The Survival Rules of War Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome About the Author Contact Us
Readjusting to Civilian Life

What is War?

Women, Families and War

Gifts of Life

© Copyright 2006

For all the talk about post traumatic stress (PTS) and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the meaning it has in our lives is not fully understood.

Using the word disorder unfortunately suggests a judgment that something is not right, when it in fact the distress reactions and moods after war are entirely fitting for the unusual circumstances that happened

PTS and PTSD are natural patterns of responses to overwhelmingly violent and extreme external events that stomp on everything you once believed and cherished and maybe didn’t know you felt. PTS or PTSD can be the chronic stress of the moment and can be the delayed stress that comes long after an event is over.

Throughout time this effect of having warred has been called such things, for example, as cowardice, lack of character, nostalgia, soldier’s heart, war neurosis and, recently, PTSD, all of which reflect the temperament of the times.

PTSD symptoms are those reactions and moods that come on after the traumatic events are over. The problem is with after, because after is sometimes years or even decades afterwards. This makes it difficult to realize that the source of life problems lie in once having warred. It’s easy to understand the stress of actual combat when it’s happening, but people don’t make the connection long after a war is forgotten.

War’s PTSD is not, for example, like what follows battery, rape or arson fires. Men doing combat are not victims. They are at one and the same time the aggressors and those who are aggressed upon. They are trained to do what they do and, at least intellectually, know what they might be in for.

I have not met combatants who think of themselves as victims, and know that none of them expect or want to be pitied. But the question often is, how can someone who is trained to kill and destroy and knowingly goes to do it be emotionally wounded and traumatized by what they do?  Isn’t that something only victims experience?

It is as if you stop thinking of men as humans.

PTSD is an unconscious reenactment of the ways combatants learned to stay alive in body, mind and emotions during combat. Too busy staying alive, combatants have neither time nor inclination to handle and make sense of what was happening to them emotionally.

The problem when they are at home, however, is that they are doing the right things to handle the stresses in war, but not the right things for stress when it comes to relationships and social life in peacetime. Discovering how to change war’s habits of pain into life-positive resources is the focus of using war’s Survival Rules in any version of reality.

PTSD and PTS is a psychological way of taking care of important life business once the extreme danger is over and the body and soul can come down off the shock of great violence. The soul’s grief and disarray after war lie at the crux of the problems.

It’s also very much a body thing. In addition to our thinking brain, there are two ancient intelligences in us whose purpose is to keep us alive and to give us emotions as guidelines to what matters. They keep score of all the good or bad things that happen in and to our bodies. This happens even though our thinking brain, the neocortex, does not like to be held back by the goals of those two, slower and nature-oriented older brains.

Once these primal brains become agitated by extreme stress and dangers of annihilation, all hell breaks loose and war’s Survival Rules take over.

The military now prepares soldiers for the possibility of having PTS and PTSD but combatants always imagine that it will be the other guy who would be affected, never them. Everyone imagines they will be invincible.

War’s PTSD not just the flashy extremes of behavior like killing one’s wife, strafing people with a machine gun from a clock tower, or “going postal.”

In fact, PTSD is most commonly found in the persistent, low-keyed ways that don’t get noticed. The inner war does not get seen on the outside. These lower-keyed symptoms can look like a range of personality quirks or character problems, for example, or like chronic moodiness or hot tempers or just being unable to keep a job. Not knowing about PTSD is a common cause of needless suffering.

This more common kind of PTSD can stress and can ruin relationships, marriages, careers, jobs, children, and health. It’s PTSD that sabotages the good will and positive intentions of those who have warred when they back in “civilization’, and which makes them mistakenly think their problems are just who they are, that they’ve always been “this way”, and that they are just not good enough people. This can happen even when ex-combatants have the status symbols of money and positions of importance.

Emotions, feelings, and even many sensations go into something like an inner “freeze” in combat. War trauma creates a deep freeze that is unlike other traumatizing events because what goes on in war is so far off the map of what is normal.

It’s only after time passes and kinder life events begin to “thaw” that inner psychological freeze, that the emotions, the feelings, the images and the sensations from combat begin returning and making themselves noticed.

You can have two different reactions to this trauma. You can become

  • Emotionally and mentally armored, or hyper defensive and prickly with everyone
  • Or

  • Emotionally resigned, or hyper passive and just don’t give a care so you don’t have to show up.

And sometimes the reactions switch from incident to incident.

If you don’t know that these two very different reactions are possible, it’s easy to become confused about what you are seeing when symptoms of PTSD appear in such opposite ways.

When extreme violence unfolds a huge shock jolts the mind, the emotions, and the body. Right on its heels comes numbness and, as quickly, an automatic and unnoticed disconnection from the self you were moments before. This is one of the most important parts about trauma, and one that most people don’t realize.

  • Disassociation is like climbing out of your body and out of yourself in order to get away from what hurts you. You get "out there”, into “your head” and disconnect the best you can from what’s going on.

You never notice it happening. You go on automatic and the oldest brain takes over. The problem is the risk of getting "stuck" in this state after it happens. You just don’t know it because even in trauma people can still walk, talk, eat, follow orders, and keep going. You can be a hero. You can be a monster. In this state, you can do whatever it takes.

Disassociating is a survival move. Its shelf life, however, is no longer palatable when it goes beyond the freshness date of its immediate goal and function.

Disassociating causes problems later in life when, for example, life isn’t going so well and you can’t put your finger on the reason. When your intimate relationships fall apart. Or when you might feel hollow and empty, out of touch with those around you, or notice there’s a big gap between who you believe you are and the person you let others see.

Remember: those qualities that make you fully human did not die in combat. They are on hold and some valuable life lessons you could never have learned in peacetime have been etched into your nervous system leaving it possible change habits of pain that came with combat.


Sake    Junmai-Daiginjo    Hokkaido    Japan - Buy wines, wine clubs, gift baskets and more
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Date Printed: 10/22/2014
Takasago Ginga Shizuku Divine Droplets Sake (300ML)
Takasago Ginga Shizuku Divine Droplets Sake (300ML)
(search item no. 92025)
screw cap wine
has fluid
has fluid 360

International Wine Cellar rating: 94 points
PRICE ON 10/22/2014: $32.99

Winemaker's Notes:

A prominent fragrance, a clean and fresh taste, with flavor deep into the recesses. Truly one of the "Rolls-Royces" of saké.

Each year, after the temperature drops below 14 Fahrenheit, Takasago builds an Ice Dome outside the main kura building. It is an igloo inside of which the temperature stays about 28 F, with 90% humidity and no wind The low temperature means "nasty bacteria" cannot survive, allowing them to make clean, pure, ultra-premium saké. Additionally, they separate the clear saké from the fermenting rice lees not by pressing, but rather by putting it into canvas bags and allowing the saké to drip out slowly overnight.

My Notes:

About Takasago Shuzo:

Takasago Shuzo was originally established in 1899 in Asahikawa City in Hokkaido, under the name Kohiyama Shuzo (our family name). We struggled, but continued to produce sake during the war. In 1965, we merged with another sake brewer in Asahikawa, and changed our company name, as well as the name of our sake, to Takasago. Our white-walled kura, built in 1909, is one of the more attractive buildings in Asahikawa.

Asahikawa has been called "the Nada of the North," because there was at one time a lot of sake being brewed there, and we are the oldest sakagura in the area. It is cold here, with the temperature regularly falling to -20C.


We develop a simple model that describes individuals’ self-assessments of their abilities. We assume that individuals learn about their abilities from appraisals of others and experience. Our model predicts that if communication is imperfect, then (i) appraisals of others tend to be too positive and (ii) overconfidence leading to too much activism is more likely than underconfidence leading to too much passivity. The predictions of our model are consistent with findings in the social psychological literature.

Additional Metadata
Keywords coaching, learning about ability, overconfidence, self-assessments, underconfidence
Persistent URL dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0297.2009.02266.x, hdl.handle.net/1765/22266
Swank, O.H., & Dominguez Martinez, S.. (2009). A Simple Model of Self-Assessment. The Economic Journal, 119(539), 1225–1241. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0297.2009.02266.x


Florea Bandeau One-Piece

* the soft and light material
* the streamlined style thanks to a hidden construction and ultra-flat finishes for maximum comfort
* the sculpting high panties for a beautifully enhanced figure, adjustable height at the waist

Color: T5

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If you're conscientious, you probably think carefully about the words you choose in an e-mail message or a formal report. Making yourself understood helps get your message across, and it helps your readers benefit from what you're saying.

Many people, however, don't think twice about the way their words, specifically the letters, look on screen or paper. The particular form that letters take depends on the font you choose, and the art of choosing the right font is called typography.

The meaning of the word "font" has changed over the years, and in today's digital world it's largely synonymous with "typeface," meaning a stylistically coordinated set of letters, numbers and punctuation marks.

Typography has been around longer than personal computers, but PCs opened up typographic possibilities to the masses.

When desktop publishing was introduced in 1985, the surfeit of font choices led many people to create documents that resembled ransom notes written by an inspired 10-year-old. The opposite extreme is to always use the same font, which isn't much different from always wearing the same clothes. People make judgments about you and your writing because of the font you choose, just as people draw conclusions from your wardrobe.

