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“Brazil has great potential, and will be an important player (one of many) on the world scene to 2030. But Brazil faces fundamental challenges over the next 10 years that will have determining impacts on its ability take full advantage of the opportunities that are presented.  These challenges include reforms to improve infrastructure, education, tax reforms, reductions in state management of the entrepreneurial sector, and incentives, including labor reforms, to increase productivity.

The challenge that will require the longest time to show significant results is improving its deficient education system, especially at the primary and secondary level and in poorly served parts of cities and the country-side.  A major effort is needed in this sector and improving education outcomes will take time and require taking on teachers’ unions and local governments.  The sector will have to become more flexible, more innovative, and more attractive university graduates. Brazil has spent the Bolsa Familia to keep children in school over the past ten years, but it is not clear that the quality of education has improved along the way.  Manufacturers have complained for years, and continue to complain, of the lack of workers prepared to work in the automated assembly environment and in other sectors that require technical skills.  Brazil ranks 127 on “quality of math and science education, and 91 in “availability of scientists and engineers” in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index.   Its score on Innovation is the lowest of any.

Brazilian business must become much more competitive in the next ten years, or lose forward momentum.  Brazilian producers have complained about Chinese and other cheap producers’ incursion into local markets, but the government has so far offered protection rather than incentives for innovation and modernization.  Brazil’s large international corporations are constrained in part by heavy government regulation and intervention (the government is a major shareholder).  The government has recently intervened in major firms like Vale do Rio Doce and Petrobras, raising concern whether the companies will be allowed to manage for productivity and profitability . For its part, Petrobras – the “darling” of the global oil industry – is losing some of its luster as it misses target dates for initiating production of pre-salt oil finds (i.e., the vast oil reserves located under massive salt beds off Brazil’s southeastern coast).  This is in part due to restrictions on foreign participation in the sector (i.e., local content requirements), which limits the involvement of foreign companies with the necessary experience and expertise in this type of complicated extraction.  Given the long time horizons for bringing complex operations into production, these delays postpone the diversification of Brazil’s export base.

Brazil needs to become self-sufficient and diversified (which can include further integration with South America) in order to be able to ride out major fluctuations in the global economy.  Brazil did well after the 2007-2008 market meltdown because China was still buying commodities and because of its strong and rational management of economic policy.   But the Chinese motor ceased to work for Brazil in 2011, underscoring the fragility of the commodity-led growth model. Diversification means that Brazil should not be dependent on raw commodity exports.  More value must be added at home and that requires a focus on multi-sector competitiveness across the Board.”  — Margaret Daly Hayes, Evidence Based Research

Brazil’s current industrial policy creates risks and potential rewards. Professor Daly Hayes has described the risks. The rewards the government seeks, however, in expanding state involvement in key industries are: 1) to build strong corporations capable of competing globally (perhaps reflecting a reasonable assumption that the key competitors of Petrobras and Vale are Chinese and Russian state-owned corporations, more so than Exxon-Mobil); and 2) that greater state control will allow more distribution of the profits and other benefits to public goods like long-term strategic investments, social programs, job creation, etc. instead of to shareholders’ pockets. Many nations—Japan, South Korea, Germany—have had significant success with such policies. Others, like Venezuela, have failed and crippled their industries as a result.

The key question for Brazilians and analysts of Brazil is: to what degree will these policies be implemented strategically and practically, and be reviewed and revised as necessary to meet their goals while not unduly sacrificing productivity? Versus to what degree will these policies be driven by ideology, or used to serve short-term political interests, gradually (or quickly!) losing sight of their original goals?

The recent trend does not bode well. Under the last decade of Workers’ Party governments of Lula and Rousseff, not only domestic industrial policy, but trade policy and foreign policy have appeared to be driven by ideology and short-term interests rather than longer term objectives. Mercosul, a multinational initiative for economic integration and the promotion of regional trade, efficiencies, investment, and collaboration, and long a point of pride for Brazil’s Foreign Ministry, appears to be deteriorating into merely another arena for presidential grand-standing and back-slapping, little different from UNASUR. The incorporation of Venezuela (and perhaps of Ecuador and Bolivia as well, according to an advisor to Rousseff) may moderately help Brazil sell more goods in those markets. But it will also put further distance between the Mercosul bloc of weak economies that sell commodities to Brazil and China, and the new Pacific Alliance group (Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico) which seek greater trade and investment relations with the more dynamic economies of East Asia.

These trends are not alarming, yet. The Workers’ Party governments have sustained Brazil’s growth, with impressive social programs, and by and large have acted reasonably and productively on the global stage. Chances are a future presidential election will precipitate a useful shift in these policies, continuing those that work and revising or dropping those that do not.

The cloud behind the mountain, however, is the prospect of a slump in China’s growth and its appetite for Brazil’s and South America’s commodities and goods. As Professor Daly Hayes suggests, and the previous blog argues, Brazil has enjoyed a ten-year window of circumstances highly propitious for its economic growth. If those circumstances change, there will be much less margin for error.

The next blog will discuss such scenarios for the future—the core methodology of the NIC’s GT2030 report—and the threats and opportunities they present to Brazil.

Brazil’s Social and Industrial Policies: The Korean Path, or the Venezuelan Cliff?

Brazil on the Rise?

At the moment South America seems to be dividing into one economic block along the Pacific coast (including Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile) that is pursuing freer markets and increased trade and investment, especially with Asia, and an Atlantic block led by Brazil and Argentina that prefers heavy state involvement in key industries and trade restrictions. Industrial and trade policies of this sort influence productivity and economic trajectories, often for decades. Given certain conditions it would not be shocking if, by 2030, Brazil is regarded rather as the sick giant in the region, instead of its most vibrant economy.

China’s appetite for South American primary goods has boosted investment and economic growth across the region, with the markets of which Brazil is ever more integrated. A Chinese slump, or a crisis in East Asia—the GT 2030 discusses possibilities of pandemics, economic crises, and conflict in the region—could challenge political and economic institutions across South America. How well is the Brazilian government prepared to make the hard decisions in its spending and investment that such events would require? Would Brazil still be able to wield influence around the world, if its neighborhood were to again become synonymous with poverty, social division and inequality, and internal conflict as during much of the previous century?


Governing Body
ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations
Promoting jobs, protecting people

Governing Body

It is composed of 56 titular members (28 Governments, 14 Employers and 14 Workers) and 66 deputy members (28 Governments, 19 Employers and 19 Workers). Ten of the titular government seats are permanently held by States of chief industrial importance (Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States). The other Government members are elected by the Conference every three years (the last elections were held in June 2014). The Employer and Worker members are elected in their individual capacity.


June 2010 Articles & Features

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Keep ’Em Rollin’ in the Right Direction

By Mike Mavrigian | June 2010

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We can begin with the statement “All tires are round and (usually) black.” After that, it gets complicated. Steady advances in tire design and manufacture have a direct effect on tire service requirements.

In terms of tire mounting locations on the vehicle, we basically consider three types of tire designs: symmetric, asymmetric and directional. Symmetric tires feature a mirror-image tread pattern (same tread design on each side of the tire center); asymmetric tires feature different tread designs at the inboard and outboard tread areas; directional tires feature a tread design that’s intended to operate in only one rolling direction. Symmetric tires may be mounted anywhere on the vehicle, while both asymmetric and directional tires require specific mounting locations. This article will explain it all.

With regard to tires, the term “rotation” is used in two different ways. Rotational direction refers to the tire’s rolling direction, where the tire is designed to rotate (roll) in one direction only. Rotating tires refers to changing their position on the vehicle to prolong tread life. To reduce any potential confusion, I’ll use the term “rolling rotation” when referring to a directional tire’s direction of travel.

If a tire is designed to roll in one direction only, the tire is said to be directional or unidirectional (two terms commonly used to describe the same feature). This will be noted on the sidewall by an arrow, or by the word “rotation” or “drive” in conjunction with an arrow, to clearly indicate the correct rolling direction of the tire. There is no industry-standard symbol; tire makers are free to use whatever term or symbol suffices. Always look for this indication and mount and position the tire accordingly.

When rotating tires (changing their position on a vehicle), a directional tire may be moved from front to rear on the same side of the vehicle without demounting/remounting on the wheel (assuming that front and rear tires and wheels are the same size). However, if the tires are to be swapped side-to-side, the tires must then be demounted and remounted in order to maintain the proper rotational direction of the tires.

Whether it’s directional or not, an asymmetric tire is designed to use one specific side as its outboard side. That side must always face outward regardless of any other positioning restrictions. If this is the case, either the inboard or outboard sidewall will be marked with a term that denotes this requirement, such as “this side out,” “this side in,” “side facing outward,” or “outer,” etc. Either the outer or inner sidewall will feature a notation indicating where that side must face.

Asymmetric tires feature a different tread pattern on the outer tread and shoulder area than the inboard tread and shoulder. For instance, the outboard shoulder area may feature larger and fewer tread blocks designed to better handle lateral loads and may be tuned for optimum dry-road traction, while the center and inboard tread areas may feature a greater number of smaller tread blocks, more grooves and sipes, for better wet traction.

In addition to tread design (and orientation of the top belt), some asymmetric tires also feature varying compounds across the tread face. Creating different rubber tread compound paths is another way some tire makers are able to enhance dry and wet traction.

