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What are the types of skin cancer?
There are two main types of skin cancer:
- cancer in moles (malignant melanoma)
- the non-melanoma group (basal cell – and squamous cell carcinoma).
People of all ages can get skin cancer, but it's rare in children.
Symptoms and treatment depend on the type of cancer.
What are basal cell and squamous cell cancer?
Basal cell carcinoma is a cancer that begins in the deep basal cell layer of the epidermis (the outer layer of the skin).
It is six to eight times more common than malignant melanoma.
It is often located in the face and on the neck.
Basal cell carcinoma is not one of the most dangerous cancers, but it must still be treated to avoid it spreading.
'Rodent ulcer' is an alternative term sometimes applied to basal cell carcinoma.
Squamous cell carcinoma begins in a different layer of the epidermis. It is not as common as basal cell carcinoma and is typically found in places exposed to sunlight, like the face or neck.
Like basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma is not among the most dangerous cancers, but it can become dangerous if it is not treated in time.
What causes basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma?
Sunlight is a contributing factor in 90 per cent of the cases. The disease itself is usually triggered by damage to the skin caused by sun rays.
People who are exposed to large quantities of sun radiation can develop skin cancer as early as age 20 or 30 but most patients are older.
What are the symptoms of non-melanoma cancer?
Basal cell carcinoma
The first warning signs may be small lumps, scar-like changes, or eczema-like changes on the skin.
The first sign can also be a small sore with raised borders. It is a slow-growing cancer and it never spreads to other parts of the body.
Squamous cell carcinoma
The first sign can be a patch of scaly eczema. Later, a sore that can turn into a tumour may appear.
Squamous cell carcinoma grows faster than basal cell carcinoma especially when located near orifices – the eyes, ears, mouth, anus or the vagina. It may spread via the lymph vessels, but that is rare.
What are the warning signs?
- Sores that will not heal.
- Sores that grow bigger or turn into tumours.
- Sores or tumours in or around the orifices should be watched carefully as these can behave aggressively.
What can be done at home?
- Avoid excessive exposure to the sun, especially the midday sun (from 11am to 2pm).
- Move into the shade and have a 'siesta' instead.
- Clothing and sun hats can protect the skin from the sun's harmful rays.
- Children must be protected from getting sunburn. Although the sunburn clears up nicely, the skin may have suffered damage that will become apparent later in life. Sunburn increases the risk of developing skin cancer.
- Consult your doctor if you have sores that will not heal.
How is it diagnosed?
The sore or tumour often has certain distinctive features that, in most cases, will enable the doctor to recognise the disease.
A biopsy will often be done to confirm the diagnosis.
Most non-melanoma skin cancers are cured, but there are no guarantees that the patients will not develop a new cancer.
How is basal cell carcinoma treated?
- The tumour is usually removed surgically.
- Another possibility is to expose the tumour to heat and scrape it off (cutterage and electrocautery), expose it to radiation (radiotherapy) or to freeze it with a little nitrogen (cryotherapy). A cream containing imiquimod has been shown to cure 85 per cent of basal cell carcinoma and is an option for smaller tumours less than 2cm in diameter. Fluorouracil cream can also be used for these cancers.
- The most recent therapy to be provided on the NHS is photodynamic therapy (PDT). A cream containing 5-aminoaevulinic acid, or 5-ALA, is placed on the basal cell carcinoma and a strong light then applied to the lesion. The cream makes the lesion more sensitive to the light and this causes it to heal.
How is squamous cell carcinoma treated?
- The tumour will often be removed surgically, but the other treatments used for removal of BCC can also be used.
- Radiation therapy is sometimes used.
- Electrochemotherapy is the latest treatment but evidence for how effective it is is limited at present.
- A tumour located in or around an orifice may require extensive surgery and lead to a longer than usual stay in hospital for recovery and healing to take place.
Other people also read:
Skin cancer: what causes it?
Sunbathing: how can you avoid sun damage?
It happened to me…skin cancer
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by Kimberly Allen R. N.
Post traumatic stress disorder known at PTSD is a mental health condition that develops as a result of a traumatic physical or emotional experience. Symptoms of PTSD can manifest anytime from one month to years after experiencing the traumatic event. PTSD was originally recognized in soldiers returning from war and has gone by other names like ‘shell shock’ in the past.
For years PTSD was considered an illness that affected adults almost exclusively, however in recent years studies have shown that children and teens also can suffer from PTSD. It is believed that in the US alone there are more than 3 million children with PTSD. Unfortunately, the two most common causes of PTSD in children and teens are physical and/or sexual abuse. Though they are the most common, there are other events that can lead to PTSD in children and teens including witnessing domestic violence or other violent crime, being in an auto accident and even bullying can lead to the development of PTSD. Researchers have also discovered a few other little known facts about PTSD in children and teens, for example girls are more likely to develop PTSD than boys and if the trauma involves family the child is at even greater risk for developing PTSD.
When the child perceives an event as life threatening or responds to the event with intense overwhelming fear and helplessness they will most likely develop PTSD. Not all children will develop PTSD, however there are certain factors that have been identifies that can affect the chances a child will develop PTSD:
1. How close was the child to the traumatic event? Did the child witness the event or it’s aftermath?
2. How close is the child to the people involved? Was it family or close friends?
3. How severe was the trauma?
4. How long did the traumatic event last or was it ongoing?
The symptoms of PTSD vary from child to child depending on the age of the child and the circumstances of the trauma. The problem with many of the symptoms of PTSD si they can easilt be mistaken by adults close to the child as ‘moody behavior’ or ‘just being a teenager’ especially if the adult is unaware that the child has or is experiencing trauma, such as severe bullying. It’s important to view the symptoms in their context, for example is the behavior new, or in response to certain events. A child may suddenly demonstrate intense anxiety if separated from family members or when around strangers. If a child is suddenly experiencing nightmares or starts wetting the bed chances are he/she is reliving a traumatic event. Adolescents may develop self-abusive and self- destructive behaviors like cutting or alcohol and drug abuse. Adolescents with PTSD often develop other mental health disorders such as bipolar disorder or OCD.
The treatment for PTSD is complex, individualized and long term. Psychotherapy or “talk therapy” and if necessary medication are the standard treatment and have shown great success in helping children with PTSD to live a normal life. There are several factors that can affect the success of the treatment plan including the coping skills of the child and family, the mental health history of the childs family and how much support the child receives at home, school and in the community.
The rise in incidence of PTSD in children and adolescents has many mental health practitioners concedrned, as the violence in society increases so will the incidence of PTSD affecting children and teens.
Kimberly Allen is a registered nurse with an AND in nursing. She has worked in ACF, LCF and psychiatric facilities, although she spent most of her career as a home health expert. She is now a regular contributor to HealthAndFitnessTalk.com, dispensing advice and knowledge about medical issues and questions. You can reach her with any comments or questions at email@example.com.
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Learners can read about the Deep Impact mission to encounter comet Tempel 1, including the mission, the experiment, results, the comet, the team, and how the results were transmitted back to Earth. Includes pre- and post-encounter fact sheets.
This activity is an interactive word find game with words related to comets and NASA's Comet Nucleus Sample Return mission. Accompanying text and pictures describe what comets are and why we are interested in them.
In this lesson, learners will use images to observe and compare the surfaces of two comet nuclei from close range. Separate teachers guides and students guides are provided. Supplementary resources needed for the lesson are provided and include... (View More) scientist and student audio tracks, and images of Wild 2, Tempel 1, and Hartley 2. (View Less)
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What Is Vascular Screening?
It is a painless test that checks the arteries of the body for the buildup of fatty deposits, or atherosclerosis. Blood and oxygen is transported through the body by the cardiovascular system, an extensive network of arteries and smaller vessels. Depending on where they occur, any blockages in these arteries can cause sudden and severe illness, even death. Using ultrasound technology to screen the vascular system for signs of narrowing or blockages can help prevent future heart attacks, strokes and impaired blood flow to the legs, arms and abdomen. A ‘screening’ is where a person is checked for signs of a vascular disease although they show no symptoms.
What Does It Screen For?
Typically, a screening will look for signs of the following three conditions:
Carotid Artery Disease
The carotid arteries are the 2 large arteries which supply blood to the brain, located on each side of the neck. Over time, atherosclerosis can form in these arteries and cause narrowing and blockages. If blood becomes completely blocked, it can cause a stroke. The disease does not usually show any symptoms and a stroke may be the first sign of the problem.
Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)
PAD is the narrowing of the peripheral arteries, the blood vessels which are farthest from the heart and include the legs, arms and head. Blockages in these arteries can cause limb numbness, pain, and open sores. If it is severe enough, gangrene and amputation may result. People with coronary heart disease have a 1 in 3 chances of developing blocked arteries in the legs.
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
The aorta is the largest blood vessel in the body. It leads from the heart and continues down into the abdomen where it branches into two smaller arteries to supply blood to the legs. An abdominal aortic aneurysm is when the region of the aorta in the abdominal region swells and may potentially burst and cause heavy internal bleeding or sudden death. Up to 75 percent of people with a ruptured aorta will die before they even reach hospital. Screening is recommended for people showing any risk factors. It is more common in white men over the age of 60; and in those with symptoms of CHD and PAD. Note: It is not related to aneurysms of the brain.
Renal or Mesenteric Arteries
The arteries to the kidneys can be blocked for many reasons and can cause kidney failure and hypertension and heart failure. If the arteries to the bowels and stomach are closed, patients develop belly pains after meals and weight loss. These can be treated with angioplasty and stents.
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From the bacterial point of view, a paramecium is a microcosm offering several tempting niches for colonization. When you collect a paramecium from nature, it's likely to have hundreds – even thousands – of bacterial endosymbionts on board, in different locations. Some will likely be in the cytoplasm, others in other cellular compartments, including the nuclei. To remind you, the ciliates evolved their own particular approach to nuclear compartments. They haveF two kinds of nuclei, macronuclei (we'll call them Macs) and micronuclei (Mics), typically two or more of each. The Macs carry out all the RNA transcription during normal vegetative growth; the Mics transmit the germline genome to subsequent generations. Both the Mics and the Macs are hosts to specific symbionts. While locations in mitochondria and nuclei have been observed for bacterial pathogens of animal cells, they are relatively uncommon.
So far, nine endosymbionts are known to live within the nuclei of paramecia, about half in the Mics, half in the Macs. These nine species, α-proteobacteria all, have been lumped together into the genus Holospora because of their similar cytology and lifestyle. Their closest known relatives are Rickettsia and Ehrlichia. They all appear to be obligate endosymbionts, that is, are not known to live outside their hosts. All are host-specific and nuclei-specific.
Life in a Mac has its perks, such as a goodly supply of nutrients and protection from cellular defenses, including lytic enzymes. But what's an endosymbiont to do when the host cell mates? During this process, the Macs are digested along with the symbionts. New Macs formed after conjugation are free of bacteria. This may be one reason why, unlike the cytoplasmic symbionts, all of these species are infectious, that is, they are capable of horizontal transmission.
Quite a bit is known about Holospora obtusa, a symbiont living in the Mac of P. caudatum. Its life cycle includes two stages. The reproductive form (RF) is a short rod, 1–3 μm by 0.5–1 μm, that grows and divides by binary fission within a Mac. Some RFs differentiate into an infectious form (IF), long rods 5 to 20 μm in length. This is a dramatic transformation, involving the replacement of 60% of their proteins, along with marked changes in cell structure.
Both forms coexist, intermingled, in the Mac until the host undergoes mitosis. At that time, some of the RFs move to the poles of the dividing Mac, thus ensuring that each daughter nucleus will inherit a share. Meanwhile, the IFs are destined to be released from the cells via a special, dedicated structure. They gather in a cluster in a central bridge that forms as the daughter Macs pull apart. This structure is seen only in symbiont-bearing paramecia, not in "cured" ones. As the daughter nuclei separate, the bridge breaks away from the Mac to form a membrane-bounded structure that travels through the cytoplasm to the cytoproct (the quasi-anus of ciliates), there to be discharged into the environment.
The IFs can remain viable for weeks outside a host cell. They have a unique structure, the hallmark being a massive periplasm filled with proteins required for successful infection. IFs are ingested by paramecia along with other bacterial prey. But instead of being digested, they escape from the phagosome and journey – periplasm tip first – through the cytoplasm. They arrive at the Mac 30 minutes later. This process involves several fancy membrane fusions and evaginations. Host actin is also required. Once in the nucleus, the IF constricts transversely, dividing to form 4-10 RFs. The cycle is then repeated.
Many observations suggest a long shared history between H. obtusa and P. caudatum, the intimate communications between them during infection being one. Here are some others. The association seems to be quite specific. If you experimentally infect a different species of paramecium with H. obtusa, the IFs make it into the Mac, but within 24 hours they are deported to the cytoplasm, often in fragments, and "shat out" via the cytoproct. Although P. caudatum can get along just fine in the lab when cured of their endosymbionts, some natural isolates have H. obtusa on board, especially when collected in cold climates. In the lab, paramecia with H. obtusa endosymbionts do better in colder temperatures and also better handle rapid heating from 25 °C to 35 °C.
The symbionts alter host gene expression, up-regulating several genes and down-regulating others. Reproduction of the RFs in the Mac requires some proteins made by the host. Are these endosymbiont genes that have been transferred to the host genome? Initial estimates indicate a reduced genome size for the endosymbiont, about 1.7 Mb, but evidence of gene transfer must await genomic data.
Endosymbioses have a way of fascinating us. The very idea! Bacteria living within the organelles inside cells? When sketching a eukaryote cell, we draw a membrane around it, and around the nucleus and the other organellar compartments. These membranes mark serious boundaries. But endosymbionts remind us that such boundaries can be doorways – if you know the right incantation.
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A collection of nuclear power plant diagrams are available in the following 101 Diagramss to help you learn how the nuclear reactor works. The images that we have collected in the following images below show basic components and layout of a nuclear power station.The first diagram is available right below, and the other types of nuclear reactor such as BWR and CANDU are also provided.
From the illustration drawn on the above nuclear power plant diagram, it can be seen that a nuclear reactor consists of fuel rods, control rods and moderator. A fuel rod contains small round fuel pallets (uranium pallets). Control rods are of cadmium which absorb neutrons. They are inserted into reactor and can be moved in or out to control the reaction. The moderator can be graphite rods or the coolant itself. Moderator slows down the neutrons before they bombard on the fuel rods. The nuclear power plant consist of two main buildings: containment and turbine building. The containment building is the key building of the nuclear island while the turbine building houses a turbine, generator, condenser and other equipment, which is used for conversion thermal energy from pressurized steam to mechanical work used for drive the generator. The following structure diagrams of the nuclear reactor will help you to understand more.
Most reactors need to be shut down for refuelling, so that the pressure vessel can be opened up. The CANDU and RBMK types have pressure tubes (rather than a pressure vessel enclosing the reactor core) and can be refuelled under load by disconnecting individual pressure tubes. A CANDU fuel assembly consists of a bundle of 37 half metre long fuel rods (ceramic fuel pellets in zircaloy tubes) plus a support structure, with 12 bundles lying end to end in a fuel channel. The CANDU reactor diagram is posted below.
Get all these nuclear reactor diagrams that you need by clicking on the images. You can also find other diagrams in our site by typing the keyword on the search column. Don’t forget to share this article to your social media account!
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“We probably can’t hold—it’s coming over—we are abandoning the task!” a firefighter radioed in at 11:33am on Sunday, October 20, 1991, as the Oakland Hills were engulfed in flames. As winds picked up and the blaze spread from house to house, firefighters who had been battling the fire suddenly had to battle simply to survive.
One lieutenant and a firefighter took shelter in a swimming pool, and only stuck their heads out intermittently to splash water over the pool’s cover, to keep it from being set aflame. Another team waited it out by a water tank, spraying a perimeter around their position as the inferno raged past them. While first responders tried to evacuate civilians from buildings, many of those who were killed were unable to escape due to the traffic jams in the tight, narrow roadways leading up through the hills.
By the time firefighters were able to put out the blaze, what would eventually be known as the 1991 Oakland firestorm had killed 25 people and injured 150, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It also caused $1.5 billion in property loss and other damages, the most from a single fire in US history.
Now, a team of University of California, Berkeley scientists believes it may have the answer to preventing such destruction: a satellite that can see fires from space.
Known as the Fire Urgency Estimator in Geosynchronous Orbit, or “FUEGO”, the satellite would use infrared sensors to detect fires as small as one quarter of an acre in size and could scan the entire Western US in under three minutes, researchers said.
Currently, fires can burn for days—or even longer—in some areas before they are detected, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The satellite would have the greatest impact in these more remote areas.
“Most fires are seen by humans by chance,” said Dr. Carlton Pennypacker, one of the authors of the FUEGO study and a research associate at Berkeley. “The Oakland fire was smoldering for hours, but we could have seen it instantly. And the Rim Fire we could have gotten to very quickly as well.”
If it were created, FUEGO would be the only satellite dedicated specifically to fires, and the only one capable of rapidly spotting blazes down to the scale of a single house. While the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has access to a different satellite, it is primarily used to monitor weather and its sensors aren’t powerful enough to detect fires on that small of a scale. Another system is used by the US Forest Service, but it can only sense wildfires one square kilometer or larger, and scans the Western US just once every one to two days.
Proponents argue that FUEGO could be a vital tool for fighting wildfires, which have been a growing problem in California and across the US for the past several decades. Over the past five years, an average of more than 74,000 individual fires have occurred annually nationwide, burning a total of about 6.5 million acres per year, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Most fires are reported by civilians who call them in on their cell phones, though occasionally state fire officials will put fire spotters in towers during the critical months.
The problem with this approach, Pennypacker said, is that it relies too much on chance, meaning that fires can get dangerously large before first responders are alerted. In the case of the Rim Fire, he noted, it “must have taken hours and hours to be seen by humans.”
In fact, the Rim Fire was only discovered when a plane responding to a separate fire nearby happened to spot it. When the report of the blaze was called in at 3:25pm on August 17, the fire was already 40 acres. By the time first responders got there, at 4pm, it had more than tripled in size, to 150 acres, and had become virtually unstoppable as it flowed over the surrounding dry, hilly terrain.
But not everyone believes the FUEGO satellite, which would likely cost several hundred million dollars, is necessary given how quickly most fires are detected. Julie Hutchinson, a battalion chief for CAL FIRE, notes that even a very small fire—say one-quarter of an acre—can put up a large amount of smoke for passers-by to see. And the spread of cell phones has also helped.
“Twenty years ago, if someone saw a fire, they would have to drive 20 minutes or an hour to find a landline and call it in,” Hutchinson said. “Now, people can report fires instantly.”
Once a fire is reported, officials say, response time varies from three minutes to half an hour depending on how remote the location is.
