of children with Down syndrome who also become labeled as autistic. Once parents have come to terms with the diagnosis of Down syndrome and all it entails, the addition of yet another label, another set of obstacles often becomes overwhelming. In this article I hope to provide families with demystifying information regarding the label of “autistic,” proactive observation techniques to detect autistic-like or sensory behaviors, and practical ideas for eliminating the behaviors.
|Understanding the Autism Label||What Parents Should Look For|
|What Can a Parent Do?||Conclusion|
The label of “autistic,” whether for a person with Down syndrome or not, is a symptomatic label. This means you receive this label if you have a certain number of symptoms on a list. It is important to know that “autism” is not a disease that you can take a blood test or x-ray to detect. What I see in my work with children and families is that many doctors throw around this label rather haphazardly because of a few symptoms. Having the label or not having the label doesn’t change the fact that the family is dealing with a number of behaviors and symptoms that need to be addressed. The earlier that parents can identify and eliminate the symptoms, the better the chance of the child developing without autistic-like behaviors.
Autism is basically a dysfunction of the sensory channels. This means that some senses are hyperactive (over active) and some are hypoactive (under active). Because of this there are atypical responses to different stimuli. We have five main sensory channels and each of them may be affected with hyper- or hyposensitivities.
Sound. For example, it is common for those affected with autism to be hypersensitive to sound. Sound can actually cause pain and discomfort. Parents may notice the following: covering of ears with hands to block out the sound, extremely negative behavior in certain locations, physical withdrawal or auditory shut down in noisy environments, inconsolable crying that only stops when the child is removed from the noise, or hearing and reacting to sounds before others can even perceive them. If the sounds are too uncomfortable the child will learn to totally turn off the hearing and then cease to make progress in speech and language development—sometimes almost appearing deaf. Often when a person is hypersensitive to certain sounds there are other sounds to which they are hyposensitive, or that they do not process at all. This greatly affects speech, as it is the ability to hear and process tones well that culminates in the ability to produce sound and speech effectively. To onlookers this behavior appears strange and inappropriate but most people would react the same way if they were dealing with auditory hypersensitivity. The solution is to address the problem of the hypersensitivity to sound. Then the “strange” behavior will dissipate.
Touch. Touch, or tactility (the ability to interpret tactile input) can be oversensitive causing withdrawal or reactions to deep touch (hugs) or light touch (tickling, tags, clothing material), discomfort with haircuts or hair combing, aversion to water at certain temperatures, aversions to textures—both on the skin and in the mouth, or overactive gag reflex. Tactility can be hyposensitive, meaning the brain doesn’t even acknowledge that something has touched the body. Instead of overreaction there is a lack of reaction. Parents may notice falling and bruising without the normal response, lack of response to hot and cold, lack of ticklish response, and lack of mouth response to hot and cold.
Smell. Hypersensitivity to odors can cause odd behaviors such as hand sniffing, object and person sniffing, aversion to food odors causing gagging or rejection of food. Hyposensitivity to odor can cause problems with lack of motivation to eat, and inability to distinguish between edible and inedible objects.
Taste. Hypersensitivity to taste can cause gagging or rejection of food. Hyposensitivity to taste can cause lack of motivation to eat, and inability to distinguish between edible and inedible objects. Problems with appropriate sensory information for odors and smell can cause serious eating difficulties.
Sight. We have two main types of vision, peripheral and macular/central. Peripheral vision picks up on edges and motion. Central or macular vision is what we use to learn with, we see details with it, we are able to line up rows and columns, and clearly distinguish letter, numbers, words etc. When a person has overdeveloped or hyperperipheral vision they attend to “odd” things–things which have edges and movement: dangling strings, fans, open and shutting doors/drawers, edges of walls, and often their hands and fingers. Underdeveloped macular vision or hypomacular vision causes difficulties such as lack of eye contact, lack of interest in pictures, books, and television.
Persons diagnosed with “autism” have a combination of the above sensory dysfunctions. One of the most common profiles I find in a person labeled autistic is: hypersensitive to light touch, hyposensitive to deep touch, hyperauditory, hyperperipheral vision and hypomacular vision. Austin, described above, has this set of dysfunctions. This type of person is not receiving information in the same way as you and I, and therefore, is not responding to stimuli in their environment as you and I would.
The most likely reason a child with Down syndrome would begin to be labeled “autistic” is because of something called “sensory play.” Sensory stimulation, self-stimulation behaviors, self-stim, and sensory play are all terms referring to the same type of actions. They are behaviors that a child engages in that are “odd,” repetitive, sometimes obsessive, but they are all inputting information into the “broken” sensory channel. This is so negative because it reinforces what is already wrong. Sensory play does more than just stop the positive development for the moment. It seems to create endorphins in the brain. Endorphins produce happy feelings. As the child engages in sensory play he wants to do it more and more; he craves it; and often it can become an addiction.