An asymmetric tire can be driven in either direction of rolling rotation, as long as the side of the tire designed for outboard placement is always in that position. When asymmetric tires are rotated (moved from one position to another), they need not be demounted and remounted. A regular routine of tire/wheel rotation helps prolong tread life.

Symmetric tires feature a tread pattern that’s the same on both the inboard and outboard sides of the tire. As a result, there is no concern regarding mounting location on the vehicle, assuming the vehicle in question requires the same size tire at all four corners.

Many high-performance tires now feature “rim protector” ribs on the outer sidewall. This narrow raised rib, located near the bead area, is designed to reinforce and protect the sidewall, especially during mounting and demounting. This is especially useful on many of today’s low-profile tires that feature short, stiff sidewalls. These tires are sometimes more difficult to mount because of the tight fit. These raised ribs provide added reinforcement as the sidewall is flexed and “stretched” onto the rim. These ribs also offer a bit of wheel rim protection with regard to potential curb scuffing. Protector ribs may be found on both asymmetric and directional tires. This is yet another indication of sidewall orientation; protector ribs always face outboard.

Tire-Pull Diagnosis

Tires are manufactured using a combination of flexible materials, including rubber products and elastomers, fabric and steel wire, which are assembled and cured via heat and pressure within a mold. During this process, the rubber reaches a near-liquid state to achieve vulcanization, then cooled. As you might imagine, tire makers face a real challenge to produce the ideal size, structure and shape. If a tire’s internal components are slightly misaligned during manufacturing and curing, this may result in a vehicle pull.

A pulling condition is one of the most common customer complaints with regard to vehicle handling. A host of potential variables may cause it (brake drag, improper tire inflation, wheel alignment geometry, etc.). Another potential cause of a directional pull can be tire construction, so it’s important that the tire(s) not be overlooked during a diagnosis.

Radial tires produce lateral forces when they roll, as a result of their construction, and these forces can cause or contribute to a directional pull. This dynamic force is referred to as residual cornering force (RCF). Two independent factors are involved in this RCF—ply steer and conicity.

Ply steer is the lateral force developed by radial tires, when tread design and/or belt positioning creates an angle relative to the rolling direction of the tire. The right combination of tread angle and installed angle of the final belt (closest to the tread) is meant to compensate for road crown. In the U.S. and other countries where vehicles are driven on the left side of the road, these belt and tread angles are designed to create a slight leftward lateral force, to allow vehicles to more easily travel straight on a crowned road surface.

In terms of a ply steer problem, incorrectly angled outer belt placement during tire construction is a potential cause of tire pull. This problem is somewhat rare, considering the tightly controlled precision major tire makers employ today.

Conicity is a condition wherein the tire features a difference in height and stiffness between the left and right sidewalls/shoulders. In very general terms, this means that one side of the tire is shorter than the other. If a tire does feature conicity, since it has two different rolling diameters, it naturally wants to roll in a circle, like a cone.

Conicity is caused by production variances during tread and/or, belt placement and in the curing process. All tires feature some conicity (after all, a number of flexible components are used in building a tire, so slight variances are bound to occur). As Kumho Tires’ Frank Secondary noted, tire makers today are well aware of this, and make an enormous effort to control it during manufacture. Tire makes and models have maximum acceptable conicity values (thousandths of an inch); any tire that exceeds the maximum allowable range—and somehow makes it through the manufacturing process—will likely cause a pulling complaint.

According to Tire Rack, a tire that has conicity due to a manufacturing error will be apparent right after installation or immediately following the first time the tires are rotated. Because of this, tire manufacturers’ warranties cover this condition only early in the tire’s life.

If tire pull first becomes noticeable after many miles of driving, it’s typically due to driving conditions or vehicle misalignment that has caused the tire’s tread to wear on an angle (with one side wearing faster than the other), or allowed the tire on one side of the axle to wear faster than the tire on the other side of the same axle.

If a vehicle has a pulling problem, the alignment should be checked, including cross-camber, cross-caster and thrust angle settings. If the alignment is at the manufacturer’s preferred settings or appropriately within the range, the procedure outlined in the sidebar “Tire Pull Diagnostic Steps” on page 34 can be used to confirm which tire is causing the pull.

Often, simply rotating the tires can identify or even cure a pull complaint that was caused by conicity. To illustrate this, imagine that we have two front tires, each with a bit of excessive conicity. If the short (or more flexible sidewall) side of each tire faces the right side of the vehicle, the vehicle will pull to the right. If both short sides face to the vehicle’s left side, the vehicle will pull to the left. However, if the tires are positioned on the vehicle with the short side of each tire facing outboard on the same axle, this cancels each tire’s tendency to pull.

If the vehicle currently pulls to the right (and if conicity is the problem), rotating the tires side-to-side will transfer the lateral force and the pull will now be to the left. If the direction of pull did not change when the tires were rotated side-to-side, you can rule out conicity as the cause of the problem.

Directional tires will limit the ease of tire rotation for this test. If you opt to try a side-to-side tire swap, the tires must be demounted and remounted in order to maintain correct rolling direction.

Asymmetric tires (tires marked for specific sidewall in or out) can simply be rotated on the vehicle while still mounted on their wheels.

Side-to-side tire rotation is the only method of isolating a tire with excessive conicity. If the direction of pull changes, conicity is the problem; if the pull does not change, conicity is not the problem. If you determine that conicity is the cause of a front tire pull, invert the tire on the wheel, or move the pulling tire to the rear axle.

Mounting Directional or Asymmetric Tires Incorrectly

If a directional or asymmetric tire is placed on a vehicle incorrectly (a directional tire mounted backward or an asymmetric tire mounted with the outboard sidewall facing inboard), this will not necessarily damage the integrity of the tire; you simply won’t be able to take full advantage of the performance the tire offers.

However, while you may not damage the tire, you run the risk of creating unsafe handling and/or traction, especially on wet road surfaces. A directional tread pattern is designed to efficiently evacuate water while rolling in one direction only. If mounted backward, hydroplaning becomes a very real threat. An asymmetric tire mounted improperly will reduce its ability to handle lateral loads (cornering) on dry roads, and will not grip as well on wet roads. When mounting any tire, pay close attention to any position or orientation requirements!

Rotate the Tires Regularly

Tire rotation is always recommended, regardless of tire style or construction (with the exception of position-specific tires). A regular rotation schedule will help to evenly distribute tread wear among the tires for longer life. In the case of directional tires (where the rolling direction must remain the same), a rotation of front-to-rear on the same side of the vehicle is simple, since no demounting is needed. But for cross-rotation, they must be demounted and remounted.

If a tire already features excessive conicity, bear in mind that the condition will worsen as the tread wears. It’s important to diagnose and cure a conicity-caused pull early in a tire’s life. Illustrations A-F on page 30 and above show the accepted rotation patterns.

Tread Design

The creation of a tread design involves a number of criteria. The tread must be pleasing to the eye. Tread noise factor must be as low as possible. The tread must provide adhesion on dry roads and shed water in wet conditions, and it must provide acceptable steering response and predictable control. Depending on the target use of the tire, one or more of these goals will take priority.

In terms of an ultra-high-performance tire, one prime direction generally takes precedence over everything else: It must handle responsively and provide maximum road grip in dry conditions.

Why does a tire have a tread pattern? Wouldn’t it be best to simply make the tire slick, with no design grooves at all? If the only directive was to produce a tire that provided maximum traction on dry road, to the absolute exclusion of everything else, then yes, a “slick” would provide the biggest footprint. However, it would provide no ability to disperse water.

Even though a high-performance tire may be intended as an ultra-gripper on dry roads, a street application nonetheless demands that it be able to safely navigate wet road surfaces. The tire must also provide an acceptable noise level.

So while tire makers are fully capable of producing mega-sticky, smooth tires, the reality of street applications demands that engineers take advantage of grooves, sipes, channels and passageways to extract the intended performance within a package that also meets acceptable standards in a variety of modes, including comfort, noise, braking, response and dry and wet traction.

The shape, number and size of a tread’s grooves are not chosen at random. Rather, they’re carefully planned through a combination of engineering experience, computer plotting and on-car testing.

Placement of the tire’s grooves, and the number of those grooves, changes depending on the tire’s intended use. Is it a summer tire? An all-season tire? Do we want this tire to be great in the dry or excel in the wet? The entire subject is addressed based on the intended use. The desired goal dictates the shape, width and number of grooves.

Also, tread block shape and orientation can be changed to manipulate dynamic forces. Tread block walls can lean forward or rearward, and this orientation can change from the outside of the shoulder to the tread center. The angles of the tread block walls (the lateral groove walls) create additional opportunities to distribute forces.

An ultra-high-performance tire will often use a minimal number of wide grooves in an attempt to keep the tread blocks as large as possible, for more rubber on the road and therefore better dry traction. By positioning grooves to channel water in a desired direction, the tread blocks can be kept large. A popular trend today involves the use of more angular grooves, geared to maintaining wet traction while keeping tread blocks as large as possible.

Seemingly small tricks are used to fine-tune a tread design. For example, a specific tire may feature intermediate tread blocks, located to either side of the tread center area, that feature small bevel reliefs at the leading edge and trailing edge of each block. These small chamfers are intended as kind of stress relievers to minimize the potential for tread chunking (tearing off) under high-stress use. Tread block “wiggle” (when tread blocks are deflected during road contact) generates additional heat and increases the potential for the tread blocks to tear off during hard cornering. These small chamfers reduce the amount of tread block deformation as the tread contacts and leaves the road surface. They also help reduce the amount of road noise a tread may generate.