The two most popular fonts today are Times New Roman and Arial. The former is a serif font, with small designs at the ends of letter strokes, and the latter is a sans-serif font, which lacks those designs. Sans-serif fonts, which are starker and bolder, are often used for titles and headlines; serif fonts aid legibility and are often used for the body of works.

People typically choose among the default fonts that come installed with word-processing programs, but you can also buy fonts separately. And there are thousands available. You can also visit Web sites where generous designers make fonts available to download for free, such as 1001 Free Fonts, at www.1001freefonts.com.

Choosing a font that is appropriate for your work is like choosing what clothes to wear to work, a formal party, a gathering of friends or a workout at the gym. You should aim for both image and utility.

A study by the Software Usability Research Laboratory at Wichita State University sheds light on this. Researchers analyzed 20 commonly used fonts by asking more than 500 people what images the fonts projected. For example, the study found the best font for projecting flexibility is Kristen, assertiveness is Impact, practicality is Georgia and creativity is Gigi. But there are two sides to a coin (or font): Kristen also projects instability and rebelliousness; Impact connotes rudeness and unattractiveness; and Gigi suggests impracticality and passivity.

Some people use Courier New because it's a monospaced font: Each letter takes up the same amount of horizontal space, just like a manual typewriter's font. It's useful if you need to align numbers in a column. But Courier New can project conformity, unimaginativeness and dullness, according to the Wichita State researchers. A better monospaced font choice is Consolas.

Times New Roman is a versatile, all-around font with an interesting history. It was commissioned by the British newspaper The Times in 1931, hence its name. Microsoft has included it in every copy of Windows since version 3.1, and it's the default font in many Windows programs. On the Apple Macintosh, it's called Times, and it's also the default for many Mac programs. In 2004, the U.S. State Department in 2004 mandated that all diplomatic documents use Times New Roman instead of previously mandated Courier New. But if you use Times New Roman reflexively, also consider Georgia, which is less stiff but equally legible.

Even though the Wichita State study looked at only 20 fonts, reading the results, at http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/81/PersonalityofFonts.htm,

gives you a feel for why type talks.

Reid Goldsborough  |  Contributing Writer


October 22, 2014

Homework Help: Pre-Calculus

Posted by Erica on Thursday, October 19, 2006 at 12:18pm.

Hmmm, what is "the law of unlimited growth"? In any case, this looks like exponential growth to me.
The most basic formula for exponential growth is
A = P*er*t where r is the rate of growth, t is the time, P is the initial amount and A is observed growth.
Here 800 = 500*er*1hr so
ln(1.6units) = r*1hr or ln(1.6units)/1hr = r or
A = 500*(1.6)t
Substitute 5 for t to answer the first question, i.e.
A = 500*(1.6)5
To answer the second part set A=20,000
20,000=500*(1.6)t or
40 = (1.6)t
It looks to be slightly less than 8 hrs. You can verify this.

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Georgia Tech | Literature, Media, and Communication

Humanistic Perspectives
on a Technological World

Faculty: Ali Mazalek
Team Member(s): Ozge Samanci, Yanfeng Chen

Digital Media Ph.D. Student Ozge Samanci introduces the Embodied Comics project.

Please briefly explain the project. What is it about?
Embodied Comics is a form of digital performance based on full-body interaction technology as much as it is a storytelling environment.

Embodied Comics is an attempt to redefine comics` conventions for a narrative performance in a digital environment. It seeks ways of taking digital comics out of the computer screen and merging comics` conventions into three-dimensional real space. The project utilizes the qualities of digital games, interactive narration, digital art, performance, and augmented reality.

Who are the team members?
I am a Ph.D. student in the Digital Media program and Yanfeng is a graduate of HCI Master`s Program.

What is your role in the project?
I designed the project`s main concept, its story, and artifacts.

How long have you been working on this project?
My dissertation is derived from Embodied Comics. If I include the writing processes, I have been working on this project for three years.

What are the biggest challenges with this project?
Since my collaborator, Yanfeng, has graduated, finding a new collaborator who can develop the code on JAVA became a challenge.

Did the project supported by any grant/award?
Embodied Comics got funding from Turner.

What outputs do you expect from this project?
A digital artist can create/design various stories with Embodied Comics. Our installation Egg's Journey is an example of a storytelling with Embodied Comics. Egg's Journey investigates an unexplored possibility, a change in the conventions of comics in a digital performance and instantiates the theoretical outcomes of this project.

In a larger context, the aim in this tangible comics project is to produce a set of possible answers to the following questions: What are the ways of producing new conventions and new vocabulary for a set of art forms, especially for comics, performance, film, photography, and animation? In which ways do a set of media remediate and transform each other`s conventions? What kind of meaning can be generated from the process of translation, reuse, and redefinition of conventions?

Prepared by Tanla Bilir

Related Links

Embodied Comics Project Website

Embodied Comics featured on AJC

Synlab Website

Digital Media Ph.D.


NASA receives 402 ideas on how to deal with asteroid collision

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NASA`s space telescope has captured what scientists believe are the 1st images of asteroid collision.


FILM REVIEW: I Know Where I'm Going! (1945)

I Know Where I'm Going! (UK, 1945)
Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

Starring Wendy Hiller, Roger Lively, Pamela Brown, Finlay Currie

Romantic drama is a hard genre to get right, both on paper and on screen. Some are so light and frothy that they leave no lasting impression; others, like The Snows of Kilimanjaro, are overblown, overwrought and in most cases over-long. I Know Where I'm Going! is a textbook example of how to do this sort of film properly, taking a relatively simple story and making it memorable through a series of strong performances, a great script and remarkable direction.One of the common criticisms laid against romantic films, whether dramatic or comedic, is that they lack substance, relying on the charm of the performers to take an audience's mind off a highly clichéd or conventional premise. But while that criticism may carry a certain weight with regard to more recent rom-coms, it can't be fairly levelled against I Know Where I'm Going!. This is not because of the film's age, or its positioning in the golden age of melodramas. It is instead because the film is subtly inventive, adding precious moments of surprise in its every twist and turn.

I Know Where I'm Going! begins with a woman setting off to marry the man of her dreams, who is rich, powerful, influential and lives in the magical land of Scotland. These early scenes, with Wendy Hiller in full-on daddy's-little-girl mode, explore the age-old desire of young girls to be princesses and ride off into the sunset with a handsome prince. The twist, however, is that Joan Webster is not your average girly princess: she is a driven, ambitious woman who has known what she has wanted all her life. The opening credits explore her childhood in the manner of a BBC newsreel, showing a series of clear turning points underscored by Home Service narration.If the character of Joan Webster were to turn up in a film today, she would most likely be characterised as having OCD or some form of neurosis. Perhaps she would have been a suitable soul-mate for Jack Nicholson at the start of As Good As It Gets. She has her entire life planned out meticulously, knowing exactly what and who she wants and how she intends to get it. Her constant desire to get to the island comes as much from her compulsive urge to be punctual as the desire to meet the man she is marrying.

For the first ten minutes the film confronts this idea in a very broad, head-on way. We see Wendy Hiller in the railway carriage pouring over her routine, behaving in a very controlled and restrained manner. But for the rest of the film Emeric Pressburger's script explores her character and surroundings much more subtly. Superficially, the story of I Know Where I'm Going! seems very predictable - put simply, there's not that many men on the island. But the film plays out economically and keeps its emotions and dialogue in check, giving us a number of pleasant surprises along the way.The film is very good at planting seeds of doubt in Webster's mind, and demonstrating her infuriation at seeing her planned perfection disrupted. These disruptions start off very small, with her oversleeping and having to carry her clothes off the train in a heap. As the weather delays her trip to Kiloran, she slowly but surely begins to adjust to the landscape, even if she doesn't find herself warming to the place until the final reel. When she finally hears her fiancée on the radio, she assumes there is something wrong with his voice and asks him if he has a cold. These little moments don't seem like much when they first play out, but as the plot unfolds their significance becomes clear.Like many of their other films, I Know Where I'm Going! sees Powell and Pressburger dabbling in fantasy and applying magic to an otherwise realistic setting. These dabbles begin on the train to Glasgow, when Webster is sleeping with her wedding dress hanging in a see-through case above her. Suddenly the dress disappears and we move into her fantasy of being married - albeit jokingly, since she is being married to her fiancée's company, thanks to her father's confusion. Later in the same scene we see the train passing through tunnels made of tartan while the narrator whispers the chorus to 'The Bonnie Banks o'Loch Lomond'.