Justin Anderson, a seasonal firefighter for CAL FIRE in the Tahoe Basin, agreed with Hutchinson that while a satellite would be an interesting tool, it may not be necessary given how quickly most fires are reported, and how rapidly firefighters are able to respond.
Nevertheless, he thought that FUEGO might help by reducing the number of false alarms. “Sometimes people just start up a lawn mower that hasn’t been used in a while, and it puts up a lot of smoke,” he said. “Or sometimes people will call in smoke from smoke stacks. We get a lot of calls like that.”
While researchers believe that the satellite could help keep many small fires from becoming larger, they remain divided on the question of whether the satellite would have made a difference in the 1991 Oakland firestorm.
“Certainly if the 1991 Oakland fire could have been seen long before it became critical, a billion dollars of house infrastructure in the Bay Area might have been saved,” the Berkeley scientists write in their study. But a report by the Federal Emergency Management Agency evaluating the causes of the firestorm states that local firefighters were aware of the blaze from the start. After being notified, they fought the fire for an afternoon but abandoned efforts overnight because because the fire had been reduced to embers. The result of this, however, was that Diablo winds came in the next morning and whipped the fire’s embers into flames once more.
Apart from the fact that the fire was allowed to smolder, the report also noted that the firefighters’ response was hampered by overwhelmed radio frequencies, compatibility issues with outside fire companies hooking up to fire hydrants, and the winding roadways that delayed fire trucks – none of which the satellite could have prevented.
Despite this, a number of local firefighters were enthusiastic about the possibility of developing a faster and more accurate way to spot fires. “If we have a system to detect gunshots, then we don’t we have something like this?” said Dave Espino, a 15-year veteran of the Oakland Fire Department. “Frankly, I’m surprised it hasn’t been built yet.”
Sean Gascie, a fire lieutenant at Station 8 in Temescal, added that FUEGO might be able to help with pinpointing the location of fires, and thereby help firefighters get to the scene more quickly.
“A lot of times we get called up to the hills for a report of smoke, and we have to drive around for five or ten minutes trying to find it,” he said. “Just a few weeks ago, we had one where the people reporting it told us to go to totally the wrong spot. When we got there, we couldn’t see fire or smell smoke at all.” The team then returned to the fire station, thinking it had been a false report, only to be called to respond to the fire again in a completely different area.
Once firefighters are alerted, it usually takes only three to five minutes to get to the scene, Espino said, provided it is reported accurately.
“It’s hard to find locations, especially out in the hills,” he added. “We’ll get a lot of different reports of smoke. So then we’ll have to send out multiple companies and have them driving around to different spots trying to find it.” With a satellite, Espino and Gascie hope local firefighters could be given a more exact location.
In practice, however, FUEGO is still a long way from becoming a reality. The next step for scientists will be to build a prototype and start raising money for the real thing. If approved, the project would likely take seven years—or longer—to complete.
Despite the challenges, Pennypacker remained optimistic. “I’m pretty confident it will eventually get built,” he said. “The planet and the galaxy should have this.”
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Spain wanted to expand its borders past the Rio Bravo, today known as the Rio Grande, but did not have much success. For the most part the area north of the river was inhabited by hostile Indians and the terrain was vast and desolate; quite impossible to control without a huge army. However, some pioneers seeking new land and social freedom ventured into the territories north of Mexico City, these settlers were known as the Norteños.
The open plains of Sonora were suited to cattle and grazing. To encourage the migration, the Crown, through the Viceroys, issued thousands of land grants to the Castas, the mixed blooded people, as early as 1670. Mestizo families became Rancheros. With them they brought thousands of heads of livestock. By 1750 there were permanent settlements along and south of the Rio Bravo.
In New Spain a person was identified by race and the color of their skin. This distinction even extended to the taxes they had to pay; the upper classes paid less tax than the hard-working lower classes. The Castas living in Mexico City were severely constrained by laws inhibiting them from rising above their life of servitude to the white Spaniards. Opportunities of advancement for the Castas were in these northern territories. While the Norteño was herding cattle he was not subject to the restrictive mandates. He owned a horse, carried arms and knife and wore European dress; privileges that were denied to them in New Spain. These Indio mixed people not only dressed like European Spaniards but spoke Spanish, no longer their native Indian dialects. They were treated, not by their color, but as individuals. To the Indians, like the Apache and Yaqui, they were considered “white” and were subject to being robbed, tortured and killed as any pure-blooded Spaniard.
They were on their own out in the wilderness, they were skilled horsemen, and they could be men who took pride in their work; a life they could never attain in the haciendas. Slowly the races melded together. They were neither Indian nor Spanish; they were no longer being identified by their Castas’ labels. They were developing their own identity; they were evolving into the “Mexican.”
Ranchers were called Charros and Vaqueros; this was the beginning of the Cowboy era. These emerging Mexicans adopted their own style of clothing, economics and social values. The name, Vaquero, comes from the Arabic word relating to cow and in Spanish cow is vacca. Buckaroo, is a word we use today to describe a cowboy, possibly came as an English version of vaquero.
Charro refers to the traditional horseman from the central-western regions of Mexico. Vaqueros usually owned a ranch and many heads of cattle. Vaqueros and Charros had 2 styles of dress. Charros wore colorful clothing. The Vaquero wore garments we associate with the Mariachis of today; the other, more like what we think of as working-cowboy attire.
The most familiar item of clothing associated with the Vaquero and Charro is the wide brimmed pointy crowned sombrero or hat. It’s practical; it protects the head and eyes from the hot sun. The bandana or kerchief is also used to protect the cowboy from the elements. The jacket of the Vaquero is short and usually wrapped around the waist is a sash. The Charro usually wore a sarape, also known as a pancho, which served as protection from cold and rain and was used as a blanket. It was also used in the roundup by waiving it in the air to help move the cattle. They wore leggings as a protective covering from cactus and bushes, similar to chaps and it may have also covered the horse. The word chaps comes from the Spanish word chaparejos. Footwear could be any shoe or boot or none at all. Spurs, espuelas in Spanish, were worn either around the heel of the shoe or ankle of a bare foot. They were usually made of heavy iron. One of the TV shows from the 50’s was the “Cisco Kid” and his side kick, Pancho, their costume was the classic Hollywood version of the apparel worn by Vaqueros and Charros.
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Deleting a value inside a cell is easy, just click a cell and press delete. But how you can delete a cell that has no value, in other words, the blank cells?
In this lesson, I’m going to show you how you can remove blank cells.
Take a look at the following example, where you have a list of values with some empty cells.
Selecting blank cells
First, you have to select a range of cells and then navigate to Home >> Editing >> Find & Select >> Go to Special. From the Go To Special window choose Blanks and click OK.
All the blank cells are now selected (A1, A4, A6).
Now, navigate to Home >> Cells >> Delete >> Delete Cells. Alternatively, you can use a keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + –.
A new window has 4 radio buttons.
In our example, we can use both Shift cells up and Entire row. After you click OK, the empty cells will disappear, leaving only cells with values.
Shift cells up
In this example, you have three people with the number of hours they worked.
You can use Shift cells up to move all cells that have values into places of empty cells.
Select all the cells, then choose blanks.
Use Ctrl + – to open the Delete window. Choose Shift cells up and click OK.
You can also delete the entire row of cells. You have to be careful here because any blank cell inside a row will delete the entire row.
Take a look at the previous example. What happens if you choose Entire row.
Only two rows left. Because in rows 4 and 6 there were no blank cells at all.
Let’s take a look at another example:
There are three people again, but this time we have a table with the number of hours worked on workdays. On holidays nobody worked, so let’s get rid of these rows.
Select cells from A2 to D8, choose blanks, and then delete Entire row. It’s important not to select the first row because cell A1 is empty and it will result in deleting the header.
After this action, you are going to get a table without Saturday and Sunday.
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This eruption cloud of gases and rock fragments was released by the Mount Augustine volcano in Alaska during an eruption in 1986. Water droplets and ice crystals in the atmosphere condensed on the infusion of dust particles and settled into pouch-like formations due to wind currents. When a volcano erupts, a vertical pillar of debris soars skyward and gets carried downwind, sometimes encircling the Earth within days.
Such emissions can appear dangerously similar to normal weather clouds. In December 1989 a Boeing 747 carrying 231 passengers from Amsterdam to Anchorage nearly crashed after an ash-filled cloud from Mount Redoubt momentarily knocked out all four engines.
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Ars Technic’s Sam Machkovech recently posted an article about solar power, and the energy it produces.
He found that, on average, a typical American home has about half as much solar power as it does gas.
The energy is cheap, but, according to Machkovese, this doesn’t mean it’s the right choice.
He explains:The reason solar power is cheaper is because it is a renewable resource, but it’s not renewable because it’s powered by sunlight.
There are also several other factors that come into play, which we’ll get to later.
The good news is that we’re getting closer to zero-carbon energy.
Solar power can produce electricity with much less CO2 emissions than nuclear power.
As Machkowksi writes, solar power has the potential to supply more electricity than fossil fuels by 2030, when the Obama administration plans to cut carbon emissions.
That means solar power could become the most economically viable way to generate electricity in the United States.
But the big problem with solar power isn’t how much it produces per square foot, but how it delivers.
A recent study from MIT’s Media Lab showed that if you look at all the electricity produced by all the fossil fuel plants, the one that comes out on top is coal.
That’s because coal is cheaper, Machkovsky writes.
But this is just one way to look at it.
Solar is a very inefficient source of electricity.
Its energy density is low, and solar power relies on capturing sunlight in order to produce electricity.
As a result, it’s inefficient in other ways.
For example, it requires an enormous amount of electricity to produce one watt of energy, and it doesn’t use up as much water as gas plants.
Solar can also cause greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, to build up in the atmosphere.
Machkovich also notes that wind power also produces less electricity than solar power.
So it may not be as efficient as solar power on the whole, but its efficiency will drop as we reduce its emissions.
Solar power isn´t cheap, either.
The cost of installing a solar array is typically less than the cost of buying the electricity itself.
But the real cost of solar power varies dramatically depending on the state of the grid.
In the U.S., it’s generally cheaper to install solar panels in states where the sun is relatively bright, like California, Florida, and Arizona.
But it’s more expensive to install them in states that are more cloudy, like Arizona, Nevada, and Texas.
That is, it takes more energy to generate the same amount of power as in sunny states.
Solar has the ability to be cheaper than nuclear plants, too.
A 2011 study from Harvard University’s Center for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis estimated that solar panels will be cheaper to build and operate in the U, and in most cases will cost less to install than coal-fired plants.
In other words, it will be possible to get the same price for solar power in the next decade as it was in the 20th century.
The study estimated that by 2035, the cost to build solar power will be about $1,100 per megawatt hour, which means that it’s about a tenth of the price of coal.
But if you consider how much of that electricity will be generated by solar power itself, it turns out that solar is more efficient than nuclear, at least when it comes to generating electricity.
According to Machkovese, the amount of CO2 produced by solar plants depends on how cloudy the region is.
For instance, solar panels with good visibility can be expected to produce less CO 2 than panels with less visibility, which are typically coal-burning power plants.
This means that solar power can reduce greenhouse gases significantly, by a factor of more than two.
Machkovets research also found that solar could reduce the carbon footprint of the U., but it depends on what you mean by “carbon footprint.”
Solar panels produce a lot of energy and carbon dioxide emissions, but they also produce a significant amount of other valuable natural resources, like water.
Solar panels are a great way to provide water to people who live in areas with low levels of water.
So, while solar power does create a lot more energy than coal, it doesn´t create as much CO2 as coal.
This is the reason why solar panels are usually rated at lower CO2 levels than nuclear reactors.
In addition, the economics of solar have also changed over the years.
Solar has become more efficient over the last 20 years, according, and is now a lot cheaper than wind power.
That makes solar the best choice for people who want to get out of a carbon-intensive way of living.
Solar doesn’t need to generate energy when it’s sunny or cloudy, because the sun’s rays reflect off the clouds.
And solar power plants don’t need expensive solar panels because solar panels produce the same energy as gas turbines.
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As I suggested in Grouping Topics for Easy Learning, one for the easiest things to learn is family. What’s great with vocabulary for family is that you can combine it with other topics to create sentences to make it easier to remember the words and grammar.
You can now learn and practice family vocabulary using the J-Talk Online Family Memrise Course!
The interesting thing about the word “family” かぞく is that it uses the kanji for “house” 家 (いえ on it’s own and か when combined with other kanji) and “tribe” 族 (ぞく), so your family is your “house tribe” 家族.
Japanese family vocabulary for immediate family are divided by gender and age, and if they are your family or someone else’s family.
The images below shows how this work:
|From Isinha101 from DeviantArt|
Other relatives are used for both yourself and other people’s families.
きょうだい is used to describe “brothers” but it is also used generally for “siblings”. If you only had sisters you would say しまい. If you had a mix of brothers and sisters you would use きょうだい.
You may have noticed watching anime or other Japanese shows, that Japanese people refer to their family members directly the same way they refer to other people’s family. i.e A child will call her mother おかあさん, instead of はは, or their brother おにいさん instead of あに. This is because they are either talking to directly to the person (ie their mother), or to a friend about their mother.
If they were talking to someone they didn’t know or who was higher status about their mother the correct way would be to say わたしのはは. If you were talking to some Japanese people about your family you would use はは、ちち、あね、etc. If you were talking to some Japanese people about someone else’s family you would use おかあさん、おとうさん、おねえさん、etc.
Counters – for People
なんにんですか？ 何人ですか？- How many people (are there)?
なんめいさま？ 何名様？ – How many people (are there)? -> This is a formal phrase used by waitresses/waiters in restaurants. So it’s a good one to learn so you can recognize when they ask you. (The correct sentence would be なんめいさまですか or なんめいさまでいらっしゃいますか, but people working in cafes/restaurants shorten so it’s easier to say.)
|By Learn Japanese Adventure|
1 – ひとり 一人
2 – ふたり 二人
3 – さんにん 三人
4 – よんにん 四人
5 – ごにん 五人
6 – ろくにん 六人
7 – しちにん 七人
8 – はちにん 八人
9 – きゅうにん 九人
10 – じゅうにん 十人
The counter for people uses the kanji for ひと 人 but with the counters it is pronounced/read as にん. Apart from people 1 and 2, every other counter for people is just number + にん.
います – To be/have (for living creatures only! Not including plants.)
In The Basics of Grammar I explained the simple sentence:
A basic sentence in Japanese WITHOUT a verb will always end in です (spelt “desu” BUT pronounced “dess”). Some people say this is like the verb “to be” but I don’t think that makes much sense for beginners, so I would suggest thinking of it more as a full stop.
In terms of family you can use these sentence pattern:
Person は わたし の Family です。- Person is my family.
- Scottはわたしのあにです。- Scott is my brother.
I also explained in the post how の is used between two nouns to describe something as something’s thing. I.e “My book” わたしのほん or “the cat’s ball” ねこのボール.
は is used to mark a topic in a sentence, but emphasizes what comes after. So in the above sentence “family” is emphasized. I.e “this is a cat” これはねこです, in this situation “this” isn’t an important word, the “cat” is. Where as if you were saying “I love cats” you would use が ねこがすきです or “I have a cat” ねこがいます.
Verbs in a sentence will replace the です at the end of the sentence. Using the verb mentioned above います we can describe that we have family members, or how many people are in a room.
(わたしは) Person/Counter がいます。– I have a Person or There are Counter people.
- あねがいます – I have an elder sister.
- さんにんがいます – There are 3 people. (This implies that you are talking about other people in a particular place. If you were to go to a restaurant and they asked how many people, it would be more natural to just say さんにんです. This is similar to English when a waitress asks “how many?” you reply “three”, rather than answering with “there are 3 people” which is what さんにんがいます means.)
How is your wife? おくさんはいかがでしょうか？
(This is very formal, and great for making a good impression, especially if you replace おくさん with ごかぞく (it’s important to add ご to かぞく when you’re using a formal sentence like this))
How many siblings do you have? きょうだいはなんにんがいますか？
I have 2 sisters. しまいのふたりがいます。
I love my dad. わたしのちちがだいすきです。
Why don’t you try it yourself? After learning all the vocabulary write down in Japanese sentences to describe your family, or find a picture of someone else’s family and describe them. If you don’t already know about Lang-8 I recommend making an account and practice writing sentences in Japanese on there. Native Japanese speakers will correct your Japanese in exchange for you correcting their English.
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History, Facts and Information about Claudius
The content of this article provides interesting history, facts and information about the Emperor Claudius and the all-powerful Caesars who ruled the empire of Ancient Rome. The word "Caesar" was originally the name of an aristocratic patrician family of ancient Rome, the most famous being the dictator Julius Caesar who seized power when Rome was still a republic. The adopted son of Julius Caesar was Augustus became the first Roman Emperor and all of the successors in the family used the name Caesar. The term became synonymous with the Roman Emperors and each succeeding emperor retained the name "Caesar" as part of their title. Refer to the comprehensive List of Roman Emperors for the names of the most famous Romans, their dynasties and the historic eras of all the Roman Emperors and usurpers. Read about the life of Claudius who can be described, or remembered, as:
"The bumbling man who became Emperor against all odds and married the infamous Messalina"
Short Biography about the life of Claudius
Short Biography profile and facts about one of the most famous Romans of all, in the life of Claudius, Emperor of Rome and provinces of the Roman Empire.
- Name commonly known as: Claudius
- Latin Roman Name: Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (Britannicus AD 44)
- Reigned as Roman Emperor / Caesar: January 24 41 AD –October 13, 54 AD
- Dynasty / Historical Period: Julio–Claudian
- Place and Date of Birth: August 1 10 BC in Lugdunum
- Name of previous Emperor: His predecessor or the Emperor before Claudius was Caligula
- Date succeeded as Emperor of Rome and circumstances of rule: 54 AD
- Family connections / Genealogy of Claudius
- Name of Father: Nero Claudius Drusus
- Name of Mother: Antonia Minor
- Claudius Married:
- Plautia Urgulanilla, AD 9–24
- Aelia Paetina, AD 28–31
- Messalina, AD 38–48
- Agrippina the Younger, AD 49–54
- Children of Claudius:
- Claudius Drusus (died in childhood)
- Claudia Antonia
- Claudia Octavia
- Place and Date of Death: Claudius died October 13, 54 (age 63) and was buried in the Mausoleum of Augustus
- Name of next Emperor: The successor to Claudius was Nero who was his stepson by 4th wife, Agrippina the Younger
Why was Claudius famous? Accomplishments, achievements and important events:
The Emperor Claudius was the son of Drusus and Antonia, and the brother of Germanicus. He was fifty-one years old when, after the murder of Caligula, the Praetorian Guard raised him to the throne. His health had always been delicate and he had never taken any part in public affairs. Claudius was fond of letters, and wrote memoirs of his own time and histories in Greek of Etruria and of Carthage. Claudius also made various useful laws, and carried out several public works of importance. He completed the Claudian aqueduct, begun by Caligula, and built a fort and light-house at Ostia, and a tunnel from Lake Lucinus to the River Liris. Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) was raised by his orders to the most important military station in Lower Germany. In A.D. 43 a Roman army invaded Britain. Claudius himself entered that country soon after, and returned to Rome in triumph. His first acts were popular and mild, but, having fallen under the control of his wife Messalina he put to death many of the best of the Romans. When, however, Messalina ventured to marry C. Silius, a young Roman knight, Claudius directed her execution. Claudius then married his niece Agrippina, who prevailed upon him to set aside his son Britannicus, and to adopt her own son Nero. Claudius became suspicious of the ambitions of his wife for Nero and she resolved to have Claudius killed. Locusta, a noted poisoner, was hired to prepare a dish of poisoned mushrooms, of which Claudius ate: but the poison not proving fatal, the physician Xenophon forced a larger quantity into his throat and Claudius died October 13, A.D. 54.