Elements of Tire Construction

Today’s performance radial tire (or any radial tire for that matter) features a number of parts. A tire is not constructed by a one-shot injection-molding process but piece by piece to create a layered carcass, which is subsequently skinned by a rubber compound in a mold to create the outer sidewall and tread outer body.

The elements of a tire carcass include the bead assembly (this includes a “bead bundle” of steel wires, which are encased in a bead filler and entombed inside the bead wrap). The body plies wrap around the bead and run across the body of the tire to the opposing bead. An inner liner of rubber coats the inside of the tire’s air chamber, serving as a seal against air and moisture. Belts and cap plies are positioned under the tread to provide tread reinforcement and to help provide the particular ride and handling characteristics intended by the design engineers.

The rubber compound material that encases the carcass and provides sidewall and tread material is placed onto the carcass and formed to a specific shape and contour in a tire mold. This is followed by proprietary finishing and curing procedures that are closely guarded by tire companies.

Tire Compounds

To gain a basic understanding of tire tread compounding, we must first appreciate the complexity involved in overall tire design. Any tire represents a balanced compromise among a variety of performance factors. The realization of a tire’s performance characteristics is achieved through a concerted effort among a variety of elements, including tread compound, tread design, undertread design, sidewall and bead design, reinforcement, etc. The variables and possibilities are staggering.

Tread compounding is but one facet of a tire’s overall potential and character. If you want a tire to handle better in terms of response and lateral grip, tread compounding is certainly one area to consider, but the end result involves a working interrelationship among all design elements. Increased grip may involve a rethinking of the sidewall construction, undertread, bead wrapping, materials used and the curing process, to name a few ingredients. By the same token, if one of those areas is changed, the compound may need to be altered to compensate.

As performance is gained in one area, some may invariably be lost in another. For instance, if a change is made to increase traction, rolling resistance and tread wear may be adversely affected. The tread compound is formulated to play a part in achieving a targeted balance of rolling resistance, wear and traction. In that regard, three basic material categories are considered—elastomers, fillers and processing oils.

The elastomers include the rubbers and polymers that provide the compound with its elastic properties. There are hundreds of polymers that may be used in an incredibly wide range of combinations, so this is anything but simple. While the majority of lay people and even performance enthusiasts are in the habit of referring to “rubber,” the fact is, generic use of that term isn’t really correct.

The fillers used in compound creation involve various types of carbon black and/or silicas. The filler’s job is to provide a reinforcement for the elastomers, from a dynamic standpoint. To use an engineering term, the filler helps to provide the hysteresis level of the tread.

Hysteresis is the measure of the tread’s energy absorption. A high hysteretic compound indicates that the tread absorbs more energy (in simple terms, is easier to deform), resulting in increased rolling resistance, which means it takes more energy to roll down the road. A low hysteric compound is more resilient, absorbs less dynamic energy and is therefore lower in rolling resistance. The result is that the vehicle exerts less energy, which translates into more effective use of the engine’s power and, at least in theory, reduced fuel consumption.

A wide variety of oils may be used during the manufacture of the compound, which serve to adjust both the resiliency of the tread in the finished product, as well as the ease of extrusion in the mold. Often, these two directives are opposed: The easiest material to extrude may not give the best in terms of performance, while the better performing tread may be the most difficult to manufacture. The selection of processing oils helps designers achieve optimum results in both tread performance and manufacturing ease and quality.

While a tread compound is created through a balancing act of polymers, fillers and processing oils, the job doesn’t stop there. Other variables enter the picture during the manufacturing process itself. The curing system (involving sulfurs, activators, etc.) and curing temperatures and cycles are adjusted to further define the tread’s performance character.

The compounding variables available (types of elastomers, types and concentration of fillers, types of oils and curing processes) make it possible to tailor the compound to meet desired requirements. Some attributes are mutually exclusive, while others are complementary.

As formulations in materials are changed to improve, say, wet adhesion, expect to lose something in wear resistance; or as a change is made to gain dry handling, some performance may be sacrificed in terms of snow grip, etc. By the same token, changes made to improve ride comfort may also help improve wet adhesion. This is a challenge being met by creative uses of synthetic materials, in trying to minimize the performance compromise.

That compromise (of improving in one area while losing ground in another) has always been a primary challenge to designers. While a compromise in performance parameters will likely always exist, it’s being lessened through the ongoing technological developmental efforts. Regardless of improvements in technology, however, it’s near impossible to create a single tire that does everything at an optimum level.

Although a variety of tire design and construction variables are always involved, the compounding system is the primary factor in controlling and achieving desired rolling resistance, dry and wet traction, snow traction and wear performance. The combinations seem almost limitless, making the science of compounding truly one of the most fascinating aspects of tire design.


Millimeter-Wave Amplifiers

80-100 GHz Balanced Low Noise Amplifier (LNA): ALH495

This low noise amplifier (LNA) is ideal for applications involving radar, short haul/high capacity links, sensors, millimeter-wave imaging RC chains, and other applications where broad bandwidth and good return loss are important.

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Millimeter-Wave Products

Electromagnetic radiation is a form of wave that varies from radio waves to gamma radiation. Waves, as we know are the way energy travels. Radio waves have been known since the time of Marconi and Hertz. However the electromagnetic radiation that we now know of ranges from the micrometer wavelength to much larger. Waves are characterized by their wavelength and by their frequency. The product of their frequency and wavelength is the speed of the wave. All electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light. Since speed of light is constant we can deduce that frequency and wave length are inversely proportional. As such when wavelengths are reduced, their frequency is increased and when frequency is increased their wavelengths are reduces. Millimeter waves describe the length of one wave, in this case there are measure in millimeter as such they are below visible light spectrum but are greater than radio waves.

Millimeter waves are being used recently in scanner technology. Scanner technology is a sensitive issue where personal privacy must be weighed against collective security. Air travel in the US and many other countries has been forced to intimately search and scan passengers to a point of embarrassment. This millimeter wave technology will be able to get past the embarrassing searches and scan through clothes for hidden objects, but will not be able to reveal anatomical detail. As such, embarrassing searches are a thing of the past. With millimeter wave technology, airport security can scan every single person without the need to profile or guess. People will be allowed to walk through the scanners and as they proceed, any object that shouldn’t be where it shouldn’t can be identified. The passengers will also not be placed in embarrassing positions and everyone is happy.


U.S. Department of Education: Promoting Educational Excellence for all Americans

Office for Civil Rights Annual Report to Congress (1999)

How OCR Measures Its Work

Graduation CeremonyIn order to use its resources most efficiently, OCR has identified and tracked four measures that indicate whether or not we have been timely and effective in removing barriers to equal access to educational opportunity.

1. The number of school districts and institutions of higher education that change their polices, procedures, or practices to comply with federal civil rights laws as a result of OCR's intervention.

In FY 1998, OCR's baseline year for collecting this data, more than 1,300 recipients of federal financial assistance made such changes. In FY 1999, the number grew to more than 1,500.

2. The number of students positively affected by OCR's activities (i.e., complaints, compliance reviews, technical assistance and partnerships).

In FY 1998, OCR's baseline year for collecting this data, the number of students positively affected was approximately 5,900,000; in FY 1999, the number rose to approximately 6,500,000.

3. Partnerships with parents.
Educating parents about civil rights makes them effective local advocates for students. OCR facilitates collaborative relationships between parents and schools to achieve ongoing civil rights compliance without OCR's continuing involvement. In FY 1999, the first year that OCR collected data on parental partnerships, 18 partnerships were formed that resulted in increasing access to educational opportunity for students.

4. The efficient resolution of complaints, (i.e., 80 percent of OCR's complaints are resolved in 180 days).

OCR is committed to giving timely relief to students who are being denied equal access to educational opportunity. Through decades of experience, we know that about 20 percent of our complaints are so complex that they cannot be resolved within that time- frame. OCR has committed to resolving at least 80 percent of our complaints in 180 days. In FY 1994, a year in which we had more staff and fewer complaints, the rate was 77 percent; in FY 1999, the rate was 80 percent.

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Delhi to Goa distance, location, road map and direction

Delhi is located in India at the longitude of 77.21 and latitude of 28.67. Goa is located in Philippines at the longitude of 123.49 and latitude of 13.7 .

Distance between Delhi and Goa

The total straight line distance between Delhi and Goa is 5043 KM (kilometers) and 978.19 meters. The miles based distance from Delhi to Goa is 3134.2 miles. This is a straight line distance and so most of the time the actual travel distance between Delhi and Goa may be higher or vary due to curvature of the road .

Time Difference between Delhi and Goa

Delhi universal time is 5.1473333333333 Coordinated Universal Time(UTC) and Goa universal time is 8.2326666666667 UTC. The time difference between Delhi and Goa is -3.0853333333333 decimal hours. Note: Delhi and Goa time calculation is based on UTC time of the particular city. It may vary from country standard time , local time etc.

Delhi To Goa travel time

Delhi is located around 5043 KM away from Goa so if you travel at the consistant speed of 50 KM per hour you can reach Goa in 100.88 hours. Your Goa travel time may vary due to your bus speed, train speed or depending upon the vehicle you use.

Delhi To Goa road map

Delhi To Goa driving direction

The following diriving direction guides you to reach Goa from Delhi. Our straight line distance may vary from google distance.

Travel Distance from Delhi

Travelers and visitors are welcome to write more travel information about Delhi and Goa.