The film draws on a number of mythical elements which give depth and credibility to the situation. These range from the Laird's story about the Viking ship which anchored in the whirlpool Corryvreckan, to the practice of counting the beams and making a wish on the first night spent in a new room. To some extent these follow in the tradition started by Sir Walter Scott and carried on in Brigadoon, since they paint a fanciful portrait of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides. But the film is not entirely a tourists'-eye-view, and is populated with enough believable supporting characters to stop things drifting too far into fantasy.Although it seems an odd comparison, the story of I Know Where I'm Going! is not all that far removed from that of The Wicker Man nearly 30 years later. Both films centre on an individual who comes to a remote Scottish community driven by a singular urge to find someone. Both Joan Webster and Sergeant Howie are outsiders in this community and cannot comprehend its way of life - although the former doesn't have to put up with pagan worship or naked dancing. The central similarity, however, is that the goal of their respective characters is essentially a McGuffin. Just as the girl in The Wicker Man never really went missing, so we never meet Lord Beringer, or get to count his money. He might as well not exist, for his only function is to bring her to the island, and the weather does the rest in managing to keep her there.The mythical elements of the film are ultimately what lift it out of being predictable fare. The stories which Torquil regales to his guests include a tale about a rope being made of virginal hair which would never break, since true love is stronger than anything. The sub-plot surrounding the curse gives his character a sense of mystery, so that we enjoy their relationship while picking our brain as to what this curse could be. One of the best scenes in the film sees Torquil and Webster arguing on the stairs about the local customs and the latter's decision to go out in a gale to get to the island. When our leads do finally get together, their entanglement with the curse makes it seem a whole lot less contrived, while raising the question of whether their love was chance intervening on fate or fate playing out in a different way than they had intended.I Know Where I'm Going! has impressive production values for a film of its time and budget. The storm scenes, where the boat flounders and drifts into a whirlpool, are impressively executed. You do feel like you are in the boat with the characters, with the spray soaking your face and the boat lurching one way and then the other. Capturing the whirlpool and the boat involved a lot of complicated editing, with multiple location long-shots being spliced together with model shots and studio shoots in which the cast were doused in buckets of icy water. All Powell's efforts pay off, creating a storm sequence which is gripping and inventive.

The performances are also of a high calibre. Wendy Hiller is on great form as Joan Webster, nailing the character in the very first scene and displaying the same formidable femininity that would serve her well in The Elephant Man. Roger Livesey is a great match for her, combining humour, humility and a deep-seated integrity (plus he looks good in a kilt). Among the supporting cast, real-life Captain C. W. R. Wright is a well-chosen Colonel Barnstaple, and Valentine Dyall turns up in a rare non-villainous performance as Mr. Robinson.I Know Where I'm Going! is a top-notch romantic drama which is understated but ambitious and whose ideas remain fresh and engaging even after 65 years. The performances are charming and convincing, and really bring Pressburger's myth-injected script to life. It isn't quite the masterpiece that Martin Scorsese had claimed it to be, since its quirkier sections are occasionally overbearing (tea with the Robinsons, for example). But it marks a definite improvement on A Canterbury Tale and the start of the prime years of Powell and Pressburger's careers.

Rating: 4.5/5

Verdict: A properly magical love story

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Travel Stories

Partying With the Popes

The Popes of Avignon Knew How to Party

The Popes of Avignon certainly knew how to throw a party. When Clement VI celebrated his ascension to the Pontiff's office in 1342, the surrounding farms were decimated for the feast. Records show that for this single-day extravaganza, the kitchens prepared 118 roast oxen, 1,023 sheep, 914 lambs, 7,428 chickens, 1,195 geese, 3,043 fowl, 39,980 eggs, 6,000 pounds of almonds, 50,000 tarts, and 90,000 loaves of bread. Several hundred of the most important guests gathered in the Banquet Hall for this most elaborate meal.

Naturally, the medieval dining arrangements were far different from today's. Food did not arrive in courses. The dishes were laid out on trestle tables before the guests arrived for an impressive visual effect, and diners had to choose from whatever they could reach from their assigned seat. Medieval cooks loved to make the food itself brightly colorful and even patterned, using contrasting dyes made from herbs, flowers, saffron, and gold leaf, and finishing with pomegranate seeds to resemble rubies. The meal was a carnivore's paradise, with beast after beast arriving from the kitchen. The meat-carving was a prestigious, noble skill, and was often performed by the Pope himself, using an ivory-handled knife. The Pope's own portion would then be passed under a narwhal's horn, which was thought to detect poison.

There were no individual plates at that time. Each guest lay his meat on a thick slice of bread called a trench, which soaked up the juices and would be devoured in turn. The only eating utensil was a knife, so well-mannered diners used only their thumb and two first fingers to eat, with the pinky kept clean to dip into the salt. And there were no napkins. Guests would wipe their hands on the table cloths. The Papal feast ended with desserts highly prized in the Middle Ages: wafers, marzipan treats, jams, and candied fruit, all prepared within the palace itself.


What is a mutation?

A mutation is a change in a piece of genetic material. Some mutations have
little or no effect on the animal (or other living thing) whose genes they
alter, while others can cause dramatic change or even be fatal.

The mutations that cockatiel breeders are most concerned with are harmless,
affecting only the colors in the birds' plumage. These color variations occur
because the mutations change the levels of melanin (which produces browns,
blues, and greys) and lipochromes (which produce yellows and reds) in the birds'
feathers. The lutino mutation, for example, removes all melanin from a
cockatiel's plumage, and the whiteface mutation removes the lipochromes. A
combination of these mutations would result in a pure-white bird.

How are the mutations inherited? Genes come in pairs; a pair is composed of a gene from each parent. A mutation can affect both copies of the gene, only one copy, or neither. The different combinations of gene pairs alter the way in which the mutation affects the bird; the effects of these combinations are determined by whether the mutation is dominant, recessive, or sex-linked. A dominant mutation needs only to be present in one copy of a gene to change a bird's appearance. Normal grey (which is not considered to be a mutation, but the wild coloration of a cockatiel) is dominant to all recessive and sex-linked colors. The two true dominant mutations are dominant silver and dominant yellowcheek. A bird with one dominant silver gene will appear silver, and is called a single-factor bird. A cockatiel with two copies of the gene is called a double-factor. The two forms can be told apart visually; a double-factor is much paler than a single-factor (think of the double-factor as having inherited a double dose of melanin reduction). Dominant yellowcheek is inherited in the same way as dominant silver, but single-factor and double-factor birds cannot be visually told apart. A recessive mutation must affect both copies of a gene in order to change the bird's appearance; a visually whiteface cockatiel must have inherited a copy of the "whiteface" gene from each of its parents. A bird that possesses only one copy of a recessive gene is called a split, and will pass that mutation on to half of its offspring. Most splits will not show any sign of the hidden mutation, although cockatiels that are split to pied will often have a patch of yellow feathers on the backs of their necks. A sex-linked mutation is one that is carried on one of the sex chromosomes. When dealing with sex-linked mutations in birds, it is important to note that humans' and birds' sex chromosomes do not work in the same way. While a human female is homozygous (which means that she has two copies of the same sex chromosome -- "XX") and a male human is heterozygous ("XY"), it is the other way around in birds; female birds are heterozygous, and males are homozygous. This means that females can have only one copy of a sex-linked mutation (the mutation is carried on the X chromosome), and it follows that females cannot be split to a sex-linked mutation. If a female does not visually possess the sex-linked trait, she does not carry it at all.

Important info about sex-linked inheritance I mentioned above that a male cockatiel inherits one X chromosome from his father (let's call this chromosome "X1") and the other from his mother ("X2"). Each of these chromosomes can carry sex-linked mutations. The sex-linked mutations that a male inherits from his father will occupy X1, and the ones he gets from his mother will occupy X2. The important thing to remember here is that the mutations on each X chromosome are always inherited together. The mutations on X1 will travel together to the next generation (likewise for the ones on X2). Let's say that a lutino male and a cinnamon pearl female have one male chick. One of the chick's X chromosomes (call it "X1") will carry lutino (from his father), and the other ("X2") will carry cinnamon and pearl (from his mother): X1: lutino X2: cinnamon pearl If this male is mated to a grey female, these are the possible results: Male chicks: 50% grey split to cinnamon pearl (if they inherit X2) 50% grey split to lutino (if they inherit X1) Female chicks: 50% cinnamon pearl (if they inherit X2) 50% lutino (if they inherit X1) Note that it is not possible for any of the female chicks to be just pearl, just cinnamon, or lutino pearl. She is limited to the combination of mutations on the single X chromosome she inherits. In some cases, genetic crossovers can occur which switch the placement of sex-linked mutations. Crossovers occur in individual gametes when the male produces sperm. In the example above, it would be possible for the two X chromosomes to switch some genetic material and thus swap mutations, leaving, for example, pearl on X2 and transferring cinnamon to X1 (meaning that X1 would then carry both cinnamon and lutino). The affected gamete would then produce either a cinnamon lutino hen or a pearl hen (if the resulting chick were male, it would be split to pearl or cinnamon lutino). If you know a male's parentage and find that his chicks carry unexpected combinations of sex-linked mutations, a crossover is the cause. The rate of crossovers seems to vary from mutation to mutation, but it can be as high as 30%. If this doesn't quite make sense, you'll find a more in-depth explanation on the North American Cockatiel Society site (with a section on crossovers here). A note on pastelface: Pastelface is sometimes called "dominant," but it is recessive to normal grey. It does, however, have a relationship with the whiteface mutation that makes it dominant to whiteface. The two mutations affect the same gene, and a bird with one copy of the whiteface mutation and one copy of pastelface will look exactly like a bird with two copies of pastelface (although, in genetic terms, the bird is still split to both whiteface and pastelface). There are a few things to keep in mind regarding whiteface and pastelface. Because the two mutations affect the same gene, a bird can only have one of the following combinations of the two mutations:
  • Pure pastelface (two copies of the pastelface mutation)
  • Pure whiteface (two copies of the whiteface mutation)
  • Split to whiteface and pastelface (one copy each of the pastelface and whiteface mutations)
  • Split to whiteface (one whiteface mutation and one normal gene)
  • Split to pastelface (one pastelface mutation and one normal gene)
  • ...and, of course, both copies of the gene may be normal.
  • Note that there is no way a bird can be a pure pastelface AND a pure whiteface. Remember, too, that a visual whiteface can not be split to pastelface, because pastelface always "shows through" whiteface. So, why does pastelface become visual when combined with whiteface? I think the best way to describe the relationship between whiteface and pastelface is to say that they are two forms of the same mutation. Both affect the same gene -- the one that controls lipochrome, or yellow/red pigment, production -- but they do it with different "intensities". Whiteface has the greatest intensity -- it reduces lipochrome production 100%. Pastelface is weaker -- it reduces lipochrome production by about 50%. When a tiel has one copy of the pf mutation and one copy of the wf mutation, both of its lipochrome-production genes are affected -- one of the genes is switched off completely by the whiteface mutation, and the other gene is turned down halfway, so to speak, by the pastelface mutation. Since the tiel has no normally functioning lipochrome-production genes, it will not look like a normal grey; it's still got one of the genes working at 50%, though, so it will produce reduced-intensity yellows and reds -- and it will look like a pure pastelface tiel (one that has two copies of the pf mutation).