There are many, many types and variations of sensory play. A majority of sensory play is visual, often stimulating the peripheral vision. But sensory play can also be auditory or tactile, too. Following is a list of some common sensory play activities:
|Repeatedly opening and shutting doors or drawers, flipping pages of books, flipping books or toys, flicking toys with fingertips, wiggling fingers in front of face, wiggling fingers at side of face, hand flapping, holding toys to the side of face and shaking, twirling or shaking strings and ropes, nose up to the TV, watching TV sideways, spinning wheels of cars, spinning toys, spinning self, head shaking, rocking, continuous humming, echolalia (repeating videos, ads, or conversation but not communicating), hand wringing, excessive touching/sweeping with fingertips, wall walking, non-language repetitive auditory sounds, banging, pounding, tongue sucking, tongue play, excessive picking of their own skin, pacing/walking in patterns or circles, lining up toys.|
This is not meant to be a complete list, but rather a general description that may help parents when observing the behavior of their children. Most of these activities are not inappropriate in and of themselves. Some are even developmentally appropriate at certain stages. They become inappropriate and turn into sensory play when they are done repeatedly or obsessively. I have found that parents usually are very good judges of what might be potential sensory play. If I point out some behavior that they should try to eliminate, they often confess that they had a funny feeling about it, or thought it wasn’t positive.
As the child spends more time in sensory play they are undoing the positive developmental input that their parents or caregivers are trying to impart to them. Sensory play does more than just undo current input. It can actually cause significant regression in the developmental and cognitive ability of a child.
One of the most severe examples I ever assessed was a child who had a very involved family. They were spending a lot of time each day with him on his developmental progress. In addition, they were ensuring that he was supervised almost constantly so he could not engage in any type of sensory play. His short-term memory was growing; he was able to speak to me in short sentences; he was reading some words and he was very tuned in and following directions. I saw him about four months later. He was not following any directions; he was totally tuned out, engaging in sensory play constantly. His short-term memory had regressed by two to three years, and he wasn’t able to communicate at all with me.
What happened during the four months to cause this? His mother had given birth to a baby who was understandably taking up much of the family’s time and energy. The older child was then left to engage in sensory play as much as desired for four months. No blame should be put on the family. They were dealing with a real life situation. But this situation illustrates the extreme urgency and importance of stopping any and all sensory play so that a child’s development will continue progressing in a positive manner.
My suggestion is for parents to become expert observers of their children’s play. If you notice some of the above-mentioned repetitive behaviors, try to immediately distract and redirect the child’s attention to something more appropriate. Changing this behavior at the beginning is relatively easy compared to the task of trying to change it after it becomes addictive and obsessive. Along with eliminating the sensory play, it is of the utmost importance to have a neurodevelopmental evaluation of the child, which can then pinpoint any sensory dysfunctions and provide you with specific methods of stimulation and activities to normalize the sensory channels. This will offer you the very best possibility of eliminating the “autistic” symptoms, thereby providing your child with the best possible opportunities for continuing in their development.
Normalizing the sensory channels is part of the plan for anyone with sensory dysfunction. What follows are some quick, general ideas regarding appropriate sensory input for helping children develop optimally.
Hearing. I suggest the use of Samonas Sound Therapy, which has a proven track record in reducing sound sensitivities. It can also help normalize the hearing of any frequencies that the child is not hearing well. Used correctly, Samonas or Sonas Therapy should be done very gently with short durations for optimal results. In addition, parents can provide lots of good quality auditory input—reading stories to the child, the child listening to stories on tape, talking face to face to the child.
Touch. Parents can provide tactile input to their child for a few minutes several times a day. Provide deep pressure (squeezing), starting at the fingertips and working toward the shoulders and starting at the toes and squeezing up to the thighs. Deep pressure often calms children who display autistic-like symptoms. Give deep hugs (bear hugs) lots of times a day. You can also provide light touch with tickling (fingertips) or a feather on the limbs.
Smell. Provide the child with the opportunity to smell a variety of pleasant odors, i.e. orange oil, peppermint, coffee grounds. Provide the input for a few minutes, several times a day.
Taste. Allow opportunity to taste sweet, sour and salty tastes to stimulate the taste buds. Use only minute amounts for a child that is hypersensitive to taste. Provide the input for a few minutes, several times a day.
Vision. Provide lots of opportunity to develop good central/macular vision. Talk face to face as much as possible. Play catch; pop bubbles. Practice visual tracking by holding small toy away from face and moving it slowly side to side and up and down for child to follow. Discourage inappropriate use of peripheral vision (described above as sensory play). High interest television and videos, if monitored by parents, can be used to help develop central vision. The child must sit at least three feet away and be looking directly at the TV, and not out of the corner of the eyes. Looking at books and picture cards is also a positive visual stimulation exercise.