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December 2013

Personalized Medicine
Matching Treatments to Your Genes

Illustration of human silhouettes, of different sizes and shapes, atop a background of the DNA double-helix.

You’re one of a kind. It’s not just your eyes, smile, and personality. Your health, risk for disease, and the ways you respond to medicines are also unique. Medicines that work well for some people may not help you at all. They might even cause problems. Wouldn’t it be nice if treatments and preventive care could be designed just for you?

The careful matching of your biology to your medical care is known as personalized medicine. It’s already being used by health care providers nationwide.

Even one of the oldest and most common drugs, aspirin, can have varying effects based on your genes. Millions of people take a daily aspirin to lower their risk for heart attack and stroke. Aspirin helps by preventing blood clots that could clog arteries. But aspirin doesn’t reduce heart disease risk in everyone.

NIH-funded researchers recently identified a set of genes with unique activity patterns that can help assess whether someone will benefit from taking aspirin for heart health. Scientists are now working to develop a standardized test for use in daily practice. If doctors can tell that aspirin won’t work in certain patients, they can try different treatments.

One NIH-funded research team studied a different clot-fighting drug known as clopidogrel (Plavix). It’s often prescribed for people at risk for heart attack or stroke. Led by Dr. Alan Shuldiner at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, the team examined people in an Amish community. Isolated communities like this have less genetic diversity than the general population, which can make it easier to study the effects of genes. But as in the general population, some Amish people have risk factors, such as eating a high-fat diet, that raise their risk for heart disease.

Many of the Amish people studied had a particular gene variant that made them less responsive to clopidogrel, the scientists found. Further research revealed that up to one-third of the general population may have similar variations in this gene, meaning they too probably need a different medicine to reduce heart disease risks.

The findings prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to change the label for this common drug to alert doctors that it may not be appropriate for patients who have certain gene variations. Two alternative drugs have since been developed. “If people have these gene variants, they know they have options,” says Shuldiner. “This is a great example of how study results made it onto a drug label and are beginning to be implemented into patient care.”

The decision about whether to get a particular genetic test can be complicated. Genetic tests are now available for about 2,500 diseases, and that number keeps growing. Your doctor might advise you to get tested for specific genetic diseases if they tend to run in your family or if you have certain symptoms.


Monday, September 2, 2013

You can access my facebook page clicking the link below:

Hope to see you over there!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Nutritional immunotherapy: dietary fatty acids

TLR4/MD-2 binds to LPS

Association between postprandial lipemia and inflammation

Fisher-Wellman & Bloomer, 2010

Hypertriglyceridemia increases endotoxemia

Effects of dietary PUFAs on immune cells

  • Providing energy.

Albumin binds fatty acids and LPS

Practical recommendations

  4. Avoid industrial trans-fatty acids.

* Work was presented in the Inmunoperu 2012 conference. More information when available.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

News and some links

Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend to AHS this year, due to some unexpected financial and academic (damn single molecules!) problems. I was looking forward to meet most of the “paleosphere” and discuss about science with very bright people. I hope I can make it in 2013.

I have been very busy working on the lab, teaching biochemistry and cell biology in Med School and doing a post-graduate diploma in basic and clinical immunology. Because of this, I have had little time for reading carefully studies which are not related to my thesis, and in my short spare time I wanted to let my brain “rest” a little bit, although I have read some (but not as much as I would like to). Accordingly, I haven’t had any time to update the blog. Nonetheless, I have an almost finished post on dietary fats and immune function, which may raise some controversy in the “low carb” community. I want to finish and publish this post once for all (it has been almost finished for almost one month now). I might add some information that I was keeping for my AHS talk (see bottom of the post).

In the meantime, and to make something productive out of this post, here are some studies I have found interesting lately (not all related to the topic of my blog, by the way).

Inducing myocardial infarction (MI) in NOD mice (non-obese diabetic mice) triggers the development of severe post-infarction autoimmune syndrome characterized by lymphocyte infiltration to the myocardium, infarct expansion, and autoantibody and Th1 type response to cardiac alpha-myosin. 83% of a sample of post-myocardial infarction T1D patients showed positive tests for autoantibody against cardiac proteins.

Post-infarcted myocardium from NOD mice showed extensive lymphocytic infiltrates resembling those from  pancreas islets,  and extended into the non-infarcted myocardium (left image). Normal mice (B6) showed no infiltration nor expansion, but normal infarct healing and scar formation (right image).   © 2012 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All Rights Reserved.

Wild-type (WT) female C57B6J mice were fed with normal chow or chow supplemented with extra cholesterol, fat and sucrose (Western diet, WD) for 2 weeks before breeding with WT male mice, and were maintained on chow or WD during pregnancy and lactation. Pups from mice fed a WD exhibited alopecia* (see figure), increased body weight, thicker lipid layer in the skin (increasing the lipid/skin weight ratio), skin leukocyte infiltration and increased expression of inflammatory genes (IL-1b, TNFa, COX-2, iNOS, MCP-1) in the skin, intestines and liver.

WD-milk promotes alopecia.  Copyright © 2012 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press

These deleterious effects were related to the composition of the WD, which contained more saturated fatty acids (SFA) than the chow diet (48.9% vs. 17.6%) **, as well as to the composition of the milk from WD fed mice, which was 24% higher in fat than control. Milk triglycerides from WD-milk had a higher percentage of long chain fatty acids (elongation ratio (C18:0/C10:0) was increased 1.9-fold) and saturated fatty acids (saturation ratio (C18:0/C18:2) was 2.8-fold higher).

Furthermore, the inflammatory effects induced by the increase in long-chain saturated fatty acids in maternal milk was in part mediated through the production of ceramides and glucosylceramides, as well as lactosylceramide, which was capable of inducing the expression of the aforementioned inflammatory genes in RAW264.7 cells (mouse macrophage cell line). Deletion of TLR2/4 abolished or decreased some of the toxic effects observed, suggesting that TLR-signaling is involved (deletion of adaptor molecule Myd88 also reduced toxicity). Germ-free mice showed an increased toxicity for WD milk, suggesting a protective effect of the normal gut microbiota.

Fasting improves metabolic alterations induced by high-fat diets in mice. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

When fed a high-fat diet, C57BL/6J mice develop inflammatory symptoms and ultimately, metabolic disease. What Du, et al. wanted to know if circadian metabolic oscillations influence the response of mice to a HFD. They used a restricted feeding regimen, which has shown to reset some circadian rhythms. They found that, although eating the same calories overall, mice eating all of the calories from the HFD during an 8-hour window do not developed the symptoms exhibited by mice eating a HFD ad libitum (see figure). In other words, eating the same unhealthy diet at the same level of calories, but restricting it to an 8-hour window, practically abolishes all the deleterious effects***. This effects were mediated by preventing the abnormalities in the circadian rhythm induced by high-fat feeding.

Iliev, et al. show that although bacteria are a very important (and the major component) for the gut microbiota, there are also other organisms which play an essential role in the host's health. This is the case for some fungi, which interact with the host through dectin-1 receptors, inducing a Th17-type immune response. Mice lacking dectin-1 are susceptible to DSS-induced colitis, and show an abnormal inflammatory response. Inducing colitis altered the mycobiome, and treatment with fluconazole (antifungal) ameliorated inflammation. Analysis of the mouse fungal microbiome revealed that 65.2% of the sequences identified corresponded to Candida tropicalis, an opportunistic pathogen. Their results showed that dectin-1 restricts its body localization to the intestinal lumen (so there is no invasion of inflamed tissues). Colitis also increased the proportion of Candida and Trichosporon (opportunistic pathogens) and reduced the levels of Saccharomyces (non-pathogenic). Supporting their hypothesis, they found an haplotype in the CLEC7A gene (human dectin-1 gene) which was correlated with severe forms of ulcerative colitis, but not with non-severe manifestations.

Fungi levels are an important part of the murine gut microbiota. This probably occurs also in humans.   © 2012 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All Rights Reserved.

A Single-Molecule Hershey-Chase Experiment

The mechanism by which phages transfer their DNA to bacteria has been a key question for decades. Using a single-molecule system with two different strains of lambda phage (differing in genome length), Van Valen, et al. found that the time it takes for lambda phage to transfer its DNA to a single E.coli cell takes 5 minutes (with high cell-to-cell variability and sometimes showing long pauses), compared to what it is  seen in vitro, where the process takes roughly 10 seconds. The in vivo velocity of DNA ejection seemed to be determined by the amount of DNA ejected, not by the amount of DNA left in the viral capsid (which is what has been seen in vitro). The method utilized by the authors is theoretically simple (see figure). They stained viral DNA while still in the capsid with a cyanide dye (SYTOX orange), after which excessive dye is washed out. The stained phages are then briefly bound to bacterial cells, which are pipetted into a flow chamber. After washing again with buffer, the sample is imaged with time-lapse bright-field and fluorescence microscopy. The ejection of DNA is measured by comparing the fluorescence intensity inside the phage capsid to that of the bacterial cell: a loss of fluorescence inside the capsid with a concomitant increase in the cell represents DNA translocation.

Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

This study is important for several reasons. First, it supports the notion that biological process must be seen at a single-molecule level for understanding them. When we do an experiment in bulk, we have millions of molecules at the time interacting. Any measure of a given parameter is just an average of what is being seen. But many times, we fail to see the behaviour of outliers, or in other case, we can have individual differences which are obscured by the number of molecules being analyzed in a given moment and a given space. What is more realistic is to measure single molecules and average repeated experiments. In this way, we a. reduce individual variability obscured by the average, b. observe how molecules behave inside cells (interactions are between single molecules) and c. reduce the influence of other co-solutes and molecules which might influence the process being observed.