The Julian-Claudian Dynasty - 27 BC to AD 68
The Julian-Claudian Dynasty spanned 27 BC to AD 68. This dynasty is known as the Julio-Claudians because its Emperors belonged to the patrician families called the Julii and the Claudii. Some of the most famous of all of the emperors belonged to this dynasty including Julius Caesar, the Dictator and the first Roman Emperor, Octavian (Augustus) Caesar who was followed by Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero.
The content of this Claudius category in the Emperors of Ancient Rome provides free educational details, facts and information for reference and research for schools, colleges and homework. Refer to the Colosseum Sitemap for a comprehensive search on interesting different categories containing the history, facts and information about the lives and people of Ancient Rome.
Map of the Roman Empire c395AD illustrating the power of the Emperor
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Ldot Vets - The American Revolution 1775-1783
The Battle of Princeton
January 3, 1777
Gen. Howe responded to the fall of Trenton by sending 5,550 troops south from New York through Princeton toward Trenton. Gen. Cornwalis' troops arrived in Trenton late on the afternoon of the 2nd of January. Cornwalis found Gen. Washington's troops along the ridge of the Assunpink Creek, and decided to wait until the next day to attack. Overnight, Washington moved his troops out of Trenton and into Princeton to the north. There, his advance force met a British blocking force commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood. A desperate fight ensued in Princeton, in which the Americans almost lost. Washington's timely arrival on horseback, however, served to rally the Americans, and the Colonial army defeated Mawhood's troops, forcing them to retreat to Trenton. Both armies were spent, and Washington took his army into winter quarters in Morristown, while Cornwalis withdrew to New Brunswick.
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These U.S. Cities Are Best Prepared to Adapt to Climate Change
Depending on where you live, climate change could lead to longer and hotter summers, heavier downpours, frequent flooding, and more intense wildfires.
That has led scores of cities to develop strategies to adapt to climate change. A study just published in the journal Nature Climate Change found that such plans contained many good ideas for improving infrastructure, protecting ecosystems, and educating residents.
But researchers concluded that many plans fall short on the details, such as how to prioritize the most urgent needs, estimating costs, securing funding to implement projects, and planning for uncertainties surrounding climate change.
“The biggest weaknesses we saw were that they failed to include monitoring their progress in the plans, and they didn’t think of uncertainty with climate change projections,” said study coauthor Sierra Woodruff, an environmental planning researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Woodruff and her colleagues looked at 44 climate-adaptation plans developed by big cities like New York, small towns, and tribal governments. They found that many simply didn’t envision different climate change scenarios and how to manage them.
Among the solid ideas the researchers found were plans for altering maintenance schedules for storm-water drains and cleaning them more frequently to minimize flooding during extreme downpours.
Woodruff said coastal communities have also started thinking about flooding from sea-level rise and realizing that new development needs to be built “so it lasts and doesn’t do damage.”
She pointed to three cities with unique strategies that made them stand out.
“Baltimore has a wonderful plan that integrates natural hazard mitigation and climate change adaptation,” she said.
The city identified multiple threats, such as heavy snowfall, ice storms, torrential rains, and storm surges, that it will face as climate change accelerates. “City officials recognize they can’t rely solely on the past to understand future risks,” Woodruff said, noting that Baltimore also spelled out details on how climate-adaptation strategies will be implemented.
Denver monitors progress toward meeting its climate change goals; it has one-year, three-year, and five-year plans that set specific targets.
Chula Vista, a Southern California city of 250,000 near the Mexican border, developed one of the earliest climate-adaptation plans. Woodruff said the city details who will implement climate-adaptation strategies, provides cost estimates, and produces timelines for measuring progress toward meeting goals, which include retrofitting buildings with white roofs that reduce urban temperatures and energy use.
The study found that the better plans engaged elected officials and planners in the process from the start and set short-term as well as long-term goals.
Woodruff said funding shouldn’t be an obstacle to climate-adaptation plans. “We can incorporate climate change considerations into our day-to-day operations as we upgrade infrastructure,” she said.
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Fear. The common feeling associated with hearing the words “AIDS” or “HIV”. For people living with HIV or AIDS, the fear is of the incurable disease in their bodies. For others, the fear is associated with the person themselves.
Unfortunately, there is a strong social stigma attached to those living with HIV or AIDS in our society. Shame, fear of rejection and guilt sometimes prevents these people from reaching out to others for support, both physically and emotionally. Many of us do not fully understand what HIV and AIDS are, and our fear stems from this lack of awareness and education.
The theme for 2019’s World AIDS Day is “Communities Make the Difference”. This highlights the community’s importance in reaching, helping and supporting people living with HIV and AIDS. Today, we explore some common misconceptions about AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) and HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus).
Misconception About AIDS And HIV #1
Having HIV Means You Have AIDS
Misconception About AIDS And HIV #2
You can get HIV by sharing food and drinks with a person living with HIV
False! HIV is not transmitted through saliva. HIV cannot be transmitted by:
- Hugging, touching or close-mouthed kissing
- Sneezing or coughing
- Insect or mosquito bites
- Contact via objects such as shared food or toilet seats (HIV does not survive for long on surfaces outside the human body, and it cannot reproduce outside a human host)
- Saliva, tears, or sweat that is not mixed with the blood of an HIV-positive person
Misconception About AIDS And HIV #3
HIV is transmitted only through sexual intercourse
False! It is most commonly transmitted through the act of unprotected sex with a person with HIV, but it can also be transmitted:
- By sharing injection needles or piercing instruments (e.g. tattoo guns or acupuncture needles) with a person with HIV
- By receiving infected blood or blood products (e.g. blood transfusion, organ transplant)
- From a mother to her child during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding
Misconception About AIDS And HIV #4
HIV can be cured with medications
Misconception About AIDS And HIV #5
I have a strong immune system. My body can fight off HIV!
False! Anyone can get HIV. The virus can be passed on to anyone via the mentioned transmission methods, even for healthy individuals.
Misconception About AIDS And HIV #6
You can tell by looking at someone if they are living with HIV
False! Some people don’t show signs of HIV for years after being infected. However, many can have some symptoms within 10 days to a few weeks after infection. Initially, a person living with HIV may present with normal flu like symptoms, including fever, swollen lymph nodes, a sore throat, rash, and muscle aches. Thereafter, symptoms usually disappear and might not show for several years, especially if they are on medications. A blood test is the only way to tell if a person has HIV.
Action For Aids Singapore offers Anonymous Testing Services for those who need them. You can find more information here (https://afa.org.sg/whatwedo/support/ats/)
Misconception About AIDS And HIV #7
Sex is safe if both parties have HIV
False! Protection when having sex is still vital when both parties have HIV. Using a condom or other latex barrier protects from other sexually transmitted diseases as well as other strains of HIV, which may be resistant to anti-HIV medication. Furthermore, it is clear that co-infections with multiple HIV strains can and do occur, and such events may worsen a previously stable infection. A growing number of new infections are drug resistant upon first presentation, suggesting that these infections were transmitted from individuals receiving therapy.
Misconception About AIDS And HIV #8
A HIV-positive mother will definitely have a baby who is also HIV-positive
False! Mothers living with HIV can pass HIV to their babies during pregnancy or delivery. However, the risk is lowered significantly with the use of anti-HIV medications and other strategies. In the United States and Europe, these have helped to lower the risk of mother-to-child transmission of HIV to 1% or less. The risk of transmission is low when:
- HIV is detected before pregnancy or as early as possible during pregnancy.
- Women with HIV receive anti-HIV medicines during pregnancy and childbirth and, in certain situations, have a scheduled caesarean delivery (sometimes called a C-section).
- Babies born to women with HIV receive anti-HIV medicines for 4 to 6 weeks after birth and are not breastfed.
People living with HIV are as much a part of our society as we are. Our role as a community is to spread awareness instead of fear, show compassion instead of judgement, and replace isolation with acceptance.
To learn more about Singapore initiatives that support people with HIV, you can check there is Action for Aids Singapore which also gives details about the Anonymous Testing Service available for HIV.
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Speech or Language Impairment
Speech or language impairment means an impairment of speech or sound production, voice, fluency or language that significantly affects educational performance or social, emotional or vocational development.
Specific Language Impairment (SLI) has been actively studied for more than 40 years. Language acquisition is the primary area of concern as a child grows and develops. There are no obvious related causes such as hearing loss or low IQ. The condition appears in young children and is known to persist into adulthood. Although the causes are unknown, current research persist into focuses on possible inherited tendencies. Early identification and intervention are considered best practices, in order to minimize possible academic risk.
There area top 10 things you should know about children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI):
- Speech impediments are different from language disorders.
- Specific Language Impairment has many names and it is surprisingly common.
- SLI can be diagnosed precisely and accurately.
- The nature of the disability limits a child's exposure to language.
- Early intervention can begin during preschool.
- A child with SLI does not have a low IQ or poor hearing.
- Late talking may be a sign of disability.
- An incomplete understanding of verbs is an indicator of SLI.
- Reading and learning will be affected by SLI.
- The condition may be genetic.
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At Peninsula, the goal of our health program is to motivate our students by educating them on the benefits of making healthy decisions, rather than the fear or consequences of unhealthy decisions.
Various activities we do to achieve our goal:
- Discuss and practice stress management strategies
- Review the signs/symptoms of depression and how to get help
- Encourage, educate, and practice healthy diet and exercise
- Discuss healthy decision making steps and strategies
- Discuss how to create and maintain healthy relationships of all kinds
- How to set goals and reflect on past mistakes and behaviors
Nutrition Unit Example: Above, students are working on a lesson that branches off of the book “Eat This, Not That.” Here they review actual foods (as seen on desks) from restaurants in our area that they would typically eat at. Most of these restaurants are ones that are fast, cheap, and realistic. After working in groups to determine which of the two food choices on their desk is healthier, we discuss the nutrition facts to come up with the right answer. One goal from this lesson would be for students to understand why choosing the grilled chicken sandwich over the breaded chicken salad is a better health choice. Further, when they are in a situation where the only dinner option is fast food, they can make a healthy, more educated decision.
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Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have opined that bacteria in the gut of the Anopheles mosquito could contain malaria from spreading.
They said that the bacteria could prevent the Anopheles gambiae mosquito from getting infected with Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria in humans.
The researchers showed that removing these bacteria, or microbial flora, with the help of antibiotics could make the mosquitoes more susceptible to Plasmodium infection because of a lack of immune stimulation.
Usually, a mosquito acquires the malaria-causing parasite as part of the malaria transmission cycle after feeding on blood from an infected person.
The parasite then develops within the mosquito, and can later be transmitted to another human when the mosquito feeds again.
"Our study suggests that the microbial flora of mosquitoes is stimulating immune activity that protects the mosquito from Plasmodium infection. The same immune factors that are needed to control the mosquito's infection from the microbes are also defending against the malaria parasite Plasmodium," said Dr. George Dimopoulos, senior author of the study.
He added: "The interplay between bacteria and the mosquito's immune system may have significant implications for the transmission of malaria in the field where mosquitoes may be exposed to different types of bacteria in different regions. Theoretically, these bacteria could be introduced to the mosquitoes to boost their immunity to the malaria parasite and make them resistant and incapable of spreading the disease. Our current research aims at identifying those bacteria that trigger the strongest mosquito immune defense against the malaria parasite."
For the study, the researchers treated mosquitoes with antibiotics to kill the gut bacteria.
They noted that treated mosquitoes were more susceptible to infection by Plasmodium when feeding on infected blood as compared to mosquitoes that were not treated with antibiotics.
For further verification, bacteria-free mosquitoes were infected with bacteria to determine if they were less susceptible to Plasmodium infection.
Also, the researchers determined that mosquitoes infected with bacteria died earlier than mosquitoes without bacteria when infected with Plasmodium, even with Plasmodium levels five times higher than those with bacteria.
"The malaria parasite must live in the mosquito for about two weeks in order to complete its life cycle and be transmitted to a person. The fact that these bacteria shorten the mosquito's life span is additional good news," said Dimopoulos.
The study has been published in the journal PLoS Pathogens.
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Today’s Wonder of the Day was inspired by Rufus from Hollywood, CA. Rufus Wonders, “How are frogs and toads different?” Thanks for WONDERing with us, Rufus!
There are hundreds of individual species of frogs and toads within the Anura order. However, the many species within the Anura order can appear quite different, leading people to believe that toads and frogs aren't the same.
The popular distinction drawn between frogs and toads is probably best viewed as a distinction between true "frogs" (members of the Ranidae family) and true "toads" (members of the Bufonidae family). The Ranidae family contains more than 400 species of frogs, while the Bufonidae family contains more than 300 species of toads.
Frogs can look and act quite differently from toads. Here are some of the differences you may notice:
- Need to live near water to survive.
- Have smooth, moist skin that may look or seem slimy.
- Have a narrow body with round eyes that bulge.
- Have long hind legs that help them take long, high jumps.
- Have many predators.
- Don't need to live near water to survive.
- Have rough, dry, bumpy skin.
- Have a wide body with oval eyes that don't bulge as much as frogs' eyes.
- Have short hind legs that allow them to take small hops rather than jumps.
- Don't have many predators because their skin has a bitter taste and smell that deters predators.
Before you become too confident in your ability to distinguish frogs from toads, though, remember that these differences don't hold true across all species.
Near the equator, frogs and toads can look quite similar. Sometimes, the only way to tell them apart is to look inside them at things like their teeth and bones. Good luck catching them, though!
If you do happen to catch a frog or a toad to get a closer look, don't worry about getting warts on your hands. Neither frogs nor toads will give you warts.
That's just a myth that probably came about because of the bumpy skin common to many toads. A toad's bumps aren't really warts. They're a special adaptation that helps it blend into its environment.
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Chapter 16 Oscillatory Motion and Waves
- Observe resonance of a paddle ball on a string.
- Observe amplitude of a damped harmonic oscillator.
Sit in front of a piano sometime and sing a loud brief note at it with the dampers off its strings. It will sing the same note back at you—the strings, having the same frequencies as your voice, are resonating in response to the forces from the sound waves that you sent to them. Your voice and a piano’s strings is a good example of the fact that objects—in this case, piano strings—can be forced to oscillate but oscillate best at their natural frequency. In this section, we shall briefly explore applying a periodic driving force acting on a simple harmonic oscillator. The driving force puts energy into the system at a certain frequency, not necessarily the same as the natural frequency of the system. The natural frequency is the frequency at which a system would oscillate if there were no driving and no damping force.
Most of us have played with toys involving an object supported on an elastic band, something like the paddle ball suspended from a finger in Figure 2. Imagine the finger in the figure is your finger. At first you hold your finger steady, and the ball bounces up and down with a small amount of damping. If you move your finger up and down slowly, the ball will follow along without bouncing much on its own. As you increase the frequency at which you move your finger up and down, the ball will respond by oscillating with increasing amplitude. When you drive the ball at its natural frequency, the ball’s oscillations increase in amplitude with each oscillation for as long as you drive it. The phenomenon of driving a system with a frequency equal to its natural frequency is called resonance. A system being driven at its natural frequency is said to resonate. As the driving frequency gets progressively higher than the resonant or natural frequency, the amplitude of the oscillations becomes smaller, until the oscillations nearly disappear and your finger simply moves up and down with little effect on the ball.
Figure 3 shows a graph of the amplitude of a damped harmonic oscillator as a function of the frequency of the periodic force driving it. There are three curves on the graph, each representing a different amount of damping. All three curves peak at the point where the frequency of the driving force equals the natural frequency of the harmonic oscillator. The highest peak, or greatest response, is for the least amount of damping, because less energy is removed by the damping force.
It is interesting that the widths of the resonance curves shown in Figure 3 depend on damping: the less the damping, the narrower the resonance. The message is that if you want a driven oscillator to resonate at a very specific frequency, you need as little damping as possible. Little damping is the case for piano strings and many other musical instruments. Conversely, if you want small-amplitude oscillations, such as in a car’s suspension system, then you want heavy damping. Heavy damping reduces the amplitude, but the tradeoff is that the system responds at more frequencies.
These features of driven harmonic oscillators apply to a huge variety of systems. When you tune a radio, for example, you are adjusting its resonant frequency so that it only oscillates to the desired station’s broadcast (driving) frequency. The more selective the radio is in discriminating between stations, the smaller its damping. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a widely used medical diagnostic tool in which atomic nuclei (mostly hydrogen nuclei) are made to resonate by incoming radio waves (on the order of 100 MHz). A child on a swing is driven by a parent at the swing’s natural frequency to achieve maximum amplitude. In all of these cases, the efficiency of energy transfer from the driving force into the oscillator is best at resonance. Speed bumps and gravel roads prove that even a car’s suspension system is not immune to resonance. In spite of finely engineered shock absorbers, which ordinarily convert mechanical energy to thermal energy almost as fast as it comes in, speed bumps still cause a large-amplitude oscillation. On gravel roads that are corrugated, you may have noticed that if you travel at the “wrong” speed, the bumps are very noticeable whereas at other speeds you may hardly feel the bumps at all. Figure 4 shows a photograph of a famous example (the Tacoma Narrows Bridge) of the destructive effects of a driven harmonic oscillation. The Millennium Bridge in London was closed for a short period of time for the same reason while inspections were carried out.
In our bodies, the chest cavity is a clear example of a system at resonance. The diaphragm and chest wall drive the oscillations of the chest cavity which result in the lungs inflating and deflating. The system is critically damped and the muscular diaphragm oscillates at the resonant value for the system, making it highly efficient.
Check Your Understanding
1: A famous magic trick involves a performer singing a note toward a crystal glass until the glass shatters. Explain why the trick works in terms of resonance and natural frequency.
- A system’s natural frequency is the frequency at which the system will oscillate if not affected by driving or damping forces.
- A periodic force driving a harmonic oscillator at its natural frequency produces resonance. The system is said to resonate.