Cocaine is Popular as a Party Drug but Use Can Still Result in Disaster

While cocaine has been around for many decades, abuse of this drug in the US really kicked into high gear in the 1980s. It took a little longer for usage rates to climb in Europe because of the distance from the major cocaine manufacturing countries in South America.

Cocaine popular Party Drug

But it didn’t take very long for the damaging physical effects of cocaine to start showing up. The first cocaine-induced stroke was diagnosed in 1977, and the death of basketball star Len Bias let plenty of people know about the damage that can be done to one’s heart by cocaine abuse.

This hasn’t quelled cocaine’s image as a party drug. Celebrity arrests and visits to rehab may continue to give the drug a glamourous allure, despite the health risks. But cocaine’s intense addictiveness can perpetuate the drug habit even when the user knows the risk.

Cocaine Creates Strong Cravings for More of the Drug

While cocaine use in the US and Europe both has declined in the last several years, there are still 1.6 million Americans using cocaine. Europe still consumes about 25% of the world’s cocaine supply.

Both crack cocaine and powder cocaine retain their customers by creating intense cravings that drive users into repeated use of the drug. Powder cocaine may be consumed in binges where the user keeps using cocaine over and over again for days until they run out of money, drugs or the physical ability to keep on going.

Trying to withdraw from cocaine use can generate withdrawal symptoms such as exhaustion, paranoia, suicidal thoughts, anxiety and intense cravings, creating a formidable barrier to sobriety. Cocaine addiction rehab must provide support for the person in withdrawal to get them safely through this period. The Narconon drug rehab program, located in fifty centers around the world, offers a holistic, drugless rehabilitation program that provides those addicted to cocaine with a strong hope of lasting sobriety.

Narconon Long-Term Cocaine Addiction Rehab Has Excellent Track Record of Success

In order to help a person achieve lasting sobriety, the reasons a person began to abuse drugs must be addressed and handled. In the Narconon drug recovery program, a person has the time and the guidance to repair the damage done by addiction and build new life skills.

Nutritional support and one-on-one work with the Narconon staff help make withdrawal tolerable. Gentle reorientation exercises and physical assists help calm the body’s reactions to the changes going on.

Lasting Sobriety Narconon Rehab

When safely through this phase, each person furthers their recovery by completing the intensely therapeutic Narconon New Life Detoxification Program, one step of the larger program. This program utilizes a low-heat sauna, a strict regimen of nutritional supplements and moderate daily exercise to activate the body’s ability to eliminate toxins left over from drug use. These toxins are attracted to a body’s fatty tissues where they tend to remain until the right conditions exist to be flushed out. This is what this drug detoxification program provides – the exact help the body needs to flush these old residues. When the residues are gone, those completing this step state that they feel brighter and more energetic, that the dullness of the years of drug use is gone and that their cravings have gone with it, in most cases.

But cocaine addiction rehab is not done until a person learns how to choose a sober life over drug use, no matter what challenges are faced. Treatment continues at a Narconon center by guiding each person going through cocaine addiction rehab through the life skills training that keeps them safe and sober once they get home.

Narconon can be the answer you need for someone who is struggling with cocaine addiction. Contact a counselor to find out more  about the Narconon objectives and why  this program is so effective.


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Terms and Formulae

Introduction and Summary

Energy, Concentration, and Potential

Anode  -  The electrode that is the source of the negative charge, designated by a minus sign (-), this electrode is the site of oxidation.
Cathode  -  The electrode that is the source of positive charge, designated by a plus sign (+), this electrode is the site of reduction.
Cell Potential  -  The overall electrical potential of an electrochemical cell. It is the sum of the potential for the reduction potential of the cathode and the oxidation potential of the anode.
Current  -  Charge flow.
Electrochemistry  -  The study of the exchange between electrical and chemical energy.
Electrode  -  A conducting material placed in physical contact with a half-reaction on which the electron transfers in the redox reaction take place.
Electrolysis  -  A reaction that consumes electrical energy to split molecules apart.
Electrolytic Cell  -  A cell that consumes electrical energy to promote a non-spontaneous redox reaction.
Electroplating  -  The deposition of a solid material onto an electrode, almost always the cathode.
Electrorefining  -  Process by which materials, usually metals, are purified by means of an electrolytic cell. The anode is the impure metal and the cathode is a very pure sample of the metal.
emf  -  Electromotive force, i.e. a potential.
Galvanic Cell  -  An electrochemical cell with a positive cell potential that allows that chemical energy to be converted into electrical energy available to do useful work.
Half-Cell  -  A half-reaction and its electrode, it is half of a galvanic cell.
Half-Reaction  -  Either an oxidation or a reduction reaction, it represents half of the redox reaction.
Hess's Law  -  The sum of the state functions of a series of reactions is the same as the state function for the sum of the reactions.
Line Notation  -  A shorthand way of describing an electrochemical cell without drawing a picture.
Oxidation  -  The loss of an electron from a species (an increase in its oxidation number).
Oxidation Number  -  A conceptual bookkeeping numbering system that allows us to track the number electrons transferred during a redox reaction.
Oxidation Potential  -  The potential of a half-reaction written and an oxidation reaction, it is the opposite sign of the same reaction written as a reduction.
Oxidizing Agent  -  A reactant in a redox reaction that accepts an electron from the oxidized species. The oxidizing agent is reduced.
Potentiometer  -  A device that measures electrical potential.
Reaction Quotient  -  Similar to the form of an equilibrium constant, the reaction quotient is the ratio of the product of the each product in a reaction raised to its stoichiometric power divided by the product of each reactant raised to its stoichiometric power from the bala nced equation.
Redox  -  A reaction involving the transfer of one or more electrons from the reducing agent to the oxidizing agent.
Reducing Agent  -  A reactant in a redox reaction that donates an electron to the reduced species. The reducing agent is oxidized.
Reduction  -  The gain of an electron by a species (a decrease in oxidation number).
Reduction Potential  -  Arbitrarily setting the potential of the standard hydrogen electrode, SHE, to zero, all other half reactions are measured by their power to reduce hydrogen. The voltage given by the construction of a galvanic cell between the SHE and the reduction of interest gives the standard reduction potential of that reduction.
Standard State  -  An arbitrarily defined set of conditions--273K, 1atm for gasses, or 1M for solutions.
Work  -  Force over a distance.

Adding Cell Potentials Eo cell = Eo 1 + Eo 2
Nernst Equation E = Eo - (RT/nF) ln Q

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Interactions of Life: Chap 1 Test Review

Random Science Quiz

Can you name the key terms?

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a model of the feeding relationships among organisms in an ecosystem
all the populations in an ecosystem
a symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other is harmed
consumers that eat both plants and animals
The water temperature is an example of ________feature
organisms that use an outside energy source, such as the sun, to make energy-rich molecules
takes place when more than one organism seeks the same resource at the same time
any close relationship between species
the place in which an organism lives
all the organisms in an ecosystem that belong to the same species
Omnivores, herbivores, carnivores, and composers are all examples of...
a symbiotic relationship in which one species benefits and the other is not affected
The presence of _______________usually increases the number of species that can live in an ecosystem
all the organisms living in an area and the nonliving features of their environment
the studty of interactions among organisms in their environment
organisms that cannot make their own energy-rich molecules
help recycle once-living matter by breaking it down into simple, energy-rich compounds
Competition limits....
a symbiotic relationship in which both species benefit
In the relationship between a raccoon and a fish in the stream, the raccoon is the......
the part of Earth that supports life
anything that restricts the number of individuals in a population
the largest number of individuals of one species that an ecosystem can support over time
how an organism survives, including its habitat, and how it obtains food and shelter

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worth saving here

If you know anything at all about Erin Palette, it is probably that she has a Mosin Nagant rifle that she has slowly and surely been customizing in a way that is sure to make purists all manner of… shall we say ‘annoyed’.  Most recently, she has gone and shoved a 10-round magazine into it, because ten rounds is better than five.  Obviously.

However, whilst teasing us with the prospect of her upcoming review, [...]

ingsoc would be proud

The rule of law is dead in the District of Columbia.