Stopping Sensory Play. By far the most important thing you can do for a child with autistic behaviors is to stop all the sensory play and spend as much one-on-one time with them as possible. If you detect sensory play early, then all you need to do is to distract and redirect the child’s activity and it will not likely develop into anything more serious. However, if you are the parent of an older child who has done some of these behaviors on a consistent basis your job will be more difficult. By structuring the child’s down time so that someone is with them, interacting and playing with them, you will reduce the sensory play because there will be less time for the child to engage in it. Sometimes it means removal of certain types of toys that seem to increase the sensory play.
Inputting the appropriate information to the sensory channels will help the child to gradually become interested in their environment in a more typical way. Stopping sensory play in a child for whom it has become a way of life is difficult. But usually this only lasts a certain amount of time, until the “addiction” quality wears off from lack of stimulation. As the sensory play decreases, the parents start to enjoy interacting with and discovering a new side of their child—a child who is more “tuned in,” less withdrawn, more interactive, and easier to teach.
Autism is just a word. It is a word for a group of symptoms. If your child acquires the “autistic” label or begins to display sensory dysfunctions, you will need to address each of the individual issues. The good news is sensory problems respond very well to intervention, thereby eliminating the original symptoms.
Cyndi Ringoen is a certified neuro-developmentalist who writes individual, home-based educational programs for parents to do with their children. Her expertise covers a range of disabilities and “labels” including Down syndrome and autism. As a mother and foster mother of many children with disabilities over the years, she has conducted neurodevelopmental programs in her own home with her children. She is a founding member of ICAN, an association of neuro-developmentalists, and through ICAN can refer parents to a neurodevelopmental practice near their home.


Major depression and other mood disorders account for a substantial proportion of medical disabilities in the United States. They can also worsen the outcome of other medical disorders, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
This has led Washington University physicians to practice and develop new and more effective treatments for this devastating disorder, focusing on the use of brain stimulation methods.
These include electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a core treatment for severe and refractory mood disorders.
Researchers are developing new methods for use of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), two novel approaches that have received FDA approval in recent years. Several physicians also have expertise in deep brain stimulation (DBS), a form of treatment that is in its infancy as a tool for treating highly refractory psychiatric disorders.
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS): Brain activity is triggered through weak electric currents, changing the excitability of corticospinal and corticocortial pathways.


Cyber Bullying Leaflet Launch
Sue Ball Consultant for BRAG and Parents from Nechells Parents Forum launched a leaflet of advice for parents and carers about how to prevent and tackle cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullies use the internet, mobile phones or any other form of digital technology to threaten, tease or abuse someone.
This useful resource, produced by Birmingham City Council’s Young People and Families Directorate, in association with Nechells Parents Forum and the POD, helps parents understand how to be cyber-safe, how to spot the signs if their child is a victim of or an instigator of cyber-bullying and what steps to take to stop it. The leaflet provides useful, practical advice with local and national contacts for further support and guidance.
The launch took place at Nechells Zone Olympics at the Alexander Stadium on June 15th Noran Flynn, Director of the POD, and organiser of the Olympics Event said “Nechells parents are keen to support their children at our Olympics, and promote the values of respect, excellence and friendship. They are also very concerned about the rise in cyber-bullying and have worked hard, with Birmingham’s Bullying Reduction Action Group (BRAG) to produce this leaflet to help parents across Birmingham deal with cyber-bullying and keep their children safe”
How to tackle cyber-bullying:
New technologies are amazing. Mobile phones, smart phones, the internet and social networking slites like facebook allow us to keep in touch with our friends and family more easily and to have access to a wide range of information on the world-wide web. They can help children with their learning, prepare them for life in a technological world and improve their communication skills.
But as well as the positives, we all know that there are some negatives and that cyber-bullying is on the increase. Because many children and parents are worried about cyber-bullying Nechells Parents Forum have worked with Birmingham City Council’s Bullying Reduction Action Group (BRAG) to produce an advice leaflet for parents called How to Tackle Cyber-bullying.
This leaflet helps parents understand what cyber-bullying is, how to spot the signs if their child is a victim of or an instigator of cyber-bullying and what steps to take to stop it. It also gives useful, practical advice with local and national contacts for further support and guidance.
Sue Ball said “The Olympic values of respect, excellence and friendship are important to us all. Thank you to the POD and all the members of Nechells Parents Forum, who helped to create this leaflet. It gives great advice to parents and carers across Birmingham about how they can best help their children to lead happy and bully-free lives, build respectful friendships and stay safe from cyber-bullying.”
For more information about Anti-bullying work in Birmingham
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Tue, 14th May 13 at 4:00pm
Some pupils from year 5 in our Nechells EAZ schools: Cromwell, Nechells, St Clement's, St Joseph's and St Vincent's all went to Aston University today for a day of fun, experiments, experiences and inspiration for their future careers. The young people learnt all about team work, had a tour of the campus and then became mini scientists extracting DNA from kiwi fruits. The Nechells Schools and their pupils would all like to say a big thank you to Bal and her team of student volunteers at Aston University for the opportunity they give every year to some our most Gifted and Talents pupils, they really enjoy this fantastic experience, we hope that our pupils will all continue to study hard and in time become the graduates of the future.