- The less damping a system has, the higher the amplitude of the forced oscillations near resonance. The more damping a system has, the broader response it has to varying driving frequencies.
1: Why are soldiers in general ordered to “route step” (walk out of step) across a bridge?
Problems & Exercises
1: How much energy must the shock absorbers of a 1200-kg car dissipate in order to damp a bounce that initially has a velocity of 0.800 m/s at the equilibrium position? Assume the car returns to its original vertical position.
2: If a car has a suspension system with a force constant of how much energy must the car’s shocks remove to dampen an oscillation starting with a maximum displacement of 0.0750 m?
3: (a) How much will a spring that has a force constant of 40.0 N/m be stretched by an object with a mass of 0.500 kg when hung motionless from the spring? (b) Calculate the decrease in gravitational potential energy of the 0.500-kg object when it descends this distance. (c) Part of this gravitational energy goes into the spring. Calculate the energy stored in the spring by this stretch, and compare it with the gravitational potential energy. Explain where the rest of the energy might go.
4: Suppose you have a 0.750-kg object on a horizontal surface connected to a spring that has a force constant of 150 N/m. There is simple friction between the object and surface with a static coefficient of friction (a) How far can the spring be stretched without moving the mass? (b) If the object is set into oscillation with an amplitude twice the distance found in part (a), and the kinetic coefficient of friction is what total distance does it travel before stopping? Assume it starts at the maximum amplitude.
5: Engineering Application: A suspension bridge oscillates with an effective force constant of (a) How much energy is needed to make it oscillate with an amplitude of 0.100 m? (b) If soldiers march across the bridge with a cadence equal to the bridge’s natural frequency and impart of energy each second, how long does it take for the bridge’s oscillations to go from 0.100 m to 0.500 m amplitude?
- natural frequency
- the frequency at which a system would oscillate if there were no driving and no damping forces
- the phenomenon of driving a system with a frequency equal to the system’s natural frequency
- a system being driven at its natural frequency
Check Your Understanding
1: The performer must be singing a note that corresponds to the natural frequency of the glass. As the sound wave is directed at the glass, the glass responds by resonating at the same frequency as the sound wave. With enough energy introduced into the system, the glass begins to vibrate and eventually shatters.
Problems & Exercises
(a). 0.123 m
(b). −0.600 J
(c). 0.300 J. The rest of the energy may go into heat caused by friction and other damping forces.
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Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the “Father of American Anthropology”. Studying in Germany, Boas was awarded a doctorate in 1881 in physics while also studying geography. He then participated in a geographical expedition to northern Canada where he became fascinated with the culture and language of the Baffin Island Inuit. He went on to do field work with the indigenous cultures and languages of the Pacific Northwest. In 1887 he emigrated to the United States where he first worked as a museum curator at the Smithsonian, and in 1899 became professor of anthropology at Columbia University where he remained for the rest of his career. Through his students, many of whom went on to found anthropology departments and research programmes inspired by their mentor, Boas profoundly influenced the development of American anthropology. Among his most significant students were A. L. Kroeber, Ruth Benedict, Edward Sapir, Margaret Mead, and Zora Neale Hurston. Boas was one of the most prominent opponents of the then popular ideologies of scientific racism, the idea that race is a biological concept and that human behavior is best understood through the typology of biological characteristics. In a series of groundbreaking studies of skeletal anatomy he showed that cranial shape and size was highly malleable depending on environmental factors such as health and nutrition, in contrast to the claims by racial anthropologists of the day that held head shape to be a stable racial trait. Boas also worked to demonstrate that differences in human behavior are not primarily determined by innate biological dispositions, but are largely the result of cultural differences acquired through social learning. In this way, Boas introduced culture as the primary concept for describing differences in behavior between human groups, and as the central analytical concept of anthropology. Among Boas’s main contributions to anthropological thought was his rejection of the then popular evolutionary approaches to the study of culture, which saw all societies progressing through a set of hierarchic technological and cultural stages, with Western-European culture at the summit. Boas argued that culture developed historically through the interactions of groups of people and the diffusion of ideas, and that consequently there was no process towards continuously “higher” cultural forms. This insight led Boas to reject the “stage”-based organization of ethnological museums, instead preferring to order items on display based on the affinity and proximity of the cultural groups in question. Boas also introduced the ideology of cultural relativism which holds that cultures cannot be objectively ranked as higher or lower, or better or more correct, but that all humans see the world through the lens of their own culture, and judge it according to their own culturally acquired norms. For Boas the object of anthropology was to understand the way in which culture conditioned people to understand and interact with the world in different ways, and to do this it was necessary to gain an understanding of the language and cultural practices of the people studied. By uniting the disciplines of archaeology, the study of material culture and history, and physical anthropology, the study of variation in human anatomy, with ethnology, the study of cultural variation of customs, and descriptive linguistics, the study of unwritten indigenous languages, Boas created the four field subdivision of anthropology which became prominent in American anthropology in the 20th century.
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A Blueprint to Regenerate Limbs
Probing the salamander genome reveals clues to its remarkable ability to regrow damaged limbs and organs.
In its own way, the axolotl salamander is a mighty beast. Chop off its leg, and the gilled creature will grow a new one. Freeze part of its heart, and the organ will form anew. Carve out half of its brain, and six months later, another half will have sprouted in its place. “You can do anything to it except kill it, and it will regenerate,” says Gerald Pao, a postdoctoral researcher at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, in La Jolla, CA.
That extraordinary power of regeneration inspired Pao and his collaborator Wei Zhu, also at the Salk Institute, to probe the axolotl salamander’s DNA. Despite decades of research on the salamander, little is known about its genome. That began to change last year, when Pao and his collaborators won one billion bases’ worth of free sequencing from Roche Applied Science, based in Penzberg, Germany. Now that the data is in, scientists can finally begin the hunt for the genetic program that endows the animal with its unique capabilities.
While all animals can regenerate tissue to a certain extent–we can grow muscle, bone, and nerves, for example–salamanders and newts are the only vertebrates that can grow entire organs and replacement limbs as adults. When a leg is lost to injury, cells near the wound begin to dedifferentiate, losing the specialized characteristics that made them a muscle cell or bone cell. These cells then replicate and form a limb bud, or blastema, which goes on to grow a limb the same way that it forms during normal development.
Scientists have identified some of the molecular signals that play a key role in the process, but the genetic blueprint that underlies regeneration remains unknown. Researchers hope that by uncovering these molecular tricks, they can ultimately apply them to humans to regrow damaged heart or brain tissue, and maybe even grow new limbs.
In order to quickly identify sections of the salamander’s genome involved in regeneration, the scientists sequenced genes that were most highly expressed during limb-bud formation and growth. They found that at least 10,000 genes were transcribed during regeneration. Approximately 9,000 of those seem to have related human versions, but there appear to be a few thousand more that don’t resemble known genes. “We think many of them are genes that evolved uniquely in salamanders to help with this process,” says Randal Voss, a biologist at the University of Kentucky, who is working on the project.
The researchers now plan to make a gene chip designed to detect levels of some of these candidate genes, so that the scientists can determine at exactly what point during the regeneration process the genes are turned on. The team is also developing molecular tools that allow them to silence specific genes, which will enable them to pinpoint those that are crucial for proper regrowth.
Scientists also sequenced random chunks of the salamander genome. At about 30 billion bases and 10 times the size of the human genome, it is one of the largest among vertebrates. Most scientists expected that the extra DNA would be made up of junk DNA, long stretches of bases between genes. But initial findings were surprising. “Genes are on average 5 to 10 times larger than those in other vertebrates,” says Voss. “The region of the genome containing genes is estimated to be more than two gigabases, which is as big as some entire genomes.”
The extra DNA sequences sit within genes and are cut out during the translation from gene to protein. Much of this DNA comprises repetitive sequences not found in any other organisms to date, says Pao. However, it’s not yet clear whether these repetitive stretches help facilitate regeneration or play some other role in the salamander’s life cycle.
One of the key questions yet to be answered is whether the salamander has unique genetic properties that enable regeneration, or whether all animals have that innate capability. “If we come up with some totally unique gene only present in axolotl, that would make it really hard to replicate,” says David Gardiner, a biologist at the University of California, Irvine, who is also collaborating on the project. He prefers to think that regeneration comes from a fundamental abilitylying dormant in mammals, which could be reawakened with some simple genetic prodding.”Most of the tissue in our arm regenerates; it’s just the arm that doesn’t regenerate,” he says. “What’s missing is how you coordinate a response to get an integrated structure.”
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New Caledonia in the two World Wars
As was the case for all of France and the French Empire, New Caledonia, one of France's principal possessions in the Pacific, played a role that remains mostly unknown in France today but was nonetheless important, or even crucial, at certain points during the World Wars, especially in the Pacific operations during World War II.
I - New Caledonia and the Great War
Noumea, departure for La Grange, 4 June 1916 © Noumea City Museum
From the point of view of the contingents involved, according to the official French statistics, one thousand fighters came from Oceania. Moreover, for the needs of the war, the Kanak people were called upon, notably with the help of a Protestant pastor (the Protestant religion was imported by British explorers and colonists in the 19th century and is very important), Maurice Leenhardt, who took on the role of a mediator and spokesman for ”mobilising” the Kanak populations. The argument developed was quite traditional. The Kanaks' participation in the fight earned them France's recognition, ensuring them good land and the means to cultivate it.
Maurice Leenhardt in 1902. Source: DR
Thus, the first convoy of 700 Melanesian soldiers left Noumea on 23 April 1915 on the Sontay, after several weeks of training for the recruits.
The Sontay embarks troops at Noumea, 23 April 1915. Source: P. Ramona Collection
According to the archives of the Amicale des Anciens Combattants de Nouvelle-Calédonie (New Caledonia Veterans Association), out of 1,134 Melanesian volunteers who went to France between 1914 and 1918 (or approximately 18% of the men of fighting age), 374 were killed on the front, notably in the Aisne in July-August 1918, and 167 were wounded. Furthermore, of the 2,290 men of the Bataillon du Pacifique (which, of course, included recruits from all French possessions), 332 were decorated on the front.
Kanak Tirailleurs, undated. © Noumea City Museum
II - New Caledonia and World War II
Thus, the Governor of New Caledonia, Mr Pélicier, decided on 20 June 1940, to ”continue the fight alongside the English”. A few days later, as the Governor started to hesitate, the Privy Council, a consultative body comprising four civilians and two civil servants, and the General Council, a deliberative assembly with four elected members, maintained the position that the fight should go on. It should be pointed out that this position was not unique, as many personalities around the Empire expressed the same desire despite the armistice.
Michel Verges. Source: Museum of the Order of the Liberation
While Governor Pélicier was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Denis and part of the African colonies joined Free France from the Pacific Establishments in the night of 18 to 19 September 1940, hundreds of residents of the bush ”descended” upon Noumea to demand that they rally General de Gaulle, while on 19 September, Governor Henri Sautot arrived in New Caledonia from the New Hebrides as General de Gaulle's representative. At the end of the day, the new Governor announced to the population that they had rallied de Gaulle.
Governor Henri Sautot. Source: Museum of the Order of the Liberation
On 3 May 1941, during a ceremony at the war memorial in Noumea, the Bataillon du Pacifique was created, its flag being handed over to Captain Félix Broche. As of April 1941, 605 volunteers, 287 of them Caledonians, signed up to form the battalion which also included recruits from Tahiti and the New Hebrides.
Capitan Félix Broche. Source: Museum of the Order of the Liberation
Arrival of the Free French Forces on the English lines. Source: Imperial War Museum. DR.
San Giorgio Cemetery: before leaving Italy. The BIMP salutes the flag along with the delegations from all the Companies forming a Section, to those who would never return to France. Source: Amicale de la 1re Division Française Libre. Polvet Collection.
April 1945, BIPM parade in Nice. Source: Museum of the Order of the Liberation
Flag. Source: Amicale de la 1re Division Française Libre.
From 1942 to 1945, New Caledonia was also an essential support base and a key location for the American and Allied troops during the Pacific War, notably contributing to strategic deployment and logistics support during the re-conquest carried out by the American forces against Japan. Indeed, on 12 March 1942, an American Expeditionary Force landed in Noumea under the orders of General Pach. Despite the difficult relations with the new governor, Admiral Thierry d'Argenlieu, the American, Australian and New Zealander allies were to make full use of New Caledonia as a highly effective ”aircraft carrier” against the Japanese, notably during the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942.
Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu (right), governor of New Caledonia in the name of Free France, with Brigadier General Alexander Patch, commander of the American Poppy Force, in Noumea. Source: U.S. Federal Government
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Elusive key molecular signal for planarian stem cell regeneration identified.
Like a magician, the freshwater flatworm known as planaria can survive decapitation or even being cut into many pieces. Its ability to fully regenerate from tiny remnants of tissue is due to a special population of adult stem cells known as neoblasts. Scientists have spent decades studying the mechanisms that drive this remarkable feat, with the hopes that any secrets they uncover might lead to new perspectives in human biology and new ways to treat disease. Now, a study from researchers at the Stowers Institute identifies a key molecule that directs stem cells in the planarian flatworm to make copies of themselves. The team state that their findings have important implications for advancing regenerative medicine and for developing more effective cancer therapies. The opensource study is published in the journal Developmental Cell.
Previous studies show that planarians are world-renowned for their regenerative properties. Split one down the middle, and two identical organisms will appear in its place. Cut a fragment 1/279th the size of the original animal and it will regenerate a complete animal. This ability originates in a special group of adult stem cells called neoblasts that are spread throughout the bodies of these freshwater worms. Several years ago, researchers tested the limits of these resilient creatures by subjecting them to near-lethal doses of radiation. They found that even if just a single neoblast remained, it was enough to replenish the entire population of planarian stem cells. The current study identifies a molecule, known as EGFR-3, which is part of a cascade of signals that seem to control the way these cells divide and differentiate in response to near-lethal levels of radiation.
The current study utilised an advanced molecular technique called RNA interference to silence different genes in the suspected signaling pathways. The planaria were then given a dose of radiation that would kill most, but not all, of their resident neoblasts. Results show that the egfr-3 gene is required for neoblast repopulation. The lab explain that this gene codes for a protein that sits on the surface of cells and binds another protein, called epidermal growth factor, known to stimulate growth, proliferation, and differentiation in other cell types.
The group state that they confirmed their findings by using a fluorescent staining to illuminate the EGFR-3 protein on the neoblasts; data findings show that the proteins sat on the top of the cell and were clumped together on one side. They go on to add that the uneven distribution of EGFR-3 suggested that the protein might be involved in a phenomenon known as asymmetric cell division, where the mother cell divides into two daughter cells that have different fates, one might be a neoblast, another a muscle cell or photoreceptor cell.
The team surmise that their study shows stem cell repopulation can be achieved from even a single pluripotent stem cell in planarian flatworms. They go on to add that even though asymmetric cell division has long been proposed to exist in planarians, their study provides the first direct molecular evidence of its existence. For the future, the researchers believe that this particular pathway might be providing a type of quality control to ensure that mistakes made to the genome either through irradiation or other forms of damage are not propagated. They conclude that the theory would be that only the cells with the best DNA get to stick around and serve as the template for future generations, something they need to test next.
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What is NaN?
NaN is a data type which says "Not a Number". An operation between invalid operands result in this type of data. Like an operation of addition between a string and a number.
Why is Java called "write once run anywhere"?
Let us first assume every machine of various OS has their appropriate JVM's (Java Virtual Machine) installed. We write a java code on our machine, then compile it. After compilation we get a bytecode file. This bytecode is interpreted by JVM and give us the output. So we can take this bytecode, put into another machine and its runs and gives us the output. Hence no need of recompiling and running. Hence we say, write once and run anywhere(provided appropriate JVMs are installed in them).
what is a dangling pointer?
First of all a pointer is a variable which holds the address of a memory location which might hold some object. Using the pointer we can access the desired content(or object) at the specified location. If we delete the content the memory gets freed. But still the pointer contains the address which is invalid. Such pointers after deleting the content in the memory they are pointing at are called dangling pointers.
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The capture and storage of CO2, also known as CCS, from our waste is essential because this refuse is responsible for a large proportion or our cities’ greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, the technology represents a relatively inexpensive abatement cost.
Humankind will need to harness carbon capture and storage technologies to help keep global warming to 2 degrees C or less. New research shows that there’s plenty of room to store captured CO2 — in offshore geologic rock formations.
When scientists carry out experiments to investigate safe and efficient CO2 transport on the roof of the thermal power engineering laboratories at Trondheim, Norway, the noise they make will sound like a jet engine.
Why is there so much talk about storing CO2 underground? Doesn’t it cost more than it’s worth? Here we provide the research scientists’ answers and explanations of why CCS is climate technology that we are completely dependent on. And yes, this can be performed in a safe manner.
The world will not be able to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement without technology capable of capturing, transporting and storing CO2.
Have you ever wondered what climate scientists are really saying, but find it a little embarrassing to ask anyone about the language? Here is a glossary that explains commonly used technical terms.
Beginning on 30 November, the nations of the world will gather in Paris to discuss a new global agreement on climate change. But what will it take to transform international political will into real action to curb global warming?
Capturing and storing carbon dioxide is one of the most important things we can do to prevent the most damaging effects of global warming.
Norway’s first full-scale facility for CO2 capture may be built at Norcem’s cement factory in Brevik. Four technologies are being tested.
Norway has a particular vested interest and responsibility to develop CO2 capture and storage (CCS), believes Nils A. Røkke. Without CCS, the world will be unable to achieve the aim of limiting the global temperature increase to two degrees, says SINTEF’s Director of Climate Technology Research.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is essential if the EU’s climate target is to be reached in a cost effective way. Extensive governmental support in the form of subsidies is necessary to support early implementation of this technology.
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The Crimean War
In Britain, the Crimean War is principally remembered for three reasons: the Charge of the Light Brigade, maladministration in the British army, and Florence Nightingale. However, this war, fought by an alliance of Britain, France, Turkey and Sardinia against Russia, is far more complex.
Many wars have been fought on the grounds of the strategic importance of a region; many wars have been fought over religious differences. The Crimean War was the result of both factors.
The causes of war
During the years leading up to the Crimean War, France, Russia and Britain were all competing for influence in the Middle East, particularly with Turkey. Religious differences were certainly a catalyst in the Crimean War. Control of access to religious sites in the Holy Land had been a cause of tension between Catholic France and Orthodox Russia for a number of years and in 1853, the conflict came to a head with rioting in Bethlehem, which was then part of the Ottoman empire ruled by Turkey. A number of Orthodox monks were killed during fighting with French monks. Tsar Nicholas I blamed the Turks for these deaths.