Fluorescence imaging of the process of DNA ejection to a single E.coli cell. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Second, this finding challenges what was thought about this process based on in vitro evidence: that the amount of DNA inside the capsid was the driving force for DNA ejection. This was the most logical hypothesis, given that before ejection, the repulsive forces experienced by the tight packing of the DNA would promote its ejection. Lastly, the method utilized its a novel approach that can be expanded to other systems.

* Hair was recovered after weaning.
** It was also lower in PUFA (12.2% in WD vs. 61.8% in chow), but much higher in sucrose (152.8g/kg in WD vs. 0g/kg in chow).
*** Nevertheless, some inflammatory cytokines were still increased compared to control.

PD. I wanted to make public my thanks to the AHS organizers for their help with paper work and answering any question I had immediately. I feel very bad for cancelling my talk, specially after their help. Also, I want to thank to everyone who supported my talk me via donations. Please, if anyone who donated wants a refund, send me an email. For anyone who was expecting my talk, I will compensate it with more information on my blog. First, I will finish and post my second post on my nutrition immunotherapy protocol, and second, I will add a new page to the blog with schematic and didactic diagrams made for my presentation. They will be available for free to everyone.

Van Valen D, Wu D, Chen YJ, Tuson H, Wiggins P, & Phillips R (2012). A Single-Molecule Hershey-Chase Experiment. Current biology : CB PMID: 22727695

Hatori M, Vollmers C, Zarrinpar A, Ditacchio L, Bushong EA, Gill S, Leblanc M, Chaix A, Joens M, Fitzpatrick JA, Ellisman MH, & Panda S (2012). Time-Restricted Feeding without Reducing Caloric Intake Prevents Metabolic Diseases in Mice Fed a High-Fat Diet. Cell metabolism, 15 (6), 848-60 PMID: 22608008

Du Y, Yang M, Lee S, Behrendt CL, Hooper LV, Saghatelian A, & Wan Y (2012). Maternal western diet causes inflammatory milk and TLR2/4-dependent neonatal toxicity. Genes & development, 26 (12), 1306-11 PMID: 22713870

Gottumukkala RV, Lv H, Cornivelli L, Wagers AJ, Kwong RY, Bronson R, Stewart GC, Schulze PC, Chutkow W, Wolpert HA, Lee RT, & Lipes MA (2012). Myocardial infarction triggers chronic cardiac autoimmunity in type 1 diabetes. Science translational medicine, 4 (138) PMID: 22700956

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Nutritional immunotherapy: An overview

In previous posts (1,2), I have briefly reviewed the importance of adipocytes and molecules secreted by the adipose tissue in immunity. Overall, increases in adiposity alterate the inflammatory balance, shifting towards a pro-inflammatory state, which contributes to the development of obesity-associated diseases.

Given that metabolic and immune pathways are interconnected, and that metabolism controls function in immune cells, it is possible to modulate the immune system through nutrition. This is what I call "Nutritional Immunotherapy", which simply means targeting the immune system with nutritional tools for treating inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.

Nutrition acts both directly and indirectly on the immune system, as shown in the following diagram:

Relationship between nutrition and the immune system. See text for details.

  1. Nutrition influences the composition and function of adipose tissue (AT): Energy intake regulates fat mass, affecting the function and differentiation of pre- and mature adipocytes (direct effect). The concentration of specific fatty acids in AT is proportional to their abundance in the diet (indirect effect). The dietary fatty acid profile also affects membrane lipid composition on other cell types, which regulates cell functioning.
  2. Adipose tissue is an immune organ: There are several immune cells present in AT from different body sites, differing each one in the proportion of cell types. Lymph nodes present in AT are sorrounded by perinodal adipocytes, which have a higher proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) than adipocytes far from the nodes.  Lymphoid clusters within AT include milky spots (MS) and fat-associated lymphoid clusters (FALCs), which have an active role determining whole-body immune responses. Adipocytes are also able to secrete adipocytokines (leptin, resistin, adiponectin, etc.) and classical cytokines (IL-6, TNF-a, etc.).
  3. Adipose tissue regulates energy intake: Cytokines secreted by AT regulate appetite and energy balance, acting through neural pathways involved in energy homeostasis.
  4. Nutrition affects the gut flora: Microbial composition of the human gut flora is very responsive to diet. Small changes in either macronutrient distribution or food choices affect differently not only the relative proportion of certain species, but also their metabolism and gene expression patterns.
  5. Gut flora regulates fat mass and metabolism: Digestion of plant cell walls, oligosaccharides and other food components by gut bacteria increases the energy yield of food, contributing to energy intake. Acetate and propionate, produced by the fermentation of soluble fiber, are metabolized (predominantly) in skeletal muscle and the liver, respectively. Gut microbiota also supress FIAF activity and promotes hepatic triglyceride synthesis. Metabolism of drugs and xenobiotics is dependent on the composition of the gut flora.
  6. Gut flora regulates immunity: The presence of specific bacteria shapes the immune system and regulates mucosal and peripheral immune responses. The gut flora also competes with enteropathogens directly and by the action of antimicrobial peptides. Evolutionary co-adaptation has given gut bacteria and other microorganisms essential roles for mammalian health.
  7. Nutrition regulates immunity: Energy availability and macronutrients regulate the function, maturation and differentiation of immune cells.
Nutrition has the potential to act on all levels mentioned above. This is why a good diet is very important not only for prevention, but also for treatment of diseases of civilization.

Important components

The nutritional immunotherapy protocol integrates concepts from immunology, molecular and evolutionary biology. The first two help us answer the "how" question, while the latter helps us understand the "why".

What differences this protocol from other diets is that it takes into account the fact that people who already have developed an inflammatory and/or autoimmune disorder respond differently to any diet. This means that the response to a diet is individual, and more importantly, in this case, the starting point is not a natural one. This point is important for understanding the recommendations given hereafter.

The history of the patient, specially those aspects that would compromise the response to certain macronutrients and the normal development of a tolerant immune system, needs to be addressed before trying to make any nutritional adjustment. Nowadays, with genetic tools (like 23andMe), tailoring the diet according to the genotype is possible and helpful.

Important factors for the success and application of the protocol are shown below.

Relevant factors for the protocol
Mode of birth
Hygiene practices during childhood
Family diet, diet history and maternal environment
Medical history
Social/lifestyle experiences

 Mode of birth

This important but commonly overlooked factor is determinant for immune development and future health. Vaginal birth is the natural mode of birth because it stimulates not only hormonal responses in the mother and the child, but because it promotes an adequate colonization of the neonate, one that we have been adapted for. At birth, the newborn is sterile*, so it can be colonized virtually by any species. Babies born by cesarean section have an abnormal microbiota, as they harbor bacteria from the hospital's environment, medical practitioners and the mother's skin. Normally, during the passage through the birth canal, the infant is exposed to vaginal and cervical flora. Because of its proximity, newborns are also rapidly colonized by maternal gut microbiota, which seems to be the predominant source of bacteria. Pre-term infants also display a different pattern of microbial colonization.

Hygiene practices during childhood

Gut development is a continuous process that has its last phase during late infancy/early childhood, as the child transitions from breastmilk to complementary foods. Exclusive breastfeeding (and ingestion of colostrum) is very important for preventing inadequate colonization, as it has bacteria, immune and growth factors which promote immune development. Breastmilk also has a perfect nutritional composition, with oligosaccharides (and other components) that promote the growth and establishment of commensal bacteria (predominately Bifidobacteria). Formula-fed infants display an aberrant gut microbiota and normal colonization is severly delayed (if not completely disrupted).

Microbial exposure favors diversification and exposure to pathogens, which is necessary for stimulation of immune memory and tolerance. Contact with animals, eating raw food and playing in the dirt are a necessary part of a healthy lifestyle in infancy. Excessive hygiene and antibiotic use promote dysbiosis.

Family diet, diet history and maternal environment

The diet eaten by your father, mother and grandparents influences the expression of genes involved in energy metabolism. These effects are transmitted intergenerationally and lasting during adulthood. Inadequate dietary patterns followed during childhood and adulthood worsen immune and metabolic function. Additionally, maternal status during pregnancy (stress, nutrition, etc.) has profound effects on many genes.

Medical history

Previous diseases, antibiotic abuse and utilization of other substances can influence both the normal functioning of the immune system as well as metabolism.

The presence of certain alleles are important for tolerance of specific food components (ie. lactose) and variability in immune responses (ie. MHC alleles, cytokine gene polymorphism).

Social/lifestyle experiences

Having bad social relationships, lack of optimism, stress and other common lifestyle experiences affect the inflammatory status of the body. For example, losing a game in very competitive persons increases the levels of inflammatory cytokines higher than in non-competitive subjects. Mental stress also seem to affect the composition of the gut microbiota and gut permeability.

Symptoms, self-assessment and bloodwork

Any symptom (either bad or good) is valuable for trying to identify potential problems. Self-assessment, including anthropometric measures, emotional status or the characteristics of feces can also help narrowing the spectrum of possible disorders. Bloodwork and biomarkers are helpful for confirming assumptions and health status.