Exhibit 1:

Exhibit 2:

new rule


How the Atmosphere Influences Aridity

We live at the bottom of a gaseous envelope--the atmosphere--that is bound gravitationally to the planet Earth. The circulation of our atmosphere is a complex process because of the Earth's rotation and the tilt of its axis. The Earth's axis is inclined 23.5° from the ecliptic, the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. Due to this inclination, vertical rays of the Sun strike 23.5° N. latitude, the Tropic of Cancer, at summer solstice in late June. At winter solstice, the vertical rays strike 23.5° S. Latitude, the Tropic of Capricorn. In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer solstice day has the most daylight hours, and the winter solstice has the fewest daylight hours each year. The tilt of the axis allows differential heating of the Earth's surface, which causes seasonal changes in the global circulation.

On a planetary scale, the circulation of air between the hot Equator and the cold North and South Poles creates pressure belts that influence weather. Air warmed by the Sun rises at the Equator, cools as it moves toward the poles, descends as cold air over the poles, and warms again as it moves over the surface of the Earth toward the Equator. This simple pattern of atmospheric convection, however, is complicated by the rotation of the Earth, which introduces the Coriolis Effect.

To appreciate the origin of this effect, consider the following. A stick placed vertically in the ground at the North Pole would simply turn around as the Earth rotates. A stick at the Equator would move in a large circle of almost 40,000 kilometers with the Earth as it rotates.

The Coriolis Effect illustrates Newton's first law of motion--a body in motion will maintain its speed and direction of motion unless acted on by some outside force. Thus, a wind travelling north from the equator will maintain the velocity acquired at the equator while the Earth under it is moving slower. This effect accounts for the generally east-west direction of winds, or streams of air, on the Earth's surface. Winds blow between areas of different atmospheric pressures.
The Coriolis Effect influences the circulation pattern of the Earth's atmosphere. In the zone between about 30° N. and 30° S., the surface air flows toward the Equator and the flow aloft is poleward. A low-pressure area of calm, light variable winds near the equator is known to mariners as the doldrums.
Circulation pattern of
the Earth's atmosphere

The circulation pattern of the Earth's atmosphere. Most of the nonpolar deserts lie within the two trade winds belts.

Around 30° N. and S., the poleward flowing air begins to descend toward the surface in subtropical high-pressure belts. The sinking air is relatively dry because its moisture has already been released near the Equator above the tropical rain forests. Near the center of this high-pressure zone of descending air, called the "Horse Latitudes," the winds at the surface are weak and variable. The name for this area is believed to have been given by colonial sailors, who, becalmed sometimes at these latitudes while crossing the oceans with horses as cargo, were forced to throw a few horses overboard to conserve water.

The surface air that flows from these subtropical high-pressure belts toward the Equator is deflected toward the west in both hemispheres by the Coriolis Effect. Because winds are named for the direction from which the wind is blowing, these winds are called the northeast trade winds in the Northern Hemisphere and the southeast trade winds in the Southern Hemisphere. The trade winds meet at the doldrums. Surface winds known as "westerlies" flow from the Horse Latitudes toward the poles. The "westerlies" meet "easterlies" from the polar highs at about 50-60° N. and S.

Near the ground, wind direction is affected by friction and by changes in topography. Winds may be seasonal, sporadic, or daily. They range from gentle breezes to violent gusts at speeds greater than 300 kilometers/hour.

Dunes in the Algodones
Sand Sea
These dunes in the Algodones Sand Sea of southeastern California move as much as 5 meters per year. The dunes in this photograph, looking south, move toward the east (left). (Photograph by Peter Kresan)

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Last modified 10/29/97


About the Book

There exists in Melbourne an elusive community of artists, musicians, poets, flaneurs, fringe-dwellers, and radicals who have created a complex and dynamic social network which revolves around numerous converted-warehouse-come- arts-spaces, live-in-studios and grass-roots arts venues.

This is the rumbling in the underground. This book dares to capture the depth and charge of one of the most thriving creative hubs in the world.

It reveals unseen aspects of Melbourne, and why it continues to be a haven for Australia’s independent arts and radicalism whose philosophy and lifestyles find expression in the city’s warehouse movements, its festivals, and in the enclaves of the rag-tag theatrical, musical and circus communities.

What has evolved is a significant social and artistic movement; an independent micro-society that organizes itself in accord with anarchistic principles and is without dogma or guiding manifesto. This unofficial community is bound together by the numerous, diverse, and ever changing arts-events which emerge from, and are usually held within, the communities venues. The result is colourful, energetic, vital, expressive, and rich, with events spanning decadent artist banquets, masked-balls, cabaret, theatre, visual art, and performance, which in retrospect, may be considered a signifificant contribution to Melbourne’s historical culture-scape, and could call forth a new generation of un-institutionalised artists capable of revitalizing and re-humanizing Melbourne’s Arts and Culture.


3.1 Cyprus Education System. Music Curriculum and Music Opportunities

This chapter will start with a small general review of the music curriculum in Cyprus, from age 6-18. At the age of six the child has the opportunity to attend a public school or a private school. As far as public school concerns, from the age of 6 until the age of 12, the child is obligated to attend a primary school. At the age of 13 the child is required to attend ‘gymnasium’ which lasts 3 years and is also obligatory. From the age of 16 until 18 the child attends Lyceum or ‘technical’ schools but is not obligatory.

Now that a general plan has been presented above about Cyprus musical education system, further down will be presented the preschool music curriculum. In Cyprus, nursery schools are optional for children between the ages of two and five years. The music lesson in Cyprus kindergartens is taught two times a week, sometimes three-it depends from the teacher-and lasts 25 minutes each. The children are obliged to attend pre-primary school for one year from the age of five until the age of six and the music lesson also lasts 25 minutes, twice a week. The music teachers in government nursery and pre- primary schools are not specialists and they don’t possess any special music qualifications. Sometimes private nurseries and private pre-primary schools employ a music specialist teacher, paying extra.

In both public and private nurseries and pre primary schools there are no music classrooms and music lesson runs into the classroom where children are taught all lesson. Though there is a “music corner” in the classroom where could be found musical material like musical instruments and books with songs. Regardless of musical material existence, still the variety and quantity of them is not too much.

…to assist students’ progressive entry into the world of sound, develop their musical sensitivity through the understanding and use of sound patterns, which are an essential element to the development of their inner emotional and innate musical abilities. In this way they become able to enjoy and create music, as well as contribute both to their own musical development and to that of society.

Sing correctly and with pleasure

Develop their acoustic ability

Learn music symbols and use them for reproducing and creating music

Appreciate other countries music heredity

Cultivate their ability to set and choose folk compositions

Develop their individual music abilities

Acquaint, use and be familiar with contemporary technology according to music

Become acquainted with, love and respect their national music tradition.

While a general description of the place music has in Cypriot education, you must make a clear statement as to what is available to pre-school children. Also you need to make informed comments about these issues. You also need to have analysed in some detail any RESOURCES available to pre-school teachers for the teaching of music to pre-school children. All this serves to support your contention that music ed for young children is weak in Cyprus. You have not given me any evidence for this yet – it is the whole basis of your study!!

3.2 Finland’s Education System. Music Curriculum And Music Opportunities

In this chapter the Finnish educational system will be introduced, starting with a general presentation of Finnish curriculum. From the ages of seven to twelve children are required to attend lower comprehensive and between the ages of thirteen to fifteen the upper comprehensive, which both of them are compulsory. Generally speaking, comprehensive schools are those for children of all ability levels. In Finland this term is used with this meaning but also in the sense that every child has to complete nine years of education between ages seven and fifteen.

Moving to music in preschool, in Finland there are only private pre-primary schools for children between the ages of three to six years which are optional. The music in Finnish private nursery schools lasts 45 minutes almost every day. Moving on to the music teachers and their qualifications, in pre-primary school they are not specialists but some basic knowledge is needed.

In Finnish music schools there is a classroom where ……………………………..

The objectives of Finland’s detailed music programme are that the pupils will learn to express themselves by singing, playing instruments and moving. They will learn to appreciate the heritage of other cultures and understand the diversity of the musical world. They will also learn to use different elements of music to compose. The elements that are expected from the students to learn are to sing in unison with others and know how to act as members of a group. In addition they are expected to recognize the music they hear and be familiar with the history of music of several countries. The curriculum of Finnish schools consists of a varied repertoire of songs and singing exercises and instrumental repertoire. It also consists of composing, using sound repetitions and improvisation and vocal and instrumental repertoires of music from Finland and from other countries.

Private music schools also exist to provide music education for children from age 7 to18 but they often also have a kindergarten (age?) The basic curriculum consists of instructions of an instrument, theory, history and solfege. The duration of the class is 30-60 minutes and most popular instruments that are taught are piano, guitar, violin and flute. The students that play in the orchestra are required to play in school bands. In order to attend these schools children are chosen through examinations and auditions. The teachers should be well-qualified with a Master of Music and Pedagogical studies.

You need to summarise the opportunities available for young children and look in detail at resources available so that you can compare the two approaches to music in the early years. Why is Finnish pre-school music ed better? There is no evidence here to suggest that it is as yet.

Your research methodology and results need to have a chapter of their own. New page is needed. This is the most important part of your whole dissertation and needs a lot of detail and comment as to what decisions you made and why and analysis of the replies in all cross-referenced to your literature chapters.