'The sick man of Europe'
Tsar Nicholas I demanded that the dispute be resolved in favour of the Orthodox Church and sent his representative Menshikov to Constantinople (now Istanbul) with demands on the Porte (the Turkish court). These demands were not met however and Nicholas took the opportunity to mobilise the Russian army against Turkey, which at this point was beginning to lose its grip on its empire. Nicholas referred to Turkey and its weakening empire as the 'sick man of Europe' and historians have argued that he had ambitions of his own in the eastern Mediterranean. The British and French, for their part, were concerned about Russian expansion in the region and the potential threat to their trade routes.
Russia attacks Turkey
Initial Russian operations against the Ottoman empire were conducted in Romania with the Russian army crossing the River Pruth into Moldavia on 2 July 1853. In response Turkey declared war on Russia on 5 October. On 4 November, the Russians destroyed the Turkish fleet at Sinope, on Turkey's Black Sea coast, sinking seven frigates and other shipping. The British and French responded quickly. In March 1854, they declared war on Russia expecting, with their naval supremacy, a quick victory. The allied forces were mustered at Varna in Bulgaria and they prepared for an all-out assault on Russian forces in the Crimea to seize the naval base at Sevastopol.
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The four cases in German grammar are nominative (subject), accusative (direct object), dative (indirect object) and genitive (possessive). Because the word order of sentences is not fixed in German grammar, we need the cases to tell us what role a noun or pronoun is playing in a sentence. Articles, nouns, adjectives and pronouns all have to be declined or inflected to reflect a case.
In the following pages, learn when and how to use each case and what to pay attention to when declining words. Just click on one of the links below for an in-depth explanation and exercises that let you practise what you have learnt.
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Deforestation around Africa's Mount Kilimanjaro may have as large of an impact on the mountain's local weather and climate as global climate change, according to researchers from the University of Alabama, Huntsville.
Udaysankar Nair, a research scientist at the university's Earth Sciences Center, and doctoral student Jonathan Fairman are using climate models and data from NASA satellites to create a local model that can predict the effects of deforestation on local weather patterns, including rainfall and snow cover.
In early work published last month in the Journal of Geophysical Research, the team studied the impact of deforestation for the month of July. They found that deforestation changed weather at the base of the mountain, but not at its peak.
Deforestation in July affected airflow — instead of flowing around the mountain, most of the air flowed over the top, which in turn, affected rainfall.
"When you deforest, you increase rainfall at elevations of 1,000 to 4,000 meters, but at the expense of a reduction of rainfall at lower elevations," Nair told OurAmazingPlanet.
Because they studied the mountain in the month of July — the dry season — it's unclear how deforestation would affect the peak of the mountain, where gradually disappearing glaciers reside, because there is no rain or snow at that time. So the researchers are now extending their study to look at the impacts of deforestation for the entire year, including the rainy seasons.
Nair and Fairman previously studied the impact of deforestation in the mountains around Monteverde, Costa Rica, which host exotic ecosystems known as cloud forests. The region has experienced significant ecological changes, including less rainfall, the reduction of cloud cover and the subsequent disappearance of several species of amphibians and birds.
While global climate change is certainly playing a role in those impacts, Nair and Fairman found that deforestation of the lowlands around the mountains is exacerbating that effect. They found that deforestation had the same effect as climate change — causing clouds to move up the slope of the mountain, increasing temperature and decreasing rainfall.
"What we're finding more and more is that [deforestation impacts] can be very location-specific," Fairman said.
Understanding how local changes are affecting climate could be important for mitigating the overall impact of climate change, Nair said.
"Large-scale changes are hard to control because they involve the whole globe, but local changes are easier to control. If we find that deforestation adds to the changes, that's one thing that could be controlled regionally," he said. "And sometimes, the regional effects can be as strong, or even stronger than, the global effects."
- 8 of the World's Most Endangered Places
- Infographic: Tallest Mountain to Deepest Ocean Trench
- Earth Checkup: 10 Health Status Signs
This article was provided by OurAmazingPlanet, a sister site to LiveScience.
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Preface Annex 1
African economies during pre-colonial times were able to avoid any large-scale environmental degradation, partly because the population was small and partly because the demands on the economy were small (UNEP 2002a). More importantly, the technology was appropriate and adequate, as the people learnt over centuries to adapt systems of extraction of natural resources to be commensurate with the dictates of the environment. In contrast, modern economic practices have introduced increased demands on human and natural resources and the available technology has proved inadequate. Africa needs to improve and diversify the range of technological options available if the demands of change are to be met (UN Millennium Project 2005a, UN Millennium Project 2005b). New technologies often come with new costs, including high demands for fuel and increased pollution, and new risks, such as uncertainty about the environmental and human health impacts of genetically modified (GM) crops and chemicals. Chapter 1: The Human Dimension considers the developments in the pharmaceutical sector, and the potential economic opportunities investment in genetic resource R&D can bring for Africa, particularly in rural communities. Section 3: Emerging Challenges considers the challenges and opportunities associated with GM crops (Chapter 9) and chemicals (Chapter 11).
In the 20th century, Africa’s role in the development of science and technology remained small. Historical factors contributed to this. Colonization inhibited the development of indigenous technology and destabilized some of the existing processes of technical growth. Indigenous manufacturing capability was deliberately undermined to facilitate European exports for which captive markets were created. Further, Africa has not only been a user of technologies developed in the west, but has also served as a dumping ground for obsolete technologies abandoned in the west. Africa remains on the technological fringes, and in the absence of large-scale investment in this area this is not likely to change. Africa in general has a high dependence on imported technology. As the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) noted, addressing this is critical if development targets are to be met. Stimulating R&D in this sector requires not only an improved economic environment but also better infrastructure and efficient communications systems. Africa needs to increase investment in this area, and focus on the development of appropriate technologies (ECA 2005). The growth of ICT has been an important driver of economic growth and the diversification of opportunity in the economies of Southeast Asia. Chapter 1: The Human Dimension describes the current state of ICT and considers the opportunities this sector can bring for development. The Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) technology offers significant opportunities. The introduction of GSM in many African countries and the deregulation of the telecommunications sector have energized private companies to embark on aggressive telecommunications development programmes across the region. This trend is expected to become a major catalyst for development through improvements in information access. Modern ICT will assist the emergence of micro-power technologies to revolutionize energy sources. While many African countries continue to see modern information technology and industrialization as principal agents for economic development, some countries will recognize the importance of sequencing in harnessing technology and integrate these into the process of development including environmental management. With the introduction of cleaner fuels, swift transition to renewable resources and greater concern for the environment, the impact of industrialization and technological advancement on the environment is reduced to the barest minimum.
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Fracking, or Hydraulic Fracturing, is a method of extracting hard-to-get oil and gas from shale. For the most part, fossil fuels originally formed in shale, which was in turn laid down by near surface life in anoxic seas. Sunlight powered a high turnover of near surface plankton, algae, and bacteria, but oxygen-poor conditions just a little deeper in the sea made it unlikely for much of that life to be recycled through other life forms. So, during periods of anoxic seas, which lasted for millions of years now and then in earth history, much of that organic material from near the surface of the ocean settled into the sea floor mud where it became buried and incorporated into the growing layers of sediment. This was eventually transformed into oil and gas rich shale. (For a detailed overview of that aspect of earth history, see this fascinating book.) Eventually, some of that oil and gas collected in deposits that could be easily removed through drilling. Once this oil and gas is removed, however, the remaining hydrocarbon fuels are much more thinly distributed in the shale. In order to access this fuel, modern day miners pump water mixed with sand and chemicals at high pressure into the shale, which causes it to fracture, allowing the gas and oil to accumulate and become more easily removed. It is a little like squeezing a few drops of the water out of a mostly dry sponge.
So, we have an important question to address: How much water is used in fracking, and does fracking pose a threat to the availability of clean and accessible water?
There is an awful lot of water on the Earth. But everyone knows from their earth or environmental science class in high school that what matters is not the total amount of water, but the water’s distribution. Most of the liquid water (not in glaciers, air-born vapor, or incorporated with other molecules in rock or living things) is sea water, which is both too salty to use for most purposes and inconveniently located far from points inland, being in the sea and all. Free flowing fresh water … rain, lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater … makes up only a small part of the total water budget for the planet, and this free flowing water is very unevenly distributed. And, some of that is not so fresh. For example, in the Permian Basin in Texas, the site of the Black Gold Rush of bygone days, the groundwater is often brackish (meaning somewhat salty). I do not know this for a fact, but I suspect that this brackishness is the result, at least in part, of early oil drilling activities. (If you know, tell us in the comments!)
Fracking uses very little water, when you look at the overall budget of water. The use of water in fracking has been best studied in Texas and to some extent in Pennsylvania. Fracking in these two states is relatively high in water use per well. In Texas, fracking for oil and gas uses less than one percent of the state’s total water supply. It is important to note, however, that water is used in other mining activities as well, including coal extraction, so the total amount of water used in mineral extraction, including oil, gas, and coal, is closer to 2%. That does not sound like a lot.
However, as noted, fresh, usable, free flowing, accessible water (including lakes, streams, rivers, and groundwater that is not too deep) is very unevenly distributed. In some counties in Texas, where the Eagle Ford Shale is being exploited, the total amount of water used locally approaches or even exceeds 50%. Suddenly, that is a lot of water. In some cases, the draw-off of water for fracking has caused water in wells used for other purposes to drop significantly. In one study in a five county area in Texas carried out by the Wintergarden Groundwater Conservation District, fracking was shown to reduce the available water in the aquifer by one third. This problem has pitted Texas Cattlemen against Texas Oilmen. Interesting.
Also, once the water is used, you still have this water on hand, but it has been contaminated. Or, if you used brackish water to begin with, you still have brackish water but it is no longer where it originally was siting and minding its own business. It is now in a truck, or really, a whole bunch of trucks, in which it is driven to a "disposal well.” Disposal wells are deep wells into which the messed up fracking fluid is put, where it hopefully will not get into the fresh water supply for nearby communities. Except that it does, apparently, contaminate fresh water supplies at least some times. In addition, deep wells for fracking fluid disposal tend to follow fault lines, and the fracking fluid injected into them cause earthquakes. Though whether this is true has been controversial, it no longer seems to be. Fracking causes earthquakes.
A recent study in Pennsylvania showed where the water used for fracking comes from. In that case, about 4.4 million gallons was used over a period of less than a week to frack the average well. About 63% of that water came from nearby rivers and streams, 20% from public water supplies, 15% recycled from previously fracked wells in the area. About 2% of the total fracking fluid consisted of sand and chemicals used to make the water more effective and for other purposes. How much water is that? About 11,000 average American families use up 4.4 million gallons of water a day, which if you put it all in one place would fill six Olympic size swimming pools.
A report by EcoWatch looked at fracking across 26,339 fracking instances across 12 states. The reported water usage showed a great deal of variation by state in average water use per well, ranging from high numbers in Pennsylvania, Louisiana and Virginia (between 4.4 and 5.3 million gallons per fracking event) down to much lower numbers in California (168,000 gallons per fracking). The differences across regions could be attributed to a number of factors, but is probably mainly related to the nature of the rock being fracked. The total amount of water used in these 26,339 events was just shy of 66 billion gallons of water. That is roughly equivalent to a full day (24 hours) of flow over Niagara Falls. One single day of one major waterfall seems like both a lot and not so much depending on one’s perspective, but again, Niagra Falls is an unusual and spectacular concentration of water, and fracking is often done in places where there is much less available water.
Here’s the thing with fracking: We are not going to be fracking forever. It is a last ditch effort to extract hydrocarbon fuels from areas that were either depleted using traditional techniques or never exploited because the deposits were low quality. Also, the fracking itself is generally done in the early stages of exploitation in a given area. Once you’ve fracked, you put in wells and extract the oil or gas and are unlikely to frack again. In addition, the petrolatum industry dishonestly claims that fracking is not part of extraction, but rather, part of “exploration.” This is important because if one accepts this spurious argument, fracking falls under less strident rules regarding environmental effects and other regulations. This is how fracking can run under the regulatory radar. First, it may be less regulated if it is considered exploration, then the special considerations regarding fracking’s effects are addressed by a ponderous slow moving legal and regulatory process, so by the time we get our environmental protection ducks in a row, a lot of the fracking is done with. This means that across the possible range of effects fracking can have on a local aquifer and ecosystem, we can expect the worse or nearly so.
Back to water. In particular, let’s talk about water in Minnesota. Historians of yore identified a line that ran roughly north to south in the US, east of which traditional agriculture could be practiced without significant irrigation, and west of which one would need to irrigate to grow key crops like corn. This line ran through Minnesota. It was an oversimplification but a useful guide to understanding 19th century settlement pattern. The point is, if you want to farm in Minnesota, especially in the western and southern parts of the state (the prairies), you really have to irrigate. Irrigation stresses groundwater supplies. We have fairly uneven amounts of rainfall from year to year and over the months of a given year. Anyone who pays attention to the news in our state will know that every year farmers seem to have one problem or another having to do with water, but the problem varies between too much and too little, and often relates to when during the year the rain falls. Too little water in the Spring makes it hard for crops to take hold, too much makes it impossible to work many of the fields.
This problem affects other aspects of life as well, from municipal water supplies to fishing and other water activities to the levels of the Upper Mississippi required to use the nations greatest waterway to transport goods. Over the last 10 years or so, climate change has made this worse. Meteorologist Paul Douglas recently noted in a piece in Weather Nation that climate change is likely to move snowfall and other precipitation away from the middle part of winter towards the beginning and end. In and of itself a given seasonal distribution of snow may not be a big deal, but if water supply and irrigation systems are built to assume a certain pattern and that pattern changes, then costly adaptation may be required.
Generally speaking, climate change has warmed the atmosphere which means that the air holds more water on average than it did, say, 30 years go. But the increased energy of the atmosphere has also caused a qualitative change in the distribution of water. In a sense, one could say that the atmosphere has become better organized with respect to air currents that block the movement of air in some directions, and at the same time, certain air currents can now hold much more water than others. In short, the water vapor in our atmosphere is bunched up in both space and time. This means fewer mild rains and more heavy rains, often in the form of severe storms. Since the exact location of storm systems varies a great deal, this means that some areas that formerly received a certain average annual precipitation will a) have more precipitation overall; and b) a much greater variation in precipitation, leading to frequent periods of very little rain. This is how we can simultaneously have more really big and wet storms (and we do) and drought. The current national drought we are experiencing is part of a global drought being experienced in temperate zones in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Minnesota has experienced this drought to a lesser degree than states just to our south, but it has not been insignificant.
So here’s the thing. We are facing a future with a new climate reality that will involve, for Minnesota, long stretches of dry conditions (especially in the southern and western parts of the state) punctuated by flood-causing storms now and then. And now, fracking comes along and potentially adds a locally significant demand on a water supply that has been transformed from tenuous but manageable to stressed, possibly severely stressed. On top of this, fracking does not use water like irrigation does. Irrigation removes water from the local water supply and turns it into vapor and corn (or, in the unlikely event that you are growing something other than corn, whatever that may be). This is problematic in some ways, but it is not as polluting as fracking. Fracking takes water out of the water supply, messes it up with contaminants from the fracking process, and then puts it back into the water supply often in a less convenient location that can sometimes cause small earthquakes. In this way, a couple of percent demand on the water supply can translate into a much larger impact because contaminated water tends to mingle with uncontaminated water and the result is more contaminated water.
I wanted to talk about fracking and water, but while we are on fracking I’d like to make one other quick point: Fracking is stupid, just like building the Keystone Pipeline is stupid. We truly are approaching, and in fact are already experiencing, a climate crisis caused by the release of fossil carbon into the atmosphere. We have to stop doing that. The use of fracking to squeeze the nearly dry sponge is not what we should be doing right now.
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Will the Great Barrier Reef recover?
The Great Barrier Reef has not had a good year. Prolonged high temperatures have devastated portions of the reef, especially the more remote, historically pristine, and less impacted northern section. While some recovery will occur over time, the sad truth is that ongoing ocean warming may keep some reefs from ever recovering their previous level of health, diversity, and productivity.
Coral bleaching occurs when corals become heat-stressed enough to expel their primary source of food, the microalgae that live inside their cells. This leaves the coral looking as white as if they had been soaking in bleach. Previous major bleaching events at the Great Barrier Reef occurred in 1998, 2006, and 2010, with 1998 and 2010 being associated with El Niño events. This year was no different: the bleaching corresponded with a strong El Niño event.
El Niños generally mean less precipitation across northern Australia. The resulting dry, sunny, and hot conditions heat up the waters across the reef, leading to bleaching events. However, just as impacts from no two El Niños are alike, neither are bleaching events. They can impact different sections of the Great Barrier Reef with different levels of severity. This year’s event more severely impacted the northern reef, for instance.
Just because a coral is bleached doesn’t mean it’s dead. If water temperatures drop back below stressful levels and remain there for a long enough period of time—with no additional bleaching events or other major stresses—corals can regrow their algae and resume their mutually beneficially relationship.
Recovery when corals die can take a long time, however. Even in the most remote and hardy places (such as the northern Great Barrier Reef), recovery following the 1998 bleaching event took 10 to 20 years. Elsewhere along on the reef, severe bleaching events or local disturbances have been occurring so often that significant recovery has been limited.
And there’s the rub for the Great Barrier Reef’s future.
Sadly, almost all climate models show that meaningful recovery of corals along the Great Barrier Reef (and many other parts of the world) may be very difficult, if it is even possible at all.
This is because rapidly rising carbon dioxide concentrations will cause coral bleaching events to continue to become more frequent and severe in the years ahead, giving corals too little time to recover from the stress of repeated bleaching. It is evident even now that bleaching events are affecting a larger area, deeper reefs, and that they are lasting for a longer period of time—all of which will harm the reefs and the animals that rely on them.
Research published by scientists at NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch program and Australia’s James Cook University and University of Queensland found that our changing climate and warmer ocean temperatures might increase coral bleaching along the Great Barrier Reef even more than previously thought (Ainsworth et al. 2016).
The researchers found that corals handle bleaching conditions better if they get a “practice run” in the weeks before the bleaching event. If the corals are exposed to a brief stretch of warmer than normal (but below bleaching threshold) temperatures followed by a cooler recovery period of 10 days or so, it’s like they get a chance to “brace for impact.” The corals go through a heat shock response, increasing the corals’ heat tolerance and reducing the severity of bleaching and likelihood of death. All of this comes in handy when waters warm enough to meet bleaching conditions.
No more practice runs
However, if ocean waters warm by as little as 0.5°C overall, as predicted for the near future, there won’t be a pre-stress practice run. Without it, corals are at a greater risk of dying during bleaching, which means reefs are more likely to see a faster decline in coral cover.
The 2016 coral bleaching event is probably not an isolated event, just a combination of El Niño and bad luck. Instead, it is a sign of things to come thanks to climate change. An increasing number of worsening bleaching events destroying the corals across the Great Barrier Reef may ruin one of the natural wonders of the world.