Before beginning any nutritional therapy, it is important to check for past events and factors that affect the metabolic and immune status. This will aid in finding the right dietary composition that helps the most with a given problem and reducing the time of experimentation needed for finding the adequate nutrition and supplementation for an individual.

*Although recent evidence suggests that bacteria colonize the gut in uterus.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Human microbiota and atherosclerosis

I've been wanting to post about this study for a while now. I think its a good update while I finish my first post on my nutritional immunotherapy protocol. This study was performed given the preliminary evidence linking infections and atherosclerosis, and the association of the human microbiota with the atherosclerotic plaque. For example, bacterial DNA has been observed in atherosclerotic plaques from young and old subjects (1, 2). This relationship has been investigated with more focus on oral bacteria, due to the association of periodontal disease and cardiovascular disease (CVD) (3, 4) and the presence of periodontal pathogens in  atherosclerotic plaques (5).

The authors tried to answer the following questions:

Is there a core atherosclerotic plaque microbiota?
Are bacteria present in the plaque also detectable in the oral cavities or guts of the same individuals?
Do the microbiotas of the oral cavity, gut, and atherosclerotic plaque relate to disease markers such as plasma levels of apolipoproteins and cholesterol?
Is an altered oral or fecal microbiota associated with atherosclerosis?

Using 16S rRNA sequences (from patients with clinical atherosclerosis and controls) and the unweighted UniFrac distance metric (qualitative instead of quantitative), they found strong clustering of samples according to body site, suggesting that the oral, gut and atherosclerotic plaque (AP) sites have different microbial communities:

PC1 and PC2 refer to the first two principal coordinates from the principal coordinate analysis of unweighted UniFrac, plotted for each sample (See also Fig S1). Of these sites, bacterial diversity was higher for the gut microbiota.

The analysis of the atherosclerotic plaque microbiota revealed that there was a positive correlation between the amount of bacterial 16S rRNA and the number of leukocytes present in the AP, and there was significantly higher levels of Proteobacteria and fewer Firmicutes compared with the oral and gut samples. Supporting the role for a "core" AP microbiota, several OTUs were present in all AP samples, which differentiated these samples from oral or fecal samples: Chryseomonas was detected at high levels in the AP samples, but not in gut or oral samples, being the most discriminative genus between sites and driving the differences between body sites. Other OTUs, three for the genus Staphylococcus, three classified as Propionibacterineae and one belonging to the genus Burkholderia, were specific for AP samples and were present in all AP samples analyzed.

There were no OTUs differentiating oral samples from healthy subjects and patients, but there were correlations between the abundances of OTUs in the oral cavity and CVD markers: the abundance of Fusobacterium was positively correlated with levels of cholesterol (P = 0.028) and LDL (P = 0.005), the abundance of Streptococcus was positively  correlated to HDL (P = 0.0001) and ApoAI (P = 0.01) levels and the abundance of Neisseria was negatively correlated to levels of these last two markers (P = 0.02 and 0.005, respectively). This is interesting, given that Fusobacterium has been associated with periodontal disease (6). As with oral samples, there were no differentiating OTUs between gut samples from controls and patients (in terms of OTU abundances). In gut samples, the abundance of two OTUs classified as uncharacterized members of Erysipelotrichaceae and Lachnospiraceae families were positively correlated with cholesterol (P = 0.009 and 0.001, respectively) and LDL (P = 0.012 and 0.007, respectively).

Finally, inter-individual comparisons between sites showed that some OTUs were shared among sites. These included OTUs for Veillonella (in AP and oral samples in 11 of 13 patients, detected also in the gut sample of two patients) and Streptococcus (in AP and oral samples in 6 of 10 patients, detected also in the gut of four patients). Within patients, the AP samples contained OTUs shared with oral (Propionibacterium, Rothia, Burkholderia, CorynebacteriumGranulicatella, Staphylococcus) and gut (BacteroidesBryantella, EnterobacterRuminococcus) samples.

  • The study identified a "core" atherosclerotic plaque microbiota, comprising higher levels of Proteobacteria and fewer Firmicutes, compared with the gut and oral samples.
  • The AP microbiota contained specific OTUs not shared with the analyzed body sites.
  • The abundance of some OTUs in the gut and oral cavity was correlated with CVD markers.
  • Shared OTUs among sites included Streptococcus and Veillonella, the correlation being stronger among the oral cavity and the AP, and these OTUs were also found in the gut samples from some patients. Across patients, the abundance of both were correlated in the oral cavity and the AP.

I find this study very interesting because it supports the role of infection on the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and CVD. The "infection hypothesis" of atherosclerosis has been proposed before (7). The fact that specific bacteria is present in AP and not in other body sites analyzed and that the amount of bacterial 16S rRNA was positively correlated with leukocyte counts, support the notion that these pathogens support directly atherosclerosis progression. However, the study only analyzed the oral cavity and the gut, so it is impossible to conclude that these pathogens couldnt have been derived from other body sites (for example, the skin). Moreover, primers commonly utilized to amplify 16S rRNA sequences are limited to some species, an inherent property of the method (8). Nevertheless, it seems more feasible to suppose that the origin of AP bacteria is the oral cavity because of the close proximity of the bacterial communities in the mouth to the highly vascularized gingival lining and because of the thickness of the subgingival epithelium, which differs from other protective layers such as the skin or the gut mucosa (9). Accordingly, any mechanical disruption of oral bacterial biofilms can trigger bacteremia, and these include oral procedures (periodontal probing, tooth extractions, etc), oral hygiene activities (such as brushing) and physiological phenomena (like chewing) (9). This, coupled with the findings that the abundance of OTUs in the AP were correlated with that of the oral cavity support this hypothesis. Gut bacterial origin is more complicated but feasible (as shown by the presence of gut bacteria in AP samples). The authors suggest that one possible way of this transfer is by phagocytosis of macrophages at epithelial linings.

If indeed bacteria play a role in the formation and/or progression of atherosclerosis, the million dollar question is why do these specific pathogens adhere to the vascular endothelium? Moreover, is this colonization the initial trigger for the localized inflammatory response or just aggravates the condition? With the available evidence it is hard to answer these questions. It has been proposed that atheromas might act as mechanical sieves, collecting bacteria from the cirulation (10). This would have deleterious consequences, as bacterial accumulation in the AP would lead to an increased inflammatory response. It could also link the fact that endotoxemia increases the risk of CVD (11), for which periodontal pathogens seem to play an important role (12). Supporting the role of infection as secondary to atherosclerotic inflammation, fungal DNA has been observed in AP (13), with some species correlated with that found on human microbial communities. It is of worth noting that in this study, fungal richness was not associated with classical CVD risk factors. Because not all normal residing oral bacteria are found in AP samples, AP invasion might be related to the virulence properties of some species (9). This seems to be the case, as in the study reviewed here, there was a common abundance of Streptococcus and Veillonella in AP samples. Streptococcus is able to adhere to the endothelium, while Veillonella is able to change its adherence capacity in the presence of some factors from Streptococcus (14). In fact, there is a tight relationship between Streptococcus and Veillonella in the oral cavity as some strains co-aggregate, partially because Veillonella seems to be metabolically dependent on Streptococcus (15). This relationship is so important that Veillonella is unable to establish an infection without Streptococcus.

In conclusion, microbial accumulation in AP might contribute to the progression of atherosclerosis. Although the mechanism by which these microorganisms colonize this site is not defined, it is clear that several microbes found in other body sites are also found in AP, which suggests that the normal human microbial communities are an important source of pathogens contributing to atherosclerosis progression. Translocation from these sites, in turn, is controlled by the host inflammatory status. This seems to be relevant to translocation from the oral cavity: transient bacteremia is experienced by everyone because of mechanical disruption of microbial biofilms (for instance, when eating), but it is controlled quickly. However, there are always some persisters which resist by-standing immune mechanisms. Obviously, a higher microbial load facilitates dissemination into the bloodstream and could possible influence the degree of transient bacteremia. A higher bacterial load coupled with a compromised subgingival epithelium barrier increases the risk of bacteremia and secondary colonization. So, in order to reduce the risk of AP colonization by oral pathogens, it is wise to target these two factors. For reducing oral bacterial load (overgrowth), reducing sucrose intake might be of benefit, as bacterial glucosyltransferase (GTF) plays a crucial role in plaque formation (16) and S.mutans is only pathogenic in the presence of sucrose (17). Dietary sucrose has been shown to increase total viable microbial density and S.mutans population in human dental plaque (18). Sucrose alone seem to be more cariogenic than sucrose plus fructose (19, 20). Additionally, sucrose alters the ionic concentration in the biofilms' matrix, altering the normal de- and re-mineralization process of enamel and dentin  (21). The role of starches in dental plaque formation is controversial (22), although some authors are in agreement with the Cleave & Yudkin hypothesis, which states that an excess of fermentable carbohydrate intake (in the absence of dental interventions) promotes dental diseases and then systemic diseases (23). Nevertheless, starchy foods commonly ate might promote dental plaque formation and disease. Pollard (24) showed that cornflakes, branflakes and wholemeal bread produced the minimum dental plaque pH peak, while all foods tested promoted enamel demineralization*. This might be related to the fact that, although starches can reduce plaque pH and induce demineralization, sucrose accelerates this effects (25). This is probably mediated by the interaction between bacterial GTF and salivary amylase (26). In contrast to what some might expect, whole fruit and fruit juices induce enamel demineralization by the same magnitude (27). This has been also found in some observational studies, where high fruit consumption is associated with increased caries risk (28). On the contrary, cheese and nuts have shown a negative association (29). Finally, inflammation increases the risk of oral bacterial growth and translocation, which might induce and/or aggravate systemic diseases (30). Periodontal disease has been positively associated with obesity (31), metabolic syndrome (32), type 2 diabetes (33), Alzheimer's disease (34), among other. Thus, controlling inflammation is key to avoid secondary diseases caused by pathogenic oral bacteria.