4.0 Introduction

To better understand the Cyprus preschool policy and especially to learn about music education at early age, four Cypriot educators were interviewed. These individuals had a wide range of perspectives and experiences covering areas from different educational stages: a kindergarten head teacher; a kindergarten teacher; a headmaster of a private English school (age group?); a headmaster of a conservatory; a primary school teacher. All of the interviews were conducted over a 2 month period between July 2010 and August 2010 The main purpose of this evaluation interview is to help us understand how much importance is given on music education in Cyprus and to highlight the weaknesses of Cyprus educational system, regarding music materials, educational staff, material that could be used in a future preschool music program.

4.1 Method

The applicable research tool of this investigation is based on Qualitative Interviewing methodology in order to expand understanding of kindergartens and educators’ thoughts about music education in Cyprus. Although various things were discussed in the interviews, the focus was on respondents’ actual opinions about the weaknesses of the current educational system based on their experiences. For this purpose a series of questions were devised in order to examine new programs or school developments and suggests improvements. Interviews are particularly useful for getting the story behind a participant’s experience and it can pursue in-depth information around the topic (McNamara, 1999).

The reasons for choosing each type of educator???? Why are they relevant to your study? DETAIL

The educators were called to answer a set of open and close questions in a certain order. The interview was conducted individually so that each educator wouldn’t be influenced by the other and it lasted around 10 minutes.

You need to put the questions into an appendix (Appendix 1) and analyse them IN DETAIL - why you have asked them and why you asked them in that order. You have already provided transcriptions of the interview responses - label them Appendix 2a, 2b, 2c etc?- one for each participant

4.2 Answers Interview responses (see Appendix I)

According to E A (see Appendix 2a) head teacher of a kindergarten, music education in Cyprus kindergarten is satisfactory. The teachers’ role in the education process is to teach children how to be self-sufficient through a specific plan of action and not to help them develop their music skills. She agrees that teachers should pay attention to music education, however she proposes that at this early stage music should not be the first priority. She suggests that there is a music curriculum for the Kindergarten but is the same as the curriculum in primary school as five year old kindergarten children are taught the same musical content as six year old primary children. According to her answers there is no music class in most kindergartens, mainly in public, but there is a small place called “music corner” in each class, where they have some music material like musical instruments or books with songs. Unfortunately, because of the fact that they don’t have much space in the class for music, they are unable to have a big amount of music material, especially musical instruments. Despite the fact that they don’t have many instruments she suggests that those they have are enough and sometimes they don’t use them all. There are several activities that music curriculum applies like listening to music, singing, musical stories, use of instruments, dramatization. The music lesson in kindergarten is taught by the class teacher who is a non- specialist. She proposes that a music specialist is not needed because at this age music is not so complicated and the teacher knows how to teach the basics.

Mr Kyriakos Vassiliou is the headmaster of an English school (age group?) and he underlines that their school is based on a different philosophy than the rest of public schools. He believes that the educational system in Cyprus should undergo some changes since it cannot meet students’ fundamental demands. He believes that especially in music, student’s first contact with it must be in an early age, even from Kindergarten if it is possible. Moreover, the state must provide every school with the fundamentals instrument in order to help the children to develop their skills. He noticed that in contrary to the primary public schools, the music lesson in their school from the age of six until the age of eighteen is taught by a professional musician. It is very important for a student his music teacher to be a specialist in order to make him love the music from an early age. Moreover, a specialist has a more holistic view on music education than a non specialist and it will be easier for him to descry gifted and talented children and help them develop their skills. One way they use to motivate children to get into music is by giving some extra credits on their grades and they also give some scholarship to the students that participate to the school’s music event. He supports that the same policy must be adopted in every school in Cyprus.

Mrs Ioanna Pettemeridou is the principal of a music conservatory and she supports that education in the first five years of life is very important. However she continues, the truth is that our educational system has weaknesses especially regarding music education. The field of early childhood music education objective is to promote music in the lives of young children, regardless of talent and to create and enhanced the development of the whole child. Unfortunately this? strategy does not contribute to this direction. She believes that learning an instrument is important, but in early age is not a priority because in this age children should see music as pleasure and as a relaxation. Learning an instrument needs hours of practice and children are already stressed from all other lessons they are taught in school. She also underlines the issue about the debate that occupied many teachers, musicians and educators. As a musician she believes that music should be taught from a professional musician because as she mentioned at the beginning, early age is important. Children should receive the proper knowledge on music in order to relate with music and because professional musicians are educated in more details on their subject they are more able to transfer their interest to the child. Someone becomes a musician because he loves music. For this person is easier to transmit music to someone else. Her impression about music education in schools is that children who show an interest in music are not many. They encounter music lesson as 45 minutes of break. They don’t care about the grade they are going to get on tests and they don’t have any interest in taking a part in choir or orchestra.

Antigoni Andreou, is a teacher in a kindergarten and her opinion is that music education that children receive in kindergarten is satisfactory. At this age teachers main concern it is not the music education of the pupil but to teach them the basics things about how to meet their fundamental needs e.g how to eat, how to use the toilet and help them socialized with other children. She underlines that there is a music curriculum and teachers are required to follow the activities, the aims and the objectives of it. Usually, the headmaster of the kindergarten attends the class and looks over while music lesson takes place and ensures that what is taught is according to the curriculum. About the question where music takes place it depends from the kindergarten. She worked in both private and public kindergartens and usually private schools have a separate class with all the musical equipment in it and with many musical instruments, sometimes and with a piano. On the other hand, public schools usually they have a small place in the classroom which is called “music corner”. Public schools do not have many musical instruments because they cost too much and public kindergarten fees are low. Musical activities varied in kindergarten. Some of them are dance, singing, listening to music, musical games, theatricalization or construction of improvise instruments. As I mentioned above Mrs Antigoni used to teach in both public and private kindergartens and she noticed many differences between the two of them. One was about the variety of instruments and the second one was about specialists and non specialists. In public kindergartens the teacher of the class teaches all the lessons including music. In contrast with private kindergartens where in some is the same like public but some other brings a specialist to teach music lesson.

4.3 Results

After interviewing these four educators there is a clearer idea about music education in kindergartens. Regardless of the fact of interviewing educators from several fields, different gender, age and dissimilar positions in schools, the results would be more valid if the interviewers were more. Since the interviewers’ positions in schools are not the same, the questions made were also different. The answers we received from kindergarten teachers were almost the same. From the answers we received, according to the importance of music in kindergartens, about music classroom and musical instruments we conclude that either because of the music class deficiency, neither because of the non specialist teacher, music does not consists a priority in early years. It could be noticed that although there are Orff music instruments in the class, teachers and children do not use them all in music lessons.

A topic that in this research needed to be examined is teachers specialization or not according to music section and how much effective can a non specialist could teach music. From the answers we received it could be concluded that the deficiency of specialization makes music education in kindergarten hard. Unfortunately most teachers do not realize the importance of music specialist. From the interview we can observe the debate between teachers and music specialists which is a worldwide problem. Of course this also happens because of materials lack, but also because of the lack of specialized staff, who they could help children to build up correctly the musical concepts through the proportional activities.

Another problem that can be detected from the interview, are the important differences between public and private kindergartens. In private the music lesson is taught by a specialist from very early age, in contrast with public in which students are taught music by a specialist at the age of 12. Moreover private schools pay more importance on music by giving motivations to the child.

Generally through this research emerge the need of musics development in kindergartens, but the circumstances do not help something like that. There are severe lacks on materials substructures, on teachers training and education,

4.4 Proposed Plan of Action for Cyprus. A Need for Early Age Music Preschool

The term preschool age has been used to refer to children early childhood, from their birth until around five-six years old “which are deliberately designed to stimulate and support their mental, physical, emotional, language, social, etc development” As also Eliou (1986, p.40) said preschool education concerns child’s education during his birth and finishes with his accession in primary school. The last few years a great importance is given on childrens education from early age, which this age considers as one of the most crucial periods regarding childs development and education (Elkind, 1969, Zafrana and Bargar, 1980).

According to Singh (2007, p. xiv), “Preschool education is an indispensable instrument for the proper personality development of child. We must know that early years of the children are important because rate of growth and development is fastest and environmental influences are minimum”.

4.4.1 Teachers Abilities and Attitude.

The wise teacher will provide a happy, ordered environment in which the children can find security. She will supply suitable materials and give them freedom to experiment with them. She will stimulate their imaginations and cater for their physical needs with large apparatus.”

Kindergarten activities in order to be successful succeeded and advantageous for the children, activities should be psychologically and pedagogically fundamental. Meaning that teacher should consider a methodological or didactical procedure, abide by some general and particular basic authorities. These authorities correspond to children needs as well as activities specific aims (Koffa, 1985, p. 45). By saying didactical procedure we mean the domestic organization of teachers attempt to adjust appropriate three familiar pedagogical factors, from which every activity consists. These factors are: the preschooler, the material and the teacher (Elzer, 1968, p. 97). According to Rapti and Kavvada( p. 36), the teacher should take into account and combine the following factors: a) logical b) psychological and c) didactical.

The teacher should take into consideration some principles, which should be applied during activities development. He should create a familiar atmosphere (Petala, 1963, p. 97), atmosphere of freedom and enthusiasm, love and pleasure and mutual trust between the teacher and the preschooler (Xoheli, 1983, p. 81).