Work can be done to protect the reefs. Better management that reduces other human-caused stresses can reduce the bleaching risk. However, as researchers showed, under high greenhouse gas emission scenarios, the outlook for the Great Barrier Reef is pretty dire. The research showed that the way to greatly improve the outlook for the reef was aggressive action to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations.
Ainsworth, Tracy D., S.F. Heron, J.C Ortiz, P.J. Mumby, A. Grech, D. Ogawa, C.M. Eakin, W. Leggat (2016) Climate change disables coral bleaching protection on the Great Barrier Reef. Science. 352. 338-42.
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What is Anterior Uveitis?
Anterior uveitis is an inflammation of the middle layer of the eye, which includes the iris (colored part of the eye) and adjacent tissue, known as the ciliary body.
What causes anterior uveitis?
Anterior uveitis can occur as a result of trauma to the eye, such as a blow or foreign body penetrating the eye. It can also be a complication of other eye disease, or it may be associated with general health problems such as rheumatoid arthritis, rubella and mumps. In most cases, there is no obvious underlying cause.
How serious is anterior uveitis?
If untreated, it can cause permanent damage and loss of vision from the development of glaucoma, cataracts or retinal edema (fluid under the retina). It usually responds well to treatment; however, there may be a tendency for the condition to recur. Treatment usually includes prescription eye drops, which dilate the pupils, in combination with anti-inflammatory drugs. Treatment usually takes several days, or up to several weeks, in some cases.
What are the symptoms of anterior uveitis?
Signs/symptoms may include a red, sore and inflamed eye, blurring of vision, sensitivity to light and a small pupil. Because the symptoms of anterior uveitis are similar to those of other eye diseases, Dr. Fife will carefully examine the inside of your eye, under bright light and high magnification, to determine the presence and severity of the condition. If anterior uveitis continues to recur, Dr. Fife may also perform or arrange for other diagnostic tests to help pinpoint the cause.
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US researchers have found that eye drops designed to lower cholesterol may be able to prevent macular degeneration, one of the most common forms of blindness.
Researchers showed how high cholesterol levels could affect the immune system and lead to macular degeneration.
Tests on mice and humans, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, showed that immune cells became destructive when they were clogged with fats.
Others cautioned that the research was still at an early stage.
The macula is the sweet spot in the eye which is responsible for fine detail. It is essential for reading, driving and recognizing people’s faces.
Macular degeneration is more common in old age. It starts in a “dry” form in which the light-sensing cells in the eye become damaged, but can progress into the far more threatening “wet” version, when newly formed blood vessels can rapidly cause blindness.
Specialists at the Washington University School of Medicine investigated the role of macrophages, a part of the immune system, in the transition from the dry to the wet form of the disease.
One of the researchers, Dr. Rajendra Apte, said the role of macrophages changed and they triggered the production of new blood vessels.
“Instead of being protective, they accelerate the disease, but we didn’t understand why they switched to become the bad cells,” he said.
Normally the cells can “eat” fatty deposits and send them back into the blood.
However, their research showed that older macrophages struggle. They could still eat the fats, but they could not expel them. So they became “bloated”, causing inflammation which in turn led to the creation of new blood vessels.
Dr. Rajendra Apte said: “Based on our findings, we need to investigate whether vision loss caused by macular degeneration could be prevented with cholesterol-lowering eye drops or other medications that might prevent the build-up of lipids beneath the retina.”
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A British possession in South Africa, bounded on the north and northwest by the Congo Free State and German East Africa; on the east by German East Africa, Nyassaland, and Portuguese East Africa; on the south by the Transvaal and Bechuanaland; on the west by Bechuanaland and Portuguese West Africa. Cecil John Rhodes, to whom the colony owes its name, desired to promote the expansion of the British Empire in South Africa. The Dutch South African Republic and Germany were contemplating annexations in the neighbourhood of the Zambesi River. To thwart these enemies of unity without delay and without the aid of the British Parliament was the task to which Mr. Rhodes and his colleagues set themselves. Early in 1888 Lobengula, King of Matabeleland, entered into a treaty with Great Britain and on 30 October of the same year he granted to Rhodes's agents "the complete and exclusive charge over all metals and minerals" in his dominions. On 28 October, 1889, the British South Africa Company was formed under a royal charter. The company, on Lobengula's advice, first decided to open up Mashonaland, which lies north and west of Matabeleland and south of the Zambesi. In September, 1890, an expeditionary column occupied that country and, in the next four years, much was done to develop its resources. In 1893 the company, who questioned the right of the Matabele to make annual raids among their neighbours the Mashonas, came to blows with King Lobengula. Five weeks of active operations and the death of the king, probably by self-administered poison, brought the whole of Southern Rhodesia under the absolute control of the company.
After the war, the settlement and opening up of the country was carried on under the direction of Mr. Rhodes who, on the ruins of Lobengula's royal kraal at Bulawayo, built Government House, and in the vicinity, laid out the streets and avenues of what was intended soon to become a great city. At one time Bulawayo had a population of some 7000 white inhabitants and seemed to be fulfilling the dreams of its founder when its progress and that of the whole country was cut short by the cattle pest, the native rebellion of 1896, and by years of stagnation and inactivity consequent upon the Boer War. Its white population (1911) is 5200. Besides Southern Rhodesia the chartered company own the extensive territories of Northwestern and Northeastern Rhodesia which lie north of the Zambesi and which, with the more populous southern province, cover an area of some 450,000 square miles and form a country larger than France, Germany, and the Low Countries combined. The black population is less than 1,500,000, while the whites hardly exceed 16,000. All the native tribes of Rhodesia belong to the great Bantu family of the negro race. Before the arrival of the pioneer columns the dominant race south of the Zambesi were the Matabele, an off-shoot of the Zulus, who conquered the country north of the Limpopo River in the middle of the last century. They formed a military caste which lived by war and periodical raids upon their weaker neighbours. The destruction of this military despotism was a necessary step to the evangelizing of the country. Before the arrival of the Matabele warriors the principal inhabitants of Southern Rhodesia were the Makaranga whose ancestors had formed the once powerful empire of Monomotapa. North-western Rhodesia or Barotseland is ruled partly by an administrator residing at Livingstone, near the Victoria Falls of the Zambesi and partly by its native King Lewanika, the chief of the Barotse, who has been heavily subsidised by the company. The predominant people in North-eastern Rhodesia are the Awemba and the Angoni whose raiding propensities and coöperation with the Arab slave drivers caused much trouble and expense until their definitive annexation by the company in 1894.
The earliest attempt to evangelize Matabeleland was made in 1879 when three Jesuit Fathers, travelling by ox-wagon, accomplished the journey of some twelve hundred miles between Grahamstown and Bulawayo. They were hospitably received by King Lobengula who had been assured by some resident traders that the missionaries had come for his people's good. He granted them a free passage through his dominions and allowed them to train his subjects in habits of industry but not to preach the Gospel of Christ which, as he well knew, would lead to drastic changes, not only in the domestic life of his people, but in his whole system of government. For some fourteen years the missionaries held their ground awaiting events and it was only through the conquest of the country by the company that free missionary work was rendered possible. It was during this period that Baron von Hübner, who was not without personal experience of South Africa, declared that he would never contribute a penny to the Zambesi Mission, since he thought it contrary to his duty to foster an enterprise doomed to failure and disaster. Events seemed to justify his prognostications, for the mission, owing to fever and the hardships of travel, seemed to be losing more workers than it made converts. In 1893, however, the power of Lobengula was broken and mission stations began to grow up in the neighbourhood of Salisbury, the capital, and of Bulawayo. In Matabeleland there are two mission stations, one at Bulawayo and the second at Empandeni, some sixty miles away. This last station owns a property of about one hundred square miles most of which formed the original grant of Lobengula and the title to which was confirmed by the company. The principal station among the Mashonas or Makaranga is Chishawasha, fourteen miles from Salisbury (founded in 1892). There are other stations of more recent date at Salisbury, Driefontein, Hama's Kraal, and Mzondo, near Victoria, all under the charge of the Jesuit Fathers. The Missionaries of Marianhill, recently separated from the Trappists, have two missions in Mashonaland at Macheke and St. Trias Hill. The Makaranga who are thus being evangelized from seven mission stations are the descendants of the predominant tribe who received the faith from the Ven. Father Gonçalo de Silveira in 1561. Among the Batongas, who owe a somewhat doubtful allegiance to King Lewanika in North-western Rhodesia, there are two Jesuit mission stations on the Chikuni and Nguerere Rivers. These missions are under the jurisdiction of the Jesuit Prefect Apostolic of the Zambesi, resident in Bulawayo. There are 35 priests, 30 lay brothers, and 83 nuns in charge of the missions. The Catholic native population is about 3000. For the missions of North-eastern Rhodesia see VICARIATE APOSTOLIC OF NYASSA. The land of the mission stations in Rhodesia is usually a grant from the Government made on condition of doing missionary work and is therefore inalienable without a special order in Council. Native schools, in some cases, are in receipt of a small grant from the Government. The Jesuit Fathers have one school for white boys (120) at Bulawayo, while the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Dominic have three: at Bulawayo (210), Salisbury (130) and Gwelo (40). These schools are undenominational and receive grants from the Government. Hence Catholics who were first in the field, have a very considerable share in the education of the country. New Government schools have been built recently in Salisbury, Bulawayo, and Gwelo and other places in order to meet the growing demand for education and they have, so far, succeeded in filling their school-rooms without taking many pupils from the schools managed by Catholics.
The chief source of information about the Zambesi Mission is the Zambesi Mission Record, issued quarterly (Roehampton, England); HENSMAN, A History of Rhodesia (London, 1900); HONE, Southern Rhodesia (London, 1909); HALL, Prehistoric Rhodesia (London, 1909); MICHELL, Life of C. J. Rhodes (2 vols., London, 1910).
APA citation. (1912). Rhodesia. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13025a.htm
MLA citation. "Rhodesia." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13025a.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Douglas J. Potter. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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Presentation on theme: "Aim: How can we solve problems dealing with the Law of Conservation of Energy? HW #10 due tomorrow Do Now: A 10 kg object free falls off the top of a 100."— Presentation transcript:
Aim: How can we solve problems dealing with the Law of Conservation of Energy? HW #10 due tomorrow Do Now: A 10 kg object free falls off the top of a 100 m tall building. At the top, calculate its potential and kinetic energies. U = mghK = ½mv 2 U = (10 kg)(9.8 m/s 2 )(100 m)K = ½(10 kg)(0 m/s) 2 U = 9,800 JK = 0 J HW #9 Answer Key
Conservation of Energy The total energy (E T ) of an object or system is constant Energy cannot be created or destroyed Energy can be changed from one form to another.
A Dropped Sphere What energy does it have when held off the ground? Potential Energy What happens to this PE as the ball drops? It becomes smaller and smaller Is the energy just disappearing? No!! It is being converted into KE (the object is speeding up)
100 m m = 10 kg At the top: PE = 9,800 J (PE = mgh) KE = 0 J (at rest) E T = 9,800 J (PE + KE = E T ) At the bottom: PE = 0 J (no height) E T = 9,800 J (total energy is constant!) KE = 9,800 J (PE + KE = E T ) If PE = 4,900 J, what is KE? KE = 4,900 J PE = 3,000 J, what is KE? KE = 6,800 J
1.The figure above shows a rough semicircular track whose ends are at a vertical height h. A block placed at point P at one end of the track is released from rest and slides past the bottom of the track. Which of the following is true of the height to which the block rises on the other side of the track? (A) It is equal to h/2 (B) It is equal to h/4 (C) It is equal to h/2 (D) It is equal to h (E) It is between zero and h; the exact height depends on how much energy is lost to friction. If no energy were lost, the answer would be (d) No calculator **1 minute**
2. If the potential energy is zero at point II, where will the kinetic and potential energies of the ball be equal? (A) At point II (B) At some point between II and III (C) At point III (D) At some point between III and IV (E) At point IV 3. The speed of the ball at point II is most nearly (A) 3.0 m/s (B) 4.5 m/s (C) 9.8 m/s (D) 14 m/s (E) 20 m/s A ball swings freely back and forth in an arc from point I to point IV, as shown at the right. Point II is the lowest point in the path, III is located 0.5 meter above II, and IV is 1 meter above II. Air resistance is negligible. ΔK = ΔU ½ mv 2 = mgh ½ v 2 = gh No calculator **2 minutes**
4. What is the kinetic energy of the rock just before it hits the ground? (A)mgh (B)½ mv 0 2 (C)½ mv 0 2 – mgh (D)½ mv 0 2 + mgh (E)mgh - ½ mv 0 2 A rock of mass m is thrown horizontally off a building from a height h, as shown above. The speed of the rock as it leaves the thrower’s hand at the edge of the building is v 0. No calculator **1 minute 15 sec**
a. Using the principle of conservation of energy, develop an expression for the speed of the child at the lowest point in the swing in terms of g, R, and cos o 5. A child of mass M holds onto a rope and steps off a platform. Assume that the initial speed of the child is zero. The rope has length R and negligible mass. The initial angle of the rope with the vertical is o, as shown in the drawing above. Calculator **8 minutes**
b. The tension in the rope at the lowest point is 1.5 times the weight of the child. Determine the value of cos o.
a. What is the tension T in the string? 6. Two 10 ‑ kilogram boxes are connected by a massless string that passes over a massless frictionless pulley as shown. The boxes remain at rest, with the one on the right hanging vertically and the one on the left 2.0 meters from the bottom of an inclined plane that makes an angle of 60° with the horizontal. The coefficients of kinetic friction and static friction between the Ieft ‑ hand box and the plane are 0.15 and 0.30, respectively. You may use g = 10 m/s 2, sin 60° = 0.87, and cos 60° = 0.50. ΣF = 0 T – mg = 0 T = mg T = (10 kg)(10 m/s 2 ) T = 100 N Calculator **15 minutes**
b. On the diagram below, draw and label all the forces acting on the box that is on the plane. T N FfFf mg
c. Determine the magnitude of the frictional force acting on the box on the plane. ΣF = 0 T – F f – mgsinθ = 0 F f = T – mgsinθ F f = 100 N – (10 kg)(10 m/s 2 )(0.87) F f = 13 N
The string is then cut and the left ‑ hand box slides down the inclined plane. d.Determine the amount of mechanical energy that is converted into thermal energy during the slide to the bottom. W f = F f x W f = μ k Nx W f = μ k mgcosθx W f = (0.15)(10 kg)(10 m/s 2 )(0.5)(2 m) W f = 15 J e.Determine the kinetic energy of the left ‑ hand box when it reaches the bottom of the plane. U = K + W f K = U – W f K = mgh – 15 J K = mgxsin60° - 15 J K = (10 kg)(10 m/s 2 )(2 m)(0.87) – 15 J K = 159 J
7. A 5.0 ‑ kilogram monkey hangs initially at rest from two vines, A and B. as shown above. Each of the vines has length 10 meters and negligible mass. a. On the figure below, draw and label all of the forces acting on the monkey. (Do not resolve the forces into components, but do indicate their directions.) TATA TBTB mg Calculator **10 minutes**
b. Determine the tension in vine B while the monkey is at rest.
The monkey releases vine A and swings on vine B. Neglect air resistance. c. Determine the speed of the monkey as it passes through the lowest point of its first swing.
d. Determine the tension in vine B as the monkey passes through the lowest point of its first swing.
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Serial Storage Architecture (SSA) is an open protocol used to facilitate high-speed data transfer between disks, clusters, and servers. SSA is an industry and user supported storage interface technology.
The SSA concept was developed by the IBM engineer Ian Judd in the early 1990s. IBM developed several SSA products, including disk enclosures, storage servers, and host bus adapters. SSA products are based on the Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) standard.
Applications like e-commerce, video on-demand, and video conferencing are rapidly advancing, due to expanded network infrastructures and computer processing speeds. Such applications use networks to accommodate data requirements and require systems with sufficient storage capacity, fault tolerance, and high data bandwidth.
To meet increasing storage system demands, the SSA standard was developed for deployment in mainframe environments, networked computer systems, and small systems. SSA provides high-performance Serial Attached Technology (SAT) to link disk drives and servers.
SSA is configured with two point-to-point links connected through the ports of two different devices. A node, such as a storage device with two ports, connects to two other storage devices using two link pairs. If each storage device has two ports, they are easily linked as an SSA loop. SSA configuration provides 20 MBps of link bandwidth and supports total data bandwidth of 80 MBps.
SSA benefits include:
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[A short version was published by the Canberra Times, 2 Feb, as “Evidence Points to Catastrophic Climate Change”. A longer version was posted on On Line Opinion, 8 Feb.]
In a new scientific paper (pdf, 600kb) prominent climate scientist James Hansen and his colleague Makiko Sato argue that the Earth is now at least as warm as it was between earlier ice ages, and further warming by even one degree celsius could result in sea level rising by anything from 5 to 25 meters, with perhaps 5 meters rise by the end of this century.
This implies more stringent limits than current, politically-adopted targets to keep warming below two degrees celsius and atmospheric carbon dioxide content below 450 parts per million (ppm). Hansen now says the present targets are prescriptions for disaster, and that we must keep warming to less than one degree. This requires reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide to less than 350 ppm, from its present value near 390 ppm, as quickly as possible.
Meeting the new targets would require very rapid reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and active efforts to withdraw carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Bio-sequestration (using plants to build carbon in soil) is an option that can be undertaken immediately.
Given that existing policies in most countries fall well short of meeting even the old targets, this adds a new level of urgency to the existing urgency to begin major and effective efforts immediately.
There are three main approaches used to understand global warming: direct measurements of the world at present, computer models, and records of past climate extracted from sedimentary rocks and polar ice cores. The latter, deciphering natural records, has the advantage of looking at natural experiments that include all the complications of the real climate system, whereas computer models do not handle well some difficult factors such as cloud and aerosol variations. It depends, of course, on correctly and accurately deciphering the subtle chemical and isotopic records in the rocks and ice, but scientists have been unravelling those signals for quite a long time and a lot is known. Hansen and Sato have built on earlier work using recent data sets.
Over the past million years or so the climate has swung between ice ages and briefer, warmer interglacial periods. For the past 10,000 years, during which civilisation developed, we have been in a warm period called the Holocene in which temperature and sea level have been unusually stable. (Graph courtesy of ClimateCodeRed blog.)
The old targets, limiting the temperature increase to less than 2 degrees celsius and carbon dioxide to less than 450 ppm, were based on ice core records, which indicated that two previous interglacial periods, about 120,000 and 400,000 years ago, were 2.7-3.7 degrees celsius warmer than the Holocene (see graph (a) below). At those times sea level was 5 metres or more higher than now.
However Hansen and Sato now argue that the ice core record is affected by extra regional warming over the polar ice sheets, and it is not representative of the globe as a whole. They argue the deep sea sediment record is more globally representative, and this shows the earlier temperature peaks to have been no more than 1 degree warmer than now.