* "Test foods were oranges, apples, bananas, Cornflakes, Branflakes, Weetabix, Alpen (no added sugar), white bread, wholemeal bread, rice, and spaghetti, with positive and negative controls of sucrose and sorbitol."

ResearchBlogging.orgKoren O, Spor A, Felin J, Fåk F, Stombaugh J, Tremaroli V, Behre CJ, Knight R, Fagerberg B, Ley RE, & Bäckhed F (2011). Human oral, gut, and plaque microbiota in patients with atherosclerosis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 108 Suppl 1, 4592-8 PMID: 20937873


29/09/2011 16:00, Report by Adam Marshall

Breaks benefit Park

Ji-sung Park admits that he will feel the benefits of international retirement when the Reds take on Liverpool at Anfield on 15 October.

United have a fortnight's break between Saturday's fixture with Norwich and the trip to Merseyside but a number of players will be away with their respective countries.

However, Park called time on his South Korea career earlier this year and will be fresh and raring to go when he takes on a team he has enjoyed success against in the past.

Speaking during an exclusive webchat, he said: "I don't need to travel too far away now during the season. When there is an international break, I can stay and train in Manchester, this makes me fresher for the next game.

Park's diving header against Liverpool in March, 2010, the winner that took United back to the top of the table, is his personal favourite goal of his career.

"My most memorable goal is maybe the winning goal against Liverpool or the one against Chelsea, both at Old Trafford," he explained. "One of those goals would be my best. Actually, with the one against Chelsea in the Champions League, even if we had drawn the match, we would have got through. So I'll choose the Liverpool goal."

MoreFull Park transcriptIs complacency inevitable? | Vote: Player of the Month

Premier League


©2001 NewFoundations

Confucius's Educational Theory

Analyst: A. M. McEnroe

edited 4/30/14

Since Confucius' goal was to reform the government, his goals for education were to produce men who were capable to serve in government in decisive roles. He attempted to produce chun tzu, which is quite similar to the English word, "gentleman." Originally both Chinese and English words meant one born into a high social station, but both came to mean one with a proper and suitable behavior and cultivation, regardless of birth. His main goal was the cultivation of character, through observation, study and reflective thought.

To know Nature and the Way of Nature, one must observe. He is quoted as saying C.A.C.H. "I have no inborn knowledge. I love antiquity and I search for it [knowledge] assiduously." He also said, "Among three men who are walking together (myself being one of them), I am certain to find my teacher, a good one in order to emulate him, and a bad one in order [recognize in him what in myself I must] correct."

But to recognize what one observes, one must process it. He is quoted as saying to a student C.T.M.A.T.M. 136, "Do you think that my way of acquiring knowledge is simply to study many things and remember them?" The student said, "Yes, isn't that the case?" Confucius replied, "No, I have one principle which I use like a thread, upon which to string them all." This sounds like a rationalist who seeks to arrange his observations (the world's phenomena) according to the principle of his own mind.

I think Confucius would say that belief is premature knowledge based on insufficient observation and/or insufficient processing. A mistake is acting on premature knowledge based on insufficient observation and/or insufficient processing. Confucius would say that a lie is having full knowledge, and deliberately misrepresenting that knowledge.

Confucius was much influenced by the philosophy of his much older contemporary, Lao tzu (b. 604 B.C.), who is reputedly the founder of Taoism. T.H.O.C. 18. "Tao is Nature. Nature includes everything in the universe that proceeds on its course without interruption. Tao is the way of Nature. T.H.O.C. 19. Tao consists of many tao's, and every such tao also has a natural way of its own to follow. Nature is good; and each nature is good, at least so long as it pursues its own course without being interfered with by other natures or without imposing its own nature upon others."

Although the philosophy of Lao tzu. was not completely antisocial, it did encourage hermetic practices and tended towards anarchy. Confucius' philosophy was that it was natural for man to be social, and that the principles of T.H.O.C. 19 initiation and completion, beginnings and endings, comings and goings, (yang and yin) were a natural process in human association also, if one takes the trouble to recognize them. He believed that a truly cooperative world was the way of Nature.

Humans differ from other species in their tendency to meddle with Nature.

An individual human's potential is limited by: the individual's ability to recognize his/her true nature, the individual's ability to follow the way of his/her true nature, and by his/her true nature itself. Human potential collectively is limited by all of the above collectively, including all of the above for all those past, present, and future.

Confucius said C.T.M.A.T.M. 135, "Study without thought is labor lost; thought without study is dangerous." When referring to his own way of learning, he said -To hear much, select what is good, and follow it;" Thus he saw learning as a process of observation of some type of subject matter whether it be books, objects, or people, followed by reflection, that somehow changed one. He saw learning as a highly personal and therefore, highly individual activity. He seemed to feel once awakened by any kind of real learning, this process would be repeated by the student.

Confucius would have required that a teacher be one who has developed their own character. Confucius, himself was a teacher, and his methods were very informal, and taflored to the individual. He did not use structured classes or exan-dnations. Instead he suggested to each student what they should study, and then discussed it with them and sometimes just listened. He is said to have taken the stock of each student, and thenv encouraged their strengths, and improved their weaknesses. To this end, he sometimes answered the same question quite differently to two different students. C.T.M.A.T.M. 93. On one occasion the question was asked whether the student should immediately put into practice something he was taught. To one student, that Confucius thought was fiffl of zeal, he recommended that the student first consult his father and older brothers. To the other student, whom he thought was lacking in enthusiasm, he said yes, put it into practice right away. The curriculum at Confucius' school included C.T.M.A.T.M. 96 music, Li (the code and manner of proper conduct), the Book of Poetry, literature and history. Books did not hold a highly prominent role in Confucius teaching. This changed dramatically in China by 1058 A.D., when students ceased reading the classics in favor of books about the classic. Competition on exams for government service was fierce, and the more material a student could cover, the higher their chances were of getting in to government service.

In the 2 books authored by Confucius, Genuine Livinp, and Great Wisdo he clearly states that society starts with the individual, and that one must first develop oneself, to develop one's family. The family serves as a model for the community, the community as a model for the state, the state as a model for the country, and the country as a model for other countries. The educational process is first and most importantly the responsibility of the individual, then the family, then the community, then the state, and then the country.

A quote from Confucius' book Genuine Living says, "Developing in accordance with one's own nature is called "the way of self-realization." Proper pursuit of the way of self-realization is called "maturation"." In this quote, I believe Confucius proposes education for a but subject matter and form for that education would vary according to one's own nature. C.T.M.A.T.M. 78 At Confucius' own school, he would not teach "duflards", and would "only teach those who were bursting with eagerness for enlightenment." However he would not turn someone away because they had no money.

People disagree because they are focusing on themselves, and not Nature and the way of Nature. Confucius did not believe any one person was the possessor of the truth. He believed that through rational discussion the truth could be worked out between two people, and that the truth often was found somewhere between the two positions. As far as consensus on a large scale, I think he believed that people would naturally gravitate to their station in life. Once there they would be governed by what he states are the five social relationships. T.H.O.C. 93. Those: between sovereign and subject, between father and son, between husband and wife, between elder brother and younger brother, and between friend and friend associating as equals. The three traits required in these relationships are: concern, good will, and conscientiousness. The person whose opinion takes precedence is the person whose station is assigned that type of decision.

Bahm, Archie, J. The Heart of Confucius. Interpretations of Genuine Living and Great Wisdom. Berkeley, CA: Asian Humanities Press, 1992.

Creel, H.G. Confucius The Man and The M31 . New York, NY: The John Day Company, 1949.

Do-Dinh, Pierre. Confucius and Chinese Humanism. New York, NY: Funk and Wagnall's, 1969.

FURTHER informaton relating to Confucius can be found at Models of Teaching .


Philosophy Assignment

Assignment: Find an article on one of the topics listed below or one assigned by your professor using the Philosopher's Index(EBSCO) database. Identify Subject Headings/Descriptors. Write a correct MLA style citation for the article.

philosophy and ecology
politics and pragmatism
Richard Rorty
technology and cognition
ethics and stem cell research

How to:

    2. Find Philosopher's Index under EBSCO or scroll down the alphabetical list of databases.
    3. Using your terms find an article that is available in electronic full-text or on the shelves in the Library.
    6. Fill in this form: Citation Information
    7. From this information create an MLA style citation for the article. Hint: click on title of the article in Philospher's Index; click on Save; choose MLA format; click "save" again. Use the resulting citation as a starting point, but check to make sure of its accuracy. (It is not always accurate and you are liable for any discrepancies.)
    8. Write a brief annotation for this article.