There are several opinions about who should teach music in a preschool. Some support that the teacher is the most capable and some other support that a music specialist is the most appropriate. As said by Gilbert (1981) “If the advice and guidance of a specialist teacher is available, then the ideal situation of working within a planned structure for the school as a whole can be attained”. In my opinion, music lesson should be taught from a music specialist but supported from children’s teacher if needed. The class teacher somehow could help children better because he/she knows them more and is acquainted with their needs and interests. On the other hand, music specialists have much more knowledge on music than the teacher and could help children to love and learn more about music. Thereby, the combination of the two teachers will be the most appropriate for children.

Music teacher should have some particular abilities and attitudes for what will be taught and also should have the sensitivity to offer music in an appropriate environment. For a successful music lesson teacher should:

Prepare lesson material before it will be presented in the classroom (materials used in a lesson should be assembled in advance. When a teacher makes advance preparations for a lesson by doing such routine things as assembling materials, writing on the chalkboard the titles and page numbers of the songs, words or rote songs, notation for class study, the order of music activities and other directions, he promotes general efficiency

Interrelate music education with children interests and vocabulary

Use her/his voice correct and with expressiveness

Use the appropriate way and material, in order to help children express freely their inner world

Learn use simple instruments like recorder, guitar or mandolin

Know children individual differences which they have as a result the creation of different music levels

Use comfortably percussion, melodic and rhythmic instruments

Play piano, if possible good enough, so she/he could use it comfortably and also check children with her/his glance

Use with children the dexterities they acquired and keep practicing them

Chose and present a variety of musical activities with a good balance in between them

Be guided by childrens recommendations, for a creating teaching

Participate without constraints in music lesson

4.4.2 Place Room Organization, Materials and Ways

“Room organization is a key to motivating the child’s choice of activities”

For an effective music lesson, necessary requirement is the appropriate place, a comfortable room. The learning becomes harder, when it runs in a room without normal ventilation, improper lighting and temperature. Therefore, is teacher’s responsibility to ensure that all the above elements exist.

It is known that furniture’s arrangement in a class, affect the teaching method. Children should be placed in a way so that they would be able to participate easy, wherever they sit in the class, in general conversations, individual or team exercises and to have the opportunity to listen other speaking, singing or playing an instrument. Chairs and desks should be chosen according to children’s size (dimensions), so that they could sit at ease. It is necessary in musical activities the furniture’s to be able to remove easily. According to the activity, children maybe will have to sit, or stand temporarily when they sing, or play musical instruments, to move rhythmically or dance. Chairs placement should be in a semicircle in order to ease movements in musical activities. (Nye & Nye, 1974. p. 6)

In order to avoid confusion and loss of time, teacher should give comprehensible and clear instructions, about how children will move from one activity to another and should exist a common planning between children-teacher. A part of the daily organization and routine is teacher’s understandable instructions about get in or leave the classroom, as well as books or musical instruments carriage. It should be noticed that for health reasons musical wind instruments should not be used from several children before they disinfect.

Materials –Ways

In a music classroom a variety of objects that makes sound are required for experimentation. Music instruments, music books, books relevant with music, pictures, and puzzles are essential equipments. All these should be set and arranged in places where they would be accessible by children, safe, clearly labeled and attractively presented. Paugh & Paugh

The choice of musical several materials and mostly musical instruments is important. The teacher should choose instruments which produce the best sound quality, they have resilience, they can be stored easily and they are appropriate for childrens development. The correct decision of the songs is also essential. Teachers should offer songs suitable to the age of the children. The songs should have a simple and vary melody, repeated parts for easy learning, proper range for the voices, rhythmic appeal, and an attractive accompaniment. The fundamental equipment that is needed in a music classroom are:

Musical instruments: tuned and unturned percussions, different types and with different tonality, woodblocks, maracas, castanets, cymbals in different sizes, finger cymbals, tambourines, τριγωνακια, καμπανουλες, κουδουνακια, triangles, rattles, sand blocks, jingle bells

guiros, γκογκ, chime bars, xylophone, glockenspiels, metallophones, recorders, guitar, mandolin, keyboards and piano

Instruments created by children, homemade rhythm instruments Pictures, puzzles

Books: song collections and books relevant to music and musicians

Discs, cassettes

Also, a radio, tape recorder, record player, projector and a camera are vital.

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Homework 3
assigned assigned THURS FEB 21 due THUR FEB 28 at 11:59 pm

Your string should be read in the main() method and transferred to the dummy parameter s in plot(s).

The input must be a nine-character string and contain no non-digits. If the input is not valid in the non-nested loop version, your program should be robust and prompt the user again to input data until the input is valid. Use a while for this. The form of the while should be

invalid = True
while invalid:
When valid data is read, the variable invalid should be set to False, otherwise the user should be told that his data was faulty and should retype the input. The nested loop version should not be robust.


Laws, Regulations & Annotations

Business Taxes Law Guide – Revision 2014

Sales and Use Tax Annotations

Annotation 420.0310

420.0310 Still Photography. A company, whose seller's permit indicates that it is a commercial artist selling photographic images and videos, requested information regarding the application of law to the following questions regarding still photography.

(1) Can one photographer purchase another photographer's photographs using a resale certificate?

If the actual photograph purchased by the photographer will be resold to the client prior to any use by the photographer or if it will be physically incorporated into the property produced by the agency that will be resold, the photographer may purchase the photograph ex-tax by issuing a resale certificate. (2) Can one photographer purchase another photographer's labor using a resale certificate?

If the photographer provides all materials used by the other photographer to produce tangible personal property that will be sold to the client prior to any use, there is no "sale" since only fabrication for a consumer is a "sale." Since the second photographer is not making a "sale" to the photographer, he/she is not really making a sale for resale. Nevertheless, the best way to prove that the labor was not for a consumer is to take resale certificate.

(3) Photographer A who has an out-of-state client, hires Photographer B to shoot photos for his/her client. Does Photographer B charge Photographer A sales tax?

If the photos will be resold or will be incorporated into the property to be resold prior to any use, Photographer A may purchase the photos ex-tax by providing a resale certificate.

(4) Can a photographer use his/her resale certificate to purchase photographic materials that are to be sold exclusively out of state?

Yes, provided the photographer makes no use of the materials prior to the resale.

(5) If a client leases the rights to reproduce photographic images but the photographer maintains possession of the original images, does the photographer charge sales tax to the client?

If the photographer retains the negatives and transfers to the lessee a photograph, some tangible personal property is being transferred. If the client is not obligated to return the same photograph provided to the lessor, the transfer of the photograph would be a sale and subject to tax. If the client was required to return the photograph, it would be a lease and tax applies as explained in Regulation 1660.

(6) If a client supplies all the photographic materials to the photographer, does the photographer charge sales tax for his/her labor?

Under the definition of a sale, section 6006 (b), the photographer is making a "sale" of the photographs and that sale would be taxable even though all of the materials may have been provided by the client.

(7) Does a photographer's assistant have to charge the photographer sales tax for his/ her labor?

Assuming the assistant is not an employee of the photographer, the application of tax depends upon whether the assistant is making a retail sale of tangible personal property to the photographer. If the sale is at retail, the sales tax applies. If the photographer resells property purchased from an assistant prior to any use by the photographer, the photographer may purchase the property ex-tax for resale. The photographer's full charge for the sale to his client is subject to tax, with no deductions on account of the amount paid for the services provided by the assistant in the production of the property. (8) Does the photographer have to collect sales tax on a photographer's assistant's labor?

As stated in Number 7, a photographer cannot deduct his labor costs from the selling price before computing sales tax. Sales tax is due on the entire selling price of retail sales of tangible personal property.

(9) On a large photography shoot involving labor of several positions hired by the photographer (i.e., make up, models, stylists, etc.) does the photographer have to collect sales tax on the labor of all these positions?

As stated above, the measure of tax is based upon the gross receipts of a retail sale. Tax applies to charges for services rendered that represent services that are a part of a sale of the property, or a labor or service cost in the production of the property. These positions are an expense in the creation of the property to be sold to the client and thus the costs are included in the measure of tax.

(10) Should sales tax be collected on postage and handling which includes the cost of postage and a markup on envelopes and labor?

If a separately stated charge is made designated "postage and handling", only that portion of the charge which represents actual postage may be excluded from the measure of tax. 10/20/93.


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Create a multimedia “eWill” with PassedOn

Tuesday, 22 January 2013 | By Michelle Hammond

Astart-up-idea-rip platform called PassedOn encourages people to create an “emotional will”, also referred to as an eWill, which allows them to leave behind messages for loved ones.

“Every one of us has a certain idea of how he or she would like to be remembered… We all have important wishes and thoughts to leave for our loved ones,” the website says.

“PassedOn is a free web-based global initiative for those who wish to create multimedia eWills and save unforgettable moments for the people they love.

As people become increasingly open to the idea of discussing their wills, and what will happen after they pass away, platforms such as PassedOn will continue to thrive.


Purple Nudibranch

The feathery strands at the back of this nudibranch’s (Chromodoris willani) body are no mere adornment: they’re its gills! Nudibranchs, shell-less snails or sea slugs, are named for these tufted gills, as "nudibranch" comes from Latin and Greek words meaning "naked gills." They're known for their bright coloration, and this species, found in Western Pacific Ocean coral reefs, ranges from dark purple to bright white.