To explain the difference between the ice core and deep ocean records, Hansen and Sato argue that there are several positive feedbacks that come into play at temperatures near the present temperature, and they would accentuate the warming of polar regions more strongly than the rest of the globe. As temperatures rise through the present level, sea ice melts and ice shelves disappear, so the exposed water absorbs more solar heat than the ice it replaces. Also as surface melting occurs on ice sheets they darken significantly, so they also absorb more solar heat.
At present polar temperatures increase about twice as much as the global average, but the feedbacks would increase this ratio. Thus the ice sheets in the past warm intervals would have experienced the stronger warming recorded in the ice cores. Correspondingly they would have melted more, raising sea level several metres above present levels.
The concerning implication is that further warming by 1 degree or less over coming decades could trigger a rise in sea level of 5 metres or more, similar to levels during the earlier interglacial periods. This is much more than the 18-60 cm rise projected in 2007 by the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) using earlier data, and puts us on the brink of dangerous warming right now.
The urgency of Hansen and Sato’s message is bolstered by records from 3-5 million years ago (during the Pliocene epoch, graph below) which show temperatures no more than one degree warmer than now but sea levels as much as 25 metres higher than now, a rise that would be catastrophic.
Hansen and Sato also argue that ice sheet melting and breakup is an exponentially accelerating process that doubles its speed every 6-10 years, rather than a steady process. This implies that sea level rise would be much faster than previously thought. An accelerating process is expected because melt water tends to lubricate the bases of glaciers, which flow and break up more quickly, and because substantial parts of the West Antarctic ice sheet are grounded below sea level, so ocean warming and ice thinning can float their edges away more readily.
Melt rates, ice mass losses and sea level rise have all been measured to be increasing, consistent with these arguments. However the data do not yet extend for a long enough period to confirm that an exponential doubling process is occurring, and to accurately estimate the doubling time. The data are consistent with a doubling time of 6-10 years, and this will become more accurately known over the next 5-10 years. Even a doubling time of 10 years allows nine doublings this century, so rates could increase 500 times, to metres per decade by 2100.
Hansen first advanced arguments along these lines in 2007, but the new paper brings more data and insights to bear, and moves the conclusions from conjectural to plausible. There are of course many who deny that global warming is caused by human activity. Most such claims are based on only small portions of the wide range of arguments mentioned earlier. The Hansen and Sato conclusions do not require computer models of climate, and they are quite independent of the climategate controversy, which in any case was an enormous beatup of some private discussion of quite peripheral data sets. It is past time that policy makers gave serious attention to those whose long and successful careers, under the scrutiny of rivals, attest to the breadth and depth of their understanding.
A sea level rise of several metres would devastate global civilisation, as large populations, many cities and much infrastructure are within only a few metres of sea level. After the extreme weather of Black Saturday, February 7 2009, Australia added the “Catastrophic” category of bush fire danger above the previous highest “Extreme” category.
The danger from global warming may have moved from extreme to catastrophic.
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The bacteria that destroy about one-third of the potent greenhouse gas methane before it can reach the atmosphere use a neat trick to gather a key nutrient for the job. They produce a small organic compound and release it into the surrounding environment, where it "lassos" atoms of copper. The bacteria then reabsorb the compound and use the copper as a weapon against methane, from which they extract energy. The crystal structure of the compound--called methanobactin--will be reported in the Sept. 10 issue of Science. The research was led by Hyung J. Kim, who did much of the work as a graduate student at the University of Kansas and is now a postdoctoral associate at the University of Minnesota College of Biological Sciences.
Methanobactin may have antibacterial properties, and its ability to absorb copper may find application in the semiconductor industry, which needs copper-free water. The bacteria that make methanobactin are quite common. "These bacteria are often found in rice paddies and wetlands," said Kim. "Methane is produced in the bottom muck and diffuses into the water, where these bacteria live. The bacteria sequester the methane and turn it into methyl alcohol."
According to estimates made in the 1990s, the amount of methane produced from all sources worldwide is about 120 billion tons per year, said Kim. About 40 percent comes from paddies and wetlands, and the methane-eating bacteria, known as methanotrophs, remove 80 to 90 percent of it. That translates to a methane diet of close to 43 billion tons a year.
Deane Morrison | EurekAlert!
A novel synthetic antibody enables conditional “protein knockdown” in vertebrates
20.08.2018 | Technische Universität Dresden
Climate Impact Research in Hannover: Small Plants against Large Waves
17.08.2018 | Leibniz Universität Hannover
There are currently great hopes for solid-state batteries. They contain no liquid parts that could leak or catch fire. For this reason, they do not require cooling and are considered to be much safer, more reliable, and longer lasting than traditional lithium-ion batteries. Jülich scientists have now introduced a new concept that allows currents up to ten times greater during charging and discharging than previously described in the literature. The improvement was achieved by a “clever” choice of materials with a focus on consistently good compatibility. All components were made from phosphate compounds, which are well matched both chemically and mechanically.
The low current is considered one of the biggest hurdles in the development of solid-state batteries. It is the reason why the batteries take a relatively long...
New design tool automatically creates nanostructure 3D-print templates for user-given colors
Scientists present work at prestigious SIGGRAPH conference
Most of the objects we see are colored by pigments, but using pigments has disadvantages: such colors can fade, industrial pigments are often toxic, and...
Scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles present new research on a curious cosmic phenomenon known as "whistlers" -- very low frequency packets...
Scientists develop first tool to use machine learning methods to compute flow around interactively designable 3D objects. Tool will be presented at this year’s prestigious SIGGRAPH conference.
When engineers or designers want to test the aerodynamic properties of the newly designed shape of a car, airplane, or other object, they would normally model...
Researchers from TU Graz and their industry partners have unveiled a world first: the prototype of a robot-controlled, high-speed combined charging system (CCS) for electric vehicles that enables series charging of cars in various parking positions.
Global demand for electric vehicles is forecast to rise sharply: by 2025, the number of new vehicle registrations is expected to reach 25 million per year....
17.08.2018 | Event News
08.08.2018 | Event News
27.07.2018 | Event News
20.08.2018 | Information Technology
20.08.2018 | Life Sciences
20.08.2018 | Information Technology
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126.96.36.199 What Is Known About the Mechanism of these Abrupt Changes?
There is good evidence now from sediment data for a link between these glacial-age abrupt changes in surface climate and ocean circulation changes (Clark et al., 2002). Proxy data show that the South Atlantic cooled when the north warmed (with a possible lag), and vice versa (Voelker, 2002), a seesaw of NH and SH temperatures that indicates an ocean heat transport change (Crowley, 1992; Stocker and Johnsen 2003). During D-O warming, salinity in the Irminger Sea increased strongly (Elliot et al., 1998; van Kreveld et al., 2000) and northward flow of temperate waters increased in the Nordic Seas (Dokken and Jansen, 1999), indicative of saline Atlantic waters advancing northward. Abrupt changes in deep water properties of the Atlantic have been documented from proxy data (e.g., 13C, 231Pa/230Th), which reconstruct the ventilation of the deep water masses and changes in the overturning rate and flow speed of the deep waters (Vidal et al., 1998; Dokken and Jansen, 1999; McManus et al., 2004; Gherardi et al., 2005). Despite this evidence, many features of the abrupt changes are still not well constrained due to a lack of precise temporal control of the sequencing and phasing of events between the surface, the deep ocean and ice sheets.
Heinrich events are thought to have been caused by ice sheet instability (MacAyeal, 1993). Iceberg discharge would have provided a large freshwater forcing to the Atlantic, which can be estimated from changes in the abundance of the isotope 18O. These yield a volume of freshwater addition typically corresponding to a few (up to 15) metres of global sea level rise occurring over several centuries (250–750 years), that is, a flux of the order of 0.1 Sv (Hemming, 2004). For Heinrich event 4, Roche et al. (2004) have constrained the freshwater amount to 2 ±1 m of sea level equivalent provided by the Laurentide Ice Sheet, and the duration of the event to 250 ±150 years. Volume and timing of freshwater release is still controversial, however.
Freshwater influx is the likely cause for the cold events at the end of the last ice age (i.e., the Younger Dryas and the 8.2 ka event). Rather than sliding ice, it is the inflow of melt water from melting ice due to the climatic warming at this time that could have interfered with the MOC and heat transport in the Atlantic – a discharge into the Arctic Ocean of the order 0.1 Sv may have triggered the Younger Dryas (Tarasov and Peltier, 2005), while the 8.2 ka event was probably linked to one or more floods equal to 11 to 42 cm of sea level rise within a few years (Clarke et al., 2004; see Section 6.5.2). This is an important difference relative to the D-O events, for which no large forcing of the ocean is known; model simulations suggest that a small forcing may be sufficient if the ocean circulation is close to a threshold (Ganopolski and Rahmstorf, 2001). The exact cause and nature of these ocean circulation changes, however, are not universally agreed. Some authors have argued that some of the abrupt climate shifts discussed could have been triggered from the tropics (e.g., Clement and Cane, 1999), but a more specific and quantitative explanation for D-O events building on this idea is yet to emerge.
Atmospheric CO2 changes during the glacial antarctic warm events, linked to changes in NADW (Knutti et al., 2004), were small (less than 25 ppm; Figure 6.7). A relatively small positive feedback between atmospheric CO2 and changes in the rate of NADW formation is found in palaeoclimate and global warming simulations (Joos et al., 1999; Marchal et al., 1999). Thus, palaeodata and available model simulations agree that possible future changes in the NADW formation rate would have only modest effects on atmospheric CO2. This finding does not, however, preclude the possibility that circulation changes in other ocean regions, in particular in the Southern Ocean, could have a larger impact on atmospheric CO2 (Greenblatt and Sarmiento, 2004).
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34.3.4: Palestinian Refugees
During the 1948 Palestine War, around 85% (720,000 people) of the Palestinian Arab population of what became Israel were expelled from their homes, fleeing to the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.
Trace the Palestinian refugee populations in places such as Jordan
- During the Palestine War of 1948, the first phase of the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, 85% of the Palestinian Arab population fled from their homes in what became known as the Palestinian Exodus of 1948.
- There is heated debate among historians and politicians as to the causes of the Exodus, and the status of this debate has bearing on the claim of Palestinians to their land.
- The expulsion of the Palestinians has since been described by some historians as ethnic cleansing, while others dispute this charge.
- Displaced Palestinian Arabs, known as Palestinian refugees, were settled in Palestinian refugee camps throughout the Arab world, with most fleeing to the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan.
- Most Arab nations denied citizenship to the Palestinian refugees, except in Jordan, where most have citizenship or the equivalent rights of citizens.
- In a 2007 study, Amnesty International denounced the “appalling social and economic condition” of Palestinians in Lebanon.
- Palestinian Exodus of 1948
- Also known as the Nakba, this event occurred when more than 700,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 Palestine war.
- A displaced person who has been forced to cross national boundaries and cannot return home safely because of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
- Gaza Strip
- A small, self-governing Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bordering Egypt on the southwest for 6.8 miles and Israel on the east and north along a 32-mile border. Together with the West Bank, it comprises the territories claimed by the Palestinians as the State of Palestine.
- West Bank
- A landlocked territory near the Mediterranean coast of Western Asia, forming the bulk of the Palestinian territories. It shares a border with Jordan across the Jordan River.
Palestinian Exodus of 1948
During the 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War that followed, around 750,000 Palestinian Arabs (85% of the population) fled or were expelled from their homes, out of approximately 1.2 million Arabs living in former British Mandate of Palestine. This event was known as the Nakba (Arabic for “disaster” or “catastrophe”).
This number did not include displaced Palestinians inside Israeli-held territory. More than 400 Arab villages and about ten Jewish villages and neighborhoods were depopulated during the Arab-Israeli conflict, most of during 1948. According to estimates based on earlier census, the total Muslim population in Palestine was 1,143,336 in 1947. After the war, around 156,000 Arabs remained in Israel and became Israeli citizens.
The causes of the exodus are a subject of fundamental disagreement between historians. Factors involved include Jewish military advances, destruction of Arab villages, psychological warfare, and fears of another massacre by Zionist militias after the Deir Yassin massacre, which caused many to leave out of panic; direct expulsion orders by Israeli authorities; the voluntary self-removal of the wealthier classes; collapse in Palestinian leadership and Arab evacuation orders; and an unwillingness to live under Jewish control.
In the years after, a series of laws passed by the first Israeli government prevented Arabs from returning to their homes or claiming their property. Most remained refugees, as do their descendants. The expulsion of the Palestinians has since been described by some historians as ethnic cleansing, while others dispute this charge.
The Palestinian refugee problem and debate about the Palestinian right of return are also major issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Palestinians and their supporters have staged annual demonstrations and commemorations on May 15 of each year, which is known to them as “Nakba Day.” The popularity and number of participants in these annual Nakba demonstrations has varied over time.
Life After the Exodus
Displaced Palestinian Arabs, known as Palestinian refugees, were settled in Palestinian refugee camps throughout the Arab world. Most fled to the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. The United Nations established UNRWA as a relief and human development agency tasked with providing humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees. Arab nations refused to absorb Palestinian refugees, instead keeping them in refugee camps while insisting that they be allowed to return.
Refugee status was also passed to their descendants, who were also largely denied citizenship in Arab states except in Jordan. The Arab League instructed its members to deny Palestinians citizenship “to avoid dissolution of their identity and protect their right of return to their homeland.” More than 1.4 million Palestinians still live in 58 recognized refugee camps, while more than 5 million Palestinians live outside Israel and the Palestinian territories.
More than 2 million registered Palestine refugees live in Jordan. Most Palestine refugees in Jordan, but not all, have full citizenship. The percentage of Palestinian refugees living in refugee camps to those who settled outside the camps is the lowest of all UNRWA fields of operations. Palestine refugees are allowed access to public services and health care, as a result, refugee camps are becoming more like poor city suburbs than refugee camps. Most Palestine refugees moved out of the camps to other parts of the country. Following the capture of the West Bank by Israel in 1967, Jordan revoked the citizenship of thousands of Palestinians to thwart any attempt to permanently resettle from the West Bank to Jordan. West Bank Palestinians with family in Jordan or Jordanian citizenship were issued yellow cards guaranteeing them all the rights of Jordanian citizenship if requested.
100,000 Palestinians fled to Lebanon because of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and were not allowed to return. As of January 2015, there are 452,669 registered refugees in Lebanon.
In a 2007 study, Amnesty International denounced the “appalling social and economic condition” of Palestinians in Lebanon. Until 2005, Palestinians were forbidden to work in over 70 jobs because they do not have Lebanese citizenship, but this was later reduced to around 20 as of 2007 after liberalization laws. In 2010, Palestinians were granted the same rights to work as other foreigners in the country.
Lebanon gave citizenship to about 50,000 Christian Palestinian refugees during the 1950s and 1960s. In the mid-1990s, about 60,000 Shiite Muslim refugees were granted citizenship. This caused protest from Maronite authorities, leading to citizenship being given to all Christian refugees who were not already citizens.
- Palestinian Refugees
“Palestinian refugees.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinian_refugees. Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0.
“1948 Palestinian exodus.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Palestinian_exodus. Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0.
“Palestinian_refugees.jpg.” https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palestinian_refugees.jpg. Wikimedia Commons Public domain.
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How does a capacitor work for both AC and DC?
Think as if we had a water pipe completely blocked by a flexible membrane. such an arrangement prevents the continuous flow of water (such as continuous electricity), but would allow two-way vibrations of low amplitude (such as alternative electricity). the more elastic the membrane (greater capacity) the greater the quantity of water that it can move.
Role of the capacitor in the reciprocating circuits:
in an alternating circuit, the capacitor inverts its charges when the current alternates and produces a delay voltage (in other words, the capacitor supplies a main current in the circuits and reciprocating networks).
1. less power supply In such circuits, the capacitor is connected in series with the load because it is known that the capacitor and the inductor in pure form do not consume energy. they simply take the power in one cycle and restore it to charge in the other cycle. in this case, it is used to reduce the voltage with less waste of energy. Split Phase Induction Motors
2: Capacitors are also used in an induction motor to divide a single-phase power supply into a two-phase power supply to produce a rotating magnetic field in the rotor to capture this field
Correction and improvement of the power factor : The capacitor bank is installed after a precise calculation. basically, it provides the reactive power that was previously routed from the power system, reducing losses and improving system efficiency.
Role of the capacitor in the DC circuit
in a DC circuit, the capacitor once charged with the applied voltage acts as an open switch. Power Conditioning
1 .: In DC systems, the capacitor is used as a filter (most of the time). its most common use is to convert an alternating power supply into an alternating rectifier (such as bridge rectifier)
2. Decoupling capacitor: a decoupling capacitor is used, under which we have to decouple the two electronic circuits. other words, the noise generated by a circuit is grounded by a decoupling capacitor and this does not affect the performance of other circuits.
3. Coupler coupling: as we know, the capacitor blocks the DC current and allows the alternating current to cross it.
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Highly sensitive children (HSC) analyse situations in detail; they think deeply about things that have happened and the repercussions they can have. It’s a trait that makes HSCs cautious, that triggers a pause before acting. Sometimes though a child focuses so much on the negatives, or possible negative outcomes, that it becomes unhealthy. Here’s how to help your child think more positively.
A simple written statement hanging on a wall in a child’s bedroom can make a huge difference. I know because it’s something a counsellor created with one of my sons and I saw it have a positive impact.
One read simply: Today is a new day. Another: Today will be my best day.
Simple short sentences, but a potent reminder to my son that whatever happened yesterday is gone and today is a new chance to have a fantastic day.
He’s now older and facing different issues so we’re currently constructing new affirmations for him, as we work through his Big Life Journal.
Tip: It works for adults too……
Having negative feelings is not something we should banish. Negative feelings are as valid as positive ones. However, we need to help our children when they process those negative feelings in an unhealthy way.
Negative thoughts can seriously affect a child’s self-esteem.
When negative thoughts become such a big hurdle that they become self-defeating it’s time to help a child reframe their thoughts. We need to help our kids before their negative self-talk dominates.
So how do we reframe negative thoughts? Focus on common negative thoughts that your child has. Examine the language that your child uses – is there a never or an always in there? Help your child find alternative words to express their feelings. Help them understand that there’s always a way to turn negative into positive.
Turn “I always get this type of math question wrong. I’m so stupid” into “There’s one part of this type of math question I don’t understand yet, but I am on the right track.”
You can support a child reframe negative thoughts with positive thoughts by asking whether their thought is a helpful or an unhelpful one. And then by asking them how they could change their thought into a helpful one.
Journal or Talk About the Fun Stuff
Turning negative into positive can be as simple as writing or drawing about the good stuff that day in a journal. Or putting all the things a child is grateful for onto paper. It’s a simple but effective way of focusing on the good, positive aspects of a day. Read: Fill a Page to Empty a HSC Mind and Why Journaling is So Good for You.