Commission on the Status of Women

Forty-fifth session
6-16 March 2001
Agenda item 4 (a)
Thematic issues: women, the girl child and human immunodeficiency
virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS)

Summary submitted by the Moderator of the panel discussion on women, the girl child and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) (Ellen Margrethe Loej)

1. At its 6th meeting, on 8 March 2001, the Commission held a panel discussion followed by a dialogue on women, the girl child and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), one of the thematic issues of the Commission’s forty-fifth session. The panellists were Mabel Bianco (Argentina), Expert on Women and HIV/AIDS; Sharifah H. Shahabudin (Malaysia), Professor of Medical Education and Director of the Academic Development Centre on Women, AIDS and Health; Sheila Tlou (Botswana), Associate Professor, Department of Nursing Education, Faculty of Education, University of Botswana; and Elhadj Sy, Representative of the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Liaison Office in New York. The panel was moderated by Ellen Margrethe Loej (Denmark), State Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

2. Many participants stressed that the vulnerability to and impact of HIV/AIDS could not be ameliorated unless the fundamental gender inequalities were addressed by fostering an enabling environment that transformed relationships and promoted true partnerships, respect for human rights and equal opportunities for both women and men. Since women’s empowerment was a complex issue, participants stressed that in order to be addressed effectively it required a holistic approach. Gender mainstreaming should be pursued and be put into a context of human rights, survival, safety and all other factors related to human security. Participants also stressed that, since the mandate of the Commission on the Status of Women was to mainstream a gender perspective in United Nations policies and programmes, the Commission could provide added value to the preparation process of the special session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS to be held from 25 to 27 June 2001 and to the special session itself by sending to the special session a clear message on the importance of addressing the gender impact of the AIDS epidemic.

3. Participants emphasized the gender dimensions of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. They identified the imbalance of power between women and men, often promoted by cultural, social and religious norms, as being one of the main causes of the spread of HIV/AIDS. Women often did not have the power to decide about their lives, especially as regards sexual relations. In particular, young women and girls were often victims of gender-based violence, including sexual abuse and domestic violence, which besides violating their human rights also significantly exposed them to the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.

4. Participants emphasized that violence could be eliminated through formal and informal sexual education for children and adolescents, particularly before they started engaging in sexual relationships, and through programmes which promoted equality and autonomy in sexual relations, mutual respect and protection. It could furthermore be eliminated through the modification of a number of laws which contributed to sexual violence, such as those that did not punish rape inside marriage or condoned a girl’s rape if the violator married her. The need to address the issue of mass media and their role in fuelling gender violence and perpetuating gender stereotyping was also pinpointed. Participants also discussed the need to carefully analyse the complexities of the relations between women and men in order to correct the disfunctionalities of such relationships and thus contribute towards achieving the respect for the human rights of women and girls and more equal gender relations.

5. Many participants recognized that HIV/AIDS was a human security issue. The depletion of the skilled workforce, the decline in national food security resulting in malnutrition and starvation and increased illiteracy as children, particularly girls, dropped out of school in order to become breadwinners or care for the sick and dying, jeopardized national development and threatened the security of countries affected by the pandemic. The increase of child orphans, often cared for by elderly grandmothers, was also stressed. The poverty, violent conflict, political and social instability which could result from HIV/AIDS might have repercussions in other countries too, especially as HIV could easily spread across borders due to the movement of migrants in search of employment, long-distance drivers, military and militia groups, tourists, and traders and trafficking in women, young girls, boys and drugs.

6. Participants stressed that poverty was another factor responsible for the spread of HIV/AIDS, particularly among women, who constituted the majority of the world’s poor. Due to poverty, girls were often trafficked into prostitution and sexual slavery, including in foreign countries, where, being illegal migrants, they were not protected by the law and lacked access to social services. Some participants emphasized that poverty had created an environment of risk to HIV and that risk was also gendered as women tended to take different risks from men, depending, inter alia, on their economic security. Therefore, integrated programmes aimed to eradicate poverty, particularly among women and girls, should be developed.

7. Participants pinpointed the need for working with men in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Until recently, men tended to be considered responsible for rapidly transmitting the virus. Such a stereotypical label did not facilitate male involvement. Many participants brought up successful examples of programmes and projects undertaken in the last few years involving men in the fight against HIV/AIDS, such as working with religious and traditional leaders through the development of programmes based on religious core values, working with men’s organizations, such as the Society for Men and AIDS in Africa, or involving men in Latin America in the fight against violence, especially sexual violence. Men should be involved in all national and international activities relating to the prevention, impact alleviation and care of people living with HIV/AIDS. Examples of successful programmes to involve men were also cited by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which had launched the "Men make a difference" campaign, the results of which had been posted on its web site.

8. Participants emphasized that HIV infection among women led to an increase in the violation of women’s human rights, such as the right to bodily integrity, access to health services, including for reproductive health. Frequently, even in countries where abortion was not legal, HIV-positive women were forced to have an abortion if pregnant. Compulsory sterilization was another frequent practice imposed on women living with HIV/AIDS.

9. It was pointed out that the stigmatization suffered by HIV-infected women often prevented them from seeking medical assistance. Therefore, the need to combat stigmatization was emphasized. Some participants stressed that language was also responsible for stigmatizing women, and suggested the use of "parent-to-child" transmission rather than "mother-to-child" transmission as a preferred terminology in order not to associate women with the blame related to transmitting HIV to children. That would also help in decreasing women’s self-blame for transmitting the diseases to their children. Some stressed the need to include a psychological support component to HIV/AIDS services, programmes and policies.

10. Some participants emphasized that mandatory testing violated human rights. It was also mentioned that in order to be effective testing should be voluntary and accompanied by adequate counselling. Counselling was considered as being a very good opportunity for educating people about HIV/AIDS, particularly for reaching out to men. The need for education on HIV/AIDS was emphasized, including through the use of the new information and communication technologies, which could play an important role in reaching out to young people. However, it was also stressed that education was not sufficient to empower people if access to care was not available to all. For example, if care was located to mother-to-child transmission and natal care, men, even if aware of the disease, might not be reached by care programmes.

11. Many participants in the panel discussion emphasized the need for access to affordable treatment, including antiretrovirals and prophylaxis of opportunistic infections, particularly for developing countries. Emphasis was placed on the need for concerted action at the international level to lobby for the reduction in the price of drugs. Some participants stressed the need for a more morally acceptable approach than the one based on loans for drugs. Some stressed that accepting loans for drugs would lead to an increase in the already heavy debt burden carried by poor countries. Cooperation with pharmaceutical companies should be envisaged in order to find a balance between an increase in the accessibility to affordable drugs by the poor and the need to allow companies to invest in research for a cure.

12. However, it was also stressed that drugs were not a panacea and had to be complemented by good health services in such a manner that the issue of access to drugs was treated in a broad framework, encompassing both health care and developmental assistance, as well as the formation of effective systems of distribution and basic infrastructure. It was noted that access to reproductive health services for all women, not only for HIV infected women, would enable them to control their bodies and make informed choices.

13. Some participants stressed the need to explore the use of alternative therapies, such as traditional medicine, which would be cheaper and more women-friendly. Others stressed the need for developing countries, particularly for African countries, to intensify their own research, including in herbal medicine. A link between gender-sensitive research and the implementation of policies and programmes should be made. The need to respect the human rights of people in the context of research was also stressed.

14. Some participants stated that in many countries, the main form of HIV/AIDS transmission was through substance use, thus emphasizing the need to combat the drug problem. However, others stressed that substance abuse was only one of the entry points for a pandemic which, once inside a community, could be spread through various means. Therefore, the strategy to combat HIV/AIDS should have a multi-pronged approach. The involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS in sensitizing community members was considered crucial, although problematic unless the stigmatization associated with HIV/AIDS was eliminated.

15. Participants emphasized the importance of political commitment at the highest level in order to combat HIV/AIDS. The significant role of political leaders was emphasized. It was further stated that the decision makers at the national level should make every effort to provide the necessary financial resources. In fact, while it was recognized that more resources should be allocated to the fight against HIV/AIDS by the donor community, countries affected by HIV/AIDS should also be responsible for mobilizing more resources. Armed conflicts were also seen as a major impediment to the fight against HIV/AIDS due to the high costs involved in the purchase of armaments and increased vulnerability to violence of women and girls. Thus, peace was considered as being a possible contribution to combat HIV/AIDS.

16. It was noted that States should acknowledge that the threat to their security came from both within and across national borders. Concerted action among States, intergovernmental organizations, transnational corporations and civil society was needed as an effective way to maximize the use of resources, coordinate programmes and apply and share knowledge to combat the spread of the disease and alleviate the sufferings of HIV-infected people. Action should be taken at the national, regional and international levels. In particular, the need for action at the regional level was stressed, and it was suggested that Governments establish mechanisms for joint regional plans and collaborate to creatively develop new culturally sensitive programmes and new ways of addressing the pandemic within a human rights framework. United Nations entities, including the World Bank, and other international institutions should review economic and trade policies and practices that resulted in increased unemployment and cuts in social services, and thus made people vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, particularly in developing countries.


T-Boz Confirms, New TLC Album In The Works

When TLC‘s “L”, Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes, pased away tragically in 2002, the conclusion was that TLC‘s 3D album, which contained Left Eye‘s vocals, would be the last album the group would ever release… 10 years and a few reality shows later, T-Boz is singing a different tune (no pun intended). There is a new TLC album in the works, Chilli and T-Boz will soon begin recording for it. But my question is, if you were a TLC fan (of all three members), will you listen to it?


A disk of radius R ad thickness w has a mass density that increases from the center outward, given by ρ=ρ0r/R, where r is the distance from the axis of the disk.  A) Calculate the total mass M of the disk.  B) Calculate the rotational inertia about the disk axis in terms of M and R.
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