Internal NASA Documents Give Clues to Scary Soyuz Return Flight

Engineers are attempting to reconstruct the 19 April Soyuz descent from the ISS

7 May 2008—What should have been a routine return from the International Space Station (ISS) on 19 April 2008 quickly turned into a heart-stopping drama for ground controllers and the three astronauts aboard a Soyuz TMA-11. The craft had disappeared during the descent and was then found on a scorched steppe some 400 kilometers from where it was supposed to land. Now the incident is a technological puzzle to space engineers and a potential political challenge to the international partnership behind the ISS.

Although the technical investigation will take weeks to resolve, NASA and Russian engineers have come to several credible preliminary conclusions. And internal NASA documents, such as ”15S Ballistic Entry Outbrief” by George Kafka, chief of the Safety & Mission Assurance Directorate for the ISS program, reveal a plausible idea of what probably happened.

During the landing, space officials at mission control in Moscow and at the recovery site seriously worried for at least half an hour—and some even believed, briefly, that the crew had been killed. The landing seemed to be a replay of a near disaster from almost 40 years ago, and it threatened to have the first Russian in-flight fatalities since 1971.

Although the officials’ worries soon turned out to be ill-founded, an examination of the craft’s flight path indicates that catastrophe had not been far off. Total disaster was avoided not by any real-time actions of the crew or ground teams but instead by the ingenious design and robust construction of the spacecraft.

The Russian Soyuz vehicle has made about 100 manned orbital flights since 1967. Like the U.S. Apollo spacecraft and the future Orion capsule, it consists of a crew cabin and a rear-mounted equipment module containing its propulsion system. But unlike those craft, it also includes a forward-mounted habitation cabin. When returning to Earth, all these spacecraft perform a de-orbit rocket burn, cutting about 125 meters per second off their 8000 m/s orbital velocity. They then jettison their attached modules and turn their heat shields into the wind. The atmosphere slows the vehicle—it loses most of its speed in a matter of minutes as it decelerates to three to four times the normal acceleration due to gravity (which is 9.8 m/s2). When the craft is low and moving slowly enough, it deploys parachutes for a soft surface touchdown that is cushioned by a brief braking rocket burst.

But this time, something seems to have gone wrong with the mechanical separation of the Soyuz from its aft equipment module. Separation is supposed to occur 32 minutes after the de-orbit burn, as the craft is descending toward the sensible atmosphere, a point 100 km up where aerodynamic effects start to matter. Something in the pyrobolts or cable cutters malfunctioned, and the crew felt the cabin shuddering as it was jerked around by a partly loose massive equipment module.

SOURCE: NASA documents

The details of a Soyuz.

The still-linked modules entered the sensible atmosphere but at the wrong orientation. Air drag would have turned the ship like a shuttlecock, directing its lightly shielded nose (with the precious parachutes) into the onrushing plasma. Several minutes of this thermal stress would have been enough to breach the hull and possibly destroy the vehicle.

But at some point, the aft section did tear free, probably because of the mounting aerodynamic torques and heating. This may have been no mere lucky break. Russia suffered a series of near disasters early in its program, including Yuri Gagarin's first mission in 1961 and a chillingly similar Soyuz nosedive in January 1969. So Russian engineers apparently modified module-to-module connectors to tear loose, if needed, under such entry stresses, even if the separation system fails entirely. If that modification was indeed made-which is unknown outside of Russian space circles-this may have been the first time this fail-safe system was flight-tested.

As the conjoined modules entered the atmosphere, voice communication with the ground was badly garbled, perhaps by the spacecraft turning out of its planned orientation, thus pointing its primary antennas away from ground receivers. However, according to secondhand reports from NASA flight controllers then on duty, some telemetry status indicators and snatches of voice communications did get through before all contact was lost. That was enough to tell controllers that a major malfunction had occurred with the separation sequence.

Nothing was subsequently heard from the crew or any of the spacecraft radio beacons for an hour, and nothing showed up on ground radar. The main fleet of recovery helicopters hovering over the planned landing area was first directed eastward to respond to an overshoot, then turned around and ordered westward toward a short landing. And when a rescue helicopter crew stationed in a contingency landing zone 400 km to the west first spotted signs of the lost craft, they saw a wide grass fire on the steppe, right next to gouged earth, and the landed vehicle nearby with no signs of a deployed parachute. Local herdsmen were milling around the downed vehicle, but there were no signs of the three crew members. Rescuers feared the worst.

SOURCE: NASA documents

Soyuz craft decelerates, then separates into three pieces. The center module, containing the crew reorients to enter the atmosphere. The other pieces burn up during the descent. On 19 April, the rear of the craft failed to fully separate from the crew module. The combined craft entered the atmosphere and remained joined up for an unknown amount of time, possibly exposing the wrong side of the crew module to the onrushing air.

Then the crew commander phoned home (all spacecraft communications systems had failed) by using a reserve satellite phone installed for just such an emergency. All the crew members were fine, he reported, and were awaiting the recovery helicopters. The herdsmen had quickly arrived and eagerly helped the crew out of the singed, sideways-leaning cabin. The unofficial rescuers had lain the three exhausted, weakened fliers in the shade of the spacecraft and had gone back inside to retrieve the satellite phone for them.

Despite widespread reports of massive charring and melting to the Soyuz TMA-11 exterior, inspection of photographs and reports from inside the Russian space program indicate otherwise. Comparison with detailed photographs of earlier missions suggests that the scorching was within normal ranges.

However, a suggestive detail in the postlanding photography, a thruster mounting with jagged gaps alongside it, indicates that an attitude thruster burned through. Such damage would have reduced or even entirely eliminated the crew's ability to point the crew module during descent. The thruster could have been lost as a consequence of a vain attempt to steer the much-heavier-than-expected combined vehicle through the initial buffeting.

Where the craft landed and why is the subject of intense investigation. Perhaps as a consequence of the modules failing to separate on time, the craft's autopilot then concluded that a normal entry was not feasible and switched to a simpler-but more stressful-trajectory. The baseline descent rolls the entry module in a way that offsets its center of mass to create a small lift force. This keeps the shallowly descending vehicle higher in thinner air, limiting the deceleration forces to 3 to 4 g's. The maneuver also helps steer the path toward a desired landing region.

If the normal shallow descent isn't possible, the autopilot performs what is called a ballistic, or nonlifting, entry, falling more quickly into thicker air and consequently enduring as much as twice the peak deceleration. Some reports say the Soyuz hit 11 g's for a few seconds, and one of the Soyuz astronauts, Peggy Whitson, recalls at one point seeing 8.4 on the craft's g-meter. But again, the full story will come only after reading the cockpit data recorders. The steeper entry brings the spacecraft down far short of the nominal aim point, and about 2 minutes earlier.

Reports from the crew bring up other issues that will require investigation. They reported smoke in the cabin during the later descent, after the parachute had deployed. This occurred after a pressure equalization valve had been opened to vent to outside air-and could have sucked in smells of external scorching. An alternate theory is that the smoke was from a landing display screen that was powering up during the descent.

SOURCE: NASA documents

Normally, with the Soyuz crew module oriented correctly, it performs a controlled descent that is kept to 4 to 5 g ’s by an amount of lift generated by the craft’s aerodynamics. On 19 April 2008, with the crew module oriented incorrectly, it made a much steeper descent at 8 to 9 g ’s, landing some 400 kilometers off target and 2 minutes early.

In addition, Yi So-yeon, the South Korean flight participant, reported in interviews in Seoul that the final ground impact was not vertical but sideways, causing many heavy baggage items to break free from restraints and hit her.

The ground fire also remains unexplained. Although NASA officials initially claimed it was merely a coincidence (local herdsmen were burning off stubble, they say), other accounts-and the placement of the Soyuz near the upwind vertex of the burned area-suggest that the landing caused it. Station program director Michael Suffredini, who was present in the landing zone, recalled seeing scattered grass fires as his helicopter rushed to the landing point. But at a 30 April press conference, he told reporters that he now believes that the fires nearest the Soyuz were indeed somehow caused by the landing.

The fire could have been started by the main heat shield, which was jettisoned several kilometers up to expose the soft-landing engines. But other sources of ignition include the engines themselves, the separation pyros on the parachute lines, or even flammable chemicals leaking from the cabin. The fire was close enough to quickly consume the craft's own parachute. But photographs show it did not burn the grass around the nose of the spacecraft.

The investigation board is faced with explaining this landing and with comparing it to earlier problems, including hauntingly similar anomalies on a previous Soyuz landing last October. Of immediate concern is the question of whether the Soyuz currently attached to the station--and its new crew of Sergei Volkov, Oleg Kononenko, and Garrett Reisman--is in danger.

After decades of service, it's hard to imagine that the Soyuz has a design flaw of any significance, so the issue here may instead be fabrication quality. This is a frightening possibility, since the Soyuz manufacturer, the Energia Korolev Rocket and Space Corp., in Moscow, has had to double its Soyuz production rate in preparation for the increase of the space station crew from three to six people next year. This extra workload is being borne by an aging workforce.

The political implications of the problem are also profound, since NASA's current plans are to ground the shuttle fleet in 2010 and then buy tickets on Soyuz missions to the space station until the new-generation Orion spacecraft becomes available around 2015. All of these plans are now open to debate, right in the middle of a U.S. presidential election campaign.

About the Author

JAMES OBERG, a 22-year veteran of NASA mission control, is now a writer and consultant in Houston. His October 2007 article for IEEE Spectrum Online used internal NASA documents to explain the origins of the International Space Station’s June 2007 computer crisis.