Just talking, listing the great things that day can be effective. I stood at bedtime with my son talking about the day. He was feeling a bit down for some reason or another and so we talked though his week, focusing only on the fun stuff he had done. He sat up, turned to me and said, “Actually I’ve had a great week haven’t I?”
It’s a great tool to take a child out of a negative moment so they can see the bigger picture.
Celebrate the positives.
Help a child learn where their talents and strengths lie.
Praise effort and not the result.
One of the best ways to help build a child’s self-esteem is to spend time with them. Nothing tells a child they’re fun to be with more than being with them. Drop everything now and again and just be with your child. Show them they are worth your time and dedicated attention.
There are great tips on Parents.com to help you boost a child’s self-esteem.
Make Your Home a Positive Environment
If you want your child to think positively, then model positive thinking in your home. Model compassion. Model empathy and kindness. Including being kind to yourself. Model positive self-talk.
Remember that HSCs are sponges when it comes to emotions. If you tend to see the glass as half empty rather than as half full then they are prone to pick that up.
If you are feeling negative, or stressed, then turn your focus to emptying your own bucket before you try to help your child.
Decorate your home with artwork containing positive statements and mantras.
Hold a weekly family meeting and celebrate and praise each other.
*For your convenience, this post includes affiliate links to products and books I find useful for the HSK community. They cost you nothing more to buy, but I get a small commission.*
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In "Amazing Grace," a Tapestry of Faith program
This activity invites youth to burn off some physical steam by silently demonstrating a temper tantrum thrown by a small child. Its purpose is to introduce the topic of emotional outbursts without asking youth to talk about their own most temperamental moments. This leads to a discussion about controlling negative emotions.
Ask youth to silently act out a two-year-old's temper tantrums. Depending on available time and the size of the group, you might have them perform one at a time or all at once. Note as you begin that not all two-year-olds act out in the same way. Some may be very physical and others may just sit in some angry pose letting the world know that everything is wrong.
When all have settled down, say that having temper tantrums is normal for two-year-olds. Many little kids have them and we do not consider the children immoral or unethical. However, we expect older people to control themselves better. Nobody thinks it is right for adults to have temper tantrums. Ask the group how old most people are before they stop losing their temper frequently. Through discussion, help your youth come to understandings like these:
Many people have occasional bad moods all through their lives. In fact, it would be difficult for most people to smile all the time. Life can be hard, with all sorts of pressures; most of us occasionally feel badly until time passes, things change, and we begin to see that life is not all bad. People who get very angry or violent or who suffer from frequent mood swings should get help from a professional counselor or a doctor. If somebody's anger is hurting themselves or other people, it is time to do something about it. You can have problems and still be a virtuous person who does many good things. Nevertheless, ignoring your problems is wrong, especially if the problems hurt you or other people.
Ask participants how they go about controlling themselves. Suggest this scenario: "Imagine that you are angry at a family member and a friend shows up at the door. You do not want your friend to see you angry, so you have to change your mood immediately. How do you do it?" Say that sometimes how we feel and act is a mystery even to us. If we can solve the mystery, we can control ourselves better.
Personalize this discussion as much as you think will be appropriate and helpful for your group, but do not pry into the emotional lives of participants. You might ask if any of them sometimes have bad moments and lose their temper. Spend more time discussing how the youth have learned and are learning to control themselves.
Allow all participants to act out silent temper tantrums if they wish. Do not assume that people with limited mobility will not find this activity amusing or will be unable to express themselves physically.
For more information contact web @ uua.org.
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Last updated on Wednesday, October 26, 2011.
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Culture and nature
The high seas are a "global public good". But even in the absence of sufficient international treaties, the oceans are in poor condition: sea levels are rising due to greenhouse gas emissions. The sea water is becoming increasingly acidic, with catastrophic consequences, including coral reefs. Because of overfishing many fish stocks are facing collapse. Plastic in the oceans kills many animals. Unregulated deep-sea mining can have dramatic consequences. People on the coasts are often vulnerable to tsunamis and storm surges.
To effectively protect the oceans, research and constant observation are necessary. However, this is expensive - and at the same time all states should benefit from it. Data should be collected according to uniform standards and not redundant. Many developing countries cannot afford their own observation systems.
Therefore, in 1960, UNESCO established the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) as a global forum for the coordination and promotion of oceanography and ocean observation. UNESCO and the UN General Assembly have declared the period from 2021 to 2030 to be the UN Decade of Ocean Research. The IOC is responsible for two goals of Goal 14 of the United Nations 2030 Agenda - and it is even the only United Nations agency specifically identified in the objectives of the 2030 Agenda. It also participates in the development of an international instrument for nature conservation on the high seas.
Through coordinated research, the IOC reduces scientific uncertainties regarding the sustainable management of the oceans and the management of climate change. It creates permanent observation services on the high seas and in the coastal seas. It supports international data and experience exchange and technology transfer. It strengthens the education and training of scientists and specialists from developing countries.
Germany participates intensively in the work of the IOC through the German IOC section located at the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH). The German IOC section coordinates the participation of German institutions and scientists in the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. Several Federal Ministries, the German Weather Service, the German Research Foundation, the German UNESCO Commission and research institutions are represented in the German IOC section. Germany is constantly providing national infrastructure for IOC research, monitoring and training programs, such as research vessels. Also the establishment of tsunami early warning systems in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean / Northeast Atlantic has benefited a great deal from Germany.
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It may be possible to predict the lifespan of patients being treated for heart disease by taking a look at the lengths of strands of DNA found on the ends of special chromosomes called telomeres, according to a study by the Intermountain Heart Institute in Utah, which was presented Saturday at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in San Francisco. It’s a pretty simple rule of thumb: The longer the telomeres, the longer the patient could be expected to survive.
Just as our hair gets more brittle and likely to fray with age, chromosomes also get shorter with age, explained John Carlquist, director of the institute’s genetics lab. “Once they become too short, they no longer function properly, signaling the end of life for the cell,” he said. “And when cells reach this stage, the patient’s risk for age-associated diseases increases dramatically.”
Non-medical folks can imagine the telomeres as functioning a bit like the tip on your shoelaces. As long as the tip is long, strong, and working, the chromosome won’t fray and come apart. However, once the tip is frayed, the chromosome starts to unravel, and serious diseases of aging like cancer or heart disease can be the result.
A previous study, conducted on zebra finches, had demonstrated the long telomeres in young, healthy animals could be used to predict lifespan. Individual zebra finches have telomeres that vary a great deal in length even at the same age. The birds with the longest strands ultimately outlived the birds with shorter strands — and sometimes by quite a lot. Birds destined to die early passed away within their first year of life, while the longest lived finches survived to be almost 9 years old.
What’s new about the Utah study is that, instead of looking at relatively young organisms, the doctors examined DNA strands from older patients who were already suffering from disease. Even though all of the patients had heart disease, they still showed individual variation in the length of their telomeres, and those people who had the longer telomeres lived the longest after receiving treatment.
If I was the poor finch destined to die 8 or 9 times earlier than my buddies, I’m not sure I would want to know. However, the Utah cardiologists believe that if they can predict who will respond best, they can ultimately plan better and more individual treatments for everyone.
Would you want your doctor to be able to easily predict your lifespan?
[micrograph of diseased heart tissue courtesy Wikipedia Commons]
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As Egypt grew and flourished to a powerful and rich nation, itleft behind for today’s historians, clues and artifacts of a oncedistinctive, well established and structured society. Proof ofthis is clearly depicted in king Narmer’s Palette. This Paletteshows historians the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, whichsignified the beginnings of a civilized era centred around theNile. The unification of Egypt occurred around 3100 B. C.
, under theFirst Dynasty of Menes(3100-2850 B. C. ). This age is commonly knowas the Protodynastic era, which is known for the establishment ofa firm political structure of the land which was unified in thehands of the king.
The glorification of Lower and Upper Egyptuniting was portrayed in Narmer’s Palette, which was found in theancient southern capital of Hierakonpolis. The general function ofNarmer’s Palette was to commemorate a victory over his human foes. With Narmer’s victory, the Palette also depicts his successfulclaim and conquest of all of Egypt, thus establishing unificationof Lower and Upper Egypt under his rule. The dominant themhowever, is the victory of the god incarnate over the forces ofevil and chaos.Order now
The Narmer Palette, while depicting several social aspects andtendencies of the Egyptian society, also reveals and emphasizestheir structured positions within a hierarchy of command. Bothsides of the Palette reveal, at the top, the name of king Narmer,which first documents, in the written history of Egypt, that we noware dealing with a civilized state. When the scribes wanted towrite king Narmer’s name, they placed a small fish called a ‘nar’over a chisel, pronounced ‘mer’. This combination of the wordsgave them ‘Narmer’. The Palette also depicts king Narmer(probablythe legendary Menes) wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt and theWhite Crown of Aphroditopolis, which represented Upper Egypt.
Since Narmer had claimed victory over the northern king, thusbecoming the first Pharaoh, the unification of Egypt was completed. The reverse of the Palette portrays Narmer clubbing a foeman. Narmer is then followed by his foot-washer, which should be notedis shown on a smaller scale and standing on a separate registerline, as suited to his relative rank and position in Egypt’shierarchy. Narmer stands before the supreme sky-god Horus, of whomNarmer is also an incarnation, represented as a falcon with a humanarm holding a papyrus thicket.
On the obverse of this palette, Narmer inspects a battlefieldnear Buto, with several decapitated bodies of his foemen. Narmeris then preceded by his four standard-bearers and his priest. Themiddle register of this highly organized recording shows two long-necked lionesses and their attendants, symbolizing the newlyestablished unification of Egypt. In the lower register Narmer isin disguise of a bull, which is destroying a fortified fort andkilling any opponents in his path. The Narmer Palette reveals several important social aspectsabout how the Egyptians lived and were structured. The Palettealso shows their value in recording historical events – with suchitems of war and political power struggles being ‘newsworthy’events.
It would be a mistake however, to read the Narmer Paletteas a mere tale of conquest. Through military conquests however,Narmer was able to lay the political foundations of the kingshipwhich endured thereafter as long as a Pharaoh wore the two crownsof Egypt. The actual finding of a Palette proves that Egyptianshad established a written form of communication, which is todaycalled hieroglyphic script. The Palette however, was depicted byEgyptian scribes using a complex combination of ideograms andphonetic signs. While king Narmer’s name appears as hieroglyphiclabels at the top of the Palette, it emphasizes that Egypt at thistime was structured and had firmly established a civilized state.
The entire Nile, now under the control of one king, was ableto be utilized as the most important form of transportation. Itwas used for military campaigns, economic trading, and as a form ofcommunication via boats. The Nile also provided a rich soil basewhich encouraged farmers to build huts and plant their crops alongthe river bank. Egyptian agriculture and the farmers’ practices inirrigation revealed that the Egyptians had the man power andcapabilities to divert water to particular fields for their crops. Although each community along the Nile was divided into districts,each governed by a man appointed by Narmer, each practised the samemethods of collecting and diverting water. Also each manappointed to a particular district saw to it that taxes werecollected and that the fields were drained and properly irrigated.
The most significant piece of evidence that suggests that Egypt wasindeed a civilized state was a special calendar with a 365-dayyear, as well as keeping records of special events and a system ofstandard measures for surveying fields and dividing produce. While Egyptians were basically confined to the Nile valley,they were able to draw many strengths from their isolation. Fromthe beginning the Egyptians looked to a central authority in theperson of a king, or god, which was all held together and relatedto the Nile river. While king Narmer was able to bring economicgrowth and political stability to the newly formed Egypt, he wasunable to control the external pressures which would eventuallybreak up Egypt and lead to the collapse of the ruling Pharaohs.
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STUDENT INSTRUCTION AND ANSWER SHEET
Activity 5: Size and Mass Are Important!
Up to this point we have identified that the "just right" condition for life is the presence of liquid water on a planet's surface. This suggests we should first search for a planet that rests in orbit around a Sun-like star (classes F, G or K) within the star's zone of habitability. In addition to the distance from the star, the planet must also have a suitable atmosphere. This requires that the planet have a mass between 0.5 and 10 Earth masses, with a radius between 0.8 and 2.2 times that of Earth. Planets that are too small will not have enough gravity to hold an atmosphere, and larger planets will have an atmosphere too thick to support life as we know it. For example, photosynthesis cannot occur if the atmosphere is impenetrable, or a runaway greenhouse effect could occur such as on Venus today. A habitable planet would also need to have the right type of atmospheric chemistry. Nitrogen, carbon dioxide and oxygen would likely need to be present in amounts similar to what is found on Earth.
Consider the information listed in the table below.
A. On which of these hypothetical planets would you search for Earth-like life? Explain your reasoning for each planet.
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Why Lesson Planet?
Combine and Separate Shapes: Homework
In this shape recognition worksheet, students learn how to recognize shapes by cutting out the first shapes and using them to make the second shape. Students draw the new shape in the space. Students then identify the shape that was made from the given shapes in the last problem.
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Emotional literacy is the ability to identify and label a feeling. Identifying a feeling is important for processing situations and making choices. Throughout a day a range of feelings may be felt; slight irritation, pleasure, sadness, frustration. If these feelings cannot be labelled they are placed into two groups, positive and negative, and it could be that all positives are called good or happy and all negatives are called anxious or angry. Emotional literacy varies greatly from person to person and that variance in identifying emotion depends on so many factors. Emotions might not have been spoken within a family or expression of emotion may have been discouraged.
Without emotional literacy it can be difficult to express needs, wants and boundaries to others and lead to misunderstanding and not feeling understood. This can heighten feelings of disconnection and alienation and impact on interpersonal relationships. It can lead to feeling silenced because the words are not there. It also means others are responding to the wrong emotion. “I feel sad” is very different to “I feel angry”. “I feel rejected” is different to “I feel anxious”.
Not identifying emotions affects choices and behaviour. There are societal expectations of choice dependent on emotion. So if for example all emotions are mislabelled as anxiety, a person will then try to sooth the anxiety becoming more anxious that the anxiety cannot be soothed. If some of those feelings are not anxiety but restlessness, irritation or sadness different choices might be made. Rather than a feeling masquerading as anxiety that cannot be soothed, a movement can be made in response to restlessness, a change can be made in response to irritation.
Not having the words for emotion impacts on self-worth. Rather than identifying the range of emotion and responding to those, the one label becomes the focal point and patterns of saying, “I’m always feeling anxious” or “I’m always angry” can occur. Worse still is the labelling of the self, “I’m an irritable person”, “I’m just anxious, that’s who I am”. This can lead to feeling different from others, fundamentally wrong in some way and an incorrect belief in possessing a personality flaw. There can be a sense of hopelessness that nothing can change. It is never too late to learn the language of feelings and to find your voice.
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Chemguide: Support for CIE A level Chemistry
Learning outcome 16: Hydroxy compounds
Find and read the statement in your copy of the syllabus.
If you are working through this in order, you will already have read the page introducing alcohols. If you need to, re-read the first bit about the three types of alcohol.
This statement also mentions the possibility of alcohols with more than one OH group. You have probably already come across one of these - ethane-1,2-diol, HOCH2CH2OH.
If you have more than one OH group attached to a hydrocarbon chain (as long as they are on different carbon atoms), they just behave independently. Work out what each of them would do in the reactions we have looked at, temporarily ignoring the other one.
Note: Out of interest only, if two OH groups end up attached to the same carbon atom, in most cases, water is lost, leaving a C=O double bond. You don't need to know that for exam purposes.
Again, read the statement in your copy of the syllabus.
This statement uses the effect of oxidation of the various sorts of alcohols using acidified potassium dichromate(VI) solution to help in distinguishing between primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols.
You will find this covered on the page about oxidation of alcohols.
You have already read the first part of this, but read the whole page again, this time concentrating on the second half about testing for the various kinds of alcohols.
A problem relating this page to CIE's requirements
CIE don't mention the use of Schiff's reagent either in the syllabus or in any of their questions. That means that you would have to pass the vapours in the final set of diagrams through either Tollens' reagent or Fehling's solution. Since you won't have any idea what either of those are until you have done aldehyde and ketone chemistry in more detail in Section 17, I suggest that you leave the problem for now and come back to it again after you have done Section 17. I will remind you.
© Jim Clark 2020
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The period between 1965 to 1979 was an important one in the history of colonial Rhodesia. The Rhodesia Front had taken over government in 1962 and quickly replaced Prime Minister Winston Field with the more authoritarian Ian Smith who introduced one repressive law after another. This led to mounting discontent among the blacks and a general movement towards militant action. The black people started making more radical demands which resulted in the formation of nationalist political parties. The National Democratic Party (NDP) in early 1962, Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) subsequently. 1 Smith responded to this by taking more drastic measures, declaring the independence of Rhodesia from Britain in 1965, the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI). Britain and the rest of the world imposed sanctions on Rhodesia which worsened the living conditions of the blacks both in the rural and the urban areas. These developments further strained relationships between blacks and whites, making an armed struggle for independence almost inevitable. In 1966 the first shots marking the beginning of the armed struggle in Rhodesia were fired.
The political developments in the period between 1965 to 1979 saw changes in the form and content of music. Local musicians who, since the mid 1950s had played cover versions of such rock 'n' roll, soul and pop artists such as Wilson Picket, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Otis Redding, and The Rolling Stones, were under pressure from both the worsening situation as well as the nationalists to contribute in the struggle. Nationalists for example, began to question why musicians had the luxury to stage shows while others were taking to the bush to fight. Musicians therefore adopted a more revolutionary stance in their music. Church hymns were changed and the lyrics substituted with revolutionary ones in some cases. In other cases the Christian lyrics assumed new meanings under the new circumstances. The different categories of Shona protest song assumed new interpretations in the new context. For example, songs that had protested about unjust chiefs, assumed new interpretations as social relationships changed. Similarly, 'traditional' war and hunting songs assumed new meanings in the wake of an armed struggle and tightening tensions between the black majority and the white minority government.
The Zimbabwean people's music, which had been marginalised in the rock n' roll, soul and pop frenzy of the 1950s, was thus rejuvenated as a useful tool for mobilisation in the political struggle for justice. In a situation where black people were systematically excluded from the formal means of political representation, music became an alternative means of articulating their experiences. Richard Wagner, cited in Alex Pongweni, had this to say of music: "It is a truth forever that where the speech of men stops short, there, music's reign begins" (Wagner, in Pongweni 1982: 1). This was particularly true of the popular music that emerged in Zimbabwe in the mid 1960s to the late 1970s.
[from Alice Dadirai Kwaramba, Popular Music and Society: The Language of Chiumurenga Music: The Case of Thomas Mapfumo in Zimbabwe. Oslo: University of Oslo, 1997, pages 31-32. Available from Department of Media and Communications [firstname.lastname@example.org].
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